The World Darkens, but The Word of God Shines

What we're going to do today is come to part 3 on our little series on the Word of God. And after I studied this, I've been reading through commentaries throughout the week sporadically here, and then yesterday I dove in, I guess you could say, into some deep waters.

And I assure you, Lord willing, we will have a part 4 on this. It's just too deep. The text before us, the Apostle Peter is dealing with the truth of the Word of God. And as you well know, the Scriptures itself is its own defense of the Word of God.

As Brother Keith mentioned earlier about Psalm 119, that is the Mount Everest. It's God's commentary on His own Word. And I would like for us to have another part on this, because there's no way we're going to be able to bring this out, especially verse 20 and 21.

I have three points, but the third point we're going to, Lord willing, pick up next week. So, in chapter 1 of 2 Peter, this wonderful second epistle, notice how many times the Apostle is, first of all, giving us the truth, the way the believer looks like.

Then he goes to the Word of God. And then, as the direction flows by the Spirit of God, as he's moved by the Holy Spirit, and he speaks about this in this particular verse we're looking at today. He goes to chapter 2 and notice chapter 2 deals with false teachers and false prophets and their heretical teaching.

But isn't it important to realize, to know how a false teacher looks like, what he teaches, before he is to be reproved, he must be exposed. What exposes him? The truth of the Word of God. Not our opinions.

It is God's Word. And that's what Peter is actually bringing out here. So we're going to be picking up right there, but the title of this is The World Darkens, But the Word of God Shines. The World Darkens, But the Word of God Shines.

So, if you're not already there, let's look at 2 Peter chapter 1. And let me read verse 19 through 21 at the end of the chapter. And like I said, we're not going to finish all this today, but we're going to try to cover as much tracks as we possibly can.

I'm reading from the New King James Version, translation. Hear the Word of the Living God, verse 19. And so we have the prophetic Word confirmed. Or some translations would say, we also have the more sure prophetic Word.

I like that translation much better. We also have the more sure prophetic Word, 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.

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. In verse 21, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Amen and Amen. May God richly bless the reading of His Word from our ears to our hearts. Please bow with me in prayers. We seek the Lord and His blessing and His anointing. Our Father and our God, we come before You, O Lord.

First of all, as it's already been said, we thank You for this precious book. Or 66 books that's been compiled into one great book. The Word of the Living God. Your Holy Word, You have blessed it. You've blessed it to the reading of our ears, but even more so, Lord, You've blessed it in our lives.

We have a privilege, it's such a privilege we have it in our own language. And it's cost so many, cost so many, the blood of their very lives. Lord, You've said various times and various ways, You have spoke time past in these last days, spoken to us by the prophets, and now in these last days it's spoken to us by Your beloved Son.

So Lord, our prayer this morning is that the same prayer the psalmist prayed in 119. Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your Word. Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.

Lord, we would pray, cause us, cause we cannot do this within our own power, cause us to see only Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That we would only see Jesus. So that we may look and live and behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

And not only see Jesus, but to hear only Jesus. Father, You pointed this out at the Mount of Transfiguration. Hear ye Him. Hear ye Him. And to the end, that we may love You. Lord, that we may submit to Your Word.

Obey You. And we ask this for Your glory. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen and Amen. And the world darkens, but the Word of God shines. Warren Wiersbe in his commentary has a wonderful observation he gives to us in this particular section that's very interesting.

It's an interesting observation concerning the advancements the world has made. And I quote him here. He says this, In some respects the world is getting better. I thank God for the advances of medicine, transportation and communication.

I could speak to more people. He was a very well known spokesman years past. He's with the Lord now. But he says I could speak. He also spoke through the Bible. I could speak to more people on one radio program than the apostles preached to their entire lifetimes.

I can write books that can be spread abroad even more translated, even translated into different languages in areas of scientific achievement. The world has made great progress. But the human heart, the human heart is still wicked.

All of our improvements and means have not improved our lives. Medical science enables people to live longer. But there's no guarantee they will live better. Modern means of communication only enables lies to travel faster.

Jet planes enable us to get to places faster, but we do not have better places to go. And I'll stop right there. That's pretty much what he says. End quote. I think this is so true. And Wiersme gives a good observation.

And he was talking all about this before the inventions of the internet and the iPhones. If he was around today and seeing that, he'd be quite surprised. But yet we're not surprised, are we?

As children of the living God.

And it should not be a bit surprising to us that the world is so engulfed. Engulfed in spiritual darkness.

Zombies.

I see this quite often. People just walk in the streets like zombies. We live in a very dark world. And it's not surprising because of sin. In the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord Jesus Christ warned us that.

There would be counterfeits. There would be false teachers. No exceptions.

That would invade the church of the living God with their false doctrines. Their heresies. Matter of fact, let me read just a portion there. You don't have to go there, but it's a very strong portion right at the end before he concludes that wonderful, the greatest sermon ever preached on that mount.

Matthew chapter 7, verse 15 through 20. Let me just give you a portion of this because it's so important of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ that He gives to us the warnings against false teachers. The first thing He says as He goes into this particular section, beware.

There's the word. Beware of false prophets. False teachers.

Who come to you in sheep's clothing. Sheep's clothing.

But inwardly, in their hearts, who they really are in other words, they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? What a question.

Then He says this. Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. That's the way the law of nature goes. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.

A very simple illustration there, but how true it is to the nature of man and to those who are not converted and to those that are converted. Then He goes on to say every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down.

He says it's cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, He comes to the point here. And this is what real discernment does. Righteous judgment. There is a judgment here. Therefore, by their fruits, you will know them.

You will know them.

And the judge is not us. The judge is the Word of God. Now, this is a very somber and serious warning from our Lord concerning false teachers. The Apostle Paul also gave similar warnings to the elders in Ephesus.

I don't have time, but if you read it in your devotional time, Acts chapter 20. He calls the elders to come together. The Apostle Paul brings them together and he charges them. These are elders. These are leaders.

These are pastors.

And he warns them against false teachers and uses the same language our Lord does. They will be like wolves and they will not spare the flock.

Serious.

Wolves eat sheep.

He continued to give warnings after warnings throughout all of his epistles throughout the New Testament. And by the way, the Apostle Paul was used so mightily of God, he gives us most of the New Testament.

A large portion of it. Even the Apostle John, known as the Apostle of Love, by the way, warned us about many antichrists that will come. False teachers who would seek to destroy the church. Infiltrate it.

Like leaven.

A little leaven leavens the whole lot, Paul said. Same loving warnings against false teachers come from also the Apostle Jude, the Apostle James, the Apostle John,.

The Apostle Paul.

Jesus himself spoke against the false teachers. And here now the Apostle Peter tells us these warnings. These apostles did not expect the world,.

By the way,.

This dark world to get better, did they? As a matter of fact, it's going to get worse. I know that sounds like a negative statement.

But it's the truth.

False teachers will come and infiltrate the church. And we see this happening right before our very eyes. Just cut on the television. And they're right there. With a phony grin and with a suit. Motivational speakers.

But you won't hear one word about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the sufferings of Christ, the sufferings of a Christian, and the glory of God. I assure you of that. But you'll hear everything about.

How good you can live this life,.

How blessings will overflow you,.

And give them what they want to hear.

Itching ears, Paul said.

And these people come.

As wolves in sheep's clothing. And they are spreading and teaching their damnable heresies. Sounds harsh, but it's the truth. They will lead some and many astray from the faith that was once delivered to the saints.

As a matter of fact, let me give you another verse here. We've already heard the Lord Jesus Christ, which I believe is the most serious warnings of all. But the Apostle Paul, again and again, warns in 1 Timothy chapter 4.

Let me read verse 1 and 2. Now the Spirit, now notice what he says. The Spirit, the Holy Spirit,.

Says,.

Not Paul's interpretation here, not his private interpretation, it is the Spirit of God.

The Spirit expressively says.

That in the latter times some would depart from the faith. What happens? Giving heed to deceiving spirits, seducing spirits, doctrines of demons, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.

In other translations, a scorched conscience. The conscience is scorched.

Beloved, we are there. We are here.

We are living in these days. There is a famine in the land of the Word of God. The world gets darker and darker, but the Word of God will shine brighter and brighter even if it's in a small minority. Gideon had the lamps.

God used Gideon and his small band and God was glorified in the small band and they had the lamps to bust and go forth and they did exactly what God said. Verse 19 through 21, the apostle Peter here really makes three simple but powerful affirmations about the Word of God and as I was reading Warren Wiersbe, I got this simple outline for him so I'm going to give him the credit.

Verse 1, I'm sorry, in chapter 1, verse 19, verse 19a, it is a sure word. It is a sure word. Second, in verse 19b, it is a shining word. It is a shining word. And third, Lord willing, next week we will pick up here verse 20 and 21, it is the Spirit-given word.

I love that.

And I said,.

Brother Wiersbe, I'm going to have to borrow that. I'm going to give you credit. But I love that simple outline so I'm using it. A sure word, a shining word, and a Spirit-given word. And then we will look at some applications at our conclusion.

First of all, the Word of God is a sure word. We have a sure word. A more sure word, actually, what the scripture says, and he says this, we also, we, have the more sure prophetic word confirmed. It's confirmed.

I love that.

There is a confirmation. And by the way, at the Mount of Transfiguration, there is not a contradiction, there is a confirmation. And what happened at the Mount of Transfiguration was foretold by the prophets.

So it's not something that was out of the ordinary. There was a confirmation to it. These verses here, Peter's defense, his defense of his premise is really the return and the arrival of Jesus Christ.

That is his defense. That's his target point. The coming of Jesus Christ. And that is a verified truth and a fact.

So the apostle,.

For his defense of this truth, and I love the way Peter does this, and it's by the wisdom and the power of the Holy Spirit that leads him. Peter brings forth two witnesses for his defense.

We're going to look at these two witnesses.

But if you look in verse 16 -18, as we looked at, he introduces what he and the apostles saw concerning the transfigured Lord. It was a display and a preview, a foretaste of Christ's glorious return to reign in great power as King of kings and Lord of lords.

They saw a foretaste of this. And by appealing to the facts of history, Jesus himself stands as the first witness. Jesus is the first witness. And Peter calls into defense. That's a good witness. The Lord himself.

The head of the church.

He introduces the second witness. And guess what the second witness is?

The Old Testament Scriptures.

How do we know this? Jesus is in the middle. And then you have Moses and Elijah representing the Law and the Prophets. They represent pretty much all that is said from God using these men of the entirety of the whole of Scripture.

All focused on Jesus Christ. That's really what Peter is saying. Rather, working against each other, the revelation of Jesus Christ that was recorded in the Gospels.

Affirmed all that the Prophets predicted.

And so worked together to affirm the certainty of Christ's return.

And keep that in mind.

Because that is his target.

He's speaking about the truth of the second coming of Jesus.

How often do you ever hear.

A false teacher talking about that?

Do you hear about the coming of the Lord? The second coming of Jesus? No, you turn to Revelation and some pretty rough things are going to be happening. God is going to pour out His wrath. False teachers are not going to warn you of the wrath to come.

Or are they going to warn you.

To flee from the wrath to come?

As John the Baptist did. And Peter presents the Old Testament as his second witness. Peter explains three vital principles here. And let me give them to you. Every believer, first of all, must understand.

There must be a proper knowledge.

We looked at that.

He speaks about that all in chapter 1 before us.

The knowledge of God.

The knowledge of the truth. The knowledge of self-control. You see this all. The knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord. The knowledge. Not just intellectual knowledge. He's talking about this deep-seated knowledge.

Of the truth.

That's found only in the Scriptures and in Jesus Christ. Which the Scriptures point to.

Christ.

So the three vital principles here is we must understand regarding the Old Testament Scriptures as we will look at at the Word of God as a sure, more sure Word and a shining Word and a Spirit-given Word.

But we also must understand the relationship the Old Testament has.

With the New Testament.

That's critical. That is very critical because and then following up after that there's a method and that method is by which we approach the Old Testament and the source from which we receive the Old Testament.

And by the way there's no one that's going to truly understand this book unless they have the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit of God will is the one that opens our eyes.

To the truth.

To perceive the truth. We will look at that in a minute. So, three vital truths given principles here. Our relationship and understanding the Old and New Testaments.

The method we approach it.

And the source.

From which we receive it. So we must understand this by God's help and grace as we study to show ourselves approved unto God to rightly divide the Word of Truth so that we will be a workman that needs not to be ashamed.

So we saw last Lord's Day that Peter makes a link a bridge, so to speak if you will between what he just stated in verses 16 through 18 of the Transfiguration. Now let me comment about this again.

To give us up to speed.

It's necessary that we follow his train of thought. Because his train of thought within these next few verses verses 19 through 21 is really.

The backdrop.

Is the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ the preview of the Second Coming.

Of Jesus.

That's the backdrop.

That's really what he's aiming at. So the first question.

We will look at.

Pretty much it's been answered by the text itself. Is it must be answered whether Peter pits the prophetic Word against the witness Transfiguration or does he use both.

The prophetic Word.

And the Transfiguration to advance his argument. So pretty much that's what he does. The Transfiguration the experience that happens there that happened there is not pitted against the Scriptures.

It's actually the prophetic Scriptures.

That foretold it.

See.

It confirmed.

That's why he said.

It's a more sure.

Prophetic Word.

That's confirmed. You see his train of thought there. So it's very critical that we understand that. The we notice. He calls into witnesses. Peter calls into James speaks of the Apostle James. He speaks of the Apostle John but also.

It could mean.

The other Apostles as well but specifically at the Mount of Transfiguration he's speaking specifically about James and John. Referred to in verse 16 through 18. Now the Apostles.

Here.

And he also does he has someone else in mind.

Or does he?

No.

We will consider.

These questions as we looked at.

But.

Peter first establishes a connection between what the Apostles witnessed and saw in the Scriptures that actually predicted this glorious event. By the way it was a glorious preview. Wait till it fully comes in its fullness.

When he comes back.

I'm telling you.

The whole earth.

And the heavens will shake. Nations will be.

Stricken down. He provides an encouragement too by the way just not warnings. There is encouragement to the readers.

To keep searching the Scriptures.

So long as they are preserved because they are profitable they are profitable for instruction and righteousness that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished through all good works.

The point Peter.

Really is making is in verse 19 the Word of God is sure. Don't you love that? There is an affirmation. And by the way the gospel itself affirms the prophets. The gospel itself affirms the prophets. And when I say the gospel I'm talking about Jesus.

I'm talking about His person I'm talking about His works I'm talking about His life and all that He did from the moment He was born into the stable.

To the point.

To His.

Humiliation.

To the cross.

His death.

On Calvary's cross everything.

That the whole.

Entire Bible.

Focuses on.

Is on Christ.

And we're going to see that.

But Peter says we also have.

A more sure.

Prophetic word.

And by the way.

The apostates.

And the apostates is a serious term.

This is someone.

That claimed.

To be a believer.

That knows the knowledge.

They've tasted.

Of the word of God.

The book of Hebrews.

The writer of Hebrews deals with this.

Those.

That's why it's called apostasy.

Apostates.

They.

Know this truth.

And yet they turn against the Lord.

Willingly.

And blasphemy.

Because.

Of their hate.

For the truth. Satanic. And this is where Satan works.

The most.

He's got the world folks. They're in darkness. But it's within. He's trying to infiltrate.

And he does it.

Through the false teachers. And we see this. You and I.

Talk to people.

That's been brainwashed.

By these false teachers.

And giving them what they want to hear.

The flesh just soaks it up.

And it's everything.

That the devil offered to Jesus.

And while Jesus was being tempted.

In the wilderness.

Same devil. And you see what he does.

And notice.

You go back to the garden.

Of Eden.

The garden of Eden.

Where God dwelled.

And met man.

To commune with him.

Satan targets.

The real target just was not yes it was Adam to bring down the human race. But he does it through.

Casting doubt.

On God's character.

And God's word. That was where the cross hairs was aimed at. And Satan went after it.

Because he's the father.

Of all lies.

And Jesus says.

That's who we're dealing with. And notice when Jesus defeated him from those temptations.

Jesus had to come back.

It is written again. It is written again.

The word of Lord. God's word.

And here's the living word quoting the written word. How much more should we? It's sobering. Well the apostates will attempt to discredit the promise of Christ is coming. Naturally. There's judgment to come.

A false teacher.

Will not talk about this.

Folks.

Take it to the bank.

Challenge anybody.

That listens to.

Joel Osteen.

Benny Hinn.

Or any of these heretics. I can guarantee you.

They do not preach about the judgment to come.

But this Bible.

Is all about this.

And if you're outside of Jesus Christ.

There will be no hope.

Jesus is the only way the only truth the only life.

The only hope.

So if they.

See but what these false teachers want to present.

They want to have their cake.

And eat it too. They basically want the millennium promises given to them. They want a crown without a cross.

But Jesus see.

The same.

Jesus knew he desired the cross. He knew the joy before him. He knew there was a crown.

Because this is the.

King of glory.

So he goes to the cross.

But he knew the way to that glorification is through the cross. And by the way there's no escape in it for any of us.

All disciples to be the disciples.

Of Jesus Christ will have to bear a cross deny ourselves.

These false teachers.

Teach that you.

Can jump that you can skip that.

Impossible. 2 Peter 3 .3 I've already quoted it last week. Knowing this first scoffers will come in the last days walking according.

To their own.

Desires their own lust. What did they say? Where is the promise of his coming? Where is the promise.

Of his coming?

Now if they speak.

About the coming.

Of Christ they're going to say.

Oh no.

No.

There's not going to be.

No coming. For since the fathers.

Fell asleep.

They died.

All things continue.

As they were.

From the beginning of creation but the holy scriptures.

Were sure for after all.

By the transfiguration.

The preview.

Of the second coming.

Of Jesus.

That's why Peter brings this up.

The promise.

Of the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ is reaffirmed by Moses and Elijah and the son of God and the father in heaven that's good witnesses.

Even the spirit of God himself.

Wrote the record and for the church to read it. Isn't it glorious? That's the witnesses we have. Listen to Psalm 19 7 the testimony of the Lord is.

Sure.

I'll just give you.

God's word.

Psalm 93 5 thy testimonies.

Are.

Very sure. Psalm 111 7. All of his commandments all of his commandments.

Are.

Sure.

Psalm 119 128 therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things.