In 1st Peter, we hear about LOVE. In 2nd Peter, we hear about BUILDING on KNOWLEDGE, because we LOVE. 

Peter speaks with such love, deep love, especially because he knows the feeling of forgiveness, having betrayed Jesus most terribly, only to then have been amazingly reconciled so specifically… 

Have you ever been sunk only to be raised? Stuck only to get the free pass? Do you keep that memory or rather share: the Way Forward. 

Jesus rose Peter from sinking, us too, not just physically but emotionally of course, lifted by the Spirit within us. WHY? Jesus choose Peter to lead, to “Feed My Sheep” and Jesus chooses us to live our lives in Him for Him for God’s people, for the sake of the Spirit. Saved to help share the in saving.

In faith and life, where do you go from here? Peter had to become BOLD and lead.  Peter blessed with Jesus’s forgiveness, from Jesus Himself, gained new memories to layer on memories that he likely could never forget. Peter, on that day of reconciliation on the shore of Galilee, did not stop because he obtained life, on that day he actually STARTED his life ministry. 

In 2nd Peter (even if some debate direct authorship by Peter), we hear advice from a wise man of many years, advice of how to live and how to not. We hear wisdom that rings true BECAUSE we know there is evil in the world. Better yet, we KNOW Jesus’s goodness and glory. We are called to remember Jesus’s escape from worldly influences and avoid them ourselves.  “… to make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.”

If we forget that we are cleansed from past sins, if we are not humble enough to see a clean slate and a fresh start each day, we are losing ground, we are sinking again. Perhaps it would be inconceivable for us to forget our monumental saves, but perhaps they fade away from memory. Noah surely could never be forgetful about the Ark saving him from the flood, I bet every future rain drop reminded him of his save. He likely revered the rain, knowing Who is in charge of it. Noah became responsible for teaching about their rescue, but what about generations after him? Stories, did it just become another of the stories… 

Noah needed that boat rescue because of the rain. God needed that rain because He needed to start fresh. God needed Noah to start again. Rain was the plan. A fresh start to reduce the evil was the plan.  And now, as Peter warns, we have false teachers and troubled times, but are they worse than in Jesus’s time? Probably not. But they still are the harsh reality and the reasons for not rain this time to abolish, but for Jesus’s REIGN to save. Jesus was the plan. Jesus IS the plan. Jesus is the WAY. 

2nd Peter speaks further of end times, prophecy, the reasons for us to be ready, to be wholesome and true. Peter reminds us that the Spirit of God desires all to know, to hear, to learn. We are to know we are walking through these times with hope and knowledge of the future, understanding Jesus as the Son of God, as the Chosen One. His work done and yet just begun. Peter shared as the Lord wants us all to be “in the know” so that we can continue to live, make a difference, and stand firm thru faith. 

Next, 2nd Peter speaks of pitfalls… false teachers… blasphemous folk speaking of things they don’t even understand… bold and arrogant… “Springs without water”…   Some even having been saved then turning their backs on salvation by FORGETTING what Jesus did for them, salvation for all who call upon His name. 

Peter and the disciples devoted their lives to remembering and teaching about Jesus and salvation. Saving from sinking.  “If this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.” THE RESCUES!! Peter knows all about the RESCUES. 

Through rain, Noah was CARRIED in rescue. Then on solid ground, was Noah’s job done? No.

Through sinking, then denying Jesus, Peter was CARRIED and reconciled. Then chosen as the rock, was Peter done? No.

If the earth, formed from water, was not going to be refined by a trial by fire, could we, crested from dust,  have been made into a form able to survive? No.

If the fire didn’t refine the dust He had begun in us, could the treasure in us have been uncovered?. Then as spiritual beings, thriving as recovered remolded reborn dust, are we done? No.

But they deliberately forget that long ago, by God’s Word, the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.  By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.  By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 2^nd Peter 3

If the present heaven and earth do not burn away, could the New Kingdom come? No. We are to be ready, and share for the sake of those unknowing. When God’s plan is done, it’s another time that we are re-begun.

“Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.  But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” 2^nd Peter 3

TO BE FOUND. We are to be FOUND, just like Noah, just like Peter, just like the folks not yet found. Let us all be FOUND, REFINED, RESCUED and READY.

The Rain and Reign WAS and IS the Plan, let us remember our RESPONSIBILITY and our RESCUES. 

Revere the Reign 

Amen