A More Sure Word

We have also a more sure word of prophecy…(2 Peter 1:19)

As death stares the apostle Peter in the face he tells the readers of his epistle that he is happy to be able to remind them of certain truths. He feels it his duty to help them think about the basic truths of the Gospel so they can pay closer attention to them after he is gone. As he explains these truths it is important for Peter to remind his readers that what he tells them is not just a fairy tale but the report of an eyewitness who saw the glory of Christ. He reminds them that he saw this glory when the Lord Jesus was transfigured on the mountain. He also heard the voice of God speaking directly to him in special revelation.

Despite having heard something by direct revelation from God, Peter says that there is a word that is “more sure”. How is it "more sure"? Is it possible that what Peter heard on the mountain was wrong? Of course not. It was God Himself who spoke. Then how can something be surer? Peter wants his readers to “take heed” or pay close attention to this word that is surer. He goes on to describe this word as a “prophecy of scripture” and talks about how the scriptures were written. In other words, he is contrasting this written word with the spoken testimony of those who had been eyewitnesses of the majesty of Christ. What Peter is comparing is the experience of the apostles and the writings of the apostles. The experiences of the apostles may be very true, but these experiences are not what we are to “pay heed” to. What Peter tells us to pay attention to is the written Word of God.

How can the written Word of God be surer than the experiences of the apostles? It is "more sure" because it has been inspired by God. The only way we can know the experiences of the apostles is from the written Word of God itself. This alone should tell us which is surer. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the experiences of the apostles are infallible. In the gospels we read of many experiences the apostles had that show us just how little they understood of Christ. If we had nothing but their experiences we would know as little as they did! Furthermore, the Lord Jesus promised that they should learn more about Him after the Holy Spirit had come. They were inspired to write these things in their epistles, which are part of the Word of God.

In some countries people are used to the electricity being cut off without warning. It is therefore common that they can go right to the place where they keep the candles without hitting anything in the dark. They have trained themselves by repetition to be able to go right to the light. Are we like that with the Bible? We live in a dark world. Many are calling us to believe their experiences and teachings. How do we respond when we are told about some unusual experience or some “new” truth? Are we able to go right to the light to see if what they say is true? God help us to train ourselves to do that, for…

We have a more sure word.