WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:06.379 Good evening to all of you. Glad that we can be together. This is the second Sunday that 00:00:06.379 --> 00:00:12.640 we are celebrating Easter. In the church, in the history of the church and in the Anglican 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:18.559 church, Easter is not just a day, it's a season. And it's a season where we ring bells, where 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:24.039 we feast. But most importantly, we reflect on the reality of the resurrection, which 00:00:24.039 --> 00:00:28.600 is the foundation of our faith. Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians in chapter 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:34.899 15, that if the resurrection did not happen, our faith is vain, it's empty. And so because 00:00:34.899 --> 00:00:39.380 we believe that it happened, we want to deal with the implications of that. And one of the 00:00:39.380 --> 00:00:44.380 great promises of a faith that's based on a resurrection is the promise of transformation 00:00:44.380 --> 00:00:50.859 and renewal for all those who belong to the Lord. And so this Easter season, we're talking 00:00:50.859 --> 00:00:55.820 about transformation and renewal. We're talking about Christian growth. And we're doing that 00:00:55.820 --> 00:01:01.539 by looking at a book called 2 Peter. It's a second letter that the Apostle Peter wrote 00:01:01.539 --> 00:01:07.280 to his people not long before his death. And so whether you're somebody who came to faith 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:13.060 at some point earlier in your life and you're wondering what does it mean to grow and to mature, 00:01:13.379 --> 00:01:18.760 what does that look like? It's often misunderstood. It's not often talked about. What does that actually 00:01:18.760 --> 00:01:23.799 mean? Or if you're here and you're not a believer and you're not quite sure what you believe 00:01:23.799 --> 00:01:27.200 and you're wondering what is the heart and soul of the Christian faith? What's it all about? 00:01:27.539 --> 00:01:31.219 Those are the kinds of things that we're going to be addressing here looking at 2 Peter. 00:01:31.759 --> 00:01:38.299 And we're in the first chapter in 2 Peter and we come to this section, verses 12 through 21 00:01:38.299 --> 00:01:44.739 of chapter 1. And this is really the heart of the book. We see who Peter is. We see his heart laid 00:01:44.739 --> 00:01:51.239 bare. And we see his mission, why he's writing this letter to begin with, what's his mission, 00:01:51.239 --> 00:01:55.959 and then we see his actual message. So Peter's mission and his message. And this will really 00:01:55.959 --> 00:02:00.099 orient us to the book as a whole. Let's pray as we open God's Word together. 00:02:01.379 --> 00:02:07.599 Lord, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You that we have it here. We can access it. We can open it 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:14.439 and read it together. But if this is mere ink and paper, then this offers little more than any book 00:02:14.439 --> 00:02:20.659 of human wisdom or rhetoric, what we need is Your Holy Spirit. And what we need is the risen Christ. 00:02:21.139 --> 00:02:26.099 And we know that because of Your resurrection and the promises that You've made, You can use this 00:02:26.099 --> 00:02:32.099 Word as we open it to do Your work in us. And that's what we long for, Lord. And so it's in Your 00:02:32.099 --> 00:02:35.439 name, in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, we pray, Lord. Amen. 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:44.280 Amen. So we are looking at 2 Peter chapter 1, verses 12 through 15. We really see Peter's 00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:50.419 mission laid out. He sort of gives us a window into his heart. And in order to understand what 00:02:50.419 --> 00:02:53.699 he's talking about in these verses, we need to understand the reference that he makes. 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:58.560 Because he talks about the fact that his death is coming soon, and he talks about the fact that 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:04.020 Jesus had specifically told him that this day would come. Well, what's he talking about? Well, 00:03:04.020 --> 00:03:08.719 he's making an allusion back to an event, an encounter that happened that we read about 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:15.560 in John chapter 21, part of which Amy just read a moment ago. In John 21, Jesus has been 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:23.600 crucified, and the disciples are distraught. They are crestfallen. Their hopes have been dashed 00:03:23.600 --> 00:03:29.200 on the rocks. And so not knowing anything better to do, they have returned to their former professions 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:34.539 before they ever met Jesus. And so in Peter's case, he's gone back to fishing in a boat. 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:41.199 And one morning, they haven't caught anything all night. He and his friends look, and on the shore, 00:03:41.560 --> 00:03:46.620 they see a man. And this man tells them something that they've heard from one other person in their 00:03:46.620 --> 00:03:52.319 life, throw your net on the other side of the boat. Lo and behold, they catch a multitude of fish, 00:03:52.319 --> 00:04:00.139 153 to be exact, and they realize it is the Lord Jesus. And they see him resurrected in the flesh 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:07.739 on the shore. And so Peter, we have to understand at this point, is filled with shame. Prior to the 00:04:07.739 --> 00:04:14.340 crucifixion, he had denied Jesus three times, just as Jesus had predicted. And so at this point, 00:04:14.379 --> 00:04:20.259 he feels like a failure. He feels like he's let his Lord down. And so they come to the shore, 00:04:20.259 --> 00:04:24.699 and Peter is very obviously feeling incredibly uncomfortable, doesn't know what's going to 00:04:24.699 --> 00:04:28.899 happen. And Jesus invites them to sit and eat breakfast, which they do. They eat some of the 00:04:28.899 --> 00:04:35.560 fish cooked over the fire. And then once this silent, awe-filled meal has been completed, 00:04:36.099 --> 00:04:41.759 Jesus turns to Peter. And you can almost imagine Peter bracing himself just at any minute, 00:04:42.099 --> 00:04:47.439 Jesus is just going to lay into him. You know, how could you do that? How could you betray me? 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:53.160 After all I did for you. That's not what Jesus does. Jesus asks very mysterious questions. 00:04:53.300 --> 00:04:59.779 Simon Peter, do you love me more than these? Talking about the other disciples who are gathered 00:04:59.779 --> 00:05:06.000 there. Peter says, I do, Lord. I love you more than these. And then Jesus says something even more 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:12.139 interesting, then feed my lambs. And three times he does this, do you love me? And then when Peter 00:05:12.139 --> 00:05:17.919 professes his love, he responds by saying, feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. And we begin 00:05:17.919 --> 00:05:24.899 to realize that he's asking, do you love me? Once for each time that he was betrayed, each time that 00:05:24.899 --> 00:05:31.519 Peter denied him. And this is a ritual that we come to realize is not a retribution, but a reinstatement. 00:05:32.039 --> 00:05:38.000 He's reinstating Peter. Only now Peter is not a disciple. He has become an apostle, which by definition 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:43.279 means he is an eyewitness of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus is saying, from this point 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:51.180 forward, I'm reinstating you. And your mission is going to be this, feed my sheep, tend to my sheep, 00:05:51.319 --> 00:05:57.939 protect my sheep, care for my sheep. And then he makes a cryptic reference. He says, the day is going 00:05:57.939 --> 00:06:01.519 to come, Peter, when you're going to be taken where you don't want to go. Your arms are going to be 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:07.800 stretched out. And it clarifies, John clarifies, he's talking about the fact that Peter's death is 00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:15.100 approaching, that Peter will one day be martyred for the name of Jesus. And so Jesus is essentially 00:06:15.100 --> 00:06:21.540 saying, until that day comes of your martyrdom, I want you to devote your life, devote your life 00:06:21.540 --> 00:06:29.180 to feeding my sheep. So this is the reference that Peter is making here. And it's incredibly powerful 00:06:29.180 --> 00:06:37.180 because we see that this is a mission that came directly from Jesus, from the mouth of Jesus, 00:06:37.180 --> 00:06:45.040 that shapes the rest of Peter's life. And so now as we look at verses 12 to 15 in Peter's letter, 00:06:45.540 --> 00:06:50.639 he's essentially saying this, if I could paraphrase, he's saying this, he's saying, I'm not long for this 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:56.579 world. And I know that. Persecution is getting worse and worse and worse, and any day they're going to 00:06:56.579 --> 00:07:02.319 come for me. And so even though I've told you these things already, I want to tell you again, I want to 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:07.879 tell you one more time so that after I'm gone, you will never forget. And I'm going to make every 00:07:07.879 --> 00:07:13.240 effort to ensure that even long after I'm gone, you will never forget the things that I'm telling 00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:19.860 you, my message to you. And that's partly why he's writing this down, so that as we are doing right 00:07:19.860 --> 00:07:28.019 now, his sheep will always have the opportunity to come back and remember the core of his teaching, 00:07:28.019 --> 00:07:33.099 which he received from Jesus. I'm making every effort, he says. So this is Peter's mission. 00:07:34.099 --> 00:07:39.579 And I want to stop right there, and I just want to reflect on that idea, that Peter knows his 00:07:39.579 --> 00:07:45.859 death is coming. He knows his death is imminent. And he's clear on what his mission is between now 00:07:45.859 --> 00:07:53.079 and the day his death comes. And frankly, the church has been built by thousands and thousands 00:07:53.079 --> 00:08:00.979 of men and women very much like Peter, who looked at their lives, looked at the inevitability of their 00:08:00.979 --> 00:08:09.319 death, and devoted themselves to proclaiming God's Word, to spreading the gospel, to building the church 00:08:09.319 --> 00:08:15.339 with everything that they had. They've done it through all their various vocations and callings 00:08:15.339 --> 00:08:20.060 and countries all around the world through all kinds of circumstance, many of them very difficult. 00:08:20.060 --> 00:08:27.899 I'm reminded of Elizabeth Elliot, a very well-known writer and thinker and missionary. She passed 00:08:27.899 --> 00:08:33.820 away not too long ago, but she was a writer and an adjunct professor at the seminary I attended 00:08:33.820 --> 00:08:41.000 called Gordon Conwell. And so she was very well-known there. And her husband, Jim Elliot, was a missionary 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:49.240 back in the 1950s. And if you can imagine this, you know, young Jim Elliot, he's 28 years old. He's been 00:08:49.240 --> 00:08:56.399 married just under three years. He has a 10-month-old baby. And he looks around at the church in the U.S. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:03.419 at that time, and he says, these sheep are well-fed. And I want to go where the sheep need to be fed. I 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:08.200 want to go feed the sheep that don't have anyone to feed them. And so he felt called to overseas 00:09:08.200 --> 00:09:15.000 missions, as did his wife. And at this point in his life, he's 28, three years of marriage, 10-month-old 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:21.860 at home, daughter. He feels called to go to Ecuador and to share the gospel with the indigenous people 00:09:21.860 --> 00:09:26.039 in the tribes of Ecuador. And so some of you know this story. It's been written down. It's been turned 00:09:26.039 --> 00:09:30.539 into movies. He goes over there, and initially things seem to be going well. And then through a 00:09:30.539 --> 00:09:36.100 bizarre series of circumstances, he ends up being one of the first missionaries there who's killed. 00:09:36.259 --> 00:09:43.820 He's speared to death. Five men, actually, are killed by the tribesmen there. And it seems as though 00:09:43.820 --> 00:09:50.040 all is lost. But here's where the story actually gets interesting. Because then the wives of these 00:09:50.040 --> 00:09:56.700 missionaries, the wives of these men, continue to go back to Ecuador. They return there. And they begin 00:09:56.700 --> 00:10:01.120 to develop a relationship with these people, specifically the people who killed their husbands. 00:10:01.340 --> 00:10:08.000 And in one case, actually, the man who killed the missionary ends up adopting that missionary's son 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:13.680 and largely helping to raise him because that son spent so much time in Ecuador over the course 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:20.120 of his childhood. And the gospel begins to take root. And these people begin to be transformed. 00:10:20.659 --> 00:10:26.819 And the society as a whole begins to change. And we hear this and we think, well, is this some form 00:10:26.819 --> 00:10:33.019 of imperialism or something like that? And it's interesting. James Boster, who's an anthropologist 00:10:33.019 --> 00:10:39.879 from the University of Connecticut, he's not an evangelical Christian by any stretch, nevertheless has done a 00:10:39.879 --> 00:10:46.519 lot of research on these people groups. And he says that before their conversion, these people were 00:10:46.519 --> 00:10:54.639 essentially dying out. They were locked in a kind of endless cycle of revenge killings. 00:10:55.179 --> 00:11:03.840 So this society had basically been turned into tribes and factions. And they continued warring and warring 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:10.320 and attempts at truce had largely failed, mainly because the concept of peace, the word for peace 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:16.940 didn't exist in their language. The only thing they knew at the time culturally was protecting their own 00:11:16.940 --> 00:11:25.600 and defending the honor of their kin against anyone who might attack or threaten any other kind of way. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:32.060 And so this anthropologist says that when these women who were the kin of the men who had been killed, 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:38.340 when they arrive, and yet they arrive without the intention to seek revenge, but rather they arrive 00:11:38.340 --> 00:11:45.060 with a message of peace and reconciliation and forgiveness and love and service, that that began 00:11:45.060 --> 00:11:51.440 to show these people a new way, a different way. And it began to transform their society. And it gave 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:57.000 credibility to the gospel message. And that this anthropologist says that at this time they were 00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:03.180 on the verge of self-extinction, but at this point in time today, you know, they used to number in the 00:12:03.180 --> 00:12:09.060 hundreds, just a few hundred, and now they number in the thousands. Their society has begun to regrow 00:12:09.060 --> 00:12:19.580 because they have, generations of killing have ceased. So it's an amazing story. And what we see in this, 00:12:19.580 --> 00:12:26.580 what we see in people like Jim Elliot, Elizabeth Elliot, their allies and friends, is a single-minded 00:12:26.580 --> 00:12:33.800 devotion to feeding the sheep and building the church, building the kingdom. And the reason that 00:12:33.800 --> 00:12:40.400 I want to reflect on that is because, like it or not, we're all going to die one day. Hopefully nobody 00:12:40.400 --> 00:12:46.660 in this room will be martyred. You know, church history actually says that Peter was martyred. He was, 00:12:46.659 --> 00:12:51.559 not long after, wrote this letter under Emperor Nero. He was captured and taken, and he was crucified, 00:12:52.059 --> 00:12:57.799 much like Jesus was. But hopefully that won't happen to us. But nevertheless, we are going to die. 00:12:58.459 --> 00:13:02.779 Right? Even the people that Jesus raised in Scripture, people like Lazarus, Lazarus then 00:13:02.779 --> 00:13:08.819 eventually died again. And so the question then becomes, if we know we're going to die, and it could be 00:13:08.819 --> 00:13:15.659 sooner, it could be later, to what do we devote our lives between this day and that? What do we devote 00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:22.819 ourselves to? What do we give ourselves to? Do we have a single clear-minded vision for what God has 00:13:22.819 --> 00:13:29.219 called us to do? Because God has called all of His people in one way or another, through all of the 00:13:29.219 --> 00:13:37.659 amazing vocations that are represented in this room, that a part of that vocation is building and serving 00:13:37.659 --> 00:13:44.480 and seeking the growth of the church, of God's people in the world, of seeing the gospel message 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:52.299 spread to the four corners of the earth. As Jim Elliott once said, he is no fool who gives what 00:13:52.299 --> 00:13:59.319 he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. So this is Peter's mission. What's your mission? 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:05.120 All right, that's the first thing that we want to reflect on. But now as we continue to read in 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:11.440 verses 16 down through verse 21, we begin to get into the meat of what Peter's actual message is. 00:14:11.900 --> 00:14:17.400 All right, so if Jesus has said, feed my sheep, then how does Peter go about doing that? What's the 00:14:17.400 --> 00:14:23.220 means of feeding and nourishing God's people? And his message in the remainder of our passage is 00:14:23.220 --> 00:14:28.240 essentially twofold. He says this, in order to feed the sheep, in order to feed the sheep, 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:33.980 the sheep need to know two things. You can trust the Scriptures and you should use the Scriptures. 00:14:34.620 --> 00:14:39.899 So the Scriptures are the means of nourishment. You should trust them and you should use them. 00:14:40.700 --> 00:14:46.500 And so I want to look at each of those pieces in turn. Because when he says you can trust Scripture, 00:14:46.600 --> 00:14:51.960 the way he says that is to make another specific reference. He essentially says, 00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:59.960 I and the other apostles, we're not bringing you myths. We're not spreading rumors that we've heard. 00:15:00.400 --> 00:15:05.720 We're actually talking about things that we have seen and things that we have heard. We're eyewitnesses. 00:15:05.820 --> 00:15:10.900 We are, if you will, ear witnesses of the things that we're telling you about. This is not secondhand. 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:16.600 It's from our own eyes and ears. And he makes a reference back to what we call the transfiguration. 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:23.600 This is a place where not all of the disciples were privy to this. It was Peter and James and John. 00:15:23.700 --> 00:15:32.259 And they go up on a mountain with Jesus. And for just the briefest moment, they see the veil pulled back. 00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:38.779 And they see this moment of Jesus in his majesty and in his glory. 00:15:38.779 --> 00:15:45.819 And the beauty is devastating and terrifying to them. It's overwhelming. 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:50.100 They don't know what to do. Peter goes out of his mind at this moment. He doesn't know what to do. 00:15:50.139 --> 00:15:52.579 He's like, maybe should we build tents? I don't even know what I'm doing. 00:15:52.579 --> 00:15:57.500 And the author says he wasn't in his right mind. Right? This is an awesome moment. 00:15:58.100 --> 00:16:04.019 And so Peter's looking back to that and he says, I saw this. I heard the voice come from heaven. 00:16:04.019 --> 00:16:08.179 And the voice pronounces over Jesus, this man that we've been following. 00:16:08.279 --> 00:16:11.179 This voice says, this is my son with whom I'm well pleased. 00:16:11.299 --> 00:16:13.079 Peter's saying, I heard that voice. 00:16:13.939 --> 00:16:16.960 So I'm not telling you myths and rumors. I'm telling you what I saw. 00:16:18.319 --> 00:16:21.679 And then he goes on to talk about the prophetic writing. 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:27.360 And he says, this confirms everything that we've seen and read in the Old Testament, in the prophecies. 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:27.639 Right? 00:16:28.299 --> 00:16:32.679 So the point that he's trying to make is, we're reporting, we are eyewitnesses. 00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:34.739 So you can trust what we say. 00:16:34.839 --> 00:16:36.279 You can trust what we've written down. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:40.199 And he includes Paul in this later in his book. 00:16:40.279 --> 00:16:41.419 We'll look at this in a few weeks. 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:46.939 But in chapter 3, verse 16, he's talking about how some of the scriptures are hard to understand. 00:16:47.179 --> 00:16:51.120 And some people twist and misuse scripture for their own ends. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:53.679 But he's not talking about the Old Testament. 00:16:53.799 --> 00:16:55.219 He's talking about Paul's writing. 00:16:55.759 --> 00:16:58.379 And he says, some of the things that Paul says are hard to understand. 00:16:58.379 --> 00:17:03.740 And some people twist and misuse Paul's words as they do other parts of scripture. 00:17:04.660 --> 00:17:14.019 And he uses that specific word for scripture that we know means Peter considers Paul's writing to be right alongside the Old Testament scriptures. 00:17:14.660 --> 00:17:18.779 As having the same authority, the same inspiration, the same trustworthiness. 00:17:20.099 --> 00:17:20.220 Right? 00:17:20.220 --> 00:17:23.640 So the implication is that we can trust the New Testament scriptures. 00:17:23.860 --> 00:17:27.960 And then he says, and we have the prophetic writings all the more confirmed by this. 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:33.920 All of the things that the prophets talked about in the Old Testament, they're all being fulfilled in Jesus Christ. 00:17:34.059 --> 00:17:34.500 They're all... 00:17:34.500 --> 00:17:40.339 And that's why, by the way, when you read the gospel accounts, they are so careful to say, this happened to fulfill scripture. 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:42.940 He said this to fulfill what was said. 00:17:42.940 --> 00:17:52.140 And on almost every page you see that because they're painstakingly trying to show that all of the prophecies in the Old Testament are being fulfilled in Jesus Christ. 00:17:52.740 --> 00:17:57.080 And he says, because that happens, because we see that fulfillment, we know we can trust the Old Testament. 00:17:57.500 --> 00:17:58.320 Just like the New. 00:17:59.900 --> 00:18:00.160 Right? 00:18:00.259 --> 00:18:02.200 So scripture is trustworthy. 00:18:02.779 --> 00:18:04.620 We can rely on it. 00:18:05.400 --> 00:18:08.080 The second point goes right along with the first. 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:09.320 We're not just meant to trust it. 00:18:09.360 --> 00:18:10.640 We're actually meant to use it. 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:16.320 And so in verse 20 he says, no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. 00:18:16.780 --> 00:18:19.060 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man. 00:18:19.320 --> 00:18:23.120 But men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 00:18:23.240 --> 00:18:29.320 Part of using scripture means understanding that scripture is God's means of working in us. 00:18:30.780 --> 00:18:34.840 You know, that old saying that says the word of God does the work of God. 00:18:35.540 --> 00:18:36.060 Right? 00:18:36.059 --> 00:18:41.599 And part of understanding that means understanding that the scriptures are inspired by God. 00:18:41.679 --> 00:18:45.839 That when they were written down, they were written by people who were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 00:18:46.099 --> 00:18:47.619 And that's a fantastic image. 00:18:47.879 --> 00:18:49.659 Being carried along by the Holy Spirit. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:52.240 That shows up also in Acts chapter 27. 00:18:52.919 --> 00:18:54.319 You've got Paul and his companions. 00:18:54.500 --> 00:18:54.919 They're in a boat. 00:18:55.019 --> 00:18:56.079 They're trying to sail somewhere. 00:18:56.399 --> 00:18:57.659 They have an idea of where they want to go. 00:18:57.720 --> 00:18:58.720 They put their sails up. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:04.600 A storm hits and the wind from the storm drives them down the shore to a different destination. 00:19:05.620 --> 00:19:06.559 And it's the same word. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:08.180 We were carried along by the wind. 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:09.539 Right? 00:19:09.620 --> 00:19:14.600 And so this is giving this image of how the scriptures were written. 00:19:15.420 --> 00:19:16.660 You have all of these authors. 00:19:16.779 --> 00:19:16.880 Right? 00:19:16.900 --> 00:19:20.839 As many as 40 different authors writing over a thousand year period. 00:19:20.839 --> 00:19:28.559 from all different cultures and time periods and circumstances in different languages. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:33.519 Mainly Greek and Hebrew but also languages like Ugaritic and Aramaic. 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:36.179 And you have all of these different authors. 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:40.759 And at each time they're writing in their own particular circumstances, their own particular culture, 00:19:40.839 --> 00:19:41.759 in their own particular language. 00:19:42.019 --> 00:19:45.199 But as they begin to write, it is as though they're putting the sail up. 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:51.539 And whatever intention they may have, at the same time God has a superintending intention. 00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:52.140 Right? 00:19:52.220 --> 00:19:58.500 And so God's wind, God's Holy Spirit fills that sail and drives them in the direction that God wants them to go. 00:19:59.420 --> 00:20:06.019 Another way of understanding it is to say that the scriptures are at the same time fully human and fully divine. 00:20:06.340 --> 00:20:07.740 Just like Jesus Christ. 00:20:08.680 --> 00:20:11.519 And that's what makes the Bible such a fascinating book. 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:16.259 And if you understand what the Bible really is, it's more a library than it is a book. 00:20:17.180 --> 00:20:22.059 So these people are writing in their own free will, but they're carried along by God's will, by the Holy Spirit. 00:20:22.879 --> 00:20:27.019 So again, we have to understand that to know that we not only trust the scriptures, 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:31.059 but if we want God to work in our lives, the reason that God does this 00:20:31.059 --> 00:20:35.319 is so that his word will be the means of his work in our lives. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:37.740 So we can trust scripture. 00:20:38.059 --> 00:20:39.180 We should use scripture. 00:20:39.180 --> 00:20:44.660 And the goal should be to use it and to understand that it's meant to be a guide for us. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:46.160 He says in verse 19, 00:20:46.700 --> 00:20:51.980 pay attention to the word as to a lamp shining in a dark place. 00:20:53.340 --> 00:20:55.920 This is how you should think about God's word in your life. 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:57.960 It's like a lamp shining in a dark place. 00:20:58.600 --> 00:21:03.060 And if you were paying attention during the readings when Wes read the psalm a moment ago, 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:06.720 Psalm 119, this is a reference back to that psalm. 00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:10.839 You know, your word is a light unto my path and a lamp unto my feet. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:14.860 That's how we're meant to understand scripture. 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:15.900 It's a light in the darkness. 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:20.620 It's meant to illuminate and guide our lives and to help us see things more clearly. 00:21:20.619 --> 00:21:27.979 We've all, I think, lived long enough to read accounts of GPS disaster stories. 00:21:28.279 --> 00:21:32.739 You know, where somebody's following their GPS and they're not really paying attention to what's around them. 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:36.319 And then they're following their map and they're looking at their map and they're trusting their map. 00:21:36.539 --> 00:21:37.959 And it leads them to disaster. 00:21:38.299 --> 00:21:38.419 Right? 00:21:38.479 --> 00:21:40.019 This thing that is supposed to be reliable. 00:21:40.019 --> 00:21:43.960 So, you know, people literally, if you read the news on this, they end up driving into lakes. 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:46.180 You know, they drive off cliffs. 00:21:46.539 --> 00:21:48.720 They drive into sand pits. 00:21:49.500 --> 00:21:53.139 Sometimes they, you know, there have been accounts of people driving directly into buildings. 00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:55.119 You know, they just drive into a house. 00:21:55.139 --> 00:21:56.420 Well, the GPS told me to do it. 00:21:56.539 --> 00:21:58.259 You know, well, you drove into a house. 00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:00.279 Well, I was just following the GPS. 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:00.960 Right? 00:22:01.420 --> 00:22:05.720 And, you know, and there was one woman who said, you know, she was going to pick her friend up at the airport. 00:22:05.720 --> 00:22:07.299 And she said, well, I thought it was odd. 00:22:07.360 --> 00:22:09.960 I thought the airport was north, but it told me to go south. 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:13.860 And she starts driving and begins to cross international lines. 00:22:14.019 --> 00:22:19.839 She's in Europe and just starts to drive into different countries and has to take a break at one point because she's been on the road for hours. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:21.660 Well, the GPS told me to do it. 00:22:21.900 --> 00:22:23.299 Well, she had entered the wrong city. 00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:23.579 Right? 00:22:23.620 --> 00:22:24.839 It was in another country. 00:22:25.339 --> 00:22:26.559 And she was driving to that other country. 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:27.839 Well, I trusted the map. 00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:28.559 Right? 00:22:28.600 --> 00:22:32.339 And so you have all of these bizarre stories of people who are trusting their GPS. 00:22:32.940 --> 00:22:34.460 And it leads them to disaster. 00:22:34.460 --> 00:22:40.880 And the reason is because the map that they're following, even though it seems accurate and it seems trustworthy, it's off. 00:22:41.940 --> 00:22:44.559 And it doesn't align with reality. 00:22:44.680 --> 00:22:45.840 Well, it says there's a road here. 00:22:45.900 --> 00:22:47.319 Well, there actually is a house here. 00:22:47.700 --> 00:22:47.900 Right? 00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:49.100 That's not a road. 00:22:49.259 --> 00:22:49.400 Right? 00:22:49.480 --> 00:22:50.600 And it leads to disaster. 00:22:51.100 --> 00:22:56.640 So the point is, everybody in life, all of us in this room, we all have a map that we're following. 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:05.440 We all have a way of thinking about what it means to be human, what life is all about, where all of this came from and where it's all going. 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:08.700 We have a map that we use to orient us. 00:23:08.820 --> 00:23:09.000 Right? 00:23:09.080 --> 00:23:10.840 To prioritize our lives. 00:23:10.900 --> 00:23:12.480 To figure out what life is about. 00:23:12.920 --> 00:23:14.020 You can think of that as a map. 00:23:14.080 --> 00:23:14.600 A road map. 00:23:15.060 --> 00:23:17.640 And we get our map from all different kinds of places. 00:23:17.780 --> 00:23:19.040 But the point is, we all have one. 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:22.119 And the question then becomes, is the map that we're following accurate? 00:23:23.619 --> 00:23:26.180 Does it represent the world that we actually live in? 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:27.079 Is that a road? 00:23:27.299 --> 00:23:28.819 Or are we headed toward disaster? 00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:30.220 Right? 00:23:30.220 --> 00:23:39.539 And so, you know, to go back for a second to the example of the people in Ecuador, these are people who are living in a society and they're following a map. 00:23:39.539 --> 00:23:55.519 And their map, their way of understanding life was to say, well, the highest priority is to make sure that my kin, that my blood relations are safe and protected and that we put out a strong front and don't let anybody take advantage of us or mess with us. 00:23:55.700 --> 00:23:58.899 And if anybody does that, then we have to return that in kind. 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:00.759 And that was their map. 00:24:01.180 --> 00:24:04.200 And the gospel then comes and it becomes a lamp. 00:24:04.619 --> 00:24:05.659 It becomes a light. 00:24:05.660 --> 00:24:13.620 It begins to illuminate a different path, not a path of revenge and murder, but a path of reconciliation and forgiveness. 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:20.140 So two of the most important questions we can ask in life, what map am I following? 00:24:20.380 --> 00:24:21.740 And then, is it accurate? 00:24:23.320 --> 00:24:33.320 You know, a lot of people, a lot of people, and they don't really, we don't know where these assumptions come from, but a lot of people begin to look around and they see everybody around me is working hard. 00:24:33.319 --> 00:24:35.099 And everybody around me is very accomplished. 00:24:35.419 --> 00:24:42.039 And you live in a place like D.C. and everybody has these impressive degrees and credentials and everybody's aiming really high. 00:24:42.259 --> 00:24:44.240 And people want to be successful. 00:24:44.539 --> 00:24:48.779 And even more than that, people don't necessarily want to make a lot of money here, but they want to make a difference. 00:24:49.579 --> 00:24:51.559 And that can seem like a very noble goal. 00:24:51.619 --> 00:24:53.639 That map looks like a good map to live by. 00:24:53.640 --> 00:24:57.620 But what happens is you can start pursuing that and pursuing it and pursuing it. 00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:04.460 And people in a culture like ours can become so devoted to that that you begin to neglect friendships. 00:25:04.840 --> 00:25:05.640 You begin to neglect family. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:08.240 You begin to neglect your own health. 00:25:08.780 --> 00:25:11.800 You neglect your relationship with the Lord, if there is one. 00:25:12.040 --> 00:25:14.640 You begin to neglect all of these things because you're following that map. 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:17.400 And then you follow it and you follow it and you follow it and you follow it. 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:19.820 And no matter what it does to you and what it costs you, you follow that map. 00:25:19.980 --> 00:25:26.259 And then you get to the end of your life and you begin to look back and you're in retirement age and you begin to reevaluate those decisions. 00:25:26.520 --> 00:25:27.240 And guess what? 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:32.800 In the research that they do on people who are in the late stages of their life and they ask, what are your biggest regrets? 00:25:34.300 --> 00:25:38.220 Not once has a survey produced people who said, I really wish I had worked more. 00:25:39.160 --> 00:25:41.480 I really wish I had taken more work trips. 00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:44.960 You know, I wish I had put in more hours at the office. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:47.000 Nobody says that. 00:25:47.059 --> 00:25:47.819 You know what people say? 00:25:49.220 --> 00:25:51.819 Why didn't I spend more time with my family? 00:25:52.819 --> 00:25:55.579 Why didn't I spend more time making friends? 00:25:56.099 --> 00:25:58.279 Why did I let those friendships lapse? 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:00.039 Why didn't I invest? 00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:04.960 Why didn't I pick up the phone and call before 30 years had passed and we had grown so distant? 00:26:05.819 --> 00:26:07.700 Why did I let those relationships slide? 00:26:07.700 --> 00:26:14.160 And you get to the end of your life and you begin to realize this map looked good at the time, but I don't think this is the right map. 00:26:14.460 --> 00:26:16.160 I don't think it was leading me in a good direction. 00:26:16.279 --> 00:26:19.279 And where I've ended up by following this map, I don't like where I am. 00:26:19.319 --> 00:26:20.180 I think I'm lost. 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:22.880 Right? 00:26:23.180 --> 00:26:24.000 People get married. 00:26:24.100 --> 00:26:24.880 Just one more example. 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:28.960 People get married and they think, you know, I'm lonely and now I'm finally going to get married. 00:26:29.120 --> 00:26:33.460 And once I get married, I won't be lonely anymore and I'll be more emotionally fulfilled. 00:26:33.460 --> 00:26:36.299 And that's when life is really going to begin, you know. 00:26:36.740 --> 00:26:43.880 And then you get married and you marry an actual human being and you realize that you're still kind of lonely. 00:26:43.880 --> 00:26:46.960 And you realize that you're not actually emotionally fulfilled. 00:26:47.720 --> 00:26:52.039 But you're following that map and you say, well, this is what marriage is and this is where marriage should take me. 00:26:52.220 --> 00:26:54.079 So I'm just going to follow this and I'm just going to hope it. 00:26:54.079 --> 00:27:03.359 And then you begin to realize that the longer you're on the road and the further down you get, down that path, you begin to realize over the years that that's not in fact the reality that I'm experiencing. 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:05.179 I'm not actually fulfilled. 00:27:05.299 --> 00:27:06.619 I'm still lonely. 00:27:06.759 --> 00:27:08.460 And sometimes I actually feel more lonely. 00:27:08.939 --> 00:27:10.439 And that's weird and I don't know how to make sense. 00:27:10.619 --> 00:27:12.339 That's not on the map, you know. 00:27:12.659 --> 00:27:13.720 That's nowhere on the map. 00:27:14.419 --> 00:27:19.240 And then you have really bad fights and you get more angry than you ever thought possible. 00:27:19.539 --> 00:27:22.079 You get more despairing than you ever thought possible. 00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:27.079 Well, there are times when all of the love and all of the attraction is just not enough and you want to walk out the door. 00:27:27.259 --> 00:27:28.699 And you're like, that is not on the map. 00:27:29.099 --> 00:27:29.919 I don't see this. 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:31.659 I don't even recognize where I am. 00:27:31.720 --> 00:27:32.879 This is not what I was promised. 00:27:34.619 --> 00:27:35.919 And so maybe you leave. 00:27:36.039 --> 00:27:37.500 Maybe you just shut down. 00:27:38.279 --> 00:27:40.679 You know, maybe you just kind of shift into a coexistence. 00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:43.639 You know, a kind of ceasefire, which is an intimacy. 00:27:45.419 --> 00:27:48.000 But it's you looking at the map and saying, I don't know where I am. 00:27:48.539 --> 00:27:49.259 I'm lost. 00:27:50.059 --> 00:27:50.339 Right? 00:27:50.339 --> 00:27:50.379 Right? 00:27:50.619 --> 00:27:52.399 My map looked good, but it's not accurate. 00:27:54.059 --> 00:27:54.459 Right? 00:27:54.539 --> 00:27:59.839 And then the question becomes, well, here I am at this point in my life. 00:27:59.899 --> 00:28:01.099 I'm not at that point yet. 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:05.379 This map that I'm following, is this the right map? 00:28:06.599 --> 00:28:06.899 You know? 00:28:07.959 --> 00:28:09.639 Or is there a better map? 00:28:10.659 --> 00:28:12.359 Is there a better path to follow? 00:28:12.980 --> 00:28:14.980 Because the wrong map can lead to disaster. 00:28:14.980 --> 00:28:15.380 Right? 00:28:16.380 --> 00:28:19.640 And so Christians have always been tempted. 00:28:20.740 --> 00:28:22.720 This isn't just a Christian, non-Christian thing. 00:28:22.940 --> 00:28:30.500 Christians have always been tempted to think we finally arrived at a point where we can sort of depart from Scripture. 00:28:30.500 --> 00:28:33.859 You know, we're finally advanced enough. 00:28:34.500 --> 00:28:36.460 We're culturally advanced enough. 00:28:36.539 --> 00:28:38.480 We're scientifically advanced enough. 00:28:38.579 --> 00:28:41.000 The social sciences have advanced enough. 00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:46.880 We're sophisticated enough as people or as a culture or as a church or as a society. 00:28:47.140 --> 00:28:52.779 We're at a point, the issues that are facing us now, we're at a point now where we see a better path. 00:28:52.779 --> 00:28:55.680 We don't need this path anymore. 00:28:55.799 --> 00:28:59.079 That worked back in the Bronze Age, but we don't need that anymore. 00:28:59.899 --> 00:29:01.160 We see a better way. 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:02.240 We'll still be Christians. 00:29:02.379 --> 00:29:03.000 We'll still be faithful. 00:29:03.079 --> 00:29:03.879 We'll still follow Jesus. 00:29:03.980 --> 00:29:04.879 We'll still do all of that stuff. 00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:06.319 But we found a better path. 00:29:06.680 --> 00:29:09.799 And we're all headed in the same direction, and this is a better way to get there. 00:29:10.740 --> 00:29:15.519 And so they begin to distance themselves and begin to depart and begin to lose their way. 00:29:16.259 --> 00:29:18.039 And church history is filled with those stories. 00:29:18.299 --> 00:29:18.339 Right? 00:29:18.579 --> 00:29:20.139 This was happening in Peter's day. 00:29:20.140 --> 00:29:26.180 Beginning next week, you're going to hear about some of the specific ways that they were being tempted to depart from the path. 00:29:26.620 --> 00:29:27.660 And it's happening today. 00:29:27.940 --> 00:29:30.100 And it will continue to happen until Jesus comes again. 00:29:30.620 --> 00:29:31.500 It's part of human nature. 00:29:32.700 --> 00:29:32.800 Right? 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:37.620 So Peter's message is, as he's looking around at all of these different paths, at Christians who are tempted to say, 00:29:37.880 --> 00:29:39.540 I don't think I need this light in this path. 00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:40.620 I want to go this way. 00:29:41.340 --> 00:29:43.420 Peter's saying, stay on the path. 00:29:44.200 --> 00:29:45.080 Trust the Word. 00:29:45.600 --> 00:29:46.460 Use it as a lamp. 00:29:46.560 --> 00:29:48.720 Continue to follow the path that it has shown you. 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:50.720 Don't go off the path. 00:29:51.720 --> 00:29:54.079 And, of course, the greatest disaster possible. 00:29:54.360 --> 00:29:58.480 You know, it is a disaster to realize that you spent your life on the wrong priorities. 00:29:59.380 --> 00:30:02.940 It is a disaster to go into marriage with unrealistic expectations. 00:30:03.100 --> 00:30:11.000 But, of course, the biggest disaster possible is getting to the end of your life and realizing that there was, in fact, a God who made you. 00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:15.220 And that all along you had an opportunity to know that God and that you didn't. 00:30:15.220 --> 00:30:17.500 And you never took that opportunity. 00:30:18.120 --> 00:30:23.279 And as a result, you get to the end of your life and you realize that all the things that you were aiming for, they're all null and void. 00:30:23.380 --> 00:30:24.660 They're all empty apart from him. 00:30:26.100 --> 00:30:37.240 And so that's why, because that's the greatest disaster possible, that's why the Word of God is ultimately a lamp unto our feet that is meant to lead us down the path into relationship with God. 00:30:37.240 --> 00:30:41.620 That's the central purpose of Scripture, not to teach us about marriage, not to teach us about priorities. 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:44.579 It's to lead us down the path into relationship with God. 00:30:45.059 --> 00:30:49.440 And so that's why all the Scriptures point to Jesus, because he's the way. 00:30:51.079 --> 00:31:00.240 And so when we look at this image, it's a very powerful image to orient us as to how to think about Scripture, what it's about, what it's for. 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:08.740 And of course, as we think about Scripture, we do know, as Peter will admit later in his letter, parts of it are very hard to understand. 00:31:09.720 --> 00:31:12.180 We never will get it 100% right. 00:31:12.900 --> 00:31:19.700 There are things, the interpretations that I make about parts of Scripture that I feel very confident in, maybe 85%, 90% confident. 00:31:20.099 --> 00:31:26.099 And there are other interpretations that I make that I may be 50% or 40% or 30% confident that I've got the right read on it. 00:31:26.500 --> 00:31:28.620 And that's a part of what it means to be a human being. 00:31:28.619 --> 00:31:31.599 But Peter's saying, follow it as a lamp. 00:31:32.019 --> 00:31:33.699 In other words, it's not a floodlight. 00:31:33.779 --> 00:31:36.559 You're not going to see everything clearly and all at once. 00:31:36.719 --> 00:31:38.039 All you're going to have is a lamp. 00:31:38.119 --> 00:31:40.559 It's going to show you maybe the next step to take. 00:31:41.699 --> 00:31:42.500 And that's it. 00:31:43.079 --> 00:31:45.039 And it's hard because we want to see the whole thing. 00:31:45.439 --> 00:31:47.319 But he says, no, it's a lamp, one step at a time. 00:31:48.239 --> 00:31:54.139 But then, to counteract that, he reminds us of the ultimate promise that we see in Scripture. 00:31:54.399 --> 00:31:56.899 That the day is going to come when we no longer need Scripture. 00:31:56.900 --> 00:31:59.759 In other words, the day is going to come when we no longer need the lamp. 00:32:00.120 --> 00:32:00.400 Why? 00:32:00.800 --> 00:32:02.259 Because daylight will come. 00:32:03.000 --> 00:32:03.960 Dawn will come. 00:32:04.300 --> 00:32:07.380 And when dawn comes, the darkness will be dispelled once and for all. 00:32:07.460 --> 00:32:11.320 And he says, when that day comes, the morning star will rise in our hearts. 00:32:11.380 --> 00:32:12.540 And, of course, what's he talking about? 00:32:12.740 --> 00:32:13.560 Jesus Christ. 00:32:13.960 --> 00:32:17.900 He says, the day is going to come when you're going to be so full of illumination. 00:32:17.900 --> 00:32:24.700 Transparenation, as the Scripture says, you're going to be so full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 00:32:24.860 --> 00:32:30.420 There's going to be so much of the presence and the glory of Jesus that we won't need a lamp. 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:32.280 We'll be able to see all things clearly. 00:32:32.279 --> 00:32:39.859 So, to bring all of this back together, Peter's mission and his message. 00:32:39.960 --> 00:32:40.599 What's his mission? 00:32:41.379 --> 00:32:43.779 Between now and when I die, I want to feed my sheep. 00:32:44.019 --> 00:32:46.119 I want to feed the sheep that belong to Jesus Christ. 00:32:46.539 --> 00:32:47.660 Well, how's he going to do that? 00:32:47.980 --> 00:32:52.139 He has to convince us, the sheep, to do two things. 00:32:53.099 --> 00:32:54.119 Trust God's Word. 00:32:54.299 --> 00:32:54.940 Trust the Scriptures. 00:32:54.940 --> 00:33:01.860 And then use the Scriptures as a lamp to light our way and guide our path until the morning light comes. 00:33:02.660 --> 00:33:03.360 Let's pray.