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II Peter 1:5-7 "Solid Rock or Rolling Stone?"
"But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love."
Peter wrote these words to the churches in Asia Minor that had been founded by Paul. He wrote to encourage them during the period when Paul was in prison and later after Paul had been killed. The Roman emperor Nero was blaming the Christians for many of his problems and was killing many of them. Part of the purpose of Peter's two letters was to prepare the leadership of the churches for the coming trouble. In 1 Peter 5 Peter instructs the churches that especially in times of trouble the church needs leaders that do not tell others what to do but clearly model it in their lives. Leadership is setting an example that others can follow. Peter writes in 2 Peter 1 what kind of example these leaders should be setting. What Peter is writing about is the leadership foundation of discipline. The key word is "diligence". When I was in school one of my best friends was a boy named Matt. School always came easy for me but Matt found it difficult. Many times I would finish my homework early and call up Matt but he would still be struggling. But Matt never quit. Even though the rest of us were going out he would stay home and keep working at it. Matt and I got about the same scores, but Matt learned an important lesson which I did not learn until later. Even though it was difficult and progress was slow Matt kept going. This is the lesson of diligence. Matt is now a missionary in South America where God is surely using Matt's diligence to spread the gospel.
Solid Rock or Rolling Stone?
We know more about Peter than any other disciple. We see him often with Jesus in the gospels. We see him there as bold, jumping out of the boat to walk on the water with Jesus. We see his faith when he says to Jesus, " You are the Christ, the son of the living God." We see his love for Jesus when he says at the Lord's Supper," Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You." What we do not see is discipline. Instead we see Peter as rash and unstable. He has the greatest triumphs but also the greatest mistakes. After proclaiming Jesus as the Christ he is rebuked as a Satan. He falls asleep when Jesus commands him to watch and pray. He draws a sword and cuts off the ear of one of the guards who came to arrest Jesus. But worst of all he denies Christ three times. What kind of example of discipline is this rough fisherman from Galilee? But it was no mistake that Peter became the chief disciple. Jesus did not choose Peter unwisely. Jesus saw past what Peter was to what Peter could become. When Jesus first met Peter He gave him a new name, Cephas. What an innappropriate name! Instead of rock Jesus should have called him a rolling stone. Later when Peter confessed Jesus as Christ, Jesus said again that his name was rock. Jesus added that "on this rock I will build my church" Many have said that Peter was the rock on which Jesus built the church. But the Greek shows that Jesus used two different words, one meaning rock and the other meaning bedrock. Jesus was making a play on words. The church is built on the reality that Jesus is the son of the Living God. But Jesus was also pointing to what kind of leadership Peter was to have in the early church. After the birth of the church at Pentecost, Peter became its most prominent figure. When Paul started to take the gospel to the gentiles, Peter needed to give his blessing. In a time when the Holy Spirit was guiding the church into many new things Peter was looked to for stability.
I am so glad that it was through Peter that God chose to teach us about discipline. We tend to look at our leaders as if they were special people. We see their self-control and perseverance and think they were always like that. What we learn from the leaders of the Bible is that God has the power to change hearts. We see in the Bible that Peter was not always a steady rock. Pastor Hirano often talks about his temper as a young man, but I have a hard time imagining it. I am thankful that Pastor Hirano does not let us forget what God has done for him. We should not be ashamed of what we once were, for it is the difference between what we were and what we are now that brings glory to God. God took passionate Peter and turned him into a rock, someone that others could rely on.
How Did God Change Peter?
How did God change Peter's heart? How can we grow in godliness,
kindness, and love? How do we learn to persevere and be self-controlled
consistently? Peter tells us in his letter. II Peter 1:5 lists what
kind of example Christians should be setting. Peter starts by writing,
“But also for this very reason.” So we must look to the
verses before to find out why we can set this kind of example. “as
His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and
godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises,
that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (II
Peter 1:3-4) Let me walk you through this long phrase.
1. Christ has given us all things that we need for both life and godliness.
This means that not only are we saved for eternity but we can enjoy
Christ’s salvation in this life.
2. We have received this through the knowledge of Christ. Peter is saying
that every Christian has received this when they accepted Christ as
their Lord.
3. By Christ’s glory and virtue we have been given incredible
promises. (Peter can’t find enough words to say how great these
promises are)
4. One of these promises is that through Christ’s work we can
share in the nature of God and escape our own passions.
Running For The Prize
Now verse 5 starts “But also for this very reason...”
It is because Christ has prepared the way for us that we must be diligent
to receive all His blessings. My son Keita is learning how to run. When
we walk to church he will say “Yoi don!” and start running.
If I run too fast, pretty soon he will stop far behind me. He says “Daddy,
come back!” But if I run right behind him he will keep running
all the way to church. Our walk with Christ is similar. It is easy for
us to get discouraged. Sometimes Christ seems so far out ahead that
we can never catch up. My son could never beat me in a real race, but
it is important for him to try. If he does not try he will not grow.
I am looking forward to the day when my son will be able to run faster
than I can. Now we have been given the promise that we shall share in
the nature of Christ. My son says every night at dinner that he is getting
bigger. He wants to be big like Daddy. It is not an unrealistic goal.
We also should seek to be like our Heavenly Father. Because of what
Christ has done for us on the cross it is also not an unrealistic goal.
This is the exceedingly great and precious promise that we have been
given.
Jesus Christ has made it possible for us to become like the Father. We can escape the lusts of the flesh and walk in the Spirit. But we must still make the effort to grow. I often say God makes the impossible possible and then Christians make the possible happen. God’s grace does not excuse us from hard work, rather it gives meaning to that work. Without grace all our work would be for nothing. We would be trying to do the impossible. With grace all our work gains significance. Of course there are many things that we are not called to do. Christ said, “I will build my church” so I will leave that up to Him. Christ will come back to judge sinners, so I will leave that up to him as well. But in II Peter I am told to diligently add virtue to faith, knowledge to virtue, self-control to knowledge, perseverance to self-control, godliness to perseverance, brotherly kindness to godliness, and love to brotherly kindness. This is work that I am called to do, and Christ has made it possible.
Sometimes we feel as if Jesus Christ has ran off ahead
of us. Yes, He has made it possible but that was a long time ago. We
feel like my son Keita saying “Daddy, come back!” We get
discouraged because it is difficult and the progress is slow. This is
why Jesus has sent us another precious gift, the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit runs along behind us encouraging us along the way. He will say
“You can do it, you can do it.” and “Just a little
bit further!” And when we stumble He will help us up and comfort
us. Some people say it is not winning or losing that is important but
how you run the race. In spiritual things this is not true. Paul instructs
us to run the race so as to win the prize.(1Co 9:24) Others say that
what is important is not the goal but the running itself. This also
is not true, we run to reach the finish line. (II Tim 4:7) But I will
tell you what makes all the difference along the way. It is who you
run with. We run with the Holy Spirit, on the path that Jesus Christ
made, to the place that God has prepared for us. The keys to discipline
are threefold,
1. Know where you are headed, our goal is to share the nature of God.
2. Know how to get there. We must stick to the trail that Jesus Christ
has made.
3. Know who you are running with. The Holy Spirit guides, encourages
and comforts us along the way.
The radical change in Peter’s life was because he
knew these three things. I am sure that Peter stumbled many times, but
the testimony of his life stands as a witness to the glory and grace
of God. I pray that when I go to be with Jesus Christ, people will not
say how great a Christian I was, but they will say “look how far
Christ brought him.”
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