Wednesday, February 21, 2024

The Apostolic Witness to Christ’s Glory

I invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me to the New Testament. We're going to be reading verses 16 through 21 of chapter 1, 2 Peter chapter 1, verses 16 through 21. Let's begin with a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for gathering us together tonight. It's a joy to abide together in Christ and to know your favor upon us because of him. To be able to fellowship together and to love one another because you have given us your Spirit.

By whom we know you as our Father, in whom we are sealed unto Christ. We thank you for the fellowship that we have by your grace and ask that you would help us tonight as we read your word. Help us to have a clear view of your Son in this word, that we would look like him in this world.

We pray these things for his sake. Amen. 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 16 through 21. For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

And so we have the prophetic word confirmed. Which you do well to heed as 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.

For prophecy never came by the will of man. But holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Peter has just conveyed to his brothers and sisters that Jesus has revealed to him that he's about to die.

And Peter says in the previous passage, Jesus Christ has revealed to me that I'm about to put off this earthly tent. And so what he's writing here, he's writing with an earnestness of a man who is about to die.

He's considering what is most vital to share. What is most vital to convey to these, his fellow Christians. And he's already warming to that idea at the beginning of the chapter. In the first few verses, consider the way that he talks about himself.

How he addresses those he's writing to. And what he's aiming for. So in chapter 1 verse 1, it says Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ. So he's the doulos, he's the slave of Jesus Christ.

Peter understands himself to be purchased by Christ, to be owned by Christ. To be set aside for the work that his master Christ has given to him to do. And that he is the apostle, the one who has been sent out as an ambassador with plenipotentiary powers.

To say, thus says Christ in heaven. As one of those whom Jesus is using as the foundation for the church. And he's writing to those who have obtained or those who have received. Those who have been given like precious faith with us.

He's writing to the same who have received this faith as a gift. Like Peter told the council at Jerusalem in Acts 15. He said, you know, the Gentiles are saved just the same way we are. By the grace of God.

Those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. This is how, Peter says, this is how we are saved. By the righteousness of another, the righteousness of Jesus Christ himself.

Now, what is his aim? He says, grace and peace be multiplied to you. Now, notice how the grace is multiplied. How is the peace multiplied? Peter, writing from his Jewish background. He'll use the Greek word Irenae, but he's thinking of Shalom.

He's thinking of the favor of God upon them. He's thinking of the Shalom of God towards them. Where God is smiling on them and that they know that they are smiled upon. That all is well in their position before God and Christ.

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God. And of Jesus our Lord. Not just simply the intellectual knowledge to know about God. But the relational knowledge. This that they possess that they know God.

This is eternal life. That we know God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. As his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.

Through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue. In other words, as Paul would say, I am what I am by the grace of God. That is all that I am. I may have labored more industriously than others.

Perhaps Paul was able to go to more places than others. Scatter more gospel seed than others. Plant more churches than others. But he says at the end of the day, it's simply the grace of God. It's just the power of God at work in me.

And verse 4 he says, by which this glory and virtue, the knowledge of him. By which you have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises. I want us to think about that word promises. Because he talks about that in the passage that we want to focus on.

That through these promises you may be partakers of the divine nature. Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Okay, so how do we know who God is? How do we know Jesus Christ is our Lord?

How are we brought into an ever increasing, deepening relational knowledge with God? Peter says it's by the precious promises. That the promises convey the grace of God and the mercy of God and the favor of God toward us.

That our peace and grace are multiplied as we grow in our understanding of God. But how do we know who he is? It's not by meditating in a field or in a forest. It's not about climbing to a mountaintop and trying to find some new mystical experience.

It's not through delving deep into the self. But it's by the promises of God, by the very word of God. How else are we to know? Jesus said, if my words abide in you, you will abide in me. You see, how is it that we're brought into that relationship?

Well, Peter wants his audience to focus on the promises of God. The precious promises of God. And there are many. There are many, many promises of God throughout the scriptures. And he's writing as a dying man to those who he desperately wants to have hold of these promises.

Now, when we read our passage in verses 16 through 21, he speaks of these promises. He says these were not cunningly devised fables. But our Lord Jesus Christ came. We were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

He was revealed in glory. And so, after talking about the transfiguration, verse 19, and so we have the prophetic word confirmed. In other words, the promises are thus confirmed. The promises that he wants them to hold fast to, the precious promises that convey that mercy and grace and peace of God into their lives, by which they know God and grow in their understanding of God.

Those promises, that prophetic word is confirmed. How? He says, we were eyewitnesses of his glory. We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. I was there on the mountain of glory. I was there at the mount of transfiguration.

That's what he says in verses 16 through 18, and concludes from that, concludes from the glory manifested in Christ, verse 19, and so. And so, we have the prophetic word confirmed. That's why we can rely on the promises.

That's why we can take up that prophetic word, the promises that were given by God throughout the pages of Holy Scripture, and we have those confirmed because of the magnification, the exaltation of Jesus Christ.

And he says, you would do well to heed this prophetic word. Not simply a matter of, again, the intellectual assent or the grabbing hold of all of the terms, though these are vitally important, it's pay attention to it like you're looking for the light that shines in a dark place.

It's like you're waiting for morning to dawn. Ever sat out in a cold, dark field waiting for the sun to rise? Any hunters in the group? All right. You're waiting for that sun to rise, and the wind to start to blow as soon as that sun comes up over the horizon, and feel the cold wind, and you watch the sun rise.

That's what it's like looking at and holding fast to this prophetic word that has been confirmed in the glory of Christ. Now, we're going to come back to 2 Peter 1, verses 16 through 21. We're going to come back to that because it's a very important application that Peter wraps up with.

The Mount of Transfiguration and the Voice from the Cloud

But before we do that, we need to go back to that moment on the Mount of Transfiguration to see why it is that the magnification and the exaltation of Jesus Christ in that moment, why Peter looks at that and says,.

And so, or therefore, because of that glory, we have the prophetic word confirmed. Why is he saying that? So we go back to Matthew 17. Matthew 17, verse 1. Now, after six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves, and he was transfigured before them.

His face shone like the sun. Now, what did Peter say about the prophetic word? He said it was like the dawning sun, didn't he? His face shone like the sun. His clothes became as white as the light. We're already hearing echoes in how Peter is processing that at the end of his days.

And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. So Peter, James, and John are up there on the mountain. They see Christ transfigured. The glory of his divinity comes pouring out through his humanity, and they see Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus.

How do they know it was Moses and Elijah? Well, they just knew. God made sure they knew who it was. Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus. And then Peter sticks his foot in his mouth, which he's so good at and we're so thankful for, because he says the stuff that we would have said if we were there.

Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, let us make here three tabernacles. One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Welcome to the new Mecca of spirituality.

We're going to have a tent for Elijah, a tent for Moses, and a tent for Jesus of Nazareth. Now, if anybody wants to know anything about who God is or how the world works, all we got to do is climb up this mountain and go talk to one of these three gurus.

Look at the amassed spiritual power and wisdom all at once. There's Moses, there's Elijah, and there's Jesus. Wow. Peter says, it is good for us to be here. This is going to be amazing. Verse five, while he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud, back to the brightness, a bright cloud overshadowed them.

Now, what kind of cloud is gloriously bright? It's the Shekinah glory cloud that we see time and time again in the Old Testament. So, this bright cloud overshadowed them. Remember when the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies, there was a cloud of incense covering everything.

But a voice, suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear him. Now, remember, Peter, James, and John are looking and they see Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.

And Peter is ready to accord them all equal status, equal glory. Each one of you gets a tabernacle. We're all up here together on this mountain. Suddenly, the glory cloud comes down, obscures everything.

They can't see anything. And, of course, they're terrified and they're scared out of their minds. But they hear the voice of God and he says, this, singular, is, singular, my beloved son, singular. Who is it?

Is it going to be Moses? Is it going to be Elijah? Is it going to be Jesus? Who is it? This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Is he well pleased with Moses, Elijah, or Jesus? Hear him. So it's not a matter of Moses gets a tent and we get to hear him.

And Elijah gets a tent and we get to hear him. And Jesus gets a tent and we get to hear him too. And through the interaction of all these interpreters of Scripture and these great teachers, now we'll come away with the understanding of God.

God speaks from the Shekinah glory cloud of his beloved son and says, you're going to hear him. Just one of these three. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.

Verse 7, but Jesus came and touched them and said, arise and do not be afraid. Let us never forget there was one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. When they had lifted up their eyes, notice what verse 8 says.

They saw no one but Jesus only. Not three tents. Not three sons. Not three ways of interpreting the Scripture and take the amalgamation or the one that suits you fine. God, from the Shekinah glory cloud, here is Moses.

And how amazing is Moses? And how important is Moses? And there's Elijah, the figurehead of all those prophets. And then there's Jesus. And God says of Jesus, hear him. Listen to him. It's not three tabernacles.

It's not three tents. It's not three interpreters. It's not three teachers. It's one. Hear him. And they opened their eyes. They see no one but Jesus himself alone. You can't get any more emphatic than that.

And when Peter reflects on that at the end of his days, he says, verse 17, of Jesus Christ. This is the meaning of the therefore. And so, we have the prophetic word confirmed. In other words, do you want to know what the prophetic words mean?

Do you want to know what the promises mean? You know, the precious promises that convey to you the knowledge of God, the knowledge of Christ, and grace, and mercy, and peace, and so on. Do you want to have the understanding of what that prophetic word is?

Do you want to have that settled in your soul? Then, listen to what God says. This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him. Hear him. Now, the application Peter gives of this. Verse 20.

Scripture’s One Meaning and the Spirit’s Role

But holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. So, when we come to the Scriptures. When we come to the Scriptures, we recognize that God did use holy men to write the Scriptures. Holy men like Moses, like the prophets, and the apostles.

But they were moved by the Holy Spirit. And so, the Father speaks of the Son through the Spirit in all the Scriptures. And so, no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. What a fitting verse for our day.

What is one of the first things that anybody is tempted to say to you when you share with them a Scripture passage and what it means? Their response, very often to you, is what? Well, that's what your interpretation is.

But there's a lot of interpretations. You know, if I had time to think about it as much as you have, I'd probably have a different interpretation. Right? And, time and again, we're told that the fact that many interpretations exist about a Scripture passage must, therefore, mean that no one can know what the right interpretation is.

Therefore, nobody has to submit to the authority of the text. How often does that happen? That happens a lot. How does Peter handle that? Especially given what happens in the very next passage when he starts talking to them about false teachers and false prophets who come in to sow discord and problems among the church.

His solution to this is, no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. Why? Because we have the prophetic word confirmed. How? In the glory of Jesus Christ. Hear Him. Not hear Moses, hear Elijah, and hear Christ.

But, no, hear Him. See no one but Jesus Himself alone. In other words, we are not left with a ragbag of many mysteries that nobody can come up with the right interpretation. And it's just all up for grabs.

But we are told in the Scriptures how to interpret the Scriptures and have the prophetic word confirmed. And that is to have the glory of Jesus Christ front and center. 2 Corinthians 1 verse 20 says, All the promises of God, as many as are the promises of God in Christ, they are yes.

They are yes. So we have the prophetic word confirmed. So, if we come up against a situation wherein we're reading the Scriptures and we're doing our best to understand it. And we maybe do a little study and maybe do some study of Bibles or some commentaries and so on.

And someone makes a comment and says, Well, there are many interpretations of this passage. We can remember this passage. No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. But we have the prophetic word confirmed by the glory of Jesus Christ.

And so we can be confirmed and sure and steady and confident about the meaning of a text. When we have Christ's light shining on that text so that we can understand what it means. Who He is, what He has done, keeping in mind His glory.

Somebody comes up to us and we're trying to explain the Scriptures and we're trying to affirm the meaning and the truth of it. And they say, Well, that's just your interpretation. It's like, Actually, I'm not allowed to have my own interpretation.

That it must be interpreted is true, but I'm not allowed to have my own private interpretation. Jesus wouldn't be too happy about that. There is a real true meaning of the text. God did not give us a confusing, amorphous, mysterious, enigmatic, hard to understand word.

He's not a bad communicator. He's a good communicator. He delights in His Son and He delights in making His Son manifest to us through His word. He's an errant word brought to us by the Holy Spirit. Encouragement for us tonight.

Exhortation to Hear Christ and Trust the Sure Word

Any questions or thoughts as we close? Absolutely. That's a good hope to have. Give attention to Jesus. That's a pretty good summary for Hebrews, I would say. OK, well, let me close this with a word of prayer.

Father, I thank You for the time that You have given to us in Your word. We thank You for the encouragement we find here. We thank You that You give us a sure word about our sure Savior, Jesus Christ.

I pray that You would help us to glorify Him and to rejoice in His truth and to trust in the promises that You have given. In light of who He is and what He has done and the fact that He reigns over us even today.

We pray these things in His name. Amen. We are dismissed.