Established in the Truth (2 Peter 1:12-21)
2025-02-02
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBasqs9O12E

- Our Scripture reading this morning comes to us from 2 Peter 1:12-21. "Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you have them and are established in the truth that you have, I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me, and I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. We do not follow clearly devised myths when we may know to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

We ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain, and we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, and this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. This is the word of the Lord. Praise be to God. I know I've made this joke to like 20 of you so far, but for the three of you who haven't, I also saw my shadow this morning, so six more weeks of 2 Peter, at least. So let's go ahead and have a word of prayer.

Father in heaven, I thank you for Jesus, and I thank you for grace, and I thank you that we can come and that we can hear your word and that we can be encouraged by it. And so I ask this morning as we consider both the truth and the power of your word in this text this morning that you would encourage us and help us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In almost 44 years of life, one of the most important lessons I've learned, especially when it comes to transporting something, whether that's in the back of a truck, on a trailer, or on the roof of the car, is that in order to make sure that stays secure, when you tighten down those ratchet straps, by law, you need to walk around, each one kind of snap it, and go, "That's not going anywhere." Because if you don't do that, right, you're driving down the highway, and you see some guy whose pickup truckload of stuff is all over the side of the road, that guy didn't go along and snap his ratchet straps and go, "Well, that's not going anywhere." It's not enough just to sort of snap them to make sure they're tight, but you need to also sort of affirm, sometimes in hope,

that that's not going anywhere. In fact, I saw a guy, he obviously had done that because he was driving along with a mattress on the top of his car, one single solitary ratchet strap, that mattress was standing up like a sail, and he was doing like 70 miles an hour, and it was not moving, right? He'd obviously made sure his ratchet straps were properly snapped and properly affirmed with, "That's not going anywhere." And what Peter is doing this morning, in this first part of the text, and then he's going to unpack the power behind it, and the second part of the text is he's walking through the lives of God's people, and he's making sure that we are established. In fact, he says, "You are established." And he says, "But I'm not going to stop reminding you and telling you, and in fact, I'm going to make sure that even when I have gone to see Jesus, you will be reminded." He's speaking not just to them, but to those

who are established in the faith after his death, which includes us. And so what I want to do is sort of take this text in two sections. The first section that we'll be in, I'm going to look at sort of four things that Peter is saying in these first verses, and then I want to take us and look at the power behind them. He's going to sort of anchor us in truth through this text. And so I want to begin here as he begins with a word of warning. And in these four verses, we're not necessarily going to take them in order, but I want us to see the message in them sort of building in order. And so he begins, first of all, with a word of warning. And he says this, therefore, I intend to always remind you of these qualities. It's the qualities he's just listed, that you are called by Jesus, transformed by Jesus, that you are equipped and encouraged. And now you are growing in the grace that you

have been given. And if you are not growing, there needs to be some evaluation and some repentance. And he says, because I'm reminding you of these qualities, he says, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. Now, many times we don't like to be told what to do. And while sometimes it's difficult for us to accept warnings and correction are essential to our Christian life. Because in life, there's a tendency to coast, to take it easy, right? We get home from work and we're tired and we're exhausted and we just want to sit down and rest. Maybe we work our whole lives to get to retirement and we want to sit down and rest. And even in the church, we can come to this place where maybe we feel like we're stable and things are going well and we can just sort of rest.

Peter's words are intended to remind us, to warn us that there is no coasting in the Christian life. That when we are equipped and empowered by Jesus, it leads to growth. And so he says this, "I will remind you." And he says sort of over and over that he's going to remind us. He says, "In fact, I am not going to stop saying this." Until I'm dead, and then after I'm dead, I've written a book so you can still keep hearing it. He wants us to be clear on this message. The second thing that he says to us in this verse is that he wants us to sort of listen up. He's saying to us that this is for us. He says that you know them, these qualities, and are established in the truth that he has.

When he talks about established, the picture here is anchors that are driven in to strengthen and support something. And just as we have a tendency to coast into complacency, I think we also have a tendency to outgrow things. And if you have little kids, you've experienced this over and over. And so, in the difference between summer and winter, and we switch out the clothes and put the old clothes, the summer clothes, and the swimsuits into tubs. We pull out the winter clothes. We've got to play that game. Does this fit, or do we have to spend all our money buying new winter coats? Every year, you've outgrown this. You've outgrown your shoes. As somebody going into their 44th year of life, there's things I don't do anymore that I did when I was 43, because I've grown out of those kind of things.

And we have this idea that we grow up, and we grow out. And when it comes to our faith, so many of us do that. We say, "Yes, the gospel, the death, burial, resurrection, the transforming, the calling, the equipping, that's what brought me into the faith. But now I've got to this place where I can kind of do it on my own." And Peter goes, "I don't think so." He says, "This reminder that I'm going to remind you about till I die, and I've written a book, so you have to hear it after I die, too." He's saying, "This is for you who are established. Not for new Christians, although it is, but it's for those of you who are Christians from experience." And then he says this, "This was not my idea, but God's."

Peter, as he comes to the end of his life, it seems as if, especially in this chapter, he is looking back to the events that have come before. We get a glimpse of it as he talks about stabilizing the church so that they will never fall. And sort of the backdrop to that very likely is that moment when Peter denies Jesus, and then is restored. And he looks at the church and says, "I don't want you to walk the path that I have." And so Peter here, I think, as he talks about establishing them in the truth, he is also looking back on his life. Because right before he denies Jesus, and Jesus will say, "Everybody is going to fall away." And Peter goes, "Oh, not me." And then Jesus says this to Peter, "Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,

but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Listen to what he says to us. "And establish them in the truth that you have." That word "establish" and then the word "strengthen." It's the same exact word in Greek. What Peter is saying, and what Jesus later says to Peter is, "Feed my sheep." Peter is like, "I'm doing what God has given me to do." In this warning against complacency, it's not just something he's passionate about, but it's something that God has entrusted to him to do, both in these words before his fall and the words of his restoration. I also want you to see this in these words as well. The gospel does not expire. Maybe it's because I have been burned before,

but every time I go to get a glass of milk, when I open that milk bottle, maybe you do this, maybe you don't, maybe I'm just weird. I always kind of sniff the milk before, and it may have been from my days as a bachelor when we didn't know how long the milk had been in the fridge. Because you don't ever want to drink milk that has gone bad. It's not a good experience. What you find Peter saying to the church is that the gospel, like Paul says, is the power of God for salvation, not just at the beginning, but at the end. And he says, "I am going to remind you, strengthen you, and establish you in the gospel." And now Peter is going to move to speaking about what is ahead of him.

And what's interesting is what he says, it's a scary thing for us if we were to have to say this. But Peter speaks of his death, not with fear and avoidance, but with faith in God's goodness. And we find in these verses words of comfort. So I want to take a look at Peter's words of comfort. He says this in verse 14, "Since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me." These words about the Gospel are not just words. When Peter tells us about what God has done for us, he has lived them in his life, and he is living them now as he faces death. And if there is ever a time when the foundation of our believer's life is put to the test,

it's as we face those great struggles of life. Here, Peter is facing the last great struggle of life, and his hope is in Jesus. And it's interesting. We've been saying Peter is looking back on what has come before. I imagine Peter remembering these words from John. This is what Jesus says to him. "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk where you wanted. When you are old, you will stretch out your hands. Another will dress you and carry you to where you do not want to go." This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God. And after saying this to him, he said, "Follow me." It won't be long after this letter is written that Peter, as a prisoner of Rome,

his hands will be stretched out, he will be taken to where he does not want to go, and he will be crucified. Like Jesus, but church tradition tells us that Peter saying, "I am not worthy to be crucified like Jesus asked to be crucified upside down." And it's so in this context that Peter is writing these words in verse 14. And what he is saying, I want to give you a word of comfort from Peter's words. First of all, as he views death, he does not view it as the end, but he views it simply as moving. So this past summer, last year, none of our camping experiences went well. Our first camping experience down at Lake Anna, we ended up in the middle of like, you know, when the storm cell on the thunderstorm comes over, it's like red, yellow, green,

and sometimes there's like purple in the middle. Like the purple went right over our tent, right? And trees are falling, lightning is striking, and you're on the lake, so it's kind of a bowl. And so it sounds even louder, and it's like, "Why are we in a tent for this?" And our kids are like, "Why are we in a tent for this?" And then, of course, you have to suffer because you suffer through rain. It doesn't matter how waterproof your tent is, everything's damp, like forever after that. So he said, "Well, we'll plan better for the next camping trip." So that happened in the middle of the big hurricane that came up. And we were in the middle of West Virginia at Trout Pond camping. And the hurricane comes, and the rain comes, and so far the tent's good.

I dug a little trench around the outside of the tent. We looked over at our friends who were camping, who had this awning on their camper. And the rain came, and the wind blew, and unlike the song we sang, it did not stand firm. And the awning crashed down, covering all their doors. And I look out the window, and I go, "Well, it was nice knowing them." And I went back to sleep, right? Once again, wake up, everything's damp. Even the stuff in the car was damp. Like, I don't know, there was no rain in the car, but it was all damp, and it was all wet. And I'll tell you what, as much as I love camping, I was glad when it was time to go home. What Peter is saying, and in fact, the word, when he talks about putting off my body, the word is literally tabernacle.

It's tent. He says, "I'm about to move out of this tent, and I'm about to move and to go home." Paul says it similarly in 2 Corinthians, "For we know if the tabernacle or the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." And a few verses later, "Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and be home with the Lord." And so here, even as he faces death, Peter rests in God's sovereignty, encouraged in the midst of his suffering and his struggle, and we are given this word of comfort that for the believer it's not the end. It's moving from a tent to a house made by God. So Peter, having given us this warning,

having given us a word of comfort, now comes to us with a wake-up call, and we find this in verse 13. "I think it is right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder." And the stirring here literally means to grab somebody by their shoulders who's asleep and to shake them awake. And what Peter is saying is, "I'm not just here to shake you awake," but what does he say? "I think it is right, as long as I am in this body, as long as I'm alive, I'm going to keep shaking you." Not only am I going to wake you up, but I'm going to keep you from falling asleep. And what Peter is doing is seeking to awaken and to keep believers awake. And this wake-up call does not just simply get out of bed, it's a reminder of the nature of salvation.

That it's source, and that we eagerly pursue growth through the power given to us by Jesus. And we correct what needs to be corrected by His grace, and we keep going. And a lot of what Peter is doing in chapter 1 is helping us know more deeply the reality of our salvation. Especially as we're attacked with doubt, as we're attacked with discouragement, as we're attacked with temptation. And what Peter says is this is different. Your salvation is something that God saves you, but He also grows you. It's not a one-time thing. It's like the difference between buying an apple at the grocery store and having an orchard. And if we were asked what the difference is, some of you, maybe having experience with apple orchards might say thousands of dollars, frustration and a lot of time. That's the difference between buying apples and having an orchard.

What you find is salvation is not the same as buying apples at a grocery store, but it is this picture of Jesus saving us, and then the picture here is of us growing and bearing fruit. That God's work in our life is personal and continual. That it doesn't just stop, but it keeps us going. And Peter is shaking us to wake us up, to remind us of the glorious truth of our salvation, and to remind us that we do not face the struggles of this life alone. And it's very similar. He's doing for us what the writer of Hebrews calls us to do for one another. So the writer of Hebrews, after unpacking the goodness of the Gospel, says this, "Let us draw near with a heart, a true heart, in full assurance of faith, assured of Jesus, our hearts sprinkled

clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water, saved from our sins. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope, without wavering, for he who is promised is faithful." And then look at what he says, that our salvation and our faithfulness is a community project. Let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works. What's interesting is that the stirring up in Peter is a shaking awake. The stirring up in Hebrews chapter 10 is poking each other with sharp sticks. That you're awake, and you're sitting there, and we're not moving, and we come to one another, and we poke until we get a response. And what Peter is saying is, "I'm going to wake you up." What Hebrews is saying is that this is a community project to help each other grow in the grace

and the knowledge of Jesus. And now Peter, who has warned and comforted us and shaken us awake, says, "Let me tell you about an inheritance of hope." He says, "And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things." Not a one-time reminder. I can't help but think of Peter in Acts chapter 3. So Acts chapter 2, the church has been launched by the power of the Holy Spirit. People have come to Christ. Acts chapter 3, Peter and the disciples are walking into the temple, and on the steps of the temple there is a man, and he's been begging. And he says, "I need some money." And Peter, what does he say? It's a children's song I remember singing as a little kid. "Silver and gold have I none, but what I have I give you." Peter pulls him up.

The guy begins to walk, and then Peter preaches the gospel. And what Peter says I have to give you is I don't have an inheritance to leave you in terms of gold or silver or worldly wealth, but what the inheritance that I will leave for you is the power and the message of the gospel. And this is not just for his readers then. It is for us now that Peter's inheritance of hope is for us. And Peter looks not just at them, but at us. He says, "I don't have gold, but I have Jesus. And I want you to hold on to him and to know him and to not be distracted." And so we have this foundation of four things: a warning against complacency, the comfort of hope, a wake-up call, and an inheritance given to us by Peter.

However, as wonderful as these things are, they are worthless if they are not true. All of this correction, the waking up, and the hope, the change of perspective, without truth, it's empty. And so Peter, who is looking back and looking forward on the truth of the Gospel, will now spend these next few moments giving us a testimony of truth. And look at what he says: "We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses to his majesty." We have a glimpse of another warning. There are those who will intentionally or cleverly make things up for the specific purpose of turning you away from the goodness of God. And Peter is emphatic that this is not what is happening in the truth of God, that nobody is making this up. Nobody is cleverly designing these myths.

He's saying, "On the other hand, there is truth." He will say that I was an eyewitness, and in a few moments he's going to say that I heard these things, and I was an ear witness. And I want to point a couple things out. Maybe a little surprising. When we talk about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, it may be easy for us to think about Jesus' first coming, but Peter's focus here is on the second coming. And when he talks about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, you may have heard this word used in conjunction with the second coming, but he's using the word parousia, or parousia about the coming. And everywhere it's used in the New Testament about Jesus, I think it's like 16 times, it's always used to refer to the second coming of Jesus,

which Peter is going to talk about at the end of the second chapter into the third chapter. This is a big deal. And when Peter here is talking about the coming of Jesus, he's talking about the second coming. And we might say, with some skepticism, "How can Peter say we were eyewitnesses of the second coming?" If you notice, that's not what he's saying. He said, "We made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses to his majesty." We'll talk a little bit more about what Peter means for that. Peter is saying here that what I'm telling you is not something new. He says, "I have taught this to you, whether in my time with you or in the first letter that I wrote to you." And he's saying, "Our hope is not based in speculation."

He said, "I've seen the majesty of Jesus. I've heard the voice of God from the heavens." And what Peter is saying, "I have glimpsed the majesty of what the glorified Christ looks like." That's what he says in verses 17 and 18. "For he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory. This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. We ourselves heard this very voice, born from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain." And Peter here specifically speaking about the transfiguration. Remember, Peter, James, and John go to the top of mountain with Jesus. And on the top of this mountain, Jesus is transformed and transfigured, and his face shines like the sun. And Moses and Elijah appear to talk to him.

And Peter, not getting what's going on, goes, "Hey, should we build some tents for you guys, so we can stay for a little while?" And a voice comes from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." And Peter, James, and John, in the glory of Jesus, find themselves face down on the ground in fear and in worship of Jesus. And what Peter is saying when he talks about we are the eyewitnesses to the majesty, and he takes us to the transfiguration. He said that's a glimpse. And we have glimpsed what Jesus will look like on his return. And it's not just that Jesus is coming back, but the one who has equipped you is this glorious one, the Son of God, the one who has transformed you and by his power sustains you and by his grace

helps you to grow. The beloved Son in all his glory is doing that now, and he's returning for you. And so Peter says this, and he comes all the way back to his first point. We have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Peter has said we don't outgrow our need for the grace and the glory of Jesus. We need to be comforted in our dark times. We need to be corrected when we stray. We need the community that is the gospel. We need an inheritance of hope, and he gives us this picture. And he starts, it's dark. And I don't know about you, but everything for me,

it always feels worse in the dark, right? When we're alone by ourselves in the dark is sometimes when we feel sorrow more deeply, our fears more greatly. And it's funny because if I hear a thumping noise in our basement at noon, right, it's like not a big deal, right? I'll go down and check it out. I hear a thumping noise in our basement at 2 a.m. Every light in the house is off. It's like, "Rachel and Kaiser, please go check it out," right? Because every thumping noise is louder. Every fear is magnified. All of our sorrows are deepened. And Peter says, "This is a dark world in which you live. It is filled with sin and brokenness and hurt and sorrow, and you feel it so deeply." But look what he says, "The darkness does not have the last word."

"Listen to what I have told you." This warning that calls you to trust in Jesus. This comfort that helps you in the darkness. This wake-up call. This inheritance of grace. He says, "Pay attention as to a light shining in the dark place. That in the midst of the darkness there is light, and it is Jesus." And I love what he says. He doesn't just say, "Hey, there's light out there." What does he say? "And the morning star rises in your heart." That this is a light that fills our word. The prophetic word of Christ is this lamp. And if you remember in Jesus' ministry, there was a parable about some ladies and some lamps in the middle of the dark. What Peter is saying is fix your eyes on the hope and the anticipation. Don't get complacent. Don't get tired. Don't get distracted.

But look to the light, and he's going to unpack this for us in the coming weeks, but the light of God's word. Not just outside, but inside. I want to encourage you to hang this lamp of the hope of the gospel in your life. The lamp that says you don't stop growing, but God nourishes you, and he walks with you as you seek to bear fruit. Hang the lamp of the comfort of hope in front of your eyes, that there is hope found in Jesus. Go back and hang this lamp of the community brought about by Jesus, who God has provided to walk with you and to help you. As Peter calls us to look to Jesus and to his return, the question that he is bringing to us is how should we live? How do we live in the truth and the light and the reality of Jesus' return? Let's pray.

Father in heaven, may you establish us more deeply. May you remind us more clearly. May you comfort us in a greater way. May you help us to grab hold of this inheritance of hope and to fix our eyes on Jesus.