Fellowship in the Word

Bil Gebhardt: Today, on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ.

Bil Gebhardt: Peter's goal in his job responsibility is very similar to my job responsibility.

Bil Gebhardt: My job responsibility is to remind you and remind you and remind you. That's my job. Now, I used to tell people all the time, I go, what would your general job description be? And I'd always say, well, it's a simple one. My job is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.

Bil Gebhardt: Okay? That's pretty much what my job is designed, but here, I want to talk about this idea of reminding. Now, you're going to say, don't you overdo it a little bit? Yes, a lot.

Jason Gebhardt: Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church, located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again, he shows us how God's Word meets our world.

Bil Gebhardt: One of the saddest aspects of the Church of Jesus Christ from the very first days that the Church was formed till today, is simply that the church has been inundated with false teaching.

Bil Gebhardt: It was there in the first century, and it's there today, and it's been there every single day in between. It's kind of an interesting thought when you think about it because Jesus had said to us, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

Bil Gebhardt: But logically, then if you don't know the truth, you're not going to be free, and you are going to find yourself captive by lies. That's what happens with the Apostle Peter. He is writing to a group of people that he is predicting, or already have false teachers in their midst.

Bil Gebhardt: Now, it's not unusual, virtually every church in the New Testament that receives an epistle has some false teaching in it, and either Paul or Peter or someone talks about that particular thing.

Bil Gebhardt: What's amazing, though, is over 2000 years now, we have an abundance of false teachers, and they're everywhere. And it used to be in biblical times that if a false teacher is going to affect the church, they have to come in the church, be part of the church, and then teach falsely.

Bil Gebhardt: We've solved that. We now have smartphones. We have the internet. You can listen to hundreds, if not thousands, of false teachers any moment of any day. They come to us in a whole variety of ways.

Bil Gebhardt: And what's amazing, you can have a biblically, absolutely false teaching and have enormous numerical success. There are false teachers in our country that have tens of thousands of people in their church.

Bil Gebhardt: And what they're teaching is not the truth. So Peter is going to give them and us three reminders this morning of how do we prepare ourselves to combat false teaching. So I invite you to open your Bibles to Second Peter chapter 1 and verse 12.

Bil Gebhardt: Second Peter chapter 1 and verse 12.

Bil Gebhardt: The first word of verse 12 is therefore. Now, if you've been in the church for any amount of time, I've said it ad nauseam, but when you see a therefore in the Bible, you always have to ask, what is it therefore?

Bil Gebhardt: Okay, the reason is it always looks backwards to what he has said. And so what he started with here, with the whole idea, is therefore looks back. And he's saying to them, now that I'm coming to a conclusion, are you diligent? Do you supply all diligence in your faith?

Bil Gebhardt: You see, are you all in? Is that really describe you? You are a diligent believer. And then he went on the second, we looked at last week, he said, if you are diligent, receive believer, then you should be able to demonstrate these seven virtues are growing in your life.

Bil Gebhardt: Are they growing in your life? And that was the second thing that he said. So now, he's preparing them because chapter 2 and part of 3 is all about the false teachers, but now he said, I want to give you some reminders.

Bil Gebhardt: He says, therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things. That's kind of an interesting thought when you think about it. I have always ready to remind you of these things.

Bil Gebhardt: And what I find interesting about that, he said, even though you already know them, and you have established, he said, in the truth which is present in you. Peter's goal in his job responsibility is very similar to my job responsibility.

Bil Gebhardt: My job responsibility is to remind you and remind you and remind you. That's my job. Now, I used to tell people all the time, I go, what would your general job description be? And I'd always say, well, it's a simple one. My job is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.

Bil Gebhardt: Okay? That's pretty much what my job is designed, but here, I want to talk about this idea of reminding. Now, you're going to say, don't you overdo it a little bit? Yes, a lot. I mean, there's no doubt about that. But there's good reason because I have research to back it up.

Bil Gebhardt: See, this isn't just my opinion or what the Bible just said. There's been a lot of research done in our country about this whole idea, and I'm going to read you the results of the kindest one that I found. We forget about 50% of what we hear in any speech in an hour.

Bil Gebhardt: In 1 hour, you'll, you could test yourself at lunch. In 1 hour, you'll forget 50%. In 1 day, you'll forget 70%. In 1 week, you, the average person, will forget 90 to 95% of everything they heard.

Bil Gebhardt: Now we remind, now I know this is a gifted group. We're, if they had got, if the numbers would be way different if they were dealing with our people. But the true, the truth of the matter is, is we need reminded.

Bil Gebhardt: By the way, you know this, don't you? I'm just going to go out on a limb. If you've ever been a parent, have you ever used this phrase? How many times have I told you? Right? Why is that?

Bil Gebhardt: They need reminded. Yeah, I, if I was, when I was a child, the first time I ever heard that, I think my thought would have been, well, apparently not enough because I'm right back into the same behavior I was in before. So we need, we need this idea to remind us.

Bil Gebhardt: He says in verse 13, I consider it right. And that's an interesting word because it's dikaios. And it does, can mean right, but it also means righteous. And it's kind of funny in our language. You know, right comes from righteous.

Bil Gebhardt: But when I when I ask you, what would you call righteous, you have a definition in your mind. I say, what do you call right? You see, you almost define right by what? Wrong. Something that's not wrong is right. But but Peter is saying, this is not only right, but it's also righteous.

Bil Gebhardt: He said, I am righteous as long as I am in this earthly dwelling. As long as I'm in this skenoma is the word. It's not an earthly dwelling. It's a tent. That's the word. It's the word common in that culture. And by the way, that culture still exists in the Near East.

Bil Gebhardt: There are a whole group of people who drift around the Near East and live in tents called Bedouins. And there were Bedouins at the time that Peter was writing this. But notice what Peter's view of this body is, it's just a tent.

Bil Gebhardt: It's just a tent. That's all this is. It's nothing more. This isn't real me, this is just the tent that I live in, live in. He said, so I am in this earthly tent, and he said, I am to stir you up by way of reminder.

Bil Gebhardt: Stir you up is a nice translation, but it doesn't really get the point here. This idea of it really means to awaken or arouse. So here's what Peter's really saying. It's my job for you to wake up.

Bil Gebhardt: Wow. Yeah. You have to wake up. You see, you have to, you're going to remind people, especially Christians and you're teaching the word, they have to wake up.

Bil Gebhardt: And by the way, some of you may need it right now. And and don't laugh. You're not looking at what I'm looking at. All right? I used it in the early service, but when I first started preaching, I was preaching probably 24 years old in Meridian, Pennsylvania. And I preached there every week for a year.

Bil Gebhardt: I they just asked me to come in, they didn't have a pastor, and I'm a young guy, and I started preaching. They they liked it so much. Don't ask me why, I didn't even have any idea what I was doing, but the point was, they supported me the whole time I went through seminary. But in that church, which had its pews and everything, there was a man who sat right there, right in the front pew, right there.

Bil Gebhardt: And as soon as I started my introduction, every week, every week. Now, wait, at that time, you'd go to the back of the church, go to the door, and that's when they used to all go out and shake the hand of the pastor. So this guy, this guy, you know, they're all coming out. I can't every time I think of that, I think of Dr. Hendricks, who was my mentor at Dallas.

Bil Gebhardt: He called that the glorification of the worm. And every time I So I'm standing at the door and every time he'd come out, wonderful sermon, great sermon. I I didn't have the courage. You couldn't have possibly heard it. You know, because he fell asleep. Now, you guys notice some of you can doze off, but now you have a device where you don't have to doze off.

Bil Gebhardt: Right? Yeah, your phone. You can pretend you're using your phone for the scriptures, and you can be shopping on Amazon. You see how this works. I mean, you can just use what you want because I'm He says, I love the way he said that. I am going to have to find a way to stir you up as a reminder.

Bil Gebhardt: He said, that's the way this whole thing works. And it it's kind of an interesting thing because he then says after that, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ made it clear to me.

Bil Gebhardt: Peter's going to die. And he knows he's going to die. Hold your place there and go with me to John 21. John 21.

Bil Gebhardt: You know the context of John 21, Peter's denied the Lord. The Lord shows up and sees Peter, and so he says to Peter, Peter, do you agape me? Do you love me? And Peter said, yes, Lord, I phileo you.

Bil Gebhardt: One's a friendship love, love is a total commitment. He asked him three times the same question. Now, when Jesus finishes asking this question, verse 18 shows up, and Jesus says, truly, truly. In other words, listen up, take this to the bank. When he uses it twice, it means listen up. This is important.

Bil Gebhardt: I say to you that when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you and bring you to where you do not wish to go. And that's and Peter never would have forgotten that.

Bil Gebhardt: What's that mean by that? Well, we know that Peter died. And we know from a really a pretty reliable source, Eusebius. Eusebius wrote the ecclesiastical history of the church. He had a lot of effect with Origen, one of the great church fathers. And Eusebius is the one that started that tradition that Peter was crucified upside down.

Bil Gebhardt: He would not allow the Romans to crucify him or ask him not to crucify me like the Lord was crucified. So they crucified him upside down. So that's an interesting thing, but it it has solid oral tradition. But notice, you're going to stretch out your hands and someone's going to take you where you don't want to go.

Bil Gebhardt: And so Peter says, I know that. Now, back to Peter, that's why he said, he said, look, he said, it was, he said, as also our Lord Jesus had made clear to me. He said, and I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure, you will be able to call these things to mind. I'm leaving soon.

Bil Gebhardt: The word departure is a great word. Not we we they should have translated it just the way it is because it's one of the books of the Bible, which has a Greek name for a Hebrew book, but he says Exodus there. The time of my Exodus is in hand. I'm leaving. That'd be a great way to think of it, wouldn't you?

Bil Gebhardt: The way when you leave this world, all you're doing is going through your Exodus. You know, it's a whole different kind of thing. And so Peter says, that's the way it is. So his point in these verses is really simple. He says, men die, but the word of God will be alive forever. That's the way this thing works.

Bil Gebhardt: And what I find interesting about that, we struggle with this. You see, imagine what the early church was like when you found out that each of the disciples except for John are all martyred. Paul's gone, Peter's gone. They're all gone. There's just John. What are we going to do? What are we going to do? It's always been that way. It's always been what happens when someone goes.

Bil Gebhardt: I imagine the people of London said when Spurgeon died, what are we going to do now? Always looking to the man. There was a young evangelist in the early 1900s, a tremendous evangelist, the the best evangelist America it probably had ever had, and his name was Billy Sunday. And Billy Sunday died.

Bil Gebhardt: And so the evangelical church like, now what? Billy Sunday's dead. What are we going to do? And we're still like, God said, wait, wait, I have another Billy in mind. His name's Billy Graham. Well, Billy Graham replaced Billy Sunday. You see, and I run into this all the time with people.

Bil Gebhardt: When you see somebody, men die. You see, when you think of men like Charles Stanley's gone. You see, he's gone. Adrian Rogers, who I think is maybe the finest Southern Baptist preacher I'd ever heard, is gone. John McArthur's gone. And there's a lot of other guys lining up to go. They all go. Everybody goes.

Bil Gebhardt: Men die, but the word of God stays on because those men had reminded him. You see, it wasn't those men who changed you. It was God who changed you through his word using those men. So God, you know, I don't want to be crass with this, but I, you know, I remember a lot of guys not having much confidence to speak for God when we were to seminary.

Bil Gebhardt: And one of the professors said, look, if God could speak through an ass in the Old Testament, he can speak through you. You see, but it is, it's God at work. Now, each person has a different sense of gift, but it's a fascinating thing. Secondly, he says, look, experience fades, but the word remains.

Bil Gebhardt: He goes on and wants to explain in verse 16. We did not follow cleverly devised tells. Now, what's he mean by that? He knows that's what false teachers do. Both Paul and Peter say the same thing. You know what a false teacher does? They tickle your ear. They come up with a clever, clever way of putting truth that you like to hear in your flesh.

Bil Gebhardt: And then you're you end up following them, not because it's the truth, but because it's so cleverly devised. Peter said, I didn't get my information that way. Now, the big thing that these false teachers are going to talk about in the next chapter, in chapter 3, is there is no second coming of Jesus Christ. That's not coming. He's not here, he's never coming.

Bil Gebhardt: That's just the way this works. That's what Peter's playing off of. So Peter said, look, we didn't get any device, tell. He said, we made known to you the power and the coming, here we go, of our Lord Jesus Christ. But we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. We were eyewitnesses.

Bil Gebhardt: Now, that by the way, an eyewitness, take any court of law. No matter how much circumstantial evidence you can put against somebody, it pales in comparison to an eyewitness. If you have an eyewitness that says, this is what I saw, now you have a very something He said, we were eyewitnesses. Okay? What's he mean by that? Go with me now to Luke.

Bil Gebhardt: Go with me to Luke, chapter 9. Luke chapter 9. And the reasoning behind even this this account we're going into. Jesus made the statement that to his disciples that you will see the kingdom of God. Some of you will be alive to see the kingdom of God. And a lot of the critics of the scripture said, well, the kingdom never came and they all died, so that proved he was wrong.

Bil Gebhardt: No, this is this is three men seeing the kingdom of God. They did see it, just as Jesus said. Now, he says, some eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and he went up to the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face became different, and his clothing became white and gleaming.

Bil Gebhardt: Matthew 17 describes it a little bit differently, but what's he showing here? Jesus is going to show, I'm not just the Lamb of God, I'm the Lion of Judah. I'm not just a man, I'm God incarnate. And he shows himself glorified. If you want a picture of that, read early in Revelation what he looks like. This is glorified. This the light, whiteness, everything is there. He just, he is, he's transcendent now to show who he is.

Bil Gebhardt: Now, it says, and behold, great word, idou, this is big. Two men were standing with him, and they were Moses and Elijah. You think, first of all, why them? Well, Moses represents the law. Elijah represents the prophets. What do the the Jews call the Old Testament? The law and the prophets.

Bil Gebhardt: So you have Moses and Elijah. Now, what's interesting about that, I've said it in the past, even the disciples apparently recognized Moses and Elijah. And I'm wondering, this is long before name tags. You know, I mean, how do you know that's Moses? I mean, it's just amazing, but they know. They're supernaturally given it.

Bil Gebhardt: And they said who appeared in, he says, after he says that, there was Moses and Elijah, and he says, who appearing in glory, now watch, were speaking of his departure. Guess what the word is? Exodus. That's what they were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Bil Gebhardt: They're like, you're coming back, aren't you? You're going to Jerusalem, because he just said this before the transfiguration, I'm going to suffer under the hands, I'm going to be crucified, buried, and resurrected. He goes, okay, how soon is this happening? You're coming back, glorified? You're going to ascend? Yes. He's talking to them. Now, I want you to imagine, you're on a mountain, there's three of you guys here.

Bil Gebhardt: The Lord Jesus Christ said, he, he wants to pray. Now, how would you view that as something you'd like to see? I mean, there's a lot of things we'd like to see, right? Well, I got to, I got to see Disney World, you know, I got to see that. But seeing the Lord Jesus Christ on the mountain.

Bil Gebhardt: So what do you think the posture of the disciples would be in this unbelievable, unbelievably rare event? Well, let's look.

Bil Gebhardt: Now, Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep. See, it's harder than you think, isn't it? So when you get overcome with sleep in here today, you are in good company.

Bil Gebhardt: It's hard to imagine. It tells us who we are as human beings, doesn't it? I mean, remember the night he was going to be, before he was crucified, he goes to Gethsemane and he's sweating droplets of blood. He's that intense about what's going to happen. He's crying out, Father, let this cup pass from me. And what are his disciples doing?

Bil Gebhardt: I'm tired, man. I'm really tired. Really? You're sleeping? Now he's going to have himself glorified. And apparently, there must have been some big event with it because they wake up. But when they were fully awake, I don't know what that means, but I think it's kind of funny.

Bil Gebhardt: Maybe someone supernaturally nudges them, I don't know. He said, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. They see this. This I can't even imagine. They, I don't even know if they'd recognize the glorified Christ. He's here and he's Moses and Elijah right there and they're talking to him.

Jason Gebhardt: You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the radio ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts, or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called onepdace.com. That's onepdace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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Jason Gebhardt: If you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format, that is as a sermon that Pastor Bill delivered during a Sunday morning service at Fellowship Bible Church, then you should visit our website, fbcna.org. That's fbcna.org. At our website, you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for, or you can search by title.

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