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Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
June 26, 2022
Power from God for Living
2 Peter 1:1-11
Introduction
Have you ever considered the radical changes that have been made in the last two hundred years and especially in the last 60? For example, a century ago, even in the United States, most people were dependent on animal power to meet most of their needs. When my dad was a young man, most people in the area he lived still plowed behind a horse or other animal. Only a few could afford tractors. I can even remember as a child one of my grandparents neighbors still using their horse and wagon to go to town. A hundred years ago most people still got around by horse or on foot. If you wanted to travel long distances there were trains and steam ships, but you still had to walk or go by horse to get to the stations and ports, except in a few cities that were developing mass transit, or if you knew someone who had one of the new horseless carriages. When I was in my late twenties I conducted the funeral for our family friend, Mr. Ball, who died at 105. He had courted his wife in a horse and buggy and sold steam tractors in Czarist Russia.
Think through the developments that have occurred since the industrial revolution. Someone figured out how to harness the power in a river through a water wheel. Grain no longer had to be ground by hand but could now be taken down to the mill, and light manufacturing began. Then somewhere in time, someone noticed that steam under pressure had a lot of force to it. Perhaps it was when someone was trying to heat something in a pot and the lid became stuck, then suddenly “kaboom,” the thing blew up. An idea came alive, “I wonder if there is some way to tap into the power of that steam.” It was the invention of the steam engine that began the industrial revolution. The new power source changed the way men lived by radically increasing man’s productivity.
Later on, someone thought of a different way to use one of the fuels that was being used to produce steam. This led to the development of the internal combustion engine – diesel and gasoline engines like those that are in locomotives, trucks, cars and light aircraft. This new energy source radically changed the way men live, work and play. No more trying to prepare a field for planting by hand, no more marathon runs in order to deliver a message, no more saddle sores. You can now cruise along at high speeds on an interstate while listening to your favorite music and the temperature around you carefully controlled to be comfortable. In the mid 1800’s a trip to reach the west coast could take many months by ship or wagon. The completion of the transcontinental railroad reduced that to a little over a week. Now, we no longer think much of traveling in a jet airliner clear across the nation in five or six hours. Rockets have been taking people into space since the 1960’s
Electricity is another power source that has radically changed the way man lives, not only supplying power to all sorts of engines and machines, but also for providing light, and speeding communication – audio and visual – around the globe in seconds. Harnessing electricity in electronic and computer components has resulted in such a radical change in the way we live that there is now great concern that our nation could survive if our electricity grid was destroyed in an enemy attack. We are still learning the possibilities of what can be done by tapping into the source of power contained in the very atoms themselves through nuclear reactions and radioactive decay. I know most people tend to think of just atom bombs and nuclear power plants when they think of this, but there are all sorts of applications of nuclear energy in medicine and food safety.
What may be the most interesting thing to note about all these different sources of power – animals, water, steam, gas and oil, electricity and nuclear – is that they all have been around since Creation. Man was either just not aware of them, or he did not know how to tap into these sources of power and make them useful. A source of power can radically change the way we live, but we have to be aware of its presence and then know how access and use it.
The same thing is true when it comes to living for God – our spiritual lives. You can try to go it on your own and live according to your own resources, which would be like man living in the wilderness without even a horse or an ox to help him plow the field and carry heavy loads. Or you can use the source of power that God has already provided to help you live your life the way God intended. But to use it you have to know about it and then you have to know how to access and then use it.
A Changed Life
There was a man who tried very hard to please the Lord. Few men who have ever lived were as zealous (fervent, intense, enthusiastic) in their desire to live for God as this man. He would do anything he was asked to do. In fact, he would volunteer to do things that no one else was willing to do even to the point of risking his life in the process. Yet, it seems that just when everything seemed to be going great, he would do something stupid and blow the whole thing. He would be just about at a peak of really living for God, and then, “crash,” he would be right back down into the depths of sin.
Maybe you can relate to that. There was the time this fellow was in a small group discussing theology and the teacher asked a really hard question. It was one of those questions that seminary students sometimes get and they try to get out of it by quoting Deuteronomy 29:29, “the secret things belong to the Lord . . .” The other guys started fumbling around trying to give some kind of answer, but this man came up with the exact answer. It could not have been a better answer. He was sitting on the top of the world. And then, maybe because he got to thinking he was something special, he got into trouble. The leader of the group started to tell the guys about another subject, and this fellow tried to correct the teacher – with the wrong answer. He went from the top spiritually, right to the bottom in less than five minutes.
Then there was the time that this fellow was with a small group of other Christians and were having a great time. They had just had a special meal, listened to a wonderful sermon, spent time in prayer together and were now at a quiet place of retreat with their pastor. A larger group of men came up to them and started giving them a hard time about being Christians. Well this man was ready to take on everyone and defend the name of Christ. It was one of those spiritual peaks when your doing great things for God. Yet, only a few hours later this same man was in another small group and was given a perfect opportunity to witness for Christ, but he became so fearful that not only did he blow the opportunity to witness, he even cursed and denied that he was a follower of Christ. At that point he was a spiritual wimp. From spiritual giant to spiritual mouse in mere hours.
Maybe there are times that you have felt like that. Just when you think that your actually getting it together in living for the Lord, then “bam.” You hit a wall and it seems you are farther back than when you started. Maybe you start to wonder if it is even worth it. That was the way it was for this man. He had been involved in intense training for ministry for nearly three years and had seen the Lord work in marvelous ways during that time. Yet at other times so many things seemed to keep him from doing what he thought he should be doing, that finally he was ready to give up and go back to his old job. In fact, he did try to do that for a short time. This guy had been to the top and to the bottom several times.
You may wonder what eventually happened to him? Well, the story is actually pretty exciting. Everything in his life changed in one day. One day he and his Christian buddies had gone fishing and wondering what would happen next and what he was supposed to do with his life. One day later this man had an absolute confidence in what God wanted him to do, and he became so bold that he faced down the same people that previously caused him so much fear. He went on to preach in all sorts of evangelistic meetings. Thousands of people were saved under his ministry. He was a pastor for a while, and then he traveled all over the place as a missionary. He saw multitudes of people get saved. He started new churches. He encouraged Christians and trained new leaders. This guy was sold out for God. Eventually he got into a country in which the political situation was very dangerous. He was arrested for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and executed, but he was without fear as he became a martyr.
How could this guy change so much so quickly? Now I do have to give full disclosure that he did still have some struggles later on, but the change that took place in life of this man was radical and he never went back to what he had been before. How could he go from such a struggling Christian to such a victorious one in such a short time? How was he able to go from a guy hardly willing to even admit that he was a Christian to one who bravely died for the cause of Christ? We can answer that question because someone wrote a book that documents the change that took place in this man, and this man also wrote a couple of books in which he gives some indication of why there was such a change.
Who was this man? What are the books he wrote? It is Simon Peter and we will be studying the beginning of his second book today. The two days that radically changed his life were 1) Jesus’ restoration of him to ministry recorded in John 21, and 2) The Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came and fulfilled Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you . . .” The radical change in Peter’s life was due to trusting what Jesus said to and about him and finally being plugged into the power source.
The Text
Turn to 2 Peter 1:1-4 and let me point out from them what God has given to believers that enables them to live radically changed lives for the glory of God. In these five verses the Apostle tells those to whom he is writing something that he wishes for them, something that has already been done for them, and something that he wants them to become. He will then continue in verses 5-9 to explain your part in accessing and applying the power needed to make these changes.
Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of [the] divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
Here is a more open translation that will bring out some of the things indicated by the Greek words & grammar that are harder to translate into English. Peter is saying something like this.
1. Simon Peter, a bondslave of Jesus Christ who has been sent by Him with His authority. I am writing to you who have received the same precious faith that we have, a faith that was received by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, who is our God and Savior.
2. My desire concerning you is that grace and peace will be increased in you through your intimate personal knowledge of God and intimate personal knowledge of Jesus who is our Lord/master.
3. I desire this because God’s power has already given us everything we need concerning our new life in Christ and the practical application of that in everyday life through the intimate personal knowledge of God who has called us to this new life by His own glory and excellence.
4. And by His own glory and excellence God has also granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by these precious and magnificent promises we might partake or share in the moral qualities of God, since we have escaped the corruption that is in the world because of man’s sinful desires.
Peter’s Greeting – 2 Peter 1:1
The change in Peter begins with his name. Notice that he starts his letter with both of his names, “Simon” and “Peter.” Simon is the name given to him by his parents and represents all that he was from birth. Peter, meaning “stone,” is the name given to him by Jesus in Matthew 16:18 signifying what Peter would become. Peter uses both of these names. The boy given life and raised by his parents became a radically different man when new life was given to him by Jesus and he became a disciple of Christ.
Peter also calls himself here both a bondslave and an apostle of Jesus Christ. Bond-slave here is the Greek word, dou:loV / doulos, which refers to someone who was under the authority of a master that owned them and not to someone hired to aid an employer. Peter recognized that he was a slave of his master, Jesus, who by His own precious blood had redeemed him from sin (1 Peter 1:18,19). Peter understood he was purchased by God and no longer his own (1 Corinthians 6:20; 2 Peter 2:1), and he had learned to submit his will to the Lord and trust Him.
Peter also identifies himself as an apostle (ajpovstoloV / apostolos) of Jesus Christ meaning that he knew he was sent by the Lord as His representative and with His authority. God has given him something to say to us, and we should pay attention.
Peter is writing to those who have received the same kind, or literally, the “same precious faith,” as Peter and those with him had received. Peter is writing to Christians, and since Peter states in chapter 3 that this is the second letter he was writing to them, these are the same people he wrote to in 1 Peter which are those “scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.” This is the area of northern & western modern day Turkey. Paul had traveled through some of these regions and written to churches in parts of it.
Peter makes two more significant statements in his greeting. First, they were those “who have received a faith.” Faith is something provided to you by Christ which you receive and not something you generate on your own. This matches Paul’s statement in Ephesians 2:8 & 9 that “by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God.” That faith is also received as a gift whose origin is in God, not man. Those who believe in the name of the son of God are “born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12).
Second, Peter states that this faith “came by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” The English text here may not seem to be as clear, but the Greek text is absolute. This is a proclamation of the deity of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is both our God and Savior. Jehovah Witnesses and other cults want to diminish or even eliminate the deity of Jesus, but in doing so they have a different Jesus than that of the Bible. Their Jesus is not God and therefore neither is he Savior.
Peter’s Salutation – 2 Peter 1:2
Peter’s wish for them is in verse 2. The meaning of the Greek grammar here is, “May grace and peace be multiplied / increased in you.” Peter wanted these two essential elements of the Christian life to be growing in them. How can grace and peace grow in the believer? They both grow in believers as they get to better know God and His son, Jesus Christ. The word for “the knowledge of God” mentioned here (ejpivgnwsiV / epiginosis) is not mental knowledge about God, it is a close, intimate, experiential knowledge of Him. Grace and peace will grow in you as you get to know God and Jesus Christ in a close, personal, intimate relationship with them.
Please also note carefully here that Peter declares that Jesus is our Lord. He is our master and our allegiance belongs to Him. Peter has already stated that Jesus is God, so calling Him “Lord” here is not a restatement of deity. It is rather a designation of the relationship between Jesus and those who have faith in Him. Logic itself demands that God is also Lord in the sense of master. Those who advocate the idea that a person can believe and be saved and then sometime later finally also have Jesus as Lord are in grave danger of advocating a different Jesus than the one Peter is talking about here. The Jesus Peter speaks of is both the God and the Lord of those that have the same faith as him. Those who have faith in a Jesus that is less than God and / or less than Lord have a different Jesus and therefore a different faith than that of Peter.
Peter’s wish for grace and peace to be increased in them would not be in vain because, as he says in verse 3 and the first part of verse 4, something has already been given to them. What is it that has been given to those who have this faith? It is something that can change your life radically. It is something that will do in your life the same thing it did in the life of Peter. We have been given the power to live godly lives! Do you understand that? Peter says the power to live a godly life has been given to us.
Divine Power for Godliness – 2 Peter 1:3
“. . . seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
The nature of this power is that it is divine power. This is the power of God, and since God is its source, there can be no shortage of it. A battery will discharge until it no longer has sufficient power to produce light in a light bulb. Your car engine can break down at an inconvenient time and leave you stuck and needing a tow. The equipment of an electric company can break down leaving a whole city dark, or the demand for electric power can exceed the capacity to produce it resulting in regional failures. There can be a lack of supply with any earthly power source, but there is never a shortage of God’s power and He never breaks down! And note that the Greek grammar here is in the perfect tense which indicates something received in the past continues in the present and will be there in the future. This divine power has already been given to us and it continues to be with us into the future.
What is this divine power for? It is for “everything pertaining to life and godliness.” The life being spoken of here is the new life that comes because of faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself said, “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” (John 10:10). He also said, “Whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25). True life begins when you give your life to Jesus Christ.
What kind of life is it? It is a life lived in godliness. Godliness is simply the practical outworking of righteousness in a person who has given their life to Christ. Their lifestyle changes into one that is pleasing to God. It is changed from worldliness and sin to a lifestyle that is lived in accordance to God’s commandments. It is a life of righteousness because its values are set by God’s standards. It is a life of holiness because it is lived set apart to God.
How do those with this faith tap into this divine power so that they can live in godliness? How can you get that power into your life and change the way you are living? Peter states that this power is made available to us “through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” Knowledge here is the same word used earlier. It is a close, intimate, experiential knowledge. In other words, the more you know God in this way, the more this power is available to you resulting in a changed life. Grace and peace will grow in you and you will live a life of godliness.
Precious and Magnificent Promises – 2 Peter 1:4
Peter goes on in the next verse to remind us of something else concerning God. He writes, “For by these (referring back to God’s own glory and excellence) He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises.” The Greek grammar here is another perfect tense meaning that just like power mentioned earlier, these promises have already been given to us and they continue to be with us. But what “great and precious promises?” What has God promised that will result in such a change in your life. Let me mention a few briefly.
*The promises of the beatitudes in Matthew 5: The kingdom of heaven, Comfort, Satisfaction, Mercy, Seeing God, and Being a son of God.
*Promises of salvation in John 3:16-17, 36 & Romans 10:9-10. 16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. . . ” 36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him.” Romans 10:9-10, 9 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
*Security of the believer – John 10:27-29 “27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
*Jesus will never leave us – Matthew 28:20 “. . . and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
*The Holy Spirit will indwell, sanctify, empower and seal you – (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:11; 2 Tim. 1:7; Eph. 1:13) “. . . the Spirit of God dwells in you.” “. . . but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” “For God has not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” “. . . having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.”
*Jesus is preparing a place for us and will come back – John 14:1-3 1 “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am there you may be also.”
* We shall be changed from mortal and corruptible to immortal and incorruptible – 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. 51 “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.”
*Confidence in God in all circumstances – Romans 8:28 “For we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purposes”
*God will supply our physical needs as we seek first His kingdom & righteousness – Matthew 6:25-34
*We can have Peace in all circumstances – Philippians 4:6-7 6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
*God provides a way to overcome temptation – 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.”
*Our prayers are heard and answered – 1 John 5:14-15 14 “And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”
*Christ will come back for us & we will be with Him forever – 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. 16 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
The promises of God are precious and magnificent, and these mentioned only start to scratch the surface of what God has promised to those who have placed their faith in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why are all these precious and magnificent promises given? Peter tells us at the end of verse 4, “in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” Peter wants us to become partakers in the divine nature. The word partaker (koinwnovV / koinonos) means to be a partner or sharer. Don’t let that confuse you. It is the same idea Paul talks about in Romans 8:29 that we are being conformed to the image of Christ. We are to become like Christ in our being and share in His moral attributes. We are to become holy, righteous, just, merciful, gracious, faithful, true, loving, patient, kind, forgiving, etc.
If these things are true about us, then it shows the reality that we have escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust – strong desires. The apostle John put it this way, “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17). This world is corrupt and it is perishing.
Your Part – 2 Peter 1:5-8
God has provided for us all we need to escape the futility of this world and come back to the purpose of our existence and truly live for Him. However, you do have to put into practice what He has given to you. Knowing about the power available will not help you if you do not make use of it. Peter explains your part in applying God precious and magnificent promises in your life in verse 5-8.
5 “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Each of these elements build on the previous ones progressing to spiritual maturity of Christian love. It would take another sermon to go over all of these steps to maturity, and perhaps I will consider doing that, but my point here about these verses this morning is simple. God will be faithful to do His part in completing the good work He has started in you of conforming you to the image of His son (Philippians 1:6; Romans 8:29). You can trust Him to do this for He has already provided the power needed for you to become a godly individual, but you have to tap into the power and apply it to your life. Each of these elements takes a step of faith in trusting God, and He can be fully trusted as we have seen throughout this sermon series because of who He is, His character and nature. The God of the Bible is the self-existent and self-sufficient Creator of all that exists. He is eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, immutable, sovereign, holy, just, good, faithful, merciful, gracious and loving. You can trust Him in any and every circumstance of life.
Conclusions
Because God can be trusted, then experiencing His grace and peace and being able to live in godliness is assured because they are based on His precious and magnificent promises. The Lord has already done all that is needed for us to change and become like Christ. God is and will be faithful to do His part, but the question of whether you are taking advantage of what He has made available is open. Are you accessing His power source or are you still trying to do it your own way by your own power and wisdom? If you lack the power to live for God you need to be properly connected to Him. Spend time with God. Get into His word and learn of Him. Spend time in prayer and communicate with Him. Get active in serving Him and see Him at work. Commit you life to being obedient to Him and God will change you the same way He changed Peter. He delights in taking ordinary weak and stumbling people and changing them into godly people who are bold in their faith. That all begins by knowing Him, trusting Him, and walking with Him by faith.
Sermon Notes
– 6/26/2022 A.M.
Power from God for Living – 2 Peter 1:1-9
Introduction
The way people live has changed radically in the last 200 years: ________________________________
The internal combustion __________has changed the way people work, play and get from place to place.
Dependence on electricity and electronics is such that ______________ becomes a concern without them
All power sources have existed since ________- but man was unaware of them & how they could be used
There is a power source in _________ that can radically change your lives if you will use it.
A Changed Life
Many people want to live for God, but continually stumble and _______ despite their desire and zeal
The man radically changed in one day from failure to success once he had the source of ____________
That man was _________________ who finally learned to live by the power of the Holy Spirit
The Text – 2 Peter 1:1-4
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Peter’s Greeting – 2 Peter 1:1
_____________ – named by his parents signifying all he was from birth.
_____________- named by Jesus signifying all he became after the new birth
dou:loV
/ doulos – a ________ : someone under the authority of a master who owns them
ajpovstoloV / apostolos – an apostle: sent by the Lord as His representative and with His ____________.
Writing to those of the “same precious ________” scattered throughout what is northern modern Turkey
This faith is received – a _________ (Ephesians 2:8,9) that comes by the will of _______alone (John 1:12)
The source of this faith is “our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Jesus is _______________________.
Peter’s Salutation – 2 Peter 1:2
Peter wished for them to grow in grace and peace in the ________________of God and Jesus our Lord
ejpivgnwsiV / epiginosis – a close, intimate, ______________________ knowledge
Jesus is Lord in the sense of ____________ . Those with a different Jesus have a different __________
Divine Power for Godliness – 2 Peter 1:3
We have _________ power available to us.
This power is given so that we have ________________ needed pertaining to life and godliness
Godliness is simply the practical outworking of _______________in those who have faith in Jesus Christ.
This power is made available through the true ______________ of God
Precious and Magnificent Promises – 2 Peter 1:4
These promises have already _________________ to us and they will remain in the future.
*The promises of the ____________ in Matthew 5
*Promises of ____________ in John 3:16-17,36 & Romans 10:9,10
*_____________ of the believer – John 10:27-29
*Jesus is always with us – Matthew 28:20
*The Holy Spirit will indwell, sanctify, empower & seal – 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:11; 2 Tim. 1:7; Eph 1:13
*Jesus is preparing a __________________ and will come back – John 14:1-3
*We shall be _____________ from corruptible to incorruptible – 1 Cor 15:51,52
*Confidence in God in _________ circumstances – Romans 8:28
*God will supply your physical needs – Matthew 6:25-34
*We can have ____________ in all circumstances – Philippians 4:6,7
*God provides a way to overcome ________________ – 1 Corinthians 10:13
*Our ____________ are heard and answered – 1 John 5:13,14
*Christ will __________________ for us & we will be with Him forever – 1 Thess 4:16,17
These promises are given so that we can _____________ the divine nature
We are to become more like ______(Romans 8:29), and less like the ______(Romans 12:1-2; 1 John 2:15-17)
Your Part
– 2 Peter 1:5-8
God will be faithful to do His part, but you must recognize and ________by active faith what He has given
God can be ____________because of who He is, His nature & His character
God has given us all that we ___________to radically change – are you plugged into the power source?
KIDS CORNER
Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – 1) Count how many times power is mentioned. 2) Talk with your parents about how the power of God can change your life to make you like Jesus
THINK ABOUT IT!
Questions to consider in discussing the sermon with others. What technology advances have been made during your lifetime that have changed the way you would have otherwise lived? Since your parents birth? Since your grandparents birth? What has been the effect on societies of different sources of power over the last 250 years? Have you ever been frustrated in wanting to live for God but finding you fail at doing so? Trace the life of Simon Peter. At what point in his life did he become successful at living for God? What changed to make that happen? What is it significant that Peter identifies himself as both Simon & Peter, and as both a slave and an apostle of Jesus Christ? To whom is Peter writing? How does Peter declare Jesus deity in verse 1? What does Peter desire for those to whom he is writing? What does it mean that Jesus is Lord? Can a person have the same faith as Peter if their Jesus is not Lord? What does this divine power enable the Christian to do? How does the Christian gain access to this divine power? What is the purpose of God’s precious and magnificent promises? List some of these promises. Which of these promises have affected your life the most? How do you think your life would change if you knew more of God’s promises and believed them? What do you need to do for your life become more like Jesus and less like the world? What has God done / what will He do to enable that to happen? What is required of you to make that happen? What is the relationship of faith to successfully living in righteousness? Are you living according to God’s divine power made available to you? If not, why not?
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