Introduction
Last time we looked at strategies to launch an all-out offensive attack against Satan. Detect – Protect – Act. Here is a review of each.
1. Detect – watch for the slightest trace of the enemy. The moment that he bombards your mind with thoughts of unbelief, fear, lust, jealousy, hatred, depression, or discouragement, you must recognize that it is from him. Cast it out in the name of Jesus. Refuse to give Satan access to your mind.
2. Protect – you must daily remember to put on the armor of God. Guard your mind and heart. Remember and review the different pieces of your spiritual armor. This armor is not optional. You must have it always covering your heart and mind. This will prevent the enemy from penetrating your mind.
3. Act – renew your mind daily by filling it with the word of God. Set aside a specific time each day to read the word. Resist Satan’s attacks by constantly putting off the carnal nature. Constantly remove selfishness, pride, jealousy, and any other ungodly attitudes from your life.
The Great Salvation of God
Salvation – 2 Peter 1:1-4
Grace, peace, life, and godliness come through the knowledge of God and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Knowledge – a knowledge laying claim to personal involvement. This comes by diligently seeking Him.
We are partakers of the divine nature through God’s precious promises.
Great Things in the Believers Life -2 Peter 1:5-15
Add these things to your faith – virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.
These things have the power to keep you from being ineffective (unfruitful), spiritually blind, from forgetting that you have been cleansed from sin, and keep you from falling.
What’s the importance? Preach, teach, and remind of these things. Stir each other up about them to the point that it becomes a legacy.
Proof of Salvation – 2 Peter 1:16-21
We were witnesses of Christ’s Majesty. Peter saw the transfiguration, heard the voice from heaven.
A proven account of prophecy or Scripture is more sure than an eyewitness account. Scripture was given by the Holy Spirit.
The Warning Against False Teachers
Their Description and Judgment – 2 Peter 2:1–9
False teachers have always been around. They teach heresies that destroy. Mislead people to live immoral lives, and exploit them.
Judgment will come. Angels were not spared. The ancient world was not spared. Sodom and Gomorrah were not spared.
God does know how to deliver the righteous and to hold the unrighteous until judgment.
Their Character and Conduct – 2 Peter 2:10–22
- They indulge the flesh
- The despise authority
- They are bold and proud
- They are self-seeking
- They slander spiritual beings
- They carouse around in pleasure, openly, with unbelievers
- They have eyes full of adultery
- They seduce unstable souls
- They are greedy
- They have wandered off the right road.
- They are filled with emptiness and instability
- They speak empty, boastful words
- They entrap people with lustful schemes
- They promise freedom, but only enslave
- They are strongly warned by God
We need discernment.
The Second Coming of Christ and the End of the World
Scoffers Will Come – 2 Peter 3:1–7
Stimulate your minds to pure, wholesome thinking.
Scoffers will come. They pursue evil lusts and passions. They ridicule the return of Christ. They deliberately forget three things.
- God’s Word created the world.
- God’s Word destroyed the world.
- God’s Word now reserves the world for destruction by fire.
Why Has Christ Not Returned? – 2 Peter 3:8–10
The Lord is not slow in sending Christ back to earth, He is patient. He wants none to perish.
Conclusion
What Must Believers Do? – 2 Peter 3:11–18
Believers must:
- Live holy and godly lives
- Look for and speed up the day of God’s coming
- Look for the new heavens and new earth
- Be prepared for Christ’s coming
- Realize the Lord’s patience with us results in salvation
- Beware not to be led into error – Detect – Protect – Act (Renew, Resist, Remove)
- Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord
