10-26-08 Telling Us What We Already Know

For most of this year

we have been involved in a study of the first 11 verses of 2 Peter.

That may seem like an extremely long time to devote to such a short passage,

but there are reasons why we’ve done it.

Those 11 verses

form the central core

of the urgent message Peter wanted to present to his fellow Christians.

Peter is such a fascinating personality in the New Testament record.

We know him well,

in fact we know him better than any other personality in the New Testament

with the possible exception of the Apostle Paul and of course our Lord Himself.

We know him both through the Gospel records and the Book of Acts

and also through his own letters.

Following our Lord’s departure

Peter was the undisputed leader of the Church in it’s earliest days,

which is fascinating because he was, by human standards, so utterly unqualified for such a position.

He was a man of tremendous energy,

a man of action to be sure,

but he had no formal training,

no academic credentials whatsoever.

He was a fisherman,

most likely because his father before him had been a fisherman.

Throughout most of his life

this man invested no effort whatsoever

into creating a written record of his own life,

or of the experiences he shared with the Lord when He was here,

or even of his beliefs and teachings.

When I was creating my own imagined Peter in The Fisherman

I had him begin with these words.

I have brooded long over what I am about to do. In the end I have chosen to write because so few seem to understand. I am not a writer. Words on paper come hard for me. Even now my mind is filled with a thousand other things I would rather be doing. But if I do not speak, who will? Who knew the Master better then? Who knows him better now?

Of course those are my words, not his,

but I believe they are consistent with everything we know about the man.

Here was the one personality in the early church

who was, by experience, perhaps more qualified to record the events of the life of Christ

than any other man,

and yet he never did.

In fact, did you know that only two of the four Gospels

were written by members of that original band of 12 disciples chosen by the Lord?

Matthew and John were both members of that original group.

But Luke, who gave us the most extensive and intentionally chronological account,

gained all of his information from extensive personal interviews with those who were there.

And the Gospel of Mark

was written by a man who was most likely in his teens during the time when Jesus was here,

and who later became a close friend and traveling companion of Peter.

At some point in his travels with Peter

Mark must have realized two things.

First, he must have realized that the accounts that Peter was sharing with people about his time with Jesus

were accounts that very much needed to be preserved

and placed into a form that could be distributed widely.

In other words, they needed to be written down.

And second, there was no way Peter was ever going to get around to doing it himself.

Peter was way too busy DOING

to take the time to sit down and write things out.

And so John Mark did it for him,

and in the process gave us what we now know as the Gospel of Mark,

which is really the Gospel of what Mark heard from the mouth of Peter.

There were a number of factors

beyond just the fact that he wasn’t by nature a writer

that affected Peter’s decisions not to write until near the end of his life.

For one thing,

in the beginning of the Church,

and certainly during the first 20 or 30 years of the Church’s existence

everybody involved in it assumed that the Lord’s promised return to set up His earthly kingdom

would take place within that first generation of believers.

Apart from the obvious logic of such an assumption,

with the Lord Himself saying things like, JOH 14:3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also...,

we see it illustrated over and over again in the earliest Epistles.

Do you know one of the chief reasons why Paul wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians?

He wrote to them

because they had contacted him deeply worried

about those Christians who had already died prior to the Lord’s return.

They were afraid they had missed out on the whole thing.

And Paul wrote his second letter to them

because rumors were floating around that the Lord had already come back

and they had somehow missed it.

But I mention this because certainly Peter, too, began his life following Christ’s departure

with the assumption that there was no need to waste time writing things down for future generations

because there weren’t going to be any future generations.

These were indeed the last days,

the end times,

the final hours of the human race as we know it.

But as the years passed,

gradually God’s Spirit began to reveal to that first generation of believers

that the end may not be as close as they at first believed,

and that they had an obligation to put in place

the pieces,

and especially the written instructions and information

that would make it possible for the next generation of believers

to continue on with faithfulness and wisdom until the Lord returned.

And so, eventually we have Paul writing out the blue-print of the Church in his letter to the Ephesians.

And we have him carefully organizing and then writing out

his unified statement of Christian doctrine in his letter to the Romans.

And we have him giving careful written instruction to his young friend, Timothy,

about the practical functioning organization of the local church,

and especially about how to select men and women for leadership positions within the local church.

And we have Dr. Luke

doing careful, extensive research about the historical events surrounding the life of Christ

and then the birth of the Church

and putting them into written form.

In other words,

we have the early church leadership

doing what they could do

to prepare the people of God

for what could be an extended vigil as we looked for the return of the King.

Now, I mention all of this in our study today

because Peter, too, obviously went through this rethinking process.

And his response to that rethinking was what we now know as the book of 2^nd Peter.

And let me see if I can explain what I’m seeing here.

I know how we are with the Bible.

Most of us here this morning believe it,

recognize it as the revealed words of God Himself to us,

and do our best to submit to its authority in our lives.

I mean really! It’s THE BIBLE!

But the fact that it’s THE BIBLE

is both a positive and a negative for us when it comes to interaction with it.

Certainly we recognize its authority,

but at the same time,

it’s been there for several thousand years,

and because it’s been there for several thousand years

we can easily miss what was happening in the lives of those who were used by God to write these words,

and the things He used to motivated them to do what they did.

And this is certainly true of Peter’s 2^nd letter to us.

So let me see if I can help us with this.

Do you know what the first 11 verses of 2^nd Peter are?

They are Peter’s answer to this question -

“Peter, given the fact that you now know that it may be some considerable time before the Lord returns,

and you also know that your own time here is nearly finished,

what one thing would you most like to say

to all of those Christians who will come after you?

If you could give them just one simple, concise message,

what would it be?”

Interesting assignment, huh?

I’m sure some of these thoughts are a time-of-life thing with me,

but if you could leave just one concise message behind

for your own offspring - four your grandchildren and great grandchildren,

the one thing you would most want them to know,

the one bit of truth or wisdom or direction fo life that has meant the most to you,

what would it be?

Well, that’s what we have going on in these first 11 verses of 2^nd Peter.

I have known for many years now

that these 11 verses possess a unique power and intensity.

But until I stepped back and looked at the letter as a whole

I didn’t realize why.

But once I moved into the rest of the letter and saw what was happening there

it all fit together.

Now, I’ll share with you an overview of the letter in just a few minutes

so you can see what I mean,

but since I’ve brought us to this point

let me just remind us once again

of the heart of that message Peter left behind him for us.

If I could put it into my own words,

this is what I hear him saying.

My fellow Christians, everything you will ever need for a deeply fulfilling life on this planet will come to you through a growing intimate friendship between you and your Lord. And that friendship will grow as you share with your God the calling of becoming a partaker of the divine nature. Through that ongoing project you will discover who your God really is as you could not do any other way, and the end result will be that you will always be both useful and fruitful in the few years your God has given you on this earth.

That is what Peter wants us to understand most about life,

and it is what he shares with us in 2^nd Peter 1:1-11.

OK, from there he spends the rest of his letter defending his authority to deliver this message

and then teaching us how to recognize the liars, the false prophets

who will attempt to replace what Peter has said to us

with their own religious counterfeits.

And for those of you who find outlines helpful

let me show you how this letter breaks down.

1:1-11 we have Peter’s call and divine plan for growing in grace

And as we’ve see, this is the very heart of his purpose for writing.

1:12-19 we have Peter’s motives and credentials

1:20-21 we have the Divine authority of the true prophetic message

2:1-22 Peter tells us how to recognize the liars, the false prophets

3:1-2 he then calls us to listen closely

3:3-17 he attacks the mockers

3:18 he ends with a reaffirmation of his purpose in writing

Those seven sections should help you better relate to what he says.

And with all of that as background

let’s move ahead in our study of the letter.

Immediately following his presentation of this truth he most wants us to know

Peter says,

2PE 1:12-15 Therefore, I shall 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. And I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you may be able to call these things to mind.

OK, we’re going to come back to that first sentence in a minute,

but first let me just point out what he says in verses 13-15.

He says,

And I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

It is clear from this comment

that at the time of this writing

Peter anticipated his own death in the very near future.

And that’s what motivated him

to sit down and write this, his final open letter to his fellow believers.

He then emphasizes this motivation as he goes on to say,

And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you may be able to call these things to mind.

And I’m convinced that his decision to actually sitting down

and putting these words onto paper

was far harder for him than most of us would ever realize.

There is a kind of fierce determination in those words “I will also be diligent...”,

a determination that reminds me how non-academic this man was.

This was hard for him.

Do you know how many words there are in this whole letter? - 1649 words.

Do you know how many words there are in the manuscript that many of you hold in your hand right now? - 3595 words...more than twice as many as we have in this entire second letter.

Now I’m certainly not comparing the quality or significance of the two,

but do you know what that tells me?

It tells me that putting words on paper was no easy task for this man.

But he did it

because he knew it had to be done.

There are things like that in every one of our lives -

things we do, not because we get some kind of warm and fuzzy feeling from it,

but simply because it’s part of the life our God has given us.

And it’s with those things most of all

that we need to never ever forget Paul’s words to the Colossians.

COL 3:23-24 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

You see, that’s the only way a lot of what we’re called to do makes any sense,

when we see ourselves doing it

not for ourselves,

not even for some other person,

but for the King Himself.

But I want to take us back to that first sentence

because there is something fascinating

that Peter is telling us in what he writes.

In verse 12 he says,

Therefore, I shall 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.

This statement right here,

perhaps more than anything else Peter has said

captures the heart of the life we’re called to live while we still remain in these bodies.

The first part of that sentence makes perfect sense to us.

Therefore, I shall always be ready to remind you of these things...

Obviously, that’s what Peter’s role was - first to reveal and then to remind us of the truth.

That’s what Paul’s role was,

and John’s,

and Matthew’s,

and all of the other’s involved in the writing of the New Testament.

And in a lesser sense,

that’s been the assignment given by God

to every Bible teacher and pastor and evangelist for the past 2000 years.

If we are doing what our God has asked us to do

we are simply reminding those who listen to us

of the truths given to all of us by the Holy Spirit through God’s Word.

There is no such thing as a “new” teaching in true Christianity.

There is simply a never ending process

of us rediscovering the truths our God has already revealed to us,

truths we have forgotten,

or been blinded to.

But my point is

that we understand clearly what Peter is talking about

when he says Therefore, I shall always be ready to remind you of these things...

That fits with our understanding

and our experience in this growth process with our God.

But it’s the last half of that sentence that we have trouble with.

...even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.

In that one phrase Peter makes three remarkable statements:

he tells us that the things he’s telling us are already present with us,

he tells us that we already know the truths he’s sharing with us,

and he tells us that we have already been established in that truth.

Now how in the world can he say that?

And especially, given the fact that this was not some private letter

to a his traveling companion, John Mark,

or to some other obviously strong, healthy, mature believer,

but it was in fact an open letter written by Peter to every true believer

throughout the entire history of Christ’s Church

from the day he wrote these words

right on up to today...

So how can he say that?

Well, he can say it because it’s true.

The truth Peter is talking about here

may be a little easier for me to understand

because I see it through 40 years as a Bible teacher.

Do you know when I know that I have successfully fulfilled my appointed role

in the life of a fellow Christian?

It is not when someone says to me,

“What interesting ideas, Larry.”,

or “What a great presentation of the truth, Larry.”,

or “That was really encouraging.”,

or “That really helped me.”

It’s nice to hear those things, of course,

but most of all what tells me I’ve done it right

is when someone says,

“You know, Larry, I’ve always thought it was that way,

but I’ve just never been able to put it into words.”

Because when I hear statements like that

I know what I’ve said

has simply confirmed

what God has already told you in your spirit.

You see, in this 12^th verse

Peter is taking our minds and emotions on one side,

and our spirits on the other side,

and setting them next to each other.

Let me put it this way.

When we come to our Lord Jesus Christ

and choose to place our lives into His hands

He does not just remove our sins from us and call us His people.

Certainly He does do that,

but that’s only a tiny portion of what really takes place.

Most of all what He does

is to literally recreate us at the spirit level of our being.

There are a number of different terms and phrases used in Scripture to describe this to us -

we’re born a 2^nd time,

we are given a new heart,

we are joined to Christ,

Christ gives us His Spirit...

But no matter what terms we use,

the central message is clear -

God creates within us a totally new spirit control center.

This new spirit within us

is in every way holy, and pure, and righteous.

But there is more to it than just that.

You see, once we come to Christ

and that new spirit is created within us

from that time on our spirit knows the absolute truth about our God.

At the spirit level

we know He is absolutely, perfectly, and eternally GOOD.

We know He loves us totally and forever.

We know we have indestructible peace with Him.

We know it is this GRACE in which we stand.

At the spirit level of our being

we know that He is what we long for, what we hunger for more than all else.

We know His every action toward us is good,

and He holds us in the palm of His hand

and no one and nothing can ever remove us from Him.

We know all of that and so much more at the spirit level of our being.

And that’s what Peter is talking about

when he says,

...even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.

He knows that every truth he seeks to tell us

is already present with us, imbedded in our spirits,

that our spirits have been established in those truths,

and that at the spirit level we already know everything he wants to tell us.

The problem, of course,

is that our minds,

our reasoning processes,

our emotions,

our memories have been feed endless lies about our God

and they now mostly still operate on those lies.

And so...Peter writes

with the hope that his words

will help to bring our thinking processes

and then our life choices

in harmony with what our spirits already know.

OK, from here Peter then moves on to present his own credentials as an Apostle,

and then he seeks to prepare us

for the liars, the false prophets we will all encounter at times in our Christian lives.

And we’ll look at that next week.

But let me just close by encouraging you

to trust that new spirit within you.

You will encounter no end of religious messages throughout your life.

What you’re looking for,

and what you can trust

are those messages that bring a strong inner confirmation from your spirit

and in the process deepen your understanding of your peace with your God

and His love for you.

There is no end to the flood of words around us

that speak to our minds -

words that give us facts,

and information about us and our world and even our God.

Some of them encourage us,

and others simply add to our stress or fear or anxiety.

But there are also some words,

some messages,

some truths that speak not to our minds but rather to our spirits,

messages that tell us the truth about our God,

and about His love for us,

and about His commitment to us,

and about His absolute adequacy for us...no matter what.

And it is those words that have the power to give us strength and hope

no matter what may be happening in the world around us

because they line up perfectly with those things our God has already embedded in our hearts.