Wednesday Evening Service - 2 Peter 1 1-11 - Charlie Moore

A little bit of background on the book of 2 Peter.

It was likely written somewhere between AD 64 and AD 67, very close to the martyrdom of the Apostle Peter.

Who wrote it? Well, 2 Peter is actually one of, if not the most contested books in the entire New Testament around the subject of authorship.

Even the most conservative New Testament scholars are going to say that Peter likely had some different scribal help from 1 Peter to 2 Peter.

1 Peter mentions Silvanus.

2 Peter doesn't mention anyone, so maybe there was someone else kind of helping with some of the literary aspects of it.

If you want to learn more about the Petrine authorship of Peter, I'm not your guy to talk to.

But For our purposes tonight, we're going to take the author at his word.

In verse 1, he introduces himself, look there, as Simeon Peter.

And then a few verses later, in 16 through 18, he names himself as an eyewitness of the majesty of Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration.

So, this is the Apostle Peter, once fisherman, now apostle in the early church, writing towards what is likely the very end of his life.

Who's his audience? Well, we don't know for sure, but it's likely that his audience was the same audience that we saw at the beginning of 1 Peter, a group of churches around the region of Asia Minor.

Now, why is Peter writing this book? Well, I think there's three primary reasons why he is writing.

He's writing to encourage Christians to press on into greater Christian maturity.

Number two, he's writing to warn Christians to guard against false teachers and not just their teaching, but he kind of highlights the lifestyle of false teachers to mark and avoid them.

And then finally, in his own words, he wants to stir them up by way of reminder to be sober and eager as they await the day of the Lord.

So, grow in Christian maturity, be aware of false teachers, and be eager and sober as we await the day of the Lord.

And so, with that backdrop of 2 Peter, let's look at our text for tonight and what the Holy Spirit would say to us through the apostles, starting in verse 1 and reading through verse 11.

A little bit of background on the book of 2 Peter.

It was likely written somewhere between AD 64 and AD 67, very close to the martyrdom of the Apostle Peter.

Who wrote it? Well, 2 Peter is actually one of, if not the most contested books in the entire New Testament around the subject of authorship.

Even the most conservative New Testament scholars are going to say that Peter likely had some different scribal help from 1 Peter to 2 Peter.

1 Peter mentions Silvanus.

2 Peter doesn't mention anyone, so maybe there was someone else kind of helping with some of the literary aspects of it.

If you want to learn more about the Petrine authorship of Peter, I'm not your guy to talk to.

But For our purposes tonight, we're going to take the author at his word.

In verse 1, he introduces himself, look there, as Simeon Peter.

And then a few verses later, in 16 through 18, he names himself as an eyewitness of the majesty of Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration.

So, this is the Apostle Peter, once fisherman, now apostle in the early church, writing towards what is likely the very end of his life.

Who's his audience? Well, we don't know for sure, but it's likely that his audience was the same audience that we saw at the beginning of 1 Peter, a group of churches around the region of Asia Minor.

Now, why is Peter writing this book? Well, I think there's three primary reasons why he is writing.

He's writing to encourage Christians to press on into greater Christian maturity.

Number two, he's writing to warn Christians to guard against false teachers and not just their teaching, but he kind of highlights the lifestyle of false teachers to mark and avoid them.

And then finally, in his own words, he wants to stir them up by way of reminder to be sober and eager as they await the day of the Lord.

So, grow in Christian maturity, be aware of false teachers, and be eager and sober as we await the day of the Lord.

And so, with that backdrop of 2 Peter, let's look at our text for tonight and what the Holy Spirit would say to us through the apostles, starting in verse 1 and reading through verse 11.