II Peter 1:1-4
Introduction
I. The book of II Peter and the Book of Jude goes hand in hand.
II. II Peter is probably written to the same people as I Peter.
A. I Peter is written to encourage the people to have victory in their present life.
B. II Peter is written to warn the people about evil in this present world, to be on watch for those that will lead them wrong.
C. Peter knows he won't live very much longer, so he warns the people to be aware of false teachers.
III. The same Peter who wrote II Peter chapter 1 also wrote chapter 2 and chapter 3. Notice the great difference in the two topics.
A. Peter is instructing concerning the grace of God in I Peter chapter 1.
1. He list out what they have, and shows them they have everything they need available to them.
B. II Peter 2:1 - talks about false teachers that will come.
1. II Peter 2:14-15, 20-22 - He explains to them step by step.
2. Then in chapter 2, he shows what they will have if they follow the wrong people.
3. He talks about their eternal destruction, and their ruin in this life.
4. Because of their rejection of the truth, and what will happen if they go the wrong way.
C. This is what Peter is doing.
1. On the one hand showing the blessing of God for following His plans.
2. On the other hand, showing the curse for not following His plans.
D. For example, our nation.
1. She was founded on the principles of God's word, and God blessed greatly.
2. But now our nation has turned from the principles of God's word and is not enjoying the blessings of God, but instead is receiving the judgment of God.
3. This same thing is true on an individual basis, just as sure as it is true on a national basis.
Comments
Verse 1, Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
I. Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ,
A. Peter still writes long sentences.
1. As Peter writes, he puts a lot of things in the verses that just get deeper and deeper as the verse continues.
2. It is amazing the ways the different men write. Paul is pretty much direct and to the point.
3. John approaches the subject from an entirely different viewpoint.
4. Peter is between Paul and John in the way he makes his points and his viewpoint.
5. Peter has an element in his language that gives out his love for the people and the burden of his heart.
6. This is especially important when you consider that he was an uneducated fisherman, but he explains things so clear that you know he knows what he is talking about.
B. Servant.
1. We would think that an apostle would be in a higher office than a servant, but Peter stated first of all that he was a servant before he was an apostle.
2. It is more important that we be a servant before we do anything else.
3. We are just an obedient servant.
4. This is the most important thing of all.
C. Apostle.
1. They were added first to the church.
2. They are special people.
3. There are no longer an apostles.
4. They had a special office, special gifts, and a special work.
5. Some churches believe they still have apostles, but they are wrong.
6. The qualifications for an apostles is in Acts 1:21;
a. They had to be baptized with the baptism of John.
b. They had to travel with Jesus all the days of His ministry.
c. They had to be a witness of the resurrection of Christ.
II. To them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
A. Obtained like precious faith with us.
1. Here is a man who was baptized by John, walked with Christ and witnessed the resurrection.
2. All those things Peter had, we can have also.
B. We have obtained - received.
1. Now have possession of in themselves.
C. Precious faith, not just faith.
1. Our faith is precious.
2. Some don't count that faith very important because of the way they live.
3. Some people attend church, but are not interested in worshipping God.
4. They are more interested in showing up.
5. I hope our faith is the most important of all to us. I hope we put Christ number one is our lives.
6. We ought to give our lives for our faith.
7. It cannot be any other way.
8. Don't put anything in front of God, for anything you put in front of God you are saying is more important than God.
D. How did Peter get the faith?
1. Not by what he did.
2. He gives God all the glory.
3. Our faith has come through the righteousness of God, not by works of righteousness we have done.
Verse 2, Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
I. Grace is having what we don't deserve. Peace is that contentment we have with God.
A. Peter is coming to the end of his life and his desire is that these people understand the preciousness of their faith in Christ.
B. Verse 14 - Peter will soon die.
1. His desire for this people is that they would not forget, but that they would draw close to the Lord.
2. They would not waste their lives, but they would serve God continually.
II. Multiplied.
A. He didn't say "added".
1. Verse 5 is talking about addition, verse 2 is talking about multiplication.
2. God multiplies grace and peace to our lives.
3. We add Christian distinctives to our lives.
B. There is a difference between addition and multiplication.
1. Adding is slow, multiplication is fast.
2. Addition is: 2+2=4 4+4=8 8+8=16.
3. Multiplication is: 2X2=4 4X4=16 16X16= 256
4. See the vast amount of increase God is able to give them?
III. How does it come to pass?
A. Through the knowledge of God.
1. You have available multiplication of grace of peace if: you'll learn about God and Jesus Christ.
2. How much do you know about God?
3. Have you ever studied about God?
4. You are going to spend eternity with him, so you need to know about Him.
B. Have you ever heard about the great and terrible God?
1. People might say that God is not terrible, but a short study of the word terrible will reveal that God is indeed a terrible God.
2. Look up scriptures that talk about the merciful God. Look up the scriptures and do it yourself.
C. You can listen to somebody talk about these things, but remember that the teacher always gets more out of the lesson than the students.
D. The measure of peace that you have with yourself, your family, and this world, depends on how much you know about God.
E. You can have a greater measure of peace the more you know about God, so take the time to learn about God.
Verse 3, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
I. According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.
A. He has all power on heaven and earth.
1. He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness.
2. There is nothing we lack.
3. It is all available for us.
4. This teaches us that when we stand before God at the judgment seat of Christ, we won't have an excuse for anything we do wrong.
B. We have all power available to us.
1. Things for this physical life.
a. Matthew 6:19-33 – God said he would supply all the necessities of this present life.
b. If we never believe God will supply the necessities of this present life, we will never believe he will supply the spiritual necessities of this present life, or the life to come.
2. Things for this spiritual life.
II. Through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.
A. How?
1. Through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.
2. We must learn about God in order to have these things.
B. We have been called to glory and virtue.
1. Virtue means purity, not power. We will be pure when we have the power of Christ.
2. We are to be meek Christians, not weak Christians.
Verse 4, Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
I. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.
A. Not promise, but promises.
B. There are many promises in the Bible.
1. Take the promises and put me to the test.
2. God declares that He'll make us to be like Him.
C. Two kinds of promises.
1. Unconditional promises.
a. Jesus said when he left that he would come again and take us to be with him.
b. He will do that and there is nothing that will stop it.
c. Jesus also said, he would destroy this world with fire.
d. Nothing will stop that from happening.
2. Conditional promises.
a. II Chron. 7:14 - IF - God will do a certain thing if man will do a certain thing.
b. If the people don't hear, God won't do anything.
II. That by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.
A. Faith - We ought to live by faith, walk by faith, and trust God by faith.
1. Faith is believing the promises of God when there is no evidence of it at all.
2. Some have a false faith and do things that are not said in the Bible they ought to do.
3. Some have foolishness, not faith.
4. If there isn't a place in the Bible that declares we ought to do a certain thing, it is not faith.
5. If we do something that the Bible says we ought to do, that is living by faith.
B. There can be a marvelous transformation in the life of the believer by believing in the promises God has given to us.
1. We can be a partaker of the divine nature.
2. I would love to be a "Christian".
a. That may sound like a strange statement, but it isn't.
b. I know I am saved, but I want to be a faithful follower of my Savior.
3. I want to live like he wants me to live even when I don't see any reason to believe it will come true.
4. That is faith.
C. These words that I speak are the words of a spiritual life you can life in this physical body.
1. A life of faith and hope, where you can overcome bad circumstances by believing the promises of God, when you don't see the end of the thing.
2. This is a practical application of the holy scriptures in your every day life, at work, at home, at play.
3. This is applying the promises to your everyday life.
4. That application on your daily life causes you to become a partaker of the very nature of Christ.
5. I want people to see Christ in me, not just to see me, but to see Christ in me.
D. This is not easy to follow Jesus.
1. You'll have to trust Jesus when things don't make much sense to you.
2. But if you do what Jesus said, you'll never fail.
3. It is impossible to fail, when you take the promises of God, rightly apply them to your life, and serve God.
4. You probably won't be rich, it won't be easy, and everybody won't like you, but you won't fail in the eyes of God.
E. Notice: you aren't trusting yourself, or the situation to get better, you're trusting God to take care of the situation.
1. I Cor 10:13 - God is faithful, you won't be tempted more than you are able to overcome.
2. God will make a way to escape that you will be able to bear it.
3. The temptation won't go away, but God will open a door so you can escape and not fall into temptation.
4. It don't seem like you are able to withstand the temptation, but you can because God is there to hold you up.
5. God just won't allow you to be tempted so much that you will fall from that temptation.
6. There is no excuse for our sinfulness.
7. There is always a way of escape. Always.
8. God has a way that you can get out of it without sinning against God or man.
9. The temptation will stay, it will not go away.
10. This scripture is just one promise, there are thousands of these in the scripture.
III. Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
A. There is a way to escape the corruption in the world.
B. We don't have to be involved in this filth.
1. There is a way out.
2. One way out is to not lust after the root of all evil. Money.
3. Every sin in the world in cause of a lust for money. That is what the Bible says.