Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] So tomorrow, the end of the world is arriving. I hope you're ready for that.
[00:00:08] Yeah. Remember to look through the strongest telescope you have and get the best view of. Don't do that. Don't do that.
[00:00:17] It's interesting how much of our world is attached to this phenomenon tomorrow. I don't know what you're going to be doing, but it is. It is interesting.
[00:00:28] I want to talk to you today about our continuing study in two Peter. Two Peter is actually a book about kind of how it will look like in the end times.
[00:00:40] And it's been a privilege to walk through it so far. We've just started this, so if you're just joining us, you are right on the front end, which is always nice to enter right into the front end of things. We're just finishing the first chapter today and we are about to get into some pretty interesting end of the day, end of times kind of things. And so I hope you track with us. Looking forward to a lot of good Sundays coming up. Actually, I'm creeping up on another birthday, so just if you want to set your calendars, that's a eclipse tomorrow, Craig's birthday, not far after.
[00:01:20] I've noticed some things as I get older that kind of concern me now. I grunt when I get up and when I sit down.
[00:01:29] I can't prove this, but I think I used to be funnier, smarter and less tired than I am right now. I used to run like the wind. Now I run like the winded.
[00:01:39] And I have a lot more. Either I have a lot more time on my calendar these days, or I'm forgetting a lot of stuff. It's one of those two things. Ever notice how we need to be reminded of things more and more as we get older? Maybe that's not you. Maybe that's just me. But I started thinking about it this week because this idea of reminding comes up in our passage today in a very prominent, big time way.
[00:02:06] And I started thinking to myself, like, how many things do we have to be reminded of on a regular basis? And it's not so much like you get older and you start forgetting stuff that you need to be reminded of things. But, you know, we did this when we were kids, too. I mean, how many times do you tell your kids, okay, how many times do you change your underwear this week? Just this week? Or, you know, we're going on this big, long trip, make sure that you go to the bathroom.
[00:02:29] Did you brush your teeth? Did you brush your teeth today? Is it today? You brush your teeth?
[00:02:34] And we have to keep reminding each other of these things because I think it's kind of prone in our, in our psyche to lay off things that we don't consider really, really important.
[00:02:47] You ever consider how churches kind of like that churches kind of are an opportunity to come together every Sunday and just be reminded of some things? I always pray that this happens because when people come to church, I kind of hope that they leave with a good remembrance moment of how Jesus loves them and how his grace is for them, how he is for them, and his faithfulness will never stop. And it's almost like every Sunday, as I do, the messages, I'm just impacted by how. It's just really a reminder of what God says in his word to us. Life gets in the way and we forget about the things that we should be reminded of. We forget about the goodness of God. We forget about the important things, the grace of God, the hope God offers, his consistent faithfulness, and the promises of his word. I think we are prone to wander largely because we're prone to forget.
[00:03:44] We forget what we lose if we succumb to temptation. We forget what we risk if we take this path and not this path.
[00:03:55] Sometimes when life happens, we need a wake up call to remind us what we have and what we hope for.
[00:04:02] This is where we start in our message today as we get through our study today in verse twelve of two, Peter, chapter one. So it's up on the screen. If you want to use your bibles, which I hope you do, it's two, Peter, chapter one and verse twelve. This is where we're going to start today.
[00:04:21] Peter, the apostle, the disciple, the follower of Jesus, the betrayer, the denier, whatever label you want to give him, this guy now, 20 years after Jesus resurrection, is a changed man. He's a pastor.
[00:04:37] Jesus has given him responsibility to shepherd the sheep. Feed my sheep, he says to Peter. And so, second Peter is his letter to the churches in an effort to feed the sheep of Jesus Christ. And in verse twelve, he starts with these words. Therefore, I intend always to. What are the next two words? Church.
[00:04:59] Isn't that interesting? Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. You know you need to change your underwear, you know, you need to brush your teeth, you know, you need to, you know, remember these things. Peter is saying, you already know these things, but it's my job to remind you of these things.
[00:05:26] And I got to tell you from here, it's really, this message today is kind of a springboard to compare the peter of the gospels to the Peter that we are reading from right here in this epistle, this letter to the churches. Peter is saying, listen, you know the truth of Jesus. You know what Jesus has told. You know the word of God. You know the promises.
[00:05:50] It's my job to remind you.
[00:05:53] You're established in these things already.
[00:05:57] In fact, it kind of caught my attention, because it is my job to remind you of these qualities. Well, what qualities? We have to look back and realize what we've already read to find out what he means by these qualities. What qualities? Back up in verse five, he tells us the qualities that he's referring to. Here are the qualities Peter says, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self control. Self control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection. And brotherly affection with love. We talked about this already and this list, and these are not things that we strive for. These are not things that we. If we try a little harder, we can have a little more brotherly love. If we try a little harder. We can have more steadfastness and perseverance if we try a little harder. This is not what this is talking about. What this is talking about is what the Holy Spirit has already given to followers of Jesus Christ. You're a follower, Jesus Christ. You have these fruit of the spirit in these match up pretty closely. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, meekness, gentleness, and self control. These are all a part of our lives. If we know Christ as our savior, the only thing getting in the way of these things coming out of our lives is sitting in your chair right now.
[00:07:28] We have a tendency to be our own worst enemy.
[00:07:32] These qualities are already ours. If we let them flow through us and don't insert ourselves, these qualities undergird and strengthen our faith. Paul says, Peter says, and Peter says, you already have these things. Now let them flow. Because here's the catch. When they flow, your faith grows.
[00:07:57] It's the weirdest thing.
[00:07:59] As you watch these qualities that the Holy Spirit gives you, that you already have, if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, as you watch these qualities flow through you, your faith will strengthen. It is a natural process of growth meant for you as a gift by God and the Holy Spirit. Remember we talked about the three legged race? You remember that this is the idea that our job is simply to strap ourselves to the Holy Spirit and walk with him, and we don't take over, because that doesn't make for a very pretty race. People fall on their faces all the time. But as you strap yourself to the Holy Spirit and the Bible consistently in the New Testament, talking about the Holy Spirit says these words, walk in the Spirit, strap yourself to him, stop getting in the way.
[00:08:49] Now here's what I find is really incredible about this.
[00:08:52] This is all good and true and the Holy Spirit wants to live through us and this is why we have the Holy Spirit who guides us, who directs us, who comforts us all of these things.
[00:09:04] But this is what I find that is fascinating. It's the guy that's talking about it, Peter.
[00:09:10] You remember Peter in the gospels, you remember the kind of guy that Peter was, Peter, I think as he's writing these things now, 20 years after Jesus has ascended back to heaven, Peter is writing these things and I have to think just like it would be true of any one of us, Peter is thinking to himself of his own past.
[00:09:32] He's thinking to himself of what he did and how he behaved when he was with Jesus.
[00:09:39] He bragged on how much he lived out these things. He said his faith was greater than all the other disciples. You remember that he said, even if all these other losers leave you, Jesus, I will never leave you. You remember that God was increasing these virtues in my life. I think is what Peter is saying, but I didn't let it happen. I inserted myself, inserted myself and I failed so many times.
[00:10:06] But what Peter, the pastor is saying here is he's saying don't let that be the case with you.
[00:10:15] Let the Holy Spirit lead your life. Strap yourself to him, walk in the spirit, lean on him. He is your strong man.
[00:10:26] Look at what he says next. And I really think this is what Peter is dealing with because of what he says next. Look at verse 13. I think it right as long as I am in this body to stir you up by way of reminder.
[00:10:40] Now this verse, you could easily skip over and just go to the next one, but you would miss so many things.
[00:10:48] Peter the pastor is saying, I think it's right as long as I'm in this body to stir you up by way of reminder.
[00:10:59] If you read that from a friend of yours, what would be your concern after reading that from a friend, if they sent that to you in a letter, what would be your concern for them? Would you have a concern? I would. I think it is right as long as I'm in this body, what does that tell you? A lot.
[00:11:20] He's going to kick the bucket, he's going to buy the farm. Right. He's going to die. He thinks he doesn't have a lot of time left. And you would be right, because Peter is in captivity. When he writes this, and he's writing this thinking that his head's on the chopping block tomorrow.
[00:11:37] He writes this to all Christians as a pastor, Christians in Asia Minor. He was writing to them, and he's writing them as though he doesn't have another day to live. And then he says this. It's my job to stir you up. Now, if you like underlining in the Bible, if you like messing up your Bible like that, which I highly encourage you to do, those words you should definitely underline stir you up are some of the most fascinating words in this whole morning message. There's an urgency in this word. Do you know there are two other places where stir you up are used? I'll give you both of them. The first one, Peter was there.
[00:12:21] Peter knew this word because he has used this word before. He's experienced it.
[00:12:27] They were on a boat in the middle of a storm, and they thought they were going to die. All the disciples on this boat are thinking they are going to die. And do you know what Jesus is doing in the bottom of the boat? What's Jesus doing? Church. Sleeping. Sleeping.
[00:12:44] So all the disciples go to Jesus and he's snoozing the storm away.
[00:12:50] And they go to Jesus and they look at him and they say, wake up.
[00:12:56] Same word.
[00:12:59] Same word.
[00:13:00] It is my job to wake you up with a panic expression, as if it is essential for you to know this. Something huge is coming and you need to wake up.
[00:13:16] You want to know the other time it's used? It's in John eleven. Do you know what happens in John eleven?
[00:13:22] Oh, you're gonna love this. Somebody died.
[00:13:26] They died and they were a friend of Jesus. They had two sisters.
[00:13:30] They died. They were put into a grave. Jesus is doing his own thing. He comes three days late.
[00:13:38] After the death. The sisters are discouraged. The sisters are brokenhearted. The sisters names are Mary. And.
[00:13:46] And their brother's name that just died was Lazarus. Lazarus has been put into a tomb. And his disciples say, Jesus. Jesus. We were too late. We're not going to get back. You're not going to be able to heal. Lazarus. He's already dead. He kicked the bucket. He bought the farm. He's dead now. And Jesus says to them, you are mistaken.
[00:14:09] Oh, you're right in saying that he's dead. But we're not going down there to see a dead man and mourn with those who have no hope. We are going down there to, you know what he says?
[00:14:22] Wake him up.
[00:14:26] Same word, the disciples. This Peter has heard these words, this phrase before, wake up. And when he writes this verse in two, Peter, he says, it is my job to wake you up.
[00:14:46] This is a pervasive sleep, I think, church that our brothers and sisters have fallen into in America in 2024.
[00:14:58] We are asleep at the wheel.
[00:15:03] We see evil advance and we do nothing.
[00:15:07] We see political agendas hijack moral values, and we don't say a thing.
[00:15:12] We are bombarded with myths and evil masked as love and righteousness, but hiding a pervasive onslaught against God's truth. The war is raging against the truth of Jesus Christ. If you want a nice little, nice little project to try out as you get into any debate, oh, any debate with your friends, what I would like for you to do, just as a project, just to see how it goes, is just to drop one name into the mix, talk about whatever debate you're dealing with. All right? All I want you to do, just as a project, is to drop one name and see what happens. I've experienced this myself. I've never experienced it like this in my lifetime. But these days, I've tried it several times, and every time I'm in a debate with somebody or I'm in a debate with a bunch of different people, and I drop that one name, Jesus Christ, into the mix, it's like a grenade goes off.
[00:16:12] There's an onslaught against the truth of God, which is the truth, and there's an onslaught against Jesus Christ, who is, by the way, the way, the truth and the life like never before in my lifetime.
[00:16:27] Some churches won't even use words like sin, evil, salvation anymore for fear that they will stir people up too much.
[00:16:38] Listen, church, we need a reminder constantly. Character like Peter just mentioned here, virtue, knowledge, self control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, love, these all come from God.
[00:16:54] They are manufactured in God's character.
[00:16:58] And when we see them in their purest form, it is Jesus living in this world through us.
[00:17:05] You can't have virtue without Jesus. You can't have knowledge without Jesus.
[00:17:18] You can't have love without Jesus. You can't have this because God doesn't have love. God is love.
[00:17:28] God doesn't have holiness. God is holy. Everything originates from God through the person of Jesus Christ, who gives us the Holy Spirit. This is how it is meant to function.
[00:17:43] The beginning of knowledge is the fear of God.
[00:17:47] You can't have any of these things. And yet we live in a world that says all of these things are available outside of a relationship with God.
[00:17:59] I think we forget the most when we lean on the faith of others more than we should.
[00:18:05] I think sometimes that's when we forget how to live out our faith the most. It's too easy for us to ride on the coattails of those more faithful, more spiritual than we think we can be. The disciples did this with Jesus. As long as Jesus is around, they don't have to step up. They can brag about their faith. They can brag about how they're going to stand up in the roughest of times. But as long as they shove Jesus into the foreground, they really can take a backseat. And I think for us, a lot of times our faith rides on the coattails of somebody else.
[00:18:40] We do this with our parents. We do this with our favorite evangelists. We do this with our pastors. The disciples did this with Jesus. I mean, they're literally in the garden, Jesus is about to go to his death. And one of the disciples, and he's literally told them, this is what's going to happen. And what are the disciples doing? Sleeping.
[00:19:00] They shove Jesus to the foreground so their faith doesn't have to stand up, doesn't have to be tested, doesn't have to listen. I'm concerned, Jesus says to Peter, I think in the garden, I think Peter is now saying into the church, I'm concerned that you've been living vicariously through me. It's time to wake up.
[00:19:21] Wake up, Peter says, the comfort of my influence will not be around much longer. Just like Jesus was, the guy we leaned on when he was around, you've got to stop. And then he was gone.
[00:19:36] Now you've got to stop leaning on me.
[00:19:41] And I wonder, I wonder if when Peter was writing this, he heard Jesus words in the garden. When Jesus came back to him and said to Peter, could you not wake up with me? Just 1 minute, church. I think we need to wake up. The darkness is growing, and I think churches don't. I think they're afraid to wake the people up. Because if you wake somebody up, you're going to have people that stand out, and nobody wants to stand out these days, not for faith.
[00:20:16] The world calls this our moment to wake up. They have even hijacked this word. They call it woke.
[00:20:25] And the world says, you've got to be woke to an evolving agenda of humanistic, creative values.
[00:20:32] I want to argue this, church. Jesus, calls this our moment to wake up our faith.
[00:20:41] Don't you find it really interesting that the world even calls this woke.
[00:20:47] There's an evolving, humanistic, creative agenda that changes every five days, and you've got to be woke to it. And I want to argue with you, church. Jesus says, this is our moment to wake up our faith. It's like he's coming to us in the garden and we're sleeping with the disciples, and Jesus is saying, wake up.
[00:21:09] It's nothing new.
[00:21:11] The New Testament tells us these days are coming. The New Testament makes it very clear to us that we are to stand firm in the evil day. Look at Ephesians 613. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the what? Church?
[00:21:25] Withstand in the evil day. Not lean on your pastor, not lean on your parents, not lean on the faith of somebody else. No, no, no. You take up the whole armor of God individually so that you individually may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all stand firm.
[00:21:45] Do you know what the first piece of armor that goes on is? It's actually up there. I put it up there because I thought you may not know. What's the first piece of armor that we put on?
[00:21:56] Do you know why? The first one is the belt of truth, like the helmet of salvation. That's pretty good, right? Need that one. How about the breastplate of righteousness? How about feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, sword of the spirit, take on the evil one. Those are all good, right?
[00:22:11] Why a belt? You can't even see my belt.
[00:22:16] I am wearing a belt. Why is the belt first? Why is this sing this meaningless part of the armor first? And why is it called. What is the belt called?
[00:22:29] Because when you put on your armor, every other piece of the armor fits itself to the belt so it doesn't slide around, so your pants don't fall down.
[00:22:43] It hooks itself to the belt. And if you've got righteousness that's not hooked to the truth of Jesus Christ, you've got a different kind of righteousness than God's righteousness. And if you've got salvation that is not founded on the truth of God's word, you've got a different kind of hope for salvation.
[00:23:00] Every piece of armor hooks your pieces for your legs that cover your.
[00:23:05] What are these called? Quads, whatever they are, everything that you have hooks on to the belt of truth. And if you don't live out the truth of Jesus Christ, if you don't believe that he is the way, the truth and the life, then you're hooking your hopes on something false, and you got to wake up.
[00:23:30] We form into God's image. We don't make his image form into our wokeness.
[00:23:36] We adhere to his truth. We don't develop a new truth based on the fact that we've evolved to a certain point as humans. In 2024, you will be seen as archaic. You'll be seen as a Bible thumper. I don't know whatever words people want to throw at you because they can't argue the truth, but they'll try and demean your character.
[00:23:56] That's the wokeness of the day.
[00:24:00] We stand firm in the evil day. And how do we do that? We hook everything on the truth of Jesus Christ.
[00:24:07] Peter and Jesus are both saying this. We won't be around forever.
[00:24:12] So make this truth essential, close to who you are. Build your character on what is really true.
[00:24:22] Romans 1016 says this. Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us. Verse 17. So faith, where does faith come from? Church. Faith comes from hearing and hearing through what you cannot have faith without hearing the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[00:24:45] Faith doesn't come through Peter. Faith doesn't come through your parents. Faith doesn't come through well constructed Sunday messages.
[00:24:54] Faith comes through God's word.
[00:24:57] Hearing somebody remind you about what God says in his word, that's why it's so important to remind. My job is not to invent, it's to remind. Remind you. I tell people, ask me, they'll say, well, Craig, that was a good message today. And usually my response is, you know, I stole everything. I just stole it all.
[00:25:18] I just take it from God's word and I share it with you. I didn't come up with it. My job is not to invent it. My job is to remind you about it.
[00:25:26] Peter is saying, you can't rely on me much. In fact, look at verse 14. Since I know that the putting up of my body will be soon. There he goes. He says, I'm going to die. As our Lord Jesus Christ made it clear to me. Now, this is crazy. Since has to be the, this one word has to be the worst word for Peter to ever write down.
[00:25:45] Since I'm reminding you of these things since I'm gonna die. I mean, think of how you use that word since, you know, I'm filling up my gas tank since I ran out on the highway. I mean, it's like, since is like the worst word ever since I know the putting up on my body will be soon.
[00:26:06] And then he says, just like Jesus made it clear to me, did you know Jesus told Peter how he was gonna die?
[00:26:12] Did you know this?
[00:26:14] When Jesus rose from the dead, he visited his disciples, and particularly Peter. In fact, when he rose from the dead, he told the women at the tomb, he said, go back, tell the disciples. And Peter, I am risen from the dead. And I have to think to myself, that's wonderful. That's such a wonderful thing for Jesus to say. But at the same time, if that woman came through the door and I'm with the rest of the disciples in the upper room, and the woman says, listen, all you disciples, Jesus said to tell you he's risen from the dead. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. And Peter, you especially, Jesus is going to see you soon. That had to be not a tremendously wonderful occasion for Peter, because what's the last thing Peter did when he saw Jesus alive?
[00:27:02] He denied him three times, cursing and swearing. He didn't even know him.
[00:27:07] And now he gets the message. Jesus wants to see you, too, Peter.
[00:27:12] And when Jesus saw Peter, he took a special walk with him on that beach.
[00:27:17] This is in John, chapter 21. It's a powerful passage. He took a walk with him on that beach after breakfast, and he and Peter are talking, and he said to Peter, do you love me, Peter?
[00:27:31] And Peter said, yeah, I love you. He said, okay, feed my sheep. And then he asked him the second time, Peter, do you love me? And Peter goes, we just went through this. You know I love you. He said, feed my sheep. Third time, Peter, do you love me? And you know how Peter felt the third time?
[00:27:48] He felt crushed.
[00:27:51] Says it in John 21. Fell crushed.
[00:27:55] It's like Jesus isn't believing him. And Peter says, lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Please believe me. And Jesus says, feed my sheep. And then he says, right after that, John 20 118.
[00:28:10] Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself, walk wherever you wanted.
[00:28:16] But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and another will dress you and carry you 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, he said to him, follow me.
[00:28:34] There's more to this verse, this verse. Jesus said, they'll stretch out your hands.
[00:28:41] Peter knew how he would die.
[00:28:45] He knew he was going to be crucified.
[00:28:48] He knew because Jesus told him.
[00:28:52] He knows what's coming for him. And he knows. Jesus prophesied it. The Peter of the Gospels would have said, jesus, you know, we're gonna Christianity's gonna take off. It's gonna be a whole thing. Roman Empire's gonna fall. Everything's gonna work out. We're not all gonna die. Just you relax. That would have been the peter of the gospels, but the Peter of the epistles writes. And he said, jesus told me how I was gonna die, and it's about to happen.
[00:29:20] He's clearly a changed man. The Peter of the gospels is not the Peter. It's the same Peter, but it's a changed Peter, the Peter of the epistles. So I wrote these things down for you. I love this chart. It's wonderful. If you're online, you're not going to get to see it, but in house, wait till the last one take a picture. It's wonderful. It's brilliant. All right. My faith was weak. Peter of the gospels. I was unable to stay awake. This is the Peter of the gospels. In the garden, Jesus begged them to stay awake, and Peter and the rest of the disciples slept. This Peter says, church, just like jesus did in the garden. Wake up.
[00:29:59] Wake up.
[00:30:01] Watch and pray. Remember what you have learned in Jesus Christ. Don't forget and don't be ashamed of it.
[00:30:11] The peter of the gospels would say, my faith was proud.
[00:30:15] I and every disciples vied for power in the gospels. Remember, they were always talking about who's going to be greatest in the kingdom. James and John, sons of Zebedee, get their mother to come to Jesus and make a pitch for them. Remember that.
[00:30:29] Let's give them, really, they're good kids. They're good fellas. So give them a really important place. Always vying for power.
[00:30:36] This Peter said, our faith is founded in the same forge of the Holy Spirit, fire.
[00:30:42] Every one of us has the same faith. Nobody has the faith that is greater than somebody else. We're just gifted in different ways. But every one of us has all the characters of the Holy Spirit alive and well within us.
[00:30:57] Number three. Peter would say of the gospels, my faith was full of fear.
[00:31:01] I was afraid of death. I ran from the guards and I ran away from Jesus. This Peter, the Peter of the epistles, would say, I have an opportunity to recant and renounce my faith. I know I will. And church, if you don't know church history, you should know this, that within days of writing this epistle, Peter was taken from his cell and his family was brought into the same area. He was, tradition tells us, not the Bible tradition. Church tradition tells us that as Peter was about to be crucified, Peter said to his captors, do not crucify me as my savior, I am not worthy. And so they crucified him upside down. And while they crucified him upside down, they forced him to watch his family die in front of him.
[00:31:52] They killed his family, and each time asking Peter, will you recant? And he wouldn't, and they killed his family.
[00:32:00] This Peter, the epistles, totally different, bold, courageous in his faith, watched his family die to the point of a spear and then crucified upside down. Peter of the gospels number four, would say, my faith was about me, I was about making a name for myself. This Peter would say, he must increase and I must decrease. Peter, the gospels, would say, my faith number five, was not humble. I argued with Jesus constantly about what should and should not be. I was not humble in my faith. And this Peter of the epistles would say, total surrender. Jesus said, I would die in painful, terrible ways, and who am I to argue?
[00:32:43] Over these past 20 years, since Jesus has ascended, Peter's faith has been forged into a personal faith. He did not have to rely on Jesus anymore. He made that faith his faith.
[00:32:56] He strapped himself to the Holy Spirit and lived out his faith, as the Holy Spirit allowed that to flow through him, he did not get in the way. But Peter's faith had to be forged in the fire of life without depending on Jesus church. Our world is waging a war against righteousness in 2024. I wonder how your faith will hold up.
[00:33:19] I wonder how my faith will hold up.
[00:33:23] There is a war raging against faith in Jesus.
[00:33:27] You can have righteousness, you can have love, you can have good living, you can sacrifice, you can save the whales or save a dog or do anything you want, you could follow so many woke ideas, it'll come out your ears.
[00:33:41] But the minute you stand up for faith in Jesus Christ, that's when you know the war is raging full on.
[00:33:48] I wonder how our faith will stand up.
[00:33:51] You may not be able to depend on the church leaders you love and cherish. An unpracticed faith dies with its leaders. Listen, you need to know, every leader is temporary. Every leader is an interim leader.
[00:34:04] You like that? It's right there. Every leader is temporary. Every leader is an interim leader. You cannot depend on the faith of a leader around you. You have to make it your own. You have to start clenching that belt of truth, what do you really believe and let everything else hang on, that your faith must remain firm in the day of evil. And you must have a faith that is your own.
[00:34:34] Verse 15, and I will make every effort so that after my departure, after I die. Peter says, you may be able at that time, at any time, to recall these things. This is a paramount piece. My life is temporary. My leadership is temporary. My job is simply to remind you of Jesus and what he has taught and church. I say the same thing.
[00:35:02] My job here as a pastor at village church east is temporary.
[00:35:06] My job is to remind you of who Jesus is. So you make faith yours.
[00:35:14] Focus not on the apostles of the past. Focus on the image that God is making you into right now, so that when I am gone, Peter says you can recall these things. Every faithful leader's job is to simply remind, not invent.
[00:35:29] Listen, it is not weird to look for somebody to follow.
[00:35:32] Israel desperately wanted a king. You remember that? They desperately wanted a king, so God gave them one. And he said to them, when you have a king, be prepared for disappointment, because kings are human and you're going to get a lot of bad ones.
[00:35:51] This is what happened Palm Sunday, just two Sundays ago. Jesus enters into Jerusalem. And what did the people cry out to him? Do you remember that one word they said starts with an h?
[00:36:02] Hosanna. Do you know what Hosanna means in Hebrew? It actually is Hashanah. It literally means save now, please.
[00:36:12] Nah is the word for please translated into English. It says, for the sake of God, save us.
[00:36:20] That's literally what it means.
[00:36:24] Those people standing on the street were yelling out to Jesus, please be our leader. And he was.
[00:36:31] But when he died and he ascended, even before he died, many of them fell away because they couldn't handle the idea that he would not be here with them.
[00:36:43] I mean, what did Peter argue with Jesus so vehemently about?
[00:36:47] Peter said, I'm going to die and in three days I'm going to raise again. And Peter said, we're not going to say that out loud. You can say that, but let's, can you imagine hushing Jesus?
[00:37:02] That's literally what Peter did. Peter, let's not say that part out loud, because as long as I'm around, nobody's going to touch a hair on your head. You're our leader. We need you so that our faith can be strong. We need you to stick around church. Who is our strongman for christians?
[00:37:28] Jesus isn't sitting in a seat here this morning.
[00:37:32] He's in one place in one time. He's at the right hand of the father. So who is our strongman? Who do we look for to lead us?
[00:37:41] Oh, good question.
[00:37:43] Jesus said, here's your leader, John 1416.
[00:37:47] I will ask the father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. Even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and he will be what's church. If you know Christ as your savior, the Holy Spirit lives in you. Your strong man is your leader, living in you at all times. You need courage, he'll give you courage. You need strength, he'll give you strength. You need hope. He'll remind you of hope. You need love. He's got it full throttle. And when you ask for it, strapping your leg to his, you can walk with the Holy Spirit with a faith that you didn't know possible in this life. In fact, Jesus would say it's a faith that can even move mountains.
[00:38:35] This another helper. By the way, another helper means another of the same kind. In other words, he's saying, I will give you another helper just like me.
[00:38:47] That's why God exists in God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. You have Christ in you.
[00:39:01] As I mature in faith, it must be evident more and more that my faith is what leads me into the truth of God.
[00:39:16] When Jesus said he was leaving, you know they panicked, right?
[00:39:20] They were losing their leader. Just give me this one verse, John 14 five. Thomas said to him, jesus says, I go to prepare a place for you. Remember John 14, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go, I will come again, receive you unto myself, that where I am, there may be also. You. Remember that Thomas freaks out like the rest of the disciples. But Thomas is the only one that speaks out. And he says, lord, we don't know where you're going, and how can we know the way?
[00:39:45] Lord, we don't know where you're going, and how can we know the way? Freaking out.
[00:39:51] But I want to tell you that if you learn of Jesus, your faith can grow and Christ will live inside of you. In fact, this is why Matthew 1128 says this. Jesus says, come to me, all, you are labor and heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
[00:40:11] Listen one more verse in Peter. I couldn't leave this one off.
[00:40:15] If you do not go to Jesus for your faith, for your hope, for your truth, for your love, for brotherly affection, for all of those things, if you do not go there, there are plenty of other places you can find those things masked as righteous righteousness.
[00:40:32] And this is why I think he writes in the next verse in two, Peter, for we do not follow cleverly devised. What's the next word? Church myths. We don't follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eye witnesses of his majesty. This is why Peter says, wake up.
[00:40:54] We are not following cleverly devised myths, but there's lots of cleverly devised myths for you to follow.
[00:41:04] They change constantly based on the evolution of the humanistic mind.
[00:41:10] The world will try and sell you ideas trying to wake you up.
[00:41:16] They will even use the word be woke.
[00:41:20] But Peter saying this, this is not made up stuff.
[00:41:24] These are not myths. These are grounded in something that actually happened, not human ideas, but rather the story of God.
[00:41:34] You want to be truly woke.
[00:41:36] The knowledge of Jesus Christ is the real gnosis. You remember the gnosis, we talked about that before? Knowledge.
[00:41:45] The knowledge of Christ is real knowledge. That's back up in verse eight if you want to look at it. So what, here's your. So what's number one?
[00:41:53] Are you the same you that you were when you said yes to Jesus? It's terrible English, but it's wonderful if you read it. Are you the same you you were when you said yes to Jesus? Are you the same you you were when you said yes to Jesus? Peter wasn't the same.
[00:42:09] Peter had a woke up call. A wake up call.
[00:42:13] He was losing his leader and he had to stand up and make his faith. His faith.
[00:42:20] Could this message, church, could this message be your wake up call?
[00:42:26] Peter's wake up call was losing his leader.
[00:42:29] Peter had to stand up to the plate.
[00:42:32] So the question is, are you maturing in your faith the same that can be observed in the lives of Peter and the apostles.
[00:42:40] Remember, Peter and the apostles at one time were deniers and forsakers. But they all had to grow to the point where every one of the twelve lost their lives for their faith. Every one of them gave their lives and martyrdom for Jesus, not just Peter.
[00:42:55] And so my question, church, is this, where will your faith in Jesus take you? I don't know.
[00:43:01] I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. I don't know what's going to happen next year. I don't know what's going to happen five years from now. I do know this, that the ways that this world is being woken up is not always good.
[00:43:14] In fact, sometimes it's a little scary.
[00:43:18] And the more we are woken up to the truth of Jesus, and the more that we wake up ourselves and live out our faith. We are going to stand out like a, like a bad thumb.
[00:43:29] Jesus said, you're going to be lights, and lights aren't meant to be hidden. They're meant to shine. Your faith in Jesus is going to become more brilliant as the darkness gets darker. And that's a good thing, but it may hold consequences that we're not prepared for.
[00:43:48] So, church, my message to you today is wake up.
[00:43:54] Make your faith your faith.
[00:44:02] Are you awakened to the reality that following Christ might actually require you picking up your own cross and following him? And church, our job as a church is simply to remind you constantly of what faith will require. So we would encourage you. There's all kinds of ways that you can, you can strengthen your faith. You can build into it. You can strap yourself to the Holy Spirit and find ways to die daily so that the Holy Spirit character of Christ lives out more in you. I would encourage you to join us at community group. Those are great. They're hard to get to, I know, because we're all busy, but community groups are wonderful. You decipher the. Not decipher. It's not a bad word. It's not a bad word. Disseminate. You disseminate the message that is given on Sunday. We give you questions. You work through the questions. You do life together. There's food. I would encourage you to get into a community group. There's ones that you can join even this week. Look online on the hub and you can jump into one even this week. Serve. Use your gifts to serve one another. It's a great way to grow and stretch. Pray.
[00:45:08] You should be praying every day. If that's hard for you, put it on your calendar. Pray 15 minutes a day. It will grow your faith in a weird, supernatural way. Prayer has an amazing ability spiritually to knit our hearts to God's and I would encourage you to be in God's word every day. I don't know what to read. Read a proverb a day. There's 31 proverbs that usually falls nicely into the calendar. Read a chapter of proverbs every day. It's a good way to go. If you don't want to do that, start with the gospel of John. John's a great gospel. It was written to the Greeks. It's written to the people that think like us. So that's a great gospel you can read in there. I've got lots of opportunities if you'd like to ask me for something that you could do. But just start feeding your faith. Don't be the same you you were when you came to Christ. Grow one. Timothy four six. Be trained in the words of faith and the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Church. Rather, train yourself for godliness.
[00:46:15] Don't mess around with myths. If you want to know what's true, get into God's word number two. Are you woke by Jesus or woke by myths?
[00:46:24] Everyone has awakened to some passion in some way in their lives.
[00:46:30] There are myths galore to make. You woke. Faith is your opportunity to be woken up by the truth. Jesus wants to wake you up like he did with Lazarus, by the way. Do you know last thing, do you know what Jesus said to Thomas immediately after? Thomas is freaking out, he's in the upper room. Jesus says, I go to prepare a place for you. And Thomas is going, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's park there for a second. Go. Where are you going? You're not going anywhere. No, no, no.
[00:47:02] Let's just keep you here.
[00:47:05] We'll discuss this going thing later.
[00:47:09] Jesus said, no, no, no, I go. I'm leaving. And if I go, I'll come again. Receive you unto myself. Whoa. Do you know what Thomas said, where are you going? How can we know the way? We just read about it. Do you know what Jesus response to Thomas was?
[00:47:27] Thomas said to him, lord, we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, church, say it with me. It's great. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.
[00:47:42] Not making it up. I'm stealing it from Jesus.
[00:47:45] You want to get to heaven, you've got to go through Jesus.
[00:47:49] I mean, that's pretty plain, wouldn't you say?
[00:47:52] Thomas freaking out. Where are you going? Jesus said, don't worry, don't worry. I am the way, the truth, and life. You follow what I have told you, and you will see the father and me again someday.
[00:48:09] Jesus says, stick with the truth that I've given you and you won't go wrong.
[00:48:13] This is our passion church. What wakes you up? What wakes me up? It must be the gospel of Jesus Christ. Peter says, your faith is built on the fact that Jesus is the son of God. He is the one given for the salvation of human souls. That is the truth. And your faith is as poignant and powerful as mine.
[00:48:35] So wake up.
[00:48:37] A strong faith church is needed in 24.
[00:48:40] In 2024, a strong faith is necessary.
[00:48:46] Remember, you don't have to fight on your own. You've been given everything you need already in the power of the Holy Spirit, if you know Christ is your savior. And time is running out for each one of us to decide what truth we will follow.
[00:49:01] Trust in Jesus alone. No modern or ancient myth, no human authority, no pastor, not even an apostle.
[00:49:11] Jesus is still opening the doors for followers to come to him. And if you'd like to come to Jesus today, today is still the day of salvation. But eventually, maybe tomorrow with the eclipse, it's all going to come to a crashing halt.
[00:49:27] I don't know when that day will be. But I do know this, that whether we're alive or dead, those of us that know Jesus Christ as our savior immediately go from this life into his presence. It is a promise, it is a truth, and it is our faith. Let's pray.
[00:49:51] Father God, I am grateful that you have given us this powerful message from two Peter, one, the man who writes it. We can't get away from how you changed his life.
[00:50:05] He's not the same person he was in the gospels. And it's very clear in all the ways that you've changed him. Father, I pray that you would change us so that our faith will grow. Help us to wake up and not be asleep at the wheel when you come back.
[00:50:24] Help us to wake up and take advantage of these days because there's still more people that need to come in to your family. There's more people that need to accept you. And I pray, Father, that you would find us doing the good work until the very last moment.
[00:50:39] May each one of us make faith ours.
[00:50:45] May we see it as our personal responsibility to grow, to mature, to speak out and to light up this dark world. And through us, Father, may you let your holy spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit work through us and change this dark world for the gospel, for your sake, for your honor and for your glory, I pray in Jesus.
