2
Peter 3:1-2
(A
Bible Study Led by Dr. Larry Reynolds)
July 3,
2014
2. Some people are not very
good at keeping their promises…but, of course, it is not what way with Jesus…He
is 100% reliable…completely trustworthy…what He promises, He will do…and one
thing He promised His followers in the NT is that the day would come when He
would return to this world…He said in John 14, “…I go to prepare a place
for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there
you may be also.”
3. The NT is literally
permeated with references to the return of Jesus to this world… according to one writer
about 1/20th of NT speaks of His return...23 of the 27 NT books refer to
it...are over 300 references to second coming Christ in Bible [Lucado, And the Angels
Were Silent, p.135]
4. 2 Peter 3 is written against
the backdrop of the promise of the Lord’s return to this world…interspersed
throughout this chapter are references to the Lord’s return…for example—
--v.4
quotes those asking, “Where is the promise of His coming?”
--v.10 says “…the day of the Lord will come like a
thief…”
--v.12 speaks of “…the coming day of God…”
--v.14 describes Christians as looking “…for these
things…” meaning the Lord’s return…
5. For the early Christians the
return of Christ to this world was not something to fear, it was something to
which to look forward with great anticipation…it is described as “the
blessed hope” (Titus 2:13) for which Christians are anxiously
waiting…using the promise of Christ’s return as a motivator, Peter concludes
the letter of 2 Peter with some words of encouragement for Christians…
6. There is an obvious
difference in tone and style between 2 Peter 2 and 2 Peter 3…as we saw that 2
Peter 2 focused on the false prophets, the counterfeit Christians infecting the
early church…in that chapter Peter is harsh, blunt, and to the point…however,
chapter 3 is directed toward believers…it is much softer, much more
conciliatory in tone…four times in this chapter Peter addresses his readers
with a word the NASB translates “beloved”…you’ll find that word
in v.1, v.8, v.14, and v.17…some Bibles translate the word “dear friends”
others translate it “beloved brothers”…the root of the word is agape
which is the highest, most noble kind of love…it is a term of endearment
designed to snag the attention of the readers…
7. And each time Peter uses the
word “beloved” he gives his readers some important instructions
in light of Christ’s return…for example in vv.____ tells us to--…
v. 1-2 – Be
informed in preparation the Lord’s return
v. 3-13 - Be alert in anticipating the Lord’s return
v.14-16 – Be
diligent in preparing for the Lord’s return
v.17-18 – Be on
guard to persevere until the Lord returns
We’re going to explore each of those ideas in
the weeks ahead…in this session want to direct your attention to 2 Peter 3:1-2…(text)
T.S. – Will Rogers, the famous philosopher/humorist,
once said, “Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.” [Wiersbe, Be Alert,
p.76] …Peter
says at the outset of this chapter that in light of the fact the Lord is going
to return to this world, he does not want his readers to be ignorant…and to
avoid being spiritually ignorant, we must do two things…
I. We
must “stir up our minds” (v.1)
1.
Begins chapter 3 by reminding his readers he was writing them for the
purpose of “…stirring up your sincere mind…”
--we come across the verb translated “stirring
up” earlier in our study of 2 Peter…the same word is used in 1:13…told
you the word means to arouse, to awaken, to bring to life…what is it Peter desires
to awaken in us?…
--he wants to arouse or awaken a “sincere mind” in
us…that little phrase could be basis for an study in itself…the word translated
“sincere” means pure or uncontaminated…it is a compound word…
first part of word comes from word which means “sun ray” and second part
comes from word which means “to judge”… literally it means “sun-judged”…was
used to describe process of holding piece of pottery up to light of the sun to
see if there were any flaws are cracks in it… [LABC, p.206]
2. And
what Peter is saying here is that in light of the fact that Jesus is going to
return we need to think right…our thinking needs to be able to stand the
scrutiny of the light of God…all kinds of implications in that for our lives…
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3. Obviously means our thinking should be
pure…one writer translates the phrase “sincere mind” as “wholesome
mind” [Brian’s
Lines, J/F, 1998, p.16] …we live in world which does not lend itself to wholesome thinking…the
proliferation of pornography in our nation has become epidemic…Came across an
interesting quote this week from Beth Moore, the well-known Bible teacher
from Houston…she wrote: "We can now sit in our Beaver Cleaver
homes with our white picket fences and open the attic door of pornography
through the Internet. ... The rate of Christians being snared daily is
staggering...
4. Thinking right obviously
means Christians should avoid the lure of such things…but it also means that
we should avoid succumbing to the prevailing secular wisdom of our day…wisdom
which includes such popular ideas as:
·
There is no such thing as
absolute right and wrong. What one
person may see as wrong, another person may legitimately view as right. As long as you feel good about what you do,
that’s all that matters.
·
Religion is good only if
it doesn’t make people feel guilty or bad about themselves. Religion that calls for personal
responsibility and sacrifice is out of date and hurtful to people. Religion that speaks of sin and the need
for forgiveness is medieval.
·
The worst sin of all is to
be intolerant of someone else. No-one has
the right to question anyone’s life-style.
All life-styles are morally the same.
Such things are just a matter of personal choice.
5. Those are the kinds of things with which we
are constantly bombarded in our culture…they are woven into popular music,
television shows, movies, and even the daily newspaper.
T.S. - And Peter tells us here that in light of
the fact Jesus is coming back to our world, we must think more clearly than
that…we must have “sincere minds” – minds that are pure and
wholesome and minds that can stand the scrutiny, the light of His coming…now
how do we develop such minds?… the answer to that question is in v.2…
II. We
must focus on God’s Word
1. Look at what v.2 says…“…you
should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the
commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.”…if look
carefully at that statement can see a reference to the OT and the NT...
--“…the words spoken
beforehand by the holy prophets…” refers to God’s Word in the OT…
--“…the commandment of the
Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles…” refers to God’s Word in the
NT which was still being formed when Peter wrote this letter…
2. The instruction in v.2 is that we are to “…remember
the words…” of the Scripture…thought struck me this week that we
cannot remember what we don’t already know…and truth is many Christians are
ignorant of the Scripture…even some of the people who have made it their
passion to defend the Bible, to fight over the Bible, to argue about the
Bible have not made a serious effort to understand and apply God’s Word to
their lives…
3. Focusing on God’s Word, taking the Bible
seriously means much more than merely waving the Bible and saying I believe
this book because it is God’s Word…(several years ago went to drove some
distance to hear a nationally famous preacher…and must confess that was very
disappointed in what I heard that night…was sitting behind and above the
podium so had clear view of what was happening…this man walked podium
carrying large Bible…place Bible closed on top of podium and began his
sermon…for 30 minutes mocked and fumed and degraded those people who differed
with him over biblical interpretation…but the thing which struck me as
strange is not one time did he open the Bible and not one time did he quote
from the Bible…)
4. And what I want to say to
you today is that focusing on God’s word means more than just talking about
the Bible…it means to read it regularly, to meditate on it, to study it
carefully and prayerfully, to allow the Spirit of God penetrate and change
our lives with its truths…doing as Colossians 3:16 instructs us: “Let the word of Christ richly dwell
within you…”
Conclusion
1.
Will Rogers was right…“Everybody is ignorant, only on different
subjects.” [Wiersbe, Be Alert, p.76]…but in light of the fact that Jesus is coming
back to this world whether it is in our life-times or beyond… and in light of
the certainty that we will all one day stand before Him, Christians cannot
afford to be ignorant of God’s Word…
2.
Simon Peter’s challenge to us is that we “…stir up our minds by
the words of the prophets and the apostles…” found in this book!
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