Scripture Introduction
One of the fun parts of a vacation way in the north woods is that we were far from city lights. Gazing across Lake Huron offers a virtually uninterrupted perception of darkness. The black seems solid, so effectively does it hide all other objects. On Saturday night, however, I glanced down the beach and was surprised to see, clearly and distinctly, dozens of campfires. The cloak of night could not stop the light. Like an arrow propelled by limitless force, it pierced the armor of darkness.
Peter must have been familiar with darkness, as everyone of his day was. No thousand-watt municipal street lamps ripped open the night. He saw the small, oil lamp a mile distant. And it gave him an idea for illustrating how to use the Bible. God gives us his Word, that we might see to live, even in a dark world. [Read 2Peter 1.16-21. Pray.]
Introduction
On June 23rd in Nashville, Indiana, the Brown County Chamber of Commerce held the Fourth Annual “Tall Tale Tell-Off.” Contestants pay $5 each to tell a story that is “plausible but not possible, a proximity to reality.” It is a contest with a $1000 prize for the person who can tell the best fib. You know, of course, that West Virginia must have a similar event. The prize is different — a golden shovel and the prestigious title, “Biggest Liar,” until Memorial Day weekend of the next year.
Telling big whoppers with only some “proximity to reality” did not originate in West Virginia. We have been “stretching the truth” since The Fall in Genesis 3. Nor is the subject of religion exempted from myths and tall-tales. People have lied in the name of God throughout human history.
King Ahab was famous for promoting deceptive preaching in Israel. He reacted badly when a prophet gave an unpleasant sermon, so they “cleverly devised myths” to protect their own lives. One time, when Micaiah was summoned to tell Ahab what would result from his military plans, another prophet pulled him aside and said, “Listen, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” “Save yourself!” Micaiah ended up in jail.
The pattern continues through Jewish history. Even as Jeremiah laments the desperate need of God’s people in exile, he offers little hope because, “Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles that are false and misleading” (Lamentations 2.14). Israel demanded soft sermons to tickle the ear, but now the blunt edge would not pierce a hard heart.
The New Testament church, likewise, was threatened by “religious” lies. The Bible books entitled, 1Timothy, 2Timothy, and Titus, are known by Bible scholars (as a set), as, “The Pastoral Epistles,” because they are Paul’s two training manuals for young pastors. In these letters, the mature and experienced Apostle warns both Timothy and Titus (his two young interns) of the danger of false stories masquerading as the true faith.
1Timothy 1.3-4: “Charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.”
Titus 1.13-14: “Rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.”
And Peter warns the church of the same risk in the letter we are studying this morning.
2Peter 2.1-3: “But false prophets also arose among the people [in Old Testament times], just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them…. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words….”
We ought to note that the story of Jesus is particularly susceptible to wild exaggeration because it is such a fantastical tale. God comes to earth as a man and is slaughtered as a lamb to make all things right. Then, “up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph o’er his foes,” and disappears into the sky to prepare a mansion for his people. Those who believe are to wait, watchful and patent for his return inaugurating a new heaven and new earth. No wonder Peter was criticized: “They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation’” (2Peter 3.4).
So can we trust the Bible? Peter gives two reason you should trust his story.
1. We Must Trust This Story Because of the Witnesses (2Peter 1.16-18)
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal had a article about the debate in Birmingham between Richard Dawkins and John Lennox. Mr. Dawkins is the infamous atheist who said “Christianity is dangerous,” and called the Bible Belt States the “reptilian brain of southern and middle America” in contrast to “the country’s cerebral cortex in the north and down the coasts.” Mr. Lennox is a professor of philosophy and mathematics at Oxford, as well as the Chaplain of Green College. At one point in the debate, Mr. Dawkins said, “for all Mr. Lennox’s attempts to show the scientific existence of a creator, he still cannot prove that Jesus was the son of God or that he was resurrected.”
Even a “blind” atheist can see the issues that matter: the deity of Jesus and the resurrection from the dead. Lots of people are born, live and die. Is Jesus different? Is he really God in human flesh and did he rise to come again? Are these myths, tall-tales told to win a “golden shovel” in ancient Athens? Or is this reality which defines our existence?
The difficulty of accepting the story of Christianity is even more acute when we compare the way in which he came to the claims which are made of him. All of his followers agree:
• He was born poor — yet they claim that in him are hidden all the riches of the universe.
• He was weak — yet they say that the power of his will holds the universe together.
• He was despised — yet they maintain he will receive glory and honor and praise.
• He was silent — yet he is called the Word of God.
• He was rejected — but he will be worshipped by all.
• He was sorrowful — but he offers complete and unending joy.
What we saw in Jesus at his coming looks nothing like what we claim for him! Could such a tale be true? That is precisely the question Peter answers. Look at verse 16: “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ….” Peter is saying, “Yes, our story may sound like Greek mythology, but it is different — it is not a fable. And the first proof is the witnesses.
As Peter wrote this letter, three men were alive, three men who could be interviewed and questioned, three men who saw something that proved the truth of this tale. Their experience is traditionally called the “Transfiguration.”
Jesus took Peter, James, and John, up a high mountain. There he was transformed before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became a dazzling white, like light. And Moses and Elijah appeared with him in his glory, and spoke with him of his departure. Suddenly, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.
It is a common literary technique. King Richard the Lionhearted returns in disguise to his land because he knows some cannot be trusted. When he meets Robin Hood and his men, he questions them to determine their faithfulness. Robin treats the disguised monarch roughly, thinking him a possible traitor. But when Richard removes the cloak, Robin and his men bow and cheer their lord. King Richard was there all along; but his mission required a season of hiding. The removed cloak revealed truth which changed everything.
Peter experienced something similar. He saw Isaiah 53 in Jesus: he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised, one from whom men hide their faces. No one thought much of Jesus. He was crushed, chastised, beaten, oppressed, put to grief, anguished of soul, and numbered with the transgressors.
So why make much of his story? Why is Jesus not simply another Mideast, religious fanatic, a flash in the pan attracting an audience then executed when political fortune turns against him? Because of what lies under the cloak. Peter glimpsed it, on the mountain, Jesus showed him the glory beneath the cover of flesh. “We were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” The work assigned to Jesus required a veiling of his identity; the revealing makes all things different. If we had been with Peter, we would know the story is true because we would have seen the glory. Peter, James and John were there; they saw and heard. We should trust the story because of the witnesses.
2. We Must Trust This Story Because of the Word (2Peter 1.19-21)
It may be hard to imagine anything more convincing than experience. We even have a saying for it: “Seeing is believing.” Most of us have thought, “If God would just appear, if I could see for myself, then I would be sure.” Yet Peter challenges that idea. He says seeing is not the more sure way.
Matthew Henry: “In these words the apostle lays down another argument to prove the truth and reality of the gospel, and intimates that this second proof is more strong and convincing than the former. This second proof even more unanswerably makes out that the doctrine of the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is not a mere fable or cunning contrivance of men, but the wise and wonderful counsel of the holy and gracious God. For this is foretold by the prophets and penmen of the Old Testament, who spoke and wrote under the influence and according to the direction of the Spirit of God.”
The New Testament is a history of what, in the Old Testament, was a prophesy.
Yes, the story is fantastic! God’s coming to earth, not once, but twice —
• first in humility, but soon in glory,
• first in mockery, but soon in honor,
• first in weakness, but soon in power —
is almost too much to believe. But you knew it already. It was all foreseen in the prophetic word. The Messiah was promised; the means of salvation was predicted; the message of the cross was both preached and prefigured in the life of Israel. We have something more sure. We have the Bible which told us of Jesus before he even came.
We should trust his story because of the Word.
3. We Must Apply This Story Because of Its Trustworthiness (2Peter 1.19)
Those who study our culture and times give some alarming statistics. About 92 percent of Americans own at least one Bible, and the average household has three. Two-thirds of Americans say it holds the answers to the basic questions of life, and the next president will take a solemn oath on it. Yet fewer than half of Americans can name the first book of the Bible, only one-third know who delivered the Sermon on the Mount, and one-quarter do not know what is celebrated on Easter.
These are the kinds of statistics which lead some to say we are biblically illiterate. Professing Christians agree that the Bible is the Word of God, yet many of us do not know what it says. One pastor said, “The Bible remains the best-selling, but the least read, book.” David Gibson, in an article in the Washington Post, commented: “The Bible, it seems, is the book that everyone wants to read but few do” (December 9, 2000).
God has given us a great gift, one we do well to pay attention to. Supposing God has convinced you this morning that the Bible is trustworthy, but you are not actually trusting it, then how do you change? There are four steps.
First, you must believe that your own heart and mind are dark. Many stumble on this offense, but natural ideas of God, self, and religion are insufficient. They are cleverly devised myths of a darkened heart which needs light.
Second, you must believe that Scripture is the light. Notice the claim in verses 20-21: these words are not the prophet’s own interpretation, nor are they produced by the force of his will. They are God’s words; the Holy Spirit is the person and power that makes this the divine light. Will you believe?
Third, you must apply the word to your own life. If anyone is to be made wise to salvation, it must be by the shining of Scripture into the heart and mind. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” writes Paul. The word of God teaches, reproves, corrects and trains, so that you are equipped for every good work. Will we use the sword against our own flesh?
Fourth, you must use the word to light your way in the world. Psalm 119.105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Is Scripture our lamp and light? Or, if we are honest, do we carry a lamp we do not know how to light? Or maybe we study the light rather than turn it to be the lamp we need to guide our footsteps.
You do well to pay attention to this word.
4. Conclusion
In 1988, Discipleship Journal, reported on an event which began in 1974. Anatoli Shcharansky, a dissident Soviet Jew, kissed his wife goodbye as she left Russia for freedom in Israel. His parting words were, “I’ll see you soon in Jerusalem.” But Anatoli was detained and then imprisoned.
During long years in Russian prisons and work camps Anatoli’s only personal belonging was a small book, a copy of the Psalms. Once during his imprisonment, his refusal to give up the book cost him 130 days in solitary confinement. Finally, twelve years after parting with his wife, he was offered freedom. In February 1986, as the world watched, Shcharansky was allowed to walk away from Russian guards toward those who would take him to Jerusalem. But in the final moments of captivity, the guards tried again to confiscate the Psalms book. Anatoli threw himself face down in the snow and refused to walk to freedom without it. Those words had kept him alive during imprisonment. He would not go on without them.
Such commitment is hard to comprehend. We have so many bibles and so much access to teaching, that we may become glutted and indifferent. Certainly we are not using the Bible as God intended. Let us consider what God offers in the Word and ask if he might want something different for us.
