1. ... is not meaningless (verse 20).
2. ... is not from man (verse 21a).
3. ... is from God (verse 21b).

For the past two months we have been going through this book verse by verse. This morning, we come to the last two verses in chapter 1, verses 20 and 21. These verses are the culminating thought of the entire first chapter, which Peter began in verses 1-4 by detailing for us the blessings that we who are in Christ have been given. Verse 1 says that we have received faith. Verse 2 says that we have received grace and peace, and might expect them to abound in the future. Verse 4 says that we have been given promises: promises fulfilled in Christ, and promises of sanctification in Christ. But, the largest and greatest of all that we have been given comes about in verse 3, "His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness." There is nothing that we lack to live a godly life in Christ. Or, as I put it, we are "ready to grow" in godliness.

In verses 5-7, Peter then details for us some ways that we are to grow in Christ. Though we have been given everything we need to live a godly life, growth in Him doesn't merely happen on its own. Rather, we are to apply all diligence in our faith to obtain the growth. We are to grow in moral excellence. We are to grow in knowledge. We are to grow in self-control. We are to grow in perseverance. We are to grow in godliness. We are to grow in brotherly kindness. We are to grow in love.

The big question comes in verses 8 and 9, "Are you growing?" Are these qualities increasing and abounding in your life? If they are, you will be fruitful in the true knowledge of Christ. If they are not, then you are blind to the faith that you profess to have. According to verse 10, as these qualities are present in your life, you will show that you are, indeed, one of the elect of God, and as a result, your entrance into the kingdom will be abundantly supplied to you (verse 11).

Lest you think that these thing are unimportant, they were Peter's dying words. Peter knew that he was soon to lay down his earthly tent. He knew that these would be the last words that he would be able to write to these scattered believers. And so, he reminded them of the most important things in life. These things are foundational to the Christian life. God gives us everything to grow. As we grow in Him, we demonstrate the genuineness of our faith.

If any of his readers were doubting the veracity of his message, Peter he tells them, beginning in verse 16 of his own experience. He was an eyewitness of Jesus transformed upon the mountain (verse 16). He was an earwitness of God, the Father's affirmation upon the life of Jesus, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (verse 18). We should listen to Peter. But, beyond these thing, we have the Scriptures to which we are to pay attention (as verse 19 begins to teach).

Now, all of these things are laying the foundation for Peter to address the current need of his day: false teachers that were coming into the church, which we will read more about in chapter 2. These false teachers may try to convince you that you don't have all of the resources that you need in Christ and in His word. Rather, you need to listen to them, because they have the inside scoop. These false teachers may claim that you don't really need to grow in Christlikeness to be saved. Rather, you simply need to possess the knowledge that they possess. These false teachers may disdain the constant reminders of Peter. Rather, you need to move on to more exciting, interesting things. These false teachers may try to lesson the importance of Peter's experience. Rather, you need to believe and trust in their experiences over and above the experience of Peter. These false teachers may try to discredit the Bible. Rather, you need to believe in their explanations of what's really true.

Peter's words in chapter 1 are paving the way to deal with all of their false teaching. Now, in our exposition of 2 Peter, we come today to verses 20 and 21, which focus our attention upon the sure word of God. Indeed, my message this morning is entitled, "The Sure Word." I get the title from verse 19, where Peter writes, "We have the even more sure prophetic word" (according to the NAS marginal reading).

This is the burden of verses 20 and 21. Peter will show how firm the word of God is. Peter says, "Listen to the word of God. Don't listen to the false prophets."

If you are at all a student of Scripture, you know what the Bible says about itself. Time after time after time after time after time, the writers of Scripture speak about the truthfulness and the trustworthiness of the Scriptures. Psalm 19 says it this way, "The law of the Lord is perfect" (Ps. 19:7). "The testimony of the LORD is sure" (Ps. 19:7). "The precepts of the LORD are right" (Ps. 19:8). "The commandment of the LORD is pure" (Ps. 19:8). Psalm 93:5 says, "Your testimonies are fully confirmed." Psalm 111:7 says, "All His precepts are sure."

Psalm 119, the great commentary on the word of God. "All Your commandments are faithful" (verse 86). "Every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting" (verse 160). "Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven" (verse 89). "You have founded [Your testimonies] forever" (verse 152). When the prophets spoke, hundreds and hundreds of times, they prefaced their sayings with the formula, "Thus says the LORD," meaning that they were speaking the very words of God.

As Jesus walked the earth, He gave us no hint that the truth of the Scriptures were anything but trustworthy and reliable and eternal and completely inspired. On one occasion, He said, "The Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). On another occasion, He said, "Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished" (Mat. 5:18).

The apostles Paul confirmed the veracity of the Scriptures when he wrote, "The law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good" (Rom. 7:12). When Peter spoke about the word of God, He quoted Isaiah, who said, "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever" (1 Peter 1:24-25, quoting from Isaiah 40).

God's word is forever. It is sure. It is trustworthy. We must pay attention to it. And that's Peter's point as he heads into verses 20 and 21. And in these verses, Peter will give us three characteristics of God's Word, which show us how firm His word is. First of all, God's Word ...

1. ... is not meaningless (verse 20).

You ask your average person on the street about the Bible and they will tell you many things. There will often be a respect for the Bible, as they know that it is the book of Christianity. But, often there will come a degree of apprehension as to it's meaning. People will often point out how difficult it is to interpret. And I have found that such a thought increases greatly when you begin to press the claims of the Bible upon their life. When you press them on their sin and when you press them on the absolute claims of the Bible, such as Jesus' words, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," ... oh, how quickly they are to say, "Well, that's merely your interpretation," as if the Bible is ultimately meaningless. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If it works for you, that's great. I'm hapy for you. But, it doesn't work for me." In the end, their point is this: "The Bible is meaningless."

But, the Scriptures do have a meaning. This is Peter's point in verse 20, ... "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation." In other words, it's not a meaningless jumble of words that anybody can interpret however they want. It's not a matter of "one's own interpretation." There is an interpretation. It has meaning.

Before we proceed, I must mention that this phrase has been understood in several different ways. Some have understood these words to mean that when we are not capable of interpreting the Scriptures for ourselves. Rather, we need somebody else to interpret the Bible for us. After all (they say), "No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. You can't interpret the Bible for yourself. It's not a matter of your own interpretation." Such is the position of the Roman Catholic Church, which would claim for itself the task of officially explaining the meaning of the Scripture.

But, such an interpretation fails to other verses in the Bible. When the gospel came to those in Berea (as recorded in Acts 17), they were commended as being "more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). Furthermore, Paul tells us that it is the Scripture which is "profitable for teaching for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16), without any mention of the need for someone to officially interpret the Scripture for you.

Of course, the Reformers of the 1500's rejected the interpretation of the Roman Catholic Church, as they sought to put the Bible into the hands of the people. As a result, some have pointed out correctly that this word translated, "interpretation," literally has the idea of "unloosing." Thus, they reason, that verse 20 isn't talking about interpretation so much as it is talking about the process of inscripturation. In other words, verse 20 is addressing the fact that the prophets who wrote the Scripture didn't write it from themselves. It wasn't "unloosed" from within them. Rather, God stirred them to "unloose" the Scripture and write it down.

Now, this is entirely true. However, this is exactly the point of verse 21, "for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." I don't think that Peter is saying the same thing in verse 20 and 21, simply repeating himself. I think that there is a nuance of difference between these two verses.

I believe that verse 20 is getting at our interpretation of the Bible. It's getting at the illumination of Scripture. It's getting at the meaning of the Scripture. This word translated "interpretation" is used in only two other verses in the Scripture. And each time, the idea of explaining is the meaning. In Mark 4:34, we read of how Jesus "did not speak to [the crowds] without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples." In Acts 19:39, after the riot in Ephesus was calming down, the town clerk told those who stirred the multitudes that if they wanted any further action to take place, "it shall be explained in a lawful assembly." And so, I believe that Peter's point comes along line of the King James translation of the Bible, "no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation." In other words, the meaning of the Scripture isn't up for grabs, like may outside the church would claim.

Unfortunately, such an attitude of the meaninglessness of Scripture finds its way into the church. How many times have people in the church gathered around a circle, read a portion of Scripture and then asked everyone in the circle, "Tell me now, what does this Scripture verse mean to you?" And after hearing what the first person has to say, attention then focuses upon the next person in line, wherein the same question is asked, "Tell me now, what does this Scripture verse mean to you?" And this process repeats around the circle until everyone voices their own view of things. And then, the leader moves everyone on to the next verse without any resolve as to the meaning of the verse under inspection, because everyone has considered the Scriptures to be a matter of their own interpretation.

In the end, what do you get? You get everybody having their own interpretation, everybody having their own explanation for the Bible text before them. At times, there are even blatant contradictions among what people think. But, since it is their own interpretation, who can argue?

But Peter's point is exactly the opposite: God's Word is not meaningless. The Scripture has meaning. Admittedly, there are times where it is difficult to discern the meaning. But, that doesn't mean that there is no meaning. There is a meaning.

For the most part, the meaning of the Bible is simple and straightforward. It is far easier to understand than many give credit for. I love what R. C. Sproul said, "If we can read the newspaper, we can read the Bible." ^[1] In other words, take the Bible for what it says. Read it and understand it.

Week in and week out here on Sunday mornings, I try to model for you how to study the Scriptures for yourself. I try to model for you how to read them, how to interpret them, and how to apply them. If you are at all paying attention to the methods that I employ when I preach, you will see me reading the text and making observations about the text. Some observations might be obvious. Others might not be so obvious, until they are pointed out to you. But, hopefully, you can see my points.

Now, all of the observations, in one way or another support my interpretation of the verses that we are studying. My aim is always for clarity. I don't want you leaving Rock Valley Bible Church saying, "Wow! That was great! I never would have seen that in the Bible. Steve is such a great Bible teacher." If you go out saying that, I have failed big time, expressing to you my own interpretation. Rather, my aim is for you to leave this place each Sunday morning saying to yourself, "Wow! That was great! The Bible is more clear to me than ever before. I can see that everything that Steve said came right out of the pages of Scripture."

Mingled throughout my messages I try to give you appropriate points of application, all springing up out of the text. The application always comes after observation and after interpretation. It must.

Now, getting back to verse 20, Peter's point is that scripture has a clear meaning, "it's not a matter of [your] own interpretation." Interpreting the Scripture isn't up to your own whim. In effect, Peter was saying, "When the false teachers arise and speak to you their own opinions, please realize that the Scripture has a meaning, and that meaning should be clear. If you are being told something from the Scripture that you can't quite make sense of it all, it may just be that it's the private, personal interpretation of the one speaking it. Don't follow such teachers, if you can't see that their message is thoroughly Biblical and consistent with the gospel of Christ. It may just be that they have come up with some 'cleverly devised tales' of their own."

In saying this, however, Peter isn't saying that you shouldn't try to interpret the Scriptures for yourself. On the contrary, all of us should make efforts to be well-versed in the Scripture. Study and read for the good of your own soul. Teach your children. Read and listen to what others say. You would do well to be like the Bereans, who examined the Scriptures daily, to come to know the meaning of the Scripture. You would well to "be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15). Or, using the words of Peter (in verse 19), "you do well to pay attention [to the prophetic word]."

See, it's not up to each individual to determine that meaning for yourself. Rather, God has determined the meaning, and your job is to search for His meaning.

Now, regarding your own, personal study of the Scripture, the best counsel that I can give you consists of three words: observation, interpretation, application.

First off, regarding observation, ask yourself question like this. When you read the Bible, be observant. Who's writing? Who's he writing to? How is he writing? Is he stating fact of history or, is he writing poetry? It is a parable or a command? Is someone speaking or is someone explaining? What are the circumstances behind the writing? What's being said? What's isn't being said? What's left out? Why are particular words chosen?

Secondly, regarding interpretation, use the clues you gained in your observation to form your interpretation. You should be looking for its meaning. Ask yourself, What is the author's intent? What is he trying to communicate? Is the interpretation consistent with the rest of the Scripture? Does it make sense? Is it straightforward?

Finally, regarding application, look for what flows from your interpretation. Is there a command to obey? Are there truths to believe? Is there sin to confess? How does my life need to change?

Observe what the text says. Interpret the author's intent. Apply the timeless principles in the unique circumstances of your life.

My hope and prayer for Rock Valley Bible Church is that we would live up to our name. My hope is that we would be a Bible church, based upon Bible people. May we be people who would study the Scriptures and believe what they say about God and what they say about Christ and what they say about how we are justified by faith alone and what they say about the return of Christ. And to that end, I would encourage you to study the Bible for yourself and discover it's meaning. Develop convictions from the Scriptures and live them out.

Be like Martin Luther, who studied the Scriptures for himself and discovered the wonderful truth of justification by faith alone. He began to see it throughout all of the Scriptures. He read others who affirmed his understanding of the Scriptures. He was convinced of what he had read, that he had captured the meaning of the Scriptures. Martin Luther was teaching his students of justification by faith alone. Martin Luther made this teaching clear in his writings. These writings got him in trouble.

He was summoned before the church authorities to give answer to his books, which went against the teaching of the church. At the climax of his confrontation, the authorities asked him, "Do you or do you not repudiate your books and the errors which they contain?" And when facing the Diet of Worms, and his possible death, Martin Luther stood boldly against the pope and against the church authority and said these famous words, ... "Since then Your Majesty and your lordships desire a simple reply, I will answer without horns and without teeth. Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason--I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other--my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen." It was in this context also that he probably said, "Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise." ^[2]

How could Martin Luther stand against the entire church? Only by being convinced that God's word is not meaningless (verse 20). Luther read and understood its meaning and stood firm upon its truth. May God give us the grace to do the same.

Let's turn our attention now to Peter's second point. First of all, God's Word is not meaningless (verse 20). It has meaning. Secondly, God's Word, ...

2. ... is not from man (verse 21a).

This comes from the first half of verse 21, where Peter writes, "for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will." The point here is that none of the Biblical writers never decided for themselves to write the Scriptures. Rather, God was the One who moved them (as we shall see in my next point).

The first half of verse 21 isn't talking so much about interpretation as it is inspiration. It talks about the process of writing Scripture. None of the Biblical writers ever set out on a quest to write Scripture.

Think about Moses, who wrote the first five books of the Bible. It wasn't Moses' idea to do this. Rather, it was God who appeared to Moses in the burning bush. At best, Moses was hesitant, "What if they will not believe me or listen to what I will say?" (Ex. 4:1). "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent" (Ex. 4:10). "Please Lord, now send the message by whomever You will" (Ex. 4:13). God was angry at such responses and sent Aaron to speak for him (Ex. 4:14). And yet, it was God who appeared to Moses and gave him the words to write upon Sinai. God told Moses to write down the words that God had told him (Ex. 34:27). It wasn't the idea of Moses to come up with a written law. It was God's idea.

When God called Jeremiah, the LORDsaid, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations" (Jer. 1:5). Like Moses, Jeremiah was hesitant as well. He said, "Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, because I am a youth." (Jer. 1:6). God responded, "Do not say, 'I am a youth,' Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak. ... Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down,to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant" (Jer. 1:7, 10).

Throughout the writings of other prophets, you see God interrupting their lives, calling them to a ministry that He sets out for them. For instance, Ezekiel was by the river Chebar among the exiles, when he saw the heavens open and saw "visions of God" (Ezek. 1:1). He didn't go out seeking it. God sought him. Hosea begins with these words, "The word of the LORD which came to Hosea" (Hosea 1:1). Joel begins with these words, "The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel" (Joel 1:1). Jonah begins, "The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, ..." (Jonah 1:1).

In the New Testament, you see the same pattern. Saul was on the way to persecute Christians, when the Lord appeared to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" (Acts 9:4). To Ananias, Jesus said, "He is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel" (Acts 9:15). God summoned Him to a ministry to the Gentiles. His letters were an overflow of God's call upon his life. His letters came to be regarded as Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16).

Matthew and Mark and John and Peter were all called by Jesus, Himself, to perform His will. One of their tasks was to write scripture for us. Jesus made it clear, "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain" (John 15:16). ^[3]

My point is this: "no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will" (verse 21a). And this is the reason why the Scripture isn't meaningless. This is why the Scriptures are sure and reliable. God stirred the prophets to write. They didn't write on their own account.

This is demonstrated back in Peter's first epistle when he wrote, "the prophets who prophesied of the grace that [would come] to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow" (1 Peter 1:10-11). The prophets didn't even fully understand what they wrote. Had they written on their own accord, they would have understood what they had written.

In contrast to the true prophets, there have always been prophets who have spoken of their own accord. "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the LORD" (Jeremiah 23:16). Ezekiel said the same thing, "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing'" (Ezek. 13:3).

And this is the spirit of the false teachers of Peter's day. They don't come with a message from the Lord. Rather they come with "cleverly devised tales" (1:16). And they "malign" the truth, rather than propagate it (2:2). In so doing, the false teachers of Peter's day (and our day) are not unlike the false prophets of old. Their message has no authority, because it doesn't come from the Lord. Rather, it originates in their own hearts and minds. And so, by great measure, this is how you discern between a false teacher and a true teacher today. The false teacher will come up with his own message. The true teacher will teach the faithful words of God as recorded in the Scripture, which originated it God, not in us!

Finally, let's turn our attention this morning to my last point. From the negative perspective, God's word (1) is not meaningless (verse 20), and (2) is not from man (verse 21a). And now, the positive, the sure word ...

3. ... is from God (verse 21b).

The last half of verse 21 says this, "... but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." Being from God, we draw the conclusion that His word is sure.

I love the picture that Peter gives us of how the prophets of old wrote the Scriptures. To be sure, it was men, who wrote the Scriptures. God didn't just drop down and give us the written word. It was his "holy men" (as the King James Version points out) who put pen to paper and wrote the Scriptures for us. But, these men only wrote as they were "carried along" by the Holy Spirit. The word "carried along" is nautical terminology for a ship full of wind (Acts 27:15, 17). The Holy Spirit blew into the Scriptural writers as they wrote. This is the sense of what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is inspired by God," that is, "All Scripture is God-breathed."

Ultimately, the final product is that these men "spoke from God." The Bible that we have before us is God's very word. And, we can be assured that what we have in our hands are the very words that God has given to us to guide our path in this life.

At this point, it must be noted that in the process of writing Scripture, the human writers never lost their personality. God used the genius of Paul to write complex theological letters. God used the simplicity of John to write simple works drawing us to love. Never does the Bible deny its human authorship But, in the same vein, the Bible never denies the divine authorship either. In fact, there are points when Bible writers speak freely of the human author along with the divine.

In the same breath, Jesus can say that the words of Genesis 2:24 were written by Moses (Mark 7:10), and yet, Jesus also calls it "the commandment of God" (Mark 7:9) calling it "the word of God" (Mark. 7:13). When leading the people after the death of Judas, Peter said, "Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas" (Acts 2:16). The boat that is carried along by the wind is still the same boat. Likewise, the writers of Scripture remained the same men that they were as the Holy Spirit carried them along.

But, so involved was the Holy Spirit in the process that there were times in the New Testament when they identified the Holy Spirit as the author of Scripture. King David was very aware that his words were from the Holy Spirit. In 2 Samuel 23:2, in his last song to Israel, he wrote, "The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue." Jesus affirmed this, saying of Psalm 110 that David wrote, "in the Holy Spirit." In Hebrews 3:7, we see the Holy Spirit identified as the writer of Psalm 95. In Hebrews 10:15, we see the Holy Spirit called the writer of Jeremiah's prophecy (in his 31st chapter).

Such language ought not to be surprising to us, because Jesus had promised beforehand to His apostles that "He, the Spirit of truth, [will come], He will guide you into all the truth" (John 16:13). The end result is this: when the Scripture speaks, God speaks. Luke 1:70 contains an excellent summary of what took place: "[God] spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old." Think about the reality of the phrase I mentioned earlier, which is mentioned hundreds of times in the Old Testament: "Thus says the LORD." Here's the implication and application. What we hold in our hands is the very word of God. It's no wonder that it's called, "The Holy Bible."

Think about that: we hold in our hands the very word of God. It contains the perfect instruction manual for our life. It tells us what to believe. It tell us how we are to act. When you think about the range of topics that the Bible covers, it is astonishing. It speaks about how the world was created. It tells us how the first family was formed. It shows us the dreadful consequences of sin, a loss of paradise for Adam and Eve, and the extermination of the human population in the days of Noah. It describes how the nation of Israel was born, with the gracious call of Abraham. It gives us a law to expose our sin. It recounts the history of Israel, with all of its ups and downs. It records the mighty hand of God, bringing Israel back into the land, just as had been told may years before. It deals with the hard questions of life, like pain and suffering and death. It peals back the layers for us and (at times) tells us what's going on in the angelic/demonic world. It pictures for us the contrast between the blessed life and the cursed life. It puts forth examples in the Psalms of those who had a heart for God. It is filled with much practical counsel on how to live in the Proverbs. It warns us time after time after time not to rebel against the Lord and face His dreadful consequences.

When we come to the climax of the Bible (the New Testament) the story only gets better. We see the life of Jesus, perfect and sweet and blameless. We see how the world hated Him and crucified Him. But, in an amazing way, the most cruel and unjust act of the universe simultaneously has become the most glorious and the most gracious act of all. Through the epistles, we see the life and death of Christ interpreted for us. He died, so that we might live through faith in Him.

In the New Testament, we see God's plan come to completion. We see our hopes fulfilled. We see heaven described. His word is sure! And now comes the million dollar question: "How much attention do you pay to God's Holy Word?" Peter said (in verse 19) that you would "do well to pay attention to the sure prophetic word."

Our text began this morning in verse 20, "Know this first of all." In other words, "of all the things to know, this is the top priority." You need to know that God's word is sure. It is secure. It is dependable. We are called to be people of the book.

We work hard at Rock Valley Bible Church to put the Scripture front and center of everything that we do. We read the Bible. We pray the Bible. We sing the Bible. We preach the Bible. We believe the Bible. We seek to live the Bible. The activities of the church are a means to an end. The end is that we would grow in our love for Jesus Christ. And the way to grow in our love for Christ is through a knowledge of His word to us.

Let us know Jesus Christ and grow in Him. Oh, may God grant us the grace in these things!

 

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on December 14, 2008 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rvbc.cc.

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[1] R. C. Sproul, Knowing Scripture, p. 14.

[2] Roland Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, p. 144.

[3] The only exception in all of the Bible that I could think of was Luke. He seemed to come up with the idea of writing his gospel and the book of Acts on his own (Luke 1:1-4). But, I don't think that this disproves my point. It's merely that we don't have all of the facts concerning the process by which Luke determined to write down his words. Would the truth be known, I'm sure that God's hand stirred his heart to write, and God's hand was upon him as he wrote. We just don't have any Biblical data confirming this particular instance.