II Peter 1:15-21

“Do you really trust the Word of God??”

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“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:”

Introduction to the Lesson:

Let me ask you something this morning class…what does it mean to place your “trust” in something or someone?

Webster defines that word “trust” as, “a reliance or resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship or other sound principle of another person.”

The verb form of the word “trust” simply means, “to place confidence in; to rely upon; to depend upon;”

In the two letters of I and II Peter, the Apostle Peter is trying to get his readers to understand that we have something today that we can truly place our confidence and trust in, that we can rely upon, that we can rest upon…something that the world around us does not truly have or even understand or comprehend…you and I, as born again children of God, we have a place that we can go when we do not know where to go, and that ‘place’ is what we call The Bible…the Sure Word of God!

Thank God for the SURE Word of God… that word ‘sure’ means, ‘confident certainty; something that is unfailing, indisputable, firmly established, steadfast, reliable, trustworthy, safe from danger and harm, incontestable, irrefutable, unwaverable, and infallible’, just to name a few!

The Psalmist wrote in Psalms 19:7, “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”

What a blessing to know that “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:” as Peter explains here in our Lesson’s key verse today!

Now my question to you this morning is this… “Are YOU trusting in the sure Word of God?” “Do YOU have confidence in the sure Word of God?”

Listen folks, if you and I who live in such a dark and sinful world, cannot have confidence and trust in the sure Word of God, where can we go when the heartaches hit us, and the problems bombard us, and the sorrows seem to simply overwhelm our soul?

We need a place that is sure and certain, a place where we can find refuge in the midst of the storm and a source of strength and encouragement for our weary soul, and folks, that ‘place’ is the sure and certain, tried and true, Holy and never-changing Holy and True Word of the Living God!

Andin the passages of today’s lesson, the Apostle Peter deals with the need today for each of us, as born again children of God, to fully “trust” God and His Word!

And in our lesson today, he will present the fulfillment of prophecy as well as his own personal testimony concerning an event that changed Peter’s life, along with his way of thinking, about God and His sure Word!


Let’s Take A Look At This Wonderful Lesson From God’s Word Today…


Lesson: “Trusting God’s Sure Word”


I : Reality of Faith

    A: Peter’s Endeavor
        - II Peter 1:15, II Peter 1:5-8, II Peter 1:12, Matthew 17:1-8

    B: Christ’s Majesty
        - II Peter 1:16, Psalm 12:6-7, II Peter 3:1-4

    C: The Voice of God is heard in verse 17 and 18
        - II Peter 1:17-18, Matthew 16, Matthew 17:1-5, Isaiah 43:3, Matthew 1:20-23,
          John 1:14, Luke 19:10, Acts 4:12, I Corinthians 3:11, Philippians 2:5-11,
          Luke 2:15-20, John 1:32-51, John 4:28-42, Mark 16:19-20, Matthew 28:18-20

II : Reliability of Faith as seen in II Peter 1:15-18

    - II Peter 1:15-18 
        - That word ‘reliable’ literally means “that which is the ground of confidence,
          the certainty or full cononviction that satisfies the mind and leaves it at
          rest and undisturbed by doubt”

    A: Certainty of Belief
        - II Peter 1:19, Psalm 119:105

    B: The Origin of Prophecy
        - II Peter 1:20-21

CONCLUSION…

The Word of God tells us in Genesis 1:1-5, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”

Now picture this…

These holy men of God that God used to pen down the words of God were only God’s instruments to provide you and me with what God wanted us to know!

Their hand became the “pen of God”, if you please, and that pen of God was filled with the “ink of the Holy Spirit of God”.

And God moved upon them with His mighty hand and used these pens to Author his Word as He so desired so that you and I might know of God’s great plan of love and eternal salvation for all mankind.

Man was no “co-author” and there was no “dual authorship” in our receiving the Word of God!

II Samuel 23:2 confirms this fact when it says, “The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.”

In the book of Jeremiah chapter 1, verses 7 through 9 Jeremiah wrote, “But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.” And do these verses not confirm the fact that the words that Jeremiah spoke were NOT his words, but they were GOD’S WORDS!

What a blessing it is to know that we hold in our hands the sure and eternal Word of God today!

Child of God…do you realize that the book you hold in your hand today is indeed the SURE WORD OF GOD??

Oh, that today we would love it! Oh, that today we might take time to read it and to hide its words in our hearts that we might not sin against God!