Studiesin

2 Peter Presentation 03

Get Ready: Jesus is Coming

Chapter 1v12-21

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IntroductionQuite a number of people have been asking about “The Gathering” a church event planned for the month of May. Some are intrigued by the title and the curiosity of others has been aroused. A lot of preparation has been going on behind the scenes.

Background preparation is key to many major public events. Think of the preparation currently taking place for the forthcoming royal wedding.

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IntroductionPeter anticipates a significant future event - so significant is it that it will bring the world as we know it to an end. Jesus is coming again! Not incognito, he will not slip silently and unnoticed into his world but he will arrive in power and glory. Peter says to the church be prepared! This gives fresh impetus to his encouragement to make our ‘calling and election sure’.

It surely brings to the top of our ‘to do’ list his call to ensure that any claim to salvation which we make is built on a solid foundation. It also causes us to ask how seriously we have been in developing the graces dealt with in v 5-7.

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MOTIVATION FOR INSTRUCTION

If we ask why Peter writes with what is clearly a sense of urgency then a number of reasons can be advanced.

The first concerns our capacity to forget even important things. It is clear from v12 that Peter has not provided them with new instruction. They were familiar with the truths he had been underlining. But how easily we can be distracted by other things, so that those things that are of fundamental importance are no longer given the light of day.

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MOTIVATION FOR INSTRUCTION

The director of the Glasgow Art Gallery can remove many of the works from public display and replace them with more contemporary pieces. But there are some important works that he does not want to remove, they are essential to the collection!

Well there are also foundational Christian truths that need to be on constant display in the galleries of our minds. It is not novelty the church needs but a reminder of what is fundamental to the Christian faith.

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MOTIVATION FOR INSTRUCTION

Secondly, Peter’s urgency is marked by the brevity of his own ministry cf. v14. Jesus had made it clear to him that he had little time left and so he asked himself what is the best use of this time? The answer was not difficult to find; to record the truths entrusted to him.

Along with other NT writers, their inspired works would be their legacy to the church and God’s principal means of revealing himself to man. Clearly, none of us today hold apostolic office but is vitally important that we too determine to make the best use of the time available to us.

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MOTIVATION FOR INSTRUCTIONA local undertaker commenting on the number of teenagers who have died in traffic accidents in Ayrshire in recent years said, “They drive as if they are immortal”. That kind of thinking can cause people to take foolish risks and also to live careless lives.

We need to make count, the brief time left to us on earth. If the Lord told you today that your time was short, what would you devote yourself to? Peter was convinced that if he could keep the greatness of Christ's work and promises of his provision in the minds of his readers then they would be better equipped to grow in godliness.

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MOTIVATION FOR INSTRUCTIONThirdly, Peter’s urgency was influenced by false teachers who were undermining biblical truth v16ff. To remind the church of its foundational doctrines becomes particularly important when there are those around who attempt to reinterpret the facts.

In Peter’s day the school of Alexandrian Jews were known to spin fantastic stories about biblical characters. Their myths had no historical basis but their authors argued that it was legitimate “teaching technique”. And so, in time, there were those who began to treat the accounts of our Lord's life, death and resurrection and coming again as myth with no historical basis.

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MOTIVATION FOR INSTRUCTION

This in turn caused some believers to ask, “How can we know we have not been spoon-fed cunningly devised fables?”

Incidentally, modern theologians have jumped on this mythical bandwagon - folk like Rudolph Bultmann have taught that its not really important to believe in the historical, literal resurrection of Jesus, or to believe that the second coming of Christ with take place in space and time.

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THE APOSTOLIC WITNESSPeter makes a twofold response. First by reminding his readers of the value of Apostolic witness. cf v16bff “We were eye-witnesses of his majesty”. He clearly has the transfiguration of Jesus in mind [Matt.17.1-8]. But why refer to this incident to defend and authenticate the claims made for Jesus and not the signs and the miracles that he performed?

a. The essential nature of Christ is revealed - his divinity broke through his humanity. b. The transfiguration gave assurance of future realities - Moses and Elijah were seen to be alive. c. It confirmed O.T. predictions: the substance of the conversation on the mount was Jesus immanent ‘exodus’. d. The weight of heaven’s testimony: God spoke saying, “this is my Son whom I love with whom I am well pleased, listen to him.”

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A WORD OF PROPHECYIn v19 Peter speaks of ‘a more certain word’. He is not saying that O.T. prophecy is more sure than his apostolic witness to the outshining of the glory of God in the person of Christ. Rather, he is saying that the word of prophecy has been made more sure in the manner of its fulfilment.

A shadow is not unreal. It points to a reality. It tells you that someone is coming. And when he comes his coming verifies that all that the shadow claimed was true. As we proceed in the epistle we find that the doctrine most under attack is that of the second coming of Christ. Now, if the O.T. predictions concerning Christ’s first coming were fulfilled then, surely we can have confidence in its promise concerning his second coming.

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Significantly, Peter employs the metaphor of the ‘morning star’. And just as the ‘daystar’ announces the coming of a glorious new day. So the first coming of Christ announces the coming of a glorious new kingdom. And the glory of that kingdom is just over the horizon. It awaits Christ’s second coming in all the splendour of his glory.

And so Peter seems to be suggesting that the transfiguration, the breaking out of the glory of Christ on the mount was a view over the horizon a foretaste of the world to come ushered in by Christ’s second coming.

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A WORD OF PROPHECY

Peter’s point is that the O.T. predictions reinforce his own eyewitness testimony. Jesus is the fulfilment of all the OT. The shadow points to the reality. A shadow moving along the hall tells you, there is someone coming. When they appear then the shadow’s claim is vindicated.

The promise of Christ's glorious coming is a lamp to guide us through the night, encouraging the pursuit of holiness until the new kingdom dawns. John writes, "Everyone who thus hopes in Christ purifies himself as he is pure" [1 Jn. 3:3].

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A WORD OF PROPHECY

But we not only provided with an incentive to holiness for Peter mentions that this daystar will rise in the believers heart. At the time of Christ’s appearing, there will be both glory without and glory within.

Note that in Revelation 2:28 the risen Christ promises,

"To him who conquers and keeps my works unto the end…I will give him the bright and morning star."

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A WORD OF PROPHECY

PROPHETIC NATURE OF SCRIPTUREAnd so the Christian’s hope of glory and of Christ’s return is grounded both in apostolic testimony and prophetic scripture. But there is still something of major importance for his readers to grasp about the nature of scripture in general and prophetic scripture in particular. Cf. v20 “above all you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation”. What does he mean by that?

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PROPHETIC NATURE OF SCRIPTUREThere has been much debate over these words. Our clearest understanding is surely obtained by allowing scripture to interpret scripture. Therefore, we read v20 in the light of v21which can be teased out to say, ‘no understanding of scripture originates in the prophets’ own understanding of things for their prophecy did not originate with them but with God. They wrote what they wrote as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.’

Now the word ‘carried along’ used in v21 is literally, ‘driven along’ [cf. Acts 27.27]. The prophets were being controlled and directed in a particular direction just as a ship is at the mercy of the storm in which it is caught up.

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PROPHETIC NATURE OF SCRIPTUREYou see, Scripture in general, and prophecy in particular, is not a collection of human ideas. It is not mere human insight. Of course there is such a thing as human insight into what is about to happen in the days ahead. One only has to think of Churchill’s warnings to the UK parliament in the mid-1930s that Hitler was preparing for war… His insight proved to be correct - though he was ridiculed at the time!

However, our understanding of Scripture must not be viewed in this light, despite the best attempts of some modern scholars to do so.

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PROPHETIC NATURE OF SCRIPTURE

Peter teaches that the Scriptures, despite being written by human hands, have their origin in the mind and heart of God. Of course, we must never think that the biblical writers were mere human typewriters, or dictation machines, for they all used different writing styles and had individual vocabularies. But that said, they often failed to understand the meaning of what they had written.

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PROPHETIC NATURE OF SCRIPTUREGod is not only the author of Scripture, he is its interpreter as well! And so when the apostles witness to Christ’s teaching on his second coming and when the O.T. prophets speak of a glorious new age then they are speaking of one and the same thing. This encouraging doctrine which is indissolubly intertwined with the Christian’s hope of glory does not rest in the land of myth, human speculation, rumour or wishful thinking. Its origin lies in the heart and mind of God. Hallelujah! Jesus is coming again!

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PROPHETIC NATURE OF SCRIPTURE

Is bright the sun that you behold?Then let imagination fly,

And multiply ten-thousand fold,Then let the answer fill the sky.

The Lord Majestic will returnTen-thousand brilliant suns ablaze,

And in my heart a star will burnWith endless worship in its rays

Since this is so, then what manner of persons ought we to be in all hope and joy and godliness?

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