2 Peter 3:1, 2 says...
We have made it to chapter 3 this morning.
Today's verses are 2 Peter 3:1, 2, which read,
v.1 - This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,...
This is a reminder that these are some of Peter's last words and he knows it. This is also the second letter that he has written to this group. Peter calls them "beloved" which is a word developed by layers of words to get the depth of the meaning and in this case the description of his view of them. So the word builds from "to be friendly to one, to wish him well" to "to approve of, to like" to "to be fond of, to love dearly" to "esteemed, worthy of love." The people Peter is writing to were people to be friendly to and then they became people he liked being around and then became people who he loved and then became people he was so thankful that he had come to know. You see the progression of friendship in that one word.
"...I am stirring up..." - Peter is waking them up. He is arousing them from their sleep about something that they have been dozing off on. I can't help but think of him asleep in the garden and Jesus coming back 3 times to wake him and the other disciples up.
"...your sincere mind..." - Peter is waking up their pure and focused (sincere) understanding, feeling and desiring (mind) of something they already know.
v.2 - ...that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.
What are these people that Peter has comes to love so dearly and that he is so thankful to know them reminded of that they have fallen asleep about? They have fallen asleep and lost focus on their understanding and desiring of the words of God. Peter gives both the Old and New Testaments here when he says "...spoken beforehand by the holy prophets..." (Old Testament) and "...the commandment of the Lord and Savior..." (New Testament).
Peter will speak to something specific in the following verses but I think first we need to be woken up to the fact that we have fallen asleep in a majority of our churches to a clear desiring of the Word of God. Many churches and many attenders would be better described as Peter and his buddies in the garden sleeping and needing to be woken up by the Savior than those diligently seeking out His words not just to know them but to live by them.
Do I need to be awaken? Do I have people around me that I would say are at the level of "beloved" in my life to speak such words to me or do I have just a lot of "fringe" friends who will just let me sleep on mainly because that is what they are doing?
Some who are reading my words this morning are my "beloved" and some are becoming that in my life and I echo Peter's reminder this morning. Wake up to the words of God and their life and direction and instruction to live by this day. Don't fall asleep on having a focus and desire for them.
"Lord, I get tired at times. I pray that You would help to be a 'beloved' to another so that I could have a 'beloved' that would wake me up in the areas where I should not be sleeping. Amen."
Pastor Adam
Today's verses are 2 Peter 3:1, 2, which read,
v.1 - This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,...
This is a reminder that these are some of Peter's last words and he knows it. This is also the second letter that he has written to this group. Peter calls them "beloved" which is a word developed by layers of words to get the depth of the meaning and in this case the description of his view of them. So the word builds from "to be friendly to one, to wish him well" to "to approve of, to like" to "to be fond of, to love dearly" to "esteemed, worthy of love." The people Peter is writing to were people to be friendly to and then they became people he liked being around and then became people who he loved and then became people he was so thankful that he had come to know. You see the progression of friendship in that one word.
"...I am stirring up..." - Peter is waking them up. He is arousing them from their sleep about something that they have been dozing off on. I can't help but think of him asleep in the garden and Jesus coming back 3 times to wake him and the other disciples up.
"...your sincere mind..." - Peter is waking up their pure and focused (sincere) understanding, feeling and desiring (mind) of something they already know.
v.2 - ...that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.
What are these people that Peter has comes to love so dearly and that he is so thankful to know them reminded of that they have fallen asleep about? They have fallen asleep and lost focus on their understanding and desiring of the words of God. Peter gives both the Old and New Testaments here when he says "...spoken beforehand by the holy prophets..." (Old Testament) and "...the commandment of the Lord and Savior..." (New Testament).
Peter will speak to something specific in the following verses but I think first we need to be woken up to the fact that we have fallen asleep in a majority of our churches to a clear desiring of the Word of God. Many churches and many attenders would be better described as Peter and his buddies in the garden sleeping and needing to be woken up by the Savior than those diligently seeking out His words not just to know them but to live by them.
Do I need to be awaken? Do I have people around me that I would say are at the level of "beloved" in my life to speak such words to me or do I have just a lot of "fringe" friends who will just let me sleep on mainly because that is what they are doing?
Some who are reading my words this morning are my "beloved" and some are becoming that in my life and I echo Peter's reminder this morning. Wake up to the words of God and their life and direction and instruction to live by this day. Don't fall asleep on having a focus and desire for them.
"Lord, I get tired at times. I pray that You would help to be a 'beloved' to another so that I could have a 'beloved' that would wake me up in the areas where I should not be sleeping. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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