2 Peter 2:1-22
Intro Questions
- God is ... What do we learn about God in this passage?
- We are ... What do we learn about people in this passage?
- I will ... What has the Holy Spirit revealed to us in this passage? How can I apply it to my life this week?
- You can ... Who do you know who needs to hear this? Feel free to share with others by social media links at the bottom of this.
Who Is Jesus?
―Darrick Shepherd
This time of the year a lot of people, who
generally don’t think about Jesus begin to think
about Him more. I have had many people ask me the question, “Who is Jesus?” The
Bible gives us several descriptions of who Jesus is. I think it is very
important for us to stop and think about who Jesus really is.
He
is our Savior. Speaking of Jesus, Peter said, “Nor is there salvation in any
other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must
be saved” (Acts 4:12).
He
is our Sacrifice. “So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To
those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin,
for salvation” (Hebrews 9:28).
He
is the Solid Rock. Peter spoke of Jesus as a “living stone, rejected indeed by
men, but chosen by God and precious” (I Peter 2:4)
He
is our Shepherd. Jesus Himself said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd
gives His life for the sheep” (John 10:11).
He
is the source of Light and Life. John the Baptist said that Jesus was “the true
light which gives light to every man coming into the world” (John 1:9). Also
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will
live even if he dies” (John 11: 25).
Who is Jesus? I believe if we look to the Bible we can get a
clear description of who Jesus really is, and how important He is to us in our
life.
Un-Tormented Christians
―David Deffenbaugh
The history of Christianity is stained
with blood of persecution. It has always been that way since the death of its
founder and our Savior to Stephen—the
first Christian martyr—down to the present day. Followers of Christ, at least
in some places, are still tormented for their faith.
The
greater tragedy—yes, I said “greater”—is that of un-tormented Christians. It’s
greater because Jesus Himself said that if the world hated and persecuted Him
then we should expect to be hated and persecuted as well (John 15:18-20). It is
tragic and sad and unjust to the extreme for followers of Christ to be
tormented. It is also a reality of which Jesus warned us.
No,
un-tormented Christians is a greater tragedy. By un-tormented I do not mean
those who are living faithfully in favorable circumstances where life as a
Christian is at the least tolerated and perhaps even promoted and encouraged.
There’s no persecution here. Neither ought there to be feelings of guilt—it’s
precisely what we’re told to pray for (1 Tim. 2:1-3).
Rather
I mean in the sense of Lot, whom the Bible says that, while living in Sodom and
Gomorrah, his righteous soul was tormented as he “saw and heard the immoral
things that people did” (2 Pet. 2:8; GWT).
Modern
American culture has been described as “Sodom’s second coming.” Take a moment
and think about it. If that’s not an accurate assessment, it’s not far off. Our
entertainment, for instance, is absolutely saturated with immorality in
ever-increasing degrees of lewdness and obscenity. Forget the flood of
homosexual characterizations in television and movies, what about all the
adultery and fornication that has become the expected staple of our
programming? It’s so common place we’ve had to move on to other,
attention-grabbing sins. It’s but the tip of the veritable moral ice berg that
is sinking—at a rapid rate—the vessel that is this country (and even the body
of Christ itself?).
Where
are the cries of anguished torment? Truth be told, professing followers of
Christ have become so acclimated to the moral climate that no torment remains
for their soul.
Yes,
it’s a far greater tragedy that those wearing the name of Christ upon seeing
and hearing the immorality that people do around them are not tormented in
their soul, but entertained.
A Secure Promise Chris Stinnett
The small town of Vermilion, Alberta,
Canada, is like too many small agricultural towns. Dwindling population and diminished
prospects have it slowly fading into the land. Once a thriving railhead, now it
serves the local farming community of about 4,000. There is, however, a
Vermilion Heritage Museum that tells the story of the rise and decline of the
town. It is home to various artifacts, including the safe from the long-gone
Brunswick Hotel. The safe has been securely locked for over 40 years, the
combination lost, locksmiths defeated. Local imagination had it holding stacks
of cash or gold bullion or jewels. It sat, keeping its secrets, along the wall
of the museum.
Then Stephen Mills and his family came on
a camping trip and decided to tour the museum. The building was closed, but a
call to city hall produced a volunteer, Tom Kibblewhite. He gave the family a
private tour and told the legend of the safe. For a lark, Stephen Mills
crouched at the door of the safe and spun the dial. When he heard the gears in
the door turning, he tried the numbers 20, 40 and 60. Then he turned the handle
and to everybody’s amazement, the door swung open.
Elated, they looked for the treasure, but the safe held only some old papers, a
paycheck stub for a former hotel employee and a waitress’s pad with an order
for a mushroom burger. After a lifetime of imaginary promise there was nothing of
actual substance!
“For
they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of
sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who
live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for
a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. If they have escaped the
corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are
again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they
were at the beginning” (2 Peter 2:18-20 NIV).
In
all ages there are people who loudly declare that God did not mean what He said
or He didn’t understand how we have improved or that “times have changed” and
we should not live in agreement with His will. Typically, they try to gratify
their own appetites and encourage others to do the same. Those who are only
beginning a life of faith are particularly vulnerable to winsome,
smooth-talking hucksters who offer personal indulgence now and promise eternal
life and joy to come. That promise is empty.
The
life that God offers is the life that we were created to have. We ruin our
lives and wrap ourselves in frustration and misery by our rebellion against
reality. Because God loves us, He provided Jesus to call us home and even to
pay the “damages” we incurred by our persistent infantile selfishness. If we
will return to Him, fulfilling His will for our lives, we will discover the
longed-for life that has eluded all our immoral flailing. Through our faith in
Jesus, we can identify with His sacrificial death and victorious resurrection
by being baptized for the forgiveness of our sins. He promises that His life
will be our life. All other promises of salvation and fulfillment hold only
scraps of trash. In Christ Jesus our Lord, the genuine treasure of life
surpasses our fondest imagination.
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