The Voice from heaven is trustworthy.                                                                                                  2 Peter 1:16-21

1.  It was spoken on the sacred mountain.

2.  It is written in the inspired Word.

It’s a shame that the expressions of love exchanged by the people of this world are so often shallow and temporary.  Take for instance the sentiments expressed in a Valentine’s card, they are fine sounding promises of love, but often they are just as temporary as the paper they’re printed on.  No matter how sincerely they may be given at the time, one still might be left to wonder, “Can I truly trust this expression of love?”  All around us we see examples of people who once professed undying love for somebody whom now they regard with hatred and loathing—evidenced by the divorce rate.  Many of us too have been burned by trusting in shallow promises.  And even when promises are kept and faithful love exists among human beings, that contentment and security ultimately is shattered and cut short by death.  We’ve seen how death will sever loving relationships.

Many voices that profess love fall far short of delivering on their promises, but there is one Voice that is completely trustworthy and sincere.  This Voice expresses promises of love to us that we can rely on.  We hear about that Voice in our text for today.  Great and wonderful promises of love come from the only One who has the ability to keep His promises forever.  God’s promises of love never fade, they never change and they never end.  The Voice from heaven is trustworthy, (1) it was spoken on the sacred mountain, (2) it is written in the inspired Word.

1.

During the lifetime of the Apostle Peter, myths were commonplace.  The Jewish rabbis for instance would make up stories based on names that were found in the Old Testament.  These stories, or myths, exist today as a portion of the Talmud, known as the Haggadah, which, even now is treated by Jews as if it were sacred writing, but they are merely the creations of the mind of men.  A modern day parallel of this might be what we see in the scientific community and their explanation of the origin of the universe.  Never mind that they don’t have a shred of evidence for what they believe.  Never mind that every thing that we know from physics and genetics and mathematics flies in the face of their tired theories, they still hold stubbornly to their Big Bang Theory and the Theory of Evolution.  As it was in Peter’s time, myths are what so many people cling to today.  In a world filled with so many untrustworthy voices, it needed to be stated clearly by the Apostle Peter that the words he was preaching and teaching about Jesus Christ were not to be lumped in with all the rest.  The remarkable claims that Peter and the other Christian writers were making about Jesus were not merely imaginary stories made up for the amusement of people who were free to take or leave them as they pleased.  These words meant the difference between life and death.

They still mean the difference between life and death.  The necessity for us to make clear to the world around us that the message of Jesus is absolutely true is no less today that it was in Peter’s time.  What an amazing thing it was for Peter, James and John to have witnessed the Transfiguration, to actually see with their own eyes Jesus’ face shining like the sun and to hear with their own ears the voice of the heavenly Father.

Our wonderful Savior loved the world so much that He had in mind to reveal His glory to those disciples on that mountain.  These were men who would serve as His witnesses.  Two of them would serve as writers of the New Testament Scriptures.  One of them would become the first apostle to be martyred—to lay down his life as a testimony of what he knew to be true.  However, none of those three men, Peter, James or John, would have to carry out those great responsibilities with any nagging doubts that somehow they had been duped into following a fraud.  They saw with their own eyes the glory of Jesus and heard with their own ears the testimony of the voice of God from heaven, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

In practically the same words that were spoken at Jesus’ baptism, on the mountain of Transfiguration God the Father gives bold testimony concerning His Son.  Both at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry and now as it was nearing it’s completion the Father reaffirms His love for His Son.  Those words would serve to sustain our Lord Jesus during in His darkest hours on the cross.  However those words from heaven also benefited the three disciples who were with Jesus, and what is more, they benefit the Christian church of all ages, they benefit you and me as well.  Jesus is who He claimed to be all along.  He is the very Son of God come into the world to bear our sin and make atonement for us.

2.

As we hear of the events of that day on the mountain of Transfiguration we may wonder, as many have, why doesn’t God show Himself to us too?  For whatever reason that He has chosen God does not reveal Himself to us in visions or in glorious appearances.  He did that once upon a time, but no longer.  But we are not recipients of an inferior grace.  Now our Lord reveals Himself, not by an audible voice from heaven, but in His voice written in His inspired Word.  As Peter says, “We have the word of the prophets made more certain.”  The ancient prophecies of the Old Testament were certain, but without the fulfillment there would have been room for doubt.  But Peter attests to the fact that those prophets spoke the truth when they foretold of the coming Messiah and His work of redeeming mankind, because he has seen the Messiah.  The testimony of the prophets has been fulfilled and Peter is an eyewitness of that fact.

Peter could testify to the fact that not only did he see the glory of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, but he also saw Jesus betrayed and tried and condemned.  He saw Jesus suffer and die.  He also saw Jesus after He had risen from the dead and he saw Him ascend into heaven.  Peter saw the completion of the Messiah’s saving work.  So the word of the prophets was more certain—completely trustworthy and true.  As Peter testifies: “You will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”  Peter knew what he was talking about.  He knew about dark places.  He had experienced the lowest of low places and the darkest of dark places when he had denied his Savior.  He had boasted of an undying faithfulness and devotion to his Lord.  He said, “I will never disown you.”  Peter had made a paper promise and he came to know the folly of trusting in his own strength to sustain him.

You and I also have known some low and dark and places.  Every time we slip back into an old sin we are reminded how feeble we are and how worthless our promises are.  Our pledges of faithfulness don’t amount to much.  But whenever our pledges fall flat, God invites us to turn to Him in repentance and faith.  God in His mercy then comes to us in love and restores us by His wonderful forgiveness and sets us back on our feet again.  Every time we hear the words of the Absolution, every time we receive the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, every time we remember our baptisms, Jesus assures us that His love for us is eternal and that His covenant of Grace sealed with His blood can never be removed.  Do we know this because God appears to us in all His glory to assure us of these facts?  No, but we know it nevertheless because God has revealed it to us in His all-reliable Word.

“Forever yours.”  Such is the paper promise of a Valentine card.  Is the Bible just another paper promise written large?  No.  It is a true promise and completely trustworthy.  We have a heavenly Father who loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die in our place.  We have a loving Savior who secured for us a place in His heavenly kingdom where we will one day join Him for all eternity in heavenly bliss.  We have a heavenly Comforter and Counselor in the person of the Holy Spirit, who daily strengthens us and keeps us in faith through His powerful Word and Sacraments.

Those who don’t know Jesus will spend their lives chasing after the cleverly invented stories offered by this world.  May those things never be our focus.  Instead, let us constantly direct our attention to God’s Word where we will find all that we truly need for happiness and direction for our lives and assurance of the life to come.  Amen.