Crown of Life Sermon -- 27 January 2008

WE HAVE A MORE CERTAIN WORD OF PROPHESY! -- February 3, 2008

Sermon Text: 2 Peter 1: 16 - 21

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. 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." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain.

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. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 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."

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Grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

As King Solomon said: "There’s nothing new under the sun..." (Eccl. 1:10). That applies to our text this morning, because we see the Apostle Peter having to defend himself and his writings here, reminding everyone that these Scriptures aren’t "cleverly invented stories" but that they ARE God’s Word.

Think about it: already in the beginning - all the way back in the Garden of Eden, when the devil posed the question to Eve: "DID GOD REALLY SAY... ?" This kind of questioning about the Bible continues to pop up, whether it’s the time of our text 2,000 years ago, even up to today: has it ever stopped with people challenging the Bible with "Did God really say...?"

So as we look at this text from 2 Peter, the Lord reminds us that:

WE HAVE A MORE CERTAIN WORD OF PROPHESY !

1.) NOT clever fables

2.) But EYEWITNESSES (who wrote) under the Holy Spirit’s direction

Part 1: Know Where Your CERTAINTY Comes From: NOT From Fables

"We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ... "

This Greek phrase "cleverly invented stories" literally means: "fables to make wise."

A good example would be Aesop’s fables. Aesop made up stories and fables like "The Tortoise and the Hare" and "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." He made them up for a purpose, and they do teach wisdom. But the Bible is much different than that !

Peter continues: "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation..." Many times people will try to get out of listening to what God’s Word says, by saying: "Oh, that’s YOUR interpretation." You’ve probably heard that before, and I’ve definitely heard it before. Peter (through the Holy Spirit) says "interpretation" has nothing to do with it. What the words in the Bible say is exactly what God the Holy Spirit wanted them to say. (On the other hand, if somebody misquotes the Bible, or takes it out of context, that’s just as wrong, and God promises to severely punish those who do.)

The same goes for the other complaint: "...prophecy never had its origin in the will of man." None of the authors of the Bible woke up one morning as said "Hey, I think I’ll write a book of the Bible!" On the contrary, many, many times the prophets declared: "The word of the Lord came to me..." Even if they did not want to speak it, "His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot," (Jeremiah 20:9).

You want to hear something ironic? Even the writers of the Books of the Bible had to study what God had them write! Note what Peter writes in his first letter:

"Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow," (1 Peter 1:10-11).

Who would have thought that the authors would have had to carefully study what they themselves had written!

Now how does this apply today? People are always questioning and challenging the Bible. Is it REALLY God’s Word? Scholars, professors, scientists, pastors and churches -- the list of challengers seems endless. And, this stuff is all around us, and we’ll all have to deal with it.

How about this point? A while ago I was teaching some children a Bible story about the Lord bringing His people out of Egypt, and then one of the kids says: "That’s not the way it happened in the movie!" And so I had to tell them that the movie was wrong, and that the Bible tells us EXACTLY how it happened. Many times just because people see it on TV, they think it must be true. After all, how many times has the Discovery Channel had TV shows that either call into question what the Bible says, or just say it couldn’t have happened. But the Apostle Peter here reminds us, "we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it..."

In other words - don’t let the doubts and the eternally repeated question "Did God really say...?" lessen the simple trust that God has brought you to that His Word is true, that it’s there for us, that it’s for our salvation, and it’s simply telling us about Jesus, His life and death, and today we heard how Jesus was transfigured and changed, so that His divine nature showed through.

Part 2: Know Where Your CERTAINTY Comes From: EYEWITNESSES

Note that the Bible is based upon A LOT of EYEWITNESS testimony. Peter here declares that "when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, ... we were eyewitnesses of His majesty." What Peter saw can barely be described through the language he’s using. How do you try to explain or describe someone’s face shining as bright as the sun, or their clothes shining as bright a the light?

As we heard in the Gospel lesson, they were afraid when the events happened on that mountain, when Jesus was changed (transfigured). They were very surprised to see Moses and Elijah, but he testifies of what he saw and heard: "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.' WE OURSELVES HEARD THIS VOICE that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain." Peter, James, and John ALL saw this, all heard this, they were eyewitnesses.

Now, think of ALL the eyewitnesses that have had their testimonies recorded on what they saw as EYEWITNESSES: Moses recorded what he and hundreds of thousands of Israelites saw with their own eyes -- a pillar of cloud of by day and a pillar of fire by night. They all saw the fire on top of Mt. Sinai, and they ALL heard the Lord speak from heaven. Two million eyewitnesses!

The Scriptures contain thousands upon thousands of eye-witness accounts, covering thousands of years of the world’s history, of how God has not just entered into our history, but become part of it, and gave us a future through it in heaven.

So, whenever somebody, or some TV program, or some "expert" calls into question and challenges the EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS in the Bible -- "Did God really say...?" -- the Holy Spirit reminds us through the Apostle Peter to know where your CERTAINTY comes from:

NOT from clever stories,

NOT from human beings,

NOR from humans’ interpretation.

Think about Easter Sunday itself. What happened that day? Was it a bunch of people "mass hallucinating"? No, it was people who doubted, who refused to believe He was alive. The disciples thought the EYEWITNESS accounts of the women who had already seen Him and touched were nonsense. Thomas refused to believe the eyewitness accounts from his fellow disciples (who has seen Jesus a week earlier) and later had to have it "proven" to him -- and did.

What did Jesus say to these fear-filled men who were behind locked doors? "Peace be with you." "Behold, it is I Myself !" To those doubt filled disciples from Emmaus: "HOW SLOW OF HEART YOU ARE TO BELIEVE ALL THAT THE PROPHETS HAVE SPOKEN!" Jesus told them that those words, written hundreds of years before meant something, that they were true, and they came true. JUST AS GOD HAD SAID, WE HAVE A MORE CERTAIN WORD OF PROPHESY !

EVERY word, every verse, every chapter, every book of the Bible is God’s exact, precise recorded and preserved words which He Himself has given to us.

It’s something that you can bank on. It’s given so that you can have peace from God. Why? This Jesus REALLY did die for us all, He really did pay for our sins, and there REALLY is a heavenly home being prepared for us. That’s God’s Word, and it’ll happen just as He said and promised.

And someday, you’re going to see this WITH YOUR OWN EYES TOO (in heaven). Amen.

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