12-13-23-ENG.

"I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it. "

1 John 2:21 
THE WORD MADE SURE

Read It: 2 Peter 1:12-15
Imagine having Paul and Peter stand before your church and say, "We're about to depart this life and go to be with Jesus. But we wanted to leave you with a final exhortation." I suspect that you and everyone else would be leaning forward in your pews in anticipation of what these two giants, these two foundation stones of the Church, would have to say. You'd have your pen and paper out, ready to capture their last words. Well, you can put your pen away and quit pretending, because we already have the parting exhortations of Peter and Paul, and we're going to look at them this week. We've studied the power, the program, and the perspective of the Church. I want to conclude this section by talking about the prophetic word of the Church. See, you and I have something better than having Peter and Paul stand before us. We have something "more sure" than if Peter were here in person son to verify the truthfulness of everything that happened in the Gospels.

We have the completed revelation of God, His "prophetic word" (v. 19). Now for Peter, that meant the Old Testament in particular, since the New Testament was still being written. But now that the Scriptures are complete, the Holy Spirit wants us to understand that the entire Word of God is included in Peter's assurance. Now, remember, Peter was writing with urgency because Jesus had revealed to him that his time was short.These verses are part of a last will and testament, his final legacy to the Church. And what parting exhortation tion did the great apostle leave? Not, "Remember me," but, "Hold to the Word. Obey the Word." Here we see how wise the Head of the Church is. If Jesus had left us anything but His Holy Spirit and the written Word, it wouldn't have remained. People die and pass on. The memory of them fades. What they told us gets mixed up and lost as the years go by. That's why you don't build the Church on people. But the Spirit is the eternal God, and the Word is forever settled in heaven. Think About It Peter was "diligent" to remind you of the truth. You need to be diligent in applying it to your life (see vv. 5, 10).