R.C. Sproul

And I really believe that's how we learn.

through repetition.

At least that's what Peter is saying here.

He says, if I didn't repeat it, I would be being negligent.

And that's why we have to hear these truths over, over, and over again.

And Peter goes on to say, yes, I think it is right as long as I am in this tent to stir you up

by reminding you.

The word that is used here is the word that is used when somebody has to roust somebody from sleep who's deeply in sleep and doesn't want to wake up.

You know those situations when your kids don't want to get out of bed and you have to shake them and shake them and say, get up.

And the force of this is that we are people who fall asleep.

And in our slumber,

We are unconscious to these holy things.

And so Peter says, I figured that as long as I'm still in this tent, I need to give you a wake-up call.

I need to rouse you from your slumbers, to call you to vigilance in working out your faith.

Now, in this passage, as the apostle Paul did in his second letter to his beloved Timothy, Peter,

is announcing his imminent departure from this world.

He realized that his days were growing short, that his death was at hand, and he had been ministering to these people through these many years, and now there's this new sense of urgency because he was about to die.

But as he's saying to them, before I die,

I want to remind you of these things again.

And again, the metaphor that he uses, I think, is somewhat fascinating.