WWUTT 371 By Way of Reminder?

The Apostolic Reminder and the Call to Remember

The Apostle Peter writes to us by way of reminder, stirring up our sincere mind that we would remember the predictions of the Holy Prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through His Apostles, when we understand the text.

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Here's our host, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. And greetings, everyone, in the name of the Lord Christ. We continue our study of 2 Peter this week. Chapter 3 is where we're moving into today, but before getting there, I want to recap something yet from Chapter 2.

I know we spent several weeks in Chapter 2, but there was something I mentioned last week as we were kind of doing our summary of Chapter 2 on Wednesday. Though we had been reading this in light of false teachers that will weasel their way into the church and present themselves as teachers of God, but they're really not.

They're false prophets. You could also read 2 Peter 2 in light of some of the things that get presented to us in pop music. As a matter of fact, whenever I've done talks with youth groups about the music that they listen to, I will often use 2 Peter 2 to talk about how deceptive these pop musicians are.

They don't care about you. They're not connecting with your heart in any way. They are accursed children, as described in verse 14. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes reveling in their deceptions while they feast with you.

They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts that are trained in greed. Last night was the Grammy Awards. I don't ever watch these award shows, and anytime I do my study of pop music, I'll watch the videos or the performances on mute and then just go look up the lyrics to see what it is that the artists are singing.

I don't want any of this stuff to get into my head. Some of you might be able to handle it well. I can't. Those hooks get stuck in my mind, and then I'm repeating them throughout the day. In fact, anytime I talk about this, I can remember some of the songs that I was looking up in the early 2000s.

Those things will still pop into my mind. Some of the things that I was sharing with youth groups about what it was that they were listening to. I realized I needed to approach this talk differently so not to get those hooks stuck in my head.

Anyway, I do all of this research on mute. I didn't watch the Grammy Awards last night, but I saw some things popping up in my feed. In particular, Beyonce's performance in which she was dressed as a sun goddess.

I'm not reading something into that. She didn't intend. There were multiple celebrity sites that were describing Beyonce as being dressed as a sun goddess. She's dressed in gold. She's got the sunburst halo around her head, common to what you see of pagan gods like Sol Invictus or Mithras.

And all of her music and all of her performances littered with pagan symbolism. She's pregnant currently, so she wanted to take on this persona of being like a mother goddess in her performance last night.

There are some because of Beyonce's Christian roots and some things that she will infuse in her music and her performances. There are some young Christians out there who will believe that she is a Christian because of some of the things that she says she is not.

There's a lot of different religious symbolism that will pop up in her music, and none of it should be taken in a vacuum to imply that she's this, that, or the other. It is the worship of herself, and it is very common in her stage performances to have her dancers around her bowing to her and raising their hands to her.

And last night's performance was no exception. There was a performance she did last year at the Video Music Awards, which I believe is put on by MTV. There was a big lit up sign that appeared behind her in her performance that said, God is God, I am not.

And I saw that image being reposted by young Christians, Christian teens saying, you know, how inspirational for Beyonce to, you know, to be thinking about God and her performances or whatever else. But in that same performance, she had a lot of pagan symbolism, including the Venus symbol, which is a visual shorthand for femininity associated with the Roman goddess Venus or the Greek goddess Aphrodite.

And Beyonce is not the only one. All of pop music littered with this pagan symbolism. You find it in Katy Perry stuff, Lady Gaga in her Super Bowl performance last week. Coldplay does it to Bruno Mars, Keisha, Miley Cyrus.

It's even in the hip hop scene, although in hip hop music, what they use may not be as associated with like a Roman or Greek origin, but it will be Egyptian or African in nature. Buster Rhymes in a tribe called Quest, who performed at the Grammys last night, they've got it in their music, too.

And older stuff is no less immune. Madonna's done it. Michael Jackson has done it. It's even in the Beatles stuff. U2 is not a Christian band. They've done it as well. Also, Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley.

The list goes on and on. Pagan symbolism all throughout pop music. You must be careful what you submit your mind and your thoughts to, allowing to get into your brain and drawing you away from the things of God.

Remember what it is that was said to us by the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter four. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

And that verse gets associated a lot with, that's Philippians 4, 8. It gets associated a lot with secular music or stuff that we watch in movies and TV shows, so much that you might even roll your eyes whenever somebody mentions it when it comes to don't meditate on this.

Instead, submit your mind to the things of God. But it is such an applicable passage to train our minds to think about the things that are pleasing and honorable to God instead of longing for, or being jealous of, or envious of the things that are in this world.

Don't desire any of that. Well, I don't want to be that. It's just catchy when it listens into my, when I listen to it, I just like, you know, the way that it makes me feel. No, you envy it. You envy it and you're jealous for it.

Don't submit yourself to it. Stay far away from that. Meditate on the things of God. We continue our study of 2 Peter today, chapter 3, let's read verses 1 through 7. The apostle writes to us, this is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved.

In both of them, I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.

They will say, where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. For they deliberately overlook this fact that the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God.

And that by means of these, the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word, the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

I'm going to keep going because it's in context with what we're reading here. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is one day.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises. Some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief and then the heavens will pass away with a roar and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn.

But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Much of what we are reading here in 2 Peter 3 directly flows from what we also read in chapter 2, particularly I think of beginning in verse 4 where Peter said, for if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the day of judgment.

If he did not spare the ancient world, but preserve Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly. If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.

And if he rescued righteous lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked. For as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard.

Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. And especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

So the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise concerning these things, the deliverance of his saints and the judgment of the ungodly. But he is patient, not wanting any to perish, but that all should reach repentance.

God has a work that he is doing right now and the end will not come. The return will not happen. Christ's return, which we are all anxiously awaiting, those of us who have the Holy Spirit of God in us and are longing for that day of the Lord, that day will not come until God's plan on this earth is completed, is finished.

And the Lord is waiting for that plan to be accomplished before the end comes. So praise God, praise God that he is patient and long-suffering in these things, not wanting any to perish, but that all should reach repentance.

But within our hearts still longing for that day, not wanting to be part of this world, but anxiously awaiting, praying for, longing for the return of Christ and the coming of his kingdom. I received an email from a missionary just yesterday who was talking about some of the things that he was experiencing while he was ministering there in Africa and his heart longing so much for the day of the Lord.

Watching what the godly people that he is surrounded by, watching the things that they do with so little that they have, yet we have much here in the United States and we can barely do anything with it in terms of how we read the word, preach the word, honor God in our worship services, in church, things like this.

We have so much and we do so little with it. They have so little and they do so much with it. And so it just, it made his heart yearn for more of God and wanting to bring that fire back with him here to the States and the church where he ministers and also longing all the more for the day of the Lord, longing for the kingdom things rather than the earthly things because he's in an area where there's not a whole lot of earthly things.

So anyway, I thought that was, that was, that was a wonderful blessing to be able to hear that from this gentleman. But at the same time, as he's sharing these things with me, it was so difficult for me to relate because I've never actually been in that situation before.

I've never been in a place where I had virtually nothing and was witnessing a people doing so much with so little. I've been in the United States my entire life, never been out of the country. I've never done a missions trip abroad.

I've done missions work within the country, but never outside the country. So on the one hand, I appreciated what it was that he was sharing with me. On the other hand, I couldn't relate to it because I've, I've never been in that situation.

So I appreciated him sharing that and I long for that. But what I've personally experienced, it's, it's difficult to relate to. I want so much to desire the things of God and not long for the things of this world.

But all I'm familiar with is the technology and the doodads and the gadgets and everything that I'm often surrounded with. As I'm sitting here now reading the Bible with you, as we go through second Peter three together, I have a computer screen in front of me that is showing me my wave form as I'm recording my voice and the different wave patterns that it makes on the software that I use.

I have a mixer next to me that I can adjust my voice and volume, uh, and, and all these kinds of things. I've got a microphone in front of me, a condenser mic that is able to capture my voice in good quality so that what you're listening to is hopefully pleasing to your ears.

You know, all of these different things that I'm surrounded by with my, my iPhone is even next to me here and it's showing me Twitter updates. It'll light up and show me that somebody's either retweeted something or has sent me a message.

I'm just surrounded by this stuff. This is the, the level of convenience that I live around on any, uh, on any given day. So it's difficult for me to get my mind away from all of the worldly trinkets, trinkets and conveniences and long for the things of God and not for the things of this world.

I enjoy the simple life. I appreciate that there is technology that allows me to do this and I'm sure that you are too. You're able to get good Bible feeding from, uh, the technological advances that have been made.

That's a wonderful thing. Praise God for it. Praise God to the praise of his glorious grace, giving thanks to him in all circumstances. But in my heart, I hope that I'm not getting too comfortable with this stuff.

I want my mind along for the things of God and not for the things of this world. Something that I've read several times with you before and have encouraged many members in my congregation to read this also is Colossians chapter three.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. And also remember something that Paul instructed Timothy in when it came to discipling the members of his congregation.

Timothy was being sent to Ephesus to serve as an elder there. And he told Timothy this, as for the rich, this is first Timothy six, 17, as for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

There's nothing in the Bible that says it's wrong to be rich. But one of the things that we have to be careful of is those who are rich are more easily ensnared by the comforts of this life and by the material things that make us comfortable.

So those of us who enjoy the conveniences of American living, all the more do we need to be submitting our mind to God and desiring heavenly things rather than earthly things so that we would not be ensnared by the devil to desire the things of this world instead of the things of God.

Let us be rich in doing good works, to be generous and ready to share, and not be haughty, not setting our hopes on the uncertainty of riches, which Peter says here in 2 Peter 3 are going to be burned up and destroyed.

The stuff that we love today, our iPhones and computers, our technological mixers, our TVs, DVD players, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. This stuff is the future trash of tomorrow's garbage dumps. Your cell phone is becoming obsolete as it's sitting there, all right?

The moment you walked out the store with it, it was already out of date. They have a new model tomorrow that you need to trade that phone in to get, or you got to wait until your two-year contract is up, whichever one of those comes first, I suppose.

So the things that we put so much stock in, and you can take that figuratively or literally, is not going to sustain us, and it is not going to last. It doesn't last in this lifetime, let alone lasting forever.

This is the stuff that is going to be burned up and destroyed at the coming of our Lord Christ. So let us instead put our hearts in that which is permanent, which is forever, which is the hope that has been given to us in Jesus Christ our Lord, who by his death on the cross has forgiven us our sins, and being raised to life, we now live with him.

Everyone who sins will reap the wages of that sin. We will all die. Our bodies will perish. But if our faith is in the one who has conquered death, then we have nothing to fear of the grave, but we will live forever in heaven with him.

And then our lowly bodies will be made to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself, as we read about in Philippians chapter three. So let our hope be in Christ and not in the things of this world.

Peter says in chapter three, verse one, this is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. And in both of them, in what we read in first Peter and in second Peter, I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, stirring up your sincere mind.

May we be sincere in our faith. This is not religiosity that we're just adopting so that we can have some sort of symbol to live by, which is what you see in pop music, as we talked about earlier. But we are sincerely pursuing the things of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord, letting nothing in this world sidetrack us, but daily committing our thoughts to Christ, being reminded of his promises from his apostles that are written to us in the scriptures.

Remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and savior through your apostles. That is what we read in second Peter chapter three, verses one and two. I'm coming up on 20 minutes here.

So that's where we are going to wrap up and pick up tomorrow. There's more that I want to expound upon, particularly on that thought that Peter leaves there in verse two, and we'll get to that tomorrow as we continue our study of second Peter chapter three.

Let us pray and let us conclude by submitting our minds all the more to our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, our great God. We thank you for the salvation that has been given to us in your son, Jesus. And I pray that we would have hearts that long for the things of heaven, not comfortable with the things of this world.

And we don't necessarily have to put ourself in a place where we have nothing in order to long for everything that Christ gives to us, but that we train our minds and submit our thoughts entirely upon the word of God so that in everything that we do and all that we have, we give glory to you, God, if you have, if you've blessed us with much for those of us who in submitting our minds in this prayer, we've been blessed with much materially.

May we be a people who will share the world's goods with those who do not have as much. John talked about this, your apostle who said that if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need and doesn't help him, then how is God's love in him?

As you have poured your love into us through the Holy Spirit, may we see the people that are around us that need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ that need to be cared for just as our God has cared for us, supplying for our every need.

And may we be the hands and feet of Christ in the places where we live. The ministers of Christ with the gospel to the community in which we are a part. Thank you again that we have been drawn from darkness into your light and may this gospel message of light ever be before us as we go.

And we pray this in Jesus name, amen.

This is a production of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Find us on the web at www .utt .com.