Experiences Fade, but the Word of God Remains

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Last week we looked at part one on this little series on the Word of God.
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It was men die, but the Word of God lives. Men die, but the Word of God lives.
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Today I'd like for us to look at part two. Experiences fade, but the
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Word of God remains. Experiences fade, but the
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Word of God remains. Today we're going to look at probably,
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I would guess, one of the greatest experiences that three apostles had in life.
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I don't believe there's any greater experience. We're going to look at this in detail as best we can as God gives us the time within this hour.
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So in saying that, please open your Bible with me as we continue our study through the epistle of 2 Peter.
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We're looking at 2 Peter, wonderful epistle, only three chapters, but it covers a lot.
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He's dealing with inside the church and false teachers. The first epistle he dealt with troubles outside the church.
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Here now he goes within the church. And here we're looking at chapter 1.
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We're still in chapter 1, and today our text will be verses 16 to 18.
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Verse 16 to 18. Three verses I'd like for us to look at, but it is loaded up.
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The focus, as I said, in this particular section is on the transfiguration of Jesus Christ.
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Really, He is the message. Jesus is the message. The apostle
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Peter knows this. As Brother Keith mentioned about the Word of God, Jeremiah understood this.
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God was the message. It's not about man. It's not about our opinions.
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It's about what God says. I'm here to hear, as you are, to hear from heaven.
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And the only way we can hear from heaven is in this book. It's so sad in our day today there is so many
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Bibles that are published. And people are saying, I want to hear from God.
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I need a new revelation. There's no new revelations. This is the revelation.
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It is complete. The canon is closed. And what is so heartbreaking is so many
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Bibles are in so many homes today that are broken and people without Jesus and all of eternal life and everything that God desires for us lies within this book.
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Everything we need that pertains to life and godliness. We already saw that. I tell you, this today is a powerful word, not because I'm preaching it.
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It has nothing to do with me. But everything has to do with what is said in this book.
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So I'm reading from the New King James Version. Hear the word of the living
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God, verse 16. For we, notice now he changes, not
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I, for we did not follow cunningly devised fables.
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When we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
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Verse 17. For he received from God the Father honor and glory. When such a voice, such a voice came to him from the excellent glory.
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This is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.
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May God himself richly bless the reading of his holy word from the hearing of our ears to the understanding of our hearts.
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Only the Holy Spirit can help us there. Please bow with me in prayer. Our Father and our
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God, our prayer is once again simple. Once again very childlike.
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And it comes right from the pages of Holy Writ. Lord speak, for your servant hears.
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We ask this in Jesus name for your glory. Amen. Experiences fade, but the word of God remains.
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Movie previews are very powerful. Movie previews are powerful.
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Matter of fact, they tantalize you with the best action. And out of sequences, scenes to motivate us to squander a few dollars, maybe more, and waste an evening to return to the movies once again.
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I'm a candidate of that. But movie previews are very powerful.
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They do give us a preview, don't they? And a very taste of what is to come. Now I use that as a simple illustration that such an event occurred in the life of Jesus Christ.
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Except this is just not a movie. This is reality. A preview of the glorious preview of the second coming of Jesus Christ.
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Think of this. Of His second coming when He will come in power and glory. And we are waiting for Him to come.
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The only time in His flesh in the ministry of Jesus. Think of it. The only time at this moment on this holy mountain.
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On a mountaintop experience by the way. The veil as it was, was pulled back so that His deity could be fully seen in His second coming of glory.
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It's called the transfiguration. A transfiguration. I've even seen many churches name this.
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And I'm thinking they're everything but this. Sad to say. Because Ichabod has written on many churches that the glory of God has departed.
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But here is the preview of the glory of God. Bursting forth from Jesus.
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As it were. The veil was pulled back. We can't imagine this. This was a preview.
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Just a preview by the way of His glorious second coming. And this event is recorded in three of the four gospels.
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That's how important it is. Three gospel writers. Three witnesses by the way.
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Recorded this. Very critical event in the life of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. And the apostle Peter writes about it in verses 16 to 18.
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Here in our text before us in chapter 1 in 2 Peter. Again from which to launch into this discussion of false teachers.
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As I said last Lord's Day in chapter 2. The believer's response of the blessed hope of the second coming of Jesus.
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And we see this in the entire chapter 3. The conclusion.
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That is the blessed hope. And the believer's response of this. And what lies between this chapter 1.
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Verse 12 to 21. As I said before is a necessary bridge.
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So we are actually on a bridge right now. We are about to get to the heart of the message.
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Lord willing after next week. Because next week we will look at one more message on the word of God.
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Actually we will cover verse 19 to 21. The world darkens but the word of God shines.
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But here in verse 12 to 15 as we saw last Lord's Day. We saw how essential it was.
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That Peter reminded us of the important truths. That we are to be reminded not to forget by the way over and over again.
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And that's how important the gospel is. We should preach it to ourselves everyday. It is so important and it is so easy for us to forget.
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And God says this constantly. Don't forget. Remember.
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Remember. What is the consequences of forgetting?
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It's serious. Seduction. There is a seducing of Christianity today.
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The seduction of Christianity. There is also error. And by this as we forget.
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As Christians we can easily fall prey to apostasy.
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Satan is very cunning. He plays for keeps. That's why we see so many warnings in scripture.
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Because the love of the heart of as brother Keith mentioned. About the prophet Jeremiah or any prophet.
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Ezekiel and Isaiah. These great men of God. They would not consider themselves great.
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But we look at they were men of God. Moved by the Holy Spirit. As God spoke through them.
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As they spoke the words of the living God. As vehicles and instruments.
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To speak thus says the Lord. To turn Israel back. From apostasy.
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Which they went through. From judgment. From the error. And they forgot the Lord. Right? And you know
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God graciously would call it. But truth was pouring forth as well. God would not spare the truth.
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Truth would come forth. But it came in great lamentation. You know this as brother
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Keith mentioned. Jeremiah was the weeping prophet. But Jesus was far greater.
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And this is who we focus on. Jesus had the zeal and the fire of Elijah far more.
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He had the lamentation far deeper than Jeremiah could ever imagine.
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But here in our text in verse 16 to 21. As we will be continuing next week as well.
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Peter wants to affirm the truth of scripture. This is where we must focus on.
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It's the truth. What is truth? Pilate said to Jesus. And the truth was staring him right in the face.
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Jesus himself. God's truth. Now that's the living truth. But we have the written truth.
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The written truth. Because the written truth is. There's no other book like this book. There's inspiration.
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And that word inspiration as we will look at later on. Peter says in verse 20.
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Know this first. That no prophecy of scripture is of any in private interpretation. The inspiration is
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God's breath. I really believe that if the church would rediscover the greatness and the majesty.
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Of God's word. There will be a great. Not only revival. There will be a new reformation.
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And that's what we need. Well Peter proves that the holy scripture is true in two ways.
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One is that Peter himself along with two other apostles. John and James as we will see. Are eye witnesses of the truth in verses 16 to 18.
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And two is that the scriptures recorded by the apostles. Are God's actual, inerrant, infallible, all sufficient word.
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And the only truth you and I can depend on. Matter of fact. The psalmist. And you can read this whole chapter in your devotional.
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It's 176 verses. And notice it's the longest chapter.
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It's Mount Everest of the Psalms. 119. Psalm 119 is the mountain.
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It is the Mount Everest. And it's focused on God's word. Psalm 119 verse 160.
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Listen to this. He says the entirety of your word is truth. The entirety of it.
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And every one of your righteous judgments endures forever. Powerful.
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Now since the false teachers by the way. And that's what Peter is dealing with here. Are attacking his apostolic credentials.
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That's what they are doing. Peter's apostolic instructions here about the second coming of Jesus Christ.
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And that's what they are really going after. They are trying to discredit Peter. And they do not believe that Jesus Christ is coming back again.
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That's what they taught. And how many false teachers believe that same thing today? You never ever hear a false teacher speaking about the second coming of Christ.
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Or the sufferings of Christ. No. They give them what they want to hear.
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Because people have itching ears. We'll see that in a minute. Peter uses his own and other apostolic authority here.
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And personal eyewitnesses account to the second coming and glory of Christ. Revealed at the transfiguration by the way.
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Which was proof. That you and I can trust in the word of the living
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God given by the apostles. Peter just reminded us.
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As we looked at that we need to hear these same great truths over and over again. We do not need to forget them.
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That we need to be jolted. Sobered. We fall in a lull.
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How easy it is to be lulled to sleep. We need to hear.
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Thus says the Lord. We need to hear God's word. Paul says it in Romans chapter 10.
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For faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. No other way faith comes.
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By hearing and hearing by the word of God. So we should not trust the ideas and opinions and distortions of false teachers or men.
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The traditions of men. But we can trust in the word of the living God. I like what
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Paul says in Romans 3 -4. Indeed let God be true in every man a liar. And then he gives just to back up what he just says.
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He says as it is written. Notice what he says. That you may be justified in your words.
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And every person may overcome when you are judged. That's number one.
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Two. Written by the apostles and the prophets. Moved by the Holy Spirit. So now let me give you a question.
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Let me set a question before you. Before I go into our outline this morning. How does a church.
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How do us as a church here. A local church or any church. And a
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Christian. Defend against the error of false teachers.
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That's a loaded question isn't it. How does a church or a Christian defend against the error of false teachers.
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Now in one sense. God's word needs no defense. It's like a lion as Spurgeon says.
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Just let it out and let it do its work. But. We are to give a defense.
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Of the hope that lies within us. And that's what Peter talks about that. And that's what he's doing.
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Because of the false teacher. The false teachers and what they teach. Are like.
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Leaven. Within the church that's eating away. And leading people.
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Away from the truth. To the false teachers and to what they teach. And we're going to look at this.
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Getting back to our question. The answer would be our best two weapons against error.
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And this is critical. Against error of false teachers. Number one is
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God's word. God's word. And then two I would say. Godly character.
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There must be godly character as well. You take away that. You take away integrity.
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A person can know. Intellectually the word of God. But if they lack godly character and integrity.
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It's not going to be effective. And let me say this. God's word and the Holy Spirit. Together.
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There you have it. Because the spirit of God. Would never do anything in our lives.
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Contrary to this word. The spirit of God. And you hear a lot of people say.
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I was in the spirit. Well yeah you might have been in the spirit. But it might have not been the Holy Spirit. It might have been some kind of pizza you ate.
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The night before. And then you're just kind of overloaded. And some kind of dream and experiences.
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And oh how many times we've heard people. Get on those things. Those tangents.
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I remember going to bible college. When I first went to bible seminary. I met this young man.
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I still remember it to this day. There's so many others. Well I could just go on and on.
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But I don't want to bore you on that. But I'll tell you one story. I went to visit this man.
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I still don't remember his name. And there's a reason why. Because I cut ties with him that night.
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As we were talking about the Lord. And he just went on and on and on.
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About a vision he had. This vision. And he was actually using scripture.
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From the word of God. But he was taking it like he went into the Holy of Holies. Almost like Isaiah.
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Like Isaiah saw the Lord in high and lifted up. And he was taking the scriptures. And he went before the
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Lord. And he says this really happened to me. And I thought wow. You've got a hotline with God my friend.
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And he just went on and on. Into the scriptures. And how the word of God talks about the depth.
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Of the holiness of God. And I thought oh. So you're as holy as the prophets and the apostles.
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No no. Almost like he was in a trance. And from that time on.
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I cut ties. We have so much of this today. It fascinates people.
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And we'll look at that more. But here Peter reminds his readers. In verse 1 to verse 11.
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That the new nature. They received salvation through the holy scriptures. Resulting in sanctification.
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Godly character. Which offers believers true assurance. In Jesus Christ. Now Peter is challenging.
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Them to wholly depend. And trust in God's word. That's what he's doing. You've got to depend and trust in the word of God here.
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But Peter is a witness. About what he's going to say. And he was one of the apostles.
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Along with James and John. That were with him. And this is actually what verse 16 to 18 speaks of.
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And then in verse 19 to 21. Again the focus. Is on the word of God.
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The word of God. That's what we focus on.
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That's the truth. Now notice the transfiguration of Jesus.
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It was a glorious preview here. For his second coming. There was a purpose for this mountaintop experience.
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And it was a good purpose. These three apostles. That witnessed this.
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Peter, James and John were permitted. Could you imagine being permitted. And privileged. To see such a glimpse.
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Of Jesus. Bursting forth in his glory. And it's a glimpse of the kingdom of God. By the way.
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Where Jesus will rule. In all of authority and righteousness and glory. You know Peter focuses on the transfiguration here.
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To show. That he himself can personally vouch. For the trustworthiness of Christ's teaching.
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That's another reason. And the certainty. And by the way there is a certainty of it.
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Of Christ's second coming. So by giving this. He is a personal eye witness.
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Of this account. Of the majesty. Of Christ. The majesty of Christ.
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So Peter is affirming. That Christ will return in glory. And he's basically saying.
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This is his purpose of. His focus on the transfiguration. This is his purpose. Plus he encourages the people.
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His readers here. The persecuted Christians. The Christians that are being deceived.
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By these false teachers. That an entrance will be supplied. To them abundantly.
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And to the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. And to every believer. Who has made his calling and election sure.
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How important that is. There are three points. I like for us to look at.
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And observe here. And we will look into the transfiguration from this.
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Verse 16a. One is. Defending the truth of the preview. Of Christ's second coming.
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Defending the truth of the preview. Of the second coming of Christ. Second. In verse 16b.
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Describing the eye. To 17. Describing the eye witness account of the preview.
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And three. We will look at verse 18. Defending the historical. Circumstances of the preview.
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Then we will look at some. Personal application. That we can take home with us. Let's look into it.
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First of all. Defending the truth of the preview. Of the second coming of Jesus Christ.
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Defending the truth. Of the preview. Of the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is critical.
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Even in our day. We don't hear enough of this. Verse 16a.
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Peter says. For we. Did not follow. Cunningly.
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Devised. Fables. We did not follow.
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Notice that. We did not follow. He is a leader. Cunningly.
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Devised fables. When we made known to you. The power and the coming of our
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Lord Jesus Christ. That's his focus. Now. The nature of truth is always objective.
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Historical. Fact. Not subjective. It's not subjective truth.
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That works for each person. In our society. In which so many people in society.
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Determines what truth is. You have this today. Basically people think they are the source of truth.
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They don't need to be told what truth is. So you notice as you tell people this today. And it was the same in Peter's day.
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This is what truth is. And they say. Says who? Really? Says God.
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Then they'll come back and say. No. There is no God. How many people?
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The fool has said there is no God. We have this today folks.
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We have seen this. Here recently. As we were out witnessing. Everybody has their own view of truth.
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Their own opinion of truth. As I mentioned earlier. Paul already said it. Paul already said it.
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Let every man be liar and let God be true. Because God is true.
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So in our society. Determines what truth is. In other words. It's collective.
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So Peter says. By the Holy Spirit by the way. It's the spirit of truth. For we did not follow.
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Cunningly cleverly devised fables. Let's look into this. The word fables. Basically means tales.
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Myths. The word fables. Tales. Muthos. It's the
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Greek word which gives us the English word myths. The word for fables. Fables was used to refer to.
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Mythical stories. Mythical stories. Of gods. And miracles.
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Listen to the apostle Paul. I'm not going to give you my definition. And what fables basically says.
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We are going to hear what the word of God says. About fables. I want you to hear this. The apostle Paul said a lot about it.
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First Timothy in the pastoral. And all of them. It's interesting. All of these verses come from the pastoral epistles.
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The pastoral epistles. First Timothy 1 .4. I'm going to begin there. He says nor give heed to fables.
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Don't give heed to fables. And endless genealogies. Why? Which cause disputes.
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Rather than godly edification. Which is in faith. Again in First Timothy 4 .7.
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He says but reject. First he says don't give heed to it. Now he says reject. Profane and old wives fables.
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Because old wives fables. And exercise yourself. Toward godliness.
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So there has to be. Notice. The positive. He first gives the negative. Then the positive. You do not give heed to the fables.
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Endless genealogies. Which causes disputes. The positive.
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That's the negative. The positive is godly edification. Which is in faith. Again the negative.
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Reject it. Profane old wives fables. And then he says the positive. Exercise yourself toward godliness.
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Then he says again in Second Timothy. I love this. Second Timothy chapter 4. This is basically the last will and testament.
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Handing the baton. To young Timothy. In chapter 4.
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Look at verse 3 and 4. And we are here folks. This is where the church is today.
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For the time will come. Not maybe. Will come. Paul knew this. When they will not endure.
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What? Sound doctrine. That were there. They will not endure it.
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But according to their own desires. There it is. That's what false teachers play upon.
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Their own desires. Because they have itching ears. There's itching ears.
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I like what Ravenhill says. And I'm not commissioned to scratch them. Amen. They.
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They. The people. That desire. What they want to hear.
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They have itching ears. They will heap up. Listen to that word. It's almost like accumulated.
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Heap up for themselves. Teachers. Verse 4. Notice how many times he says turn.
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They will turn their ears. Away from the truth. And be turned.
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Aside to fables. To myths. Were there. So what's these fables?
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The false ideologies. There are false ideologies. Viewpoints. Philosophies.
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Traditions of men. Various forms that oppose sound doctrine. That's the opposition.
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This is what they're opposing folks. This is what Satan hates. And at times what he does.
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As you well know what false teachers do. They will choose and pick what they want to. Twist it.
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To their own desires. But not give a thus saith the Lord. What God says.
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We were talking about this last week. On the way home. And I spoke to.
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Brother Willem and Ben. And brother Keith about this. There's a great difference. Of.
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What is called. Good hermeneutics. Good study.
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That's another word for good study in scriptures. But there is. Isogesis and exegesis.
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What's the difference? Isogesis basically says. This is a poor teacher. That uses
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Isogesis. They take the meaning. And twist it to what they.
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Want it to say. Out of context. This is what Satan loves. Satan's behind this.
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He takes a verse. And notice he does this as he tempted Christ. He took a verse of scripture. And twisted it.
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He took something out of it. And he threw a twist to it. He's cunning.
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This is poor. Study of scripture. But not only that.
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Isogesis basically says. What they are saying out of it. Not what God. And the good part of it is.
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It's exegesis that basically says. What is God saying? That's what we want to hear.
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And that's the difference. Titus 1 .13 and 14. Listen to this.
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This testimony is true. Therefore. Notice what he says. Therefore rebuke them sharply.
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Folks I'm telling you what. The apostles did not play around. When it came to false teaching and false teachers.
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They did not play around. Because God doesn't play around with it. God will not be mocked.
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His truth will not be mocked. Therefore rebuke them what? Sharply.
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That they may be sound in the faith. I find that interesting. That's the use. And that's the purpose for a sharp rebuke.
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That it may turn them to repentance. That they may come to know what sound truth is. What sound teaching is.
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That they may be sound in the faith. Verse 14. Not giving heed to Jewish fables.
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And the commandments of men. Who turn from the truth. There's that word again.
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They turn away from the truth. So the apostle Peter is teaching here.
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Back to what Peter is saying. They were not cleverly cunning. They did not follow.
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Cleverly cunning devised tales. Fables. Myths. Myths of the story. Tales. Lies.
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Era. Which is a person's own formulated views of truth.
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You have this everywhere. On the contrary of error. There is truth. I like what
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Jesus prayed. In the upper room. When he was praying for his disciples. And the believers.
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In John 17. He prays sanctify them. Listen to this.
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He's so pointed. Sanctify. I mean set apart. He's praying for the disciples.
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He's praying for the believers later in that chapter. Sanctify them. Set them apart.
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By your truth. The truth. And then he says this.
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Your word is truth. Your word is truth. Scripture originates with God.
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Amen. Because He is truth. He is. He is absolute truth. There is no truth outside of God.
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There is no truth outside of this Bible folks. So Peter reminds his readers.
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He did not follow cleverly. Notice cleverly. Devised error.
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These myths. These fables. These lies. But Peter knew the false teachers were doing everything they could to discredit him.
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In his letter. In his letter. So Peter gives an ample evidence. To prove he wrote the truth of God.
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As genuine. As a genuine inspired writer. Peter's writings here were.
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Not inventions. Myths. Stories like the false teachers. They were the Holy Spirit of God.
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Breathing on him. As he was moved by the Holy Spirit. A lot of people get mixed up on this.
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How many people here say man wrote this book? Well. Maybe in the language of men.
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But it is. The Spirit of God. People do not get that. There is a mingling here.
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They are writing it down. But as they are writing this down. What makes this book so different is.
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It is not the words of men. It is God the Holy Spirit. That was working through him.
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They were moved by the Holy Spirit. In the language of men. People get mixed up about that.
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But it is the word of God. So Peter's writings. Were not inventions.
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Stories like the false teachers. Isn't it interesting. The false teachers were doing this.
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Lies and stuff. But they were basically throwing that on Peter. That they themselves were the liars.
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In reality. It was almost playing. Like a psychological game there.
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He says. When we made known to you the power of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice the apostle. He says we.
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This is important. Let me touch on this. He repeats this word four times.
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We. We. We. We. There is a reason for that. Almost like he is in a court of law.
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Against these false teachers. Almost like he is in a court. Against these false witnesses.
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These false teachers. What he is doing. He is confirming the truth folks. He is saying. It is not my words.
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But he did say I was there. I saw this. Jesus says this.
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Let me give you a few verses on this. Jesus says in Matthew 18 verse 16. Speaking of church discipline.
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He says but if he will not hear. Speaking about that he is talking about a person.
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That is in sin. Take with you one or two. You one or two more.
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That by the mouth of two or three witnesses. Every word may be established. Jesus quotes basically.
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Deuteronomy 19 verse 15. One witness shall not rise against a man. Concerning any iniquity.
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Or any sin that he commits. By the mouth of two or three witnesses. The matter shall be established.
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You see. There is a reason for witnesses. So Peter is just not saying.
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I. I. I. Even though he was an apostle. And what he said had weight to it.
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But he brings in other witnesses. And there were other witnesses. Right. James and John was with him.
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We. We. Made known to you. We. The Greek word here made known.
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Is often used to communicate imparting. A new revelation. In that time.
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And it was a new revelation in that time. But not now. The canon is closed.
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That is why you could say. If somebody comes to you and says. I got a new revelation from God. God is telling me.
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No. You can reject that. And you can stand on the word of God.
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And say there is no new truth. It is just an old lie. Here is the truth.
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We stand on the word of the living God. And that is what Peter is basically. And there is witnesses. Peter uses the pronoun.
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We. Definitely. Peter, James and John. Which are three witnesses. But here it might be referred to also the
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New Testament. Just not those three apostles by the way. It could refer as well.
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In the interpretation here. All the apostles as well. Since all of them without exception.
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Did receive supernatural divine revelation from Jesus Christ. You see what
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I am saying. It could be all the apostles. But we will see here.
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The we is definitely. Peter, James and John. Referring to the transfiguration. So what was.
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So let me ask another question. What was the specific truth that Peter is defending here. Verse 15.
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Gives the answer. The power. This is important. The power and the coming of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. There it is. The power and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Since there is only one definite article. With this phrase. The meaning is literally saying. The powerful coming.
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Or the coming and power. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what we need to teach today.
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This is what preachers need to be preaching. That Jesus Christ is coming back in power. In great glory.
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And this was a preview of this. Peter is teaching the truth about the powerful second coming of Jesus.
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And the false teachers did not like it. They denied it. This is the truth. That needs to be trumpeted from every pulpit.
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From every house top of this day. For the coming of the great day of God almighty is near.
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But yet people are staggering in their sleep. And they would not even know it. But the Bible says every eye is going to see it.
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When he comes in power and glory. And Jesus speaks with all the holy angels. Well as I was.
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Correct me if I am wrong. Here is the Greek word coming. Familiar Greek New Testament word.
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Parose. Did I say that right? Parose. Parise. Means arrival.
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I knew I would stumble up on that one. But you know what it means. The coming. And by the way this word coming occurs 24 times.
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In the New Testament. Isn't that significant? 24 times in the New Testament.
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The word was frequently used. Technically for the arrival. Of a visit of a king.
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A great king or emperor. That would come in. After a victory. The resulting of his presence.
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Of a great person. And he is speaking about this in the Greek here. The coming. The arrival of the king.
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One day he is going to come and he is going to arrive. And he is going to come back in power and glory. The great powerful coming.
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Jesus Christ. The term always refers to his return. So why does he say this?
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Why does he say this? That's a good question. Because again false teachers. Were denying the second coming of Jesus.
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The second coming of Jesus. You ever hear a false teacher.
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Talking about the second coming of Jesus. I don't hear it.
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If they do. They are twisting it up pretty badly. False teachers were teaching.
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That Christ's second coming. Was all a myth and a fable. And a story and a tale. He is not coming.
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Listen to what Peter says in 2 Peter. We are going there. Lord willing. It may take a little while for us to get there.
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Unless Jesus comes back again. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 3 and 4.
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Listen to what he says. Knowing this first. That scoffers will come in the last days. Walking according to their own lust.
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Almost identical to what Paul said. Saying. Where is the promise of his coming?
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For since the fathers fell asleep. In other words. They died. All things continue as they were.
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From the beginning of creation. Do you hear this today? Basically the false teachers say.
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Nothing has changed. Everything is continuing as it has always been. This is called uniformitarianism.
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It is a big word. But it is true. Uniformitarianism basically says.
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It asserts that. The natural processes of the past. Are the same processes.
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That work today. In other words. Nothing has changed. Everything is going to continue as it is.
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And the way things work. In nature. Again they believe.
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Nothing has changed. Nothing will change. Nothing has changed. Which then categorically denies the divine intervention.
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Throughout the world of history. In other words. No sixth day creation. No global flood.
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No second coming of Jesus. Basically says no judgment to come. That is the reason why.
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No judgment. Isn't that the truth? Nobody wants to know that there is a judge.
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First of all. They want to deny the judge. And they want to deny the judgment. This happened in the days of Noah.
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They laughed about it. They scoffed about it. I am telling you people.
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Nothing has changed. It is going to continue as it were. Now that hasn't changed.
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Same lie. Same devil. That hasn't changed. But 1
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Peter 1 .13 says this. And we looked at this. This is why Peter says. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind.
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Be sober. Rest your hope fully on the grace. That is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
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1 Peter 4 .13 But to rejoice to the extent that you partake in Christ's sufferings.
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That when his glory is revealed. You may be also. You be glad with exceeding joy.
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So the truth that Jesus is coming again. False teacher says. No he is not. The word of God says.
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Yes he is. So Peter challenges him first hand. Of the knowledge of the second coming of Christ.
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That leads me to my second point. That goes to verse 16. B to verse 17.
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Now he is going to describe. The eyewitness account of the preview. He is going to describe. The eyewitness of the preview.
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Notice what he says in the text. But were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
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In other words. He is a king. Majestic. For he received from God.
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The father honor and glory. When such a voice came to him. From the excellent glory.
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This is my beloved son. In whom I am well pleased. They were eyewitnesses.
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And this is an eyewitness testimony. Important and established.
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In a case historically and legally. Now go with me to Matthew's gospel.
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Let's look at this account. Chapter 17. This is a wonderful. Wonderful text.
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And this is where Peter is referring to. I am going to read this. And go back and comment on some things.
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Chapter 17 of Matthew. And this is exactly. The. This is from the gospel.
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This is the record. Levi. Matthew. By the way.
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Writes this. To. The Jews. And this is what the account says.
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Verse 1. Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James and John. His brother. Led them up on a high mountain.
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By themselves. And he. Speaking of Jesus. Was transfigured before them. Notice what the text says here.
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His face shone like the sun. Just like in Revelation. This is his glorified state by the way.
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It is bursting out. His face shone like the sun. His clothes became as white as light.
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And behold. Moses and Elijah appeared to them. Talking with him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus.
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Lord. It is good for us to be here. If you wish. Let us make here three tabernacles.
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One for you and one for Moses. And one for Elijah. While he was still speaking.
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Behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. And suddenly. A voice came out of the cloud.
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Saying this is my beloved son. In whom I am well pleased. Hear him. It was like a rebuke.
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And when the disciples heard it. They fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. Jesus came and touched them.
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And said arise and do not be afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes.
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I love this. They saw no one but Jesus only. Oh how the church needs to catch a glimpse of this.
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How we need to catch a glimpse of this. I apply it to myself. Eyewitness account.
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Transfiguration. Here is the glimpse of the glory of the unveiled. Return of Jesus Christ. This is what they were looking at.
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It is a glimpse of his second coming. And his glory and his power. Jesus' earthly ministry.
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Think of this. He healed the sick. He raised the dead. He taught the truth.
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And parables. No one taught like him. There was never a teacher like him.
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He was the greatest. Also. A glimpse of the character.
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Of his earthly kingdom to come. And all his miracles. But here. They caught a glimpse.
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Of his full glory and power. That would be fully manifested at his return.
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Nothing like it. This is an experience. A mountaintop experience like nothing else. Peter, James and John saw that personally.
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And they were the witnesses. They were eyewitnesses of this. And actually the word eyewitnesses in Luke 1.
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Basically means seeing with their own eyes. They saw this with their own eyes. While Peter's word.
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Basically means eyewitness. Only occurs here in the New Testament. Which means.
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Basically literally. Who watches or observes. Very similar.
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They did see it with their own eyes. But here in the Greek. The eyewitness account means.
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Who watches and observes. Peter's focus is on the amazing experience.
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That James and John as well. Shared on that mountain. And Peter reminds his readers here.
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They were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Think of that. You know many peoples.
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Seen his power. Seen the power of Jesus. Many recipients has experienced.
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His grace. His love. The forgiveness of sin. That's glorious isn't it?
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He healed many. Touched a leper. They were whole. Touched the blinded eyes.
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They saw. The deaf ears. The mute. They heard. We could go after one.
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After a miracle. After a miracle. But here Peter, James and John. Had seen something veiled from all other human eyes.
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Folks. They saw his glory. Think of that. This majesty.
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That's what he's saying. The majesty or the magnificence. His splendor. They saw the glory of his holiness.
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Peter, James and John. They personally saw that majesty. That holy splendor displayed. In a way never experienced by anyone before.
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And I say not anyone. But only Moses. I was thinking of this. Only Moses and Isaiah came close.
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To what these apostles experienced. And even Elijah. That was taken up in a chariot of fire.
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But nothing like this. They saw first hand experience.
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The preview of the glory. And the power of the second coming of Christ. And Peter's point is this. The false teachers denied
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Peter's claims about Jesus. And who he was. And what he did. They taught that Christ wasn't returning.
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This is what the false teachers said. And unlike him they were not eyewitnesses to Christ. This is perfect and holy life in the ministry.
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In other words. Peter is bringing this out. And think of it. The false teachers were not there.
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They didn't see what they saw. Peter and two other apostles.
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James and John. Gloriously had the privilege to witness this. Glorious preview.
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So what does Peter focus on? Verse 17. Notice what his focus is. For he received from God the
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Father honor and glory. When such a voice came from him. From the excellent glory. This is my beloved
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Son in whom I am well pleased. You know they witnessed the Lord Jesus. God the Son. The second person of the
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Trinity. Notice the second person of the Trinity was there. He received honor and glory from the first person of the
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Trinity. The Father. They personally saw
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Jesus' glory and honor. Even from the time of his baptism. And the day of his ascension.
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At the baptism. The Father spoke. And said this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
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John 1 .14 says. And the word became flesh and dwelt. That means tabernacled among us.
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We beheld. Notice what he says. John says this. We beheld his glory. The glory as of the only begotten of the
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Father. Full of grace and truth. And as Jesus was transfigured. I love this part.
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Moses and Elijah appears in glory. And spake of his decease.
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We get that in Luke 9 .31. The decease means his exodus.
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That's incredibly important. Because. When you read about Moses. There's an exodus.
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In the book of Exodus. There's a bringing out. An exodus. And then
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Elijah. There's an exodus that he is taken up in the chariot of fire. Did you get that?
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Moses and Elijah. Understood. The exodus.
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And here he was speaking of. The greatest exodus of all. The resurrection.
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The greatest miracle. Here's the work of Jesus Christ. And this is why he came.
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This is what he came to accomplish. And this is exactly what he accomplished. And this is what it's applied.
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To die on Calvary's cross. As a substitutionary. Lamb of God for sinners.
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Like you and me. And then to die and to be buried. And to rise again.
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That's what they were discussing. And this is what he accomplished. Praise God. The transfiguration speaks also of the affirmation of the truth of Scripture.
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And let me speak again on this. Moses represented the law. On one side. Elijah. The prophets.
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The law. The prophets. Both points to Jesus. Don't you love that?
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Every all of it points to Jesus. All fulfilled in Jesus. The law was fulfilled in Jesus.
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The prophets were fulfilled in Jesus. You take away Jesus. You take away all of it.
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That's why it's so important. There's no other way into heaven. But by Jesus. No other way.
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Don't listen to the religions of the world. Only Jesus. You gotta know him. You must be cleansed.
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You must be washed. You must be born again. You must be converted. You must repent. Whatever this book says.
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No exception. Beloved, we believe the Bible because Jesus believed the
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Bible. Not just because of the prophets. Yeah, the prophets, yes. The apostles, yes.
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But they spoke about him. And Jesus is the one that says. He speaks of the
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Scriptures. And he said, they testify of me. Those who question the truth and the authority of Scriptures.
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Are not arguing just with Moses and Elijah folks. Or Peter. They're arguing with the Lord Jesus Christ.
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He's the head of the church. He's the one that people are going to have to answer to. He's the one we're going to see.
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There's no escaping it. Peter, James, and John watched this.
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They witnessed this. And the Scripture says, don't you love this? His face shone like the sun.
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No wonder they fell down like dead. Listen to this. His garments became as white as light. I was thinking,
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John was a younger John here. And later in Revelation, the same thing happened to him again. He received honor and glory.
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When the voice of God the Father thundered like the sound of Niagara Falls. Multiplied a thousand times over.
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And if you've ever been to Niagara Falls, you know how that sounds. And God thunders and rebukes
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Peter. Because he got all carried away being a Jew as he was. With Moses and Elijah. And he said, he includes
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Jesus here too. Well, we could build tabernacles for each one. And the Father rebukes him and says, this is my beloved son.
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I'm well pleased in him. Hear him. I don't know about you. If I was
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Peter, I'd probably want to die. The Father. Almighty God.
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The Most High God would rebuke him. But. Focus on my son.
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You hear him. Well, notice honor and glory is closely related.
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Glory is a quality that belongs only to God. And shared by Christ. Which is a summation of the glorious attributes.
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Honor is basically the recognition of someone who has attained a position.
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Through his labors and achievements. So, there is a slight difference there. But Jesus received both.
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Because he is worthy of both. Glory and honor. Glory and honor.
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So, Jesus was transfigured into heavenly glory. Honorably recognized by God the
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Father. The Father himself recognized him. And said, this is my beloved son. My one and only son.
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I'm well pleased in him. Hear him. Notice Peter speaks about this excellent majestic glory.
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Described in Matthew 17 .5. The glory cloud is called. I think this is the
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Shekinah glory. You can do a study on this. But the cloud comes above.
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The Shekinah glory. The manifest presence of God. And the voice from heaven comes out of that. The Father was right there.
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And then God speaks, this is my beloved son. You know what that means? Basically, he is saying. And literally, this one is.
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Jesus is the one who is in essence with me. That's what the
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Father is basically saying. He is affirming the deity of Christ. That Jesus is deity.
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That Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. In flesh. No one like him.
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No one like him. This is my beloved son. The Father says, in whom I am well pleased.
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A statement from God the Father. All the way through the Synoptic Gospels. Except the addition here.
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Listen to him. Listen to him. Listen to Hebrews 1. 1 -3. My time is running out.
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God at various times and various ways. Spoken time passed to the fathers by the prophets.
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As in these last days spoken to us by his son. Whom he has appointed heir of all things. Through whom also he made the worlds.
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Who being the brightness of his glory. The express image of his person. Upholding all things by the word of his power.
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When he had by himself purged. That means cleansed our sins. Sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
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I love that. Very quickly. Third point. Describes the historical circumstances of the preview.
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Let me very quickly mention this. We heard this voice he says. Which came from heaven. When we were with him on the holy mountain.
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There is much more I could say here. But let me just very quickly. Interesting. If you notice in the text.
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That Peter remembered the one thing. The voice. He remembered the voice of God.
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God the father rebuking him. I don't know. If I was you. If I was Peter. I wouldn't forget that either.
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Would you? He never forgot it. It's branded in his memory. Peter recalls
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God's voice. And those words were burned into his memory. We heard this voice that came from heaven.
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Such a voice. It was such a voice. We heard it. And in Matthew 17 .6.
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And when the disciples heard this. They fell down on the ground. And were terrified. Like paralyzed.
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Like dead men. Peter was blabbering about. The building of three tabernacles.
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And the father. Thunders. This is my beloved son. Hear him.
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They heard this voice from heaven. Transformation was seen. The voice was heard.
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It became a holy place. They actually said. When we were with him on this holy mountain. Why was that mountain all of a sudden holy?
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Because the presence of God. Was on that mountain. Just as God when he met
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Moses. In Exodus 3 .5. God said to Moses. Remove your sandals.
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As a token of reverence. You remove the sandals. Because of your own holy ground.
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Because of the presence of God. God was there. Anytime God is there it is holy.
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God was there. He was in the presence of a holy God. And he made that scrubby.
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Dungy old mountain holy. That is what God can do. Christ revealed the true glory.
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On the mountain. And his glory will be revealed. When he returns. Now let me give some quick personal application.
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I hope I can go through this as fast as I can. I got to get this in. Verse 8. By faith not feelings.
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We accept and believe the testimony. Of trustworthy qualified eyewitnesses. Folks the eyewitnesses.
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They are trustworthy. Now. First John chapter 1.
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Verse 1 -3. That which was from the beginning. Notice what John he says the same thing. Which we have heard.
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Which we have seen with our eyes. Which we have looked upon. And our hands have handled concerning the word of life.
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The life was manifested. We have seen and bear witness and declare to you. That eternal life.
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Which was from the father and which was manifested to us. Verse 3. That which we have seen and heard.
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We declare to you. Notice. That you also may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the father.
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And with the son Jesus Christ. Notice what he is saying. These eyewitnesses. We saw it.
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We handled him. We seen him. We heard him. We handled the word of life.
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And you could be included. Must believe. B. Personal application.
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Never depend on personal ideas or feelings over God's word. Never. Notice verse 19.
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We will look at this Lord willing later on. Next Lord's day. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed.
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In other words. Made more sure. Even after a mountaintop experience like this. Peter says.
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You even have a sure word. A more sure word. The word of God.
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God's holy word. More certain than even a true mountaintop experience. By the way.
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Experiences are subjective. The word of God is objective. Experiences fade.
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Experiences can be interpreted in different ways. They go away. Different people.
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But the word of God. Is one clear message. And it lives and abides forever. Hebrews 12.
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25 -29. See that you do not refuse him who speaks. As to the point.
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For if they did not escape. Who refused him who spoke on earth. Much more shall we not escape.
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If we turn away from him who speaks from heaven. Whose voice then shook the earth.
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But now he has promised saying. Yet once more I shake. Not only the earth but also heaven. It's going to happen.
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Now this. Yet once more indicates. The removal of those things which are being shaken. As things that are made.
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And that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. What cannot be shaken. He tells us.
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Therefore since we are receiving a kingdom. The kingdom of God. Which cannot be shaken.
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Let us have grace. Let us have grace. By which we may serve God acceptably.
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In reverence and godly fear. That's the way we serve God. In reverence and godly fear. For our
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God is a consuming fire. Folks. This is serious.
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My last personal application. Don't rely on great experiences.
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Even if it's. A mountain top experience. We depend wholly on the God's. Holy word.
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His inspired infallible. Word that lives and abides forever.
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Peter. Could not share his personal experience with us. But he could share the record. Of that experience.
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It's in record. It's in the word of God. And that's permanent folks. Now in closing.
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Let me share something with you. That brother Villum brought to my attention yesterday. And I said brother
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Villum thank you so much. And he didn't know this. But I said that fits perfect. Into the closing.
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And I'm trying to squeeze this in. From C .H. Spurgeon. And he speaks about.
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The verse. From 1st Kings. Chapter 19. You can turn there if you like.
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But let me just quote it to you. 1st Kings chapter 19 beginning. I'd like to read verse 9 to 12.
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I don't have time. But let me give verse 12. God teaches them a great.
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Personal. Lesson. This is so important. You must get this.
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After the earthquake. A fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire was still.
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A still small voice. A delicate whispering voice. Now you know the backdrop story.
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This is after a mountaintop experience. He's the prophet of fire. The false teachers of Baal.
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Are gone. The spirits are there. God answers from heaven with fire. And then
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Jezebel. Threatens him to kill him. And he runs like a scared rabbit. This prophet of fire runs.
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Because of a threat. A threat from a heathen queen. And then he just came from.
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Mount Carmel. Victorious. When God speaks with fire. And then God says.
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And he gives them this lesson. He goes to hide in a cave. And the
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Lord was not in the fire. And there was an earthquake and a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. Not in the earthquake.
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But he was in a still small voice. Folks this is so significant. But listen to what Spurgeon says about this.
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And I close with this. I promise. Spurgeon says this. This is so good. God here teaches
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Elijah. That although he does use the wind. The earthquake and the fire. When he pleases. These are not the most effective instruments.
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He does not do. His mightiest works by them. But in another way. By his soft voice.
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A soft voice. Thus the Lord practically said to Elijah. Gentler means.
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Must be tried. With these rebellious people. My glory.
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Will be promoted among them. By other methods you have had. Yet as used.
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Or then. I have used by you as my servant. I have let them see.
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That I am the Lord. And master of terrible forces of nature. I have convinced them. That I am the great
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God. Who can strike them as much as I please. But I have not thereby. Won their hearts.
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Other methods must be used. And the soft voice. Must be tried.
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I love this. And then he says. To all of us who preach the word. And who try to teach it.
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In any way. God seems to say. Do not trust in great displays of force. In tremendous demonstrations.
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Of power. But trust rather in the soft influences. Of the distilling dew.
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Of God's spirit. And the gentle rain of the gospel. Preach the word.
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To the sons and daughters of Adam. A temptation assails all of us. Who preach to want to see some great thing.
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We fancy. I like him mentioning this. We fancy that if we could preach. Such a famous sermon as Jonathan Edwards.
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Delivered when he spoke to sinners. In the hands of an angry God. Then we should have lived to some purpose.
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But. The preaching of Jesus Christ. And him crucified never loses its power.
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The telling over and over again. The old old story of Jesus and his love. Never becomes a mere repetition.
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Even with a warm heart. And loving spirit. If we cry to our hearers. Look the
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Lamb of God. Who takes away the sin of the world. There may be no excitement.
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In our congregation. No sensation may be created. By our preaching. But the
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Lord. Will be in it. He always. Has been.
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In such preaching. As that. And he always will be. Praise the name of the living
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God. Let's pray. Father. Father. Our great
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God. We thank you once again. For this. Time we've had this morning.
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In your presence Lord. Thank you. For your holy word.
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And we pray. With the psalmist in Psalm 119. You are my portion.
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Oh Lord. I have said that I would keep your words. I entreated you.
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Your favor with my whole heart. Be merciful to me. According to your word.
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I thought about my ways. And turned my feet.
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To your testimonies. And I made haste. And did not delay.
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To keep your commandments. Lord may this be. True of us as well. Lord. Give us grace to trust you more.
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All for your honor and glory. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray.