Start the message off with short 3 minute video "Written on Your Heart" found at SermonCentral.com
Back to Basics. Why? Because so many people who call themselves Christians cannot quantify and define what it is they do believe. A couple of weeks ago we looked at the very beginning basic of believing in God. We looked at natural revelation.
Romans 1:19–20 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
But how do we know for sure?
How do we know the way of Salvation?
How do we know what it is that God requires of us?
How are we to know the things of God?
To know these things and more, we turn the Holy Scriptures, the very words God, the Bible. Why is the Bible the foundation for what we believe? In the Baptist Faith and Message, where our Baptist beliefs are outlined, it starts not with what we believe to be true about God, Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit, not what we believe about salvation and not what we believe about heaven or hell. The BF&M starts off with what we believe is true about Scripture, the Holy Bible. This is significant, because everything we believe is based solely and entirely on the very words of God which is the Bible. Let me read Article 1 from the BF&M:
"The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation." [1]
What we hold in our hands does not merely contain the words of God, it is all the word of God, written by men divinely inspired and directed by God. Let me make this perfectly clear, we do not worship the Bible, we worship the Author of the Bible and our salvation come through Jesus Christ, who is the focus of the Bible.
John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
As such, we regard only Scripture as our final, ultimate base of authority and truth which leads us to Jesus. Anything less than this is deficient and opens the door to every conceivable kind of theological distortion. [2]
2 Peter 1:16–21
I have looked back over my sermons for the past 12 years I have been at this church and I see at least once each year, often more, I have preached a message centered on the Word, why we need to read it, why we need to live it. Today is no different.
A Gallup Poll released on July 6, 2022, stated that only 20% of Americans believe the Bible is the actual Words of God to be taken literally. This is down from a high of 40% in 1984. Looking deeper in those statistics, only 40% who identify as evangelical or born again believe the Bible to be the actual word of God to be taken literally.[3]
Many Christian say they believe every word, yet they do not know what every word says for they have not read the Scriptures. Oh they know some of the stories, but do they understand, from the word, what holy living looks like?
Commenting on this poll, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins offered his hypothesis for why the majority of Americans are skewing away from a literal interpretation of the Bible. “I think the reason we’re seeing this downward trend in terms of those who view Scripture as literal, literally the Word of God is the cultural forces that have really begun to press in on the church because of some of the things [you mentioned] they’re having to rectify.” He acknowledged that accepting the Bible literally comes at a counter cultural, often personal cost. “Either the word of God is true, and the choices that family members have made about their sexual lifestyle, their personal relationship in terms of holiness, what kind of church they’re in, and the doctrine that’s being taught that if those things are true in the Scripture, then they’re out of line with it. So as these pressures come to bear, it’s easier just to reject those elements of Scripture and say all is fine.”[4]
Look what peter has to say.
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.
That word “tales” (fable in other translations) in the Greek is "mythos" where we get our word myths. Peter did not make up these things that he is teaching. In context, the central message of 2 Peter is found in Chapter 3, is the very certainty of Jesus Coming again. Peter knows because Peter himself saw the glory and majesty of Jesus first hand. Peter spend time warning about false teachers who miss-interpret the scriptures and teach falsehood.
2 Peter 3:3–4 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”
Peter is refuting that teaching, that there is no second coming or Jesus will delay his coming indefinitely. This where we are at today, the teachings of Jesus are being mocked, and twisted to fit their own desires and agenda and rejects the literal interpretation of the Word.
“the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” This two word combination in the Greek is a common saying in the Greek, it is like when we say we are “good and mad” in English meaning “very mad.” Peter is telling about Jesus’ powerful coming. Power is “dynamis” from which we get out word dynamite. Jesus coming will be in power. And how does Peter know this? Peter, James, and John were “we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” The eyewitness of His majesty referred to the transformation of Jesus we find in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9. This was a well-documented event. Look what Jesus said the week before His transformation:
Matthew 16:28 “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.”
Jesus’ transformation had more to do with His second coming than with His resurrection. Peter, James, and John saw Jesus in all his glory as Jesus will be seen when He comes again.
2 Peter 1:17–18 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.
Peter based the certainty on Jesus second coming on what he saw on the mount of transfiguration. Peter had a 3 part proof:
1. He saw it with his own eyes.
2. He heard the voice of God with His own ears.
3. He was physically present for the whole thing. It was not a vision or a dream
Jesus enables Peter, James, and John to catch a glimpse of what His glory will look like when He returns. It is this glory of Jesus that we will behold in the Millennium to come. What an event Peter was witness to!
2 Peter 1:19 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.
All this confirmed what was written by the Prophets, referring to the whole of the Old Testament as we know it, or the Holy Scriptures, as it was in Peter’s day. There is more prophecy in the Old Testament about Jesus’ second coming than about His first coming. You see to Peter, the Word came alive. Peter saw the Incarnate Word (that is Jesus) in His glory. Peter heard the Word straight from God, then Peter had the realization that the Written Word was with him all this time which came straight from the Holy Spirit.
“to which you do well to pay attention.” All of God’s revelation is before us in the written word. We would do well to pay attention and heed all the words of this Book. Like the way we are drawn to a light in a dark place. This world we live in is a dark place, but we have the Light of Life in our hands.
“until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.” Jesus has been referred to the Bright and Morning Star (Rev 22:16) The day dawning is Jesus coming. In the presence of Jesus we will not have need of this book because our knowledge will be complete. But in the meanwhile, this Book, for which Peter says he has confirmed by His eyewitness account of Jesus’ transformation, is what we have for life and practice. This written word illuminates. Knowing that the word is confirmed and it illuminates:
2 Peter 1:20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation ...
That word interpretation can also be translated “origin.” The Word we have in our hands came from God. All Scripture originates with God and not man. Let’s consider the Word’s origin first, then we will return to consider our own personal interpretation.
2 Peter 1:21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. This is a key passage on what the Bible says about itself.
God used man to write the word, in the same way a writer uses a pen and a musician uses a musical instrument. God is the originator of all Scripture and men wrote as they were move by the Spirit of God. In 2 Timothy, Paul would use the word “inspired.”
2 Timothy 3:16a All Scripture is inspired by God …
All of the Bible is that way, we would say the Bible is inspired. The word “inspired” in the Greek is “theopneustos”, or quite literally, it means God breathed. All of it from Genesis to Revelation was written as God breathed (in the literal Greek), The prophet wrote as God directed, many not even understanding the significance or meaning of their words. Even Daniel did not understand the meaning of what he was writing but wrote anyway.
Daniel 12:8–9 As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?” 9 He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time.
Because it all came from God, it is without any errors in all areas. We would say the Bible is also inerrant – There are no mistakes in the original manuscripts.
But what is called “textual criticism” which is the in-depth examination of the text itself, what we have in our hands is over 99% true to the original manuscripts. No other ancient document comes close on that claim. Yet Scholars calls our copy of the Illiad from the Greek accurate and at best it is at best 70% accurate to whatever the original texts were.
Let’s go back to verse 20.
2 Peter 1:20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation,
There is two parts to Holy Scriptures, the writing of the Scriptures which came straight from God, and the proper interpretation which also must come from God. The Scripture is not what it means to me. It is not “is a matter of one’s own interpretation.” or private/individual interpretation. The Holy Spirit interprets the Scripture for us. Let me give several examples.
In the story of Joseph in Genesis, Pharaoh had a dream, but God, through Joseph gave the proper interpretation. In Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar had some dreams and God through Daniel gave the proper interpretation of those dreams. Daniel had a visions and Daniel received interpretation of those dreams from an angel. Throughout the Old Testament, dreams, visions, and prophecy were given proper interpretations. So it is today with the word of God in our hands. We are not free to interpret the word however we feel. It is not a simple matter of what the word means to us.
Isaiah 55:11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
We are not free to interpret the way we want but only under direction of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:13–14 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
Doesn’t it make sense that if we have the same Spirit, we would have similar interpretations? Also, if you know of someone who is not out for his own interest and you sense that individual is Spiritually attuned, would you not want to hear what he or she had to say about the Word? To the one without the Holy Spirit of God, this book is meaningless and outdated and of no use. Why do you think the world goes against the things of God, it is because they neither know God nor His Word. But we find so-call Spiritual people giving in to the things that tickle their ears:
2 Timothy 4:3–4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
There is that word fables or myths in the Greek again. People will rather believe the lie if it suits their purposes. We do not get to choose. God’s Word stands whether or not I agree or disagree with it.
In context, the central point Peter is making here, is that Jesus is coming again. He has seen the proof of it in the transfiguration and the Scriptures are confirmed. Are you ready for Christ return? Have you conformed and believe in His Word. It is truly amazing that God have given us so much. Yet one day He will hold us accountable as to what we have done with it. God says in Hosea:
Hosea 4:6a My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
How well do you know the Word of God?
Does the Word lead you to Jesus?
[1] SBC, The Baptist Faith and Message - 2000, https://bfm.sbc.net/
[2] James T. Draper Jr and Kenneth Keathley, Biblical Authority: The Critical Issue for the Body of Christ (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001), 9.
[3] https://news.gallup.com/poll/394262/fewer-bible-literal-word-god.aspx?version=print
[4] https://washingtonstand.com/news/poll-less-americans-than-ever-believe-the-bible-is-gods-word
