Introduction:
A. The story is told of an elderly gentleman who was telling his friend about a new restaurant he and his wife recently visited.
1. He said, “The food and the service were great!”
2. His friend asked, “What's the name of the restaurant?”
3. “Gee, I don't remember,” he said, “Hey, what do you call the long stemmed flower people give on special occasions?”
4. “You mean a rose?” offered his friend.
5. “Yeah, that's it!” the old man exclaimed and turned calling to his wife across the yard, “Rose, what's the name of that restaurant we went to the other day?”
B. So let me ask you: How good is your memory? Do you tend to forget things?
1. Can you remember your wife or husband’s name?
2. Can you remember what day is today or what you had for breakfast?
3. What about Scripture? Do you remember what the Bible says and where it says it?
4. What about the Lord and your salvation?
a. Do you remember what the Lord has done for you?
b. Do you remember the commitment you have made to the Lord?
5. These are things we don’t want to forget.
6. Unfortunately, we often forget what we need to remember and we remember what we need to forget.
C. We notice that God is often commanding His people to remember important things.
1. We also notice that God often gives his people physical, visual aids to help them remember.
2. God has given us the sign of the rainbow to help us remember that He will never again destroy all life by water.
3. God gave the sign of circumcision to remind the people of Israel of the covenant of Abraham.
4. God gave them the Passover to remind them of the great deliverance from Egypt.
5. Similarly, God has given us the Lord’s Supper to give us a weekly reminder of our deliverance from sin through sacrifice of Christ.
6. God knows how easily we forget and how important it is for us to remember.
D. As we turn to today’s text from 2 Peter, we see Peter doing everything he can to leave the church some very important reminders.
1. He is basically saying to all of us: Don’t forget to remember.
2. Peter knows that false teachers pose a great danger to the church, both in his time and in ours.
3. Let’s work our way through the text to see what things we need to remember.
I. Remember to be Established in the Truth (1:12-15)
A. Peter begins: 12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
B. The first thing that stands out to us is the fact that there is a body of truth that Peter wants to be sure they remember.
1. He compliments them saying that they are “firmly established in the truth you now have.”
2. He wants to be sure that they will remember “these things” after his departure.
3. Through their preaching and teaching, the apostles and prophets laid the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20), and we in later generations are building on that foundation.
4. The truth about Jesus Christ is that foundation (1 Cor. 3:11).
5. Peter implies that there is a fixed body of truth that must be held to and remembered.
6. Jude describes it as “the faith that God has once for all entrusted to the saints.” (Jude 3)
7. The receiving of this truth establishes a person in the truth, and holding on to that truth results in faithfulness and spiritual strength.
C. Why was Peter so urgent and emphatic about reminding them of this truth? Because he knew his death was near.
1. Back in John 21:18-19, Jesus spoke of the end of Peter’s life and the fact that it would be a violent death that would bring glory to God.
2. If you knew your time here was coming to an end, what would be your focus?
3. What would you want to impress on the Christian family you would be leaving behind?
4. What would you want to impress on your personal, biological family?
5. What would you do to try to make sure they wouldn’t forget the important things?
D. As an aside, let me say that I appreciate Peter’s lack of concern for his own death.
1. He’s not concerned about himself, he’s concerned for them.
2. He talks of his death as a laying aside of this old tent; like taking off an old pair of clothes.
3. He talks of his departure, and the word his uses is “exodus”
4. Peter didn’t fear death and neither should we.
5. Peter saw death, not as an end but as a taking off of the earthly and going out into the Promised Land of God.
E. But before his exodus, Peter was committed to doing everything possible to establish the church in truth and to help the church remember these things after his departure.
1. To use an educational term, Peter wanted his readers to “overlearn” the basic truths of Christianity.
2. He didn’t apologize for the repetition of these things – He acknowledged that they already knew these things, but that he was going to go over them again so that they wouldn’t forget.
3. Paul wrote something similar in Philippians 3:1, “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.”
4. As a preacher, I’m rarely bringing anything new to the church – most of the time I’m trying to find ways to remind you of what you already know.
5. Obviously, for the seeker or the new Christian, my preaching may contain a lot of things that are brand new to them, but not the older, more mature Christian.
6. But that is an important part of my job – to help us remember and to be inspired to never forget.
F. Let’s mention one final thing about Peter’s efforts to help us remember.
1. What did Peter mean by: And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things (vs. 15)?
2. Was Peter talking about his pre-death teaching or was he making an illusion to his writings?
3. The letters of 1 and 2 Peter are a part of the New Testament and have been ministering to the saints for centuries.
4. It is also possible that Peter is alluding to the gospel that we call The Gospel According to Mark – Most Bible scholars believe that the Spirit used Peter to give Mark the data for his gospel.
G. So the first thing that Peter wants us to remember is to be established in the truth.
II. Remember that Many of the Biblical Writers were Eyewitnesses (1:16-18)
A. Peter continued: 16 We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
B. Why was it important that Peter point out that they did not follow cleverly invented stories, but that they were eyewitnesses?
1. As we will see in the rest of this letter, Peter was combating false teachers and their false teaching.
2. These false teachers were not eyewitnesses and had some cleverly invented stories.
3. These false teachers were trying to cause people to depend on their spiritual experiences rather than depend on the Word of God.
4. Peter calls their teaching “destructive heresies.” Some of these heresies had to do with Jesus and His coming.
C. Peter wants to show the contrast between the apostles who are eyewitnesses and the false teachers who come talking about their cleverly invented stories and their speculative theories and experiences.
1. Peter wanted them to understand that the Christian faith is based on historical facts.
2. Peter wanted them to understand that he was not speculating, nor was he stretching the truth, rather he was simply giving his eyewitness account.
D. The incident that Peter is pointing to in these verses is the Transfiguration of Jesus.
1. Of all the things that Peter was an eyewitness of, why bring up this one incident?
2. Why not bring up the feeding of the 5000, or the crucifixion and resurrection?
3. Why the transfiguration? Because the Transfiguration affirms several important doctrines of the Christian faith.
E. What are these important doctrines of Christianity that are affirmed by the Transfiguration?
1. The Transfiguration affirms that Jesus is indeed the Son of God.
a. They heard the voice declare: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
2. The Transfiguration affirms the truth of the Scriptures.
a. During the Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah both appear with Jesus.
b. These are the two greats of the Old Testament – Moses represented the Law, and Elijah represented the prophets – both delivered the Word of the Lord.
c. When Peter proposed doing something that memorialized Jesus, Moses and Elijah equally, God declared: “This is my Son…Listen to Him!”
3. The Transfiguration points to the certainty of the Second Coming of Jesus.
a. The heretics whom Peter was counteracting no longer believed in it.
b. The Second Coming was so long delayed that people had begun to think it would never happen at all.
c. Peter employed the Transfiguration incident, not as a foretaste of the Resurrection of Jesus, as it is commonly regarded, but as a foretaste of the triumphant glory of the Second Coming and our resurrection.
d. Moses and Elijah are not dead, but are very much alive.
e. We will live with them and be like them when Jesus returns.
F. So Peter declares that he was present for the Transfiguration – He was an eyewitness of that and so much more.
1. What he knows about Jesus and what Jesus taught came to him first hand, no speculation and clever invention was necessary.
2. And when you think about it, so much of the Bible was written by those who were eyewitnesses.
3. The Gospels of Matthew and John were written by eyewitnesses, and as I mentioned earlier, Peter likely passed on the information to Mark.
4. Luke wrote Acts and he was present for the second half of the events of the book.
5. Paul wrote much of the New Testament, and he wasn’t a believer during Jesus’ ministry, but Jesus appeared to him personally after the resurrection, and Paul became an eyewitness then.
6. So many of the writers of the Old Testament we eyewitnesses of the things they wrote about, like Moses, David, Solomon, Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel and the Prophets.
7. The false teachers were coming along in Peter’s day, and they weren’t eyewitnesses yet they were teaching something very different about Jesus than those who had been eyewitnesses.
8. This is an important thing for us to remember, but there is an even more important thing to remember.
III. Remember that the Bible is Inspired by God (1:19-21)
A. Peter concluded the chapter: 19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
B. When Peter says “we have the word or the prophets made more certain,” he was saying that the OT prophets spoke of the same things he did and that their words are made more certain because the Transfiguration is a preview of their fulfillment.
1. In other words, “the glory of Jesus on the mountain top and the visions of the prophets combine to make it certain that the Second Coming is a living reality which all people must expect and for which we should prepare.
2. Peter says we should pay attention to it like a light shining in a dark place.
3. If you have ever walked around with only a flashlight on a dark night, then you know the importance of paying attention to the small area that is illuminated by the light.
4. The world is a dark place and therefore we need the light of the lamp of God’s Word.
5. We should be focusing on the promises of Scripture “until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”
6. All of this is an obvious allusion to the day of Christ’s coming.
7. In the OT the Messiah is referred to as the “star out of Jacob” (Num. 24:17).
8. In Luke 1:78, John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah prophesies about the forgiveness of sins that is coming from God when “the rising sun will come to us from heaven.”
9. In Rev. 22:16, Jesus calls himself “the bright Morning Star.”
10. Certainly Peter is pointing us toward the Second Coming of Jesus.
C. Peter then ends this section with two of the best verses in the Bible that explain how Scripture is inspired by God.
1. Peter wants us to know and remember that the Scriptures are not merely the words of men, but are the very words of God.
2. First he declares: “no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.”
3. Second he declares: “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
4. Peter’s point is that the origin of Scripture is God, not man.
5. Scripture did not come through human invention, imagination or will, rather it comes from God
6. All of this is an amazing mystery – Men spoke and wrote, but God so worked in them so that what they said and wrote was His Word.
7. It was not through a process of dictation or through a state of ecstasy that the writers of Scripture spoke, but through the control of the Spirit of God.
8. These men were inspired, but not in the same way we think of people like Shakespeare, Mozart, or Rembrandt were inspired; theirs was the work of genius, the writing of Scripture was the work of the Holy Spirit.
D. And keep in mind that the Word of God was written to common people, not to theological professors.
1. The writers assumed that common people could read it, understand it, and apply it, being led by the Holy Spirit who inspired it.
2. The humble individual believer can learn about God as he or she reads and meditates on the Word of God.
3. No one needs the “experts” to do all the interpreting, although this does not deny the ministry of teachers who may have special gifts for explaining and applying the Scriptures.
4. Nor does this deny the place of the “collective wisdom” of the church over the ages as the Word has been studied and doctrine has been defined and refined.
5. We should be very cautious of new interpretation and teaching – it does not seem reasonable that billions of people over thousands of years would be completely wrong and in the dark about the meaning of Scripture.
E. In 2 Tim. 3:16-17, God has given us a powerful Scripture about Scripture: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
1. The Bible is God’s Word and it is powerful and useful.
2. We should love it, and strive to learn it, and to live it.
Conclusion:
A. When Jack Nicklaus, also known as “the Golden Bear,” was the undisputed number 1 golfer in the world, he was asked how he kept on top of his game.
1. His answer was interesting and very applicable for us.
2. He said that at the end of every golf season he went back to his first coach who taught him the basics of golf, and had him reteach him the basics all over again.
3. Every year he went back and learned the basic building blocks of a good golf swing.
4. There wasn’t anything new to learn; there was just the need to be reminded again of the basics.
5. It worked for Jack Nicklaus - he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time because he won 18 major championships over a span of 24 years.
B. Spiritually speaking, the same approach can work for us.
1. We must not forget to remember.
2. We must remember to be established in the truth – and review it regularly.
3. We must remember that many of the Biblical writers were eyewitnesses – they truthfully passed on what they saw, heard and experienced.
4. We must remember that the Bible is inspired by God.
C. Where are you this morning? Are you established in the truth of Jesus Christ?
1. Maybe it’s not that you don’t know the truth, it is that you have forgotten the value of it.
2. Maybe you needed to be reminded that the Bible is God’s Word and it is different and unique.
3. Maybe you needed to be reminded of the need to establish yourself and your family in the truth.
4. Or maybe you needed the encouragement of the Second Coming to keep you walking faithfully.
5. Whatever you do, don’t forget to remember!
Resources:
The Bible Exposition Commentary, 1 Peter, by Warren Wiersbe, Victor Books, 1989
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 1 Peter, by Edwin A. Blum, Zondervan, 1981
The Daily Study Bible Series, 2 Peter, by William Barclay, The Westminster Press, 1976
Interpretation, 2 Peter, by Pheme Perkins, John Knox Press, 1995
Remember, Remember, Sermon by Alan McCann, SermonCentral.com
