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Well, I want to thank each one
for letting me share it with you this morning. We're in the book of 2 Peter,
2 Peter chapter 1. Now, our text will be looking
at verses 12 to 15. 2 Peter chapter 1, verses 12
to 15. And our topic will be remembering
or a reminder, having a reliable reminder. I'll start by just reading the
verses, 1 Peter chapter one, verse 12 to 15 says, Peter writes,
wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance
of these things, though you know them, and be established in the
present truth. Yea, I think it meet as long
as I am in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in
remembrance. Knowing that shortly I must put off this tabernacle,
even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me, Moreover, I will
endeavor that you may be able, after my decease, to have these
things always in remembrance. The context for this is, as we've
been studying 2 Peter, is Peter lays the stress on knowledge
as a safeguard against false teachers and their destructive
heretical lies. And the heart of the letter is
really the second chapter, where he's gonna discuss the, and he's
gonna describe the false teachers. And he surrounds that with chapter
one and chapter three with the discussion of the importance
of knowledge, how important it is to have knowledge, correct
knowledge. If we're to defend ourselves against false doctrine
and heresies, we're gonna have to have knowledge. It reminds me of the words of
Hosea, where Hosea wrote, my people are destroyed for lack
of knowledge. If we're gonna survive the demon
onslaught that we're living in, brought by all these demonic
seducing spirits that are in the world, and demonic doctrines being brought
by all the hypocritical liars in the world, lying false teachers,
we must have knowledge, so we must know what we believe, and
we must know our spiritual condition also. And this little epistle,
it's a wonderful letter, and there are three primary things
that we need to know, we'd shared with you. One, we need to know
our salvation. And we've discussed that in the
first 11 verses of chapter one. We need to know the scripture.
And he's gonna start that when we get to verse 16. And then
finally, when we get to chapter three, he's gonna say, you need
to know your sanctification. To know our salvation, to know
the scripture, and then to know our sanctification. Like a three-point outline for
Peter's protective teaching. Those things would insulate us
against the onslaught of false teachers that we're living in
today and the false doctrine. So we kind of covered the initial
discussion on the knowledge of salvation, and verses one to
12, the theme is know you're saved, know you're saved. And
then Peter begins, again, turning towards scripture, get to verse
16 and 21, it's a really, I think it's the most important passage
in the New Testament. verses 16 and 21, speaks about
the word of God. But before Peter goes into that
secondary of knowledge, he digresses a little bit in these few verses,
so let us look into his heart, personally into his heart. And
he shows us really the tenderest part of him in the whole letter,
and reveals really his pastoral passion for the sheep, and that's
why he wrote the letter. So here we kind of get an insight
into what was motivating him when he wrote the letter. And
he speaks about his ministry, and there's four things that
flow out of the text, which would be our outline for the Sunday
school lesson, our four-point outline. And he kind of hooks or hangs
the thoughts on these things. And one of them, he reveals the
urgency in his ministry. It's a really urgent, that he performed this ministry,
and also he speaks of the spirit of the ministry. And the duty,
really it's a duty he has to do this ministry, and then the
brevity of it, how short it is. Life is short. So given the urgency
of it, given the spirit of it, given the duty of it, given the
brevity of it, so he's written, and that's what's underlying
the letter, really, and this is the passion that moves Peter.
And he sums up his letter with a kind of a valedictory message,
and the letter is kind of a final statement from the beloved apostle
Peter. It's a legacy statement of divine
truth, and it's set in pen and ink for us, praise the Lord.
And under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and it's included
in the canon of scripture, and it's gonna go on bearing fruit,
actually eternal fruit, I think beyond time, the fruit that will
bear to Peter from this epistle. This epistle leads people to
holiness and virtue and obedience and kind of results in eternal
reward for those who follow the instructions of Peter. So here
we kind of see the affectionate heart of Peter, the true shepherd,
he's a true shepherd. Peter telling us why he's saying
what he's saying and why he's writing it down, and it's kind
of his swan song. This is his last statement while he was on the
earth, his last message. And he's like any good teacher.
Any good teacher realizes one very important fact, and that
is that people forget what you tell them, okay? And And I'll forget all I was gonna
say about that. But way back in Deuteronomy chapter
six, the Lord God said, I'm the Lord, I'm one and I'm your God. And he said, don't forget, talk
about me when you rise up, when you sit down, when you lie down,
when you walk in the way, teach about me to your children, bind
my law on your forehead between your eyes. The Jews still do
that. They bind a little thing with the word of God on their
forehead. I don't think that was a Lord's
intent. Bind me on your arm, put it on the doorpost of your
house, and they still do it until Little Mizzou's is on the doorpost. Don't forget. And so what I say
is somewhat sad that the Jewish people are so eager to remember
what they might remember. They remember the Holocaust,
they remember things, but it's, They've forgotten where they
really desperately need to know the character and the law of their
God. They forgot that. And back in Deuteronomy 7, chapter
7, verse 18, the scripture says they were told, you shall well
remember what your Lord your God did. Remember what he did.
In Deuteronomy 8, verse 2, they were told, you shall remember
all the way which the Lord led you. In Deuteronomy 8, 18, it
says, you shall remember the Lord your God. In Deuteronomy
9, 17, do not forget, 1 Chronicles 16, 12, they were told, remember
his wonderful deeds which he has done, his marvels and his
judgments. from his mouth, Deuteronomy chapter
eight, verse 19 and 20. And it's come about, if you ever
forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve
them and worship them, I testify against you today that you shall
surely perish. Like the nation of the Lord makes to perish before
you, so you shall perish because you wouldn't listen to the voice
of the Lord your God. Isaiah said, indicting Israel,
you've forgotten the Lord your maker. Isaiah 51, 13, you've
forgotten the Lord your maker. And then in the 17th chapter
of Isaiah, verse 10, Isaiah 17, 10, familiar reminder by the
prophet, he says, for you have forgotten the Lord God of your
salvation. You have not remembered the rock
of your refuge. And then one of the saddest statements
in the Psalms, Psalms 88, verse 12, calls Israel the land of
forgetfulness. Well, it seems Israel has had a great memory
for the wrong things. It's great to remember the Holocaust,
but it's better to remember the Lord God. And it's a very poor
memory they have for what's really most important. You know, God
gave the Passover, and the Passover was to be an annual reminder,
the symbol of remembrance to remember not Egypt, okay, but
to remember the God of redemption, and the God of deliverance, the
God of salvation, the God of covenant, the God of mercy and
grace, the God of judgment and justice, And even now, Passover
is reserved. They remember Egypt and the escape,
but they don't know the God of salvation. And why does it have
such a memory for things that we should forget, right? But
it's the flesh that wants us to remember what we should not
remember, and the flesh seemingly loses the memory of what we should
never forget. Jesus said to the 12 in John 15, 20, Remember the word which I said
unto you. Paul said, remember the words of the Lord Jesus in
Acts 20, 35. And to Timothy, he said, remember
Jesus Christ, born of the seed of David, risen from the dead,
according to my gospel. John records that when Jesus
was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he
had said what he would do, and they believed the scripture.
Jude wrote to his readers, remember the words which were spoken before
by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he said, I will put
your remembrance, though you once knew this. Peter said in
Acts 11, 16, then I remembered the word of the Lord. He wrote
in 2 Peter 3, 1, he's gonna write once we get
there, is the second epistle, beloved, and I'll write it to
you in which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.
James put it another way, said the same thing, do not be a forgetful
hearer. So we don't have time to go through
all, it seemed like, we don't have time to go through all the
Old Testament and the text in which God said do not forget
me. and remember me, remember me, remember, we don't even have
time to go through all them in the New Testament, which as believers
we're reminded, but we forget so easily. And there's a second
corollary truth to teaching besides knowing that everybody's forgetful,
is that teachers know what is called familiarity, things become
too familiar. And because they forget, and
you remind them over and over and over again, that's what you
do. I was taught that repetition is theological mucilage. Dr. Mark Cameron, that was his statement.
It's glue. Repetition makes the glue, makes
it stick. But if you keep saying the same thing over and over
the same way, people are gonna think they heard it before, and they're
gonna tune you out. I know that, turn that off. And so the challenge
of teaching is to repeat it in a different way, See, the same
truths of people hear it freshly, and it's very, very challenging. Pastors who do topical preaching
usually don't last long in a church, because there's only so many
topics, and then they have to go to the next church. But if
you have a pastor who teaches word by word through the Bible,
he can go on forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. Praise
the Lord for our pastor. But, so the first thing in this
heart of Peter, again, I won't say everything I was gonna say. The sense of the heart of Peter
for his people is not to forget, and there's a sense of urgency
of his ministry. There's only so much time. Verse
12, it's a simple, straightforward text. Wherefore, I will not be
negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things.
Wherefore, reaches back to the prior text in which he had been
discussing the greatness of our salvation and the blessedness
of assurance. and his discussion of the righteousness
of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. In verse one, he discussed the
multiplied grace and peace of the knowledge of Jesus our Lord,
and his discussion of the fact that we've received everything
pertaining to life and godliness through the knowledge of him
who's called us to his own glory and excellence, the discussion
of the great and precious promises that we have received that has
made us partakers of the divine nature. because we've escaped
the corruption of the world and all, and that discussion was
the reality of our salvation. And then beginning in verse five,
he began to talk about how you experience the assurance of your
salvation by adding to your faith virtue or moral excellence. You actually add to your faith.
And knowledge and self-control and perseverance and godliness
and brotherly kindness and love or charity or love. And when
these qualities are there and increasing, you're not going
to forget your spiritual condition. You're going to remember that
you're saved. If these things are in your life, you're going
to remember you're saved, no doubt. You're not going to be forgetful
here. And so because of the greatness
of salvation, because of the glorious blessedness of assurance,
he says, therefore, I will Wherefore, I shall always be
reminding you of these things. I don't want you to forget how
great salvation is in order that you might thank God for it, praise
God for it, glorify God for it, and take advantage of all of
his resources. I don't want you to ever forget how marvelous
it is to have the assurance of your salvation, to know you're
saved. And so I'm gonna be always ready to remind you about these
things. And there is the reality that
Christians can forget the blessedness of salvation. We're forgetful.
And we can wander off into sin, right? And then we can turn our
back on the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
We can turn our back on the multiplied grace and peace that they offer.
And we can turn our back on all the divine power that grants
us everything pertaining to life and godliness. And we can turn
our back on the precious, magnificent promises that are ours as partakers
of the very nature of God. and we can wander off into sin.
And so he says, I'm always ready to remind you about this, and
we can, also by wandering into sin, forfeit our assurance of
our salvation. And so he eagerly reminds us
of the crucial and essential and important greatness of salvation
and the blessedness of how blessed it is to know you're saved. It's
blessed. And there in verse 12, there's a future tense. He says,
I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance. He's
simply saying, whenever I'm given the opportunity at any point,
whenever I can, I'll do it. But there's another thought in
the middle of his mind. He's writing now this letter,
and he's not looking at the writing of the letter, but the future
reading of the letter. And he's anticipating everybody
who reads the letter, he's gonna again find him again ready to
remind him of these things. Everyone who reads will be reminded.
And every time 2 Peter's picked up, the first chapter's read,
Peter's reminding us of these things. And so both preaching
and writing is reminding. And Peter wanted to have his
people avoid the hazards of negligence. He wanted to work hard to press
home the issues. And so he says, I'm always ready
to remind you, I will remind you in my preaching, I'll remind
you in my teaching, I'll remind you in my penning this letter,
which will go on throughout the future. Whenever you read it,
or it's read to you again, he wanted to leave a legacy, and
he wanted to leave a final will and testament, I guess you'd
say. This is his final will and testament. To remind people of
the greatness of salvation, the blessedness of assurance, and
to make sure that false teachers and false doctrine didn't steal
any of that away from you. And much of ministry is reminding,
and much of teaching is reminding. I know that college, it's like
you go back to elementary school all over again. There are all
the principles. A lot deeper, but the same things all over
again. And churches like that. And it's not uncommon if you
walk away from Little Sandy Baptist Church. So you know, I've heard
that before, you know. It's good because the day that
we as a church announce something new, a new doctrine, you don't
wanna, you wanna get rid of the leadership here. There are no
new truths to this generation. Only a clear understanding of
the word of God. And perhaps a truer interpretation but it's
a ministry of reminding, reminding us of doctrinal truth, reminding
us of moral requirements. And Peter was really no different
than the others. Paul says in Romans 15, 15, he
says, I've written very boldly to you on some points so as to
remind you again in Romans. Paul knew that every time he
spoke, or every time he wrote, he was not necessarily saying
something new, but he was, that was all right. And Philippians
three, one, Paul says, finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. He says to write the same things,
again, it's no trouble to me, it's a safeguard for you. And
Paul had the same thing in mind that Peter had in mind, repetition
for the sake of a safeguard. Even though I want you to listen
to this, even though your conscious mind says, I've heard that before. Somehow it sticks another brick
on your subconscious mind to hear it again. And you build
a strong, fortified foundation through repetition. It's almost,
as a carpenter, when you drive nails, the first hit on the nail
is when you set it. You're going to hit it more than
once when you're driving nails. And then you're going to hear
tap, tap, depending on what kind of apartment you're in, you're
going to hear somebody, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. I used to
be able to, back when I was in my early 20s, I could drive nails
to rhythm. 4-4 beat, 3-4 beat, 2-2 beat. And I would do that. It'd be
bam, bam, bam, bam. You know, the rhythm. But that's kind of like the truth.
The first time you hear it might have just been the first tap,
but then the other taps will help drive the truth down, nail
it down for you. And Peter, very easily, he knew the urgency
of being ready, even eager to remind people. And it's discouraging
to think about how fast we forget. Let's see. I'm going to have to hydrate. There have been surveys done in the
past that say within an hour after giving a a teaching or
sermon that 90% of it is forgotten within an hour. And it's a fascinating
statistic. So how do we overcome that? By
repeating the same things over and over and over again. Different
ways, just as the word of God does, by the way. A faithful
pastor would feel the urgency of doing that because the greatness
of salvation comes with the blessedness of assurance and because we want
to live godly lives so that we can participate in the fullness
of our salvation. The blessedness of assurance.
And we want to remember that so, and so, So that's what the teaching of
the church is set about to do. He reminds us of what the Bible
says. Secondly, Peter not only understood
the urgency of his ministry, that's the very second point,
which is to remind people as a matter of warning them against
hazards of error and sin, but he secondly understood the spirit
of the ministry. He understood what the spirit
should be. While you're reminding people, you have to recognize
that they do know some things when you talk to people to remind
them. And Peter shows that proper spirit, the spirit of graciousness,
the spirit of gentleness, and the spirit of meekness, and the
spirit of tenderness. And so he speaks in that way
there in verse 12. I shall always be ready to remind
you of these things. And that's the urgency, but the
spirit of it. Though you know them and be established
in the present truth. I mean, there's a sweetness in
that. He says to his people, I know you know these things.
I know you've heard these things. And I know these things have
been built into your life. And I know they're present with you,
but I still remind you of them. That's the spirit, okay, that's
the spirit he was using. And again, I'm gonna just not
share everything I was gonna say about that. When you talk
to the people of God, there should be a gentleness, if you're a
teacher, and a meekness and a graciousness. Peter shows that, he wants to
leave no impression on them that he doesn't believe, he's not
trying to show he doesn't believe that they're devoted to Christ.
There isn't any condescension here. He's the one you remember
who said that you're not the Lord over the flock. Even though
he knows about forgetfulness and there's a graciousness in
the Spirit, he says even though you already know this, I'm here
to tell you something you don't know. And I have great confidence
and great trust in what you already have learned and what you already
have come to believe and what you already affirm. But I just
want to remind you. So Peter recognized that, and
that's in Romans 10, verse eight. Paul wrote, remember he said,
the word is near you, even in your mouth and your heart, that's
the word of faith which we're preaching. And Paul, he writes
that to the Romans, giving a tremendous amount of theology there. He's
laying out the gospel in Romans, from one end to the other, and
he stops right there, and he says, I just wanna let you know
that I realize the truth is near you. It's in your mouth, it's
in your heart. And there he's quoting out of
Deuteronomy, actually. The word of faith which we're preaching.
It isn't something new to you, I know it's near to you, it's
in your presence. In Colossians chapter one, Paul
speaks of the word of truth, the gospel. And in verse six
he says, which has come to you just as in all the world also. It's constantly bearing fruit
and increasing even as it's been doing in you also since the day
you heard it and understood the grace of God and truth. And he
writes this letter to the Colossians full of exhortation, full of
calling them to a higher kind of life. And yet he says, I know
you've heard the truth. I know you believe the truth.
And I affirm all that. I'm just reminding you, I'm trying
to increase your devotion. And first John, John says that
we have an anointing which we receive from the one who abides
in us and we have no need that anyone teach us because his anointing
teaches us all things. And he's speaking there no doubt
about we have the Holy Spirit, we have the Holy Spirit. If you
don't have the Spirit, you're not saved. You have the Holy
Spirit. And second John, second verse, he says the truth abides
in us and will be with us forever. And when you know Christ, John
recognizes it, Paul recognizes it, Peter recognizes it. When
you come to know the Savior, the truth is in you, and the
truth abides in you. And Peter's saying, I know that,
I'm not questioning your salvation, I'm not questioning your faith,
I'm not questioning your devotion to the Savior. I'm just reminding
you because of the urgency since you stand in the path of oncoming
falch doctrine, it's gonna hit you. And so he says in verse
12, even though you already know them and have been established
in the truth, the truth means the body of doctrine. You have
a solid theology. We know you do, he says. Over
in chapter three, he's gonna say in verse 15, he's gonna talk
about Paul and his letters. And no doubt they had exposure
to some of the inspired New Testament letters. And so they knew the
gospel, they knew the truth, they were established doctrinally
to some degree, and then he says, in the present truth, it's present
with you, this truth, this true gospel, the true doctrine is
present with you, and it's certainly a gracious approach by Peter,
he says, you know, that's because you know Christ. You've been
taught the doctrine, it's presently with you, I acknowledge all of
that, and yet in the spirit of loving, gentle affirmation, He
also understood. And then the third point of our
little lesson this morning is the duty of ministry. So he understood
the duty of ministry. And he says, I also know you know the
truth of the gospel and you know doctrine and it's present in
your heart and in mine and yet there's a duty incumbent upon
me, Peter says, Peter articulates it in verse 13 of the ministry. He says, yea, and I think it
meet also as long as I am in this tabernacle to stir you up,
putting you in remembrance. You know, if there's anything
that would have compelled Peter, it would have been his own defection,
right? I mean, was there ever anyone in the history of the
world who had a greater opportunity to know the truth than Peter?
I mean, was there? I mean, there couldn't have been. And not only was he included
among the 12, all of whom had that great opportunity of serving
the Lord Jesus personally for 12, those three years, three
and a half years. But he was included among the three, Peter,
James, and John, who were most intimate with Christ, and he
was without question the leader of the 12, and thus in many ways,
he was the most immediate confidant of Jesus Christ. And he must
have felt the closeness to him because he was so brash, I mean,
he had made such major assumptions about what he could say in the
presence of the Savior, which indicates that he felt very comfortable
being around the Savior. No man ever lived there that
had a greater proximity to the truth, having walked with Jesus
for those years and having heard everything that he taught, having
seen all the miracles that he did, having experienced everything.
and the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. And that is, it
is not even all recorded in the Bible. I mean, so many things
that even the books of the world couldn't contain them, John says
in his gospel. So he experienced all that truth
and was reminded of it again and again. And you say, well,
how so? Well, if you read the gospels,
you find that our Lord Jesus Christ taught the same truths
over and over. And over. And sometimes in the
same words, sometimes in different words. That's why you may read
an expression of the Lord in one context, in one gospel, and
see it appear in a completely different context in another
gospel. That's not proof of redacting or editing, as some would want
to say, the gospels. That's proof that Jesus was an
able teacher. He knew he had to repeat the
same things. Peter heard them again and again. That's why Jesus was so distressed
when he went toward the end of his ministry. They still hadn't
got the message. He says, how long have I been
with you? In the upper room when he's talking to them. And you
still don't know who I am? I mean, there's Peter after all
of that firsthand exposure to truth, defecting and defecting
at the time of the crisis, denying Jesus Christ. And Luke 22, verse
31, Jesus said, Simon, Simon, the old Satan has demanded permission
to sift you like wheat, but I prayed for you that your faith may not
fail, and when once you have turned again, strengthen your
brethren. And he said to him, Lord, with
you I'm ready to go both to prison and to death. And Jesus said,
as I say to you, Peter, the cocks will not crow today until you've
denied me three times. that you know me. You're gonna
deny it three times. Did he? Well, verse 54 there in Luke.
Having arrested him, they led Jesus away and brought him to
the house of the high priest. But Peter was following at a
distance. And after they had kindled the fire in the middle
of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting
among them and a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat at
the fire light and looking intently at him, said, this man was with
him too. But he denied it, saying, woman,
I do not know him. And a little later, another saw
him and said, you're one of them too. But Peter said, man, I am
not. And about an hour after that
had passed, another man began to insist, saying, certainly
this man was with him, for he's a Galilean. But Peter said, man,
I do not know what you're talking about. And immediately, while
he was still speaking, the cock crowed, and the Lord turned,
and looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord,
how he had told him before the cock crows today, you're gonna
deny me three times, and he went out and did what? He wept bitterly. See, Peter knew firsthand that
even though you have a lot of truth, and it's present with
you, you need constant reminder lest you defect. And, you know,
It's present with you, you need to be constant reminder unless
you defect. And the teacher never holds back
truth because it's known. Truth bears repetition. That's
why you build the blocks of the wall with strength. And so he
says in verse 13, I consider it right and I consider it fitting,
I consider it proper, I consider it my duty as long as I am in
this tabernacle. And that word tabernacle means
a tent. As long as I'm in this tent, a great graphic way to
see the human body, it's only a tent. And he's borrowing here
from the nomadic people of the Old Testament who lived in tents
and had no permanent dwelling, only temporary place that unfolded
their tent and they stayed a while and they folded up and moved
on. And from Abraham onward, it was a pattern of life. It
was a beautiful way to see the body. Your body is only a tent.
It's a temporary transitory place for your soul to live. And someday it will be folded
up and your soul will move on to another place. and someday
abandoning your tent, but Peter says, as long as I'm in this
tent, this temporary, transitory, passing place to live, long as
I'm in it, I consider it right to stir up by way of a reminder. So he's saying it's a lifelong
calling. He's saying there's no retirement.
I'll do this till I leave my tent. But Peter had a lifelong
perspective here. What he was doing, he was going to be doing as long
as he lived, he was going to be doing that. And he was going
to stir it up. Awaken you out of sleep. Awaken
you out of laziness. Arouse you out of lethargy. Quicken
you, the idea of thoroughly arousing you. Believers can become lazy
and sleepy and drowsy, failing to be alert and clear-minded. And so Peter was probably thinking
of the graphic illustration of his own life. There he was with
James and John, the guard, in the most crucial time in the
life of the Messiah. He warned them to pray with him.
What did they do? They slept. They slept, and there's a sense
in which every teacher knows that his responsibility is to
stimulate those who are listening and to awaken you from your lethargy
and indifference and laziness and apathy and spiritual drowsiness. Well, how do you do that? Verse
13 says, by way of reminder. Only a few major issues in scripture,
just have to keep repeating them over and over and over again.
No amount of knowledge of salvation, no amount of firmness in the
truth puts you beyond the need of reminding. Faithful teachers
don't have to come up with something new all the time. They don't
have to be spinning off some new and entertaining kind of
thing. They just continue to remind people. And it's the third
chapter of Jeremiah. I love the story, Tragedy of
Forgetting. The kingdom was divided. Of course,
Israel, the northern kingdom, had already gone into captivity,
never to return. And Judah, the southern kingdom,
had come to this nice edge, the brink of judgment. Captivity
for Judah was imminent. And the Lord begins to address
Jeremiah, and he speaks of Israel in the third person. In verse
six through 11, there in chapter three, and he speaks of Israel,
again, reciting their sin, and the third person emphasizes the
distance from God, and Judah, and there was a distance that
sin had brought about, and though he refers to Israel, he's referring
to the existing Israel, which was Judah. They're the only ones
that remain, verse six. And the Lord said to me in the
days of Josiah King, have you seen what faithless Israel did? And he's referring, of course,
to all the defection of the northern and southern. She went up on
every high hill, under every green tree, and she was a harlot
there. The sin of Israel was defection, apostasy, open flagrant
turning away from God for the very purpose of committing lewd
sexual idolatry like the Canaanites and the worship of Baal. The
whole country in every high mountain, they always used the high places
because they felt that's, you're closer to heaven when you go
on top of the hill. I live on top of the hill, I can tell you
it's near, no closer to heaven. I can tell you for sure. It's safer
right out at the bottom than on top. But in verse seven there
in chapter three, she's done all these things, again, third
person. She will return to him, but she
didn't return, and her treacherous sister, Judah, saw it. Again,
God describes just how awful it was that the northern kingdom
was carried away, never to come back. They never came back. Some people had defected to come
back, so you have all of the 12 tribes that aren't lost that
were there in the Southern Kingdom. But then the Southern Kingdom
also had to be, they forgot how God dealt with the sin there.
God deals with sin, he hates and judges sin. And so that's
the reason for Peter wanting to remind The fourth point, I
got one minute and I'll share it with you anyways, is the brevity.
The brevity of ministry is very short. He says he's gonna put
off his tabernacle. And what happened? Church history
tells us that when it came time for Peter, Peter was in his 70s.
Peter was actually in his 70s. I'm in my 70s, so you're old
when you're in your 70s. You're old, okay? Peter was old.
Most of his compatriots had passed away younger. Maybe not the Apostle John, but
all the others had passed on. Then it came time, Jesus had
told him the way he was gonna die, so you stretch forth your
hands in John chapter 21. So he had known for 30-something
years how he was going to die. He knew he was going to be crucified
at some time. And he says shortly, which meant
it could happen any time. And he knew that for 30 years
plus, he could die at any time, and that would be the end of
his life and the end of his ministry. When it did come time to be carried,
he unfortunately, He had to watch his wife be crucified first.
That was the punishment. They put Peter in front of his
wife. This is church history, not Bible history. Peter had
to watch his wife be crucified. And he kept telling his wife,
remember the Lord. Remember the Lord. Remember the Lord Jesus. Until his wife passed away. Then they crucified Peter. And
then Peter wasn't, said I'm not worthy to die like my master.
crucified me upside down, and they did. They crucified Peter
upside down. But the Lord had showed him,
Peter knew all this, and so he's writing this as a swan song.
He's on an endeavor so that you can have this. After my decease,
he knew he was gonna go. Go back and read the Bible. Thanks
for letting me share with you this morning. Have to unhook
the Bible, it's a nice little lesson.
A Needed Reminder
Series Beware False Teachers
| Sermon ID | 122924184103938 |
| Duration | 39:14 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday School |
| Bible Text | 2 Peter 1:12-13 |
| Language | English |
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