Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Here in this place, there's a constant line of people waiting to tell you that their agenda of what your faith should be will take you to the next level. Ooh, am I on?
[00:00:13] Sweet. I can hear myself.
[00:00:17] Was I yelling? Was I yelling too loud? All right, good.
[00:00:21] I'm sorry, you guys. All right, good.
[00:00:25] This message on second Peter has got me thinking about all of these things, because Peter's main job in second Peter is he is driven to tell us one thing, and here it is.
[00:00:36] Second Peter is a book to help us grow confident in our faith.
[00:00:42] Second Peter is a book to help us grow confident in our faith. How many of you would like to be confident in your faith? Yeah. Walk out courageously. Walk into a world that attacks. Walk into people that attack your faith, whether they say that they're Christians or they're not Christians, and you walk out there bold and courageous in your faith.
[00:01:04] Peter is driven to tell us that, be confident in your faith. And it starts in the very first verse. Look at this. Verse two. Peter. One, one. Simon Peter. Look how he introduces himself a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and savior, Jesus Christ church. What stands out to you in that first verse of second Peter? What stands out to you? What do you think?
[00:01:40] What's that?
[00:01:42] Yeah, it's interesting that he calls himself a servant before he calls himself an apostle right now. Apostles, they walk with.
[00:01:51] To be an apostle, you had to have, like, time with Jesus. But he doesn't say an apostle and servant. He says servant and apostle. Anything else stand out to you on this first verse?
[00:02:04] Faith of equal standing. That is the one that I'm just like. Now, listen, Peter is a unique author. He writes to encourage us about spiritual growth. He combats false teachers in second Peter. It's going to be fun to dig into this. He wrote and told us how to look forward to the Lord's return. All of that is in here. But he always writes as a humble, forgiven person.
[00:02:28] This is the same man who bragged on his faith to Jesus in front of the other apostles.
[00:02:37] Remember, this is the Peter who Jesus said, listen, peter, Satan has desired to sift you as wheat. You remember that? Sift you as wheat. And what he's going to do is he's going to tempt you, and you are going to deny me three times. Do you remember the story? And what did Peter say to Jesus?
[00:02:56] Peter said to Jesus, nope. Jesus, you are wrong. Now, I can't imagine ever looking at Jesus, eyeball to eyeball, and saying to Jesus, you're a little off on this one.
[00:03:09] However, that's exactly what he said. No, no, you're off on this one. Because even if the rest of these losers deny you the rest of these disciples, I will never do it.
[00:03:24] And then Jesus said, peter, I'm sorry to tell you, I know a little more than you do.
[00:03:30] And before the cock crows, before the rooster crows, you're going to deny me not once, but three times.
[00:03:39] This is the same Peter. In fact, let me read you the verse in Matthew 26 33. Peter answered him, though they all fall away because of you. Read it with me like you're Peter, all right? Like you're Peter. Though they all fall away because of you, I will never.
[00:03:57] Now that's confident. Don't you think?
[00:04:01] Confidently. Wrong.
[00:04:03] And then Peter did what the other disciples didn't dare do. He verbally denied knowing Jesus. When Jesus was on trial for his life, Peter abandoned his friend and he denied his faith.
[00:04:19] But the man who wrote the beginning of this letter, second Peter, is not the same Peter we see in the gospels. Not the same guy. Something has happened to his heart. Something has changed in his soul.
[00:04:35] Listen to this again. To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of God and our savior Jesus Christ. Peter has had a Jesus moment. He realizes his faith is on the same footing as everyone else.
[00:04:52] He had to go to the depths of hell to realize that. But he finally realizes his faith is the same as your faith and my faith and the faith of all these new believers in Asia Minor.
[00:05:06] His faith, like my faith, like your faith, is completely dependent on the power and the person of Jesus Christ. And he realizes, you don't have to be a disciple. You don't have to be apostle. You don't have to be a pastor. You don't have to be a broken beggar, a liar, a pharisee or a desperate sinner. When it comes to faith, we all stand on equal ground.
[00:05:27] My faith has found a resting place, not in device or creed. I trust the ever loving one. His wounds for me shall plead.
[00:05:37] And you could see the transformation in the way that he starts this in first verse. Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. Do you know what the word servant there means? It's the word doulos. Now some of you that know Greek, that's like one of the most famous ones. Doulas. What it means is pertaining to a state of being completely controlled by something or someone.
[00:06:01] In other words, Peter was taking the most humble approach. He's saying, I am a slave to Jesus Christ.
[00:06:12] Now again, he has the power in all of these new churches. He has the power to monetize his position.
[00:06:22] What I mean by that is he's an apostle and there aren't a heck of a lot of them. Peter is walking around and he. I mean, he walked with Jesus, he slept with Jesus, he watched the miracles of Jesus. He did all of these things. He could have went around and go, you know what?
[00:06:39] You're wrong on this. I've been with you. Have you ever had people like that at your job? Like you think you know what you're doing? But I've been doing this for 30 years.
[00:06:50] He could have really taken this literally to the bank. He does not.
[00:06:55] Instead he introduces himself as a slave of Jesus Christ.
[00:06:59] Now some people in Peter's day, they didn't even know what an apostle was. They've never seen Jesus. These are just stories they're hearing all of a sudden in Europe about a guy that lived a couple of years ago in Jerusalem and in Galilee, they don't have the Bible. They're learning all of this by word of mouth. And he could have used his position to elevate himself in pretty amazing ways.
[00:07:27] But the apostles humbled himself and Peter. I find this very interesting. Peter who said, all these losers will leave you, but I never will that proud Peter begins the letter to all of these churches and says to them, your faith is the same as mine.
[00:07:48] Peter allows the spirit to work in people's lives and he proclaims that we all have equal faith. Now listen, I'm going to dig this hole just a little deeper here because I really think this is what Peter's trying to get across to us in a very humble way. Peter is seen by the Roman Catholic Church as the first pope, right? This amazing guy that had an inn with Jesus. And it's interesting, in the first verse of this letter he says, you know what?
[00:08:20] No person should be wearing these regal robes. No person has a foot up on anybody else. No person has a corner.
[00:08:30] When you go to a concert, it's like, no, we want to go backstage. Let's get those VIP passes because we're special in some way. When it comes to faith, that is non existent.
[00:08:41] When it comes to faith, we are on equal footing. The only reason I'm standing up here is so you'd see me. Other than that, we're equal footing.
[00:08:51] And I find it very interesting. This guy that began the first churches in Asia Minor, the first churches in Europe. This guy does not introduce himself as a high and lifted up important person, but he introduces himself with a humble heart and he says, I'm talking to you because our faith is equal.
[00:09:17] Sometimes I'll go to parties and get togethers and stuff like that and I kind of just want to go incognito because sometimes when I get to those places we eat and before we eat, everybody feels like, okay, Craig's here. We should really pray. And nobody volunteers to pray. They look at Craig and they say, craig, why don't you pray for us? Like I've got some corner with God that they don't have. And I know I'm not belittling anybody for doing that. I'm just saying it's such an interesting moment because everything about me should communicate what Peter, the first guy that established churches in Asia was communicating. We are all equal. Nobody gets a VIP pass to God. You don't get into a certain area, I don't get into a certain area. Jesus Christ is our means to God for everything and everybody.
[00:10:19] We are equal standing regarding faith. In fact, I would say some of you have a deeper faith in certain areas than I do.
[00:10:31] And that's great because we need each other to grow.
[00:10:35] I find it compelling that the first pope would say, we're all the same.
[00:10:45] Second verse.
[00:10:47] May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. How does faith and peace. How does my faith get grace and peace multiplied in my life according to that verse? If I want more grace, if I want more peace, if I want my faith to take root, what is the thing that I must do in order for my faith to grow? I have to increase in my what? In my knowledge of Jesus Christ? This word, knowledge is seven times in this first chapter.
[00:11:21] Our goal is to know Jesus because the more we know Jesus, the more our faith will grow.
[00:11:27] You don't need anything else. You have God's word. You have his revelation, you have his spirit. You don't grow through some secret path somebody gives you.
[00:11:39] My professor would always say, craig, listen, if you're in the presence of somebody and they say, I figured out something that nobody has figured out regarding faith, run out the door. Because chances are that thing has been figured out before and it has been proclaimed to be a heresy in the past.
[00:11:58] You don't grow through some special faith ingredient that you are missing. If you have Jesus, you have everything already that you need. Now you may be thinking to yourself, Craig, you might be drawing a lot out of that one or two verses. Ha. Let's listen to Jesus, shall we?
[00:12:17] Matthew Eleven, verse 28, one of his favorite sermons and one of the favorite things that people memorize. Come to me, all you who are labored and heavy laden, and I will give you what church, rest.
[00:12:34] Take my yoke upon you. And what church, learn from me. For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Jesus says it himself. If you want rest for your souls, if you want roots that deepen, if you want peace in the middle of chaos, if you want a faith that takes you through the toughest times, a faith that grows you when it's hard, if you want that kind of a faith, the key thing is you have to learn from me.
[00:13:04] Learn of me.
[00:13:08] Your soul can find rest as you learn from Jesus. You lack nothing to keep you from succeeding in this life and the next.
[00:13:18] Because he says that the next thing that comes along that Peter says in verse three, his divine power has granted to us how many things church that pertain to life and godliness. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the. Here you have it again. Through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory in exodus and excellence. Listen, the divine power. Do you know what that word is in the Greek? Like, nobody cares, but it's kind of cool to read. Here's what that word is. It's Theos Dunimus. You want to say it now, don't you? Right? Theos Dunimus. You know what that word means? What those two words mean? God power. How'd you know that? Oh, it's right up on the screen.
[00:14:02] This God power can be yours. This God power does not belong to me. It doesn't belong to the pope. It doesn't belong to Peter. It doesn't belong to pastors. It doesn't belong to people who have a corner on their faith. This God power is available to everyone.
[00:14:18] You can have God power at work in your life. That is the ability to overcome everything you need that pertains to this life. Living with God power has already been given to you. And you know what that word. Could you throw that word verse up there one more time? And you know what that word godliness is pertaining to? Life. That's this life and godliness. Know what the word godliness is? Same word used for religion.
[00:14:45] Everything you need for life here and a religion that matters that is true and righteous and just and powerful has already been given to you through the knowledge of him who called you. Now I need to tell you why Peter is doing this. I think.
[00:15:02] How many of you have heard of the word gnosticism or gnostics?
[00:15:07] Gnosticism was the theme of the day, was the idea of the day for us. We have ideas of our day as well. They grow in popularity. People buy into them. Pluralism. I mean, there's all kinds of different ideas of the day. Polytheism, all of these different ideas, multiculturalism, these are popular thoughts. Well, in their day, gnosticism was a big thing. Gnosticism, interestingly enough, was the idea that there is a secret knowledge you could have of the supernatural. And the only way you could get that secret knowledge is that you would have to know the certain secrets. Only some people did. Not everybody could, but only a few people really could tap into the secrets of the spiritual realm. Faith was not enough. Faith wasn't going to get you to it. You had to have a special gnosis. The word gnosis actually means knowledge in Greek. You had to have a special gnosis that not everybody has. Only certain people have this. So it's a secret knowledge. But in addition to that, there was also a spiritual versus material idea. This emphasized the idea that the material world was not as important as the spiritual world. The material world was desecrated. It was decaying. It wasn't a beautiful Thing. It was disgusting. Your body smells physical was bad, spiritual was good, but you couldn't fully know the spiritual. Only certain people could know the spiritual. And in reality, what is holding you back from knowing the spiritual is your Physical.
[00:16:48] By the way, yoga is a gnostic idea. Did you know that? Yoga. Some people do. I do yoga because it helps my sciatic nerve that I have issues with. So I do yoga to kind of stretch my body out. But yoga is one of those ideas that came out of the gnostic realm where if you moved your body in certain ways, you could almost get into a painful pretzel position that would free your mind.
[00:17:20] If you heard the word free your mind, that is a gnostic idea. The idea that you hurt the physical so that you can get closer to the spiritual. This is very popular in our day, and it was popular in Peter's day as well. And the bottom line was the gnostics simply said, you cannot fully know God. It is an impossibility. You can't know God. This greek philosophy was widely, in fact, Plato. Do you know Plato? Have you ever heard of Plato's cave? Yeah, Plato's cave is a gnostic idea.
[00:17:58] Plato's cave is the idea that somebody is in a cave, and they want to know the real world, but they can't, because all they see are shadows cast by a light behind people, and they think those shadows are real. And so Plato taught, you cannot know the truth of something. You only know the shadows of something. So you're sitting on a chair right now. That is a material chair. It's a fallen chair. It's an improperly made thing, but, you know, it's a chair. And this is a stool, but it's a chair. That's a chair. We kind of have an idea of what a chair is. You could have a big throne, and you could call that a chair. But there is a perfect chair in the spiritual realm from which all of the imperfect chairs come from.
[00:18:50] This is a gnostic idea, the idea that whatever's in the spiritual realm is the perfect, and you cannot know it. You can only know shadows or pieces in a fallen, decrepit physical world.
[00:19:05] Peter is fighting this concept.
[00:19:10] And unless you know gnosticism, you'll never get the depth of what he's saying. But Peter is screaming to people, you can know God. Peter is screaming, you have everything you need to be godly in this life and the next. Peter is screaming, you can know God better every single day, and you can live in a way that pleases him. In the spiritual realm, Peter is saying, the physical and the spiritual are connected.
[00:19:41] Look at verse four, by which he has granted to us all his precious and very great promises, so that through him you may, and here's the key. You may become partakers of the what church?
[00:19:54] You might become partakers of the spiritual. Divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desires. In other words, you are not a student, you are not a buyer. You are not an observer. You are a partaker of the divine nature.
[00:20:17] This is a direct hit against gnosticism, because Peter is saying, you can share in God's nature. You can have a God nature right here.
[00:20:29] You can know his divine nature. You can receive his divine essence. And the words are all connected to how we know Jesus Christ, how we gnostic, how we know not the spiritual and the physical, but how we know Jesus. He is the connection between the spiritual and the physical. So, church, the bottom line is you don't need anything more than what God has already revealed to you in Jesus Christ in order to share in a personal divine nature. Listen, we don't become God, but we share in the righteousness that comes from God. This is the verse, actually, that transformed Martin Luther's life and caused him to start this reformation in the church. Romans 117. For in it, in the scriptures, in the revelation of God, the righteousness of God is being revealed from faith. For faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. In other words, we live in a physical and a spiritual reality.
[00:21:31] And the irony is, this is the very verse that Martin Luther read because he was studying to become a priest and people were telling him, listen, you need to do this. You need to do this. You need to do this. You need to do this. You need to follow our standard of righteousness for you to even get close to know what it means to be a follower of Jesus. And then he read this verse and he realized, faith comes from God, and faith that grows continues because of God.
[00:22:04] The righteousness of God comes from faith, and it is for faith. And according to Peter, it has granted to us already everything we need to live like God wants us to.
[00:22:18] So, church, I would say, watch out for people who say, you need more than you already have regarding your faith in Jesus Christ. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, Peter would scream out, you already have everything you need.
[00:22:36] You don't need anything else.
[00:22:39] Now back to verse one. This is my favorite part, because we go right back to the first verse out of all of those conversations that we just had. Read verse one again, here's what it says. Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours. Who's the ours? The apostles, by the righteousness of God and our savior Jesus Christ. Listen, the disciples, the apostles, they planted churches, they walked with Jesus, they slept beside Jesus. They saw the miracles of Jesus, they saw the resurrected Jesus Christ. And Peter said, you don't need any of that to have a deep growing, rooted faith. You already have been given everything you need.
[00:23:24] I keep thinking to know, maybe my faith would grow if Jesus walked through that door. If he just walked through the door and he sat down in here, and of course I would say, okay, I'm done. Would you just take over from this point on? And then we let him preach. And I wondered, like, he would do a fantastic job. I have no doubt in my mind. But you got to think he would only go back to scripture and he would only preach what we already have, because that's what he did when he was here. He said, haven't you read, it is written right? He was constantly pointing back to what we already had. And church, if you want to grow as a Christian, you need to learn about Jesus. You need to learn from Jesus. You need to be in his word. You have already been given everything. You need to be the kind of outstanding faith kind of person that God wants you to be.
[00:24:16] I think that is transformative.
[00:24:20] Peter would say, your faith is as good as mine.
[00:24:24] My final question to this whole thing is this. Why would this be so important to Peter? Why would he start this letter this way?
[00:24:33] I'm going to read you a couple of verses down. We're going to cover this in a couple of weeks. I'm going to read you a couple of verses and I want you to tell me what Peter is dealing with that would make him want to start this way. In his letter two, Peter, chapter one down in verse twelve. I'm going to read it for you. Tell me what he's dealing with. Therefore, I intended always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it is 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 the Lord Jesus Christ has made it 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. Church, what is Peter dealing with at this point in his life?
[00:25:29] He knows he's going to die.
[00:25:32] He knows he's going to die.
[00:25:34] In fact, what you don't know is Peter's in jail right now awaiting his final trial. That will bring about his execution. And his execution will go this way. His family will be brought in front of him. He will be tied, he will be bound, and he will watch the roman guards put swords through all of his children and his wife. And then they will tie him up and put nails through his hand and they will crucify him upside down.
[00:26:03] That is what Peter is in for. Peter knows this is coming because when Jesus talked to him on the beach after he rose from the dead, Jesus said to him, listen, Peter, it's going to be nasty. People at some point in your life are going to take you places you don't want to go and they're going to do things to you you don't want them to do. I'm telling you, that day is coming. And Peter's in jail and he knows his trial's coming and he knows what Jesus said is going to happen.
[00:26:27] He doesn't look at Jesus and say, Jesus, I think you're totally wrong on this one like he used to. Instead, he has full faith. Whatever Jesus said is going to come true and it is going to be horrible. It is going to be horrific, but he will go through it with a faith in Jesus Christ and a humility that he has never had before.
[00:26:50] What do I need if I'm going to live faithfully? Church? What do I need if I'm going to die faithfully, I need to know that I've been given everything I need in order to live or die as an overcomer.
[00:27:04] That's what I need.
[00:27:06] Anyone trying to sell you their deep secrets about how your faith can increase should not be trusted. You have everything you already need. Learn of Jesus Christ.
[00:27:19] As a pastor, I don't have any secret knowledge. I don't have special access to God. I'm no better than you. My prayers are not potent, more potent than yours, in fact. At village church, what we say here is I'm your brother before I'm your pastor.
[00:27:35] Those who know Jesus are equal in faith. We all have the same bible. We all have the same spirit of God. We all have equal access to Jesus Christ. And the truth is you've been given everything you need to live a powerful, full life of faith that shows grace and peace on a regular basis. There's no secret door. There's no truth or power that you're missing out on. Not one.
[00:27:55] So what?
[00:27:57] That would be my first. So what? Back away from anyone claiming to have a corner.
[00:28:02] God has already given you everything you need for faith, everything you need for this life and the next. You are fully equipped with God power. Thaos Dunamis, God power.
[00:28:15] And I would say these are the things you have got everything you need, everything to do that God asks you to do. You have. You have great promises. You have assurance from God that what you believe about Jesus Christ is the truth. Throw these up there.
[00:28:30] So whatever you like. If you're going to think to yourself, maybe I don't believe the right thing, you have been given everything through his great promises, to know that what you believe about this life and the next has been given to us through the person of Jesus Christ. You have assurance about that? You have his precious plan. Nothing happens by mistake. I'm not at the whim of some crazed dictator or scary world. God has a plan and he invites me to go forward with him in it. And we can be partakers of this. We are guaranteed participants. Our faith makes us equal partners with God in his story. Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours.
[00:29:14] These believers that he was writing to were simply asking, do I have enough?
[00:29:19] Do I know enough? Is what I believe the right thing?
[00:29:23] And these believers were about to face death and persecution, just like Peter. Many of them were thrown to lions in these coliseums. No matter what revisionist history tells you, these Christians were persecuted. Nero burned them in his garden alive to light up his garden so that he could have parties and invite his friends over.
[00:29:44] Peter says, listen, your faith in Jesus is enough. You have everything you need to live and to die as overcomers. Number two, live in light of what you know to be true. Be bold and courageous, because we live out the gospel. Truth be told. Listen, the truth be told. The world is living the opposite of this.
[00:30:02] This is why the Bible says they stumble around in the dark. Without faith in Jesus, you're just looking for the best knowledge thing that comes along. You wonder why they buy into all of these weird and different and changing ideas is because they're constantly looking for something that matters, and they're quick to hitch their wagon to any philosophy that would seem to elevate their life in this fallen world. They're looking for the next big gnostic cell.
[00:30:31] If you've ever wondered why the world seems to be going crazy, it's because they've been given an amazing gift of life from their creator. But they've not attended one orientation setting. They are disoriented. They are not reading the instruction manual, and they don't know how to live according to what God would want them to church. If you live in the truth, let it set you free.
[00:30:56] This is why Jesus always talked about faith. It is freeing. It is a freeing factor. Frees us from worry, fear, despair, stress. Everything regarding faith has already been given to you to be an overcomer for Jesus Christ. Because church, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
[00:31:16] To those who obtained a faith of equal standing as ours, according to the one we view as the first pope of the church, this is Peter.
[00:31:25] You have the faith of a pope already.
[00:31:31] What are you possibly lacking to live victoriously in your life. Let's pray.
[00:31:39] Father God, I am grateful for the way that you have worked in Peter's life.
[00:31:46] This last letter that he writes, knowing that his death would come soon, it's powerful to read. It's a reminder to us that you have already given us everything we need to live victoriously. You called our name and we came running out of our tomb. We don't need anything else but what you've already given to us through your word and through your spirit, and we are set free. Lord, help us to live in the freedom our faith has given us. Help us not to run back into jail. Help us to live in freedom. Because when you called our name, we received a faith of equal standing. To Peter, this great apostle.
[00:32:31] Help us to live with that kind of boldness and courageous. Help us to walk into our world with a light that burns away the darkness. May we be the light that cannot be snuffed out. Whether we live or die, may we bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ. It is the only hope for this generation and everyone to come. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
