Remembering to Trust God's Word

Okay, so as Graham said, we are back in our series on 2 Peter, to know and live out the truth.

Okay, and this is the second part of the series.

We had a little break last week for our church weekend, our church weekender.

And I want to start with a question, okay?

Okay, maybe a bit of a silly question, but I ask that you indulge me.

As you may know, I'm used to talking to the kids up here.

I normally have them all here, and it's a lot easier.

I find it a lot easier to speak to them than all you guys sitting way back there.

So do you have a bucket list?

Okay, and this is not a list of all the different peels that you might have,

or the Scots word for bucket, meaning bin.

It's probably quite useful to have a bucket list,

because there are so many different bins that we have to use nowadays,

and, you know, all the different times that they have to go out.

But yeah, a bucket list is really a list of things that you want to do before you kick the bucket.

So are there things you really want to do before you die?

Okay, and I wondered if you might indulge me and give a little bit of answers here.

So I looked up on the internet, you know, a list, a bucket list,

and I've found 10 things that seem to be the most popular things that people want to do before they die.

And I'd say this is probably, you know, it's probably more younger people,

and it's probably more American, being that I found it on the internet.

Okay, what do you think I might have found on this list?

What do you think I might have found on this list?

What are the kind of things?

Bungee jumping.

That is one that's right there.

Yes, bungee jumping.

Skydiving.

Yes.

Wasn't there, but yeah, that is the kind of thing.

Scuba diving.

Okay, not in the top 10, but I'm sure it's further down there.

Other things?

What do you think?

Yeah, you're right.

Swim with dolphins, it's up there.

Not quite not.

I think that's probably a bit too ambitious for most people.

Yeah, there's certainly travelers on there.

Yeah.

Okay, let's have a quick look.

Let's have a quick look.

What are the...

I don't know if you can read that.

Okay, so yeah.

Swim with dolphins.

Learn a new language.

See the northern lights.

Bungee jump.

Go on a cruise.

Ride a hot air balloon.

Go skydiving.

Get married.

Visit a volcano.

See the Grand Canyon.

Okay, these are the things that people want to do before they die.

And I came across this story just the other day.

Somebody who left it quite late to go skydiving.

Okay, this was a 100-year-old lady who went skydiving.

But for some reason she thought, yes, I want to do this before I die.

And she did.

She said she wasn't going to do it again, though.

She just...

I think she was fine.

Yeah, but she didn't want to do it again.

So yeah, there are things that people want to do before they die.

Now, why am I, you know, telling you all this?

It's because Peter, in verse 14 here,

tells us that he knows he's going to soon die.

Okay?

Because I know that I will soon put it aside

as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

He's talking about his life.

He knows he's going to die soon.

So what is he going to do?

What are the things that he wants to get done before he dies?

Well, writing this letter is one of the big things that he wants to do.

And this letter Peter wrote is really his final statement to the church,

reminding them of the truth and countering various accusations

that were leveled against the apostles' teachings at the time.

Okay?

And I'm sure you won't be surprised that we too need these same reminders.

Okay?

To the very same truth that Peter was reminding his readers at the time.

Okay?

And the same accusations that the apostles faced then are still around today.

So I wonder, if you knew you were soon going to die,

what would you want to do?

Or what would you want to say to people?

What legacy would you want to leave?

Okay?

And Alistair kicked off our series, like I said, two weeks ago,

looking at the first 11 verses and summed them up with this sentence.

And I thought it would be right for me to remind you of this.

And that's a word that you're going to hear a lot tonight.

Okay, so this is how he summed up the first part of the letter.

Because God has given us everything we need for a godly life,

we must make every effort to live a godly life

in order to confirm our calling and election.

Our salvation is a gift from God.

It all comes from him.

And we, in return, we need to respond to God's gift of salvation

and grow in his love

so that we won't end up being ineffective and unproductive.

This was one of the things Peter wanted to remind his readers about.

Even though, as he goes on to say in verse 12,

they knew this truth and they were firmly established in it.

And I suspect that is the case for most of us here tonight.

We know the truth of the gospel

and we're probably pretty firmly established in it.

But we still need to be reminded.

It seems to be human nature

that we so easily forget all that God has done for us.

So tonight I hope that we will all be reminded

of the great truth of the gospel.

And in this section we're looking at this evening,

I think the main reminder is

that we need to remember

we can trust God's word.

Jesus will return in power.

Remember, we can trust God's word.

Jesus will return in power.

Okay, we can trust God's word.

We can trust God's word spoken through Jesus,

through the apostles and through the prophets.

And for us, that means we can trust the Bible.

Peter was trusting Jesus's words in verse 14

when he said that he knew he was soon going to die.

Okay, if we look in John chapter 21,

John 21 · chapter mention

this is what it says.

This is when Jesus had appeared after his death.

He'd come to Peter and he was really restoring Peter.

You know, Peter had denied him three times

and Jesus says to ask Peter,

you know, do you love me?

You know, feed my sheep.

Okay, and then this is what he goes on to say.

Jesus said, feed my sheep.

Very truly, I tell you,

when you were younger,

you dressed yourself and went where you wanted.

But when you are old,

you will stretch out your hands

and someone else will dress you

and lead you where you do not want to go.

Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death

by which Peter would glorify God.

Then he said to him, follow me.

And Peter lived by Jesus's words.

He trusted Jesus with his life and his death.

And as his circumstances changed,

he was aware his time has now come.

And he wants to remind the church

to keep following the truth.

And he needs to deal with some of the false accusations

that are going around.

In verse 16, we...

In verse 16, we see this first accusation

that Peter deals with in his letter.

So verse 16 says this,

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories

when we told you about the coming

of our Lord Jesus Christ in power.

But we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

So the accusation is that Peter and the other apostles

have just made all this stuff up

about Jesus coming back again.

It's just a cleverly devised story.

But Peter is clear that it's not the case.

And he lets his readers know

that he and others were eyewitnesses

to Jesus's majesty.

And they even heard a voice from heaven

confirming who Jesus was.

He is, of course, referring to the transfiguration,

which is recorded for us in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

So let's now remind ourselves of the transfiguration.

Let's read Mark chapter 9.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

You'll find this in the Pew Bibles on page 1012.

So yeah, Mark chapter 9, starting at verse 2.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

Page 1012 in the Pew Bibles.

Okay.

After six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him

and led them up a high mountain

where they were all alone.

There he was transfigured before them.

His clothes became dazzling white,

whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.

And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses

who were talking with Jesus.

Peter said to Jesus,

Rabbi, it is good for us to be here.

Let us put up three shelters,

one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

He did not know what to say.

They were so frightened.

Then a cloud appeared and covered them,

and a voice came from the cloud.

This is my son whom I love.

Listen to him.

Suddenly, when they looked around,

they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain,

Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone

what they had seen until the Son of Man

had risen from the dead.

They kept the matter to themselves,

discussing what rising from the dead meant.

So, why the transfiguration?

Peter was witness to many of Jesus' miracles.

He saw Jesus when he appeared again

after his resurrection,

and he was witness to Jesus' ascension,

where he went back up to heaven.

So, why out of all of these things

that he could have chosen,

why does he choose to reference the transfiguration?

I think it's because this is the one time

that Peter saw Jesus as he truly is.

Jesus wasn't just a man.

Jesus was also God.

And Peter saw Jesus in his majestic glory,

as we all will one day,

whether we're trusting in him or not.

For those of us who are saved

through Jesus' death and resurrection,

it will be a wonderful day.

For those who are not,

it will be a terrible day of reckoning.

And last weekend,

with Jonathan Lamb,

it was a great reminder

of how we should be living

in light of Jesus' return.

Okay, if you weren't there,

or you haven't seen the videos yet,

it's very easy to watch them

on our YouTube channel,

and I would recommend that you do that

if you haven't seen them.

It's a great reminder

that Jesus is coming back,

and a great reminder

of how we should be living

in light of that.

Peter also

tells us that he heard God's voice.

And this is what the voice said.

It said,

this is my son,

whom I love.

With him,

I am well pleased.

God the Father

is confirming

that Jesus is his son,

and that he loves him,

and that he approves

of what he is doing.

This was a crucial time

for the disciples,

as Jesus had just started

telling them

of his coming death.

And they needed the reassurance,

or the reminder,

that Jesus was on the right path,

and they could trust him

and follow him.

But,

why should we believe Peter

when he claims these things?

Well,

first of all,

there are three witnesses

to the transfiguration.

It wasn't just Peter

that witnessed this.

And the same goes

for most of the miracles

and the miraculous events

in the Bible.

Many different people

claim to have seen Jesus alive

after his death.

It wasn't just Peter.

And when the New Testament

was written,

many of these witnesses

would still have been alive.

This stands in stark contrast

to other religions,

where there will only be

one witness

to the supposed miracle

or message from God.

Take Islam, for example.

Muhammad was the only one

to witness the angel Gabriel

speaking to him

and telling him

what to write in the Quran.

Or Mormonism.

Joseph Smith,

he was the only one

who was able to translate

the golden plates

which the Book of Mormon

supposedly came from.

Christianity stands apart

in that it has

multiple witnesses

to its miraculous events.

Okay, another reason

that we have to trust

the accounts in the Bible,

particularly around the apostles,

is just how unflattering

the records are

about them.

And Peter,

especially,

comes off rather badly.

He is the one

who all too often

sticks his foot in it.

In his rush to be first,

he often does

or says the wrong thing.

Even in the transfiguration,

he manages

to make a bit of a fool

out of himself.

We see that

in

verse 6,

verse 5 and 6.

You know,

he blurts out this

sentence,

Rabbi,

it is good for us

to be here.

Let us put up

three shelters,

one for you,

one for Moses

and one for Elijah.

And then we're told

why he said this.

He did not know

what to say

because they were

so frightened.

Okay,

does that seem to you

like a cleverly

devised story?

Okay,

it doesn't

to me.

And throughout

the Gospels,

you get the same thing

with the other

apostles too.

They argue

they often

get things wrong.

Okay,

they often

had little faith.

They got scared

and they ran

away.

Does that seem

like a cleverly

devised story

to you?

Okay,

I don't think

it's what we

would come up with

if we

wanted to be

the new leaders

of a new

movement.

Surely you would

want to make

yourself out

to be better

than you really

are.

You would

want to look

like the kind

of leader

worth following

so you could

take over the

mantle

from your leader

who is gone.

But I guess

it is

possible

that the

apostles could

have all

gotten together

and fabricated

a story

about their

leader coming

back to life

just so they

could keep

his following

going

and even

said that he

was going

to come

back again.

It's possible

but I think

there is good

reason to

doubt that

that could

have happened.

There's a

famous quote

about the

authenticity

of the

resurrection.

And I've

been aware

of this quote

for quite

some time

but it's

only very

recently

that I

learned about

the man

who said

it.

it's about

Watergate

which is the

original scandal

that had

this word

gate in it

that has

given birth

to all sorts

of scandals

over the

years.

Just recently

we've had

Partygate

that's been

in the headlines

a lot

and now all

of a sudden

I'm seeing

Beergate

seems to be

the latest

scandal.

I wonder

does anyone

know

when the

original

Watergate

happened?

Anyone

remember it?

Know when

it happened?

Very close

72.

So it's

50 years

this year.

50 years

next month

that the

original

Watergate

scandal

happened

and for

anyone who

doesn't

know

Watergate

is the

name

of the

building

that was

broken into

by people

acting on

behalf of

the then

President

of the

United

States

of

America

Richard

Nixon.

And they

broke in

there so

they could

spy on

his political

rivals

the

Democrats

and there

was a

massive

cover-up

and it

all got

way out

of hand.

And here

is the

quote.

I know

the resurrection

is a

fact

and

Watergate

proved it

to me.

How?

Because

12 men

testified

they had

seen Jesus

raised from

the dead.

dead.

Then they

proclaimed

that truth

for 40

years,

never once

denying it.

Everyone

was beaten,

tortured,

stoned,

and put

in prison.

They would

not have

endured that

if it

weren't

true.

Watergate

embroiled

12 of the

most powerful

men in the

world and

they couldn't

keep a lie

for three

weeks.

You're

telling me

12 apostles

could keep

alive for

40 years?

Absolutely

impossible.

Now this

quote isn't

just from

someone looking

on at

Watergate,

at the

Watergate

scandal,

and coming

to this

conclusion,

but rather

it was from

someone deeply

involved,

this guy,

Charles

Coulson.

He was

an American

attorney and

political

advisor who

served a

special

counsel

to

President

Richard

Nixon

from

1969

to

1970.

He was

once known

as Richard

Nixon's

Hatchet

Man.

He gained

notoriety at

the height of

the Watergate

scandal for

being named

as one of

the Watergate

Seven and

also for

pleading guilty

to obstruction

of justice.

And in

1974 he

served seven

months in

prison for

this obstruction

of justice.

however,

in 1973

he became

a Christian

and his

midlife

conversion

sparked a

radical life

change that

led to the

founding of

his ministry,

Prison Fellowship

and then

Prison Fellowship

International.

This is the

power of the

gospel.

When the

newspapers at

the time first

heard of his

conversion,

many of them

said it was

a made-up

story just so

he could get

out of some

prison time.

But eventually

when it became

clear that it

was true that

he had become

a Christian,

one of the

newspapers said

about him

that if even

he could

repent of

his sin,

then there's

hope for

all of us.

you see,

the truth of

the gospel is

a real

lived-out

experience.

Peter

experienced

Jesus'

transfiguration

where Jesus

was changed

and his

majesty was

there to be

seen.

But we

can experience

the transformation

of the gospel

and it's good

to be reminded

of that.

it's one

of the

reasons that

baptisms are

so great.

To hear

people's

testimonies,

to see them

want to

proclaim that

they are now

followers of

Jesus and

to tell us

how God

has transformed

their lives.

It's good

to be reminded

of the

transformational

power of

God's words.

So yes,

we can

remember,

sorry,

we remember,

we can trust

God's word.

Jesus will

return in

power.

The apostles

didn't make

it up.

So,

what about

the rest of

the Bible

then?

Peter goes

on to say

in the last

chunk of

our passage

tonight,

he says

this,

we also

have the

prophetic

message as

something

completely

reliable,

and you

will do

well to

pay attention

to it,

as to a

light shining

in a dark

place,

until the

day dawns

and the

morning star

rises in

your hearts.

Above all,

you must

understand that

no prophecy

of Scripture

came about

by the

prophet's

own

interpretation

of things.

For

prophecy

never had

its origin

in the

human will,

but prophets,

though human,

spoke from

God as

they were

carried along

by the

Holy Spirit.

When Jesus

appeared on

the scene

the first

time,

it was not

completely out

of the

blue.

His life,

death,

and resurrection

were all

foretold by

the prophets.

In fact,

Jesus fulfilled

at least

300 prophecies

in his

earthly

ministry.

Isaiah 53

was written

about 700

years before

Jesus was

on earth.

And it

amazes me

every time

I read it.

It almost

seems like

something that

was written

after Jesus'

crucifixion

because it

describes it

so well.

And although

the Bible

has roughly

40 different

human authors,

in reality,

as Peter

says,

it has

only one

author,

God.

And that

is why

these 66

books work

together so

well,

and why

their prophecies

have come

true,

and why we

can trust

the prophecies

that have not

yet come

true.

And even

at the

transfiguration,

with Moses

and Elijah

there,

Elijah appearing

is the

fulfillment of

a prophecy

in Malachi

4.

And when

you look at

what's called

the meta

narrative,

the big

overarching

story of

the Bible,

you see how

wonderfully it

all fits

together.

The themes

repeat and

they grow

wonderfully.

something that

I find

really helpful

in seeing

that overarching

story is

a thing called

the Bible

Project.

If you've

not come

across it

before,

I'd recommend

that you

look it

up.

It does

a great

job of

working

through the

themes as

they go

throughout

the whole

Bible.

So yes,

remember,

we can

trust God's

word.

Jesus will

return in

power.

The prophets

confirm it.

So as I

come to

an end

here,

I hope

that's

been a

good reminder

to you.

I hope

it's

given you

some

confidence

in God's

word if

you didn't

have it.

But if

you are

struggling

with doubts,

then I

would urge

you to be

like the

Bereans who

we heard

about this

morning.

Search the

scriptures.

The Bible

stands up

to our

inquiries.

If we're

willing to

put the

time in,

if we're

willing to

ask God

to help

us,

I guess

that's one

of the

key things.

We need

the Holy

Spirit to

reveal the

truth to

us.

These points

that I've

made about

how true

the Bible

is,

they're not

going to

convince

someone without

the Holy

Spirit at

work in

their lives.

But for us,

hopefully,

it is a

good reminder

of these

things.

And as you

go into

this week,

how are you

going to be

reminded of

these truths?

How are you

going to be

reminded of

the truth

of the

gospel?

We talked

about this

last weekend

with Jonathan

Lamb.

He asked

us,

you know,

he talked

about it and

we were asked

to discuss it

as well.

And some of

us, we

talked about

there was

mention of

having post-it

notes up,

post-it notes

up of the

truth so

that we

would,

you know,

whenever,

whatever we're

doing,

we would

see them.

someone I

was talking

to talked

about having

alarms on

their phones

so that it

would pop

up, a

verse would

pop up and

it would be

a reminder

of the

truth or

there would

be a

reminder to

pray.

So I

want you to

think about

that.

What are you

going to do

this week to

remind yourself

of the

truth?

And then

how are you

going to be

like Peter?

Are you

going to be

like Peter?

Are you

going to

remind others?

You know,

that's another

thing that we

need.

We need

each other

to remind

each other

of the

truth of

the gospel.

And we

are going

to take

communion

tonight.

And again,

that is a

great reminder

of all that

Jesus has

done.

You know,

Jesus himself

told us to

do that,

to remember

him.

So let

me just

pray to

finish.

Heavenly

Father,

help us

to have

confidence

confidence

in your

word.

Lord,

help us

to remember

that we

can trust

your word

and that

we can

trust that

Jesus is

going to

come back

again and

he is going

to come

back in

power.

And Lord,

as we pray

together,

as we take

communion

together,

Lord,

I pray that

your Holy

Spirit would be

at work

in our

lives.

Reminding

us of

all that

Jesus has

done for

us.

Lord,

and help

us to

respond to

that in

love.

We pray

this in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Amen.

Him.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.