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The Bible Breakdown
2 Peter 01: Grow Baby Grow!
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today 2 Peter, chapter 1. Man, I love 2 Peter and today's title for chapter 1 is Grow, baby, grow, grow, baby, grow. We are going to get into 2 Peter and I love this book so much and so I can't wait to get into it, and we're going to try something a little bit different today. If you're watching on the YouTubes, but before that, as always, if you like what we're doing here, while you're getting your Bible out and you're getting it open to 2 Peter, chapter 1, make sure that you are like, sharing and subscribing to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five star review on the podcast it really does help. And and the podcast Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast, it really does help. And also make sure you are sharing this on your social media accounts and all the different places. Man, we just love building a community of people that we gather around the fact that we are reading God's word every day. And as we read God's word, we're not reading God's word to conquer it. We're reading God's word so that we can know God more. And as we know God more. The more we dig, the more we find, which is also why you need to go to the Bible breakdown discussion on Facebook, because they are giving us fresh perspectives on God's word every day and it's just a joy to read, and I'd love for you to respond to those as well, and so we can continue to build this community together. Okay, all right.
Speaker 1:Well, second Peter, chapter one, and I love. I love 2 Peter, because we read about the life and ministry of Jesus in Matthew, mark, luke and John, and one of the most prominent disciples that Jesus has is, of course, the Apostle Peter. And then, when we get into the book of Acts, we see how Peter is the frontrunner. I mean, when Acts 2 happens and the Holy Spirit descends upon the people and he infills them, it's Peter who stands up. I mean he is just full of boldness and courage, wow, right. And he is just leading the way for a while.
Speaker 1:And then at some point, even though it transitions over to Paul, peter continues his ministry and he goes to different places. And he goes to Rome and while he's in Rome, he preaches to the people. He's most likely debating with the Stoic philosophers and different things, and while he's there, he takes a young man named Mark and he is using Mark as a translator. Well, eventually Mark writes down all the different stories that Peter had told him, and that's what later became the Gospel of Mark. And so now, several years later, peter is writing to the church world in general, but specifically to the church in Rome, and that's where we get his first letter to the entire church, but mainly the ones in Rome, and that's where we get 1 Peter. And 1 Peter was likely written by Mark again, where he is just kind of dictating as Peter is writing.
Speaker 1:But then now, just a few years, maybe two or three years later, he writes 2 Peter, and the main focus, the main theme of 2 Peter is standing firm in truth. Standing firm in truth. And the overall verse would be this 2 Peter, 3 verse 17,. It says to be on guard, then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. The reason why he says that is because all of these different false teachers have come in and they are teaching this terrible different doctrines. Some are teaching that they need to become Jewish in order to be saved. Some are teaching certain types of things that are called Gnosticism, and that Jesus was not a man or Jesus was not actually God, just all these different things. And so he's saying, man, you've got to stay close to what God's word says, what you've been taught by us, that we got straight from Jesus, that way you don't fall into error. And so let's kind of break some of this stuff down and we'll go from there.
Speaker 1:First of all, who is this written by? It was written by the Apostle Peter, the one that was one of the leaders of the early church. Where was this written? This was written in a Roman prison. Peter had been arrested because of some different things that was going on at the time. We'll get into that in just a moment. He's in prison. This is the second letter and he's probably about to die. He's about to be executed because he's a Christian. Who is he writing to? He's writing to the Christians in Rome and across what is modern-day Turkey. At the time it would have been known as Asia Minor. It was also written between 65 and 68 AD. We're not exactly sure because they no one wrote a date on it. You know, we're not really sure, but it would have been shortly before, perhaps months or even weeks before the Apostle Peter would later be executed by being crucified upside down.
Speaker 1:The big idea is it is a final warning to be careful against false teachers and to stand firm in the true knowledge of God. The reason why 2 Peter is important is he defends the authority of scripture, he warns against false teachers and he reminds believers to continue to pursue spiritual growth, to not let good enough be good enough, but to never stop growing, never stop developing. Well, while this is going on, there's some other things happening in the wider world, and one of those is something horrible has happened in Rome now, just a four, three, four years before that Rome burned. Now I, nero, was the emperor at the time, and there's this famous old thing that said that Nero played the violin as Rome burned. There's no actual evidence that that happened, but what that does mean is Nero wanted to redesign Rome, but a lot of the people in powers that be did not want him to touch it, like don't tear down our buildings, right? Well then, it just so happens, a couple of years later, it burns to the ground. That's why a lot of people think that nero either he orchestrated it, but he definitely got something out of the fact that rome burned.
Speaker 1:But here was a problem he couldn't take the blame for it. He had to put the blame on somebody else. And so what nero did is he actually blamed the christians for the burning of rome. He said it was those Christians' fault. And this was perfect for Nero, because the Roman Empire did not mind people having other gods. They had a pantheon of gods anyway. It was the Christians who came along and said Jesus is not one among many. Jesus is the supreme God, he is above all. That was a problem, and so what we saw in 1 Peter is the Christians are already starting to get disinvited to parties. They're not being elected for things. They're starting to have people who are boycotting their businesses. There's some quiet protest that's happening, and Peter was telling them hey, listen, you're going to experience some persecution, just stay faithful, it's going to be okay. Well, now, after Rome has burned, nero is starting to put Christians to death and he has two of the prominent Christians, peter and Paul, imprisoned because they were the main focus of the leadership in Rome, and he's saying I'm going to take care of them, I'm going to kill them, and this is going to kind of dissuade some of the you know some of the anger about Rome burning. While all that's going on, back in Jerusalem, there were some zealots who said we've had enough of Rome and they decide they're going to revolt against Rome. And so, while all this is happening in the city of Rome, back in Jerusalem, nero sends an army under a god named Titus, I'm pretty sure, and they go in and they destroy. Just a few years after Peter dies, they destroy the entire city of Jerusalem again and destroy the temple again. So there's a lot happening in the wider world.
Speaker 1:Look, let's get some interesting facts and then we'll jump in. First of all, is Peter may have wrote this actually himself. Here's a very interesting thing. What it looks like happened in 1 Peter is 1 Peter is what they would call high Greek, beautiful Greek. Written very, very well, easy to understand. Just, you could tell someone who knew what they were doing. Wrote this Like an English professor wrote 1 Peter. Right to understand. You could tell someone who knew what they were doing wrote this. An English professor wrote 1 Peter, 2 Peter. Looked like it was written by a construction worker or a professional fisherman, someone who didn't grow up in the halls of academia, but someone who grew up using their hands to make a living and has learned how to write, but it wasn't as polished of language. Well, that is most likely because at this point Mark has left Peter, maybe gone back to Jerusalem. Peter is there alone in prison and he's hearing about the false prophets, and so he's writing himself this letter to the wider Christian world and also Rome, and so this is closer to Peter's own words, even because he's actually writing it down himself, than any other place.
Speaker 1:The next thing to know about 2 Peter is it was most likely a commentary on the book of Jude. The book of Jude and 2 Peter have very much similarities, and it's thought by many people that Jude had come out, peter had likely heard of this and read this, he and Jude had corresponded, maybe, and he is doubling down and saying our brother Jude knows exactly what he's talking about. And the last thing that's also very interesting is that it alludes to a book that is not in the new Testament but is worth mentioning, and this is kind of an apologetic, a defense of faith thing. So in 2 Peter and in Jude they mention a book that was widely read among people of that time but was not considered inspired, called the Book of Enoch. Now, the reason why that's important is because we get this interesting imagery that happens and we're going to read it and it's going to trip some people up if we don't get there. And that is this. There's a place and if you ever read this you'll get this where he talks about angels being in places of gloomy darkness, being under the Euphrates River we read some of that in Revelation as well having chains on them and all this kind of stuff. And if you're looking through your Bible you're going man, that is not in my Bible. Where exactly does it say all that? Well, the thing is it doesn't.
Speaker 1:There was a book that was in circulation called. It's actually called the Book of Enoch. It was actually first, second and third Enoch. That was in one book and it was not considered hear me closely, it was not considered inspired of God. However, it was a collection of different theological ideas that had been put together over time that, theologically, was thought to be what had happened in various things, such as the angels in Genesis, chapter 6, that created the Nephilim, other things that happened, and they had written them in this and, even though it was not considered inspired, there were many who thought this was likely accurate to what had actually happened. And so, knowing this and having this in his worldview, peter and Jude allude back to it.
Speaker 1:Referring to these angels comes up with people who have a problem with modern Christianity and they will say, well, if it wasn't inspired, why did Peter and Jude refer to it? Well, the reason why is because it was part of their world, even though it wasn't inspired. You look at the different allusions and illustrations that Peter and Paul and all of them use. Those allusions and illustrations they're not inspired, they're just part of their world that go into the inspired Word of God. And so, when we get to that, we're going to see that and we're going to realize that, yes, some of that imagery didn't come out of Peter's head somewhere, but he was exposed to it and the Holy Spirit used it in his inspired Word. All right, that was a long intro, but, man, there's a lot going on in 2 Peter, and so I'm excited to get into this together as we read God's word together. Okay, ready, here we go.
Speaker 1:2 Peter, verse one, says this this letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior. May God give you more and more peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and our Lord, jesus Christ. Pause already. He's already saying how do we grow in knowledge and how do we grow in peace? We do it because it comes from God. We ask God to grow more and more and as we do, we grow in peace. You want to have more peace in your life. Grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Let's keep going.
Speaker 1:By his divine power, god has given us everything we need to live a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence, and because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable us, enable you, to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires. In view of all of this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control and self-control with patient endurance and patient endurance with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love for everyone, affection and brotherly affection with love for everyone. And the more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are short-sighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ. Now pause again for a moment.
Speaker 1:Peter is talking about this idea of constantly building on to our faith. That's why he was saying once you have this, build this, once you have this, build that. And so what he is talking about is you heard him just continuing, continuing, continuing. He's saying man, we're never done, we're always growing. And he said the more you grow like this, the more that you say hey, man, I'm never done. And it's not a striving, it's an excitement. Man, I can do even more, I can become even more like God every day. Man, watch me grow and he says the more you do this, the more productive and the more useful we will be, the more we will be able to serve God in his kingdom. Let's continue to go. God's word says.
Speaker 1:Therefore, I will always remind you about these things, even though you already know them and are already standing firm in the truth. You have been taught and it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live. Pause again, that is one of the things that, as a pastor, I feel like is so important for us to do as pastors and ministry leaders. You know there's so many times I get up in front of our church on Sunday mornings and I'm sitting there thinking. We've already heard this before, but I want to remind us over and over again, because there's such value when we live this way. All right, verse 14, for now or for our Lord Jesus Christ, has shown me that I must leave this earthly life. I must soon leave this early life. So I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone, for we are not making up clever stories that we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes. And when he received honor and glory from God, the Father, the voice from the majestic glory of God, said to him this is my dearly loved Son who brings me great joy. We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. Pause. What is he talking about? He's talking about the Mount of Transfiguration. When Peter James and John went up on the mountain Pause. What's he talking about? He's talking about the Mount of Transfiguration. When Peter James and John went up on the mountain, jesus was transfigured into a glorified form and they heard the voice of the heavenly father. So, all these years later, that's what Peter remembers. That's what he's saying. I know he's God, you know. What's amazing is that he didn't think about the 5,000 fed with loaves and fish. He didn't think about all the other healings. He said I saw him for myself. I can't deny what I saw. Verse 19,.
Speaker 1:Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place. Wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place Until the day dawns and Christ, the morning star, shines in your heart. Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet's own understanding or from human initiative. No, these prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit and they spoke from God.
Speaker 1:Wow, what an amazing opening in the book of 2 Peter, where 2 Peter he's in prison, or Peter he's in prison. He said I know I'm about to die, I know this is about to happen, but before I die, I want to remind you over and over again that God's on the move, that God's got amazing things he's trying to do, that he wants to continue to grow. You're never done. There's always another adventure, there's always another mountain to climb, another path to take another great moment. So never stop growing. And so that's what he is going to say. So stand firm, don't give up, don't get comfortable and keep moving forward.
Speaker 1:The next couple of chapters he's going to talk about why he has to remind them is because there's enemies that are going to try to stop them from growing. I don't know about you. Have you ever experienced that? You ever experienced times when you were just growing in your faith and God was moving in your life and you were excited about the things of God and there was somebody who was coming up to you and saying, oh, that's fine, and all but Peter's saying don't listen to them. Never, never, stop growing and letting God move in your life.
Speaker 1:And my hope is, as we read 2 Peter, you can pick up on this, this, this almost atmosphere that's there and that is. There's this old man who's been beat up countless times, who's been forsaken countless times. He's got all of these horrible stories, but there's a twinkle in his eye, there's an excitement, even though he's likely heard the whispers that Paul has already been beheaded, that Peter is about to be crucified. Maybe he's already telling some of the soldiers hey, listen, if that actually happens, I don't want to be crucified normally, I want to be crucified upside down. I can't bear to be crucified in the same way as my Lord. Maybe he's already told the soldiers this, but even while he's writing this last will and testament, there's a twinkle in his eye and he's talking about peace and grace and he's saying, man, don't ever stop growing, because this journey is worth it.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together. God, thank you so much that you are with us and that you are for us, and that your word is inspired and still speaks hope. Today I pray, as we travel through second Peter, lord, that we will pick up what you have anointed Peter to put down, and that is stand firm. There's always another adventure, there's always another moment waiting. I celebrate that right now. In Jesus name, we pray Amen. Amen. What God's word says in second Peter three, verse 17,. Be on guard, then you will not be carried away and lose your own secure footing. That's God's word for us today to be on our guard, never stop growing and watch what God will do. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. For 2 Peter, chapter 2.
