Completely Reliable: 2 Peter 1:19-21
Francis Schaeffer was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1912. He is known as one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century. Francis was a pastor, theologian, philosopher, and missionary. He wrote more than 20 books, but he was best known for the L’Abri Fellowship community he and his wife Edith founded in Switzerland in 1955. L’Abri is a French word which means “shelter.” Francis and Edith opened their home to people, the vast majority were young college students with questions about life and the Christian faith. The word spread and people from all over the world made their way to the Schaeffer’s home. Francis believed that the answers to life’s biggest, most important questions were found in God’s Word. God’s Word not only provided answers to life’s biggest questions, but it also offered guidance, for every area of life, which was unavailable in any other philosophy or religion. Francis and Edith have both passed away, but there are still L’Abri Fellowships around the world.
In 1984, Francis published a book titled, “The Great Evangelical Disaster,” which was a wake up call for the followers of Jesus. Schaeffer recognized something that was very alarming. He said that during the previous sixty years churches had slowly, but increasingly begun accommodating the surrounding culture instead of staying true to God’s Word in every area of life. The church's passion to live in obedience to the truth found in Scripture had been slowly replaced with a consuming desire to be embraced, accepted, by society. As a result, culture and not the Word of God was shaping the theological and moral lives of Jesus’ followers. He wrote,
God’s Word will never pass away, but looking back to the Old Testament and since the time of Christ, with tears we must say that because of lack of fortitude and faithfulness on the part of God’s people, God’s Word has many times been allowed to be bent, to conform to the surrounding, passing, changing culture of that moment rather than to stand as the inerrant Word of God judging the form of the world spirit and the surrounding culture of that moment. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, may our children and grandchildren not say that such can be said about us. (Schaeffer, Francis. The Great Evangelical Disaster. 1984)
Even though the book was written more than 40 years ago, Francis’ words are as relevant and needed today as they were the day his book was released. If we are going to follow Jesus, we must unashamedly hold to God’s Word as our most trusted and reliable authority. There is no question that God’s Word is out of step with ever changing cultural beliefs. That has been the case in every time period and in every culture. We should never be ashamed of what God’s Word teaches regardless of the ridicule and scorn it might bring us from society. Let’s read our Scripture for this morning and then we will see what we can learn. Turn with me to 2 Peter 1:19-21 and let’s read together.
19 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. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. 21 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. (2 Peter 1:19-21 NIV)
If you will remember our time together last week, you will remember that we learned, in 2 Peter 1:16-18, that Peter let his readers know he was not sharing “cleverly devised myths,” but he and others were “eyewitnesses” of what had happened to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Life in the Roman Empire was filled with all kinds of myths and the false teachers were trying to undermine the spread of the gospel by saying the followers of Jesus were doing nothing more than creating new myths, myths about Jesus. Peter let them know that he had seen with his own eyes, and with his own ears he had heard the voice from heaven saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
It is important for us to remember this because Peter goes on in verses 19-21 to say that there is something even more reliable than his eyewitness testimony and it is the Word of God. This is really startling to us modern-day people because we value our own personal experience above all things. Any court of law will tell you that eyewitness testimony can be valuable, but it is not always reliable. In a booklet titled, “Eyewitness Evidence: A Guide for Law Enforcement,” published by the Department of Justice, we read,
Recent cases in which DNA evidence has been used to exonerate individuals convicted primarily on the basis of eyewitness testimony have shown us that eyewitness evidence is not infallible. Even the most honest and objective people can make mistakes in recalling and interpreting a witnessed event; it is the nature of human memory. (U.S. Department of Justice. Eyewitness Evidence: A Guide for Law Enforcement.)
Peter knew what he had seen, what he had heard, but he also knew that there was a much more reliable source his readers could trust and that was, and is, the Word of God. This is one of the reasons why it is so important for you and me to read, study, and know God’s Word.
In verse 19, Peter said, “We also have the prophetic message…” The Greek word for “prophetic” is “Προφητικός” (prophētikos) and it means “to proclaim” or “to predict.” I need to point this out for us because in our day most people think prophets were those who predicted the future. Biblically, the prophets in the Bible were those who revealed God’s message to others. You won’t find Moses’ name on any list of the major or minor prophets and yet Moses heard from God and passed on His message through his writing the Torah, the first five books of our Bible, and his speeches which were given to the people. Daniel interpreted dreams, which were God’s messages to King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Isaiah spoke about the coming of the Suffering Servant, who we now know was Jesus. God gave Isaiah the message over 700 years before Jesus was born. Jonah stood before the people of Nineveh and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
There are many people in America today who hold themselves out to be modern-day prophets. These men and women say they speak for God, but I want to caution you to be very careful if you are drawn to these people. Test what they have to say with God’s Word. Put your trust in God’s Word and not in what some supposed prophet has to say to you. I have seen many people’s faith shaken as a result of what some prophet has said to them. Our problem is not new. John wrote,
1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. (1 John 4:1 NLT)
Also, when Peter writes about the “prophetic message,” he is not just referring to the prophets, but to the whole Hebrew Bible, which was the only Bible available in the first century since the New Testament was being written at the time.
It is also important for you and me to understand Jesus’ view of the Bible. Jesus knew the Hebrew Bible to be the Word of God and not simply stories put together by people. He also understood the Hebrew Bible as a testimony to His own life. Let me show you what I’m talking about. Turn with me to John 5:37-40. Jesus was speaking to some of the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem when He said,
37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life. (John 5:37-40 NIV)
“These are the Scriptures that testify about me…” And let me give you one more example. After Jesus’ resurrection, there were two of His followers who were unaware that Jesus had risen from the dead, and they were walking on the road to Emmaus. They were dejected and disappointed because they believed Jesus was the Messiah, but He had been killed. As they were walking, Jesus joined them, but they didn’t recognize Him. He asked them why they were so bummed out and they told Him. Then, in Luke 24:25-27, Jesus said,
25 He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27 NIV)
“Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Isn’t that amazing?! The very latest of the books of the Hebrew Bible were written about 400 B.C., 400 years before Jesus was ever born, and yet Jesus walked Cleopas and his friend through the whole Hebrew Bible and pointed out what it had to say about Him.
Let’s get back to verse 19. Peter writes that those followers of Jesus who were living in the Roman Empire would “do well to pay attention to it,” to God’s Word. Look at verse 19 with me one more time.
19 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. (2 Peter 1:19 NIV)
I want us to stop for a moment and focus on Peter’s urging to “pay attention,” to pay attention to the Word of God. The Greek word “προσέχω” (prosechō) means “to bring near, to turn the mind to, to be attentive.” Jesus used this same word in Matthew 7 when He was urging His followers to be on the lookout for false prophets. Let’s begin reading in verse 15.
15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:15-20 ESV)
Paul used the same word when he met with the leaders of the church of Ephesus for the very last time. Paul had spent over two years sharing the gospel and discipling new believers in Ephesus. He loved the people and he knew he would never see them again when he met with them. What were his final words to them? Turn to Acts 20:28-30 with me.
28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:28-30 ESV)
Guard God’s flock. Keep your eyes wide open for those who would seek to draw the Lord’s people away into false teaching. This is still God’s call for the leaders of our churches today.
Peter uses the same word, but in a different way. Peter says to pay attention to God’s Word. Keep God’s Word near. Study it. Pray over it. Know it. Why should we be so attentive to God’s Word? Because it is “a light shining in a dark place.” There is no question that the “dark place” Peter has in mind is this world. The Greek word for “dark” means “dry, dirty, or murky.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes,
There is no other light, and Scripture to man in this world is exactly like a lamp shining in a dark cavern, in a gloomy, squalid, dark place. (Lloyd-Jones, Martyn. Expository Sermons on 2 Peter. pg. 113)
Dr. Lloyd-Jones was a brilliant man who started his career as a medical doctor, a doctor to the royal family in London. He left medicine and became a pastor because he felt people’s spiritual needs were far greater than their physical needs. From 1939 until 1968 he was the pastor of Westminster Chapel in London. Dr. Lloyd-Jones often referred to the failure of the Enlightenment and its idea that humanity could solve all of our problems through reason and knowledge. The grandiose ideas of Enlightenment thinkers convinced people that society and humanity would only get better and better with time. Religion, and Christianity in particular, were an impediment to the advancement of society according to Enlightenment thinkers.
Dr. Lloyd-Jones said the two World Wars which took place from 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 put on full display the failure of Enlightenment thinking. He also described the decadence and debauchery of the times, between the wars, as an illustration of the failure of Enlightenment thinking. He was preaching through 2 Peter in 1946, shortly after the end of the Second World War. Listen to what he wrote,
Read the books and journals, listen to your modern philosophers. They cannot explain the present situation. For they have been brought up on a theory and view of life which believed in man’s inherent capacity to save himself and his world. It was a theory which taught that by an inevitable evolutionary process man was already automatically advancing and progressing. And that by means of education and knowledge this advance would be still more accelerated. It was inevitable. Nothing could stop it, and the twentieth century was going to be the crowning end in man’s story. …How can you explain the degeneracy and decadence of the period between the wars? It is inexplicable. There is no light on the cause of the state of the world apart from the light of the Bible. (Lloyd-Jones, Martyn. Expository Sermons on 2 Peter. pg. 119).
Peter says the light provided by God’s Word is our only hope in this dark world in which we live. Long before Peter ever penned this thought, the writer of Psalm 119 wrote,
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105 ESV)
You would think that anyone who found himself in a dark, dank cave filled with obstacles and danger would welcome the offer of a lamp, but God’s Word tells us that is not the case. Jesus said,
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19 NIV)
Why do people reject the Word of God? Why do people reject Jesus, the One who is the Light of the World? The answer is really not hard to figure out. We don’t want anyone telling us what to do. We want to call the shots. We want to be the captain of our own ship, the maker of our own destiny. The problem is that we are groping around in the dark, apart from Jesus, and we will end up shipwrecked on the rocks. For most people they hear my words and think I am referring to ending up in the ditch of addiction or in prison or penniless or some other horrific situation that we all want to avoid. These things are possibilities, but I am also thinking about ending up shipwrecked on the rocks of prosperity, affluence, and being celebrated. You can be draped in diamonds and living in the dark. You can have more money than you could spend in ten lifetimes and be living in the dark. Life apart from Jesus is living in the dark. God has given us His Word to lead us out of the dark and into the arms of Jesus, our Savior!
Just one more thing about verse 19. God’s Word is a light that shines in this world dark for all of Jesus’ followers “until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” When will the day dawn? The day will dawn when Jesus returns and when that day takes place there will be no need for God’s Word to light our path any longer. Turn with me to Revelation 21:23-25 where John writes about the New Jerusalem, the Holy City of God.
23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day-- and there will be no night there. (Revelation 21:23-25 ESV)
The Lamb of God, Jesus our Savior, will be the lamp that lights the paths for the nations, for all of those who have trusted in Him. What an incredible experience that will be for you and me! Let’s move on. Read verses 20-21 with me.
20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. 21 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. (2 Peter 1:20-21 NIV)
There are two things in these two verses that I want us to focus on for the next few minutes. First, the origin of Scripture. In verse 21 we read that “prophecy” or God’s Word, “never had its origin in the human will,” but the authors of the Bible “were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” This answers a very important question for you and me. What is the Bible? Is it the Word of God or is it merely a collection of stories written by people? A growing number of Americans do not believe the Bible is the Word of God. A Gallup poll was conducted in 2022 which asked people what they believe about the Bible. Listen to what they learned.
A record-low 20% of Americans now say the Bible is the literal word of God, down from 24% the last time the question was asked in 2017, and half of what it was at its high points in 1980 and 1984. Meanwhile, a new high of 29% say the Bible is a collection of ‘fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.’ This marks the first time significantly more Americans have viewed the Bible as not divinely inspired… (Newport, Frank. Fewer in U.S. Now See Bible as Literal Word of God. July 6, 2022)
Peter tells us that people “spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” This gives us great insight. As you read the Bible you can see the personalities of the authors present in each of their writing. The Bible was not dictated to them, but they were “carried along” by the Holy Spirit. The Greek word, translated “carried along” is “φέρω” (pherō) and it means “to carry” or “to bear” or “to cause someone or something to move by propelling (as by the wind, oars, or other means of propulsion).” The word was used in Acts 27 to describe what happened to the boat Paul was sailing on when a fierce wind came up. Charles Ryrie, in “Basic Theology,” writes,
This verse tells us as much as any single verse how God used the human writers to produce the Bible. The Holy Spirit moved or bore them along. The use of the same verb in Acts 27:15 illuminates our understanding of what is meant by ‘bearing’ or ‘moving’ the human writers. Just before the ship that was taking Paul to Rome was wrecked on the Island of Malta, it ran into a fierce storm. Though experienced men, the sailors could not guide it, so they finally had to let the wind take the ship wherever it blew. In the same manner as that ship was driven, directed, or carried about by the wind, God directed and moved the human writers He used to produce the books of the Bible. (Ryrie, Charles. Basic Theology.)
God moved upon each of the biblical authors so that they wrote precisely what He wanted them to say. Let me give you an example from the life of Jeremiah.
6 "O Sovereign LORD," I said, "I can't speak for you! I'm too young!" 7 The LORD replied, "Don't say, 'I'm too young,' for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 8 And don't be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the LORD, have spoken!" 9 Then the LORD reached out and touched my mouth and said, "Look, I have put my words in your mouth! (Jeremiah 1:6-9 NLT)
Secondly, let’s talk about interpretation. Peter wrote, “no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things.” It is dangerous to leave the meaning of a verse or of the Bible as a whole up to the reader. We are to learn from Scripture and not read into Scripture what we want it to say or what we think it means. There is a meaning in each and every verse and that meaning is tied directly to what God desires to teach us. The Bible is the work of the Holy Spirit and we should humbly and prayerfully seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance each time we open God’s Word.
We are out of time, but before we go I want to urge you to approach God’s Word as the very Word of God. What you and I believe about the Bible will translate into what we believe about life, sin, salvation, and daily living. Let me give you just one example. The Bible teaches that we are sinners, each and every one of us. There is no hope of ever making ourselves right before God. The Enlightenment thinkers would laugh at that idea just like most modern-day people laugh at the idea, but it is there, stated over and over again in God’s Word. That’s the bad news. The good news is this: God has come to us and He has come to us in Jesus, the Sinless Savior who offered His life for sinners so we could be reconciled to God. You will not find that lesson anywhere in the world except in God’s Word. If you would choose to describe the Bible as anything less than God’s Word then you will most likely dismiss the important biblical lesson of humanity’s sin and the Savior? Do you believe it? Will you confess that you are a sinner, hopeless apart from God’s saving grace that is found only in Jesus? If you believe God’s Word then there is no other course of action except to confess your need for Jesus. Won’t you do that this morning?
Mike Hays
March 30, 2025
