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Redeemer Community Church is located in the historic Avondale neighborhood of Birmingham, AL. Our church family exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
For more information on who we are, what we believe, or how to join us, please visit our website at rccbirmingham.org.
If you have a bible, I invite you to turn to second Peter chapter one, and we're kind of doing a flyover of second Peter. We spent a long time in first Peter, but we're just spending a a few weeks before our next study in Daniel. This past week, I was in Peru with our missions team that went there in Iquitos, and they're actually on a plane, the rest of the team flying back right now. I took an earlier flight to get here this morning, but I'm I'm a little fuzzy. I'm still in Peru time.
Joel Brooks:And if you're saying, well, isn't Peru time central time? It is. Yet somehow, it does not feel that way to me right now. I'll be praying for them. It's a good thing.
Joel Brooks:I I took an earlier flight because I heard that theirs was delayed by fourteen hours, so they will be tired. Before we open up God's word together, I do want us to do something. First, I just want to acknowledge, you know, a lot of our college students are back, and I want to say how good it is to have you back. You were missed while you were gone for the summer. You are a vital part of our church.
Joel Brooks:We prayed for you over the summer, and we're just really glad that you returned. I know not everyone has returned. I've heard that a number of freshmen at Sanford are are having a worship service there, their convocation, and they might be here next week, but we're really glad you guys are here. And I just wanna take a moment to pray for you before we open up God's word. Do something just a little different.
Joel Brooks:Might stretch a few of you, but I call myself a charismatic with a seat belt, so it won't be that crazy. But I would love if you were one of our college students, if you would stay seated, and if everybody else would stand. And you're not gonna be able to do this for everybody, but I would love for those of you who are here at the church, if you would reach over and just just lay a hand on their their shoulder, and and I'm gonna pray for our college students that the Lord would use this year in their lives. Father, thank you. Thank you that we get to call you Father, that through the life, death, resurrection of your son, through the spirit that you give us, you have made us family.
Joel Brooks:And, Lord, we are rejoicing this morning at a family reunion in which some of our family that has been gone, they have returned. And, Lord, we just pray that you would bless them. Lord, in the beginning of a new semester, Lord, we pray that you would just you would show up, you'd give them the priorities that they need to have. Lord, that this would be not just a a year of studying, a year of social activities, but this would be a year in which you do an incredible work in their life. At the end of this year, they could look back and they could just see how much they have grown in their love and in their knowledge of you.
Joel Brooks:Lord, this is such a formative time, and I pray that you would use it deeply in their lives. Thank you for bringing them here to this place. We pray this in the sweet name of Jesus. Amen. I do want to follow that up and just say, college students, if you could carpool, that'd be great.
Joel Brooks:There were some things we didn't miss when you guys were gone. First Peter chapter one, begin reading in verse 16, and I'm not going to read chapter two. I'm saving that for next week, all of chapter two next week. For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known you the power in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory, This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.
Joel Brooks:We ourselves heard this voice born from heaven, for we were with him on the Holy Mountain. 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 hearts. Knowing this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture came from someone's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. This is the word of the Lord. Pray with me.
Joel Brooks:Father, we thank you for this word. We do believe that men wrote it, but you're the author. They were carried along by your spirit. And so I pray that spirit, you would illuminate the text in front of us, so that we might see Jesus. I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore.
Joel Brooks:But Lord, may your words remain, and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. This might not be a surprise to many of you, but I actually don't like karaoke. I will do it, however.
Joel Brooks:I do it on two occasions. Anytime I go on a mission trip, I I will find our missionary partners who are there, usually, they're members sent off from our church, and I will take them out for a night of karaoke, just to give them some forgetful joy to do something different, so they can laugh at me, and I usually let them pick the songs. If they don't, then I'm gonna be Creed, maybe Journey, something along those lines. But I have sung I've sung Shania Twain's Man, I Feel Like a Woman. I have sung Sir Mix a Lot's Baby Got Back.
Joel Brooks:I've had some awkward moments. The most awkward moment though came during Christmas, which is the other time that I'll do a little karaoke, is I will set up a little karaoke booth at our house when we have some of the leaders of the church over, and it was at one of these moments where I found myself doing a duet, Baby, It's Cold Outside, with one of our home group leaders, or I should say, one of our former members. Because it was at that moment, I realized just the lyrics of the song. I never actually listened to them. And the song gets inappropriate very fast as you are singing it to another person there.
Joel Brooks:And I I was wondering, how in the world is this a Christmas song? Is this a sweet love song, or is this some creepy song about a guy maybe stalking a girl or about toxic masculinity or something like that? But why are we singing this in Christmas? But it's kind of appropriate because I have found Christmas has a lot of mixed messages. Maybe you have felt that tension, actually.
Joel Brooks:There's a number of mixed messages at Christmas. For instance, we'll sing, all of us, not karaoke, we just all sing, Joy to the world, the Lord has come, yet, we also readily recognize that there is misery all over the place, and we don't have to look far for it. Yet, we say joy has come. We light candles, and we'll talk about peace on earth, goodwill towards men. And yet, I can never remember a Christmas in which there wasn't a war somewhere raging on in this world.
Joel Brooks:Every Advent season, all across the world, Christians gather together and they read beautiful and familiar passages from Isaiah. So they'll read, we read, for to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end. And yet, you can look the entire world over, and you're gonna see many different nations with many different types of governments, and yet, you will not find Jesus ruling over any of them.
Joel Brooks:Not a single one. So what exactly is the message of Christmas? What exactly are we celebrating when we talk about the joy or the peace of Christ coming into this world? Well, make no mistake, when Jesus came, he did bring some of those things. The the world is a much much better place because of Jesus than it was before he came.
Joel Brooks:Before Jesus came into this world, the world was a much crueler place to to women, to children, to the unborn, to the poor. It was through Christ, through his through his teachings, through his church that actually raised the standard of the dignity of all people. And so, we can see that without a doubt. I've actually heard it said that although the world might reject Christianity, they have certainly plundered our ethics. And that's undeniably true.
Joel Brooks:Many of the things that we now call good, that we now see as virtuous, they were not called those things before Christ. For instance, you know, we all across the world, people, they value humility in a person. It is seen as virtuous all over the world, yet it wasn't before Christ. Actually, the first century, did you know that the word humility did not even exist in Greek or Latin? The Greeks or the Romans didn't even have a word for it.
Joel Brooks:The the closest word they had for it was a derogatory term used of slaves or of somebody who was defeated. Here, Jesus comes and he humbled himself even to the point of death on a cross, and then the the church talks about humility and following his example, and now, all across the globe, humility is seen as a virtue. That's because of Jesus. So without a doubt, the world has, to some degree, become a much, much better place, more compassionate, more peaceful, more forgiving because of what Jesus did two thousand years ago. But it has been two thousand years since he walked on this earth.
Joel Brooks:And so it's natural for one to begin to wonder, is what we're experiencing now all there is? Is this all the change that Jesus is going to bring? Is is this it? This was the full impact of what Jesus brought to this world. Maybe some of you have had those questions, but maybe you've even deeper questions than that.
Joel Brooks:Maybe when things actually get quiet for a moment, some other questions begin to surface and you begin having doubts about Jesus himself. Maybe maybe we were wrong about Jesus. Maybe he really wasn't God in the flesh. Maybe he really didn't rise from the dead and defeat the powers of darkness. Maybe I don't have to spend my life trying to obey him because, you know what, he's not actually going to return and to judge.
Joel Brooks:Maybe you've had those thoughts. But then, what typically happens is you pull out your phone, you maybe watch a TikTok video or something to occupy your time and just push those doubts deep down, hoping they won't resurface again. If you were at Redeemer a few years ago, you would have heard me talk about, I had some of those doubts as well. Now, I didn't for the first forty years of my faith. I mean, for forty something years, I could not recall ever having a single doubt about who Jesus was, about his death, his resurrection, the bible being God's word, and that he would come again to judge the living and the dead.
Joel Brooks:Never. Then, all of a sudden, a few years ago, doubt hit me like a freight train. I was completely unprepared for it. I remember that mountain of faith that I had, all of sudden, was reduced to a mustard seed. And it was at that moment, I was very open about that.
Joel Brooks:I I talked about how hopeful I was and thankful that my faith depended on Jesus, and that his hold on me was so much greater than my hold on him, and Jesus never let me go. But I had those questions. The main one I had was this, if Jesus was who he said he was, and if he really did rise from the dead and promised to return, why hasn't he? Two thousand years, we've been waiting and and I started thinking, am I just a fool for believing this? Are we fools for waiting?
Joel Brooks:If any of you have ever struggled with those questions, know you're not alone. I had those questions, the early church had those questions. They didn't even have to wait two thousand years. They had those questions. And it's Peter here, who here is to guide us through those.
Joel Brooks:When we come to these words in second Peter, he is addressing a church that found itself in unchartered waters, Because absolutely no one expected that the Messiah would come, only to then leave and to say he would come back later. That was not on their radar, that he would come and start a work and then say goodbye. I'll finish it when I get back. So no one expected that there would be two advents, two comings of the Messiah, that the joy and the peace government that will rest on his shoulders, all those things actually came in two packages, not in a single package. And not only was that not on anyone's radar, but they didn't know what to do with this interim period because it made no sense.
Joel Brooks:Why would he do this? What's the point of him spreading out his coming? And what are they supposed to do in between the two stages of Jesus' coming? And so, they're struggling with all these questions, doubts are beginning to creep in, and so they're starting to ask, could they possibly have been wrong about what Jesus said? Could they have actually been wrong about who He was and what He promised that He would do?
Joel Brooks:Was He really going to return? These were the questions swirling around in the minds of the early church as they were in these un chartered territories, and perhaps, these are some of the doubts that you have as well. And he these are the doubts that Peter addresses. At the very start of this section, you could tell that Peter, he's defending the faith, not against people outside of the church, he's defending the faith against people within the church. In verse 16, he says, for we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus.
Joel Brooks:If that sounds a little defensive, it's because it is. People inside the church, they were starting to accuse Peter of just spinning a tail, of exaggerating, of of making up a few things about Jesus. It was just a cleverly devised myth about how Jesus was actually going to return in glory to judge. It's actually a ridiculous claim that Peter would just come up with this, because if he was going to come up with something, because create some myth, certainly, would do come up with a myth that benefited him. Maybe that brought him more power, more wealth, more respect.
Joel Brooks:But instead, this clever myth was just brought nothing but pain and suffering into his life and those whom he loves. He's currently about to be executed for this clever myth. So no one no one spins a tale like that that only brings suffering and death both to yourself and to the ones you love. So Peter, he tells these people there is a reason that he believes what he believes, and not only is he willing to suffer for it, he's willing for you to suffer for it. And it's because he says, I was an eyewitness.
Joel Brooks:I saw what I saw, and I can't deny it. I was an eyewitness to his majesty. And here, Peter, he's not talking about the resurrection of Jesus or the ascension of Jesus, because I don't think the people doubted that. Yes, he did rise from the dead, but they doubted whether he would return, and that's why he's talking about the transfiguration of Jesus, which is a preview of that. He says, I saw Jesus in glory.
Joel Brooks:When it comes to believing that Jesus will return to this world in glory and majesty, to judge the living and the dead, Peter here, he doesn't once again tell about the resurrection, he doesn't unpack ascension. What he does is he goes to that time where Jesus took him, James, John, up on a mountain, and he let them have a glimpse of his glory, and it forever changed him. Jesus didn't just reflect God's glory back to him, he was the source. In that moment, Jesus pewled back the layers, and he lets you see himself shining like the sun. Peter's like, Guys, trust me.
Joel Brooks:Trust me. If I could, if there was an easier way, I'd do it. I get why you might not believe this, but I cannot deny what I saw because he showed me a glimpse of it. It was up on the mountain there that Peter says that he saw Jesus receive honor and glory from the Father. He even heard the voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.
Joel Brooks:You can read about the transfiguration of Jesus or the metamorphosis of Jesus in Matthew 17. But if you wanna really understand what it means, you actually have to go back to just before to the end of Matthew 16, where Jesus, he talks to his disciples, he says, hey, I'm about to go into Jerusalem, I'm going to be crucified, I'm going to rise from the dead afterwards, and then after that, I'm coming with my angels in glory. He says, I'm coming with and not only that, he goes, and some of you will not taste death until you see that. So the glory of they're going to see Jesus with his angels, coming in glory, and some of the disciples are going witness that. Well, when did that happen?
Joel Brooks:I mean, because the disciples are dead. I mean, are we have we all been left behind, guys? You know, it actually did happen, we missed it. I mean, there's times, you know, we I have I have our church, we have homes everywhere we meet, and all the homes around this property, sometimes I'll go in for a meeting and no one's there, and I just wonder, it's like, that we weren't left behind. Jesus, he did.
Joel Brooks:He his word proved true. We read that immediately after, six days after, Jesus said, some of you will not taste death until you see this. Jesus took some of them. James and John and Peter took them up the mountain, and there, we read that he was transfigured in front of them, that he became this star shining in all of his glory. Elijah was there, Moses was there, seeing it.
Joel Brooks:It was unbelievable. And here Peter, he's coming back, he's like, Guys, guys, I was there. I was actually told to like, shut up. Because in it, I just started babbling, like as he normally does. I mean, you read that story, he's like, it's really good for me to be here.
Joel Brooks:Let's make this linger. Maybe I should build tents. And God interrupts Peter. He's like, would you just quit talking? This is my beloved son.
Joel Brooks:Listen to him. Listen to him. And Peter, he witnesses all of that, and then, as they're coming down from the mountain, Jesus says, tell nobody what you saw until after I've been raised from the dead. That's a very unusual command. He doesn't do it any other time.
Joel Brooks:His other miracles, there's a he'll say he'll heal somebody and be like, don't tell anyone, because he doesn't want all these huge crowds getting even worse. But this is the only time he says, don't tell anyone until until I've risen from the dead. Then, I want you to tell everybody what you just saw. And the reason Jesus is doing this, well, is because what he was showing them was not for them. It was not for his first advent, it was for his second.
Joel Brooks:His first advent, he's going to go and die. He's going to the cross. He's not coming in glory. So this sign was not for what he was about to do. He says, but what I'm about to show you, this is for later.
Joel Brooks:This is how I will return in glory and I'm gonna give you a glimpse of it. And so Jesus, he gives them a preview, the trailer, if you will, of what the rest of the world, all of us, will someday see. Peter, he sees him, not Jesus reflecting glory, but Jesus being the source of all that light. And he never got over it. John never did either, you know, in one of the advent texts that we read in Christmas, John chapter one, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.
Joel Brooks:He's talking about the transfiguration. John was there, glory as of the only son from the father. Now, some of you might be thinking, that's great. I'm so glad, you know, Peter, James, John, they got that, but what about me here with my doubts? I mean, I could see how, boy, you have a mountaintop experience like that?
Joel Brooks:Sure. You wouldn't doubt who Jesus is, but I haven't had one of those mountain top experiences, very few have. So what am I supposed to do with my doubts? And Peter says, well, you have something better than what I experienced on the mountain. You have the word of God.
Joel Brooks:That's where he goes next. He says, we can be assured who Jesus is and that he will indeed come again because of the scriptures. Look at verse 19. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as a lamp as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Knowing this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Joel Brooks:Now, although I just read these words from the ESV, some of you out there have the ESV, and you're like, but I just read different words. And you're right. You did read different words. It wasn't a mistake. The ESV updated their language there.
Joel Brooks:I hate that I have to deal with this, but some of you would just be so concerned. Nothing kills a sermon more than talking about just translation issues. But the ESV updated its translation of this verse. They do that in just a few other places. This is one of them though.
Joel Brooks:Now, personally, I don't think it needed the update. It really didn't. I prefer the older translation, but just so you know, I'm also the guy that every time my phone says I need to update the software, I hit not now, and I will do that for years. It took me two years to learn the old system. I don't want a new one, so I don't think it it needed it.
Joel Brooks:But the ESV didn't consult me, They just made the change. So if you do have a new ESV bible, it's what we just read, verse 19, we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed. If you have the old ESV Bible, it says, and we have something more sure, the prophetic word. So the newer translation out there, it changes the word order and a couple words. Basically, the newer version, it indicates this, that the transfiguration of Jesus, that confirms the prophetic word we have, and the prophetic word is Scripture.
Joel Brooks:That's how Peter will refer to it later. He's saying, when we saw Christ transfigured, it confirmed the Bible's truth. The older ESV translation, what it indicates is that Scripture or the prophetic word was not confirmed by the Transfiguration, but it is actually a more sure ground for our belief in Jesus than the transfiguration. It's the more sure word. Regardless of which translation you have, no, both are communicating the importance of revealing who Jesus is.
Joel Brooks:The Greek allows for both translations. The only way you you really just have to pick a side is it's basically based on each person's individual interpretation. And the irony of that is Peter's next verse, in which he says, hey, just so you know, no prophecy of Scripture comes from one's own interpretation. It's like Peter's messing with you people. No no one, no verse except for this one.
Joel Brooks:Both interpretations are are actually correct. The transfiguration of Jesus does confirm Scripture. If you understand Jesus shining like a star in all of his glory, and you see him as the beloved son of God, then you can look back at the Old Testament, and you can understand it. All the pieces fall into place. It's almost like you get to put on transfiguration glasses, and then you get to read the Old Testament in a new way for the first time, and it all fits together.
Joel Brooks:So that's certainly true. However, I think the older translation is best when it says that we have something more sure, the prophetic word. Peter's saying, hey, as great as it was to see Jesus up on that mountain shining, we actually have something more sure to build our lives on. We have his word, and his word shows the glory of Jesus. I mean, think of that.
Joel Brooks:Peter had the mountaintop of all mountaintop experiences. I've read 8,000 people, about 8,000 people climbed Mount Everest, Three went up this mountain. Only three got to witness Jesus in all of his glory. When it was happening, we read that Peter, he didn't want the end, he just wanted it to keep going and going and going. Who wouldn't?
Joel Brooks:And then Jesus says, this is my beloved son, listen to him. And we listen to Jesus by listening to his word. I've experienced a few mountain tops in my life. You know, Christians, we often talk about, you know, we've had a spiritual high at places, maybe at a retreat or something like that, but then you have to come down from the mountain. I I've had some mountaintops in my Christian experience.
Joel Brooks:I've seen some crazy spiritual stuff. I can't deny it. One time, I had two girls from UAB. They showed up at my office speaking in tongues. They both came from Baptist backgrounds, never knew anything about tongues, and all of sudden, they both they were praying together, they started speaking in tongues, they spoke in tongues all day, and then somehow wound up at my office.
Joel Brooks:It doesn't happen every day. And so, you know, I'm I'm trying to talk with them, but they were just speaking in tongues, and I'm like, hey, the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets. If this is really of the Lord, you can control this. I need one of you to interpret for me. And one of them did.
Joel Brooks:One of them translated or interpreted and quoted the entire section that I was about to preach on. The entire section of the bible. It was just like, I'm talking I just quoted it. I was like, oh my gosh. I went into that service thinking, I mean, this sermon is going to be fire.
Joel Brooks:I mean, how often do you get that? I mean, God sends, know, a prophetic word there, tongue interprets I mean, it was one of the worst sermons I have ever preached. I still have no idea why Jesus why why he did that. There was another time, I mean, a lot of you guys know this. The reason that Lauren and I are here in Birmingham is because of a prophetic dream.
Joel Brooks:It's undeniable. It's the reason we're here. I mean, there's there's been some some stuff. There's been some mountain high experiences that we have had. But you know what?
Joel Brooks:Doubt still hit me like a freight train. I mean, those incredible experiences, and I can name a whole lot more, I was completely unprepared, it just nailed me. The spiritual experiences weren't enough to support. So you know what actually erased my doubts? It was God's word.
Joel Brooks:During this time, I just began pouring over his word. Jesus, who are you? What have you done? What will you do? I just just poured over.
Joel Brooks:Is everything I'm believing just a lie? Am I foolish? Poured over day after day, week after week, month after month in a renewed way, and I experienced what Peter describes here. Scripture became my lamp lighting up places. I was in the dark, and it began lighting up the dark places in my heart and mind.
Joel Brooks:And then slowly, the morning star began to rise in my heart. Jesus began to rise, and I began to see thread after thread after thread throughout all of Scripture, pointing to the glory of Jesus. And the more I read, the more glorious He became. I'm not exaggerating when I say this, I would rather have the Spirit of God illuminate a single word of Scripture for me than have a 100 other spiritual experiences like the ones I've had. Because I have found that it has been His word that has sustained me in those dark times.
Joel Brooks:When Peter was up on that mountain, he didn't want it to end. I get it. He wanted to behold the glory of Jesus forever. What he's telling us is, we will, and the reason we could be certain that we will is because of his word. And actually, the more we pour ourselves over the word, the more we actually get to see that glory of Jesus surfacing and rising like the dawn.
Joel Brooks:There's no other words on the planet that can do that. So if you're having doubts, the key is not just, oh, I just need something supernatural I can never explain. Oh, would that hit me? If you're having doubts, listen to Jesus through his word, and remember that Jesus' grip on you is greater than any grip that you have on him. Let's pray.
Joel Brooks:Jesus, we so readily put our trust in other words, how easily deceived we are. Lord, I pray right now, we would have this renewed this renewed strength and diligence and commitment to seek you in your word, to shut up, and to listen to you, Jesus, speak. And Lord, I pray that for every person here, and that as we do that, the morning star would begin to rise in our hearts, and we would see the glory of Jesus. We pray this in the name of our savior. Amen.