2 Peter 1:12-21 - Homiletics

Reasons for diligence in his apostolic work.

I. THE TIME IS SHOUT .

1 . We need continually to be aroused. We may know all things necessary for salvation; we have known them, it may be, all our lives; we are firmly convinced of their truth; but we need to keep that knowledge vividly before our hearts, to bring it to bear upon the circumstances of our daily lives. Few of us have this recollectedness, this persevering watchfulness; we need constant exhortation. St. Peter's readers had the knowledge of the gospel; they had heard it from St. Paul and his companions. St. Peter gladly acknowledges it—exhortation is better received when it is expressed in kindly terms. But he has a duty to perform; he felt, like St. Paul, that he was a debtor both to Jews and Greeks; that he must do his utmost to preach the gospel of Christ, and to keep alive the flame of holy love in those who knew the truth. So he will take all opportunities of arousing those whom he is addressing; he will never relax his efforts as long as he lives; he knows that they will always need the word of exhortation; he knows that it will always be his duty to exhort them. St. Peter is an example to all Christian ministers. They must watch for souls; they must never weary in their work; at all times and in all places they should strive, sometimes by word, always by example, to arouse men to a sense of the momentous importance of the things which belong to their peace. They are never "off duty," as men are in other occupations; they should be always on the watch for opportunities of saving souls, of building up believers in their most holy faith, of comforting the feebleminded, of arousing the careless, of warning, guiding, encouraging, according to the needs of those with whom they have to do.

2 . "The night cometh when no man can work." St. Peter looks forward to his death with sweet and holy calmness; he knew that it would be swift—the sharp death of martyrdom. He may have felt that it was near at hand; for he was an old man now, and the hour of which the Lord had spoken ( John 21:18 , John 21:19 ) could not be long delayed. He calls it the putting off of his tabernacle. His earthly body was but as a tent, perishable, temporary; the tent was old, worn out; it could not last long. The apostle knew, like St. Paul, that he had "a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens," and, knowing this, he could calmly await the dissolution of the earthly house of this tabernacle. But the approach of death, the thought that, when it came, it would be speedy, was a reason for more earnest work while there was time. It is good for us to keep the thought of our approaching death in continual remembrance, to accustom ourselves to reflect calmly and thoughtfully upon it. Such meditation throws a clear light upon the solemn meaning of our earthly life, on the deep importance of finishing the work which God has given us to do. Sometimes we can do that work all the better when the shadow of approaching death is falling upon us. Our testimony seems more real, deeper, and more convincing, when it comes from men who are on the point of departure, whose immediate future is in the world beyond the grave. The thought of coming death will make true Christians all the more eager to work for God; they wilt pray that Christ may be magnified in them, whether it be by life or by death; they will pray for a holy, peaceful death, not only for their own sakes, but also that others, seeing how Christian men can die, may be led to follow their faith. They will work for the salvation of souls even on their death-bed, and they will do what lies in their power to leave behind them a legacy of holy example and holy memories, or, it may be, of holy writings, which may benefit those who remain. To such holy souls death is a departure, an exodus, out of a life of sorrows into the land of promise, the heavenly Canaan. The Lord who died for them is with them when they die; he accomplished his decease at Jerusalem for them. His death hath destroyed the power of the king of terrors, and taken away the sting of death; his death was a departure out of humiliation into glory. He told Peter once that he could not follow whither he was going then, but that he should follow him afterwards. And so now it is his will that all those whom the Father hath given him should be with him where he is.

II. THE CERTAINTY OF THE TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL .

1 . They are not fables. There were many strange stories current, some among Jews, some among Gentiles; there were many legends, many myths. But the gospel history stands apart from all these in its unimpeachable truthfulness. It contains many wonderful works of power, many wonders of grace; it announces the future advent of our Saviour Jesus Christ. But all these are related with a simplicity which has the stamp of truth. The gospel speaks to us as with a voice from heaven; it awakens echoes in our hearts; it brings with it its own evidence.

2 . They have the testimony of eye-witnesses. There were many eye-witnesses of the Lord's life and works—five hundred brethren at once had seen him after he was risen from the dead. But there were three who had received an august initiation into the holiest mysteries, who had been eye-witnesses of his majesty when the splendour of the Divine glory flashed through the veil of human flesh, and saints long ago departed from the world came to do him homage, desiring, as the blessed angels desire, to look into the mysteries of redemption, and to understand something of the blessed and awful meaning of his most precious death.

3 . The direct testimony of God the Father. On the day of the Transfiguration sure and irresistible proof of the Saviour's Divine majesty was vouchsafed to eye and ear alike. That radiant glory came from God the Father; the highly favoured three had then a foretaste of the glorious vision which the blessed shall behold in heaven according to the Saviour's prayer, "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me." That great sight was to prepare them for the awful agony that was to follow. God gives from time to time glimpses of the blessedness of heaven to his saints; the Saviour manifests himself to his chosen as he doth not unto the world. And sometimes those who are most highly favoured with the vision of his love are called to be in a special manner partakers of his suffering, to bear about with them in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. But the three apostles did not only behold the glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father; a further heavenly witness was vouchsafed. A voice uttered by the excellent glory was borne out of the bright cloud to the transfigured Lord; it was borne along towards him, as if riding on the cherubim, flying on the wings of the wind; it came like a living thing, a strange startling reality, a voice such as no other man had heard except the holy Baptist. Borne along in majestic course, it came to the transfigured Jesus, and recognized him as the eternal Son. "This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I am well pleased." None other than God the Father could have uttered that voice; the emphatic I ( ἐγώ ) announced his presence. He was well pleased in the adorable Son; ever from all eternity had the love of the Father beamed upon the everlasting Son of God. Now, in his incarnation, in his voluntary humiliation, the Father was well pleased; he had declared his good pleasure at the baptism, he declared it again at the Transfiguration. The Lord Jesus might be despised and rejected of men; he was owned by the Lord God Omnipotent as the Son of God most holy. And surely, as God was well pleased in him who humbled himself and became obedient even unto death, so he is well pleased now with those to whom the only begotten Son hath given power to become the children of God, when they abase themselves, when they learn of the Lord Christ humility and submission of will, and pray in his holy words, "Father, not my will, but thine be done." The chosen three heard that august voice as it was borne from heaven; they heard it, as the emphatic ἡμεῖς signifies, themselves, with their own ears; there was no room for doubt, no possibility of error. The voice was borne from heaven; it was borne to Christ; the three chosen witnesses heard it, as they were with him in the holy mount. We have their testimony, the testimony of eye-witnesses, who declare unto us that which they saw and heard. The witnesses were men whose truthfulness could not be impeached. They had nothing to gain in this world, but everything to lose; all were persecuted, two of them suffered the death of martyrdom. We may well thank God for the strength and certainty of the evidence of Christianity.

4 . The testimony of prophecy. The Law and the prophets testified of Christ. The Lord himself appealed to that testimony when, "beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded the things concerning himself ( Luke 24:27 ). All the varied testimony of all the prophets converges in the Person of Christ, and finds its fulfillment there. No other deliverer has arisen answering to ancient prediction; in the Lord Christ only meet all the voices of the prophets. Many recognized the power of this testimony in apostolical times: the eunuch who was reading the great prophecy of Isaiah when Philip drew near to his chariot; the multitudes who listened to the apostles as they persuaded them out of the prophets, witnessing, as they did again and again, that "all the prophets from Samuel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days." This testimony of the prophets, so convincing in itself, so especially weighty and sacred to Hebrew believers, was rendered surer by the most august and authoritative of all testimonies, the direct testimony of God the Father, given in the voice that was borne from heaven. None who heard that voice could entertain one moment's doubt that the Lord Jesus was indeed he "of whom Moses in the Law, and the prophets, did write."

5 . The value and use of prophecy. It is good to give heed to prophecy, to study the prophetic Word. The external evidences of our religion are very helpful to inquirers after truth; ancient prophecy is an important factor of those external evidences. It is like a lamp that shineth in a dark place. The world is a dark dreary place; we could not find the strait path and narrow way that leadeth unto life without the guiding light of the holy Word of God. The heart is a dark place, gloomy, dry, and squalid, when it is not illumined by the Holy Spirit, of God. In that dark place the light of prophecy shineth. It guided the steps of many an anxious inquirer in the early days of Christianity; doubtless the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah led many thoughtful men, besides the Ethiopian eunuch, to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That chapter, like so much more of Old Testament prophecy, appeals to the deepest yearnings of the awakening heart, to the sense of sin, the feeling of need, the longing for atonement, the reaching forth of the soul for a personal Saviour. Prophecy is a "burning and a shining light," as John the Baptist was; his office was to lead men to Christ, to say, "Behold the Lamb of God!" Such is the office of prophecy. Its guiding lamp is precious; but more precious far to the individual soul is the revealed presence of that Saviour of whom all prophecy speaks. His presence, manifested according to his promise into the Christian heart, is the dawn of the spiritual day. He is the Day-star, the Light-bringer; for he is the Light, the Light of the world. Precious above all price is the clear brightness of that holy day; precious, therefore, is prophecy, as it guides us onward through the encircling gloom till the dawning of the day, and the rising of the Bright and Morning Star. And we shall value the guidance of prophecy the more when we consider the source from which it comes. The prophecies of Holy Scripture are not the result of human thought. The prophet did not himself unravel the mysteries of the future. It was not Joseph who interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh, or Daniel who interpreted the visions of Nebuchadnezzar. It was not for the prophet to interpret the revelation presented to himself. Interpretation as well as vision comes from God. "It is not in me," said Joseph: "God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace." "There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets," said Daniel to the king. Prophecy came from heaven, like the voice which spake at the Transfiguration; it was borne to the prophet, as that voice was borne to the Lord. The holy men who uttered the prophecies were borne along by the Holy Spirit of God. God who spake at the Transfiguration is the God who spake by the prophets. Both forms of testimony come from him; both are sure and certain; the one makes the other surer.

LESSONS.

1 . St. Peter looked forward calmly to the approach of death; we should learn to do the like. He regarded the nearness of death as an incentive to earnest work; we should follow his example.

2 . The external evidence of our religion is sure; we have the testimony of eye-witnesses, who themselves had the testimony of God. We have the testimony of prophets who were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

3 . But the surest evidence to each individual soul is the manifestation of Christ, the Day-star, rising in the heart. "Hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us."