Good Monday morning to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
This past weekend we began another new path in our “WWJ” journey… the second letter the apostle Peter wrote. This letter was written to challenge the Christians of his day with something we need today DISCERNMENT! In their day there was widespread false teachings, distorted reports and outright lies which claimed to be truth. Does that sound familiar to you and the world in which you live today? So come with me, let’s rejoin Peter and learn from him.
He’s only just begun writing, in fact Peter introduced himself yesterday with these words: “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:1) and I challenged us, yesterday, to consider what words we would use both to describe ourselves and to describe our relationship with Jesus Christ? I wonder what words you chose for you.
Now Peter continues with clarity about WHO he is writing this letter to: “To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours.” When Peter says “OURS” who do you imagine he is referring to? Perhaps it was that close group of disciples who had walked with Jesus those years, but then again one of those was a betrayer, a hypocrite, a deceiver! Perhaps Peter was referring to the three whom Jesus often took with Him into very special situations. Do you remember their names? Peter and the brothers James and John. Perhaps Peter was referring to the Christians in Rome who suffered great persecution. Obviously, I don’t know for sure who the “ours” is, in this opening statement, but do you see the qualifications, the criteria for having the same faith as Peter? “…those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours.”
When you consider the distinctive traits of the people of God, both Old and New Testament, would you agree their FAITH in God is by far the most distinguishing trademark? That faith is what sustained Noah and his sons to build a huge ark anticipating rain like they’d never seen, right? (Genesis 7) That faith sustained Abraham and Sarah, even though well past childbearing age, to believe God could give them a miracle son. (Romans 4:18-22) That faith enabled young David to face well-armed, giant Goliath, when he had only a sling and five stones. (1 Samuel 17) That faith enabled Moses to stretch out his staff over the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army approaching behind them. (Exodus 14) That faith enabled Daniel’s three friends to stand while all others bowed to a golden statue of King Nebuchadnezzar, knowing they’d be thrown alive into the blazing fire. (Daniel 3) And do you remember, my friends, that same faith enabled this Peter, the man who is writing this letter, to step out of a boat in the middle of a storm and believe Jesus would enable him to walk on the waves!? (Matt. 14)
I wonder what words you use to describe that type of FAITH? Here’s a far more important question… do YOU and I have that FAITH in God? Do you notice Peter is saying that strong faith is NOT natural, it is not something you are born with, nor something you can buy, nor something you can take any training for. Look closely at the words Peter uses: ‘…through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours.” Peter is saying this outrageous faith is a God given faith! It’s a work of Almighty God the Father and Jesus Christ, God the Son, our Savior. Gaining and developing this type of God given faith is a supernatural, spiritual experience. And furthermore, do you see it is the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God which produces this faith in people like Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Daniel, Moses, Joshua and hundreds of others named in the Bible. The word righteousness is also HOLINESS. Now why is that the source of this faith? Because the opposite of faith is doubt and fear, and where does that come from… directly from the dark kingdom which opposes God, and God’s holiness, and God’s truth, and God’s work, and yes, even God’s people! 
Now, my friends, remember what I told you about WHY Peter is writing this short little letter? Peter is calling out and countering the lies, deceit, hypocrisy, truth distortions, gossip and rumors that were spreading like wildfire across the Roman empire in his day. And the primary target of all this malicious talk… Jesus! All kinds of rumors about His death and resurrection, all intended to breed doubt. False teaching about the identity of Jesus; about His miraculous incarnation; about the source of His miraculous power. So, let me ask you my friends, what about the city where you live? Is there agreement about Jesus, His life and His messages, and is there respect for God’s TRUTH about Jesus? Do you see that the confusion about Jesus, the disagreement about His identity or His death and resurrection or His miracles or His message… all that confusion is a work of the dark kingdom to draw people AWAY from Jesus!?Peter next wrote: “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the KNOWLEDGE of God and of Jesus our Lord.“ (2 Peter 1:2) Do you see Peter selecting and emphasizing a central theme which is the source of Grace and Peace? “The KNOWLEDGE of God and of Jesus our Lord.” Do you see Peter calling his first century readers to grow in their understanding of God, their knowledge of God’s truth? I wonder if when Silas was with Peter, as we saw in the last few verses of Peter’s first letter, Silas told Peter about his experience with Paul in a town called Berea. Here’s how Dr. Luke describes it: “Paul and Silas went to Berea. On arriving there they went to the Jewish Synagogue. Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message [the Gospel from Paul] with great eagerness and EXAMINED the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true…”(Acts 17:10,11)
Oh, my friends this challenges me, and I hope you, to consider this question: when you hear or read something, how do you test its truthfulness? How diligent are you in investigating the veracity, the truthfulness, of what you’ve read or heard? Could it be said of you and me that we are of ‘noble character’ and we “with great eagerness… EXAMINE the Scriptures every day to see if what…” we hear or read is true, according to God? Now, I’m not talking about religious conversations only. I’m talking about everything significant in the public discourse of our world… I’m talking about the sanctity of human life and when life begins; I’m talking about the definition of marriage; I’m talking about who defines gender and if gender is permanent from conception; I’m talking about racial equality and gender equality and age equality. Are you and I like the “Bereans” when it comes to filtering everything we read or hear to discern TRUTH? And what do we do with information we read or hear that is NOT true, according to God’s truth standard? I feel led to pause right here friends. Would you agree these are some of the most important questions of our day? They are in fact life & death questions! In fact, God says society will collapse, they will implode if society rejects and refuses to function according to God’s unchanging truth. I’m going to pause here and urge us to think seriously about these questions:
1. How do you process information? What level of truth is required for you to believe or align your life with information you receive?
2. What do you do with popular opinion or theories or even social values and laws which are contrary to God’s truth?
3. How do you measure FAITH?
4. What evidence do you see of society crumbling when society rejects God’s truth and embraces distortions of truth or outright lies?
This is so important, we’re not going to end with a song today, but rather I urge you to spend some time talking with God about this, looking closely at your life and the society where you live.
Today’s Scripture is 2 Peter 1:1, 2.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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