2-19-23 Sermon

Boyd Thrash

Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

2 Peter 1:16–21

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2 Peter 1:16-21

This morning I'll be reading 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 16 through 21.

And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

2 Peter 1:16-21

My Study Bible says that Peter was trying to warn Christians about false teachers and encourage them to learn and grow through their Bible study and prayer. It says that many believer's want an abundance of God's grace and peace but they don't want to put forth the effort and time necessary to do these things. Hopefully after this morning you will have more confidence to put forth the extra effort.

2 Peter 1:16-21

16 For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, a voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory: This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him! 18 And we heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with Him on the holy mountain. 19 So we have the prophetic word strongly confirmed. You will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dismal place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all, you should know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

The word of God for the people of God,,,

thanks be to God!

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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Last Sunday we looked at Deuteronomy 30:15-20 and we saw that Moses was helping us to see that the love that we have,,, should be shown by putting "God First".

And we do that by focusing on our love of God and putting that into action!

We do that by making it a priority to show God how much we love Him,,, by the things that we do each week.

Our quiet time spent with Him,,, our prayers,,, our Bible reading and study,,, our listening to Him,,, all of the things that we do to strengthen our relationship show Him that we are putting Him first in our life.

And that's what Moses was telling the Israelites as they prepared to enter the promised land,,, and that's what he is telling us today!

We know there are choices that need to be made,,, so just as Moses urged them to make the right choice,,, today,,, you were urged as well,,, to make the right choice,,, show your love to God,,, by putting "God First" in your life,,, each,,, and every day!

This morning we will look at these verses in 2 Peter and see how they help us in our walk with God this week.

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One of the first things that strikes me as I read through this scripture is the certainty that Peter brings forth about Jesus being the Son of God.

He is testifying that is so because he was an eye witness to seeing Jesus after His resurrection,,, and the events that happened that he is talking about here in verses 17 and 18,,, that I'll talk about in just a minute.

Peter,,, all of the other disciples,,, and many others were eye witnesses of Jesus and were always using any opportunity to tell everyone about it.

These events and others that they are always talking about,,, and the fact that they are told,,, even though they can mean death for them,,, give me the confidence to believe that they are true.

Peter is always bold and full of confidence in his statements.

They may be words that are misspoken or rushed,,, but never without confidence!

We need that same confidence as we travel through this life so that others can see it in us the way that Peter showed his.

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In verse 16 Peter said: 16 For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

Peter is assuring his audience that everything that he has taught about Jesus' return is true because if you read further he talks about false teachers who are trying to lead them astray.

He doesn't do it by cleverly contrived myths but by his eyewitness account.

These things that he taught them were things that he had seen with his own eyes and heard from Jesus with his own ears.

He didn't have to make up stories to prove his point because he knew that what he was saying was true since he had seen and heard it personally.

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Verses 17 and 18 says: 17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, a voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory: This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him! 18 And we heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with Him on the holy mountain.

Peter is talking about the "Transfiguration of Jesus" witnessed by James,,, John,,, and himself.

This event that they witnessed gave them a glimpse of the glory that Jesus would show when He came into His kingdom!

This event is found in Matthew chapter 17,,, Mark chapter 9,,, and Luke chapter 9.

Peter is talking about this because he was an eye witness and this was something that he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was true.

This is also where we have eye witness accounts of God saying that Jesus is the son of God and He is well pleased with Him!

Peter includes it here because he is using it to defend Jesus' future appearance in glory which he talks about in chapter 3.

These are all used in his warning about false teachers in that day and time,,, and words that we can use today as well,,, if we will pay attention and remember them.

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Verse 19 says: 19 So we have the prophetic word strongly confirmed. You will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dismal place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

My Bible Knowledge Commentary says that as Peter wrote this about the unforgettable transfiguration experience, he was reminded of another form of God’s Word, the written Word, given by the prophets.

In fact, God’s voice on the mountain made the word of the prophets … "strongly confirmed" because the transfiguration pictured the fulfillment of their words.

Both the prophets and the transfiguration pointed to Jesus’ kingdom on earth.

If you will remember from the "Transfiguration of Jesus" Moses and Elijah are both present.

Moses represents the law that was given to him by God and Elijah represents the prophets of the Old Testament,,, therefore they are representatives of the fulfillment of the law and the prophets that Jesus has fulfilled.

My Bible Knowledge Commentary also says that we should pay attention to God's word and use it's light to help us see.

It says that the Old Testament prophecy was like a light in a darkened room and was to be heeded until Jesus came again and His presence would enlighten everything unlike any light that we have seen before.

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Verses 20 and 21 says: 20 First of all, you should know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

True prophecy comes from God.

Peter is trying to tell them that all of the words of prophecy that were recorded in the scriptures were true because they came from God,,, not from man.

He was explaining to them that the men that wrote the words that we have in the Bible today were enabled to write those words by the Holy Spirit guiding their thoughts and hands as they wrote them.

When you become a Christian,,, you rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you and convict you of things that you need direction on.

The same Spirit that guided them,,, will guide you today as you live your life the way that God intends for us to live.

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It's also one of the reasons why we can trust that the words in the Bible are true today.

Just as the Holy Spirit was with the men who wrote the words that God wanted them to write,,, the same Holy Spirit is still here today,,, watching and guiding those that need to keep the words of God safe.

Just because we don't understand what's written is not a reason to change it.

There have been times over the years where scientist have tried to prove the Bible wrong but they can not do it!

2 Tim. 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

This says "all scripture" not just the parts that are easy to understand or the parts that we like,,, but "all scripture".

The excuse has been given that when this was written,,, the New Testament hadn't become a part of the Bible yet,,, so it doesn't apply to all of it today.

Again,,, as I've told you before,,, through the Holy Spirit,,, if there was something there that wasn't supposed to be there,,, it would have been removed a long time ago.

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So what does this mean for us as we leave from here today?

Hopefully we can remember these words from Peter and they will help us to understand that the written words of God are true today just as they were then.

We need to remember that the Holy Spirit would have removed anything that needed removing a long time ago.

And also,,, if there is danger of someone trying to remove something that shouldn't be removed today,,, the Holy Spirit will stop that.

We need to remember that it has been proven that the words in the Bible today are still the written words of God from years ago,,, even though it has been translated over and over again.

So we can put our minds to rest that the words of God are true.

What we need to do now,,, is commit ourselves to live by them,,, and we will do that by our reading and studying them every day as we continue to grow in our personal relationship with God.

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We trust God,,, His Holy word,,, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit,,, that we should be listening to each and every day,,, to help us understand the Bible,,, and help us to use the words that God gave us,,, so that we can see the direction that we need to go,,, so that we can stay on the path,,, that Jesus shows us,,, when we listen,,, like we should!