Chapter 1, verses 13 through 21. Last summer, if you can remember that far back, our family was getting ready right about this time of year to go back to the United States. We were supposed to go back in March, COVID happened, and it ended up being July before we went back. As we got ready to go, our church voted to be a blessing to the Andersons, help with some of the expenses of their coming over here. We did that. Our church was ready once they got here to help them. and understand how to, you know, the service worked online. Then, by God's grace, we got this facility. Our church was there to help set up and get the signs out and everything get going. And, you know, when you're going away, you just want everything to go smoothly, don't you? I mean, in your absence, you're not going to be there anymore watching that. Make sure it works out okay. My wife and I recently got to go on a date. You know, it doesn't happen very often. And so, we left the boys and Before you leave, you're always going over those rules and saying, you know, this is kind of the things to remember or whatever. You're gone. You're hoping everything's fine. You get back. You're excited to find the house. It's still there. Kids are still there. You just want it to be really good in your absence. You know, as we come to 2 Peter chapter 1, Peter is getting ready to leave permanently. He's getting ready to depart to glory. There's something that maybe in his heart made him think it was about time. And so in verse 13 of chapter one to Peter, he says, hey, I think it needs as long as I am in this tabernacle, in this flesh, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance. knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shown me. Now I think it was a fortnight ago that I preached a message on Peter's restoration. You remember when Peter was restored on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus said to him, someday people are gonna carry you where you don't want to go. And this spake he, signifying the death that he would die. Remember, Peter had denied Christ. He said, I'm going to go to death for you, Lord Jesus. But then he didn't. He failed and denied Christ. But in his restoration, Jesus said, in the future, you're going to do that. So there's something maybe persecution related that makes Peter think, you know, it's getting close. It's getting close. And so I want things to go well after my departure. And so he's giving them instruction. And so he says in verse 15, moreover, I will endeavor that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. Okay, when I'm gone, I want these truths just to be anchored into your soul. Now, Peter's referring back to what he's already said in chapter one, as well as, referring ahead to what he's gonna say in the coming verses, which is what we're gonna really look at. But let's go back and examine what truth has Peter given to them? Well, he's given them some vital truths, and we can summarize the first truth like this. You can live holy in an unholy world. You can be right with God. You can do right for God. And so look at verse two. Peter says, grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. He says, God has given you everything you need to be godly. your salvation, that initial cleansing, that initial forgiveness, that giving of life, that forgiveness from God, that ultimate taking away of the wrath of God against you, all things that pertain to life and godliness, initially and then perpetually, to live in victory. Through the knowledge of Him that called us to glory and virtue, Verse four, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through love. And so again, he's saying that, look, you live in victory. In an unholy world, you can live holy. That's a great, great truth. I was witnessing this past week with Brother Don Gilman in Livingston in front of the wall. And there was this lady that was sitting on the bench. I asked Brother Don if he'd had an opportunity to speak to her. He said he hadn't. So I went over to her and I started speaking to her. And she said, you know, interestingly, I asked her if, you know, about heaven and that. She said, interestingly, I was at my brother's funeral yesterday and pray for Jim, 62 years old. And she started to ask about salvation and things. We were talking about it a little bit. I said, can I sit down and speak to you about it? And I was sharing verses with her. She gets a phone call on her phone. And it's a friend. How you doing? They're having their conversation. I said, I'll come back and just say, I went over and passed out flyers. She got off the phone and went back over. And she says, I hate to say it, but I'm going to go sin. And she goes, good, good, good, good. I said, it'll never satisfy. I said, I wish it wouldn't. I said, but let me tell you something, John chapter four, that Jesus Christ is the water that satisfies. I said, you need to read it. I said, you're gonna go, you drink this, you wanna drink more. It's not gonna meet the need, but Christ will. And it says in verse 14, whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Listen, that's what she needs. That's what man needs. And that's what Peter begins this chapter with saying, I want you to remember that you can live in victory in this world. And then secondly, he told them they could bear fruit of righteousness. They could have righteous fruit in their life. And it's great fruit. Look at verse five. It says, beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue, knowledge, and to knowledge, temperance, and to temperance, patience, and to patience, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, charity. Then it says, for if these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful, in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, again, we need this. Mankind needs this. Think about a world that has these things in it, brotherly kindness, love, godliness, patience, temperance, and these things are needed. I mean, that's a great world. Men need it. Peter says you've got it in Christ. The third, So you can live holy in an unholy world. You can bear fruit of righteousness, but then third, you can identify your eternal destination. In other words, you can know for sure if you're going to heaven when you die. We were knocking on doors yesterday and met a man, and I said, do you know for sure? Because he said he went to Church of Scotland. I said, do you know for sure if you die, that you go to heaven? He says, nobody can know that. I said, that's not what God says. I says, can I show you something? I began to take my Bible out and he said, no, I'm busy. I said, well, let me just quote it for you. And I quoted one John chapter five where it says, these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have everlasting life. I said, Jesus didn't die so that people couldn't know. Jesus died so that people could know about that. So look at verse nine. and have forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore, the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure." Okay, speaking about your salvation is saying, nail it down, make sure that you're saved. And praise God, we have that testimony of that opportunity that we had to enter by faith into God's kingdom, accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, believing on the Lord, and having His blood applied, having God gift us everlasting life, right? Make that sure. For if you do these things, you shall never fall. For so in entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and be established in the present truth." Okay, and that's where we jumped in. And he said, I'm going away. And I want you to remember this. He said, I know you know it. I know you know you're saved. But I just want to remind you, anchor that down, nail that down, that's a great thing to have in your life. So we look at these things, you can live a holy life in an unholy world, you can bear fruit of righteousness, you can identify the fact that you're truly saved, your eternal destination. But as you look at those things, and you need these things in your life, let me ask you a question. You can't. And that's where Peter's going. Peter's going to this, you know what, and he's already said it, I didn't emphasize it, but I went now, as we look back at it, all three of those points emphasize the fact that this is what God says in his word. Notice, remember we looked at you can't live holy? You know, you can live holy and unholy, but you can't live holy without God's word. Look again back at the beginning of the passage, verse two, it says, this is possible, how? Through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Verse three, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue. Verse four, exceeding great and precious promises. Okay, all those verses, two, three, and four, what did it refer to? It referred to this book. It referred to God's word, knowledge, truth, great and precious promises. It's this book. You can't bear fruit without God's word, okay? Again, look at verse five. Besides this giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue into virtue, knowledge. Where does that come from? It comes from this book. Verse 8, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. All that Greek that says you should be in your light, it just makes this clearer. But it's this, isn't it? It's the Word of God. Look at the third thing about our eternal destination. It says, verse 12, be established in this present True, okay, just to summarize again, you can live holy in an unholy world. You can have this fruit of righteousness in your life. You can know for sure your eternal destination, but how do you know it? Everyone pick it up, hold it in your hand. It's this book right here, okay? Now, in chapter one, this is what I wanna ask you. So what if God's book is fallible? What if it's spurious? What if this book doesn't have the authority? that we're thinking of this. But we've got a problem, don't we? Because everything that we have that's precious to us as a believer, and Satan knows this, everything that we have that is precious is based upon this precious book. And so Peter, Peter's getting ready to go away. He wants his children to be strong. And so notice what he says. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I'm in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in what? Remembrance. I want you to be thinking about this. Verse 14, knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as the Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me more over I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. And it's all basically fine. this book, so what's he going to do? Well, he's going to step forward and he's basically going to say this tonight, you hold in your hand the very word of God. and he's gonna nail it down for us. Why? Because that is the most foundational, strongest truth. The Bible says this, if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? I witnessed to a man yesterday that the foundation of his life, this book was shaken because this book was shaken in his unbelief. He has no foundation for faith. He doesn't have salvation. He doesn't have fruit of righteousness. He has no assurance that when he dies, he'll go to heaven. He doesn't believe there is a heaven. He doesn't believe there is a God. Why? Because he has rejected this foundation. I want to encourage us tonight. You hold in your hand the very word of God. Do you believe that tonight? that every word of this precious book is the very word of God. And I pray tonight, as we're just being encouraged in our faith, realize what God has given to us. Let's pray. Ask God to bless this word here tonight. Father, we thank you for the grace that you give. And Father, I praise you for the privilege of preaching the Bible. And Father, that it is true. that it is your book. Father, we ask tonight that the Spirit of God give us grace, guard us from distractions. Lord, we love having the doors open here, the fresh breeze coming through, but there's noises and things. And Lord, we just ask that the Spirit of God would guard us from distraction in this I ask that the Spirit of God would give us liberty to hear. I pray that the Word of God would have free course in this place, Lord, that Satan could not hinder the Word of God tonight, whether here in this place or if somebody takes the time to listen to this message online, that by the grace of God, the Spirit of God would assure them of the truth of what we're gonna look at this evening. Father, I can't speak without your name in me. I pray the Spirit of God would help me. I pray the Spirit of God would guide me. Father, I pray that I preach biblically, that I preach practically, that I preach lovingly, that I preach powerfully, the truth of the word of God. And Father, we want to pray for the children in their class tonight. May the spirit of God speak. Lord, there's some in that class that need to get saved. We pray in spirit of God, bless the kids' class tonight. And Lord, we just look to you and pray, God, that you'd be pleased to help us now. It's in Christ that we pray. You hold in your hand the very Word of God, praise God for that. So let's look at what Peter's gonna tell us about it. And the first thing is, as he says this to us, is you hold in your hand more, more than a good book. All right, this is much more than just a good book. And the reason is this, the Bible is not a fable. The Bible is not good. Now there's some good fables out there that teach good morals and good truth. You got Aesop's fables. I guess this guy lived like in the 500s or something. Wrote these stories and I mean they're good stories. You know, you've all seen that course in the area, the race taking place, and it kind of teaches the idea of never give up, never give up. It also teaches pride coming before fall, you know? And that the humble, faithful person is going to achieve great things. I mean, there's a lot of good things you can get, I suppose, out of that fable. You've got some fables, I don't know, Be happy with what you have. I haven't read it, but I can just imagine. There was a dog playing with its shadow and getting on with its shadow. Be happy with what you have. You've got the crow in the picture. And I don't know if it was stuck in the picture or needed to get in the picture, but the moral is there's always a way. And that's good. I mean, there's nothing wrong with sitting down. Mac and I have read Peter Rabbit. You've got a little rabbit that disobeys his mom, gets out in a dangerous place, trespasses, lives to regret it, you know. And praise God, I don't know if I should say that, but he lives, you know. And so it all works out. But that's good to look at a story like that, so I can learn from that. That's good, that's wholesome. But the Bible tonight is not just a good fairy story. It's not just a good fiction for us. You know, there are people tonight that are liberals. They read the Bible like a fairy story. They take an allegorical view of the scriptures. They say it just kind of has this mystical meaning and kind of frothy and you've got to kind of figure it out for yourself. They reject the idea that the Bible is given to us by God. They despise that. They're so far gone, they may even believe there is no God. The Bible's just a good book. They deny the miracles in God's word. They look at it and say, if there's no natural explanation for it, there certainly is, they would say, no supernatural explanation for it. So if they can't see it with science, they reject it out of hand. But you know what? Peter takes issue with them. He rejects the notion that this is just a good book. And so he says here, the Bible is not just good morals. Now it has good morals, but the Bible's not just good morals. Verse 16 says, for we have not followed cunningly devised faith. It's just not a clever story. You know, we've not followed, that word follow means to obey. You know, we've already joked about it a little bit, and I don't want to joke about it too much, but COVID laws have become kind of grievous, some of them, and you wonder, you know, do we have to do this? You know, and there's some things that are suggested. We arrived back in the United States last summer, and it said the CDC suggests that you, you know, quarantine or whatever, I don't know, Bible, book arrival. You know, there's a big difference between suggests and us arriving back in Scotland, and Scotland requires that you quarantine. There's a big difference in that. We look at suggestion, I don't know. Law, we obey law because it is authoritative. You know, the Bible tonight is not suggestive. It's not just that, you know, it'd be really good if you would just please do this. That's not what the Bible says. The Bible says, thus saith the Lord. The Bible says it's commanded. That's why Peter says we have followed it. We have obeyed it. We have yielded to it. It's commanded. You know, again, as I was witnessing there in Livingston, a couple of people, as I spoke to them, I said this, you know, the politicians and the Bible disagree. Have you noticed that? And I said, the politicians have their idea. The Bible says something else. I said, who's right? And you know, they want to say, well, society says this. Times have changed. That's what they want to say. But I said to them, I said, if you're taking an exam and a teacher marks your answer wrong, can you say to the teacher, I'm sorry, teacher, you're wrong. I'm right. I decided that this is the right answer to this question. No, you can't do that. Why? Because the authority says the answer is this, and the authority has the You can't change what God says. You can't say, but I feel differently, or I think differently. The Bible says in Isaiah 5 verse 20, woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, and put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. You know, our world tries to do that. They say sexual sin is okay, and God says it's an abomination. They say killing babies is okay. God says it's murder. They say there is no ultimate authority. God says you're dead wrong. And so tonight, who is rightful? Praise God. The word of God is right. God's law is not just good morals. It is commanded truth. And as we think about that tonight, the Bible's not fiction, cleverly written. It says, again, here in verse 16, for we have not followed cunningly devised fables. You know, I used to read a lot of fiction. I don't know, anybody like to read? I know my boys like to read a little bit, like to read fiction. It's fun to read fiction. A fiction story, you know, is very interesting. I like to read some of the classics. I enjoyed reading the Count of Monte Cristo, you know, and that's a book about revenge. I enjoyed reading Ivanhoe, that takes place in the time of Robin Hood, you know, it's about that little guy defeating the big guy, you know, kind of idea. It's very interesting to read a story like that. But let's stop and think about the Bible. The Bible is not a fiction. It's not written by somebody that sat down, mapped it out, and said, we're gonna write a really good story. We're gonna convince man that this book is of God. Now let's just talk about the Bible for a second. 44 human authors, 66 books, written over 1,500 years. and it all agrees. Imagine doing that today and saying, look, I'm gonna start a book, I'm gonna start it today, there's gonna be 44 human authors, 66 books, it's gonna be written over 1,500 years, and it's all gonna agree. How well do you think this is gonna go down, right? It's not gonna happen, it's not gonna get done, but that's exactly what the Bible is. It's a book for which the printing press was invented. It's a book that transformed the most successful civilizations. We are in Great Britain. It's a very profitable nation, but you know what? It's a Christian nation. The United States, not the biggest nation, 360 million out of 7 billion, but it's one of the most powerful nations on this planet. It's a Christian nation. It's a prosperous nation. Britain is a prosperous nation. nations that are based upon this book. Again, this book is not fiction. It's a book that's outsold every book every year. It's a book that's been translated into more languages. any other book. It's outsold every book, every year. It's accepted by mankind as the word of God. It's a book with hundreds of fulfilled prophecies. Things that we talked about in Sunday school, a thousand years before the cross is speaking about that the water of life is gonna flow from Jerusalem for Jesus Christ to be crucified. There's no way The only explanation for this book is that it is not a cunningly devised game. So Peter is saying, remember this, this book is not just a fairy story. And then secondly, the Bible's a testimony of Jesus Christ. It's a testimony of Jesus Christ. I like to ask atheists the question, who is the most famous person in human history? I did this yesterday as we're knocking on doors with the man that rejects the truth that I'm teaching tonight. But as I spoke to him, I said, who is the most famous person in human history? Nobody tried to say with a smile, Charles Darwin. And I said, I know you don't want to admit this, I know you don't want to say this, but the honest truth is, and even an atheist has to acknowledge this, the most famous person in human history is who? Jesus Christ. And guess what? Who's this book about? This book is about Jesus Christ. Notice what Peter says. He says, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, the scriptures are focused upon that person, his power, his coming, the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember John chapter one, verse one, as you get into that book, you start out, he's talking about the word. And if you go down to verse 14, it says the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And you realize it's speaking about who? Jesus, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And so you go back up to verse one of that book, John 1, and it says, in the beginning was the Word, Jesus, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made. Abbey, without him was not anything made that was made. Did Jesus make everything? Yes, okay, but in the Bible, in Genesis chapter one, verse one, it says, in the beginning, who created? God. And so we understand Jesus is God, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was right there in the first verse of the Bible. And again, I'd say the Bible is all about Jesus Christ. You know, that animal that God slew in the garden to cover the sin and the shame of Adam and Eve, it's a picture of who? Jesus, and the blood of Jesus, and the shed blood for an atonement to cover man's sin. The Ark of Salvation had a heart there, Noah's heart. How many doors in it? One door. Again, it's a picture of Jesus. The Passover lamb, the blood of the doorpost. It's a picture of Jesus. The rock struck, to which the water of life flowed. We talked about that in Sunday school. Jesus, the serpent on the pole, to which man must look in faith. And if they'll look in faith, God will heal them of his wrath against them and the death that they were facing. Again, it's a picture of Jesus throughout the Old Testament. You've got Jesus, you've got prophecies about Jesus. You get to the New Testament, and you have the Gospels, and the Gospels are what Jesus did. You get to Acts, and it's about what the church is gonna do. Who is over the church? I will build my church, Jesus said. The epistles, it's the doctrine of Jesus, the doctrine of the apostles. You get to Revelation, and it's about Jesus coming again. And so we look at it tonight and go, you know what, this book is all about the most famous person in human history. But he's also the most glorious person in human history. It says in verse 16, at the end of it, Peter said, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he receives from God the Father honor and glory. When there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Okay, Peter had incredible opportunities to get to know Jesus Christ. The story that that verse is referring to takes place on Mount Hermon, and it's the transfiguration of Christ. Have you heard about that? where Jesus is transfigured before his men, where the Bible says that his face and his raiment became shiny, Mark 9, verse 3, exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller, no painter on earth can whiten it. All right, I'd like to have been with Peter. I wasn't. Peter was. Peter saw it. He said, I saw his glory. You know what? Was that the first time that Peter had seen the power of Jesus Christ? No, he saw his glory there. His glory was revealed. But Peter had seen again and again the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, Peter saw Jesus walk on water. Wow. Peter himself stepped out of the boat in obedience to go to the Lord and walked on water with Jesus. Peter saw the water turn into wine. He saw the blind receive sight, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the dead to be raised again, the demons to be cast out of people. He saw the power of God. You know what he also saw? He also saw what the other disciples that resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. They saw him crucified. And they saw him after his death. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 4 says, And that he was buried, Jesus. And that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures. And that he was seen of Cephas, Cephas is Peter, then of the twelve. After that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was sent of James, then of all the apostles. And last of all, he was seen of me also as a one born out of due time. Listen, these men saw it, we praise God tonight, that this book is not fiction. It's not a story. It's a testimony to the truth of God. It's a testimony of Jesus Christ that we say praise God tonight. We hold in our hands tonight something much more than a good book. But then secondly, and I just encourage you tonight, a lot of times I'll have eight points, another seven. I've only got three, all right? Only three tonight. So number two, and the rest are shorter. You hold in your hands something better than God's audible voice, okay? It's better than hearing God speak. You know, when Jesus was transfigured, the veil between heaven and earth became very thin, and God spoke. And Peter and the other disciples heard it. It says in verse 18, this voice which came from heaven, we heard when we were with him in the holy now. Now, would that be amazing? Yeah, it would be amazing. Matt, would it be amazing if God spoke right now? If you saw Jesus transfigured and you hear God saying, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Can you imagine what that'd be like? Peter saw that and he heard that. Moses had the opportunity to experience that in Exodus 33 verse 11. The Bible says, and the Lord spake unto Moses face to face. as a man speaketh unto his friend. The Israelites got to experience that in Deuteronomy 5, verse 4. The Lord talked with you face to face in the mountain, out of the midst of the fire. Hebrews speaks about it in chapter 12, whose voice then shook the earth. Now, that'd be amazing, right? The Bible speaks about God's voice, by the way, like thunder. Thunder is awe-inspiring. And so tonight, if God spoke, it would be majestic, it would be incredible. And if I said to an unbeliever, I said, come on, you want proof? Would God speaking audibly, would that be proof enough? What do you think they'd say? They'd say, ah, yes, that would do it. That would do it. If I could just hear God speak, that would be great. But you know what Peter says here? Peter says that this book is better than God speaking. audibly, because it's God speaking through the written word. Do you get that? See, we think audibly, if God spoke, that is amazing. But listen, God's speaking. God's speaking how? Through his word. Peter says this is better. Verse 19, he turns around, he said, I've heard God speak, but he says, we have also a more sure word of prophecy. He's saying, this is better, this precious book. You know, prophecy is foretelling. Prophecy is saved before it happens. King David, again, he lived, I've already given this to you tonight, so help me out. King David lived how long before the cross? A thousand years before the cross. And in Psalm 22, verse six, They pierced my hands and my feet. Now, if you've studied Psalm 22, you know that the whole psalm details the crucifixion. Jesus is stripped. He is mocked. He can see all his bones. His bones are out of joint. They gamble for his clothing. It says it all 1,000 years before it happened. And we had a young man visit our church the night I was preaching through that psalm. His name's Michael. And Michael walked out of that service And he said, that's amazing. He said, only God could do that. Only God could reveal something a thousand years before it was to take place. Isaiah, 650 years before the cross, it says, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed." Okay, the whipping of Christ that would take place 650 years later would be for our forgiveness. The Ethiopian eunuch looked at that, and the Ethiopian eunuch said, the Bible's true. And he received Jesus Christ as a Savior. Now, so when you close those doors, the road's just getting a bit too loud. A little difficult to speak over it tonight. So just go ahead and shut that for me. Thanks, buddy. In 1890, okay, now we're fast forward to the time of Christ and past the time of Christ by 60 years. And you've got the book of Revelation being written by John. And John is speaking about famine and wars and pestilence one world government, Israel's existence, the importance of Jerusalem. And I said to that atheist yesterday, I said to him, I said, you need to read the book of Revelation. It's all about now. You see this book isn't from God. Look at all the things that it says in Revelation that are happening right at this very moment. And so God's word is the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Peter is saying to us, you know what, you need to listen to the word of God. Look at what it says in verse 19. He says, whereunto ye do well, that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your heart. Okay, is this world dark? Yes. But you know what we've got right here? We've got light. That word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. We've got a lamp. You know what? You do well to use it. When I go out in the states hunting, a lot of times I go out before daylight. And if I'm walking out and the moon's not shining, the sun's not shining, it's pitch black, you know, the last thing I want to do is walk into a woods where there could be a bear in the states without a torch. I want a torch to light my way. Do you know what? Praise God in this dark world. God's given us the word of God, that is our light. Why? Because it's about Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus? Jesus is the light. Isaiah 9, verse 2 says, the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, unto them hath the light shined. Isaiah 42, verse 7 says, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness, out of the prisoner. Jesus spake and said unto them, I am the light of the world. We praise God tonight. What we've got in this book, it is better than the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ. We look at that and say, that's amazing. We hear God speak out of the way, but Peter says we've got something even more authoritative. You know what it is? It's the word of God. You know, let me ask you tonight. If I said to you, I said, 30 minutes from now, in Lone Head, up on the beach, God's gonna speak Ottawa, and I said it for sure, I think we'd all be foolish to miss the opportunity to hear God speak. And I can say this to us tonight, if you're not spending time in this book daily, then you're daily neglecting opportunities to hear God speak. right? Because isn't that the truth of what we're considering? Peter is saying, this is better than the Mount of Transfiguration. This is better than that audible voice from heaven. It is a more sure word of prophecy. Listen, they should have You hold in your hand something better than the audible word of God. You hold in your hand more than a good book. And then lastly tonight, you hold in your hand a book that is not open to man's interpretation. Okay, it's not open to man's interpretation. I wrote an article for the Midlothian Advertiser for the Views from the Pews column, and the title was this, Interpretation Versus Misrepresentation. Because I get sick, as you do, of hearing people say, well, that's my interpretation. No, that's your misrepresentation. That is not an interpretation. That would be like me saying this. I read, and I haven't, by the way, but let's say I said this. I read Darwin's Origins of the Species. And you know what? My interpretation is that he believed in a six-day literal creation and a young earth, 6,500 years old. Well, am I? Rightly representing Darwin? Or am I misrepresenting Darwin? I am misrepresenting Darwin. Listen, there's people tonight and they say they misrepresent God and they say that's my interpretation. No, no, no. That is your misrepresentation of the Bible. And so let's think about it. The Bible says what it means and means what it says. Verse 20. It says, knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. Do you know what that's telling us? It's telling us that it doesn't mean one thing to Logan, one thing to Parker, and one thing to Nelson. No. It means the same thing to everybody. It's not a private interpretation. You can't go, well, that's my interpretation. No, that is not your interpretation. That is your misrepresentation of what God has said. And so when you study the Bible, the best question to ask yourself is this, what does God say in his Word? What does God say? So let's stop and think about it. I know this is familiar tonight, but let's investigate it a little bit. Does God's Word say Anything about the gender of a minister, bishop, overseer, preacher, pastor, Does the Bible say that it should be a man or a woman? Well, let's look at what the Bible says. 1 Timothy 2 verse 12 says this, and by the way, that's from the pastoral epistles. The pastoral epistles are what God gave to men in ministry to say this is how you do ministry. 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, and it says there in Timothy, it says, but I suffer not, I refuse to allow this, a woman, to teach nor to usurp authority And it's this, a woman is not to officiate in a service over a man. Now she can teach the women, she can teach the children, and it's glorious, the opportunities there are great for women to serve God, but the Bible forbids a woman to get into the pulpit and to preach and teach the Bible. 1 Timothy 2 verse 12 says, I'm sorry, 1 Timothy 3 verse 1 says, this is the true saying, If a man desired the office of a bishop, he desired for good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality apt to teach. It goes on to say, verse four, his own house, ruling well his own house, having his children in subjection of all gravity. For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? Okay, I just read it. Kids, did you get it? The Bible says that a preacher is to be who? A man or a woman? A man. And then you go, how can the Church of Scotland, as they did some 30, 40 years ago, how could they decide in their general assembly that it's okay today for a woman to be a minister because they say it's okay when God says in his word, I forbid it? Have they changed what God meant when God said what he said? Or is it the same? It's the same. They misrepresented it, but God still says it. Does God's word define marriage and sexual purity? Of course it does. Hebrews 13 verse four. It says, marriage is honorable in all, in the bed, undefiled, but whoremongers, fornicators, and adulterers, God will judge. There are plenty of people today that are living in the sin of fornication. They're not married, but they're together. God says that is sin, but God lifts up marriage as being honorable. So then we ask the question, who can get married? And this is so sad in our day that we have to talk about what we must. Is it a man and a woman? Is it a man and a man? Is it a woman and a woman? What does the Bible say about that? Genesis 2, 24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. Mark 10 verse six, Jesus said, from the beginning, God made them male and female, just in case, somebody might say, well, what does it mean? You know, it says man, but then it just says wife. Couldn't that be something else? No, male and female, for this cause shall man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. and they train shall be one flesh, so that they are no more trained but one flesh. And you might ask, is it okay for them to divorce? And the Bible says, no, it's not. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put aside. But we've got state religions that are saying, disagree with who God's worth. You know, the Bible means what it says and says what it means, and the Bible wasn't offered at the whim of man. Okay, the Bible wasn't offered at the whim of man. Look at verse 21. It says, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man. Okay, question for you. The General Assembly and the decision they made, is that the whim of man? Yes, but that's not how the Bible came. Men didn't sit down and say, hey, Job, what do you think? Charlie, what do you think? Anvil, what do you think? It doesn't matter what men think. Why? Because the Bible didn't come at the whim of man. And so what we've got is these false interpretations that are coming at the whim of man. And so if they say that, does it change God's word? Well, Romans 3, verse 3 says, for what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? In other words, just because they say it, have they changed the word of God? Praise God tonight, no they haven't. Now there's a lot of good saying, for sake of time I won't, but let me just state it. All scripture is given by God. All punctuation, the Bible says, is given by God. All scripture is preserved by God. God's word has not changed. And it's just like the song we've already sung, and that's this. The Bible stands like a mountain towering far above the works of man. Its truth by none ever was repeated and destroyed. They never came. And I just wanna say tonight, praise God, this book is unchanging because it was authored by who? God. And we end with the last part of the verse. It says this, but holy men of God, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. If you wanna know how did the Bible get written, God wrote it through men. You know, Kaylee likes to do the artwork, and she's got all her different pens, and she's got pencils, and she's got paints and paintbrushes. And if you looked at it, you would look at her art, and you'd say, that paint is distinctly different from the pen. That pen is distinctly different from the pencil. But you know what? Every single one of them bear the artist's name, and that is King. You know, as you look at the Word of God, you might say, but Pastor Ben, Luke was a physician. I see some physician stuff in his writing. Paul was a Pharisee, and I see the Bible knowledge in things in his writing. And you see the characteristics of the men, the distinctions of the men. But you know, behind it all, you see, is the hand of the Holy Spirit. God wrote his word, praise God, through men. Why is that important tonight? Because Satan doesn't want you to live holy in an unholy world. Satan doesn't want you to have the fruit of righteousness. Satan doesn't want you to know that you've got everlasting life. So what's he do? He takes this book, he opens it up, and he starts ripping it, seeking to shred it. And so Peter goes, I know you know this church, but I'm just gonna tell you again, because I'm getting ready to depart. I'm gonna be gone, and when I'm gone, Satan's gonna try to get in, and he's gonna try to destroy your faith. How's he gonna do it? By saying this book isn't true. And so what have we been reminded of tonight? It's not just good stories. It's better than the audible voice of God. Why? Because this is the very word of God. that we hold in our hands. Praise God for that. Let's pray. Ask God to bless His word to our hearts tonight. Father, we're grateful for the word of God. Thank you for the foundation of truth. And Father, I pray that we'd have a hunger for this book as if we got to go up on the Mount of Transfiguration and hear God speak. Father, I just pray tonight in the quietness of our heart that we consider how we treat this book Father, do we really believe that it's a very great God? Satan's against it. Father, he's seeking to destroy it. I used the current most obvious examples about Satan's attempt to edit this book. Father, I pray we'll win it for a minute, give place to the devil. But Father, that we'd stand unashamedly with God, because God said it. Father, we hold it in love, but that we hold it. And so if I had to impress upon us the truth of this book, it's in Christ's name we pray, amen.