A Word Made More Sure
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Mic
Prayer
One of the key questions we all must face is, “Can I trust the Word of God?” This is not a new question. Peter and the early disciples of Christ faced the same question.
and it is to this very question that Peter now turns as he continues his letter.
Please turn with me to 2 Peter chapter 1, starting at verse 16 page 1216 in your pew Bibles. or if you have a skinny Bible at the back of the church page 183.
6 Slides (ending vs 21)
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”—
18 and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
19 And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.
20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,
21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Peter begins by assuring his readers that they did not follow [or make up] cleverly devised tales when they proclaimed the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
False prophets would come and proclaim all sorts of fancy visions designed to capture the attention of the people. This was not what the disciples were doing.
Peter and the other apostles were eye witnesses of these events. Peter was in the boat when Jesus calmed the storm.
Peter was in the boat. He was a professional fisherman. He had all the right equipment. He knew the best spots on the sea and had been fishing all night with no results when Jesus told him to cast the net on the other side of the boat and the net was suddenly filled with fish… and this happened not once, but twice.
Peter was there in the room with Jesus when He raised the synagogue leader’s daughter from the dead (Mark 5). He was there when Jesus healed his mother-in-law.
He was there when they crucified our Lord.
and then after the resurrection of Jesus, He appeared to him personally.
He was in the upper room when Jesus suddenly appeared among them and told them that they could put their hands in his hands where the nails had been.
He had personally watched Jesus ascend into heaven. These were not cleverly devised tales but were the solid truth.
Both his testimony and the testimony of the other disciples were eye witness reports.
The most convincing argument that a person can make at someone’s trial is an eye witness testimony. and the more eye witness’s the better. Today we like it when they can show what happened on camera so that we can there be there in that moment. We can be an eyewitness. There were no video cameras in the first century… but Peter is pointing out that there were multiple witnesses to confirm the things that Jesus did and the events surrounding his death and His resurrection. and note that this sentence begins with a “WE”… Peter is referring to all the disciples along with himself. We did not follow cleverly devised tails.
John says the same thing in
2 Slides
1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life—
2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—
Paul refers to the multitude of witnesses in 1 Cor. 15.
6 Slides (ending vs 8)
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, [and may I point out that “according to the scriptures is referring to prophecies in the Old Testament predicting the death and resurrection of the Messiah.]
4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;
7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;
8 and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
Peter was absolutely convinced of the truth he taught because he had personally experienced it.
He was equally sure about the fact that Jesus will be coming again. This is a reference to the Second coming of Jesus. Jesus had made a point about his second coming throughout his ministry.
So much so that the disciples came to him and asked him privately ....
Slide
3 .. , “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Jesus gave them over 20 signs and then He warned them...
10 Slides (ending vs 51)
42 “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
43 “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
44 “For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
45 “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?
46 “Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.
47 “Truly I say to you, that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
48 “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’
49 and shall begin to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards;
50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know,
51 and shall cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; weeping shall be there and the gnashing of teeth.
and Jesus did not stop here.. He continued.
13 Slides (ending vs 13)
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2 “And five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.
3 “For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.
5 “Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.
6 “But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
7 “Then all those virgins rose, and trimmed their lamps.
8 “And the foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
9 “But the prudent answered, saying, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.
11 “And later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’
12 “But he answered and said, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
In the Gospel of John on that last night before His crucifixion, Jesus had again reminded His disciples.
2 Slides
2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Peter had his mind fixed on the return of Jesus Christ. He wanted to make sure that he was about the Lord’s business when the Lord returned. We would do well to pay attention to Peter’s example and the return of Jesus as well.
Furthermore, Peter was there when God specifically spoke from heaven concerning the fact that Jesus Christ was His Son.
2 Slides
17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”—
18 and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
Peter was one of the three disciples that were with Jesus on the Mount of transfiguration when Jesus revealed Himself to them in all His glory. The term “Majestic Glory” is an indirect way of referring to YAHWEH. The Jews would do everything possible to not say YAHWEH. They did not want to violate the commandment against using the Lord’s name in vane. so they would substitute the Word Adonai (or Lord) instead of using the divine name of God. Even today the Jewish people will write “G_d instead of writing God … let alone use the divine name.
That is why in our modern Bibles, the publishers will substitute “LORD” for the tetragrammaton. The four letters that make up the divine name of God.
What was it that that was so special.... that happened on the Mount of Transfiguration?
Jesus and the disciples were returning from Dan - Caesarea-Philippi. The mountain could have been Mount Herman, but we are not sure. What we know is that Jesus took James and John and Peter to a high mountain while He was there.
8 Slides (ending vs 8)
1 And six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves.
2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.
3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
4 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”
6 And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were much afraid.
7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.”
8 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Jesus Himself alone.
Jesus was transfigured … He morphed into a radiant glorious being - He changed before them. His garments became as white as light. His face shone like the sun…
They were seeing Jesus in all His glory.… and then there was this voice that suddenly came out of the clouds…
This is my beloved son in whom I am well-pleased. Listen to Him! God Himself has told us that we need to listen to what Jesus says.
and the word for listen does not just mean to hear his words. It means to hear and to act upon them… This is like when you were a child and your mom or dad said… “Are you listening to me?” They were not asking if you hear the sounds coming out of their mouth… They meant… if you don’t act on what I am telling you … there will be consequences that you do not like.
This is an imperative. It is a command. God is telling us that we need to stop what we are doing… Listen to Jesus… and act upon it. Peter was saying… We were with Him on the mountain at this event. and God Himself commanded us to listen to Him.
And so Peter concludes
Slide
19 And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.
God has commanded us to listen to Jesus’s words. and so He warns us that we would do well to pay attention to the gospel message and their testimony.
as we would to a lamp shining in a dark place.
In fact how long should we listen? “Until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. I think that Peter is telling us that we need to keep listening and study these words until we see the truth. If you don’t understand the gospel message. You need to keep listening and replay it .. Replay and keep listening until you do understand it.
Friends your very life is on the line. You cannot afford to get this wrong! You are going to either face eternity in heaven or eternity in hell and you do not… I repeat.… you do not want to go to hell!
Your friends may make jokes about this… But you will not see your friends in hell.. and they will not see you. …
It is a place of utter darkness. It a place where pain and suffering are to the max.. Try putting your hand over a fire and holding it there. or turning on the burner of your electric stove to high. Wait for it to get red hot and then put your hand on it.. You won’t leave it on there long. Friend this is not for a second.. we are talking for eternity.
You do not want to be cast into the flames of hell!
5 Slides (ending vs 15)
11 And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.
12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.
14 And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
If you have doubts about what the Bible says… or about the truth of the scripture… or about the gospel message… or about your salvation… I urge you… I beg you… do not go home before you get this matter straighten out.
Pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place (the dark place of YOUR SOUL) until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. Until you see the light. until you see the very peril that you are in.
and confess your sins to God!
Thank God for sending His beloved son to pay the price for your sins.
Believe in Christ. Believe that He died in your place for your transgressions. was buried and raised on the third day for your justification.
Slide
25 He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
and commit your life to follow Him.. Make Jesus the Lord (the boss, the king) of your life. You will never be sorry.
You need to get this settled today.
Last of all Peter reminds us.
2 Slides
20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,
21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
No Prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation.
This phrase can be taken two ways.…
I can not tell you how many times I have heard someone say… well you may think that, but I think this about the Scripture. I hate to tell you that you are not entitled to your own private interpretation as to what the Scripture is teaching us. It doesn't matter what you think or what I think. The question is what does God think… and when we come to the scripture… we must always be asking what is God trying to tell us in this passage.
We need to be careful so as not to try and bend the Scripture to say what we want it to say.
A lot of people also want to find an interpretation that says what they want to hear.. They want to have their ears tickled. Friend we need to be honest when it comes to reading the scripture.… so when I read in Ephesians 5...
5 Slides (ending vs 7)
3 But do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints;
4 and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not be partakers with them;
I take this very seriously and if I were you and you are involved in any of these things.
If you are involved in sexual immorality… If you are involved it telling dirty jokes.… If you are are pursuing the so called “good life and can’t get enough of things… covetousness or greed?
I would stop it . I would confess my sins.. turn away from it and start following Christ. The person who tries to make excuses is paving his way to hell.
Don’t let anyone deceive you with empty words.. Because of these things....
the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. Do not be one of them!
2) the second way this phrase “no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation can be interpreted is....
and it does not negate this first interpretation
says that when Peter was speaking of private interpretation… it is part of a phrase “Is a matter of” which can be translated as.… “comes from a matter of one’s own interpretation…” It is addressing what is going on in the prophets mind.. not the hearer’s mind.
The prophet, when he proclaims God’s word, …
is writing or explaining the vision he has from God. He is not making it up...
This then is supported by verse 21
Slide
21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
It is not made up by an act of human will… but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
or were carried along by the Spirit of God. God was directing their thoughts and so they then spoke or wrote down whatever God was directing them to say.
This allows for the differences in style between different prophets or authors. God did not dictate the Bible word for word… and they just copied it… But He was behind the scenes directing their thoughts so that what we have is essentially the word of God.
I am reminded of when I worked at HUD for the
Director of the Office of Hospitalization.
My 5 co-workers and I would write letters to our clients.. bank lenders concerning their loans. We would write the letters, but the Director would sign them.
But before the Director signed any letter, he made sure that what we said reflected the policies of our office. We had different styles of writing.. but there was only one official policy.
Peter is telling us that this Bible.. is God’s word!. No prophecy… no part of your Bible is a matter of one’s own interpretation. The prophet did not just make it up, everything He said was being guided by God Himself through the Holy Spirit.
and so what is our take away?
Bottom line
We can depend on what the Scripture says! It is God’s word to us.
We can rely on the message that Peter is bringing.. We can stake our very lives on the gospel, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ… and His promise to raise us up when He comes again.
2 Slides
2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
and as He told Martha…
Slide
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies,
Do you believe? Then why not tell him now.
If not… I strongly encourage you to pray and ask Him to show you the light.
Let’s pray
