Series Details
Chuck Swindoll’s sermon series on 2 Peter, often titled “Conquering Through Conflict,” focuses on the apostle Peter’s final words to a church facing both external persecution and internal deception. As Peter anticipates his own execution, he writes with a sense of urgency to “rattle the cages” of believers and prepare them for the spiritual battles ahead.
In this 10-part series, Pastor Chuck Swindoll explores the Apostle Peter’s second letter, a stark and urgent message written shortly before his execution. While 1 Peter focused on suffering from outside the church, 2 Peter warns of the dangers of corruption and false teaching from within. This series serves as a spiritual “wake-up call,” challenging believers to grow in knowledge, guard against deception, and live with urgency in light of Christ’s certain return.
1. A Letter That Rattles Our Cage (2 Peter 1:1–4)
- Overview: Introduces Peter’s final words, emphasizing that God has already provided everything we need for life and godliness through His precious promises.
- Key Fact: The Christian life is not a search for something new, but a realization of what we already possess in Christ.
- Scripture: 2 Peter 1:3 – “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him.”
2. To Be Useful and Fruitful, Here’s How (2 Peter 1:5–11)
- Overview: Outlines the “ladder of Christian growth,” showing how to intentionally add virtue, knowledge, and love to our faith to avoid spiritual blindness.
- Key Fact: Spiritual fruitfulness is not automatic; it requires “applying all diligence” to mature in character.
- Scripture: 2 Peter 1:8 – “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful.”
3. Be Sure of Your Source (2 Peter 1:12–21)
- Overview: Peter defends the authority of Scripture, contrasting his eyewitness account of Christ’s glory with “cleverly devised tales.”
- Key Fact: No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of personal opinion; men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
- Scripture: 2 Peter 1:19 – “So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place.”
4. An Exposé of Counterfeit Communicators (2 Peter 2:1–3)
- Overview: A warning against false teachers who secretly introduce “destructive heresies” and exploit believers with manufactured words.
- Key Fact: Deception often comes from within the church, appearing “secretive” and motivated by greed rather than truth.
- Scripture: 2 Peter 2:1 – “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you.”
5. The God of Wrath and Rescue (2 Peter 2:4–9)
- Overview: Uses historical examples—fallen angels, the flood, and Sodom—to show that God knows how to judge the unrighteous while rescuing the godly.
- Key Fact: God is as consistent in His deliverance of the faithful (like Noah and Lot) as He is in His judgment of the wicked.
- Scripture: 2 Peter 2:9 – “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.”
6. Disobedience Gone to Seed (2 Peter 2:10–16)
- Overview: Describes the arrogant and self-willed nature of those who despise authority and live for the indulgence of the flesh.
- Key Fact: False teachers are described as “springs without water,” promising refreshment but delivering only emptiness and spiritual drought.
- Scripture: 2 Peter 2:13 – “Suffering wrong as the hire for wrongdoing… they are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions.”
7. Which Is Worse? What Is Best? (2 Peter 2:17–22)
- Overview: Warns of the tragedy of knowing the way of righteousness only to turn back to the “defilements of the world.”
- Key Fact: It is better to never have known the truth than to have known it and intentionally rejected it for old sinful habits.
- Scripture: 2 Peter 2:21 – “For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment.”
8. Skeptics and Sinners, Beware! (2 Peter 3:1–9)
- Overview: Addresses mockers who question Christ’s return because “everything continues as it has.” Peter reminds us that God’s timing is not like ours.
- Key Fact: What we perceive as a delay in Christ’s return is actually God’s “patience,” as He does not want anyone to perish.
- Scripture: 2 Peter 3:8 – “With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.”
9. The Day of the Lord (2 Peter 3:10–13)
- Overview: A vivid description of the final judgment when the “elements will melt with intense heat,” and a new heaven and new earth will be established.
- Key Fact: The certainty of a future judgment should radically change the way we prioritize our lives and our character today.
- Scripture: 2 Peter 3:11 – “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?”
10. How to Live in Troubled Times (2 Peter 3:14–18)
- Overview: The series conclusion, urging believers to be “on their guard” so they aren’t carried away by error, but instead “grow in grace.”
- Key Fact: The best defense against falling away is an active offense: growing in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.
- Scripture: 2 Peter 3:18 – “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity.”
