II Peter 3:2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour
All of us probably know the feeling of avoiding certain conversations with certain people because we know that the moment you say their magic word, they are going to be off to the races. If you mention, baseball, Bitcoin, Hawaii, or whatever it may be, they are off, flooding you with knowledge, research, and interest in a conversation you hadn’t bargained for. You wanted to mention Hawaii, but you didn’t want to talk about it for three hours. Sometimes if someone knows a lot about something, they are ready to share.
At other times people can be totally ignorant of things. All of us are ignorant of something and knowledgeable about something else. So, how is it that someone can know so much about certain topics and so little about others? More to the point, why is that we can know so much about things that really don’t matter in time and eternity, and know precious little about things that are truly important and significant.
The answer is that you know what you want to know and you grow what you want to grow. Growing, learning, and understanding are largely a function of will. In II Peter, Peter is trying to remind people of what they know. Notice the number of times he says, “Remember” or “Be reminded.” He is trying to remind them. II Peter 3:1 says, “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: that ye might be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour.”
Later, in chapter 3 he mentions the words of Paul that God had given and says that people who don’t understand yank those scriptures out of their context, that they are unlearned and unstable, and the end is destruction. We are to have pure minds, remember what is true, and be mindful of the words God has given through the prophets and the apostles.
He is saying, “You know what you want to know and grow what you want to grow.” Famously II Peter 3:18 says, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” These two things go together. II Peter 1:2 says “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.” Verse 3 says, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” So, knowledge and the grace of God go together. You aren’t growing if you aren’t knowing, seeing, and looking for the truth God has given.
Ignorance is a matter of the will. He says in II Peter 3:5 that there are those who are “willingly ignorant.” It almost is that redundant. Ignorant means you are “ignore-ant.” You are ignoring something, so you don’t know it. They are willingly ignorant. II Peter 2:10 says that false teachers despise authority and government and are self-willed. II Peter 2:12 says, “They understand not.” There are many other illustrations of this in Peter’s second epistle.
What do they not understand? They don’t understand the judgment of God or the promises of God. Instead these false prophets make promises of liberty while they themselves are the servants of corruption. They don’t understand God’s patience. We think we are being patient in waiting for the Lord’s return, but really the Lord is being patient with us. II Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering.” He suffers long and allows long. He is patient. It continues, “Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” The day of the Lord is coming, but He is patient with us.
People who are willingly ignorant are ignorant of the Word of God and the promises of God. Ignorance is a matter of the will. It begins with an attitude. Do I have an attitude of despising authority? Am I self-willed and unwilling to understand? Or am I open to the truth God gives, looking for it, mindful of it, and remembering it?
Ignorance is a matter of the will, but so is knowledge. Knowledge is chosen. It is something we decide. I don’t decide how smart I am, but I do choose what I am going to put into the mind God has given me. II Peter 3:15 says, “The longsuffering of our Lord is salvation.” God is being patient with us. Verse 16 mentions that some things are hard to understand, and “they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
Ignorance is a matter of will and so is knowledge. So, look, see, know, remember, and most importantly do. II Peter 3:11 says, “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved.” This world is coming to an end and this will happen in God’s own timing. It continues, “What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness.” I need to look, beware, know, be reminded, and remember the truth, and then act on it. Do something with it.
I went to the home of Harry Truman last spring. In his house is his own good-sized library. I was able to see what he had been reading. Harry Truman is the last president that was not college educated, yet Harry Truman knew a lot. Whether you like him or not, he was a knowledgeable man. He knew a lot because he was interested. He chose to know. He learned from life, from others, and from what he read. He was a man who was responsible for the entire nation and to some extent a good part of the world in a very tumultuous time. Harry Truman’s library points to the fact that you know what you want to know and grow what you want to grow.
What are you growing today? Are you growing patience, knowledge, and grace? Or are you growing impatience, ignorance, or something else? At the end of the day, we have a choice and a responsibility because you know what you want to know and grow what you want to grow.