Peter as Pastor - False Teachers - 2 Peter 2 (P 31)

Have you ever wondered about how in the world you identify "false teachers"?  Most of us aren't very confident in our ability to do so.  Most of us are putty in the hands of a charismatic teacher.  How can you know?

At the end of chapter 1, Peter has written about prophecy - inspired by God - not open to personal interpretation.  Then he seems to take a side road.  Writing about prophecy reminds him of the problem of false prophets.  Israel had been plagued by them her entire history.  Peter knew that the fledgling church would be as well.  So he writes about identifying them.  We know it is an important topic because Paul also warns about them in 2 Timothy as does Jude in his little letter.  So, Peter, Paul and Jude all think that warnings about false teachers are important for believers.  Let's listen ...

For our reading today, begin with 2 Peter 1: 19 and read through 2:22

A sobering read, no?  Allow me to share a few observations.  I know you will have your own.  Post them for us.

First, the words Peter used leave no room for ambivalence toward the subject.  Destruction, exploitation, deception ... then condemnation.  Serious words for a serious problem.

Second, false teachers WILL bear consequences for their lies - and the consequences are severe.  Peter used 4 illustrations:  the rebellious angels, the people in the days of Noah, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Balaam.  Peter assures his readers that God is not "idle" - He sees - and He will respond.

Third, the primary characteristic of false teachers is they deny Jesus as sovereign Lord and they live ungodly lives.  This is important because I have heard believers called "false teachers" when they have expressed a different interpretation of a particular scripture.  That does not make one a false teacher. We know that because of what we read about Apollos in Acts 18.  His understanding was off - not his heart.  That's different.

Warren Wiersbe provides a good working definition for us:  "False teachers are professed believers who know the truth but who deliberately teach lies in the hope of promoting themselves and getting financial gain from their followers."

Jesus called them "wolves in sheep's clothing" (Matthew 7:15).  Jesus told stories about "weeds growing among the wheat" (Matthew 13: 24 - 30).

This threat is from "within".   So we must stay alert.  We must pray for wisdom and discernment.  We must stay in tune with the Word of God.

OK ... how can we discern in our day?  What are some of the warning signs which should make our "false teacher detector buzzers" go off?

1.  They exalt themselves more than they exalt Christ.

2.  They talk of righteousness ... but there is no fruit of righteousness in their lives.  The talk is counterfeit.  

3.  There is a huge emphasis on making money, exploiting people for money.

4.  There are great claims that they can change people.  

5.  They are exposed to have hidden lives of lust and sin.

Peter, we hear you!  We choose to stay on alert.  We choose to be very careful about how we throw around the descriptor of "false teacher".  We choose to ask the Holy Spirit to be our divine interpreter for all things of God.  We choose to stay in God's Word.  We choose to use that Word as the plumb line for ideas and theories and teachings.

We choose to exalt Jesus as Lord.  

Peter as Pastor - Epiphany - 2 Peter 1 (P 30)

Have you had any epiphany moments in your life?  I would love to be sitting around a room with you sharing them together!  When have you seen God?  When have you heard from Him?  What has sealed your faith journey so that you will not walk away?  Those are epiphany moments!

Peter had one.  From what we have learned about Peter in this study, he has had many more than one. In our passage for today however, he references one of the most dramatic in his own life and walk with Jesus.  Read our passage from Peter first, then go back to the gospel and read the account of the 'moment' itself.

2 Peter 1: 16 - 21

Matthew 17: 1 - 8

What do you learn?  Peter reported what he learned.  In verse 16 we read that Peter learned Jesus was "coming".  Strange language since Jesus was with them.  But Peter saw the "coming of our Lord Jesus Christ".   Those first century Christians believed that Jesus would return - that He was coming.  They expected it.  They watched for it.  And they were beginning to get discouraged because days, weeks, months, years were passing and He had not come.  Peter writes to assure them that Jesus was, indeed, coming.  Because Peter himself had seen it.  He had seen Jesus returned.  He saw him that day on the mountain accompanied by two of Israel's faithful prophets.  Not perfect men, remember, but faithful men - Moses and Elijah.

It was a prophetic message.  One that had been spoken of for centuries.  The Holy Spirit had revealed this truth to prophets - they did not think it up to offer encouragement to a beleaguered people.  The message had come from God.  The prophets spoke what God, through His Holy Spirit directed.  Peter knew the prophetic messages.  And this moment on the mountain confirmed that message.  So Peter tells us that "we would do well to be attentive to this."  Are you?

Over two thousand years have passed since this writing.  Perhaps we need this reminder even more than those early believers.  We grow calloused to the reality.  We no longer watch with expectation for Jesus' return.  But Peter reassures all believers that Jesus, indeed, is coming.  He knows it ... because he saw it.  Do you believe it?  Will He find you faithful when the time is right?  Or do you subconsciously think the way you live today does not really matter?  Will you live today with that reality in the forefront of your mind?  He is coming, my friends.  May He find us faithful.

I love the language Peter chose to communicate exactly what this reality means to our lives here and now.  This belief, this truth, is like a "lamp shining in a dark place."  And our world is indeed a dark place!  As I write, the events in Charleston, S Carolina have recently transpired.  Innocent people, gathered in a church to worship God, gunned down senselessly, insanely.  Darkness.  As I write a group of people from my home church are on their way to Haiti.  They will encounter poverty and human misery that marks the lives of so many people.  They will encounter voodoo and evil. Darkness.
This world is a dark place and in desperate need of a lamp.  Here it is!  This belief - this 'knowing' that Jesus is coming - is like a lamp.  He is coming.  And He will make things right.

What happens when He comes?  It will be like "day dawning ... and the morning star rising in our hearts."

Dawn is coming.  

I believe it.  

I know it.  

Thank you, Peter, for sharing this epiphany with us!    

Peter as Pastor - Reminders - 2 Peter 1 (P 29)

We don't know how much time has elapsed since Peter's first letter.  Many scholars are not convinced that Peter even wrote this second epistle that bears his name.  Some think that another 'writer' penned the words, even after Peter's death, and applied his name to it for authenticity.  That was not an uncommon practice at the time.  Those scholarly debates are interesting (if such things interest you!) but they need not diminish our ability to glean wisdom from these pages from our biblical canon. Since Peter's name is on the letter, I plan to respond to it as if Peter were, indeed, the writer.

Let's begin ...    read 2 Peter 1: 1 - 15

Peter writes to believers.  He shares faith with them. His intro leads me to believe that he does not see himself "over" them ... they are all on equal, shared ground.  He loves them.  And he again longs for "grace and peace be theirs in abundance."  Not just a little ... abundance - overflow - excess - more than enough.

Grace - that undeserved favor of God
Peace - that sense of calm deep in one's soul that belies all chaos and circumstance

May they be yours as well.  May they be mine.  In abundance.   Today.

I have raised 3 girls into adulthood.  Translation?  I had 3 hormonal, teenage females in my house at one time. Some of you understand.  I felt like it was a frightening world to send teenage girls into 15 years ago.  It still is ... maybe more today than then..  Every time they left our house,  I reminded them of something ... "Remember who you are."  You see, I knew how easy it was to forget that.  I knew how quickly the world and circumstances could rob you of your true identity.  I knew something of the temptations the world dangles and their seductive power.  So the reminder ... over and over again ... the reminder.  "Remember who you are."

Peter loves his readers ... and he wants to remind them of something so incredibly important.  He does that in verses 3 - 12.  In verse 12 he says he intends to keep on reminding them.  In verse 13 he says he will refresh their memory as long as he has breath in his body.  In verse 15 he says he will remind them often enough so that they will recall these things even after he has died.

OK ... what was the reminder?  Transformation is a process.  It is a process that requires desire, diligence and determination.  We are in such a quick-fix culture.  Sick?  Take a pill.  BAM - done.  Overweight?  Take something.  No change of lifestyle or eating habits required ... just take a metabolism enhancer.  BAM - done.  Want to be a spiritual person?  Say a quick prayer every morning.  BAM - done.  Peter reminds believers that to be transformed into a person who reflects the image and glory of the Lord requires a tenacity of spirit.  It requires a focus on the goal and a determination to grow a little every day of our lives.  He is specific about the growth process.

Peter reminds his readers to focus on ... growing ... adding to ... effort.  We all begin with faith - our faith in the finished work of Jesus our Lord.  And to that faith, we WORK to add ...

goodness

 (not a mere passive quality, but the deliberate preference of right to wrong, the firm and persistent resistance of all moral evil, and the choosing and following of all moral good.  Easton's Bible Dictionary)

knowledge 

(Observation and recognition of objects within the range of one’s senses; acquaintance of a personal nature that includes a response of the knower.  Tyndale Bible Dictionary)

self-control

(Do we really need a definition of this?  The word can also be translated,' temperance')

endurance

(One of the virtues of the Christian life cited in the New Testament, produced during suffering and which itself could produce character (Rom. 5:3–4). The Greek term suggests “tolerance,” “forbearance,” “patience” (KJV, JB), and “perseverance” (NIV).  Eerdmans Bible Dictionary)

godliness

(The one true God, as creator and redeemer, requires an active obedience to his revealed will and a personal devotion that surpasses lip-service, mere trepidation, or bare admiration (e.g. Pr. 1:7; Is. 11:2; 33:6; Lk. 2:25; Acts 10:2; 22:12). Pre-eminently, Jesus is the godly One, whose prayers were heard because of his ‘godly fear’ or ‘reverent submission’ to the Father (Heb. 5:7). His death and heavenly exaltation makes it possible for others to offer to God, through him, acceptable worship or service, ‘with reverence and awe’ (Heb. 12:28).  The New Bible Dictionary)

mutual affection

(This term has to do with feelings and emotions ... toward fellow believers)

agape love

(to have love for someone or something, based on sincere appreciation and high regard. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament)

That's quite a list, no?  To focus on the development of those characteristics on a daily basis can be daunting.  We can find ourselves tempted to throw up our hands and think that it's just not worth the effort.  Too hard.  Couldn't Peter have 'reminded' us to do a good deed for someone once a month?  Couldn't he have 'reminded' us to have a 5 minute 'quiet time' 3 days a week?   But no ... Peter 'reminds us, as believers, to diligently make every effort to develop these traits in our core being.  Transformation.  

Is it worth it?  The hard work ... the effort?  Oh YES!  Look again at verse 8:

"For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful ..."  (emphasis, mine)

What a promise!  This effort guarantees that my life will NOT be ineffective!  My life will NOT be unfruitful!  A life well lived ... to the glory of our Lord.  

OK, Peter ... I'll do it ... today.  I will make every effort ... today.  Even when I see the failures that will inevitably come, I will make the effort.  Today.  And Peter, remind me again tomorrow!