In Jason Dohm's sermon, 'The Certainty of Redemption in Jesus Christ,' he explores the Apostle Peter's argument for the assurance of redemption through Jesus. Peter provides a three-pronged argument: the testimony of human eyewitnesses, the divine testimony from God during Jesus' Transfiguration, and the fulfillment of prophetic words in Jesus' life. Dohm emphasizes that these testimonies provide believers with confidence and certainty in the Gospel, illustrating that Jesus' identity as the Son of God, affirmed by eyewitness accounts and prophecy, assures believers of their redemption and adoption into God's family. This confidence is crucial as it underpins the believers' joy and certainty in their faith, encouraging them to live wholeheartedly for the Gospel.

Please join me in reading 2nd Peter, chapter 1, verses 16 to the end of the chapter. 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 do 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 knowing this first that no prophecy of scripture is of is of any private interpretation for prophecy for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." The title of the sermon this morning is the certainty of redemption in Jesus Christ. This is what Peter is getting at.

He is arguing for certainty and confidence that Jesus Christ has come and redeemed the people. So this ought to be a super happy sermon for you. Because Peter is waging a war to instill confidence and certainty to you that Jesus has come and done a work that was accepted by a holy God so that sinners could be reconciled to that holy judge through Jesus Christ. In the last text, Peter talks about spending his life to teach the truth and then remind and then remind and then remind. He says it three times that he's going to remind them.

In such a way that they'll even have a reminder after he's dead. So Peter's work doesn't even end in this life. It continues through the ministry that Jesus gave him for the strengthening of his brethren. In Luke, after Satan had asked to sift Peter as wheat, Jesus assures Peter that he will prevail, that Jesus has prayed for him, that his faith wouldn't fail. Then he says, and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren.

That's what Peter spends the remaining decades of his life doing. He's pouring himself out to strengthen his brethren to the extent that we are the beneficiaries in 2014. Can you imagine such an outstanding, lasting ministry that we are strengthened today on January 26, 2014 because Jesus did this mighty work through just a man, a disciple of His. Why is this the worthy use of a man's life? Because these things are from God.

Peter didn't make them up. The prophets haven't made up these things. They're not carefully crafted stories and myths. They are the truth of God. Peter recognizes this in John chapter 6.

Everyone is abandoning Jesus. Everyone is leaving. Jesus says, do you want to leave? He says, where would we go? You have the words of life.

Peter was convinced of that on that day and he was convinced of that every day for the rest of his life. So Peter thinks it's a worthy use of the one life that he had to defend and champion and preach and teach and then remind and remind and remind of the things that God has said. In our text today, Peter makes a case with a three pronged argument. The first prong is human eye witnesses. People saw it themselves.

The second prong is divine testimony. There has actually been a voice of heaven to give us assurance and confidence of these things. The third prong is the foretelling of the prophets. Jesus and the things that he did didn't come out of nowhere. It was foretold.

The reading of Isaiah 42 was perfect. You would think that Taylor and I were conspiring. We weren't conspiring. But we may as well have been. Before we go to the text, let's pray.

Oh God, I pray that you would give us the confidence that Peter intended us to have from the reading of these words that we would come away from this text ready to plant our feet so firmly on the Word of God and with joy and confidence stand upon them knowing of the certainty of the redemption that there is to be had through the life and the work and the death and the resurrection and the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. Make us a joyful, confident, happy people in the Gospel today. In Jesus' name, Amen. Prong number one of the three-pronged argument. The human eyewitnesses.

Peter says he is one of these human eye witnesses, but he is not the only eye witnesses. He says we, plural, are many eye witnesses. Peter asserts this, that he is not simply passing along myths. He says cunningly devised fables, but the Greek word, if you saw the Greek word behind fables, it looks just like myth. Mythos is the Greek word.

So these are not cleverly devised stories that will help religious people prey on the unsuspecting, the simple-minded. So Peter asserts that he's not simply passing along myths, cunningly devised fables, but he's talking about things that he saw with his own two eyes. He's not passing along things that he heard that might be true or might not be true. He's describing for you and for me things that he saw with his own two eyes, not once or twice or ten times or a hundred times, but all of his life for more than three years. Peter says, we were eye witnesses of his majesty.

They saw with their own two eyes The greatness of Jesus Christ, the magnificent of Jesus Christ, the majesty of God was on display before these twelve men. Judas doesn't count. The other eleven are eyewitnesses of the majesty of Jesus and couldn't stop talking about it till the day of their death. Though they were threatened with death, though they were beaten, though they were starved, though they were imprisoned, Though they were ultimately martyred, they would not stop talking about the things that they saw when Jesus was with them. His majesty was on display.

They never forgot it. They could never be silent about it. Think of the Gospel accounts. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Think of what the disciples saw and heard in these accounts.

They saw water turned into wine. They heard sermons that perfectly corrected the errors of the day, the things that were being taught by the religious leaders that were not in accordance with the word of God. They saw Jesus cast out demons so that men who would roam among the tombs, break chains, would in a moment of time be sitting quiet and in their right mind. They saw Jesus heal the sick. We're not talking about a little relief from lower back pain.

We're talking a woman who had had an issue of blood, internal bleeding, for 12 years, instantaneously, permanently healed and the like. Over and over again they saw the sick healed. They saw paralytics walk. People whose legs just didn't work stand up, pick up their mat and skip home. They saw the blind receive their sight.

They saw people born blind who had never seen an image in their entire life. Walk home seeing all the way. They saw the death receive their hearing. They saw Jesus walk on water. They're in the boat.

They're not making much headway at all against the headwind. And here comes Jesus walking by in the third watch of the night. They saw this with their own two eyes. They saw the dead raised on more than one occasion. They saw a dead man or a dead girl or another dead man get up, Rise from the dead.

All this so that they would know and they could tell us that Jesus really can save sinners. You can't just claim that you can save sinners. Sin is a deep stain. It's not enough to claim that you can. If anyone is going to have confidence that you can save them from their sins, from the penalty of a righteous God, from the wrath of a righteous God against sin, you better be able to have a demonstration of power that gives them confidence that they can know with certainty that they can be redeemed.

I want to take us to two places where I believe New Testament authors are doing what Peter is doing in 2 Peter. The first is in Luke 1, So turn please in your Bibles to Luke 1. Here's how Luke begins his Gospel. We'll be reading Luke 1 verses 1 through 4. Luke writes, Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word delivered them to us.

It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed." The Gospel is about life and death. You bet your life, you bet your eternity on whether these things are true or they are not true. So Luke, having access to all these eyewitnesses who were with Jesus, went and collected up the eyewitness accounts. Then he writes to his friend Theophilus. Why does he write to him?

That he might know with certainty That you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed. All the things that were fulfilled among the eye witnesses collected up and given so that we might have the certainty of the eyewitness accounts. Here's what John Calvin says. John Calvin says, it gives us much courage when we know that we labor in a matter that is certain. Peter is writing then and now to a people who need courage, who need the courage that comes from laboring in a matter that is certain.

Peter comes and says, you can have that courage, you can have that certainty, because I was an eyewitness, I saw it with my own two eyes. The dead raised, sick healed, Jesus walking on water, water turned to wine, And on and on and on and on. The second place I want to take us to is to 1 John. In John's first epistle, the book of 1 John, not the Gospel of John, but 1 John, John begins his letter this way. I'll be reading 1 John chapter 1 verses 1 through 4.

1-4. 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. Luke writes and says, Theophilus, I write to you so that you can have confidence. John writes and says, I write to you so that your joy may be full. These eyewitnesses, they saw, they heard, and then they declared and declared and declared. So we can have confidence so that we can be full of joy in the gospel.

The gospel gives us fellowship with witnesses. And our fellowship with the eye witnesses gives us fellowship with the Father and with the Son. Listen to what John said in the beginning of his Gospel. Not 1 John, but now the Gospel of John. John 1, 14, John writes, and the Word became 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." This is the testimony of the apostles, not one, but all eleven, that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, He came in the flesh and they beheld His glory. The glory just like the glory of the Father. The glory of Jesus is equal to the glory of the Father and they beheld it and Then they declared it to us so that we could have joy and confidence in the Gospel. We might have the certainty of redemption in Jesus Christ. What did the apostles witness that they made known?

The power and coming of Jesus Christ. This is what Peter says. Now we're back in our text in 2 Peter 1. This is what they saw with their own two eyes and this is what they made known. They declared after being eyewitnesses the power and coming of Jesus Christ.

Let's start here. Christ isn't Jesus' last name. Jason Dome Jesus Christ. No. We end up using it that way, don't we?

Jesus Christ. It's like His last name. It's not His last name. It's His identity. It's his identity.

Gary Orr does the best job of keeping this clear than anyone I've ever met. I'm sure I've heard him say Jesus Christ, but I don't remember it. Usually he says, Jesus who is Christ. And it keeps you from muddling them together and thinking that it is His last name. It is not His last name.

It is who He is. Jesus who is Christ. Jesus who is Messiah. Jesus who is the anointed one of God. That's literally what it means.

Jesus who is the promised Redeemer. As long as there was a problem, that's Genesis 3, that's the fall, that's rebellion against God the first time, As long as there was a problem, that's Genesis 3, that's the fall, that's rebellion against God the first time. As long as there was a problem, there had been promises from God for a Messiah. He is a promised Redeemer. As long as there has been a problem, there has been a solution and God has been talking about it and it was Jesus the whole time.

Jesus Christ, Jesus the promised Redeemer. If we are going to bet our lives, if we are going to bet heaven and hell, then we better have confidence that Jesus is the Christ and not an imposter. We need to be able to act like we are betting our lives because we are betting our lives. When we go through this life with a cold heart, we're not thinking rightly. You're betting your life.

If you're betting your life, either have a cold heart and do something else with your life. If you don't have confidence and joy in the Gospel, go do something else. But Peter is writing so that we can have confidence. This middle territory is abominable. The middle territory where we play with the gospel.

We don't live in confidence and joy. Peter is trying to kick that out from under us. Peter is trying to pull that rug out from under us. Either have confidence and joy in the gospel and live with a hot heart towards God or go do something else with your life. You better have confidence that Jesus is the Christ, that he is the promised Redeemer, that he is the Son of God who has come in the flesh and that all that was validated by demonstrations of power which is God proclaiming, this is my son.

This is the promised Redeemer. If the Messiah can't do that, he's not the Messiah. But Jesus came and he did that, and he did that, and he did that, and he did that, and he did that all through the course of his public ministry. Validation after validation after validation, his power and coming. There's actually only one article there in the Greek so it should be more properly rendered, his powerful coming.

Coming is so important, he came in the flesh, and power is so important, he's not the Messiah if he can't demonstrate power, if he can't validate that he can free you from the penalty of your sins. So prong number one was the human eye witnesses and Peter says I'm one of them, I saw it with my own two eyes. Prong number two is the divine testimony. Peter says we weren't just eye witnesses, we were ear witnesses. We didn't just see, we heard.

Having said we saw His Majesty, which is very broad, and I believe describes, encompasses all of what they saw when they were with Jesus, now he brings us to a specific instance where he saw and heard something that we need to know. And he's summarizing the transfiguration of Jesus. He's taking us either to Matthew 17 or Mark 9 or Luke 9 or all three. That's where the Transfiguration texts are, Matthew 17, Mark 9, Luke 9. In this account where Jesus takes Peter, James, and John, just those three disciples, up on the mountain, and Jesus, while he's praying, is transfigured before them.

They're joined by Moses and Elijah and Jesus stops being the Jesus of the gospels and starts being the Jesus of Revelation 1. Go read Revelation 1 sometime this afternoon. And you see the Jesus of the Transfiguration there, the curtains pulled back just a little. And the God man starts being a whole lot more God. And his clothes turn wider than you could ever launder them, and his face is shining like the sun.

He's standing there having a conversation with Moses and Elijah, and Peter doesn't know what to say, which is unlike Peter. So he offers to make them three tabernacles, one for Moses, one for Elijah, one for Jesus. And then a bright cloud descends upon them and they're scared to death and they hear a voice saying, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Jesus received honor and glory directly from the mouth of God the Father on that holy mountain. It's just made holy by the presence of God, just like the burning bush.

That ground was holy just because God was there. Here's the first significance of God the Father pronouncing, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. The first significance is that Peter is given the precise identity of Jesus from the mouth of God the Father. Exactly who Jesus is directly from the mouth of God the Father. One chapter earlier, Matthew 16, so the transfiguration happens in Matthew 17.

One chapter earlier in Matthew 16, Peter has confessed, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. So Peter got it a chapter earlier. But it's one thing to know the prophets, to know the Old Testament, to see Jesus and hear Jesus and connect the dots and say, This is that. I can see Jesus by what you're doing and what you're saying that you are the promised Messiah and to confess that, that was fantastic. But it's an order of magnitude less than God descending in a bright cloud and God Himself saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

If I have to pick a confession, I'll take the bright cloud every time. So would Peter. So the first significance is that Peter is given the precise identity of Jesus from the mouth of God the Father. Peter already said it, Jesus already said it was true, but now God the Father shows up on the scene and says it Himself directly. The second significance is that Jesus' identity as the beloved Son of God who has pleased the Father secures our place of adoption.

I'm going to say that again. Jesus' identity as the beloved son of God who has pleased his father secures our place of adoption. We are adopted because God loves Jesus. End of story. That's the gospel boiled down.

We are adopted because God loves Jesus. We can be in Jesus. God is pleased with his son so his son is an acceptable sacrifice. Listen to Ephesians 1, 5 and 6. Ephesians 1 is such a refreshing read because it's all about the glorious things that we receive through the gospel in Christ.

In the middle of that, or actually towards the beginning, in Ephesians 1 verses 5 and 6, Paul writes, Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself According to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved." Now Paul has given us a lot of phrases that we don't need there, So I'm going to try this again, stripping out the phrases I don't need for the point I'm trying to make. Selected portions of Ephesians 1 verses 5 and 6. Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ by which he made us accepted in the beloved. You can be accepted by God, a holy God, a righteous judge, but only in the beloved. So accepted in the beloved is such a precious phrase.

We should love those three words. It's life to us. Outside of the beloved, you are an enemy of God. You stand on your own merits. You don't have any merits.

And God cannot even allow you into His presence because He is righteous and you are filthy. But in the beloved, His righteousness, God is pleased with Jesus. In the beloved, He is pleased with you. His righteousness having been imputed to you. Your guilt having been imputed to Him.

It's the glory of the Gospel wrapped up in what God says out of that bright cloud to Jesus, this is my beloved Son. We are accepted in the beloved in whom I am well pleased. He's not pleased with you on your own, he's pleased with you in Christ. Prong number three, the third prong. The foretelling prophets.

The first prong was human eye witnesses, Peter and his fellows. The second prong was divine testimony. God himself showed up and said, this is exactly who Jesus is, and he said it directly, not through a mediator in that instance. The third prong is the foretelling prophets. So we're back in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 19, and so we have the prophetic word confirmed.

That's what Peter says. We have the prophetic word confirmed. If you're in the New King James, you probably have a note with an alternate translation which says we also have the more sure prophetic word, which is more like the King James rendering. They're both good, valid translations. Commentators like John MacArthur, and there are many both old and modern commentators who take this view, Take the alternate translation.

We also have the more sure prophetic word. And they say, what Peter is communicating is that it's the law and the prophets you can really trust, even more than your experience, even more than the experience of Peter. And that's true, but I don't think that's what Peter is trying to communicate here. I think that's problematic in the sense that Peter is in the office of a prophet. He is writing scripture.

So as an apostle, as an eyewitness of Jesus Christ who was then entrusted to capture these things inerranly, infallibly in scripture, I don't think there is any need or warrant to say that the prophets have more standing than Peter's eyewitness account here. I think what Peter is really communicating is that it all comes together in Jesus. It all comes together in Jesus. Jesus and his life and his preaching and his miracles and his death and his resurrection and His ascension is the pinnacle of all of human history. It's the culmination.

Everything before it pointed forward to this peak, this highest peak in the mountain range. Everything before it pointed towards that peak. Everything after points back to it. It's the pinnacle. It's the culmination of God's plan to redeem sinners.

It all comes together in Jesus. He is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. As Jesus says of himself in Matthew 5, 17, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, I didn't come to destroy or to annul the law and the prophets, but to fulfill the law and the prophets. But to fulfill the law and the prophets. And again, this began right after the fall.

As long as there's been a problem, mankind in rebellion to God, God's been talking about the solution. Right there in Genesis 3, you have the first messianic prophecy that the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. That's Jesus. He is the seed of the woman. Paul makes that clear in his epistles.

He came to destroy the works of the devil, and man does Jesus ever destroy the works of the devil and the lives of his people. So the Christ, the Messiah, the promised Redeemer didn't come out of nowhere. No, a thousand times no. He was highly anticipated. It was the highest level of expectation among the Lord's people when Jesus came onto the scene.

Now they might not have understood rightly the prophecies so they were looking for something different than Jesus. But he was highly anticipated. Flip back a couple of pages to 1 Peter chapter 1. What Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 1 helps us understand what he's getting at in 2 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 10 through 12.

Peter writes, Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them, to these prophets, It was revealed that not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which have now been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things which angels desire to look into. Peter in his first letter talks about the prophets and how they were diligently desiring to know when these things would happen and it was revealed to them It wasn't from them in their time, it was for us. And then Peter says, that's the things we've been reporting to you. In other words, up until Jesus, it was prophecy.

After Jesus, it's history. It's a reporting of a historical account. Jesus is the culmination of it all. History pointing towards that point, and then afterwards, it's to be reported to you, things which actually happened in fulfillment. Now here's an interesting text that drives the point home I think.

And it's Paul on trial before Festus and Agrippa. This is in Acts 26, 25 through 27. Paul is giving his testimony. Festus says, Paul, your learning is making you mad. You've gone insane because of all your learning.

Here's what Paul says in Acts 26, 25-27. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak words of truth and reason. For the king, now Paul is turning from Festus to Agrippa, King Agrippa, for the king before whom I also speak freely knows these things. For I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention since this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?

I know that you do believe. So Paul on trial, and making a case to a man who doesn't know the prophets, turned to the man who does know the prophets, King Agrippa, and says, King Agrippa, these things haven't been done in the corner. You've heard the accounts. Now King Agrippa, Tell us, does it match the prophets? I know you believe the prophets." And Agrippa says, you've almost caused me to embrace the gospel.

Because Agrippa knew that these things were not done in a corner. The ministry of Jesus was a very public ministry. The works of Jesus, the validating works of Jesus, the miraculous works of Jesus were not done in a corner. They were done very publicly. Agrippa had heard the accounts and Agrippa knew the prophets and Agrippa knew they matched.

They matched. So the prophetic word is confirmed in Jesus Christ. The prophetic word is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The prophetic word comes to their culmination in Jesus Christ. What else about this prophetic word?

You need it. You need it. You and I need the prophetic word today for confidence, for joy, for instruction. Peter says you do well to heed the prophetic word. It is a light that shines in a dark place.

This portion of our passage in 2 Peter, you could think that he's talking about salvation here. I don't think he's talking about salvation. I don't have an objection if you really think that's it. I think you'll be affirming truth that probably is better suited to another text. I don't think it's really talking about salvation here.

I think he's saying we still do need the prophets and that this life is a dark place. This world is a dark place. We need the prophetic word every day of our lives. Psalm 119 verse 105, the psalmist probably David, but I can't prove it. Psalm 119 verse 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

So it was for David, so it is for us. The word of God is a lamp to our feet. The word of God is a light to our path. So here's the picture. All of the Old Testament is prophetic word.

That might not all be the genre of prophecy, but The prophetic word is God speaking to us. That's the whole Old Testament. Some of it is foretelling, some of it is not. Christ fulfills all of it. The foretelling and otherwise.

So here's the picture. The Old Testament is a lamp lighting the path. They needed it. You need it. And I need it.

Jesus is brighter still. The Old Testament is like a candle. Jesus is like the noonday sun. Read the early chapters of John. John 1, John 3, light, light, light, light, light.

John is talking about Jesus being light everywhere. John 1 and John 3. So everything that is beautiful and illuminating in the Old Testament is that much better in the New Testament. It doesn't mean we need the Old Testament, It means we have a new grid through which to look back and even get more value from the Old Testament. It makes the Old Testament that much better.

Not obsolete. Better. Sweeter. More understandable. But a day is still coming that is brighter still.

I believe that Peter is teaching that here. The Old Testament is a lamp to your feet. Jesus is brighter still by a factor of whatever, but a day is coming when the morning star will rise in our hearts and we'll see like we've never seen before. Listen to Paul at the very end of 1 Corinthians 13 or almost the very end of 1 Corinthians 13 verse 12. Paul writes, For now we see in a mirror dimly saved man writing to saved men and women.

We're not talking about un-Christian experience here, we're talking about Christian people of God experience here. Paul says we see through a glass darkly. Let me finish this. 1 Corinthians 13 verse 12, For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known." No Christian in their right mind can look at that verse and say, today I know Christ as I am known by Christ.

You're insane if you think that. You do not. But the day is coming when the morning star will rise in your hearts. It's the day that you go and the dim glass is removed and you see face to face. And the morning star, which is Jesus by the way.

When you go to the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22, Jesus says, I'm the morning star. You'll see Him face to face and then you'll know Him as you are known by him. If that doesn't make you say in your heart, come quickly Lord Jesus, there's not much hope for you. His people are going to see him face to face and then we'll be fully in the light. No more through a mirror dimly, but face to face.

Now Peter gives us clarity about how we should think about the prophets and their prophecies. Verse 20 he says, knowing this first. Why do you pay attention when somebody authoritative starts a sentence that way? Knowing this first. In other words, this is a matter of first importance.

This goes on the top of the heap. You better know this first. What? That prophecy doesn't originate with man. That's what you better know first.

Real prophecy doesn't originate with man. It's not a private interpretation. It doesn't come out of man. Interpretation can also be rendered origin. I think it may be rendered better as origin in this spot.

It matches the context better, but it doesn't really matter as the same meaning either way. Prophecy doesn't originate with man. Now false prophecies do originate with the will of man. In the mind of man, in the heart of man. Listen to what God says in Jeremiah 23.

So this is Jeremiah 23 verse 16 and then skipping to verse 26. Jeremiah 23 verse 16 and then 26. Thus says the Lord of hosts, Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless. They speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord.

Skipping to verse 26, how long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies. Indeed, they are prophets of the deceit of their own hearts. So Jeremiah, what God says in Jeremiah 23 is there are two kinds of prophets. Real ones and fake ones. The fake ones are prophesying out of their own thoughts, out of their own hearts, it is not the word of God.

That's not the prophecy that we have in the word of God. That is true prophecy. True prophecy does not come from the will of man, but directly from the mouth of God. This is exactly what Jesus says when he is tempted in Matthew 4, and in Matthew 4, he says, man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He is talking about Holy Scripture.

He is quoting Holy Scripture, and he calls it every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He's talking about Holy Scripture. He's quoting Holy Scripture and he calls it every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Now listen to this. Here's the last words that David spoke.

King David, his last words. 2 Samuel 23 verses 1 and 2. Now these are the last words of David. Thus says David the son of Jesse, thus says the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel. What an introduction, what a prelude.

Here's what he says, the Spirit of the Lord spoke by me and His word was on my tongue. That's what David says about the Psalms. The Spirit of the Lord spoke through him. It wasn't him at all. The Word of God was on his tongue.

Here's a note from the MacArthur Study Bible. The human writers, the writers of the sixty-six books of scripture, the human writers refer to their writings as the words of God over thirty-eight hundred times. You can argue with them and you can say they are not real prophets, they are false prophets, they are not true, but make no mistake about what they thought they were and what they said they were. 3800 times the human authors of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament said they were speaking the words of God. Peter says that holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit to speak exactly the words given to them.

He says that they were holy men. I think that's true in both respects. Sometimes holy means that God has put His hand on you to set you aside for His own purposes. They were holy for that purpose. God put His hand on His prophets, on the authors of the Bible, to set them aside for a very specific purpose, His own purpose.

Sometimes holy means the reflection of that in your life. In other words, you have a life that matches God having set you aside for his own purposes. They were holy in both ways. They were set apart by God and they had a life that reflected that they were set apart by God. Peter says they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

The ESV and the NIV render it carried along. When you look at the Greek word, both of those are good translations. They were moved by the Holy Spirit. They were carried along by the Holy Spirit. In fact, this Greek word is used in Acts 27.15.

In Acts 27.15, Paul is on a ship. The hurricane is about to drive them to the bottom of the sea. They are just being swept along by the winds. This is the word that is used. Driven by the winds.

Carried along. So what Paul is expressing as his ship is being relentlessly blown by the wind, carried along by the wind in Acts 27.15, which ends up in shipwreck, is the word that Peter uses, moved by the Holy Spirit. These men didn't have any more choice in the matter than Paul did on that ship. They were carried along. Period.

Or as Paul says in 2 Timothy 3, 16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. That's what Paul says in 2 Timothy 3, 16. All scripture, all means all scripture is given by inspiration of God. That word literally means God breathed. The breath of God, holy, completely, infallibly, sufficiently inspired by God.

God breathed, was given by inspiration of God. Peter gave his life literally, Figuratively and then literally. Peter was poured out as a drink offering. He exhausted himself in this life to strengthen his brethren, to teach truth and then remind and remind and remind and remind and remind. And then he literally gave his life for this.

Why? Because of the three-pronged reason of his confidence. He saw it with his own two eyes. He heard it with his own two ears. God directly saying, Jesus is my son.

I'm pleased in him." And he had the prophecy. Everything pointing forward, all the law, all the prophets, watching Jesus day by day. He fulfilled that, he fulfilled that, he fulfilled that, he fulfilled that, he fulfilled that, he fulfilled that, he fulfilled that. I wonder if this was a game among the apostles to try to collect up the most fulfillments from what they were seeing every day with their own two eyes and hearing every day with their own two ears. What a game that would be.

Brothers and sisters, These are the words of God. God has spoken to his people. We have them. Luke writes and says, You should have certainty about these words. John writes and says you should have joy about these words and we say amen.

You're betting your life, don't sweat it. You can bet your life on these words. We have the testimony of eye witnesses. We have the testimony of God Himself directly. We have the testimony of all the prophets and all they said and all the ways Jesus fulfilled what they said.

We can have joy and confidence in the gospel that Jesus Christ has come and redeemed a people. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for the joy that there is in preaching such a glorious Gospel. Thank you God for just allowing me to stand up and talk about the beauty of your Word and the things that have been handed down to us. God help us to guard your deposit.

Help us to guard the things that have been entrusted to us in your holy and precious word in Jesus name. Amen.