Jump Start # 1332

2 Peter 3:17 “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness”

  The last two chapters of Second Peter warns and addresses the coming threat from false teachers. The issue at hand was the coming of the Lord. Since Jesus returned to Heaven, a promise remained that He would come again. Some in Peter’s day were denying this promise. Their evidence was everything remains the same. Nothing has changed.

Peter shows God’s people that the false teachers had faulty reasoning. Things have not remained the same. The original world was changed by the flood. Many things were different after the flood. He then shows the readers that things will be different in the future. A new Heavens and a new earth were promised. This statement is first used in Isaiah to describe the time of the Messiah, but it is used here and in Revelation to describe yet another change that was coming. The word ‘new’ can be used in two ways. First, we may buy a new car. It’s still a car, has four wheels, a steering wheel, doors, it’s just a newer model. Second, the word new can mean different. When the car was first introduced it was a NEW form of transportation. It was different than the horse. Peter is using the word ‘new’ in the later sense. The new heaven and new earth are going to be a different world than what we have now. We see some of those differences in Revelation. There we are told that there is no death, no crying, no pain, no mourning. I met with someone yesterday. As I opened the door to let him in, he burst in tears and hugged me very tightly. There had been a sudden death in his family. He was devastated over it. Those things will be gone in this ‘new’ heaven and earth.

Christ is coming. He is not coming to start things here, but to end things here and to open the doors to Heaven. Some have the notion that Jesus is coming back to set up a kingdom. They are looking forward to Christ reigning. However, they missed a few things in that thinking. The kingdom has already been set up. The Colossians were told that they were transferred into the kingdom. John told the Revelation readers that he was in the kingdom. Jesus, Himself, had said, that some in the audience would not die until they saw the kingdom come with power. Now that either means the kingdom came in the first century, or there are some really old people on this earth. If the kingdom has not been established, it means that there are some people alive today who stood in the audience when Jesus preached. Does anyone really want to believe that there are some people more than 2,000 years old on this planet? The Corinthians were told that Jesus reigns until the last enemy has been destroyed. The last enemy is death. As long as people are dying, it shows that Jesus is reigning. They were told that Jesus is coming to deliver the kingdom back to the father. The apostles were giving the keys of the kingdom. Daniel prophesied that God would establish His kingdom in the days of the fourth kingdom. That fourth kingdom was Rome. Luke identifies Roman power in his gospel.

Folks confused about the kingdom isn’t something new. It happened in Peter’s days. It happens today. Put it all together. The kingdom is not armies, palaces, banners. Jesus told Pilate “My kingdom is not of this world.” His kingdom is spiritual. It’s the saved people today. It’s where He reigns today, the church.

In our verse today, Peter is reminding the readers, that knowledge is the key to fighting error. Knowing this beforehand is what Peter wrote. You know the right answer. You know the truth. When others start saying things, you’ll recognize what is right and what isn’t right. Fear and ignorance is what feeds Satan’s armies of false teaching. A verse here, a verse there, no thinking on your own, no questions asked, and before long, your head is swimming in confusion, you are not sure what to believe and you go along because they must be right. Calling for a time out. Calling for an explanation. Calling for a look at some passages, puts an end to error. This is exactly what Peter did. The false teachers were saying that Jesus was not coming. Their proof, nothing changes. Peter destroyed that. They were wrong with their proof.

Knowing beforehand. Peter wasn’t the first to come up with that concept. Daniel also used it. When taken to Babylon as a young man, he made up his mind ahead of time not to eat the king’s food. Knowing beforehand kept Daniel from making mistakes with God.

It is interesting how we understand this concept in other areas. Schools will practice fire drills and communities will test warning sirens before disaster happens. There is a plan. When you fly, the airline personal goes through a series of procedures in case there is an emergency. The exit doors, the oxygen mask, the floating seat cushion are discussed beforehand. Most parents have a long list of beforehand instructions that they go over with their teenage child prior to handing the car keys to them. Many of us have legal wills, insurance papers and other important documents in a certain drawer that we have told other family members about. We do this beforehand.

Knowing Beforehand. Peter was telling his readers what was really going to happen. They would know. There would be no surprises. More than that, they would not be moved off their foundation of faith by the wild speculations and unfounded theories of others. They would know. With truth on their side, error would be easy to recognize. With truth on their side, there was nothing to worry about. They knew. With truth on their side they could walk confidently with the Lord.

Knowing beforehand: here is a short list.

• Unless Jesus comes first, we will die. That shouldn’t surprise us, shock us and scare us. We know beforehand. Knowing that, what am I going to do about that?
• Someday we will stand before the throne of God. Knowing that what am I going to do about that?
• Someday all the stuff we have here will be gone. Knowing that what am I going to do about that?
• Someday we will be in eternity. Knowing that what am I going to do about that?

Knowing beforehand allows a person to prepare. Knowing beforehand allows a person to be ready. Knowing beforehand takes away all the mystery and doubt.

Knowing beforehand. That’s why we study the Bible.

Roger