The famous violinist, with his Stradivarius, stepped onto the stage to a huge applause from the audience. But the acclamation at that point was not in expectation of hearing a great violin masterpiece. When he reached center stage he turned and motioned for a slight, sickly looking young lady to join him. She, too carried a violin. He smiled at her and nodded, after which she raised her instrument and began to play. It wasn’t a classical piece; it had a blue grass twang; and it wasn’t played very well. The girl was obviously struggling, but she pushed forward for a few measures. And then the virtuoso softly joined in, playing a complimentary and harmonic background part. Hearing the accompaniment, the young lady took heart, beginning to play with more confidence. By the end of the piece, she was playing her heart out, eventually bringing down the house. Then the expert stepped back and let his young friend, with a huge smile, bow to the applause of the crowd.
Monday, as I read these verses and especially the words “This second epistle,” for some reason my heart said, “Second FIDDLE.” The term “second fiddle” refers to a supporting role, in contrast to the primary participant or star. To play second fiddle may seem less glamorous, but it is crucial for the harmony and success of a project. A well-played second fiddle can make or break the “performance.”
Peter was a star – an apostle of the Saviour – but we might look on him, at this point, as an accompanist. “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.” As we have seen, Peter was concerned about these friends to whom he was writing. They had all been new believers at some point, and perhaps some of them still were. He had said to them – “There shall be false teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even dying the Lord that bought them…” “And many shall follow their pernicious ways… “And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you…” With the heart of a pastor, this apostle didn’t want to see any of his friends fall to the spiritual predators. He wanted to hear that they were growing in the Lord, reaching toward heaven, ambassadors for Christ.
The last verse of the letter exhorts: “Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Peter wants every Christian heart to be filled with that special goal and resolve. He concludes by saying, “To (Christ) be GLORY both now and for ever. Amen.” But Peter knew it takes more than good intentions to be the children of God we have been saved to be. In order to “stand and withstand withal in the evil day” we have to be filled with the words of the holy prophets and the commandments of Christ’s apostles. And that requires the work of the second fiddle.
“This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.”
Whether or not Peter ever wrote other letters, there were two written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They were both directed toward the same group of people – perhaps the same church or group of churches. And this second epistle appears to have followed closely on heels of the first. He tells us that they both had the same primary purpose – reiteration. More specifically, this second letter emphasizes the problems of the “last days,” and the return of the Lord Jesus. “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness. Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God…”
Sunday we’ll get to that, but for now notice Peter’s affection for his readers; it was expressed by the word “beloved.” This is related to “agape,” and it is translated “dearly beloved,” “well beloved,” and simply “beloved.” To highlight its character – the first nine times this word is used, it speaks of the Father’s love for His Son. And Peter quoted God the Father in chapter 1 – “This is my BELOVED Son, in whom I am well pleased.” When Peter uses this word in regard to his readers, he is expressing more than affection. This is love. Whatever he is going to command… whatever he will soon exhort, comes out of genuine love for these folk.
And in this we are reminded that we have some control over our hearts. Of course, we need the Holy Ghost to empower and inflame us, but we can choose to love people. Were these beloved people all very easy to love? Can ten out of ten people be easy to love? They may have irritated him in the past, but he chose to love them. They may have once been enemies, but as adopted into the same family, he choose to love them. Oh, and by the way, they NEED his love as much as WE need the love of others. Love is not only a blessing, but a ministry. It is a ministry which needs to be expressed and revealed, not just discussed and described.
“This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.” When the virtuoso joined struggling fiddler, softly playing and supporting her, her heart expanded and her fingers remembered what they were supposed to do. Toward the end of his life, Peter’s ministry was to stir up the heart and minds of his friends – to awaken them. It was to arouse them from sleep, as “the sea AROSE by reason of a great wind that blew” – John 6:18. And it was as Jesus “AROSE and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.” We are human beings, still living in bodies constantly collapsing under the corruption of the curse. As we have heard recently, unless we are awake and moving forward, we will fall asleep and sink backward. It became Peter’s new job, and it is my job, to play the second fiddle loudly enough to awaken you. It is not about new revelation and specific answers to the new problems of the 21st century. It is to point to the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles and say, “Listen to them.” “It is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” – Romans 13:11. “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God…” – I Corinthians 15:34.
But what is this business about “pure minds?” From where has that come? Do any of us have genuinely pure minds? Are any of our minds as pure as they ought to be? First, our minds are just as saved as our souls, and therefore they are potentially pure, if not actually so. In one sense, they are “seen” as pure by God, even while He sees their corruption. This word is also translated “sincere.” I think Peter’s point is that if we sincerely want our minds to be stirred – then they can and will be. If we are not sincere in our desire for the glory of God, we are not going to be stirred as we should be. If we don’t deliberately strive to be pure and available for God’s stirring, we will not be stirred. Even pure and sincere minds can fall before at least two potential problems. Pure minds can become impure, so we need to ask the Lord to build a hedge about them. We need join with Him, taking the bricks and blocks of the Word of God and building them into a wall, mortared together by the Holy Spirit. And as Peter remind us here – even pure minds may be forgetful minds. They need to be awakened.
“This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.”
“That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets…”
This takes us back to the first chapter. “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.”
There once was a day when there was no written word – no Bible. Adam was created with the mind and ability to read and write, even while the written Word was unnecessary. But then Adam sinned, and everything changed. He probably wrote down what he knew about God and about God’s creation, and so did Enoch and Noah. But things began to radically shift during the days of Moses, to whom was given God’s law. As Peter has already told us, we are not dependent upon cunningly devised fables, or even the hearsay of the eyewitnesses of God’s early goodness. “We have… 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.”
The people to whom Peter was writing probably heard more messages from the Old Testament than we do. And the Apostle urged those people to stir up and to be mindful of those holy prophets. To be “mindful” is to remember – to fill the memory – with the words of the prophets.
This may sound strange, but I think those people in Peter’s day had an advantage which we lack. They didn’t bring complete Bibles to church with them, if they had Bibles at all. They didn’t have a dozen Bibles at home to read when they had nothing else to do. When they heard the word preached, they were expected to hear it and retain it. And they did. They trained their minds, and were encouraged to focus on the words of the prophets. And when the sermon was finished, they probably discussed it. They didn’t have the diversions we have today to draw away their minds during their pot-lucks. They used their hearts and minds – not their hands and arms – to carry home God’s message.
But in some cases, they also had the letters and sermons of the apostles of the Lord and Saviour. Jesus had diligently trained a number of men to carry on His ministry after He had completed that which no one else could do. The apostles, the delegated messengers of the Lord, were commissioned to share what they had received. They were also empowered by the Holy Spirit to receive and share even more instruction – which they did verbally and through their books and epistles.
But notice how Peter words the words of the apostles. “That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the COMMANDMENT of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour.” Some unthinking Christians think that since they have been saved by grace without works, they are free to roam the earth like the old Tyrannosaurus Rex. For a while, living among all the other animals and human beings, there were those bossy dinosaurs. But look what good it did for them. The independent Tyrannosaurus and Allosaurus are ancient history. But God’s sheep are still here. They listen to the voice of their Shepherd His words may sound like commandments, but it is music to their ears
We have the commandment to repent and to believe the gospel, and there may be no sweeter vocabulary in all human speech. We have the commandment to pray and seek God’s face. We have the commandment to be holy as He is holy. Christ Jesus has even told us, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
Peter says, “This is my new role.” I am one of the Apostles of the Lord and Saviour. I was there on the Mount of Transfiguration, “when there came such a voice… from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” I was there on another mount, listening to the Lord’s first major sermon. I’ve been on the mountain with Him and in the valley. And I was there when “he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of our sight.” But now I am playing second fiddle to the best of my ability in order to “stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.” I want to encourage you to “grow in grace, and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”