What to Remember With 30 Seconds to Live

If you had 30 seconds to live, what would matter most? That sobering question was more than theoretical for first-century believers. Facing persecution, exile, and even martyrdom, Christians in Peter’s day needed reminders that their faith was not in vain. In this episode of Wisdom for the Heart, Stephen Davey opens Second Peter 1:1b to reveal three timeless anchors for the believer. You’ll see that saving faith in Christ is a gift, not an achievement; that salvation is a priceless treasure shared equally by every Christian; and that Jesus Christ is both God and Savior. These truths gave early believers the courage to stand firm in the face of death, and they provide the same strength for you today. When life is stripped down to its essentials, the only things that matter are the testimony of saving faith, the treasure of eternal citizenship, and the truth of Christ’s deity and redemption. Discover why Peter’s message is still exactly what you need when the clock is ticking.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:27

Well, this afternoon thousands of students are going to gather in the Arizona Cardinals Stadium for the memorial service for Charlie Kirk. It seats around 65,000 people. I've been informed they've already booked another arena for another 20,000 people, and millions of people, no doubt, are going to watch At 2 pm Eastern Standard Time. I'll be one of them. Until this past week, I didn't know much of anything about this young man. I knew he was a conservative political activist, but that was about it.

Speaker 1 1:06

I don't watch podcasts. I don't know how. I'm not a subscriber to news feeds. I don't read blogs. When somebody tells me that something has gone viral, I think of an epidemic that's just broken out again. Something has gone viral. I think of an epidemic that's just broken out again.

Speaker 1 1:29

I'm very grateful for people in our body, in fact people from other parts of the country that reached out to me and told me about his testimony for Christ. I learned, in fact, that he was being mentored by Frank Turek, who's a priest for me, a couple of times here at our church. So this past week, my wife and I, for the first time ever in our lives, watched YouTube clips. We had a friend help us get that up on the smart TV, which is smarter than I am. I don't know how to turn it off, but at any rate we watched him answer questions with just great lucidity and clarity and ultimately pointed people to the truth of God's word. And it didn't take long to discover that Charlie was more than a conservative political activist. He was a courageous ambassador for Jesus Christ. Here's somebody who didn't die because of their political activism or their conservative stand. He died because of his biblical, moral stand for the truth of God, and people and we watched enough clips hated him because of his stand. People couldn't answer him, they couldn't cancel him they would have if they could have and they couldn't stop tens of thousands of young people from following him, and so one of his opponents killed him for his stand.

Speaker 1 3:11

Kevin Bowder, who is a professor at Central Seminary in Minneapolis, wrote up an article and it was sent to me this week. I found it very helpful. I wanted to share some of it with you just briefly. He asked the question what do Christians do about this? What do we remember from this in the days ahead? And I've sort of summarized down to the bare essentials his comments.

Speaker 1 3:35

First, this is a reminder that we occupy a battlefield of ideology. Jesus promised that we'll be slandered, some will lose their platform, some will lose their jobs, some will lose their freedom and some, like Charlie, will lose their lives. On this battlefield for truth, we have been called to and should expect to suffer insult and injury 2 Timothy 3.12. Second, we need to know the truth and speak it with boldness. Let's articulate biblical answers to the moral corruption of our culture. The Apostle Paul calls us to expose the unfruitful works of darkness Ephesians 5.11. And even if it costs us friends, jobs, personal welfare, we must clearly state the only way of salvation is through Christ.

Speaker 1 4:36

Third, we need to act with graciousness and patience. That's one of the things that impressed me as I watched clip after clip. Our biblical convictions should not turn us into angry people or anxious people. We should listen even to those who are wrong and provide answers. Provide answers. Fourth, we need to be reasonable, even when our world is unreasonable, as it certainly is. If you take a public stand for righteousness, prepare to have your inbox flooded with angry emails. Prepare for complaints to be made to your employer, prepare for people to use the legal system to make you pay and to shut you up. Finally, we need to love our enemies enough to pray for them and to give the gospel to them as persuasively as we can. I would add to that one comment that we need to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ who regularly experience persecution around our world today.

What Christians Do About Persecution

Speaker 1 5:51

This past week, on average 100 people around our world, including Charlie, were murdered, martyred for their stand for Christ. Hundreds of believers in sub-Saharan Africa have died in the last 24 months. Suicide bombers have entered churches in Asia, killing worshipers. Just a few weeks ago, an evangelist in India was openly stabbed to death for preaching the gospel Around our world, and uniquely in our country. Now, the only way to silence the testimony of a believer might be to kill them, and that would mean beloved. Things haven't changed. We might not be used to it, but it hasn't changed for 2,000 years.

Speaker 1 6:58

The very first martyr of the church was stoned to death after he preached his one and only sermon, stephen, in Acts, chapter 7. Let me add this I'm adding more thoughts here, but I'm going to stop here in a minute. But let me add this In the providence of God, attacks against his followers have a way of increasing the number of followers. Attacking Christianity has a way of spreading Christianity, and attacks can end up backfiring. And here's the case in point From what I learned this week. Before Charlie Kirk's death, his organization, turning Point USA, had 3,500 chapters meeting poured in to his organization. I mean, how's that Testimony now expanding 10 times greater in the last 10 days? It reminds me of what Tertullian, the church leader, said in the second century the blood of the martyr is the seed of the church. When it is spilled, it has a way of spreading the gospel.

Speaker 1 8:13

It strikes me with freshness today, as I bring this text to you, that Peter is writing believers who have experienced the martyrdom of family and friends. It's fresh on their hearts. Persecution is rising. Christianity is open season. Peter writes this second letter. The apostle Paul has more than likely only recently been beheaded by the government. We don't know if Peter's hiding writing this letter or in prison. Many scholars believe he's in prison. His death is weeks away from the writing of this letter, from the writing of this letter, by the time believers in what is now modern-day Turkey receive this second epistle.

Speaker 1 9:10

Christians are despised by their culture. In fact, peter's going to describe the Christian experience with words like beaten, reviled, exiled, insulted, suffering, harmed, tested by fire and more. I mean who's going to sign up for that? That's your advertisement for Christianity. For Christianity, you're going to be insulted, beaten, reviled, exiled, tested, as it were, by fire. Well, let me take you back to this text. If you have your Bibles, turn to 2, peter.

Martyrdom Throughout Church History

Speaker 1 10:03

We've begun our exposition here and we are going to cover the last half of the first verse today, so we're going to speed up, as you can tell. Now Peter is giving them several reminders that are going to encourage them. On this battlefield of ideology, we're not fighting, we're not firing back. By the way, our weapons are not of this earth. They are more powerful. They save both body and soul. Here's reminders to give them encouragement. Let me give you two or three of them. First of all, peter wants them to remember that they all share the same testimony. Now let's pick up where we left off middle part of verse 1.

Speaker 1 10:45

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing as ours the word, by the way, for faith can refer to the body of doctrinal truth, the faith that we hold to, or, depending on context, it could be talking about your personal faith, which brings you salvation through faith in Christ, an active faith in the person of Christ, and that's the context here. It refers to salvation. In fact, you might write next to the word faith here in the margin, the word saving faith. This is a reference to saving faith, and that's an important distinction, because everybody on the planet exercises faith. We do it every day. We do it in more ways than we could ever imagine. Every time you eat out if you eat out today, you're placing your faith in that kitchen back there and that chef and whether or not your waiter washed his hands. Every time you get into your car, you're going to exercise faith in the vehicle and you're going to exercise faith that all those other drivers actually passed driver's ed. You're placing faith in them. Every time you put money in the bank, you're exercising faith in their fiduciary duty, faith in their fiduciary duty honesty. Whenever you board an airplane, you're placing your faith in that vehicle and that pilot and co-pilot. Every time you pick up a prescription, you're exercising faith that that pharmacist mixed it correctly, put the right thing in that little bottle and you're at the pharmacy because you're exercising faith that your physician correctly diagnosed you and told you you needed. That.

Speaker 1 12:33

Faith, one author said, is what makes human relationships and human transactions possible, and that's the point that I want to make. That faith that I just described has everything to do with life on earth. It's not going to take you from earth to heaven. That will take saving faith. That's the kind of faith he's referring, faith that saves. And the key, by the way, to saving faith is not the amount, it's the object. The object is Christ alone.

Speaker 1 13:15

Now, by the way, notice further that Peter doesn't say you earned it, you earned this faith. He doesn't say you attained it. Notice, he says you obtained it. That word refers to the casting of a lot, it refers to an allotment, it refers to a gift. You've been given this faith as a gift, which you then act upon and turn in faith to Christ. So Peter's reminding these believers that, even though the world might slander them and persecute them and insult them, the world cannot take away from them what is going to matter most, and especially, if you've got 30 seconds to live, that you have saving faith, that Jesus, like these two young men in the baptismal thing, that Jesus is the one in whom they've placed their faith to forgive their sin and to give them purpose and peace in life. Now he takes us to the next encouraging reminder. Secondly, he wants us to remember that we possess the same treasure. Notice again verse 1.

Speaker 1 14:28

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing as ours. Now, that doesn't mean a lot to us, but it sure did to them. So stop for a moment. These are stunning words of encouragement. They are on equal ground with the antecedent, which is the apostle. They are on equal ground with God as the apostles.

Peter's Encouragement to Persecuted Believers

Speaker 1 14:50

Really Now, these early Christians especially would have been wondering. They probably assumed that Jesus would never be as interested in them as he was in his apostles. That's a special class, personally trained, personally commissioned, personally empowered. They could heal the sick and raise the dead. They had seen him with their own eyes resurrected. They had talked personally with him. The ordinary believer back here in modern-day Turkey would have been thinking you know, god has his eye on apostles, on church leaders, but not on me. And besides, we're suffering. Obviously we've fallen off the radar. God probably doesn't even know or care. Nothing could be further from the truth. To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing as ours, the apostles, equal value. You could render it.

Speaker 1 16:06

The phrase is one word in the original language and it carries the idea of being precious. Your translation might read of like precious faith. It's equally valuable, equally precious. Peter uses that word family often in his letters. He refers to Jesus Christ three times as precious. He refers to the blood of Christ as the precious blood. He refers to trials as precious, as valuable. He refers to the precious promises of God, and now he refers to the precious promises of God. And now he refers to our salvation as precious, of priceless value.

Speaker 1 16:53

We use that word, we talk about precious gems. Why? Well, they're valuable, cost a lot of money and they're rare. That's why they're rare. They're not lying on top of the ground, so they're much more valuable than the gravel that seems to grow in my house as gravel parking our cars on diamonds. But we don't, do we? Now there's another use of this word I want to point out of equal value, equally precious treasure.

Speaker 1 17:35

And it was used for immigrants, immigrants who had been granted citizenship in a new country and were now equal in every way. Their status is equally valuable to those who are native born. So this is the illustration of Peter Every Christian is equally privileged as a citizen of a country to which they have immigrated, citizen of a country to which they have immigrated because they've got a visa and it's been stamped faith in Christ, and it's as if now they have been indeed born into that country, citizens of heaven. So he's writing to people that have lost their homes, moved to a different country. You've got a home, you've got a home country If you have a visa stamped with faith in Christ alone. Now, third, remember. Peter wants them to remember you believe the same truth Again.

The Deity of Christ

Speaker 1 18:53

Peter writes here, at the end of verse one, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours. How, how'd you obtain that? By the righteousness of our God and Savior, jesus Christ. Now, many times the word righteousness is shown as an attribute of God, the Father. What's interesting here is this is the only place in the New Testament where that attribute is given to Jesus Christ, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Now, that doesn't mean the New Testament is ever in doubt of the perfected righteousness of Christ, but Peter is leading us somewhere here and it's going to take us by the way out into deep water. So hang on to your seat cushion, it's a flotation device. Okay, here we go. Look at it again. To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior, jesus Christ. That's one of the clearest statements on the deity of Christ you're going to find in Scripture. You ought to underline it, memorize it, refer back to it. Peter just put Jesus Christ on the same level as God. He just called him God.

Speaker 1 20:08

Now I don't want to bore you with grammar, but there's only one article with these two nouns God, Savior. One article, two nouns, and they both apply to the same person, jesus Christ. So he's grounding these suffering believers in this truth. Why? Because this is the truth. They're going to die for Everybody out there, by the way, be talking that they're going to believe in some kind of God, even if it's themselves. You know maybe more than one God, a lot of gods out there. He's writing in a generation where they had the Pantheon, they had all these gods and goddesses. Nobody's going to die for that out there. Yeah, I believe there's some kind of cosmic being Big deal, but if you say that Jesus Christ is God, oh now you are really out to lunch, dogmatic, exclusive, prejudiced, close-minded. You might die for that. You might lose your job for that. You might lose your job for that. He wants them to be grounded that, yes indeed, jesus is both deity and deliverer. By the way, the apostle Paul made the same declaration, romans 9.5. You might write that in the margin of your Bible next to this text Romans 9.5. Christ Christos, the Messiah is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Speaker 1 21:51

See that confession of faith is something to stand upon. You might remember when Thomas you know he missed the first meeting in the upper room after Jesus rose from the dead. He missed the second meeting. He said I'm not going to believe unless I can see, unless I can inspect the wounds which he had been told evidently had been retained by Jesus in his glorified body as eternal memorials, reminders of his sacrifice for us, which is indeed a wonderful thought. So Jesus appears again and we're never told Thomas actually reached forward, even though Jesus invited him to inspect his wounds. What we are told is what he did do John 20, 28. He fell to his knees and he said to Jesus, my Lord and my God. And Jesus didn't say Wait a second, thomas, you're going way too far. He accepted that worship. If you have 30 seconds to live, you better get this truth right. You need to declare this first century confession. It hasn't changed all the way to the 21st century confession. Jesus is my Lord and my God.

Speaker 1 23:07

Now Peter's going to take us a little further out in the water. He's going to get a little deeper because he's introducing to us the mystery of the Trinity, the triune God, not three gods, but one God in three persons. Peter calls Jesus here God and Savior in three persons. Peter calls Jesus here God and Savior. Now notice verse 2. Let me just read it. We'll deal with it more later, but here's what he says May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus, our Lord. So in that text he turns around and distinguishes Jesus and God as separate persons. You could fill in the blanks in your mind. This is God, the Father, and the mystery only deepens Now.

Speaker 1 24:01

If you're older in the faith, you probably remember reading in John, chapter 10, verse 30, where Jesus said I and the Father are one, said I and the Father are one. Now he didn't say I and the Father are identical. He didn't say I and the Father are the same person. He said I and wife becoming one flesh, yet retaining distinct identities. So here, in the space of two verses, peter informs us that Jesus is God, yet at the same time Jesus is a distinct person within the Godhead.

Understanding the Trinity

Speaker 1 24:53

Now, skeptics out there are going to be quick to point out the word Trinity doesn't appear in the Bible. They've evidently read the Bible and they know that. Well, just tell them. You're right, that's true, it doesn't appear. It's a theological term to describe God. By the way, a lot of words don't appear in the Bible that we believe. The word sovereignty doesn't appear as it relates to God, but we know that God is completely sovereign. The words omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent never appear in Scripture All-knowing, all-powerful, always present at all times. They are theological terms to describe what the Bible is revealing about God. We wouldn't know about him to that depth without this revelation. While we're at it, by the way, the word missionary doesn't appear in the Bible either, but that's who you and I are on mission with the gospel. So the word Trinity is simply a theological term to summarize the Bible's description revelation of the eternal existence, the perfect union of these distinct persons God the Father, god the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And we know that because the Bible talks about all three. In fact, alistair McGrath, an Oxford theologian, I think, put it well when he wrote the doctrine of the Trinity was not invented by some church council. It was uncovered. It wasn't the decision of a church council. It was simply delineated by church councils.

Speaker 1 26:41

The truth of the Trinity was not pulled out of thin air. It was pulled from the revelation of God through his word. So you have God the Father, god the Son and God the Holy Spirit. They're not the same divine person with three different names or three different masks or three different outfits, three different forms. They're three distinct persons within the Godhead and all three have existed from eternity past. One of them took on flesh in the plan of God so that we could be saved. And, by the way, all three are equal in the Bible, which is why, even though they have subordinate functions, you have Jesus obeying the will of the Father. You have the Spirit exalting the Son. That's their function. But all three are called eternal in the Bible. All three are called holy. All three are called the truth. All three are referred to as love. In essence, all three were involved in creation. All three are called the source of life. All three invite welcome worship. Again, the truth of the Trinity isn't spelled out in a few verses. It can't be. It defies, frankly, our comprehension.

Speaker 1 28:22

Augustine, you may have heard this anecdote. He's walking along the shoreline and struggling. He's actually thinking about the truth of the Trinity. He's walking along the shoreline and struggling. He's actually thinking about the truth of the Trinity. And on that shore is a little boy who dug a hole in the sandy beach and he's taking his little buck and he's running back and forth from the sea and he's pouring the water into that hole. Augustine comes up and he asks him what he's doing. And the boy says I am pouring the sea into my little hole here. And Augustine immediately got the point. And so do we.

Speaker 1 28:56

I think CS Lewis responded really well to the mystery of the Trinity. He wrote this in Mere Christianity. If Christianity were something we were making up, we would make it easier. Isn't that good? I mean, why come up with something like the Trinity? We, he goes on. We can't compete with people who are inventing religions out there. How can we? We are dealing with facts. Anyone can be simple if he doesn't have any facts to bother with Good.

Speaker 1 29:32

This is the complexity of God, who is described in these terms. I like what that homespun evangelist of old, that was a Lord who said I'm reading Vance Hefner these days just for devotional joy. He said I don't understand electricity, but I'm not going to sit around in the dark until I figure it out. You and I can't begin to understand all the complexity and richness of this noun that is attached to Jesus Christ God, to Jesus Christ God. But here's a noun that we can understand. In fact, we've got to experience it or we're lost forever.

Speaker 1 30:27

Go back to what he writes at the end of verse one To those who've obtained a faith of equal standing with ours. Go back to what he writes at the end of verse 1. To those who've obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God. And here it is Savior, jesus Christ. So that term brings all that deep theology down to where you and I live. And let me tell you, if you have only 30 seconds to live, this term is the difference between heaven and hell, forgiveness and guilt.

Speaker 1 30:59

Savior is actually a rare word in the New Testament. It only appears 16 times. It's interesting that nearly half of them are given as a title by Peter. He loves this title for his Lord. Now, everybody to whom Peter's writing would know immediately what the word means. It means to deliver from trouble. It means to be rescued to safety. In Peter's day, a physician would be called a savior. They'd use the title Soter If they help someone get past a disease or be healed. A victorious general would be called Soter, savior, who led the people out of defeat. He's the victorious leading us in victory over sin, death, the grave, satan, hell. It was common, in fact.

Jesus as Savior: What Matters Most

Speaker 1 32:02

A year after Nero's death, you have all these men fighting for the throne and they come and go months at a time. But about a year and a half after Nero dies, about the time they're reading this letter, the Roman emperor would be a man named Vespasian, and Vespasian declared himself to be God, theos and Savior soter. He viewed himself as the Savior of mankind. Caesars would mint coins declaring they're the Savior of mankind, god and Savior. Christians will die because they will not acknowledge Caesar as God. Kurios, lord so here's what Peter's doing. He's reminding them Is Jesus Christ. He alone is God and Savior. Remember that. Declare that with boldness to your world. If we only had 30 more seconds to live, people ought to know. This matters most to us. We have this same testimony. We have this same testimony. We possess this same treasure salvation. We declare this same truth that Jesus is our God and our Savior.