Good morning, everyone. Thanks, TJ. Nice and loud. If I haven't met you before, my name is Andrew, and it's my great privilege. Turn it down. All right. Someone's on to it. Yep, I'm not tech savvy in the area of sound. But it's my privilege to speak, to read the word, and then to talk a little bit about it. And so, well, I was going to say, if you have your Bibles open, you're welcome to have your Bibles open, but I believe it will appear up here as well. We're going to read from 2 Peter. Chapter 1. If you weren't here a couple weeks ago, I've been... I was here a couple weeks ago and we started a series through 2 Peter and we're up to... Well, we're going to read a portion of the letter anyway. There it is. I'm going to do it slightly different this time. I'm going to start with praying. So let's pray first and then read. Please pray with me. Father, we remember that you have planted us on such a fertile hill, the hill of the gospel. We remember how Christ has died for us to purge us from the stain and guilt of our sins. We remember how he's redeemed us from all of our lawless deeds according to your goodwill. And we remember that by the power of his resurrection and according to your divine love, you have germinated new life in us. Father, we know that you've rained down your spirit upon us from above, and we pray that the fruits of righteousness will abound in us as we receive your word. Father, we pause now just to thank you. Thank you for the bread of your Word to sustain us. Thank you for the light of your Word to guide us. Thank you for the staff of your Word to rebuke and correct us. And as we've been singing, we pray with words. May your Word take full effect as we receive it now. Amen. So we're going to read from 2 Peter 1, starting from verse 10. You might think it's a bit of a strange section, but hopefully it'll make sense why I picked this. to start here. Peter writes, Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them and have been established in the truth which is present with you. I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind. For we did not follow cunning, cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. And we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned, And in their greed, they will exploit you with false words. Their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep." This is the Word of God for us. Now, can I get you to repeat a phrase after me? Repeat this phrase all together. I require regular reminder. Everyone together. I require regular reminder. That's right. Good work, everyone. Now we're going to add another action to it, just to splash things up or make it sit better. If you tap your chest twice, say, I require regular reminder. Try it, here we go, one, two, three. I require regular reminder. Good, you're all aces, well done. You may be pleased to hear that that's the first main point of a sermon that has two main points. That's the first main point. Our focus is on verses 12 to 15 of chapter one. And so far in this series, we've actually used this portion to understand the context of why Peter is writing and what his situation is when he's writing. But today I want to just slow down. We've arrived at this portion of the passage. I want to consider it. I want to apply it. And I want to really spend some time letting it sit in. Because we can learn from it. We can apply Peter's example. That's what I was going to say. Peter's example from his example in this section. We are reminded of something very important about ourselves, aren't we? and about the other people in this room, about ourselves and about others, which is, I require regular reminder. Regular reminder of the truths of the gospel that Peter has already unpacked for us earlier in the letter. I require regular reminder of how it's through the saving knowledge of Christ that we receive everything we need for life and godliness. I require regular reminder of how God has broken into my corruption and paved a way of escape for us. The content of his promises. We require regular reminder of how he has called us to partake of his divine nature through his promises, and that we need to give all diligence to increasing in the fruits and proteins of Christian living. He lists them in verses five to seven. We didn't read it now, but we were there a couple weeks ago. He's just called us to all diligence And this is a diligence that we see Peter is showing here. He's reflecting it himself. He's practicing what he's been preaching. We see it in verse 12, right in front of us. He says, You see the diligence in that statement. We see him practicing what he's preaching. In his faith, he is supplying moral excellence. He mentioned that. He called us to do that in verse 5. He's doing it himself. He goes, I think it's right, as long as I'm in this earthly dwelling, to remind you. And so he's pursuing that. He's practicing what he's preaching, because he's exercising Philadelphia. Verse 7, he says that we need to exercise brotherly kindness. He's doing that. When he hears the news from the Lord that he's about to pass away, what does he do? He doesn't just say, I'm tapping out. No. He takes up the pen and he starts writing. He starts diligently making sure that we have a reminder of these things. He's really showing that diligence himself. It's good to see he's practicing what he's been preaching. And he's doing this. Why? Because he knows that we require regular reminder of the truth. I can see four reasons that we require regular reminder that Peter has here. The first one is in verses 10. I've got to be doing this, that's right. 10 to 11. Because of what's at stake. Because of what's at stake. Entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The stakes are high. You see, it's not just a matter of what career do you want to end up in or do you want to aim for getting a house to live in for the rest of your life or anything like that. No. What's at stake is our eternal future in the kingdom of Christ. What's at stake is not just a few days away with friends, but an eternity with Christ. And it's through knowing Christ that we enter into that kingdom. That's the prize and the treasure. To neglect or to risk developing a stagnant knowledge of Christ is far too risky. And so we require regular reminder. In 2015, I moved house. I moved into Timboon, where I live now. And while I was moving house, I I don't fully recall, but I think I received a renewal notice for my car's registration. It's just in the business of moving house, and without any intent, I forgot all about the renewal notice. Out of sight, whoops, exactly. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say. Fortunately, sometime later, I was driving my car, and I was thinking, and a thought occurred to me. Registration must be due soon. I'd have to look that up. It must be coming up. So I looked it up online. You can go to VicRoads and punch in your number plate. I did that. And to my great shock, my car was unregistered. It had been unregistered for two years. It was 2017 when I remembered. It was a big shock. It was 2017. I'd been driving around in an unregistered car and I'd never gotten picked up. I'd driven to Melbourne plenty of times. I never got picked up. I discovered it myself, fortunately. But the thing is, without even trying, I managed to forget the renewal notice. I didn't forget because I didn't forget that my car needs to be registered. I didn't forget that it needs maintaining and everything. But I missed the renewal notice and I didn't think about it. I forgot about it. The risk there was a hefty fine and a lot of embarrassment by me. But how much more when it comes to our earthly, our eternity with Christ. We require a regular reminder of the truths of the gospel, lest we unintentionally fall into stagnancy, lest our hearts grow cold and depart from Christ. That's why Peter says in verse 12, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, because he knows how much is at stake. He knows how much we need it. Secondly is verse 16 to 18. We require regular reminder because it is true. It's no fairy tale. You can see how Peter's diligence here in making sure that we always have a reminder, it's driven by his vivid memories. His experiences that he saw with his own eyes. So we're not talking about myth. We're not talking about oral legends that the apostles heard about and passed on to us. We're talking about actual events that he saw and heard. When it comes to myths and oral legends, they get passed down, and who knows how many we've lost to history, we've lost to time. We don't know, because obviously we've lost them. And as someone who loves history, I don't like that. I feel sentimental about it. But in the end, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all if we forget myths or oral legends. But with this it matters, because it's true. It's true, and the truth doesn't change. The truth doesn't alter based on whether I remember it or not. we require regular reminder, not because otherwise we'll lose a nice story, or because otherwise we'll lose a good story that motivates people to live better, or because otherwise, or just because it's the truth. No, the implications of this truth remain, and they apply to us regardless of whether we remember it or not. And so, Peter is making it clear, we see how Peter knows, and we need to know that I require, we require regular reminder. And now, we all, I think, I reckon most of us here have probably gone through this experience of setting the password on your computer. You know, you set the password, you go to log in to your password, and if you forget it, the password doesn't change, it remains the truth. We can't risk forgetting it. If I forget my password, it's still the truth. And for me, it's key to running my business. It's funny how you almost always forget the passwords to those accounts that you're not regularly using, right? Or the passwords that the browser autofills for you. You just, you know, it's really convenient. It's nothing wrong with that. But when you log in with another computer or you log in with a different browser, it goes, what's the password? I don't know. It's ages ago. Yep, at the bank with your credit card, the four pin, it's easy just to pass, you know, just to wave the card. But if we're not regularly reminded of the pin, it's so easy to forget it. I require regular reminder of the truths of the gospel because they are true and they do not change based on whether we remember it. Thirdly, we require regular reminder because This is an interesting phrase that Peter uses here. It's from verse 19. He's mentioned here already the experience that's been etched into his memory. The experience which was on the Mount of Transfiguration that he's talking about here. He heard the voice from heaven confirm This is my beloved son about Jesus. This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. He understands. This utterance confirms what the prophets have been telling us from Genesis all the way through to John the Baptist in the Gospels. Jesus is who he says he is. Jesus is who the prophets are talking about. Not just because Jesus claims it, but because the voice of God, the Father from heaven confirmed it. And that means that all the claims, all the prophetic claims over the thousands of years prior have been confirmed. And somehow they've been made more sure than they already were. And so that feeds into the weightiness of the statement, I all the more require regular reminder of these things. Because these aren't unsubstantiated claims. These aren't theories. These aren't powerless, unfulfilled promises that God has made. They've been confirmed. They've been fulfilled. It somehow takes on a whole other level of legitimacy. Just when you thought scriptures weren't more sure, Peter goes, oh I saw this and now it's all the more sure. I require regular reminder. Fourthly, we require regular reminder because in chapter 2, verses 1 to 3, we discover, we are reminded that there are many false prophets still in circulation. Many false prophets still in circulation. When you look at the world out there, yes, there are many influences out there in the world, and they have a direct line into our brains, through our phones, our TVs, name it, so many ways. And we need to guard against that. Well, they offer great puffy words of emptiness, great sounding promises that are empty, and we need to guard against that by being regularly reminded of the truths of the gospel. But Peter's point here is that there are even false teachers among us in the church. Now, maybe not in this local church. I don't know. Maybe. I don't know. I don't think so. But he's saying in the church. That is, false teachers who claim to be Christians, who claim to be following Christ, but subtly and secretively are not. They're leading us away from Christ into destruction. It's rarely a blatantly obvious thing. And so, we require regular reminder of the truths that we find in Scripture. The truths about Jesus. Reminder of the call to faithful diligence. Ego be damned. Ego be damned. Well, I was reflecting on this passage. I thought of times in my past when someone was telling me about a particular aspect of the gospel that I already knew. And I responded with a, I know, I know. Sort of dismissing it. Because I know. Who are they to tell me something I already know, right? Because it hurt my ego. But if you struggle with the same kind of ego, then I invite you to repent. Repent with me. Instead, here's a description of someone who really gets it, who really comprehends the need for regular reminder. I chose to say it was a her, so let's give it. Is there anyone here named Sally? Alright, let's go with Sally. Her, Sally. Sally knows that she requires regular reminder and so it doesn't matter to her who the one is that's reminding her. It could be someone older than her. It could be someone younger than her. It could be a child. It could be someone more mature than her. Someone less mature than her. It doesn't matter. Or even a believer or unbeliever. It could be her pastor or just a layman. Anytime Sally is being reminded of even the simplest truths of Scripture, she receives it with the greatest, deepest appreciation, because she knows that she thrives in regular reminder. Peter here knows that his readers already have the truth, and Sally, even though Sally knows the truth, she still requires and craves regular reminder. Peter knows that his readers are established in the truth. Even though Sally is walking steadfastly in the truth, she still seeks out and craves regular reminder. And every time Sally is reminded of any truth, she intentionally receives it with the purpose of being stirred up. It's an important point that Peter is mentioning here. I will remind you Verse 13, to stir you up by way of reminder. And so Sally receives the reminder, receiving in a way that she purposely listening to it in order for her heart to be stirred up. She wants what she knows about God and about Jesus to keep circulating, keep bouncing around in that mind of hers until it lands in her heart. Like Peter says, the day dawns again. Not only does she receive and appreciate regular reminder when others offer it to her, but she also actively seeks it out. So we see Sally at Sunday meetings here. We see Sally at midweek meetings. We see Sally at worship with her family. We see, if we were to spy on her, which don't do that, but if we were, if we were to spy on her when she's alone, we see her privately reading scriptures, don't we? We see her privately praying. We see her waking up in the morning, and because she's human, she might often feel deflated and down and out, but we see her get up, and as she gets up and dresses, she's reminding herself of Christ's love for her, of God's purposes for her in that particular day, and of her eternal future with Christ that she's looking forward to. She knows she requires regular reminder, and she purposes and goes ahead and even reminds herself. She seeks it out. So we require regular reminder because of the truths of Christ, because of what's at stake, because it's true, because the scriptural word, the prophetic word is more sure, and because there are many false influences, even in the church, who will subtly lead us away. Now that's the aim of the first point. The POV, the point of view, is as a recipient in need of regular reminder. But point two is following Peter's example. Everyone, just ignore your manners for a moment and get that pointing finger out, and point to everyone around you and say, they require regular reminder. You may have seen it coming. They require regular reminder. Oh, come on. Everyone's got their manners on. Just a little point maybe. Or with your hand like that. They require a regular reminder. So think of the people under this roof. We all have eyes. We can see each other. Think of the people under the roof that you live under. Think of the people that you meet with every week. Think of your children. Think of your brothers, your sisters, your parents, your deacons, your elders, your pastors. Think of the person who you look up to as a Christian. Then think of the person who's just become a Christian and is filled with zeal. They all require a regular reminder. And the reasons of this second point are identical to the first. We're not going to take so long to go through it. But they're identical. The stakes are high for them. It's true. It applies to them. It doesn't matter whether they remember it or not. The truth, the implications of the truth apply to them. The scriptures have been confirmed and are relevant to them. And there are so many false prophets, false teaching out there that will subtly lead them astray. They require regular reminder. No one is immune. You might not know as much as them. Or you might. You might know way more. You might not be able to speak in as much detail as them. Or you might be. It doesn't matter. They require regular reminder. And if they are like Sally, they will receive it with great appreciation. Paul writes to the Philippians about how he rejoices in the Lord. In chapter 2 he writes this, And then a few verses later, And then chapter 3, Then in chapter 4 he writes it again. Again I will say, rejoice! Talk about repetition. But, like Peter, Paul doesn't say they already know it. Or to say it again, it'll only bore them or trouble them or risk offending them. No, he says it's not tedious. It's not troubling for me to remind you of these things. It is safe. So, don't put each other's safety at risk by assuming that they don't need reminding. Don't risk my safety. Please don't risk my safety. even though I might be standing up here, don't deprive me of the safety by assuming that I don't need reminder. And don't put your pastor's safety at risk by thinking that he doesn't need regular reminder. Actually, I know quite a few ministers, and I'm pretty sure that every one of them would find it the greatest joy to have people in the congregation always reminding them of the gospel, the truths that we believe. We read Paul's instructions to Titus. I'll just read some of it again. Titus, Paul writes, Titus, God saved us, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that having been justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. And this is the New King James, so this is how it says. This is a faithful saying. This is a true and faithful saying. It's reliable. And Titus, I want you to affirm these things constantly. Constantly. So when you look around this room, firstly as a recipient, you see all these people who will potentially serve you by affirming this gospel to you. I encourage you, make sure that you're ready to receive it and you receive it in a way like Sally. Even seek it out like Sally. And when you look around this room and see all these people, they require a regular reminder of this gospel from you. When I think about, you know, I'm not that old yet, but when I look back on my few years of life so far, one of the things I've never regretted is whenever I've spoken the gospel to someone, regularly reminded them of truths of scripture. It's not something we will ever regret. I've done it in some awkward, you know, it's been awkward at times. I've done it in some embarrassing ways at times, but it's a worthwhile task. In the present, it might seem like a pointless task, reminding that brother or sister of something that they already know, but in the end, it will prove to be some of the most productive and fruitful efforts of our lives. We require regular reminder. They require regular reminder. Peter sees it clearly, and my prayer is that we also see it as diligent in it as Peter himself is. Bow your heads and pray with me. Father, we thank you that you have so kindly for us had these things written down that we can be regular reminded. We thank you for leading Peter to do this. And we thank you for all the wonders of the gospel that we just love. And thank you for the eternity with Christ that we are looking forward to. Father, none of us want to ever forget it. And we pray that you'll forgive us of times when we weren't diligent, when we were neglectful, and when we've forgotten, and when we've failed to remind our brother or sister, failed to take that opportunity. Father, please help us to be diligent. Help us to see the need, to work out how to effectively remind each other, and to humbly receive reminder when we are given it. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.