“…that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior…”
which were spoken before by the holy prophet
“Holy prophets” are Old Testament prophets whose writings the Holy Spirit inspired as the Word of God.
The Bible will do us little good if we do not come to it with a reverent mind. It is a “holy” (set apart) book delivered by “holy prophets.” The Bible will do us good if we hold it in reverence. Your attitude towards the Word will determine whether you apply it to your life.
and of the commandment of us
A “commandment” is an injunction, charge, or precept. These commands are precepts of the authors of the New Testament.
the apostles of the Lord and Savior
The “apostles of the Lord and Savior” are the authors of the New Testament. Peter links Old and New Testament writers of Scriptures showing the unity of both testaments. The unity of Scripture has a pattern — “the Lord and Savior.”
PRINCIPLE:
Saturate your mind with Scripture.
APPLICATION:
We never outgrow the tendency of sin until God promotes us to glory. As the hymn says, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.” However, when we put the Bible in our minds, it deters sin. We will not be sinless, but we will sin less.
Ps 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You!”
Unless we are one hundred percent sold on the Bible as the infallible, inerrant, unalterable Word from the living God, it will be of little use to us. We will not use it effectively in our lives. If we have not previously programmed our minds with the Word, nothing will come out. We cannot use what we do not have. Some people wonder why Christianity does not work. No wonder! They do not apply the Bible as God intended.
God gives us the mental furniture to think thoughts after Him. Innumerable benefits come to us when we think of God’s thoughts. The good is often the enemy of the best. We clutter our minds with things that are good but not with the best. We litter our minds with the mediocre. These things are neither vulgar nor coarse, but they are not the best. The very best is to know God by the Word of God. The greatest deterrent to falling into sin is the knowledge of principles of the Word and the application of them to experience. This is God’s mode for safeguarding His own from sliding into sin.
It is not enough to know God’s principles; we must apply those principles to our hearts.
De 6:6, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.”
De 11:18, “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.”
Je 15:16, “Your words were found, and I ate them,
And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.”
Je 20:9, “But His word was in my heart like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
I was weary of holding it back,
And I could not.”
Meditate on God’s Word.
Jos 1:8, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
Ps 1:2, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.”
Let the Word “abide” in you.
Jn 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
Co 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
1 Jn 2:14, “I have written to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,
And you have overcome the wicked one.”
