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Second Peter, chapter 1, beginning
at verse 16. Hear now the word of the Lord.
For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known
to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But we
were eyewitnesses of his majesty, For when he received honor and
glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made
to him by the majestic glory. This is my beloved son with whom
I am well pleased. And we ourselves heard this utterance
made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.
So we have the prophetic word made more sure to which you do
well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until
the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But we know this, first of all,
that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made
by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit
spoke from God." Now, there are certain topics in the body of
Christ that tend to garner more interest than others. So for
instance, the study of end times may be one. Another may be the
study of spiritual gifts. And then the third would be on
the subject of decision-making. In fact, back in September of
2022, Pastor Greg taught in one of his discipleship groups on
the subject of biblical and wise decision-making. Now this discipleship
group sought to answer the following questions. How do I discern God's
will? Can I know the sovereign will
of God? Should I seek to know the sovereign
will of God? What is the difference between
the moral will of God and the sovereign will of God? Which
should be our focus in decision-making? Should I seek to make decisions
based on feelings, promptings, peace, or having peace? Should I seek a sign from God? How do we tend to misuse the
Bible in decision-making? And also, how should I rely upon
the Bible for decision making? Now, this discipleship group
was well attended. And I suspect that the reason
why Christians, in general, struggle with making decisions is in relation
to some of the questions that arose from that study. Specifically, this idea of decision-making
based upon promptings and signs. Now, in the church, Christians
may refer to these promptings as prophecy. which in many cases
is indistinguishable from what the world refers to as following
their gut instincts. In many cases, unbelievers may
experience some measure of success in the past from following their
gut, and so they develop a lifestyle and a habit of just following
their gut. Likewise, for the Christian,
they may have experienced some measure of success from what
they refer to as prophecy and also similarly adopt it as a
way of life. And so, I want to be very clear
this morning that living a life that is dominated by following
after signs and inner promptings is not only unwise, but in some
instances, dangerous. And so, today will be the third
and final message on the subject of prophecy. So far, if you recall
a few months ago, I attempted to lay a biblical foundation
for prophecy from the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 18, 15-22. I've also demonstrated the consistency
between the authority and the function of prophecy in both
the Old and New Testament from passages such as 1 Corinthians
14, 29-33. Now, having laid a theological
foundation from these two passages, today I wish to address the subject
from more of a pastoral and practical perspective. This is where, as
they say, the rubber meets the road in regards to the practical
implications of whether or not prophecy continues. could say
it like this, does it really matter what I believe about prophecy? Certainly it does, especially
as it relates to decision making and discernment. Now, what you
believe about ongoing prophecy will impact not only how you
make decisions, but even the types of decisions you make. And the heart of the matter is
this. Is the Bible sufficient for decision-making, or do I
also need some sort of fresh, ongoing revelation from God in
order to make a decision? Some say yes, that the Bible
is insufficient for decision-making. Now, in a debate between Dr. Michael Brown and Jim Osman,
Osman asked the question about 30 minutes into the debate, do
I need revelation today or do I have an all-sufficient word? and this was doctor michael brown's
answer of course you need revelation today you have the bible but
of course you need revelation so then jim osmond in the debate
presses the question for the says just like i need something
outside of scripture again doctor michael brown without hesitation
says this of course when you're seeking the will of god When
you're asking him for wisdom on a situation, when you don't
know, when you're ministering in a critical life and death
situation, and you ask God, give me wisdom, show me what's going
on in this person's life, help me to get to the heart and root
of this. Lord, I've got to make a major
decision. Are we to sell our possessions
and go to the mission field, or are we to work with the poor
in this city? Again, what's being said out
loud is that the Bible is insufficient for making decisions. The logical
conclusion of continuationism is that the Bible is insufficient
specifically as it relates to guiding the people of God. Otherwise,
why would we need the Revelation? Let me put it like this. Think
of two types of Christians. One is Mr. cessationist, who
doesn't believe in ongoing revelation, fresh revelation from God. And
then you have Mr. continuationist, who does. When it comes to making decisions
in life, Mr. cessation is he prays he studies
the word of god and then he acts upon either the direct commands
principles and the providential circumstances in comparison you
have missed the continuation is right he also praise he also
studies the word of god but then he has to wait upon some inner
prompting or some sign from God before he can act. Practically
speaking, God's word is not sufficient for Mr. Continuationist, for
he also needs a fresh revelation from God before he can act. This again is the practical effect
of scriptures plus revelation. It is a weakening of both the
authority and sufficiency of the scriptures themselves. Now,
this weakening of the authority and sufficiency of scripture
oftentimes leads otherwise sound Christians to make bad decisions. Let me give you one example.
In a roundtable hosted by the american gospel you had on one
side sam storms doctor michael brown again and then on the other
side uh... justin peters and Jim Osman again. And so the subject of Mike Bickles
came up. Mike Bickles was the founder
of IHOP, the International House of Prayer. And this segment was
taped prior to his moral failures becoming public. But in any case,
Justin Peters and Jim Osman pressed both Dr. Michael Brown and Sam
Storms regarding the false teachings of Mike Bickles. But this is
what Sam Sorms had to say. He said, Mike Bickles is probably
my best friend in the world. I was in a small group with him
and his wife for seven years on his staff as a senior associate
involved at IHOP for an additional four years. Eleven years, I know
this man to the depths of his soul. I can't think of a more
biblically orthodox, humble Christ-exalting individual who lives an incredibly
simple lifestyle. We would look like we were living
the Benny Hing lifestyle compared to how Mike lives. Every penny
of his honoraria and his royalties goes to missions to support the
mission's base. Then he goes on to say, so when
I hear people say I think Mike Bickles is a false teacher, it
angers me. Now, in the same clip, there
was an addendum that was attached to the video after Mike Bickle's
failures became public. And this is what Sam Storms and
Michael Brown wrote. Both of us were caught completely
off guard by the recent disclosure concerning Mike Bickle's sin.
We had only known Mike to be a godly man who was leading an
exemplary life. Our comments in the discussion
affirming Mike were recorded six months before numerous allegations
were made against him. We acknowledge that we were lied
to and deceived by Mike, and we grieve for the damage this
does to the name of the Lord, the reproach it brings to the
spirit, and the devastation experienced by his victims." Again, Dr. Michael Brown, Sam Storms,
these are not your extreme, off-the-handle charismatics. These are men who
are very conservative, who are well-educated, who have walked
with the Lord for many years. But this is why I say that living
a life by following signs and promptings can be dangerous. Even in a reformed church like
ours, following after signs and promptings can make you an easy
target for the lies of the devil. And so, with all of that as an
introduction, I want us to look at a particular portion of scripture
that speaks to this issue of the sufficiency of scripture
for wise decisions. Now, we will approach this text
under the following two points. First, the power of God. And second, the power of his
word. Look with me once more at 2 Peter
1, beginning in verse 16. For we did not follow cleverly
devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. But we were eyewitnesses of his
majesty For when he received honor and glory from God the
Father, such an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic
glory. This is my beloved son with whom
I am well pleased. And we ourselves heard this utterance
made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. Peter says that the gospel was
not disclosed to him through some cleverly devised tale, but
rather he was an eyewitness to the power and coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This then leads us to point number
one, which is the power of God. The power of God. You see, God
alone has power in comparison to all pretenders. In a recent
YouTube interview, multimillionaire Brian Johnson, who invests in
the study of longevity and the use of AI, or artificial intelligence,
made this statement. There used to be three levels
of ambition. Start a company, start a country,
start a religion. And those are on time scales,
because you build a company, and they do well for a certain
time. But then it goes out of business, and it kind of fades. Countries have usually longer
durations, and religions usually outlast them all, maybe thousands
of years. Then he says, now there is a
four and five. Number four is don't die. Number five is become a god. Number four and number five are
things that people have always dreamed of doing all throughout
history, but it's never been practical. You always have to
make up stories like, in this religion, if you obey these rules,
you get this afterlife where this amazing thing happens. Or
I'm going to go to the jungle and drink this elixir because
of whatever. It's being in the imaginations,
but it's never being practical. And so what I'm suggesting is
this thought experiment teases out where we are at in time and
place. But I'm suggesting as a species,
we have not yet internalized the ambition right before us.
We don't understand that death can be conquered. It is a reasonable
thing to say that's possible. And if you do that, then the
idea of becoming some kind of expansive, omnipotent kind of
intelligence is an interesting goal. And so, Brian Johnson,
who has over one million YouTube followers, by the way, trusts
in the hope of AI to create some sort of utopia where mankind
lives like gods. But this, again, is not a new
truth, but an old lie. You see, man, since the beginning
of time, has traded being an image bearer for being an image
maker. And time and time again, man
trusts in the work of his hands for salvation. And time and time
again, God has had to remind mankind that He alone possesses
real power. Now this is one theme that Peter
actually picks up in chapter 3 of 2 Peter. He says in chapter
3 verses 3 to 6, know this first of all, that in the last days
mockers will come with their mocking, following after their
own lusts and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For
ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was
from the beginning of creation. For when they maintain this,
it escapes their notice that by the word of God, the heavens
existed long ago, and the earth formed out of water and by water,
through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded
with water." And so Peter reminds his audience of the power of
God in both creation and of the power of God in destruction. Again, from the beginning of
the world, God's power has been on display. Genesis 1.1, in the
beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was
formless and void, and the darkness was over the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
Then God said, let there be light. And there was. You see, God created
everything out of nothing by the power of his word. He said, let there be, and there
was. You see, that's the type of power
that kings and dictators and the Brian Johnsons of this world
pretend to have. Sure, they can say certain things
and it gets done. But God alone possesses all power
in which he says it and it always gets done. There are no limitations
to the power of God. Now, Peter not only speaks of
the power of God in creation, like I said, but in these passages
he also speaks of the power of God in destruction as well. Peter points to the incident
of the great flood. There was a great reset, as it
were, in which there were only eight survivors. But, you see,
Peter brings up the power of God in the great flood. to point to a future display
of the power of God. If we continue reading in chapter
3, verse 10, Peter says, but the day of the Lord will come
like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and
the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth
and its works will be burnt up. Since all these things are to
be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be
in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the
coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be
destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense
heat, He says, according to his promise, we are looking for new
heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. And so there is coming a day
when the world will see the power of God on display in destruction
and recreation. The Bible often refers to this
act of recreation as the new creation. It speaks of there
being a new heavens and a new earth. But here's something for
you to get excited about. You see, the new creation is
not only in the future, but the new creation is now. You say, what do I mean? 2 Corinthians
5, 17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a what? New creation. The old things
passed away. Behold, new things have come. And so the same power that created
the cosmos in the past and the same power that will recreate
the cosmos in the future is the same power that's at work in
you today. Believer, even now you are a
new creation. Again, John puts it this way
in 1 John 3. Beloved, now you are the children
of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know
that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see
Him just as He is. Again, now you are a son of God. Now you are a new creation. So when sin and Satan brings
various temptations your way, remember, you are a new creation. Sometimes we forget that. Sometimes
we may think that God does not have the power to change us.
Sometimes we think that how I am today will be how I will always
be. But that is a lie. For God has power. He has power
to free you from sexual immorality, from anger, from bitterness,
from pride, from laziness, from fear, from anxiety, God has power. My question to you today is,
do you believe this? Do you believe that God has power? Do you believe that God has the
power to save your children or to sustain you if they remain
lost. Do you believe that God has the
power to heal or to strengthen you day by day in the midst of
great sickness and disease? Again, do you believe that God
has the power to change your circumstances or that he has
the power to change you in the midst of your circumstances? Again, I remind you, the same
power that worked at creation is the same power at work in
you today. Now, going back to 2 Peter 1.16, Peter describes the power of
God in what he sees and also in what he hears. Peter says
that he was an eyewitness of Christ's majesty. And then he
says that he heard the utterance from heaven in verse 18. In other words, he heard the
voice of God. Now, Peter, of course, is referring
to what took place in Matthew 17 when Christ was transfigured. Again, as I've said in the past,
Matthew 17 is a passage of scripture that's dripping with prophetic
fulfillment and significance. Again, if you recall, the three,
Peter, James, and John, are taken up to a high mountain. They see
the appearance of Moses and Elijah, and Jesus' face begins to shine,
and his clothes become white. And then Peter speaks of building
a tabernacle, but then he is interrupted by the voice from
heaven that says, this is my beloved son with whom I am well
pleased. Listen to him. Again, this goes
all the way back to our first study when we began a few months
ago by looking at Deuteronomy 18. If you remember again, Deuteronomy
18.15, it says, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet
like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen
to him. And so, what takes place was
the fulfillment of this prophecy that Christ is the prophet who
is like Moses. In fact, the prophet who is greater
than Moses. It is to Him we are to listen. Again, Jesus is the word, right? John 1.14. Listen to the word. The word that exegetes or explains
the Father, right? John 1.18. Listen to him. Again, what a powerful experience
that must have been for Peter. And yet, Peter says that there
is something more sure than even this experience. Going back to
2 Peter 1.19, We read, so we have the prophetic
word made more sure to which you do well to pay attention
as a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning
star arises in your hearts. Peter says that the audible voice
of God was powerful and amazing. Again, to hear God speak is no
small thing. Think about it. If you were there,
and you heard what Peter heard, and you saw what Peter saw, surely
you would declare that Jesus was the Christ. And yet, Peter
says that there is a more sure prophetic word than hearing the
audible voice of God. What could be possibly more sure
than hearing the audible voice of God? Well, this leads us to
point number two, which is the power of the word. Now, verse 19 has various interpretations. The two most common being that
the transfiguration has made the prophetic word more sure
because the apostles themselves witnessed the fulfillment of
it. The other interpretation is that
in the prophetic word, we have something more sure than the
voice from heaven. Now, the first interpretation
avoids a comparison between the audible voice of God and the
prophetic word. It is reflected, for instance,
in some translations like the New King James Version, which
renders the verse, and we have the prophetic word confirmed,
which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark
place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your
hearts. Most commentators, however, maintain
that there is a comparison being made based upon the sentence
structure and the word selection in the Greek. And so the phrase,
more sure, seems to be the more accurate rendering. Now, this
phrase, more sure, means firm. or secure, especially in the
sense of legally guaranteed security. It is translated as guaranteed,
for instance, in Romans 4.16, as firmly grounded in 2 Corinthians
1.7, and as certain in 2 Peter 1.10. So again, we ask the question, what is more sure, guaranteed,
firmly grounded, and certain than the audible voice of God. a diversity of opinions on this
matter. Some say it is the gospel. Some
say it is the second epistle to the church father, Clement.
Some say it is the book of Revelation. Some say it is the New Testament. Some say it is the Old Testament.
I take the view of John Calvin, however, and understand the prophetic
word to be the Old Testament prophets specifically. And so
commenting on this verse, Calvin writes, the apostles had the
prophets as the patrons of their doctrine. The faithful also sought
from them a confirmation of the gospel, for the truth of the
gospel is here simply proved by a twofold testimony, that
Christ had been highly approved by the solemn declaration of
God, and then that all the prophecies of the prophets confirmed the
same thing. Now, this view actually, to me,
appears to be consistent with what Peter says in the very next
verse and the next chapter as well. Peter says in verse 20,
but know this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture is a
matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made
by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit
spoke from God. And then beginning in verse 1
of chapter 2, he speaks of the false prophets under the Old
Testament in comparison to false teachers that were present during
his day. And so going into chapter 2 he
writes, but false prophets also arose among the people just as
there will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce
destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing
swift destruction upon themselves." And so the emphasis in the context
of this passage appears to be specific to the Old Testament
prophets. But of course, the application
not only applies to the Old Testament prophets, but the Old Testament
and the New Testament as well. In fact, if we jump over to chapter
3, where Peter actually gives the reason for writing this letter,
he includes the instructions of the apostles right alongside
the Old Testament prophets. He says, This is now, beloved,
the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring
up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember
the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment
of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. And so the application of what
Peter says applies to all of God's word. The written word
of God is more sure than any miraculous utterance from heaven. This shows forth both the authority
and power of the scriptures. Having said all of that, we don't
just want to hear all of this as a theological study, but we
want to seek to apply this. What is the application of what
we've heard so far in this sermon? Well, Peter tells us. Going back to 2 Peter 2, 1, 19,
Peter says that we do well to pay attention. Don't just hear the word of God. Don't just hear the words coming
out of my mouth this morning. But pay attention to it. Study
it. Fix your gaze upon it. be drawn
to it like a moth to a flame. The psalmist in Psalm 119 puts
it this way, oh how I love your law, it is my meditation all
day long. Or, as Peter puts it, pay attention
as a lamp shining in a dark place. Now, this term, dark place, can
be translated as a waste place. Think of, for instance, a desert. So what Peter is saying is give
attention to the word like a torch or a campfire in the midst of
a desert that gives light until the coming of the morning sun. Again, this place is a dark place. This world is a dark world. And
the word of God supplies us with all of the light that we need
until the coming of the sun, S-O-N. Now, until the night is gone,
What is going to guide you in the darkness? Is it going to be inner promptings? Is it going to be signs, feelings,
peace about a situation, following your heart? Again, a lot of what
people refer to as being led by the spirit is nothing more
than following your heart in disguise. And we know what the
Bible says about the heart, right? Jeremiah 17, 9, the heart is
more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who
can understand it? Or Proverbs 28, 26, he who trusts
in his own heart is a fool, but he who walks wisely will be delivered. Again, the truth, if people would
be honest, is that it is not being led by the spirit, but
it is being led by the heart. They just say it is the spirit
so that they don't have to give an account to the decisions that
they have made. You see, it's easy and less confrontational,
for instance, to leave a church for unbiblical reasons by just
saying I was led to leave. Or, at other times, you might
hear people say things like, God led me to leave my spouse,
or God led me to do this, or God led me to do that. And oftentimes,
the thing that God is leading them to do is completely contrary
to the Word of God. See, I'll never forget a story
that the late R.C. Sproul told concerning a Christian
woman who had been married to an unbelieving husband for more
than 40 years. Now, the guy was a provider. He was kind. He was faithful.
He was nice. But his wife just couldn't stand
the fact that he had remained in unbelief for so long. And so she left him. Poor guy
was calling every night, begging her to come home. And there the
woman was before R.C. Sproul, asking him for some advice. This is what she said, I just
don't know what to do about it. I've been praying day in and
day out that God would show me his will. She says, how can I
know the will of God? I, that's R.C., said, well, the
first thing you can do is stop praying. She looked at me. She says, am
I going to get an answer now? I said, yes, you're going to
get the answer. I said, here's what God's will
is for your life. God's will for you is to go back
to your husband. You ask me what the will of God
is, and God says in Holy Writ that if the unbelieving partner
wants the believing partner to stay and there is no other biblical
grounds for divorce, it is your moral duty to stay. That's the
prescriptive will of God. But what she was trying to find
out was that if maybe that perchance God might have a special will
for her that was not set down as the normative basis of Christian
behavior for all of the people in the body of Christ. She wanted
God not to reveal his will, but to give her permission to violate
his will. She was looking outside the precepts
of God for some mystical, supernatural, direct will that God would circumvent
the revealed will of God. See what R.C. is getting at.
is that some of us get caught up in trying to figure out the
secret will of God. And we're naturally drawn to
it in prophecy. And here's the thing about it. There are individuals who get
so drawn and wrapped up into it that they even lay aside the
Word of God, the study of the Word of God, meditating on the
Word of God, seeking counsel. No, I want a quick answer from
God. I just want God, I just want to hear that audible voice
from heaven to tell me what to do. But you see, the Lord calls
us not to be preoccupied with the secret things. but with the
things that he has revealed. Deuteronomy 29, 29, the secret
things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed
belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe
all the words of his law. Again, how foolish and dangerous
it is to seek guidance from subjective impressions within us and signs
outside of us when we have a clear, objective word from God right
in front of us. To be sure, we can find guidance
for all of life's decisions either by direct command or by principles
from scripture and everything else is taken care of by the
providence of God. Thank God for His kind providences. And I'm not just talking about
the extraordinary providences. I'm not talking about just, you
know, God heals someone miraculously. But I'm speaking of all of God's
providences, the mundane, the day-to-day. Thank God for all
of His providences. Also, How freeing it is to not
be preoccupied with trying to figure out and make decisions
based on the secret will of God for your life. R.C. again says it this way, there
are a lot of things that come up in our lives that scripture
does not clearly define. But in those areas, we are free. God's will, in terms of his law,
does not say, I have to marry Vesta Morris, that's his wife. God tells me, I have to marry
a Christian. He gives us precepts and legislation
that controls what is righteous and what is allowable in His
sight. But my Heavenly Father gives
me latitude that I could theoretically find 50 million women that would
be eligible in terms of the precepts of God's Word as candidates for
marriage. If it's God's sovereign will
that I marry Vesta Sproul, the only way I'm going to know that
for sure is after the fact. And I'm not going to be paralyzed
in my life worrying about it now. That's God's business, not
mine. And so, God's Word is sufficient
for guidance and decision-making in the life of a believer. We
do not need some sort of fresh revelation or ongoing prophecy
to fill in the gaps. But, as Peter remarks, God's
guidance is only effectual in the midst of a dark world. if we pay attention to it. Amen? Let's go to the Lord in a word
of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, the Word that became flesh. We pray today, even as we have
heard your Word, that the power of the Holy Spirit would take
this word and apply it to the hearts of your people, that we
would not only be hearers of your word, but doers of your
word, that we would pay attention to it in all of life's decisions,
that we would, even as the psalmist says, make it our meditation
all the day long. We thank you again for what you
are doing in our lives. We thank you for all of the kind
providences that you bring our way. We pray, Lord, that we would
continue to honor you by giving attention to the things that
you have revealed and seeking to obey all that you have commanded
by the power of the Holy Spirit. As in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Prophets and Prophecy - Part 3
| Sermon ID | 77241854287727 |
| Duration | 53:16 |
| Date | |
| Category | Bible Study |
| Bible Text | 2 Peter 1:16-21 |
| Language | English |
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