 Good morning everyone. Let's just begin the class with the word of prayer. Someone could pray for us please. Okay I'll pray for us. Father we thank you Lord for this opportunity to gather together to learn from your word. We invite you Holy Spirit to teach us to open our eyes, our ears, our hearts to what you want to reveal to us Lord. We pray that as we look at your word Lord that it would be a time of revelation and a time of just growing in you in knowing you and in loving you Lord that what we learn here will not not only reach our minds but also reach our hearts Lord and Lord that we would learn to love you more through what we learn. We commit this time into your hands and commit all of the other classes, our students, our staff, faculty into your hands Lord. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Okay so today we're just gonna be looking at first and second Peter. I'm just gonna share screen so the two letters written by the Apostle Peter and yeah I think we should be able to cover the two in today's class. So just a little bit of background. The first the first letter written by Peter addresses persecuted believers okay and this is both Jews and Gentiles in Asia Minor. So if we read one Peter 1 1 if someone can just open that up and read that for us please. Peter an Apostle of Jesus Christ to the pilgrims for the dispersion in Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. Okay so if you look on the map here that's basically this area in Asia Minor that Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. So provinces in Asia, Roman provinces in Asia Minor and there are three possible instances for when this letter was written because we know that's written to persecuted believers. So it's either under Nero which was he was there around AD 60 to 64 or under Domitian but that was later around AD 90 when Revelation is written or in the second century. But we believe that this letter is in fact written by the Apostle Peter as it states here in 1 Peter 1 1 and so the date that we look at is AD 63 64. This is when Nero kind of starts his persecution AD 64 is when he begins to more intensely persecute Christians accusing them of having burned the city down and so it's during this time that he murders thousands of Christians in Rome. There are a lot of them who end up escaping his persecution but he caused a lot of suffering for Christians. So he was seen almost as an example or someone who resembled the Antichrist because of how much suffering he caused to the Christians. So he finally Nero died several years later and he was killed by Romans themselves. He was although he was loved by Greeks he was not loved by many Romans and so he was killed by some Romans later on after this persecution. We see also that Paul towards the end of the letter sends greetings from the church in Babylon and so it indicates that Paul was in Rome and Babylon is used as code for Rome like we see in Revelation as well. The purpose of writing book to encourage believers who were suffering so in the midst of their suffering he's writing to them to encourage them to continue firm in the faith to teach believers to be patient even in their present circumstances and to prepare them for the suffering that would come. So since Paul was in since Peter was in Rome he was experiencing much more of the persecution than the believers in Asia minor but he was writing to prepare them that this is possibly what you are going to experience as well. So he's sharing from his his experience to prepare them. The theme is comfort for suffering Christians we see suffering mentioned 17 times in this book in 1st Peter and let's just read these key verses 1st Peter chapter 4 verses 1 and 12 and 13. Therefore since Christ suffered for us in the flesh arm yourselves also with the same mind for he who has suffered in the flesh has seized from sin verse 12 and 13. Beloved do not think it's strange concerning the theory trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings that when his glory is revealed you also may be glad with exceeding joy. Okay so these verses actually bring up a lot of what Peter talks about in this letter. One is suffering but suffering as Christ suffered so he keeps taking them back to Christ suffering in your suffering you are sharing in the sufferings of Christ and then the other aspect of it is we are suffering only in this world we have this future glory to look forward to and so that's his encouragement to them that even though we are suffering look there is something to look forward to and that is the eternal glory that will be ours in Christ. So I haven't covered some of the other parts that mentioned in your textbook there are a few other things but I just want to make one correction to your notes in your textbook there are seven precious things in first Peter that's mentioned in your textbook the first two of those precious things is actually from second Peter okay so just make that correction in your textbooks we are not going to cover it here in class but in your textbooks the from those seven precious things the first two are from second Peter the reference is given there I think is one one and one four is that right one one and one four I think so that's second Peter one one and second Peter one four I don't have it open here is that what you're seeing in your textbook yeah the seven precious things the first two references one one and one four right so that's second Peter one one and second Peter one four okay so I'm skipping over some of those things that I felt we didn't need to cover in class we will go into an outline of first Peter so first Peter begins with suffering in relation to salvation and we have that greeting that we read just now from Peter to these churches in Asia Minor then he talks about our suffering for a little while so that we can rejoice in an eternal salvation and if we look at verses 3 to 25 of chapter 1 you'll see Peter constantly mentioning the words perishable and imperishable okay so he's saying he's comparing all these things that we are experiencing on earth as perishable and the glory that is to come the eternal glory that is come as something that is imperishable he mentions that a few times in these few verses from there he goes on to talk about holiness so there's a call to holiness in verses 13 to 21 saying in view of the fact that this is just a temporal life that we're living and we have this eternal future to look ahead to put away all kinds of sin so live your life in view of that eternal glory and take away anything that is in not in line with godliness take that away from your life the second is the call to love verses 22 to 25 so not only turn away from sin but also love one another that is his call and then the third is a call to growth so he talks about personal spiritual growth growing from being babies to being mature in the faith and also growing as the body of Christ growing into this spiritual temple that is built on the cornerstone of Christ himself then he in chapters 2 verses 11 to 12 he talks about our conduct as strangers and pilgrims and this is from the perspective of we are here to be witnesses to the people around us so as the church the way we live should testify to who Christ is when other people are watching us and then he goes on to state specific examples of how we can do that verses 13 to 17 is as citizens we submit to authority so just for us to consider this they are people who are being persecuted by the government right but in that he's still encouraging them submit to authority he's not saying just because the government is against you you can also be against the government he doesn't say that right he still says we will submit to authority because they are the people who have been put in charge by God and if they punish us for doing evil there is nothing that will testify about who we are but if we are punished for doing good that will be a testimony to people okay so he continues that same line of thought with slaves and masters as well so even if you are being mistreated by your master you continue to do what's right and then he mentions the example of Christ so let's just read that chapter 2 verses 23 and 24 first Peter chapter 2 verse 23 who when he was revealed did not reveal in return when he suffered he did not threaten but committed himself to him who judges righteously verse 24 who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree that we have wing died to sins might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed okay so he's saying follow the example of Christ though he was being insulted though he was being mistreated and he had all the power to retaliate he chose to entrust himself to God in the same way in your present suffering trust yourselves to God that God will judge God will bring justice but you do what is right so you live righteously and that will be your witness he then goes on to talk about wives and husbands in chapter 3 and then later on in chapter 3 about people who suffer innocently we'll just read chapter 3 verses 17 if someone can read that for us for it is better if it is the will of God to suffer for doing good then for doing evil okay so that's the main line of thought in all of these examples that he's giving so even if you are being unjustly treated you're suffering although you have done nothing wrong it's better that you continue to do what is right than that you do evil and then start to suffer for doing evil so he is saying continue to live righteously continue to live in holiness and if you are to suffer it's alright because it's better to suffer for doing good rather than to suffer for doing evil he then goes on into chapter 4 contrasting our new life in Christ with us as old believers or unbelievers under the yoke of sin so he says put away sin and live for God then chapter 4 12 to 19 again goes back to suffering with Christ let's just read 2 verses from chapter 4 chapter 4 verse 1 and chapter 4 verse 13 therefore since Christ suffered for us in the flesh arm yourself also with the same mind for he who has suffered in the flesh as seized from sin 14th verse sister 13 chapter 4 verse 13 but rejoice to the extent that your partake of Christ suffering that when his glory is given you may also be glad with exceeding joy okay so in this first part chapter 4 verse 1 he's talking about suffering in relation to holiness so it's okay to suffer in the body because when you're suffering in the body you are putting away all sinfulness and then chapter 4 verse later on in this chapter he's talking about suffering with the hope of glory in Christ so rejoice in your present suffering because you're rejoicing in the glory will be much much greater at that time of being glorified then we go into chapter 5 he talks about in view of Christ's return how should we as a church conduct ourselves so he talks about how elders and young believers should relate to each other young believers submitting to elders and then he calls the church to stand firm in the midst of suffering and then he closes the letter signing off with Silas and Mark and greetings from the church in Babylon so that's the end of first Peter any questions or thoughts on that before we move into second Peter okay let's go into second Peter so here in second Peter chapter 3 verses 1 to 2 we see who the author recipients and purpose of writing is so if someone can read that for us second Peter 3 verses 1 and 2 second Peter chapter 3 verse 1 beloved I now write to you the second pistol in both of which I stir up your pure mind by way of reminder verse 2 that you may be mindful of the word which was spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandments of us the postals of the Lord and Savior okay so from this we gather that the author is Peter himself again it's disputed by some circles whether this was written by Peter but as per this passage and as per the nearness of writing to Peter's life itself we we accept this as a letter written by Peter the recipients again we see that it's the same group of churches because he says this is now my second letter to you and I've written both of them and then he gives what the purpose of writing is right reminder to stimulate you to wholesome thinking to recall the words spoken by the holy prophets and the commands given by our Lord and Savior so second Peter is actually quite different from first Peter in its theme while first Peter is being written to suffering Christians second Peter is being written to the church to guard against false teaching okay so there was wrong teaching that was coming into the church and so that's why he's saying to stimulate you to wholesome thinking that is to write understanding of the message of scripture going back to the prophets and the teachings of Jesus so this is where I want you as a church to be grounded so that false teaching will not lead you astray the date of writing we see as closer to his death so he refers to this in second Peter 1 14 if we can just read that as well second Peter chapter 1 verses 14 second Peter chapter 1 verse 14 knowing that shortly I'm I must put off my tent just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me okay and so in verse 13 he says I think it's right to refresh your memory because this because I'm going to be leaving this body soon okay so the central theme is warning against false teachers to look at it from a positive side he's actually encouraging them to know to stand firm in what they know about God so you see the word knowing mentioned nine times in this whole letter it's not in your textbook but knowledge of God knowledge of the way of righteousness and knowledge itself mentioned nine times in three chapters so he's saying stay firm in your knowledge of God stay firm in your knowledge of the way of right righteousness and grow in knowledge so that you will not fall for wrong teaching some of the unique features so there is a kind of severity to the letter because he's dealing with false teaching so the severity is towards the false teachers not to not towards the church he talks about the inspiration of scripture so this is where we see prophets were inspired by the Holy Spirit in their writing comes in chapter one he talks about false teachers and the way false teachers operate and we see actually that this is very close to what Jude talks about we'll talk a little bit more about that in in a few slides and then he talks about the day of the Lord so second Peter actually has a description of the earth burning away of all the elements in the earth burning away on the day of the Lord so judgment on this world and just focusing on the fact that Christ judgment is coming against these false teachers and then the last part is where he affirms Paul's teaching so chapter three he talks about the fact that Paul has written certain things that are being twisted by the false teachers and he elevates Paul's teaching to the level of the rest of scripture in this verse basically saying just as these false teachers twist the rest of scripture they also twist Paul's teaching compared to other books just like John 14 to 16 and 2nd Timothy are farewell letters or farewell discourses John 14 to 16 from Jesus 2nd Timothy from Paul 2nd Peter is a farewell discourse as well 2nd Thessalonians and 2nd Peter focus on the judgment that comes with the day of the Lord and then between Jude and 2nd Peter there's actually some of the same things we read in Jude are also in 2nd Peter so this is just a quote from Michael Green of 25 verses in Jude no less than 15 appear in whole or in part in 2nd Peter so that is the they actually write almost the same content so it's believed that that Peter used Jude as a source when he was writing so he's used a little bit of Jude's content in the things that he writes in the chapter 2 okay so with that we'll just go into our outline of 2nd Peter he begins with God's provision for Christian living we'll just read chapter 1 verses 2 and 3 someone can read that for us chapter 1 verse 2 to 3 grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ as his divine path has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue okay so here he's saying that God or Jesus has given us everything we need to lead a godly life through our knowledge of him it's by knowing him that we are able to live a life of godliness if he then goes on to talk about how they can be confident in who Jesus is pointing to the father's affirmation of Jesus as his son in his baptism so he says that we were witnesses we heard the voice of the father affirming that Jesus is his son and then he also talks about how prophecies from the Old Testament affirm Jesus's majesty so taking them back like we read in chapter 3 verse 1 2 taking them back to the prophecies and the teachings of Jesus as their source of confidence or rootedness in the truth he then goes on to talk about false teachers so some of the ways that you can identify false teachers is that they deny Jesus and the second is that their teaching leads to sinful lifestyle so the people who follow their teachings start to turn away from holiness and start to live lives of sin so that is evidence that their teaching is false he then talks about their doom and contrast that with our salvation so for those who do not fall for their teaching there is a hope of salvation and for these false teachers themselves there is a day of judgment that will come and he talks about the angels who were judged he talks about the people at the time of Noah who were judged and he talks about Sodom and Gomorrah all his examples of places that were judged because of their immoral lifestyles and because of not following the truth and then he goes on to a description of the false teachers and this is where the we see the same content that's in Jude also in 2 Peter so 2 Peter closes with Christ certain return this is in chapter 3 so the false teachers deny Christ's return if we can read chapter 3 verses 1 and 2 we just read from there someone delivered I know I now write to you this second episode in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder that you may be mindful of the words which was spoken before by the holy prophet and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and savior okay thank you sorry we read that before as well but this is so this is where he talks about why he's writing and then he goes on to talk about the fact that the false teachers deny Christ's return he then talks about the new heaven and the new earth and the day of the Lord that is the judgment that is going to come on this present earth and then the last part is in view of the fact that this new heaven and new earth is coming that all that we see right now all sin all that we see in present creation is going to be destroyed how should we be living our lives so we'll just read these three verses to conclude chapter 3 verses 14 and 17 and 18 if someone can read that therefore beloved looking forward to these things be diligent to be found by him in peace without sport and blameless 17 and 18 you therefore beloved since you know this beforehand be where lest you fall from your own steadfastness being led by being led away with the error of the wicked but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to him be the glory both now and forever amen okay so these are the key things that he talks about in this whole letter one is in view of judgment that is to come walk in holiness so be found spotless blameless and at peace with Christ okay don't don't fall into a lifestyle of sin don't turn away from Christ and then 17 and 18 he says be on your guard so you won't be carried away by the by the wrong teaching that's coming in and grow in grace and knowledge okay so be on your guard and grow in grace and knowledge if we look back to the beginning of the letter we see right there also that he says it's the knowledge of Jesus that is able to any that is able to keep us in godliness enables us to walk in godliness and so here he closes again with that same thought of growing in knowledge of Jesus himself so that is the key to not falling into wrong teaching and not falling into sin okay so we close with that any questions any thoughts anything you want to share before we close all good okay so just a reminder on Thursday we're going to do for second-third John and I've asked you all to read all three letters we'll just do a discussion in class okay so I won't really cover the textbooks content we'll just discuss some of the things that you all have learned after reading and then next Monday we'll do revelation okay okay thank you