Awakened by Reminders

 

Awakened by Reminders

2Peter 1:12-15

Subject: Spiritual Growth 

Theme: submit to Bible instructions to continue growth in Christian character.

Introduction:

Peter transitions from a focus on the work of God in believers’ lives (1:3-11) to the Word of God as the mechanism for character cultivation (1:16-21).  He starts with his personal yearning for believers to retain all God has communicated through him (1:12-15). Peter knew his days were numbered; therefore, he urged these believers to hold on tight to the precious truth.  In fact, he uses the word “remembrance” (1:12, 13, 15) three times to signify this most vital need. 

He was not being critical, nor did he suggest they were wavering in their faith.  His purpose was preventive and not corrective. He wanted them to stay that way. Currently a major problem in many churches is not that believers do not know what God expects of them, but they either forget (2 Peter 1:9) or are unwilling to live out the truth they have.

Continuation in and adherence to God’s Word is absolutely essential to our spiritual progress (2Pet. 1:12-21). The Bible is the God provided instrument for nurturing continuous Christ-like living.  So how do we help believers learn the Bible and then practice what they know?  How do we impress believers with what is actually essential to spiritual growth? (Based on W. W. Wiersbe)

Message:

I.               Peter Repeatedly Emphasized the Need to Develop Christian Character (2Pet. 1:12-18).

As he considered the present and eternal implications of spiritual growth, Peter determined to keep on reminding believers of the importance of developing Christian character. Even if we already knew this, we needed to be constantly reminded. But why was Peter so adamant about this?

 

A.  To Awaken Believers from Spiritual Slumber (2Pet. 1:13-15). 

Peter not only had good intentions, but he believed it his duty to stir… up the saints through frequent reminders for the rest of his life (1:13). The phrase “stir you up” means “to wake up, to awaken, to arouse.” Peter desired to do a thorough job of arousing their minds and render them active. This same word is used to describe a storm on the Sea of Galilee! (John 6:18) Peter knew that our minds have a tendency to get accustomed to truth and then to take it for granted. We forget what we ought to remember, and we remember what we ought to forget!  But, Peter purposed to do this by reminding them of the things which they had been taught. He would arouse their minds to action by reminding them of the truth they had learned from the Word of God. (Based on W. W. Wiersbe)

                                        1.     By Means of Personal Reminders (1:13-14).

i.       Notice His Method (1:13).  Peter said, “Yea, I think it meet,” that is he personally felt the fitness of keeping them from spiritual drowsiness as he approached the close of his life (1:13).

a.      What was it that Peter wanted to accomplish? The answer is found in the word that is repeated in 2 Peter 1:12–13 and 15—remembrance. Peter wanted to impress his readers’ minds with the Word of God so that they would never forget it! “I think it meet... to stir you up by putting you in remembrance” (2 Peter 1:13). –Wiersbe, Warren

b.     And so do we. Even though we are “established in the present truth” (1:12), there is always the danger of a preoccupied moment or a forgetful hour. So the truth must be constantly repeated.  Even when believers are grounded, there is need for motivation and exhortation (Rom. 15:14-15).

c.      Peter was a preacher with a passion for stirring believers out of their spiritual slumber and awakening them to the truths of God’s word and the related responsibilities.  I personally need someone in the pulpit, who is burning hot for Jesus Christ, filled with the love of God, and who takes the Bible and “stir me up!”

ii.     Notice His Motive (1:14).  Life is short.  The “Lord Jesus Christ” 1:14) had already revealed to Peter the fact that he would die and the manner in which he would die (John 21:18, 19). Many years had elapsed since then. The aging apostle knew that in the normal course of events, his death was near. This knowledge gave added impetus to his determination to care for the spiritual welfare of God’s people during whatever time remained. The fact is none of us have very long to serve the Lord because time is running out.

a.      Death is a putting “off this my tabernacle,”(1:14) a laying aside of our earthly dwelling or putting off our physical body (1:14). Just as a tent is a temporary dwelling for travelers, so the body is the structure in which we dwell during our pilgrimage on earth. In death the tent is taken down. At the Rapture, the body will be raised and changed. In its eternal, glorified form the body is portrayed as a permanent dwelling—a building and a house (2 Cor. 5:1).

b.     Both Peter and Paul used this expression when referring to the body. Paul wrote, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1). A tent is a pretty flimsy sort of thing, and if you don’t believe that your little tent is flimsy, you step out on one of these rainy days and allow yourself to get soaking wet.

c.      Paul also says, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). That is the way both Peter and Paul speak of death. This little tent we live in is put down into the grave. It goes to sleep, but the soul never dies. And, of course, the soul is never raised from the dead since it never dies. The word resurrection refers to the body. In the Greek it is anastasis, which means “to stand up,” and obviously that refers to the body.

d.     Peter uses the word “decease” (1:15) and it is related to the word exodus. It is the same word used to describe the death of Christ in Luke 9:31. Death is not the cessation of being but the departure from one place to another. Simon Peter knew that shortly he would move out of his body and into God’s presence, he had spoken of the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and longed to be with Him there. 

e.      Therefore, we cannot afford to keep putting off serving the Lord and touching other lives with His Word.  Life is short, and we need to always be preparing and serving others because we are running out of time. (Based on Dr. W. McDonald)

iii.   Notice His Manner (1:14).  Peter is referring to what Jesus had told him that morning when He had prepared breakfast for them on the shore of the Sea of Galilee after His resurrection. He had said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” Then John comments, “This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God …” (John 21:18–19).

a.      This passage in 2 Peter has been one of the most important sections in the entire Word of God.  It is his deathbed statement. When a man is on his deathbed, he is apt to say something of importance. It is interesting that the Word of God attaches some importance to deathbed statements. Let me illustrate this from the Old Testament.

b.     When Moses knew that he would not enter the Promised Land but would die on Mount Nebo in the land of Moab, he gathered the twelve tribes about him and blessed each of them before his death. It was a very important discourse that he gave to them at that time.  The Book of Deuteronomy is the message.

c.      When Joshua was old and ready to depart from this life, he also gathered the tribes of Israel together and delivered to them his final charge. Then he challenged them to follow God and gave the testimony of his own life: “… as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15).

d.     Then, in the New Testament when the Lord Jesus came into Jerusalem for that last Passover, He made it very clear to His own in His Upper Room Discourse that it was His last time with them—before He would die and rise again in a glorified body. Oh, what tremendous truths He gave to them on that last evening! (Based on Dr. W. McDonald)

e.      The apostle Paul, as we have seen, gave his final epitaph in 2 Timothy. Notice what he said: “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:6–8).

f.      Now Simon Peter says, “Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle.” He knows that he has come to the end of his earthly life. Tradition tells us that he was crucified with his head down. Peter felt himself unworthy of dying in the same manner his Lord died; so he died upside down.

 

                                        2.     By Means of Permanent Reminders (1:15).  Not only did the apostle determine personally to remind the saints of the importance of spiritual progress, he also arranged to leave a reminder behind in permanent written form (1:15). Through his writings, believers are able to remind themselves at any time.

i.       He Gave Us Scripture. Resultantly, Peter’s Letters have shed light on the path of men and women encouraging them to spiritual growth now for over nineteen centuries, and will continue doing so till the dawn of the eternal age.

a.      In addition, reliable ancient tradition says that the Gospel of Mark is essentially the eyewitness account of the Apostle Peter.

b.     The importance of written ministry is clear here. It is the written word that lasts. Through the written word, a man’s ministry goes on while his body is lying in the grave.

ii.     He Gave Us a Priority.  These verses have special value to us because they show what is important to a man of God who is living in the shadow of death. Believers must frequently expose themselves to the Word of God; participate in private and family devotions, the teaching, preaching, and Bible study opportunities of the church, and good Christian literature as good approaches to spiritual development.

 

B.  To Impress Believers with the Need for Fundamental Teachings (2Pet. 1:12, 15). 

                                        1.     Notice His Focus.  “These things” occurs four times—verses 8, 9, 12 and 15. 

i.       On Growth and Commitment (1:8).  Failure to persevere in the development of Christian character leads to barrenness, unfruitfulness, blindness, shortsightedness, and forgetfulness (1:8-10). Saints must grow in grace, lest spiritual senility set in. There are Christians today—and I am sure you have met some of them—who are actually spiritually senile. They are shuffling around without all of their faculties. When this happens we know we are failing to grow. We must commit ourselves to growth.

ii.     On Belief and Behavior (1:12).  “These things” relates to both Christian character and fundamental teachings.

a.      Peter connects beliefs with behavior, convictions to conduct, and commitment to character. 

b.     Fundamental teachings provide the fuel for character transformation.  Think about the basic teaching on the “blood of Christ” as the full payment for sin, the fact that Jesus Christ is the “Son of God,” or the truth that the Bible is “inspired.” All three truths provide confidence, cleansing, power, and grace for Christian living!

iii.   On Living and Dying (1:15). “These things” refer to the great, basic truths of the Christian faith, which still have enormous value even when seen from the borders of the eternal world (1:15).  Peter didn’t need a new teaching as he was preparing to die, no, the same doctrines that proved sufficient to live by are sufficient to die by! When we have proved the value of the truth in life, it is easier to rest in those same truths when facing death! Peter’s focus did not change, it was strengthened even while facing death.

                                        2.     Notice His Diligence. “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance.” (1:12) (See Eccl. 9:10; Rom. 12:11; 1Cor. 15:10; Col. 3:23)

i.       To Provide an Example.  The importance and advantage of progress and perseverance in grace and holiness made the apostle to be very diligent in doing the work of a minister of Christ, that he might thereby excite and assist them to be diligent in the duty of Christians. If ministers be negligent in their work, it can hardly be expected that the people will be diligent in theirs; therefore Peter will not be negligent (that is, at no time or place, in no part of his work, to no part of his charge), but will be exemplarily and universally diligent, and that in the work of a remembrancer. This is the office of the best ministers…. From Matthew Henry

ii.     To Provide the Word.  Peter was diligent to complete Letters (Scripture) to provide ongoing written testimony of the truths so close to his heart.

iii.   To Provide Preachers. 

a.      Clearly his own life and ministry was extended into the lives of others, as Silas (1Pet. 5:12) and Mark, who would carry on his work after he died. And certainly Peter wanted to be sure that the Lord’s people would not forget God’s work and God’s Word.

b.     When David was about to die, he called Solomon to him. David said to Solomon, “I go the way of all the earth.” (What a picture that is of death! I don’t know who you are or where you are, but I can tell you the road on which you are traveling. You are going the way of all the earth, and that is to the cemetery. I realize that this doesn’t sound very good, but all of us are on that route.) Then David charged Solomon with the responsibility of building the temple of God, and he exhorted all Israel to help him, for “… Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the Lord God” (1 Chron. 29:1).

c.      Through their preaching and teaching, the Apostles and New Testament prophets laid the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20) and we in later generations are building on that foundation. However, the men were not the foundation; Jesus Christ is the Foundation (1 Cor. 3:11). He is also the chief Cornerstone that ties the building together (Eph. 2:20). If the church is to last, it cannot be built on mere men. It must be built on the Son of God. –The Bible Exposition Commentary

                                        3.     Notice His Emphasis.

i.       Peter constantly calls attention to Jesus Christ and the Word of God.  I too want to be a Jesus preacher and a Word of God preacher!

ii.     In fact, it is challenging to distinguish between the written Word (the Bible) and the incarnate Word (Christ) in Peter emphasis throughout the remainder of the chapter. They are both major avenues of God’s revelation (Ps. 19:7-11; John 1:18; Heb. 1:2) and therefore both come into focus throughout the remainder of this chapter.

 

Conclusion:

The preacher and teacher should be an intense student of the Word, bringing to the church fresh, new truth with the dew of heaven upon it. But there is a place for the repetition of the old truths which the saints know well. Much of it has not yet been put into practice, and the fact that it is repeated gives the Holy Spirit an opportunity to make it experiential in the life of the believer.

Submit to Bible instructions to continue growth in Christian character.