Matthew Henry's Commentary on the
Epistle
(2 Peter 1:17-21)
Evidence of the Gospel. A. D. 67.
16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made
known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were
eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received from God the Father honour
and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18 And this voice which
came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
Here we have the reason of giving the foregoing exhortation, and
that with so much diligence and seriousness. These things are not idle
tales, or a vain thing, but of undoubted truth and vast concern. The gospel
is not a cunningly devised fable. These are not the words of one who
hath a devil, nor the contrivance of any number of men who by cunning
craftiness endeavour to deceive. The way of salvation by Jesus Christ is
eminently the counsel of God, the most excellent contrivance of the
infinitely wise Jehovah; it was he that invented this way of saving sinners
by Jesus Christ, whose power and coming are set forth in the gospel, and the
apostle's preaching was a making of these things known. 1. The preaching of
the gospel is a making known the power of Christ, that he is able to save to
the uttermost all who come to God by him. He is the mighty God, and
therefore can save from both the guilt and the filth of sin. 2. The coming
of Christ also is make known by the preaching of the gospel. He who was
promised immediately after the fall of man, as in the fulness of time to be
born of a woman, has now come in the flesh; and whosoever denies this is an
antichrist (1
John iv. 3), he is actuated and influenced by the spirit of anti-christ;
but those who are the true apostles and ministers of Christ, and are
directed and guided by the Spirit of Christ, evidence that Christ has come
according to the promise which all the Old-Testament believers died in the
faith of,
Heb. xi. 39. Christ has come in the flesh. Inasmuch as those whom he
undertakes to save are partakers of flesh and blood, he himself also took
part of the same, that he might suffer in their nature and stead, and
thereby make an atonement. This coming of Christ the gospel is very plain
and circumstantial in setting forth; but there is a second coming, which it
likewise mentions, which the ministers of the gospel ought also to make
known, when he shall come in the glory of his Father with all his holy
angels, for he is appointed to be Judge both of quick and dead. He will come
to judge the world in righteousness by the everlasting gospel, and call us
all to give account of all things done in the body, whether good or evil. 3.
And though this gospel of Christ has been blasphemously called a fable
by one of those wretches who call themselves the successors of St. Peter,
yet our apostle proves that it is of the greatest certainty and reality,
inasmuch as during our blessed Saviour's abode here on earth, when he took
on him the form of a servant and was found in fashion as a man, he sometimes
manifested himself to be God, and particularly to our apostle and the two
sons of Zebedee, who were eye-witnesses of his divine majesty, when he
was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his
raiment was white as the light, exceedingly white, as snow, so as no fuller
on earth can whiten them. This Peter, James, and John, were
eye-witnesses of, and therefore might and ought to attest; and surely their
testimony is true, when they witness what they have seen with their eyes,
yea, and heard with their ears: for, besides the visible glory that Christ
was invested with here on earth, there was an audible voice from heaven.
Here observe, (1.) What a gracious declaration was made: This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased--the best voice that ever came
from heaven to earth; God is well pleased with Christ, and with us in him.
This is the Messiah who was promised, through whom all who believe in him
shall be accepted and saved. (2.) This declaration is made by God the
Father, who thus publicly owns his Son (even in his state of humiliation,
when he was in the form of a servant), yea, proclaims him to be his beloved
Son, when he is in that low condition; yea, so far are Christ's mean and low
circumstances from abating the love of the Father to him that his laying
down his life is said to be one special reason of the Father's love,
John x. 17. (3.) The design of this voice was to do our Saviour a
singular humour while he was here below: He received honour and glory
from God the Father. This is the person whom God delights to honour. As
he requires us to give honour and glory to his Son by confessing him to be
our Saviour, so does he give glory and honour to our Saviour by declaring
him to be his Son. (4.) This voice is from heaven, called here the
excellent glory, which still reflects a greater glory upon our blessed
Saviour. This declaration is from God the fountain of honour, and from
heaven the seat of glory, where God is most gloriously present. (5.) This
voice was heard, and that so as to be understood, by Peter, James, and John.
They not only heard a sound (as the people did,
John xii. 28, 29), but they understood the sense. God opens the ears and
understandings of his people to receive what they are concerned to know,
when others are like Paul's companions, who only heard a sound of words (Acts
ix. 7), but understood not the meaning thereof, and therefore are said
not to hear the voice of him that spoke,
Acts
xxii. 9. Blessed are those who not only hear, but understand, who
believe the truth, and feel the power of the voice from heaven, as he did
who testifieth these things: and we have all the reason in the world to
receive his testimony; for who would refuse to give credit to what is so
circumstantially laid down as this account of the voice from heaven, of
which the apostle tells us, (6.) It was heard by them in the holy mount,
when they were with Jesus? The place wherein God affords any peculiarly
gracious manifestation of himself is thereby made holy, not with an inherent
holiness, but as the ground was holy where God appeared to Moses (Exod.
iii. 5), and the mountain holy on which the temple was built,
Ps.
lxxxvii. 1. Such places are relatively holy, and to be regarded as such
during the time that men in themselves experience, or may, by warrant from
the word, believingly expect, the special presence and gracious influence of
the holy and glorious God.
Inspiration of the Scriptures.
A. D. 67.
19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well
that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the
day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 Knowing this first,
that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For
the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
In these words the apostle lays down another argument to prove the
truth and reality of the gospel, and intimates that this second proof is
more strong and convincing than the former, and more unanswerably makes out
that the doctrine of the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is not a
mere fable or cunning contrivance of men, but the wise and wonderful counsel
of the holy and gracious God. For this is foretold by the prophets and
penmen of the Old Testament, who spoke and wrote under the influence and
according to the direction of the Spirit of God. Here note,
I. The description that is given of the scriptures of the Old
Testament: they are called a more sure word of prophecy. 1. It is a
prophetical declaration of the power and coming, the Godhead and
incarnation, of our Saviour, which we have in the Old Testament. It is there
foretold that the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head.
His power to destroy the devil and his works, and his being made of a woman,
are there foretold; and the great and awful Old Testament name of God,
Jehovah (as read by some), signifies only He will be; and that
name of God (Exod.
iii. 14) is rendered by many, I will be that I will be; and, thus
understood, they point at God's being incarnate in order to the redemption
and salvation of his people as what was to come. But the New
Testament is a history of that whereof the Old Testament is a prophecy.
All the prophets and the law prophesied until John,
Matt. xi. 13. And the evangelists and the apostles have written the
history of what was before delivered as prophecy. Now the accomplishment of
the Old Testament by the New, and the agreeableness of the New Testament to
the Old, are a full demonstration of the truth of both. Read the Old
Testament as a prophecy of Christ, and with diligence and thankfulness use
the New as the best exposition of the Old. 2. The Old Testament is a more
sure word of prophecy. It is so to the Jews who received it as the
oracles of God. Following prophets confirmed what had been delivered by
those who went before, and these prophecies had been written by the express
command, and preserved by the special care, and many of them fulfilled by
the wonderful providence of God, and therefore were more certain to those
who had all along received and read the scriptures than the apostle's
account of this voice from heaven. Moses and the prophets more
powerfully persuade than even miracles themselves,
Luke
xvi. 31. How firm and sure should our faith be, who have such a firm and
sure word to rest upon! All the prophecies of the Old Testament are more
sure and certain to us who have the history of the most exact and minute
accomplishment of them.
II. The encouragement the apostle gives us to search the
scriptures. He tells us, We do well if we take heed to them; that is,
apply our minds to understand the sense, and our hearts to believe the
truth, of this sure word, yea, bend ourselves to it, that we may be moulded
and fashioned by it. The word is that form of doctrine into which we must be
cast (Rom.
vi. 17), that formulary of knowledge (Rom.
ii. 20) by which we are to regulate our thoughts and sentiments, our
words and confessions, our whole life and conversation. If we thus apply
ourselves to the word of God, we certainly do well in all respects, what is
pleasing to God and profitable to ourselves; and this indeed is but paying
that regard which is due to the oracles of God. But, in order to this giving
heed to the word, the apostle suggests some things that are of singular use
to those who would attend to the scriptures to any good purpose. 1. They
must account and use the scripture as a light which God hath sent into and
set up in the world, to dispel that darkness which is upon the face of the
whole earth. The word is a lamp to the feet of those who use it aright; this
discovers the way wherein men ought to walk; this is the means whereby we
come to know the way of life. 2. They must acknowledge their own darkness.
This world is a place of error and ignorance, and every man in the world is
naturally without that knowledge which is necessary in order to attain
eternal life. 3. If ever men are made wise to salvation, it is by the
shining of the word of God into their hearts. Natural notions of God are not
sufficient for fallen man, who does at best actually know a great deal less,
and yet does absolutely need to know a great deal more, of God than Adam did
while he continued innocent. 4. When the light of the scripture is darted
into the blind mind and dark understanding by the Holy Spirit of God, then
the spiritual day dawns and the day-star arises in that soul. This
enlightening of a dark benighted mind is like the day-break that improves
and advances, spreads and diffuses itself through the whole soul, till it
makes perfect day,
Prov.
iv. 18. It is a growing knowledge; those who are this way enlightened
never think they know enough, till they come to know as they are known. To
give heed to this light must needs be the interest and duty of all; and all
who do truth come to this light, while evil-doers keep at a distance from
it.
III. The apostle lays down one thing as previously necessary in
order to our giving heed to, and getting good by, the scriptures, and that
is the knowing that all prophecy is of divine origin. Now this important
truth he not only asserts, but proves. 1. Observe, No scripture prophecy is
of private interpretation (or a man's own proper opinion, an explication of
his own mind), but the revelation of the mind of God. This was the
difference between the prophets of the Lord and the false prophets who have
been in the world. The prophets of the Lord did not speak nor do any thing
of their own mind, as Moses, the chief of them, says expressly (Num.
xvi. 28), I have not done any of the works (nor delivered any of
the statutes and ordinances) of my own mind. But false prophets
speak a vision of their own heart, not out of the mouth of the Lord,
Jer.
xxiii. 16. The prophets and penmen of the scripture spoke and wrote what
was the mind of God; and though, when under the influence and guidance of
the Spirit, it may well be supposed that they were willing to reveal and
record such thing, yet it is because God would have them spoken and written.
But though the scripture be not the effusion of man's own private opinion or
inclination, but the revelation of the mind and will of God, yet every
private man ought to search it, and come to understand the sense and meaning
thereof. 2. This important truth of the divine origin of the scriptures
(that what is contained in them is the mind of God and not of man) is to be
known and owned by all who will give heed to the sure word of prophecy. That
the scriptures are the word of God is not only an article of the true
Christian's faith, but also a matter of science or knowledge. As a man not
barely believes, but knows assuredly that that very person is his particular
friend in whom he sees all the proper, peculiar, distinguishing marks and
characters of his friend, so the Christian knows that book to be the word of
God in and upon which he sees all the proper marks and characters of a
divinely inspired book. He tastes a sweetness, and feels a power, and sees a
glory, in it truly divine. 3. The divinity of the scriptures must be known
and acknowledged in the first place, before men can profitably use them,
before they can give good heed to them. To call off our minds from all other
writings, and apply them in a peculiar manner to these as the only certain
and infallible rule, necessarily requires our being fully persuaded that
these are divinely inspired, and contain what is truly the mind and will of
God.
IV. Seeing it is so absolutely necessary that persons be fully
persuaded of the scripture's divine origin, the apostle (v.
21) tells us how the Old Testament came to be compiled, and that, 1.
Negatively: It came not by the will of man. Neither the things
themselves that are recorded, and make up the several parts of the Old
Testament, are the opinions of men, nor was the will of any of the prophets
or penmen of the scriptures the rule or reason why any of those things were
written which make up the canon of the scripture. 2. Affirmatively: Holy
men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Observe, (1.)
They were holy men of God who were employed about that book which we receive
as the word of God. If Balaam and Caiaphas, and others who were destitute of
holiness, had any thing of the spirit of prophecy, upon occasion, yet such
persons were not employed to write any part of the scriptures for the use of
the church of God. All the penmen of the scriptures were holy men of God.
(2.) These holy men were moved by the Holy Ghost in what they
delivered as the mind and will of God. The Holy Ghost is the supreme agent,
the holy men are but instruments. [1.] The Holy Ghost inspired and dictated
to them what they were to deliver of the mind of God. [2.] He powerfully
excited and effectually engaged them to speak (and write) what he had put
into their mouths. [3.] He so wisely and carefully assisted and directed
them in the delivery of what they had received from him that they were
effectually secured from any the least mistake in expressing what they
revealed; so that the very words of scripture are to be accounted the words
of the Holy Ghost, and all the plainness and simplicity, all the power and
virtue, all the elegance and propriety, of the very words and expressions
are to be regarded by us as proceeding from God. Mix faith therefore with
what you find in the scriptures; esteem and reverence your Bible as a book
written by holy men, inspired, influenced, and assisted by the Holy Ghost.
