You Can Trust your Bible - 2 Peter 1:19-21
Posted by Calvary Chapel Fremont at 4/25/2010 8:20 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Pastor Tim Brown Calvary Chapel Fremont Trust Bible Peter
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Pastor Tim Brown Calvary Chapel Fremont Trust Bible Peter
Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday April 24, 2010
You can Trust your Bible
2 Peter 1:19-21
Peter: I have become convinced of something and I want u2b convinced of it, too. I was sure of something and then became more sure. I want u2b sure of something – and more sure, too.
If I have an ache in my arm and go the doctor and after looking at the x-ray tells me he has to cut off my arm, I want 2c the x-ray. Convince me. If you want me to cooperate, convince me. I need 2b sure/more sure.
This passage informs us of many things, but it only gives us one thing to do: pay attention to the Bible – believe the prophetic word.
The Bible doesn’t command belief w/o giving reasons for that belief. The Bible doesn’t say, “Do as ur told and ask no questions.” Yes, the authors of the Bible want u2 make a decision to follow Jesus/ surrender your life to God, but they don’t bypass your mind. The appeal to your will - to believe/surrender is through your mind.
Peter makes five statements that are meant to convince you to trust your Bible – the prophetic word that is from God.
#1 We have the words of the prophets
The prophet had a calling from God to speak the word from God. The Jews had one criteria for measuring a prophet – did he speak the truth? How could you know if he spoke the truth? There were two tests:
* Did he agree w/ Moses? forth-telling
* Did his predictions come true? foretelling
The prophets had groomed the Jews to live in the expectation of Messiah. They were nourished on the words of the prophets. Moses/David/Isaiah/Jeremiah/Daniel/Micah all spoke of the Messiah who was to come. You hold in your hands the same prophecies a 1st century Jew did. The words they read/heard are the words you read/hear. Even b4 they saw Messiah, they believed in Him. They were sure because the prophets had said so. We believe Jesus is coming again – because the Bible says so. We trust our Bibles.
Andrew, Peter’s brother, had spent a day w/ Jesus/told Peter that he had found the Messiah. Peter instantly understood what Andrew meant. He didn’t instantly believe, but he instantly understood. If someone says they found the missing link, we understand/aren’t automatically convinced.
Andrew was saying the he had found the One who had been predicted to come in the law/prophets. Peter would come to believe – Jn. 6:66-69/Mt. 16:16.
#2 We have the words of the prophets made more sure
The lamplight of prophecy became the daylight of Christ. He was sure that Jesus was the Messiah and then he became more sure - transfiguration. The prophetic word pointed to Jesus/fulfilled in Jesus/witnessed in Jesus. Scriptures/experience/Father/conscience pointed to Jesus. He was sure that Jesus was the Messiah and then he became more sure. How so? Faith became sight. Faith became experience. God confirmed the words of the prophets.
God will confirm His Word 2u. Heb. 2:1-4; Jn. 16:8-11.
Have you been sure of something that you became more sure of as time passed? I was sure I wasn’t an athlete and I became more sure as time passed/experience accumulated. I was sure that Fran loved me and I have become more sure as time has passed/ experience has accumulated. We can become more sure of the things we are sure of already.
I was sure that the Bible was the Word of God and then I became more sure when I met Jesus. I was sure that I could trust my Bible and then I became more sure as I saw its promises unfold in my life. The Bible didn’t become more true, I became more sure.
Peter knows he is going to die and wants to leave behind him a living legacy. He wants to enrich the generations to come w/ what will guide/lead them n2 the fullness of Christ. He leaves to the church his writings (15) – 1 & 2 Peter and the gospel of Mark. These are left to the church 2b read/prayed/preached through/studied.
#3 You need to pay attention to the sure words of the prophets
You will not have the same experience as Peter did. You can’t go back and relive his experience of seeing Christ transfigured and hearing the voice of God. What we do have is the word of God. As you pay attention to this word the same thing will happen to you as happened to Peter - God will confirm His word 2u. What he saw/ heard ushered him n2a place where he saw the supremacy of Jesus. The word we pay attention to will bring us to that same place.
You should pay attention to the Bible because it will lead u2 Jesus. That’s it – pure and simple. To read the Bible as a historical record/moral handbook/religious text is to miss its main purpose – to bring u2a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Pay attention = to bring a ship to land/attach yourself to something.
Not only does Peter want Jesus 2b your hero, he wants you 2b as convinced as he is that the Bible is the Word of God. He wants u2 pay attention to the word of God. He wants the Living Word – Jesus Christ - 2b your hero and he wants the written word – the Bible 2b your handbook. Peter: I want to put something in your hands that will lead u2 put someone in your heart.
#4 The words of the prophets are not the products of their imagination
v20 can be understood this way: No word from God originates as a word from man.
He has already spoken of cleverly devised tales – myths that are the product of imagination. In 2:1 he’ll speak of false teachers who introduce destructive heresies. Cleverly devised tales/destructive heresies are acts of the human will.
#5 The words of the prophets are the words of the Spirit’s inspiration
The Bible isn’t man’s word about God, it is God’s word to man. The Bible didn’t come from man, but through man. The prophets weren’t movers/shakers, they were moved/shaken/borne along like a ship b4 the wind.
The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy? Amos 3:8
We know that the Bible came from God for one very simple reason: Jesus told us so. It is on His authority, as the God of the universe, that we are sure that the Bible is the Word of God.
* He confirmed OT authority in His teaching. Jesus spoke of:
* the whole Old Testament (Matt. 22:29)
* its central divisions (Luke 16:16)
* its individual books (Matt. 22:43; 24:15)
* its events (19:4–5; Luke 17:27)
* its letters and parts of letters as having divine authority (Matt. 5:18)
* the Scriptures as the Word of God (John 10:35).
* them as written by men moved by the Spirit (Mark 12:36)
* He promised an authoritative NT through His disciples.
* Jesus promises that His teachings will be remembered and understood, and that additional truths would be given to the apostles so that the church could be established. (John 14:25–26; 16:13)
* The early church built its doctrines and practices on “the foundation of the apostles” (Eph. 2:20). It followed the “apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42) and was bound by decisions of the apostolic council (Acts 15).
* Paul’s writings are equated with Scripture by Peter (2 Peter 3:15–16).
If Jesus, who was God in the flesh and always spoke the truth, said that the OT was the Word of God/that the NT would be written by His apostles/prophets, then our entire Bible is proven to be from God. We have it on the best of authority—Jesus Christ Himself. 1
Peter wants the Living Word – Jesus Christ - 2b your hero and he wants the written word – the Bible 2b your handbook. Peter: I want to put something in your hands that will lead u2 put someone in your heart. He wants u2b sure and more sure.
What if you became convinced your arm needs 2b amputated and you refused to submit to surgery? The disease affecting your arm will only spread and totally consume you. You will die in your disease. If ur convinced that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and refuse to submit to Him, you will die in your sins.
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You can Trust your Bible
2 Peter 1:19-21
Peter: I have become convinced of something and I want u2b convinced of it, too. I was sure of something and then became more sure. I want u2b sure of something – and more sure, too.
If I have an ache in my arm and go the doctor and after looking at the x-ray tells me he has to cut off my arm, I want 2c the x-ray. Convince me. If you want me to cooperate, convince me. I need 2b sure/more sure.
This passage informs us of many things, but it only gives us one thing to do: pay attention to the Bible – believe the prophetic word.
The Bible doesn’t command belief w/o giving reasons for that belief. The Bible doesn’t say, “Do as ur told and ask no questions.” Yes, the authors of the Bible want u2 make a decision to follow Jesus/ surrender your life to God, but they don’t bypass your mind. The appeal to your will - to believe/surrender is through your mind.
Peter makes five statements that are meant to convince you to trust your Bible – the prophetic word that is from God.
#1 We have the words of the prophets
The prophet had a calling from God to speak the word from God. The Jews had one criteria for measuring a prophet – did he speak the truth? How could you know if he spoke the truth? There were two tests:
* Did he agree w/ Moses? forth-telling
* Did his predictions come true? foretelling
The prophets had groomed the Jews to live in the expectation of Messiah. They were nourished on the words of the prophets. Moses/David/Isaiah/Jeremiah/Daniel/Micah all spoke of the Messiah who was to come. You hold in your hands the same prophecies a 1st century Jew did. The words they read/heard are the words you read/hear. Even b4 they saw Messiah, they believed in Him. They were sure because the prophets had said so. We believe Jesus is coming again – because the Bible says so. We trust our Bibles.
Andrew, Peter’s brother, had spent a day w/ Jesus/told Peter that he had found the Messiah. Peter instantly understood what Andrew meant. He didn’t instantly believe, but he instantly understood. If someone says they found the missing link, we understand/aren’t automatically convinced.
Andrew was saying the he had found the One who had been predicted to come in the law/prophets. Peter would come to believe – Jn. 6:66-69/Mt. 16:16.
#2 We have the words of the prophets made more sure
The lamplight of prophecy became the daylight of Christ. He was sure that Jesus was the Messiah and then he became more sure - transfiguration. The prophetic word pointed to Jesus/fulfilled in Jesus/witnessed in Jesus. Scriptures/experience/Father/conscience pointed to Jesus. He was sure that Jesus was the Messiah and then he became more sure. How so? Faith became sight. Faith became experience. God confirmed the words of the prophets.
God will confirm His Word 2u. Heb. 2:1-4; Jn. 16:8-11.
Have you been sure of something that you became more sure of as time passed? I was sure I wasn’t an athlete and I became more sure as time passed/experience accumulated. I was sure that Fran loved me and I have become more sure as time has passed/ experience has accumulated. We can become more sure of the things we are sure of already.
I was sure that the Bible was the Word of God and then I became more sure when I met Jesus. I was sure that I could trust my Bible and then I became more sure as I saw its promises unfold in my life. The Bible didn’t become more true, I became more sure.
Peter knows he is going to die and wants to leave behind him a living legacy. He wants to enrich the generations to come w/ what will guide/lead them n2 the fullness of Christ. He leaves to the church his writings (15) – 1 & 2 Peter and the gospel of Mark. These are left to the church 2b read/prayed/preached through/studied.
#3 You need to pay attention to the sure words of the prophets
You will not have the same experience as Peter did. You can’t go back and relive his experience of seeing Christ transfigured and hearing the voice of God. What we do have is the word of God. As you pay attention to this word the same thing will happen to you as happened to Peter - God will confirm His word 2u. What he saw/ heard ushered him n2a place where he saw the supremacy of Jesus. The word we pay attention to will bring us to that same place.
You should pay attention to the Bible because it will lead u2 Jesus. That’s it – pure and simple. To read the Bible as a historical record/moral handbook/religious text is to miss its main purpose – to bring u2a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Pay attention = to bring a ship to land/attach yourself to something.
Not only does Peter want Jesus 2b your hero, he wants you 2b as convinced as he is that the Bible is the Word of God. He wants u2 pay attention to the word of God. He wants the Living Word – Jesus Christ - 2b your hero and he wants the written word – the Bible 2b your handbook. Peter: I want to put something in your hands that will lead u2 put someone in your heart.
#4 The words of the prophets are not the products of their imagination
v20 can be understood this way: No word from God originates as a word from man.
He has already spoken of cleverly devised tales – myths that are the product of imagination. In 2:1 he’ll speak of false teachers who introduce destructive heresies. Cleverly devised tales/destructive heresies are acts of the human will.
#5 The words of the prophets are the words of the Spirit’s inspiration
The Bible isn’t man’s word about God, it is God’s word to man. The Bible didn’t come from man, but through man. The prophets weren’t movers/shakers, they were moved/shaken/borne along like a ship b4 the wind.
The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy? Amos 3:8
We know that the Bible came from God for one very simple reason: Jesus told us so. It is on His authority, as the God of the universe, that we are sure that the Bible is the Word of God.
* He confirmed OT authority in His teaching. Jesus spoke of:
* the whole Old Testament (Matt. 22:29)
* its central divisions (Luke 16:16)
* its individual books (Matt. 22:43; 24:15)
* its events (19:4–5; Luke 17:27)
* its letters and parts of letters as having divine authority (Matt. 5:18)
* the Scriptures as the Word of God (John 10:35).
* them as written by men moved by the Spirit (Mark 12:36)
* He promised an authoritative NT through His disciples.
* Jesus promises that His teachings will be remembered and understood, and that additional truths would be given to the apostles so that the church could be established. (John 14:25–26; 16:13)
* The early church built its doctrines and practices on “the foundation of the apostles” (Eph. 2:20). It followed the “apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42) and was bound by decisions of the apostolic council (Acts 15).
* Paul’s writings are equated with Scripture by Peter (2 Peter 3:15–16).
If Jesus, who was God in the flesh and always spoke the truth, said that the OT was the Word of God/that the NT would be written by His apostles/prophets, then our entire Bible is proven to be from God. We have it on the best of authority—Jesus Christ Himself. 1
Peter wants the Living Word – Jesus Christ - 2b your hero and he wants the written word – the Bible 2b your handbook. Peter: I want to put something in your hands that will lead u2 put someone in your heart. He wants u2b sure and more sure.
What if you became convinced your arm needs 2b amputated and you refused to submit to surgery? The disease affecting your arm will only spread and totally consume you. You will die in your disease. If ur convinced that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and refuse to submit to Him, you will die in your sins.
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