Resources: Lesson Manuscript, PowerPoint, and Devotional
Franklin Heights Church Connect Groups: https://franklinheights.org/connect/groups/
Review: Last week we focused on being humble. Pastors are to be humble and willingly serving, comforting, encouraging, and shepherding with godly motivations. Worries are unavoidable; it’s what we do with those worries that makes all the difference, and we can and must cats them on our caring Lord. We were warned to be vigilant in our resistance to the devil’s schemes.
Title: Be Equipped
Text: 2 Peter 1:3-8, 16-21
Memory Verse: 2 Peter 1:8, “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Theme: God fully equips believers for spiritual growth.
Introduction: Peter writes this second letter to the Asia Minor churches so that they would increase in, grow in God’s grace and be warned against harmful worldviews, harmful religious perspectives, and damaging cultural values that can harm Christians’ faith. Peter is confronting false teachers who taught that free grace meant a believer can sin and do whatever they want; This idea that “Well, I prayed the sinners prayer, so I can allow certain sins in my life and God understands, right; surely I’m ok and God won’t allow consequences if I do this, right?” Wrong. And this mindset is prevalent today in the church, and we need to confront it head on from God’s Word. God’s grace isn’t a license to sin-like a get-out-of consequences-free card; His grace is expressed in forgiveness when we genuinely repent, but it’s also at work in our lives to grow us in Christlikeness, to transform our desires. This lesson will help us move forward in our spiritual maturity.
Fisherman enjoy setting up their tackle, boats, and stringing their rods for a day on the lake. There is joy in the preparation, the equipping that takes place. Firemen prepare their gear for when they get the call. Our Connect Group leaders are trained and equipped to prepare diligently for teaching God’s Word each week; it’s a requirement of our Connect Group leaders.
Context:
In the first letter Peter focused on trusting God’s sovereignty and looking toward eternal rewards when enduring persecution. In this second letter, Peter encourages them to live with godly faith in the face of false teachers, as they look toward Christ’s return. Peter presents his apostleship, that he witnessed the transfiguration, and he wrote this near his life’s end. He writes with the heart of a pastor. He opens with encouragement that God was providing everything they needed for a growing faith. He warns them about twisting Scripture to suite wrong living. We need to stand firm to reject false teachers and their unbiblical messages. In our day and age, guard against getting your so-called “theology” from TikTok. Peter had deep concerns.
Main Points:
- Their Salvation (2 Peter 1:3-8)
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
- There’s a key truth here: God’s Divine Power. Lifeway says, “God never shortchanges His people when he calls us to fulfill a task. He gives us everything required to get the job done. What’s more, He provides all these elements through His divine power. Paul shared the same idea in Philippians 4:13, where he stated that God would empower believers to everything He called them to do. God’s strength is matchless, meaning Christians have all they need to live for Him” (p. 122, Leader Guide).
- In verse 3 we have all we need for eternal life (the already, but not yet reality of right now), and godliness, living in a way that reflects Christ.
- He called us to His glory and goodness, meaning that the knowledge we have of Jesus and His work on the cross is a result of us having been called by god, and in His goodness the moral transformation n then takes place as His work of grace in our lives continues.
- God’s promises are inherited by believers at the moment of salvation; we have to learn and discover them and let those promises permeate our lives and thinking.
- Earlier Peter presented God’s divine power. Now we see we’re partakers of the divine nature, meaning we become more like Jesus when we submit our lives to His control.
- In verses 5-7, We encouraged to strive for a virtue through grace. These virtues begin with faith and end with love (the greatest commandment).
- He calls us to “brotherly love.” There is a familial nature to the way we love one another in the local church Body of Christ. This happens when you’re committed to the community found in Connect groups. That’s why it’s a major part of the SENT Pathway.
When we center our lives around cultivating these virtues, our lives won’t be wasted with spiritual fruitlessness or ineffectiveness.
II. Jesus’s Identity (2 Peter 1:16-18)
“16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.”
- The false teachers treated the gospel as a myth or fable, a collection of stories that were not fully real but could be beneficial for understanding God, religion, and moral living. Peter confronts this with the humanity of Christ, God taking on human flesh, and these doctrines are based in historical fact.
- Peter sites his personal experience along with James and John Jesus’ transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36); an eye witness account. Peter recounted the majestic voice of God that he heard, retelling the message from the father affirming Jesus’ divine identity and that He was pleased with Him.
- Peter repeats that he heard the voice, not secondhand info in verse 18, and the place, the mountain where he was when he witnessed this. Peter was a good witness; he gave the facts. These were definitely not cleverly contrived myths.
Doctrine: The Scriptures
Lifeway says, “All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation” (Leader Guide, page 124).
Luke 24:44-46, “44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,”
John 5:39, “39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,”
III. Scripture (2 Peter 1:19-21)
“19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,”
- Peter is referring to Old Testament prophecies, especially the ones made by Elijah, because he appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration, as well. Peter is making the point that God’s Word as validated and verified, because the OT prophets prophesied about the future coming of Jesus/the Messiah, and He fulfilled those prophecies. This gives us a great confidence in Scripture.
- We live in the church age now, and the prophets prophesied a long time ago. There can be a temptation to not think about those days gone by.
Gosel: Peter defends the Word and the Messianic identity of Jesus as the One who could save us here. However, Peter encourages us that rather than diminishing the word of the prophets, we—as Christ followers—should live in light of their words. Like a lamp that dispels the darkness in a room or the dawn of light after a long night, these prophets remind us that Jesus is who He said He is, who He was prophesied to be, and God’s plans for salvation—perfection in life, willing death, burial, and triumphant resurrection over death and sin and the grave—was firmly established long before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Once again, peter is reinforcing our confidence in Scripture and the confidence of our faith from these different vantage points.
- The “morning star” reference in verse 19 is a term the prophets used for the Messiah in Numbers 24:17. Revelation 22:16 uses the same idea for the second return of Christ. Scripture, once again-is lifted up by Peter as accurate and reliable.
“20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.”
There are two rightly interpreted possibilities from these verses: (1) No true prophecy has human origin; this countered the false teachers claims that the prophets of old were inaccurate in their prophecies. Peter defended that the message and their interpretation was sourced completely in God. The second rightly interpreted conclusion from these verses is (2) that no prophetic interpretation comes from the prophet himself. Peter accused the heretics of the faith of twisting scriptures to fit their own interpretation. Many do this today in order to defend and validate their deviant and disobedient lifestyles. While this passage is theologically thick, it has a lot to bear on our world today. Lifeway says, “Both positions emphasize that the prophetic teachings of the OT aren’t up for personal interpretation; they are clear in their truth that points to Jesus and compels us to belief.
“21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
- God wrote Scripture. His Authorship is undisputable. Paul says in II Timothy 3:16, “16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” and He used human beings with their unique personalities, literary styles, and. Vocabularies to accomplish this. The words were their words, yet they still were completely carried along in writing those words by God; the verbiage carried along is also a nautical term , like ships carried by the wind. The Holy Spirit was the key figure of the Trinity to do this, guaranteeing the completeness and perfection of the inerrant, sufficient, authoritative, and infallible Word of God.
Application:
- Believers are to grow and mature, exercising discernment against the false teachers & TikTok so-called “theologians.”
- Jesus’ identity and majesty help us to follow Him the way we should.
- We need to spend time in Scripture and esteem it’s authority in our lives.
Discussion Questions:
- When have you felt under equipped to complete an assignment? How did that make you feel?
- Why is it necessary for believers to grow in spiritual maturity?
- How can believers grow in their understanding of Jesus’ identity?
- Why can believers trust the authority and validity of Scriptures?
Resources:
- www.drcalebwalker.com
- Lesson Teaching Manuscript
- Free Download of this PowerPoint
- Devotional
- Discipleship and church revitalization consulting: cwalker@franklinheights.org
Devotional:
Title: “Getting God’s Word in My Life”
Passage: from 2 Peter 1:3-8, 16-21
This brief devotional will simply be a challenge to get God’s Word into your life and will provide practical steps to make that happen as a reality going forward. Truth be told, many Christians neglect Scripture to the detriment of their souls and their personal and familial well-being. Peter’s cautionary encouragement in the early verses of 2 Peter exhort the believers in these Asia Minor churches to elevate the Word in their life, encouraging them from several vantage points. Elevate God’s Word as opposed to the influence of false teachers. Elevate God’s Word because it is trustworthy and proven.
There are false teachers out there and they are—without permission—pummeling the hearts and minds of the unsuspecting. False teachings, worldly philosophies, uneducated and ignorant individuals who come across as authorities when they are not; these are what we are up against. You need to be armed with the Word, so that you aren’t taken in by their charisma, seeming knowledge of their subject matters, and falsities.
The Word of God is authoritative and infallible, sufficient, and inerrant, no matter what the false teachers of our day would say. It’s important that to discern between the lies of false teachers and to be conformed to Christlikeness by the truth that we spend time in God’s Word. When we do, it will shape and transform us.
To do this, we need practical steps ,a game plan if you will. (1) Pick a specific time each day you spend time in God’s Word. (2) Pick a specific place where you meet with God in His Word. (3) Pick a specific plan that will guide your time with god each day. (4) Pick a specific person who will encourage you and hold you accountable to be in God’s Word each day.
My Daily Time with God Plan:
Time: Start 5/5:30 am-6/6:45am (with coffee, lots of coffee, you can’t have too much coffee, good strong coffee)
Place: My home office desk downstairs
Plan: FHC Church Bible reading plan and weekly, five-day Bible reading plan that goes through the Bible in a year
Start: brief prayer (2%)
Scripture: Reading while taking copious notes in wide margin Bible (80%)
Journal reflections and prayer (18%)
Commute: Worship music and audio Bible and/or book, usually the Puritans 🙂
Person: My daily devotions accountability partner
Family Devos: Family Bible story or reading with prayer and singing (My kids are 2 and 4).
PM before bed: Devotional and Psalter reading with my wife closed with prayer
You don’t have to do the above plan. I only share this to provide an example of what has helped me. Be flexible and fluid to develop the plan that works best for you. Some folks work various work shifts and their daily time with God plan will look very different. The important thing is that we are intentional and put into action a time, place, plan, and person in our lives so that we aren’t passive in our spiritual growth. We’ll get eaten alive by the culture/world, flesh, and evil one, otherwise.
Links to help:
FHC Bible reading plan: https://franklinheights.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2025-Bible-Reading-Plan.pdf For a printed copy of this, pick one up at any of our campuses.
5-day through the Bible in a year reading plan: https://www.fivedaybiblereading.com/
Eventually, I will develop my own five-day Bible reading plan that will have a mixture of old and New Testament.
Getting God’s Word in our lives does not happen unless we take some ownership of it and implement a plan. I hope this has been helpful and practical. If so, please subscribe, click the link button and notification bell and let’s team up for stronger personal discipleship and disciple-making going forward. Bible reading, spending time with God, is crucial and vital for your faith.
How to Pray:
- Help me implement my time with God plan.
- What time would be best ion my schedule to spend with You daily?
- Who can keep me accountable?
- What will my plan be for the specific times I spend with You each day?
Next Steps: Put a plan on paper and get started putting it into practice.
Caleb Walker 
Leave a comment