This morning, I’ve titled my message “The Most Important Lesson I Could Ever Teach,” and I want you to know that’s not an exaggeration. It’s not something I just thought to get your attention. I really believe this. And in some ways, I believe that this is the most important lesson I ever learned. In fact, if this were the only lesson I ever learned, it would be enough. It’s the lesson that in this passage, you’ll see Peter is saying himself, he says I am going to die soon, but you have to get this. So in some ways, it’s the thing that he felt like I have to impart this before I die. And what this lesson is about is something I was taught when I was in high school, and I was taught the lesson of how to spend time alone in this Book, studying this Book for myself, and having this time alone with God. Once I figured out how to read this Book, which it’s really not hard especially nowadays with all the helps and everything you’ve got on the Internet, once I figured that out, and once I began to study, and learn this for myself, I was ok. That’s really all I needed because now I could open up this Book and just know what God has to say to me and just do what it says. I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life dependent on other people to explain it to me. I could just do it by myself. In fact, I don’t know how people- Because I know a lot of you don’t read the Bible for yourself, and personally, I don’t know how you can pull off following God in our culture, in our world without this time alone with God. This is great. You learn from someone else, and you can listen to other messages. But there’s something so different when you study it for yourself, when you spend that time studying it for yourself because the truth is for me it’s the only time when I can’t lie. I can lie to you. I very easily can lie to you. I believe I have the ability to lie to anyone. I’m that good- great quality to have in your pastor. It’s really not that hard to deceive someone. I can pretend that I’m humble. I know the way to say it and the looks on my face and just the right words to make you think that I’m humble or to make you think that I’m close to God or to think whatever you want to think about me. We get pretty good at communication; most of us are pretty good at communicating who we want other people to think we are. But then there’s that time when you’re alone with God, and there’s no one to lie to, and there’s one person who right now knows. Even as I’m speaking right now, you don’t know what goes on in my heart and what thoughts are going on and the intention of my words. Maybe I’m saying it to make myself sound better. Maybe I’m telling you this so that you don’t think that I’m really thinking. There’s all of that going on. You don’t know, but then I’m alone with God’s Word. Then I’m alone, and I’m studying the Book for myself, and here’s God telling me I’ve got to do something. And here’s a God that knows not only my word but also the intention of my heart.
He knows when I’m trying to sound good even in my prayers. And there are times when we’re dumb enough to even try to sound good in our prayers, trying to make it sound like we really love Him and want to be with Him when He knows our hearts. He’s seen us all week and saw how we long for all the other things in the world, and He’s just an afterthought. But we’re dumb enough to say, ‘Oh God, I’ve just wanted You, and thanks for this.’ It’s the one time when you have to be real. I was asked just yesterday, someone came up to me, and said, “Hey, with all the success and stuff, how do you keep from being just super arrogant? You’re just kind of arrogant. How do you keep from being majorly arrogant?” And again, I just said I don’t know how anyone survives without spending time alone with God. If I did not have time with God, I would be so self-centered, so arrogant, so in my own world because I can fool people. And it’s this time when I am here just thinking, ‘Ok well, here is what God says,’ and I can’t think of a time in my lifetime when this lesson was more needed because I see, as I travel, there are just fewer and fewer people that love this Book and love the truths in this Book. And people instead are looking for new ideas, new thoughts, and they would rather listen to opinions of other people rather than really looking at this Book that’s been around for thousands of years. These words that have been around for thousands of years, that have proven, those over time that have changed lives over the centuries, and yet we try to run to these other things.
And so Peter says in this passage, he starts in 2 Peter Chapter 1, verse 12, he says, “Therefore,” he says, “I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it’s right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made it clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.” [2 Peter 1:12-15 ESV]
Now I don’t know what jumps out to you in that passage, but one of the things when I was reading it for the first time, I was looking at this thinking, ‘Well, that’s really weird.’ Peter says, “I know that the putting off of my body will be soon as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.” Isn’t that strange to you that Peter knew that he was going to die soon, and I love the phrasing even, “the putting off of this body” because it’s not really death. I don’t really die. It’s just a- I’m putting off this body. And Peter says I know that’s going to be soon. How did Peter know? It doesn’t really say. It doesn’t say in Scripture. Now it does say in Scripture- this is interesting, and I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this- but in John Chapter 21, this is after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Remember when Jesus has that encounter with Peter and tells him to feed my sheep, and in John Chapter 21 in verse 18, He says to Peter, Jesus says, the resurrected Christ says to Peter, “Truly I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. (This He said to show by what kind of death he was going to glorify God.) And after saying this He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’” [John 21:18-19 ESV] So Jesus told Peter. He said remember when you were young. He said when you were young, you just kind of did whatever you wanted. You wore what you wanted. You went where you wanted. He said let Me tell you what’s going to happen when you get older. You’re not going to be free. Someone’s actually going to take you and lead you where you don’t want to go. It says that Jesus told him this to tell him the type of death he was going to die. He said someone else is going to stretch out your hands. See it was an explanation. Peter you’re going to be crucified, and tradition tells us that Peter was crucified. In fact, tradition tells us that Peter, from what we understand, didn’t feel worthy to die in the same way that Jesus died so he asked his executioners to crucify him upside down.
Jesus told. Think about this. Think about the ramifications of this. Jesus told Peter here’s how you’re going to die, and then right after He says this, He says, “Follow Me.” It goes completely against this nonsense that so many churches teach that if you follow Jesus that everything’s going to go so well in your life. You’re going to be so healthy, so wealthy because that’s His plan for you here on this Earth. It certainly wasn’t His plan for Peter. He says, ‘Peter, it was better for you when you were young. You know you had your freedom to go wherever you wanted to go. Guess what? For following Me, people are actually going to stretch out your hands. They’re going to crucify you. Let me tell you how you’re going to die. You’re not going to have your freedoms when you’re older, but follow Me.’ Understand the message Jesus taught was: look, it’s not going to be easy to follow Me. In fact, here Peter, here is how it’s going to end for you, but let Me tell you I’m worth it. I’m worth it. Hold on until the end. And so Jesus told Peter you’re going to die. And here in 2 Peter, he’s explaining somehow God communicated to Peter that the time is going to be soon. Imagine what you would feel if you knew the time was running out, your life is about to be over, and not only that, but God told you the way you’re going to be dying, killed a torturous death. Peter doesn’t complain about it. He doesn’t say, ‘Why me?’ He just knows, ‘Hey, this is just the way it is.’
But what I want you to notice in this passage is what Peter wants to do with the last few moments of his life. See? Because if that were you, what would you do? If you know my life’s about over, and it’s crazy how some people answer this question. The things you would do if you knew you only had weeks or months to live. The things you would do, what would those things be? So you see, Peter says, ‘While I’m alive, while I’m here, he says it’s right for me to remind you of all these ways you ought to live.’ He says, ‘But God’s told me that I’m about to die.’ And so what he says in verse 15 [2 Peter 1], I’m going to “make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.” So Peter says, ‘I’m not going to be here to remind you this is how you’re supposed to live. This is what God said to do. He said I want to set you up. I want to make sure that once I’m gone, you’re still following God. You’ll be able to recall these things. You’ll know what God says, and you’ll be able to figure that on your own.’ It’s one of those things that really ought to be, for us as parents, should be our goal is that when we’re gone our kids know how to follow God on their own. I said years ago that the goal of parenting is to train our kids to be independently dependent on God, but somehow, we teach them to be independently dependent on God, that their relationship with God isn’t all about us. But somehow, we release them, and say you know you need to depend on God. You understand. You don’t need me anymore. You have His Word. You have Him. You have His Spirit. Now go. That’s the same thing Peter was saying to this church, to these followers who had been following him as an Apostle, these believers. He’s saying, ‘Look, you’re scattered everywhere or whatever, but I’m going to be gone soon. And I’ll keep reminding you of this stuff until it’s time to go, but I’m ready to die now. And so I’m going to make every effort to make sure you’re ok.’
This is one of the things that concerns me. I know that some of you, you’d be fine if I were gone tomorrow. You would think, ‘Big deal.’ You have your time with God. You’d be thinking, ‘Oh, it was cool having him around, but I’m not dependent on him. I study this Book. I love this Book. I love the teachings of this Book. It doesn’t matter who’s up there as long as they’re teaching from this Book.’ I love it, I love it, I love it. I just want that, but there’s also a contingent here that I hear about it. It’s like, ‘Well, Francis isn’t teaching this week so I don’t think I’m going to go.’ And that’s very sad, and it’s scary to me because I don’t ever want it to be about me. It has to be about this Book, and it’s so weird how certain people will only listen to this Book if it’s through a certain person, for a certain amount of time, at the right time of day, when everything’s set up just perfectly. And there’s no sense of ‘I know how to study this. I read it for myself.’ Those are the greatest times in my life, when I’m alone, and I’m reading this and studying in it and praying about it and changing my life over it. See, Peter says. ‘I want to set you up so that after my departure you at any time, you can recall these things. It’s not about me. You’re not completely dependent on me.’ What if you were told you only have a short time? What would you do with that time? Would it be all centered around God, and would you say, ‘I need to make sure the people I love can follow God without me being around’?
We don’t know how Peter knew that he had a short time. Maybe it was some sort of prophecy that was given to him. Now some of you in this room, you only have a short time left on Earth, and that could be true of any of us, but some of us you don’t need a prophet to tell you you’re dying soon. A mirror will do that. You can just look. Hey, let’s just be honest here, ok? Ok, how much longer are you going to live? It’s just one of those taboo subjects that we don’t like to talk about, but let’s just be real here. You can try to get the surgeries or whatever else, but it’s just noticeable.
Now let me say something though. Let me say something about this because I may joke around about that, but I want to be respectful. I was raised in a very- Believe it or not, I was raised in a very Asian home, culturally. Now we weren’t allowed to speak English. We just only spoke Chinese in the home and everything else. And part of my culture is tremendous respect for the elderly. You don’t talk back to them. You don’t question them. You don’t try to teach them anything. You are there to be quiet and learn from them. Now I understand that’s different from some of the cultures you grew up in, but in my home, that’s what we were taught as kids. And so understand for those of you who are older than me, I understand this respect that I ought to have for you, and I understand that there is an honor Biblically that I’m to bestow upon you. And there are things you’ve experienced in life, and it just does me well to learn what I can from those who are older than I am. However, there is also a truth in Scripture that while I am supposed to honor and respect those who are older than I am, I’ve also been placed in a position as your pastor, and in that position, I am called to challenge you in certain areas respectfully, nonetheless to challenge you. And I do want to say something to those who are older than I am. I have to say in America we do a very strange thing with this concept of retirement and really enjoying our last years that I don’t see in Scripture. In fact, it saddens me. It surprises me and saddens me at the same time when I watch some of you who are elderly, and the way that you live your lives. It doesn’t seem like you’re really preparing for the moment when you’re going to see God. I don’t get this idea of ‘I’ve only got a few years left so let me really enjoy this Earth,’ and maybe I’m being young and naïve, but I would think, and I actually pray that when I’m that age that there’s an even greater urgency about this time when I face God and how soon it’s going to come. And I pray that my thoughts will be less and less about the things of the Earth and more and more about preparing for that moment. So far, in my life, I’ve seen that every year. I see that I’m getting closer to the end. It’s just reality. Yes, and Christ could return any moment, but it’s just every year of my life, and even at forty-two, I feel like I’m more serious about the end and that moment when I face God and what do I have to show for it. So it’s hard for me to understand some of you who are still trying to accumulate here on the Earth. Where I would think it’s time to start letting go of everything and thinking about how do I want to approach that throne and what have I done with my life? Let me end serving and giving and just trusting in Him and make it all about Him rather than all about me. And I understand some of you do that. I’m just saying the vast majority, I don’t see an urgency towards the end of your life, and I feel like it would be disrespectful if I didn’t bring that up to you and challenge you respectfully on that to say how are you ending this? You don’t need a prophet to tell you that it’s about that time. You can see it. That’s the way God designed it, and we live in a world that’s trying to hide it. And they’re desperate to try to make themselves look like they’re not coming to the end. It’s a weird thing. I understand why no one wants to go to hell. What surprises me is it seems like there are very few people who really want to go to heaven. You’re living like this is going to last forever.
Peter, when I read his words, he is just saying it’s about that time. I’m about to shed this body here. I’m going to put off the flesh. Pretty soon, I’m going to stand before God. So what I’m going to do is: I’m going to make every effort. I’m going to work so hard at making sure those who are left behind here know how to recall these truths of Scripture and the things that they have to pursue. And I just pray that that’s what you’re pursuing in your life, no matter what age you’re at because the truth is this could be the last week of our lives, but what are we busy about? And what’s it going to be like when we come into the presence of God? He goes on in verse 16 and what Peter says, he says “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” [2 Peter 1:16 ESV] Peter says, ‘Look, I’m telling you about how Christ is going to return.’ Peter says, ‘You know what? I’m not just making stuff up. This isn’t some clever philosophy I just learned. I’m not just biting into some myth. I saw Him. I saw Him on that mountain.’
This week, I was in San Francisco with my family at a big Thanksgiving thing, and one of the things we did was we went to Golden Gate Park, and there is this museum, planetarium, aquarium thing. It’s not worth the money. Don’t go, but it was just the whole family. We just went. It was something to do. And we went to this planetarium part of it where you watch a movie. I don’t know if any of you have ever seen it out there, but it’s kind of like how they used to have at Gruth [ph] Park. I don’t know if they still have it where you look up, and you see something. It used to be Pink Floyd or whatever, and all the lasers, and everything. And you knew everyone was just making out, but it’s in San Francisco. They have this thing that was showing the stars and the beginnings of the Earth. And it was pretty amazing when you look at the solar system. You know how I get into that. Because you just think we’re just this tiny speck in this mass universe, and the sun, and the way everything works, but then they talk about the beginning, they just say it all started with energy and dark matter billions of years ago. You know how you’re watching something, and it just almost sickens you because you’ve just seen the beauty of this thing. And you’re just thinking how could anyone in this room believe in eternal dark matter and energy and then all of this. And then here we are sitting in this room even with the technology to create something like this and communicate and love one another and cry for one another, laugh with one another, and just think, ‘Ah, just a random chance. It’s just-’ I just got sick to my stomach, but the cleverness of the way they put it together. And say, ‘Oh yeah, energy and dark matter, then it’s just really-’ No, did you hear what she said?
See Peter, here he’s saying, ‘Listen, what I’m telling you, there’s all sorts of beliefs in this world, but I’m not just telling you some sort of cleverly devised myth.’ He says, ‘I experienced something.’ He says, ‘We were eyewitnesses of His majesty.’ He said, ‘I actually saw something.’ And he refers to it in verse 17, he says “When he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with Him on the holy mountain.” [2 Peter 1:17-18 ESV] What Holy Mountain is he talking about? He’s talking about Matthew 17. Remember Matthew Chapter 17? Peter talks about the time when Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and He said come up on this mountain with Me. So it’s just the four of them. They get up on the mountain, and Matthew 17 says He’s there with Peter. So Peter who wrote this and said, ‘I was there I was on the mountain,’ and he describes it in Matthew 17. It’s described where they’re sitting there, and Jesus is talking to them. This is someone- you have to put yourself in their shoes.
Pretend it’s me, and I say, ‘Hey, you guys, let’s go up to that mountain over there, the one with the Cross on it. Let’s walk up there. What if you and two of your friends walk up there with me?’ And what happens is as I’m talking to you, what if suddenly my face started shining like the sun, a little freaky? Some of you are thinking, ‘Ok, like the sun, we know this guy. He’s just a person. Isn’t He just a person? We’ve been hanging out with Him, and He did these miracles. That’s what they’re experiencing with Jesus. He says we’re on that mountain, and His face starts shining like the sun, and then it says that all of His clothes, everything, His whole body just turns bright white. There’s this beaming light. And they’re petrified. And then suddenly these two beings from heaven come down, Moses and Elijah. He says they’re on either side, and He is talking with them. And it says that then Peter says, ‘Hey, it is great that you are here.’ He is talking, talking, and then suddenly, it says that this bright cloud starts coming toward the mountain. And everyone knew what the bright cloud was. It’s the Old Testament, the Shekinah, the glory; it’s the cloud they followed in the desert. And here it represented the Presence of God. So now, it said the cloud not only rested there, but it was like it enveloped them. They’re inside this cloud. Jesus is shining like the sun. Two heavenly beings just came down. Then they hear a Voice come out of the cloud saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love.’ It says, ‘With Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him.’ It says that they immediately just fell on their faces terrified, which is what you would do, right? Can you imagine hearing the Voice? Peter says, ‘I’m not screwing around. I’m not just coming up with some philosophy. I didn’t hear this from anyone. I was there on the mountain. I was shaking. I was there. I was talking for a while, and then suddenly, the cloud starts talking, and I just fell on my face.’ And he says, ‘What I experienced I know was real.’ And here’s the phrase that surprises me though. It says, ‘We were there. We saw it. We were with Him on the holy mountain. And then in verse 19, he says, “And we have something more sure, the prophetic word.” [2 Peter 1:19 ESV] He says that experience was awesome. Don’t get me wrong. He says first of all, ‘It’s not something I’m making up. I was standing on the mountain. I heard the Voice of God saying this is the Son of God. This is My Son. I love Him. You better listen to Him. And so I’m freaked out, but he says I have something even greater than that something more sure, and that’s this Book, the prophetic word.’
He says, ‘When I talk about Christ coming back, and all of His glory, and judging the world,’ He says I know it’s going to happen because I saw Him in His glory. I saw Him on the mountain. So it’s not just something that I’m telling you, I read in a book somewhere, that someone just came up with, a clever myth, and I came up with it.’ He said, ‘I saw it and not only that, but I have something more sure. The prophecies, the prophetic word, these things that were spoken.’ See because I look at this Book, and He says the same thing that He is going to come. He is going to come in all of His glory. It’s been written, and I’ve experienced it. And all that together tells me that I know this is going to happen. And I just remember reading that phrase and thinking, ‘Wow! We have something more sure, the prophetic word.’ And he says you would do well to pay attention to this. Pay attention to it like a lamp in a dark place where it’s the only light you have. Here you’re on this Earth full of darkness, it would do you well to pay attention to this. He says, ‘I’m leaving the Earth, but you, it would do you well to pay attention to this Book because I know it’s true, and I know Christ is returning. I saw Him. I saw His glory. I was on that mountain. And we have something here in the prophecies.’
It amazes me as I just see fewer and fewer people revere this Word, this Book that has stood for centuries, and how quick we are to run to some of these cleverly devised myths. Some of them aren’t even clever. We just love to listen to the opinions of people. Do you notice that? Every time election comes, we want to know what the actors think. The actors, that’s what we want to hear. And I remember when I was a youth pastor up at Rocky Peak, years ago, about twenty years ago, and I still remember. Do you know how certain things just click in your mind? But there was a band, and I remember this bumper sticker I saw on one of the girls that drove up to youth group. And remember the band Oingo Boingo? I still remember this. You remember them, really? Rick’s saying, ‘Yeah, yeah, you’re pretty cool.’ Ok, an older guy remembers Oingo Boingo, but I just remember this girl’s bumper sticker. It said Oingo Boingo knows what’s best for you. Think of that sentence. Isn’t it weird how we’ll just gravitate whether it’s Oingo Boingo or Chumbawamba? Remember them or Katchagoogoo? Some of you are laughing. You’re thinking, ‘Ah, you’re so dumb.’ The younger people, you listen to Lady Ga Ga. Yeah, you’re at another level than we were. But it’s just funny how we’ll listen to someone because they sing well or they dance well or they can hit a ball really far and run into a fire hydrant, but we’ll listen. Why? Why? We so want these opinions of all these different people, and we don’t stop to consider. Think about this. Here’s a Book that has stood for thousands of years. There are prophecies in this Book where people wrote it, and they would say something that would happen hundreds of years in the future. And even pinpoint the date. There’s no way they would have known that hundreds of years later it was going to happen on that day, the crucifixion where it’s just proven itself over and over. We have something really sure here. He says I saw Him on the mountain, and yet we’ll throw all of this away, the centuries that this Book has changed people’s lives, and we’ll throw it all away because we’ve heard the opinion of someone that seems sings well or the opinion of the majority. Peter says, ‘I don’t really care what everyone thinks. I was on the mountain. I saw it. I heard that Voice. So you can crucify me upside down. I’m not denying this thing. Go ahead take me. Crucify me. In fact, don’t do it the way you did. Put me upside down. I don’t really care anymore. I know what I saw. I know what I heard, and I’m not going to back off this thing. I have something that is absolutely sure; it’s the Prophetic Word of God.’
There have been holy books that have come out in the last hundred years or so. The Book of Mormon, you got the Koran that came out hundreds of years after our Scriptures. There will be plenty more books to come out, the Dianetics. Whatever you want to- There are going to be plenty of things, and you can jump on any of these bandwagons. One thing that’s been sure, and it’s been sure for thousands of years, and it’s been proven, and the Church has been called to be the “pillar of truth,” 1 Timothy 3:15 ESV says, meaning like a pillar. Those ancient pillars, you know the story of Samson when he was strapped to the pillars, and he just broke the pillars. What happens when the pillar crumbles? Everything comes down. The Bible says the Church is the “pillar of truth.” We’re the ones to uphold it, and say, No, this is it. This is it. It’s always been this, and we’ve never deviated from this. Why are you running to these other philosophies, this clever teaching, that clever teaching, the da Vinci Code?’ And you just run. The answer? You’re going to hear so many things in your lifetime, and I want to be one of those last ones standing saying, ‘Oh, I’m going to die for this thing. I’m going to hold this Book up, and you’re not going to- Go ahead crucify me upside down. I’m not going to back off from what it taught. I know this thing is true. I’ve experienced Him in my life, and I’m going to stand for this thing.’ And I pray that as the Church that we will be those people that as the philosophies of the world are going to go against this Book we say, ‘No, I’m not backing off.’ And that’s the way Peter was. That’s the way we ought to be, and it’s not about a person and how he delivers it, but it’s your personal love for the Word.
And finally, he says in verse 20, “Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” [2 Peter 1:20 ESV] He says look at the prophecies. You think people came up with it? He says no prophecy comes because of someone’s interpretation. Let me just mention something here. This whole thing about “no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s interpretation” I’ve heard it so many times, and you have too, that when you teach something from the Bible, sure enough someone’s going to say, “Well, that’s your interpretation. Right? That’s just how you interpret it. The Bible can be interpreted many ways.” No, what this passage is saying is no, that’s not true. The Bible is not just some book that you can come up and read a verse and come up with your own interpretation. No prophecy is just about what you want to believe. It’s about there’s a truth in there, and you have to work, and you have to find it. When people tell me, ‘Well, that’s your interpretation,’ my question to them is how do you interpret it then? Have you ever studied? Have you ever come before God? Do you, any of you, do this? Do you? I know some of you. Do you do this where you pray, and say, ‘God, I want to know the truth of this Book. I want to know what it says. God, I know I have all these desires, and all these things I want to be true, but I want to get rid of that. Show me the truth even if I don’t like it, even if it goes against everything I’ve ever been taught. Just please tell me the truth. I just want to hear truth even if it makes it harder for me. I have to know what’s true.’ Do you ever pray that? Then open up this Book and try to interpret. I put aside all, what I want, because there are a lot of things I wish were true. It’s not in here. There are things I wish weren’t true, and they are in there. But if I seek after truth I say, ‘God, just show me because I want to know the Scriptures. I want to know the truth. I want to stand with those who hold up the truth.’ Do you do that? Because you do that, and God will give you the interpretation of His Word. He’ll give you the truth of His Word, but if you’re just kind of going to follow someone else’s opinion or thoughts, I beg you to study this Book. If you don’t study this Book on your own, I’m not going to be able to talk you into anything. Sometimes, I feel like I have to talk you into stuff. This is not about interpretation. It’s not a matter about interpretation. The issue, the problem we have is an issue of respect. Respecting this as truly knowing that those prophets couldn’t have known this unless they were really carried by the Holy Spirit of God, so therefore I should respect this Book.
Listen as I read a verse this week. I think it was Tuesday or whatever, and I was just alone reading this verse. And I just- No, it was Monday, and I just started bawling. I couldn’t get it out of my head. It was Isaiah Chapter 66 verse 2. It says this: “All these things my hand has made,”- this is God speaking-“and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” [Isaiah 66:2 ESV] “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit…” And that hit me. I thought, ‘Gosh, the humility, the contriteness in spirit, is that really what I am known as, and who I really am, who God knows me as?’ But the phrase that really killed me was, “and trembles at my word.” Do I tremble at His Word? On that mountain, I would have trembled as I heard the Words coming out of that cloud, and you would also. But do I carry that same type of respect for His Word? Do I believe that’s really His Word to where it would be just like me on the mountain? And Him telling me, like we’ve been studying the last few weeks, make every effort to pursue this brotherly love, to pursue this perseverance and steadfastness, to pursue the self-control. Those are the Words of God. I ought to tremble at that. This is the underlying issue here. Sometimes, I feel like some of you have come and reading the Word of God isn’t enough for you. Now I have to convince you. It’s almost like I know that’s what it says, but give me a reason why I should do that. Isn’t it enough that it’s just in there, and it’s the very Words of God? And we should just tremble and say, ‘Ok, I’m going to go, and I’m going to do that. Or do you need someone to talk you into it and give you ten reasons why it’s going to work out better in your life if you do it this way? There ought to be a respect for God’s Word where we just tremble at it. And I noticed myself. I read it. I study it. I memorize it, but do I tremble at it and really take it literally as the Words of God to where my life is going to change because of it? That’s my prayer for us is that we wouldn’t be so dependent on podcasts or whatever else or a certain person’s speaking, but that each of you when I’m gone it’s really not that big a deal. You can read the Word of God for yourself. You can recall these things, and you tremble at His Word no matter who teaches it. That’s my prayer.
What were going to do right now is we’re going to just throw some verses on the screen. I’m not going to explain them to you. I just want you to take them as the very Words of God. Picture yourself on the mountain. Picture yourself on the mountaintop. Jesus’ face is shining. Moses and Elijah are standing there. A bright cloud envelops you. You hear the Voice of God saying this is My Son. I love Him. Do what He says, and then, you hear Jesus speaking these words. Let’s learn to tremble at His Words. And if during this time you realize, ‘Wow, there are a lot of things in God’s Word I haven’t followed, and I haven’t trembled. Then you need to pray with someone and get that right. Maybe some of you will even think, ‘I don’t know, do I want to be baptized and repent.’ We’re so casual about His Word. If you haven’t obeyed Him, tremble at- I don’t need to talk you into it. Maybe you’re thinking, ‘Well, maybe there’ll be a time when it’s easier, and there’s only a couple of people in church, and we can…’ versus just saying, ‘God’s Word told me to do that; I’m doing it. That’s that. That’s it. You don’t need to talk me into anything.’ If you want to pray, if you want to be baptized, if you need to just confess some things to someone, there’ll be people up here in the prayer room, but for the rest of us, let’s just look at His Word, and let’s tremble at it.
