West Willow Community Church

A Sure Word From God from Don Tines on Vimeo.

A Sure Word From God

TEXT: II Peter 1:16-21

THESIS: A word from an eyewitness and the supernatural revelation from God Himself brings us the very Word of God.

INTRODUCTION: What the apostle Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:16-21 clearly declares that in the Bible we have an accurate, written revelation of God’s truth. Peter echoed the psalmist’s declaration: “The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple” (Ps 19:7b; cf. 93:5; 111:7).
When Peter wrote his second letter to us we was being assaulted on every front by false teaching that sought to undermine our trust in Scripture and destroy the Christian faith. In chapter 2 we will see Peter describe in vivid terms the proponents of such error so we can understand and better recognize the danger they posed. But it is not enough merely to be aware of false teachers; we need to know how to defend against their errors. The weapon in that defense is God’s sure Word. In this passage, Peter sites both his own eyewitness experience of God’s Revelation and God’s supernatural, written revelation. Let’s look at this passage and seek the strength that it brings to us as we seek to defend our faith.

SCRIPTURE READING: PRAYER:

I. First We Have A Sure Word From God In That Peter Gives Us His Eyewitness Account Vs. 16-18
16 We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. Vs. 16-18

A. Peter was absolutely convinced of the truth he taught because he had personally experienced it.

1. He also spoke for the other apostles and New Testament authors when he asserted, “we did not follow cleverly devised tales”.
2. All of the writers of Scripture received supernatural revelation verifying that what they were taught and were preaching was the truth.

B. Peter’s opening assertion answers the accusation of his critics that he taught “carefully crafted lies” only to attract gullible followers and make money off them.

1. A common goal of false religious teachers is found in three areas: power, popularity and money.
2. Peter refuted his accusers by saying he and his fellow apostles did not follow the deceptive approach of false teachers.

C. The term “Cleverly invented” stems from ‎what is translated “to make wise” and implies a sophisticated, subtly invented idea.

1. The expression also refers to anything secret undercover concealed or deceitful.
2. Seeking to devour the sheep, the false teachers would disguise their lies to make them appear as divine truth.

D. “Stories” is the word origin for our English word “myths” referring to legends or stories of gods and heroic figures participating in miraculous events and performing extraordinary feats.

1. Those tales characterized pagan mythology and its worldview.
2. Paul used ‎this same term, which always has a negative connotation in the New Testament, as Peter did, to refer to the lies, fabrications, and deceptions of all false teachers.
3. Peter flatly denied that he was drawing upon such fictitious stories when he made known his teaching.
4. Undoubtedly, false teachers had told people that The Christian faith and doctrines were just another set of myths and fables.

E. “Told” is often used in the New Testament to speak of imparting new revelation.

1. In this instance, the revelation concerned the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ—His second coming in glory and dominion.
2. Apparently the false teachers were not only undermining Peter’s teaching in general, but specifically denying what he said about the return of Christ.
3. Because Peter connected the phrase power and coming with the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is a sure indicator that he referred to Christ’s return. The description certainly does not fit Christ’s first coming in meekness and humility.

F. “Coming” is the familiar New Testament word‎, which also means “appearing,” or “arrival.” The term, whenever used in the New Testament of Jesus Christ, always refers to His return.

1. In his first letter, Peter had declared the truth of Christ’s second coming, but here he stresses that he and the other apostles were eyewitnesses of the very majesty that Christ will display when He returns.
2. Certainly all the apostles had seen Christ’s majesty in His life and ministry, and in His death, resurrection, and ascension, so that the New Testament writers were eyewitnesses to much of what they wrote.
3. Peter’s point is that the false teachers denied his claims about Jesus, but unlike him, they were not eyewitnesses to His life and ministry.

G. “Eyewitnesses” originally meant “general observers” or “spectators,” but over the years its meaning evolved.

1. It is clear that Peter saw himself and his fellow apostles as preeminently privileged spectators who had reached the highest and truest level of spiritual experience in being with Christ.
2. Peter had in mind one event in particular that dramatically previewed Christ’s second coming majesty.

H. “Majesty” can also be translated “splendor,” “grandeur,” or “magnificence,” and in the New Testament it is used to identify “the greatness of God”.

1. Jesus had predicted that some of the apostles would see the manifestation of His divine greatness: “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom”.
2. God the Father was present at that special event, at which Christ received honor (“exalted status”) and glory (“radiant splendor”) from Him.
3. The first term gives Jesus the highest respect and recognition, and the second accords divine, unparalleled brightness to Him.
4. At that extraordinary event God the Father, called the Majestic Glory Upon His Son and gave an extremely significant utterance, an audible announcement to Christ.
5. The Father’s utterance was “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased,” which could refer to one of two different occasions—the Lord’s baptism or His Transfiguration.
a. The apostle’s further description of the episode precisely identifies it as the Transfiguration since the utterance was made “from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain”.
b. The mountain was most likely Mount Hermon, the highest mountain near Caesarea Philippi, where Peter, James, and John saw the cloud of divine glory surround them with Jesus and heard the voice of God.
6. The announcement “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased” is the Father’s affirmation that the Son is both of identical nature and essence with Him and that He is perfectly righteous.
a. Thus in one concise statement God declared a relationship of both divine nature and divine love with Christ—the perfect bond of love and holiness within the Godhead—and His complete satisfaction with everything Jesus said and did.
b. By clear implication, the Father’s pronouncement also confirmed Christ’s right to come again, at the ordained time, and receive His own and possess the kingdom that is rightfully His. As Rev 5:9-13 says:

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

I. There is no reason for Peter’s audience then or now to believe false teachers who deny the glorious future return of Jesus Christ.

1. Those heretics were not present on the Mount of Transfiguration were Peter was an eyewitness to second coming majesty.
2. He, James, and John saw Moses and Elijah affirm Christ (Luke 9:30-32), and above all, the apostles heard God Himself honor His Son.

II. Secondly We Have A Sure Word From God In His Supernatural Revelation Vs. 19-21
19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Vs. 19-21

A. As accurate as they were in declaring the truth, God did not merely depend on the oral, eyewitness accounts of the apostles in giving Us His Word.

1. Through The Holy Spirit God superintended the recording of those experiences and thoughts in the inspired revelation of Scripture (2 Tim 3:16).
2. Peter’s reply to those who would question the validity of his experiences is that believers have even a better source—the prophetic word made more sure—the Word of God.
3. Some commentators contend the phrase indicates that the apostles’ experiences validated the Scripture, that glimpsing Jesus’ kingdom glory on the Mount of Transfiguration somehow confirmed the prophets’ predictions concerning His second coming.
4. That is a possible interpretation, but the phrase’s literal rendering, “we have a more sure the prophetic word,” gives the idea to another interpretation. As reliable and helpful as Peter’s experience was, the prophetic word of Scripture is more sure.
5. Throughout redemptive history, God Himself has repeatedly emphasized that His inspired Word is inerrant, infallible, and the all-sufficient source of truth, which does not require human confirmation

B. In Verse 19 the “We” does refer to Peter, James and John as it did in verse 18 here it refers to all believers.

1. As a group we possess the Word, the source of God’s truth that is far more reliable than their collective experience of even the apostles.
2. When the New Testament writers wrote about Christ and His promised return, they confirmed the truth of Old Testament Scripture. Thus it was not the apostles’ experience but the inspired record of Christ’s life and words, penned by the Spirit-directed authors and contained in the New Testament, which validated the Old.

C. The expression “the word of the prophets” in Peter’s day embraced the entire Old Testament.

1. The expression extends beyond the passages of predictive prophecy to include all the inspired Word.
2. Jesus Himself affirmed that reality, saying, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me”.
3. While the Lord was primarily speaking of Old Testament Scripture, the words are not limited to that.
4. Scripture is Scripture, and what is true of the Old Testament is also true of New Testament Scripture (cf. 2 Peter 3:15-16, in which Peter calls the writings of Paul Scripture).

D. Peter states those who would like to have a sure word from God would do well to “pay attention” to the prophetic word.

1. If we are going to be exposed to the subtle errors of the false teachers, it was imperative that we know and carefully heed Scripture so that we can reject false teachings.
2. To make his point even more direct, Peter offered a simple metaphor, comparing God’s Word to a lamp shining in a dark place.
3. That figure of speech recalls the psalmist’s familiar words, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”.
4. Dark is the meaning that came from the original idea of this word, “dry,” or “parched,” then “dirty,” or “murky.”
5. The phrase dark place encompasses the murky blackness of the fallen world that prevents people from seeing the truth until the lamp of divine revelation shines forth.

E. Thus Peter likens Scripture to a “lantern” that provides light to a dark and sinful world.

1. The calendar of redemptive history moves toward a day God has designated for the glorious event when Jesus Christ returns in full, blazing splendor and majesty.
2. When that day dawns, Christ will terminate the temporary earthly night of sin and spiritual darkness, returning in glory to establish His kingdom.
3. The apostle John describes this day in Rev 19:11-16:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”

F. “Morning star”, means “light bringer,” and was the name for the planet Venus, which precedes the morning sun in the sky, and is used here for Christ, whose coming inaugurates the promised millennial kingdom and the establishment of His kingdom.

1. Scripture in several places refers to Christ as a star.
2. Peter adds the fact that the star arises in believers’ hearts.
3. Christ will return in a blaze of physically visible, all-encompassing light that will affect everyone for blessing or cursing and change the millennial earth, eventually destroying the universe and replacing it with the new heavens and new earth.
4. The reference to “the hearts” indicates His return will also transform believers into perfect reflections of the truth and righteousness of Christ and make them into the image of His glory.
5. At His second coming, Christ will replace the perfect temporal revelation of Scripture with the perfect eternal revelation of His person.
6. He will fulfill the written Word and write it forever on the hearts of the glorified saints.

G. First Peter considering the end of Scripture, when God completely rules our perfected heart, then he goes back to the start of Scripture—its divine inspiration.

1. As Peter says, “All Scripture is inspired by God”; therefore, no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation.
2. No portion of the holy writings, Old Testament or New, came into existence in the manner all false prophecies did.
3. False prophets spoke of their own things, from their own ideas, but no true message from God ever arose from a human interpretation.

H. The term “Interpretation” is an unfortunate translation because in English it indicates how one understands Scripture, whereas In Greek it indicates the source.

1. Thus Peter is not referring to the explanation of the Scripture, but to its origin.
2. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man but (“just the opposite,” “quite the contrary”) men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God, further supports the point of source.
3. What human beings might think or want has absolutely nothing to do with divine prophecy.

I. When Peter says “Moved” he means “continually carried,” or “borne along.”

1. Luke twice used this verb to describe how the wind blows a sailing ship across the waters.
2. For Peter, it was as if the writers of Scripture raised their spiritual sails and allowed the Spirit to fill them with His powerful breath of revelation as they penned its divine words.
3. When Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me saying”, he spoke for all the Old Testament writers and, by extension, all the New Testament writers who followed them.
4. The only one who knows the mind of God is the Spirit of God, so only He could have inspired the Scripture.

Conclusion: If we are going to stand against the errors of false teachers, we must seek to know, accept, and obey the totality of Scripture. As Paul told Timothy, All Scripture is profitable for doctrine, reproof, the correction in righteousness, so that the man of God may be mature, perfectly equipped to do good works” We know that those who wrote the bible were holy men who were moved by the Holy Spirit to write the words they wrote. They recorded for us their eyewitness accounts of what they saw, hear and experienced. And what they didn’t see, hear and experience was given to them by God’s Spirit so that we can know without question that we have a sure word from God.