A number of years ago I decided that I would read a number of biographies and writings of Martin Luther. It was incredibly helpful as I felt myself being ministered to by Luther again and again. But what most overwhelmed me about Luther in my reading of his writings was his love for and devotion to the Word of God. Of course this showed in his preaching and teaching. During one year he preached 170 sermons, and his lecturing at the university led him to cover all but thirteen books of the Bible while he was preaching at such a rate.1 But it wasn’t that he devoted himself to and loved the Word of God because his profession demanded that. In his words, it is because he saw the Bible as “the greatest, most necessary, and important thing in Christendom.”2 So, he poured himself into it, noting, “When I was young, I read the Bible over and over and over again, and was so perfectly acquainted with it, that I could, in an instant, have pointed to any verse that might have been mentioned.”3
Now it is certainly appropriate to hear that quote and that description of Luther’s life and be amazed. Preaching 170 times a year for your side job and basically memorizing the Bible is indeed impressive. But what we shouldn’t see as amazing is his zeal for the Bible, his insatiable appetite to know the Bible and be changed by it. After all, shouldn’t that characterize us as believers? Shouldn’t that be the norm for those who confess that the Bible is nothing less than God’s Word, written by men as they were moved along by the Holy Spirit? The Bible should indeed be that to which we pay serious attention, “as to a lamp shining in a dark place,” as Peter later says in our text this morning.
I think this notion of the nature of the Bible and our need for the Bible is the focus of our text this morning, 2 Peter 1:12-21. As I mentioned last week, Peter writes this letter knowing that he is soon to die. He mentions that in 1:14. Therefore, he finds himself eager to make sure that his hearers are going to be able to recall, hold on to, and walk in accordance with the gospel truth that he has delivered to them.
But it’s not just his impending death that is pressing on him. Peter also knows that false teachers are going to arise among the believers to whom he writes. He says that explicitly in 2:1. So, what then does he do? Where does Peter focus his readers’ attention in this letter prior to his death and as they’re facing attacks from false teachers? The answer, as I’ve already noted, is that he focuses them on the Word of God itself, the Scriptures. And it’s therefore obviously needful for us this morning to turn our attention to what Peter says to his readers (and us) concerning the nature of and our need for the Bible this morning.
I simply want to note his message in these verses in two points. The first of these is this:
Now, let me show you why I think this is the main point of verses 12-15. This may feel a bit simplistic, though I hope not. But, first let us recognize that, knowing that he’s going to die, Peter writes this letter. That’s obvious enough.
Second, he wrote it as a means to remind his readers of truths they already know. He says in verse 12, “Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.” So, Peter isn’t trying to write to them something they don’t know but something that will remind them of truths they’ve already been taught.
Third, we can note that Peter writes these truths down as reminders so that after he dies, they may be able to return to these truths and recall them, even when Peter is no longer around to remind them personally. He says in verses 14-15, “I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure [that is, after his death] you may be able at any time to recall these things.”
Finally, we can also note that he wrote these things down as reminders of truths they already know so that they might be able to recall them even in the days when Peter is no longer around to speak these things to them any more so that they might be stirred up to believe and obey the truth of Christ. And we see that in verse 13 as he notes, “I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder.” His goal is to stir them up – to stir them up to obey the exhortation he’s given them in 1:5-7, for example and those that will follow this section of verses. He’s stirring them up to obey Christ’s truth and commands.
What then does this mean for us? Well, when we hold in our hands the Scriptures this morning, we are holding the very Words of God written by human authors that were given to us in part so that we might come to them, look upon them, be reminded of truths, recall truths, and be stirred up in our hearts to obey Christ. That’s one reason the Holy Spirit moved men to write the Scriptures – so that we might return to them again and again, remembering and recalling truths so that we might be stirred up to believe and obey Christ.
Therefore, it’s fitting for us to ask ourselves this morning if this is indeed our practice. If not, then, we’re not putting ourselves in a place of safety but one of great risk. Think of our children. Do we tell them rules or give them commands to obey once and then never repeat ourselves again? Of course not. We hold them up again and again. Why? Because kids don’t gravitate toward greater obedience apart from discipline but away from it. So, holding up our expectations, rules, and consequences for obedience on a consistent basis helps orient them back to what is right. And in this way, adults are no different, are we? If we were to distance ourselves from reading and hearing the preaching of the Word of God, we won’t gravitate toward greater love for God and obedience to his commands. We won’t gravitate toward a clearer discernment of right and wrong, but away from it.
Now add to this the fact that we have voices around us speaking contrary to the Bible and many around us living contrary to the Bible, seemingly from our perspective often without consequences. That’s a dangerous place for us to be, isn’t it? Then add to it that we ourselves sin so that we harden our own hearts to what is right and good, and it’s seemingly a hopeless position to be in. How will we live a life of obedience in such a setting?
Peter’s answer is to return to the Word, again and again, being reoriented to what is right and true and stirred up to obey God’s Word. And we need to heed that word. Now, we don’t read our Bibles in order to merit right standing with God. We have that through faith in the finished work of Christ. But to neglect this means of stirring our hearts to obedience would be foolish, and we are blessed to be people who have easy access to and can meditate on our Bibles day and night. Let me exhort all of us this to commit ourselves to be those who are immersed in God’s Word, remembering and recalling his truths therein so that we might be stirred to greater love for and obedience to Christ.
But that’s not where Peter stops. In fact, it is in verses 16-21 that we really see his stress on the nature of God’s Word and his call for us to pay attention to it. In these verses we see that:
I say this because I don’t want us simply to hear an exhortation to immerse ourselves in God’s Word but also be reminded of the nature of God’s Word. And we see that in verses 16-21. In the first half of these verses (vv. 16-18), we are reminded that the apostolic testimony which makes up the NT Scripture comes from eyewitness testimony.
Peter knows that there will be (and are) false teachers among these believers to whom he is writing. Furthermore, he knows that scoffers will come in the last days saying that Jesus isn’t returning, like the apostles declare. Rather, they will say that these men followed man-made myths and that the world will just keep on going as it always has. We see Peter note these things in 3:1-7. So, in verses 16-18, Peter takes this argument head on.
He begins by debunking the thought that the apostolic message was simply created by man. He writes in v. 16a, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Now, when he says “power and coming,” he probably means to link these terms together, referring, most likely, to the “powerful coming” of the Lord Jesus Christ, when he returns in glory. Again, he knows some will come and scoff at this idea of Christ’s glorious return, so Peter’s saying that they didn’t follow myths when they made the proclamation that he’s returning to judge the living and the dead.
Well, it’s fair to ask, then, what did they base this proclamation that Jesus was returning in his glory on? Peter gives the first part of the answer in verses 16b-18, by noting the event when Jesus was transfigured before their eyes on the Mount of Transfiguration. He writes, “But we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.”
Now, of course, Peter is here referring to the time when Peter, James, and John went up with Jesus on the mountain, as recorded in Mark 9 for example. On that occasion, Jesus took the three and as Jesus stood before them, he was transfigured, and his clothes became more radiant white than anything they’d ever seen. And Elijah and Moses appeared before them. And, not only that, but a cloud came and overshadowed them, and out of that cloud came a voice saying, “This is my beloved Son.”
Peter wants his readers of this letter to know that he was an eyewitness on that day. He saw the Lord Jesus Christ in his glory. He heard the Father honor and glorify the Son by making his appearance glorious and declaring that this was his beloved Son. Peter saw it. He heard it.
But, why, we might ask, does this lead Peter to declare for certain that Jesus is indeed coming one day in glory and power. I mean, Peter could have referred to other events. How about the angel declaring that Jesus will return again just as he ascended into heaven, as recorded in Acts 1? That would have been a good reference to prove this doctrine of the glorious return of Christ. Why the transfiguration?
Well, it’s interesting that when we look at the transfiguration story in Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s gospel accounts, each of them have the transfiguration happening shortly after Jesus declares that some will see the kingdom of God after it has come with power. Then, Mark tells us that after six days the transfiguration happened. Matthew says the exact same thing, right after Jesus making that declaration. And Luke says about eight days later this happened. Now, why would each gospel writer give us a time indicator that says the transfiguration happened only a few days after Jesus said this declaration of some seeing the kingdom come in power, and why would each place the transfiguration story right after that declaration? The obvious answer is that the transfiguration itself – the events on that mountain – was indeed a demonstration of the power of the kingdom in power. It is a picture of Jesus wrapped in the same glory that he’ll have when he returns.
So, Peter knows that he got to see it. He was an eyewitness of the very glory that Christ will demonstrate when he returns in glory. Therefore, seeing this foretaste of what is to come, he knows Christ’s coming is certain. He saw the foretaste of it on that mountain.
But that’s not all. Peter also says that what he saw on that mountain and the second coming that it was a foretaste of were foretold by the prophets. In verses 19-21, he shows us that the OT writings (perhaps some specific texts from the OT that predicted specifically the coming of Christ) were written by men who wrote the very words of God.
He begins verse 19 writing, “And we have something more sure, the prophetic word.” Now, this can be confusing. Is Peter saying that his eyewitness testimony of Jesus being transfigured and the Father saying, “This is my beloved Son” made him pretty sure Jesus is going to return powerfully in his glory one day but the OT words of the prophets are even more sure than his eyewitness testimony? No, I don’t think so. Peter is not undermining his argument, making his eyewitness testimony less sure than anything. Rather, I think he’s saying something like this: If you read the OT Scriptures, you’ll see the prophets repeatedly speaking of a day when the Lord will come in his glory, judge the earth, establish his kingdom, make all things new, etc. It reads like the Lord will literally one day come to the earth in his powerfully glory to reign. Well, Peter is saying that his eyewitness testimony of what took place on the mount where Jesus was transfigured confirms that same thing. Basically, Peter is saying that his testimony lines up with the words of the OT Scriptures, thus, making it even more certain.
Let’s imagine, for example, that early in the week someone looked at one of our sermon cards and said, “Oh, the sermon text on Sunday is going to be 2 Peter 1:12-21.” Then, someone else looked on the internet and saw an announcement that Sunday’s sermon text would be 2 Peter 1:12-21. Finally, let’s say that someone got here this morning, saw that I was walking around with a sermon manuscript based on 2 Peter 1:12-21, and thus concluded, “Hey, this morning’s sermon text is 2 Peter 1:12-21.” In that example, everyone would have been right. Theoretically, the person looking at the sermon card or online needed nothing more to come to the right conclusion about this morning’s sermon text. And, unless we had been providentially hindered, they could have held to their conclusion about the sermon text with certainty. But when you combine all of these sources and find them all agreeing, you might say, what was certain is even more certain because all the sources are agreeing on this reality. That’s the point, I think Peter is making. His eyewitness testimony lines up exactly with what the OT Scriptures predicted, thus, making what was always certain, more certain.
But Peter doesn’t stop there in his attempt to help his readers see that the OT Scriptures are trustworthy and true. He reminds them in verses 20-21 that none of the OT authors wrote on their own whim and with their own self-driven thinking. He writes, “Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
You see, if some false teachers arose and wanted to challenge the truthfulness of the OT predictions about the coming return of Christ, for example, they might claim that the prophets in the OT misinterpreted the heavenly visions they received, made a mistake, or just got carried away on a point they wanted to make that was out of line with what God wanted them to say. Therefore, Peter overturns that argument before it even gets started by arguing that the prophets did not provide interpretations of the prophecies they were given based merely on their own interpretations. Rather, they spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit so that what they wrote was indeed what they wanted to write in their own words, but it was also exactly what God wanted them to think and write so that their words are nothing less than God’s words. This is why, for example, we can read books of the Bible and see that each book might read a bit differently based on the differences in the biblical authors and yet rightly acknowledge that they all wrote God’s words and tell one story of redemption.
So, Peter wants us to know that the apostolic writings were eyewitness testimony as they were led by the Spirit to write these things, and the prophetic testimony of the OT was divinely inspired as well so that men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. What then does he want us to do with this information? He tells us in verse 19, writing, “And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”
Yes, there is coming a day when Christ will return. That’s what is being referenced when Peter speaks of the day dawning. And on that day we will know as we have been known, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13. That’s what Peter is referring to when he mentions the morning star rising in our hearts. But until that day, we live in a world full of darkness, full of lies, full of evil deeds, full of a rebellious spirit against the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we do well to pay attention to God’s Word for what it is, a light shining in a dark place that can illumine our paths, remind us of what is true and right, instruct us in what we should believe and do, and stir our hearts to obey. In short, Peter reminds us in 16-21 that the Word of God is to be followed as a beacon of truth in the midst of a world full of darkness and lies.
Therefore, this morning it is good for us to examine our lives. Are we devoting ourselves to the Scripture? Are we prioritizing the Bible in our lives and in our homes? Do our children understand the importance of God’s Word because of our teaching and example? Are we committing ourselves to understanding and obeying God’s Word as we gather to hear the preaching of the text? Are we faithfully taking opportunities, such as in our small group gatherings, to aid others in applying the Word and reminding them of what it says?
Just this week, I overheard my wife on a phone call saying, “I know. I’ve just been reminding myself of what 2 Peter 1:3 says, ‘He’s given me everything I need pertaining to life and godliness.’” And I found myself thinking, “That’s exactly how I want us to walk forward as a community of believers: hearing the Word, thinking on the Word, remembering the Word, holding up the Word to others, encouraging with the Word, if necessary rebuking with the Word, and looking to the Word as what it is – God’s Word – which serves as a true and trustworthy beacon of truth that we can return to again and again to be stirred up in our love for and obedience to Jesus Christ, who lived, died, and was raised for us. Therefore, let us now publically and visibly demonstrate that we have heard and received this Word as we come to the table. Amen.