Success in Kingdom Service

Larry Siegle
02/16/25 - Sun AM

Link to sermon video: Success in Kingdom Service - L Siegle

EQUIPPED to ACCOMPLISH

“Success in Kingdom Service”

(II Pet. 1:3-8)

Series:  EQUIPPED to ACCOMPLISH

Thesis:  God’s has a purpose for the Cortland congregation and how to be equipped to accomplish that purpose.

INTRODUCTION

1.    The title of this series is Equipped to Accomplish

2.    This is the introduction to the study:  The Determination to Surrender

3     Why has God brought all of us here together for this season, and this very moment in time?

        a.     The temptation is to simply dismiss any special significance to who we are, why we are here, and where we are

               going as a people.

               1)    What is the central focus of our message?

               2)    Do we have the same zeal and determination to help people around us to see and to embrace the power of

                       what it means to live each day in the very presence of God—something the vast majority of others have

                       ‘pushed forward’ and relegated into the ‘distant future.’

               3)    Nearly everyone has experienced some sense of ridicule, rejection, by those who cannot the fullness of

                       God’s goodness.

4.    Some of us here have seen the evidence of what is true and realize that the essence of discipleship is in the knowing

        that this truth is that which sets us free (John 8:31, 32; 17:17).

SECOND PETER

1.    The letter of II Peter was written somewhere between AD 64 and 68.

        a.     The letter was written shortly before the death of the apostle Peter (II Pet. 1:12-15).

               1)    There is a sense of urgency and determination in his voice having reached his “last days” before going to be

                       with the Lord.

               2)    The historical record informs us that, within a short period of time, Nero has Peter executed after the terrible

                       fire that had occurred in the city of Rome.

               3)    Jesus had told Peter about the kind of death he would someday experience (John 21:18, 19).

2.    The purpose of II Peter was to prepare and to equip those believers living in the “last days” (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:16-

        21) of what was going to occur at the “end of the age” (Matt. 24:3).

3.    The words of II Peter 3:1-4 are a warning to them, not to become distracted from the reality of what was ‘about to

        take place’—thus the essential need for them to be both prepared and equipped for what was going to happen.

THE LESSONS OF NATURAL DISASTERS (FIRE, FLOOD, HURRICANES, TORNADOS, EARTHQUAKES).

1.    The recent events in North Carolina, Florida, and California testify that people live their lives in a constant state of not

        being prepared or equipped for the various possibilities of what ‘might happen’—the difference is that God gave the

        warning to those in the first century of what was actually going to happen.

THE COMPOSITE “SIGN” OF CHRIST’S COMING AND THE “END OF THE AGE”

1.    Jesus pronounced that God’s presence was removed from the Temple (Matt. 23:38)

2.    The disciples (James, John, Peter, and Andrew) came to Jesus privately because they wanted more information (Mark

        13:3, 4).

        a.     The Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24; Mark 13; Luke 21) contains the words of Jesus in telling them what was going to

               take place within that “generation” (Matt. 23:36; 24:34).

        b.    The events described throughout the NT were going to “shortly take place” (Rev. 1:1-3) because the time of

               fulfillment was “at hand”

        c.     The apostle Peter had told his readers, the “end of all things” was “at hand” (I Pet. 4:7).

        d.    The time of the “coming of the Lord” was “at hand” (James 5:7-9)

3.    It is the heartfelt desire of the apostle Peter, in his final days, to make sure that his readers are both prepared and

        equipped for what was about to transpire.

EQUIPPED WITH “ALL THINGS”

1.    The apostle Paul had told the Ephesians that they had been granted access to “every spiritual blessing” (Eph. 1:3).

2.    Peter tells his readers, they had been equipped with “all things” that pertained to life and godliness (II Pet. 1:3)

3.    Peter affirms that this was based upon the “great and precious promises” of God (II Pet. 1:4)

4.    They were equipped to become “partakers of the Divine nature” (II Pet. 1:4).

        a.     θειας -- “partakers of the Divine nature” (being “like God”) in character, actions, and purpose (Rom. 8:29).

               1)    Christ was to be the “firstborn” among many who become children of God (Heb. 2:10, 11).

               2)    In every area of our lives, God’s purpose is that we become a reflection of who HE is and what HE has done.

CONCLUSION

1.    Next week we are going to notice the ‘building blocks’ of how WE become more like HIM is every area of our lives.

2.    The “list” that Peter provides here is similar to what the apostle Paul describes in Galatians 5:22, 23 as the “fruit” of

        the Spirit

3.    The world around us in mistaken in their false sense of expectations and thus not prepared or equipped to reach out

        to those who need to hear, believe and to embrace the fullness of what God’s provided to us.

        a.     WE live in the aftermath of what Jesus and the apostles were describing was going to happen that was to bring

               the Old Covenant “age” to an “end”—after which the New Covenant would be fully established and the benefits

               would flow from the very throne of God.

        b.    It is the work of this congregation to provide hope and encouragement to those who are dealing with the

               situations and circumstances of everyday life—to provide Biblical answers to the message of fulfillment and what

               it means for the world in which we now live.

        c.     Peter told his readers to “make their calling and election sure” and to expect “entrance” into the “everlasting

               kingdom” (II Pet. 1:10, 11).

        d.    Our confidence is rooted in knowing that God has kept all of His promises (Rom. 15:8)