Dear Friends,

Last words that really do last

We began our AGM, as we always do, by turning to the Bible passage of the day and I hope those who were there were as struck as I was at how helpful the Apostle Peter's last words are to us today. In chapter 1 of his second letter, Peter, who knows he will soon die, still wants to make sure his hearers are able to recall his warnings at any time in the future(verse15). What an amazingly difficult thing to hope and plan for! True, Peter's apostolic authority and wonderful experiences as an eye-witness to Christ's glory and sufferings are uniquely memorable but it wasn't to these things that he pointed his hearers. He pointed them back to the “prophetic word” (verse 19) as being something even more sure than his experiences, however marvellous. Those of us pastors who wish to be  faithful evangelical ministers today must continue to say this to their congregations, too. However marvellous the experiences of our church fathers/forefathers may have been, in order for their children of the next generation to catch the same fire and vision, those listeners/children will need to pay attention to the written Scriptures for themselves. This applies in two ways – to help us become true Christians in the first place and then to receive guidance always and at any time in the future.

For one thing, as someone has truly said, 'God may have many children but he doesn't have any  grandchildren', by which he meant that every generation must come to personal faith for themselves. We can't rely on our parents' faith to get to heaven. This is what John also said in his gospel. (John 1:13) Our Lord Jesus Christ said that unless we are born again we can never enter the Kingdom of heaven (John 3:3,5) but how can we become born again? Peter tells us in his first letter that it is the “living and abiding” written Scriptures that are used by the Holy Spirit to bring us to this new birth (1 Peter 1:23) and, in 2 Peter 1:16, it is while paying attention to them that “the morning star” (our Lord Jesus Christ – see Revelation 22:16) will make himself known to us in our hearts. Has this happened to us yet? If not, then Peter tells us that the way to meet Christ is to pay attention as we read our Bibles until we do meet Him.

But there’s more. Peter was a humble fisherman and had not had an advanced education like his fellow apostle Paul who, Peter acknowledged, sometimes wrote about deep truths “that are hard to understand”(2 Peter 3:16). (Isn't it encouraging when an apostle of Peter's stature acknowledges that he finds some things in Paul that are hard to understand! Then there's hope for us, isn't there!) Yet through these Scriptures Peter discovers warnings from inspired history and speaks words that describe what is actually happening today!! Who can deny that 2 Peter 3:3-7 exactly describes people today in the 21st century, especially if you’ve read The Genesis Files carefully? The wonderful thing about Scripture, that I have been discovering for more than forty years now, is how the Bible really speaks to us every day - if only we will pay careful attention to what it actually says - and gives us just the right perspective on life. It is truly “a light for our path”, as Psalm 119:105 says, especially in dark days when we can’t see our way forward. So, please take Peter’s last words to heart and you, too, will find Christ for yourself and in doing so also will find that you will “never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) What greater assurance can we have in this life?              

                        Your fellow discoverer of truth,