We've seen over the last couple of weeks that Peter is refuting people. He's refuting false claims that Christ is not really coming. He's not gonna come again in power and glory to judge the world and to set up his kingdom in all the earth. We've seen that for Peter, this is far more than just a matter of getting correct doctrine. but rather a matter of how we live and ultimately a matter of eternal punishment on the one hand or eternal life on the other. That matters, doesn't it? In other words, as with all doctrine, this is for you and for me a doctrine that matters. As I was just saying this morning to the family, When you believe that Christ is coming again, and we all believe that, but as we've been talking about, when you know that fully, it will change you. You cannot be left the same. It's impossible. So I ask then, how have you been changed and how are you being changed because of your faith in the coming of Christ in power and glory to judge the dead and to reward his saints? It fills us with hope. It produces a holiness in us, as we saw in 1 Peter 1, that we could not have otherwise. We could not. So here's the question. How does Peter combat these false claims? How are you gonna do that? You got false teachers telling people Christ isn't coming again. So how is Peter gonna say, yes, he is coming again? How does he refute this false doctrine? And the answer to this question is really, really, really important. Peter starts by appealing to something he himself had seen with his own eyes. Something that he had heard with his own ears. For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Right away, that does something. We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Are you taking that seriously? For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, such a voice was born to him by the majestic glory. This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. And we heard this very voice born from heaven for we were with him on the holy mountain. Now, here's something to consider. All of human society, whether it's American or anywhere else in the world, anytime in history, all of human society is at some level built on the importance, and in your handout, the validity, the validity of eyewitness testimony. Would you agree? No matter how sophisticated we get, and we're getting pretty sophisticated with our crime solving abilities through technology and DNA and all this genetic, all this kind of stuff. But no matter how sophisticated we get, do you know what carries a huge amount of weight in the courtroom? It's the eyewitness testimony, right? Now, of course, everyone knows you can have false witnesses. For that matter, you can have the evidence tampered with, right? So it's not like anything is just a sure thing. Now we know, right? You could have evidence planted. You could have evidence tampered with. You could have false witnesses. The Bible knows that. The Bible's not ignorant about this. That's why the ninth commandment says, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. So in our courts of law, the witnesses are asked, do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? So we're trying to get the truth out of these eyewitnesses. Then the character of the witnesses is examined and sometimes dragged through the mud, right? But there is a legitimate point in examining the character of a witness. If this character's a known liar, then why would you believe their testimony at this point in the courtroom? Or you examine the consistency of their testimony. Is it matching with the other witnesses? Does it match with the rest of the data that we have and that we know? But at the end of the day, all of this that we've just seen, making sure it's true witness, only bears out just how irreplaceable it is. How powerful is eyewitness testimony? We're not like, well, I mean, there could be a false witness, so I don't even listen to the eyewitnesses. No, eyewitnesses, when you get an eyewitness that's gold, that is gold, for any prosecutor or defense, depending on which side it might be. Now, it is not our job this morning, although I wish we could do it and take the time for it, it's not our job to examine the character of Peter, James, and John, although we kind of did that when we introduced 1 Peter. It's not our job to check the consistency of their testimony like you would in a court of law, but I will say, that any thorough and objective investigation, go ahead, do the investigation, it will reveal that their, in your handout there, trustworthiness as eyewitnesses would meet the very highest standard in any American court of law. Now somehow, now you know, I want you to feel this. This is pretty cool. Somehow there's this idea today, and you meet it everywhere you go, that while eyewitnesses in the courtroom should be taken seriously, right? And while the eyewitnesses of secular history should be taken seriously, the eyewitness testimony of the apostles is automatically inferior. Sometimes it's even assumed to be of no value at all. Now, tell me, that is so naive. That is so, and I'm not saying this to be mean, I'm just saying it's ignorant. But why is it that while the eyewitness testimony of anyone in the courtroom and anyone in secular history, at least you take it seriously, the apostles are automatically dismissed as inferior, their eyewitness testimony. The reason is because we started out assuming we don't like what they say and what they bear witness to. And we have already concluded that it cannot be possible. Therefore, we dismiss their eyewitness testimony as automatically inferior. But throwing all the rules out of checking for consistency, for character, for what's a trustworthy witness, you see what happens. In reality, nothing could possibly be more naive. than to dismiss this testimony as of lesser value than other eyewitness testimony. So I wanna just say to you this morning, brothers and sisters, there is nothing wrong. And there's examples of this all over the place. And you'll find people who sound smart, and they are smart. but who will basically say that the Bible, the Old Testament was put together by all these different random sources in history and what they're doing is they're assuming the Bible cannot be what every other document of history is. They start with the assumption it cannot be, then they try to prove it's not. That's the only way they get to the conclusions they come to and use the methods they do. It's just, you just kind of want a courtroom where things are done right. There is nothing wrong with you appealing to the most reliable eyewitness testimony of the apostles. I want you to remember that our faith is rooted in real, historically verifiable. Now when I say verifiable, I don't mean that you can prove it in a test tube for everyone's satisfaction, but you can test it by eyewitnesses, by what people heard, by what people saw, by what happened, by history books. It's historically verifiable history. And so John 21 says, this is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things and who has written these things. And then the church responding to this says, and we know that his testimony is true. There's nothing wrong with eyewitness testimony. There's a sense, in fact, in which our faith is actually built on that eyewitness testimony. So 1 John 1, look at what a big deal this is. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard. which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands. Look at that. Concerning the word of life, this life was made manifest and we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim then to you, okay, this is where our faith is built on this eyewitness testimony. We proclaim to you the eternal life. which was with the Father, and was made manifest to us. That which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you, so that you too, here's our faith, built on this testimony, so that you too may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. Now, okay, now, we got that. This is big. I said there's a sense in which our faith is built on this eyewitness testimony. Because the testimony of the apostles is only testimony to the testimony of God. In other words, in a courtroom, you have someone saying, I saw him kill that person. I saw him take from the store and steal. In this testimony of the apostles, they're not saying they witnessed God do something. They're saying they are bearing witness to his bearing witness. Did you know that God bears witness? So we have God bearing witness and then men bearing witness to God bearing witness. That's what's happening. Here's the reason that's so important. If you believe that Peter and James and John are telling the truth, but don't believe that God is telling the truth. What's the point? Now, you might think that's kind of obvious. You might think like, well, of course, if I got to the point of why I think they're telling the truth, and of course, God's telling the truth. No, not so fast. We're not necessarily. What matters? It matters that God actually speaks and tells the truth. Our faith is built on eyewitness testimony, yes. How wonderful that is to know. The testimony of the apostles, but only insofar as they are representing to you and to me the testimony and the word of God, which he has borne to us concerning his son, Jesus Christ. Can you see then, how ultimately, where does your faith rest? Does it rest in the eyewitness testimony of Peter, or does it rest in the testimony of God? Jesus said in John chapter five, if I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me. And I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. The father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you. For you do not believe the one whom he has sent. Let me say it this way. Are you beginning to see how the power, the apostle's eyewitness testimony is powerful like any eyewitness testimony is, but theirs is more powerful than any other because it actually derives from what it is that they're bearing witness to. If I come to the court of law and say, I saw Mark do it, right? Well, what he did doesn't actually give to my testimony any more validity. Right? What he did doesn't establish my testimony. When the apostles come and they bear witness to what God has said, then it's what God says that actually gives to their testimony its authority and its validity and its power. Though there's still eyewitnesses. Are you seeing that? Because if you can see this, you will know. You will know what is true. It's the testimony of God that gives to the testimony of the apostles its true authority and authenticity, and then it's the testimony of the Holy Spirit in our hearts that opens our eyes to the truth. of the testimony that the father is born to a son, and that has now been conveyed to us through the eyewitness testimony of the apostles. That's a mouthful, but you can see a lot of testimony there. We're gonna come back to it in a second. So Jesus said to his disciples, when the helper comes, whom I will send to you from the father, the spirit of truth who proceeds from the father, he will bear witness about me. Now we have two bearing witness to Jesus, the father, objectively through the apostles and their testimony and through his word from heaven, and then the Holy Spirit within our hearts. He bears witness about me and you also will bear witness. Now look how you also will bear witness because you have been with me. There's the eyewitness testimony from the beginning. Look how God puts together the ultimate foundation for knowing. Our faith is built upon the testimony of the Word of God, conveyed to us through the eyewitness testimony of the apostles, and then authenticated in our hearts by the testimony of the Holy Spirit. Praise God for that. Praise Him. We are not a people wishing and hoping. We are a people who know. Now we remember though, there's more. If you thought you knew already, there's more than that. We saw last week what Peter and James and John saw with their own eyes was the honor and glory that God the Father bestowed on Jesus in fulfillment of Psalm chapter 8. What they heard on the holy mountain with their own ears was the voice born to Jesus by the majestic glory in fulfillment of Psalm chapter 2 and Isaiah chapter 42. And so now here we go. It's all there in your handout. Testimony four times. Now we have the testimony of God. on the holy mountain in fulfillment of the testimony he had already given centuries earlier through the Old Testament prophets, conveyed to us through the eyewitness testimony of the apostles, and authenticated in our hearts by the testimony of the Holy Spirit. And now I know something with a certainty that no one else knows anything in the world. Someone might say, I know that 2 plus 2 equals 4. No, you don't know anything compared to what I know. Because this is testimony. It's the foundation for faith. Are you beginning to see how when Christians talk about faith, we don't mean even close to what most people mean when they say faith? Not even close. It's like we need a different word. Like, they shouldn't even use the word faith. That's not what this is. Do you see then in your handout how we have in all of this the strong, even the unassailable, bring it on, right? Foundation of our faith. The eyewitness testimony of the apostles gets its ultimate authority from the testimony of the Word of God, both as promise and as fulfillment. So listen to these scriptures, 1 Corinthians 15. I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. So there you have the testimony of God through the prophets, the scriptures and promise, and also in fulfillment because he has now died in fulfillment of those. And he was buried. that he was raised in the third day, again, promise and fulfillment, in accordance with, so there's the fulfillment, the scriptures, the promise, and that he appeared to Cephas. I think some of us as Christians are afraid to use that verse when we talk to others about, look, that we have eyewitness testimony, because we're just gonna say they don't believe it, and why shouldn't they? Well, why would they? Why do we just dismiss eyewitness testimony? He appeared to Cephas, then to the 12. He appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, last of all is the one untimely born. He appeared also to me. Do we realize what we just read? John 19, but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it. Our faith is built on eyewitness testimony. He who saw it has borne witness. His testimony is true and he knows that he is telling the truth. You shall not bear false witness. that you also may believe. For these things took place. Now look, the eyewitness testimony is rooted in the testimony of God, which is ultimate, that the scripture might be fulfilled. Not one of his bones would be broken. And again, another scripture says, they will look on him whom they have pierced. And then of course, here in our passage, After Peter writes describing what he saw and what he heard when he was with Jesus on the holy mountain, he saw it, he heard it, and then he says, and so we have the prophetic word, the testimony of God made more sure. I hope we're seeing this. So, so wonderful. And so once again, we see the strong, the unassailable foundation of your faith. And a faith that doesn't just say, yeah, it's what I believe, it's what I know, it's my hobby horse. No, no, but a faith that's deep inside that changes you and me because it's so powerful. It's only now that we're in a place to really feel the full weight of Peter's argument. Okay, so we've gone back and reviewed the last two weeks kind of from a different angle. Now we come to our text this morning, which is, verses 20 to 21. Knowing this first of all, Peter says, that no prophecy of scripture comes from the prophet'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. It's important to understand here that Peter is not writing these verses to convince the skeptics. Okay, if you're a skeptic here, this isn't for you. Now maybe the Lord can use this in your heart and life, and I pray that he does. But ultimately, Peter's writing these words to those who already believe. To those who have already believed like you and me, so that we won't be shaken. Don't be shaken. so that we'll be established immovably in the faith we already have, okay? So most translations start verse 20 as a new sentence. And so as a result, this is how they translate it. It's a command. And I tell you this because I'm setting us up for something. They have to translate, but know this first of all, as though you didn't know it already. Or, above all, you must understand this. I don't think you quite understand or get this yet. No, no, they got it. That's not really the point. The problem with that is it sounds like Peter's gonna tell them something new. Like Peter says, oh, you don't believe in Christ's coming? Well, maybe you don't know that the scriptures are the word of God. No, that's not what's going on. And so that's why it's so important that the ESV does not translate Know this first of all, as though you don't, but rather it translates like this. This is knowing this first of all. There's all the difference. Know this first of all, or knowing this first of all, in other words. What Peter is saying is this. You already know this. You already do. You already believe this, but now you must be careful to acknowledge in your heart and in your thinking the place of first importance that this truth holds. Let me say it a different way. You already know and believe this, but what's so imperative is that you know and believe this where, how? First of all, first, as the starting point for everything else that you know. as the only standard by which you measure every other claim to truth that you ever hear. This is what Peter's saying. Knowing this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet's own interpretation. We're just going to unpack this a little. When he says the prophecy of Scripture, he's not talking about the whole Old Testament. He's talking about those special prophecies that say, God is coming. He is coming and it's going to judge the world. He really is. He's going to destroy the wicked and reward his faithful saints. After all, that's Peter's main agenda here. To remind us of Christ's future coming, that we might know it. How? How? Fully. Notice then how Peter says though, no prophecy of scripture. The Greek word for scripture is graphe, from which you might guess where we get some words. The word graffiti, the word graphic, I'm sure others, and so the word for scripture, graphe, has the basic meaning of that which is written or inscribed. Now, any book is inscribed, so when the New Testament writers use this word, they're not referring just to any writing or any inscriptions. They're referring to the inspired writings of the Old Testament. How much of the Old Testament? the whole thing. We would say from Genesis to Malachi, Jesus would have said from Genesis to Chronicles, the whole thing. These writings, again, if I could just have my Old Testament up here, I would, but these writings are the inscripturated or the written down, in your handout, word of God. So the Apostle Paul says, all scripture is breathed out by God. Jesus himself, people say, Jesus was a wonderful person, but we think he was really mistaken about a lot of things. Like one of them being, when he said in John 10, 35, scripture cannot be broken. Now, what cannot be broken? The Word of God. So how can Jesus say scripture? When he says scripture, you know what he means. He means everything from Genesis to Malachi cannot be broken. Jesus said it, brothers and sisters. Fortify your faith. Sometimes, when it was actually God speaking in the Old Testament, Because some people say, well, only where God actually spoke was it the word of God. And we'll see this. But first of all, when it was actually God spoke, the apostle Paul will say that it was scripture that spoke. Now, when he says scripture, he's not distinguishing between this scripture and that scripture. When he says scripture, he means, The whole scripture. You can't divide out part of it. And so, look what we have in Romans 9. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, how does the book talk? Well, the book talks in a way that no other does. The scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose, I have raised you up. Who's talking in Exodus? God is. Who does Paul say is talking? Scripture's talking. Scripture as scripture, not just part of it. Scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I raise you up, that I might show my power in you, that my name be proclaimed in all the earth. Galatians 3. The scripture foreseeing, how does scripture foresee? That God would justify the Gentiles by faith, the scripture preached. the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, in you shall all the nations be blessed. Who said, in you shall all the nations be blessed? God did. But who is it that Paul says is talking? Scripture, and Scripture as Scripture, the whole thing. Paul even quotes the angry words of Sarah in Genesis 21. And he hears in these words, God himself speaking, or as Paul says, the scripture speaking. Galatians 4, what does the scripture say? And then cast out the slave woman and her son. Who said that? Sarah said it. Now there's a little mystery there, we can't get into all of it, but the point is you see that all of scripture, even when Sarah's talking, is at some level the authoritative word of God. What does scripture say? Quotes it. The Old Testament narratives or stories are also appealed to as the very word of God, or scripture speaking. authoritatively. So Romans 4, what does the scripture say? Whenever you hear that, you know like, what is, that's like saying, what does God say? Or what is authoritatively spoken? Well here it is, what does scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. That's just Moses giving his commentary on something that happened. but it's identified as scripture and appealed to as authority. Romans 11, God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah? How he appeals to God against Israel. And here's what the scriptures say, Lord, they have killed your prophets. They have demolished your altars and I alone am left and they seek my life. At some level, in some way, that's the word of God, authoritative for his people. It's authoritative in different ways. but it's all our authority. All throughout the New Testament, the Old Testament scriptures, brothers and sisters, so much neglect of the Old Testament in our churches. The apostles, to use the expression, would roll over in their graves if they knew how the church today dismisses the Old Testament in favor of the New. And so we read in Acts 17, Paul went in as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the scriptures. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica. They received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so. All right, in light of all that, oh, I hope you're encouraged in that. I'd be like, wow, okay. Now maybe we can understand better why Peter says, here we come back to our text, no prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet's own interpretation. He's just reminding us that these prophecies of Christ's coming and power, they are a, in your handout, a part of Scripture. Scripture that's breathed out by God, that cannot be broken, that speaks to us the very Word of God. And so we know that no prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet's own interpretation. What does that mean? Well, the commentaries disagree, but I think that there's a general consensus, and it's very convincing, so I'm just gonna give you I want to be honest with you guys, with the church. And so sometimes I want to get up here and give you both sides. At this point I'm just going to tell you there are two sides. I'm just giving you one because I'm confident in it. The word for interpretation here, is a word that's used in Genesis 40, when Joseph, remember the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and they had their dreams in prison? And they had their dreams, and we read them now, it's like, well, obviously I know what that means. Well, yeah, because we read the story. You need someone to interpret the dreams, right? And so in the same way, it was necessary when the prophets had a dream or a vision, Those dreams and visions then had to be interpreted and their meaning explained to the people. Maybe you've wondered at some point, how did the word of God come to the prophets? How did it come to them? And maybe you've just kind of thought too much about it, thought it's no big deal, it's probably an easy thing, right? Wait a minute, let's step back and think about that for a minute. Did the prophet sit down at a desk with paper and pen in hand, nice and clean here, nice and easy, and then wait for God, wait for him, his voice, to audibly dictate to them exactly what they should write down? Now, there were certainly times when maybe something like that happened, like maybe with Moses, because Moses was special. And it says that God spoke mouth to mouth with Moses, as opposed to most everyone else, if not everyone else. So when God spoke mouth to mouth with Moses, clearly and not in riddles, that was unique. But what did he do with most everyone else? God would more commonly give to his prophet a vision or a dream, after which it was necessary, what do you do with it? You have to interpret. the vision. You have to interpret the dream and then you have to proclaim or prophesy. So when they prophesied, they were interpreting. They were interpreting the dream or the vision that they had had with its message and its meaning to the people. And so, if you think about it, this is a very human thing that's happening. In the process of interpreting, okay, I had this dream, now I got to interpret it. Their unique vocabulary, like Isaiah, if you were to read it in the Hebrew, Isaiah used his own special words, because he was Isaiah. So when he interpreted it, he did it in the Isaiah way. Jeremiah had his dreams and he interpreted them in his Jeremiah way. Same thing with Ezekiel and all the prophets. They're individuals writing styles and personalities. come through in each prophet. How does that work if God's dictating every word? Then it's just gonna be God's style, whatever that would be. In other words, it's because of this human process of interpretation, I already said that. So, we say it's a human process, which it was. But ultimately, just like Joseph's interpretation of Pharaoh's servant's dreams was from the Lord, Joseph interpreted the dream, he spoke the interpretation, but where did he get the interpretation from? The Lord. Did God dictate to Joseph every single word he said to the chief cupbearer and baker? No, but the interpretation was inerrant and infallible and truly from the Lord, from the Lord. And so in the same way, Peter says that none of the prophecies of Scripture ever came from the prophet's own interpretation. Instead, Peter goes on to remind us in verse 21, for no prophecy was ever born out of the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were born along by the Holy Spirit. I just want to encourage you, as you're listening to these words, just be established in your faith. It's really an astonishing and a wonderful verse we just read. Let me ask you this question. As you look at the verse on the screen or in your handout, in your Bibles, let me ask you this question. Who spoke? Who spoke? I'll let you even answer it this time. Who spoke? Well, he did, but what does it actually say on the text there? Men, men spoke. Men spoke, okay. It was the prophets themselves who spoke. I mean, just let's clarify. It was not God co-opting their bodies and their voices and speaking with their voices. Not what was happening. They were not in a trance And so they lost control of their faculties. They were not mere puppets. It was the men themselves who were, this is important, self-consciously, they knew they were speaking, they were consciously speaking like any one of us speak or write. self-consciously speaking and authoring their own unique works. That's why it's called Isaiah. That's why it's called the prophecy of Ezekiel. If this were not the case, by the way, then God might as well have just written a book in heaven and sent it by an angel and delivered it. That's not what God did. And yet, Peter is also clear that these men spoke, and this is what My brother here was pointing out from God. As they were born along by the Holy Spirit, are you beginning to see the miracle and the mystery of what we have been given? Just as the humanity and the deity of Christ, think about that, united in one person. That is a mystery beyond our comprehension. So also, maybe in a lesser way, is the sovereign working of God by which he gave to us his own, his own infallible and authoritative word. through the very real human agency of the prophets. And so Peter puts it together with these four words, men spoke from God. Now, in these words is a mystery beyond my comprehension. If you've ever looked at your Bible and thought, well, I guess that was simple, I think I get it. Okay, God gave them his word, there we have it. We don't get it. We don't get the glory of what God has given us. And yet in the case of the scriptures though, we are never tempted to worship the book, are we? But compelled instead to worship God who has given such a gift to us. And so I invite you to ask with me these words of awe. How can it be? How can it be that David could write these words? The oracle of who? The oracle of David. Don't minimize those words. We have the testimony of men. The oracle of David, the son of Jesse. The oracle of the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel. The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me. There's a mystery we do not understand. His Word is on my tongue. Wonder. How can it be that we should read in Jeremiah chapter one, the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth, my mouth, and the Lord said to me, behold, I have put my words in your mouth. There is mystery there. Don't think of that in a mechanical way. There is wonder in those words. How can it be? that any of the prophets could ever say, thus says the Lord. See, when you read the prophets, they're always saying, thus says the Lord. And so we're like, yeah, yeah, thus says the Lord, thus says the Lord, thus says the Lord. We ought to read those words, thus say the Lord, and every time say, how can it be? So that what the word they spoke was truly and actually the word of God. Peter wrote in verses 17 to 18, when Jesus received honor and glory from God the Father, such a voice was born to him by the majestic glory. This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. And we heard this very voice born from heaven. Now notice how, now in your English translations, they use different words here. But I'm trying to translate with always the same words so you can see it's always the same word in the Greek. Because Peter did that for a reason. It's hard to do it that way. So this is their best effort. Notice how Peter uses the word born. Not born like I was born at birth, but born along, carried along, brought. He uses that word two times. to describe how this voice came from where? From God. and how therefore it carried the full weight of the infallible authoritative word of God. Born by the majestic glory, born from heaven. Now, watch this. In verse 21, our passage this morning, Peter uses the same word twice more with the very same emphasis. for no prophecy of scripture was ever born out of, and that's where I'm a little awkward because it sounds like I'm saying born as in a birth, but born out of, born along out of. the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were born along, fourth time he uses that word, by the Holy Spirit. Do you see what Peter's doing here? Look what he's doing. If you compare those two, okay, compare those two, here we, the inscripturated word of the prophets in verse 21, Peter is saying, bears the same weight of authority, the same weight of authority for Peter as the word he physically heard spoken. to Jesus by the majestic glory on the holy mountain. Do you see that? By using the word born and born down here, he's saying that this authority of the prophecies of scripture has the same weight of authority as the word born to Jesus that I heard with my own ears and saw with my own eyes. I tell you, in my humanity, I'd be tempted to think, what I heard on the mountain now, that's authority. I heard God actually speak it from my own ears. But Peter says, no, no, the authority of the prophetic writings bears the same authority as what I heard with my own ears on that holy mountain. Indeed, it is this very prophetic word that you and I today have even more fully confirmed. Are you getting to the point where you know something so much that you can't even express how much you know it? That's faith. That's biblical faith. So it's this very prophetic word we do well to pay careful attention to. It's not just about knowing, it's about paying attention to what we know. as to a lamp shining in a dark place. And it is a dark place, isn't it, brothers and sisters? The more you realize how dark it is, the more you love the light of the word. Until the day dawns, the morning star rises in our hearts. Praise the Lord for that hope we have. Now remember the very first words of our text this morning, knowing this first of all. We've already believed. I'm assuming here this morning, I'm assuming that you believe this is the word of God. Yes, we already know that. But oh, the danger is that we don't know it first of all. Remember how the power of the apostles' eyewitness testimony, and that's powerful, it's gold. But the actual power of their testimony, where does it derive from? It actually derives from what it is that they're bearing witness to. Remember that. So as I said, if I bear witness to the fact that Mark did something, sorry, you're the one I said before. If I bear witness to that, what he did doesn't give any added value to my testimony. But when the apostles bear witness to what God has said, what he said adds value and gives actually the value to what they say. How could it be otherwise? It's the testimony of God, His testimony. As Old Testament promise, as New Testament fulfillment, that gives to their testimony its true authority and authenticity. Then it's the testimony of the Holy Spirit in our hearts that opens our eyes to see the truth of the testimony that the Father bears to His Son and that is now conveyed to us through the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles. Do you see how for us, there's a sense, watch this, we're talking about what comes first, the chicken or the egg, right? And now with the chicken and the egg, the whole point of that is, Neither one. I know there's technically an answer to that, but the point is that neither one comes first. So, there's a sense in which for us, the testimony of the prophets and the apostles comes first. How would that be? Well, without their testimony, we cannot know the testimony of God. So which comes first for you and me? Their testimony, their eyewitness testimony. But, but, now this is the cool thing. You also see that the testimony of the apostles and prophets depends entirely for its power and its authority, even its very legitimacy upon the word and the testimony of God. So which is it that truly comes first? Ultimately first? There's no chicken and egg there. What is it that's really the ground of my knowing? Knowing. Beyond the shadow of a doubt. Brothers and sisters, that's what Christians are. They're people who know. What is it that's really the ground of that absolute certainty and assurance of what is true? True. It cannot logically be the testimony of the prophets or the eyewitness testimony of the apostles. It cannot be that, as important and essential as that is. It is important and even essential. For that matter, it cannot be, as in our arrogance we would like to make it be, it cannot be my own assessment of how reliable their testimony is. I do my research, I conclude they're reliable, I'm gonna believe what they say because I did my research. No, no, that's not the ground of knowing or of what is true. It's legitimate as it is to do that. What is it that is the only ground? of that absolute certainty, assurance of what's true. And specifically in 2 Peter, of whether or not Christ is coming again. It must be nothing less. Now this is not just for saying the phrase, I mean this. It must be nothing less. Anything less would be not knowing. must be nothing less and nothing more than the word and the testimony of God. Let me ask you this, what other ground for true knowing For true certainty and assurance, could there be in all the world? You think of it. You go think about it all week long, all the rest of your life, and you will not come up with any other ground for true certainty and knowing. There is none. This has to be where we start. Now, do we see a place for eyewitness testimony? For doing science? For doing research? Yes. But it's all built on the presupposition that God speaks, and when He speaks, He speaks the truth. The testimony of God must be the foundation. the starting point upon which all the rest of our knowledge is built and against which we are constantly, and I would say instinctively, measuring any and all claims to truth. Because, and I'll speak to the young people, I trust that you are seeing this. You're gonna be bombarded through your life with truth claims. I pray that you can see there's only one way to know what is true. And that is to stake your life, your faith on the testimony and the Word of God. There's no other way to know anything. Not ultimately. And then it is this word and testimony of God. See, where do we find that word and testimony of God? Oh, brothers and sisters, it is this that's been given to us so miraculously in the form of the Old and New Testament scriptures. Through the testimony of the prophets and apostles who did their investigation. When Luke wrote his gospel, he investigated thoroughly. So then brothers and sisters, this is the strong, and I think you should write this word down, unassailable foundation that we have for our faith. So, here's the question. Are we truly knowing this first of all? And knowing this first of all, Do we then truly have that joyful and also that sobering 100% certainty that Christ will come in power? That the day will dawn, the morning star will rise in our hearts. And let me ask you this, to what extent then has this resulted in greater hope, in greater holiness in our lives through the knowing of it fully? Not just knowing it, knowing it fully because God has spoken. We should never be tempted to worship this book. As we saw last week, one day the day will dawn and we will not need the lamp. We should never be tempted to worship the book. but we should be compelled to worship God who has given such a book to us. His own word, his own testimony, inscripturated, written down for you. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony of God that he has born concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. That's the Spirit. Whoever does not believe God has made him and called him a liar. I plead with you not to do that. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his son. And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life and this life is in his son. Whoever has the son is life. Whoever does not have the son of God does not have life. Dear Heavenly Father, oh Lord, help us as Christians to know. And not to be arrogant in that knowing, but truly humble. And yet help us to know as no one else in the world knows anything. not even that two plus two equals four. Help us to know in this way because it's the only kind of knowing that's ultimately honoring to you who has borne witness and given testimony. I pray, Lord, that we would be unshaken, unmoved. I pray for all of us, but I pray especially for all the children, young, at whatever age, or growing up in this world, where the world tells them that they can know this, and they can know that, or they can know whatever it is they want to know. They can know whatever truth they want to be. Help them to see that in the end all such knowing is a lie. All such knowing is emptiness. Oh God, I pray that you would cause all of our children to grow up in truth and to have the testimony in themselves. And so to have the eternal life that is in Christ Jesus. but in praying for them, Lord, we all need this equally. So help us today, help us the rest of our lives to know this first of all, first of all. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your word, of your testimony. Thank you for the prophets and apostles who bore faithful and reliable witness to the things they saw and heard. Thank you for the mystery and the miracle of how men spoke from God and how we have this testimony now inscripturated, written down for us. We give you praise and glory and honor, oh Lord. Our hearts are full and we love you and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.