Keep Speaking the Truth
2 Peter 2v13-15
19th January 2024
In verses 1-11 of 2 Peter Chapter 1, Peter gives us some very valuable doctrine regarding what God has given us in Jesus Christ and about growing in Christian virtue, going on to maturity in Christ. Then, in verse 12, as we saw last time, He writes:
2 Peter 1v12
So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly
established in the truth you now have.
Every preacher needs to heed these words. God's people don't need to hear new teaching. We need to be reminded of old teaching. It's more than OK to teach the foundational truths of the Bible over and over again. It's vitally important. God has put in the Bible everything we need to know, and therefore everything we need to teach. If a preacher is teaching something new, he's teaching something unbiblical, and needs to repent. I would go further and say that if he's saying something that the church hasn't taught for hundreds of years, he's probably wrong, and needs to be very careful. What makes him think that God has kept a truth hidden for all that time and revealed it uniquely to him, or to this generation?
Peter continues:
2 Peter 1v13-15
I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body,
because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to
remember these things.
Peter saw his body as a "tent", a fragile and impermanent structure. He was very well aware that life on this earth is finite. Life expectancy was much lower in those days, and several of his friends had been executed. He also knew that Jesus had prophesied that he would not die a natural death but would be crucified:
John 21v18-19
[Jesus said] "I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went
where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else
will dress you and led you where you do not want to go."
Now, probably somewhere around 65-67 AD, Peter realised his time on earth was nearly up. Perhaps the persecution under the emperor Nero was getting closer to Peter. Perhaps he had some sense from God that it would be soon. Perhaps he just felt really old and weary. We don't know. We do know that, even as the date of his martyrdom approached, his attitude was one of determination to refresh his fellow Christians' memory of the important doctrines.
In verse 1-5 Peter reminded us that Jesus Christ is our God and Saviour, that we are (willingly, gladly) His slaves, that our faith is precious, and that Christ's divine power has fully equipped us for life and godliness and enabled us to participate in the divine nature. He urged us in verse 5-7 to make every effort to grow in Christian virtue. In verse 10 he urged us to make every effort to make out calling and election sure. Now Peter says he will make every effort to ensure we remember what is important, even after he's gone. What a wonderful example of a mature Christian!
The world teaches us that when we reach retirement age we're more or less useless, and might as well stick to gardening or playing bowls. It teaches us that we've "done our bit", that we've earnt the right to take it easy, relax, get a hobby and wait to die. Peter was having none of it! The Bible doesn't teach it. The Bible has no concept of retiring from Christian service. If we've retired from our salaried employment, that just gives us more time to serve the church and the kingdom of God.
I stopped being a pastor in 2022 but I still preach, I still pray, I still try to help other Christians to draw closer to God, and I would be a pastor again if Jesus called me to it a second time. I still try to remind people about the most important truths about God and about how to life the Christian life. I intend to continue to do so all the days remaining to me. I hope to do so more and more as God enables me, and I'm praying for new opportunities to serve my God and Saviour.
If you're a mature Christian (not merely an old one) you have a lot to contribute. You understand things that younger Christians can't. You've had experiences that they haven't, you've studied the Bible for longer than they have, and have a more rounded and complete knowledge of the things of God. Don't despise what God has put in you over the years. Last Sunday, I heard an excellent sermon given by a 76-year-old man. Moses didn't become a leader until he was 80 years old (Exodus 7v7). Caleb captured Hebron when he was 85 (Joshua 14:1-15). Perhaps you have a lot still to do in God's name.
As the day of his death approached, Paul wrote to Timothy, a younger Christian leader, saying:
2 Timothy 4v7
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
May you and I be able to say the same when our time draws near. May we older Christians seek to emulate Peter and Paul, continuing to teach younger Christians the deep, simple truths of the Gospel while we have breath in our bodies.
The Bible teaches younger Christians, including young leaders, to respect those older than themselves and treat them as fathers.
1 Timothy 5v1
Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father...
I find that younger Christians want to hear what I have to say. They respect the decades that I've known God and tried to serve Him. And I remember that, when I was a young Christian, I valued the insight sand experiences of older Christians.
Of course, our willingness to continue to speak Biblical truth to those around us requires us to know the truth, and to be faithful to it. Like Peter, we must pass on sound doctrine - the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, as revealed in Scripture alone. The church is always under attack from those that hate us and - more seriously - from false teachings. We who are mature should be able to spot false teaching and must stand against it, as Peter did.
There is a reason why the Bible calls church leaders "elders".