THINKING BIBLICALLY ABOUT GOD’S WORD - 2 Peter 1:16-21

All right, if you have your Bibles,

let's open it up. We're going to be in

second Peter this morning. Second Peter

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1. We're going to be looking at

verses vers 16- 21. Second Peter verses

6,

excuse me, second [laughter] Peter 1.

You servant leaders, man. Second Peter 1

16 through 21.

What I love about this passage is that

Peter is imprisoned.

He's going to be facing death soon and

he knows that his last words, his last

letter needs to be foundational.

It needs to be memorable. And we've

talked about this before. If you are

given an opportunity to share your last

words,

you would make them count.

And what Peter does is he doesn't focus

on past dreams,

past accolades, past goals, which he

accomplished a lot. He has led well and

tremendously in the New Testament church

so far. But rather than focusing on

those things and the letter would have

been great. Look how God has moved. Look

how God has done miracles throughout the

lifespan of the church so far. What

Peter does instead is he begins to point

our minds and our hearts to what it

means to grow in faith.

And then he doesn't stop there. He then

addresses the church personally. He's

not addressing skeptics here. He's not

addressing non-believers. He's

addressing the church. And he is saying,

"Don't you forget the power of the word

of God.

Don't you forget how it changes lives.

And what I love about this, and this is

not exclusive to Peter. This is a theme

we see throughout the scriptures.

He tells them, "You don't believe the

word of God because as a Christian,

you're told to believe the word of God.

But you believe the word of God because

the word of God can be tested.

The word of God can be scrutinized.

And guess what? The word of God will

pass all of that." Because it's not

about what I say. It's not about what

you say. It's about what eyewitnesses

have testified about. It's about how

history and prophecy have pointed us to

the Lord Jesus Christ to the fulfillment

of all that was promised from way back

in Genesis all the way through the

prophets, priests, and kings into the

New Testament and the birth of the

church in Acts. And this is what's so

incredible. This is what I love.

We are actively engaged in God unfolding

his plan that he has laid out for us

that he has chosen to reveal to us in

his written word and his written truth.

Not one that we accept blindly. Not one

that we accept because people just tell

us to accept it, but one that we can

test.

That we can look to historical evidence.

That we can look to eyewitness accounts.

that we can look to the plethora of

manuscripts

that have been written about the life,

death, and ministry of Jesus Christ. And

so throughout the past couple of weeks,

we've been in this series called

thinking biblically. And it's so

important that in the world that we live

in today that we are a people who think

biblically. that this becomes the lens,

the truth of the gospel of God's word

becomes the lens by which we interpret

the world around us. There is a phrase

that you might have heard in the church

before. It's called a biblical world

view. That means you view the world

through the lens of biblical truth. Here

is why we are in the mess that we are

in. Maybe this speaks to you personally,

but we understand that this speaks to

the world at large. The reason we are in

the mess that we are in is because by

large, we don't interpret the world

around us through the lens of biblical

truth.

We interpret biblical truth through the

lens of the world.

Which is why you have so many people who

will come to scriptures

and who will do what we call

cherry-picking. You ever heard that term

before? Well, they say, "Well, I love

this about Jesus. I love how God points

our hearts in this direction, but this I

don't like that so much. And so, I'll

make an excuse on how God doesn't really

expect that from my life." Or I'll make

an excuse that that's not really what

God means. And so, we keep the things

that appeal to us. We cast aside the

things that challenge us. And we're

going to look a little bit deeper into

that this morning. But before we throw

our passage on the screen, let me just

share,

let me give you a flow of where Peter is

taking us. So right here in chapter 1 in

verse three, Peter talks about the power

of maturing and growing in our faith. In

his letters, he will issue this command

that we are to grow in the knowledge and

understanding of Jesus.

And the way that we grow in the

knowledge and understanding of Jesus is

through our obedience to Jesus. Maybe

we're here this morning

and we're wondering why we've not grown

in our Christian walk. Now, there are

varying factors that could contribute to

that. But but mainly people don't grow

in their Christian walk because they are

living disobediently before the Lord.

And you can't grow in obedience to the

Lord if you're rebelling before the

Lord. Does that make sense? And so

here's what Peter says in verse three of

chapter 1. He says, "His divine power

has given us everything

required for life and godliness

through the knowledge of him."

So men, how do we grow in life and

godliness to be the husbands we're

called to be, the fathers we're called

to be, the business owners we're called

to be, the employees or employers that

we're called to be? church. How do we

grow in life and godliness to fulfill

the commands and expectations as

children of God that he has over our

life? How do we grow in those things? It

says through the knowledge of him.

Well, how do we receive knowledge of

him? Well, gathering weekly in this

place is a great start.

And it's beautiful. I love that we're

able to gather together to worship God

for the purpose of growing in his word

together. Remember, that's part of the

values that we have here at the Grove.

I'm grateful that we do that. I'm

grateful that we have conversations

throughout the week that that cause us

to examine our hearts and to grow in our

understanding of who God is. I'm I'm

grateful that we have Bible studies that

take place weekly and throughout the

year in this place. But let me tell you

something. There is no substitute. Hear

me. There is no substitute for your

personal encounter with Jesus.

And there is no substitute for you

personally studying the scriptures.

Now podcasts are great. I love listening

to podcasts.

There is a preacher that I listen to

every Monday morning when I come into

the office. I put on YouTube. I go to

their Sunday service and I listen to him

weekly. He is an old school preacher. I

love old school preachers. He doesn't

dabble with with with w with with huge

words. He doesn't try to wow people. He

opens the scriptures and he just

preaches.

And then what it does is it motivates me

to dive into the word myself. So many of

us are growing spiritually, but we're

growing spiritually by proxy.

We're depending on someone else to feed

us.

Now, someone else feeding you will help

you grow for so long, but if you have a

20-year-old child, if you have a

40-year-old child, you have a

13-year-old child, I pray you're not

spoon feeding them still.

The same truth exists for our lives.

It's one thing as we are just stepping

into what it means to be a Christian to

have people feed us and to have people

help us grow, but ultimately it is also

that we would grow to the point where we

are seeking the scriptures ourselves

that we are growing in the knowledge of

him. So that's the setup.

Peter is saying grow in life and

godliness. And the way that you grow in

life and godliness is through the

knowledge of him. And the way God has

chosen to make himself known to the

world in the Old Testament, he did it

through prophet, priests, and kings. In

the New Testament, he did it through his

son, Jesus Christ.

And on this side of the cross, those

prophet, priests, and kings, and the

sons still speak today. Well, Roland,

how do they speak? Right here in God's

word. So then the question is, well, how

can I believe God's word? How can I know

that this book is true? You're calling

me to bank everything about my life, my

marriage, my family, my relationships,

my job, my health, my finances. You're

challenging me to bank everything on the

truth of this book. Well, how can I know

that this book is true as opposed to

other religious writings? How do I know

those aren't true? Why this one book?

Which is where Peter begins to speak. So

let's go. Second Peter chapter 1,

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 16. Here's what he

writes.

For we did not follow cleverly contrived

myths. Now remember, this is coming off

the cusp of chapter 1 where he is

saying, you've got to grow in the

knowledge of him. And he anticipates he

anticipates a rebuttal. He anticipates a

response. So he comes in chapter two by

saying, "Hey, this isn't about myths.

This isn't about folklore. This isn't

about stories." Which th this is what I

found out this past week. This is very

interesting.

When Paul says those words, he is

attacking

Roman Greco culture. Remember who has

subjugated the nation of Israel at this

point in the story? The Romans.

The Romans have placed their thumb,

figuratively speaking, on the back of

the nation of Israel. They lack

independence. They lack an identity, so

to speak. The only way that they are

growing in their own identity is to

understand that their own identity is

rooted in God, is rooted in Yahweh,

revealed to us in Jesus, Yeshua.

And he's saying, listen, all that we

believe, they're not myths. The Romans,

the Greeks, they believe myths. They

make up their own myths. The stoic

philosophers, they make up their own

stories.

And these people are banking their

livelihoods and their foundation on one

that is sinking sand that crumbles.

Those are myths. But the gospel, the

life, death, and ministry of Jesus, this

word, it's not a cleverly contrived

myth. He says, he continues, "When we

made known to you the power and coming

of our Lord Jesus Christ," and here's

here's the key, right? This is the crux

of it all. We're we're going to unpack

this here in just a moment. This is it

right here. Instead,

we were eyewitnesses

to his majesty. That is a powerful

statement. That is a foundation shaking

statement

that Peter would say. It's not about

madeup stories. It's not about

traditions. It's [snorts] not about what

I want you to know and understand.

It's about this right here. We were

eyewitnesses of his majesty. Now, I'm

getting ahead of myself, but but I think

this is going to frame the rest of our

passage better.

Eyewitness testimony

was the greatest testimony even today.

The greatest testimony that exists about

whether something is true or false.

For someone to stand up and say, "I saw

it. I was there. I experienced it." And

not just one or two eyewitnesses, but

three or four who can share varying

perspectives, different angles,

different approaches, which is why we

have the four gospels, Matthew, Mark,

Luke, and John.

Each focusing on a particular trait of

Jesus, each coming from a different

angle, a different approach, all united

in one common theme, the lamb of God

who's come to take away the sins of the

world. We have eyewitness accounts. Now,

now the rebuttal is typically this.

Well, how do we know those accounts are

true? Because they were written down.

Well, where are they written down? Right

here.

Well, how can I believe that? Well, how

do you believe Abraham Lincoln existed?

How do you believe Julius Caesar

existed? Because you have eyewitness

accounts of people who wrote about their

life. The issue is we'll believe

eyewitness accounts about those people

because it doesn't demand anything of

us. But when we open up God's word and

read of the eyewitness accounts of Jesus

Christ, we refuse it. We rebuke it or we

call it into question because what does

the scripture do that those other things

don't do? It demands something from us.

What does it demand? Your repentance,

your life, your obedience, your worship,

you turning from sin. And what does sin

do? Sin blinds us from the holiness of

God. Not only that, sin empowers us, not

good way, empowers us to rebel against

the holiness of God. And so Peter calls

all of this into play when he's saying,

"We believe these things not because

they're great stories, not because

they're inspirational, not because they

encourage us, but because they're true.

I've seen it. I've been there." And

here's another thing why eyewitness

accounts are so so vital to the validity

of anything.

Because Peter is writing this in a time

period

where people could have contested what

he said. Does that make sense? The

gospels were written, the New Testament

letters were written in a time period

where people could have contested what

was said. In other words, it was written

during a time when people could have

said, "Wait, Peter's writing, we were

eyewitness accounts of his majesty." No,

that's not true. We never saw Jesus.

No, that's not true. His body is still

in the grave. No, that's not true. He

never went to the cross. It was written

during a time period where people could

have easily refuted if this was not

true.

But that didn't happen because there was

multiple eyewitnesses. Let me continue

here in verse 17.

For he received honor and glory from God

the Father when the voice came to him

from the majestic glory saying, "This is

my beloved son with whom I am well

pleased." Do you remember when that

happened? Jesus came up out of the

Jordan River. The Holy Spirit descended

like a dove and God proclaimed these

words. Not only that, he points us to

what took place during the

transfiguration.

Verse 18, we ourselves heard this voice

when it came from heaven while we were

with him on the holy mountain.

We also have the prophetic word strongly

confirmed,

and you will do well to pay attention.

That's not just a message for them,

church. That's a message for us. I read

that this week and I underlined it. I

highlighted it because I want to pay

attention.

I don't want to be so distracted

by the things of this world that I miss

the truth of God.

So distracted by the lies of the enemy

as he flings those arrows in my

direction that I would lift my shield of

faith. That I would carry the sword of

the spirit. that I would be so ingrained

with the truth of God's word, believing

what it says, believing what it calls me

to do and who it calls me to be that I

would pay attention. Maybe some of us

this morning, we've not paid attention

enough.

And the reason we've not paid attention

enough is because the voices of the

world have been louder than the voice of

God. And when the voice of God is louder

than the voices of the world, you will

follow the louder voice.

Which is why, mom and dad, we need to

fight for our children.

I'm guilty of this. You're guilty of

this. But but but here's here's here's

the convicting challenge for us.

Our home

is a battleground. Did you know that?

Now, I love my home. I love the safness

that I feel in there. I love the being

comfortable. I love sitting in my chair.

I have a chair that I sit in. I love it.

But I also want to pay attention and

know that my home is a battleground

because I have two children who are

growing up in the church, who are

growing up with praying parents,

who are growing up surrounded by people

who want the same thing for their

families. And the enemy hates it. And so

the enemy will try to distort God's

truth. the enemy will try to hinder them

from seeking the truth of God, from

living out the truth of God. And so, mom

and dad, we need to be praying people,

the type of people who are on our knees

daily, white knuckle gripping the truth

of God, not because we have effort to

make it come true, but because we're

desperate for it, and we call upon the

name of the Lord. Let us be a people

that pay attention to it. Now notice at

the end of verse 19 how he begins to

unpack what that means. How that

prophetic word is confirmed. What it

means to pay attention. He says as to a

lamp shining in a dark place

until the day dawns and the morning star

rises in your hearts. Don't you ever

falter from paying attention to God's

word. Because in it and through it, the

prophecies that have been fulfilled, the

prophetic times that we're living in,

and what God calls us to do and who God

calls us to be, we continue to pay

attention. Why? Because one day, the day

will dawn as a morning star rises in our

hearts. And I know this for me

personally, that's how God will grant me

boldness and wisdom. That's how God will

give me a fearless spirit in a world

that is in need of a foundation that is

unshakable. Verse 20, above all, you

know this, no prophecy of scripture

comes from the prophet's own

interpretation because no prophecy ever

came by the will of man. Instead, men

spoke from God as they were carried

along by the Holy Spirit. And all God's

people said, "Amen."

What a powerful passage.

As his death draws near,

Peter begins to impart this wisdom

on the generations that will follow.

It's a passing a baton, so to speak. And

he's concerned.

And the concern remains in the church

today. At least it remains in my heart

today. The concern is that we will be a

people that remain grounded in truth.

that we wouldn't slip and slide in every

direction of what seems popular, what

seems palatable,

but we would be people who know the

truth and remain grounded in it even

when it challenges us, even when it

demands something from us. Because I

know this to be true in my own life. I

pray you do as well. When the word of

God challenges us, it's because God's

wanting to change something in us,

sharpen something in us, and stir

something in us.

And many of you, you're having a

stirring in your life. God is doing

something and you're feeling the

tension. You're feeling the challenge.

My encouragement, my challenge to you is

that you wouldn't refuse it. You

wouldn't turn away from it, but you

would step into it.

Remember, we're called to grow in life

and godliness. And what does that come

through? the knowledge of him. When you

turn from the call of God in your life,

you turn from a greater knowledge of God

in your life.

And so, Peter again begins by

emphasizing spiritual growth,

maturing, formation. He talks about

knowledge and virtue. If if you're

familiar with with chapter one,

endurance, godliness, and what it's like

to grow as mature believers in Jesus.

But here's here's what's beautiful.

Formation assumes something. When we use

the word formation, we're talking about

being formed and what we believe and

what we do and who we're called to be.

Spiritual formation, perhaps you've

heard that word before, but formation

assumes something.

And what it assumes is there is

something that is forming you.

Every single one of us, we're being

shaped, molded, and formed by something.

Whether that's the latest news cycle,

whether that's the profiles and

influencers we follow on Instagram,

whether that is our circle of friends,

we're all being formed, shaped, and

molded by something, which is so

important that we remain intentional

about understanding who we surround

ourselves with and the voices I let

speak into my mind, into my heart. I

need to be intentional about intentional

about knowing whether they are truthful

or not.

whether they are building up or not. But

we can't know that unless we know the

truth of God's word. And so Roland,

finally get to it. How can we trust

God's word?

What proof is there? Well, if you're

taking notes, let's dive into it. Four

things that the passage that Peter

points us to shows us. Here's the first

one. We've already dived into this.

We'll just kind of rehash it. Here's the

first one. God's word is verified by

eyewitnesses.

His word is verified by eyewitnesses.

Again, eyewitness testimony is the most

reliable form of evidence.

Now, in today's world, we have video

evidence,

which adds all the more to reliability.

In the ancient world and even today,

eyewitness testimonies are the most

reliable form of evidence. What we see

throughout history, even today, courts

depend on eyewitness testimonies. And

again, we accept eyewitness testimonies

of other writings, but we take issue

when it's an eyewitness testimony of

scripture because it challenges us and

demands something from us. Go back with

me to verse 16.

For we did not follow cleverly contrived

myths when we made known to you the

power and coming of our Lord Jesus

Christ. Instead, we were eyewitnesses of

his majesty. I love this because John

will later pick up the same theme in his

letters, 1, second, and third John. And

John will phrase it this way. Not only

have we seen, but I've heard and I felt

the senses were engaged. You remember

John was the only disciple who stayed

through the crucifixion of Jesus. So

John talks about how the senses were

engaged. I can almost imagine, and I

always caution us about reading between

the lines. That's not what I'm doing

here. What I'm doing is is is trying to

expand our our our imagination of of

what John is pointing us to. I can

imagine John as he stood at the base of

the cross. Remember, he's there with

Mary and they look at Jesus hanging on

there. He could smell the blood

dripping.

He can smell the stench

of flesh being ripped open.

And John is saying, "I I've been there.

I've seen it. This is what Peter is

testifying these sort of eyewitness

accounts.

And this is why Christianity

stands apart from every mythological

system because the gospel is not hey

once upon a time.

The gospel, God's word is I was there.

I've seen it. And this matters deeply.

The reason it matters deeply is because

we're not asked to believe in something

because it's meaningful,

because it feels good. We're asked to

believe it because it actually

happened.

I witness accounts. Here's the second

thing. God's word is verified by God

himself. Now, I love how Peter takes

this a step further. Maybe you picked up

on that trend because Peter is saying,

"Not only did I see and hear these

things, not only did other people see

and hear these things, not only did we

write about these things, but God

himself

spoke." Now, why is that important? Why

is it important that God spoke? We'll

talk about that here in a bit. Go back

with me to verse 17.

For he received honor and glory from God

the Father when the voice came to him

from the majestic glory saying, "This is

my beloved son with whom I am well

pleased."

Now, why is this powerful? Because Jesus

is making a statement of affirmation.

This isn't just another teacher. This

isn't just another prophet. This isn't

just any other priest or king. This is

the prophet, the priest, the king, the

teacher. He is my son with whom I am

well pleased. And because the father

publicly confirms the identity and the

authority of Jesus. And and he does this

before what? Before the cross, before

the resurrection, before being publicly

vindicated,

God declares Jesus is worthy.

Not because of the success of Jesus with

his miracles and wonderworking power

which was great and amazing and pointed

to the truth of who he was but because

of his obedience.

Jesus affirm is affirmed by the father.

Now now here's why this is important and

I want us to get this.

God affirming Jesus makes God's word

true because Jesus is the living

fulfillment.

the embodiment and the final authority

of who the father is. And you say,

"Well, how can I believe that? It's

written in here." Well, it's written by

eyewitness testimony.

Well, how can I believe the eyewitness

testimony? Because it has stood against

scrutiny across centuries, cultures, and

generations.

And it's never been disproven. You know

what's amazing? Maybe you've you've read

articles and and maybe you've you've

heard podcasts and seen interviews like

this before.

The phrase goes something like this.

Science is finally catching up with what

God's word has declared all along.

Because as we study archaeology, as we

do further digs in the Middle East, as

we look at DNA patterns, as we look back

on historical evidence, even atheistic

historians

believe that Jesus existed,

that the person Jesus existed, that

there was a man named Jesus in the

Middle East that centered his ministry

around a particular region, around a

particular area who claimed to be God in

the flesh who claimed healings, who

claimed miracles. There is no doubt

about that in history and science. What

is doubted is whether he says who he is,

who he said he was.

Is he God in the flesh? And these

eyewitness testimonies testify that

that's true. God himself testifies that

that's true. This is not a small thing.

This is everything. Let me tell you why

this is everything. because to reject

and I want you to hear me because I've

been in ministry for 20 plus years and

I've encountered people with with with

this ideological difference from the

Christian faith

to reject what scripture teaches about

Jesus.

It's not intellectual humility.

And so many people will say, "Well, I

try to keep an open mind about the

Bible. I try to keep an open mind about

who Jesus is." That's not intellectual

humility. It's theological rebellion.

It's rebellion against who God is

because you cannot hear me now. This is

this is a non-negotiable. Not just here

at the Grove. This has been a

non-negotiable for the church for

centuries.

You cannot claim Christ is Lord while

denying the testimony of God in this

book.

You just cannot. You cannot say you're a

Christian while denying the words in

this book. That is a nonnegotiable. Now,

yeah, we might take issue with some gray

areas.

We might say, well, you know, are the

gifts of the spirit still in operation

today? Some people might say yes. Some

people might say no. Some people might

take issue with the ordinance of baptism

or how we conduct the Lord's supper.

Should it be monthly? Should it be

weekly? Should it be yearly?

Like those things, yes, there are

nuances. But when it comes to core

doctrine, the resurrection, the virgin

birth, Jesus being God in the flesh,

Jesus being the propitiation for our

sins to reconcile us to the father, you

cannot claim Christ as Lord while

denying the testimony that God has given

us about the son. He is his beloved son

with whom he is well pleased. Here's the

third thing. God's word is verified by

fulfilled prophecy. I find this to be

incredible.

The numbers vary a little bit, but

statistically speaking,

having just one

of all the prophecies

that were declared in the Old Testament,

in the New Testament, fulfilled is huge.

But the fact that every single one of

them

has been fulfilled or is in the process

of being fulfilled is incredible. Go

with me to verse 19.

Peter says, "We have the prophetic word

strongly confirmed."

The prophetic word strongly confirmed.

Big picture confirmed in Jesus Christ.

He's the fulfillment

of all that the prophets, priests, and

kings declared, of all that the law

pointed to. Which is why Jesus will tell

the religious people of his day, if you

can't even believe the law and the

prophets, in other words, if you can't

even believe this book, you won't even

believe if someone was risen from the

grave. And that's exactly what happened.

And people still rejected Jesus. The

Pharisees, mind you church, the

Pharisees witnessed people being

resurrected from the grave. They saw

people who were blind living in full

sight. They saw people born lame walking

again, people who were mute declaring

their praises before the Lord and they

still rejected Jesus.

Why? Because you you cannot claim Christ

as Lord while denying the testament that

God has given us about him.

There's something powerful about God's

word. So Peter continues to write, "We

have the prophetic word strongly

confirmed and you will do well to pay

attention to it because it's a lamp

shining in a dark place until the day

dawns and the morning star rises in your

hearts." I open up the service by saying

this earlier. This is why this is

important.

Scripture is more reliable. This is what

Peter's telling us. Scripture is more

reliable

than our most powerful spiritual

experiences.

Now, let me unpack that for just a

moment. I'm not denying your spiritual

experience,

but your spiritual experience should

emphasize the truth of God, not

interpret the truth of God. Does that

make sense? The truth of God interprets

our spiritual experience,

not our spiritual experience

interpreting the truth of God. If we do

it that way, that's backwards. We look

to the truth of God. We look to our

spiritual experience, and we come to

understand it through this foundation.

We don't come to understand this based

off our spiritual experience. Because

who's to say that our spiritual

experience was not a demonic experience?

Let me unpack that for just a moment.

What do you mean, Roland?

There is a religion in the world today,

in America today, that is based off of a

young man saying he had a vision from

God and encountered an angel from God

that told him to write a New Testament.

Not a New Testament as in the second

part of the book, but a New Testament

outside of what's written in this book.

Now people would call that a spiritual

experience.

But if you look at to God's word, if you

look into the truth of God's word, we

interpret that as a demonic experience

because either that young man is lying

or he saw a vision of a demon who lied

to him. We don't interpret our spiritual

experiences.

We don't interpret God's word through

our spiritual experiences. We interpret

our spiritual experiences through God's

word. This is why God's word is verified

by fulfilled prophecy.

Because our experiences will fade, our

memories will dim. Our feelings will

fluctuate.

But God's word does not.

It remains a light in a dark place.

What makes this remarkable is the

scripture was written by many authors

over hundreds of years by different

authors over the spas of century over

the span of centuries. cultures and

geography.

And what does it point us to? One united

message. The lamb of God who comes and

take takes away the sins of the world. I

have a slide that I'm going to throw up

here. You guys may have seen this

before. So, the bottom here is supposed

to uh to be an indicator of the span of

scripture, right? from from Genesis to

Revelation and and the time in between

and all those lines at over 63,700

of them are are connecting every cross

reference, every word, every every

prophecy to Jesus in God's word. All of

those are connecting

where one author centuries ago,

millennia ago prophesied something

another author thousands of years ago

wrote the fulfillment of.

All of this points us to not just what

we're going to get to in just a moment,

not just man recording things, but God

divinely inspiring these things. Let me

just read to you what this what this

data indicates. This is not me. This is

taken exactly from what what this

depicts.

This image takes data from 63,779

cross references in the Bible between

its 1189 chapters depicting them in a

multicolored arc diagram. Cross

references, words, phrases, people,

quotes, prophecy used by one biblical

author and repeated by that author or

picked up and used in other books of the

Bible. Each of the 63,779

cross references find found in the Bible

are depicted by a single ark. They

explain that this unity offers evidence

for the inspiration of the Bible which

is composed of 66 books written over a

period of some 1500 years by nearly 40

different authors and several languages

over several continents containing

hundreds of topics. And the Bible

continues to possess an amazing unity of

theme. Jesus Christ, our problem, sin,

our solution, the Savior, and unifies

its pages from Genesis to Revelation.

This strongly indicates a divine hand

behind the writing and editing

information of the Bible, guiding each

writer and bringing these books together

as they were written through God's

chosen people. And you say, "Well, big

deal."

Okay, maybe they just met up and did it

all together. Yeah, hard to do that over

the course of 1500 years, 40 different

people on different continents.

But okay, even at that, how do we still

believe it? Because God verified it

himself. Well, how can we still believe

that? Because we have eyewitness

testimony.

It all goes back to the truth of God's

word. And here's the final thing, number

four, God's word is verified by the Holy

Spirit.

One of the greater greater evidences of

of the validity of God's word

is the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.

Is the Holy Spirit using us?

is God

sending [snorts] his son

to be the payment for the penalty of our

sin and stirring within us an awakening

to faith, an awakening to truth by the

power of the Holy Spirit. Go back with

me to verse 20.

Above all, you know this. No prophecy of

scripture comes from the prophet's own

interpret interpretation because no

prophecy ever came by the will of man.

Let me say that again. No prophecy ever

came by the will of man. If let me let

me just say this. If we believe that man

just put these stories together, just

made them up, you give more credit to

people. We're not that good. We're not

that clever.

You mess up, I mess up.

No prophecy ever came by the will of

men. Instead, men spoke from God as they

were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Let's just address the elephant in the

room. Yes, men wrote the Bible.

Yes, humanity is imperfect. The authors

were imperfect. But they did not, hear

me now, they did not invent the message.

the perfect God of creation

indwelled imperfect man. That's what

scripture is telling us. They were

carried along by the Holy Spirit. This

matters because this is a common

objection. Well, the Bible was written

by man. Man is imperfect. Therefore,

God's word is imperfect. But here's the

problem with that objection.

If you reject scripture because humans

were involved, then you must reject

every other worldview because humans are

involved.

But we don't reject every other

worldview. Why? Because it doesn't

demand anything of us. We reject this

worldview because it demands something

of us. And so the issue is whether God

is powerful enough to speak truthfully

through human instruments. And Peter

says he is. He absolutely is.

So here's the question.

The Bible is trustworthy.

So what does that require of us?

It requires faith. It requires belief.

And faith is not to blindly accept

something. I know we use that phrase a

lot. Hey, blind faith. Believe it. But

here's what we mean. When when when you

hear that in the church, when you hear

preachers, Bible study teachers say,

"Acept it through blind faith." Here's

what we mean. It means we just don't

accept it because someone told us. Paul

says, "You need to be like the Bereans."

What did the Bereans do when Paul

preached? They said, "Hold on, Paul."

Yes. Yes, that's true. Yes, that's true.

You have to test it to make sure that

it's true, that it's trustworthy. So, we

don't just believe this because we're

told to. We believe it because it can be

tested and scrutinized and it passes

with flying colors. And so, one last

thing, this the truth of this doesn't

just inform us, it's great information.

And I love sitting with friends and

having great theological conversations.

And often times we may differ on

particular things in the scripture, how

we see it, how we view it, how we've

experienced it. But this isn't just for

information. It's for transformation.

This is called to form us and shape us

into the people God has called us to be.

Would you pray with me? Lord, we thank

you for your word. We thank you for the

opportunity to gather this morning. And

Lord, we thank you that in you and

through you,

our life is transformed and changed. And

God, we pray that as we close our

service, as here in just a moment we

celebrate the Lord's supper, that Holy

Spirit, you would continue to do a work

in us. And maybe there's been some of us

who have struggled

with the truth of your word and applying

the truth of your word. I pray today

would be a day of acceptance and life

change. In Christ's name we pray. All

God's people said, amen.