Servant and Apostle…
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, (2Peter 1:1-2)
THERE'S MORE TO ALL THE SHORT NEW TESTAMENT EPISTLES than meets the casual eye. They are not sandwiched into the Bible as a filler to take up space. God does not waste space. The Bible is a little book and every book in the Bible has a vital purpose. The writings of Peter are “mighty writings!” Get as close to this man as you can and learn from him.
PETER HAS COME A LONG WAY SINCE JESUS CALLED HIM to be one of His disciples. Something about his thundering, unruly character made him ideal for God to shape into one of His best. When he cut off the ear of the servant of the High Priest, (John 18:10), is that what he was going for or did he intend to take off his head? With Peter, precision and results were not always important. An ear or a head…what difference did it make? He made his mark. Peter always carried a dagger with him, probably from his fishing days. He had never been told to leave it at home.
That scene shows how fast Peter was in getting into the task at hand. Get it done! That’s how he fished. That’s how he did things as a disciple of Jesus. That’s probably why his name was always mentioned first in the inner circle. of Peter, James, and John.
WHEN HE GOT OUT OF THE BOAT TO WALK ON WATER (Matthew 14:28) he didn’t have everything figured out. When he began to sink, he switched gears from walking on water to “save me!” He never required of himself a plan of action. Just get going! Move! Make it happen! That was Peter. But now, in today’s text, he has moved from that blundering dynamo to the finished and polished leading character of Christendom.
SOMEHOW, HE HAS PUT TOGETHER THE ESSENTIAL PARTS of Christian ministry. Whether in his rough days or his refined days, he is the undisputed leader. He will be the speaker on the Day of Pentecost.
IN THIS SECOND IMPORTANT LETTER, Peter “identifies himself with a balance of humility and dignity. As a servant, he was on an equal basis with other Christians—an obedient slave of Christ. As an apostle, he was unique, divinely called, and commissioned as an eyewitness to the resurrection of Christ .” (MacArthur)
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I ONCE HEARD A BIBLE CONFERENCE SPEAKER (was it Carl Woodbridge?) say that there are three reasons why modern liberal critics don’t like the book of 2Peter. The first reason, is the contents of chapter one. The second reason is the contents of chapter two. And the third reason is the contents of chapter three. Liberal “scholars” of today do not like any part of the 2nd Epistle of Peter. He speaks of knowledge being authored by God and therefore, authoritative.
“IF ANYBODY IN THE EARLY CHURCH KNEW THE IMPORTANCE of being alert, it was the Apostle Peter. He had a tendency in his early years to feel overconfident when danger was near and to overlook the Master’s warnings. He rushed ahead when he should have waited; he slept when he should have prayed; he talked when he should have listened. He was a courageous, but careless, Christian.
“BUT HE LEARNED HIS LESSSON, and he wants to help us learn it too. In his first epistle, Peter emphasized the grace of God (1Peter 5:12), but in this second letter, his emphasis is on the knowledge of God. The word know or knowledge is used at least thirteen times in this short epistle. The word does not mean a mere intellectual understanding of some truth, though that is included. It means a living participation in the truth in the sense that our Lord used it in John 17:3 — “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.”
“PETER OPENED HIS LETTER WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. Before he described the counterfeits, he described the true believers. The best way to detect falsehood is to understand the characteristics of the truth.” (Wiersbe)
This is our introduction to 2nd Peter. We’ll need a Part 2 to explore the main body of these two verses. Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
MAY 2, 2018 – WEDNESDAY
A.M. 1 Kings 3-5 P.M. Luke 23:1-26
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
(A lady told me they go to Morning Minute and let the man read to them while they eat
breakfast.)
Good Memory Verse:
Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: (Isaiah 46:9-10)
Song for Today:
Someone To Care (3:20) – (Gaither Group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcy5XRywh14
Note: You may need to turn off the song when finished to avoid something you do not want to hear, afterwards.
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