The More Sure Word – Part 2
2 Peter 1:16-21
April 9, 2017
Last Sunday night we began our new study
Which we are calling 500 years of Reformation.
The reason we call it that is because to most who study the reformation and hold it as dear, THE REFORMATION NEVER ENDS.
Another common phrase that came out of that period was:
Ecclesia Reformata, Semper Reformanda
“The Church Reformed, Always being Reformed”
The idea is that because we are sinful humans bent to stray,
We are always in constant need of God’s reforming work in our lives
Through His perfect word.
• We would never say that we have arrived.
• We would never say that we are beyond correction.
• We would never say that God is finished.
We are those who continually need our lives examined and corrected.
We run to the Scriptures
• That God may reform our actions
• That God may reform our words
• That God may reform our motives
• That God may reform our ministries
• That God may reform our faith
• That God may reform our doctrine
• That God may reform our traditions
We call this study 500 Years of Reformation because we believe that
While many credit Luther’s act as the beginning of the reformation,
We have never seen cause to call it over.
The Church must continually be reformed from our sinful tendencies
Into agreement with the very word of God.
That is why we started were we did LAST WEEK.
I asked you, “What dictates what you believe?”
This was foundational for the reformers.
• They lived in an era that was dominated with papal authority and the rigid commitment to church traditions and councils.
• The reformers made the decision to look past those lesser authorities to the very word God, and as they began to study Scripture, the reformation was ready to explode.
The term for the reformers came to be SOLA SCRIPTURA
Scripture alone would be their final authority.
Scripture alone would be the sufficient guide for life and godliness.
And that is what we have begun to talk about.
You must determine where your authority is.
• Do you trust in the ecclesiastical reign of bishops and popes?
• Do you lean upon years of traditions?
• Do you run to science as the authority for all things?
• Do you look to reason as your final answer?
• Do you think your own preference and inner thoughts serve you best?
• Does your experience dictate what is true?
Well, what I want to make sure you UNDERSTAND FROM THE OUTSET
Is exactly WHAT THE REFORMERS LEARNED
And that is that nothing is as sure as Scripture.
When we ended last time I read for you that quote from Martin Luther as he stood on trial at the Diet of Worms.
“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand, I can do no other, may God help me. Amen.”
Luther knew there was but one infallible rock upon which he could rest,
And that was the rock of God’s word.
That is precisely what Peter is trying to show us here in our text tonight.
He is calling his people to understand that regardless of the mockers around them, they have the truth.
• It is not truth bound in their own reasoning
• It is not truth bound in their scientific evidence
• It is not even truth bound in their experiences
And you’ll remember that as far as experiences go, Peter had a good one.
• He actually saw with his own eyes, Jesus transfigured.
• He actually heard with his own ears that voice from heaven declaring Christ alone pleasing to the Father.
But even that was not Peter’s ultimate authority.
Peter wrote:
(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.”
Literally (in the Greek) Peter says, “we have the more sure prophetic word”
That is to say, “Yes, I have my experience on the mountain, but I’ll tell you what is even more sure than that, and that is the word of God.”
Peter is pointing out that even if you don’t believe his testimony that’s fine
All you have to do is turn to the Scriptures and see for yourself.
And of course Peter is referring to the Old Testament Scriptures here.
And then Peter tells us to “pay attention” to those Scriptures,
And I will return to that in a moment.
But for now, look at verse 20 where Peter again emphasizes the accuracy of the prophets.
(20-21) “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
This is another fundamental Scriptural truth.
At first reading it sounds as though Peter is saying that
When you read the Scripture, you do not have the right to interpret it.
And that by the way is true.
1 Corinthians 2:11 “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.”
Divine truth cannot possibly be interpreted by natural man.
Scripture is the thought of God, and therefore only God
Has the right to interpret it.
We don’t have the luxury of reading Scripture and then saying,
“What does that mean to me?”
The accurate question is “God, what did you mean?”
And so we do not have the right to interpret Scripture.
But that is not what Peter is referring to here.
The word “interpretation” translates EPILUSEOS (epeelusis)
“to loose” or “to solve” or “to explain”
Peter is not referring to the fact that we can’t interpret the text.
Peter is referring to the fact that while preaching God’s word,
The prophets never gave their own explanation.
That is to say, they never attributed their own thoughts to God.
No true prophet ever gave his own thoughts on the matter.
No true prophet ever articulated his own ideas.
Instead, the prophets only gave God’s thoughts on the matter.
The prophets only ever “loosed” what God was saying.
This is further explained in verse 21 “for no prophecy of Scripture was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
Peter is saying you may not believe my testimony,
But you can certainly believe what the prophets said
Because the prophets only spoke the words of God.
And common sense validates that claim as well.
Look back at the prophets.
And one thing becomes obvious.
NONE OF THEM PREACHED THEIR OWN MESSAGE.
HOW DO WE KNOW?
Because most of them preached a message
Opposite of what they wanted to preach.
Isaiah 6:9-13 “He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate, “The LORD has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”
Jeremiah 20:7-9 “O LORD, You have deceived me and I was deceived; You have overcome me and prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; Everyone mocks me. For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I proclaim violence and destruction, Because for me the word of the LORD has resulted In reproach and derision all day long. But if I say, “I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name,” Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it.”
Amos 7:10-15 “Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words. “For thus Amos says, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.'” Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go, you seer, flee away to the land of Judah and there eat bread and there do your prophesying! “But no longer prophesy at Bethel, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence.” Then Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs. “But the LORD took me from following the flock and the LORD said to me, ‘Go prophesy to My people Israel.’”
And don’t just look at the faithful ones.
Remember Jonah?
Jonah 3:4 “Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
Jonah 4:1-3 “But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD and said, “Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.”Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.”
Had any of those men said what they wanted to say,
The message would have been much different.
• Isaiah would have preached a message that comforted people.
• Jeremiah would have preached a message that made him popular.
• Amos would have never preached a message at all, he would have stayed with the herds and the figs.
• Jonah would have never warned the Assyrians.
These men did not speak a message that came from themselves,
It was the message of God.
And that helps us then to understand what Peter wrote in verse 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.”
Since we know the words of the prophets are true.
Since we know their words are certain.
Then you ought “to pay attention” to them.
And Peter even goes a little further.
“as to a lamp shining in a dark place”
WHY DO YOU TURN ON THE LIGHTS IN YOUR DARK HOUSE?
So you don’t break your neck.
• Do you ever turn on the lights and then close your eyes to walk through the
room? (Do you ever ignore the light?)
• Do you ever turn on the light and then purposely walk into the wall, like the
light is not telling you the truth?
Of course not.
You listen to the light. You obey the light.
You do act upon the information that the light gives you.
And Peter says you ought to do the same with the Scriptures.
Now there is coming a day when “the day dawns and the morning start arises in your hearts.”
There is coming a day when Christ will return, and we will know fully and then you won’t need the Scriptures any more.
But until that day, you need it badly.
IT IS THE ONLY LIGHT YOU HAVE.
This is Peter’s affirmation of Sola Scriptura.
It is a word “more sure” than anything else we have.
So Peter says that we ought to pay attention to Scripture first
Because it is more sure than any other form of Revelation.
What I want to turn to next is to helping you understand
WHY WE BELIEVE IT IS MORE SURE.
And it is really all tied up in that phrase from Peter when he says, “men moved by the Holy Spirit, spoke from God.”
That is a remarkable reality.
• God chose to speak to men.
• God chose to reveal Himself.
He did that by moving men by His Holy Spirit to speak His very words.
And I want us to ponder that reality a little this evening, so that perhaps we can grow to better appreciate this Bible we possess.
First, let’s make sure we all understand the PRIVILEGE OF REVELATION.
The easiest way to say it is that
REVELATION IS ALL THE PREROGATIVE OF GOD.
If God did not choose to make Himself known, we could not know Him.
Paul refers to God as:
1 Timothy 6:15-16 “He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.”
Job came to this realization as well while in the midst of his struggles.
Job 23:8-9 “Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.”
Despite his desire to know the cause of his affliction,
Revelation was not within his power to obtain.
And I think we’ve all learned that same lesson there.
Just because we ask God “Why?”
Does not mean that we are going to get the answer.
Revelation is purely the prerogative of God.
And that includes the very basic knowledge of Him.
If God does not reveal Himself, we cannot know Him.
If God does not reveal truth, we cannot know it.
And this is also seen throughout Scripture.
Consider the parable of the sower. After Jesus gave that parable (a simple farming illustration), his disciples were perplexed that Jesus spoke so cryptically.
Matthew 13:11 “Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.”
Revelation is purely the prerogative of God.
Beyond that, even truth which is given cannot be understood
Apart from God’s enabling of the mind to grasp it.
This is what Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16 “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. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.”
It is not as though humanity just decides to find God, or even to find truth.
The person of God and the reality of truth
Are both determined by God’s gracious willingness to let it be known.
And I simply tell you that because I want you to understand that
REVELATION IS A PRIVILEGE.
Now, in Scripture we find that there are TWO TYPES OF REVELATION.
1) GENERAL REVELATION
This is the basic universal revelation of God.
Paul spoke of this in Romans 1, as a general revelation which is binding enough to condemn all men for all eternity.
Romans 1:18-19 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”
This includes things like Nature:
• The very presence of creation proves there must be a Creator.
• The very order of creation (laws) prove there must be a Sustainer
Romans 1:20 “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.”
Psalms 19:1-6 “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.”
Things like Humanity:
• We have the complexity of the human body, which speak to an intelligence in the Creator (as opposed to an accidental explosion)
• We have the non-physical elements, like the conscience which give evidence to the moral fabric and righteousness of God.
Romans 2:14-16 “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”
So we are referring to basic and general revelation.
All humanity gets this.
But coming after that we also have:
2) SPECIAL REVELATION
Special revelation is that which directly speaks to God as the Savior.
Special revelation speaks to God in redemption.
2 Peter 1:2-3 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”
Now we also know that
SPECIAL REVELATION TRUMPS GENERAL REVELATION.
For example:
My kids can walk in to the living room and see laundry piled on the couch and might in fact deduce from the situation that their clothes need to be folded.
However a special revelation (note from mom) supersedes whatever else they might have thought.
And this is where it is important to understand the role of Scripture.
• You may make a general observation about God by looking at nature.
• You may make a general observation about God through an experience you have.
But if God gives a specific revelation
It supersedes whatever conclusions you may have come to.
For example:
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.”
• Now we have always known that the criteria by which we discern whether or
not a prophet is true is by whether or not his sign comes true.
• However, here God says that we have a prophet whose sign comes true and
yet he is still to be considered false.
WHY?
Because God has already given special revelation to that point.
God has already revealed the Ten Commandments
That you should have no other gods before Him.
So special revelation SUPERSEDES general revelation.
AND: Special revelation even CLARIFIES general revelation.
NOW, THERE IS ONLY ONE REASON THAT WORKS.
And that is because WE BELIEVE SCRIPTURE COMES FROM GOD.
Now this also leads us to the idea then of INSPIRATION
• We believe Scripture is true because of where it came from.
• We believe Scripture is authoritative because of its author.
Scripture comes to us from God.
It is “Top Down”, not “Bottom Up”
Scripture is not the reasoning of men, Scripture is the revelation of God.
It is INSPIRED
(20-21) “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
And we are all familiar with that famous passage in 2 Timothy.
2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”
Or
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.”
Scripture is that which comes from God
And is therefore true, because God is true.
(God is not fickle or deceptive)
1 Samuel 15:29 “Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.”
Hebrews 6:18 “so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.”
If God were not true,
Then even special revelation would not be certain or binding.
We would be forced to look at experience or observation
To find out what God is saying now.
But Peter said “we have a more sure word”.
That is to say we have a concrete, absolute, unchanging,
Sure and steadfast revelation from God.
This is why we place the scripture above every other revelation.
WE KNOW WHERE SCRIPTURE CAME FROM.
• Perhaps your experience came from God…
• Perhaps your observation is accurate…
• Perhaps the pope is correct…
BUT WE KNOW SCRIPTURE IS TRUE
BECAUSE GOD WROTE IT AND GOD IS ALWAYS TRUE
SCRIPTURE TAKES PRECEDENT OVER EVERYTHING.
Our Thoughts – Our Experiences – Even the Church
Listen to what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:
1 Thessalonians 2:13 “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”
He praised the church for submitting to the word of God.
SO, OUR ULTIMATE STANDARD FOR TRUTH IS THE SCRIPTURE.
In short, everything we hold to be true, we believe it is true,
Not because we can make sense of it, but because Scripture says it.
Let me give you an example:
Why do we believe Jesus rose from the dead?
• You didn’t see Him alive…
• You didn’t see Him die…
• You didn’t see Him after He rose…
• There’s no video footage, there’s no authenticated scientific evidence.
THE ANSWER: because Scripture says He did.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”
Listen to Jesus on the road to Emmaus speaking to the confused doubters.
Luke 24:25-27 “And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”
Now, what we are dealing with here
Was at the crux of the struggle around the Reformation.
Who are we to believe?
• The pope…
• The councils…
• Our traditions…
Or are we to believe Scripture?
Well the reformers believed that the special revelation of Scripture
Superseded all other revelations namely because Scripture comes from God and therefore is true and authoritative over every other idea.
We have here “a more sure word”
We test everything by Scripture and not the other way around.
And by crossing that bridge
It opened the door for the Reformers to discover the gospel.
Let me close with another quick picture from Luther’s life.
• Everyone is typically familiar with Luther’s infamous nailing of the 95 thesis on the door.
• Everyone is familiar with his infamous stand at the Diet of Worms.
• But neither of those moments are really the biggest in the life of Luther.
The biggest moment in Luther’s life came to be what is known as
“The Tower Experience”
• Luther had, by his own admission, become a Monk who hated God.
• He had studied law, and intended to be a lawyer until he was almost struck by lightning,
• And in the fear of the moment cried out “Help me St. Anna, I will become a monk!”
This process led Luther to the study of the Law and a hatred for God,
For Luther’s legal mind could not absolve himself
Of all the guilt which he had justly accrued.
He tried many forms of self-abasement by which to earn the merit of God,
But never felt at peace with that.
ULTIMATELY (after a series of events) Luther ended up as a professor at the University of Wittenberg
And was given the assignment of lecturing on the book of Romans.
It is also important to note that by this point Luther had already rejected the common mystical and allegorical approaches to Bible exposition in favor of what is referred to as the SENSU LITERALIS (Literal sense)
Luther was looking to what the Bible actually says.
And he came across these verses.
Romans 1:16-17 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”
Now this is the very reality that had haunted Luther.
• This issue of the righteousness of God, was the great barrier in Luther’s mind as to why he could never get to God.
• Luther understood God as righteous and he understood himself as sinful and no amount of religious works had been able to remedy that.
Well Luther reads “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
And he began to study.
And Luther began to look at the doctrine of justification.
Now at this time the Latin word for justification was the word JUSTIFICARE which means “to make righteous”
And the church leaders of the time had taught that through the sacraments God “justifies” or “makes righteous” those who are sinful.
And Luther hated God for this, for despite his rigorous efforts,
It had never worked in his case.
But at this time Luther began to study the Greek word for justification which is DIKAIOO (di-kay-i-o)
Which means “to regard as righteous” or “to make righteous”
And for the first time, from studying the Scriptures,
Luther understood that the righteousness of God
Was not something he must earn through religious effort,
But rather it was something that could be granted to him by faith.
And instantly the light bulb came on.
In fact, Luther wrote:
Though I lived as a monk without reproach, I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. I could not believe that he was placated by my satisfaction. I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly, if not blasphemously, certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God, and said, “As if, indeed, it is not enough, that miserable sinners, eternally lost through original sin, are crushed by every kind of calamity by the law of the Decalogue, without having God add pain to pain by the gospel and also by the gospel threatening us with his righteousness and wrath!” Thus I raged with a fierce and troubled conscience. Nevertheless, I beat importunately upon Paul at that place, most ardently desiring to know what St. Paul wanted.
At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely, “In it the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.’” There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, namely, the passive righteousness with which merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.” Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. There a totally other face of the entire Scripture showed itself to me. Thereupon I ran through the Scriptures from memory. I also found in other terms an analogy, as, the work of God, that is, what God does in us, the power of God, with which he makes us strong, the wisdom of God, with which he makes us wise, the strength of God, the salvation of God, the glory of God.
(Luther’s Works, Vol. 24, eds. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann [St. Louis: Concordia, 2002], 337)
This is why we say that SOLA SCRIPTURA
Is the foundation of the Reformation.
• Luther first came to a belief that Scripture trumped tradition.
• Then Luther came to a commitment to study what Scripture said.
• And when Scripture contradicted tradition, Luther went with Scripture.
Justification by Faith immerged after years of being hidden
And the Reformation was off and running.
This is the very essence of what Peter was saying to his flock.
• We may have our experiences…
• We may have our visions…
• We may have our traditions…
• We may have our councils…
• BUT WE HAVE THE MORE SURE WORD OF SCRIPTURE!
“to which you do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place.”
The Scripture alone must dictate what we believe,
For the Scripture alone preserves the true gospel undistorted.
