WEBVTT 00:00:05.960 --> 00:00:09.339 Beautifully sung, Cheryl. Thank you. That is 00:00:09.339 --> 00:00:11.740 a great hymn, isn't it? Not really a hymn. What 00:00:11.740 --> 00:00:15.279 would you call that? A song of exhortation, I 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:20.059 think. And just potent thoughts put together 00:00:20.059 --> 00:00:23.460 in those lines. How many of you can remember 00:00:23.460 --> 00:00:25.539 singing that a long time ago? We'll say, how 00:00:25.539 --> 00:00:28.480 long? Just a long time. Me too. I like that. 00:00:28.539 --> 00:00:31.539 Thank you. And thank you for your ministry tonight, 00:00:31.579 --> 00:00:34.990 all of you. Let's open our Bibles together to 00:00:34.990 --> 00:00:45.609 2 Peter chapter 2. We're going to look at this 00:00:45.609 --> 00:00:48.729 text that deals with false teachers again tonight. 00:00:50.390 --> 00:00:53.590 You remember that Peter's concern in this book 00:00:53.590 --> 00:00:58.429 is that we grow in Christ and by growing in Christ 00:00:58.429 --> 00:01:00.869 he means more than that we would know more about 00:01:00.869 --> 00:01:05.840 the Bible. or more theology. Not that those things 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:08.500 are unimportant. I don't mean that at all. But 00:01:08.500 --> 00:01:11.500 what He means by growing in Christ is that we 00:01:11.500 --> 00:01:16.920 become more like Christ. The grow and the grace 00:01:16.920 --> 00:01:19.379 and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ means 00:01:19.379 --> 00:01:25.780 that He be seen in our lives more readily. He 00:01:25.780 --> 00:01:27.980 has given us a pattern for that in chapter 1. 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:32.409 You remember that it begins With faith and ends 00:01:32.409 --> 00:01:34.569 with love and there are all kinds of qualities 00:01:34.569 --> 00:01:37.909 in between and he says give diligence to add 00:01:37.909 --> 00:01:44.450 these things To your life Because if you do that 00:01:44.450 --> 00:01:47.969 you'll be growing in Christ and You'll not be 00:01:47.969 --> 00:01:50.650 unfruitful for God you'll be usable to God in 00:01:50.650 --> 00:01:52.549 this world and there will be a reward waiting 00:01:52.549 --> 00:01:57.680 for you by and by But as he talks about growing 00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:00.859 in Christ, he warns us that growing in Christ 00:02:00.859 --> 00:02:04.060 is not automatic. There are dangers that we face, 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:09.960 among them false teachers. He talks about these 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:14.599 false teachers in chapter 2. He says that they 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:19.840 are those who deceive the people of God. They 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:23.139 deny the Son of God. They defame the truth of 00:02:23.139 --> 00:02:27.669 God. And he reminds us that they face certain 00:02:27.669 --> 00:02:33.210 doom. Certain judgment will come to false teachers 00:02:33.210 --> 00:02:37.889 just as certain deliverance comes to God's people. 00:02:39.550 --> 00:02:42.689 As he describes the false teachers, he first 00:02:42.689 --> 00:02:46.150 tells us about their character and their conduct. 00:02:47.569 --> 00:02:50.409 And these words sort of summarize what he says 00:02:50.409 --> 00:02:53.930 in verses 10 through 14. He says about them in 00:02:53.930 --> 00:02:57.569 the first place, they are fleshly. They live 00:02:57.569 --> 00:03:00.189 out the lusts and the desires of their flesh. 00:03:00.889 --> 00:03:05.729 They're rebellious. They're arrogant, ignorant, 00:03:06.590 --> 00:03:11.770 immoral, deceitful, and greedy. Just the kind 00:03:11.770 --> 00:03:13.550 of people you want as your next door neighbor, 00:03:13.650 --> 00:03:17.949 right? The words, the description that Peter 00:03:17.949 --> 00:03:20.110 uses here is almost without parallel in the New 00:03:20.110 --> 00:03:25.030 Testament in denouncing a class of people. I 00:03:25.030 --> 00:03:28.169 mean, He exposes them. He strips them bare. He 00:03:28.169 --> 00:03:30.830 says exactly what they're like in their character 00:03:30.830 --> 00:03:35.449 and what they're like in their conduct. He's 00:03:35.449 --> 00:03:38.129 going to continue telling us about them as we 00:03:38.129 --> 00:03:41.669 pick it up in verse 15. He does this with pictures 00:03:41.669 --> 00:03:46.550 and with parables. The pictures come first, and 00:03:46.550 --> 00:03:48.069 that's what we're going to talk about tonight. 00:03:48.169 --> 00:03:53.990 Verse 15 says, They, the false teachers, have 00:03:53.990 --> 00:03:57.389 gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, 00:03:58.030 --> 00:04:01.310 the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. 00:04:01.590 --> 00:04:04.689 But he received a rebuke for his own transgression, 00:04:04.909 --> 00:04:08.770 for a dumb donkey, speaking with the voice of 00:04:08.770 --> 00:04:11.370 a man, restrained the madness of the prophet. 00:04:12.909 --> 00:04:16.269 These are springs without water and mists driven 00:04:16.269 --> 00:04:21.040 by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:24.899 reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of 00:04:24.899 --> 00:04:29.720 vanity, they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, 00:04:30.180 --> 00:04:32.660 those who barely escape from the ones who live 00:04:32.660 --> 00:04:36.259 in error, promising them freedom while they themselves 00:04:36.259 --> 00:04:40.180 are slaves of corruption. For by what a man is 00:04:40.180 --> 00:04:46.740 overcome, by this he is enslaved. Verses 20, 00:04:46.740 --> 00:04:50.439 21, and 22 deal with some parables. that further 00:04:50.439 --> 00:04:54.139 describe for us the false teachers, these verses 00:04:54.139 --> 00:04:57.920 would probably constitute the most difficult 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:02.000 portion of the book of 2 Peter. And so we're 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:03.939 going to wait till the next time to deal with 00:05:03.939 --> 00:05:06.040 those and pray that if the Lord please He might 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:10.379 come before we have to deal with them. But tonight 00:05:10.379 --> 00:05:13.199 we're going to deal with verses 15 through 19 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:16.740 and we're going to examine some pictures of these 00:05:16.740 --> 00:05:20.250 false teachers. Interesting how he describes 00:05:20.250 --> 00:05:23.589 them by way of pictures. You'll notice that he 00:05:23.589 --> 00:05:26.930 sort of draws the line in verse 14 as he describes 00:05:26.930 --> 00:05:29.889 their character and conduct. And he says, the 00:05:29.889 --> 00:05:35.230 bottom line is this, accursed children. Accursed 00:05:35.230 --> 00:05:39.250 children. Literally, it means children of destruction. 00:05:40.389 --> 00:05:43.230 And it is a Hebrism, which means that it was 00:05:43.230 --> 00:05:48.879 a Hebrew expression that meant God's curse. Beyond 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:53.819 them. Strong language. He damns them is what 00:05:53.819 --> 00:05:58.360 he does. That's strong language from the Apostle 00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:03.199 of Jesus Christ. Now maybe the mention of the 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:05.899 curse that he pronounces on them that brings 00:06:05.899 --> 00:06:10.120 to mind this first picture. It is a picture from 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:14.439 history. A picture from history. Verses 15 and 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:17.410 16. By the way, Peter has drawn upon history 00:06:17.410 --> 00:06:19.949 previously in the book. You remember in chapter 00:06:19.949 --> 00:06:22.389 1, he went back to that historical setting on 00:06:22.389 --> 00:06:26.370 the Mount of Transfiguration when our Lord was 00:06:26.370 --> 00:06:29.189 glorified and Peter was there along with James 00:06:29.189 --> 00:06:32.110 and John and he tells about that in a few words. 00:06:32.829 --> 00:06:35.250 In chapter 2, he goes back further than that 00:06:35.250 --> 00:06:37.889 to the Old Testament. He speaks about the angels 00:06:37.889 --> 00:06:43.029 that sinned and the days of Noah and how God 00:06:43.029 --> 00:06:46.290 delivered Noah. And he talks about Sodom and 00:06:46.290 --> 00:06:49.269 Gomorrah, which are not fictional cities. They 00:06:49.269 --> 00:06:51.529 were real cities that existed in the Valley of 00:06:51.529 --> 00:06:56.750 the Plain, in which God judged. At the same time, 00:06:56.910 --> 00:07:01.790 however, he delivered Lot, the nephew of Abram. 00:07:02.730 --> 00:07:04.949 And so Peter is used to using history. Now he 00:07:04.949 --> 00:07:08.470 brings up another figure. It is a man that I 00:07:08.470 --> 00:07:12.610 have always found enigmatic and mysterious myself. 00:07:13.389 --> 00:07:18.350 The man Balaam. Balaam. You read about him primarily 00:07:18.350 --> 00:07:22.810 in Numbers, chapters 22, 23, and 24. Peter just 00:07:22.810 --> 00:07:25.250 sort of summarizes what happened with Balaam. 00:07:26.470 --> 00:07:30.490 He speaks about this man, the son of Beor, who 00:07:30.490 --> 00:07:34.629 loved the wages of unrighteousness, as he puts 00:07:34.629 --> 00:07:39.990 it. Balaam, this Old Testament man, was a Gentile. 00:07:39.990 --> 00:07:44.290 He was not a Jew. He lived during that period 00:07:44.290 --> 00:07:48.709 of time when the children of Israel were about 00:07:48.709 --> 00:07:55.250 to enter the promised land. The Moabites were 00:07:55.250 --> 00:07:57.589 quite upset with the presence of the Israelites. 00:07:58.290 --> 00:08:01.689 They were intimidated by this vast multitude 00:08:01.689 --> 00:08:04.170 of people who had come up now out of Egypt and 00:08:04.170 --> 00:08:07.069 wandered through the wilderness and were about 00:08:07.069 --> 00:08:15.199 to set foot into the... the land of Canaan. And 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:17.180 the Moabites were east and south of there, and 00:08:17.180 --> 00:08:20.019 they felt very threatened by the Israelites. 00:08:20.139 --> 00:08:26.519 And so Balak, who was the king, sent an emissary, 00:08:26.579 --> 00:08:30.620 a group of people, to search out this prophet 00:08:30.620 --> 00:08:35.179 whose name was Balaam. Balaam lived in Mesopotamia, 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:39.440 or Aram. It was quite a ways from Moab. But he 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:44.059 had a reputation. Balaam was what we might call 00:08:44.059 --> 00:08:49.620 a prophet for hire. The thing that I find so 00:08:49.620 --> 00:08:52.480 mysterious about him is that he knew how to get 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:57.460 in touch with God, the true God. Warren Wiersby 00:08:57.460 --> 00:08:59.840 says about him, he could get messages from God, 00:08:59.860 --> 00:09:03.820 but he led people away from God. Interesting. 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:13.830 Balak said to Balaam, Come down here and curse 00:09:13.830 --> 00:09:20.370 the people of Israel. I'm afraid of them." Well, 00:09:20.370 --> 00:09:26.230 God said to Balaam, no, no. Don't do that. So 00:09:26.230 --> 00:09:28.409 Balaam sent the messengers back to Balaam with 00:09:28.409 --> 00:09:35.909 the message, no can do. Won't be there. So Balaam 00:09:35.909 --> 00:09:38.529 sent another group, a larger group back and offered 00:09:38.529 --> 00:09:42.539 Balaam more money and more honor. to please come. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:46.980 Well, God saw them coming, of course. And this 00:09:46.980 --> 00:09:51.480 time, God gave permission to Balaam to say yes. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:54.399 It was not God's directive will. God had already 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:57.240 declared that, don't do it. But now, perhaps, 00:09:57.340 --> 00:10:01.860 as a test of Balaam to expose his heart, God 00:10:01.860 --> 00:10:06.779 says, go with him. Well, Balaam was all too happy 00:10:06.779 --> 00:10:11.340 because this meant money. He was going to get 00:10:11.340 --> 00:10:15.080 rich, be an honorable man, because of the King 00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:20.019 of Moab. Until the next day, he saddled his donkey 00:10:20.019 --> 00:10:25.899 and headed off for Moab. But they came to a vineyard, 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:31.659 and the road was narrow. And as they were going 00:10:31.659 --> 00:10:35.919 along, the donkey began to act very strange and 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:40.590 nearly brushed Balaam off. Balaam didn't like 00:10:40.590 --> 00:10:44.490 that and so he began to beat the donkey. And 00:10:44.490 --> 00:10:47.830 they went on a little bit more and the donkey 00:10:47.830 --> 00:10:50.230 again acted very strangely and brushed up against 00:10:50.230 --> 00:10:53.029 the wall. Balaam really got mad. He beat the 00:10:53.029 --> 00:10:56.509 donkey some more. Well see what the donkey saw 00:10:56.509 --> 00:10:58.970 and Balaam didn't see was the angel of the Lord 00:10:58.970 --> 00:11:05.909 who stood right in the way. And he was frightened 00:11:05.909 --> 00:11:09.850 by that. Balaam didn't see that. But as he was 00:11:09.850 --> 00:11:11.370 beating the donkey, the donkey turned around 00:11:11.370 --> 00:11:17.049 and spoke to him. Why are you beating me? In 00:11:17.049 --> 00:11:20.450 essence. Don't you know I'm the donkey you've 00:11:20.450 --> 00:11:22.690 ridden all these years? Why are you beating me? 00:11:24.210 --> 00:11:26.669 And you wonder who the donkey is because Balaam 00:11:26.669 --> 00:11:30.350 responded and answered him. I mean, it's one 00:11:30.350 --> 00:11:31.950 thing to have a donkey speak to you. It's another 00:11:31.950 --> 00:11:37.330 to talk to him, to answer him. And then the Lord 00:11:37.330 --> 00:11:40.889 opened up his eyes. And he saw the angel of the 00:11:40.889 --> 00:11:42.970 Lord, and the angel of the Lord then spoke to 00:11:42.970 --> 00:11:49.450 Balaam. Well, Balaam went on. When he got there, 00:11:49.509 --> 00:11:52.509 he went through these elaborate rituals, building 00:11:52.509 --> 00:11:56.210 altars and offering sacrifices, but he could 00:11:56.210 --> 00:11:59.669 not pronounce out of his mouth a curse upon the 00:11:59.669 --> 00:12:04.269 Israelites. Try and try and try again. He could 00:12:04.269 --> 00:12:09.840 not do it. because God kept putting into his 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:14.279 mouth words of blessing upon the people of Israel 00:12:14.279 --> 00:12:17.840 and judgment upon their enemies. And of course, 00:12:18.139 --> 00:12:21.419 Balak wasn't real excited about that, King of 00:12:21.419 --> 00:12:25.899 Moab. And finally, Balaam, because he couldn't 00:12:25.899 --> 00:12:30.700 pronounce a curse, shared with the King of Moab 00:12:30.700 --> 00:12:36.299 how he could corrupt the people of God. He said, 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:41.279 you go and... be a good neighbor to them. And 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:44.059 you decide to have a good neighbor policy. And 00:12:44.059 --> 00:12:49.039 you exchange people and invite them over to your 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:52.059 feasts. And you go to their feasts and get them 00:12:52.059 --> 00:12:56.779 to commit immorality. And you will compromise 00:12:56.779 --> 00:13:01.159 them. And you will corrupt them. And he went 00:13:01.159 --> 00:13:04.879 back home. In chapter 31 of Numbers, you will 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:07.809 read that Balaam was killed. He was executed 00:13:07.809 --> 00:13:10.629 by God because of what he did. God put him to 00:13:10.629 --> 00:13:14.789 death because of that counsel. Well, that's the 00:13:14.789 --> 00:13:16.970 historical background now that Peter is picking 00:13:16.970 --> 00:13:21.370 up on. He says, Balaam, the son of Beor, loved 00:13:21.370 --> 00:13:24.269 the wages of unrighteousness. You see, he was 00:13:24.269 --> 00:13:26.950 a prophet for hire. He was a false teacher, a 00:13:26.950 --> 00:13:29.509 false prophet, and willing to sell his services 00:13:29.509 --> 00:13:34.600 for the highest bidder. He received rebuke for 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:37.779 his own transgression by the donkey, it says 00:13:37.779 --> 00:13:42.659 here, speaking with the voice of the man. It 00:13:42.659 --> 00:13:44.720 speaks of the madness of the prophet. The word 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:47.299 here means he was just beside himself. Sin is 00:13:47.299 --> 00:13:51.679 that way. It leads us to insanity of a sort. 00:13:54.539 --> 00:13:57.580 Peter now is saying these false teachers who 00:13:57.580 --> 00:14:01.769 are afflicting you are like Balaam. who knew 00:14:01.769 --> 00:14:07.070 the right way but deliberately forsook it for 00:14:07.070 --> 00:14:14.309 the wages of unrighteousness. The way of Balaam 00:14:14.309 --> 00:14:19.230 that is mentioned here is using mercenary greed, 00:14:20.629 --> 00:14:24.070 whether it be for money or for honor, as a motive 00:14:24.070 --> 00:14:33.629 for religious service. allowing greed and covetousness 00:14:33.629 --> 00:14:38.690 to be the motive. That's the way of Balaam. False 00:14:38.690 --> 00:14:45.590 teachers have a price. In Jude, verse 11, there 00:14:45.590 --> 00:14:48.990 is a phrase called the error of Balaam, which 00:14:48.990 --> 00:14:54.309 may be technically different. The error of Balaam 00:14:54.309 --> 00:14:57.889 may be described as selling oneself for money. 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:02.419 the making of money out of false religion. And 00:15:02.419 --> 00:15:05.320 then in Revelation 2, 14, he is mentioned again, 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:08.559 and there it says that it refers to the teaching 00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:12.159 of Balaam, which may have been his counsel to 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:14.639 Balak to compromise the men of Israel through 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:18.139 intermarriage and immorality and idolatry. It 00:15:18.139 --> 00:15:21.759 was defilement of God's people, the forsaking 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:25.159 of their command to separation and lifestyle 00:15:25.159 --> 00:15:31.039 difference. the teaching of Balaam. What we're 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:35.860 talking about here in the greed and the immorality 00:15:35.860 --> 00:15:43.899 and the deceit and the teaching to be like the 00:15:43.899 --> 00:15:46.220 world, all of that is a part of false religion, 00:15:46.419 --> 00:15:48.899 whether it be mainstream apostate Christianity 00:15:48.899 --> 00:15:53.299 or it be cults, it's all a part of false religion. 00:15:54.939 --> 00:15:57.480 But Peter says, if you want to know what false 00:15:57.480 --> 00:16:01.080 religion is like in your day, and it's true of 00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:03.779 us today as much as it was then in the first 00:16:03.779 --> 00:16:06.700 century, go back and look at Balaam. A lot of 00:16:06.700 --> 00:16:10.899 comparisons, he says. Kenneth Gangel says in 00:16:10.899 --> 00:16:13.399 the Bible Knowledge Commentary, the false teachers 00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:16.899 like Balaam had sinned so long and so intensely 00:16:16.899 --> 00:16:19.279 that their sin had become a form of insanity. 00:16:20.610 --> 00:16:23.509 Also today many people have so thoroughly given 00:16:23.509 --> 00:16:26.909 themselves over to avarice and debauchery that 00:16:26.909 --> 00:16:30.750 their lifestyles are spiritually insane. Money 00:16:30.750 --> 00:16:33.090 and sex, even in the name of religion, continue 00:16:33.090 --> 00:16:38.009 to bring spiritual ruin to many people. To my 00:16:38.009 --> 00:16:41.049 mind when I read that comes a preacher in Louisiana. 00:16:43.570 --> 00:16:48.679 But he's not alone. David Wheaton says the new 00:16:48.679 --> 00:16:52.480 Bible commentary revised, Balaam is the prototype 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:55.240 of the false teacher who seeks good rewards or 00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:58.399 popularity by persuading people that God's standards 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:06.579 can be lowered. Many of the mainstream churches 00:17:06.579 --> 00:17:10.599 are of course seeking to do this in their national 00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:14.819 conventions and conferences. to say, well, God's 00:17:14.819 --> 00:17:17.279 word doesn't really say this is wrong or that's 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:20.779 wrong. That was for then, this is now. We must 00:17:20.779 --> 00:17:23.400 interpret it in the light of our culture today. 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:26.720 And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And God's standards 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:29.779 are lowered and eventually completely dismissed 00:17:29.779 --> 00:17:32.799 as being totally out of date. False teaching. 00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:38.599 False teaching. Now following the picture from 00:17:38.599 --> 00:17:42.420 history, Peter says, let me tell you more. He 00:17:42.420 --> 00:17:45.079 says, consider these pictures from nature, verse 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:49.019 17. He said, they're also like springs that are 00:17:49.019 --> 00:17:54.019 without water. Of course, in a desert region, 00:17:56.119 --> 00:18:01.279 an oasis is very important. These caravans would 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:04.559 travel for days with their water supplies aiming 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:09.259 towards a specific oasis so that they could replenish 00:18:09.259 --> 00:18:12.819 their water. And when they would see that oasis 00:18:12.819 --> 00:18:17.480 coming, they marched with great expectation of 00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:20.000 fresh water, being able to fill their supply 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:22.559 again. But when they got there, if there was 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:27.319 no water, it was great, great danger. They might 00:18:27.319 --> 00:18:31.460 all die. It was devastation. Peter says that's 00:18:31.460 --> 00:18:34.119 the way false teachers are. They make promises 00:18:34.119 --> 00:18:36.680 that they can't deliver. They do not produce 00:18:36.680 --> 00:18:40.140 what is expected of them. They can give nothing. 00:18:40.460 --> 00:18:44.220 because they have nothing to give. They are bankrupt. 00:18:44.420 --> 00:18:48.039 They are void of anything spiritual. How opposite 00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:51.859 of our Lord. By the way, the word he uses here 00:18:51.859 --> 00:18:55.339 for springs is the same word that Jesus used 00:18:55.339 --> 00:18:59.440 in John chapter four, where he talks about the 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:03.619 spring of living water that he would provide, 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:07.339 that he would be. And again, in John chapter 00:19:07.339 --> 00:19:10.660 7, the living water that comes out of those that 00:19:10.660 --> 00:19:14.200 are truly His, but not so of false teachers. 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:18.440 Furthermore, he says of them, they are like a 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:23.980 mist driven by the storm. He may be saying about 00:19:23.980 --> 00:19:25.920 the same thing as he did in the first picture 00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:28.980 here from nature, that you see a cloud coming, 00:19:29.059 --> 00:19:31.980 you see this roll cloud, let's say, and you think, 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:33.920 oh, we're going to get some rain, and then nothing 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.430 happens. But I wonder, too, if he isn't talking 00:19:37.430 --> 00:19:42.650 about a fog, a mist that rolls in. Have you ever 00:19:42.650 --> 00:19:45.910 seen that in San Francisco? It is one of the 00:19:45.910 --> 00:19:47.970 most amazing things I have ever in my life. See, 00:19:48.130 --> 00:19:50.809 it frightened me the first time I saw it. Late 00:19:50.809 --> 00:19:53.410 one afternoon, when the fog came rolling over 00:19:53.410 --> 00:19:56.609 the, what do they call them, the hills there, 00:19:57.089 --> 00:19:59.990 down which is the Pacific Ocean. The fog apparently 00:19:59.990 --> 00:20:03.069 builds up on the ocean side of it, and when it 00:20:03.069 --> 00:20:06.809 gets high enough or whatever, it comes rolling 00:20:06.809 --> 00:20:09.470 over the hills. It's the most amazing thing. 00:20:09.589 --> 00:20:12.609 And high winds, 30, 40, 50 miles an hour, bring 00:20:12.609 --> 00:20:18.089 this fog in like rivers of mist. Well, I wonder 00:20:18.089 --> 00:20:21.089 if he isn't saying here that these false teachers 00:20:21.089 --> 00:20:26.109 do not enlighten, rather they obscure. They obscure 00:20:26.109 --> 00:20:31.349 the minds of people. Like a storm, they are unstable. 00:20:31.390 --> 00:20:35.089 They are restless. They are transient. They blow 00:20:35.089 --> 00:20:38.269 with the currents of time. They lack direction. 00:20:39.769 --> 00:20:42.369 That's why we're commanded in Ephesians chapter 00:20:42.369 --> 00:20:46.630 4 to build up one another, to edify one another 00:20:46.630 --> 00:20:51.809 so that we are not tossed and driven by the winds. 00:20:53.309 --> 00:20:57.660 We are to be mature, to grow up. What he's saying 00:20:57.660 --> 00:20:59.619 here is that these men, this is according to 00:20:59.619 --> 00:21:02.420 Dr. David Payne, I quote him, these men have 00:21:02.420 --> 00:21:08.160 no value, no goal, and no future. You say no 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:11.240 future? That's right. Because he says, for whom 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:15.059 the black darkness has been reserved, the gloom 00:21:15.059 --> 00:21:18.019 of darkness, is what he says. And he's talking 00:21:18.019 --> 00:21:22.119 about hell. It's the same idea as back in verse 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:24.680 four, where these angels who sinned are being 00:21:24.680 --> 00:21:29.910 kept. There he says, in pits of darkness. Here 00:21:29.910 --> 00:21:35.089 these false teachers are promised a doom in eternal 00:21:35.089 --> 00:21:41.730 hell. Their destiny is darkness and judgment 00:21:41.730 --> 00:21:47.809 because of their false teaching. Pictures from 00:21:47.809 --> 00:21:51.529 nature. He says, that's not all. He says, I want 00:21:51.529 --> 00:21:53.309 to give you another picture. And he gives us 00:21:53.309 --> 00:21:57.279 now a picture from commerce. verses 18 to 20. 00:21:58.380 --> 00:22:05.500 He says, they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality. 00:22:06.779 --> 00:22:09.019 Now this is, I think, deliberately put here by 00:22:09.019 --> 00:22:11.599 Peter. What did Peter do before he was an apostle? 00:22:13.619 --> 00:22:16.700 Fisherman, right. Fisherman. This is the word 00:22:16.700 --> 00:22:20.880 for baiting a hook. So Peter is drawing upon 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:24.180 the livelihood that he knew best. the commerce 00:22:24.180 --> 00:22:28.359 that he understood fishing. And he says that 00:22:28.359 --> 00:22:33.240 they entice, they bait the hook for people they're 00:22:33.240 --> 00:22:37.079 trying to get to follow them with fleshly desires 00:22:37.079 --> 00:22:41.900 and sensuality. They seduce, just like you seduce 00:22:41.900 --> 00:22:45.559 a fish. You don't just throw the hook out there. 00:22:45.940 --> 00:22:48.660 You put some bait on it to make that fish want 00:22:48.660 --> 00:22:51.079 to bite. And so it is with false teaching. You 00:22:51.079 --> 00:22:53.640 don't just throw out false teaching. You put 00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:56.259 something on there that's going to attract people. 00:22:56.859 --> 00:23:00.720 And people are attracted by fleshly lusts and 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:06.680 by sensuality. When I think of this, to use a 00:23:06.680 --> 00:23:10.400 different picture, I think of a barker at a fair. 00:23:11.700 --> 00:23:16.039 We went to the Minnesota Fair for a few hours 00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:21.880 this year. And one of my children desired to 00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:24.720 go down into that farthest region, the nether 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:30.539 region of it, where you walk through all of these 00:23:30.539 --> 00:23:35.779 games. And you finally come to the sideshows 00:23:35.779 --> 00:23:39.599 down there. And these tapes are playing. Didn't 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:42.579 used to be tapes. Used to be live. But these 00:23:42.579 --> 00:23:45.279 tapes are playing. Come in and see this woman. 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:51.420 Whose head was chopped off in an automobile accident 00:23:51.420 --> 00:23:55.160 But she is alive they've been able to keep her 00:23:55.160 --> 00:24:06.680 alive see it So did I a Few years ago Back when 00:24:06.680 --> 00:24:08.480 I was in high school. I don't was the same woman 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:10.839 or not down at our fair But I saw her several 00:24:10.839 --> 00:24:13.569 years ago when I was a kid I went into this, 00:24:13.609 --> 00:24:15.829 I thought, my goodness, how can this woman be 00:24:15.829 --> 00:24:19.950 alive? She has no head. So I went in there, and 00:24:19.950 --> 00:24:22.309 sure enough, there she was. You say, well, it 00:24:22.309 --> 00:24:23.829 was just a dummy. No, no, people were tickling 00:24:23.829 --> 00:24:26.809 her feet, and she was kicking at him. She was 00:24:26.809 --> 00:24:32.109 real. And then she had this contraption over 00:24:32.109 --> 00:24:37.490 her neck that was breathing for her and causing 00:24:37.490 --> 00:24:40.490 her heart to beat. Most amazing thing I'd ever 00:24:40.490 --> 00:24:45.410 seen in my life. Then the man said now if you 00:24:45.410 --> 00:24:47.309 want to see how we do this pay us another dollar, 00:24:47.349 --> 00:24:51.509 and you'll find out I Thought hey, I've paid 00:24:51.509 --> 00:24:54.289 one why not another so I stayed to see how they 00:24:54.289 --> 00:24:58.670 did it Fascinating let me tell you it was fascinating 00:24:58.670 --> 00:25:03.029 Boy was I a sucker That wasn't the first time 00:25:03.029 --> 00:25:05.150 and I'm sorry to say it wasn't the last time 00:25:05.150 --> 00:25:07.529 for the sideshow, but not for some other things 00:25:07.529 --> 00:25:11.269 I Was enticed into that by a barker who stood 00:25:11.269 --> 00:25:13.210 out there said you cannot believe what's good 00:25:13.210 --> 00:25:15.960 in here And that's just the way these false teachers 00:25:15.960 --> 00:25:19.559 are. Hey, you can't believe this kind of a life. 00:25:19.579 --> 00:25:24.099 Man, you can be yourself. You can have all the 00:25:24.099 --> 00:25:27.140 fun and games you want to have, and a little 00:25:27.140 --> 00:25:30.380 religion too. You can find out the deeper things. 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:33.000 You can come to know the Christ who is in you. 00:25:33.779 --> 00:25:37.640 And you can live, oh, you can have fun. And they 00:25:37.640 --> 00:25:40.180 bait the hook out there with the kinds of things 00:25:40.180 --> 00:25:45.369 that entice the natural man. But who are the 00:25:45.369 --> 00:25:50.049 victims of this enticement? He says, those who 00:25:50.049 --> 00:25:53.950 barely escape from the ones who live in error. 00:25:55.029 --> 00:25:57.369 There are some who feel that these are people 00:25:57.369 --> 00:26:00.470 who had been enlightened as to Christ, but who 00:26:00.470 --> 00:26:05.210 had not yet received him. And that's possible. 00:26:05.289 --> 00:26:07.710 It's also possible he's talking about brand new 00:26:07.710 --> 00:26:10.190 converts. And I want to understand it that way 00:26:10.190 --> 00:26:13.140 tonight for an application reason. And that is 00:26:13.140 --> 00:26:16.339 that often it is people who are brand new converts 00:26:16.339 --> 00:26:21.019 who are the ones entrapped in false religion 00:26:21.019 --> 00:26:28.200 and cults. It is amazing how often that is true 00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:31.619 that a person will receive Jesus Christ and within 00:26:31.619 --> 00:26:33.519 a few days there will be a knock at the door 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:37.259 with a couple of people selling magazines. Or 00:26:37.259 --> 00:26:39.980 something else happens to try to ensnare that 00:26:39.980 --> 00:26:46.200 person who has just barely escaped sin, to try 00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:50.119 to ensnare them to come back. It's amazing how 00:26:50.119 --> 00:26:55.259 many times that happens. The tactics that are 00:26:55.259 --> 00:26:59.680 used, he describes in verse 18. He says they 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:04.220 use arrogant words of vanity. It's interesting. 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:06.660 He says these are words that are just swollen 00:27:06.660 --> 00:27:13.259 beyond what is natural. weird and bizarre in 00:27:13.259 --> 00:27:17.880 their claims. It kind of reminds you of Shirley. 00:27:18.099 --> 00:27:23.000 What's her name? Yeah, that's the one. Arrogant 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:27.460 words of vanity. And then he says, by fleshly 00:27:27.460 --> 00:27:30.339 desires. By the way, that was a major problem 00:27:30.339 --> 00:27:34.759 in the Roman world, as it is in ours today. It 00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:38.539 took a lot of patience and time. an effort to 00:27:38.539 --> 00:27:41.599 inculcate Christian ethics in the new believers 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:45.920 in Rome. Because immorality was just a part of 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:49.359 their whole religion. It was a part of their 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:52.279 whole way of life. And so it took time. And so 00:27:52.279 --> 00:27:55.380 Peter's very concerned that these new babes who 00:27:55.380 --> 00:27:59.099 are just beginning to get out of this old pattern 00:27:59.099 --> 00:28:02.759 into Christian behavior are now being enticed 00:28:02.759 --> 00:28:05.519 to come back by false teachers in the name of 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:11.559 Christianity. He says they promise freedom. They 00:28:11.559 --> 00:28:15.180 promise freedom. By freedom, it means here license 00:28:15.180 --> 00:28:19.200 to sin. Without any restraint on their sinful 00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:23.599 impulses, these teachers are saying there is 00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:28.539 no obligation to you for any kind of discipline. 00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:31.599 It's just the opposite of what Peter's been saying 00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:33.220 in the book. If you're going to go in Christ, 00:28:33.460 --> 00:28:36.299 you've got to be diligent. You've got to be diligent. 00:28:36.359 --> 00:28:38.339 You've got to give yourself to it. These other 00:28:38.339 --> 00:28:39.880 people are saying, don't worry about diligence. 00:28:39.960 --> 00:28:43.859 Just come on. Have a good time. That was attractive. 00:28:43.880 --> 00:28:46.539 It was effective. But the facts are that these 00:28:46.539 --> 00:28:48.680 same people who are promising freedom, he says, 00:28:49.140 --> 00:28:52.279 are themselves slaves of corruption. And he gives 00:28:52.279 --> 00:28:54.059 us the principle, he says, for by what a man 00:28:54.059 --> 00:28:57.500 is overcome, by this he is enslaved. And these 00:28:57.500 --> 00:29:01.079 false teachers were indeed overcome by the very 00:29:01.079 --> 00:29:04.029 sins that they were baiting the hook with. for 00:29:04.029 --> 00:29:09.329 others. Well, my point tonight in bringing this 00:29:09.329 --> 00:29:11.849 part of the chapter to a close is that we need 00:29:11.849 --> 00:29:15.950 to be alert because there is so much that is 00:29:15.950 --> 00:29:22.029 offered today in the name of Christ. You go into 00:29:22.029 --> 00:29:27.529 a bookstore like B. Dalton or Walden Books and 00:29:27.529 --> 00:29:30.490 you go back and you look at the religion section. 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:34.220 Or you look at the New Age section now, which 00:29:34.220 --> 00:29:36.940 usually is much larger than the religion section, 00:29:37.380 --> 00:29:39.680 and you can find just about any doctrine you 00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:43.039 can imagine in those bookstores. And people are 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:47.400 buying that stuff. They're drinking it in. They 00:29:47.400 --> 00:29:51.420 think that this is real, true religion. We need 00:29:51.420 --> 00:29:56.859 to be alert to it, understand that this is a 00:29:56.859 --> 00:30:01.740 false religion that leads to condemnation. And 00:30:01.740 --> 00:30:04.500 at the same time, we need to be diligent ourselves 00:30:04.500 --> 00:30:06.799 to grow in Jesus Christ so that we don't become 00:30:06.799 --> 00:30:10.279 unwitting victims of this kind of enticement. 00:30:10.740 --> 00:30:12.759 Well, next time, if the Lord doesn't come first, 00:30:13.160 --> 00:30:18.839 we'll talk about the parables. He says, for after 00:30:18.839 --> 00:30:21.420 they have escaped the defilements of the world 00:30:21.420 --> 00:30:24.000 by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:26.960 Christ, they are again entangled in them and 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:30.119 overcome the last state. has become worse for 00:30:30.119 --> 00:30:35.380 them than the first. That's tough. We'll talk 00:30:35.380 --> 00:30:38.359 about it, Lord willing, next Sunday night. Let's 00:30:38.359 --> 00:30:44.039 pray together. Lord, I thank you for these words, 00:30:44.359 --> 00:30:48.700 strong words from Peter, warning us. I pray that 00:30:48.700 --> 00:30:51.900 we will not be naive, that you will deliver us 00:30:51.900 --> 00:30:55.859 from believing every spirit that comes along 00:30:55.859 --> 00:30:59.519 using the name of Jesus. even those who say Jesus 00:30:59.519 --> 00:31:05.119 is Lord. God give us, I pray, discerning minds 00:31:05.119 --> 00:31:08.900 as our minds are renewed by the word of God. 00:31:09.740 --> 00:31:14.319 And may we be diligent to grow, grow up in Jesus 00:31:14.319 --> 00:31:17.799 Christ and grow up with one another so that we 00:31:17.799 --> 00:31:22.079 may not be led astray and tossed to and fro by 00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:28.029 every wind of doctrine. In Jesus' name I pray, 00:31:28.730 --> 00:31:29.069 amen.