Thank you for directing your internet connection to the sermon audio page for Christ Orthodox Presbyterian Church. You can learn more about Christ OPC by visiting our website at www.christopcatl.org. Christ OPC meets for worship each Sunday at 11 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. Sermon text this evening is in 2 Peter chapter one. verses 12 through 15. Verses 12 through 15. Here now, the holy, inspired, and inerrant word of our gods. Beginning in verse 12, therefore, I intend always to remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it writes, As long as I am in this body to stir you up by way of reminder since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And so I will make every effort so that after my departure You may be able at any time to recall these things. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever. I imagine that these days you would be hard-pressed when you walk into any place of business and often any house of worship even, you'll be confronted face to face with some sort of mission statement or motto or slogan or something of that sort that intends to give you a general idea of what that place is all about. You walk into Walmart, and you pull the buggy from the rack, and the first thing that you see etched into the handlebars there is, save money, live better. Because for them, if you shop at Walmart, you will save money, and therefore, your life will be better. You drive down the highway, and you see a massive billboard with cows on it, and it says, eat more chicken. You may have never been to a Chick-fil-A in your life, but you know that that place is gonna sell some chicken. And if you need to find some, then you have a place to go. The happiest place on earth. You all know what that is in reference to. Now I question the veracity of that statement, but you all know that if you hear the phrase, the happiest place on earth, then somebody is about to make a trip down to Orlando. Even Reformed Theological Seminary just up the road has a little motto etched in on many of its walls. It's on one side of my classroom in which I teach there, a mind for truth and a heart for God. And it's a great motto. It summarizes really what the seminary is all about, about teaching the truth of God's word and instilling into the students a burning desire to live for God, a union of both teaching and of life. And you see it all over the place. In fact, at the back of my tie, it says mind and heart. Because if you ever want to go buy an RTS t-shirt, you buy it from the Mind and Heart Store. You kind of get the picture of what's going on here. Well, if there was ever a passage in Peter's epistles that gets us to the core idea of what Peter's ministry is all about, the closest thing that we can get to a sort of mission statement or motto for the Apostle Peter, then it's 2 Peter 1, verses 12 through 15. Because in this passage, really what Peter does is he gets down into the heart of what he is trying to do as an apostle and minister of the gospel. And really, everything that the apostle Peter is about as an apostle and a minister of the gospel really comes down to one thing. And that one thing is that you would remember Christ. That you would remember who Christ is. And that you would know who you are in Christ by the power of God. Everything that Peter wants to emphasize about his ministry and about his work as an apostle and a minister is to take you to see your beloved Savior Jesus Christ and to remember who He is. and therefore to remember who you are. In fact, he says that three times in our passage this evening, doesn't he? Did you hear it? As I was reading through it a moment ago, it begins in verse 12. I intend always to remind you of these things. And if you didn't get the point, he says it again in verse thing. I think it right as long as I'm in this body to stir you up by way of reminder. And then he finishes in verse 15. And I will make every effort so that after my departure, You may be able at any time to recall, to remember these things. Remember, remember, remember. Peter, in his work as a pastor, his even writing of this letter has the ultimate goal that you, the church of Jesus Christ even today, would remember your Savior. and that you would remember who you are in him. See, that's Peter's motto. Remember. Remember Christ and remember the power of God at work in you. Three points as we consider this this evening. First, Peter's constant reminder in verse 12. Second, Peter's imminent departure in verses 13 through 14. And then lastly, Peter's diligent efforts in verse 15. Well, verse 12, Peter begins to get into the hearts of his ministry by saying, therefore, I intended always to remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. And now this evening, I want to spend most of our time here on verse 12. And the reason for that is you can really summarize all three points of the sermon as remember, remember, remember. Because he really says it in each section of this paragraph, doesn't he? But he kind of gets to his main idea here in verse 12, where he says that he always, right, I intend always, in all of his ministry and all of his work, to remind you of these things. Now your Bible might say these qualities there. I think these things is a little bit of a better translation because there is no term for qualities there in the original. It's just about these things. And the reason I bring that up is because if you read these qualities, Now that's a little bit of an interpretation to say that everything Peter has in mind is just the virtues of verses five through seven. And now it's true. Peter does have the virtues of verses five through seven in mind. But understanding that he says these things rather than these qualities draws our attention not just to verses five through seven, but rather all of verses three through 11. You see, Peter doesn't just want to stir you up by way of reminder to the virtues you ought to pursue in the Christian life. Instead, he wants to stir you up by way of reminder everything that he has said about the power of God at work in you, the promises of God that have been given to you in his word, accomplished by his son and applied by his spirit. Everything he wants you to remind you of pertains to everything Christ has done and everything you are in Christ. And how by the power of God you have escaped from the sinful desires, the corrupt nature that is in the world because of sin. That because of Christ and the power of the Spirit working faith in your hearts, you have become a new man that you can't diligently make your calling and election sure. That because of Christ and because of his work even now in you, you can cast your gaze forward to the new heavens and the new earth, the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and look in profound hope. to the richly provided entrance into that kingdom that is yours in your Savior. You see, when Peter says here in verse 12 that he is always going to remind you of these things, he is reminding you of what God has done for your salvation in the person of the Son. And in light of that, who you are as one who has been renewed by the power of God to live a righteous and holy life in him. See, it's intensely doctrinal and it's intensely personal, isn't it? Everything that he is seeking to remind the church of Christ about is who your Savior is and therefore who you are in light of what he has done. And as he says this, He says it over and over again in our passage that he is reminding you of these things. Interesting thing to think about, isn't it? Peter could have gone to a charge here saying, therefore I charge you to learn what I just taught. but instead he's saying he intended always to remind you of these particular things. All of the doctrines that we've discussed in previous weeks and months from verses 1 through 11 are not new to the hearers of Peter's letter. Indeed, it has been the sum and substance of his lifetime of ministry to the church throughout his time. That's what always here, I think, means. And yet Peter is saying that more than just a presentation of Christ and a presentation of who you are in Christ, he is saying that that has been everything he's done. There is no Christ plus something else in Peter's ministry. It is always, and at every point, a reminder about Christ, a reminder about your Savior, what he has done for you and in you. And as he is writing this letter, He wants to do it again. He wants to remind you of your Savior. He wants to present Christ before his church. Let them behold the marvel of your Redeemer and to be encouraged to live that life of holiness that Christ himself calls you to live. His entire ministry has really been one long reminder of those things. I think it's important to consider it in that light, isn't it? because we have a constant need to be reminded of the truth of the gospel and the holiness that that gospel requires of us in our lives. We tend to have this idea, don't we, that once we've learned it once, then we don't really need to hear it or to learn it again. I've been there. I've learned that. But Peter is saying something very different. That his ministry, and I think indeed the entire ministry of all the church throughout all of the ages, is really all about this reminder of Christ. And the need to constantly and to persistently put the Savior before the save. to put the Christ before those who are made like Christ. And the reason why I think Peter emphasizes this is he understands the life of the Christian. And he understands it because he also lives it. And he knows even in our personal lives, we have a need to be constantly and persistently reoriented, readjusted so that our lives might not run off the rails of disobedience and false teaching. You know, as a teenager, I was in the scouts and one of the things they taught us was how to use a map and compass or orientation if you will, and if you've never done it, it's actually a lot of fun. And I think it's a little bit of a helpful image of what Peter might be getting at here. See, if you've ever used a map and compass, what you do is you get your map and you have to plan a course to get from point A to point B. But as you've planned the course, that's the easy part. Walking the course, walking the path, is the hard parts. And the way that you would do that, and what we would do, is that they would drive out into the middle of nowhere and drop us off at some random guy's ranch. Camp would be about eight to 10 miles away, and using only that map and compass, no trails, no roads, you had to find your way from point A to point B. Well, what do you do, and how do you do it? Well, you lay the map down on the ground. You orient it to true north. And you grab your compass. You find the right degrees that you need to go and the distance by which you need to travel. And you find something on the horizon, generally about a quarter to a half mile away, that you can point yourself to and walk to that point. And then once you get to that point, you know what you have to do? You have to get out the map. You have to orient to true north. Find the right degrees. And you have to do it again. Why? Because whenever you're out bushwhacking and walking through where you have no trail to follow, you have a constant need to make sure you're staying on the right degrees for the right length of time. Even if you're off by one degree or two, it could put you out to where you're missing your camp entirely. And so the only way to stay true to the path is to repeatedly reorient yourself. to always remind yourself of the pathway upon which you need to go. Well, in an analogous fashion, so also the Christian life. We always need to reorient ourselves, to remind ourselves of the teachings of God's word, to present before ourselves the reality of who Christ is and who we are in him. That way we would stay true to the path of the gospel that God has set before us. See, the reality is our hearts are often quite quick to forget and quite ready to go astray, to wander off onto the side paths like a young child walking through a mall or something like that. But the presentation, the reminder, of the gospel of Jesus Christ set before the church week in and week out through the ministry of the pastor is what realigns the people of God so that they stay focused on the path that is set before them. We need these constant reminders of Christ and the holy life that he calls us to live. And how do we find these reminders? There are a number of ways that we could discuss, just a few of them here, is just to find those reminders through the regular attention given to God's words. to read for yourself the promises of God and the realities of God and His word, and to do so day in and day out, month in and month out, so that the word of God is always the lights unto your path. Another way is to maintain a regular fellowship with the saints. There's not much more dear in the Christian life than gathering together with fellow believers, perhaps for a prayer meeting or a Bible study or something like that. And in that time, pray for one another and with one another to hear maybe a devotional or something about who Christ is and what he has done and have your life reoriented again. But most important, The most important thing in terms of this reminder and this reorientation for the Christian life is the regular attendance to Lord's Day worship. And I want you to keep in mind that when Peter is writing his threefold reminder here in these verses, that the way the people of God would have heard this back in the first century is in a gathered corporate worship service. Most of the people, even up until close to the modern age, were illiterates. The place where they heard the promises of God that they could then draw by way of reminder was from the corporate gathering of God's people. Assumed in all of Peter's reminders is the church gathered together to praise the Triune God, to hear the Word of God proclaimed, to sing and praise the Lord, to pray with one another. And so if you find yourself in your Christian life, and going lax, losing devotion or vigor, forgetting the things of the Lord, then ask yourself what you're doing on Sunday morning and evening. Are you gathering with God's people? And when you are, are you engaged and thoughtful? Listening, singing, doing all the things of worship together with the church of Christ? Because this is how. The people of God are primarily reminded about who Christ is and the work that he has done. Another thing that I think Peter recognizes about the Christian life here is that there is a danger of becoming dull or cold to the things of the Lord. I think he addresses this danger in a roundabout way in the second half of verse 12, where he says, I intend always to remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. He is not coming to the church and saying I'm going to give you something new today. He's not coming to the church and saying I'm going to give you this radical five new ways to live your best life now. No, he is going to come, and Lord stay in, and Lord stay out, present to them the very thing that they need for their life of faith today, and what you need is Christ. To have Christ presented before you, to have Christ placed before you, and the marvels of his glory always set before your eyes as the church of Jesus Christ. Yes, you know them, but yes, you need them. And you need them all the time as you're living as a Christian. Really, we could say that the whole work of the minister of the gospel is that thing, isn't it? To present Christ to his church. to proclaim his word to his people, and to let his people know that the love that he has for you is sure, that he has redeemed you, he has called you as his own, and he will bring you into his eternal kingdom. See, there's no room for a been there, heard that sort of heart in our Christian lives. What we need is a heart that is always ready to hear more about our Savior to hear again about what he has done to to rest even more in the reality of who he is and to cherish every single second of it. And so perhaps maybe you've had the thoughts. I've heard the same thing again and again and again. And if I hear Christ one more time, I just don't know what I'm going to do this evening. Well, if that is true, then let your eyes be cast up to witness the majesty of your Savior. Pray to him that your hearts would be inflamed with a love for your God and your Redeemer and enjoy. And love the Savior who has given himself for you, who has brought you to himself as his bride. And be reminded that that love of Christ for you is what is going to bless you and keep you through this age. Because the reality is, if we were stuck stoking the flames of our heart ourselves, we would have little hope. But because it is the power of God at work in us, then we know that our Savior will keep us on this path, that he will keep presenting himself for us through the proclamation of his word, that we can be encouraged and even strengthened in the truth that is set before us. That's really what Peter says here at the end of verse 12. Established in the truth that you have could be translated as well as strengthened in the present truth. There is always a need to grow in our understanding of who Christ is. There is always a need to grow in our holiness before Christ. There is always a need for the Christian to hear of who Christ is and of what he has done for you. There is always a need for this reminder. This isn't just true for the Christian. This is true for the pastor as well. See, Peter is getting into the heart of his ministry and really summarizing what I think all of ministry for every minister from his day to ours is supposed to do. And it's that from the pulpit, you are to proclaim the Word of God which takes you to the Christ of God. Anything else, anything additional, takes the pulpit and turns it into a platform. maybe for politics or for personal prestige or gain. And so Peter has a concern here, not only that you would be reminded of Christ and who you are in him, but also that you would be reminded of what the true work of gospel ministry looks like. Because this paragraph is really a transition to something Peter's going to deal with in chapter two. And chapter two, if you've read on in 2 Peter, is all about false teachers who are among you. See what he says there. False teachers among you. Peter's not concerned with the random things that are being proclaimed on CNN or whatever other website or social media that is out there in the world. He is concerned about shepherds who are actually wolves or wolves in shepherds clothing. And if you read on in chapter two, you find that in one way or another, the teaching of these wolves in shepherds clothing denies the truth that Peter is trying to remind you of. Let me just give you a few examples. In chapter two and verse one. When Peter says that there will be false teachers among you, secretly bringing in destructive heresies, he begins with the destructive heresies and how they are even denying the master. Have you noticed in our reading of 2 Peter, the repeated phrase, our Lord Jesus Christ, or Jesus, our Lord. He says it in verse one. Our verse two, may grace and peace be multiplied to you and the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. He says it again in verse eight, our Lord Jesus Christ. Again in verse 11, the eternal kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Verse 14, I know that the putting off of my body will be soon as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. Again, verse 16, our Lord Jesus Christ. Over and over and over again, he is emphasizing the preeminence and the Lordship of Christ. And the key thing about false teachers is that they, in one way or another, bring Christ down to elevate themselves. He continues on in the chapter. Talking about the hearts of these false teachers, these wolves in shepherds clothing and how in verse 14 they are. They have eyes that are full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They are trained in greed or down in verse 15. They loved gain from wrong doing verse 3. They exploit you with false words. See, the true ministry of the apostle, even pastors to this day, is to always make much of Christ. But the false teachers, these wolves in shepherds' clothing, in one way or another, are using the gathering of God's people not to make much of the Savior, but rather to exploit the sheep to make much of themselves. They are greedy, Peter says in verse three, twisting the word of God for the sake of their own gain. And the greed, they exploit you with false words, but not so the apostle. Peter and all true ministers of the gospel from that day to ours teach the truth of Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of Jesus our Lord. He intended to remind us of the qualities though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. Faithful teaching, dedicated to the majesty of Christ above all things. You see the work of the apostles and even the work of the ministers in this age is to present Christ to the people of Christ, to call you to remember your savior and to trust and to rest in him. And Peter is urgent that you would understand that this is the case because this apostle who has spent his life presenting Christ to Christ's church has just had it revealed to him that his days of fruitful labor on this earth are coming to an end. Because Peter relates to us in verses 13 and 15 that he thinks it's right as long as I am in this body to stir you up by way of reminder since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. See, Peter has an urgent message to present Christ before his church and to get to the core of what gospel ministry is really all about, because he knows that his own apostolic work is drawing to an end. And as it draws to an end, he wants once more to present Christ to his people and to write a letter that enshrines the truth of who Christ is and what he has done and who you are, so that the generations of Christians that would follow him might hear this word of reminder as well. That you, gathered here at Christ OPC in 2025, would hear Peter's reminder. that you would hear the words of the gospel of Christ proclaimed once more in your ears, that you would hear the truth of your salvation and be encouraged to live the life of faith today. And as Peter does it, he places verses 13 and 15 in some very interesting light. And there's another translational difficulty here, because as we were reading, you notice in the ASV, it says, as long as I am in this body and the putting off of my body, that's actually not, the word body is not in the Greek text at all. So I'll say something that maybe some people might find anathema, but I give you permission to cross out body and to write another word there in its stead. Because the word Peter actually uses here is not body, it's tent. What he actually says is I think that it is right as long as I am in this tent to stir you up by way of reminder since I know that the putting off of my tent will be soon. Now is Peter talking about his physical body and that he is soon to die? The answer to that question is yes. But that he uses the language of tent here I think is very significant. And it's significant for two reasons. One is because unlike what some have argued, Peter is not arguing for a body versus soul dualism. As if he's looking for a day where he can shed the shuck of his physical body and finally ascend to some sort of phantom glory as a spirit that he's been waiting for. That's not within Peter's mind here at all. In fact, he doesn't even use the term body and so we have to distance ourselves from this sort of body versus soul dualism. Instead, the use of the language of tense here echoes purposefully the use of Paul's language of tense in 2 Corinthians 5. The very passage we read just a short while ago. Remember what the apostle Paul is talking about there. How in this tense, In this tent, which is our mortal bodies, what is our life like? Our life is marked by groaning and by suffering and by enduring longing for our heavenly dwelling, the resurrection body that is in the glorious places with our Lord that is yet to come. And as he's considering this life in the body, Paul continues in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7. to enjoin the people of God to talk about how we walk by faith and not by science. The reality that the Christian life in this world marked by this present tent is a life of groaning and suffering and living by faith as we await what is ours by sight and the new heavens and the new earth. And so now Peter using 2 Corinthians chapter five, which by the way, if you read 2 Peter chapter three, we find that Peter has himself been reading Paul's letters and teaching Paul's letters. And so in light of that, what we should understand here in verses 13 through 15, 13 and 14, is not a material versus spiritual, not a body versus soul, but rather the reality that Peter is living the life of faith and he is presenting the core of that life before the church. He is presenting Christ and who they are in him. And he's doing it. and a context of his life was actually marked by intense suffering, the groanings of 2 Corinthians 5, verse 2. See, Peter says here in verse 14, since he knows because Jesus Christ has made it clear to him that his body, his tent is soon to be put off. And scholars discuss a lot about when this was and what it was that might have been going on here. Was it something that Jesus said is in a ministry or is that an additional revelation later on in Peter's life? And however the scholars come down, however you might come down on that, we do need to remember the words of John chapter 21. Where in John 21, 18, the apostle there relates something about how Peter is going to die. where Jesus addressing Peter says, when you're old, you will stretch out your hands and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go, which John interprets in verse 19 saying that that saying from Christ shows the way that Peter was to die. While Peter's death is not recorded for us in the Bible, Other historical sources in the tradition of the church do tell us that Peter was himself tortured and crucified. Some traditions even saying, we can't be sure of it, that Peter was crucified upside down because he did not see crucifixion right side up as worthy of who he was. He did not deserve to die in full shame the way his savior did, but he must himself be inverted. Well, that may or may not be the case and maybe folklore. What is the case from John Chapter 21? Is that the end of Peter's life was not pleasant? He was not able to go wherever he would want to go. He was not living the easy life ready to just kind of go away in his sleep. He died the death of a martyr. Crucified for the faith that he has in his crucified Savior. And so here is Peter in a time of his life marked by intense persecution which will end in his death. And what does he do with functionally his dying breath? He calls you to remember the Savior who has died for you and to remember who you are in Him. It's because of that that I think he comes back to this theme again a third time in the passage here in verse 15, where Peter says, and so I will make every effort, every effort. Peter, at the end of his life, suffering persecution, soon to be crucified unto death, is here using every last ounce of breath and energy that he has to diligently present Christ to his church. Peter is living in light of the end of his life, and he is using every ounce of what he has, every bit of diligence, to complete his calling. to finish his ministry, to always present the Savior before the people. And Peter's attitude and spirit in that moment, I can't help but contrast it to the way many of us consider the end of our lives today. So you have this modern thing, so this is a very modern thing called retirement. Retirement's fine if we're thinking about it as retirement from our worldly vocations, but it becomes a problem when we think about retirement in terms of our spiritual lives. When we see the final ages and years of our lives as an excuse to spiritual complacency, to separation from others, to put it on cruise control, I fought the fight and now I'm just kind of going to finish the race sitting in the back seat. This is not how Peter lives in light of the end of his life. In fact, the very reality that Christ has made known to him, that his death is imminent, spurs him on to even more diligence in his ministry. And I think in light of that, every Christian should take that to heart in this day as well. Not only for those who are nearing the end of their lives, but every single Christian should live in light of the end. Do you know what the false teachers mock at in 2 Peter 3? They mock at those who ponder and teach about the coming of Christ. But what does the true minister teach about and call the people to? Well, Peter says in 2nd Peter Chapter 3 verse 14. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these that's waiting for the new heavens and the new Earth. Be diligent. Be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace. Every Christian. young or old, is to live their lives with the diligence of one who is about to be brought before the throne of God in heaven. To live your life as though you were to ascend the heavenly Zion even at this very moment and that you would be found without spots or without blemish and at peace with the Lord of glory. Beloved, do you see Peter's ministry here? Do you see his goal in his ministry? Do you see what he's doing with every ounce of energy and every diligent effort, even to his last breath? He is calling you to behold your Savior, to look to Jesus, to rest upon the one in whom your salvation can be found, to look to the one who renews you after his own image and by his own power, and to rest in the one who will bring you into that heavenly kingdom, who will take this earthly tent and bring you into a heavenly dwelling with a resurrection body in the new heavens and the new earth. And his goal In this reminder is to leave a legacy of presenting Christ and of holiness to the church. See the language here at the end of verse 15 that you may be at any time be able to recall these things is actually memorial type of language. Language about setting up maybe how a community might set up a statue, or how you might hang a picture in your home to remember a family member or an event. And if we're seeing it in that light, here Peter, at the end of his life and the end of his ministry of reminding you of Christ, wants to set up a legacy about Christ. I can't help but contrast it to what I hear so often in the halls of churches today about a legacy for the future. Almost always, almost to a time when I've heard that it's all about some sort of multi-million dollar building project. Let's leave a legacy to our children and the legacy is going to be a new pipe organ. Let's leave a legacy to our children and the legacy is going to be a new children's wing with an indoor playground and so on and so forth. Well, Peter has none of that. The legacy that Peter wants to leave to the generations of the church, it's not a building, it's a person. And it's the person of Christ. that is to be set before the church of Christ for every age, both in this one and in the age to come. The legacy for Peter and the legacy of the ministry, it's not the minister, it's the Christ who is proclaimed. So he calls you to look to him, to remember your savior, to remember what he has done, to hear his promises as you gather for worship, and to make much of your marvelous Savior, to bask in his majesty, even as Peter did on the Mount of Transfiguration, and to be caught up with his glory. That's Peter's ministry. That's Peter's motto, his driving heart throughout all of his ministry and all of his life, to remember Christ and to remember who you are in him. Let's pray. Father, we do come before you this evening acknowledging that we are so easy to forget the things that you have revealed to us in your words, so ready to have amnesia concerning the things of the gospel. And we thank you that you have given us the words here of Peter, even your very words, that we are to be reminded of our savior and to have him set before us all the days of our lives. And we pray. that as Peter's ministry was caught up into these things, to present Christ and who we are in him, that the ministry of your church would continue in that light, that you would raise up faithful shepherds who present the chief shepherd to the sheep, who grow to love him, to love Christ, to see him all the more every day of their lives and even onto the new creation. We pray this in his name, amen.