In my last blog post I ended with
Peter who was facing a long dark tunnel of his own. It must have been ironic knowing that he –
the one who had healed others and even raised some from the dead - was about to be killed and there was nothing
he could do about it. Knowing that the
Lord was going to allow this suffering, and that this letter was, as far as we
know, his last chance to write; he obviously wanted to impart something very
important to his disciples.
So he wrote in 2 Peter 1, “knowing that the laying aside of my
earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ made it clear to
me, I will be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to
call these things to mind.” Is his
focus on himself and his troubles or others?
Is this self-pity or love? And
just what are “these things” that he
wants us to call to mind?
He wants us to recall the “great and precious promises” (1 Peter
1:4). He wants us to trust that what was
written in the OT and what was being experienced and written by the apostles in
the NT era was true, real – reality.
This sentiment was displayed by other
apostles as well. John, for example,
started off his letter now known as 1 John by writing:
What was from the
beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have
looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2 and the
life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the
eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 what we
have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have
fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His
Son Jesus Christ. 4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made
complete.
He later speaks of the promise in 1
John 2:25 “This is the promise which He
Himself made to us: eternal life.”
Additionally in 1 John 5:13 he states “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son
of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Clearly John was trying to stress the
reality of Jesus and encourage our belief in that reality. But it is one thing to teach that as a
disciple, it is quite another to rely upon that when one is facing a long dark
tunnel in life. Yet that is exactly what
Peter does. Knowing he is about to be
murdered, he pauses to talk to us about the assurance of scripture!
Peter is thinking about the objections
that will be thrown out in 2012 to members of the Lundberg/Gambrell class by
unbelievers. He wants us to know that
what was said and written really really occurred!
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.
Wouldn’t it have strengthened your faith to be with Peter, James, and john when they were on the mountain with Jesus, Elijah and Moses? Peter is telling us it really really occurred! (And yes it was a mountaintop experience, except for the part where I stuck my foot in my mouth again and offered to build three tabernacles for each of them! I mean not only did I screw up there, but God the Father had to correct me and tell me “This is my beloved son, hear Him.”)
Yet Peter’s letter doesn’t say and gee I wish you could have been here to see and hear that! In fact, what is Peter’s take away from that experience for us?
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.
The take away is this, as amazing as that was, you have the prophetic word (having been written in the OT and being written by apostles). Pay attention to it! It is your light in the dark tunnel that you are walking through! More important than (or at least just as important as) someone else sharing my experience on the mountain is the prophetic word! And, oh by the way, in case you think it was made up…
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.
It is the same God who appeared to
Adam, Moses, and Peter who has controlled his Scriptures. Peter even equates Paul’s writing with “the rest of scripture” when he states
in 2 Peter 3:14–16:
Therefore,
beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in
peace, spotless and blameless, 15 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.
It is truly amazing that at the time
of his death, Peter took the time to encourage them (and as a result us) that
Scripture is really really true.
That is what Peter, Stephen, Paul,
Luke, John, et al, strove to remind us and assure us that the promises were not
only marvelous, but true!
Yet another apostle gives us an
example of how to face hardship, prison and death. Paul writes that it is “by renewing the mind” (Rom 12:1,2) from
scripture that we are reminded of the reality of the promises. We
know he believes this because in his second letter to Timothy, Paul is also
aware he is going to be put to death.
This man, as with Peter, who performed such great miracles and endured
such trials is now just another prisoner.
He sends this letter to encourage Timothy (do we see a pattern here?)
and to ask him a personal favor. Would
you be ready to do a personal favor for Paul if you could? The favor was rather simple, dangerous, but
simple. His request from his cold damp
prison was this:
Only
Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me
for service. 12 But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come bring the
cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the
parchments. (2 Timothy 4:11–13)
John, Peter and Paul all warned that
after their death dangerous wolves would come in to destroy the hope and faith
of Jesus’ disciples. They spent their
lives assuring people (and by extension us) that Jesus has overcome the
world. They were eyewitnesses. All forwarning us that when things are really
really bad – look to that which is really really true and follow Paul’s
example, ask for a warm coat, a few good Christian friends and the writings –
which for centuries now have been the light and hope in a dark tunnel.
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