Scriptures for Today
2 Peter 1:12-21
Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. 13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; 14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. 15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. 16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. 19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
You Forget Truth Faster Than You Think
2 Peter 1:12
Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.
Peter is dealing with a real problem. People think knowing truth once is enough. It is not. You can know truth and still drift away from it if it is not constantly brought back to your mind.
That is why false teaching spreads so easily. It does not replace truth overnight. It slowly replaces what you stopped thinking about. If truth is not active in your mind, lies will take its place. If you watch TV more than you read the Bible, the lies on the TV will turn to truth in your mind.
“Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you ALWAYS in remembrance of these things.” These things are the things in the previous verses. He is reminding them to grow beyond believing. That little mustard seed of faith was enough to save you. Little faith is the starting point, but don’t make it the ending point. Grow your faith.
Your Body Is Temporary, Truth Is Not
2 Peter 1:13-14
Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
Peter calls his body a tabernacle because it is temporary. That means everything tied to the physical life is temporary. Your body will go, your voice will go, your presence will go. But truth does not go.
That is why he is not building people around himself. He is anchoring them to something that survives his death. Jesus Christ is eternal. He is the living God. You need to anchor yourself to something that is permanent and that isn’t going to be moved. You’ll be safe there.
Peter knows he’s going to die soon because he’s older and Jesus told him this in John 21:
John 21:18-19
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
Jesus tells Peter that when he is old he will die this type of death. He will be taken somewhere he doesn’t want to go. He will be forced to go. It will not be a natural thing. He will stretch forth his hands. Another shall gird thee meaning he is no longer in control. Someone else is handling him. He’s being restrained by force.
“Thou shalt stretch forth thy hands.” He will be carried away like this. Many people teach that Peter was crucified upside down but the Bible doesn’t say that. You can see for yourself what the Bible says. Stretching forth your hands doesn’t have to mean out to the side like you are being crucified. We can’t add words and meaning to the Bible.
Thou shalt stretch forth thy hands could mean being bound or restrained, being led to execution, or crucifixion. It could mean that, but the Bible doesn’t say that definitely. I believe it means he is under someone else’s control, likely restrained, and then led to his death. And he didn’t want to go. He didn’t go willingly like Jesus Christ went willingly.
That’s the huge difference. But Peter’s death did glorify God so he followed Jesus in faith to the end because his death glorified God.
If Your Faith Dies When a Preacher Dies, It Was Built Wrong
2 Peter 1:15
Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.
Peter is actively working to make himself unnecessary. That is the opposite of what many do today. Many build ministries that depend on them, their personality, their voice, and their presence.
If your faith collapses when a preacher disappears, you were not grounded in truth. You were grounded in a man. That’s what we all have to be careful about. Humans want to lift up humans because they are like them. They want heroes and idols and pastors they can worship.
But this is showing that Peter doesn’t want them dependent on him. He’s going to die. For example, many people around here become dependent on someone else to take care of them and then that person dies and they don’t know what to do. We have to be dependent on God alone because He’s not going away.
They need to always remember the Gospel. They need to grow spiritually. And they not to forget the Scriptures. He wants these things to stay with them even after he’s gone.
A real preacher such as Peter doesn’t build people around himself. He builds them around the truth that continues to remain once he’s gone. I’m going to die one day but the word of God endures forever. And that’s why I’m here right now. I am to teach you the truth and how to stick with the truth and not with a man.
It’s great to love me while I am here because I love you too, but you must be prepared for when I am gone. I won’t always be here.
False Teaching Is Designed to Sound Good
2 Peter 1:16
For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
“Cunningly devised” means carefully crafted to sound believable. False teaching is not always obvious. It is built to sound close to truth but with just enough error to mislead. For example, many pastors that I have known will teach the people that they are the Lord’s anointed ONE. They don’t do anything wrong. Everything they teach is right even though it’s clearly against God. They will twist Scriptures and teach you better never go against them or God will kill you.
That’s a cunningly devised fable that works on people. Wicked pastors do this. They put the fear of death into their minds. They will use examples of people dying because they went against them even though that’s not what happened. But they turn a story into a cunningly devised fable.
That is why emotion, storytelling, and personality can deceive people. Something can sound powerful and still be completely false. This happens in churches all the time. People believe a pastor because they think he knows the Bible better than them.
Don’t follow after fables. You need the Scriptures. Peter didn’t follow fables. Instead he made Jesus Christ known unto them. And Peter says that they were actual EYEWITNESSES of his majesty.
So you have people out there that call Peter a liar even though he was an eyewitness. The people living today didn’t see anything but yet they call Peter a liar. No, he’s a true witness. He was with Jesus. He saw the MAJESTY of Jesus Christ. Greatness, royal power, supreme authority, and glorious splendor. He saw it.
Peter saw the transfiguration of Jesus Christ in Matthew 17. His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. Peter saw the majesty of the visible display of Jesus Christ’s power, glory, and authority as King.
Experience Is Not the Highest Authority
2 Peter 1:17-18
For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
Peter had an experience that no one listening to him had. He saw Christ’s glory and heard the voice of God from heaven. That is the highest level of experience you could imagine.
Matthew 17:1-6
And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. 4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
Peter, James, and John, the apostles of Jesus Christ, were with Jesus in the holy mount, and they saw and heard these things. “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him.” Listen to Him. Listen to Jesus.
But Peter is about to say that even that is not the final authority.
Listen closely to this so you gain this knowledge and wisdom today so that you are never deceived. It’s not an experience or feelings or emotions that go with. Peter especially learned this.
The Word Is More Sure Than Experience
2 Peter 1:19
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
This is one of the most important statements in the Bible. The Word of God is more sure than personal experience. That means: 1) Your feelings are not the authority. 2) Your experiences are not the authority. 3) Your pastor is not the authority.
The Word of God is the authority. If you have a pastor that believes himself to be the authority, then you have a huge problem. For example, I knew a pastor that is so lifted up and prideful that he taught that Jesus could be corrupted by Mary Magdalene touching Him. I corrected him nicely by showing him the Scriptures which are the authority.
And he didn’t like it. He doubled down. He tripled down. And his own people went with that heresy of a teaching. He should have just said I was wrong. I messed that up and fixed it. But he couldn’t. He went with another preacher and what he said over what the word of God says. If what you feel or what someone says does not match Scripture, it is wrong. God’s words are right.
The word of God is a light in this dark, dark world. You cannot see clearly on your own. Your judgment, as a man or a woman, is limited. Truth is not always obvious in this world. The word of God is the only light in the darkness. Get away from the Scriptures, and you walk blind.
Until the day dawn is pointing forward to the return of Jesus Christ and the full revelation of the truth. We have partial light right now. One day everything will be fully revealed. Peter got a glimpse of that on the mount of transfiguration.
“And the day star arise in your hearts.” Jesus is the day star. He is the Sun of righteousness. He is the bright and morning star. Peter is saying: “Even though I saw Christ’s glory and heard God’s voice, the Word of God is more reliable than that.” He is putting the Scriptures on a pedestal. He is magnifying God’s words. He is lifting up the word of God.
Don’t trust every preacher because he or she is a preacher. Trust the Scriptures. God gave us the Scriptures as a light in this dark world. Follow that light.
Scripture Does Not Come From Man
2 Peter 1:20
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
This means Scripture did not originate from someone’s personal idea. It is not a product of human thinking.
That also means you do not get to reshape it. You do not get to adjust it to match what you want. Private interpretation is not about how you read the Bible. It’s about where the Scriptures came from. People will try to twist this verse all the time.
Scripture didn’t come from man or his ideas. The Scriptures are not someone’s opinion or imagination. It’s easy to see that because the Scriptures are pure. Man’s imagination is evil. This verse is saying the Scriptures are Holy because they came from God through the Holy Spirt who is God!
No prophecy of Scripture came from a prophet sitting down and coming up with his own interpretation of events. God gave the message. The Holy Ghost moved the writers. The words came from God and not from man.
God Is the Source of Every Word
2 Peter 1:21
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Men spoke, but God moved them to speak those words. The source is God, not man. Keep this verse handy for soul winning because many times you will need it. People will say, “Man wrote the Bible so it has some truth but it has lies too.” The prophecy mentioned here is all the Scriptures. They are prophecy. They do tell us the future.
This is why Scripture carries authority that no preacher ever will. It’s not even close. A preacher can be wrong. God is never wrong. Remember, God is THE SOURCE of the Holy Scriptures.
If you trust preachers without testing them, you will be deceived. If you trust experiences over Scripture, you will be misled. For example, Pentecostals are misled by the experiences they have in church. They lower the Scriptures and lift their screaming, yelling, flopping, devil babble, and more. They lift all these other things over the Scriptures, the living and powerful word of God.
Truth is not found in personality, charisma, or emotion. Truth is found in the Word of God. Look, a boring preach that teaches the word of God is way better than some woman dancing around a stage yelling and screaming and hissing and acting like she knows the word of God while she displays her disobedience to the word of God. Fleshly people love that.
Practical Applications
- Stop putting preachers in a position they do not belong in. They are not your final authority. They do have authority but that’s coming from the Scriptures.
- Measure everything you hear by Scripture. If it does not match, reject it.
- Do not trust your feelings. They can be wrong.
- Stay in the Word daily, because it is your only light in a dark world.
Conclusion
Peter saw Christ’s glory. He heard the voice of God from heaven. And he still says the Word of God is more sure than that. So do not build your faith on men. Do not build your faith on experiences. Build your faith on the Word of God.
Let’s pray.
Leave a Reply