The Second Letter Of Peter- 9

Subtitle: Scoffers In The Last Days

2 Peter 3:1-7.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, September 20, 2026. A link to the audio can be found at the bottom of this article.

We have reached the last chapter of this letter.  In some ways, the message in this chapter can be connected to the false prophets and false teachers warned against in chapter two.  However, there is a clear transition here in chapter 3:1-2. Although the case can be made that false teachers and false prophets are clearly scoffers of the truth of God’s Word, Peter is separately warning of scoffers that will exist particularly in the Last Days.  He is stating that such people will particularly be a problem in the Last Days, and we must not let them influence our faith.

Let’s look at our passage.

A call to remember (v. 1-2)

The first two verses establish a clear break from chapter two.  Verse one establishes that this is Peter’s second letter (to the people of Asia Minor, or modern-day Turkey).  Of course, 1 Peter is the first letter.  In both letters, he desires to stir up our sincere minds by reminding us to remember some things that they (and hopefully we) had been taught.

Let’s talk first about the idea of a “sincere mind” here.  The emphasis in the Greek is a pure, clean, undefiled mind.  This is not a statement about perfect control and never having a thought that you have to take captive.  It is a statement about our faith in Christ and embrace of His Gospel.  The Word of God (both Old and New Testaments) has a purifying effect upon our hearts and minds.  There is an immediate cleansing that happens as our faith switches from self, false gods, and false philosophies to the commands of Christ.  However, there is a daily and life-long cleansing work as we listen to the Holy Spirit and follow Him.  Our minds are pure because of the presence of the Spirit of Christ by faith.  Much of the Christian life consists in the battle to keep our hearts and minds free from the influence of the world and to keep them tethered to the Spirit and the Word of God.

Verse two highlights two things that Peter wants us to continually remember: the words of the prophets (Old Testament) and the commandments of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, given to them by the apostles of Jesus.

There are some issues in the text that are not important to theology.  However, Peter is most likely emphasizing that they had received these things by “your apostles.”  Peter is recognizing that the apostolic work of Paul and Barnabas who had founded many of these churches.

Peter warns against scoffers in the Last Days (v. 3-7)

The phrase “first of all” in verse three can be used to introduce a list that includes secondary and tertiary issues.  However, we do not find in the rest of the letter such phrases as “second of all,” or “secondarily,” etc.  Peter is simply emphasizing that the following is an area that is of primary importance.    Believers must not forget the warning he is going to give about scoffers.

Several versions use the word “mockers” as opposed to “scoffers.”  There is no true difference between them.  The idea is that they treat certain Christian teachings with derision and ridicule.  They both scoff at the teachings and mock them.  This is a very different person than someone who expresses arguments of disagreement but are willing to seriously engage the arguments of God’s Word.

There is a Hebrew idiom employed here.  In English, it comes across as redundant to say that scoffers will come with their scoffing (or mockers).  However, in Hebrew, this is a way of intensifying the expression.  This scoffing will be more than individuals here and there who are keeping it to themselves.  Rather, it takes on the nature of an assault of many scoffers flooding the public discussion with their derision and ridicule of the Scriptures.

Peter also emphasizes that he is speaking about “the last days.”  This is a phrase that connects to the same phrase in the Old Testament along with a whole group of similar phrases.  “The Last Days,” “the Latter Days,” “End Times,” and even the “Day of the Lord” generally point to the same things but also have some particular emphases that can distinguish them.  They are not necessarily synonymous.  You need to pay attention to the point the author is making, whether it is general or specific, etc.

In fact, prophecies that are forward looking have an effect that is sometimes called the Mountain Peak Effect.  When you look at a mountain range, it may appear that many of the peaks are about the same height, but experience teaches us that there may be large distances between them.  A peak may actually be taller than all the others, but it is farther away.  Prophecies in the Old Testament sometimes will speak of things that clearly point to the first coming of Christ and then also include things that are clearly from His second coming.  We know this because the first coming of Christ gave us more information from Jesus himself through his apostles.

We are technically in the last days of God’s work of bringing in the Kingdom of His Messiah.  It involves the offer of peace to any person in any nation with God the Father through Jesus His Son.  At some point, this age of God’s peace offer (an Age of Grace) will come to an end.  His Son will then come forth to take up control of the nations.

Yet, we can also recognize that this period is coming up on 2,000 years in duration.  Thus, there are the end times, latter days, where we approach the final years before Christ’s second coming.  If we are not in these now, we are rapidly approaching them.

It is of no surprise that we see all kinds of scoffing and mocking towards Christians who believe God’s Word, as Peter told us- really as the Holy Spirit told us through the Apostle Peter.

Peter says in verse three that they do this “following after their own lusts.”  There is a repetition in the use of the pronouns “their” and “own.”  Again, this is not redundancy but intensification.  Their strong desires are leading them, pulling them along.  In fact, there is a willfulness involved in this as well as a bondage to it.  This cycle of choosing something that then becomes a shackle and stronghold in your heart and mind is as old as humanity itself.  There is nothing wrong with having questions about God’s Word and the things it teaches.  However, be careful that you are not willfully following the lust of your flesh.

In verse four, we are given a particular scoffing that will be prevalent.  It is not the only one that will exist in the last days, but it is the one the Holy Spirit emphasizes.  “Where is the promise of His coming?”

Remember that this is not the question of a heart that is seeking truth.  This question is being asked by someone who holds such an idea in derision and ridicules it.  They reject it and deny it.

Such a scoff definitely comes from some militant atheists who believe that religion is holding humanity back from greater evolution.  However, it can come from a person from a false religion as well.  Finally, I would warn that it also can come from within the Christian community itself.

There are those who interpret the second coming of Christ as an allegory of a person accepting the way of Jesus.  They do not believe in a day of judgment in which the nations of the earth will be judged for what they did with the Gospel of Jesus and the truth that God has anointed him as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.  Such people often boil the message of Jesus to this.  Love everybody.  However, it is always in a non-judgmental way that embraces all kinds of things that Scripture calls sin.  It is as if Jesus died so that nothing can be called sin anymore.  True love helps promiscuous heterosexuals as well as homosexuals to face their sin and turn to Christ.  Christ taught us to love God by listening to His Word.  If you love such people as I have listed, then you will warn them of the destruction that comes from following your flesh over the boundaries designed by the Creator.

Such “Christians” see those who believe in a literal return of Christ as the problem that is holding us back from Utopia.  This is the foundation approach of people like James Talarico in Texas and the strange things he says as a “Christian.”

Verse four continues with support for their questioning the return of Jesus (why they think it so ridiculous).  Their evidence is that everything continues as it always has since creation.

This appeal to the uniform character of what we see today is prevalent in the science of today.  We extrapolate long periods of time because we require a natural solution.  Yet even that does not naturally require long periods of time.  Huge canyons can be carved out in a day by large catastrophes.  Erosion that would normally take a million years can happen in a matter of hours in catastrophic conditions.

This leads to a greater problem.  We don’t see God “creating” new things today, so we refuse to let that be the explanation for why anything exists at all.  We tell ourselves that we must use what we see today to explain what happened yesterday. 

In all of this, there is a hidden motivation. If we weren’t trying to get rid of any connection to God and Jesus, then perhaps we could carefully let what we see today help us understand what happened in the past.  The question of nature is wrapped up in a moral issue.  Is Jesus who God says he is?  If so, then what does that mean for me and my life now?

The early leaders of the scientific method were generally Christians.  They believed that the same God who gave us reasoning powers also made the world around us in rational ways, ways that we could discover.  Without that common bond, there is no rational basis for believing that we can figure everything out on our own.

The use of “the fathers” in this argument from uniformity- i.e., that the rates of natural processes today can help us explain the past- is a reference to the patriarchs of the Old Testament.  This would be the list of men from Adam down to Jacob.  These men lived with an expectation that God would send a “Seed of the Woman,” an “Anointed One,” who would fix all the issues of sin and our domination by Satan.  The use of this phrase is likely an indication by Peter that these scoffers would be led by people from within Christianity.  It is possible that it is simply using Christian language for something that a person from outside of Christianity would say in different language, but I would lean towards the first interpretation.

Verse five has a grammatical issue.  There is one word that can be paired with either verb, which gives a subtle change to the meaning.  Peter is either saying that these scoffers willfully ignore the fact (of the flood), or he is saying that, as they assert the fact of uniformity, it is hidden from them how God’s Word has always been the foundation to all that happens.

I don’t think this is a critical difference because Scripture speaks of both scenarios being a problem for those who reject God’s Word.  The first interpretation simply emphasizes that these scoffers are willfully ignoring critical evidence for whatever reason.  God has shown them, but they refuse to see it or recognize it.

The second interpretation emphasizes how willfulness (to follow our flesh) not only holds a bondage within it, but also a debilitation.  “It is hidden from them,” is the flip side of the spiritual blindness that happens to those who willfully push aside God’s Word.  Sin hardens hearts and minds to truth.  Truth becomes something that is harder and harder for them to see.  Without God’s grace of revelation and salvation, we would all be stuck in that condition.

Peter reminds us that the world hasn’t gone on the same without interruption (vs 5 and 6).  The heavens and the earth came into being, existed, by the Word of God.  “Let there be light!  And there was light.”  This is an interruption of what was (or wasn’t) before it.  God speaks and it interrupts the current uniformity.  Again, at The Flood, God’s Word of judgment interrupted the ancient world.  If not for Noah and the ark, humanity and the animals would have ceased to exist on this planet.  Yet, Noah and the others stepped onto a world radically different from the one on the other side of the Flood, a Great Interruption of the Uniformity.

This brings us to the point.  God’s Word also speaks of another Great Interruption that is coming upon the heavens and the earth.  They are currently being reserved for a fire that will destroy all ungodly men (even melting down the universe- see 2 Peter 3:10).

Peter is speaking in general terms. 

In Revelation 20, we are given more specific information about how this fiery judgment will connect with the second coming of Jesus.  I believe it is clear that Christ’s second coming will institute a kingdom of peace for 1,000 years.  During this time, God fulfills all His promises to national Israel, to the nations, and to the righteous.  Yet, at the end of that millennium, a final rebellion will be instigated by Satan.  It is then that we are told of a fire that comes down out of heaven.  The scene swiftly moves.  The rebellion is devoured by fire.  The devil is cast into the Lake of Fire.  The Great White Throne appears causing the heavens and the earth to flee away.  If we couple this last statement with 1 Peter 3:10, it appears that they melt down to a plasma and are moved away.  Then all who have ever lived that have not been resurrected yet (mostly the wicked) are resurrected, judged and sent into the Lake of Fire (if their name is not in the Book of Life).  The very next statement is that there are new heavens and a new earth.  It seems logical to see that the old has melted down to a plasma and then remade.  You might think of it as a purification, renewal, even a rebooting of the Creation.  This Great Interruption lays ahead of humanity and the spiritual hosts of heaven (wicked and righteous), all of Creation.

In the last days, scoffers will attempt to dissuade believers that these things are coming.  If we are dissuaded of that, then the impulse to live righteously is greatly undermined.  The hope for humanity becomes something of our own making, led by our own lust, and led by a devil who hates humanity.

Let us hold fast to the faith and hope that we have been given by the apostles of Jesus!

Scoffers audio

The Second Letter of Peter- 3

Subtitle: Eyewitnesses of His Glory

2 Peter 1:16-21.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, July 26, 2026.

This passage is among several in the New Testament that speak of the glory and majesty of Jesus Christ our Lord.

In Hebrews 1:1-3, Jesus is called “God’s Son” and is described as the “Radiance of God’s Glory” and the “Exact Representation of His nature.”  In Colossians 1:15, Jesus is called the “Image of the Invisible God.”

All of these emphasize that Jesus is far more than just a man.  His glory and majesty are themselves a manifestation of the Father’s glory and majesty.  We will see similar descriptions in our passage today.

Let’s look at our passage.

Peter gives a final exhortation

We have given you a witness of our Lord Jesus Christ. (v. 16-18)

Though Peter does not explain who the “we” are in verse 16, it seems obvious from the context that he is speaking about the other apostles, but particularly the three of them who witnessed the event called The Transfiguration.

It is important for us to understand what men like Peter had been given for our sake.  Peter is important.  He needs to speak and be led by the Holy Spirit as a witness, especially since he would not live forever in his mortal body.  Yet, Peter could not do what he has done and say the things he has said unless God hadn’t given him the experiences in the first place.

Everyone in Israel during the days of Jesus saw some remarkable things.  However, the twelve disciples of Jesus saw many things beyond what others saw.

This sharing from Peter (and the rest) to others was a critical part of God’s plan for humanity.  Peter could do nothing before God did what He did.  But, once God gave a witness to him and others, Peter had an imperative to share it.  God would not do it for him.

Peter also emphasizes that the witness given by those Apostles of Jesus were not cleverly devised tales.  Instead, they spoke of things they had seen with their own eyes.  Today, there are many who state that these things were not written down for a long time.  This is not the case.  Paul was writing his letters within 15 to 20 years from Christ’s resurrection.  Even this letter from Peter was written in the early 60’s AD, i.e., at most 30 years after the resurrection.  It would make sense that these men would write things down as they neared their deaths.  In fact, the Apostle Paul wrote down many of his letters because he was in prison.  They were eyewitnesses of powerful things.

Peter is alluding to the fact that it was common in those days for charlatans to travel from town to town seeking people who would pay to hear their lectures.  They used cleverly designed tales that were designed to capture the imagination of people (their attention) and to loosen their purse strings.  These kinds of men did not set people free from their sins and give them an inheritance in God’s kingdom.  They did not raise humanity from its fallen state to become the children of God.

We have a similar thirst for nice stories today.  Whether we buy it, or enrich people through interactions online, we can be hungry for things that are not truth.  Peter was not such a man.

Peter only focuses on The Transfiguration, but before we talk about that, let’s walk through some of the amazing things he saw.

He saw Jesus cast demons out of people with just a word of command.  These men went from tormented souls to being in their right mind within seconds.  Modern man can try to diminish these miracles by stating they were only psychological problems.  However, modern psychiatrists would love to have the power Jesus had.  They too are often impotent in the face of troubled minds, much less demon possession.

Peter also saw Jesus feed thousands of people with only the lunch of a boy.  He saw Jesus walk on water, even command a storm to stop, and it obeyed. 

Jesus told his disciples that he would be put to death but would rise again on the third day.  The resurrection of Jesus rocked their world, as he appeared to them multiple times over the course of 40 days.  On top of that, they witnessed Jesus ascend into heaven before their eyes.  Just one of these things would be unbelievable.  However, Peter witnessed each and every one of them.  They were all left with the truth that this is not just a normal man.

It was on the mountain (vs. 18) that Peter, James and John saw the Transfiguration of Jesus.  The descriptions in the Gospels can be found in Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-13; and Luke 9:28-36.

The word “transfiguration” is somewhat strange in modern English.  The word “transformation” might serve us better.  In our passage, Peter describes two aspects to this event.  Jesus was visibly honored and glorified in front of them as well as God speaking from heaven about him.  What they saw and what they heard pointed to the glory and majesty of Jesus.

Matthew 17 gives the description that his “face shone like the sun.”  His “garments became white as light.”  Mark gives the description that his clothes were “exceedingly white like snow…” and as “no launderer on earth can whiten them…”  Luke states that his “face was altered” and “his robe became white and glistening.”

Now, Jesus did not normally shine.  He walked around in human flesh looking and doing human things.  However, there was something greater about Jesus that was cloaked by his humanity.  Similar to the way the face of Moses was shining when he came down from the mountain where he talked with God face to face, this shining of Jesus is described in greater terms.

The voice that comes from heaven is clearly that of God the Father.  He says, “This is My Beloved Son with whom I am well pleased!”  Though Peter doesn’t mention this in his letter, the voice added at the end, “Listen to him!”

This is similar to the voice from heaven that spoke at the water baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:17).  Yet, this connects back to Israel coming out of Egypt.  When they arrived at Mt. Sinai, God spoke to them from the mountain.  A close study of this event makes it clear that the ten commandments were spoken by God from the mountain to Israel.  This so freaked them out that they asked Moses to go and speak to God for them.  They were too scared to hear God’s voice.  All true revelation has its source in God.  However, because we humans are commonly not close to God, He speaks through prophets.  The voice from heaven in these three events appear to emphasize that it is God who is speaking.  No one doubted that God spoke to Moses after that event.  Similarly, those who heard the voice from heaven regarding Jesus did not doubt that they needed to listen to Jesus.

It is one thing to read the Scriptures your whole life about God’s promise of a Messiah.  It is quite another thing to have the experiences that Peter and his fellow disciples had with Jesus.

We now have the prophetic word made even more sure. (v. 19-21)

Verse 19 presses the point home.  It may come across as if Peter is saying that the prophecies of Scripture weren’t certain before, but they are now.  This is incorrect.  The Scriptures were retained by Israel because they had proven to be true, and the men who spoke them had proven to be true.  Of course, these proofs were in the past, but it was the national history of Israel and God’s revelation to them.

Thus, the proven, trustworthy Scriptures were now even more proven by the events surrounding Jesus.  Peter witnessed Jesus demonstrating his glory and power on that day.  It was a demonstration that underscored all that had been said and all that Jesus taught his disciples.  It was a demonstration that exampled what the glorified Jesus would look like at his Second Coming.  Thus, the effect of what Peter is saying is this.  The Scriptures were already sure, but now they are even more sure!

Because it is so certain, he tells them that they would do well to pay attention to it.  The clarity of God’s Word through the work and person of Jesus puts even more responsibility upon those who hear it.

Peter uses the imagery of a lamp in a dark place.  The eyewitness testimony of Peter, especially the written record of it, is the lamp here.  Jesus is the light of the world, but he told his disciples that they too were the light of the world.  This is because Jesus had witnessed to them of the Father.  Peter then could witness to others what was told to him and what he saw.  This lamp metaphor is very important.  The light does not come from Peter or from us.  We are simply containers.  Yet, we must be faithful to share the witness that we have received for the light of Christ to shine through us.  We also need to be careful to live a godly life as Peter has just exhorted us to do in order to be a light.  We today need to take up this torch of truth and continue to spread the light of God.

Of course, the dark place is this world.  Even after 2,000 years of the Gospel light of Jesus, we see humanity pursuing their own dark ways over the top of it.  It is as if they have fingers in their ears saying, “We don’t want to hear it.”  It is as if they have hands over their eyes, “We don’t want to see it!”

If we don’t pay attention to the revelation of Jesus found in the New Testament, then we will not do well (the failure to listen to Peter’s command in verse 19).  In light of what Peter said in verse 11, to not do well is to have the “entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ [not] supplied to you.”  We ignore God’s Word to our own peril.

Not to pay attention to these things is to be shut out of His eternal kingdom.  To follow our flesh will lead to destruction, but to follow the Spirit of God will lead to eternal life.  In fact, both the destruction and the eternal life are partially experienced on those two alternate paths.  In many different ways, God supplies eternal life to those who believe, and the consequences of unbelief supply countless small destructions leading up to a final destruction.

In verse 19 we have the word “until.”  So, we would do well to pay attention to the witness of men like Peter “until” the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.  This represents an ending point to paying attention to the eyewitness testimony of Peter and others.  This may sound strange or even heretical, but there will come a day when we won’t have to read a passage about what Peter saw.  Why?  We won’t because we will witness something even greater.

The daybreak here is a reference to the Second Coming of Jesus.  All prophecy points to a coming in great glory, riding on the clouds.  This will be a spectacular event.  It is understandable that some may read the phrase, “the morning star arises in your heart,” as a reference to a person being saved (having faith in Jesus).  However, this does not make sense.  Peter would be saying that we should pay attention to his witness until we are saved.  This is contrary to all the other places that emphasize the importance of the Word of God in our Christian walk.  Jesus is the morning star, but he is also the glory of the dawning day.  The picture is of a person witnessing the glory and majesty of Jesus for themselves in an event that will remove the false governments of this world.  This is not talking about our salvation today, but about the solidifying in our hearts that will happen on that day.

No one will have to explain to you how glorious Jesus is anymore.  No one will need to convince you that his words are trustworthy and should be obeyed.  It will rise up in your hearts the same way that it did to the apostles as they received a glimpse of his glory on that day.

We are still before the “until” of this passage.  Therefore, we need to continue paying close attention to the witness of Peter and the other apostles.  We need to closely follow the words of God given to us by these men.

In verse 20, Peter reminds us that true prophecy (that was written down) has never been the result of a prophet’s own interpretation or idea.  In fact, that is the definition of false prophets and false prophecy.  There were many false prophets throughout the world and even in Israel.  Their words proved to be false and untrustworthy.  Those who truly heard from God were proven to be true and trustworthy.  Thus, true prophecy is not something men can make happen.  It can only have its source in God.

Israel often did not listen to the prophets while they were alive.  Yet, their words would prove true.  They didn’t listen then, but later they understood that the words were from God.  It also helped that there was always a remnant who clung to the words of God and refused to let them be lost.

Thus, Peter says that true prophecy was not made by an act of human will.  It came about as men were moved by the Holy Spirit.  The word moved has the sense of being carried.  Some use the image of a river, and this would be fair.  They were carried along by the current of the Holy Spirit to say the things they said.  However, it could also simply be the Spirit of God carrying them as a young child needs to be carried by an adult.  In themselves, they would have given up or fallen short, but the Holy Spirit carried them and enabled them to give the message that God the Father wanted Israel (and us) to have.

The death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus become the exclamation point on why His words can be trusted, and why the words of Peter as an eyewitness can be trusted.

We should recognize that not all false prophets are religious.  We have many voices today shilling truth to those who will listen.  They prophesy a coming dawn that is antichrist, not connected to Jesus (or at least the True Jesus).  They seek to lead the world into a new age by tossing the Jesus and God of the Bible aside and recreating them in a different form.

If we continue to listen to God’s word and follow the Christ of the New Testament, then we will do well and be abundantly supplied the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  What a day that will be!

Eyewitnesses audio

The First Letter of Peter- 3

Subtitle: The Joy of Our Salvation- part 2

1 Peter 1:8-12.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, November 30, 2025.

We continue in this letter as Peter has described the great salvation and inheritance that we have through Jesus.  Not only should it cause us to rejoice, but it should also stir up a love for Jesus that is wrapped up in our faith in him.

Let’s look at our passage.

Praise to God for His salvation (v. 8-9)

Peter had just described that they were rejoicing in this salvation in the midst of trials and tests.  They were able to do that because they had faith in God.  Verse 8 commends them for the way their faith led to a love of Christ. 

This is done by placing two statements in a parallel construction.  The first statement is this.  You love him even though you haven’t seen him.  The second is similar.  You believe in him though you do not see him now.  This brings up the issue of our faith and its relationship to what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present.

The majority of those embracing Jesus Christ in the first century did not see his ministry, death, and post resurrection appearances.  Yet, they had come to love the Lord Jesus regardless.

Of course, Peter had seen Jesus in all of these aspects.  He had further seen Jesus glorified on the Mount of Transfiguration and ascending into heaven later.  Peter’s love for Jesus was deep and involved a past relationship with Jesus.  However, these people (like everyone who believes today) did not have that. 

How can you love someone that you have never seen?  It starts with receiving the knowledge that Jesus had done something for you that is both great and unthinkable in its quantity and quality.  To hear that someone laid down their life for you so that you can live is a shocking understanding.  Of course, it will be based upon the faith you have in the trustworthiness of those telling you about him.  Men like Peter, Paul, James, John, and the others more than proved their trustworthiness.  In the face of threats, imprisonments, and even death, they held fast to the testimony of the teachings and resurrection of Jesus.  On top of this, the Holy Spirit did great signs and wonders through them which brings up another side of faith.  The work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of people helps them to both understand and embrace Jesus in faith.  Of course, this is not a coercion, but an influence that we can embrace or reject.

This is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 16.  Peter had declared that he believed Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God.  Peter didn’t know the fullness of what those words meant, but he did believe.  Jesus commended him but notice what he says.  “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”  Jesus did not teach his disciples that he was the Messiah.  Rather, he did the works of Messiah and let the Spirit of God teach them.  Yes, they had seen Jesus, but in the end, they were putting their faith in what the Spirit of God was revealing to them.  To see Jesus or not to have seen Jesus is not what is crucial.  What is crucial is that we respond in faith to the evidence that is put before us by God.

Jesus knew that the majority of Christians throughout history would be in the position of believing in something they didn’t see.  The atheist believes that this is preposterous.  Yet, we believe in all kinds of things that we have never seen for ourselves.  It is how we are designed as human beings who don’t and can’t know everything.  Those who believe, without having the benefit of what Peter had seen, would be and are blessed even more.  This is why Peter is commending them.  Their faith in what Jesus had done led them to love him.

Yet, they cannot see what Jesus is presently doing for them.  Scripture tells us that he is seated at the right hand of the Father awaiting the command to take up the kingdoms of the earth.  Yet, he also intercedes on our behalf and sends forth the Holy Spirit for our enabling.  Technically, no one can see this naturally.  Stephen was given a vision of this, but he was being put to death.  Peter did see Jesus ascend into heaven and disappear out of his sight.  So again, believers through the ages have put their faith in a past and present work of Jesus, though they have not seen and do not see it for themselves.  They both believe in Jesus and love him.

I will say that, though we cannot see Jesus interceding and pouring out the Holy Spirit, we can see the effects of this through many powerful demonstrations of the grace of God, both in our life and in the testimony of countless believers through the centuries.

How can you say, no, to such a love?  How can we not reciprocate the love that God has lavished upon us through Jesus with our own hearts full of love for him?  We love Christ not just for what he has given us and will give us.  We love him because his heart is such that he not only gives us things, but he has ultimately given us himself.  His heart of salvation, that refuses to leave us in bondage to sin, was more than willing to pay an enormous price for us.  His greatest gift to us is a relationship of love that we can have with Him!

Verse 8 then describes that they greatly rejoiced with a joy inexpressible and full of glory.  How can one rejoice in the midst of trials?  Faith helps us to see what is on the other side of the trials.

How can it be said that our rejoicing is inexpressible and full of glory?  The glory is that which God attaches to our salvation by His grace.  It is the same glory of Christ who endured the ugliness of this world for our sakes and for the sake of the Father.  When he is revealed to the Lord in all of his glory, we will be at his side in glory as well.  We have nothing but glory ahead of us.  Though this world may heap shame and dishonor upon us, it is to our glory to carry that mocking, ridicule, and even persecution, as he did.  We walk the way of the cross by putting our feet into the footsteps of our loving Lord.  Even if we have the absolute worst experience and have been dealt the absolute worst hand in this life, none of that should matter to us.  What matters to us is what we do with it.  We must pick up our cross, our difficult lot in life, and carry it to the end for Jesus!

The joy of bonding with Jesus in his sufferings followed by glory is described as inexpressible not because we cannot attempt to describe it.  It is simply because our words fall short of the full reality and our vocabulary falls short of the description worthy of his love.  However, it is also because we do not know all the wonderful and good things that God has for us.  “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”  (1 Corinthians 2:9). 

Of course, the goodness of God is not just something that is off in the future.  His work in our lives throughout this wilderness is filled with His love, grace, help, and more.  How great our rejoicing will be when we understand all that God has done, is doing, and even yet will do in demonstrating His love for us!

Verse 9 then speaks of the salvation of our souls that we receive as an outcome of our faith.  This is pictured as something that is happening now.  It is not that God is miserly giving us a small portion of salvation over time.  Rather, it is what we spoke about several sermons ago.  Salvation can be seen as something we receive instantaneously at our initial faith in Christ.  It is like a status: we are a person who has entered into God’s salvation.  It can also be seen in the sense that God gives us title to it.  It belongs to us and no one can take it away.

Yet, salvation can also be seen as something that God is doing in us throughout our life.  He is saving us from our past life of sin and our present temptations to sin.  We should think of salvation in this sense as a kind of healing.  The spiritual hurts and wounds of the past take time to be healed.  God uses this life, its trials and tests, to help us heal spiritually.  In that sense, we are daily obtaining the salvation of Christ in our life as we put our faith in him, his word, and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Of course, salvation does have a completed sense that is in our future.  At death, my soul will be completely healed and saved from sin, and at the resurrection, by body will be completely healed and saved from sin.  I will see Jesus and know him because I will be like him!  All of this because we are trusting Jesus.

May God strengthen our faith.  May we also guard our hearts and be careful that our faith in Christ is not shipwrecked during these trying times.

Praise to God for His salvation (v. 10-12)

Peter takes some time to remind them of the grace of God that we are receiving in these days of Messiah.  In other words, let’s talk about this salvation that you have obtained!

This salvation that we are experiencing is the same salvation that the prophets of the Old Testament sought to understand.  They knew that God promised salvation to those who trusted in Him.  This was in the face of the failure of humanity as a whole from Adam to Abraham and the failure of Israel as a special nation to God.  They were curious in every generation about this salvation.  Thus, they searched the Scriptures that they had at the time, looking for any clues that would give understanding about the salvation of God.  They also inquired of God in prayer about this Messiah. 

Peter describes two questions that they were seeking to have explained.  The first had to do with what person, or manner of person, would be Messiah.  What would he be like?  How will we know him?  What exactly will he do?  And the question would go on and on.  The second question had to do with the timing.  The word for time that Peter uses is not so much about chronology as it is about seasons.  Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall, do follow a clock-like chronology, but they also have a purpose that is for something greater than a particular amount of time.  There is a quality to those periods of time.  Similarly, God has seasons in His dealings with humanity.  Yes, He would save humanity, but it would be done in seasons, seasons that had particular purpose known to God.

These prophets sought to understand the greater arc of God’s purposes through time.  This would help them to understand why Messiah’s coming was so delayed, but also to recognize when his coming was close.

Over time, God revealed a little here and a little there.  Progressively over the generations, from Genesis 3 to Malachi 4, God revealed to them some answers to these questions.  Notice that Peter describes it as the “Spirit of Christ within them.”  The summation of all this revelation is that Messiah would first suffer and then his glories would follow.  Messiah would not just come to be great and make others suffer.  Rather, he comes to reject the things that we think are glorious.  He then ingloriously dies on our behalf, showing us the way.  God’s glory is not like our glory, and if we want to be glorified, we will be quick to jettison the desire for “our glory.”  Our glory is focused on self and does not care for others except for the ways that they can accentuate our glory.  God’s glory is about saving others out of shame and humility and bringing them back into the glory that He made for them.

Now is not the time for us to seek glory.  Now is the time for us to join our lord in his path of suffering, not for suffering’s sake, but for the saving of others who are trapped in sin.  We too have an allotment of suffering before our day of glory.

And yet, this life is not all suffering.  We enjoy God’s goodness in so many ways, but particularly in the fellowship we have with Him and fellow believers.  Even after being beaten and put in the stocks, Paul and Silas lifted their voices in songs of praise to God. How could they do this?  They could do this because they saw the smile of their Lord Jesus and the inheritance that he held securely for them.  They could do this because they knew they were not at the mercy of the magistrates of Philippi, nor a jailer and his guards.  They were at the mercy and steadfast love of God Himself!

So, Peter tells us that the prophets recognized that God was showing them things that they would not see in their time.  Instead, they wrote them down for the generation that would witness and follow the days of Messiah.  They lived faithfully not knowing fully the details of Messiah.  They lived by faith in the Coming Messiah though they did not see him or know fully what he would be and do.  This, of course, is similar in every age, even ours. 

Peter connects these believers to that long chain of the glories of Messiah Jesus which are only continuing today.  He connects them to the glories of the revelation of Jesus that will occur at his second coming.  These are the things that were announced to them by people like Peter who came preaching the Gospel of Jesus.  This was all through the work of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.

Peter even adds that these are things that even angels are curious to know.  Notice that he puts that curiosity in the present tense.  Angels are not omniscient, though they surely know much more than we do.  Of course, the devil would have a vested interest in figuring out exactly what God is going to do and when, but I believe Peter is talking about the faithful angels, just as he had been talking about the faithful prophets.  These angels don’t understand everything about God’s purposes, but they do their work on God’s behalf ministering to humans who are being saved.  All of the faithful, in heaven and on earth, seek to find these things out.

This brings us to a great section regarding how we are to respond to such great salvation.  Yes, we respond in faith, but Peter is going to get into specifics.

Let me just close by challenging you.  Don’t let the enemy get into your head when you can’t figure out what God is doing.  The devil wants to undermine, to destroy, to steal your faith.  However, God is building your faith and making it a strong bulwark that the enemy cannot breakdown. 

Why does God require so much faith?  Perhaps, it is because He wants us to have the joy of discovery.  We have had much revealed to us about what the future holds, but we have not been given an exhaustive understanding.  It is enough for us to know that God is with us, helping us, and bringing us to a good thing that is better than what we can do for ourselves.  If God be for us, who can be against us?  Or, even better, what does it matter who is standing against us?  We can have the same joy that David had on that day that he grabbed the stones by faith and went out against Goliath.  What are you doing today, Lord!  Let’s go find out!

Joy of our Salvation audio 2

Instructions on the Battlefield II

1 Thessalonians 5:16-22; 1 Corinthians 3:8-10; Jude 1:3. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 15. 2020.

Last week, we looked at how the real battle for believers today is a spiritual one, and how we must make sure that our character is shaped by Jesus, rather than the culture.

Today, we will look at the issue of prophecy.

What about those prophetic voices in Christianity?

There are some Christians and Christian groups that do not want anything to do with the idea of prophecy about the future, whether in the Bible or via a modern prophet.  Our church has always believed that God is not revealing new Scripture, but that He does gift some people to serve as prophets in His Church.  Let’s take a moment to remind ourselves some of what Scripture says on this matter.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22, it is clear that the apostle does not advocate despising, or looking down on, prophecy.  He equates this to quenching the Holy Spirit, or putting out the Spirit’s fire.  Instead, believers are called upon to test everything and only hold on to that which is good.  To those voices that reject the reality of prophets and prophecy today, I would ask you to consider how you treat prophecy far different than the things that Paul mentioned before it.  He tells us to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in everything.  No Church that I am aware of says that those things ended with the apostles of Jesus and the arrival of the completed written word of God.  No, rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks continue on in the Church Age.  Why is prophecy pulled out of this list?  Doesn’t it seem strange that the Apostle Paul would give strong instruction on how to deal with prophets and prophecy, if he knew that God would no longer use them after the first century?  Let’s look at another passage on this.

1 Corinthians chapters 12 through 14 are within a larger section in which Paul deals with problems in the worship assemblies of the church in Corinth.  Chapter 12 and 14 talk about the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit has given them and the proper use of those gifts.  Chapter 13 is given as a parenthetical instruction within this area of spiritual gifts.  Paul’s point is that all spiritual gifts must be operated out of love and the goal to build up God’s people.

Near the end of chapter 13, we have one of the foundational passages used by those who believe that true prophets and true prophecy ended with the death of the first century Apostles.  This passage speaks of love never failing (this is better understood as “coming to an end”).  The point is that when Christ comes back and we enter into the next age, love will still be practiced by God’s people.  However, things like prophecy and knowledge (i.e. receiving it) will come to an end because the perfect will have come.  “That which is perfect” is usually connected to the writing down of the First Century Apostolic witness in the Bible.  They believe Paul to be saying that prophecy will cease when the Bible is completed.  This cannot be what the Apostle was teaching.

Paul never gives the idea throughout chapters 12 to 14 that these instructions are only needed while he and the apostles are alive, and then will become irrelevant.  Rather, he tells the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:29,

“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.” 

When the apostles were gone, it was going to be even more perilous and believers would definitely need the writings of the Apostles.  However, some of that writing is about spiritual gifts.    To believe that 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, and other such passages on spiritual gifts, were only relevant for 20 to 50 years of the Church seems to be special pleading.

Paul points out that we have prophecy because we are in a condition of having a partial knowledge of God’s mind.  The perfect has to be pointing forward to that time when not only Christ has returned, but we have entered into the New Heavens and the New Earth, where there will be no unrighteousness, and where God will dwell directly with us.  That seems to be a better “perfect.”  That perfected environment and perfected relationship with God will preclude the need of prophets and prophesy, like we have in this age. 

Finally, I would state that the Olivet Prophecy (that Jesus gave in Mark 13, Matthew 24, and Luke 21) warns of false prophets in the Church Age, both at the beginning and at the end in the Great Tribulation.  The presence of the false implies the presence of the true.  In fact, Revelation 11 has two witnesses who are clearly two prophets of God. 

Thus, Christians should recognize that prophecy did not cease with the Apostles of Jesus, and believers are called to the spiritual maturity of testing anyone who claims to have a word from the Lord.

This does not mean that such prophets can add new doctrine to the Gospel.  How can I limit it in this way?  Well, I can’t, but God’s Word itself states in Jude 1:3 (Yes, I know that there is only one chapter) “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”

Jesus had revealed the faith, or teaching we are to believe, to his apostles.  It was their job to establish this teaching in the Church.  They did this by establishing Churches, teaching them the Gospel, defending against false teachers, false prophets, and heretics, and writing all of this down so that we can have an accurate account of their teaching.  This Gospel content is God’s “once for all” instruction to His Church.  Yes, we could want more, but we are told that this is enough, and that we must contend for it.  This does not cancel out prophets and prophecy.  Rather, it becomes the rule or means by which we can judge whether a prophecy contradicts Scripture, or not.  The Gospel becomes the grounds upon which we wrestle internally to take in God’s Word and trust it, and we wrestle externally with those who would pervert and twist its meaning, or add to it.

Not all are prophets who claim to be.  We are to use God’s Word to judge them as well as the character of their life and the success of the prophecy.

There are voices on both sides of this election

That brings us back to the question, “What about those prophetic voices on TV and on the internet, who are talking about the 2020 USA Presidential election?

There are some prophets who are saying that President Trump was God’s judgment on America and now that we are making the right choice of Vice President Joe Biden, we can move forward in healing.  Other voices are saying that President Trump is God’s help to America in order to get us back on the path of freedom.  Obviously, one of these sides is clearly wrong by the rules of logic.  God either wanted Christians to vote for Trump or not, and the same is true for Biden.

This kind of confusion should be expected.  Throughout the Bible, we are warned against false prophets.  In fact, there are far more false prophets in the Bible than true prophets.   I actually believe that both sides have false prophets.  A prophet is not a prophet because they say that something will happen, and it does.  They are a godly prophet because they have actually stood in the presence of God and received a message from Him for His Church.

Let me just warn us all against surfing the internet looking for the latest prophecy about this election and the future.  Some are doing this because they are afraid and have no relationship with the Lord themselves.  If God thinks that you need a prophet then He will send one to you, but be careful of going out to look for a prophet, or prophets.  That is not something that we are ever told to do in the Bible, and it will most likely get you into trouble.  However, over time, prophetic voices have risen up with a platform that became noticed by the Church at large.  To me, David Wilkerson is an example of a guy who was used to speak prophetically to the American Church beyond the church that he pastored.

These are chaotic times, and in chaotic times, you have to turn off the sea of voices and lean into Jesus through prayer and God’s Word.  We are not simply seeing a political divide, but there is also a huge division within the Church, and maybe even a division inside of you.  Too many voices in our heads are not good.  We have to learn to tune out the talking heads in the news media, the talking heads in the blogosphere, whether they are secular or Christian.  This is a time to go back into your prayer closet and seek Jesus.  This is a time to seek His wisdom.

It is not enough to come to church and have a pastor dish up a plate of God’s Word for you.  You have to want to know God and His wisdom enough that you are prayerfully reading through what His word says to you.

Scripture tells us that the end times will be perilous times, and we can see that happening today.  2 Timothy 3:1-5 tells us,

“1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

Does this not describe many on either side of this political divide?  This is a time that calls for those who will rise up and fight the battles of the Lord in the midst of great deception.  It is the Spirit of God who blows the trumpet across our land, even this world, in order to follow Jesus, not a man or a political party.  What will we do?

Battlefield II Audio