You'll turn back with me now
to 2 Peter chapter 1. I want to focus on verse 19 of
this chapter on this subject, a more sure
word of prophecy. Now as we consider the passage
that I read to you just a little earlier, there are some things
that I want to point out to you that perhaps escaped you as I
read them. First of all, that Peter knew
that his time was short. And he'd soon have to leave his
ministry and leave this world altogether and go and be with
the Lord. He knew that. The Lord told him
that. And he knew that his time was
short. Like Paul, who looked at the Ephesian elders and said,
my time's up. He said, you'll see my face no
more. You know, in December, I'll be 69 years old. I was 25
yesterday. I'll be 69 years old. And if I live to the average
age of my father and grandfather, I've only got about 15 years
left on this earth. Sneaks up on you, don't it? Now the Lord told Peter about
his death, and his heart was stirred to tell his hearers about
the glorious gospel of Christ. Look at this here, 2 Peter 1.15.
Moreover, I will endeavor that you may be able, after my
decease, to have these things always in remembrance that I'm
preaching to you. This is the goal of every preacher,
every pastor and evangelist. He would that his hearers would
be grounded in the truth he preaches, established and settled in the
faith. Not only for them to walk in
this world and work in this world. I have to work in this world.
You do. I have to walk in this world. This is where I buy my
groceries. This is where I pay my bills. And I need knowledge from God
and the grace of God and the mercy of God to be able to walk
a godly walk in this world. And it's the goal of every preacher
and every pastor and evangelist for his hearers to be grounded
in the faith. And not just to walk and work
in this world, but also to be able to recognize and receive
one after their departure. I'm gonna be here forever. A lot of these little babies, they
were about that big running around. Now they're adults. Gonna marry one here before too
long. That was yesterday. Now look,
that's how fast time goes. One of these days you're going
to have to find a replacement. And I don't want you back there
in the back room with some dice shaking it and throwing it out
on the table or anything like that. I want you to know in your
hearts and minds what I preached. And when these men come, examine
them in that fashion. I preach as a dying man. One
man said to dying men, you're dying and so am I. And Paul said this, as you have
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. That's the
goal of my preaching. I want you to understand what
it is to walk in him, to live out your days in him. How do we do that? Same way we
received him, by the grace and mercy of God. And he said, I
want you to be rooted and built up in him. Built up in Him, loving
Him, knowing Him, walking with Him, worshiping Him. Rooted and built up in Him and
established in the faith as you've been taught and abound therein
with thanksgiving. My soul, aren't you thankful
that God's opened your eyes to see what you see and hear what
you hear. Years ago, there was a fellow
in an Armenian church, and we've been talking for quite a while.
And finally, in desperation, he turned to me and he said,
can't we just lay our doctrines aside and love one another? I
said, not me. Not me. I ain't laying my doctrine
aside to love anybody, by the grace of God. What if you held in your hand
this morning the last will and testament? Had it in your hand,
the last will and testament. Of a beloved family member who
was rich beyond your wildest dreams. Had holdings all over
the world. And he named you sole heir of
all he possessed and gave you his last will and testament.
You had it in your hand. And another fella comes along
with a defrauded last will and testament. And you can tell when
he starts, he didn't know this man and that wasn't his last
will and testament. But he comes to you and you bandy
back and forth and debate back and forth and argue back and
forth and finally he just looks at you and says, can't we just
lay these documents aside and love one another? Uh-uh. No. I'm going to hold on to what
was given me. You see that? It's the gift of
God. God's given you these things. Oh, what a privilege to have
been given. I blessed are your eyes, he said,
for they see. And your ears, for they hear. You know how many ears don't
hear this morning? Multitudes. Millions are not
hearing anything. You've got ears. You've got ears. My friend, God has a people he
chose in Christ before the world began and he predestinated them
under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will. Ephesians chapter 1. And the
gospel As it comes in the power of the Holy Ghost, allows us
to read that will. And calls us to understand that
we're heirs. And when it does, here's what
you'll cry, Abba Father. Huh? The only one reason for
a man to cry Abba Father, and that's because he knows he's
an heir. Our doctrine is the doctrine
of Christ, and if any man abideth not in the doctrine of Christ,
he hath not God. Don't let him convince you that
he does. He don't have God. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. And if there come
any to you and bring not this doctrine, don't invite him into
your home. Jehovah's Witnesses, they're all over the country.
They come to my door about once a month. They knock on the door
and say, could we come in? We'd like to talk to you. And
I said, no. No, you can't. OK, thank you. They'll go to
the next door. Don't invite them into your house.
And don't say, well, the Lord bless you, when they leave. Don't
even tell them Godspeed. Now watch this here in 2 Peter
1.16. Peter said, for we've not followed cunningly devised fables
when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ. We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Peter was an apostle. He was
taught of Christ himself. His words that he wrote when
he wrote these letters, these general epistles or letters,
were inspired of the Holy Spirit and adopted into the canon of
scripture. He was an apostle. His words were inspired by the
Holy Ghost. They'd be received into the canon
of scripture, and in the meantime, he held the highest office in
the church, and he was to be heard and obeyed without question.
The testimony of Paul and John and James and Peter was not some
fictitious fabrication of man's imaginations being gathered together
over time like Confucius and some of these other philosophers
of old. Their doctrine had its beginning
in the prophecies of the Old Testament, Genesis to Malachi. In the writings of these men,
the gospel of Jesus Christ was foretold It was pictured, it
was practiced, it was promised, and it was preached throughout
the Old Testament. To him, Paul said, give all the
prophets witness. What did they talk about? They
were talking about Christ. Talking about Christ. Listen to this one, Romans chapter
15, verse 4. He said, for whatsoever things
were written aforetime were written for our learning that we through
patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now let me tell
you something about Peter. Peter was a man of experience. I've had experiences, you've
had experiences. Anybody who's been called by
the grace of God has an experience of some kind. Peter had so many
experiences you couldn't tell them all this morning. He saw Christ himself, I mean
standing from here to this rail, away from Christ, when he raised
the dead. He saw that. He saw men shaking
of the palsy and trembling and foaming at the mouth. And he
saw the Lord with a touch, perfectly healed. He saw blind men giving
their sight, lame men pick up their bed and walk. He saw the
miracles of Christ from three feet away. You think about that. He saw, he said, well there's
a boy here, there's a lad here, he's got a few fish and a few
loaves, but what's that gonna be to this crowd? He saw the Lord take those fishes
and loaves and feed 5,000 men plus the women and children.
Pick up 12 baskets of remains. You think about it. He had experience. You know he was out on that sea
and the storm arose and they were about to sink. I ain't talking
about a little sprinkling rain out on the lake. I'm talking
about a full gale wind. And this ship's being tossed
and they're about to go under and he looks out here in a flash
of lightning and he sees what he thought was a ghost. It was
the Lord Jesus Christ walking on water. And Peter said, let me come out there with you.
He said, come on. And Peter walked on water. So you want to talk about experiences?
This man had experiences. He walked with Christ out on
the brow of a hill and watched the clouds come down and watched
him step onto a cloud and ascend into glory. You ever seen anything
like any of these things? No. This man had experiences. Hundreds of experiences. He saw him crucified and he saw
him after he was risen from the dead. And he saw him transfigured,
that's the one he uses here in 2 Peter chapter 1, transfigured
before his eyes on the Mount of Transfiguration. And he saw
Moses and Elijah talking to him about his exodus, about his decease. He heard the voice of God. You want to talk about experiences?
Peter had experiences. I listen to even modern day men
and women talking about their experiences. Ain't nothing. This man had experiences, true
experiences. But Peter, this man with such
great experiences, tells his hearers, now listen, we have
also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto you do well to take
heed as unto a light that shines in a dark place. See, that's
what men aren't aware of. The darkness that abides within. They're not aware of it. The
darkness that's all over this world. The darkness of condemnation. The darkness of depravity. They
don't understand that. Peter said, when I'm preaching
to you out of this book, you take it this way. It's a light
shining in a dark place. Now you keep listening. You keep
listening. He said, it may be. that the
day star will arise in your heart. If God gives you ears to hear,
it just might be. He might open your heart to see
this light, this glory of God in Christ. Peter's gospel, even though he
was confirmed of God by miracles and wonders and signs and gifts
of the Holy Ghost, was not independent of the Scriptures. It was in harmony with the Scriptures. 2 Peter 1.20, knowing this first,
that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. That is, no one passage stands
on its own. In other words, Peter says, I'm
going to preach something to you. I'm going to write something
here. And it's going to be incorporated into the word of God. But it's
not going to stand on its own. It's going to stand in harmony
with everything else that's being said. Henry used to say, take your
doctor and set it on a fence post and throw just as many scriptures
at it as you can. Try to knock it off. You can't
knock it off. That's the truth. That's the truth. It's in harmony. No one passage stands alone to
interpret the whole counsel of God. The Bible is one book. It
has one doctrine. And there's harmony of the testimonies
and teachings in the Word of God. And nor is any one man's
testimony to be received being contrary to the whole. A man
stands up and says, the Lord told me this. It's totally contrary
to everything his prophet said. Don't hear him. And now he tells you why, 2 Peter
1.21, for prophecy came not in old time by the will of man.
This is not an accumulation of things that men said. I've had unbelievers, close sisters
and brothers, try to talk to me about these men. Well, Paul
lived back 2,000 years ago and you can't take the things that
he said and try to apply those things to modern day civilization. Well, I beg your pardon. This wasn't something Paul said,
it's something God said through Paul. They spake as they were moved
by the Holy Ghost, and it doesn't matter if the writer was a priest
or a fisherman, a tax collector or a doctor, a shepherd or a
gold herder. It don't make any difference. These men were inspired
of the Holy Ghost to lay down the foundation of our faith,
and that by which the coming Redeemer and His work would be
recognized, would be confirmed, and would be received. Paul closed
the book of Romans saying this, To him that is of power to establish
you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ
according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began, but now
is manifest and by the scriptures of the prophets according to
the commandment of the everlasting God made known to all nations
for obedience to faith. How was it made known? By the
scriptures of the prophets. We have, said Peter, a more sure
word of prophecy, and you do well to take heed as unto a light
that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn, and the day
star arise in your hearts. And I just don't have anything
to say to any man that I cannot show him in the Scriptures. And
I'm not going to talk to him very long if he won't abide in
the Scriptures. When he starts going to what
he thinks and what his grandmother said and what Uncle Fred said
and somebody else, I don't have anything else to say. I'd have
stopped my conversation right there. Everything God's messenger has
to say to me and he says it in the scriptures. It's not my message,
it's his. I submit my preaching, be it
warnings, rebukes, doctrine, instruction, and righteousness,
or correction to the Word of God. Well, I don't understand why
you believe in elections. Well, you come to me after church
and I'll show you. I'll show you why. The gospel is not to be received
or rejected based on how it makes you feel. Now let that go home. It's not to be received or rejected
based on how it makes you feel or by natural reasoning or by long-accepted religious
doctrine. Oh, you know that the Catholic
Church minutes don't teach that. So what? So what? and no reason to reject anything
or receive anything. The gospel is to be received
by the Word of God. Peter tells him and he's using
this the Word of God as the seed being born again not a corruptible
seed but incorruptible by the Word of God and then In the following
verse he says, and this is the word which by the gospel we preach
unto you. I don't want you to think this
morning that I have a gospel that's contrary to the word of
God. My gospel is according to the
word of God. It's the message of the book. Listen to this. This is Isaiah
8, verse 20. He said, if they speak not according
to this word, because there's no light in them.
There's no light in them. Listen to this verse in Acts
17, verse 11. He said, these were more noble
than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with
readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether
these things were so. How quick we are when a man says
something to say, well, I don't believe that. I never heard anybody
preach that. I'm not gonna have that. You
do yourself a great benefit if you go home and search the scriptures
and see if what he said was according to the word of God. And if it's
not according to the Word of God, I won't know because I won't
say it again. All right. So what's the purpose
behind the Word? Huh? What's the purpose behind the
Word? The primary purpose of the Word
of God is to make known the redemptive will of God through the person
and work of Jesus Christ. That's what Peter tells them.
You do well, he said, if you just keep on listening, keep
on listening, keep on listening, until the day dawns and the day
start rising in your heart. Until the Lord tells you something
about the Lord Jesus Christ. This book does not teach, nor
does it even imply, that God intends to save all men. He does
not love all men. He's not made provision for all
men, nor did His Son live and die for all men. God loves His
elect. Jacob have I loved, and Esau
have I hated. All in this world is represented
by those two. He either hates or loves. God loves His elect and He sent
His Son to die for them. And now He calls them by His
irresistible grace and gives them eternal life. Well, you
say, I don't understand why you say the Lord doesn't love every
man. Well, let me ask you something.
In Romans chapter 8, if you read the last six or seven verses
of that chapter, you'll find out who He's talking to. He's
talking to His elect. It's God that justifies. Who
shall lay anything to the charge of his elect? It's God that justifies. It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
that is risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Us who? Same ones he justified,
his elect. You with me so far? Now, he said,
who gonna separate us from the love of God? Huh? Nothing. Isn't that why Paul went through
all those verses, naming all them things? To tell you that
nothing can separate you from the love of God. If God ever
loved you, he'll love you throughout eternity. And there's no way that you could
say that he loved Judas because Judas was separated from his
love. Huh? And he said, his elect can't
be separated from his love. And I go on and on. He loves
his elect. Yeah, but you say it says right
there that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son. That word world there was used because of the prejudice
of the Jews. The Jews were the only people
on the top side of God's earth that anybody had any relationship
with, with a holy God. But now it's revealed to these
apostles that he intends to save Gentiles, too. Well, what's Gentiles? Gentiles is the world. There
was Jews and then there was the world. That's how they spoke
of it. So when he says, for God so loved
the world, he's just talking about All these ones that he
speaks of there in Revelation being called out of every nation
and kindred and tribe and tongue under heaven. That's what he's
talking about. Out of the world. That's what
our Lord said. I called you out of this world
and that's why the world hates you. Now let me tell you something
else. The Word of God is complete. I don't need anything else. I don't need another word from
God. I've already got His Word. Millions today are praying and
seeking a word from God. I don't seek a word from God.
God's already spoke. All I've got to do is read it.
He's already spoke. It's complete, and it's sufficient
to convince and convict under the power of the Holy Spirit.
And it's one of those things that's called the things of the
Spirit of God is the Word of God. And he tells us over there
in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14, but the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. This is one of those
things he won't receive. I remember Russell got in a discussion
with a fellow who'd been coming, him and his wife, and four or
five children. It was a big family. They'd come
when we was down at the other church, and suddenly they quit.
He got mad, because what I said that morning, he said, well, my grandmother's
not lost, and she believes those things. Well, she believes those
things. She's lost. And Russell said,
he's just telling you what's in the Word of God. He said,
I don't care what the Word of God says. Ooh, you're in trouble
now. The Word of God is the foundation
of faith, being the testimony of God, and it's to be believed
and received and followed without exception and without question. All right, what does the Word
of God say? I hope by now you understand
what I'm saying. We don't have anything to say apart from the
word of God. And if you're talking to somebody,
you're talking to an aunt or an uncle or a friend or a cousin
or whoever it is, or somebody that you work with, and you're
talking to them about these things, and you can't shut them up to
the word of God, just you shut up. Just stop. Because you're
not doing anything. You're not accomplishing anything.
Just stop. Stop. And maybe God will give them
another opportunity one day when you sit there and open the book
and show them in the book what God says. Well, what does it say? If God
gives me that opportunity to open this book and preach from
this book, what does the Word of God say? Are you listening? Let me give you six things. First
of all, the Word of God declares that the eternal purpose of God
to manifest His glory and the salvation of His elect by the
person and work of His dear Son. That's what it says. It says
it everywhere. It says it from one end to the
other. He said in the Old Testament
to Isaiah, He said, I am God. And beside me there is none other. Now listen how he describes himself.
Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I'll
do all my pleasure. That's God. Huh? What's this book say? That's
exactly what it says. God has a purpose and his purpose
is to save a people. for His glory through the person
and work of His Son. Turn with me to Ephesians 1.
I know you know these verses by heart by now, but I want you
to read them. Ephesians 1, beginning with verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, we should be holy
and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will. And then in verse 11 of this
same chapter, he says, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. Now I'm not
talking about what men think or preach or believe. I know
what they say. I know what they say they preach.
I know what they say they believe. I'm talking about what's plainly
stated in the Word of God. If you want to know what God
says in His book, this is where you start. God Almighty has a
purpose, and His purpose is to save a people that He chose in
Christ. And He's going to manifest His
glory in that salvation through the person and work of His Son. the word of god declares the
incarnation of the eternal son of god as a representative man
to accomplish that salvation which he purposed all you say
and i'm saying god was born of a virgin and was in this little
male child in that stable in bethlehem laying him down in
a manger that's almighty god and man in one person. That's
what I'm saying. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and there was
nothing made that wasn't made by Him. He's God. Verse 14 of
John chapter 1, it says this, and the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. In Galatians chapter four verse
four it says, but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth his son, made of a woman, made under the
law, to do what? To be an example? Not what it
says. To make salvation possible? Not
what it says. that we might receive, he says
to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive
the adoption of children. And because you're sons, God
has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts crying
Abba Father. We receive that holy and eternal
adoption in him by way of our union with him and his relationship
to the father as the only begotten son. When he was born, and the
womb of that virgin, I was in union with him. When he lived his life under
the holy law of God in perfect obedience, I lived that life
in him. When he suffered and died on
that cross, I suffered and died with him on that cross. And when God raised him from
the dead and he justified me and raised me up with him. And
when he was seated in glory, I seated in him. This book declares that the Son
of God came incarnate into this world as a representative man
and accomplished the redemption which God purposed. And that's the third point. The
Word of God teaches us that Jesus Christ accomplished the redemption
of all His elect. It's done. It's done. The great transaction's done. By His holy, continual, and loving
obedience, He wrought out a righteousness acceptable to God for all His
elect. I stand righteous before God.
and the very idea of any kind of righteousness earned by any
man's obedience to the law is an abomination to god don't don't come before god even
in your wildest imagination believing that you're right by your own
work but i'm righteous in him i'm
righteous in him Romans chapter 3 verse 20, therefore,
or because of the depravity of men, which was declared in all
these foregoing verses here in Romans chapter 3, therefore by
the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his
sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. You can look
to the law if you want to, but that's all you're going to find
is conviction, condemnation. And those who look to the law
for righteousness, that's all they'll ever hear is condemnation.
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. And then by his bloody and sacrificial
death, our sins were put away. Listen to these scriptures, Hebrews
9, 26. Once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. By His own blood, Hebrews
9 verse 12, He entered in, once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. Romans chapter 3 verse 24, being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that's
in Christ Jesus. He put away our sins not simply
by forgiving and forgetting, but by the substitutionary satisfaction
of God's justice. And he did that that God may
be just and the justifier of all them that believe. And again,
I'm telling you, I know what men preach, I know what they
say, and that's not what we're talking about. We're talking
about what does God's book say? Because in the end, that's the
only thing that's going to matter. Did God say that or did he just
make that up? Well, you know what the Bible
said, cleanliness is next to godliness. The Bible don't say
that. All right, fourthly, the word of
God teaches us that Jesus Christ has ascended up into glory where
he now sits upon the throne, having power over all flesh in
order to give eternal life to all that the Father has given
to him. The effectual calling, I just
heard a man talking just a few days ago about this young man
and he's so disappointed in him right now and he was talking
to me about him and he said he was so talented, he was so gifted,
I was just sure that this was the Lord's man. The effectual calling of God's
elect is not dependent upon any man's gifts, intelligence, or
social standing? No, sir. Our Lord said to his
disciples, all power in heaven and earth is given unto me. Now
you gold herders and fishermen go out there and preach the gospel. And then in John 17 too, he said,
as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. All right,
fifthly, the word of God teaches that chosen sinners are saved
by grace through faith, and that not of themselves. It is the
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. In Romans
4, 16, the apostle tells us it is of faith that it might be
by grace. That's why it's of faith. That
it might be by grace to this end or for this cause that the
promise might be sure to all the seed. And then Paul tells us this,
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. That's his gift. That's
his gift, the gift of faith. Brother Mahan used to talk about
being on the trail of God's elect. He said, that's who I'm looking
for. Well, where are they? Who are they? I don't know. I
don't know. But God does. The foundation
of God's standing sure he knows his own. He knows his people.
You preach his gospel and you leave it in his hands to take
it out and he takes it out. And now I get a call from, I
got a call from a young lady, not a call but an email from
a young lady in Australia. Now I never dreamed when I entered
the pulpit of that little church down there that God was going
to use the gospel I preach to save somebody in Australia. That's
not my wildest imagination, did I ever think that. But here's
a young girl, and she's listening to this gospel, and God saves
her soul. And so she calls her mama, which
is up on the other side of Australia, northern Australia. And she said,
I'm going to send you a tape. So she sends her a CD up there,
and she listens to it. And then they get on the phone
and talk about it, and God saved her mama. I never, not in my
wildest imagination did I ever think that would happen. And
I've gotten emails from Las Vegas. I've gotten emails from California. I've got an email, got a call
this week on telephone from me. Now I'm telling you, this, God
uses this and it's his gift. If he don't use it right here
in this building, he's still gonna use it. And he's going
to find his elect wherever they are and he's going to give them
this gospel and he's going to create faith. And they're going
to be made anew. Now that's what this book teaches. And then sixthly, and I'll be
brief and close, the Word of God teaches us that believers
are a new creation. They're born of God. They're
made meat to be partakers with enlightened saints. The tenor
of their life is a godly walk, a repentant spirit and a believing
heart. They love God and they love one
another. They're children of light and walk in the light. They're a new creation. They're
a new creation. Grace reigns in their heart. I don't always show but it rains. It rains. We have a more sure word of prophecy. You see what I'm trying to get
across to you here this morning? That's what Peter was telling
him. I don't have anything else for you. And I'm going to preach
it to you again and again and again. And hopefully after my
decease, you will always have these. They recall. You remember
what that pastor said? He said this. Oh, I hope that's
what God does for you. I hope he'll so root you and
ground you in this truth that nobody can tell you any different. Why would any man come in here
and listen to a man who goes against the grain of nearly every
major denomination and local assembly in the country? I'm going to tell you why. Because
he teaches and preaches the Word of God. Now if you think I'm telling
you a story, you go down and visit any church anywhere around
here and see if they're preaching the word of God. They're not
doing it. They're not doing it. It's all
a bunch of self-promotion and trying to glorify man and trying
to get men to make a decision and trying to get them to sign
pledge cards so they can get their tithes so they can build
a bigger church. And it just goes on and on and on. They talk
for 35 minutes and don't say anything. And then Peter said this, you
do well to take ages unto a light that shines in a dark place.
Oh, my soul, if you knew how dark that heart was and how bright
that light is, it shines within. May God enable you to experience
that today.