Experiencing Scripture

Good morning and welcome church, welcome online, good to see you.

My name is Nick, I'm the pastor for discipleship here at St. Paul's.

Lovely to see you.

What did we just experience?

Today we're taking our final step in our season called Your Word is Truth.

And if you're new today or you've missed a week or two,

let me catch you up real quick on what we've heard from God's Word in preaching this term.

Joseph, you might want to turn this down.

I do tend to get a little emotional and louder than that.

There we go, caught me just in time.

Here's where we've been.

The Bible is the truth that interprets the world.

We ought to take it seriously.

It needs nothing added to it.

We need it to discover God.

It's how we see God's glory.

It's clear enough for anyone to see God.

For a child and a university professor.

It reveals eternal past to future reality with complete finality.

And all of it, every word of it, in history and promise and song and poem and wisdom and prophecy,

all intertwined with the journeys of real, broken, fallible children, women and men,

is gathered for us to point us toward one person, Jesus,

who was God and is God.

Jesus is the embodiment of the Bible, called the Word himself,

as the only true, worthy, capable, certain, majestic, authentic, climactic, reigning king

over the kingdom of God that has been forever planned through him and established for him.

So it's not just another book, right?

The Bible is all of that.

And it's a completely new experience that you must have.

And you can't get that experience any other way.

Experiencing the Bible as God intends really matters.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Lord God, you made the world and all that is in it.

You gave us testimony through the Holy Spirit from witnesses and prophets

who wrote down your works and your words for all people to experience.

Would you help us to see in these words as your spirit carries us along in them?

Help us to see Jesus in Scripture today and light our life by him to guide us on our journey.

Amen.

As a child, my family went on one big holiday to Canada.

I could tell you stories about a bald eagle that flew just over our heads.

It was so big and terrifying.

I felt like cowering, even though it was nowhere near me at the time.

I saw a bear catching a salmon in a river.

I had hot chocolate by a waterfall beside a glacier.

After canoeing across a lake.

A pot of orcas swam along beside our boat.

It was amazing.

And we had a camera with us.

It was one of those old film cameras where you don't ever know if a photo was going to turn out.

You just have the guess of capturing that moment.

But the photos that we caught, even though many of them are very good, they don't tell the whole story of just experiencing the awe and wonder of that place.

Each picture helps tell the story of our trip.

But to truly experience it, you had to be there.

You had to be there.

It's this little phrase that in English that we use to truly experience what happened, you need more than a story.

You need more than a photo.

You'd have to be physically there.

Hearing you had to be there when someone's telling you a story, it's quite isolating.

Often people are using it to say, you weren't there.

The joy or the shock or the gravity of what someone's trying to tell you about that event, it can't be shared in a way that brings us into that experience.

But the Bible is not like that.

As you read its words, even over and over and over again, you experience something that according to 2 Peter is even better than witnessing the history in person.

It's even better than being there.

Because God's speaking these words as we read them.

These words will never leave you empty.

Just fearing that you'd have to be there.

Today's passage is a letter from Peter.

It's his second letter that we have.

And Peter was one of Jesus' closest 12 disciples.

And he wrote this letter to Christians around about 65 AD.

Now, I don't know much about history, but I know that was a really bad guy running Rome at about this time called Emperor Nero.

And he loved killing Christians.

Eyewitnesses to Jesus were being killed and they were dying out.

And in verses 13 to 14, Peter tells us that he fully expected to die soon.

And he would.

He was crucified.

It is said he was hung upside down on a cross for his faith.

And as Peter is writing this, he knows it's going to be his last letter in all likelihood.

It's like his last will in Testament.

So what's in Peter's will?

What does Peter want to communicate to Christians as one last final word?

Is he going to tell a grand story?

Like, ah, you had to be there.

All right, bye.

No, Peter instead is going to explain why we don't need him around.

As we have the scriptures as our eyewitness to the power and majesty of Jesus.

Because in experiencing scripture, we are made to see what Peter saw.

We become eyewitnesses of Jesus ourselves through scripture's words.

Peter is going to explain this to us by, figuratively, he's going to get out one old photo.

One story that his readers would have already heard him tell.

And he's going to say this.

One last time.

Let me just point to this and say, you know what?

This incredible experience that I had is what you'll experience.

And I'm sure of it.

When you open scripture.

So let's see how Peter shares this memory with us.

This little Polaroid from his journey.

Have a look in your Bibles of verse 16.

And if I haven't convinced you or the last few weeks haven't convinced you,

make sure you've got your Bible in your hand in this moment.

Check with me that this is what God says.

Don't just rely on the screen.

I type mistakes all the time.

Verse 16 of 2 Peter chapter 1 says,

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

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.

Peter must have been surrounded by sceptical people challenging his stories about Jesus,

even as he shared them as eyewitness testimony, as his proof.

Peter is said to have been the main source for Mark's gospel,

which is one of the four consistent histories of Jesus that we have gathered from many eyewitnesses here in the Bible.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

They're not myths.

And as those gospels will attest to, and Mark as well,

Peter is not clever at all.

He almost laughed.

I imagine Peter laughing in that verse that we just read.

At the idea that he would be clever enough to make up everything that he said happened.

How could he make up something so wonderful?

So he one last time testifies to the power and majesty of Jesus.

And Peter shares the testimony of God himself.

So let's have a look at the next verse there.

Verse 17.

If you've ever read the gospels,

you might be aware of the little photo that Peter's pulled out here.

Do you know what memory he's pointing us to?

He wants us to remember a moment,

as if we've already heard it,

because he's already told the people who he's writing to,

about what we now call the transfiguration,

which is recorded in three of the four gospels.

And one is in Mark chapter 9.

Mark 9 · chapter mention

So I'm going to actually show you what this photo is.

I'm going to describe this memory to you,

as Peter told it to Mark.

Here's what happened.

Jesus took Peter,

James and John with him and led him up a high mountain where they were all alone.

There he was transfigured before him.

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.

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 except Jesus.

The Lord God himself,

and Moses and Elijah,

and Peter,

James and John,

and Jesus together testify that Jesus is God's son,

the Messiah.

So here's why I think Peter shares with us,

and with everyone who reads this,

that one memory.

Jesus was witnessed to by Moses and Elijah.

The Old Testament was summarized in Jewish tradition as the law and the prophets.

The law and the prophets.

The champions,

or the main characters,

or the most memorable characters of those two sections were Moses and Elijah.

And in this moment,

Peter was showing us that their presence on the mountain of transfiguration

confirmed Jesus is the Messiah,

the man those two men had personally written about and hoped for.

And figuratively,

the law and the prophets that they represent,

the whole Old Testament,

is there,

figuratively,

witnessing to Jesus in that moment.

All the fulfillment of the promises of the entire Old Testament,

pointing to Jesus and saying,

listen to him as you've listened to us.

It is their witness,

their original prophetic message,

that has led Peter to share this memory in his last will with us in particular.

So let's have a look at verse 19.

Again,

we also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable,

and you will do well to pay attention to it.

It is as if Peter's held up this photo,

this memory,

and he's taken you through it.

He's pointed you one more time,

just last thing,

just remember this thing that happened to me.

And then he says this,

as I put this photo down,

pick your Bible up.

As I leave,

pick up Scripture.

In here is a clearer moment,

a clearer picture

of what I've just described,

what I got to see with my own eyes.

It's clearer in there.

The original language is even stronger,

and I've highlighted it on the screen for you,

because a better translation of verse 19,

which happens to be in the ESV

and some of the other translations,

Peter actually says,

we have something more sure,

the prophetic word.

More sure than even being there,

or hearing from Peter,

is what God does

through the prophetic word.

Now,

Peter here is talking about part of the Old Testament,

talking about the Old Testament Scripture,

when he explains how God worked to create it.

In the past,

God never left people

to create their own interpretation of him,

based on the world around them,

in verse 20.

Have a look there in verse 20,

you might see that there.

Or by their own thought or will,

in verse 21.

But these more sure Scriptures

came directly from God himself.

Peter is connecting God's own testimony

that he heard from heaven about Jesus

with God's words spoken through the pages

of the law and the prophets.

These are one continuous testimony.

God testified through the Old Testament this way.

In verse 21,

Peter says,

prophets, though human,

spoke from God,

as they were carried along

by the Holy Spirit.

I read this week that

we can think

of this like

sailing.

Ever been sailing?

Ever been at the beach

and had the urge to go sail?

Let me try and put you in that place.

Imagine

a calm ocean

beside a small town.

You look out to the ocean

and you see the water surface

darken and shiver,

showing where the wind

is moving.

There's a boat

on the shore

with a mast.

It's begging you

to push it out

into the ocean.

As you

break through the waves

with it,

you see an island

out to sea.

You're kicking a snorkel around

in the bottom of the boat.

And then as you look,

you see dolphins

just turning the corner

around the point

ahead of you

and away

out of sight.

What do you need to do

to experience

sailing in this moment?

Because frankly,

that boat's not going to move you.

Once you get in it,

you're just going to sit there

and it's going to be

a real dull experience.

What do you need?

You need to set a sail.

If you raised a sail

on that mast,

turned it to catch

some breeze,

the boat would move along

against the current

and you'd steer it on

by the strongest wind

and you'd sail

wherever that wind

might send you

and go with it

where you could not go

without it.

Scripture is like sailing.

People wrote

what the wind,

figuratively,

but the wind of the Spirit

gave them.

As they were blown along,

carried by the Holy Spirit,

they yielded their sail,

themselves,

to its direction.

They didn't swim.

They didn't get out there

with their hands

and try and push themselves along.

They yielded to the wind

of the Holy Spirit.

Because they wrote

God's words for us

in this way,

our experience

in reading those same words,

in our experience,

we're blown along

by the same Spirit.

It's like we've caught

the same breeze.

We're carried along

as sailors

towards God's destination

for us

and as we've heard

this season,

all the wind blows

toward Jesus.

Peter is more sure

that God will speak

to readers of Scripture

through the Holy Spirit

than having to be there

to witness Jesus.

Does that make you

think of anyone?

It makes me think

of doubting Thomas.

Does anyone remember Thomas,

the poor guy

who has doubting

forever in front of his name?

He was a disciple

who wasn't there

when Jesus first

appeared to the disciples.

And when they told him

about it,

he didn't believe it.

But when Jesus

did appear to him,

immediately he says,

my Lord

and my God.

Seeing was believing.

Then Jesus says,

because you have seen me,

you have believed.

But blessed are those

who have not seen

and yet have

believed.

Peter is saying this morning,

if you open this,

you get to see.

the blessing of God

is received by those

who open Scripture

and see Jesus revealed.

Lord and God,

powerful and majestic.

Even though we did not

see him like Peter

and Thomas in Scripture,

we really can see.

And Scripture does not stop

with the law

and the prophets.

Peter is not just talking

about an Old Testament

experience.

and here's how I know that.

Peter wrote later

in this letter

in chapter 3.

We were in chapter 3

as a community group

this week

of 2 Peter.

He writes actually there

about Paul's letters.

Because people around

Peter and Paul

both at the time,

they were twisting

their words

to try and prove them

as wrong

or try and prove Jesus

as just another man.

And people were doubting

and twisting Paul's words

as they were doing that.

They were denying Jesus' power

and majesty.

And Peter says something

amazing here.

He says in verse 16

that those who twist

Paul's words

also twist

the other Scriptures.

Did you just catch that?

Peter just equates

the Old Testament,

the Scriptures of God

with Paul's letters.

Even the earliest teaching

of the church

that was coming

from the mouths

of the apostles

in these letters

was expected

to be as powerful

to Christians

as the Old Testament,

as eyewitness testimony,

as all the Scriptures.

He applies

in our passage today,

verse 21,

to Paul

as one

who spoke from God

as if they were carried

along by the Holy Spirit.

Testimony validates Jesus.

The prophetic word

witnesses Jesus.

Scriptures validate

other Scriptures.

It's the testimony

of the apostles too

that were part

of the Holy Spirit's work.

They were all inspired

by the Spirit of God.

They are trustworthy.

And likewise,

as they were inspired,

as their sails

were filled,

so are ours

as we experience

the Bible.

That experience

as we see Jesus

through Peter's testimony

and Mark,

his reminders

in his letters

and Paul's letters

and the other Gospels

and the Old Testament

and everything in here

changes life

for us.

And Peter says

that opening Scripture

in verse 19

is like

is the experience.

Here's why I said

when Merle had finished

her reading,

what have we just experienced?

This is what Peter thinks

we've just experienced.

A light shining

in a dark place.

To truly be

ever in the dark,

pitch dark,

is terrifying.

I heard a true story

this week.

There were war planes

coming back

from a dog fight

in a world war

and they were flying back

over the Atlantic Ocean

trying to land

on their aircraft carrier

but they couldn't see it.

They knew where it was

but they couldn't see it

in the pitch dark

of the night.

and they radioed down

to try and tell

the aircraft carrier

hey can you put the lights on

we don't know where to land.

And the aircraft carrier said

no we can't.

We've got intel

that there's threats

above and below

that if we are seen

they'll shoot us

and we'll sink.

So we can't put our lights on.

They had nowhere to land

and they perished

in the dark waves

of the Atlantic Ocean.

Peter says that

to not open scripture

or pay attention to it

is to keep our eyes

shut to the light

that we need to see

in the darkness

of our world.

Jesus says

in John 8

12

12

I am the light

of the world.

Imagery of light

in the Bible

usually is pointing us

to Jesus.

If you're a Christian

you might have had

a moment

of seeing that light

for the first time.

When you see Jesus

as Lord and God

like a dawn

of the most wonderful day

you've ever experienced.

Light exploding

over the horizon

into the darkness

of your life

and your mind

and your heart

receive it

and remember it.

Friends

every time

Christians open

scripture

they return

to that source

of light

to enjoy

what they first

eyewitnessed

through the Holy Spirit

in its pages.

And then

the next verse

of John 8

is just astonishing.

It's on the screen

verse 13

the Pharisees challenged him

here you are

appearing as your own witness

your testimony

is not valid.

Oh how wrong

they were.

The Holy Spirit

testifies with Jesus

to the fact

that he is

the light of the world.

All of scripture

God himself

Peter, James, John

they all testify

that Jesus

is the light

of the world.

And if we didn't

need light

if we didn't need

Jesus

if we didn't

need anything

if you didn't

need the experience

of scripture

then the world

wouldn't need Jesus.

You wouldn't need

any of this information.

We wouldn't need

to be here.

We wouldn't need

to open our Bibles.

But we do need it

because this world

is as deep

as darkness

compared to a life

with Jesus.

By his light

we see what is

in the dark

and turn away

and turn to him

for safety

by the light

of the world.

Jesus who said

whoever follows me

will never walk

in darkness

but will have

the light

of life.

He is eternally

committed

to every Christian

to always be

their light.

he stepped

into our

darkness

to lead us

into his

eternal light.

If we're warplanes

in the dark

of the night sky

and there's a threat

to the aircraft

carrier

ship

that's Jesus

he would turn

his lights on

until

verse 19

says

of our passage

today

the day dawns

and the morning

star

rises

in your hearts

for there will

be a day

when Jesus

who is called

the morning star

in the Old Testament

in Isaiah 14

and in Revelation

in chapter 22

when Jesus

will finally come

in the dawn

of an unending

day

Jesus himself

will be

with us.

He will satisfy

the hopes

of every heart

so we will

no longer walk

in darkness

again.

We will not

need our

Bibles

then

but we will

experience

what we now

find in

scripture

truly face

to face

with Jesus

but until

that morning

star rises

until Jesus

comes again

the real sun

rises over

our city

day after

day after

day.

Every day

we have a choice

to turn to the

light of Jesus

in scripture

or not.

So look

back in our

passage today

1 Peter

let's go back

to verse 13

I think it

right to

refresh your

memory

as long

as I

live in

the tent

of this

body

because I

know that I

will soon

put it aside

as the Lord

Jesus Christ

has made

clear to me

and I

will make

every effort

to see that

after my

departure

you will

always be

able to

remember

these things.

Do you see

Peter's hope

for you here

as a Christian

written in

his will

or as

someone who

doesn't yet

follow Jesus

watching what

God is

promising

Christians?

He would

see Christians

as always

able to

remember all

he testified

to and

all scripture's

testimony along

with it so

we can live

life seeing

in the dark.

We can only

keep tiny

fragments of

the wonder of

scripture in

our mind at

any one time.

You might have

remembered the

whole of the

book of

Romans but

there's so

much more

than just

that.

The regular

daily

deliberate

hopeful

Bible reading

was what

people knew

we needed

for life

more than

we needed

him even

though we'd

never seen

a Bible.

His efforts

put words

in our

hands.

He was

killed for

what he

put in

our hands

so we

would always

be reading

and seeing

the light

never blind

in the

dark of

our world.

I left

out two

verses

on purpose

from Peter's

little photo.

I just want

to point to

them as we

finish off

today.

On the

mountain

when that

astonishing

wonderful thing

is happening

and blowing

Peter's mind

Peter piped

up and

said

Rabbi

it's good

for us

to be

here.

Let's

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.

Isn't Peter

relatable?

He always

opens his

mouth and

says something

stupid.

But do you

see the word

shelter there

on the

screen?

it's tent

in other

translations.

In the

Greek

original

Greek

it's the

word

tabernacle.

The same

word

Peter uses

to describe

his body

in our

passage

today.

When

Peter dies

he's going

to cast

off his

temporary

shelter

looking forward

to receiving

a glorified

body that

he just

saw Jesus

take on

up the

mountain.

he's

remembering

this stupid

thing that

he said

to Jesus

in that

moment

about

building

tents

for them

to dwell

there

because he

knew he

missed the

point on

that day.

Jesus

had given

up the

glory of

heaven

to take

up this

tent

dwelling

of a

body

so we

could look

forward to

a new

life beyond

our aging

tents.

In

2 Peter

he's now

well into

his 60s

he's facing

execution for

his faith

and he's

probably

chuckling to

himself as

he describes

his own

body as

a tent

because he

discovered that

what he did

in the tent

of his body

on earth

mattered for

eternity

and he

lived boldly

in the

light of

his Lord

Jesus

and Peter

would call

us to

do the

same.

Peter wrote

in this

letter

probably

reflecting on

Moses

words in

Deuteronomy

4 that

would have

been well

known to

those of a

Jewish

background.

Do not

forget the

things your

eyes have

seen.

Let them

fade from

your heart

as long

as you

live.

Experiencing

the Bible

is your

chance to

see Jesus

in a way

more sure

than the

eyewitness

Peter did.

Inspired by

the Holy

Spirit,

Scripture

speaks to

you by

that same

Spirit of

God.

And as we

read,

we see

light that

guides our

way in the

darkness of

this world.

And once

experienced,

the Bible

continues to

light our

journey,

our way

every day

until Jesus

comes back.

So what are

you going to

do with it?

what are

you going to

do with

your Bible?

Maybe

not drop

it.

Is

experiencing

this work

going to

matter to

you?

There are

so many

distractions

here in

the dark.

They want

to pull

your face

away,

to shut

these pages,

to even

forget where

your Bible

is.

And I'm

too often

deceived,

to keep

this word

shut and

on the

shelf

myself.

Don't

listen to

those

distractions.

If you're

one who

has never

seen

Jesus,

open a

gospel.

Get the

word

one-to-one

app,

which is

like a

guided tour

through one

of the

gospels

written

by John,

who's also

there on

the mountain

with Peter,

an eyewitness

to Jesus.

Open the

word to

see the

light that

you need

that shows

Jesus for

who he

really is.

And to

you who

are here

this morning,

who say

you have

seen Jesus

but are

not opening

your Bible,

ask God

for the

desire to

see him.

He will

help you.

Do not

leave your

eyes shut

in the

dark any

longer.

And ask

for help.

staff would

love to

speak to

you today,

anyone wearing

one of

these,

to help

you find,

even though

your lips are

declaring that

you follow

Jesus,

that your

life shows

that you

are also

interested

and desiring

to experience

light in

his word.

Speak to

someone to

help you

shift that

attitude today.

And for

those of

you who

are opening

God's

word,

more often

than not,

four or

more times

a week,

keep reading.

Peter would

have reminded

you that no

matter how

often your

Bible is

opened,

to keep

looking into

the light,

keep seeing

Jesus for

the sake of

defending

Jesus' power

and majesty

like he spent

his life

doing,

for your

own sake

and for

the sake of

those you

live alongside,

at home and

at work or

wherever you

are,

who witness

you living

for Jesus,

testifying to

them in

word and

action,

that he is

the light

of your

world and

theirs.

They can't

see him

without

experiencing

scripture.

So,

ready yourself

to open the

Bible with

others.

God,

it's how we

all can

witness Jesus

in a way

more sure

than we've

witnessed your

changed life

lived in his

light.

Let's ask God

to help us

as we experience

the scripture.

Let's pray.

Lord God,

you know us

and love us.

Thank you for

giving us your

words in the

Bible to

experience the

wind of your

spirit's

guidance,

that help us

see Jesus as

powerful,

glorious,

as your

son,

and reveal

him as

light that

guides us to

life in the

darkness of

our sinful

world.

We are so

imperfect,

just like Peter

was.

Would you

help us to

come to know

Jesus?

Would you

help us to

desire to

experience

scripture every

day?

Would you

help us to

share the

light of

scripture in

our lives,

so that many

of the millions

you love

may experience

seeing Jesus

like Peter

did on that

mountain,

in his

glorious,

gracious

majesty,

forevermore.

Amen.