Pastor Mark Mikels - January 7 , 2018
“THE APOSTOLIC WAY "
“WITH MY OWN EYES"
(2 Peter 1:16-18)
Intro ... What a place to begin the New Year... 2 Peter chapter one
verses 16-18. These three verses focus our attention upon some of those
critical things Peter said he would help us remember forever.
Here’s how they read ...
TODAY’S KEY SCRIPTURE ... 2 Peter 1:16-18
‘‘We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but we were
eye-witnesses of his majesty .
For he received honor and glory from God the Father
when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory , saying ...
‘This is my Son, whom I love;
with him I am well pleased.'
We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven
when we were with him on the sacred mountain."
Two Key Phrases jump right out at me:
‘‘We were EYEWITNESSES to his majesty" (and)
“We ourselves HEARD this voice."
In those verses, Peter is sharing a Powerful Personal Testimony.’
‘I was THERE’ ...
7 SAW what I saw and I HEARD what I heard. ’
Peter, of course, is referring to his experience (with James and John) on the
Mount of Transfiguration when they saw Jesus in His Divine Glory; when his
clothes became dazzling white and there appeared with him Moses and
Elijah (two of the greatest of the Old Testament Saints) and they heard the voice
of the Father speaking to them out of heaven itself those never to be
forgotten words:
“This is my Son, whom I love. With Him I am well pleased!
Listen to Him!” (Gospel of Mark)
The account is recorded in Matthew 17 and Mark 9 and in Luke 9.
All three gospel accounts place this event just a few days after
Peter had triumphantly identified Jesus as...
“The Christ, the Messiah ” (and Matthew reports Peter added) ...
“The Son of the Living God."
Here was the Heavenly Father Himself verifying what Peter had said.
Until his dying day, Peter would say that it was as if it had happened
only yesterday ...
It was a vivid moment captured by the camera of his mind.
Peter’s experience and Peter’s alluding to that experience here in
his letter to the churches leads me to the formation of...
TODAY’S KEY CONCEPT...
Our Faith is built upon PERSONAL TESTIMONY .
The Christian Faith is not primarily a set of propositions or insights into
the Will and the Ways of God ... It is not the sum total of the best notions
of human beings concerning the way that human beings should live.
It is not a system of religious activities and behaviors that will earn man
favor with God. It did not arise from the enlightened ponderings of
the world’s most spiritual men.
At the very heart of it ... the Christian Faith is built upon Personal
Testimony.
It arises from men and women who personally encountered the
Living God and lived to tell about it!
We have time this morning for just Three Examples:
An Old Testament One, a New Testament One and a Current Day One ...
* Think of MOSES as your Old Testament Example ...
The burning bush - the miracles in Egypt - the opening of the Red Sea -
the manna in the desert - the meetings with God on the Mountain.
Moses could say:
‘I was there -1 saw what I saw and I heard what I heard. ’
That Moses had met with God there could be no doubt... the glow on
his face when he came down from the mountain was such that the
people could not even bear to look upon him - It was like looking
at the face of God Himself! How do you not listen to one who had
spoken face to face with The Living God ?
The First Five Books of the Bible (written by Moses) all have that ‘Glow’
upon them. They were written by the one who indeed ‘met with God
face to face’ and who brought from that encounter Divine Truth.
* Think of the APOSTLES as your New Testament Example ...
Peter and John (when interrogated/threatened by the Jewish Sanhedrin) said ...
“We cannot help speaking about the things
that we hove seen and heard.”
(Acts 4:20)
Peter and John were not interested in debating theology or swapping
philosophy with those Jewish Leaders - they were only interested in
1 telling their story’ ... being ‘witnesses’ to the incredible events they
had observed. The entire New Testament is based upon those
‘Apostolic Accounts.’
* Think now of your OWN STORY as your Current Day Example ...
“The Almighty God has SAVED me from condemnation.”
“The Almighty God WALKS with me every single day.”
“I publicly CONFESS my faith in Him every single year.”
Final Thot ...
A ‘powerful personal testimony’ is one of the most POTENT
spiritual weapons a believer can POSSESS .
It CONFIRMS God’s Truth to you and it CONVEYS God’s Truth
to those who HEAR you.
Be sure you WIELD it regularly!
