June 29, 2025 • 52 mins
Ever felt like your spiritual growth has hit a plateau? In this exploration of 2 Peter, we discover the apostle's urgent final message written from prison as he faces execution under Nero's persecution. Peter, the disciple who once denied Jesus but ultimately gave his life for the gospel, reminds us that true spiritual growth doesn't require new revelations or secret knowledge—it demands remembering and applying the transformative truths we already possess.
The letter opens with an astounding declaration: everyday believers share "equal standing" with the apostles themselves. This radical equality exists not because of our spiritual achievements but through "the righteousness of our God and Savior." Peter then outlines qualities that should mark a growing believer's life: virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. These characteristics aren't optional add-ons but evidence of genuine faith.
Most striking is Peter's fierce warning against false teachers who "secretly bring in destructive heresies." These deceptions rarely announce themselves as obvious lies—they begin with subtle twists of scripture that lead to devastating spiritual consequences. As one pastor noted during our discussion, "Your ability to justify your behavior is unmatched by anything, except for the grace of God." This sobering reality calls us to vigilance in a media-saturated age where algorithms learn our weaknesses faster than we recognize them.
The letter culminates with Peter addressing skeptics who mock Christ's return. His response—"with the Lord one day is as a thousand years"—reframes our impatience and reminds us that God's apparent delays always serve his redemptive purposes. This perspective transforms how we approach each day, living with urgency but not anxiety, actively waiting for Christ's return while fully engaging with those around us.
What would change if you knew Jesus was returning in an hour? How might your priorities shift? Join us as we unpack Peter's timeless challenge to grow in grace and knowledge while standing firm against false teaching. Whether you're new to faith or have walked with Christ for decades, 2 Peter offers both encouragement and warning for your spiritual journey.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right.
So here's what we're gonna do.
We do this about two, threetimes a year, so if you've never
been here, boy am I excitedthat you are here on a Sunday.
So what we are going to do isread through, as a congregation,
the book of 2 Peter.
I mentioned already threechapters.
It's about a seven-minute read.
We're gonna take it a chapterat a time, and then the goal
(00:21):
here is to do a couple of things.
One I want you to better knowwho Peter is.
When we read the book of 2 Peter, it is who you're thinking.
It is the guy who jumped out ofthe boat, the guy who was
hanging out with Jesus, deniedhim three times.
That is who wrote this letter,and he's writing it about 30
years after Jesus is killed onthe cross, resurrected and
(00:46):
ascends into heaven.
He's also writing it probablymonths before his own death, and
he knows that.
And so this is the letter fromthe guy who heard the words of
Christ most, sharing his finalwords with us, and so that's
what we're going to look at.
A couple of other things heprobably wrote this in prison.
(01:08):
He was probably in a Romanprison, and so you'll notice by
the time we get to chapter two.
He is feisty about ending wellbecause he's ending well, so he
wants you to end well.
And then the other thing that Iwould say is this we never, we
us, but we midtree, we neverwant to build our services to be
(01:30):
entertainment driven.
However, I'm sorry, I'm losingmy voice, sorry, it is the most
annoying thing to have to cough.
You have a microphone, alwaysLike you can't get away from it.
Um, what was I trying to say?
We don't want to beentertaining, thank you.
Entertainment, um proof.
(01:50):
Uh, what we do want to do isengage in god's word, the way
that god's word has been engagedfor for millennia.
And so, just so you know, it'sgoing to begin with with peter
saying this is my second letterto you.
What we're about to do is howthe early church would have done
church.
They would have read theentirety of the letter.
(02:12):
They may have had a little bitless exposition in preaching.
And there is going to be insideof you the need, in a culture
that watches three second clipsand decides if you're interested
or if you're swiping that,you're gonna have the.
I'll put it in the positiveyou're gonna have the
opportunity to mature as aseasoned pursuer of Christ in us
(02:35):
, not trying to entertain you,and so I would just prepare you
for that in advance.
Settle in, we're gonna bereading and receiving the word
of God, just so you know.
This is so much better than anyof my thoughts, thomas's
thoughts and most of Greg'sthoughts.
Anyway, I'll give you morecredit than us.
Yeah, so with that, here are ifyou guys would throw up the
(02:59):
slides for me, I'll be puttingit up.
These are four questions.
If I were you, I would beasking yourself as we read
through it and keep in mind, thebooks that we gave you have
first and second Peter in them.
So if you realize we're readingsomething different than you,
you're in the wrong one, okay,so make sure you're in second
Peter.
Guys, anything to add before wedive in?
(03:19):
No, okay, then what we'll do,josiahiah, I'm going to read
through chapter one and then, ifwe could put up the QR code for
questions right after that, wewould love for you to put in
thoughts and questions andreflections as we get ready to
sort of engage the text together.
Our, we did not show up withthree miniature sermons.
(03:42):
We used to do that and none ofus ever got to finish any of our
thoughts, and so we havestudied, we have thought, we
have prayed through these things, but we really want to engage
as a congregation and we hadlots of questions come in in the
first service.
So we will give you anopportunity to do that in just a
minute.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
And I will say for anyone who is new today or
hasn't seen one of thisread-throughs been done at
Midtree, we will take the nextcouple of weeks and months to
preach through 2 Peter.
We're doing kind of a flyover,the way they would have received
it as a letter, reading thewhole thing, unpacking kind of
like maybe highlights or justinteresting things that we see.
But in the weeks to come Willis going to be preaching through
(04:21):
the text and so don't thinkwe're doing this and not.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
But you get to go to bed tonight and say I read a
book of the Bible today.
That's right, and it wasn'tJude, that's awesome.
All right, here we go.
2 Peter, chapter 1, starting inverse 1.
Oh, hang on, guys, let me makeit a little bigger for you.
Okay, there we go.
Simeon Peter.
That would be Simon Peterwritten into Hebrew form, simon
Peter, a servant and apostle ofJesus Christ.
(04:46):
To those who have obtained afaith of equal standing with
ours by the righteousness of ourGod and Savior, jesus Christ,
may grace and peace bemultiplied to you in the
knowledge of God and of Jesus.
Our Lord, his divine power hasgranted to us all things that
pertain to life and godlinessthrough the knowledge of him,
who called us to his own gloryand excellence, by which he has
(05:09):
granted to us his very preciousand very great promises, so that
, through them, you may becomepartakers of the divine nature,
Having escaped from thecorruption that is in the world
because of sinful desire.
For this very reason, makeevery effort to supplement your
(05:38):
faith with virtue.
Because of sinful desire, yours, and are increasing.
They keep you from beingineffective and unfruitful in
the knowledge of our Lord, jesusChrist, for whoever lacks these
qualities, is so nearsightedthat he's blind, having
forgotten that he was cleansedfrom former sins.
Therefore, brothers, be all themore diligent to confirm your
calling and election, for if youpractice these qualities, you
(06:01):
will never fall, for in this way, there will be richly provided
for you an entrance into theeternal kingdom of our Lord and
Savior, jesus Christ.
Therefore, I intend always toremind you of these qualities,
though you know them and areestablished in the truth that
you have.
I think it right, as long as Iam in this body, to stir you up
(06:23):
by way of reminder, since I knowthat the putting off of my body
will be soon, as our Lord JesusChrist made clear to me, and I
will make every effort so that,after my departure, you may be
able at any time to recall thesethings.
For we did not follow cleverlydevised myths when we made known
to you the power and coming ofour Lord Jesus Christ, but we
(06:43):
were eyewitnesses of his majesty, for when he received honor and
glory from God, the Father andthe voice was born to him by the
majestic glory this is mybeloved son, with whom I am well
pleased we ourselves heard thisvery voice born from heaven,
for we were with him on the holymountain and we have the
prophetic word more fullyconfirmed, to which you will do
(07:06):
well to pay attention, as to alamp shining in a dark place
until the day dawns and themorning star rises in your
hearts.
Knowing this, first of all,that no prophecy of scripture
comes from someone's owninterpretation, for no prophecy
was ever produced by the will ofman, but men spoke from God, as
(07:26):
they were carried along by theHoly Spirit.
I think that would be ourdesire this morning as well to
be led well by the Holy Spirit.
So, as Peter begins this letter,what are a couple of things
that stand out to you guys?
Ten seconds to think.
If you guys would go ahead andgrab your phones, I'd love even
if you don't have a questionright now, I'd love for you to
(07:46):
grab it and get the QR code inthe event that something comes
up in the midst of discussion,so that you can send in a couple
of questions.
That really makes it a lot offun for us as well.
All right, guys.
So what are we thinking asPeter begins this letter?
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Well, just on the outset, twice actually.
I just noticed it a second time.
I don't have a pen.
I don't have Ian right there tothrow me one.
In verses 12 and 13, he uses theword remind or reminder.
He says in 13, I think it isright, as long as I'm in this
body, to stir you up by way ofreminder.
And what Peter is saying to thechurch that would have received
(08:26):
this letter is basically I'mkind of not telling you guys new
stuff.
I'm not adding to, I'm notsubtracting from.
What I'm doing is I'm joggingyour memory of these things that
you've been taught, that you'vebeen raised in, that you've
been trained in, that you'vegrown in.
And what you guys need rightnow is a reminder, even as I'm
about to die.
He says that in the next verse,Even though I'm about to put
(08:47):
this body off.
I don't have a new word fromthe Lord.
I don't have a new kind ofthing to tell you.
I just want to remind you ofthe goodness of God.
I want to remind you of whathis face is like, what sin is
like, what he has done topurchase sinners back to himself
.
I'm just reminding you kind ofof the basics of Christianity.
(09:08):
And it's so encouraging because, as we read this, it's not
going to feel like a reminder.
Sometimes it's going to feellike big, lofty things.
But he's saying just rememberthe basics, Remember the things
of God.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, it's so freeing as a believer to know that a
good quiet time doesn't meanyou've learned something that
you never knew before.
A good sermon is not.
Oh well, that is brand new.
I've never even thought of thatconcept before.
Peter at the end of his life isnot pointing to hey.
Now that I've lived this wholething out, let me tell you two
great tips for loving the Lord.
(09:39):
He's like hey, I've got nothingbetter to give you than simply
Jesus and who he is, and I thinkthat's awesome.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Yeah, and certainly there will be times when maybe
you might unmind unearth a newnugget of sort of truth that you
hadn't seen before in a verse.
But I do think there'ssomething about, look, and I
resonate with Peter.
I'm probably similar in age tohe was when he wrote this more
in the rearview mirror thanthrough the windshield at this
point, and so he's looking backwith this sort of hey, you know,
(10:10):
my life is at this point.
I care for these people deeply.
I'm concerned that they're notled.
We're going to get into sort ofwhat the false teaching that
sort of he's going to addressmore specifically, but he's
concerned that folks that he'sloved, that he has been in a
shepherding rollover, he'sconcerned that they're going to
be led astray, and so he'ssaying look, I'm using every
(10:30):
last minute that I have.
I'm concerned to know thatbefore I leave here, that I sort
of drive a stake in the groundlike this is gospel truth that
you guys need to know, you needto cling to, you don't need to
be deceived by these things thatyou're hearing.
And so we'll get into what thatis a little bit later in more
detail.
But I can certainly relate toPeter and his heart, I think as
(10:50):
elders, pastors, we all sort ofhave that Like we bear the
burden.
It's weighs on us rightlydividing the word, making sure
that you guys are doctrinallysound and that you're not being
led astray by, you know, falseteaching or things that sound
true, and there is a sense wherewe all love to be in on the new
bit of knowledge.
You know something like hey,you guys have been reading this
(11:12):
for years and here's somethingthey all have missed, and so
that's appealing to us in a lotof ways.
And he just said look, it'sjust the faithful reading of the
word, it's sufficient, it'sclear, it's authoritative, it's
necessary, sufficient, it'sclear, it's authoritative, it's
necessary, like, it has all thatwe need for life and godliness.
And so he's just reminding youknow, his dear brothers and
sisters in Christ, that this isof utmost importance.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
One of the things that we did to make that reality
something that you can livewith.
Y'all will notice these littlebands.
Did any of you guys grab theseon the way in?
I feel like the ladies knowwhat this is way more than the
guys do.
So what this is, this is ascripture memory band, and we
picked 2 Peter 1, 3, thescripture that I used for the
call to worship, because ifwe're going to remember
(11:56):
something out of this, verse 3of chapter 1 is one of the best
things that we can remember, andso it's just the first letter
of every word of that verse.
If you didn't grab one of theseon the way in, you'll be able to
as you head out, but we wouldlove for the whole church to be
working on memorizing thisscripture over the next six or
(12:17):
so weeks and, I would point tothis, if we'll throw the
scripture back up in verse three, his divine power has granted
us all things that pertain tolife and godliness.
Don't separate your life into.
Well, I've got my churchy lifeand my devotional life and when
I sing songs in the car, life,and then I've got my podcast
life and I've got my work lifeand I've got this, no, peter's
like.
He's given you everything youneed for every element, through
(12:40):
the knowledge of him, who calledus to his glory and excellence.
And I just find it soencouraging and fascinating that
, at the end of his life, peteris still saying I want to be
excellent, I want to grow.
I don't know if I'm going tohave two weeks left or two
months left, but I want myknowledge of Christ, my living
(13:01):
the Christian life beingexcellent in all of its forms
and factors.
I never want to quit growing.
And so, as a congregation, as welook at this book, I think
Peter would basically say thisto you Are you growing in Christ
or are you coasting?
How tempted are you to sort ofhit the cruise control button?
How much credit do you giveyourselves for rhythms that have
(13:22):
already been firmly established?
Let me explain what I mean.
How many of us are like look,well, I go to church, I read my
Bible occasionally, and if I'mhaving a bad day, I put on
worship songs.
What more do you want from me?
And I'm like well, it's notthat I want more from you or for
you.
I want your whole world to beinvaded by the goodness of who
Christ is, and I don't know thatwe ever get to the point where
(13:46):
we are filled up to 100% thisside of heaven.
But I feel like Peter's at 99.9, and he is just like striving
to get that 0.1.
How can you not be in the 90s,when you're in prison, writing a
letter filled with the Spiritof God that we're going to read
2,000 years later?
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, and I think maybe in step with that, like
growing in grace, growing inknowledge, growing in grace,
growing in knowledge, growing inall these fruit.
Just something that struck mewhile you were talking was just
the virtue of the fact that wehave a letter from Peter in
prison under Nero's persecution,knowing tomorrow could be the
day.
I mean he's burning Christianson sticks to light the city at
night and he takes time to sitdown and write his friends a
(14:22):
letter, Like I know it's likeHoly Spirit stuff, but the fact
that he is concerned enough tosay because I think sometimes we
could just go into I'm going toworship, I'm going to pray, I'm
going to read my Bible, whatthey had.
But instead Peter says, hey,I'm going to remind my friends
of what I've taught them, I'mgoing to grow them how
relational, Exactly Like I thinkit's really cool and that's one
(14:42):
of the best ways to grow inyour maturity and walk with the
Lord is helping others to grow.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
One of the questions that came in.
So take a look at.
I think we're going to start inverse five.
Here In verse five are thoseattributes written in order of
importance.
So let's just take a look atthe attributes.
For this very reason, makeevery effort to supplement your
faith with so we have, virtue,knowledge, self-control,
steadfastness, godliness,brotherly affection and love.
(15:12):
Is there a thought to the orderthat Peter's going through here
?
Or is he just like hey, man,you want all these things.
Grab them if you can get them.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
I don't think there's an order in a sense of you have
to build on one other thanfaith has to be there first.
But I don't think it's like hey, once you've got faith, let me
get back there, you know, workon virtue and then, once you
tackle virtue, then go toknowledge, and once you tackle
knowledge, then go toself-control.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
We wouldn't love people for a while.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
No, yeah, I think you're saying, look, all of
these spring out of faith andwithout faith you're not going
to be able to have all thesethings to be true in your life.
But if you have faith, all ofthese things increasingly should
be true of your life.
And he's going to, he's goingto cut his readers just a little
bit of slack right so down inin eight he's going to say if
these qualities are yours andincreasing, they keep you from
(16:03):
being ineffective or unfruitful.
So, hey, this is sort of apositive If you're doing these
things and you're growing, andit's going to keep you from
being unfruitful.
Because whoever lacks thesequalities is so nearsighted that
he's blind, having forgottenthat he was cleansed from his
former sins and almost to thepoint of like, hey, if this is
(16:26):
not true of you, ever in yourChristian walk, are you really
walking as a Christian right andso that we talked about
Philippians 1.6, being confidentof this very thing, that he who
began a good work in you willbe faithful to complete it.
So the idea that if you aretruly in Christ you will
progress in sanctification, likeyou're not just going to sort
of coast perpetually.
You'll be seasons where you knowmaybe you're not growing as
much as you'd like, but thetrajectory of your life should
be one of increasingly becomingmore like Christ.
(16:47):
And so Peter's sort of layingin pretty heavy and saying look
like there may be a time whereit looks like you've lost sight
of your profession, yourconfession of faith, but long
term like doing these things inverse 12, reminds you of these
qualities that you know thatwe're establishing the truth
Sorry, it's verse 11.
And these ways will richlyprovide for you an entrance into
(17:08):
the eternal kingdom of our Lordand Savior, jesus Christ.
He goes even deeper and sayslook, this is the way that you
know you're really a believer,like if you're growing in these
areas.
But yet no, the short answer isI don't think he has to be in
order, other than all these comeout of faith, and without faith
you'll never exhibit all theseOne of the questions we had and
we've already had one comethrough is can you lose your
(17:29):
salvation?
Speaker 1 (17:30):
I'm looking at this and you're not going to fall if
you do these things.
When I think about somebody, mytheological answer would be no,
you can't lose your salvation.
I think there are a number ofpeople who think they're saved,
(17:51):
that maybe aren't, and so itwould be easy to interpret as a
loss of salvation, but I sort ofview it sort of as a door from
the perspective of God, like ifyou are his in his hand.
Nothing is snatching you out ofhis hand.
Your calling and your electionare sure.
However, from our side of thedoor, how do I know I'm a
Christian?
Do I know I'm a Christianbecause I got saved at nine
years old in my pastor's office?
Or do I know I'm a Christianbecause I got nervous about that
when I read more about hell andI got saved at a DC talk
(18:13):
concert?
Or when I got nervous two yearslater and I got saved at sharp
top, like which one counted.
And I think, from our side ofthe door, how are you making fun
of me for what?
Oh, yeah, the DC talk.
Yeah, conundrum, all right.
How do we know we're saved.
Here's my answer.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I went to a Hank Williams concert and they
cranked up some tunes.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Here's how Will knows that he's saved.
I am trusting in Jesus todayand I'm repenting of my sins
today, and if that everevaporates, I have major
concerns, even though God cansee in a way that I can't.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
And I think, to the question of can I let's make it
personal can I lose my salvation?
Usually what I say is to theperson asking that is it's a
good question.
And just by virtue you ask.
It means you're concerned aboutit, it means you don't want to
be what is it Ineffective orunfruitful?
It says in verse eight like youdon't want to be, that You're
asking yourself am I continuingin the Lord, am I walking in his
(19:03):
ways?
And even if you're not like,you're concerned about it.
And I think that is anindication of at least the
desire to have that faith whichcascades down into that
knowledge, self-control,steadfastness.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
I want to look at one more question because I really
enjoyed this one that came in.
It's in verse five, so if youguys will throw it back up there
, so I'm going to kind of erasewhat we've looked at, this one
concept of virtue.
Here is the question.
The world would use that termthat things are virtuous, but
Christians, and God's word isgoing to define it differently.
(19:36):
So what might be a virtue thatthe world would espouse and what
would be the actual gospel flipof that?
So I've already prepared ananswer.
You guys take a moment to thinkOur world is going to say that
it is a virtue to pursue hardwork and victory and success in
whatever your endeavors areHustle right, like get your
(19:58):
hustle moving.
I don't think Peter would have ahuge problem because he's like
hey, man, I want you to like goafter it.
But Christians ought to have avirtue of not only strenuous
work but almost strenuousSabbath, that there's sort of
this balance where the world isgoing to say work, achieve, go.
You are more impressed.
(20:19):
The more full your calendar is,the less margin that you have
in your life, red line as muchas you possibly can.
And the gospel would come intothat and it would say well,
don't you know that it's God whoworks in you?
All good things, why are youstriving?
If it is his strength that does?
It Doesn't mean you shouldn'twork, but we should be as adept
at our resting as we are at ourworking, and I think that's one
(20:41):
virtue that the gospel wouldtweak, that our culture would
have.
What's another virtue in ourculture that you think the
gospel would flip on its head abit?
Speaker 3 (20:50):
I would probably say success, like monetary Making,
money Gain making money, moremoney, more problems.
The world would tell you, youknow, get all you can, can all
you get.
And you know, the gospel wouldtell us, you know, in the same
way, that Christ has beenunimaginably generous with us in
the personal work of Christ.
He would encourage us to holdpossessions and money loosely
(21:12):
and sort of view them as a blankcheck that God can write for
whatever he wants, which is verysort of atypical.
I think Christians are calledto be humble, self-sacrificing,
giving in any number of ways.
You know, if your brother asksfor your cloak, you know, give
him two.
(21:33):
If he asks you to carry it fora mile, carry it two miles.
So just this idea of generosity, of humble submission, is not
worldly but what we're called todo, sort of this upside down
kingdom.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
All right, let's flip to chapter two.
Is that good, Thomas?
Yeah, all right.
What was it?
Out of curiosity.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Just the virtue of self-fulfillment Kind of, in
that We've been watching a showCompared to self-sacrifice.
Well, yeah, we've been watchinga show, me and Emily and one of
the ladies on the show.
I noticed you didn't mentionthe show.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Well, it's Survivor.
Is there some connection?
No, no, no, it's Survivor, okay.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Very clean, okay.
And one of the ladies as theywere talking was like yeah,
basically I'm a counselor,full-time counselor, and I left
my husband and my family to gopursue whatever I wanted and
virtuous Like it was like seen,as you did, the hard thing of
getting over the hump of yourhusband so that you can set
yourself free, and obviously thegospel would say no, no, no,
(22:26):
like the like.
The virtuous thing is theself-sacrifice, and not in a
demeaning or just degrading way,but in a way that says, like
I'm going to put your needs,desires, affections first, you
know, so that we both growtowards Christ.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Well said, All right.
Uh, chapter two.
He's reading that one.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
I got it Okay, chapter two.
But false prophets also aroseamong the people, just as there
will be false teachers among youwho will secretly bring in
destructive heresies, evendenying the master who bought
them, bringing upon themselvesswift destruction.
And many will follow theirsensuality and because of them,
the way of truth will beblasphemed and in their greed
(23:03):
they will exploit you with falsewords.
Their condemnation from longago is not idle and their
destruction is not asleep.
For if God did not spare angelswhen they sinned, but cast them
into hell and committed them tochains of gloomy darkness to be
kept until the judgment, and ifhe did not spare the ancient
world but preserved Noah, aherald of righteousness, with
(23:24):
seven others, when he brought aflood upon the world of the
ungodly, if, by turning thecities of Sodom and Gomorrah to
ashes, he condemned them toextinction, making them an
example of what is going tohappen to the ungodly, and if he
rescued righteous lot, greatlydistressed by the sensual
conduct of the wicked for asthat righteous man lived among
them day after day, he wastormenting his righteous soul
(23:48):
over their lawless deeds that hesaw and heard Then the Lord
knows how to rescue the godlyfrom trials and to keep the
unrighteous under punishmentuntil the day of judgment, and
especially those who indulge inthe lust of defiling passion and
despise authority.
Bold and willful, they do nottremble as they blaspheme the
glorious ones, whereas angels,though greater in might and
(24:10):
power, do not pronounce ablasphemous judgment against
them before the Lord.
But these, like irrationalanimals, creatures of instinct,
born to be caught and destroyed,blaspheming about matters of
which they are ignorant willalso be destroyed in their
destruction.
Suffering wrong is the wage fortheir wrongdoing.
They count it pleasure to revelin the daytime.
(24:31):
They are blots and blemishes,reveling in their deceptions
while they feast with you.
They have eyes full of adultery.
Insatiable for sin, they enticeunsteady souls.
They have hearts trained ingreed, accursed children
Forsaking the right way.
They have gone astray.
They have followed the way ofBalaam, the son of Beor, who
loved gain from wrongdoing butwas rebuked for his own
(24:54):
transgression.
A speechless donkey spoke withhuman voice and restrained the
prophet's madness.
These are waterless springs andmist driven by a storm.
For them, the gloom of utterdarkness has been reserved For
speaking loud boast of folly.
They entice by sensual passionsof the flesh those who are
barely escaping from those wholive in error.
(25:15):
They promise them freedom, butthey themselves are slaves of
corruption, for whateverovercomes a person to that he is
enslaved.
For if, after they have escapedthe defilements of the world
through the knowledge of ourLord and Savior, jesus Christ,
they are again entangled in themand overcome, the last state
has become worse for them thanthe first, for it would have
(25:36):
been better for them never tohave known the way of
righteousness than, afterknowing it, to turn back from
the holy commandment deliveredto them.
What the true proverb says hashappened to them the dog returns
to his own vomit and the sow,after washing herself, returns
to wallow in the mire.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
All right.
So a little bit of a switchthere from chapter one, where
he's encouraging lots of folks.
Now, all of a sudden, it's okay, there's another way to live
your life.
And if you live your life thatway, don't be fooled, it isn't
going to end real well for you.
We'll go ahead and throw the QRcode up now that we've read
chapter two.
If you guys want to shootsomething in, feel free to do so
(26:15):
.
Initial thoughts on chapter two.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Yeah, it's in conjunction with chapter one,
which is why I want to say thatat the top he says, in verse 1,
beware of the false prophets,those who arise from among the
people, who do so secretly, andthey secretly bring in
destructive heresies.
And at the end of chapter 1, inverse 16, he says we did not
follow cleverly devised mythsthat were made known.
(26:38):
And so what Peter is saying is,like these false teachers,
these people that have come inand wreaked havoc in the church,
leading people astray, havedone so so nuisantly, so subtly,
that they may not even knowthat they're on this path.
And Peter lays out that thesepeople have come in and this is
(26:59):
their end.
He uses very strong languagechains of gloomy darkness.
They're in this place oftorment.
He says this is where it'sleading.
And so you guys, he's saying tothe church, do not follow the
subtle drift away from truegospel, knowledge and centrality
about Jesus.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
One of the questions that came through was at the end
of chapter 1, and it said wherein Scripture does Peter know
that he is going to die?
Like he's writing this saying,the Lord has made it clear to me
that I am going to die.
Where does that come from?
Speaker 3 (27:35):
I don't remember the exact reference.
You may remember You're lookinglike you do, but we talked
about yeah, I guess you musthave looked it up we talked
about that.
Hey, peter, you're going to beled around in chains, and so
there is this.
There is this sort offorecasting, not an explicit
detail.
But, peter, your life is notgoing to end well like you're
gonna.
You're going to be cut short,you're going to be in, in
(27:57):
captivity, basically, and youhave freedom today, but that's
not always going to be the case.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
I couldn't remember the chapter and verse.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
John 21.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Yeah, but I did remember Jesus saying hey, peter
, you're going to be let.
Right now you have the freedomto dress yourself, but soon
another is going to dress you.
It's right after Jesus forgiveshim and he says are you going
to feed my sheep?
And Peter's like Lord, you knowthat I love you.
And then, coupled with Petersaying, lord, you know I love
you, jesus says all right, let'stalk about how much you're
(28:27):
going to love me.
Are you going to love me 30years from now, when you're
probably in your 50s, whenyou're in a cell, when you are
no longer dressing yourselfOther people are, when you are
chained?
Are you going to love me thatmuch?
And I think it's awesome thatPeter gets to write us this
letter which is to us, but Ithink it is also him proclaiming
(28:48):
to Christ Lord, this is howmuch I love you.
I've been faithful.
I love you enough to tell themthat everything that they need
for life and godliness is in you.
I have loved you enough to evenpoint out people who want to
lead others astray, becausethat's never a fun thing to do.
It is never a fun thing topoint to.
I think this is not justPeter's letter to us.
I think this may be Peter'sresponse to Christ when he says
(29:11):
are you going to love me thismuch?
And he's saying let me show youhow much I love you.
Yeah, one of the things thatstands out to me if you look at
the very beginning of chaptertwo Thomas, you mentioned this
about the secretly that therewill be.
I like that.
It's like there's a promisethere will be false teachers
among you.
There's never a world in whichyou are only going to get good
(29:35):
gospel, truth.
It is always going to beattached or attacked by other
things.
And one thing that I would warnyou of is this we had a
question come in, what would beessential things that you would
look for if you were trying tofind a church?
I'm going to leave that withyou guys.
What would be essential thingsthat you would look for in
finding a church?
(29:56):
I think there's a lot about whatPeter's saying about hey, it's
Sunday morning church context.
But if I could just pastorallywarn you about something that is
secret, something that is false, it's simply this when we spend
time on our smartphones, Iwould just encourage you to
(30:17):
realize this phone is smarter atknowing you than you are at
knowing it.
This phone is smarter at knowingyou than you are at knowing it,
and so, whether your form ofmedia intake is Twitter or
Facebook, instagram, tiktok,whatever it is, the moment you
like something, it beginslearning you, and the moment you
slow scroll something, even ifyou don't like or follow, it
(30:40):
begins learning you.
And I think one of the thingsthat Peter, if he were writing
in our context, he would sayplease don't let your algorithm
get caught in a funnel offoolishness, because so many of
the folks that I talk with whentheir lives are in a really,
really bad place, I can tell byminute five they have bought
into something that our cultureis selling that God's word never
(31:04):
would.
And it all started by one postthat was just a little bit off
and they liked it, and then theygot two more the next week, and
then they got four, and thenthey got eight and, next thing,
they knew they were believingthings that they never would
have believed if they had stayedaway from it, and I see it most
in relationships and marriages.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Yeah, and that obviously happens.
I'm sure it happens a lot.
But also, I think, peter'swarning against the heresies and
the worldviews that wouldactually take Scripture and just
twist them Little bitty twist,little bitty twist.
Like that's what the serpent didin the garden.
He didn't say you know, bumpGod, he's not real.
Did he really say you shouldn'ttake of this or eat it?
(31:46):
And she's like, oh no, he tookGod's word and he twisted it.
And so if I could be pastoral,I'd say that to me is, I think,
the more dangerous one of whenthey start with a Bible verse
and they're like this doesn'tmean what you think it means,
and then they twist it in thisway that you're going oh, I've
never thought about life thatway, and it just leads down this
destructive path because you'retaking a verse out of context
(32:07):
and twisting it.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Maybe one of the best questions we can ask ourselves
is this what is speaking to melouder and more frequently than
God, and is that a good and awise thing?
What is speaking to me louderand more frequently than God?
Just by my rhythms of life?
That doesn't mean you need toread your Bible eight hours a
day, by the way.
(32:29):
I know some of you who want to.
I do.
I know there are some of youwho want to.
I think most of us arestruggling to want to spend 15
minutes in our Bible every day.
If I'm honest, and myencouragement I think Peter's
would be hey, what is theloudest thing to you right now?
What's speaking to you morethan anything else, and where is
that going to land you?
Speaker 3 (32:50):
Yeah, I think, just for context, you sort of begin
to peel back the curtain alittle bit and see what Peter's
getting at.
So there's these false teachersthat have came in to the church
that are basically denying thatthere is a coming judgment,
right.
And so we're going to see thatin chapter three where he's
going to say look, everything'sbeen continuing the way of all
things you know, up until thistime there's been no judgment.
(33:11):
And so if there's no judgment,if there's no sort of day of
reckoning for our behavior, thenwhy endeavor to live a holy
lifestyle now, right, and sothat was sort of the message
that these false teachers arepromoting, and that's why Peter
is so passionate about no, itdoes matter how you behave,
that's evidence of a trueprofession of faith.
(33:34):
And so he's going to go to waragainst those ideas, and you'll
see that in this chapter and inchapter three to come.
But yeah, I do think it's neattoo, the end of chapter one
where Peter's sort of laying outhis credentials like hey, this
is how you can know that mytestimony is true and faithful.
I personally eyewitnessed thetransfiguration.
(33:54):
I saw God, heard God from onheaven saying this is my beloved
son.
So we saw his face light up andhim be transfigured in glory.
So he's saying look like wepersonally were there, we were
an eyewitness testimony to thework of Jesus Christ.
So he's going to pivot thatagainst these false teachers who
are going to claim that Peteris just sort of living at, you
(34:14):
know, sort of spooling up theseheresies, these like senseless
myths and things.
And so Peter is's fightingagainst that, laying out his
credentials of why we shouldhave confidence in the scripture
that's been passed down.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
All right, quick fire , because I want to get to
chapter three, but we just had aslew of questions come in.
One thing you would look for ifyou had to pick out a church
I'm going to go with humility.
I would want a leadership teamthat is humble.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Drums.
Okay, I'm going to go withhumility.
I would want a leadership teamthat is humble Drums.
Okay, I'm just kidding.
Christ and Christ crucifiedbeing preached is what Paul says
.
I think a lot of times,especially in the Southeast, we
can go to churches that arequasi-Christian enough that they
give you godly principles andgodly guidelines for living, but
they don't preach Christ andwhat he did to you know,
(35:03):
purchase his people, and I thinkI wouldn't settle for anything
that doesn't preach that.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
Yeah, I would just say a full-throated proclamation
of the gospel in all ways, thegood and the bad, the wrath of
God, the atoning sacrifice, thesinfulness of man that we
rightly deserve as wrath.
Like, I think, if you have achurch that boldly proclaims
that and doesn't just try topicture God as being loving
which he is, but God is alsoholy and righteous and not like
(35:29):
us, and that would be what Iwould look for.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
We have lots of questions coming in about is
there a higher expectation forthose of us who knew something
longer, who have been Christianslonger?
But I'm going to summarize itwith this one, succinctly Is
there no hope for someone tocome back to the Lord if they
have walked away?
Because and I said like I'mconnecting these two dots, I
(35:54):
would say there's always hope.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
I think the point he's making is that when he says
, look, it would be better off,in a sense, that they had never
sort of my view on this is, whenhe's talking about those you
know who have fallen away, thatthese are people who are not
genuine believers.
They have been around, you knowthings of faith, have been in
the Christian community, butthey were deceived Like they
were.
This you know the seed thatfell among you, know the stony
(36:19):
ground, but they weren'tgenuinely believers.
Or else Philippians 1.6 is nottrue that being confident in
this very thing that he whobegan a good work and you will
be faithful to complete it, youwill eventually come to glory in
heaven.
But I think the sense is thatif you have been around and
you've deceived yourself in asense and you fall away and you
(36:40):
sort of hardened your heartagainst the true gospel, it is
very hard to come back to aplace of true repentance and
that your heart is broken oversin.
It is so much more unlikely forthat to be true of you once you
have been so close in Christiancommunity and you've sort of
been under God's common grace,but you harden your heart to the
(37:03):
point to where you apostatizeand walk away.
Anything's possible with God,but it is not a hopeful place to
be.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
It's one of the saddest things when somebody has
been a part of a Christiancommunity I'll just speak from
experience and they're knownwell and they're loved well and
they've served for a long timeand then one thought, one idea,
one concept enters into theirheart and mind and they breathe
life into it.
Your ability to justify yourbehavior is unmatched by
(37:36):
anything, except for the graceof God.
Your ability to justifyanything that you do is
unmatched.
And I think what Peter is sortof saying is the likelihood of
somebody turning their back onChrist and justifying that
behavior is a whole lot morecommon than someone turning
their back on Christ and thenturning back toward him,
(37:58):
recognizing how many people'sfaces they are going to need to
repent, to how much guilt.
Shame which, by the way, theChristian community would
forgive them wholeheartedly andcelebrate it.
But there is something about thedeceived mind that deceives
them to walk away and thendeceives them that they cannot
ever walk back, which would notbe the case of the good news of
(38:18):
Christ.
All right, let's jump intochapter three.
All right, we'll finish up here.
This is the shortest of thethree chapters.
Thomas, I think that's you, yep.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
This is now the second letter that I am writing
to you, beloved.
In both of them I am stirringup your sincere mind by way of
reminder that you shouldremember the predictions of the
holy prophets and thecommandment of the Lord and
Savior through your apostles,knowing this first of all, that
scoffers will come in the lastdays, with scoffing, following
their own sinful desires, theywill say where is the promise of
(38:51):
his coming?
Forever?
Since the fathers fell asleep,all things are continuing as
they were from the beginning ofcreation.
For they deliberatelyoverlooked this fact that the
heavens existed long ago and theearth was formed without water
and through water, by the wordof God, and that by means of
these, the world that thenexisted was indulged with water
(39:12):
and perished.
But by the same word.
The heavens and the earth thatnow exist are stored up for fire
, being kept until the day ofjudgment and destruction for the
ungodly.
But do not overlook this onefact beloved that with the Lord,
(39:32):
one day is as a thousand yearsand a thousand years is one day.
The Lord is not slow to fulfillhis promise, as some count
slowness, but he is patienttowards you, not wishing that
any should perish, but that allshould reach repentance, but the
day of the Lord will come likea thief.
Then the heavens will pass awaywith a roar and the heavenly
bodies will be burned up anddissolved, and the earth and the
works that are done on it willbe exposed.
(39:53):
Since all these things are thusto be dissolved, what sort of
people ought you to be in livesof holiness and godliness,
waiting for and hastening thecoming of the day of God,
because of which the heavenswill be set on fire and
dissolved and the heavenlybodies will melt as they burn?
But, according to his promise,we are waiting for new heavens
(40:13):
and a new earth in whichrighteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, since youare waiting for these, be
diligent to be found by himwithout spot or blemish and at
peace, and count the patience ofour Lord as salvation, just as
our beloved brother Paul alsowrote to you, according to the
wisdom given to him, as he doesin all his letters when he
(40:35):
speaks in them of these matters.
There are some things in themthat are hard to understand,
which the ignorant and unstabletwist to their own destruction,
as they do the other scriptures.
You therefore, beloved, knowingthis beforehand, take care that
you are not carried away withthe error of lawless people.
Amen, amen.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
One more time.
We'll throw up the QR code ifanybody wants to shoot in.
A couple of questions.
I'll tell you.
What stands out to me at thebeginning of chapter three is in
verse five, when it says theydeliberately overlook this fact.
Can I just be honest with you?
I think all of us are prone tothis.
We've talked a lot about likepeople leading the church astray
(41:27):
.
I don't think many of us putourselves in that category and
we're like I'm so glad we'retalking about this Will, because
I've really wanted to leadministry astray for a long time
and I just needed thatapplication.
But I will tell you this Ithink it is so.
I think the children of ourculture say the things that the
adults believe but are tooembarrassed to say.
(41:47):
And there is a reality when youtalk to kids, when they're like
do I really need like Jesushadn't come back in 2000 years?
What are the odds he comes backin my lifetime?
Can't I just and then it willbe broken down by age Can't I
just do this while I'm 10 and dothis in my twenties, and do
(42:07):
this in my thirties, and do thisin my forties, and then this in
my 30s and do this in my 40sand then kind of clean it up at
the end and know that God'sgrace is sufficient, and the
fact that Peter's like guys.
There is a problem when wedeliberately overlook the fact
that the return of Christ isdestined by God to come like a
thief, and then, like in thenext 10 seconds, the trumpet
(42:28):
sounds and Jesus comes back andPeter sort of has this question
since all this is the case, weall throw it up, throw up the
scripture.
Since all this is the case,what sort of people want you to
be Like?
Let this be a reflectivequestion for the day.
If Jesus comes back in an hour,how does that change the way
you live for the next 60 minutes?
If he's coming back in six days, what do the next five look
(42:51):
like?
And then words that I think weas Americans hate.
We are people who wait.
We are people who wait.
We are people who wait and Ithink all of us look at these
words as a burden, like, oh mygosh, but the way Peter's
writing it, it's more like theperson leaning at the race line
waiting for the gun to go off.
This morning, lord, when I getin my car, what is it that you
(43:14):
have for me?
Who do I get to pray for when Ishow up to work?
What conversations do you inglory already have prepared for
me to engage in?
I am waiting for God to use meprofoundly, and that doesn't
mean I'm waiting until adeathbed confession.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
And I think, just kind of how we started, a little
bit like the question of if youknew you had an hour until
Jesus came back, I think a lotof at least my mind goes
immediately to well, I'd spendit in prayer and time of the
word and things like that.
But I think like one of thethings that the scriptures as a
whole maybe even 2 Peterspecifically encourages is like,
as the day draws near, we areto spend it with other people,
(43:53):
like pouring into them, enjoyinglife with them, doing things
like that, and so I don't think,if there's an hour on the clock
, we should all like hit ourprayer closets and I think we
should go to the pool and hangout with each other and enjoy
the things that God has given us, to include relationships, and
I think that's what he's doingkind of on the eve of his death
is pouring into others in a waythat I think is giving.
(44:15):
Paul uses the phrase that myjoy may be complete, and what he
means by that is that you guysare sharing in the things that I
care about too, that you guysare growing in and maturing in
the things that I care about,which is the gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Speaker 1 (44:30):
How can you tell when somebody's twisting Scripture?
One of the questions that camethrough.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
I think you have to know Scripture, right.
I mean, it's like back in theday, if you were a bank teller,
they didn't train you oncounterfeit bills, right?
You saw thousands and thousandsand thousands.
Speaker 1 (44:49):
Did you ever get shown a bill?
And they're like Greg, this isthe real one.
I've heard this illustrationbefore.
Catch me, if you can.
Speaker 3 (44:55):
Yeah, I was never on the teller line, but it's the
fact that you handle the realthing all the time that when a
counterfeit comes up, it'sobvious to you because you are
so familiar with the real thing.
And so I think it's the samething with Scripture.
Right, you have to know it, youhave to be familiar with it,
you have to have hidden it inyour heart so that when somebody
comes and says, well, thisreally means that you say, well,
(45:17):
that's not true, like I knowwhat Scripture says.
And so because of that, and theHoly Spirit certainly guides
you and convicts you and helpsenlighten scripture to you.
But I think the key thing is,like, you have to know scripture
.
You cannot just be part-time inthe word and expect to be able
to guard against some of thesefolks who have you know they
(45:37):
have cleverly snuck in trying todeceive you.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
Yeah, One of my favorite things.
Can I just tell you aboutyourselves?
A little bit mid-tree.
Some of y'all are here for thefirst week and you're like, you
don't know me, that's all right,I may not, but I do know a
bunch of you guys and one of myfavorite things to watch is when
I ask you an easy question fromthe stage on a Sunday, versus
when I ask you a hard questionfrom the stage.
(46:01):
If I ask you an easy questionthat you learned in Awana and
somebody gave you a JollyRancher for Like name three of
the disciples who were withJesus on the Mount of
Transfiguration.
When I say this, some of youget excited and you smile
because you're like I know it.
But then when I ask like aquestion that is Is it okay to
be angry with God?
(46:21):
Yes, yes, like that when itisn't, which you did with the
middle schoolers last week.
Speaker 3 (46:25):
I did.
Speaker 1 (46:29):
When I ask you a question, that isn't trivia, and
this is the difference inknowledge and knowledge.
It is so funny watching youguys go like y'all will give me
eye contact all the time whenI'm preaching until I say is it
okay for you to be angry withGod?
And then, all of a sudden,you've never been more
interested in your Bible, right?
And if I could just tell youguys, we want to be a culture
(46:50):
that asks questions of the Bibleand it is okay to not know the
answer.
It's not okay to think you mustknow the answer all right, or
to think to be a Christian, youhave to already know the answer.
Please, please, please.
Let us be a group of people whonever stop asking questions,
and I think that's a big way toknow the difference in what is
(47:13):
true and what is not.
Is we need to ask questions andnot be embarrassed to do so
when we're not sure.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
Anything else.
And I think to tack on to that,like that's kind of what Peter
says about Paul's writings,they're hard to understand, he's
like bro this is tough, they'rehard to understand.
And he says I'm going to addanother category.
Sorry, peter, but he says thereare some that take Paul's
writings and they just twistthem.
They twist them for their ownbenefit, their own gain, things
like that.
And I think there are otherpeople that take Paul's writings
and they just give up.
(47:43):
They just say it's too hard.
I'll read, peter.
I try never going to readLeviticus, exactly, yeah, and I
would encourage you guys not todo either of those, like Greg
said, to know Scripture as bestyou can, to weigh these things,
to know if they're being twisted, and so that you don't give up.
I think the more you read, themore you understand.
Speaker 1 (48:02):
And at the beginning it's going to be hard.
Greg mention to us Stokes youpointed to in the first service.
That sort of wraps this entirebook up.
Speaker 3 (48:12):
Yeah, like two people in here will be interested in
this, and you're one of themsitting next to you, they're
right here.
An inclusio is sort of somepeople call it a sandwich where
there's like a concept that'sintroduced early in a passage
(48:34):
and then it's sort of bookmarked, like there's the same thing at
the end.
You'll see here, at the end ofhere, we're talking about, but
grow in the grace and knowledgeof our Lord and Savior, jesus
Christ.
The idea of grace and knowledgeand the fact that you're
growing in that.
And he starts out in chapter Imean, yeah, in chapter one he's
talking about to those whoobtain a faith equal, standing
by the righteousness of our Godand Savior, jesus Christ.
May grace and peace bemultiplied to you in the
knowledge of God.
So he starts out sort oftelling you where he's going and
(48:56):
then he winds up with a youknow looking at bookmarks.
But it's just a way of sort ofsummarizing and bringing you
back to.
This is how I started.
This is why it was important Iwanted you to know here, and
this knowledge here is epignosis.
It's an experiential, like adeep knowledge, not like a head
knowledge, where you know facts.
He said, look like I want youto know experientially who
(49:16):
Christ is and what he's done foryou, and so and he is the same
way, sort of bookend in that.
Speaker 1 (49:22):
And if you find yourself and you're like, holy
moly, I just sat with threepastors that read an entire book
and Greg just said gnosis, andI'm supposed to know what that
is, or something along thoselines.
Can I leave you with, I think,maybe one of the greatest
encouragements.
If you guys will put thescripture up, please notice how
Peter began this entire thing.
This was the guy who walkedwith Jesus.
(49:43):
This was the guy who deniedJesus.
This was the guy who walked onwater, saw Jesus transfigured,
and here's what he says To thosewho have obtained a faith of
equal standing with ours howinsane is it that the apostle
Peter, who wrote scripture thatwalked with Jesus, looks at you
(50:07):
and says we're all the same, weare all simply children of God,
children of the King, and so, nomatter where you feel, this
morning I got a ton of knowledge.
My knowledge needs to come here.
I have more questions than Ihave answers.
Peter would say, hey, I was afisherman Like I'm the one who
(50:28):
made the most mistakes and I'mthe one who gets to live 50
years of a life and then give itall for Christ.
And you living in Harris County, columbus and the surrounding
area, with GPS and everythingelse.
You are no different than me,be a child of the King, who
never bores with being remindedof his incredible grace to you.
(50:51):
So let's stand and let's singand worship this king, and if
anybody needs prayer, we will bedown here to pray with you.
All right.
So here's what we're gonna do.
We do this about two, threetimes a year, so if you've never
been here, boy am I excitedthat you are here on a Sunday.
So what we are going to do isread through, as a congregation,
the book of 2 Peter.
I mentioned already threechapters.
It's about a seven-minute read.
We're gonna take it a chapterat a time, and then the goal
(00:21):
here is to do a couple of things.
One I want you to better knowwho Peter is.
When we read the book of 2 Peter, it is who you're thinking.
It is the guy who jumped out ofthe boat, the guy who was
hanging out with Jesus, deniedhim three times.
That is who wrote this letter,and he's writing it about 30
years after Jesus is killed onthe cross, resurrected and
(00:46):
ascends into heaven.
He's also writing it probablymonths before his own death, and
he knows that.
And so this is the letter fromthe guy who heard the words of
Christ most, sharing his finalwords with us, and so that's
what we're going to look at.
A couple of other things heprobably wrote this in prison.
(01:08):
He was probably in a Romanprison, and so you'll notice by
the time we get to chapter two.
He is feisty about ending wellbecause he's ending well, so he
wants you to end well.
And then the other thing that Iwould say is this we never, we
us, but we midtree, we neverwant to build our services to be
(01:30):
entertainment driven.
However, I'm sorry, I'm losingmy voice, sorry, it is the most
annoying thing to have to cough.
You have a microphone, alwaysLike you can't get away from it.
Um, what was I trying to say?
We don't want to beentertaining, thank you.
Entertainment, um proof.
(01:50):
Uh, what we do want to do isengage in god's word, the way
that god's word has been engagedfor for millennia.
And so, just so you know, it'sgoing to begin with with peter
saying this is my second letterto you.
What we're about to do is howthe early church would have done
church.
They would have read theentirety of the letter.
(02:12):
They may have had a little bitless exposition in preaching.
And there is going to be insideof you the need, in a culture
that watches three second clipsand decides if you're interested
or if you're swiping that,you're gonna have the.
I'll put it in the positiveyou're gonna have the
opportunity to mature as aseasoned pursuer of Christ in us
(02:35):
, not trying to entertain you,and so I would just prepare you
for that in advance.
Settle in, we're gonna bereading and receiving the word
of God, just so you know.
This is so much better than anyof my thoughts, thomas's
thoughts and most of Greg'sthoughts.
Anyway, I'll give you morecredit than us.
Yeah, so with that, here are ifyou guys would throw up the
(02:59):
slides for me, I'll be puttingit up.
These are four questions.
If I were you, I would beasking yourself as we read
through it and keep in mind, thebooks that we gave you have
first and second Peter in them.
So if you realize we're readingsomething different than you,
you're in the wrong one, okay,so make sure you're in second
Peter.
Guys, anything to add before wedive in?
(03:19):
No, okay, then what we'll do,josiahiah, I'm going to read
through chapter one and then, ifwe could put up the QR code for
questions right after that, wewould love for you to put in
thoughts and questions andreflections as we get ready to
sort of engage the text together.
Our, we did not show up withthree miniature sermons.
(03:42):
We used to do that and none ofus ever got to finish any of our
thoughts, and so we havestudied, we have thought, we
have prayed through these things, but we really want to engage
as a congregation and we hadlots of questions come in in the
first service.
So we will give you anopportunity to do that in just a
minute.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
And I will say for anyone who is new today or
hasn't seen one of thisread-throughs been done at
Midtree, we will take the nextcouple of weeks and months to
preach through 2 Peter.
We're doing kind of a flyover,the way they would have received
it as a letter, reading thewhole thing, unpacking kind of
like maybe highlights or justinteresting things that we see.
But in the weeks to come Willis going to be preaching through
(04:21):
the text and so don't thinkwe're doing this and not.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
But you get to go to bed tonight and say I read a
book of the Bible today.
That's right, and it wasn'tJude, that's awesome.
All right, here we go.
2 Peter, chapter 1, starting inverse 1.
Oh, hang on, guys, let me makeit a little bigger for you.
Okay, there we go.
Simeon Peter.
That would be Simon Peterwritten into Hebrew form, simon
Peter, a servant and apostle ofJesus Christ.
(04:46):
To those who have obtained afaith of equal standing with
ours by the righteousness of ourGod and Savior, jesus Christ,
may grace and peace bemultiplied to you in the
knowledge of God and of Jesus.
Our Lord, his divine power hasgranted to us all things that
pertain to life and godlinessthrough the knowledge of him,
who called us to his own gloryand excellence, by which he has
(05:09):
granted to us his very preciousand very great promises, so that
, through them, you may becomepartakers of the divine nature,
Having escaped from thecorruption that is in the world
because of sinful desire.
For this very reason, makeevery effort to supplement your
(05:38):
faith with virtue.
Because of sinful desire, yours, and are increasing.
They keep you from beingineffective and unfruitful in
the knowledge of our Lord, jesusChrist, for whoever lacks these
qualities, is so nearsightedthat he's blind, having
forgotten that he was cleansedfrom former sins.
Therefore, brothers, be all themore diligent to confirm your
calling and election, for if youpractice these qualities, you
(06:01):
will never fall, for in this way, there will be richly provided
for you an entrance into theeternal kingdom of our Lord and
Savior, jesus Christ.
Therefore, I intend always toremind you of these qualities,
though you know them and areestablished in the truth that
you have.
I think it right, as long as Iam in this body, to stir you up
(06:23):
by way of reminder, since I knowthat the putting off of my body
will be soon, as our Lord JesusChrist made clear to me, and I
will make every effort so that,after my departure, you may be
able at any time to recall thesethings.
For we did not follow cleverlydevised myths when we made known
to you the power and coming ofour Lord Jesus Christ, but we
(06:43):
were eyewitnesses of his majesty, for when he received honor and
glory from God, the Father andthe voice was born to him by the
majestic glory this is mybeloved son, with whom I am well
pleased we ourselves heard thisvery voice born from heaven,
for we were with him on the holymountain and we have the
prophetic word more fullyconfirmed, to which you will do
(07:06):
well to pay attention, as to alamp shining in a dark place
until the day dawns and themorning star rises in your
hearts.
Knowing this, first of all,that no prophecy of scripture
comes from someone's owninterpretation, for no prophecy
was ever produced by the will ofman, but men spoke from God, as
(07:26):
they were carried along by theHoly Spirit.
I think that would be ourdesire this morning as well to
be led well by the Holy Spirit.
So, as Peter begins this letter,what are a couple of things
that stand out to you guys?
Ten seconds to think.
If you guys would go ahead andgrab your phones, I'd love even
if you don't have a questionright now, I'd love for you to
(07:46):
grab it and get the QR code inthe event that something comes
up in the midst of discussion,so that you can send in a couple
of questions.
That really makes it a lot offun for us as well.
All right, guys.
So what are we thinking asPeter begins this letter?
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Well, just on the outset, twice actually.
I just noticed it a second time.
I don't have a pen.
I don't have Ian right there tothrow me one.
In verses 12 and 13, he uses theword remind or reminder.
He says in 13, I think it isright, as long as I'm in this
body, to stir you up by way ofreminder.
And what Peter is saying to thechurch that would have received
(08:26):
this letter is basically I'mkind of not telling you guys new
stuff.
I'm not adding to, I'm notsubtracting from.
What I'm doing is I'm joggingyour memory of these things that
you've been taught, that you'vebeen raised in, that you've
been trained in, that you'vegrown in.
And what you guys need rightnow is a reminder, even as I'm
about to die.
He says that in the next verse,Even though I'm about to put
(08:47):
this body off.
I don't have a new word fromthe Lord.
I don't have a new kind ofthing to tell you.
I just want to remind you ofthe goodness of God.
I want to remind you of whathis face is like, what sin is
like, what he has done topurchase sinners back to himself
.
I'm just reminding you kind ofof the basics of Christianity.
(09:08):
And it's so encouraging because, as we read this, it's not
going to feel like a reminder.
Sometimes it's going to feellike big, lofty things.
But he's saying just rememberthe basics, Remember the things
of God.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, it's so freeing as a believer to know that a
good quiet time doesn't meanyou've learned something that
you never knew before.
A good sermon is not.
Oh well, that is brand new.
I've never even thought of thatconcept before.
Peter at the end of his life isnot pointing to hey.
Now that I've lived this wholething out, let me tell you two
great tips for loving the Lord.
(09:39):
He's like hey, I've got nothingbetter to give you than simply
Jesus and who he is, and I thinkthat's awesome.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Yeah, and certainly there will be times when maybe
you might unmind unearth a newnugget of sort of truth that you
hadn't seen before in a verse.
But I do think there'ssomething about, look, and I
resonate with Peter.
I'm probably similar in age tohe was when he wrote this more
in the rearview mirror thanthrough the windshield at this
point, and so he's looking backwith this sort of hey, you know,
(10:10):
my life is at this point.
I care for these people deeply.
I'm concerned that they're notled.
We're going to get into sort ofwhat the false teaching that
sort of he's going to addressmore specifically, but he's
concerned that folks that he'sloved, that he has been in a
shepherding rollover, he'sconcerned that they're going to
be led astray, and so he'ssaying look, I'm using every
(10:30):
last minute that I have.
I'm concerned to know thatbefore I leave here, that I sort
of drive a stake in the groundlike this is gospel truth that
you guys need to know, you needto cling to, you don't need to
be deceived by these things thatyou're hearing.
And so we'll get into what thatis a little bit later in more
detail.
But I can certainly relate toPeter and his heart, I think as
(10:50):
elders, pastors, we all sort ofhave that Like we bear the
burden.
It's weighs on us rightlydividing the word, making sure
that you guys are doctrinallysound and that you're not being
led astray by, you know, falseteaching or things that sound
true, and there is a sense wherewe all love to be in on the new
bit of knowledge.
You know something like hey,you guys have been reading this
(11:12):
for years and here's somethingthey all have missed, and so
that's appealing to us in a lotof ways.
And he just said look, it'sjust the faithful reading of the
word, it's sufficient, it'sclear, it's authoritative, it's
necessary, sufficient, it'sclear, it's authoritative, it's
necessary, like, it has all thatwe need for life and godliness.
And so he's just reminding youknow, his dear brothers and
sisters in Christ, that this isof utmost importance.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
One of the things that we did to make that reality
something that you can livewith.
Y'all will notice these littlebands.
Did any of you guys grab theseon the way in?
I feel like the ladies knowwhat this is way more than the
guys do.
So what this is, this is ascripture memory band, and we
picked 2 Peter 1, 3, thescripture that I used for the
call to worship, because ifwe're going to remember
(11:56):
something out of this, verse 3of chapter 1 is one of the best
things that we can remember, andso it's just the first letter
of every word of that verse.
If you didn't grab one of theseon the way in, you'll be able to
as you head out, but we wouldlove for the whole church to be
working on memorizing thisscripture over the next six or
(12:17):
so weeks and, I would point tothis, if we'll throw the
scripture back up in verse three, his divine power has granted
us all things that pertain tolife and godliness.
Don't separate your life into.
Well, I've got my churchy lifeand my devotional life and when
I sing songs in the car, life,and then I've got my podcast
life and I've got my work lifeand I've got this, no, peter's
like.
He's given you everything youneed for every element, through
(12:40):
the knowledge of him, who calledus to his glory and excellence.
And I just find it soencouraging and fascinating that
, at the end of his life, peteris still saying I want to be
excellent, I want to grow.
I don't know if I'm going tohave two weeks left or two
months left, but I want myknowledge of Christ, my living
(13:01):
the Christian life beingexcellent in all of its forms
and factors.
I never want to quit growing.
And so, as a congregation, as welook at this book, I think
Peter would basically say thisto you Are you growing in Christ
or are you coasting?
How tempted are you to sort ofhit the cruise control button?
How much credit do you giveyourselves for rhythms that have
(13:22):
already been firmly established?
Let me explain what I mean.
How many of us are like look,well, I go to church, I read my
Bible occasionally, and if I'mhaving a bad day, I put on
worship songs.
What more do you want from me?
And I'm like well, it's notthat I want more from you or for
you.
I want your whole world to beinvaded by the goodness of who
Christ is, and I don't know thatwe ever get to the point where
(13:46):
we are filled up to 100% thisside of heaven.
But I feel like Peter's at 99.9, and he is just like striving
to get that 0.1.
How can you not be in the 90s,when you're in prison, writing a
letter filled with the Spiritof God that we're going to read
2,000 years later?
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, and I think maybe in step with that, like
growing in grace, growing inknowledge, growing in grace,
growing in knowledge, growing inall these fruit.
Just something that struck mewhile you were talking was just
the virtue of the fact that wehave a letter from Peter in
prison under Nero's persecution,knowing tomorrow could be the
day.
I mean he's burning Christianson sticks to light the city at
night and he takes time to sitdown and write his friends a
(14:22):
letter, Like I know it's likeHoly Spirit stuff, but the fact
that he is concerned enough tosay because I think sometimes we
could just go into I'm going toworship, I'm going to pray, I'm
going to read my Bible, whatthey had.
But instead Peter says, hey,I'm going to remind my friends
of what I've taught them, I'mgoing to grow them how
relational, Exactly Like I thinkit's really cool and that's one
(14:42):
of the best ways to grow inyour maturity and walk with the
Lord is helping others to grow.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
One of the questions that came in.
So take a look at.
I think we're going to start inverse five.
Here In verse five are thoseattributes written in order of
importance.
So let's just take a look atthe attributes.
For this very reason, makeevery effort to supplement your
faith with so we have, virtue,knowledge, self-control,
steadfastness, godliness,brotherly affection and love.
(15:12):
Is there a thought to the orderthat Peter's going through here
?
Or is he just like hey, man,you want all these things.
Grab them if you can get them.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
I don't think there's an order in a sense of you have
to build on one other thanfaith has to be there first.
But I don't think it's like hey, once you've got faith, let me
get back there, you know, workon virtue and then, once you
tackle virtue, then go toknowledge, and once you tackle
knowledge, then go toself-control.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
We wouldn't love people for a while.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
No, yeah, I think you're saying, look, all of
these spring out of faith andwithout faith you're not going
to be able to have all thesethings to be true in your life.
But if you have faith, all ofthese things increasingly should
be true of your life.
And he's going to, he's goingto cut his readers just a little
bit of slack right so down inin eight he's going to say if
these qualities are yours andincreasing, they keep you from
(16:03):
being ineffective or unfruitful.
So, hey, this is sort of apositive If you're doing these
things and you're growing, andit's going to keep you from
being unfruitful.
Because whoever lacks thesequalities is so nearsighted that
he's blind, having forgottenthat he was cleansed from his
former sins and almost to thepoint of like, hey, if this is
(16:26):
not true of you, ever in yourChristian walk, are you really
walking as a Christian right andso that we talked about
Philippians 1.6, being confidentof this very thing, that he who
began a good work in you willbe faithful to complete it.
So the idea that if you aretruly in Christ you will
progress in sanctification, likeyou're not just going to sort
of coast perpetually.
You'll be seasons where you knowmaybe you're not growing as
much as you'd like, but thetrajectory of your life should
be one of increasingly becomingmore like Christ.
(16:47):
And so Peter's sort of layingin pretty heavy and saying look
like there may be a time whereit looks like you've lost sight
of your profession, yourconfession of faith, but long
term like doing these things inverse 12, reminds you of these
qualities that you know thatwe're establishing the truth
Sorry, it's verse 11.
And these ways will richlyprovide for you an entrance into
(17:08):
the eternal kingdom of our Lordand Savior, jesus Christ.
He goes even deeper and sayslook, this is the way that you
know you're really a believer,like if you're growing in these
areas.
But yet no, the short answer isI don't think he has to be in
order, other than all these comeout of faith, and without faith
you'll never exhibit all theseOne of the questions we had and
we've already had one comethrough is can you lose your
(17:29):
salvation?
Speaker 1 (17:30):
I'm looking at this and you're not going to fall if
you do these things.
When I think about somebody, mytheological answer would be no,
you can't lose your salvation.
I think there are a number ofpeople who think they're saved,
(17:51):
that maybe aren't, and so itwould be easy to interpret as a
loss of salvation, but I sort ofview it sort of as a door from
the perspective of God, like ifyou are his in his hand.
Nothing is snatching you out ofhis hand.
Your calling and your electionare sure.
However, from our side of thedoor, how do I know I'm a
Christian?
Do I know I'm a Christianbecause I got saved at nine
years old in my pastor's office?
Or do I know I'm a Christianbecause I got nervous about that
when I read more about hell andI got saved at a DC talk
(18:13):
concert?
Or when I got nervous two yearslater and I got saved at sharp
top, like which one counted.
And I think, from our side ofthe door, how are you making fun
of me for what?
Oh, yeah, the DC talk.
Yeah, conundrum, all right.
How do we know we're saved.
Here's my answer.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I went to a Hank Williams concert and they
cranked up some tunes.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Here's how Will knows that he's saved.
I am trusting in Jesus todayand I'm repenting of my sins
today, and if that everevaporates, I have major
concerns, even though God cansee in a way that I can't.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
And I think, to the question of can I let's make it
personal can I lose my salvation?
Usually what I say is to theperson asking that is it's a
good question.
And just by virtue you ask.
It means you're concerned aboutit, it means you don't want to
be what is it Ineffective orunfruitful?
It says in verse eight like youdon't want to be, that You're
asking yourself am I continuingin the Lord, am I walking in his
(19:03):
ways?
And even if you're not like,you're concerned about it.
And I think that is anindication of at least the
desire to have that faith whichcascades down into that
knowledge, self-control,steadfastness.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
I want to look at one more question because I really
enjoyed this one that came in.
It's in verse five, so if youguys will throw it back up there
, so I'm going to kind of erasewhat we've looked at, this one
concept of virtue.
Here is the question.
The world would use that termthat things are virtuous, but
Christians, and God's word isgoing to define it differently.
(19:36):
So what might be a virtue thatthe world would espouse and what
would be the actual gospel flipof that?
So I've already prepared ananswer.
You guys take a moment to thinkOur world is going to say that
it is a virtue to pursue hardwork and victory and success in
whatever your endeavors areHustle right, like get your
(19:58):
hustle moving.
I don't think Peter would have ahuge problem because he's like
hey, man, I want you to like goafter it.
But Christians ought to have avirtue of not only strenuous
work but almost strenuousSabbath, that there's sort of
this balance where the world isgoing to say work, achieve, go.
You are more impressed.
(20:19):
The more full your calendar is,the less margin that you have
in your life, red line as muchas you possibly can.
And the gospel would come intothat and it would say well,
don't you know that it's God whoworks in you?
All good things, why are youstriving?
If it is his strength that does?
It Doesn't mean you shouldn'twork, but we should be as adept
at our resting as we are at ourworking, and I think that's one
(20:41):
virtue that the gospel wouldtweak, that our culture would
have.
What's another virtue in ourculture that you think the
gospel would flip on its head abit?
Speaker 3 (20:50):
I would probably say success, like monetary Making,
money Gain making money, moremoney, more problems.
The world would tell you, youknow, get all you can, can all
you get.
And you know, the gospel wouldtell us, you know, in the same
way, that Christ has beenunimaginably generous with us in
the personal work of Christ.
He would encourage us to holdpossessions and money loosely
(21:12):
and sort of view them as a blankcheck that God can write for
whatever he wants, which is verysort of atypical.
I think Christians are calledto be humble, self-sacrificing,
giving in any number of ways.
You know, if your brother asksfor your cloak, you know, give
him two.
(21:33):
If he asks you to carry it fora mile, carry it two miles.
So just this idea of generosity, of humble submission, is not
worldly but what we're called todo, sort of this upside down
kingdom.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
All right, let's flip to chapter two.
Is that good, Thomas?
Yeah, all right.
What was it?
Out of curiosity.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Just the virtue of self-fulfillment Kind of, in
that We've been watching a showCompared to self-sacrifice.
Well, yeah, we've been watchinga show, me and Emily and one of
the ladies on the show.
I noticed you didn't mentionthe show.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Well, it's Survivor.
Is there some connection?
No, no, no, it's Survivor, okay.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Very clean, okay.
And one of the ladies as theywere talking was like yeah,
basically I'm a counselor,full-time counselor, and I left
my husband and my family to gopursue whatever I wanted and
virtuous Like it was like seen,as you did, the hard thing of
getting over the hump of yourhusband so that you can set
yourself free, and obviously thegospel would say no, no, no,
(22:26):
like the like.
The virtuous thing is theself-sacrifice, and not in a
demeaning or just degrading way,but in a way that says, like
I'm going to put your needs,desires, affections first, you
know, so that we both growtowards Christ.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Well said, All right.
Uh, chapter two.
He's reading that one.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
I got it Okay, chapter two.
But false prophets also aroseamong the people, just as there
will be false teachers among youwho will secretly bring in
destructive heresies, evendenying the master who bought
them, bringing upon themselvesswift destruction.
And many will follow theirsensuality and because of them,
the way of truth will beblasphemed and in their greed
(23:03):
they will exploit you with falsewords.
Their condemnation from longago is not idle and their
destruction is not asleep.
For if God did not spare angelswhen they sinned, but cast them
into hell and committed them tochains of gloomy darkness to be
kept until the judgment, and ifhe did not spare the ancient
world but preserved Noah, aherald of righteousness, with
(23:24):
seven others, when he brought aflood upon the world of the
ungodly, if, by turning thecities of Sodom and Gomorrah to
ashes, he condemned them toextinction, making them an
example of what is going tohappen to the ungodly, and if he
rescued righteous lot, greatlydistressed by the sensual
conduct of the wicked for asthat righteous man lived among
them day after day, he wastormenting his righteous soul
(23:48):
over their lawless deeds that hesaw and heard Then the Lord
knows how to rescue the godlyfrom trials and to keep the
unrighteous under punishmentuntil the day of judgment, and
especially those who indulge inthe lust of defiling passion and
despise authority.
Bold and willful, they do nottremble as they blaspheme the
glorious ones, whereas angels,though greater in might and
(24:10):
power, do not pronounce ablasphemous judgment against
them before the Lord.
But these, like irrationalanimals, creatures of instinct,
born to be caught and destroyed,blaspheming about matters of
which they are ignorant willalso be destroyed in their
destruction.
Suffering wrong is the wage fortheir wrongdoing.
They count it pleasure to revelin the daytime.
(24:31):
They are blots and blemishes,reveling in their deceptions
while they feast with you.
They have eyes full of adultery.
Insatiable for sin, they enticeunsteady souls.
They have hearts trained ingreed, accursed children
Forsaking the right way.
They have gone astray.
They have followed the way ofBalaam, the son of Beor, who
loved gain from wrongdoing butwas rebuked for his own
(24:54):
transgression.
A speechless donkey spoke withhuman voice and restrained the
prophet's madness.
These are waterless springs andmist driven by a storm.
For them, the gloom of utterdarkness has been reserved For
speaking loud boast of folly.
They entice by sensual passionsof the flesh those who are
barely escaping from those wholive in error.
(25:15):
They promise them freedom, butthey themselves are slaves of
corruption, for whateverovercomes a person to that he is
enslaved.
For if, after they have escapedthe defilements of the world
through the knowledge of ourLord and Savior, jesus Christ,
they are again entangled in themand overcome, the last state
has become worse for them thanthe first, for it would have
(25:36):
been better for them never tohave known the way of
righteousness than, afterknowing it, to turn back from
the holy commandment deliveredto them.
What the true proverb says hashappened to them the dog returns
to his own vomit and the sow,after washing herself, returns
to wallow in the mire.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
All right.
So a little bit of a switchthere from chapter one, where
he's encouraging lots of folks.
Now, all of a sudden, it's okay, there's another way to live
your life.
And if you live your life thatway, don't be fooled, it isn't
going to end real well for you.
We'll go ahead and throw the QRcode up now that we've read
chapter two.
If you guys want to shootsomething in, feel free to do so
(26:15):
.
Initial thoughts on chapter two.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Yeah, it's in conjunction with chapter one,
which is why I want to say thatat the top he says, in verse 1,
beware of the false prophets,those who arise from among the
people, who do so secretly, andthey secretly bring in
destructive heresies.
And at the end of chapter 1, inverse 16, he says we did not
follow cleverly devised mythsthat were made known.
(26:38):
And so what Peter is saying is,like these false teachers,
these people that have come inand wreaked havoc in the church,
leading people astray, havedone so so nuisantly, so subtly,
that they may not even knowthat they're on this path.
And Peter lays out that thesepeople have come in and this is
(26:59):
their end.
He uses very strong languagechains of gloomy darkness.
They're in this place oftorment.
He says this is where it'sleading.
And so you guys, he's saying tothe church, do not follow the
subtle drift away from truegospel, knowledge and centrality
about Jesus.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
One of the questions that came through was at the end
of chapter 1, and it said wherein Scripture does Peter know
that he is going to die?
Like he's writing this saying,the Lord has made it clear to me
that I am going to die.
Where does that come from?
Speaker 3 (27:35):
I don't remember the exact reference.
You may remember You're lookinglike you do, but we talked
about yeah, I guess you musthave looked it up we talked
about that.
Hey, peter, you're going to beled around in chains, and so
there is this.
There is this sort offorecasting, not an explicit
detail.
But, peter, your life is notgoing to end well like you're
gonna.
You're going to be cut short,you're going to be in, in
(27:57):
captivity, basically, and youhave freedom today, but that's
not always going to be the case.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
I couldn't remember the chapter and verse.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
John 21.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Yeah, but I did remember Jesus saying hey, peter
, you're going to be let.
Right now you have the freedomto dress yourself, but soon
another is going to dress you.
It's right after Jesus forgiveshim and he says are you going
to feed my sheep?
And Peter's like Lord, you knowthat I love you.
And then, coupled with Petersaying, lord, you know I love
you, jesus says all right, let'stalk about how much you're
(28:27):
going to love me.
Are you going to love me 30years from now, when you're
probably in your 50s, whenyou're in a cell, when you are
no longer dressing yourselfOther people are, when you are
chained?
Are you going to love me thatmuch?
And I think it's awesome thatPeter gets to write us this
letter which is to us, but Ithink it is also him proclaiming
(28:48):
to Christ Lord, this is howmuch I love you.
I've been faithful.
I love you enough to tell themthat everything that they need
for life and godliness is in you.
I have loved you enough to evenpoint out people who want to
lead others astray, becausethat's never a fun thing to do.
It is never a fun thing topoint to.
I think this is not justPeter's letter to us.
I think this may be Peter'sresponse to Christ when he says
(29:11):
are you going to love me thismuch?
And he's saying let me show youhow much I love you.
Yeah, one of the things thatstands out to me if you look at
the very beginning of chaptertwo Thomas, you mentioned this
about the secretly that therewill be.
I like that.
It's like there's a promisethere will be false teachers
among you.
There's never a world in whichyou are only going to get good
(29:35):
gospel, truth.
It is always going to beattached or attacked by other
things.
And one thing that I would warnyou of is this we had a
question come in, what would beessential things that you would
look for if you were trying tofind a church?
I'm going to leave that withyou guys.
What would be essential thingsthat you would look for in
finding a church?
(29:56):
I think there's a lot about whatPeter's saying about hey, it's
Sunday morning church context.
But if I could just pastorallywarn you about something that is
secret, something that is false, it's simply this when we spend
time on our smartphones, Iwould just encourage you to
(30:17):
realize this phone is smarter atknowing you than you are at
knowing it.
This phone is smarter at knowingyou than you are at knowing it,
and so, whether your form ofmedia intake is Twitter or
Facebook, instagram, tiktok,whatever it is, the moment you
like something, it beginslearning you, and the moment you
slow scroll something, even ifyou don't like or follow, it
(30:40):
begins learning you.
And I think one of the thingsthat Peter, if he were writing
in our context, he would sayplease don't let your algorithm
get caught in a funnel offoolishness, because so many of
the folks that I talk with whentheir lives are in a really,
really bad place, I can tell byminute five they have bought
into something that our cultureis selling that God's word never
(31:04):
would.
And it all started by one postthat was just a little bit off
and they liked it, and then theygot two more the next week, and
then they got four, and thenthey got eight and, next thing,
they knew they were believingthings that they never would
have believed if they had stayedaway from it, and I see it most
in relationships and marriages.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Yeah, and that obviously happens.
I'm sure it happens a lot.
But also, I think, peter'swarning against the heresies and
the worldviews that wouldactually take Scripture and just
twist them Little bitty twist,little bitty twist.
Like that's what the serpent didin the garden.
He didn't say you know, bumpGod, he's not real.
Did he really say you shouldn'ttake of this or eat it?
(31:46):
And she's like, oh no, he tookGod's word and he twisted it.
And so if I could be pastoral,I'd say that to me is, I think,
the more dangerous one of whenthey start with a Bible verse
and they're like this doesn'tmean what you think it means,
and then they twist it in thisway that you're going oh, I've
never thought about life thatway, and it just leads down this
destructive path because you'retaking a verse out of context
(32:07):
and twisting it.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Maybe one of the best questions we can ask ourselves
is this what is speaking to melouder and more frequently than
God, and is that a good and awise thing?
What is speaking to me louderand more frequently than God?
Just by my rhythms of life?
That doesn't mean you need toread your Bible eight hours a
day, by the way.
(32:29):
I know some of you who want to.
I do.
I know there are some of youwho want to.
I think most of us arestruggling to want to spend 15
minutes in our Bible every day.
If I'm honest, and myencouragement I think Peter's
would be hey, what is theloudest thing to you right now?
What's speaking to you morethan anything else, and where is
that going to land you?
Speaker 3 (32:50):
Yeah, I think, just for context, you sort of begin
to peel back the curtain alittle bit and see what Peter's
getting at.
So there's these false teachersthat have came in to the church
that are basically denying thatthere is a coming judgment,
right.
And so we're going to see thatin chapter three where he's
going to say look, everything'sbeen continuing the way of all
things you know, up until thistime there's been no judgment.
(33:11):
And so if there's no judgment,if there's no sort of day of
reckoning for our behavior, thenwhy endeavor to live a holy
lifestyle now, right, and sothat was sort of the message
that these false teachers arepromoting, and that's why Peter
is so passionate about no, itdoes matter how you behave,
that's evidence of a trueprofession of faith.
(33:34):
And so he's going to go to waragainst those ideas, and you'll
see that in this chapter and inchapter three to come.
But yeah, I do think it's neattoo, the end of chapter one
where Peter's sort of laying outhis credentials like hey, this
is how you can know that mytestimony is true and faithful.
I personally eyewitnessed thetransfiguration.
(33:54):
I saw God, heard God from onheaven saying this is my beloved
son.
So we saw his face light up andhim be transfigured in glory.
So he's saying look like wepersonally were there, we were
an eyewitness testimony to thework of Jesus Christ.
So he's going to pivot thatagainst these false teachers who
are going to claim that Peteris just sort of living at, you
(34:14):
know, sort of spooling up theseheresies, these like senseless
myths and things.
And so Peter is's fightingagainst that, laying out his
credentials of why we shouldhave confidence in the scripture
that's been passed down.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
All right, quick fire , because I want to get to
chapter three, but we just had aslew of questions come in.
One thing you would look for ifyou had to pick out a church
I'm going to go with humility.
I would want a leadership teamthat is humble.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Drums.
Okay, I'm going to go withhumility.
I would want a leadership teamthat is humble Drums.
Okay, I'm just kidding.
Christ and Christ crucifiedbeing preached is what Paul says
.
I think a lot of times,especially in the Southeast, we
can go to churches that arequasi-Christian enough that they
give you godly principles andgodly guidelines for living, but
they don't preach Christ andwhat he did to you know,
(35:03):
purchase his people, and I thinkI wouldn't settle for anything
that doesn't preach that.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
Yeah, I would just say a full-throated proclamation
of the gospel in all ways, thegood and the bad, the wrath of
God, the atoning sacrifice, thesinfulness of man that we
rightly deserve as wrath.
Like, I think, if you have achurch that boldly proclaims
that and doesn't just try topicture God as being loving
which he is, but God is alsoholy and righteous and not like
(35:29):
us, and that would be what Iwould look for.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
We have lots of questions coming in about is
there a higher expectation forthose of us who knew something
longer, who have been Christianslonger?
But I'm going to summarize itwith this one, succinctly Is
there no hope for someone tocome back to the Lord if they
have walked away?
Because and I said like I'mconnecting these two dots, I
(35:54):
would say there's always hope.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
I think the point he's making is that when he says
, look, it would be better off,in a sense, that they had never
sort of my view on this is, whenhe's talking about those you
know who have fallen away, thatthese are people who are not
genuine believers.
They have been around, you knowthings of faith, have been in
the Christian community, butthey were deceived Like they
were.
This you know the seed thatfell among you, know the stony
(36:19):
ground, but they weren'tgenuinely believers.
Or else Philippians 1.6 is nottrue that being confident in
this very thing that he whobegan a good work and you will
be faithful to complete it, youwill eventually come to glory in
heaven.
But I think the sense is thatif you have been around and
you've deceived yourself in asense and you fall away and you
(36:40):
sort of hardened your heartagainst the true gospel, it is
very hard to come back to aplace of true repentance and
that your heart is broken oversin.
It is so much more unlikely forthat to be true of you once you
have been so close in Christiancommunity and you've sort of
been under God's common grace,but you harden your heart to the
(37:03):
point to where you apostatizeand walk away.
Anything's possible with God,but it is not a hopeful place to
be.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
It's one of the saddest things when somebody has
been a part of a Christiancommunity I'll just speak from
experience and they're knownwell and they're loved well and
they've served for a long timeand then one thought, one idea,
one concept enters into theirheart and mind and they breathe
life into it.
Your ability to justify yourbehavior is unmatched by
(37:36):
anything, except for the graceof God.
Your ability to justifyanything that you do is
unmatched.
And I think what Peter is sortof saying is the likelihood of
somebody turning their back onChrist and justifying that
behavior is a whole lot morecommon than someone turning
their back on Christ and thenturning back toward him,
(37:58):
recognizing how many people'sfaces they are going to need to
repent, to how much guilt.
Shame which, by the way, theChristian community would
forgive them wholeheartedly andcelebrate it.
But there is something about thedeceived mind that deceives
them to walk away and thendeceives them that they cannot
ever walk back, which would notbe the case of the good news of
(38:18):
Christ.
All right, let's jump intochapter three.
All right, we'll finish up here.
This is the shortest of thethree chapters.
Thomas, I think that's you, yep.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
This is now the second letter that I am writing
to you, beloved.
In both of them I am stirringup your sincere mind by way of
reminder that you shouldremember the predictions of the
holy prophets and thecommandment of the Lord and
Savior through your apostles,knowing this first of all, that
scoffers will come in the lastdays, with scoffing, following
their own sinful desires, theywill say where is the promise of
(38:51):
his coming?
Forever?
Since the fathers fell asleep,all things are continuing as
they were from the beginning ofcreation.
For they deliberatelyoverlooked this fact that the
heavens existed long ago and theearth was formed without water
and through water, by the wordof God, and that by means of
these, the world that thenexisted was indulged with water
(39:12):
and perished.
But by the same word.
The heavens and the earth thatnow exist are stored up for fire
, being kept until the day ofjudgment and destruction for the
ungodly.
But do not overlook this onefact beloved that with the Lord,
(39:32):
one day is as a thousand yearsand a thousand years is one day.
The Lord is not slow to fulfillhis promise, as some count
slowness, but he is patienttowards you, not wishing that
any should perish, but that allshould reach repentance, but the
day of the Lord will come likea thief.
Then the heavens will pass awaywith a roar and the heavenly
bodies will be burned up anddissolved, and the earth and the
works that are done on it willbe exposed.
(39:53):
Since all these things are thusto be dissolved, what sort of
people ought you to be in livesof holiness and godliness,
waiting for and hastening thecoming of the day of God,
because of which the heavenswill be set on fire and
dissolved and the heavenlybodies will melt as they burn?
But, according to his promise,we are waiting for new heavens
(40:13):
and a new earth in whichrighteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, since youare waiting for these, be
diligent to be found by himwithout spot or blemish and at
peace, and count the patience ofour Lord as salvation, just as
our beloved brother Paul alsowrote to you, according to the
wisdom given to him, as he doesin all his letters when he
(40:35):
speaks in them of these matters.
There are some things in themthat are hard to understand,
which the ignorant and unstabletwist to their own destruction,
as they do the other scriptures.
You therefore, beloved, knowingthis beforehand, take care that
you are not carried away withthe error of lawless people.
Amen, amen.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
One more time.
We'll throw up the QR code ifanybody wants to shoot in.
A couple of questions.
I'll tell you.
What stands out to me at thebeginning of chapter three is in
verse five, when it says theydeliberately overlook this fact.
Can I just be honest with you?
I think all of us are prone tothis.
We've talked a lot about likepeople leading the church astray
(41:27):
.
I don't think many of us putourselves in that category and
we're like I'm so glad we'retalking about this Will, because
I've really wanted to leadministry astray for a long time
and I just needed thatapplication.
But I will tell you this Ithink it is so.
I think the children of ourculture say the things that the
adults believe but are tooembarrassed to say.
(41:47):
And there is a reality when youtalk to kids, when they're like
do I really need like Jesushadn't come back in 2000 years?
What are the odds he comes backin my lifetime?
Can't I just and then it willbe broken down by age Can't I
just do this while I'm 10 and dothis in my twenties, and do
(42:07):
this in my thirties, and do thisin my forties, and then this in
my 30s and do this in my 40sand then kind of clean it up at
the end and know that God'sgrace is sufficient, and the
fact that Peter's like guys.
There is a problem when wedeliberately overlook the fact
that the return of Christ isdestined by God to come like a
thief, and then, like in thenext 10 seconds, the trumpet
(42:28):
sounds and Jesus comes back andPeter sort of has this question
since all this is the case, weall throw it up, throw up the
scripture.
Since all this is the case,what sort of people want you to
be Like?
Let this be a reflectivequestion for the day.
If Jesus comes back in an hour,how does that change the way
you live for the next 60 minutes?
If he's coming back in six days, what do the next five look
(42:51):
like?
And then words that I think weas Americans hate.
We are people who wait.
We are people who wait.
We are people who wait and Ithink all of us look at these
words as a burden, like, oh mygosh, but the way Peter's
writing it, it's more like theperson leaning at the race line
waiting for the gun to go off.
This morning, lord, when I getin my car, what is it that you
(43:14):
have for me?
Who do I get to pray for when Ishow up to work?
What conversations do you inglory already have prepared for
me to engage in?
I am waiting for God to use meprofoundly, and that doesn't
mean I'm waiting until adeathbed confession.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
And I think, just kind of how we started, a little
bit like the question of if youknew you had an hour until
Jesus came back, I think a lotof at least my mind goes
immediately to well, I'd spendit in prayer and time of the
word and things like that.
But I think like one of thethings that the scriptures as a
whole maybe even 2 Peterspecifically encourages is like,
as the day draws near, we areto spend it with other people,
(43:53):
like pouring into them, enjoyinglife with them, doing things
like that, and so I don't think,if there's an hour on the clock
, we should all like hit ourprayer closets and I think we
should go to the pool and hangout with each other and enjoy
the things that God has given us, to include relationships, and
I think that's what he's doingkind of on the eve of his death
is pouring into others in a waythat I think is giving.
(44:15):
Paul uses the phrase that myjoy may be complete, and what he
means by that is that you guysare sharing in the things that I
care about too, that you guysare growing in and maturing in
the things that I care about,which is the gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Speaker 1 (44:30):
How can you tell when somebody's twisting Scripture?
One of the questions that camethrough.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
I think you have to know Scripture, right.
I mean, it's like back in theday, if you were a bank teller,
they didn't train you oncounterfeit bills, right?
You saw thousands and thousandsand thousands.
Speaker 1 (44:49):
Did you ever get shown a bill?
And they're like Greg, this isthe real one.
I've heard this illustrationbefore.
Catch me, if you can.
Speaker 3 (44:55):
Yeah, I was never on the teller line, but it's the
fact that you handle the realthing all the time that when a
counterfeit comes up, it'sobvious to you because you are
so familiar with the real thing.
And so I think it's the samething with Scripture.
Right, you have to know it, youhave to be familiar with it,
you have to have hidden it inyour heart so that when somebody
comes and says, well, thisreally means that you say, well,
(45:17):
that's not true, like I knowwhat Scripture says.
And so because of that, and theHoly Spirit certainly guides
you and convicts you and helpsenlighten scripture to you.
But I think the key thing is,like, you have to know scripture
.
You cannot just be part-time inthe word and expect to be able
to guard against some of thesefolks who have you know they
(45:37):
have cleverly snuck in trying todeceive you.
Speaker 1 (45:41):
Yeah, One of my favorite things.
Can I just tell you aboutyourselves?
A little bit mid-tree.
Some of y'all are here for thefirst week and you're like, you
don't know me, that's all right,I may not, but I do know a
bunch of you guys and one of myfavorite things to watch is when
I ask you an easy question fromthe stage on a Sunday, versus
when I ask you a hard questionfrom the stage.
(46:01):
If I ask you an easy questionthat you learned in Awana and
somebody gave you a JollyRancher for Like name three of
the disciples who were withJesus on the Mount of
Transfiguration.
When I say this, some of youget excited and you smile
because you're like I know it.
But then when I ask like aquestion that is Is it okay to
be angry with God?
(46:21):
Yes, yes, like that when itisn't, which you did with the
middle schoolers last week.
Speaker 3 (46:25):
I did.
Speaker 1 (46:29):
When I ask you a question, that isn't trivia, and
this is the difference inknowledge and knowledge.
It is so funny watching youguys go like y'all will give me
eye contact all the time whenI'm preaching until I say is it
okay for you to be angry withGod?
And then, all of a sudden,you've never been more
interested in your Bible, right?
And if I could just tell youguys, we want to be a culture
(46:50):
that asks questions of the Bibleand it is okay to not know the
answer.
It's not okay to think you mustknow the answer all right, or
to think to be a Christian, youhave to already know the answer.
Please, please, please.
Let us be a group of people whonever stop asking questions,
and I think that's a big way toknow the difference in what is
(47:13):
true and what is not.
Is we need to ask questions andnot be embarrassed to do so
when we're not sure.
Speaker 2 (47:19):
Anything else.
And I think to tack on to that,like that's kind of what Peter
says about Paul's writings,they're hard to understand, he's
like bro this is tough, they'rehard to understand.
And he says I'm going to addanother category.
Sorry, peter, but he says thereare some that take Paul's
writings and they just twistthem.
They twist them for their ownbenefit, their own gain, things
like that.
And I think there are otherpeople that take Paul's writings
and they just give up.
(47:43):
They just say it's too hard.
I'll read, peter.
I try never going to readLeviticus, exactly, yeah, and I
would encourage you guys not todo either of those, like Greg
said, to know Scripture as bestyou can, to weigh these things,
to know if they're being twisted, and so that you don't give up.
I think the more you read, themore you understand.
Speaker 1 (48:02):
And at the beginning it's going to be hard.
Greg mention to us Stokes youpointed to in the first service.
That sort of wraps this entirebook up.
Speaker 3 (48:12):
Yeah, like two people in here will be interested in
this, and you're one of themsitting next to you, they're
right here.
An inclusio is sort of somepeople call it a sandwich where
there's like a concept that'sintroduced early in a passage
(48:34):
and then it's sort of bookmarked, like there's the same thing at
the end.
You'll see here, at the end ofhere, we're talking about, but
grow in the grace and knowledgeof our Lord and Savior, jesus
Christ.
The idea of grace and knowledgeand the fact that you're
growing in that.
And he starts out in chapter Imean, yeah, in chapter one he's
talking about to those whoobtain a faith equal, standing
by the righteousness of our Godand Savior, jesus Christ.
May grace and peace bemultiplied to you in the
knowledge of God.
So he starts out sort oftelling you where he's going and
(48:56):
then he winds up with a youknow looking at bookmarks.
But it's just a way of sort ofsummarizing and bringing you
back to.
This is how I started.
This is why it was important Iwanted you to know here, and
this knowledge here is epignosis.
It's an experiential, like adeep knowledge, not like a head
knowledge, where you know facts.
He said, look like I want youto know experientially who
(49:16):
Christ is and what he's done foryou, and so and he is the same
way, sort of bookend in that.
Speaker 1 (49:22):
And if you find yourself and you're like, holy
moly, I just sat with threepastors that read an entire book
and Greg just said gnosis, andI'm supposed to know what that
is, or something along thoselines.
Can I leave you with, I think,maybe one of the greatest
encouragements.
If you guys will put thescripture up, please notice how
Peter began this entire thing.
This was the guy who walkedwith Jesus.
(49:43):
This was the guy who deniedJesus.
This was the guy who walked onwater, saw Jesus transfigured,
and here's what he says To thosewho have obtained a faith of
equal standing with ours howinsane is it that the apostle
Peter, who wrote scripture thatwalked with Jesus, looks at you
(50:07):
and says we're all the same, weare all simply children of God,
children of the King, and so, nomatter where you feel, this
morning I got a ton of knowledge.
My knowledge needs to come here.
I have more questions than Ihave answers.
Peter would say, hey, I was afisherman Like I'm the one who
(50:28):
made the most mistakes and I'mthe one who gets to live 50
years of a life and then give itall for Christ.
And you living in Harris County, columbus and the surrounding
area, with GPS and everythingelse.
You are no different than me,be a child of the King, who
never bores with being remindedof his incredible grace to you.
(50:51):
So let's stand and let's singand worship this king, and if
anybody needs prayer, we will bedown here to pray with you.
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.