#16 - Sermon
The Testimony of Scripture – Part 2
2nd Peter 1:19-21
September 30, 2007
Sun Oak Baptist Church
Introduction
A. Please turn with me in your Bibles to 2nd Peter 1:19. I also encourage you to take out your sermon notes. If you are visiting with us we are grateful the Lord has brought you here and trust your time with us this morning will be a blessing to you.
B. In verses 16-21 Peter is defending the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ. We have seen that his defense is based on his and the other apostles’ eyewitness testimony of Jesus Christ and second, Peter’s defense is based on the testimony of the Scriptures.
In over 350 specific prophecies OT prophets foretold Jesus’ first coming and history that is confirmed outside of God’s Word proves that Jesus Christ came and that history is based on the testimony of literally thousands of eyewitnesses (including the apostles). Prophecy also foretells Christ’s Second Coming – it’s not “if” Jesus is coming again – it’s only “when.”
The focus of our time in God’s Word this morning will be on verses 19-21 and here’s one of the points I believe Peter is driving home here: we can trust the testimony of Scripture; we have the “prophetic word confirmed.”
Stand with me in honor of God’s Word. Read 1:16-21 and pray.
C. Not only are verses 19-21 critical to Peter’s defense of the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ, by extension they are critical to confirming the trustworthiness of the rest of God’s Word – if the prophets are wrong why trust any of God’s Word. These verses also happen to be one of the key passages dealing with the doctrine of inspiration – how we got the Bible.
Here’s Peter’s argument: we can trust the testimony of Scripture and I am summarizing what Peter says in verses 19-21 with three (3) statements and we can think of these three (3) statements as three (3) columns holding up a bridge called “trustworthiness” that take us from why Peter is writing this letter that he covers in verses 1-15 into the body of the letter. Chapter one (1) is the on-ramp of this bridge and verses 19-21 is the bridge that takes across into the letter and the three (3) columns holding up the bridge is prophecy confirmed; the interpretation, or really the “determination” of prophecy clarified; and the inspiration of prophecy explained.
I. Last week, we examined the trustworthiness of prophecy (of Scripture) confirmed. See 1:19.
Read 1:19. Remember the word “prophecy” here refers to the “foretelling of the future” that OT prophets did, but by extension, to the people of Peter’s day “prophecy” referred to all of Scripture – all of the OT. So column #1: the trustworthiness of prophecy confirmed.
A. Just to quickly review: last week we saw that the trustworthiness of prophecy confirms the testimony of all of Scripture. The trustworthiness of prophecy, the act of the OT prophets foretelling future events and even more importantly their fulfillment, confirms the testimony of all of Scripture. Read 1:19a.
By the time Peter wrote this letter hundreds of specific prophecies regarding the nation of Israel had been exactly fulfilled. Since we can trust prophecy we can trust all of His Word.
B. And secondly, last week we also saw what a Christian’s attitude toward Scripture should be as a result of it being trustworthy. Read 1:19b-c.
Since the Word of God is absolutely trustworthy a Christian’s attitude towards it should be such that it is a priority in their lives. Look at verse 19: God’s Word is “a light that shines in a dark place.” No matter how dark the world may seem, no matter how hopeless things are – we have a light. Psalm 119:105: “Thy Word (oh Lord) is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”
C. And so first of all one (1) column holding up “The Trustworthiness of Scripture:” the confirmation of prophecy.
II. Secondly, this morning, let’s look at the interpretation of prophecy (or Scripture) clarified. See 1:20.
Read 1:20. Column #2 of this bridge clarifies how prophecy originates – how prophecy is interpreted, or a better word here would be “determined” – how prophecy is determined.
As I mentioned last week, in part because of confusion caused by the word “interpretation” here, this verse is considered one of the more difficult verses in the NT to understand, but let me assure you, it’s not.
The way I’m going to approach unpacking what Peter says here is first of all, to deal with what Peter is not saying, what this verse is not saying, and then we’ll look at what he is saying.
A. So, what isn’t Peter saying in verse 20?
1. One of the most common misinterpretations of this verse is held by the Roman Catholic Church.
a. Now keep this in mind: when I say “Roman Catholic Church,” I’m not talking about the people that attend those churches; I’m not talking about the sweet lady that lives next door to us that has been a Catholic all of her life; I’m not talking about my wife’s parents – when I say the “Roman Catholic Church” I’m using it as a collective term that refers to the priests, Cardinals, the scholars that define Roman Catholic doctrine and finally the Pope – it’s a collective term.
The Roman Catholic Church, the leaders in that Church that interpret Scripture and define the Church’s doctrine, teach that what Peter is saying here is that any interpretation of God’s Word that involves “private judgment,” meaning a judgment or interpretation that is reached outside of the Church, must be excluded; it’s not valid – it can’t be possibly be correct.
For example, if a person attending a Roman Catholic Church reads their Bible, and determines on their own that it is wrong to pray to Mary, or that they shouldn’t have to go to a priest to get forgiveness of sin, or pick any other Catholic doctrine – their priest will tell them they are wrong. And the reason they will give them is that the Church has interpreted and established these doctrines – the Church has determined the validity of these and other doctrines. “Young man,” a priest might say, “according to 2nd Peter 1:20 understanding the Scripture, understanding what the Bible teaches, is not a matter of private interpretation. Only the Church (again in terms of its traditions, scholars, priests, Cardinals, and Pope) can correctly interpret Scripture – no portion of Scripture, young man, including prophecy, is of any private interpretation.
b. Now in contrast to this position, Protestants (including Baptists), teach the universal priesthood of all believers. We are all “priests.” Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty of our sin so that we can go to God directly. Rev. 1:5-6: “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father.” Numerous chapters in the Book of Hebrews establish the priesthood of all believers. So anyone can go to the Bible and God will speak to them; God will teach them; God has given us His Word and we don’t need the church to tell us what it says.
c. Now: granted, a person might be incorrect in a particular interpretation that we have, or we might misunderstand a particular portion of Scripture they could go to their pastor to help explain it, but this pastor (and any other pastor I fellowship with) won’t tell you to believe what he says because that’s what the church tells you to believe – this pastor will do all he can to answer your question directly from the Word of God.
d. So first of all, Peter is not saying that the interpretation of Scripture can only be determined by a select few – or only by a “church.”
2. Secondly, Peter is also not saying that the prophets themselves were not capable of understanding their own prophecies. Turn over to 1st Peter 1:10.
a. Let me say that again: another common but still incorrect view of verse 20 is that it is saying that the prophets themselves, the holy men that God called to prophesy, were not capable of understanding their own prophecies. People that hold to this view say that because prophecy isn’t a matter of private or personal interpretation men like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Zechariah and the other prophets couldn’t understand what they were prophesizing about and they use verse 20 and 1st Peter 1:10-12 to support this position. Read 1:10-12.
b. Flip back to 2nd Peter. Some people hold the view that the prophets themselves couldn’t understand their own prophecies and they use 1st Peter 1:10-12 and verse 20 to support this conclusion. But again: this is not what Peter is saying here.
There are other positions on the meaning of this verse as well, but all I wanted to do is give us a taste of what verse 20 is not saying. So now let’s look at what verse 20 is saying – what it means – the correct interpretation.
B. There are basically two (2) keys that unlock the meaning of this verse – and these two (2) keys apply to interpreting any literature, including the Bible. One key is the meaning of some of the original Greek words Peter uses and the second key is the context – what Peter says before and after verse 20 and how it fits into the overall message of the letter.
1. The first key to unlocking the meaning of verse 20 are some of the Greek words Peter uses.
a. For example, the word “is” in verse 20 isn’t the best translation of the Greek. The word “is” here can also mean: “arises, originates, or comes into existence.” In other words, the best translation here is not: “Knowing this first that no prophecy of Scripture is… – a better translation would be: “knowing this first that no prophecy of Scripture originates or comes into existence…”
b. The other word that is a stickler here is the word “interpretation.” This word can also be translated “expound or determine.”
c. So look at verse 20 and follow along as I plug these definitions into verse 20: “Knowing this first that no prophecy of Scripture comes into existence as the result of any private determination.” “No prophecy of Scripture originates or comes into existence as the result of any personal or private determination or decision.”
2. Now hold that thought and let’s look at the context.
a. The preposition “for” at the beginning of verse 21 grammatically links verse 20 to verse 21 – meaning verses 20 & 21 go together. In fact, we can’t possibly understand verse 20 apart from verse 21 – they go together.
Now watch what happens when we put together a more accurate translation of verse 20 and attach it to verse 21: “Knowing this first that no prophecy (no portion of Scripture that foretells the future) originates or comes into existence as the result of any private (or personal) determination – for prophecy has never come by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” What’s Peter talking about – the doctrine of inspiration – how we got our Bible. He’s clarifying how prophecy originates – its source.
b. Now think again of the context. Peter is defending the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ and one of his defenses is the trustworthiness of Scripture based on the trustworthiness of OT prophecy. Verse 20 establishes that the prophets in the OT never spoke on their own. None, repeat, none of the hundreds and hundreds of prophecies recorded in the OT ever came about as the result of any of the prophets deciding to prophesy – every one of them spoke only as they were moved by the Holy Spirit – by God. So the foundation of Peter’s defense is the inspiration of Scripture.
C. So once we have done the legwork and looked up the Greek, and once we have put verse 20 into its context then we can easily see how naturally verse 20 flows into verse 21. “No prophecy of the Scripture arises or originates in the prophet’s own understanding of things – for prophecy came not in Old Testament times by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” And we’ll look at what this means next week.
Now: am I suggesting in any way that we can’t trust our Bibles or that the translators were wrong here? Not at all: for a variety of reasons anytime one language is translated into another language things can be lost or get moved around. This is one reason why owning more than one (1) translation is so important; it’s another reason why owning a couple of study helps is so important; it’s another reason why knowing our Bible from Genesis to Revelation is so important; and it’s another reason why having a nice friendly neighborhood pastor that is more than willing to help us with questions like these is so important.
Conclusion
A. Turn with me to 3:1. One-third of this 2nd letter addresses the threat of false teachers in the church. Another third deals with the certainty of Christ’s Second Coming. Read 3:1-6.
Flip back to 1:16. The Christians Peter was writing to were suffering – he was writing to persecuted churches. And one of the main things that these Christians were holding on to was the Second Coming of Christ. The doctrine of the Second Coming was their hope – it was the light shining in a dark place.
Peter is defending the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ against scoffers and false teachers – against questions. This doctrine isn’t based on cunningly devised fables – it is based on the sure and trustworthy word of the prophets – and their word is literally the Word of God. “No prophecy of Scripture arises or originates by a prophet’s own determination – for prophecy did not come in Old Testament times by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
B. The inspiration of Scripture is fundamental to Peter’s argument for the integrity and trustworthiness of the testimony of Scripture: “we have the prophetic word confirmed.” Why should we take heed to Scripture? Why should we meditate upon it? Why should we base our life on it? Why have tens of thousands of Christian martyrs throughout church history, including the apostle Peter, died for this book?
Part of the answer is that God’s Word has been confirmed and verified by the fulfillment of hundreds of prophecies; it’s been confirmed and verified by the Incarnation, and what Peter is telling us here is that we can be certain prophecy is not the mere recording of the meditations and thoughts and understandings and insights of man; it does not originate in any determination of man’s part, it is not the expounding of man’s views: “prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” Prophecy, the foretelling of future events, as well as all of the Bible are the very words of almighty God.
C. And Lord willing next week we’ll look at verse 21 which is the inspiration of prophecy (or Scripture) explained.
