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2 Peter 1:16, 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] 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 AND THE FALSE TEACHERS
We’re ending our brief series on 2 Peter chapter one. A major purpose of Peter’s second letter was to expose and warn about the false teachers that were threatening the church. You can read about them in 2 Peter 1:1. He begins, “There will also be false teachers among you,” and there are certainly false teachers among us today. Their motivation was sex and money, verses 2-3, 14. Their message was freedom to sin. Their heresy was the denial of the second coming. They boldly blasphemed God. Their appeal was sensuality, promising freedom while they were slaves to their own corrupt lusts (vss.18-19). Their true depraved nature eventually comes out (vs. 22). Like dogs they’ll return to their vomit and like pigs they’ll return to wallowing in the mire.
Not only this, but false teachers were attacking God’s revelation, calling Peter’s message myths or tales (1:16). There are plenty of false teachers today undermining the Scriptures and blaspheming God. Just for an example, I learned about James Tallerico’s church background this week. Tallerico is running for Senate in Texas. He attended the same church since he was two years old – St. Andrews Presbyterian Church of Austin, Texas, part of the PCUSA, an extremely liberal denomination. I read some comments about this church. “As a practicing adulterer I found the church welcoming and affirming.” Another comment was. “Heretical and Satanic place. They lie about the Bible and God. Stay away if you value eternity.” The pastor says they welcome atheists into their membership and he doesn’t believe in the resurrection. Babs Miller, a lesbian chaplain at the church, claims “we have no way of knowing if Jesus really existed.” Straight from their website: “We are here to say abortion is a blessing.” And of course, Mr. Tallerico insists God is non-binary, there are six biological sexes, there are many pathways to the sacred, the trans community needs abortion care too, and he calls Jesus a barefoot Rabbi who was a socialist anarchist.
Granted, this is the extreme left wing of woke religion, but there it is. And there are plenty of other false teachers and teachings and leaders who would agree that Peter was following cleverly devised tales when he preached the power and coming of Christ.
WHAT PETER SAW AND HEARD ON THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION (vv.16-18)
In Matthew 16:28 Jesus told His disciples that some wouldn’t die until they saw the Son of Man coming in His kingdom, and immediately following in chapter 17, He took three of them, Peter, James, and John, up on the Mount of Transfiguration and was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, his clothing became brilliant white as light, Moses and Elijah appeared talking with Jesus, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and they heard the voice of God saying, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to Him.” The whole experience knocked the three men to the ground in terror. Then in Matthew 17:6-7 Jesus touched them and said, “Get up; don’t be afraid,” and the experience of the transfiguration was all over.
Peter knew this was a preview of the majestic power and coming of Jesus Christ. You won’t have any experience like this. No, that wasn’t Jesus you saw out the airplane window or at the foot of your bed. But the false teachers and opponents of Christ said he was spouting “cleverly devised tales.” There are plenty of clever myths and religious tales, the Book of Mormon, the Watchtower Society’s New World Translation that denies the deity of Christ, the Muslim Koran, and all kinds of other cults and false religions. I recently learned of a modern form of Gnosticism practiced by a sect called the Mandean in Iraq, Iran, and around the world who meet near running water, are repeatedly baptized, and claim John the Baptist as their last and greatest prophet.
In 2 Peter 1:16-18 Peter affirms he was an eyewitness of Christ’s majesty and actually heard the voice of the Majestic Glory from heaven in real time. He wasn’t following some clever ancient myth or tale. Peter knew they were given a preview of Christ’s second coming in a blaze of glory. The false teachers rejected the whole notion of Christ’s second coming because they didn’t want to be held accountable. As so many today, they didn’t like the idea of a future judgment at the Lord’s second coming so they get rid of the second coming in order to live as they please. There is more of this in 2 Peter 3:4, “Where is the promise of His coming?” There’s no question that Peter saw this preview of Christ’s coming and majesty, and now he goes on and tells us we have something even better.
YOUR BIBLE IS AN EVEN BETTER PROPHETIC WORD
2 Peter 1:19, So we have the prophetic word made surer, 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.
This is not a good translation as it makes it look like Peter’s experience makes the Bible “more sure.” The LSB is better: “ And we have as more sure the prophetic word…” The prophetic word refers to the entire Old Testament. So Peter is saying, “While my experience was true and genuine, we have an even better source of truth or God’s light in the Scriptures.” One author said, “God doesn’t need to appear in the flesh every forty or fifty years to enlighten us…. Seeing isn’t essential for believing – reading God’s Word is!” This is why we must insist, “Scripture always trumps experience.” You can’t replay Peter’s experience on that mountain but you can go to your Bible and read all about Christ’s coming glory and power, majesty and judgment. You can go to Isaiah or Daniel or Zechariah and be blown away by what it says about the future. Jesus IS coming back to rule this world! Are you ready for that? Here’s one of my favorite verses from Zechariah 14:9.
Zechariah 14:9, And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.
Peter’s point is that you can’t relive his experience on that mountain or call up that spoken word by the Father. You’re not going to hear God speak like Peter did regardless of those voices in your head. They are not God’s voice. Peter says we have this prophetic word which is absolutely sure and reliable. Remember J. Vernon McGee’s theme song, “How firm a foundation you saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in His excellent Word.” “Excellent Word!” That’s good. “What more can He say than to you He has said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled.” Open your Bible and read it. Those are God’s words! That is where God speaks to you! And He always speaks to you through your Bible. So Peter is pushing us to the Word. Peter may be thinking about all the promises about Jesus’ future coming, and there are many. Bible scholars tell us for every one promise about Christ’s first coming there are eight about His second coming.
So what do you do with this revealed Word? Peter says you do well to pay attention to it. The word “pay attention” means to point something in the right direction. Point your mind to the Word. Pay attention! Listen up! You do well if you pay attention to the prophetic word, which means the entire Scripture. Read your Bible every day for spiritual food. Make it your daily habit. Do you spend as much time in God’s Word as you do on Facebook? Or in front of a TV watching your favorite show? Ask God to draw you to His Word. Peter reminds us, “Pay attention to the prophetic word!”
YOUR BIBLE IS GOD’S LIGHT TO SHINE IN OUR DARKNESS
2 Peter 1:19b, “Pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones calls God’s Word “A gleam in the gloom.” Peter gives us good reasons to pay attention. We are living in a spiritually murky, dark world. The word “dark” here means squalid, dirty, murky, blackness. Being in this world is like being deep in a cave with the only light being your Bible. We did a bit of spelunking in non-commercial caves in Commiskey, Indiana, going in pretty far. You crawl in there, turn off the flashlights, and the darkness is palpable – you can feel it. We need the light of God’s Word in this darkness.
Psalm 119:105, Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path!
Psalm 119:130, The unfolding of your Word gives light. It gives understanding to the simple.
Blessed is the family where the Bible is not only on a shelf but is opened and read regularly to the whole family. You don’t want Spurgeon’s quote to be true of you: “There’s dust enough on some of your Bibles to write ‘damnation’ with your finger.” Parents, be aware, you are bringing children into a dark world. They need that “gleam in the gloom.” Shine the light of God’s Word into their lives as best you can. Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Be sure they know Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” They are image bearers, either male or female. God gave them eyes, a nose, a mouth, ears, feet, hands, arms and legs and everything else. They are fearfully and wonderfully made! (Psalm 139:14). We’re not here by chance. Even with the finest of homeschooling, they are still flying into a storm of oppressive darkness down the road. How will they stand?
Your Bible is a light shining in a dark place – what a picture. Calvin said, “The whole course of our life ought to be ruled by the Word of God, because otherwise we are surrounded on every side by the darkness of ignorance.” Without the Bible people are miserably ignorant and deceived. And that’s where people are. They don’t know where we came from, why we’re here, or where we’re going. The Bible answers all those questions. Sadly, in their depraved hearts they don’t know and don’t want to know. They are either willfully ignorant, squeezing their eyes and hearts shut to God’s Word, or they are sadly ignorant, blinded by false religions. There are plenty of those. Thailand has 44,000 Buddhist temples. There are over 3 ½ million Islamic mosques in the world; over 3 thousand in America. Our early settlers who came to America for freedom to worship God according to Scripture couldn’t imagine the influx of Islam into our country. It’s a religion of darkness, as is every other cult and false religion.
Man in his own natural thoughts doesn’t see himself as an image bearer responsible to God, a sinner under condemnation with a mind blinded by sin and a spirit dead to God. Only the Bible tells us this. The gospel is that light that pierces the darkness of our hearts and gives life and light to poor lost sinners:
2 Corinthians 4:3-6, And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, [4] in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. [5] For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. [6] For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Are we seeing the rotten fruit of no Bible in our culture? “Don’t let children see those Ten Commandments on the school wall, it might hurt their psyche.” Evolution, gender twisting, same sex marriage, abortion and broken homes, every conceivable perversion instantly available on our phones – it’s all the rotten fruit of that murky darkness. You can have every slick and cool device imaginable, have instant communication with anyone around the world, and yet be God’s enemy with no work of His grace in your heart and die in your sins. Finally you stand before Christ at the great white throne judgment and your name is not in the Lamb’s book of life and you’ll be cast into the lake of fire forever, with no mercy and no rescue. People need the shining beams of the Bible to shine the way to the cross!
In 2 Peter 1:19 Peter says, “Pay attention to the Word until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your heart.” MacArthur notes that when the day dawns, Christ will return and end the night of sin and darkness, returning to establish His kingdom. Christ is that morning star, like Venus, that precedes the morning sun. He comes to set up that glorious millennial kingdom. Christ comes and will transform believers’ hearts into perfect reflections of the truth and righteousness of Christ.
YOUR BIBLE IS THE DIVINE REVELATION BY GOD’S SPIRIT THROUGH HUMAN AUTHORS
Here is an amazing statement:
2 Peter 1:20-21, 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.
There is nothing more important for you than to understand the doctrine of your Bible. “Know this first of all” means here is a truth of paramount importance. A. W. Pink put it perfectly:
It is impossible to over-estimate the importance of the doctrine of the Divine inspiration of Scripture. This is the strategic center of Christian theology, and must be defended at all costs. It is the point at which our satanic enemy is constantly hurling his hellish battalions. (The Divine Inspiration of the Bible)
Peter is not talking about who has the authority to interpret the Bible. Rome says you need the church to interpret the Bible. That notion has spread deadly darkness. “A matter of one’s own interpretation” and “act of human will” speaks of the origin of Scripture. Where did it originate? Calvin put it beautifully, “Holy men…did not blab their inventions of the own accord or according to their own judgments.” Your Bible is not the product of the whim and wit of clever human minds of mere men, unlike Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon or Muhammad’s Quran.
God wants you to get this – “Know this first of all.” You have 66 books, around 40 authors, writing over 1500 years or more, and all of it harmonizes into one grand story. You have no contradictions while you have authors from all walks of life, from the palace to the farm, from the fishery to the university. What brought all these books into harmony?
Verse 21 says the writers were driven or moved, carried along by the Holy Spirit. The word “moved” is used of Paul’s ship in the Mediterranean Sea in Acts 27:15 and 17, as the wind “drove” or “moved” the ship along. Here is the origin of the Bible. Men spoke as they were carried along by the Spirit of God, writing down everything God wanted written, just like Paul told Timothy.
2 Timothy 3:16, All Scripture is inspired by God (God-breathed) and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness….
Just as the Spirit moved men along as they wrote their books and letters, so all they wrote was “God-breathed,” same idea. You can think of your Bible as “Spirit-driven” or “God-breathed.”
SO WHAT? Peter says, “Know this first of all.” You can trust your Bible. It’s God’s light in your darkness, the gleam in the gloom. If your Bible is the product of men carried along by the Spirit or is God-breathed, then we can settle on several implications. Every word and every part of your Bible are inspired by God – that’s the verbal and plenary inspiration of the Bible. God never lies so your Bible is without error – inerrant. Your Bible carries the authority of Almighty God – it’s authoritative. As the sovereign God, He will see to it that every prophecy, every promise will be fulfilled. It is infallible. And since God knows all about you, His revealed Word is sufficient for all of life and godliness, for your salvation and growth in grace.
- verbal and plenary
- inerrant
- authoritative
- infallible
- sufficient
I want to finish with this grand statement by an unknown author about the Bible. It is quoted in the MacArthur Study Bible, pp. xviii and xix.
THE BIBLE: This Book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers.
Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy.
It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s character. Here paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed.
Christ is its grand subject, our good is its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet.
Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, health to the soul, and a river of pleasure. It is given you here in this life, will be opened at the judgment, and is established forever.
It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.