2 Peter 2 - The Rise and Fall of False Teachers

[Music] second Peter chapter two let's look at the first verse now sort of set the context we read but there were also false prophets among the people even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies even denying the Lord who bought them and bring on themselves Swift destruction now at the end of 2nd Peter chapter 1 Peter spoke to us about holy men of God who were prophets and who were spin who spoke as the Holy Spirit moved them now Peters bringing in the alternative thought not only were their holy men of God who were moved with the gift of prophecy there were also false prophets that needed to be understood and dealt with so he says right there in verse 1 notice it again but there were also false prophets and then he also mentions false teachers now this was true both in Peters day and our own by the way when you see false prophets and false teachers in the church today it should be at least a small comfort for you that they were in the very first church as well I mean this goes all the way back to apostolic times if we sum up time if we somehow imagine a time when the church was so pure that there were never false prophets or false teachers in its midst you're never gonna have such a time all the way back from the time of the Apostles itself but notice this phrase in verse 1 it's absolutely critical it says who will secretly bring in destructive heresies I want you to notice it's a very basic point but it bears our attention false teachers work secretly it isn't that their teaching is so secret they want their teaching to be as public and as popular as possible they want to get as many people to listen to their teaching no it's not their teaching itself that's secret but it's the false nature the deceptive nature of their teaching is hidden can I just give you a principle here no false teacher ever announces themselves as a false teacher they're not wearing making t-shirts that say I'm a false teacher every false teacher usually thinks of themselves as being sincere and being right and being perfectly on point but no they are notice who will secretly bring in destructive heresies they destroy by telling lies about Jesus Christ and it's work for us and in us now when I say lies that might sound like a strong term because this wonder what you understand in the mind and maybe even in the voice of the false teacher it doesn't seem like a lie it's an error but an error that is harmful enough can be considered a lie and by these heresies people are hurt and destroyed notice the phrase he uses destructive heresies here's another little tagline for you the first one is no false teacher announces himself as a false teacher the second tagline for you is this is that heresy isn't harmless now in the thinking of our modern age heresies absolutely harmless youyou think God is the God of the Bible and you over here you think God is a you know great big pizza or something like that the way most people think who cares who cares about what your ideas about God and eternity and spiritual things an eternal truth are all about that's the thinking of our modern age but ladies and gentlemen if there really is a God and I'm not saying that to call that into question but but I'm just establishing that proposition if there truly is a God then how we regard that God is absolutely important because we want to worship we want to relate we want to connect to the God who is really there the true God and for us of course we understand this to be the God revealed by the Bible and once you notice something false prophets secret they bring in destructive heresies notice the phrase here in verse one even denying the Lord who bought them false teachers deny the Lord who bought them in this Peter says that at the very least these people appear to be saved now it's kind of interesting both in the beginning of 2nd Peter chapter 2 and at the end of 2nd Peter chapter 2 we have passages or lines or verses that seem to deal with this issue of can a person lose their salvation and it is not my intention to go into an in-depth discussion of that debate this evening but I do just want to point something out here when Peter says even denying who's denying the false teachers are denying the false teachers are denying the Lord who bought them there is some sense in which these are bought people by Jesus Christ otherwise Peter would never say that the Lord bought them but at the same time they are false destructive teachers now look here's the takeaway just just get out your mind for a moment the debate whether or not a person can lose their salvation just get that out of your mind for a moment take what you positively can say from this you can say this that even a person who appears to have a godly walk and relationship with Jesus Christ they can still bring in destructive heresies you you could look at a brother or a sister the Lord bought them you'd say man the Lord bought them they belong to the Lord that person still has the capability to bring in destructive heresies false teachings so you don't judge the teaching primarily by the character of the person involved in it I'm not saying the character makes no difference in Peters gonna speak to the character later on but someone who appears to have a blood-bought life can still bring in destructive heresies matter of fact let me say this oftentimes good men who teach lies do the worst damage because their lies are believed because of the goodness of their life but what do these people do notice at the end of verse 1 they bring on themselves Swift destruction Peters gonna speak more about that moment so I'll just let that but they bring on themselves that's what these false prophets false teachers do they bring on themselves Swift destruction now verse 2 and many will follow their destructive ways because of whom the way of truth will be blaspheme let that phrase get impressed upon your mind right there in verse 2 many will follow their destructive ways who's gonna follow many not just a few many now it's very easy for us in the Christian world to get very worked up over the number of people who follow false teachings sometimes they are false teachings that are easily understood to be false groups with completely wrong ideas about who Jesus is such as the Mormons or latter-day saints and Jehovah's Witnesses and I'm sorry if that's kind of like a bombshell before you you you may have had no knowledge of it but I'm just telling you the Jesus that is preached by the Mormons or latter-day saints and the Jesus that is preached by Jehovah's Witnesses it's not the Jesus of the Bible it's a distorted Jesus and so seriously distorted that we would regard it as a false teaching so some of those are easy to understand there's other things that there's very significant twistings of doctrine practice something like the prosperity gospel or the health and wealth gospel it's sometimes said is that God's whole point of work in your life is to make you rich and perfectly healthy and if you're not rich and if you're not perfectly healthy you are out of God's will so just getting to faith brother/sister okay we understand those things now we may get frustrated that those or perhaps other strange teachings get a big large following I want to do this exactly what Peter said would happen we read again look at verse 2 many will follow their destructive ways and I have to say to me this is a marvel it's not strange that there are false teachers there's always weirdos out there trying to get a following what is strange is how often false teachers are accepted and embraced by the Christian community it shows that there is an alarming ignorant of God's Word and people who are persuasive and and people who are sincere can convince people of things that aren't biblically true and because of these people that converse to again because of whom the way of truth will be blessing when false teachers are at work and what crowds are following the way of truth is blaspheme God's holy name and honor are disgraced I remember a friend telling me the story and and I don't doubt him he was watching on television but he the way he shared it was so meaningful but I don't want to imply that I saw it myself but shared from a good friend of mine he's watching on TV a crusade of one of these fam flamboyant healing evangelists you know the kind of guy who just Wow everybody's healed wow that everybody falls down wow this is amazing and he said you could see off on one side of the platform there's a whole row of people in wheelchairs and you know why the wheelchair people are there man they came to get healed look you know you you you or I we might want to get healed of our hangnail or our you know bad breath or whatever it is these people look it's man it's everything and these people were utterly ignored by the Evangelist as many of them were struggling to stand up from their chair from their wheelchairs and the whole scene was just so lost so sad so so filled with with um a darkness that had nothing to do with the nature of Jesus Christ you could see what Peter says look at it right here in verse 2 because of whom the way of truth will be blaspheming now verse 3 but by covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words for a long time their judgment has not been idle and their destruction does not slumber these false teachers use covetousness both their own covetousness they use but they also use covetousness in the life of the people they attract mister prosperity teacher out there what is he doing well he's covetous he wants the private jet or the fancy cars or the mansions or whatever it is and by the way some of these prosperity guys are fabulously wealthy almost incomprehensible ysou any regard that they are covetous but there's also covetousness that they cultivate in the people they preach to they want people to have the same covetousness and so they say by covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words for a long time their judgment has not been idle and their destruction does not slumber Peter assures us that false teachers will be judged even though they seem to prosper for the present time their judgment is not idle it's not on pause God's wrath pours out upon them and let me give you one way that God's wrath pours out upon me too sometimes you get frustrated with false teachers in the church you look at God why do you just strike this guy down God you could do it so easily why don't you just do it I'll tell you because God's judgment is working upon those men and women even at the present moment what do I mean by that every day that God allows them to go on in their corruption they are heaping more and more judgment upon themselves listen if God was being loving and merciful to them instead of judging he'd stop him right then but by even allowing them to go on and he put the greater and greater judgment upon themselves God is expressing his judgment against them now starting at verse four begins a section that expresses God's care for both the unrighteous and the righteous what do I mean by care god knows what to do with the unrighteous and the righteous look here at verse 4 he says for if God did not spare the angels who sinned but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of Darkness to be reserved for judgment and did not spare the ancient world but saved Noah one of eight people a preacher of righteousness bringing in on the flood the world of the ungodly and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them to destruction making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly right here in verses four five and six Peter gives us three examples of God's judgment upon the ungodly what's the first example look at verse four if God did not spare the angels who sinned God judged wicked angels setting them in Chains of darkness which by the way that's a powerful literary phrase what are chains of darkness I don't know but it sounds terrible he put them in Chains of darkness doing what notice here they are waiting reserved for judgment now apparently some fallen angels are bound chains of darkness and others are active upon the earth and perhaps in the heavens as demons now it is clear that at some time in history or eternity past angelic beings had a period of choosing and testing regarding their future destiny just like you and I right now is this lifetime not our time for choosing god gives us as human beings the dignified choice right now heaven or hell this is your choice follow Jesus or reject him love God or push him away now is our time of choice and we understand don't we as humans from what the Bible tells us that once we pass from this life to the next the time of choosing is over but whatever you chose in this season is set in stone for all of eternity once you pass from this life to the next now apparently the Angels have already had their time of choosing and now their fate is set in stone but of those fallen angels some of them are bound some of them are free now we can't conclusively say why and when the angels fell I'm prepared to go off on a long digression of this that I personally would find very satisfying and and and interesting but let me just say we don't know for certain why and when the angels rebelled or we don't know or is that the best word and we also do not know if Peters reference here is to the original fall of the angelic host or if his references to some particular sinning angels in the days of Noah which he's gonna mention just in the following verses that brings up a whole nother issue that I'm not gonna get into here this evening what's the point the reason why I'm not getting into it is I just want you to notice these sinning angels even though it's fascinating aren't we fascinated talking about these things I mean we could forget about you know 20 minutes we could spend a couple of weeks talking about this it would be interesting but these sinning angels are one of three examples do you get that in what Peter just said what are the three examples the sinning angels the world in Noah's day and Sodom and Gomorrah so we don't want to get too hung up on the first example because it's the totality of the three that are teaching us the message right now this is just what you have to grab ahold of sinning there were angels who sinned and God judged them got it now verse four he cast them down to hell delivered them into chains of Darkness they're put into that place their verse for now in verse 5 God did not spare the ancient world now this speaks of the world before Noah's Flood notices it says in Genesis 6:5 that because the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually that is a world ripe for judgment by the way it hits a little bit too close to home with our present age but that describes the world before the flood the world before the whole earth was this wicked therefore God sent such a dramatic judgment as is described in the scriptures having to do with the flood so angels sinned and were judged the world before the flood sinned and was judged by the flood now verse 6 and turning the cities of Sodom Gomorrah into ashes condemned them to destruction God judged the cities of Sodom Gomorrah making them an example of his judgment notice Genesis 18 verse 20 because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sin is very grave indeed now notice the last phrase here of verse 6 making them an example to those who afterward would be or would live ungodly Peter under the inspiration of Holy Spirit puts forth these three examples to warn the ungodly and may I say it to warn us as well I mean if you are ungodly let it be a warning to you and you're welcome here this evening but but for the the godly are welcome here too and we can all learn from this now notices the Angels had a place of high status and privilege did they these are angels he's earned the presence of God in the days of the flood everybody was bad everybody it wasn't just a few bad and a few good everybody was bad God preserved how many in the days of not only eight four from the population of the entire earth so virtually the entire earth was corrupt they were all bad the Angels fell from a very high place before the flood everybody was bad and Sodom and Gomorrah were very prosperous fertile places the way it's described in the book of Genesis the regions of Sodom Gomorrah before God judging them was that the ground was lush it was like the Garden of Eden I mean it was prosperous for an agricultural society okay so get this what's the lesson we learned from them friends this is pretty dramatic God judged the angels who sinned so no one is too high to be judged isn't that evident you think you're so high and mighty oh but let me tell you about my spiritual experiences no nobody's too high to be judged secondly God judged the ancient world before the flood so God doesn't grade on a curve he doesn't compare man among other men we're all bad God you can't judge me because it's no you're right you are all bad I'm judging you all you can't excuse yourself because you're the least wicked among a bunch of wicked people that doesn't fly with God no no God doesn't grade on a curve so to speak and then thirdly God judged Sodom and Gomorrah so even the prosperous can be judged were they not prosperous and Sodom and Gomorrah of course they were and don't many people think that way they I'm making my way in this world I'm doing pretty well business is good and congratulations at business is good it's tough having business good in the world today so if business is good for you while I'm very happy for you but don't think that that makes you so high and so secure that you can't you that you're beyond the reach of God's judgment that's what these three examples of judgments show us therefore the ungodly have no reason to think that they can escape God's judgment they're coming judgment is certain now we have the certainty of God dealing with the ungodly now look at starting at verse 7 we also have the certainty of the righteous and their deliverance verse 7 and delivered lot to me delivered righteous lot I had trouble saying righteous lot but it's right there in the text and deliver righteous lot who is oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked for that righteous man dwelling among them tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment if God knows how to deal with the wicked he knows how to set them up for judgment okay we're okay with that he also knows how to deliver the righteous and who's this example of knowing how to deliver the righteous lot now I don't know what you know about lot from the Old Testament I don't have time to do an in-depth study in this but let me just say from reading the story of lot in the Old Testament you would not immediately jump to the conclusion that he was a righteous man as a matter of fact lot is often used by preacher guys like myself as the ultimate of the compromising carnal man who by stages gets more and more worldly and is in the end saved but by the skin of his teeth and and yet you know he lost everything because his compromising carnal ways that's how we preacher men regard lot and I think rightfully so from the Genesis story if I was teaching this story a lot from Genesis you'd better believe that's how I teach it but I find wonderful comfort in the fact that Peter looks at lot and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says righteous lot not fact he calls him righteous twice in those verses does he not just in case you missed it the first time he calls him righteous a second time I find great comfort in this because it shows that when you belong to God he finds a way to look favorably upon you look even with all lots compromises lot was a compromiser lot was carnal but by the way he suffered for it he lost everything lost everything and and his end was shameful not glorious yet he himself was saved because he was a righteous man because of his relationship with God in his response to God's revelation and I don't know if there's gonna come out just right when I say this sometimes I think words in my head and I think maybe I shouldn't say it but God has a way of covering for his friends he does aren't you glad about that and by the way if God did not define lot by his worst moments which preacher guys like I want to do aren't you glad that he doesn't define you by your worst moments but he can look at you and he can look at me and say righteous and we are almost as unbelieving as we are wouldn't even look at look lot really righteous listen sometimes I have the same feeling when God says of me righteous Lord mean really righteous so this is strange that Peter uses him an example but it is glorious that he uses him as an example one other thing to notice here verse 8 the wickedness of Sodom tormented his righteous soul from day to day he was a tormented man and is this not characteristic of the compromising Christian or what we might sometimes call the carnal Christian are they genuinely saved yes but are they tormented yes Jews sometimes the cliche it is a cliche but it's a pretty good cliche they've got too much of the world to be happy in Jesus but it got too much of Jesus to be in the world this was lots of situation and it tormented him now you you and I say for good reason lot if you're so tormented in Sodom move out of there but that's a whole nother issue his soul was tormented but look at the real point here verse 9 the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations even as the Lord delivered lot he knows how to deliver us from the temptations we face and he knows how to reserve the unjust for the day of judgment the unjust have a reservation made reservation there it is that tables reserved for the ungodly God knows how to take care of the ungodly he knows how to take care of his people now starting at verse 10 Peter's gonna begin to describe the ungodly false teachers false prophets those who follow them starting out verse 10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise Authority they are presumptuous self-willed they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries whereas angels who are greater in power and might do not bring a revealing accusation against them before the Lord these are people number 1 notice verse 10 it says that they walk according to the flesh they live according to the flesh not the spirit they're marked by uncleanness there's something dirty filthy about their mind about their speech about their life they are look at verse 10 again they're presumptuous their self-willed it's all about them and their self willed presumptuous nature leads them to despise authority that Peter may very well have in mind here spiritual authorities and they despise them it's sort of in a way that but perhaps in confronting demonic spirits which by the way we made reference before to fall in angels and that some of them are bound and some of them are not there are demonic spirits in this world trying to cause trouble for unbelievers and trying to cause trouble for believers that we battle against the world the flesh and the devil and when we say devil there we mean the devil in his agents it's just speaking sort of with shorthand and I fear that the the perspective among God's people today at least in the circles that I see it the idea of the battle against the devil and his agents is largely forgotten and we need to have a renewed understanding and vision of this but whatever we do in such thing we need to do it under God's Authority and not presumptuously with our own authority look at verse 11 the angels who are greater in Para might they do not bring a reviling accusation angels do not come against and I mean faithful angels do not come against fallen angels in their own authority they come against them in the authority of the Lord in any spiritual battle we do should be with the same mentality but again God knows how to take care of these wicked look at verse 12 and I'm gonna read to the middle of verse 13 it says here but these like natural brute beasts are made to be caught and destroyed speak evil of things they do not understand and will utterly perish in their own corruption and will receive the wages of unrighteousness as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime wow what a strong description there in verse 12 like natural brute beasts since they function in the flesh not the spirit they are like animals have you considered how many among the human family how many people that we interact with every day they live their life on the level of brute beasts they live and hear me out on this don't dismiss what I'm gonna say just from these first sharp words let me explain they live like animals now what do I mean by that well what what are animals interested in and think of your dog what is your dog interested in eating sleeping the the lady dog down the street you know reproducing that's what your dogs interested in and a life of comfort and ease you dog loves to lay down and sleep in the Sun doesn't it isn't it true that that marks the majority interests of people in the world today what they eat you know the the the pleasurable interaction making other people the the the reproduction in all that it entails and and of course just a life of comfort and ease now I'm not saying that those things are wrong for human beings to enjoy but we were made to live life on a higher level than that we as human beings we don't ignore or despise the physical I hope you enjoy a good meal good for you you're into that whole foodie thing you know you're making a spending way too much for your food and all that but fine you enjoy it it's worth it to you I'm not gonna judge it okay that's great but but if it ends there this is gonna sound sharp but let me say you're just a dog eating better food God has given you a spiritual capacity a spiritual ability that you need to pursue and cultivate and not live at the level of brute beasts what of these people look at the first part of verse 13 they will receive the wages of unrighteousness you know the ungodly will be paid for their evil and their fleshly lives will be paid the wages of unrighteousness now start in the middle of 13 let's read this list of the sins of the false teachers it's sort of a long section it goes to the end of verse 17 beginning out verse 13 in the middle of it they are spots and blemishes carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin enticing unstable Souls they have a heart trained and covetous practices and our accursed children they have forsaken the right way and gone astray following the way of balaam the son of beor who loved the wages of unrighteousness but he was rebuked for his iniquity a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the Prophet these are wells without water clouds carried by a tempest for whom is reserved the blackness of Darkness forever what does Peter say about them well first in the middle the second half of verse 13 they're carousing in their own deceptions carousing which is a great word that we don't use today but partying and their partying but what are they partying in their own deceptions III don't know I don't know if I'm speaking to anybody of this of this lifestyle here in this room that maybe it'll reach somebody later by you know a recording or a video or something like that but how's that partying life working out for you well I'm not saying there's no attraction to it if there was no attraction to it you wouldn't do it but but really isn't it true that you're partying in your own deception that even you sense the emptiness and the deception behind it all don't you realize that you're listening to this right now you're listening to 2nd Peter chapter 2 verse 13 because God so longs to deliver you from that deception of the party lifestyle that you're in but he continues look at verse 14 having eyes full of adultery their heart is set on the flesh and their eyes on adultery both spiritual adultery which is idolatry but of course sexual adultery as well they and they prey on those who are unstable to join them in their ways it's very interesting the phrase that Peter used there according to the commentator Green Peter literally wrote that their eyes are full of an adulterous woman the idea is that they lust after every woman that they see they see every woman as a potential adulteress and again this is an exposure of their corruption verse 14 they have a heart trained in covetous practices oh they've been trained Oh they're equipped not for ministry but for ungodliness their verse 15 they're following the way of balaam and again to just sort of put it very quick summary on Balaam sin Balaam was guilty of perhaps the greatest of sins he led other people into sin and he did that for the sake of his own gain Balaam had to be restrained by a dumb donkey because he wouldn't listen to God and what are these people in the end of it all look at it there in verse 17 they are wells without water you know what wells without water are number one they're useless and number two they're dangerous it seems like it's been a long time but surely some child has fallen down a well lately it needs to be rescued they're useless and dangerous wells without water then why does anybody follow these people then why do they get any kind of attraction look here at verse 18 Peter will explain for when they speak great swelling words of emptiness they allure through the lusts of the flesh through lewdness the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error while they promise them Liberty they themselves are slaves of corruption for by whom a person has overcome by him also he is brought into bondage I love that phrase in verse 18 they speak great swelling words of emptiness it's empty of any real spiritual content but they pile big words together and to the undiscerning ear they go wow that guy's really bringing it but that's the undiscerning ear somebody has a little more of it to say there's this saying nothing this is empty there's no content here give my soul something from God's word something to feed upon and then verse 19 the phrase very strong while they promise them Liberty they themselves are slaves they promise freedom but freedom can never be found in the flesh but only in God's Spirit you see when we seek freedom the wrong way we become slaves of corruption the phrase that Peter used there that's decay that's death now verse 24 if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ they are again entangled in them and overcome the latter end is worse for them than the beginning for it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them but it has happened to them according to the true proverb a dog returns to his own vomit and a sow having washed to her own wallowing in the mire this end of the chapter is very sobering because Peter again refers to the apparent spiritual life of these false teachers should we notice this together look at verse 20 he says the latter end is worse for them than the beginning it would be better for a person to have never known a thing about Jesus than to have a truth hear it hold it for a season and then later rejected their end is worse than their beginning why because you're held accountable for the truth that you've heard if you go to a good Bible teaching Church if you regularly under the good teaching of the word of God I hope you regard it as a blessing but there's a danger to it do you not have great responsibility before God you certainly do now I'm not telling you go out and find the worst Bible teaching Church you can find just just just so you can have lesser accountability that would be the exact wrong approach but it is sobering to think isn't it Lord make me make me active as a believer make me someone who's a doer of the word and not a hearer only Lord whatever defenses I come to church with to resist your word knock them down prepare me to receive your word these should be your constant prayers and thoughts and then he says on the same thought verse 21 it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness now Peter describes here what certainly appears to be people who had relationship with Jesus and then rejected him yeah again I'm just saying by appearance look at it in verse 20 they have escaped the pollutions of the world look at these verses now in 20 again he says they escaped the pollutions of this world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so here you have somebody let's walk ourselves through it they escaped the pollutions of the world and how do they do it through sheer willpower no they do it through verse 20 the knowledge of the law Saviour Jesus Christ and verse 21 at one time they had known the way of righteousness and Peter says they are destined for judgment he paints them as lost now speaking theologically Christians warmly debate or maybe I should say they hotly debate the issue of whether or not it is possible for a true Christian to ever lose their standing as a true Christian and fall away to damnation do you kind of get with it what the debate is all about here's someone and they are saved if they were to to die today they would go to heaven but but they don't die today they live another 20 years and in their twenty years remaining they you know go into all kinds of corruption just kind of thing that Peter talks about here and now when they die they're not going to heaven they're gonna go to hell and whatever they had 20 years before somewhere along the way they lost and Christians love to hotly debated issue is it possible to lose your salvation shall I answer that question for you what side do you want me to argue I'll argue either side of it for you because listen I believe so strongly in the security of the believer the believer is secure and the believer isn't secure because we have such a tight grip on Jesus Christ why is the believer secure because Jesus has such a tight grip on us I believe in the security of the believer but ladies and gentleman I don't want to preach that to here this evening and give anybody well so we don't have what Peter said here no no let me tell you how I resolve this for myself I resolve it for myself here by simply saying whether or not a person is genuinely saved God alone knows but I can judge by the appearance and I'll tell you this not only from this passage in 2nd Peter chapter 2 but from many other passages can we not with confidence say this that there are people who certainly have every appearance of being saved who will not make it to the end that is undeniably true now the argument will center on well they were never saved no they had it they lost no they were never saved no they had or they lost it you know what what go in the other room and argue that one I'll tell you this it is possible for a person to have the outward appearance of being right with God just like Peter describes here and they don't make it to the end that should be a sober warning for us in our own walk with God not to take away our sense of security in Jesus Christ no we are so comfortable in that but just to remind ourselves it really is a matter of the individual heart before God and not just what is out there by the outward appearance Peter gives us that warning but remember he puts it in the bigger context God knows how to deal with the wicked have we not seen that over and over again in chapter 2 tonight are you worried about the wicked in the world today can I just write God knows how to deal with the wicked well these people over here and this people over there admitted this said then the election and then this and then all the counters whatever God knows had to deal with the wicked but no I saw in the news this is that that said God knows how to deal with the wicked but he also knows how to preserve his people that that is of equal or greater confidence to me he knows how to preserve preserve us if God can say righteous lot I have great hope that he can say righteous David because the righteousness is in Jesus Christ not in lot not in David but in Jesus himself father this is our prayer we pray that every day you would keep every one of us passionate after you and Lord I pray in particular that you would make us utterly unsatisfied with the appearance or the image of the Christian life and Lord that we would demand the real the substance the true Christian life within us Lord this demands a deep work of your Holy Spirit so do it in our midst we love you and we praise you this evening in Jesus wonderful name amen

Channel: David Guzik

Views: 13,650

Rating: 4.8638296 out of 5

Keywords: Peter, Christianity, False Teachers, Apostasy, Heretics

Id: y2RGT4nRGBQ

Length: 47min 50sec (2870 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 28 2018