APOSTLES IN THE WITNESS STAND

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on May 15, 2019 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: May 15, 2019 from 2 Peter 1:16-19

Theme: The ‘eyewitness’ account of the apostles about Christ is evidence that gives us confidence as we build upon our faith in Christ.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

The apostle Peter was eyewitness to a truly remarkable event—the transfiguration of our Lord Jesus. It is mentioned in three of the four Gospels—in Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:1-9 and Luke 9:27-36. And because we’re studying from a letter by Peter; and because the tradition is that Mark’s Gospel gives to us the gospel as Peter preached it, let’s concentrate on the event as it is told to us in Mark 9:1-9.

Our Lord had been speaking to His apostles:

And He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.” Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves. Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead (Mark 9:1-9).

This would have to be one of the greatest and most life-transforming events in all the lives of these three disciples. They would never have forgotten it; and they would have called upon it later in life in times of trial while following Jesus.

And this brings us to our passage in 2 Peter 1. As you’ll remember, Peter wrote that we—as followers of Jesus—have as a present provision through Christ “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). He affirmed that we have this provision through “exceedingly great and promises, that through these you might be partakers of the divine nature” (v. 4); and he urged us so build upon the foundation of this faith diligently (vv. 5-11)—remembering the things that have been given to us so that we put them to use (vv. 12-15). And then, he said:

For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts . . . (2 Peter 1:16-19).

When it comes to building upon our faith in Jesus—trusting in His provision in times of trial—Peter’s words in verses 16-19 are strategic.

You see; it’s important to remember the provision we have in Christ of “all things that pertain to life and godliness”. But if we’re honest, the problem isn’t always our memory. Sometimes, it is plain ol’ unbelief. In moments of great trial and difficulty and struggle in life, many of us who should know and remember these things simply don’t believe them to be actually true. We sometimes resort to a kind of sinful ‘dismissiveness’ of these things—saying that, though a faith in Jesus is nice and comforting in most of life, ‘real problems need real solutions’. And as a result, instead of doing as Peter says in this chapter, many of us turn away from the complete provision that is given us in Christ in unbelief, and turn instead to fleshly expediencies to solve our problems. To put it frankly: in moments of the greatest need of Christ’s infinite provision, we sometimes treat the work of Jesus that gives these great spiritual provisions to us as if it is—for all practical purposes—only a myth and not at all real; and as if the promises of God in the Scriptures have no real practical impact. This is a very frequent reason why many people who profess a faith in Jesus do not experience actual victory in Him.

Peter wrote these strong words in 2 Peter 1:16-19 in order to combat this tendency. What a difference it makes if we treat the gospel message of the work of Jesus on our behalf—and the provision it makes possible to us—as if it is the most real thing there is!

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First, notice how Peter shows us that …

1. THE CLAIMS OF THE GOSPEL CANNOT BE DISMISSED AS MERE ‘MYTHS’ (v. 16a).

Peter wrote, “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ …” His “power” speaks of the greatness of the display of His authority. We’re told in the Scripture that “all authority” has been given to Him (Matthew 28:18); and that the Father has given “all things into His hands” (John 13:3). It will be at His name that every knee will bow; and that every tongue will one day confess Him as Lord (Philippians 2:10-11). As this story shows us, even Moses and Elijah were subject to Him. And His “coming” speaks of the time at which that power will be most marvelously displayed (see Matthew 24:30-31).

It is by the power of our Lord and the confidence of His coming that we live victoriously in Him in this fallen world. It is vital that these things be received by us as real and substantial. And so, Peter makes it very clear that he and the other apostles—the ‘sent’ witnesses of these things to us—did not follow “cunningly devised fables” when they made these things known to us. The Greek word that Peter used is muthois—from which we get the word “myth”. A myth is a fable or a fantasy story that people create in order to help them define their subjective and cultural experiences—even though it has no basis in reality. In the ancient world, mythology was a part of everyday life; and myths were used everywhere to explain almost everything. But Peter was denying that the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is like that. He insisted that it is rooted in time/space reality. Perhaps the apostle John was speaking of the same event that Peter was writing about when he declared;

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full (1 John 1:1-4).

Praise God—our victory is not based on myths, but on trustworthy, eye-witnessed reality!

Peter goes on to say that …

2. THE CLAIMS THE GOSPEL MAKES ARE BASED ON EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS OF ACTUAL EVENTS (vv. 16b-18).

Peter takes us back to that remarkable event with the Lord Jesus on the mountain; and says that he and two other apostles “were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain” (vv. 16b-18).

To say that he and the other apostles “were eyewitnesses of His majesty” could refer—in a general way—to the whole of Jesus’ life on earth. After all, the apostle John began his Gospel by saying, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14); and he would have meant the whole of Jesus’ earthly life. But Peter here refers specifically to the amazing event that he, James and John saw together on the mountain. These three men on the mountain truly were “eyewitnesses” to the “power” and “coming” of the Lord Jesus that they declared to us. They actually saw—with their own physical eyes—the majesty of Jesus on display in ‘preview’ of His second coming. And not only did they witness it with their eyes, but they also heard it with their physical ears. Peter described how the voice of the Father spoke from heaven and said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Peter said, “And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.” He didn’t mean that it was simply an impression that came upon their hearts and minds spiritually. He is saying that they actually heard the sound with their ears. And note that it was not just one man who experienced this; and not even just two men. It was three men—all of whom bore a sensory testimony to the same event in time/space reality. As the Bible tells us, when it comes to matters of testimony, “by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established” (Deuteronomy 19:15).

People sometimes dismiss the gospel of Jesus Christ by saying that you can’t prove the claims of Christianity ‘scientifically’. But when they say that, they are insisting that the wrong tool be used for the job. “Science” isn’t the correct tool to use to validate the truthfulness of a historic account; because the scientific method requires the ability to repeat an event in a controlled environment—over and over—in order to establish a pattern and prove a hypothesis. Obviously, it’s impossible to prove truthfulness or falsity of the testimony of any historic event in that way. Rather, the proper way to test the truth of such a claim is through the corroboration of credible eyewitness testimony. And that means that the claims of the gospel are proven to be true in the same exact way that the truth of any other testimony is tested in a court of law.

Simon Greenleaf was a founding professor of law at Harvard School of Law. He once wrote: “All that Christianity asks of men on this subject is, that they would be consistent with themselves; that they would treat its evidences as they treat the evidence of other things; and that they would try and judge its actors and witnesses, as they deal with their fellow men, when testifying to human affairs and actions, in human tribunals. Let the witnesses be compared with themselves, with each other, and with surrounding facts and circumstances; and let their testimony be sifted, as if it were given in a court of justice, on the side of the adverse party, the witnesses being subjected to a rigorous cross-examination. The result, it is confidently believed, will be an undoubting conviction of their integrity, ability, and truth” (Simon Greenleaf, The Testimony of The Evangelists Examined by The Rules of Evidence Administered in Courts of Justice [Newark, N.J.: Sony & Sage, 1903], p. 46).

Now; Peter wasn’t writing this to simply give us a defense of the faith. He means for it to motivate us to action. He means for us to give ourselves fully to the work of building upon the foundation of our faith in Christ. And so, he goes on—finally—to show us that …

3. THE OLD TESTAMENT PROMISES ABOUT JESUS ARE NOW CONFIRMED AND DEMAND A RESPONSE OF FAITH (v. 19).

Peter says, “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts …”. What is the ‘prophetic word’ that he speaks of? It would speak of the prophetic promises in the Old Testament about Jesus—such promises as we find in Genesis 3:15, or Genesis 12:3, or Numbers 24:17, or Psalm 22, or Isaiah 53, or Zechariah 9:9, or Malachi 4:2. They have now been confirmed by the fact that they have been fulfilled by Christ.

If you have a bus schedule in your hand, and it says that the bus will come at such and such a time, and the bus actually arrives on schedule, then you will have had the bus schedule “confirmed” as trustworthy. And in the same way, the promises concerning Jesus have been fulfilled and thus “confirmed”. Peter, James and John witnessed it with their own eyes and ears—not only on the holy mountain, but also in the empty tomb. All that the prophetic Scriptures have told us about Jesus has been confirmed; and we can trust our eternal destiny to what those Scriptures says. And we must now do as Peter goes on to say and heed it “as a light that shines in a dark place”—that is, just like a lamp that illuminates a dark and dingy room and shows us the way to go until the bright rays of sunshine shine through the windows. One day, the Lord Jesus will return; and that’s when the day will truly “dawn”, and the “morning star” will truly rise in our hearts. But until then, the prophetic word is our lamp—and it’s light has been fully confirmed to us. We can trust confidently in what it says and walk in its light.

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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; our faith in Jesus Christ is not based on myths. It is a realistic faith based on factual events that are declared to us by reliable eyewitnesses. Those eyewitnesses assure us that Jesus is everything that the Scriptures declare Him to be. We can trust Him fully.

So; let’s not turn any longer to lesser things. Let’s believe in the provision of Christ. Let’s faithfully build on our faith in the way that Peter urged us to do. Let’s give ourselves whole-heartedly to God’s provision in Christ for all we need. The manifestation of His glory assures us that no one who depends on Him and obeys Him will ever be disappointed!

EA