Begin With Faith
Be Certain of God’s Promises, Part 2
071909 PM
Text--2 Peter 1:1-11
Introduction
This lesson continues a series focused on the promises of God and our part in receiving what has been promised.
Definition: A promise is a transaction between two or more persons whereby the first person undertakes in the future to render some service or gift to the others or devotes something valuable now and here to his use.
In every promise there is the one who makes the promise and the one who receives. God has made to all who believe in His Son great and precious promises but it remains to us to be in a position to receive what has been promised.
1 Know The Source Of The Promise.
A. God is the maker of these promises:
1. This is not a worldly contract with worldly wording.
2. God sent, God approved, God guaranteed!
B. And God is Faithful to His Promises
Listen to some verses that declare that God is faithful to His promises.
Numbers 23:19 (NASB) God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Joshua 21:45 (NASB) Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.
1 Kings 8:56 (NASB) Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant.
Hebrews 10:23 (NASB) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
God wants us to know we can trust in His promises.
2 Know What Has Been Promised
When reading the bible it is not difficult to locate promises which God has made and kept. According a Dr. Reginald Dunlap there are approximately 30,000 promises in the Bible, here are just a few:
1. He has promised to supply every need we have. The Bible says: "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus". That's Philippians 4:19. Now notice, God has obligated Himself to the extent of our needs. That would include food, clothing, shelter, companionship, love, and salvation thru Jesus Christ. It would not include the multiplicity of luxuries (wants) that we have come to think of as needs.
2. God has promised that His children will not be overtaken with temptation. Instead, He assures us that a way of escape will be provided. This promise is recorded in I Corinthians 10:13.
3. God has promised that all things work together for good to those who love and serve Him faithfully (Romans 8:28). It may be difficult for us to see and understand how this is accomplished at times, but God has promised it, and He will deliver.
4. God has made promises to those who believe in Jesus and are baptized:
Mark 16:16 “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”
5. God has promised us victory over death. He first resurrected Jesus by way of assuring our resurrection. Peter said: "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses" (Acts 2:32).
Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (I Corinthians 15:3,4).
Later on he adds:
1 Corinthians 15:20 - 23 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,
6. God has promised His people eternal life
John 10:26 - 28 “But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
These are just some of the promises found in the Word of God but hopefully these serve to illustrate His Great and Precious Promises.
3 Know Our Part in the Promises.
Peter declares that claiming these precious promises makes us “partakers of the divine nature” with Christ. (v4)
2 Peter 1:4 For by these (His divine power and true knowledge of Him v3) He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
A “partaker” is a participant, partner, or sharer. We claim these great and precious promises as our own when we become a Christian. When we are in Christ we can become like Him, children of God, heirs to His promises. (Romans 8:16-17)
But this new nature is not automatic. We must “escape” the corruption that is in the world by evil desires. A Godly promise comes to a godly life!
That’s why Peter goes on to describe the effort we must make to add to our faith godly characteristics.
2 Peter 1:5a Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith…
4 With all diligence, begin in Faith
Hebrews 10:36 teaches that obedience is a key to obtaining God’s promise: “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.”
We have to fulfill our responsibilities before we can receive the rewards of God and all begins in faith.
Romans 10:8 - 10 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 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; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Read 1 John 5:1-5
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Faith” is explained as the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Two words describe faith: “assurance” and “conviction.”
Faith starts with believing in God’s character, that he is who he says he is.
Faith culminates with believing in God’s promises; that he will do what he says he will do. When we believe that God will fulfill his promises even though we don’t yet see any evidence, we demonstrate true faith
John 20:29 Jesus said* to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
“The assurance of things hoped for” means the person has complete confidence that God will fulfill his promises. We often think of the word “hope” in terms of uncertain desire—“I hope it doesn’t rain on Saturday,” “I hope I do well on this test.” For believers, however, “hope” is a desire based on assurance, and the assurance is based on God’s character.
“The conviction of things not seen” means that the person believes in the reality of something that he or she cannot see, taste, hear, or touch. The “things not seen” include eternal life, future rewards, heaven, and so forth.
Faith knows to be as real what can not be perceived with the senses.
Faith knows that if God promised something, He will fulfill that promise.
Faith allows Christians to make God-honoring decisions based on unseen realities.
Conclusion:
In this series of lessons we are studying the qualities Peter identified that we need to ensure we can be certain of the promises of God, that we can meet our end of the promises.
This conviction about God’s unseen promises allows us to persevere in our faith regardless of persecution, opposition, and temptation and make certain the promises of God
2 Peter 1:10 - 11 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
Invitation:
Let me mention one final great and precious promise: “I will come again.”
John 14:1-3, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
Jesus is coming back to take us home…forever. That’s a promise!
