Stirred: The Church in the Last Days - Part 3 - Pastor Raymond Woodward

in his first letter peter warned about persecution coming from outside of the church but in his second letter that we're studying he warns them about false teaching coming from inside the church this time around spiritual opposition against the new testament believers is actually coming from other people who say they are also believers they still profess to know jesus but they've departed from the doctrine and the godly lifestyle that was taught by the lord's apostles and now those same people are trying to influence others in the church to follow them in their backsliding they are questioning even attacking the teaching and the integrity of the elders and it is a treacherous time near the end of the first century and so this is why peter wants to stir up the church to remember what they've been taught i said it before but peter's reminding them that in order to be prepared for the future of the apostolic church we must remember the past of the apostolic church and so our theme scripture for this little series is second peter chapter 3 the first verse this second epistle beloved i now write unto you in both which i stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance and i'll say this and then we'll launch into tonight's lesson peter lived and preached at the beginning of the church age we live and preach it's hard to believe at the end of the church age all the signs of the time are screaming at us that jesus is coming soon who would have ever thought that we would ever be talking about a worldwide pandemic that shut down the borders of countries so we couldn't travel back and forth and yet that is the kind of plague pestilence pandemic that we're living in our elders would have preached prophecy bible studies for weeks and we would have as young people been weeping in the altar crying out desperately i want to be ready for the coming of the lord but it's also a sign of the end times that as the day approaches while the labor pains of prophecy are getting more and more intense and closer and closer together people will be falling asleep and falling away and that's why peter wants to keep the church stirred and that's why i want to keep our church stirred what a tragedy it would be to attend and be part of and be considered a member of an apostolic church and miss the one thing that is so critically important for us to be ready for you may meet all kinds of other obligations and be it all cover uh all kinds of other appointments but the one appointment you cannot miss is the rapture of the church you've got to be ready if it was important for saints to be stirred in the first century you know it is exponentially more important for saints to be stirred in the 21st century and the reason is pretty obvious never before have there been so many voices from within the church trying to pull us away from the teaching of our elders never before have there been so many people professing so much love for jesus while denying so much of what jesus actually said never before have we seen such disregard and disrespect for the plain teaching of scripture it's in culture but it's also in the church world never before have we seen the ungodly attitudes and lifestyles of the world make such inroads into the lives of so-called christians so like peter we live in a very treacherous time and that's why i come to the pulpit on successive wednesday nights with a desire to stir up the church if i fail i fail but if i succeed i may help you be ready for the coming of the lord jesus christ and it's worth doing in the first half of chapter 1 peter tells these believers to make every effort he says give all diligence to add to your faith don't just be a christian that says well i believe in jesus no be someone who adds to your faith add virtue and knowledge and temperance and patience add godliness and brotherly kindness and charity and peter says if you do those things if you don't just sit there but if you work away at your faith if you add to your faith if you add some good things to your faith you will never fall and then in the second half of chapter one last week we talked about this peter turns his attention to the word of god and it's the word of god upon which our faith is built he emphasizes the importance of knowing the scriptures he says that is a defense against false doctrine false teachers easily seduce people who don't know their bible who only desire spiritual experiences they're kind of like a christian tourist they go from meeting to medium preacher to preacher and church to church and service to service only wanting kind of a tingle of spirituality but god's people they build their lives not on some temporary experience but on the word of god because that is the only foundation for the christian life and we ended last week with peter's words he said knowing this first no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation you can't just make up on your own what you think it should mean to you it's a dangerous thing to say well this is what that scripture means to me because scripture doesn't have a meaning for you and then another meaning for somebody else and then another meaning for somebody else scripture is not like a little dashboard ornament or something you hang on the mirror in your car that's individual to you it's not like your phone case it's not individual to you scripture is scripture scripture is god breathe scripture is the word of god and so we need to grapple with the meaning of scripture why because the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man we didn't get this bible through a committee but holy men of god spake as they were moved by the holy ghost aren't you grateful for the word of god that wasn't a good enough response for this how many of you are grateful for the word of god it sustains us it keeps us it directs us and corrects us but that's how chapter two begins but satan doesn't like it that believers are diligently adding to their faith he doesn't like it that believers are continually resisting his temptations and his traps and satan especially doesn't like it when believers possess absolute loyalty to god's commandments and unshakeable confidence in his word that gives the devil tremors that's why the devil continually attacks god's truth not without right lies no that would be too easily recognizable he attacks god's truth with subtle counterfeits they look and sound spiritual they look and sound logical but they are lies outright lies nonetheless now spiritual spiritual counterfeits are nothing new the bible tells us that satan is a great imitator in fact paul says in second corinthians 11 that the devil can transform himself into an angel of light in order to deceive people he has been hard at work ever since he first succeeded in deceiving adam and eve in the garden of eden in genesis 3. you see since man was created to worship the devil has developed a completely counterfeit spiritual experience to draw this worship away from the one true god unto himself and satan has worked hard at it for 6 000 years of human history according to scripture satan has a kingdom of his own matthew 12 a throne or a seat in certain cities and even in certain churches according to revelation 2 he has a table of communion according to first corinthians 10. he has people who worship and sacrifice at his altar also first corinthians 10. he has the ability to perform counterfeit miracles according to revelation 16. he has a counterfeit or harlot church that opposes the saints according to revelation 17. satan has false apostles prophets and teachers according to second corinthians 11. he has false doctrines and deceptive spiritual experiences according to first timothy 4. he has a false gospel according to galatians 1. he even will someday introduce a false christ we know as the antichrist second thessalonians 2 and the devil even has many false believers according to john 8. now in the old testament it was not the pagan false prophets who did the most damage to israel it was the jewish false prophets who did the most damage why because they claimed to speak for jehovah and they claimed to have revelation from god now god's true prophets they gave stern warnings don't listen to them don't follow them they're not telling you the truth but people followed the false prophets anyway do you know why because the religion of the false prophets was easy and comfortable lenient casual accommodating and popular their message gave people a good feeling but it was totally false and we deal with the very same thing today jeremiah said it this way he said those false prophets they have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly they help them somewhat they make them feel good but they say peace peace when there's absolutely no peace although they make the people of israel feel good their message is exactly opposite of what god desires and what god is speaking in the new testament paul warned the elders of ephesus he said i know this after my departing shall grieve grievous wolves enter in among you in the church and they will not spare the flock and then he lowers the boom and probably shocked them he looked at those elders that he'd worked with he looked at those elders that had helped him lead the church and he said also of your own selves shall men arise and they will speak perverse things twisted things perverted things for one motive to draw away disciples after them and in the last letter he would ever write paul warned timothy he said timothy the time will come when the culture the people even the church world they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lusts what their flesh wants to do shall they heap to themselves teachers one after another after another if this one says something they don't like they'll just say well i i eat the meat and throw away the bones when he teaches i just listen to this part he's good on salvation and he's good on prayer and he's good on miracles and he's good on that's a bunch of garbage you need a church where you are accountable to god's people and to the lord you need a pastor if you want to listen to other preachers and pastors and people on media that's wonderful but you be very careful that you have a very strong apostolic filter because there's a lot of polluted garbage that sits behind covers on christian's bookstore bookshelves and you can get your mind so twisted you couldn't recognize apostolic truth if it hit you in the face see i told you after their own lust they just heat teachers because their ears are itchy they don't like to listen to one guy one church one pastor too long now pastor raymond that sounds like some fierce opposition that we're up against yes satan is indeed a powerful and vicious opponent but before i wade into this let me tell you that satan works under some very crippling restrictions number one he knows that his time is short and his judgment is coming he's scared to death number two he knows that the church overcomes him through the word of their testimony and the blood of the lamb and there's nothing he can do about that and number three he knows that the church the true church is not ignorant of his devices and that's why peter is writing and that's why pastor is preaching because we do not want to be ignorant of the devices that the devil uses to deceive people in this last day and that's exactly what peter wants to do in what we call chapter 2. he wants to warn the church about false teachers and their deceptive messages he says but there were false prophets among the people even as there shall be false teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable heresies even denying the lord that bought them and they will bring upon themselves swift destruction and many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of peter just gave us a truckload of information there peter says there will be somebody say there will be there will be false teachers in the last days church and he says that those false teachers who arise up within the world of christendom they will share these characteristics first of all their doctrines are heresies the word heresy originally means a choice or a sect like a a party that forms and they want to draw followers because these teachers cause division in the church by drawing people after themselves by forcing people to choose between their new revelation and the teaching of apostolic elders and so what they teach and preach is heresy and then he says their doctrines are promoted privily which means secretly bringing alongside no none of these people throw out the truth immediately none of them throw out doctrine immediately they don't do it that way they replace it gradually and all the time they give the impression that they still believe what the elders taught until it is too late for their followers to rescue themselves they bring in these heresies privily secretly they place heresy alongside of truth and say oh i still believe truth i still believe that i still believe those doctrines but they don't and suddenly the heresy eats away at the truth until people are deceived and harmed he says that their doctrines deny the lord that bought them what does he mean he means they live however they want they follow the carnal impulses of the flesh and the world and they ignore the commandments of jesus and the apostles they actually deny the lord who paid such a price to rescue them from sin and they go right back to it and so peter he doesn't pull punches you think pastor's rough tonight there's no way i'll come close to what peter's saying here he says their doctrines will result in swift destruction which refers to the strong judgment of god and he says that this judgment will now this judgment will happen now but it will ultimately lead to something worse eternal damnation for them and those who follow them you'd think well people will run people will see through that people will turn away from them people will be on guard against them but peter said no many people will follow their pernicious ways and that refers that word pernicious pernicious ways it refers to the destructive effects of the carnal lifestyle that their teachings promote and we see it i've talked to people that got away from apostolic truth and so many wrong things happened to them because once they were out of the protection of the beautiful teachings of truth they were a victim to everything that came at them in the world and so many things in their life fell apart sometimes thank you jesus sometimes they get back to god sometimes they don't their doctrines however peter says even though their doctrines are so destructive many people will follow them their doctrines will be very popular in a generation that has lost its way and finally he says and their doctrines will do something that is so sinister and evil their doctrines will actually speak evil of the way of truth their teachings will mock and vilify those who love apostolic doctrine and those who embrace apostolic lifestyle he said they will speak evil of the way of truth that word means the highway the road the journey and the old testament the prophet called it a highway of holiness they will speak evil of that and their doctrines will cause others to speak evil of that how sinister a plot the devil has for this generation in verse 3 peter says through covetousness shall they the false teachers with feigned words make merchandise of you they will treat you like a commodity they just want your money they just want your allegiance they just want your membership they just want you to follow them they will make merchandise of you and peter says whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not and their damnation slumbereth not peter here reveals the methods and the mentality of the false teachers he said they preach through covetousness they make merchandise of people because their only motive is to build a crowd of followers they used feigned words fake words the the greek there is plastos it's the same root as we get the word plastic in english they are plastic words they are fake words they are phony words they are connived words they sound so nice and they sound so kind and so compassionate but they're plastic words and those words because they're plastic words they can be twisted and warped and morphed to mean anything they want them to mean let me say something that's not original with me but i thought this is so powerful these false teachers use our vocabulary but they don't use our dictionary let me run that one by you again they use our vocabulary they say all the right words but they don't use our dictionary the words they're saying don't mean the same thing as what the bible insists that they mean they use terms like salvation and grace and mercy they use other great terms of the bible but when they say them they're not meaning the same thing that an apostolic preacher would mean and immature believers hear these preachers and hear these teachers and they think oh there they must be pentecostal in doctrine because they say pentecostal words but sadly they are very far from it they are using the bible to promote their own agenda and gain their own following instead of preaching and teaching god's commandments now there are people and we've got them in this town and there are wonderful pastors in this town who are listen innocently ignorant of apostolic truth like apollos in acts 18. he needed somebody to come alongside of him he's a good man he was preaching what he knew of the gospel and he needed somebody to come alongside of him and explain the way to him more perfectly there are wonderful people who name the name of jesus in this city and they are innocently ignorant of what the bible actually teaches we don't spurn those people we don't mock those people we don't reject those people you better love those people you better welcome those people you better pray for those people because every church in this town regardless of the denominational name over the door they need to have an apostolic move of god's spirit and a revelation of truth and i don't care if they keep their denominational tag as long as they're doing it according to what the bible teaches in that church but these false teachers they're not innocently ignorant of what the bible says they know the truth but they have deliberately replaced it and rejected it and turned away from it and peter he sees no hope whatsoever for false teachers who refuse to repent of their doctrinal error in god's mind peter says their judgment is certain even though it hasn't happened yet they look successful it looks like everything's working it looks like god's blessing and favors on them their judgment hasn't happened yet but their judgment is certain peter says their judgment lingereth not and their damnation slumberth not it's going to catch up with them and peter uses three examples to illustrate god's determination to carry out this judgment on them here's his three examples he said the false teachers are like the fallen angels they're like the wicked world before the flood and they're like the cities of sodom and gomorrah here's the passage here's his examples for if god spared not the angels that sinned they thought they were getting away with it they thought they were following lucifer they thought lucifer was going to overthrow the throne in heaven but they were wrong if god spared not the angels that sin but he cast them down to hell and he delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment that's his first example he said they're waiting for judgment judgment will come even though it hasn't happened yet and then second example he spared not the old world but he saved noah the eighth person a preacher of righteousness bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly they thought noah was a kook they thought noah was too extreme they thought noah's message was too exclusive they thought that noah was preaching too straight and too hard of a way to god and to salvation but their judgment was coming peter said their judgment it lingers not it slumbers not and then his third example and here's what else god did he turned the cities of sodom and gomorrah into ashes he condemned them with an overthrow and he made them an example unto those that after should live ungodly you want to know what god thinks of people that turn away from truth and walk into sin and embrace it again he said look at sodom and gomorrah god judged those cities now you know all the critics in all the halls the dusty libraries of higher learning you know that they say well that old testament god he's not very merciful but when god judges cities sometimes nations like this you need to read the history of those cities and the history of those nations sometimes by god commanding his people israel to kill every person in that nation god saved millions because that nation sacrificed their babies in the fires of their pagan altars and god saved many more by giving that command than he would have if he'd let that nation live and so judgment falls god is serious about judgment right now we live in a world where we just think god is this wonderful gracious doting grandfather in the sky and he just loves everybody and we kind of pull the wool over his eyes because we live however we want monday to saturday and show up at his house on sunday and say hey jesus and he looks down and we've pulled the wool completely over his eyes he doesn't have a clue what we've been doing all week that's not the god that's real and just because judgment hasn't come yet or now doesn't mean judgment's not coming but god is merciful in the middle of those ungodly situations look what he did in the middle of sodom and gomorrah perhaps the two wickedest twin cities to ever exist in the old testament he delivered just lot vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked for that righteous man dwelling among them the things he saw and the things he heard he vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds you please hear pastor tonight the dumbest thing lot ever did was to pitch his tent towards sodom he looked toward the world and he ended up losing much of his family he survived only with his two daughters he lost his son-in-laws who mocked him to his face and he lost his wife who was so ensnared in the sins of that city that she turned back and god judged her instantly lot crippled out of sodom and gomorrah that was the worst decision he ever made but god was so merciful that although lot had made that stupid decision god looked down because of the prayers of his friend abraham god reached down and he literally pulled lot and his family out of sodom and gomorrah like peter we live in a treacherous day false doctrines are floating everywhere and yes some of them on christian airwaves but god is merciful and church if we ever needed to pray for people who are lost and pray for people who are ensnared in sin and pray for people that are being influenced by ungodly associates and friends now is the day because god is still merciful and god can reach down please don't pray for somebody to turn their life around and then when they run into trouble say oh no we need to pray for them to get out of that trouble that might be god answering your prayer because sometimes until somebody's just about flat on their back they don't turn to god so if you prayed god do anything to save them when god does anything don't you then go argue with god oh my goodness i'm so sorry i feel the holy ghost here tonight and it's very solemn and i'm not expecting anybody to respond really or run the aisles or do any of that pentecostal stuff we do because the word is heavy tonight and it's not going to get better before peter gets done with chapter two and i knew it would be like this but this is what the word of god says this is the benefit of not just preaching some little candy stick favorite five verses and whatever is current at the christian bookstore in our church this is the benefit to walking methodically through the word of god because if you don't avoid what the word of god says in plain english it might just be that god could arrest somebody and save somebody and turn somebody around in the midst of the two human judgments that are mentioned the angels that was a supernatural being but in the midst of the judgment that surrounded noah's day and lots day god acted in his mercy to save two godly people and their families from the world around them noah and lot and peter ends by saying this our god the lord knoweth how to deliver the godly under temptations if you're in this service or you're watching online tonight and you are struggling against sin against bondage against secret sin against addiction let me say something to you god knows how to deliver you out of the trap of the enemy if you'll just reach out to him if you'll just pray to him if you'll just pray wherever you are right now god knows how to deliver people who call on him sincerely out of the trap of the enemy out of temptation but peter flips the coin and we don't like this side of the coin he says but god also knows how to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished as much as god has been merciful there's coming a day when mercy has ended and grace is over peter's point is god knows how to deliver us but he also knows how to judge sin now he's speaking specifically about false teachers and so who exactly are these false teachers that are headed for such a horrible judgment that he compares them to the angels that sin and the sinful world of noah's day and the cities of sodom and gomorrah who are they and he has an answer for us chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and they despise government they hate authority presumptuous are they self-willed they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities whereas angels which are greater in power and might than any human being they wouldn't bring a railing accusation against them before the lord peter paints a picture of the false teachers as proud and rebellious people who teach what they teach only so their flesh can do what it wants to do that's what they do they despise government they show no respect for apostolic authority or for the elders that preached to us and taught us they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities they don't hesitate to attack truth or argue with those who preach it they are presumptuous that word in that context means daring or bold they are so bold and so brash and so daring in the way they dare to address those in positions of spiritual responsibility and peter said they're self-willed which literally means they live only to please themselves and then his punchline is this even angels who have greater power and might would not act like this even angels would not dare to intrude into a sphere of authority which does not belong to them but these apostates are so arrogant that peter's picture is they're daring god to judge them i'll live however i want i'll believe whatever i want i'll do whatever i want they dare god to judge them and peter gets worse he said these as natural brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed they speak evil of the things that they understand not and they shall utterly perish in their own corruption and because that happens they shall receive the reward of unrighteousness as they that count it pleasure here's an unusual expression to riot in the daytime peter's picture of these false teachers is not very flattering he compares them to senseless animals whose only destiny is to be slaughtered he says they speak things they speak evil of things that they don't even understand and that's why they can so easily change their doctrines and convictions and then attack anyone who dares to question them what they don't understand is that the faith that was once delivered to the saints that faith brothers and sisters cannot be changed and it cannot be destroyed by trying to change it they are only destroying themselves and peter says they shall utterly perish in their own corruption the unfortunate situation is that these false teachers can do a terrible amount of spiritual damage to other people now before they ever receive the reward of unrighteousness at the judgment the danger is not at judgment god's going to sort it all out and they have a punishment waiting that that would horrify all of us if we could even dare to imagine it that's not the day that's troublesome the day peter says is now because now they can do a lot of damage to others who may be influenced by them who may follow them who may believe what they say they love peter says to flaunt their new liberty they don't realize that their new liberty is actually the same old bondage that they were once delivered from all of the terms in these verses that i just read they carry the meaning of sensual reveling or pleasing the flesh now we came across the unique term there a moment ago in ancient times it was expected that people would revel at night that they would hide their sins under cover of darkness but these false teachers peter says they are so convinced of their new revelation that they riot in the daytime they don't even try to hide their new lifestyle which is really their old sinful lifestyle a person can become so accustomed to his vices that he begins to see them as virtues now if they kept these worldly activities out in the world that would be one thing but here's what peter's up against he said they insist on coming around the church and trying to convince other believers to follow them they can't just leave us alone peter said because they have to justify the drastic change in their doctrine and lifestyle so they just can't leave us alone and peter doesn't take kindly to this watch what he says he said spots they are and blemishes sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you he said they have eyes full of adultery they cannot cease from sin and they beguile unstable souls and heart they have exercised with covetous practices and then his epitaph on them is they are cursed children peter calls them all of these things he's not just calling names he's totally serious he said they've exchanged their relationship with god for friendship with the world peter says that these false teachers cannot cease from sin why because they're in bondage that's why they consider themselves to be free yet they are in the most terrible kind of deception and slavery and so whatever they touch they defile and whoever they enlist in their new doctrine or their new lifestyle they actually enslave they have perfected the art of beguiling unstable souls and that word picture there peter he's talking about a fisherman baiting a hook he said they've got a hook baited and they beguile unstable souls and what kind of bait do they use one word the promise of liberty that's their bait jude said it this way they turn the beautiful grace of god into a perverted lasciviousness a loose lifestyle now that's why ccc we need to protect and guard and teach and mentor our precious new believers because they are still what peter would call unstable souls they haven't got acclimated to the apostolic life yet they haven't got acclimated to all the beautiful doctrines of scripture yet they're still coming out of a world of sin and a lifestyle of all kinds of ungodliness and they could be beguiled or deceived if you want to do something to bless your church don't just hang around with your little crew don't just hang around with your faithful five friends find a new believer find somebody that you don't recognize find somebody that just showed up find somebody that still looks like they've probably got some issues and love on them and pray for them and talk to them and mentor them and disciple them because we don't want them to be lost back to the world peter said in verse 15 they have forsaken the right way and are gone astray they follow the way of balaam the son of bosor who loved the wages of unrighteousness but that old prophet was rebuked for his iniquity the dumb ass his donkey speaking with man's voice for bad the madness of the prophet that's a famous old testament story to israel the false teachers in the phillips translation peter says they've forsaken the right way the phillips translation says they have abandoned the right road they know the narrow way that god has established because that's what they were taught but they deliberately choose the broad road that leads to destruction jesus said that but the travesty is that they take others with them so they are like balaam who was willing to sell his anointing prostitute his ministry and even curse god's people just to get honor and money from the world in his case it was balak the king of the moabites but today it could be just about anybody even balaam's donkey could hear from god better than this prophet who was so tempted by his worldly associations it was madness peter said and he continues we don't even want him to continue it's getting deathly quiet in here but he's going to continue anyway because he's trying to stir up the church see we think being stirred is what we feel on a sunday night service but being stirred sometimes is being warned and cautioned by the word of god to remember what we've been taught and remember how our elders live and remember the precious truth that we've been handed and truth isn't just doctrine and chapter and verse truth is a precious apostolic godly lifestyle that puts a fence between you and the world and so peter said i gotta stir you up because there's a lot of people attacking your elders and attacking truth and attacking your apostolic lifestyle so we got to stir it up sometimes we'd be better to come under the conviction of the word of god and feel uncomfortable and get stirred that way than our little sunday night powwow because every once in a while the word has to get in there and dig deep and that's what peter's doing and i don't know about you i thank god for his word no matter what the message is if it's in the word of god i'm already biased if it's in the word of god i'm already prejudiced if it's in the word of god i'm already willing if it's in the word of god i'm already sold signed sealed and delivered because it's in the word i don't care whether it's directed me or correct in me i don't care whether it's blessing me or rebuking me i need to stay stirred and the word of god stirs us peter said these these false teachers they're everywhere they're picking off new converts one by one he said they are wells without water they are clouds that are carried with a tempest to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever for when they speak great swelling words of vanity they allure they tempt they attract through the lusts of the flesh through much wantonness here's an odd phrase explain in a second those that were clean escaped from them who live in error the false teachers they are wells without water they have the appearance of a well but if you investigate there's no living water that changes them from the inside out they are clouds that are carried with a tempest they have the appearance of a storm coming but when you go to investigate it's just clouds being blown around in the sky there is no rain and god says that he will put them in the midst of darkness forever they have the appearance of light but it's really darkness and god will judge them eternally now here's the question that must have baffled peter and it baffles me how in the world can teachers with such an inferior message still attract so many followers it's actually quite simple in our spiritually naive generation they draw people through great swelling words that appeal to their pride the message today is not god loves you you're a sinner you need to repent the message today is basically god loves you just like you are and he'd like to add a bunch of good things to your life and you really don't have to do much that's the message today it's false in our spiritually naive generation they draw people through these great swelling words that appeal to human pride and they also draw people by allowing their followers to live in the lusts of the flesh no lifestyle change while still feeling saved but worst of all most sinister of all they draw people who were recently escaped from a life of sin they target precious new converts and if they get a hold of a new convert they plunge them right back into their old sinful lifestyle we have precious people in our church i'm thinking of one lady in particular worked with a bunch of people from another church they never said anything to her when she was out clubbing they never said anything to her when she was out doing whatever she did in the world but boy the moment she went to an apostolic church they were all over her you're in a cult you're bound you you need to get free of that they didn't care enough to talk to her about getting her free from her sinful lifestyle but see that's the spirit that peter's talking about they target precious new converts who have just escaped from a life of sin and their message is you don't need to worry about that you can still do that and believe in jesus it's a damnable heresy peter says church saints mature believers our new believers need to be protected and prayed for and established in the truth because the false teachers are out to get them and they are the most susceptible for six solid months we've heard nothing but all kinds of hype and panic and fear about covet 19 and they have told us over and over again be careful of those that are the most susceptible and we've tried to do exactly that be careful of those that are vulnerable let me tell you the most vulnerable people in the church of the living god are those that just got here out of a life of sin and you better be praying for them or we could lose them eternally the most susceptible people are those that don't know doctrine yet they don't know haggai from malachi from matthew from mark they don't know any of that you need to be praying for them you need to not only pray for them you need to be their friend you need to invest in them you need to talk to them you need to connect with them because they need you they need an older brother or sister in the family of god peter says while they promise them liberty oh the big deal is liberty you're going to be free you don't have to do all that it's liberty you're free while they promise them liberty they themselves are the servants of corruption and he just says for of whom a man has overcome of the same as he brought in bondage you can't hide it from god if you're still living according to the things and the customs and the habits and the sins of the world you can talk about christian liberty all you want you're a slave to sin for if it's be the most serious verse in ii peter for if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the lord and savior jesus christ if after they've done that they are again entangled in the things of the world and overcome the latter end is worse with them than in the beginning i don't know of a more terrifying verse in second peter than that verse right now peter said you can't set somebody free if you're in bondage yourself stop talking you can't you can't set anybody free so stop talking you have no message because you're doing the same things that you say you're set free from peter makes it clear that these false teachers had once escaped the pollutions of the world but then they went right back to being entangled in sin once again and he said this leaves them in a worse state than before at least when they were a sinner they could feel their desperate need of god but now they think they're saved so they feel absolutely no need to change anything peter said it's worse than they were before and he concludes the chapter by saying for it had been better it would have been better for them it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the holy commandment that was delivered unto them it would have been better for those false teachers to have never known god at all than to have known him and loved him and preached about him and sung about him and then turn away from him that's pretty generic peter said let me make it more specific specifically turning away from the holy commandment that was delivered unto them he's talking about their lifestyle and he ends with this gross and just distasteful comparison you shudder when you think of it it's an it's an unkind image he said but it has happened unto them according to the true proverb the dog is turned to his own vomit again and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire to use peter's vivid images is almost distasteful to us but he doesn't hesitate keep in mind that dogs and pigs were not pampered pets in the first century dogs and pigs were unclean scavenger animals and to use either of those terms was a major insult but peter's not playing to use his image the pig was washed on the outside but remained a pig on the inside the dog was cleaned up on the inside but then remained a dog it ate its own vomit it expelled vomit but then it ate it again and when that happened the pig looked better when it was washed the dog felt better when it had vomited up what was ever in its stomach but neither one had been changed in their nature each had the same old nature not a new one and that explains why both animals returned to their old life it was part of their nature a pig can stay only clean can only stay clean for a short time and then it heads for the nearest mud hole we don't condemn a pig for acting like a pig because we know it has a pig's nature but if you see a sheep heading to wallow in a mud hole we would be concerned certainly the dog feels better after it empties its own stomach but it's still a dog having the experience of vomiting up what was in its stomach didn't change its nature it ate it back down again it only gave further evidence of his dog nature he came back and just like a dog he lapped up his own vomit pastor that is disgusting peter means for it to be that is offensive he means for it to be that is gross he means for it to be that is exactly the response peter wanted to produce and you dear people when you read his letter 2 000 years removed from when he put pen to paper because he preached at the beginning of the church age and it was treacherous but we preach at the end of the church age it is at least equally treacherous if not more so peter is warning the church beware of false teachers if you can't quite figure out whether what you're reading or listening to or watching if you can't figure out quite whether their doctrine is correct peter gives you permission to look at their lifestyle if it looks like the world walks like the world talks like the world acts like the world run from it because that's a symptom of a deeper problem the best antidote to false doctrine and false experience and false teachers for the apostolic church to stay stirred that's the antidote you have a hard time backsliding from a red hot on fire prayer meeting that you're participating in you have a hard time getting deceived when you're listening to the voice of your faithful pastors and you're studying the word for yourself and you're not paying so much attention to the big wide wacky world of christendom but you're sincerely before god saying jesus reveal your word to me it's a treacherous day it's easy to be deceived and i'll say one last thing before we pray it's so easy with a message like this it's so easy for somebody to sit smugly in a pew listening to their pastor who's trying to warn this church not the church across town not the preacher across the street not some other saint in some other congregation if i can say it i love them i pray that god touches them and reveals truth to all of them but they are not my direct responsibility you precious people are my direct responsibility you are the responsibility of your pastors that's not because we're better than you or smarter than you or even more spiritual than you it's because god has entrusted us with an office of authority i think you know us by now we don't try to lord that over on you we don't boss people around and tell people you have to but by the same token we can become so gentle that the devil steamrolls over top of us with all his false doctrine and his polluted lifestyles and everything that he has tried to vomit out on the church of the last days and so every once in a while a pastor has to come to a pulpit and say there's a warning in the word of god and if you've spent this whole bible lesson thinking well pastor really cleaned their clock you have missed the point pastor's not after them he's after you because i love you and i don't want you to be deceived and i don't want you to miss heaven and i don't want you to get ensnared in the same filthy lifestyle that jesus so graciously delivered you out of what kind of slap in the face would that be to jesus for him to deliver you from alcohol and then you start believing that i can be a servant of jesus and still drink whenever i want what kind of a slap in the face would that be kind of a slap in the face would it be from jesus for jesus to deliver you from those associations and those habits and those mindsets and then you turn right around like a dog and you eat that vomit again you turn around like a pig and you go back to the mud and the mire of sin so no i'm sorry i'm not preaching about them i'm not preaching against them i'm not preaching to them i'm preaching to you don't let me be lost jesus don't let me be deceived jesus don't let me grow cold jesus don't let me be lethargic jesus stir me jesus stir us jesus we live in a casual uncommitted day and sometimes we're so casual and uncommitted stir us

Channel: Capital Community Church

Views: 8,928

Rating: 4.9183674 out of 5

Keywords: capital, community, church, fredericton, nb, new, brunswick, canada, upc, upci, united, pentecostal, international, apostolic, christian, preaching, sermons, sermon, raymond, woodward, jack, leaman, matthew, bible, study, biblical teaching

Id: 7PIwzGMpg4E

Length: 60min 13sec (3613 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 23 2020