Foundations of Faith: Objective Reality

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Myths and legends are common to mankind. They're inventions of human speculation and imagination without historical context.

In other words, they have no correspondence to reality. So when it comes to the matter of faith, you might have heard it said, I don't trust faith, I trust facts. The truth is that faith and facts are not mutually exclusive.

Belief without foundation is mere credulity, not faith. As Peter calls us to live as people who remember, he points out the foundation of information provided through revelation and history. He makes it clear that our faith has solid footing in objective reality, the life, works, death and resurrection of Jesus. You are listening to part two of a message titled Foundations of Faith, Objective Reality.

It was first preached on July 23rd, 2023 at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. So the Messiah, the Christ, was foretold throughout all of the Old Testament. You have the Old Testament narrative, the history of the Old Testament, the wisdom literature, the poetry, and the prophecy, all of that, and then it points to Christ, and there is a track record there. There's a track record there, and then in the New Testament narrative, you have pointing back to Christ as he walked on the earth, as he died, and as he rose again, and he was ascended, and then all of his followers, indwelt with his spirit, are spreading the message of Messiah and God's redemption and reconciliation of mankind.

You see, that's all one story. Do you know the Bible that way? It takes you way beyond coffee mug theology, doesn't it? So, since we have Revelation, we also have fulfilled prophecy. Fulfilled prophecy. From way back, from the beginning of time, God purposed and promised what he would do.

Just catch that, all right? From the beginning of time, God purposed and promised what he would do. Promised, in other words, he communicated what he would do. I will do this, in other words, God is saying. Isaiah 46, verses 9 to 11, look at this, I am God and there is no other, I am God, and there is none like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose.

I have spoken and I will bring it to pass, I have purposed and I will do it. That's the continuity of Scripture. You see, biblical faith doesn't begin in Matthew. It begins in Genesis. In fact, if you look at the person of Jesus Christ, in his very person, in his very being, in his ministry, his work on earth and everything that happened to him and everything that he did, there are 332 specific Old Testament prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ. And we're going to look at just one of them today.

It's what Peter refers to in 2 Peter 1, verses 16 to 18, the Mount of Transfiguration. 332 specific prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ. If a statistician were to look, statistician, did I say that right?

Can't say that five times fast. If they were to look at that, what were the chances? And some of these prophecies made as many as written in writing as much as 1500 years before Christ was on the earth, in writing. So what would be the chances of 332 prophecies fulfilled in one person in time? Many of them things which he would have no control over, i.e. where he's born.

What kind of mother he had. If you take 48 of those prophecies, if you just take 48 of them and what were the chances that 48 of those prophecies would be fulfilled in one person, the odds would be 1 in 10 times 157th power. Statistically, you know what that means? It's impossible. That's the word they use. That is the realm of impossibility. It is the chances are so unlikely, it's impossible. That's just 48 of them.

There are 332. What's the point that Peter is making here? It's one story. God said, this is what I'm going to do.

And he did it. Consider 1 Peter, when we studied 1 Peter, consider 1 Peter 1 verse 10. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, searched and inquired carefully.

This salvation. The prophets were talking about it. They didn't have the complete picture. But they did have information from God saying, this is what I'm going to do. And then Matthew 13 verse 17, for truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.

Why? Because it wasn't fulfilled in their day. But it was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. So when Peter says we have a prophecy more fully confirmed, verse 19, a prophecy more fully confirmed, that word confirmed means verified, known to be true.

It is certain, it is trustworthy. What is he referring to? Well, back in verses 16 to 18, Peter is talking about the Mount of Transfiguration, and the father spoke, and what did the father say?

This is what? My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Did you know that's in the Psalms? Psalm 2. Psalm 2 is a royal messianic Psalm. And it's fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.

You are my son. It says that in 17, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. So not only did Peter, James, and John have a glimpse of the glory of Jesus Christ, this rabbi that they had been walking with, doing life with, and learning from, they go up on this mount and he is transfigured. He's talking to Moses and Elijah, and they're seeing this with their eyes.

Listen to me, all three of them. That's confirmation in and of itself, and this is what Peter writes down. It was also a glimpse of not only the past glory of Jesus Christ, but what? The future glory of Jesus Christ. Glimpses of his glory. Because it was in Matthew 16, the Mount of Transfiguration is recorded in Matthew 17 at the beginning of it, and in Matthew 16 at the very end of that, Jesus was talking about the end of time, and he says, there are some standing here today who will see the Son of Man coming in his glory. And the very next text, six days later, Peter, James, and John see Jesus in his glory. In the coming glory of Christ, what we learned from Peter's writing here is that because of the past fulfillment, we have a confident expectation of the future. The batting average of biblical prophecy is currently at 1,000. That's pretty impressive.

You can't get better than that. Past fulfillment gives us confident expectation of the future. Because of the grace that has been lavished upon us, we can look forward to with confidence and great hope to the grace that is laid up for us. We have a trustworthy record.

Therefore, if we know this record is trustworthy, what should we do with it? What's the word that Peter uses in this text? Pay attention.

Pay attention. Acts chapter 13, verses 32 and 33, And we bring you the good news, that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, You are my son, today I have begotten you. Isn't that amazing? He draws that together. What Jesus did, the resurrection, the mount of transfiguration and the resurrection, which is a confirmation of all of it, says that everything that God foretold and promised through the prophets in the Old Testament, all of it comes true in this historic person of Jesus Christ. And so we have glimpses of his glory to come, the one who is gloriously with the Father from all eternity, and has now come to us and walked among us, died, was buried and rose again, and is now ascended back to glory, and will come again in glory.

We can have absolute confidence in that because of the track record that already is. It's anchored in history. And so he says, look in verse 19, we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you will do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart. Until the day dawns, what is that? That's the completed purpose of God, the creator redeemer.

In history, the one who is the creator redeemer will come again as the ruler and the judge, because he is the point of our existence. Psalm chapter 2 verses 11 and 12, this is in the second Psalm that Peter's focusing on here. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son. I'm going to explain that at the end, because when you and I see the word kiss, there's one particular image that comes to mind, and it's not making us happy right now.

But that's not what the ancient Eastern word kiss meant. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. The gospel is in that verse. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in him, the one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on Weekdays at 10 a.m.