Invite everyone to open their Bibles to Revelation chapter 1 as we continue our study of the book of Revelation.
Let's begin with a word of prayer as we get started.
Our gracious Father in heaven, we bow before your throne, grateful for the day that you've blessed us with.
grateful for your blessings that you shower upon us each and every day, mindful of all that you do for us as we go through this day and as we go through the days to come.
We pray that we might always be cognizant of the things that you have blessed us with and the ways that you provide for us and the way that you have provided for us in giving us
the church and giving us your written word that we might know how to live and how to walk and how to serve you
acceptably, but also most especially in giving us your Son that we might have salvation, justification, and sanctification before you, that we might stand wholly before you in the
blood of Christ.
Lord, we ask that you forgive us of our sins and may we always strive to walk in the light as you are in the light.
All this we pray and ask in Jesus' name, amen.
We got down to around verse 18 of chapter 1 as we're going through and noticing these beginning chapters.
Now, we spent a little bit of time last week talking about how to understand a text, and I want to say just a little bit more about that just to make sure there's no
misunderstanding of what I was saying last week.
In certain books of the Bible, you should open the book and you should assume, or you should presume at least, that the things that you're reading are fact because they're
written as standard information or historical information in prose.
They're just normal writing.
If you were to get a letter,
from the IRS and you open up the letter and you begin to read, you should not begin by assuming that everything stated there is figurative and visionary.
It probably would lead to a wrong interpretation of the letter.
The standard letter from the IRS is in prose and it's ordinary, plain language.
And you should interpret it that way.
You'll get a better result from the IRS if you do.
Why?
Well, because the context.
The context indicates to you that you should understand it as plain, ordinary language.
And that's what we do typically in a book of the Bible.
We start with the assumption as we open any book of the Bible that it is plain, ordinary language.
How do we determine if it's not?
plain ordinary language.
All right.
All right, context.
Individual terms within the context that would point us to an idea that perhaps this language is not ordinary language.
Perhaps this language is more figurative language in its usage.
And so when you're looking in a context, you should assume that it's ordinary unless the context tells you it's not.
When you open up the book of Daniel, turn to Daniel chapter 1.
Daniel is my favorite example of this.
because Daniel in the Old Testament provides you both examples, both scenarios that you can begin to understand why and how to operate in this type of environment as far as
interpreting language.
In Daniel chapter one, we open the book,
Chapter 1 verse 1, in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
Does it sound like plain ordinary language?
Outside the names.
They don't sound like regular ordinary English names, this is a here's a date.
here's a king who was reigning, here's another king of another nation who was reigning, here's what they did.
Okay?
Sounds like plain ordinary language.
You should begin, if the author begins with that, you should begin by assuming that what you're going to read is plain ordinary language.
All right?
So when you come down to chapter two,
Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams, and his spirit was troubled that his sleep left him.
Then the king gave the command to call the magicians and astrologers and sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams.
So they came and stood before the king.
And the king said to them, I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.
Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, O king, live forever.
Tell your servants the dream and we will give the interpretation." Then the king answered and said to the Chaldeans, My decision is firm.
If you do not make known the dream to me and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces and your houses shall be made an ash heap.
Is this plain ordinary language?
I suggest that the Chaldeans knew it very much was.
The king was not using highly figurative language when he described the punishment they would receive if they didn't tell him the dream.
So, let's look at the reaction.
Verse
me till the time has changed.
Therefore tell me the dream and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation." The Chaldeans answered the king and said, There is not a man on earth who can tell the king's
matter.
Therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such a thing or any magician, astrologer of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.
It is a difficult thing that the king requests and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh.
For this reason the king was angry and very furious and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
So the decree went out and they began killing the wise men and they sought Daniel and his companions to kill them.
Was the context literal when the king gave the warning that if they didn't tell him the dream they'd be killed?
Very much so.
The result, how you know, they started dying.
Alright, context tells you.
Now, if you go down to where Daniel begins to tell the dream, notice what we find.
uh Beginning in verse 24.
Therefore Daniel went to Ariok whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon.
He went and said thus to him, Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon, take me before the king and I will tell the king the interpretation.
Then Ariok quickly brought Daniel before the king and said thus to him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah who will make known to the king the interpretation.
The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?
Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said, The secret which the king has demanded the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare
to the king.
But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets.
And he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed were these.
As for you, O King, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed about what would come to pass after this, and he who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be.
But as for me, the secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living.
but for our sakes who make known the interpretation of the king and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.
You, O king, were watching and behold, a great image.
This great image whose splendor was excellent stood before you and its form was awesome.
This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces.
Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed together and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors.
The wind carried them away so that no trace was found and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." All right, what does Daniel tell the
king?
His dream.
The vision.
He tells him where he was.
He tells him what he saw.
Now when Daniel tells him the vision, does the king say, thank you, I've got all the information I need now?
No, what is the King looking for?
how to understand the vision but he first needed to know what the vision was.
The king said I need the dream and I need the interpretation.
Had the dream been in plain ordinary language would he have needed the interpretation?
When he saw the image did he know that it meant something?
Well he knew it meant something but he know what it was.
When he saw that the head was of gold and the arms and the chest were of silver and the belly and the thighs were of brass and the legs and the feet were of iron mixed with clay,
did he know it meant something?
Something!
That's why he wants the interpretation.
You see, when you get to visionary language, you are not to assume that what you see is what it means.
The king, Nebuchadnezzar, knew immediately that what he saw wasn't what it meant.
He wasn't seeing that one day in the future someone would build a great image and they'd build the top out of gold and they'd build the top center out of silver.
He didn't make that assumption.
As matter of fact, neither did Daniel.
Notice what the text says.
This is the dream
Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.
This is what you saw.
You should not assume what you saw is what it meant.
You should assume this is what you saw.
Now this is what it meant.
How did Daniel and the king know they should be looking for an interpretation?
Notice they were looking for an interpretation before Daniel was ever in the picture.
They didn't need Daniel to tell them they needed an interpretation.
The king asked for that way back there when he was talking to the Chaldeans.
He knew he had a vision and he knew he needed an interpretation.
Why?
Because what he saw was a picture.
Now he wants to know what the picture means.
Okay?
So when you come to a text and you just jump right in and you read Daniel and he says, saw this, but what he's talking about is a vision.
You should be asking yourself, that's what I see, but what does it mean?
Okay?
You should not assume that's what I see and that's what it means.
And the reason why we're going through this is because this is what you will find when you deal with people in the book of Revelation, especially when you deal with people who have
been taught the book of Revelation by culture in the United States.
They'll see 144,000.
And guess what they'll say?
There's 144,000.
And that's the exact number.
144,000.
They'll see events occur.
And they'll say, happened in the Plain of Megiddo.
And guess where they will be looking for it to occur physically someday in the future?
In the Valley of Megiddo.
and they'll see great armies.
And guess what they'll be looking for?
Great armies.
Why?
Because they're not following the rules of interpretation for visionary language.
They're going, that's what I see, and that's what it means.
Instead of going, this is what I see, and having the wisdom of Nebuchadnezzar to say, now what does it mean?
When you are in a context where the author tells you this is visionary language, turn to Revelation chapter 1 verse 1.
revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him to show His servants things which must shortly take place, sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John.
The term signified means it was given in imagery.
the message and the imagery wasn't the meaning.
It was that which showed them the meaning.
They needed an interpretation.
Okay?
So when you come to the book of Revelation you're going to start off seeing prose.
Is God literally and in a definitive technical term the beginning and the end?
Is He the first and the last?
Yeah.
Did He exist before anything else?
Will He exist forever?
Absolutely.
When John starts off and writes to the seven churches, is he writing to actual churches?
Yeah, because we're still in the beginning introduction where the visions haven't started yet.
So when you're dealing with chapter one, you start off, interpret it as it's written,
This is the introduction informing you of what's to come, just the same way we did in Daniel 2.
Just the same way the Chaldeans knew that Nebuchadnezzar wasn't speaking in figurative language when he said, you're going to die if you don't tell me.
But when you get down into the text, you read in verse 9, I John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation in the kingdom and the patience of Jesus Christ was on the
island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Was he literally, physically on the island?
Yes he was.
He says, here's where I was.
Same way Daniel said, it was in this day of this king when this occurred.
But he says, "'I was in the Spirit on Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice as of trumpet, saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, what you see right
in a book.
Send it to the seven churches, which are in Asia, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, and the visionary language begins.'" How do we know it began?
Because he starts to tell us what he saw.
he's starting to give us the visionary language.
But, as you get into this text and you get into chapter two and into chapter three, you're going to have a mix of visionary language and literal, normal language.
Okay?
And we're gonna have to deal with those images inside the normal language.
as he writes these small messages to the seven churches.
And we're going to be able to see John mix imagery and normal prose.
Then we're going to get into chapter four and most of the normal prose is going to disappear.
The normal prose will now only occasionally be interspersed with the visionary language.
So notice where we're at.
Verse 17,
when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead but he laid his right hand on me saying do not be afraid I am the first and I am the last." In the book of Revelation you have a number
of occasions where John falls down.
Occasions where John falls down out of fear, John falls down out of awe,
that's one of these occasions, John falls down out of worship and on multiple of those occasions he's corrected and said, no, no, don't worship anyone but God.
Now, if you're thinking about this, bear in mind John's presenting you a vision.
So you should not assume that John literally fell down every time John in the vision sees himself fall down.
When we're in the visionary language, John is seeing himself too.
And John is going to see himself fall down and worship an angel.
Do you think John, as an elderly apostle who had spent his entire adult life following Jesus and guiding and leading the church, knew it was improper to worship angels?
Sure.
So why would John fall down and worship an angel?
The answer is John sees himself in the vision fall down and worship an angel.
And then John sees the message come back and say, no, you don't worship anybody but God.
God's using John in the vision to see these things, to teach lessons to the church.
All right.
So.
We'll deal with that more when we get into those passages, but I wanted to introduce the fact that sometimes in the vision, John sees John in the vision.
recently watched a movie.
It was written and directed and it had the lead actor as the guy who wrote and directed the movie.
Guess what?
The director saw himself in the movie.
John sees himself in the vision.
He participates in the vision.
But there's no indication John ever got up from where he was on the Isle of Patmos while the visions were given.
Where was Nebuchadnezzar when he saw the vision?
He was laying on his bed.
Where was the vision taking place?
Inside his head.
Okay?
Where's John's vision taking place?
inside his head.
And on occasion, John sees himself in the vision.
Okay?
So when you see John interacting in the vision, you should understand God's teaching us something through the actions of John.
Now...
Verse 17, he begins to tell what he saw.
Now, he's already described the one who he saw, Christ.
He saw him not as he existed and as he appeared back in the time when John knew him in the flesh, though there is some shared appearances we brought out at the end of the last class
between Jesus' appearance at the transfiguration and Jesus' appearance here.
Because when Jesus was transfigured, he became
white in his appearance.
the message, verse 18, I am he who lives and was dead and behold I am alive forevermore.
Amen.
I have the keys of Hades and death.
Write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after this.
the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands.
The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches." As Jesus begins to introduce this, number one, he establishes
his authority and verifies his identity.
This is not the member of the Godhead who had always sat on the throne in heaven.
This is the member of the Godhead who lives, who was dead, and behold, he is alive forevermore.
What member of the Godhead is that?
Jesus Christ.
He identifies in normal language,
his existence.
He identifies who he is.
But also, one of the things you're going to be looking for in the book of Revelation is just about every good thing in the book of Revelation has an evil counterpart.
Okay?
This is a picture book where you've got one thing on one side and then you've got a contrast to it.
So there's going to be a beast later on.
that was alive and then it looks like it dies and then it looks like it resurrects.
It looks like it was alive, it was dead, and it's alive again.
You see the book has counterpart imagery and so as you see one thing you're going go, alright, wait a minute, I'm looking for that.
I'm going to look for that to show up later on in the book.
I want to see the evil counterpart because what you're seeing in the book
is God saying over and over and over again, doesn't matter what the devil throws out at my people, I'm going to defeat it.
It doesn't matter if it looks like the devil's in charge, I'm going to win.
It doesn't matter if it looks like the devil has authority, he will be defeated.
And so as you see those evil things come forth,
you're seeing God say, already beat it, it's already done, it's already accomplished.
oh
Notice as well, he says, I have the keys of Hades and death.
What does the term Hades mean?
the grave.
ah And so you have.
The one who is speaking to John saying, I have the keys, the Hades, the grave, and death.
Now, some translations say hell, okay?
Bear in mind, it's a little hard in some translations to understand the context as well as you should if they use the same word in English to interpret two different words in the
Greek.
And that's what some translations, especially the King James, does.
It translates the term Hades as hell.
It also translates the word Tartarus as hell.
It also translates the word Gehenna as hell.
Those are three different words.
They carry with them three different Old Testament pictures.
And yet if they're all interpreted as the same word in English, you're gonna have to do a lot more work to understand which one is being discussed and why.
in this context, the New King James and other translations do you a favor when they give you the original word.
And they didn't interpret it at all.
They just actually took the term from the Greek and they replaced it with English letters and said, figure it out.
That's what they do with the word baptism, by the way.
The uh translators said there's a bunch of disagreement on what this word means.
And there's a bunch of different religious ideas about what baptism is.
So we're not even going to interpret it for you.
We're not going to translate it.
We're just going to give you the word and transliterate the letters from Greek to English.
Same thing they do with Hades.
So what is Jesus saying?
Well, I would suggest to you that there are plain spoken passages that tell you how to interpret statements like this.
Turn to Matthew chapter 28.
One of the things you must do in a highly figurative context is you must be certain you never interpret that context to contradict plain spoken ordinary language taught by the
rest of Scripture.
Because if you actually interpret this highly figurative language to be something that is in antithesis to that which is
plainly stated in Scripture, I can guarantee you, you've come to the wrong conclusion.
Because Scripture doesn't, uh I lost the word I'm looking for, ah it doesn't go against itself.
It doesn't tell you one thing and then tell you the exact opposite.
And so as a result of that, if you have interpreted a meaning to mean something that plain-spoken Scripture doesn't mean, you got it wrong.
Peter, by the way, will point that out
when he writes about Paul's writings and how some had read Paul's writings, some of which even Peter says were hard to understand, and he said they twisted them to their own
destruction.
Why?
Because they didn't interpret the hard things in view of the things they already knew to be true.
Alright?
So, uh Matthew chapter 28 verse 18, Jesus came and spoke to them, the disciples, saying, authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I command
you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." What does Jesus establish about His existence after His resurrection?
He's alive, he'll be alive forevermore, and he has all authority.
Okay, turn to Hebrews chapter one.
In Hebrews chapter 1, we read God, at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He
has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by
the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels.
as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." The Hebrew writer in plain ordinary language says, Jesus Christ was the creator.
By Him all things were made.
He's the one who allows things to continue to exist by the word of His power, and He is the one by whom God has spoken to us.
But notice chapter 2.
He says, therefore, verse 1,
We must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
For if the word spoken through angels proves steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a
salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him?
God also bearing witness, both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.
For He has not put the world to come,
of which we speak in subjection to angels.
But one testified in a certain place saying, What is man that you are mindful of him?
Or the son of man that you take care of him?
You have made him a little lower than the angels, you have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of your hands, you have put all things in subjection
under his feet.
For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him, but now we do not yet see all things put under him.
But we see Jesus.
who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God might taste death for every one.
For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
sufferings.
For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one.
For which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren.
saying, will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly.
I will sing praise to you.
And again I will put my trust in him.
And again here I am and the children whom God has given me.
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that he through death might destroy him who had the power of death, that is
the devil."
and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
What does the Hebrew writer say in plain spoken language that Christ now has authority over death?
Why?
Because He defeated it.
Why then do we no longer have to fear death?
Because Jesus holds the keys to the grave.
and death.
So if you understand the picture and then you come over here to Hebrews chapter 2 and you go, I know exactly what the Hebrew writer says about Christ's over death.
Now you see the picture.
Now later on there's going to be somebody who comes up and they've got the keys.
But but Jesus already tells you, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
that this book is written to Christians who are about to go through suffering.
They're about to go through persecution.
They're about to be put under the thumb of a government that is going to attack them viciously and consistently for decades as a governmental policy.
and John's writing to them before it ever starts and says, not assume that the government is in control.
Do not assume that just because you're being persecuted and you're being killed for the testimony of God that we didn't already know it was coming.
And by the way, when it looks like Satan is one, when it looks like the devil is in charge, when it looks like the government that is
killing you is prospering, they're just that much closer to being defeated.
So, Jesus says, write the things which you see and the things which are and the things which will take place after this.
Now, in verse two and verse one, sorry, verse one and verse three, we've already been told the things that he's going to talk about, the things that are going to take place are
shortly to come to pass.
They're at hand.
So when Jesus says, I want you to write the things that are going to come to pass, the context of time has already been set.
In the plain spoken language portion of the text, God said, it's about to happen.
All right?
But then we see the mystery of the seven stars.
When you see the word mystery in the book of Revelation, you are not to assume this is something that cannot be known.
because that's actually the exact opposite of the meaning of the original language.
The word mystery in the original language meant that which is revealed.
So John is saying, as Jesus interprets the vision, he says, here's what you're supposed to understand.
When you see the stars and you see the candlesticks, here's the meaning of it.
Here's the revelation of it.
Here's the revealing of the mystery.
All the time in Paul's writings.
Paul will use the term mystery over and over and over again, especially when he's dealing with the contrast of the Old Testament with the New Testament.
And when Paul does that, he is not trying to tell you there's a bunch of things that we don't know.
Matter of fact, he's telling you the exact opposite.
These are all the things that in the Old Testament they didn't know and now we do.
These are all the things that the prophets spoke about that they didn't understand and now they've been revealed.
The term mystery should be a clue to you in the text that we know exactly what it means, but it was previously hidden.
So when you see the word mystery, you go, wait a minute, the meaning of this is right here in the text somewhere.
Not, well, never gonna know what that means.
Chapter two, as we go through the book,
we're going to spend the least amount of time in chapters 2 and 3.
There's a couple of reasons.
Number one, they're the most talked about part of the book.
They've been hashed and rehashed many times and generally people know what they mean and they're not highly figurative, but there are some keys in there that we need.
So we're going to make sure and pay attention to them, but we're not going to spend a great deal of time on them.
Chapter 2 verse 1,
These things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven gold lampstands.
Who's writing to the church?
Who's the one who was holding the stars and in the midst of the lampstands?
Jesus.
So the message is from Jesus.
He already identified who he was and now he uses the picture to describe who he is.
He uses the picture he's already explained to tell you I'm the one who's writing.
So Jesus is writing to the church at Ephesus.
I know your work.
your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear with those who are evil.
And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not and have found them liars." All right, here's a quick question.
Are we in normal language or highly figurative language?
Normal language.
These are describing things that they actually did.
You see, we can understand when language changes.
We can't understand when the book goes from being visionary to normal.
But he goes on, I know your works, your labor, your patience that you cannot bear with those who are evil and you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not and
have found them liars.
And you have persevered and have patience and have labored for my name's sake and have not become weary.
Nevertheless, I have this against you that you have left your first love.
Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen.
Repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.
Now what does Jesus use the vision to communicate?
Judgment.
Alright?
Go back to verse 20, the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, the seven golden lampstands, seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven
lampstands which you saw are what?
Seven churches.
Jesus is warning the Ephesian brethren, I'll take your church away.
Now did that mean that there were no longer going to be a group of people meeting in the city of Ephesus?
Does that mean it is possible, if we are to interpret this correctly, that Jesus Christ can have a church which He once was in fellowship with and now is entirely out of
fellowship with that church?
Absolutely.
Otherwise, where's the threat?
Where's the judgment?
Jesus is telling the church at Ephesus, if you as a church do not repent, I will have no
Fellowship with you.
I will remove your lamp stand.
Yes.
You certainly could, ah because if an entire church can be taken out of fellowship with God and with Christ, how could you claim that once you are saved, you have no possibility
of losing your salvation?
Jesus informs an entire church that they can lose their salvation, and He'll take them out collectively.
And by the way, you can lose your salvation having stood firmly for doctrine that is right.
How does he describe that they could lose their salvation while firmly standing for correct doctrine?
They lost their love for God.
It became all about what they were doing.
It became all about what they were teaching.
But they had left off the single and first and greatest commandment.
And when you take all of the practices of religion and you separate them from thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, and
all thy mind, all you've done is placed a set of responsibilities and actions on people and you have given them no actual spiritual connection to God.
It is possible to teach that which is right and practice that which is wrong by divorcing your heart from the love of God.
And here John says, you've been so focused on these important things.
that you have forgotten the basics.
You have forgotten the fundamentals.
You have focused on all of these things which you are being applauded for, and yet you have forgotten to go back and do the first works.
There are times that we need to be reminded of the things that are fundamental.
Turn over to 2nd Peter.
I know just recently when the ladies had their ladies retreat, they went through the Christian graces that are found here in verses 5 through verse 9.
But you'll notice in verse 12, Peter writes, for this reason, I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present
truth.
Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you
knowing that shortly I must put off my tent just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.
Moreover, I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease." Peter, as he's writing to them, says, I'm going to write to you about
the basics.
And not only am I going to write to you about them because you need to be reminded of them, I'm going to make sure there's someone around after I die who's going to continue to
remind you of them.
because Peter will tell them, verse 9 of the same chapter, he who lacks these things is short-sighted even to blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things, you will never stumble.
We need to be careful to remind ourselves that it is important for us to focus on the basics of Christianity.
It is important for us to never neglect the fundamentals of loving God and obeying His commandments.
Because, yes, there are going to be challenges that are going to be difficult and
hard to deal with and some of those things are going to be hard to understand and we're going to have to spend time, effort, and energy in order to understand them in order to
make sure we're sounding the faith.
But we must not sacrifice the fundamentals for the things that are way beyond that level in our Christian lives.
All right, we'll pick up in chapter two with the next letter to the next church next Sunday.