1: Knowing & Growing (2 Peter 1:1-11)

2 Peter Series • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

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Those who KNOW GOD are empowered and expected to be GROWING to spiritual maturity. Discover a practical picture of what that looks like in real life.

Notes

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1st TIME GUESTS - CONNECTION CARD

STARTING POINT

GIVING

ALASKA FUNDRAISER (only at 1st service)

VISUAL NOTES

Letter from Jim & DJ Waller

The Church really stepped up for us in our time of sorrow. We would like to take an opportunity to thank the Church for all that you did. All the prayers thoughts and kind words helped us survive an extremely difficult time. There was so much great food brought to our house that it got us through several days.

Most of all we would like to thank you for all the pictures and stories you shared about Connor. We loved hearing so many stories that we had never heard about Connor; stories about Jamaica, Alaska, D-Now and all the other things he did.

We are not yet ready to answer the question “how are you doing?” But keep asking because one day we will be able to answer.

Again thank you (each one of you) for everything you have done and continue to do.

PRAY

Today we embark on a short series as we open the 2nd letter of Simon Peter that we’ve entitled “FAITHFUL” - as it is written to remind Followers of Jesus that WE are to be FAITHFUL to our God who is FAITHFUL to us. Here is one of the passages then encapsulates WHY Peter is writing.

2 Peter 3:1–4 (NIV)

Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”

This is the BIG PICTURE of the letter, to remind followers of Jesus that our God has been faithful with what He has promised in the past, and He will be faithful with what He has promised in the future.

The only question is…will WE remain faithful to the promise we made to Him?

Today’s teaching is entitled “Knowing & Growing” where Simon Peter reminds his ancient audience that we must be doing both - Knowing AND Growing.

BIG TRUTH: Those who KNOW GOD are empowered and expected to GROW to spiritual maturity.

Today we will discover a practical picture of what that looks like in real life.

2 Peter 1:1–2 (NIV)

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

First, take note of the link between Jesus Christ (meaning “Messiah”) and God. It is through KNOWING God the Father and Jesus - God the Son - that you and I can have grace and peace. We can be forgiven and free! We can KNOW the God who made us!

Second, look at how Peter refers to Jesus as “our Savior”, “our Lord” and...

”Our God”

And while some might say, “No, no. Peter is talking about God AND Jesus separately”…I’d say NOPE - not until the bottom part of this passage.

James White, a Greek scholar, notes that 2 Peter 1:1 and 2 Peter 1:11 have the same grammatical structure in the Greek text.*

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-PPCBIKSNw

There is one term that is different between the 2 verses:

verse 1 says to “our God and Savior Jesus Christ”

where verse 11 says “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

And, according to the “Granville Sharp Rule”, the Greek structure in both verses links the 2 terms to 1 person.

Lord and Savior is linked to Jesus Christ and...

God and Savior is linked to Jesus Christ.

So here is one of the closest disciples of Jesus, the one who said to Jesus “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16), telling his ancient audience…and us…that Jesus is not only Lord and Savior…Jesus is also our God!

According to Peter, to recognize that Jesus is “the Son of God” means that Jesus is GOD, the Son.

Jesus was more than a good man; Jesus was the God-man!

Next, as we go back to verse 2, we notice another incredible claim: that those receiving this letter have received a faith as precious as ours.

It’s easy to think of the apostles faith as being so much more significant than ours. After all, the walked and talked with Jesus. They saw His miracles and - with their own eyes, and with their hands they touched the Risen Jesus! Yet Simon Peter says that those he writes to…and people like us, those who have never heard the audible voice of Jesus nor been touched by His caring hands, that we have received a faith as precious as their faith. The Greek word translated as “precious” (NIV, NET, NLT) means “equal in value/honor.”* How could this be?

* Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005).

When the Risen Jesus appeared to ‘doubting Thomas’, he finally believed that Jesus had risen and believed who Jesus was, saying...

John 20:28–29 (NIV)

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Notice here WHO Thomas says Jesus is - He is not only Lord - his master/boss. Thomas calls Jesus his God! This matches the language of Peter - who would have heard Thomas say these words that Jesus affirmed.

Peter had also said this in his previous letter:

1 Peter 1:8–9 (NIV)

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

That’s some great stuff huh! And we’ve only covered 2 verses of Simon Peter’s 2nd letter!

On to verse 3.

2 Peter 1:3–4 (NIV)

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

David Helm writes that “These are the fountainhead gifts that all followers of Jesus have in their possession—the knowledge and promises of God.”*

* David R. Helm, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude: Sharing Christ’s Sufferings, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008), 193.

How do we live a godly life and escape the corruption in the world?

We seek to grow in our knowledge of God and trust His precious promises.

He has been FAITHFUL to do what He promised to do in the past, and He will be faithful to do what He has promised in the future.

Knowing God and and trusting God’s promises enables us to live Godly lives - or as Simon Peter writes - His divine power has given us the ability to participate in the divine nature.

What’s that look like, you ask? You ask the most insightful questions!

2 Peter 1:5–7 (NIV)

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

Add to your faith…goodness. It’s one thing to BELIEVE and another to BEHAVE. We must grow so that our behavior matches what we say we believe. Our faith in God should lead us to lives full of goodness instead of sin. The NET translates this term as “excellence” and the NAS and NLT both translate it as “moral excellence”. Is THAT what our Christian lives are looking like? Goodness, Moral Excellence?

90 Day Fiancé and Sexual Purity

A couple of years ago I was watching a show called “90 Day Fiancé” where people from overseas travel to United States with a “K-1 Visa” and must get married within 90 days to stay and get a green card. Sadly, it seems that every couple, even those who claim to be Christians, were sleeping together; that is EXCEPT for the Mormons. You see, they are EXPECTED to walk in moral purity and wait for marriage. Thankfully, 2 Christians on the show made the commitment to walk in moral purity, or goodness.

Knowledge: Some Christians have no drive to grow in knowledge of God, knowledge of the Scriptures, and knowledge of WHY they believe WHAT they believe. You must READ and LEARN from the Scriptures and from OTHERS. Ask your questions. Dig deeper. Become a student who grows in knowledge. Don’t stay in spiritual infancy. Don’t give God your leftovers! Pursue knowledge of who God is and what God says!

Self-Control & Perseverance:

Self Control is an evidence of maturing faith, when we trust God, knowing what He says, and keep ourselves from doing things we shouldn’t.

John MacArthur notes that this term - “self-control” - was used of athletes who disciplined themselves to “abstain from rich foods, wine, and sexual activity in order to focus all their strength and attention on their training regimen.” * John F. MacArthur Jr., 2 Peter and Jude, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2005), 41.

When we practice self-control consistently, this will help us grow in...

Perseverance is the willingness to keep pressing on and trusting God even when the immediate results don’t match your desire.. For example: When we are mistreated by others and we ask God for help, but the pressure is still on.

When self-control and perseverance walk hand in hand when we are tempted to sin or strike back when treated poorly, we step back and do what’s right…over and over again. The more you respond with self-control, the more endurance is developed. Rather than failing over and over again, we learn from our poor decisions and get back up to conquer the mountain that once conquered us.

Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide were the first humans to successfully ascend Mount Everest. Hillary, having failed to reach the summit on a previous attempt, addressed the mountain in the presence of a crowd. He reportedly said, “Mount Everest, you beat me the first time, but I’ll beat you the next time because you’ve grown all you are going to grow … but I’m still growing!” A year later, Hillary proved himself larger than the mountain.

Rather than wallowing in your past when you didn’t practice self-control. Get up! Keep GROWING! Develop self-control and endurance in the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in you!

All these characteristics mixed together - goodness, knowledge, self-control, and perseverance causes us to act and react like God does. These characteristics were never more fully modeled by any human than that of Jesus. And when we follow His example, our life demonstrates the Presence of God in our lives…also know as...

Godliness: Michael Green defines godliness as “a very practical awareness of God in every aspect of life”.

Of course this is exactly how Jesus lived, a human being practicing the Presence of God every minute of His life on earth. How might YOU living that impact your thoughts, attitudes, & actions this week? Paul wrote Timothy, “Train yourself in godliness” (1 Tim 4:7).

QUESTION: What are YOU doing to train yourself to be aware of God in every aspect of your life?

Finally, the believer is to model the Master by showing...

Mutual Affection [philadelphia - brotherly affection] & Love [philadelphia - unselfish love]:

Jesus treated those who obeyed God as family with brotherly affection, saying “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35). Jesus treated His disciples with warmth and taught them to have the other person’s best interest in mind.

Further, Jesus modeled the ultimate picture of unselfish, sacrificial love, as the ultimate servant gave His life as a ransom for others (Mark 10:42–45). HE is the example of what He expects of us.

BIG TRUTH: Those who KNOW GOD are empowered and expected to GROW to spiritual maturity.

Further, we are to grow to spiritual maturity because...

2 Peter 1:8–9 (NIV)

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Those who possess these qualities will be effective and productive both in knowing Jesus personally and making Him known to others. People who live in this way have an assurance of forgiveness. They have been forgiven and changed…and it’s OBVIOUS.

But…those who do not possess these qualities are living as if they’ve never SEEN the truth. They are living as if they are forgetting what has been accomplished by Jesus to cleanse them from their past sins. It’s no wonder that so many who claim to be Christians have no real assurance of forgiveness because they don’t demonstrate EVIDENCE that they are forgiven.

You see, If we ARE forgiven, we should be LIVIN’ FORGIVEN!

If you aren’t…you better check yourself.

In fact…every person here…including me…should take a look deep into our souls and see if we really ARE

2 Peter 1:10–11 (NIV)

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

It’s always a good idea to confirm that your hotel rooms are actually booked for you. I wonder how many people though the room was booked only to find out - when you got there - that there was no room at the inn…for YOU! Instead, before you leave your home, take the time and effort to confirm your reservation.

So too, Simon Peter pleads with those reading this letter to make every effort to confirm your calling and election.

What’s THAT mean? It means that you’re checking to make sure you have a room in the King’s eternal home before you leave your earthly home. It’s taking a real look at your life to see if there is EVIDENCE of your REPENTANCE - if it’s more than a false hope.

Paul echoes this when he writes these words in 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV) “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”

Have you done THAT? Have you ever really examined and tested yourself to see if you really ARE a follower of Jesus?

Finally, we finish with these words:

2 Peter 1:10–11 (NIV)

...For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

There are 2 things we can be sure Peter is NOT saying:

1) No one makes it into the King of Jesus by their own good works. We make it into the Kingdom by turning from our sin and turning to the ONE who did the good works, a) living without sin b) giving His life to pay for our sin. That Christians do these things is evidence that Jesus lives in and through them.

2) When Peter writes “if you do these things, you will never stumble” - this certainly doesn’t mean that you’ll never sin or struggle again. After all, Peter is the poster-boy for that one (denying Jesus 3 times and hanging out with only Jewish Christians while stiff-arming Gentile Christians in Galatians 2). James uses the same Greek term “stumble” when he writes these words:

James 3:2 (NET)

For we all stumble in many ways. If someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual, able to control the entire body as well.

Does that “perfect individual” apply to ANYONE in this room? NOPE!

Simon Peter is not claiming that Christians live in sinless perfection, as he wasn’t able to do it, but that those who live to please Jesus and follow His example will never stumble into doubt, despair, nor stumble and fall short of receiving a rich welcome when they enter into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

But until that day, Those who KNOW GOD are empowered and expected to GROW to spiritual maturity.

Is THAT happening in your life?

Do you love Jesus with your life?

Are you livin’ forgiven?

Are you trusting God’s future promises because He’s been faithful in the past promises?

Are you adding to your to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly affection; and to unselfish love?

This past week I had the privilege to spend some time chatting with a lady in our church who, when asked if she was confident that she would be with the Lord when she died…wasn’t. She was frustrated that she still fails to obey Jesus 100% of the time. And because of that she was leaning on her faith in…herself, INSTEAD of trusting the promises of God. I took her to Romans 10:9 where the Scripture says, “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” She saw God’s promise and realized she needed to simply trust that God’s promise is true. You should have seen the JOY and HOPE on her face after that. And now, I pray she realizes…that YOU realize, that God doesn’t expect you to do something He has empowered you - by the Presence of His Holy Spirit and the truth of His Scriptures, to do.

Those who KNOW GOD are empowered and expected to GROW to spiritual maturity.

If you want to talk more about having a real relationship with our God and Savior Jesus Christ, please call our...

Staff

Deacons

PRAY

BAND comes up

___________

discussionquestions Take some time to discuss these questions with your family, friends, or group.

What challenged/encouraged you most from today’s teaching? Explain why.

Read 2 Peter 1:1-2. How did learning that the Greek structure in both verses links the 2 terms (God and Savior) to 1 person (Jesus) help you to appreciate the reality of who Jesus is? How does restructuring the Jewish phrase “Son of God” to “God the Son” help an American audience better understand the Trinity (tri-unity) of God (ONE GOD in 3 persons - Father, Son, Spirit)?

If you were asked to defend the Trinity from the Bible, where would you take others to read? (One passage we saw on Sunday is Jn 20:26-29.)

Read 2 Peter 1:3-4. What are some of the past promises God fulfilled in the Scriptures? What are some of the future promises that are yet to be fulfilled? [Leaders Note: You might write out a list of fulfilled promises on one side of a piece of paper (or whiteboard). Then write out the yet-do-be fulfilled promises.]

How does remembering God’s faithfulness in the past help you to trust Him with the future?

Read 2 Peter 1:5-7 and discuss each of these characteristics. What do they mean and how they are attained? Which of these is most lacking in your life and what can you do to grow in this area? [Leader’s Note: You might need to kick this off and humbly share where you need to grow. Hopefully, this will lead to conversations where brothers & sisters can help each other in these areas.]

Read 2 Peter 1:8-9 and name some reasons why the person who possesses these qualities (2 Peter 1:5-7) will likely sense the assurance of their salvation, while the person who does not possess the qualities will likely struggle to trust that they have been forgiven.

Read 2 Peter 1:10-11 and 2 Cor 13:5. Why is it good to examine your soul and see if you really belong to Jesus? What would you say to the person who consistently questions whether he/she belongs to Jesus?

Share prayer needs. Continue to pray for the Supreme Court decision that could overturn Roe v. Wade

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