As A Light That Shines In A Dark Place

2-15-26

Hoonah-Hadley

2 Peter 1:16-21

Call to Worship Psalm 2

Daily Verse 2 Peter 1:19

As A Light That Shines In A Dark Place

“And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” We often talk about the lectionary which is simply a biblical calendar that follows Christ from the cradle to the grave, a seed time and harvest if you will. We are not bound to use it, of course as most things there are pros and cons. It keeps us in union with the body of Christ around the globe that does follow it, and, it keeps us from having our own agenda, in part, that is, often times it forces us to research unfamiliar territory. Namely, it keeps us from playing favorites. Guess what today’s lesson is? A favorite. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it does the heart good. Brother James once said that he was wrestling with the scripture, I said, “isn’t that the idea?” We don’t always understand it, we could say it is hard, difficult, a mystery, actually we could say a lot of things, but keep on praying, keep on reading, keep on meditating, keep on asking, keep on knocking, keep on searching and the Promise Maker will reveal Himself to us, granting us the blessings, peace, comfort, mercy, love, patience, grace and more will keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. The Promise Maker is a promise keeper and surely as the sun will rise, we shall not want, He will restore our soul, our cups will run over, goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives. As our relationship with Christ grows, our longing to take a closer walk with Thee, our hunger and thirst continue, we can trust that our darkness will turn to light.

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When we come to that place of understanding that Gods word and His way not only reveals our nature, but saves us from it, that His economy is contrary to the worlds way of thinking, our walk with Him will become less and less of a struggle and more and more of a joy, a daily treasure hunt and that peace He talks about will slowly manifest itself in trusting Him in everything, He will become the center of our universe putting everything else in its rightful place and we’ll neither start our day or end it without giving Him thanks. If we want Gods favor at lunch time, we had better invite Him to breakfast. We often use Romans 5:3-5 and James 1:2-4 to reveal this truth. “Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, for the testing of your faith produces endurance, endurance, character, and character, hope, and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” If we could put it in perspective, the penman of this epistle, Peter, is the same guy that denied Christ 3x’s. Anyone here ever deny Christ? Peter’s the one that always seemed to be at odds with Christ, telling Christ things when he should have been listening, the proverbial foot in the mouth kind of thing. Anyone here ever stuck their foot in their mouth? It could be said of Peter when reading these two epistles, “you’ve come along way baby!” The denying, fault finding, finger pointing, jumping out of the boat, compulsive, wayward Peter is used by God in a mighty way, giving us some of the most blessed literature ever given humanity. You simply cannot read this stuff without being moved by it, enlightened, transformed, blessed, grateful, hopeful. This not just Peter musing, this, Gods word, written by men moved and inspired by the Holy Spirit. This the only word available to humanity with the authority to move mountains, to turn darkness to light, to save us from ourselves.

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Vs. 16 “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” As Peter, James and John were set apart from the twelve, the inner circle of the inner circle, the narrow gate, so it is with us, the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ has been made known to us. The epistle begins “To those who have obtained like precious faith…Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord…” That’s us, and that’s why we’re here. Knowledge is an important theme in 2 Peter, in 3 short chapters it is mentioned 11 times. In this epistle, God’s economy is not a matter of addition and subtraction but of multiplication. For Peter, James and John this is an extraordinary encounter, they saw it with their own eyes, and this for our benefit. Vs. 4 “…that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Through the knowledge of Him who called us, that’s why we are here, to escape the corruption that is in the world. We are to be in the world but not of it and we are not to love the things of this world. (1 John 2:15, John 15:19) Peter uses the word diligence twice, in verses 5 and 10, “But for this very reason, giving all diligence…Therefore…be even more diligent to make your call and election sure…” The King’s highway is one of diligence. Keep your hand to the plow and don’t look back. Keep your nose to the grindstone until your saw is sharp. Seek, search, knock, ask, pray, meditate, meditate, meditate. Vs. 11 “For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Is this epistle not music to your ears? Doe it not cause your heart to leap within and set your feet to dancing? Vs. 12 “For this reason…to remind you of these things…” Reminders, we need reminders.

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Vs. 15 “Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things…” Peter’s days are numbered and so are ours. If you are in the hearing of this word we will be so bold to say you are called, chosen, elected to be about our Father’s business. This is a business trip, don’t you know you were called for such a time as this? Of course we are, we don’t have any other time. Peter is reminding us of these things because we “know and are established in the present truth.” We are in the presence of “The Truth”, the word of God, the Son of God, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We may not think of ourselves in this manner because of what Peter calls “tents”, our brief, temporary journey on earth, but it is true, we can trust God has not errored with His strange choice. 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Isaiah 9:2 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” Disown yourself and acknowledge Him. Cease from your own thoughts and trust His word, His way is higher, it’s better to leave it all in His hands. Vs. 18 “And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the Holy mountain.” Not only did they see this profound gathering with their own eyes, they heard God’s voice. Scripture puts a great deal of emphasis on hearing God’s voice, His word, for within it is liberty, and it is for this very reason He sent His Son, to set us free. Faith comes by hearing, the sheep hear the voice of their shepherd. Vs. 19 “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts.” 

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Is this not music to your ears? Does this not stir you, raise you up to higher ground? This is the tree of life, rivers of living waters, “the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Matt. 17:1,2,5 “Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John…led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light…While He was still speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” Jesus Christ is coming! This book, this word is not just to tell us about God, its design is to take us by the hand and lead us to the promised land. The plan, purpose and hope of this inspired word is that Christ will be formed in us, dwell in us, to not only be our Savior, but Lord of our lives. Numbers 24:7 “A star shall come out of Jacob.” Stars have been used for thousands of years to lead people to safety, to help them navigate through the journey of life. 2 Samuel 22:29 “For you are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord shall enlighten my darkness.” How do we deal with the fear, ignorance, inability, iniquity, temptation, how do we deal with it? We hide God’s word in our hearts, we hold hands with Him who called us out of darkness. “Which you do well to heed…” Listen to Him, hear Him, have a personal hunger for the word of God, for it is life and the length of our days. Revelation 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches, I am the root and the offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” Early this morning while dawn was still dark, 4 degrees, big ole moon out the kitchen window, the snow sparkling like a sea of diamonds. That’s us when the Morning Star rises in our hearts, the Sons radiance upon us, we become “As A Light That Shines In A Dark Place.”  Amen!