Peter - Session 10 (Exiles Who Remember)

All right, well, good evening and welcome back to Renewed Mind

Bible Studies. I'm Pastor Blake, and normally

I'm here in person. If you're watching on the

website or the Liberty live stream, you don't notice any

difference, but this one is recorded because I am currently

in Albania. But this is session 10.

We've only got a couple left to go as we've been going through

both first and second. Peter, to be honest with you,

next week, I'm super excited about it.

We'll tackle the idea of false teachers and all of that, but

this is very, very important that we cover tonight.

This is called Exiles who remember.

And so I just want to talk about the power of remembering for a

moment and then we'll dive into the scripture itself.

I want to start by just asking you a question.

What do you tend to forget most often?

For some, it's birthdays. For others, it might be their

keys or whether they turn the oven off or forgetfulness is

just one of these things that is human.

And sometimes it's funny when people forget things and

sometimes it's frustrating, but sometimes forgetting things can

also be costly. When you miss deadlines or you

lose opportunities or you end up in a fractured relationship.

It can all happen because you failed to remember something

that's important. Well, why do I bring that up?

Because that's the heartbeat of what Peter is talking about in

this second part of, of the 1st chapter inside of second Peter.

He knows his time is short. He's nearing the end of his

race. And so just like a spiritual

father, he's not trying to say something brand new.

He's just trying to make sure you remember all of the things

that you should know before he's gone.

If you think about it, that's why we'll talk about in a

moment. But he says, I will always

remind you of these things even though you already know them.

Does that not sound like a parent?

Because he knows the greatest threat is not always ignorance.

Sometimes it's forgetfulness. And there's a big difference

between knowing truth and living in it.

We can hear a sermon and we can agree with it, or we can even

memorize a verse, or we can drift back into old patterns the

next week simply because we didn't keep it in front of us.

And that's why Peter is urging believers to always remember,

not as like an emotional exercise, but as sort of a

safeguard. So remembering God's promises

always strengthens us when doubts creep in.

And remembering God's Word will always help us stay steady

whenever false teachers speak. Remembering the hope of Christ

always keeps us from being swallowed up by despair.

And trust me, this life wants you to be swallowed up by

despair. Think about it like a Marine

check in his gear before battle. He might know how to fight, but

unless he keeps his equipment in front of him and ready, he is

vulnerable. Or like an athlete rehearsing

the basics. Because the pros still practice

fundamentals every single day. Not because they've forgotten

how to do it, but because they need them in order to be fresh

enough to perform under pressure.

That's why Peter is so urgent in the way that he writes this.

He does not want the believers then or the believers now us to

drift. He doesn't want us to be

distracted or end up deceived. And so since he wants us to

stand firm, he needs to make sure that the truth is so alive

in us that even in his absence that we can remember who we are.

So this chapter is for anyone who has known the truth, but

it's fallen out of their focus. This chapter is for anyone who

feels the pull of distraction in their life.

It's for anyone who has struggled with doubt or

deception first hand. The call here is simple.

Just remember, because when we remember God's Word, we will

always remember to remain in His will as well.

We'll be covering verses 12 through 21 tonight, and the

first section is verses 12 through 15.

So second Peter chapter 1, verses 12 through 15, I'm

2 Peter 1:12–15

calling it stirred up by reminders.

And he says this in verse 12. He says, therefore, I will

always remind you about these things even though you already

know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been

taught. And it is only right that I

should keep on reminding you as long as I live.

For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave

this earthly life. So I will work hard to make sure

that you always remember these things after I'm gone.

OK, Peter's not scolding these believers for ignorance.

I think that's pretty obvious. He says they're currently

standing firm. He he actually says you already

know when you're already standing firm.

But he does know something about human nature.

Knowing is not the same thing as remembering, and I think we can

all agree with that. And remembering is not the same

thing as living it out. By the way.

That's why he says I will always remind you.

And the Greek word that he uses here is huponasis.

It means a reminder or a calling back to your mind.

It is not new information. If it's huponasis, it is putting

the same truth back in front of you so that you don't drift from

it. Peter knows that spiritual drift

does not usually happen because we have rejected the truth.

It normally happens because we have forgotten the truth,

unfortunately. Can you notice how urgent Peter

is in this, in this tone, in this part of the letter?

Because he says that Christ has shown him that he will soon

leave his earthly life. It doesn't get really more

urgent than that. Most scholars, by the way, do

think that Peter is alluding to what Jesus told him all the way

back in John chapter 21, when the Lord told Peter that one day

John 21 · chapter mention

he would be LED where he did not want to go.

It's an actual prophecy there to his martyrdom.

But Peter is writing like a man who knows that his time is

short. And so these are his final

words. And he says I will work hard.

That is literally the word spudazzo.

It means to be eager or diligent or intentional.

And then he says to make sure you always remember these things

after I am gone. In other words, we can be pretty

clear there's not a lot that's more important to Peter than

what he's trying to get the believers to remember here.

Think about that. What would you want to leave

behind if you knew your time was short?

For Peter, he wasn't interested in leaving behind money or

strategy or different church programs for them to embrace.

It was reminders. He wanted them to carry the

truth so clearly that even after he was gone, they could hold

fast and pass it on. That's how God works with us

too. He doesn't just teach us once,

He reminds us again and again and again.

How does He remind us? He reminds us through the

scripture. He reminds us through prayer,

and he reminds us through worship.

And don't forget, He also reminds us through brothers and

sisters in Christ, because He knows how quickly our hearts

forget. And so for us today, this means

that we need to embrace reminders as a gift, not as a

nuisance. The reminders for me sometimes

make me upset, just to be honest with you.

But it's not highlighting a place where we failed.

It's reinforcing our strengths. Maybe you're like me.

And when somebody's like, hey, don't forget to pick up the milk

or whatever, you're like, I got it.

I know how to get the milk. You don't have to remind me

again. But as a believer, when we hear

spiritual reminders, we should never approach it from the

perspective of I already know that we have to make sure that

we allow ourselves to be reminded.

And yes, if you've read this book, then you understand that

the Bible, it repeats itself a lot, but it's not because God

stutters. It's because we forget.

Church rhythms, communion, prayer, even accountability,

conversations with a friend, these are all reminders that are

designed to help us stay strong. And so the application for these

couple verses is pretty simple, but it is very powerful.

Do not despise reminders. If anything, you should lean

into them. Build your life around

reminders. Write verses down.

Rehearse God's promises out loud.

When He gives you a word, repeat it until you'll remember it.

Share your testimony. Listen to testimonies.

Keep telling the story of Jesus to yourself, to your kids, to

your friends, to anybody who will listen.

Because the more we rehearse the truth, the more we become

grounded in it, and the less we will forget it.

Couple personal insights just for you to ask yourself here.

Where in my life am I quick to quote?

Already know, but slow to remember and actually live it

out. And secondly, what spiritual

reminders like scriptures or habits or community, What

spiritual reminders do I need to put back in front of me this

week? All right, the next couple

verses, 16 through 18, I'm calling this eyewitness to His

Majesty. Peter says this.

He says, for we were not making up clever stories when we told

you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes when he

received honor and glory from God the Father.

The voice from the majestic glory of God called to him or

said to him, This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great

joy. We ourselves heard that voice

from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

So Peter shifts here from reminders to a reassurance.

He wants his readers to know that the gospel that they've

attached their life to is not a myth or a fable.

He says we were not making up clever stories.

Now, this is interesting because the Greek word here for cleverly

devised there is sofizo. It means to artfully spin a tale

or Polish your story or your rhetoric or craft a myth that

people will believe. And that's exactly what a lot of

false teachers were doing in Peter's day.

And, and pretty well here too, because they would actually

traffic in persuasive speeches, then they would invent stories

that were designed to distract people or designed to fleece

them for their money. And so Peter's just saying, flat

out, that's not what we gave you.

Instead, he says, we saw. Now here's why this is so

important. We saw comes from the word

epoptase. It means an eyewitness.

It's someone with a direct personal vision of an event.

In other words, we're back to a courtroom legal term and he's

talking about the transfiguration.

So when he says we saw his glory with our own eyes, he says that

he heard the voice from heaven say this is our my beloved son.

He's talking about the transfiguration.

And in case you just like to jot it down, you can find that in

three chapters, Matthew 17, Mark 9 and Luke 9.

Again, that's Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9.

So that's when Peter, James, and John saw Jesus radiating glory

on the mountain and they heard the Father's voice.

So he's making sure they know this is not a second hand rumor

or this is just what Christians believe.

Peter is giving a sworn testimony.

He's saying I saw him, I heard the voice, I was there.

You notice those details because he talks about Jesus receiving

honor and glory from God the Father, which by the way, is

divine validation. That voice that declared this is

my dearly loved son. He's saying it because those

words echo back to Jesus's baptism, and they also point

forward to his resurrection. They anchor everything that

Peter believed. Jesus is not just a teacher.

Jesus is not just a prophet. He is God's beloved Son and he

is full of glory. So why does Peter bring that up

here after telling us to remember things?

Well, because his readers were surrounded by skeptics who

dismissed Christianity as just another religious fad.

Rome was full of myths about God showing up in disguise or tales

of heroes that had turned divine demigods and things like that.

And Peter saying this is not like that.

This is not just one amongst many of them.

This is not a myth. He's saying it's the majesty of

the one true king, and he knows it because he saw it himself.

And he's saying we didn't imagine it, we encountered it.

So the take away for us here is that our faith is not built on

abstract ideas or fun ideas that just are designed to make us

feel inspired. It's grounded in something that

is historical. It has eyewitness accounts of

real people who saw Jesus alive. They saw him glorified, they saw

him crucified, and they also saw him resurrected.

So we don't believe blindly. We believe based on testimony

that stood the test of centuries.

And today, yes, there are still sceptics that say Christianity

is just another myth among many, but Peter would still remind us

it's actually rooted in history and the glory of Jesus is not

something that it would just be nice if it's true.

It's the reality that one day everybody will see an

experience. And just as Peter saw the

preview of Christ's majesty on the mountain, we live in the

hope of seeing it ourselves when he comes again.

A couple of insights for you there.

First of all, where do I need to remember that my faith is

grounded in reality and not just a clever story?

And secondly, how can I confidently share my faith as an

eyewitness testimony passed down and not just a personal opinion?

And let me just double down on that because sometimes we'll

hear a preacher or somebody online or something say

something that we feel like is so good, and we try to share

that with people. That's good.

There's nothing inherently wrong about it, but there's nothing

better than when you get a personal revelation from the

Lord and you get to share what He's leading you in in your

life. All right #3 we're going to talk

about second Peter, just the 19th verse of of chapter 1.

This is called the prophetic word made sure.

Let's talk about prophecy. He says because of that

experience, we have even greater confidence in the message

proclaimed by the prophets. You must play, you must pay

close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like

a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and Christ,

the morning star shines in your hearts.

Now Peter is moving on from the eyewitness to testimony to

scriptural testimony. And he's saying because of that

experience, it means the transfiguration, right?

He says because of the transfiguration, we have even

greater confidence in the prophetic word.

Now, this is going to mean a lot to you, but first I'm going to

trip through this word. You ready?

So the Greek phrase baye biota, Ron propheticon, Logan told you

I was going to trip through it. That's a phrase that means the

prophetic word made more sure, steadfast or reliable.

So he's not diminishing what he saw with his own eyes.

He's actually saying that what he saw confirmed the reliability

of what the prophets before him had already said.

Now, this is important because the mountain experience didn't

replace scripture for him. It only reinforced it.

So for many of us, we learn the Word, we read the Word, and then

we get our own experience, and then we shirk our duty to stay

in the Word. But he's just saying this.

No, I saw this. I have a great faith, and I have

even more faith because it's backed up by Scripture.

Think about this. Even after Peter saw Jesus

shining with glory and heard the Father's voice from heaven, he

still thought it was important enough to point people back to

the Word of God as their foundation.

Why is that? Because experiences fade.

You were really excited at your 5th birthday party, but you

probably don't remember it quite so well now.

But God's Word will always stand forever.

And so the prophets had been pointing to the Messiah for

centuries, and the Transfiguration proved that

their message was on track. So Peter says we have to pay

close attention to it. And that verb there is Prosecco

for some of you, just so you know, that's not the wine, all

right? But it instead means to hold

firmly. It means to be devoted or fasten

yourself to something. And he's comparing the word to a

lamp in a dark place. And that word for dark, this is

really cool. That word for dark is pronounced

alchemeros, and it means murky or squalid or filthy.

So he's saying that's where you'll find yourself.

And God's word is going to be what pulls you out from it.

So Peter is saying life without the word is like stumbling

through a filthy cave without a light.

But Scripture is a lamp. It's not the full sunrise yet,

but it's enough to guide your steps until the dawn comes.

It's beautiful poetry here. And then he's talking about

this. The dawn is coming, he says,

until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your

hearts. The the day is shorthand for the

return of Christ. That's how they referred to the

return of Christ back in Peter's day.

So they would call it the day. The day is coming, and so that's

when the light of his glory will make lamps unnecessary.

And this is interesting too, because it's in the Bible in a

couple places. But the morning star there, the

Greek for that is phosphorus. It literally means light

bringer. It was also a title for Venus,

the brightest star that signals the morning is near.

And Peter is saying Jesus himself is that light bringer.

And one day his presence will fill us so that darkness will be

gone forever. Now, here's the context for

Peter's readers again, they were surrounded by lies and false

teachers. This was something that they

could really hold onto and hook into.

He was saying, don't chase secret revelations or clever

myths. Stick to the word because it is

steady and it's clear. And most importantly, it's

enough. So for us today, it really is

just as important. We live in a world that is

filled with dark places. I mean, most of us can think of

a murky place in the world. A lot of times there's confusion

about truth, there's cynicism about faith, and there's despair

about the future. Every single headline feels like

another reason to panic. But God's word is the lamp that

we need. It's not a floodlight that we

might want, it doesn't show every detail of the path, but it

is bright enough that we can always see our next step as long

as we're reliant on it. And that's really the whole

point. We don't live by seeing

everything. We live by trusting His light

and trusting that we'll have more light when we move ahead.

Additionally, and I I would be remiss if I didn't address this

today, we still hear people claim the role of prophet.

And while God can speak through his people and does, and we

believe in the office of prophet in this church, Peter's words

remind us to test everything against Scripture.

Anytime somebody comes to you and says, I feel like I have a

word from the Lord for you, don't push them away.

Listen to them. And then take it to your prayer

closet. Take it to trusted believers,

soak it in some prayer, and ask the Lord.

Modern prophets are not adding new revelation that is equal to

the Bible. Modern prophets have a role that

is just to point us back to what God has already said, much of

which is in the Bible, and then apply it with clarity for our

lives. So anytime somebody gives you a

prophetic word that contradicts the gospel, anytime somebody

gives you a prophetic word that promotes themselves more than

Christ, or anytime somebody gives you a prophetic word that

stirs up more fear than hope, it's a red flag.

True prophecy will always align with Scripture.

It will always exalt Jesus, and it will always build up parts of

the the the church with both grace and truth.

So personal insights on this, where am I tempted to chase

after new experiences or voices or ideas instead of holding

myself anchored in God's Word? And secondly, how can I treat

Scripture more like a lamp this week, Something that I rely on

day by day to guide my steps? All right, we've arrived at the

end of this chapter and pretty excited for this one because

this is one of the more famous parts of second Peter verses 20

and 21. He says, above all, you must

realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the

prophets own understanding or from human initiative.

No, these prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit and they spoke

from God. Now, this is important because a

lot of people today will tell you that they have exceptional

wisdom, or just that they're clever, or they're able to

figure out more than the average person.

But Peter wants his readers to know that the Scripture itself

is not just another collection of human wisdom.

He is saying plainly that none of these prophecies or these

words ever came by a private interpretation or by personal

willpower. The Greek word for own

interpretation is a DSS peluge seios.

It means one's own unloosing, a private explanation.

In other words, he's saying that these prophets didn't come from

human initiative. He's saying that it wasn't

something that came out of their own heads.

It's something that the Lord had actually planted in them.

And so that phrase, human initiative is the same phrase,

thalemeon throppu. It means human will, intention

or desire. The prophets didn't dream this

up. And if you don't believe me,

read through some of what the prophet said.

Spend a day in Jeremiah and tell me that everything that the

prophets wrote were things that the prophets wanted to say.

I guarantee you, you'll find yourself on the opposite side

there. So instead of that, Peter says

they were all moved by the Holy Spirit.

The Greek word is the word for Romanoi.

It means carried along. It's the same word that was used

about a ship being carried to the wind in Acts 2715, in the

same way that the wind was moving that ship forward.

Peter is now using the same language to say that the Holy

Spirit is getting God's word into the prophets that way.

That's the picture. Human authors were the vessel,

but the Spirit was the wind filling the sails and guiding

the course. And so they wrote in their own

voices and their own styles and out of their own context.

But the direction and message and authority came from God

Himself. That's part of what makes the

Bible so unique, in addition to being true, At least for me

personally, I love knowing that it comes from different voices

in different cultures with different contexts and

perspectives. I can't expect them to all be

the same. I can't even expect everybody of

this Bible study to think the same.

So for Peter's audience, which again, we're surrounded by a lot

of false teachers spinning really clever, clever myths,

this was absolutely essential. Scripture is not just one

opinion among many. It's the very breath of God

through human authors. It's always consistent and

trustworthy, no matter where the prophecy comes.

And for us, that's what we mean when we call the Bible inspired,

when we tell you that this word is inspired.

I know that sometimes it'll talk about the same battle in two

places, and it might have a different number of troops in

those two different recollections, but God's desire

wasn't to get the number of troops through to you.

The Bible's true on everything in which it speaks because its

source is divine. And so that truth is both the

comfort and it's also a caution for us.

The comfort is that you can trust Scripture fully.

And I want you to know that tonight you can trust Scripture

fully. It's not just shifting sand to

use biblical imagery. It is a solid rock.

So what's the caution? Well, the caution is that we

don't get to twist it to fit our agendas.

Our role isn't to master the Word.

Our goal is to have the Word master us, so you can't just

take a scripture and throw it at somebody and hope to change them

or even at yourself and try to force it.

You have to allow the Word to soak into you and then genuinely

be open to what the Holy Spirit has.

So that being said, while we do hold the Bible as Spirit

breathed Word of God, I want to also be very clear when I say

this, even though sometimes it's controversial to people, we need

to be careful not to treat this book itself as an idol.

The goal is not to worship the text in here, but to know the

God that wrote all the text in here, to know the God that this

text reveals. So the Holy Spirit still speaks

today. He speaks through prayer and

conviction. He speaks through wise counsel

and through the prophets. But his voice will never

contradict what we already know has been spoken in Scripture and

the and know to be true. So the written word is our

safeguard. The Living Word is our guide and

together they help us grow in discernment.

Healthy disciples don't just read the Bible for information,

they let it tune their ears so that they can recognize the

Shepherd's voice in every part of their life.

So essentially, Peter's closing this section just by schooling

us in what lasts, which is not his memories, which is not human

eloquence. He is closing this chapter by

schooling us in the Spirit inspired Word of God that will

endure until Christ our morning star rises again. 2 personal

insights. First of all, do I treat

scripture as optional advice or as the spirit breathed word of

God? And secondly, where am I tempted

to bend God's word to fit my will instead of letting it shape

me? This is your first time with a

renewed mind Bible study. I'll just tell you here in

person. We don't live stream the the

discussions and so that'll that'll be happening at

different tables with individuals, but the the sheet

is attached there. We've got some group discussion

questions that are attached along with a prayer challenge

for the group that you're studying with.

I hope it's been enjoyable for you and we will see you here at

Liberty Church 9:30 on Sunday morning.