Pastor Babij continues his preaching from 1 Peter 1, where Peter calls on Christians to remember Who is coming back. Pastor Babij explains the two informants that must be used for remembering:
1) The apostolic witness and experience
2) The prophetic word
Pastor Babij emphasizes that, because the Scriptures are God’s own words and not the words of men, they always overrule feelings and experiences contrary to their teachings. Christians, therefore, should continually crave God’s Word above all else.
Full Transcript:
Okay this morning take your Bibles again and turn to 2 Peter. We’re looking at the verses at the end, verses 19 to 21. I just want to review where we were and where we are going so we can get a sense of where the text is taking us. Our title is Remembering Who is Coming, because ultimately what Peter is doing is getting people to focus their attention on the understanding that Christ is coming and to never forget that.
So we have been looking at the seven qualities that we are to add to our faith, which include: moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Those lead to a goal to be more useful and productive in the Christian life. That productivity and effectiveness that God wants us to have in our lives is our increased to think and act like Christ. That also means that we can fall off that path and be disobedient to the goal. If we are, then we will lack these qualities and actually lack in the ability to see spiritually. The idea is that these people can only see what is in front of them and are blind to the reality that is before God.
These people also have a bad memory which means they have forgotten from where and what Christ has rescued them from. It says in 2 Peter 1:9:
For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
The work was done for the believer by the finished work of Christ. But they are forgetting that because they are letting their passions and the world guide and conform them. We know from 2 Peter the influence of the false teachers. They are taking on teaching that is not objective truth but that which relies on subjective experience. These people are returning to their former ways of living and are ignoring by their behavior the sins they have been cleansed from. They fail to focus on others and God, and are stepping out of the realm of life and walk in darkness. They become useless, unfruitful, and lack assurance.
Peter is reminding the recipients of his letter that this is not a reality amongst them right now, but it could become a reality if they don’t meet the conditions. If the false teachers have their way by misrepresenting and maligning the truth and get the people to follow their ungodliness, they will become more forgetful of the truth and rob them of their assurance. That’s why Peter gives an exhortation for the people to make sure they are believers and truly chosen by Christ.
In 2 Peter 1:10 it says:
Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble.
There are promises that come with pursuing these qualities and adding them to your life and that you’re cooperating with the Spirit of God in sanctification for making us into the image of Christ. There is assurance of salvation that comes and that means that you can never stumble. Now this doesn’t mean that you can never sin, but it means that you will be able to keep up and grow and mature in Christ’s likeness. When you do sin, you will confess it and not get caught in habitual sin. It’s because you have been called and chosen by God, and you know that He enters into the battle with you.
The other promise is that believers have an abundance entrance into Heaven. We know that we only enter by grace so here Peter gives the believer the opportunity to know that when they enter the Kingdom of God, it will be a grand entrance. He prods them on to not be satisfied with getting by as a believer. He doesn’t want them to live on the low road, but instead on the plane of maturity. He wants us to be on the road where we know we are called and elect and we are abounding in these things. We are not barren and unfruitful, but we are bearing fruit in all kinds of ways because of what the Spirit of God is doing in us. We have that promise that will never fall because we can see. Christians will make steady progress as they practice the Word of God.
So Christians who do not lack diligence and are not idle, they have every right to be assured of their salvation. That’s God’s job to give us assurance. So if you have spiritual success in time, and congratulations in eternity, you will take the road in which you are maturing and developing in Jesus Christ. You will develop these seven vital qualities in your life and will be effective and have an abundant Christian life.
But at the same time, if there is no spiritual growth ever, there is no spiritual life which means you are still dead in your sins as an unbeliever. That could be the case too if someone is still dead in their sins and not bearing fruit. These people may have professed Christ but the Spirit of God doesn’t dwell in them and they really have no true desire for the things of God.
So the Lord wants us to move on and get on the track in which we are growing. One way we do that is by being diligent. It’s because all of the recipients of this epistle are reminded that they live in a world where they are many dangers and here they face the danger of being led astray and coming under the influence of teachers who believe that immorality would not incur divine judgment.
So he doesn’t want them to think like that. But Peter also doesn’t want them to think that they’ve arrived. We should be humble in order to be reminded on these things that we already know because we are prone to forget. So Peter is saying here that he is going to take the rest of his life by writing this epistle in order to remind the readers they need to be diligent.
We need to be reminded because we are prone to forget. So the implications of remembering are found in verse 12-15. In 2 Peter 1:12 it says:
Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.
The first implication of remembering is that it retains our desire to increase in godliness. When everybody is gone, they will be established in the truth and able to live on their own. Also in 2 Peter 1:13-14 it says:
I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
So what he’s saying here is that he wants to stir us up to keep our passions for the Lord. Peter wants his readers to be immovable in the truth which is available to them. They have already been established in the teachings of the prophets in the Old Testament, and in the teachings of the Apostles in the New Testament. Peter reminds them not to be negligent of something they already knew because the journey of life is short and we should not waste it, and also death is sure.
The constant repetition of a teaching until it becomes part of us is at the heart and soul of all good learning. We always need to be told something we already know because that means we are building on it. So there’s a knowledge that is so crucial for our wellbeing spiritually that we cannot afford to forget what we have been learning from the Word of God. If there is one area of knowledge that we need to be reminded of over and over again is the need for spiritual truths.
As the Apostle Peter nears the end of his earthly life, he reminds his readers of their need for spiritual truth and what God has said in His Word so that it would stick in their minds. He says it again in 2 Peter 3:1-2:
This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.
So he is saying to them that he wants them to remember the Word of God so they never forget it. There’s another implication of remembering in that it forces us to be ready. It says in 2 Peter 1:15:
And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.
That was his goal, that they themselves would be ready to call all these things to mind. They don’t need new truth or experiences. What we need is to gain a clearer understanding of the eternal truths of God that have already been revealed. He does this so that you would be able, when your teachers and mentors are no longer around, to call these things to mind yourself because you are so engrained with the truth.
So Peter knew that there was some heavy duty false teaching right around the corner and these teachers mocked the idea of a powerful heavenly Christ who dwells His people by His Spirit and strengthens them for present godly living. He knew that false teachers would turn that on its head. So Peter did not want his disciples to be carried by the precarious tide of false doctrine and those who propagate it so that they don’t lose their footing in the truth and fall prey to it, where he says in 2 Peter 3:17:
You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness.
False teachers are definitely in our day and all over the place. They have a prominent voice in media and books. So we need to discern these unprincipled teachers who deny Christ by their sensual ways and in their teaching. Because of that, they actually slander, twist, and misuse the Word of God. So we have to have people who are going to inform us in the right way. And that’s what Peter says in 2 Peter 1:16 and onwards when he gives us the informants for remembering. They are apostolic witness and experience and the actual prophetic Word.
I want to go back and look at 2 Peter 1:16 because he says to remember what he has not taught. He says here:
For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
I mentioned last time that these have to do with legends, myths, and fables. And these are actually opposite for the words for word, declaration, and truth. So these fables were really far-fetched stories, usually of a religious nature and about the gods of the nations steeped in pagan practices, Jewish fables, and Greek myths. All over Scripture you find the other Apostles mentioning these, that you are to stay away from men who teach strange doctrines and endless genealogies.
And then in 2 Timothy 4:4 it says:
And will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
False teachers scoff at the teaching of the prophets and apostles of Jesus Christ about His coming. The false teachers could have taught the Incarnation and the Resurrection and the coming Kingdom as mere stories, and nothing to take seriously. They were so locked into their present pleasures and the pleasures of this life that the thought of God’s future coming Kingdom was an absolute blur to their greedy hearts and corrupt desires. So with their clouded minds, the Second Coming seems like a made up story. And Peter of course calls these teachings destructive heresies. He says in 2 Peter 2:1:
[They] will secretly introduce destructive heresies.
They will bring it in a charismatic way. Now we have received the Truth, the Way, and the Light that the Lord has given us. The Apostles Peter, James, and John experienced the power of the Lord Jesus Christ in a way that no one ever has. That’s what it means when he says in 2 Peter 2:16:
For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
He is saying here that it is by this power that we experience with Christ the very power that created the world and called it into existence. This power has authority over demons and the ungodly. It brings them by the power of the gospel to a pure and holy life. This is the God who when He comes into contact with diseases, makes them disappear at His will. Peter’s experience with Jesus was an awesome power and was given an unforgettable initiation into the mystery of Christ’s person and got a preview of Christ’s eschatological return in glory. So the word for coming in verse 16 is actually used in other places to signify the arrival of a visiting king or someone with great authority. And it’s announced ahead of time before they come. It’s heralded by those who are servants and come to proclaim that someone is coming.
Peter is saying they had a first hand experience regarding Christ’s coming. Let’s read in 2 Peter 1:16-18:
We were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
This is the Father’s witness of the character and work of His Son that He was well-pleased with Him. It was not generated as a dream or vision, but as an authentic experience known as the Mount of Transfiguration. The Lord brought them to this high mountain and selected a private place where He was transfigured right before their eyes. God changed Jesus’ form allowing His pre-incarnate glory to shine through His human features as a foretaste of His coming exultation.
So this event of the Transfiguration enabled the disciples to see Jesus’ power and glory and especially that which was to come more clearly. They would see Jesus’ true nature, which not only showed His humanity and humiliation, but also His future coming and glory and power. Not only that, but we saw in Mark 9 that His clothing was transformed. His garments became radiant and exceedingly white as no launderer on earth can whiten.
His garments are described as nothing that can be produced here on Earth. He had a super Heavenly whiteness that was unseen by humans. What the disciples were actually seeing was the glory of Christ. The glory of Jesus is inherent glory. It is not like the reflected gory that human beings have or creation has or even what shows on Moses’ face in the Old Testament. The glory they saw and the light they witnessed was not falling on Him from above, but came out from Him. He was actually producing the light.
So God’s glory is His own and proceeds from within the very nature of His majestic deity. The deity of Jesus Christ bursts forth before His disciples from within, showing forth who He was. Christ is the brightness of the glory of God. And that glory is reflected from within Him and this is confirmed before the disciples that Jesus is God and that He is coming again in all His glory.
Now in Scripture here, what a great and historical and reliable experience these disciples had. However, no matter how awesome and extraordinary the experience is with the disciples, there is something more sure and reliable than that experience. See false religions and teachers are often intertwined with spurious, unverifiable visions and voices. Satan is the puppet master and he is the counterfeit of new prophetic visions and teachings which he repackages as the teaching of God.
False teachers really depend on the experience that cannot be verified and usually never is verified. The point being is that spiritual experience is not the means of spiritual growth, so don’t look for it or seek it. There is something we ought to be paying attention to and it says that right here. Peter wants to confirm something more sure than the actual and genuine and authentic experience they had when they saw the glory of Christ. Peter is saying here that there is a more sure witness and more reliable informant to help you produce and grow in your faith. He mentions it in 2 Peter 1:19 and he is talking about the prophetic word. He wants them to pay attention to the Old and New Testaments of Scripture at least for four important reasons.
So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.
The first reason is because this was more certain and firm to which you will do well to pay attention. Pay attention to the sure Word of God. Prophetic here refers to all Scripture. Listen to the message of Christ’s first coming as the Suffering Servant and the SecondComing in glory to bring human history to its long planned destiny. Scripture is reliable because it never changes as God never changes. As the psalmist says in Psalm 19:7:
The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The second reason is found in verse 19 of 2 Peter:
You do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place.
This means that the Scriptures are a light and are illuminating. The Scriptures have always been light as the Old Testament have always communicated to those who follow the Lord. If we go back and look at Psalm 119 again, the psalmist says this in Psalm 119:105:
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Psalm 119:130 says:
The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.
Even Proverbs tells us for the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light. Reproof for discipline is the way of life. So only the Word of God can adequately penetrate darkness concerning the reality of Spiritual things. The world is spiritually dark and morally debase and only the light of Scripture and those who possess the light can expose the darkness that sin has caused. The gospel of light leads one to safety and salvation. When the apostle John says in John 3:19-21:
This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.
So this whole thing about Scripture is that it is like a torch illuminating a murky room. It shows all the error and exposes the darkness that is in the world and human heart. It helps us to avoid the wrong way and helps us to know God and His ways better. The light of Scripture will keep you on the straight and narrow path. It will keep you from falling into the filth all around you in a morally crooked world.
Then there’s a third thing about the reason why we should pay attention to the Word of God. Scripture is truth, meaning it is revealing. In 2 Peter 1:19 again it says:
Until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.
Scripture informs us of the plans f God from beginning to end. There will be an event of a new day so the Word of God is telling us to take heed of it until the morning star returns. This is the Light of the World which is Jesus Christ! This means that we are to live in this world where the day is coming that the one who came first is coming again because He is the Light of the world. In fact it says in Revelation 22:16:
I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.
So just as Venus the planet or the star is the brightest at dawn and signals a new day, so we are looking forward to the day Christ returns and the consummation of God’s plan for humanity will be complete. If you notice right there in 2 Peter 3:7, he mentions the day again where he says:
But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
Then in 2 Peter 3:10 it says:
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
Then again in 2 Peter 3:12-13:
Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
So the morning star rises in your heart may refer to the anticipation in a Christian’s heart when they see and understand the clear signs of the coming of Christ and especially the coming that is approaching. Just think for a minute about the coronavirus that we’re all experiencing now in a strange and unusual way, God is reminding us of the birth pains before the coming of the Lord. Things are wearing out and things are breaking down. Things are moving toward a conclusion. The biggest end of the conclusion is that Christ is coming.
It also may include the anticipation of the full experience of eternal life in His presence. When we are in the presence of the muring star and when we come to that day, let us look at what it says in 1 John 3:2:
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
Now those who are premileenial teach that the Kingdom cannot be ushered in until Christ Himself comes and establishes it. That is that Jesus will return visibly to earth before the Kingdom Age. They believe that the Kingdom of God will be a literal, earthly Kingdom of a thousand years. During that time, Jesus will reign over the earth from Jerusalem that the Kingdom will arrive suddenly and powerfully. When Jesus arrives from Heaven to destroy Satan, that time will be moved from the earth for a period of a thousand years of that Kingdom.
The effects of the curse of sin will be lifted and believers from the Old Testament and Christians from the present age will be resurrected and reign with Jesus over the earth. Now I believe the present Christians will come out of the tribulation. But before that, the church will come back with Christ and we will have been raptured out already and come back with Him. While we wait for this day to approach, it is a good motive for a godly and holy living. Even Peter says in 2 Peter 3:11:
Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness.
This waiting for the coming of Christ and depending on the Word of God and the truth it says about His coming is where we ought to park because it’s going to use us a greater understanding and a glimpse of the anticipation of that day. That’s what we’re waiting for, we’re waiting for our Lord to come back again. But there’s one other thing why we need to pay attention to the Word of God and that’s in 2 Peter 1:20-21 and that’s because Scripture originates with God, not man. It says:
But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Scripture is truth-worthy. The Bible is not just written by men, but the men that did write it had a source for their material. So the Word of God never had its origin in the impulse or desire or will of men. They didn’t think it up themselves because they couldn’t. The Word of God is not the product of human thoughts, genius, cleverness, or study. Devine revelation given to its authors and their interpretation of it was directed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit controlled every word and made sure every jot and tittle, the smallest letters of the Hebrew alphabet were the words He wanted to use and the thoughts He wanted to express.
All Scripture was super intended by the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that holy men were carried along by the Spirit like a sailing ship moved by the wind, they wrote the Scripture. All Scripture is God-breathed and divine. All Scriptures are the communication that has been ordained by God’s authority and produced by the enabling of His Spirit.
So prophecies did not originate in the prophet’s own thinking, even in the Old Testament. God gave them direct revelation, they spoke and wrote, and then they studied after they gave the prophecy. So the prophecies did not originate with the prophet’s own thinking but from God’s mind. Amos tells us that surely the Lord does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsels to His servants.
Let me explain two theological terms. The first one is revelation, which is the actual process or activity in which God discloses or reveals information about Himself and other matters to mankind. It involves general or natural details as the Creator of the star-filled sky. Psalm 19 tells us the Heavens are the telling of the glory of God and their expanse is the telling of the work of His hands.
And then it involves the special revelation, which is the process where God gave the Scriptures and used special, holy men, Apostles, prophets and others as infallibly directed and superintended by the Holy Spirit to write the words of the Bible. Then revelation is God’s act of giving His Word and revealing it to man. But revealing it is not enough. But it is important for it to be inspired, which is the result when God gave the Scriptures and sealing it with perfection and inerrancy.
Since God in a real sense is the Author of Scripture, that guarantees that there cannot be any flaws or errors in the Scriptures which He gave. Inspiration actually refers to the source and quality of the written quality. This refers to the Bible and the words themselves, not the ink. The Greek word theopneustos really is the word for God breathed. This word is an adjective that describes the quality of Scripture. That word comes up in Scripture in 2 Timothy 3:16:
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.
Of course there is verbal inspiration which means that the very words that God gave are inspired. Direct Holy Spirit inspiration applies to the originally written words. And then there is plenary inspiration which means that every word in the whole Bible is breathed out by God. This also means that the exact wording is inspired and the Holy Spirit sovereignly moved and guided and directed the writers so that they wrote without error as He directly inspired the words and sentences without altering their personality or manner of waiting.
The exact words and letters that God inspired are former settled and cannot be changed. Psalm 119:89 says:
Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.
They are flawless because the God who gave them is flawless. So then the Bible is the inspired Word of God. The Bible is God’s product and any copy or translation that we hold today that accurately says the same thing the original Bible says is considered to be the inspired Word of God.
Now it does not mean that translations are flawless or are incapable of being improved more. Even good translations like the King James, the New King James, the New American Standard Bible 1977 and the New American Standard Bible 1995, and the ESV. These are the inspired Word of God. But no translation will ever be absolutely flawless. They can all be improved.
In fact, right now the New American Standard Bible is in the process of being improved and will be coming soon. It’s called the Legacy Bible. It will come out in 2020 or 2021. The improvements are going to be subtle, and are being made by the Master’s Seminary faculty. The Lockman Foundation, who had the rights to the New American Standard Bible actually gave the copyrights to the Master’s Seminary in California. They did that because John MacArthur has preached through the Bible and has written commentaries based on the Greek text of the NASB. Because he has been faithful with the text of Scripture, the Lockman Foundation made the historic move to give it to them to make subtle changes they need to make.
Some of those changes will be like the Old Testament Hebrew word for Lord will be translate properly for God when it comes up in context. And then in the New Testament, the Greek word for slave will be translated as slave instead of replacing it with servant. Other subtle changes will be made based on a more accurate and tested information.
They’re doing this for a reason because they want to leave a legacy for the next generation. They need a good Bible that they can trust will be accurate to the original.
Because the Scriptures are reliable, illuminating, revealing, and trustworthy, we should give them prompt and unquestioning acceptance and submission to their teachings. If this book is the Word of God, and it is, how foolish to submit its teaching to the criticism of a finite mind or reason. When we are once satisfied that the Bible is the Word of God, it is clear in its teachings that it will end the controversy and the discussion. It will be the final rule and authority for all life of godliness.
To those who love it know its author and know what it says about the Lord’s coming. The Bible does us no good if we do not hear it, read it, meditate upon it, and love it. The Word of God is the power that will sustain the Christian as they walk with God because they know that the Bible is the source of truth, the source of power and guidance, victory, God’s Blessing, and spiritual growth.
If you or I neglect or ignore God’s word you become prey to our own laziness, spiritual blindness, and to all kinds of false teaching and religious error. So as we await to the coming of Christ, let’s stick close to the coming of God, for all truth, life, and guidance for living holy and godly lives.
Now why should you and I store Scripture in our minds and hearts? Because of all the Bible says about it, that it will keep you from sin. Psalm 119:11:
Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.
It will fill your heart with joy, as it says in Jeremiah 15:16:
Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.
It will find your mind with peace and give victory over the evil one. The Apostle John says in his epistle 1 John 2:14:
Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
It will give you power and prayer and it will make you wiser than the aged and your enemies. It tells us in Psalm 119:100:
I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts.
It will keep you from false doctrine, make you completely furnished. And for every good work that God wants you to do, it will grow you. 1 Peter 2:2:
Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.
It says to crave and greatly desire the milk of the Word. The object is the pure milk and this is pointing to the relentless cry of an infant for one thing: the mother’s milk. They say up to 15 times a day a baby will cry for milk depending on how many ounces is being fed at a time. We all have heard the demand of a baby! If you want to be sane, a rapid reply must occur and it can only be satisfied by the pure milk of the mother.
So the whole longing for the Word of God is not a new thing, it has been an Old Testament concept from the beginning. The psalmist says in Psalm 119:20:
My soul is crushed with longing After Your ordinances at all times.
It says in 119:131:
I opened my mouth wide and panted, For I longed for Your commandments.
Even Job tells us in Job 23:12:
I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.
So this craving metaphor is not just for new or infant Christians, but for all Christians at all times who are at all levels of spiritual growth. Christians are to exemplify this in their intense learning for the uncontaminated, unadulterated pure spiritual milk of the eternal Word of God that is reliable, illuminating, revealing, and trustworthy.
So the purpose of this nourishment for the pure milk of the Word is for the believer to grow into the full experience of salvation. The Word of God will literally grow you therefore the Christian should not take any spiritual nourishment but the Word of God. Christians should never settle for any spiritual junk-food and they should not settle for seeking experiences. What is verifiable and objective is the Word of God, so the Word of God is the means of spiritual maturity. It is the spiritual food for your soul. It is spiritual in the sense that the Word of reasonable or the logical way for Christians to become what God wishes them to be spiritually.
So you want to desire spiritual food like a baby but you don’t want to stay immature like a baby. You don’t want to stay scrawny or susceptible to false teaching. You want to diligently progress in your sanctification. Now how does that take place? There are three steps in the Biblical design for sanctification. All Scripture is living and transformative in that it will transform you mind. It will change how you think and view the world and yourself. What does it say in Scripture? It says in John 17:17:
Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
Also it will transform your will. You will develop deep convictions and principles that you will not want to violate once the Word of God transforms your mind and conscience and will. You will have a clearer understanding of what God wants you to do and you’ll not want to violate that. You’re going to have deep convictions. And we need those today more than ever for what is coming. We need to have convictions based on the Word of God the the Spirit of God has been formulating in your heart because of the Scripture.
And that of course will transform your affections that you’ll love the truth and that is equal and will bring you to love God. The truth will bring you to appreciate Christ in His fullness, knowing and loving Him fully. It says in Psalm 19:10 it says:
They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
Then that famous Psalm 42:1 says:
As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God.
So Scripture will not let us forget that Jesus is coming. My question is are you ready? Are you diligently pursuing your spiritual growth and sanctification or have you been living on the low road and following your desires and passions? Are you not growing, fruitful, and in fact you may be miserable. Well, it’s time to take the human side of yourself more seriously than you ever have and put more effort into your spiritual development and stay walking with the Spirit of God and keep your eyes on the coming of the Lord. The coming of the Lord is the next great event of the Church.
Did you know that out of the 318 references to the Second Coming, that 23 of the 27 New Testament books refer to that great event? Every prophecy on the first coming of Christ, there are 8 on Christ’s Second Coming?
That means that the Bible is telling us that Christ is coming again and to be sure of it. One way to establish you in that is the Word of Truth because it is more sure than anything else on this planet and it doesn’t change because God is the Author.
Lord, thank You this morning for Your Word. Thank You that we have it available to us. Thank You, Lord Jesus, that it is in our possession presently and that we can study it and meditate upon it and hear it preached. We can know that it comes from You and we are confident that what You tell us in it is the truth and is accurate. I pray every day that You would enable us and help us to live our lives in light of Your coming and that as we do that, we would become students of the Word of God and we would know the Word of God to establish us in our spiritual maturity so we can be fruitful believers. Until You come, make us faithful for Your sake. Amen.