October 13 2013 Steve Rahter 2 Peter 1 12 21

10/13/2013

0 Comments

Sunday October 13th2nd Peter 1:12-21We’ve seen how many times Paul and Peter have used the word “therefore” in their letters to remind the people they are writing to that the marvelous blessings God has poured out on us should trigger some sort of response, some sort of change, on our part. Here in Chapter 1 of 2nd Peter, he actually uses the word to emphasize why HE has chosen to respond in a certain way:12 Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.In 1 Peter 3:15, Peter told US to “always be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you”. Here Peter says that HE will always be ready to remind his followers of the powerful things that they’ve learned, “even though you already know them”! And Peter has a specific reason for his intense desire to continually remind his followers of what they’ve already been taught; He knows that he probably won’t be around much longer to remind them.13 I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder,14 knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.Peter calls his body “my earthly dwelling”. That’s similar to what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:1“For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”And Peter says that he KNOWS that “the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent” because Jesus has made clear to him that the end of his life is approaching. After His resurrection, Jesus had appeared to His disciples while they were fishing, and in John 21:18-19 Jesus said this to Peter:“Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” 19 Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”Jesus had predicted that Peter would die as a martyr and now He apparently showed Peter that the day was near. Peter “therefore” wants to keep reminding these Christians of everything that they’ve learned, so that they will be able to call them to mind after his “departure”.The word “departure” is literally the word “exodus.” It’s the same word that was used in Luke 9:28-31 to describe Jesus’ approaching death: “Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, 31 who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.And what’s really interesting is that Peter now refers DIRECTLY to that encounter on the mount of transfiguration to further strengthen his followers’ belief in all that they’ve been taught.He says in verses 16-1816 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was   made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— 18 and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.Peter reassures them that their faith isn’t based on a bunch of “cleverly devised tales”. Some translations use the word “myths”. In reality, the Christian faith is firmly grounded in both historical and spiritual reality, and viewpoints that are contrary to faith in Jesus are the actual “myths”!Paul gave this warning in1st Timothy 1:3-4:“As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith.”And then again in 2nd Timothy 4:3-4  he wrote: For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.Peter says that he can assure them that what he saw on the mount of transfiguration was no myth! He says “I WAS THERE!” We have this record of it inMatthew 17:1–8”Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified. 7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” 8 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.”Peter is well qualified to teach about “the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”. He isn’t just talking about Jesus’ first coming, and the power of His miracles and His resurrection. Peter is also reminding them about Jesus’ SECOND coming, when He will return in power and glory.The word translated as “coming” is parousia , which is the New Testament term for Christ’s Second Coming. In 1st Thessalonians 3:11-13 Paul uses the same word:“Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; 12 and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; 13 so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.”Peter is pointing out that he not only walked with Jesus for three years as one of the apostles, but he saw a GLIPMSE of what Jesus is going to look like at His 2nd coming, and it was just AWESOME! He says “we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” In Matthew 16:27 Jesus said, “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels.”In some ways the Transfiguration was a prophetic picture of the divine glory that Jesus is going to shine with when He returns.And Peter says we should pay attention to that shining prophetic promise in the midst of a dark world:19 So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.Throughout the Bible Jesus is compared to many things to describe His awesome majesty. The first reference to Jesus as a “star” is seen in Numbers 24:17, which is a prophecy about the coming Messiah:“I see him, but not now;I behold him, but not near;A star shall come forth from Jacob”  We see that Jesus fulfilled that prophecy in Revelation 22:16“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” Peter says that the morning star, “rises in your hearts” like “a lamp shining in a dark place”, meaning that our faith in Jesus’ can get us through some of the dark days and dark places that we may have to face until He comes again.Then Peter gives a warning about the difference between TRUE biblical prophecy, such as the promise of Jesus’ 2nd coming, and FALSE prophecy, which is simply based on human interpretation:20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.This same point comes up later in chapter 3 verses 15 and 16. “and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.”Peter says that unstable people cause themselves harm by distorting and twisting the scriptures.He is essentially saying that we need to understand that not only do all of the prophetic verses in the bible come from God, but also so do the interpretations of those verses.Let’s look at a few examples of what he means:In Daniel 8:15–17 we read:“When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man. 16 And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, “Gabriel, give this man an understanding of the vision.” 17 So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and fell on my face; but he said to me, “Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end.”So Daniel has a vision, then he asks what the vision means, and Gabriel TELLS him what it means!In Zechariah 1:7-10 it says:“On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, as follows: 8 I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a red horse, and he was standing among the myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, sorrel and white horses behind him. 9 Then I said, “My lord, what are these?” And the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.” 10 And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are those whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.”So again, Zechariah has a vision that he doesn’t understand. He asks what it means and the angel TELLS him what it means!You might be surprised how many times the Bible simply provides its own interpretation of prophetic verses.We know that every book of the bible was written by human beings, but Peter says they were always men who were “moved by the Holy Spirit.”Paul says the same thing in 2 Timothy 3:16“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”What Peter is emphasizing here is that not only is the Holy Spirit the ultimatesource of all prophecy, He is also the only one who can properly interpretprophecy!That’s why Paul says in 1st Corinthians 12:8-118 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.For prophecy, or any of the gifts to be of value, it MUST be given by the Holy Spirit. And any interpretation of prophecy must be guided by the Holy Spirit as well, AND it MUST line up with the rest of scripture. When we operate within those biblical guidelines and safeguards, we obtain the true benefits of spiritual gifts without the potential dangers. If somebody tries to share with you their own private interpretation of the bible… RUN!