Let us continue to learn from the 2nd Letter by the Apostle Peter; open your Bibles there. As we will note in our passage today, God is the one truly speaking through Peter in these letters.
Read along with me 2 Peter 1:12-21…..
Last week we noted from Peter, by the power of God, how Christians are to grow in their faith in Jesus Christ. We are saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ; but we are to add to our faith to affirm our faith and to grow closer to God.
In v16-17 we can note why Peter was so confident in reminding Christians of how to live.
v16: Peter was not sharing his own wisdom!
v16: Peter and a few others personally lived with God Jesus Christ.
Peter was instructed directly by God through Jesus Christ!
v17: Peter, along with others, heard God from heaven!
v16-17: Peter experienced the power, the majesty, the honor, the glory, and the holiness of God and Jesus Christ!
And let us note from v17 and from the Gospels when Jesus was baptized, God exists in 3 Persons (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit).I make a point of this to note again that not all Christian Churches believe in the same thing. There are some Christian churches who proclaim that God does not exist in 3 Persons. We must stand firm in what the Bible states. Yes, there is One God but the Bible also states that God exists in 3 Persons!
We can also note from v17: Jesus Christ is who He says He is, confirmed by majestic heaven and by people who witnessed Him on earth.
A quick application of this truth here for all our lives: It is crucial who Jesus Christ is to each one of us personally! It is crucial in your life and eternal life who Jesus Christ is to you right now personally.
Pretend for a moment that I’m John the Baptist and there is a river here. Picture in your mind Jesus Christ being baptized, the Holy Spirit like a dove landing on His shoulders, and God from heaven speaking, “this is my One and Only Son who I love and am giving to you.” As Jesus rises from the water, Jesus looks at you directly and tells you “Come and follow Me!” – Are you following Jesus right now? Will you quietly say right now, “I will follow you Lord Jesus Christ wherever You lead me!”
And so, let us go back to 2 Peter 1 v19, we note that because it was God speaking, Peter was confident to tell the future! We will note later in our study of 2 Peter what some of these prophetic events will be; but for now let us note what God says through Peter what the attitude of the Christian with regards to prophecies. What’s our attitude towards what the Bible says about the future?
v19: Christians are to pay serious attention to prophecies! As a light shining in a dark place; in other words, Non-Christians are “in the dark” (they have no clue what the future holds).
But note that Christians are warned here about being in the dark themselves. We are to pay attention …..until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts – more on this in our applications.
v20: Christians are to grasp the fact that prophecy in Scriptures are from God, not man-made!
In other words, If God says so, then it will happen!
What can we apply to our Christian lives today?
First of all, Peter was so confident in sharing God’s Word to people! How about us? Answer this question quietly to yourself: On a scale from 1-10, with 10 the strongest, how confident are you in telling someone about God’s Word? If a person comes talking to you, are you confident to share God’s Word? Actually, whenever we are talking to someone, our prayers should always be “Lord, give me the opportunity to talk about the Bible to this person!”
To bring more confidence about God’s Word in our lives:
a. Be careful of sharing your own wisdom! Man’s wisdom is foolishness to God - 1 Corinthians 1:25.
If we are telling people how smart we are, we will be foolish in God’s eyes!
b. And remember Proverbs 9:10 ….. the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; in other words, the more we worship and be at awe with God, the wiser we will be! Always worship God!
Secondly, Peter lived and walked with God to gain wisdom. Eventhough Jesus Christ is in heaven while we’re living here on earth, Jesus gave us God the Holy Spirit to be within each Christian. And so, b. Always be aware and yield to God the Holy Spirit within you.
Always affirm that God is with you wherever you go.
And Peter heard God, therefore He was confident in sharing God. Are we hearing God? I think the more applicable question for us is “Are we taking quality time to listen to God?” How does God speak today??
c. God is speaking loud and clear even today; take quality time to daily listen!
God speaks through the Bible, through Creation, through other people, through prayer and meditation! Make note that godly meditation is not about blanking your mind; Godly meditation is reviewing in your head who God is and what He says over and over again, like a cow chewing on cud.
What also helped in his confidence with God was Peter’s experience with the wonders of God. What about us? Are we experiencing God’s wonder which is all around us? How often do we look for God wherever we go, whatever we’re doing? What are examples of God’s wonders around us on a daily basis??
It is really pretty easy to think about God’s wonders! Start with the planet your on; the earth freely dangles in space, it spins just right and we don’t fall off, the angle of the earth’s tilt allows us to live here, the center of our earth is hot molten liquid, the air is perfect for living things…. Our God is an awesome God!
d. Let us commit to looking for and experiencing God’s wonders wherever we go!
And to close and in preparation for future lessons from 2 Peter and in preparation for Communion, let us not forget the challenge for us in v19-20: Take God’s foretelling of the future seriously; they can happen at any moment now for us today!
Jesus said to all His followers to regularly take time to remember what He did on the cross by taking bread and drink till He returns to earth to take all His Believers to heaven. Jesus can show up for us at any moment now; take this seriously! And so again, do you truly believe that Jesus Christ is your only God and your only Savior for your sins because He died for you? If you do, then you are to participate in Communion, remember what He did for you; and are you ready for Jesus to show up right beside you at any moment?
Our attitude regarding God’s promises should be like a light in the darkness until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. What does this mean? We are to grasp God’s promise that Jesus will show up at any moment until it is fully clear in our minds and hearts like the sun bringing the day! Before you and I partake of Communion, let us quietly pray till it is fully clear to us what Jesus has done for us and what He will do soon. Pray till it’s clear to you that Jesus can call your name at any moment…
