After spending several hours meditating on these four verses, I thought I had a distinct four point outline. But then after trying to put my words to paper, they became an extinct four point outline. As a result these thoughts this afternoon will be brief and somewhat jumbled together.
In this paragraph, Peter uses the word “tabernacle” twice. The Apostle Paul also uses a closely related word – twice. As you know, “tabernacle” is a fancy word for “tent.” And I suppose the fanciest of all tabernacles, was the one where God met with Moses and His priests before the eventual construction of Solomon’s temple. It was beautiful, not only in the eyes of Israel, but in the eyes of the Lord. He designed it. For a while that tabernacle was the place where the Lord put His name and met with His people. It was there where Israel offered their sacrifices to God. Inside there was a golden lamp stand, a golden table, a golden incense altar, and flickering flame. And deeper inside lay the Ark of the Covenant, the object representing the presence of Jehovah.
Both Peter and Paul use the word “tabernacle” to describe their physical bodies. And as such, it is in the child of God the Lord has chosen to reside, until such time as the tabernacle is no longer serviceable, and we become glorious temples for our Saviour. Paul says in II Corinthians, “We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”” And, “we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” Paul writes to the saints in Corinth, and to us, reminding everyone that our bodies are easily dissolvable. But that is just fine, because there are new bodies awaiting us in Heaven. “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.” I Corinthians 15 – “Behold I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”
With this “tabernacle” in mind Peter shares with us four negatives, and I’d like to share them with you.
First, Peter was NOT LONG for this world.
“Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.” We all have a limited number of years in this world – and in these bodies. There is an expiry date stamped in invisible ink on the bottom of our feet. But only the Lord knows when we shall depart – and He knows that exactly.
As a general rule, you and I don’t know when it will be that we graduate to glory. From that fact there are obvious lessons. Such as: Live today as if you know it is your last day. Don’t leave anything undone if it could be finished today. And don’t deliberately sin against your Saviour, because it might be the last thing you do in this life. None of us should want to enter His presence with filthy hands. It doesn’t matter if you are 75, 45 or 25, none of us are sure we will have another day in our tabernacles.
And, of course, for the unsaved, they need to hear over and over again, “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” None of us know our appointment day and time, but they exist in the appointment book of God. And therefore “behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Today is the only day that is sure to us.
Despite our general lack of assurance in regard to an extended life, Peter was thinking of something more personal.
He was NOT FORGETFUL of the Lord’s declaration.
What declaration was that? In the last chapter of the Gospel of John, Christ Jesus said to Peter, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.” It appears that the Lord Jesus spoke about this to His apostle Peter thirty years before this Second Epistle.
With your educated guess, would you say that Peter knew from Jesus’ words that his death was imminent? I don’t think so. That doesn’t seem reasonable to me. Therefore, I think that the Lord gave His apostle a special message – a new revelation about his death. In whatever way it was brought to him, Peter his time was running short, and that gave his ministry a last minute push. But again, just because the Lord hasn’t visited US in the middle of the night or while we were in prayer, telling us we have only twenty-three hours to live – it doesn’t mean that by this time tomorrow our tabernacle will not be folded up and put into a box somewhere.
Peter was not long for this world, and he was not forgetful of the Lord’s declaration.
Third, Peter didn’t want his readers to think that he was accusing them of anything.
“Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.”
The pastor of God’s flock faces a problem just about every time he stands to teach or preach. It is not the same as when he becomes the evangelist, thundering words of wrath and grace. When he stands before other believers, it is difficult sometimes not to come across as a pious accuser of the brethren.
Peter has just told his readers that they need to be more diligent in their temperance, godliness, and five other things. It could be thought he was accusing his readers of not being as loving as they ought to be, or as patient. “Beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge.” Add to “your” faith these seven virtues.
Knowing how people sometimes think, Peter wants everyone to realize that he’s no better than they are. His readers have the same precious faith “with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Furthermore, he says, “Ye know these things already. I am not accusing you of ignorance.” I know ye “be established in the present truth.”
“Present truth” refers to the principles of the New Testament faith, which have taken the truth of the first thirty-nine books of the Bible to a higher, more spiritual, and more personal level. But even those who know the most, know only in part – there is always more to learn and to apply. And those who know, often have so much they know, they sometimes forget what they know. And sometimes we put our knowledge into various boxes – “Important,” “Really important,” and “Not so important.” Knowing our weaknesses, Peter says “Therefore” (verse 15) “I stir you up by putting you in remembrance.” This is not new information, but it is information which we all tend to forget.
This reminding business is one of the primary responsibilities of the pastor. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “For this cause have I sent unto Timotheus…who shall bring you into remembrance of may ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church” (I Corinthians 4:17). And to Timothy he said, “if thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ…” (I Timothy 4:6). In the last chapter of Peter’s first letter to these people, he addressed the church leaders. “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” Please, please, please, don’t consider your pastor to be either a dunce or a dictator if he reminds you of something which you think is too obvious to need mention. It is a part of his commission.
Peter declared that he REFUSED to be NEGLIGENT in his REMINDING responsibilities.
“Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things… Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.”
I said earlier that Peter was not forgetful of the Lord’s declaration of his death. He said, I know that “shortly I must put off this my tabernacle.” The Lord Jesus had told him that he would die when he was old, and apparently he was – old. But the language here hints of sudden death. It was not the death that follows a long illness or an exceptionally long life. History tells us that Peter died in Rome, crucified like Christ, but it was upside down, because he felt unworthy of dying the same death as his Saviour. Like Paul, he knew that his exodus from this life was coming up. His tabernacle was not only old and well worn, but he could see the crew was coming to take it down. “I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand” – II Timothy 4:6.
Peter, knowing that his opportunities to teach and serve were coming to an end, refused to neglect his duty. So he reminded, reminded and reminded people of their duties. When Jesus spoke to him about his eventual death in John 21, He added “Feed my sheep; feed my lambs.” That is exactly what he is dong.
I find it interesting, but I couldn’t find an explanation, that Peter used three different Greek words which were translated much in the same way. “Always in remembrance” in verse 12. “Putting you in remembrance” in verse 13. And I endeavor that ye “after my decease to have these things always in remembrance” – verse 15. Whatever the explanation is for the three words, the point is that our memories need help. There are far too many things which pop into our memories without assistance. There are things which need to forget, or at the very least ignore, if we can’t forget them altogether. But there are also many other things of which we need to constantly remind ourselves. These could very well be things which could help us skip over the things we can’t forget. But often the best and most important things return to our hearts with reluctance. Or maybe we should say “resistance.”
Again, verse 15 says, “Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.” To that end, he was writing this Second Epistle. And to that end, Peter appears to have shared what he knew with his friend Mark to record as the second of our gospels. The “reminding ministry” of the Apostle Peter still exists and is still reminding us.
And with that we have a segue into Peter’s next thought, and our next message, about the nature of the inspired Word of God. “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”