The Legitimacy of Scripture
2 Peter Sermon Series, Part 2
2 Peter 1:12-21
Introduction
- Purpose: Peter gives guidance and reassurance to the growing church
-- Promise he stands on: the Gospel they are preaching is of Jesus Christ!
-- This Gospel is our measuring stick; and it is what saves (not ourselves)
- In our message last week Peter gives us three simple commands to follow
-- Each of these has a direct tie into how to live righteously:
• Live a Godly life
• Follow the progression of growth
• Make every effort to be faithful (why? b/c Jesus does the rest!)
- This morning, we will dive into the purpose and importance of scripture
- Read 2 Peter 1:12-21 / Pray
Point 1 – Scripture demonstrates life’s most important truths
- Peter makes reference to continually reminding us of “these things” (v12)
-- These things are what we studied last week, the key three principles of life
-- Makes it clear they are most important, and he’ll continue to preach on them
- These things are the things of salvation – what brings us closer to God
-- They are essential in order to know the Father, and why we must draw in
-- As long as he is alive, Peter says he will stir up believers to remember
- EXPOUND: Shouldn’t we do the same? Aren’t they as important to you?
- Even more, Peter puts pen to paper so that after he is gone, we’ll know
-- APP: Truly, the work of a disciple is never done – neither is our work
-- What we leave behind is our witness, or our testimony of these things
- Jesus said in Mark 16:15, “And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”
- Disciples confessed in Acts 4:20, “We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”
- Even Paul encouraged in 1 Tim 4:6, “If you explain these things to the brothers and sisters, Timothy, you will be a worthy servant of Christ Jesus, one who is nourished by the message of faith and the good teaching you have followed.”
- Peter says it three times, three times to be sure we’d see it and remember
-- Consider: Our purpose in life is to testify to what God has done!
- What “these things” do for us is give us not only assurance …
-- We are given proof of the reliability of God’s promises (from scripture)
-- Scripture is our greatest weapon of truth – it is where we find our strength
-- Prayerfully, by the time we are done today we’ll all see this
- TR: So, let’s look at what these things show us through the Word …
Point 2 – Scripture testifies to the things of God
- Peter says these are not clever stories (stories that are made up)
-- Rather, they are the truth about who Jesus is, about what He has done
-- The truth about Jesus is not to give us a man-made sense of security
- FACT: We do this to feel better about ourselves every day
-- If you’re wondering what it looks like, mankind makes up stories:
• In human religion and value systems (You must do this to be good)
• In human laws and good behavior (if you’ll obey this, you’re a good person)
• In science and technology (earth is billions of years old, aliens are real, etc.)
• In education and social services (gender is fluid, abortion is not murder)
- However, there is one thing terribly wrong about this … it never lasts
-- Consider: Every man-made “truth” always gets replaced with another
-- FACT: Everything on this Earth will one day pass away (yard sale / land fill)
-- Deeper: Every effort for man to save himself are fabrications we make up
- No matter how great we think we are, we shall one day pass from this life
-- Sure, we can make a good life for ourselves now, but then what?
-- If we want a good life after death, it is only God that can bring that to us
-- APP: And so, by trusting Him, and His word, we see how to live for Him
- Don’t miss: The God who created you, and this world, wants you with Him
-- It is why He sent Jesus, and why Peter makes such a point about telling us
-- It is why we need to pay attention to how to live, and find strength in it
- Paul confirmed this also in 1 Tim 4:7, “Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly.”
- Salvation is the power and speaks to the coming of Jesus
-- Why? Because of His promise to do so!
-- Get this truth: We have not been left alone to wander and struggle
“Graves to Gardens”, “I searched the world, but it couldn’t fill me,
Man's empty praise - And treasures that fade - Are never enough”
- Jesus said in John 5:24, “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.”
- The great things of God are shown to us through what Jesus has done
-- This is why Peter is so charged up about it – refers to it as “majesty” (v16)
-- GR: “Megaleiotes” means the majesty of God or the divine nature of God
Re-read v 17-18
- Peter even talks about an event he got to see where God’s majesty was revealed
-- As a human being, Jesus displayed that true majestic of being of who He is
-- Remember the event? It’s the transfiguration!
-- Scripture even refers to Him being transformed (GR: “metamorphothe”)
- Matthew 17:2, “As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.”
- And even more, Peter tells us that He heard the voice of God speak to them
-- His testimony is that even the Heavens referred to Jesus as the Son of God
- For you and me, this is where our foundation begins … from a testimony
-- But, in order for it to take hold, we must accept and believe
-- Consider: you’d believe someone testifying for you in a court case
- Well, here we have testimony about the majesty of God’s Son
- TR: So, if scripture testifies to the things of God, it must then (3rd point) …
Point 3 – Scripture is our proof of who Jesus is
- Don’t miss this: Scripture is to be heeded
-- In clear terms: pay attention to what God’s word is telling us (v19)
-- Why? Because it is a lamp (guidance) in a dark place (world) (Psa. 119:105)
- BIG: The word of God is to be our guide until the wonderful day Christ returns
- It is on that day, that our salvation will be fulfilled and completed
-- And our assurance of this comes from the inspired word of God
-- This is what Peter completes his thought with on the sufficiency of scripture
- Read v20, scripture did not come from their imagination
-- It’s consistency gives us certainty that in it there is truth to be found!
- Get this: We cannot interpret scripture to mean what we want it to mean
-- The prophets, the disciples, etc. were all moved to write what they experienced
-- So that we get to stand firm on the promises of scripture revealing God’s truth
- TR: For us, there can be no other source of authority on how we live
-- This is why Peter includes it, and highlights it as our encouragement
Conclusion
- The human trap is that we’d use it like a baseball bat and abuse people with it
-- But in reality, it ought to be a source of comfort and sufficiency in God
- It ought to be what we stand firm on, and apply to our lives
-- Not in a manner of judgment, not to prove how good we are, no …
-- But to reveal to others how incredible God is (mercy, grace, love, just)
Invitation to know Jesus, to trust in His word, to stand firm on it
