I invite you tonight to turn with me to 1st Peter chapter 1 and verse 12. 1st Peter chapter 1 and verse 12. Follow along, I'm going to read verses 12 to 15. I said 1st Peter, I meant 2nd Peter. 2nd Peter 1, 12 to 15. 1, 12 to 15. 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." Well, this afternoon, my youngest sister and my brother were over at my house for the afternoon. And as we got to talking together, one of the things we were talking about was family traits, some of the things that as a family we kind of have in common. And though this one didn't come up, I was thinking after they left that one of the traits that I think that I have in common, at least with my dad, is that we're slow learners, but good learners. So usually it takes us a little bit longer to learn something than might be typical, might be the average. But then once we've learned it, we usually have learned it. Well, when it comes to spiritual things, no matter whether we're a slow or a fast learner, there's never a point that we can say, oh, I learned that, I don't need to be reminded of it again. No matter how advanced we are in our walk with God, we are always at a point where it is good for us to be reminded of God's truth. This very clearly is the theme that runs through the verses that we have just read. The theme of remembering. Notice in verse 12, I will not be negligent to remind you. Always, always of these things. Verse 13, I think it is right as long as I am in this tent to stir you up by reminding you. Verse 15, I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease." Peter wants his audience to be reminded of these things. He wants them to be reminded always of these things. You notice that expression there in verse 12. I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things. Brothers and sisters, we need to be reminded of spiritual truth. We need to always be reminded of spiritual truth. What is the spiritual truth? What are these things that Peter has in mind as he writes these words? Well, we can go back to the beginning of the book. What are some of the things that he wants them to remember? Well, he wants them to remember the fact that they have obtained like precious faith by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus. Remember the truth of God's saving grace in Christ. We need to be reminded of the truth of God's saving grace in Christ. We never ever get over the gospel truths. The gospel is the foundation of our lives. We don't think of the gospel as something that we learned back when we got saved and now we've moved on from it. The gospel undergirds everything. It is the foundation of our Christian lives. And it's not like we move on from the gospel, but we drill deeper into the gospel. The gospel takes root in us and flourishes. We need to remember the truth of God's saving grace in Christ. We need to remember the truth of God's great glory. Verse three speaks of God's divine power. Verse two speaks of the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ our Lord and Jesus our Lord. We need to always be reminded of God's greatness. We need to always be reminded of who God is. We need to be driven further and further into our knowledge of God, both in terms of like doctrinal facts, but also practical experience as we grow to know Him in the experiences of life. We need to be reminded of the truth of God's great and precious promises. Years back in the ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, He put together a book called Faith's Checkbook. And basically what it was, was a list, page by page, of promises that are given in the scripture. That's why he called it Faith's Checkbook. Here's God's checks written to us. Here are God's promises to us. How we need to be reminded of God's promises. The way is difficult, the road seems long, and we need to be reminded of promises like, I will never leave you or forsake you. We need to be reminded of promises like, He is working all things together for good. We need to be reminded of promises like, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again to receive you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also. a reminder of these things. We need to be reminded of God's provision for our growth. That God has not left us on our own to try to figure out how to grow in the Christian life. But God is with us and His Spirit is at work in us. This is of course a very important point that Peter makes in verses 2-4. His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. We need to be reminded of that. We need to be reminded that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. And we need to be reminded very simply of the need for diligent growth. This is what dominated, of course, verses 5 to 11, that we are to be growing in our Christian life. We need these reminders. We need to have these things continually brought back to our memory. Why do we need this? Well, let me divide this passage, if I would, into two main points. First of all, We must be reminded of spiritual truth. That's the first very basic point. We must be reminded of spiritual truth. The second major point is we must be committed to spiritual truth. We must be reminded of spiritual truth and we must be committed to spiritual truth. So let's think first of all about this. We must be reminded of spiritual truth. As Peter tells us here, it is important that we be reminded often, even continually, of spiritual truths. We need to be reminded of these truths that are listed earlier. The truth of God's saving grace in Christ. The truth of God's great glory. The truth of God's great and precious promises. The truth of God's provision for growth. The truth of our need for diligent growth. We need to be reminded of these things constantly. Why do we need this reminder? Well, first, we need this reminder because even those who are established in the truth can forget. Look at it with me in the text. Verse 12, 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. Now, sometimes when you speak with your child and you are instructing them to do something, and you've already instructed them before, or you're instructing a student to do something, you've already instructed them before, they'll say something like, I know. And what they're saying, of course, is you told me that already. I have that down. Notice here that Peter is speaking to people who have it down. Look at who he's talking to. He says, though you know and are established in the present truth. Even those who are established in the truth can forget. I think we need to remember Paul's words, therefore, to him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall." We might think, well, I have made it through the entire Grounded in the Faith book. I did all the questions in that book. I have read through the Bible whatever number of times. I can discuss with you the different branches of theology. You still need to be reminded. you still need to be reminded. I think we recognize this if we sing from, or when we sing from the heart, hymns like, sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life. Even though we are established in the present truth, we need to be reminded because even those who are established in the truth can forget. How is it that someone who is established in the truth can forget? Well, it's possible because we live in an age of deception. This is certainly the case in our day, and it was certainly in the case of Peter's day. In fact, as we looked at this book in an overview sense, we said that this book really has the theme of Christian living or faithful living in an age of deception. It's not going to be very long until Peter is going to get to chapter two, verse one, and he's going to say this, but there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them and bring on themselves swift destruction. We need to be reminded of this truth because even those who are establishing the truth can forget because we live in an age of deception. Oh friends, not everyone that you watch on YouTube or that you find on the religious channel is worth hearing. You have to be discerning. We talked about this this morning, didn't we? Where Jesus told the Sadducees, you err because you don't know the scriptures or the power of God. We have to be careful, we have to be discerning. Just because someone says some good things does not necessarily mean that on the whole they are a good teacher. Like, Jesus gave the warning, I mentioned it again, I mentioned it this morning, that false prophets would come. They look like sheep on the outside. but the ravenous wolves on the inside. Like the false teachers don't show up in a wolf suit. They don't show up in their true colors, do they? I mean, even Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, no less his ministers. And they'll come, and they will say the right things, or some of the right things. But be careful, friends. Are they grounded in the scripture? Are they relentless in trying to understand what the scripture means? Are they absolutely centered upon God? Do they hold Christ in reverence? Do they see themselves as needy and not worthy? Friends, these are important questions to ask. We need this reminder. We need to be reminded of spiritual truth because even those who are established in the truth can forget and we can forget because we live in an age of deception. It's also because we live in an age of distortion. Sometimes it's not just outright deception. Sometimes it's a little twisting of the truth. Truth can be twisted. We need to be on guard against that. Peter, later in this very same book, is going to warn his readers. He's gonna say in chapter three, verse 16, that Paul writes some things and speaks some things in his epistles, which are hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction as they do also the rest of the scriptures. You know, when you're trying to sleep in on a Saturday and those people knock on the door and they wanna talk to you about end times, have you ever thought about God's kingdom or some such question? They come with their literature, they come with their Bible, I put that in air quotes, and what they have done, they are teaching deception. But one of the main ways they're doing that is by twisting the scriptures. They're distorting the scriptures. How else could a person honestly read the word of God and come to the conclusion that Jesus is not God in the flesh? They twist the scriptures. They'll say, well, you know, in John chapter 17, Jesus said that he prayed to God. And he said that the father was the only true God. Well, did you expect that if God were to become a man and walk among us, that he would be an atheist? Of course he's going to pray. Of course he's going to believe that God is a true God. But we live in an age of distortion where people take the truth and twist it. Not every kind of forgetfulness is the same. We also live in an age of distraction, don't we? Driving along, right? And you're like, oh, I missed my exit. I forgot I was supposed to turn here. Why is that? Well, because you're distracted. What can happen in terms of a highway drive can also happen spiritually. where our minds get focused on other things. And it's not like we deny the things or those things are completely absent from our memory. It's just that we're thinking about other things instead. And those truths that we ought to be remembering fade to the background. We need to be reminded because even those who are established in the truth can forget because we live in an age of distraction. How many distractions are available to us now, right? How many things can distract us from what really matters and what's really true? We are constantly connected to the internet. We walk around with a phone on our hip, jump in the car and there's the radio, there's all the billboards. We get home, there's television, if you have cable. Otherwise, there's Netflix, there's Amazon Prime Video, and you know, Disney Plus, I mean all of these things are multiplying, right? And I'm not saying that all of those things are wrong in and of themselves, but we have to keep things in their proportion. It's possible that we can be distracted from the truth. And we live in an age where we can actually forget. We can actually lose what is true. I spoke about this when we went through Mark chapter 4, but I want to remind you of this. Turn back with me to Mark chapter 4, just so you see it. Mark chapter 4, verses 24 and 25. These are very serious words that Jesus speaks to us. Mark 4, 24 and 25. Then he said to them, take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you. And to you who hear, more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. What is Jesus teaching here? He's teaching us that we have to be careful how we hear What we put into hearing, what we put into Jesus is what we get out of Him. If we do not hear as we ought, if we do not use that measure to try to get all we can to learn from Him, we can lose what we have. That's a hard thing for us to think about. You might think, I have been a Christian for this many years. I could lose my spiritual progress? Yes. We drift. We fail to give God his due. We fail to invest our lives in Christ and in eternity. We can. We need to be reminded of spiritual truth. We need this because even those who are established in the truth can forget. But second, we need this reminder. We need to be reminded because those who are established in the truth can forget, but we need this reminder because spiritual truth is the means of motivation. It's the means of getting us to do what we are supposed to do. Look at it with me in verse 13. Yes, I think it is right as long as I am in this tent to stir you up by reminding you. Spiritual truth should stir us up, should motivate us, should move us. It should move us to praise. We read a book like this or any of the books and we see the greatness of God, the glory of Christ, it should move us to praise God. If we are a people who are not praising, the problem is more than likely we're not meditating or remembering that spiritual truth that would motivate us to praise. We need the spiritual truth to motivate us to praise. We need the spiritual truth to motivate us to growth. This is very immediate, right in the very passage. If we're not growing, so often it is because we are not remembering the truth that should be stirring us up to grow. We forget that God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. We forget that this is a direct command of Christ. We forget that growth prevents barrenness in our life. We forget that growth brings assurance. We forget that growth is the path to glory. We forget these things. And so growth is not that important to us. The spiritual truth is a means of motivation to praise. It's a means of motivation to growth. It's a means of motivation to service. And we would serve God and others as we see the truth. Move us to watchfulness. To be on guard against spiritual error, both in our lives and against the error that might influence us from without. So often people who have no motivation for obedience are people who are infrequent when it comes to the intake of God's Word. If you're not taking in God's Word in the public worship, if you're not taking in God's Word in private worship, or if in public worship and in private worship you are distracted and unfocused Is it no wonder that you're not motivated to do what is right and be what is right? Oh friends, we must be reminded of spiritual truth because spiritual truth is the means of motivation. I wonder what kind of a church we would be if everyone seriously honestly, humbly, would take the time to read God's word and meditate on it. If people would honestly, humbly, diligently, let the word of Christ dwell in them richly in all wisdom and knowledge, what kind of a people would we be? See, God has not given us truth just to inform us, has he? God has not just given truth to us to entertain us. God has given truth, yes, to inform us, but more to transform us. If we see truth as just gathering more and more facts, maybe we can do better on the next Thanksgiving quiz that Pastor Jesse puts out. the Thanksgiving meal, get a better prize next time. If that's all that truth means to us, are we not missing the point? This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. You shall meditate there in day and night. Why? So you can do better in the Bible quiz. No, no. At the end of the day, it's about obedience. that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein. So friends, we must be reminded of spiritual truth. And saying, hey, I'm established in the truth now, so I'm okay. No, friends, even those who are established in the truth can forget. And truth is a means of motivation. Anchor into the truth. Be reminded often of the truth. Don't be like that child that would say, Oh, I know. I know that already. I know it. No. Be like that song we sing. Sing them over again to me. Wonderful words of life. We must be reminded of spiritual truth. But second, We must be committed to spiritual truth. We need to be reminded of spiritual truth, because even those who are established in the truth can forget. And because spiritual truth is a means of motivation, but we must be committed to spiritual truth. This is an age of very little commitment, is it not? Relationships. interpersonal, back and forth, marriages. And sadly, in many people's spiritual lives, there's also a lack of commitment. But the Christian is to stand committed to the truth of God. And Peter gives us a wonderful example of this in these words. Of course, this is not just Peter's example or even Peter's words, here only that tell us this truth. All the way back in Joshua, at the end of the book, we looked at this passage, Joshua 22 verse five, but take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses, a servant of the Lord commanded you to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him. Is that not a term of commitment? And to serve him, with all your heart and all your soul. Paul would tell the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15, one, moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel, which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand by which also you are saved. If you hold fast that word, which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. As we have received the Gospel, we are saved through that Gospel only if we hold fast to it. It is not our holding fast to it that saves us, but it is our holding fast to it that reveals that we really are saved. If a person turns away from the gospel, dismisses the gospel, ditches the gospel, turns to another gospel, that is an evidence that that person is not saved. Don't think that that person will get to heaven just because they prayed a prayer when they were six years old. This is the truth of God's word by which you are saved if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain. Friends, we must be committed to spiritual truth. When it comes to the gospel, when it comes to the fundamental truths of God's word, we must have this tenacity. I will not let go. The author of Hebrews would echo this in Hebrews 10 verse 23. Let us hold fast. the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Hold fast, don't turn aside, don't turn to another gospel, don't waver in your commitment to Christ, don't waver in your commitment to his truth, hold fast, be steadfast. And this is the way that Peter will actually end this very book under the Holy Spirit's inspiration. This is what he'll say. 2 Peter 3, 17 and 18. You, therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, 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. Don't fall away. Remain committed to the truth. Beware because false teachers are coming and you need to know this in advance, Peter says, lest you fall from your own steadfastness, lest you end up in the error of the wicked. Friends, we must not only be reminded of spiritual truth, we must be committed to spiritual truth. And I think Peter gives us an incredible example in this passage. Let me just read this section again, because I think it stands out to us by example. This is Peter, for this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, for 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. What is he saying, as long as I'm in my tent? He's talking about his body. This. He says, as long as I am in the flesh, as long as I am here in body, as long as I live. Keep reading, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent. I must leave this body. 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." You see the commitment shine forth? He says, I wanna make sure that as long as I'm living, I'm constantly reminding you. And I wanna make sure that even after I'm gone, you have a reminder of this truth. Peter's own steadfastness is revealed, I think, in this passage in two ways, at least, two ways. It's revealed in his proclamation. That is, Peter's love for and commitment to the truth of the gospel overflowed into his words. It overflowed into his speech. You can tell a lot about what a person really loves by what they talk about. A person may say, oh, I love Jesus, but if all they talk about is sports, Maybe they love sports more than Jesus. I remember years back when I was teaching in Barrie, there was one kid that loved his video games. It was one of these youngsters. And every time this kid came up to one of us staff, we knew that he was going to start talking about some video game. Something we had no clue that he was talking about, but he would go on and on and on talking about these video games. I could tell that he loved those video games, because that's what he talked about. We could tell by reading Peter's words here that he loves Jesus and he loves the truth. Malachi 3 and 16 says, than those who feared the Lord spoke to one another and the Lord listened and heard them." How is that? Those who feared the Lord spoke to one another. It's not saying those who feared the Lord, the Lord spoke to one another about the weather. That's not the meaning here. The meaning is their fear of God overflowed into their conversation with one another. They talked about more than just The earthly things. They talked about spiritual, heavenly things. The fear of God was revealed in their speech. And how did God respond? The Lord listened and heard them, so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name. Are we committed to the truth? Does that commitment to the truth reveal itself in the way that we speak? that we would positively proclaim the truth, negatively we would stand against error, ultimately we would give glory to Christ, is that something on our tongue? Peter's commitment to the truth was revealed in his proclamation, but I think that Peter's commitment to the truth was revealed also in his perseverance. We read this, Peter, is intent on holding fast to the truth and living for that truth and communicating that truth to the very end. Now, Peter is kind of in an unusual spot compared to us. Peter is in a similar spot to the Apostle Paul. These are two men that God apparently revealed when they were gonna die. to them. Sometimes I wonder what would be like if you knew exactly when you're gonna die. Apparently there was a recent horror movie along those lines that you download an app and this app tells you how many days you have left until you die. I didn't see the movie, I have no idea if it was even worth watching, but imagine if you're in that spot and you know exactly when you're going to die. That's what Peter That's what position Peter was in. And Peter's commitment is to go hard to the very end. To keep on running with everything that he has right to the very end. Peter's not gonna coast. He's not gonna be like, oh, I'm gonna die? The Lord's revealed to me I'm gonna die two weeks from today. I don't know exactly how soon. He said shortly I must put off my tent. The Lord's revealed it to me. I don't know, the Lord told him he had a month left, two months left, I don't know. He didn't say, well, you know what, I've really been working hard on this Christianity thing. I've really been putting in a lot of time on this. You know what, I'm just gonna live it up now. Because there's a lot of things I've been denying myself over the years. I'm just gonna live it up now. He doesn't do that. He is so committed to the truth that he is gonna run as hard as he can right to the end. He's gonna reach that finish line in the same spirit as the Apostle Paul, who also was told it would appear when he was going to die. And Paul would say in 2 Timothy 4, verses 6 and 7, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. I kept running. I kept fighting to the very end. I heard before a statement, I think it's wise, a true test of character is what it takes to stop you. How committed are we to the truth? We must be reminded of spiritual truth and we must be committed to spiritual truth. May we never forget and may we never give in. The truth of God is worth living and dying for. Some of you know the name John Newton, author of the hymn Amazing Grace. And God saved him out of a wicked life as a slave trader and even a wretch among wretches. And God put him into the ministry. Toward the end of Newton's life, a man named William Jay came and visited him. William Jay was a nonconformist minister. Newton was an Anglican minister, but they had great fellowship. And it was very close to the end of Newton's life, and Newton was barely able to speak. But Newton said this, my memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior. Truth that saved Newton. Truth that stirred Newton. And truth that sustained Newton to the very end. Brothers and sisters, so it will be with you As you are reminded of the truth, and as you hold fast to the truth, that truth will stir you and that truth will sustain you to the very end. Jesus is a great Savior. Let us always be reminded of this. Whatever else we might forget, we are great sinners, but Christ is a great Savior. Amen.