2 Peter 1:3
2 Peter 1:11
2 Peter 1:1-11
2 Peter 1:12
2 Peter 2:11
2 Peter 2:18-22
2 Peter 3:3-13
2 Peter 3:4ff
2 Peter 3:6
2 Peter 3:6
2 Peter 3:10
2 Peter 3:10-12
2 Peter 3:14
2 Peter 3:18
Topic : 2 Peter
2 Peter 1:1
Resource
- A. T. Robertson, Minister, p. 63
2 Peter 1:3
The Key is in Our Hand
The great Scottish Bible expositor Alexander MacLaren once wrote: ‘We may have as much of God as we will. Christ puts the key of the treasure-chamber into our hand, and bids us take all that we want. If a man is admitted into the bullion vault of a bank and told to help himself, and comes out with one cent, whose fault is it that he is poor?”
2 Peter 1:11
Abundant Entrance
“A Christian on his deathbed spoke these words: ‘I shall be satisfied if I can but creep into heaven on my hands and knees.’
We can easily understand the spirit which prompted those words; he felt his service was as nothing compared with his need for God’s mercy. At the same time there is another sense in which the words are not rightly applicable to the Christian, or Peter speaks of our having an abundant entrance given us in the everlasting kingdom (2 Peter 1:11).
“In keeping with this, Paul constantly emphasized the Christian life with words such as wealth, riches, abundance, and he prayed that Christians might be ‘filled with all the fullness of God’ (Ephesians 3:19). “Paul was not satisfied with a bare entrance into heaven. His desire was that both he and his converts would have the fullest possible Christian life here below, and then enter fully into the joy of the Lord above. This is the true Christian life—the life of fullness, power, depth and reality.”
2 Peter 1:1-11
Apply Diligence
Dr. Baylis, speaking on 2 Peter 1:1-11, was stressing the fact of our responsibility to apply diligence to incorporating godly qualities into our lives. He quoted C.H. Spurgeon, “God sends every bird his food, but He doesn’t throw it into the nest.” God has provided everything for living a godly, Christian life, but I must do something, work, to make it mine.
2 Peter 1:12
Importance of Reminders
It was important for Peter to bring known truths to remembrance. Believers are apt to forget them, and then they do not exert the influence that they ought. Amid the cares, the business, the amusements, and the temptations of the world, the ministers of the gospel render us an essential service, even if they do nothing more than remind us of truths which are well understood, and which we have known before.
A pastor need not always aim at originality; he renders an essential service to mankind when he reminds them of what they know but are prone to forget. He endeavors to impress plain and familiar truths on the heart and conscience, for these truths are most important for mankind. Though we may be very firm in our belief of the truth, yet it is appropriate that the grounds of our faith should be stated to us frequently, that they may be always in our remembrance.
2 Peter 2:11
Travel Light
As Christians, we need to think of ourselves as travelers who are just passing through this sinful world. We are not permanent residents, but pilgrims on a journey to a better land. Therefore, we need to “travel light,” not burdening ourselves with an undue attachment to the material things of life. the more we care for the luxuries and possessions of earth, the more difficult will be our journey to heaven.
The story is told about some Christians who were traveling in the Middle East. They heard about a wise, devout, beloved, old believer, so they went out of their way to visit him. When they finally found him, they discovered that he was living in a simple hut. All he had inside was a rough cot, a chair, a table, and a battered stove for heating and cooking. The visitors were shocked to see how few possessions the man had, and one of the blurted out, “Well, where is your furniture?” The aged saint replied by gently asking, “Where is yours?” The visitor, sputtering a little, responded, “Why, at home, of course. I don’t carry it with me, I’m traveling.” “So am I,” the godly Christian replied. “So am I.”
This man was practicing a basic principle of the Bible: Christians must center their affections on Christ, not on the temporal things of this earth. Material riches lose their value when compared to the riches of glory. To keep this world’s goods from becoming more important to us than obeying Christ, we need to ask ourselves, “Where is our furniture?”
2 Peter 2:18-22
Resource
- Bibliotheca Sacra 140:557:40
2 Peter 3:3-13
Resource
- Bibliotheca Sacra 137:548:354
2 Peter 3:4ff
False assumptions
(1) Nothing has changed
(2) Nothing does change
(3) Nothing will change.
But people only believe this by carefully avoiding the facts: At one point in the past things did drastically change: The Flood!
Fun-Loving Audience
The Danish philosopher, Kierkegaard, tells a parable of a theater where a variety show is proceeding. Each show is more fantastic than the last, and is applauded by the audience. Suddenly the manager comes forward. He apologizes for the interruption, but the theater is on fire, and he begs his patrons to leave in an orderly fashion. The audience think this is the most amusing turn of the evening, and cheer thunderously. The manager again implores them to leave the burning building, and he is again applauded vigorously. At last he can do no more. The fire raced through the whole building and the fun-loving audience with it.
“And so,” concluded Kierkegaard, “will our age, I sometimes think, go down in fiery destruction to the applause of a crowded house of cheering spectators.”
2 Peter 3:6
Many-Colored Trials
The word “various (verse 6) in some translations rendered “all kinds of” and “manifold” literally means “many colored.” Peter uses the same word only once more—in 4:10—the “varied (manifold) grace of God.” There is no color of human troubles which the grace of God cannot match. Whatever life is doing to us, there is a grace of God which will enable us to meet and overcome it.
2 Peter 3:6
Overvlowed
The word “overflowed” translates the mighty Greek word katakluzo, from which we get our word cataclysm. In the Greek N.T. this word is only used to refer to Noah’s Flood (cf. Matt. 24:38,39; Luke 17:27; II Peter 2:5) for other words were used for other, lesser, local floods (cf. Luke 6:48, Rev 12:15).
2 Peter 3:10
Is This a Cause for Fear'
How are you planning your eternity with God? What are priorities in your life? What are the “treasures” that you are investing for the future'
Read this. . .On March 5, 1979, nine U. S. satellites simultaneously radioed back to earth that a gamma radiation explosion occurred in a nearby galaxy known as N-49. This explosion lasted for only one-tenth of a second, but released more radiation than our sun does in 3,000 years. Doyle Evans, an astrophysicist at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories in New Mexico, noted that had this explosion of energy occurred in our galaxy, it would have instantly vaporized the earth!
Now hear this. . . “The day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall disappear with a roar and everything in it shall melt with a fervent heat (II Peter 3:10).
Is this cause for fear? Not if we know this: “All things were created by Him and for Him and in Him all things hold together.” This verse from Colossians Chapter One is the key to why planet earth and our solar system in its galaxy continues. Science has no convincing explanation as to why our planet stays together and why our whole solar system continues intact. The apostle Paul, writing in Col. 1:17, tells us that our magnificent Creator and Sustainer keeps it so. The song writer captured this fact simply:
“He’s got the whole world in His hand.”
2 Peter 3:10-12
Resource
- Swindoll, The Quest For Character, Multnomah, pp. 53ff
Colonel Davenport
During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives. One day in 1789, the sky of Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing out the windows, feared the end was at hand. Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, “The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty.
Therefore, I wish that candles be brought.” Rather than fearing what is to come, we are to be faithful till Christ returns. Instead of fearing the dark, we’re to be lights as we watch and wait.
2 Peter 3:14
The Ermine
In the forests of northern Europe and Asia lives little animal called the ermine, known for his snow-white fur in winter. He instinctively protects his white coat against anything that would soil it.
Fur hunters take advantage of this unusual trait of the ermine. They don’t set a snare to catch him, but instead they find his home, which is usually a cleft in a rock or a hollow in an old tree. They smear the entrance and interior with grime. Then the hunters set their dogs loose to find and chase the ermine. The frightened animal flees toward home but doesn’t enter because of the filth. Rather than soil his white coat, he is trapped by the dogs and captured while preserving his purity. For the ermine, purity is more precious than life. - HGB
2 Peter 3:18
Rules for Good Health
A person who is “born again” starts a new life similar to that of a newborn infant. Seven rules that promote good health in babies can be adapted and applied to a Christian’s spiritual growth.
1. Daily Food. Take in the “pure milk of the word” through study and meditation.
2. Fresh Air. Pray often or you will faint. Prayer is the oxygen of the soul.
3. Regular Exercise. Put into practice what you learn in God’s Word.
4. Adequate Rest. Rely on God at all times in simple faith.
5. Clean Surroundings. Avoid evil company and whatever will weaken you spiritually.
6. Loving Care. Be part of a church where you will benefit from a pastor’s teaching and Christian fellowship.
7. Periodic Checkups. Regularly examine your spiritual health.
