Sermon: Worth Remembering

I invite you to take a Bible and turn with me to the book of second Peter, second Peter, chapter one.

This evening we are continuing our series, uh, through this letter from Peter to a group of Christians. And this evening we will be considering, uh, what he says in chapter one verses 12 through 15. Before we read God's word together, would you uh, join me in a word of prayer?

Our Father in heaven, we believe because your scriptures tell us that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. And so we pray, oh Lord, that you would open our ears to hear your word tonight, and that you would remove the veil from our hearts so that we might believe once again the truth of your word. And we pray, oh Lord, that by your grace you would empower our hands to practice your word.

Oh Lord, would you speak to us? Would you feed us? We, your servants are hungry and we, your servants are listening. This we ask in Jesus name. Amen. So two Peter a chapter one, and we're gonna begin in verse three. And verses 12 through 15 are our text. But we will, uh, read from verse three of chapter one.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence by which he has granted to us his very, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire for this very reason. Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue

and virtue with knowledge and knowledge, with self-control and self-control with steadfastness and steadfastness, with godliness and godliness, with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind having forgotten that he was cleansed from,

from his former sins ends. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling an election for if you practice these qualities you will never fall for in this way, there will be richly provided for you in entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it 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 made clear to me, and I will make every effort so that after my departure, you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Amen. Well, dear brothers and sisters, in the Lord Jesus Christ, I wonder what goes through your mind when someone tells you what to do when you already know what to do.

And I wonder what goes through your mind when someone tells you how to do something that you already know how to do.

Kids ask you, what is your reaction when mom tells you for what feels like the 100th time to not ride your bike into the street? Teens, what goes through your mind when your dad calls you over before you leave in the car to remind you again that curfew is at 10:00 PM and adults, those of you who work in the workplace, what goes through your mind when your boss sends that email or calls that meeting to once again cover the employee expectations

that you already know and heard last year and are practicing what goes through your mind? How do you feel about receiving reminders about things you know and things you are already doing? How do you react? Do you tune out? Maybe the voice begins to sound like the person on the other end of the line in Charlie Brown. Wha wha wha wha wha Or do you speak out? I know. Do you question the memory or the motivations of the one speaking to you?

Why do they keep telling me this? Do they think I'm dumb? That goes through your mind. I ask you this because in our study of second Peter, we've come to a transition paragraph, a transition paragraph that is situated between the two major teaching sections, the two major content sections of the book. If you step back and you examine the letter on the whole, you might think that these four verses verses 12 through 15 add little

to nothing to this letter

verses one, uh, verses three through 11 of chapter one is an amazing paragraph, an amazing paragraph that communicates the wonder of God's grace given to Christians and the power of God's grace to enable Christians to live a holy life like Jesus. And then after this paragraph beginning in verse 16 and following the truth and the certainty of the scriptures is held up against the error of false teachers, especially the, the certainty of Christ visible

and personal return over against the mistaken and sinister claims that Christ is not coming back.

That first section and the the next section, Those constitute the, the substance of this letter's content. And so it might seem that these four verses add not much, maybe nothing. And in fact, from what Peter says in these verses, it doesn't seem like Peter believes he is saying anything new, anything new at all to his readers, but things that they already know and things that they already practice, they are established.

So what is the purpose? What purpose does this paragraph have in the book? What purpose does this have for us? Verses 12 through 15, their function is to state the purpose and the intent for this letter. They, they give us Peter's intent why he chose to pick up the pen and write, he intends to remind the readers of this letter of the truth. Again, they already know this truth, they already practice it, but he intends to remind the readers of the truth so

that they remember the truth and are stirred up by the truth and continue practicing the truth. That's why Peter is writing and that's what he tells us in these verses. Now we'll have a, a closer look at the paragraph in just a moment, but whatever your natural reaction is, your natural reaction to regular reminders, reminders about things you already know, things you're already doing, whatever your natural reaction, if it's a a negative reaction, fight against that tonight.

Fight against any urge you may have to tune out or to speak out because the Holy Spirit speaking through Peter wants to stir you up through this letter to keep the truth, The truth you probably already know and to keep practicing the truth. Things that you probably already are doing imperfectly sure, but that you're attempting, you are working toward the Holy Spirit wants these reminders to stir you up to self-examination.

And would you let that happen tonight? Would you let these verses stir you to self-examination and renew your effort by God's grace to live a faith-filled and a faithful life?

We see that Peter's declaration of intent begins in verse 12 where he says, straightforwardly, I intend always to remind you of these qualities. The ESV here translates the less specific Greek term meaning these things which you may find in your translation. These things, the ESV transit translates it more specifically as these qualities, these qualities which he has just outlined in the previous paragraph. Peter means to keep these truths ever before the church.

These truths about the grace of God verses three and four and the qualities produced by God's grace verses five through seven. He means to keep them in the life of believers. Now the reason why he wants to keep them keep these qualities before the church is not because these Christians don't already know them. And it's not because they are not already practicing them because he says you know them

and you are established in the truth. So Peter's not out to correct Christians, it's not what he is doing. He's not setting out to correct them because he doesn't need to. He doesn't need to. But the reason for his reminder, or more precisely maybe one reason for the reminder is that the things Peter has said are of such importance. They are so important that he will keep reminding them so that they will keep remembering

and that they will keep making every effort to remain established in the truth.

Now, we do this sort of thing all the time. We do this all the time. We remind people of things they already know so that they keep doing them. So for example, when you teach a child to ride a bike, you will show them how to pedal and then you will tell them how to pedal. And when the child has practiced and got gotten good enough so that you're running alongside of them and then they're able to pedal out ahead of you,

you might yell to them as you daughter makes it far along the sidewalk, keep pedaling.

Why do you feel the need to tell her to keep pedaling? You've shown her, you've told her she's doing it. Why Do you tell her to keep pedaling? Because it's important, right? If she stops pedaling, she will fall and you want her to keep going so you remind her of something she already knows so that she won't forget to do it. She'll keep doing it. Now, I want you to look back with me at some of the things that Peter has said about those virtues in verses five

through seven that underscore their importance. So, uh, those are the virtues in verses five through seven. And notice what he says after he has listed these virtues. In verse eight he says, for if these qualities are yours and are and are our in our increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christians who possess these grace produced virtues will not be ineffective, they will not be unfruitful. One commentator says that this metaphor of bearing fruit of, uh, excuse me, of not bearing fruit, okay, unfruitfulness, this metaphor refers oftentimes in the scriptures to a life of vice. He references Jude 12, Ephesians five, verse 11, mark four 19. And as such, it is the opposite of a life filled with good deeds.

So this is a life of one who doesn't show that they are bearing good fruit but is rather filled with a life of vice. And so in effect, Peter's saying, maintain these virtues so that you keep bearing good fruit, keep bearing that good fruit. And then you notice that the progress of the person possessing such qualities in verse eight is contrasted in verse nine with the person who lacks them

as Gene Green says in his commentary about these people in verse nine, such people have ignored their cleansing. And because they have not embraced Christian morality, they end up blind once again. They end up blind once again, just like they were just like they were before the spirit opened their eyes. These virtues are not simply an add-on to the Christian life, like, oh, that, that would be nice if I had some good fruit

evidenced in my life, some good fruit that other people could see or witness. Now he's saying these are essential, these are important, they're important to possess and to practice. And they're so important that a reminder is necessary even if they're already known, even if they're already practiced. And what Peter does here in in this letter is, is a very common feature of other New Testament writings. I want you to take note of a few examples

where other New Testament writers are, are basically in effect saying the same thing as Peter, you already know this, but I'm gonna tell you again, You can take note of these first John two, verse 21. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it and because no lie is of the truth. Hear this one from one Corinthians 15 verse one, underscoring the importance of the gospel. The gospel content message is so important that he's going

to remind them of it again. He says, now I would remind you brothers of the gospel I preach to you which you received in which you stand and by which you are being saved. The importance of the message warrants, uh, a reminder of these things they already know. And then one final one, this is from Jesus in the upper room. Just as he's about to depart as he's about to die, I want you to notice the, the similarities between

what Jesus is saying, where he's at in his life and where Peter's at in his life and what that uh, does, what that makes him want to say to his disciples, who he's gonna leave from. John 14, John 14, verse 26. Jesus says, the helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. The Father will send a divine person to remind you

of the things you've already heard, the things you've already believed, so that you won't forget They are that important.

Now, I think that this is a good reminder, pun intended, for those of us who know the truth and are established in the truth that what we need are reminders. We need reminders even more than we need new and novel things. I was talking with some of the staff about this text earlier this week and one of our seminarians commented that one of his professors describes the work of a pastor as a professional reminder. That's what a pastor's job is,

to be a professional reminder. You're not saying anything new. You're not creating a new message. You're simply reminding Jesus's people of the words of Jesus. And I think that's right. This is a good way of describing it. The pastor is not to preach a different gospel or a new gospel. The pastor is not to preach the latest fads that may garner attention, but the pastor is to keep to the old paths. So said JC Riel who lived in the 18 hundreds.

He said, the longer I live, the more I am convinced that what the world needs is no new gospel. As some profess to think, I am thoroughly persuaded that the world needs nothing but a bold, full unflinching teaching of the old paths. The heart of the man is the same in every age. The spiritual medicine, which it requires is always the same.

Christians need reminders about things they already know about, things they already believe about things they are already doing. We keep to the old paths.

And you see this, this idea is going to affect what you desire or what you will expect from a church. It will affect what you desire or expect from a preacher.

This mindset will affect and influence your Christian disciplines. When you finish reading the Bible through you don't go reshelve it like you reshelve other books.

The truths that you have learned once you need again, you never advance beyond the gospel. You never advance beyond the basics. We keep going back. We need to be reminded and to be stirred up by way of reminder. And men, lemme just speak to you. This sort of mindset will affect and give you a pattern for leading in your own home. You, you don't have to come up with anything new you, you keep going back and bringing your family back to the same truths over

and over again and your patient as you bring your families back to the same truths when they need to hear it again. And you're diligent to instill these truths

and to instill these truths and have them be so ingrained that they can be recalled when your children leave your home,

that they can be recalled to mind even after you die. Why? Why do you instill and ingrain these truths? Because it's important. It's important to know them. It's important to be established in them. And so we keep reinforcing by way of reminder. So Peter gives us in verse 12, one reason why he intends to remind them of these truths and of these qualities. But we see that Peter has another reason why he is offering this reminder.

In verses 13 through 15, Peter anticipates that his time is running short. Perhaps Peter perceiving that he is getting old as he was at this time of writing, anticipates that his death will be soon because Jesus had told him in John 21 that Peter would die a martyr's death in his old age. Perhaps that's why Peter thinks he's going to die soon. Or maybe Jesus revealed it to Peter by some other means that he would die soon.

We don't know. But what we do know is that Peter is certain that his death is near because Jesus made it clear to him in verses 13 and 14. He describes his death similarly to the way Paul does in two Corinthians as a putting off of the tent. He says in verse 14, if you have an ESV, you may have there in verse 13, a little footnote after the word body. Do you see? See that superscription there? My Bible, it's in number eight, refers down to the bottom

to the footnote Greek tent. Peter describes the the putting off of his body as the putting off of a tent. It's the same word that the Psalms used to describe the tabernacle. A tent. A tent. You, you remember that the, the tabernacle was that that tent structure where God intended and truly dwelt among his people in the Old Testament prior to the establishment of the temple.

Some commentators want to make a lot out of Peter's word choice here, make a lot out of it. But I think most fundamentally Peter here is speaking fig, figuratively of his body as a tent to communicate a very simple truth that his life is temporary, his life is temporary. Praise the Lord that living in a tent is not permanent, it's temporary. It's not meant to be forever. And Peter views his life that way. His life on earth in this body is not permanent.

His time is coming to an end. Now I want you to notice this serves as a motivation for Peter. It serves as a motivation. He realizes that the time is coming when he opportunity to give reminders to other Christians will have passed. It's coming soon. And so he says it is right. I think it right as long as I have to spend my remaining days stirring you up. By way of reminder,

Peter's goal here is not simply to make sure that people remember in their minds the word that Peter says. Peter's goal is to stir their minds, to stir their hearts, to stir their hands, to practice. He wants them to do something with the reminder he's giving them.

The word that you see in verse 13 stir you up. It's the same word that is used in Mark four when Jesus' disciples go to the the bottom of the boat and find Jesus sleeping and they stir him up. Jesus, wake up, there's a storm. How can you sleep through this? Wake up, do something.

That's the word that Peter's using here. He wants to stir them up to do something. It's like if you tell your kids son, daughter, tomorrow is mom's birthday. Tomorrow is is mom's birthday. You are hoping to remind them that tomo, that mom's birthday is tomorrow. Not so that they'll say noted and move on with their life. You're hoping to remind them that mom's birthday is tomorrow so that they will write a card. They will say something nice

to mom with that reminder. Peter wants to stir up Christians to keep living the truth. And since his time is short, he issues these reminders. And I wanna ask you, do you live like Peter? Do you live like your time is short? Like the time is short? Like the most important things ought to be what concern you the most?

We often I think in, in my life, it's true of me. I think it's true in those I love. And I think it's true generally of humankind that we often live like we have many, many, many more years to live. Like, like death is far away. If it's ever going to come for me, it's gonna come in decades.

We live like the time is long or that Jesus' return is not imminent. That what Jesus, when Jesus says, behold I am coming soon. He means soon as in centuries from now,

do you live like Peter like The time is short. In second Peter three, he will say to these Christians that for some of you, Jesus' return will come like a thief comes. You will be surprised. Jesus can return at any time before this service is over. Before today turns till tomorrow, before Christmas comes, he can return at any time. Do you live like it? Are you established in the truth of the gospel? Do not be moved. Are you in a position

in relationships that you have to be able to remind others to remain established in the truth?

You don't know how much time you have. You don't know how much time your friend has, your siblings have your parents have.

Like Peter make the most of your time.

Peter ends the paragraph by expressing his desire and intent that his reminder will remain in their minds far beyond his own lifetime. And he commits himself to it. He commits himself to make every effort to ensure that these reminders will be remembered without him. He says in verse 15, I will make every effort so that you may be able to recall at any time these things.

The word that he uses there in verse 15 is the same word he uses in verse 10. Be the more, be all, the more diligent. Make every effort. And he uses the noun form in verse five. For this very reason. Make every effort Peter is going to be intentional, diligent, and he will put forth personal effort on behalf of these Christians toward this end that they will remember the truth even beyond his lifetime.

Do you believe, dear friends, that the Christian life that your spiritual life requires planning, requires effort, diligence, exertion, laboring. You should believe this. This variety of exhortation is all throughout the Bible and we're confronted with it again here. Make every effort be diligent. First. Peter had encouraged his readers to make every effort to be diligent themselves. But you see here too that Peter gives us an example

that he too will be diligent. He too will make every effort to make sure that Christians persevere in the knowledge that they've received in the practice of it.

Peter Peter's plan to make sure that they remember his reminder was through the writing of a letter, through the, the written letter that he sent to them that was part of his plan to make sure that they remembered. You see in verse uh, one of chapter three, he says, this is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them, the first letter and the second letter, I am stirring up your sincere mind.

By way of reminder,

Peter believes that the, the writing of a letter will have the effect of making sure that these Christians don't forget what he's instructed them in that it will be read over and over so that they don't forget it. And why? Why would Peter want this?

It's rather obvious, isn't it?

He wants the reminder to stick. It's that important, this truth and the practice of it transcends his lifetime. It transcends the lifetime of anyone's lifetime. He wants them to be unmoved. And I think we see something here then of a third reason why Peter gives this reminder. Because if you just look ahead to the beginning of chapter two, you see that Peter is convinced that there will be false teachers who will come among you.

Verse one of chapter two, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies and even deny the master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. Peter wants them to be able to discern truth from error and to be kept from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ even after he dies. And so Peter commits, he commits himself to making sure his reminders are able to be recalled.

While verses 12 through 15 may not add much to the substance of Peter's letter, it shows Peter's own commitment to the spiritual and eternal wellbeing of the Christians that he's writing to.

But dear friends, even more than that, it shows the commitment of your God to your own wellbeing, your spiritual wellbeing, your eternal wellbeing God has preserved for you in the scriptures, reminders, Reminders of things you know, things you believe, things that you practice. And by them, God intends to stir you up, to remain established, to remain established, and to keep practicing the truth. So dear friends, having heard this reminder,

examine your life and by the power of God's grace within you, be diligent. Be diligent to keep practicing these Christian virtues for your good, for the glory of Christ. Let's pray. Oh God, we do ask for your help. We ask for your help to remember these things that have been written and preserved for us. That we would remember the truth,

the truth of the gospel, the grace that has saved us from our sins, and that we would keep living out the gospel, that we would keep living out of the grace that you have been given, that you have given to us so that we might practice these Christian virtues. And Lord, we pray and ask for your divine help that we would keep persevering in this all the way until the day of our death or until the day of Christ's return.

And would you help us to even see this example of Peter taking the time to write a letter to remind his friends of truth that they know truth, that they're practicing? Would you help us maybe to follow Peter's example and to remind a friend of ours, a relative of ours, of the truth, the things they know, the things they're practicing, so that they might keep going and keep persevering in the faith. Would you help us? We ask for it

in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.