“Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.”
after my decease
“Decease” is a word for death (Lu 9:31). Sometimes the New Testament translates this word as “departure,” and at other times by the word “exodus.” The Greek term comes from two words: road and out. Death is an exodus, the road out of our temporal bodies. Here, death is the road out of Peter’s physical life and into God’s kingdom. Death is the departure of the soul and spirit from the body (2 Co 5:8).
Php 1:23, “For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart [different Greek word] and be with Christ, which is far better.”
2 Ti 4:6, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure [different Greek word] is at hand.”
Peter here leaves his last will and testament. The doctrines of Second Peter endure as a legacy for all Christians after Peter’s death. Truth does not rest in any great leader or pastor, but the truth of Scripture lasts forever (1 Pe 1:23). It is not the man but the message that is important. Men will come and go, but the Word of God abides forever.
The great thing a pastor can do for his congregation is to teach them the Word. Teaching is the central point of the books of the Bible written to pastors, which we call the pastorals: 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. Other pastoral functions cast a pall into diminishing priority compared to communicating God’s Word. The pastor’s real legacy is people who know the Word. No Christian should depend on scintillating statements or pleasing personalities. His confidence about things of eternal value depends on the Word, for Scripture lasts forever.
PRINCIPLE:
Our only assurance about eternity comes from the Bible.
APPLICATION:
Many Christians are apprehensive about eternity. We think death is a monster, but it is the most incredible event ever for a Christian. When we die, we meet Jesus and other loved ones who have gone on before us. However, many of us have faith enough to believe that Jesus died for our sins, but we do not have sufficient faith to trust God with our future.
Our body is the cocoon for the soul and spirit. We only bury the cocoon but not the immaterial aspects of the person. There is nothing that remains in the casket but so many chemicals. Our body is simply the shell of our person; the person goes on to be with the Lord. We so identify the corpse with the person we lose in death that we distort the reality of what happens to the person at death.
Home at last.
