Call to Commitment

Destroying demonic literature in Ephesus

Verses 12-21 

 Spiritual benefits from memories

12.   For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. 

13.  Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, 

14.  knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.

15.  Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease. 

In verse 12, Peter begins to show the importance of remembrance in spiritual life. David put himself in a compromising, hypocritical position, when he allied himself with one of Israel´s enemies. This was Achish of Gath, one of the five kings of the Philistines. His fault was in putting his trust in this man, instead of looking to the Lord for protection. Living a lie, finally caught up with him. He found himself with Achish, about to begin a major battle against his own people, Israel, as the Philistines mounted a major offensive against them. King Saul and David’s friend, Jonathan, died in this battle. God freed him from this dangerous situation, but things soon went from bad to worse.

 After a two-day’s journey, his army of 600 soldiers arrived at the city of Ziklag, which Achish had given to them. They discovered that the Amalekites had ransacked and burned the city, while they were absent, stealing the wives and children. David’s men were at the point of stoning him and he had absolutely no one to turn to. David was greatly distressed, the biblical account relates, and it is at this point, when David’s memory began to function. He remembered the hand of the Lord so heavily upon his past life, all the way back to his youth and “David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” He went on to recover every one of the wives and children, but David won a greater battle in his soul, recognizing the grace of God in the victory. Grace became a ruling principle in his future kingdom. Read this valuable account in 1 Samuel 30. Memory strengthened and restored David with His Lord.

  Peter sees the need, on his part as a teacher of the gospel, to be faithful to remind the churches of things they already know. It is a great lesson for all Bible teachers that they should not be concerned about being repetitious. We have seen Peter, in the first part of this chapter, preoccupied with the possibility of stunted growth, short vision and stumbling in their walk of faith. Here, however, he sees people with experiential knowledge, presently living and established in the truth that has come into their lives.

 The apostle knew that he was right in stirring their memory, and so we also must see this as a spiritual principle, valuable to the well-being of our inner man. As an old man, he had determined to spend the rest of his life, prodding Christians’ memories. If your Bibles are open, you will see that Peter called his body a temporal tent. That is the correct, biblical way of viewing our physical being. Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 5:1, “We know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Under the world’s mentality, the body is of supreme importance, and the worldling, commonly, is careful to properly diet and to exercise it. He cherishes his short life on this planet, while he absolutely ignores his inner being… his living soul and his eternal spirit (13).

  Peter sees, not based on his present physical condition, but according to the word of Christ, that his earthly life is soon closing. Jesus told him, “When you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish" (Jn.21:18). Peter is now living that prophesy. His tent is weather-beaten and torn and he is ready to experience a perfect, endless eternity. Notice how he terms this transaction: I must put off my tent. Peter himself has been living in a tent, but he is not the tent. ‘I’ the real Peter is speaking from within, from the soul that never dies. That tent, however, will one day be resurrected, transformed and immortal, no longer a tent, but an eternal dwelling place (14).

 I only wanted to name a few, whose ministry lives on in me, but names flooded my mind and I could not limit my list to very few. I would credit Charles Wesley, because of his timeless hymns, John Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, D. L. Moody, Charles Spurgeon, R. C. Ryle, Andrew Murray, George Mueller, Praying Payson, Oswald Chambers, Oswald Smith, A. W. Tozer, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Jonathan Goforth and Hudson Taylor. Still many others come to mind, Puritans for example, and some, but only a few, contemporaries. At this point, I think I have given enough to show enduring ministry and I think, they may serve as recommendations for readers, who might be looking for rich spiritual enlightenment. By listing these, I am also recommending that the reader find the bulk of his material from past writers, over that of contemporaries.   

Deep impressions from the Mount of Transfiguration and the prophetic Scripture

                  16.  For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the                               power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 

17.  For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 

18.  And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. 

19.  And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 

20.  knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 

21.  for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 

 Greek language, rich in expression, has been a great benefit in portraying the gospel. Greek philosophers taught wisdom that exceeded anything previously known in the secular world. Greek culture, on the other hand, was perverse and deceptive, its religion being a major part of it. Paul warned the Christians of Colosse, a city in Asia Minor, of the Greek culture and wisdom: “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Col.2:8). In 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, Paul showed that the world’s wisdom is opposed to the wisdom of God. In verse 19 and 20, he states, “It is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?”

 Alexander the Great was the conqueror that spread both his culture and language around the world. The Roman Empire, a military might, adopted and maintained Greek religion and culture. Today the pantheon of Greek gods and goddesses is called mythology. Asia Minor was deeply absorbed in demonology, due to the Greek/Roman religion (see Acts 19:13-20). Peter assures the Christian reader, that Christianity was not based on fables (gr. muthos, meaning myth or fiction). 

 In these verses, Peter refers to his experience on the Mount of Transfiguration. I question whether Christians put enough emphasis in this mountaintop event. Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power" (Mk.9:1). John Mark, the Evangelist, is the only writer who mentions the power present on this occasion. He is greatly influenced by Peter, when writing his Gospel. What Peter, James and John were presently to observe was a powerful manifestation of the Kingdom of God. Peter speaks of “the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and was deeply impressed by this experience.

 It is interesting that these same disciples were heavy with sleep at the onset of the revelation (Lk.9:32), as they were also in the Garden of Gethsemane. Their fleshly nature dulled the spiritual might, manifested in both cases: “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak," Jesus said to them in Gethsemane. In writing his epistle, Peter is clothed with Holy-Spirit baptism, adding magnificent reality to his words.

 I learn from Jamieson, Faucett, Brown that “the Greek for ‘coming’ is always used of His second advent.” The apostles taught these believers the power and the second coming of Jesus Christ. Peter was an eye witness of His majesty, power and second coming (16). The three apostles could testify that the Father manifested the honor and shining glory of the Son, like the sun, and His clothes, white as the light, on the Mount. Jesus said that all people “should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (Jn.5:23). His honor equals that of the Father. The Father’s own voice testifies from the Excellent Glory: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (17).

 This was the testimony of the Father at His baptism and, on this sacred occasion, He speaks for the second time, in confirmation. Excellent speaks of superlative, heavenly, unique Glory. Peter’s epistles glow with supernatural glory from his own personal knowledge of the Father and the Son. This was required of the apostles, giving first-hand witness, passing it on to the next generation (18). Paul expected this same witness of the generations that followed. He takes in four generations, when he tells Timothy, “The things that you (2) have heard from me (1) among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men (3) who will be able to teach others (4) also” (2 T.2:2, I numbered the four generations in this verse.) John shows that a living and personal fellowship with the Father and the Son, through the Holy Spirit, does not diminish over generations: “That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn.1:3). The generations of 21 centuries should take nothing away from the reality of original Christianity, because it is spiritual and eternal.

 Peter declares that, above this providential work of God of transfiguration, we have the prophetic Scriptures. Providence confirms the Word and makes it live in the believer. Above all, heed the Scriptures, the light that brightens this dark world, as the life of Jesus shone in dark Galilee, in the days of His humanity. Malachi gave the last word of prophecy from the Old Testament, foretelling His first appearance: “To you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings” (Mal.4:2). He will come again. Meanwhile, the Word lives on to guide our footsteps in the dense blackness that surrounds us. He is the Morning Star that arises in our hearts now, bringing heaven to earth and glory to the human heart. But the morning will dawn over this entire planet, Christ will come again and His glory will fill the earth (19).

 The plan of God, which is properly termed prophecy, that is, one glorious prophecy of eternity to come, which is the inerrant word of God. He has insured that no man put a finger in it, nor add one human desire to it. It is all God, His will and His pleasure. The Lord set apart holy men, totally dedicated to one purpose. That purpose was to write with ink on paper, what was dictated to them from heaven. See how they were often commanded to write. Then the Holy Spirit fell upon them, moving them to speak and to write a pure, unfailing word. So it was perfectly fulfilled, and the canon of Scripture was faithfully completed (21). It is transmitted to us and we have it before our eyes in daily devotion. It can be ingested into our souls, nourishing it, as heavenly manna.