Warm Appeal to Remember

I am sorry that I have not been able to get online as the mother board in my computer went out and had to have a new one put in.  I have been chomping at the bit while it was in the shop to do my blogs, now that it is fixed, I am happy as I can be.  I hope you don't think I abandoned you all.


Peter's affection for his brothers is shown by his repeatedly addressing them in this  chapter as "beloved ones."  Warmly appealing to them not to forget what they had been taught, Peter begins: "beloved ones, . . . I am arousing  your clear thinking faculties by way of a reminder, that you should remember the sayings previously spoken by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles." -2 Peter 3:1, 2, 8, 14, 17; Jude 17.

What "sayings previously spoken by the holy prophets"does Peter urge readers to remember?  Why those about the presence of Christ in Kingdom power and about the judgment of the ungodly. Peter had earlier drawn attention to these sayings.  (2 Peter 1:16-`9; 2:3-10) Jude refers to Enoch, who was the first recorded prophet to warn about the adverse judgment of God upon evildoers.  (Jude 14, 15) Other prophets followed Enoch, and Peter does not want us to forget what they wrote. -Isaiah 66:15-18;  Zechariah  14:6-9.

In addition, Peter tells his read3ers to remember  "the commandments  of the Lord and Savior."  Jesus' commandments includes the exhortation:  "Pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down . . . and suddenly  be instantly upon you as a snare."  Keep looking, keep awake, for you, do not know when the appointed time is."  (Luke 21:34-36; Mark 13:33) Peter also urges us to heed the sayings of the apostles.  The apostle Paul for example wrote: "Jehovah's day is coming exactly as a thief in the night.  So, then, let us not sleep on as the rest do, but let us stay  awake and keep our senses." -1 Thessalonians 5:2, 6.

Next time: The Desires of Ridiculers

The Watchtower, 1997