Gospel Until Death

I was flipping through my bible app and my old bookmarked passages this afternoon and stumbled upon a statement from the apostle Peter that just rocked me. So, in my recent fashion, I decided to post a little something and pray that someone gets stoked on this stuff with me.

LET'S DO THIS

Read 2 Peter 1:5-15 paying special attention to the passage copied below.

"I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. (2 Peter 1:13-14 ESV)"

This is so impressive to me! I don't know about you, but I don't know how I would react if I was informed that my hour of death was approaching. The boldness of Peter to encourage and keep focused on teaching and instructing his disciples is inspiring.  It's just like a good father or pastor to think of his flock before his own limited time. Matthew Henry, in his popular bible commentary, observes a truth about any concerned pastor (including Peter) in the quote below: 

"If ministers be negligent in their work, it can hardly be expected that the people will be diligent in theirs; therefore Peter will not be negligent" 

If the followers are expected to stand through adversity, the teacher must be a diligent example.

Jesus Christ did such a work in Peter (remember that this is the guy that denied Him three times) that Peter has a powerful desire to see the Church stand firm in Christ's teachings.

My prayer today for myself and all of you is that we, even in the face of trial or death, would stand firm in the ministry of the Gospel. That, like Peter, our present circumstance of stage of life would always be second to the need of the lost and broken around us so that the love of God pours incessant from us.

"The nearness of death makes the apostle diligent in the business of life."  -Matthew Henry