Myths! Stories! Inventions! Sooner or later it comes around to this. Satan attacks believers with doubt in what God tells us. “Is that really true?” he asks. “Isn't that only a story? Who came up with that? Did God really say it?”
Oh, that sounds familiar, doesn't it? “Did God really say…?” It's a question as old as Eden.
Shortly after God finished creating the world and resting from His labor, Satan entered the body of a snake and slithered close to Eve where he asked, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'” “No,” Eve replied, “God didn't say that. He said we may eat from the trees in the garden. But He also said that there was one tree in the middle of the garden from which we shouldn't eat, nor should we even touch it lest we die.” “Oh, fiddlesticks,” the devil said, “That's a myth. You're not going to die. In fact if you eat from that tree, your eyes are going to be opened and you'll see things that you didn't see before. You'll be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil.”
“Hmmm. Maybe it was just a story God told us,” Eve thought to herself. “Maybe it's not true that we'll die.” So she looked at the fruit. She was hooked; she ate; and you know the rest of the story.
Now, who told a made-up story there, dear friends? God, or the devil? It's clear the devil did. That's why he's called the devil; it means a “liar.” Why is it that through his lies the devil easily tricks us into doubting what God says and believing what he says? Has it happened to you yet? What thing that God said do you doubt?
Creation? Election? Universal Justification? Preservation? Protection? Which divine truth do you have a hard time believing?
You know, dear friends, it's not a wrong thing to confess our doubts. They are real because Satan is real, and that's how he works with us. But don't just sit there contemplating them. Do something about them; seek the truth; go to the Lord for help; say what a man told Jesus when he was assailed by the evil story-teller: “ Lord , help me overcome my unbelief” (Mk.9:24). I Want to Be Certain.
I. Listen to what the eyewitnesses say.
Is it possible that the people to whom Peter was writing in our
text had said a similar thing to him? “ We Want to Be Certain. ” Either they had made such a specific request to Peter, or he could tell from what he had heard about them that they were beginning to waver in doubt. It concerned things that Peter had already told them. But he wasn't put out with them; he wanted to make sure they were certain about these things. So he wrote in a verse just before our text: “I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them….I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things” (12ff). They needed a constant reminder of things already learned.
You know how that goes, dear friends, don't you? You learn something once, twice, maybe even three times. But time goes by and you either forget or you begin to doubt what you once knew.
For example, take mathematics. I learned how to do things like fractions, common denominators, and algebra problems a long time ago. Although I was never a whiz at math, I got good grades. But I didn't really use math that often, except to balance my own checkbook. I never gave mathematics much thought.
Time passed. Then one day Sara came to me for help with her homework. I struggled to explain the problems to her and had to refresh my memory. Some more time passed and Vanessa came to me with her math problems. Again I had to refresh my memory about such things as I struggled to explain problems to her. If only I had kept up with it from the very beginning, I wouldn't have doubted what I was doing.
That was some 10 years or more ago, when they were in grade school. Times passed, and guess what? I didn't keep up with things. Then all of a sudden Ryleigh began asking me questions last year, and I found myself right back where I had been with Sara and Vanessa. I forgot things, or at best they became hazy in my mind.
Well, it's not the end of the world if I can't remember math. But what if I start forgetting or doubting spiritual truths that are vital for my salvation because I didn't keep up with them? That seems to have been happening here, with the addition that false teachers were coming in, questioning the people on what Peter and the rest of the apostles had originally taught them about the Savior. “Myths! Stories! Inventions cleverly made to trick you!” the false teachers cried. The believers got so confused that Peter had to assure them: “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we
told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
That's a deadly peril for your soul, dear friend. To doubt that Jesus really does enter people's lives and work on their behalf; to think that the Lord Jesus would never come back; to question whether He is God who cares about you. It attacks the very nature of your faith and understanding about salvation.
“Oh, I'll never forget such things,” you say. If you don't study them from the Bible, you will. And if you start listening to what the devil tells you through other people's writings, you will. Neglect the truth and you will give in to lies. As someone has said, “If you tell lies long enough and loudly enough, people will start to believe them, no matter how shocking or outrageous.”
The Nazis of World War II knew that and utilized it effectively with their propaganda. But even more dangerous is what Peter and the believers he wrote to faced here. People were denying the power and coming of the Lord Jesus in their lives. What to do?
The best way to defeat a lie about an incident is to find someone who was there, who could tell you the truth of what took place. Peter was such a one. He had been with the Lord Jesus many times. But one of the special occasions that revealed the divine person and power of the Lord Jesus was the transfiguration. Picture it, dear friends, as though you were with them.
The Lord Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the top of a mountain. They were alone when suddenly a light brighter than a thousand bon fires beamed from Jesus' face. His clothes glistened more brightly than the sun glancing off white snow. Then some eternal residents of heaven, Moses and Elijah, appeared, talking with Jesus. Lastly, God's voice thundered from heaven. I've never heard the holy God speak from above, but I can imagine the greatness of the sound - strong, powerful, convincing. What a sight! Peter saw it and gives us a view of it.
Have you doubts about Christ, dear friends, His care for you, His power and ability in your life, His intent to come again for you who believe in Him? Then Listen to what the eye witness says. “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ…For He received honor and glory from God the Father.”
Lord, I Want to Be Certain of my place in your life, and even more, your place in mine. Help me to remember and listen to what the eye witnesses say about you.
II. Listen to what the prophets proclaim.
Oh, how I wish I had been there with Peter, dear friends, an eyewitness of Christ's glory. Then I think I'd be sure about my faith. But you know, you didn't have to be there to believe, dear friends. We've actually got something better for our faith. What could be better, what could be more certain for us than seeing such things with our own eyes? Peter responds:
“We have, as something more sure, the prophetic word. Look to it as a light shining in a gloomy place until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts…for no prophecy was ever spoken because a man decided to prophecy, but men said what God gave them to say as they were directed by the Holy Spirit.” (GWN}
You've got this, dear friends, the Bible. God spoke here. Every word is from Him. You Want to Be Certain. Then listen to what His prophets proclaim here for they didn't write this on their own.
When you think about it, it's quite amazing that God actually caused His Word to be written on paper with pen and ink. It's in a book. Anyone who has the ability to read can look it up themselves.
If you want to learn about God and how He worked throughout history, you can hear Him explain it to you here. If you want to know God's will for you, you can read about it here in words you can understand. If you long for assurance that He loves you, forgives you for Jesus' sake, and rescues you from eternal death, He shows you proof of it here. If you want to know what to do with your life, He tells you here. This word from God, given through His prophets and apostles, gives you complete and accurate information because it's not something “a man decided to say”; it's what God gave them to say.
And it's better than the Mount of Transfiguration because the information that was given there about the Lord Jesus was incomplete. Here you have His life, death, resurrection, ascension, and what He means for you as the Savior completely spelled out. You Want to Be Certain about your life in God? Then listen to what the prophets proclaim.
Myths! Stories! Inventions! Not a one. However, what the devil through authors tries to get you to believe are false and will condemn you. When you catch yourself questioning, refresh your memory with the truth. Do it today; do it tomorrow; do it throughout this Lenten season. You'll know where you stand with God in Christ; and you'll be certain. God grant it for Jesus' sake.