Peter begins his
argument against apostasy in three points:
1. His purpose is to stir you up with what
you already know to be true.
2. What he is stirring within you is not
someone’s theory or another’s fairy tale; rather, it’s the plain truth.
3. This is made more sure by prophecy – but
watch for the false prophet.
Stir
You Up
2 Peter 1:12-15 NIV So I will always remind you of
these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the
truth you now have. (13) I think it is right
to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, (14) because I know that I will soon put it aside,
as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. (15)
And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be
able to remember these things.
To
remind you
Peter is reminding us
– and that carries with it some implications which are not always followed
today:
- It implies that the
faith exists –
it’s not something we need to “discover” or expand upon; it’s already
there.[1]
- This also implies
that his listeners already know the faith. He is referring to the Gospels,
of course, and other Scripture.
- We are “firmly
established in the truth.” It is not something we devised but rather the
firmness of our faith comes from the Holy Spirit.[2] We need to remember we are not
inventors of the faith.
In short, we are
reminded of the importance of the faith that
is – not what we want it to be. It’s a fact; indeed, it’s essentials
are held in common by all Christians.
Stir
you up
(Note: the NIV has
this as “refresh your memory” – a very poor interpretation, not followed by
most other translations. Peter’s intent is much more than a reminder list.)
Peter knows his time
is short; evidently Christ has made this clear to him. So he hastens to remind
his readers of the faith they already have. It is convenient, then, to review
the last lesson:
- God has given us
everything we need – for life, and for godliness. It is God’s good
pleasure to do so, thus we have God’s supply for God’s purposes. He
does this in many ways. For godliness, he has given us the
Scriptures, that we might read them and meditate on them. He permits
us to pray. He will have us praise him, so that we might know
him. All this comes from God, the Holy One.
- He also promises
you eternal life. Not just “later” but starting now, as Christ is
formed in your heart.
- In response to
this, the Christian is told to make every effort to bring forth the fruit
of such a life. These are things like goodness, knowledge, self
control, perseverance, brotherly love and indeed the divine love of
all. If these are not shown in your life, you are fruitless.
- If these things are
not your life, then you are blind, spiritually. A curious fact about
the spiritually blind – they usually have a blind leader, as well.
These things are
worthy of reminder; indeed, “stirring up.”
After
my departure
It is important for a
teacher to recognize his mortality. You should not act like you are going to
live on this earth forever, that there is plenty of time to get the message
across. To the contrary: remember that your time is short. You may not get the
privilege of finishing your lesson series. Redeem the time.
Indeed, be diligent about it. Give some thought to how
to make your lessons live beyond you. The best way is to train up one or more
teachers in your place. With the new consumer Christianity, “emergent church”
movement, Bible teachers are largely viewed as obsolete.[3]
But one ought to try.
The idea is simple:
that at any time the teacher – you or your successor – can stir up the
faithful. Not just intellectual remembrance, though that is important. (We
used to teach kids their memory verses, remember?) We need to stir up the
students emotionally, intellectually, in the will – and all of these with
power.
Cleverly
Devised Tales
2 Peter 1:16-18 NIV We did not follow cleverly
invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (17)
For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him
from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I
am well pleased."[1]
(18) We ourselves heard this voice that came from
heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
Mishandled
Scripture
It is important for
you to know that the Scripture is under attack today in many ways – and by
people you might not expect to do so. Here are three ways such an attack is
made today:
- One is the
“Apostles as myth makers” theory of how we got the Bible. The idea is that
the apostles made up much of the New Testament in order to guide the
church, particularly with reference to the Resurrection. Peter
specifically denies this. This theory dates from the 19th century. New!
- A result of this
which is now widely accepted even in “Bible-believing” churches is that
the primary use of the Bible, along with devotional reading, is as a
source of aphorisms and stories for the pulpit. It is, of course, properly
used this way. But we now have those who hold that this is the only proper use. They usually don’t
proclaim it because of the trouble it stirs up.[4]
- Even more commonly
we now have many interpretations of Scripture which are “personal and
private” – “I’m glad that’s true for you.” The reference point of truth is
my personal experience, not the fact based faith Peter describes.
The
Apostle’s testimony
Peter makes it plain
that this is wrong – and he’s an eyewitness to the facts. In particular:
- He saw the glory of
God (at the Transfiguration and Ascension).
- He heard the voice
of God there.
- This happened at a
specific time and place – not some private vision.
In short, this is a
matter of hard, cold fact – not somebody’s fairy tale.
Criteria
for becoming “Scripture”
It may interest you
to know the some of the criteria the early church used to decide (in the 4th
century AD) just what books belonged in the Bible. Here are some they used:
- It had to be
written under the authority of an apostle, if not by an apostle – one who
was an eyewitness of the resurrection of Christ. That pretty much
restricted it to first generation witnesses.
- It had to be
considered inspired. Interestingly, there were many books that were
considered inspired (for example, the letters of Polycarp, a student of
John the Apostle) which were considered but eliminated as not being
apostolic.
- Get this: it had to
be of proven use in the pastoral work of the church. In short, where the church today
would turn to pop psychology (or James Dobson) the church then used the
Scriptures. This at least proves it can be done.
That last tells you
something. It tells you that doctrine is important in the daily work of the church – not just as an obscure
reference point in a brochure somewhere. It also tells you that the church’s
pastoral ministry, like all else, should be Christ centered, not
“seeker-centered” or even pew-sitter centered.
Prophetic
Words
2 Peter 1:19-21 NIV And we have the word of the
prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to
a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star
rises in your hearts. (20) Above all, you must
understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own
interpretation. (21) For prophecy never had
its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit.
The
Lighthouse Principle
It is always
dangerous to delve into prophecy, for any number of reasons. One in particular
is that it often evokes strong divisive emotions in those who hear it. So why,
then, does Peter encourage us to do just that? Because it makes us all the
more sure of the facts of the faith. Consider, if you will, the “lighthouse
principle:”
- Lighthouses are
never built in the harbor of your destination – rather, they are built on
the rocks you want to avoid. Likewise, prophecy is not an end in itself,
but points to Jesus Christ.
- If you have a chart
– as we have the Bible – the lighthouse tells you where you are. Likewise,
prophecy tells you where you are in the grand scheme of things.
- No matter how
bright the lighthouse or how good your chart, if you’re going to make it
to the dock, the lower lights need to be burning. No matter how brilliant
your interpretation of prophecy, it must conform to the rest of Scripture.
No
private interpretation
There is a
translational difficulty in verse 20. The word translated “interpretation” (in
the Greek, epilusis) carries with it
not just a technical meaning (as in, translate) but also the emotional impetus
behind it. The warning is against those who “just know” what the right answer
is, and become emotionally attached to it. The reason is simple: prophecy
doesn’t come from man; nor should its interpretation. Indeed, you might
consider the test of the Old Testament prophets:
Deuteronomy 18:20-22 NIV (20)
But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded
him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to
death." (21) You may say to yourselves,
"How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD ?" (22) If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the
LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not
spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
This, I submit, is
both clear and in right proportion. Mishandling the word of God is a most
serious matter.
Modern
False Prophets
Do we have false
prophets in the modern church? I submit that indeed we do. Some examples may
make this clear:
- There are some who
claim to be a prophet outright. Joseph Smith and his interpretation of the
golden hieroglyphics[5]; Jehovah’s Witness founder
Russell; 7th
Day Adventists founder Miller – the list is a long one.
- There are those who
don’t explicitly claim to be a prophet – but act like one. A good example
is the current Episcopalian church. When asked how they could support
homosexuality, one bishop replied that this was the guidance of the Holy
Spirit.
- A third, more
insidious version comes from those who tell us that the most reliable
source of knowledge about God comes through our own experiences.[6] The idea is that the supreme
arbiter of what is or is not truly the faith is the experience of the
individual, not the word of God. This is rather subtle – and very
widespread.
All these folks are,
in fact, Gnostic heretics. They preach the doctrine of “secret knowledge.” The
primary difference today is that the secret knowledge is no longer said to be
a revelation, but an effect of our own personal experience. There is absolutely
no support for this view in the Scripture – yet it is common even in churches
who used to declare themselves “Bible believing.” Now it’s Bible believing –
if my own emotional experience validates it. Otherwise, I’m glad it’s true for
you, because it’s not for me. But hear the word of the Lord[7]:
2 Timothy 3:1-7 NASB But realize this, that in the
last days difficult times will come. (2) For
men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers,
disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, (3)
unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal,
haters of good, (4) treacherous, reckless,
conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, (5) holding to a form of godliness, although they
have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. (6)
For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women
weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, (7)
always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
[1] This is very contrary
to the “emergent church” paradigm in which believers pick and choose what to
believe. If you think not, ask your group if people who don’t know Christ as
Lord and Savior can be saved. You might be surprised at the results.
[2] 2nd Timothy 3:16-17,
for those who need the reference.
[3] This teacher has been
told for almost twenty years that Bible classes are anachronisms; within five
years they will be completely gone. We just don’t know which five years, I
suppose. Bible reading is now consigned to devotional reading only
[4] Our preacher complains
that it seems that the people who love the Bible the most, who study it most
diligently, are the primary sources of disunity in the church. Perhaps it’s
because we love so much and hate to see the meat give way to the meringue.
[5] He evidently thought
no one would be able to actually read them at the time. The Rosetta stone
spoiled that.
[6] “Trust your feelings,
Luke. Use the Force!”
[7] Especially verse 5