2 PETER 2:1-112009 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Peter 2:1-11

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2009. Here now as we head into chapter 2 of 2 Peter.

I want to go back and revisit for just a moment some of the things that we've been looking at as we've been studying the book of 2 Peter. Because the epistle, this letter that Peter wrote, it's not like traditional books that we might pick up off the shelf today where you have the different chapters and each chapter is a different subject. And you turn to one chapter, it's talking about one thing and several chapters later it's something entirely different.

This is really a letter. It's one long piece of writing that Peter wrote. And the chapter divisions are for our benefit so that we can look it up. And so I can easily say, turn with me to 2 Peter 2 and you know where to go. But Peter's not just suddenly turning off the old subject and turning on the new subject. He's continuing what he's been sharing. And so we've been talking about in chapter 1 the importance of division.

growing as believers in Jesus Christ. Peter has shared it with us in several different ways, but we keep going back to verse 5 where Peter says, give all diligence to add to your faith. And we're to add to our faith virtue and knowledge and self-control and perseverance and godliness and brotherly kindness and love. And these are characteristics that come

out of our relationship with God that we're to pursue and we're to continue to add to our faith as we grow in our relationship with God. And so Peter's been telling us and encouraging us the benefits of growing with God and being close to God. If you remember back two weeks ago,

Peter was sharing with us that in knowing God, we have grace and peace multiplied in our lives. And so if we want grace and peace multiplied, then we know where to find it. It's found in knowing God and drawing near to him and knowing him in such a way that he is a powerful influence in our lives.

He also told us that knowing God in that way, then we have all things that we need for life as well as for godliness. And so if we want those things, if we want everything that we need for life and godliness, Peter says, "Know God, get to know God. Let Him be a powerful influence upon your life." We also looked at the great and precious promises that are there for those who will enter into that relationship and get to know God.

And so Peter has been challenging us and encouraging us, sharing with us how important it is to know God. And last week as we were finishing up chapter one, he was talking about the sureness of the message that we've heard. And so we can give all diligence to knowing God because it's not made up. It's not something that one guy or a group of guys, you know, just decided to put together and write down or figure out and just,

start a new religion. But Peter is explaining, he explained as we studied last week, he was an eyewitness of the majesty of Jesus Christ. He was with Jesus as he was transfigured on the mountain. And in addition to that, even more sure than that, is the prophetic word and how the prophecies of the scriptures guarantee that Jesus Christ is indeed the Messiah and we are to give all diligence to know God through him.

And so Peter's been challenging us to get to know God and to be diligent to grow as Christians. As he goes now into chapter 2, he deals with the subject of false teachers, but it's with the context of where we've been. In verse 21, Peter says that prophecy never came by the will of men, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

And so he's saying, look, we can be assured of the things that we've heard. We can be assured of the word of God because it wasn't man's will when they wrote down these things, but the Spirit moved upon them, in them, and through them. It was the work of God in their life as they wrote down the prophetic words and the scriptures that we have before us. And now as Peter goes on to say, he says...

At the same time, as those holy men of God were writing down what God was speaking to their hearts, there were these other guys, these false prophets, who proclaimed...

to speak on behalf of God. But in reality, they did not. And so that's what Peter is dealing with here. We're looking at the subject of false teachers and knowing that diligent growth is necessary. There's benefits to it, but it's also for protection because whenever there's a work of God and God is moving and speaking through His Holy Spirit, there are those alongside who...

under the name of God, proclaim and pretend to be from God, but they promote their own agenda and lead people astray. And so diligent growth has incredible benefits for us, but it's also the protection that we need against those who would lead us astray. And that's really the issue that we're dealing with when it comes to false teachers.

There's three things I want to point out to you about false teachers as we look at our portion together. And the first is very simple. It's that false teachers exist. Look at verse 1. He says,

So again, Peter's just been saying that the holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. And now he goes on to say, but there were also false prophets. So there were true prophets, genuine prophets who spoke God's word on God's behalf. And there were false prophets who pretended to speak for God, but they actually had an entirely different message.

And that's very common whenever God is at work. When God is working, you can be assured, you can count on that there's going to be a counterfeit work that Satan will try to accomplish as well. As God was speaking through these godly men, these others were proclaiming to be prophets, but were leading people astray. We discovered this and we saw this in Jeremiah a few weeks ago on Wednesday night.

As we were in Jeremiah chapter 14. We find there Jeremiah communicating back and forth with God. And he's conflicted. He's confused. He says, God...

This is the message that you've given to me, and this is the message that I've been proclaiming. But there's these other prophets that are speaking to the people as well, and they're saying exactly the opposite of what I'm saying, and I'm saying what you gave me to say, and they're proclaiming this other message, and God, I'm confused. How can this be? How can both of them be true? Of course, I'm paraphrasing, but in essence, as you look at Jeremiah chapter 14, that's what's going on. And God responds to Jeremiah saying,

And he tells Jeremiah, the reason why there's a conflict in the message is because that other guy is a false prophet. Those other guys, they're

pretending to be my spokespeople, but they are not actually bringing forth a message from me. They have got their own message, they've got their own agenda, they're doing their own thing. I have not sent them, God tells Jeremiah. And so here you have the prophet Jeremiah doing an incredible work, a tough work, bringing forth the word of God, and you have these other false prophets who are bringing forth lies and deceit in the name of God.

And so there were false prophets among the people at the same time as the Holy Spirit was moving upon these godly men to write the scriptures. And he goes on to use that to explain to us that, well, in the same way, there will be false teachers among us. So just as in Jeremiah's day, there was the true prophet Jeremiah and there was false prophets,

Just as in the days of the writings of the scriptures, there was the working of God, the Holy Spirit moving upon them. There was also false prophets and false teachers who would come up and proclaim their own message. He says, in the same way, false teachers will be among you. There will be false teachers among us. False teachers exist. This is something we need to know. This is something we need to be aware of. We need to...

Well, have a sensitivity of discernment so that we are not led astray. Peter does not leave it as a remote possibility. He doesn't say there might be. There's an off-the-wall chance that someone might come up and try to proclaim his own message. No, what Peter says is in the same way, it happened then, it will happen among you that there will be false teachers.

You know, I think Calvary Chapel Living Water has really been blessed in that we've not had to deal too much with this kind of thing thus far. But this is a warning that God is giving to us because we are not immune to false teaching. We are not immune to have those who would come in and try to lead astray people from God. We're not immune to it. Perhaps we're long overdue, in fact. Maybe...

God wants us here in this portion this morning and He has us here in this portion this morning because He needs to prepare us for some things that might happen in the future. I don't know. But the reality is false teachers exist. He warns us to prepare us. Are you prepared? Are you ready to discern between false doctrine and the Word of God? Are you ready and prepared to discern between those who preach false

on behalf of God and those who proclaim their own message. This word false teacher that's used, it's a word that means to deceive or lie. It's one who pretends to be a Christian teacher, but teaches false doctrine. Peter is not warning us about Buddhism or Islam. Those are things that we can address and things that we do need to be aware of.

He's not warning us though against outside religions in this context, in this passage. What is he warning us against? He's warning against those within the church who call themselves Christians, who people think of as Christians, who teach false doctrine. Just because someone says that they are Christian or uses Christian terminology does not mean that we should blindly receive them or receive from them.

Jesus gave us this warning as well in Matthew chapter 7 verse 15. He said, Jesus describes for us this vivid picture. We're sheep. We're the sheep of God's pasture. And I bump into you and I go, hey, fellow sheep, how you doing? He says, there are those who will come in. They'll look like sheep. They'll sound like sheep. They'll talk like sheep. They'll look like sheep.

But inside, they're ravenous wolves. They've just got sheep's clothing on. They're pretending. They're intending to deceive. Paul said this as well in Acts chapter 20. He met there for the final time with the leaders of the church of Ephesus. And he's sharing his heart with them and then he gives them a warning. He says, I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

And so Paul tells them, False teachers exist. They are a reality and they're a real problem.

Peter's dealing with it. Jesus has to watch out for him. And Paul says, look, it's going to happen. They're going to rise up from among yourselves. There's going to be those from your midst that rise up

and lead people astray, they're going to draw away disciples after themselves. And so he says, therefore, watch. And he says, look, for three years I warned you about this. And I wanted you to know, because it is a danger, because people will be led astray by false teachers. So watch out. Be alert. Pay attention. Because just as there was false prophets in the days before,

When the scriptures were being written and God was speaking to his people, there will be false teachers today as God is working in our midst. These false teachers, Peter goes on to say, secretly bring in destructive heresies.

They secretly bring in destructive heresies. They don't throw open both doors of the sanctuary and say, hey, here I am. I'm a false prophet. I'm here to lead you astray. They don't announce themselves. They don't proclaim their objectives. No, they secretly, craftily, sneakily bring in their false doctrine.

It's deliberate. It's intentional. It's not something that's done on accident or out of ignorance. That's not what Peter's dealing with. That can happen and there are those issues, but that's not what Peter's dealing with here. He's sharing with us. And I think sometimes we can be naive about this. We think, oh, no, I mean, he loves the Lord. He would never try to do that. That girl would never try to lead me astray. But Peter says, look, you need to be alert. You need to pay attention.

Because just as there was false prophets before, there's going to be false prophets and false teachers among you today. So you need to be prepared. They're going to, on purpose, intentionally lead people astray and draw people after themselves. He says they're going to bring in secretly destructive heresies.

This word heresy, it's a word that means a separation or a division, and it refers to a different form or a division, a separation from the type of worship or discipline or opinion that's held. And so a heretic is one who holds different views than the majority and yet remains within the same body.

And so we have a difference here. There's those who hold different views and so they go off and they start their own thing.

And they go off and they begin their cult. There are those who hold a different view and they separate from the Catholic Church and they become Protestants, Martin Luther and such. You know, there is this transformation and it was called heresy. And rightly so, there was a separation back to the Word of God. And so sometimes that separation is good. But if we are walking with God, if we're holding fast to the Word of God...

There are those who will separate and go off and do their own thing, but Peter is talking about here those who have different opinions, who have different values, who hold to different objectives, and yet they remain within the midst of the body. And so they, again, put on the sheep's clothing. They pretend. They don't have the same view. They don't hold the same opinion. Their goals are not the same.

But they stay within the midst of the body in order to deceive and to draw men after themselves. Now as we deal with this, understand that Peter is not talking about different views in minor areas. He's not referring to different views that are allowable. He's talking about different views in regard to the core message of the gospel. He goes on to say that they even deny the Lord who bought them.

And so we're not talking about, hey, you have a different view of the rapture and you think it comes at this time, we teach it comes at this time. Uh, no problem. We can still enjoy fellowship. It's not, uh, an essential core doctrine that we have to agree on in order for us to have fellowship together. You want to hold a different view of the proper method to baptize. You know, you say, uh, well, you know, I think you're supposed to be sprinkled. And we say, no, immersion is the way that we believe in that, that we teach. Uh,

that's okay. We can have a difference of opinion. That's an area that we can still disagree and yet fellowship and love one another. But when it comes to denying the Lord, well, their fellowship must be broken. It cannot continue. That is, well, it's the core message of the gospel. And there are these who come in, who deny the Lord, pretend to be sheep,

in order to lead people astray and draw people after themselves. They're seeking to gather people to themselves.

Very serious stuff what Peter is explaining here. Again, sometimes we can be naive. And it's hard for us to imagine someone doing this, especially someone that we know. But the warnings that Jesus gave, the warning that Paul gave, is that from among us. And so we need to be paying attention. We need to be alert. There are those who would seek to lead us astray.

Peter goes on to say that they bring on themselves swift destruction and judgment awaits false teachers. And we'll continue to see this. It's really the main point of this passage that we're looking at today. And so we'll see it in the following verses as well. But look at verse 2. He says, And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. And so here's the real tragedy. Here's the scary part of this idea of false teachers.

Many will follow their destructive ways. Not only do they exist, but many will follow them. It would be a whole different thing if false teachers existed, but nobody followed them. Be like, okay, yeah, go ahead. Do your own thing. Whatever you want. That's fine. Nobody's following you anyways. You are free to rebel and deny the Lord if that's your choice. But the tragedy is that many will follow their destructive ways.

Many will be deceived. Many will be led astray. And that's the tragedy many will follow. You know, popularity is not a good measurement of truth. Popularity is not a good measurement of success. It's not a good measurement of, really, the spirit at work. In Matthew chapter 7, verse 13 and 14, Jesus encourages us to enter by the narrow gate of

He explains that wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and there's many who go by on that way. There's many on that wide road to destruction who enter by the wide gate. But he says narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life and there's a few who find it. And so I think biblically the correct goal is really to have the smallest church that you can have, not the biggest church. Just kidding.

but to be careful. To not just turn off our brains, to not just turn off our discernment and say, "Well, look at all these people, they can't all be wrong." No, the reality is that there's many who are on the road to destruction. There's many, Peter says, who will follow the destructive ways of false teachers.

And so we must not just be part of the crowd that just goes wherever the crowd pleases and leave our discernment and our decisions based upon what is popular in the group that we're in. What Peter's explaining is that many are going to follow and so we need to pay attention and double check and make sure that we're not on the wide road to destruction but that we're entering by the narrow gate. Jesus said to make sure you enter by the narrow gate.

Because there's many who are on the road to destruction. Peter goes on to say there that it's because of these who follow their destructive ways that the way of truth will be blasphemed. Because of course they're operating under the name of Christ.

So they're saying, hey, I'm from God. I'm a Christian. And this is my message. This is what I'm sharing with you. Why don't you come and follow me and practice what I practice? And so people are led astray. They're deceived. They follow him. They're all operating under the name of Christ. They're all operating, proclaiming to be Christians. But they're living in such a way, their conduct is such that it's contrary to what God has said. And so it turns out to be, well...

that the way of truth is blasphemed, that the genuine message is thought little of by the world around. It's a very poor witness to the rest of the world because those who claim to be Christians are living contrary to the name of Christ. False teachers exist. And not only do they exist, but they lead people astray. And so we need to be on guard. Now some people in response to this will tend to panic. And they tend to kind of freak out

But we don't have to freak out. As Peter will go on to explain, the false teachers are going to be dealt with. They're not your responsibility, they're God's responsibility. You can trust Him to accomplish it, and Peter's going to prove that. Some people respond to the existence of false teachers by digging up and studying and announcing everything that they think fits into this idea of false doctrine and a false teacher and some type of heresy.

But let me just give you a general exhortation. This is just a broad stroke exhortation for everyone. God can redirect you personally if He tells you to do so, then please do so. But general instruction, general encouragement for everyone. Don't study heresy. There's no need for you to study heresy. You don't need to study and dig and try to find every false doctrine that's out there. You don't have to freak out about it and stress out over it. What should you do then?

Go back to chapter 1. Diligent growth. In 2 Timothy, Paul the Apostle is writing to Timothy and he's dealing with a lot of the same issues. Writing about false doctrine and false teachers and encouraging Timothy to deal with those things within the body.

And in chapter 4 of 2 Timothy, verse 2, Paul tells Timothy to preach the word. We know this verse. We're familiar with it. But listen to what he says. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.

But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. What does Paul say? He says, look, the time is coming that people aren't going to listen to the truth any longer. They're going to surround themselves with teachers who will teach for them the things that they want to hear and not the things that they need to hear. And they're going to turn away from the truth and they're going to turn aside to fables.

This is the same issue that Peter is dealing with. False teachers who will come in and people will turn away from the truth and turn aside to fables. And so what does Paul tell Timothy he needs to do?

Preach the word. You see, the word is the antidote to this poison. And the word is what we need to be studying. And we'll look at that again a little bit later on. But we need to preach the word. We need to be ready. We need to be in the word. We need to know the word of God. We need to be diligently growing in our relationship with God because that is the protection against false teaching. That's our protection against those who would seek to lead us astray. We need to be close to God.

We need to draw near to him through his word. So false teachers exist. But Peter goes on now, verses 3 through 9, he tells us that false teachers will be judged. And so we need to know, not only do they exist, but their judgment is coming. And sometimes it can be frustrating and we think, why is it taking so long? But they will be judged, Peter says. Look at verse 3.

He says, Here Peter gives us some insights, first of all, to the motivation of false teachers. It's by covetousness that they're about their activities. It's greed. Essentially, false teachers are con artists, Peter is saying. They're conning people.

pretending to be from God, pretending to speak on behalf of Christ, but they're in it for their gain, for their greed. It's accomplishing their own purposes as they pretend to be what the people want them or think that they are. And so Peter says that by covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words. They're trying to rip people off. That's what false teachers are doing.

He says, for a long time their judgment has not been idle and their destruction does not slumber. And as we see

See situations like this, and maybe as you flip through the TV stations every once in a while, and you see things exactly like what Peter's talking about here, people being taken advantage of and things like this going on, it can be very frustrating. And you can say, God, why aren't you just striking them down right where they're at? Look at the blasphemy that they're proclaiming. Sometimes we wonder why God has not judged certain people or groups more quickly than

You know, you can think about the Jehovah's Witnesses and, Lord, why do you allow that leadership to continue, that deception to keep going on? Why do you allow that organization to exist? Or the Mormon Church, why do you allow those who are involved in this deception to continue on? And Peter says, look, their judgment has not been idle. Sometimes we think God's judgment has been idle. Like God's just sitting there like, why aren't you doing anything, God?

But Peter says, look, his judgment, their judgment has not been idle. It is in process. It is in the works. And their destruction does not slumber. So what's happening? Well, in chapter 3, we'll see a very interesting verse, 2 Peter 3, verse 9, that God is patient, seeking for all, giving opportunity for all to come to repentance. These false prophets who are bringing destructive heresies and the many that they lead astray, God is patient.

Desiring that they come back to a right relationship with Him. Their judgment has not been idle. They're not getting away with it. Justice will be served. But God has also given them an opportunity to repent and to get right with Him. Peter now goes on to give us three examples that we would be able to know. That we would...

Have confidence that God is able to judge, that their judgment has not been idle, that He will deal with them at the appropriate time. God knows how to judge the ungodly. The first example He gives us is that of angels who have sinned. Look 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 then he'll go on to list some other examples. But we'll stop there for a second. So here's the first example. He says, God did not spare the angels who sinned, but he cast them down to hell. He delivered them into chains and he's reserved them now for judgment. We're dealing with

Peter says, look at the fallen angels for a second. They're an example for us of how God is able to deal with the ungodly, with those who rebel against him. Now, it's not exactly clear what angels Peter is referring to here and what sin they did to deserve this judgment. Here's what we do know.

There are fallen angels. Angels who rebelled along with Satan. They joined Satan when he rebelled against God. In Revelation chapter 12, it tells us that a third of the stars joined Satan.

So we gather from that that it was a third of the angels that joined with Satan when Satan rebelled against God. There in Revelation chapter 12 it describes this battle that takes place between the devil and his angels and Michael and his angels. And there's this spiritual war that takes place between those angels that rebelled against God along with Satan and the work that God is doing with Michael and his angels.

Now, some of those angels who fell, we call them fallen angels, demonic spirits, different words that we use to describe them, but some of those angels are bound until a specific time.

We see this in Revelation chapter 9. It describes some demonic entities that are bound until this time during the tribulation period, that they're going to be unleashed, they're going to be let go, and they're going to be part of God's judgment upon the world as they inflict pain and torment upon the earth. But in addition to that, there are some angels who are bound in

Until judgment day. And that's what Peter is talking about. So some of the fallen angels exist on earth. We see in Jesus' ministry many, many times. He was casting out demons. There's spiritual war that's going on. They're doing the bidding of Satan and they're at battle against God and we are the battlefield.

There's some of those angels who are bound temporarily until a time in the end, and yet there's some who are bound until judgment day. That's what Peter is talking about. We see this as well in Jude chapter 1, verse 6. It says, There is going to be a final judgment.

And there are angels who have sinned in such a way that they are bound until that final judgment. They are reserved for that final judgment. Their punishment is not idle. Their judgment is not idle, as Peter was saying. But they're bound. They're taken care of and they will face the music on judgment day. They're at the end of the millennial kingdom as the great white throne is taking place.

And so what exactly did they do to receive this imprisonment is actually a mystery. There's some speculation, some ideas. I'm not going to get into it because really the point of what Peter is saying is that these angels who sinned, God has dealt with. He's put them away. He's locked them away and he's reserved them for the final judgment day. And that's important.

Because as we see in verse 11 of chapter 2, angels who are greater in power and might. Angels are greater than us in power and in might. And we need to understand that those angels who sinned, God was able to deal with them. They're stronger than us. They're smarter than us. They have more might than us. But they weren't beyond the judgment of God. They couldn't escape the judgment of God. God was able to judge them.

to preserve them for the final judgment, God is able to take care of their rebellion. And so we can trust Him to handle the false prophets. Because if God can judge the angels who are stronger and more powerful than we are, then we know that God's not lacking strength, He's not lacking resources, He's not lacking ideas, He's not lacking a plan. He knows how to bring the judgment that is deserved to those that deserve it.

The second example he gives us is the example of the flood in the ancient world. Look at verse 5. He says, And so you can look at the flood account. It's in Genesis chapters 6 through 8.

But it tells us there that God saw the wickedness of man and that it was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The whole earth, all the population was completely intent on doing evil. Just complete corruption. It's probably not hard for us to imagine and picture that.

Because we are living in days that are, well, similar. And Jesus promised that the final days towards the end times would be similar to the days preceding the flood. And so we see the corruption. The whole earth is just wicked and corrupt except for Noah and his family. And it tells us that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

And here's the situation. You have an entire earth, entire population that is corrupt and intent on rebelling against God. And you have this one family, eight people, who actually know God and have relationship with God. And what does God do? God brings judgment. And He does it in such a way that the eight people are preserved and the rest of the world receive the judgment that they deserve. God did not act rashly

or judge indiscriminately. He preserved the righteous. He dealt with the wicked at the same time. God's judgment is measured. It's controlled. It's precise. We need to know that God is capable of dealing with a whole world full of wickedness and wicked people so that we can trust Him to judge the false teachers that rise up.

We can trust Him. We can trust Him to judge the false teachers, to judge the wickedness, but at the same time, preserve the righteous, just as He did with Noah. And we see that again in the final example of Sodom and Gomorrah. Look at verse 6. He says, "...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."

So if you would live ungodly, Peter says, this is an example to you. Look at Sodom and Gomorrah as an example of how God is able to bring destruction and judgment into those who rebel against Him. We have the account of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis chapters 18 and 19. In Genesis 18, 20, it tells us that the Lord said that there was an outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and it was great because their sin was very grave.

Their sin was serious. They were predominantly dealing with sexual immorality. There was all kinds of corruption as well. And we see this as evident in the account when the two angels go into Sodom and Gomorrah to bring out Lot. And the great immorality and corruption is, well, it's readily evident in the passage. I encourage you to check it out in Genesis 18 and 19.

But here we see that God dealt with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. They were burned with fire and brimstone. They were condemned to destruction. God dealt with those cities that rebelled against Him. But at the same time, verse 7, we find that Lot was delivered. It says, and delivered righteous Lot.

Now as we look at Lot, I think many of us when we look at Lot, we would not first immediately think of him as a righteous man or as a good example to us as we read the account there in Genesis. But here we have the scriptures telling us,

Righteous lot. Three times it tells us here in verse 7 and 8 that he was righteous. He was a righteous man. Why? Not so much that he was a good example for us of how to live a life separated unto God. We see his life as a life full of compromise. And he paid the price for it. But he was a righteous man in that his soul was tormented from day to day as he saw and heard the lawless deeds or the conduct of the wicked.

The conduct of the wicked. The word conduct is the idea of conducting yourself without the fear of God. He was tormented. It hurt him. It broke his heart as he saw and heard day in and day out of how the people had no regard for God, no fear for God, no reverence of God.

And so he was a righteous man. His compromise cost him greatly. We understand if you go back to the beginning as Abraham leaves his family with Lot and then they come to a place where they've both been so blessed that

They have such abundance that they can't dwell together anymore because Lot has so much livestock and so many servants and Abraham has so many servants and so much livestock. It's just, it's not possible for them to stay together any longer. And so then they separate and you see kind of the downward spiral from there. We find him later on at the gate of Sodom. Where's all of his livestock?

Where's all of his servants? He began to lose everything until the final end. He escapes. God preserves him. He delivers him. But his compromise cost him greatly. He ends up with nothing. His daughters have to participate in incest in order to keep the family name and survive as a family. It was a very great tragedy. And yet he was a righteous man because his soul was tormented.

His soul was tormented and so he was delivered. And so God delivered him. Again, we see the picture. Like Noah being delivered as God dealt with the whole world, here is Lot. Him and his two daughters are delivered as God deals with Noah.

of Sodom and Gomorrah. And Peter makes his point here in verse 9. He says, Then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment. So going back to verse 3, this is Peter's point of all of these examples. Look, if God dealt with the angels this way and if He

dealt with the world, the ancient world with the flood in that way and saved Noah, and if God dealt with Sodom and Gomorrah the way that He did and preserved Lot, then we know that God knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation or trial or difficulty, affliction.

God knows how to deliver the godly and he knows how to reserve the unjust or the ungodly under punishment for the day of judgment. This is Peter's main point of the passage we're looking at today. God knows how to judge the wicked false teachers. He knows how. He's not lacking resources. He's not lacking wisdom. He's not lacking ideas. He knows how to do it and he knows how to do it in such a way that he preserves the godly at the same time.

You know, in our society and in societies around the world, we have government, we have law enforcement, and they do their best to bring justice. But there's still much injustice. Many criminals go free. Sometimes innocent people are charged and punished even though they're innocent. Peter is explaining, God's not like that. You know, it's not that the...

False teachers are just getting away with it because they were too clever. You know, they didn't leave their fingerprints on the doctrine or in the church that they went to. And, oh man, God's trying to figure out, well, how can I catch them? They didn't leave their fingerprints. I need some DNA sample or something. I got to try to catch these guys. What am I going to do? No, God's not like that. He knows how to deliver the godly and reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment.

God knows how. He knows what needs to be done. So don't be confused or concerned thinking that false teachers are getting away with it, that they're exploiting the people and God's just allowing it and He doesn't care and He's not involved. No, their judgment's not idle. God knows how to deliver the judgment that is needed and He knows how to deliver the righteous from that judgment. He knows how to deal with them and you can trust Him to do so in His time.

You know, as a side note, this is also a great reminder for us of the reason we believe that the rapture of the church will take place before the Great Tribulation period. Because the Great Tribulation period, you can read about it in the book of Revelation, chapter 6 and following. It's the wrath of God, the judgment of God being poured out upon the world. And God knows how to deliver the righteous.

while pouring out that judgment. The rapture of the church will take place before the tribulation starts, before God's judgment is poured out upon this earth, because God knows how to deliver the godly and reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment. False teachers exist, Peter says, but we also need to know that they will be judged. They're not getting away with it. As we go on now in verses 10 and 11, he gives us the characteristics of

of false teachers that we might recognize them. He says, and especially, in verse 10, 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.

So Peter's continuing his thought from verse 9. God knows how to deliver the godly. He knows how to reserve the unjust under punishment and especially in dealing with false teachers. Especially those who walk according to the flesh. False teachers walk according to the flesh.

They do not walk in the Spirit. Now in Ephesians chapter 5 verses 19 through 23, we have a contrast that Paul paints for us of the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. And he tells us to walk in the Spirit. But these false teachers do not walk in the Spirit. They instead walk according to the flesh. They walk according to their sinful nature. They may pretend to

They put on sheep's clothing. They pretend to produce the fruit of the Spirit. But it cannot last. In fact, Jesus tells us that we'll know the false prophets, the false teachers by their fruit. Because Paul says in Ephesians 5.19 that the works of the flesh are evident. They're evident. They're apparent. They don't really need to be explained. They're not mysterious. I wonder if that's a work of the flesh or not. No, they're evident.

These false teachers walk not according to the spirit but according to the flesh. Not only that but they despise authority. False teachers despise authority. They will not submit themselves to leadership. They see themselves above the rules and the laws. They see themselves as unique and different. Those things don't apply to them. They despise or they think little of authority. Be it spiritual authority or governing authority.

They disregard those things. And we see all kinds of abuses under the name of Christ, under the name of Christianity, of those leaders who walk according to the flesh and despise authority and live their own life and commit atrocious acts. They're false teachers. He also says they're presumptuous. Presumptuous. It means to be arrogant, insolent, bold, or rash. They're arrogant. They're full of themselves. Obnoxiously so.

They don't listen to other people. They don't care about other people. In fact, the next word, self-willed, is one who is pleased with himself and despises others. It's one who stubbornly maintains his own opinion or asserts his own rights, but recklessly disregards the rights and feelings and interests of others. They're consumed by themselves, full of themselves, looking out for number one. They're pursuing their own gain,

Peter goes on to say,

This is the idea here as Peter is talking about dignitaries because he goes on to say in verse 11, angels who are greater in power and might do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. The demonic entities, angels, don't even bring an accusation against them before the Lord. Even they don't speak evil of them. They leave that, they reserve that for God. There's a familiar account, I'm sure to you, of that in the book of Jude where Moses...

Not Moses. Michael and Satan are battling over and disputing over the body of Moses. And it tells us there and explains there that Michael didn't bring an accusation against Satan but said, the Lord rebuke you. He let the Lord fight that battle. But here's these false teachers. They, well, they speak evil of Satan.

Things that they know nothing about. In fact, if they really knew something, they would not speak evil the way that they do because even angels don't do that. And angels are greater in power and might. And so these guys are full of themselves. They're out looking out for number one. They're despising authority. They're walking according to the flesh. But they're absolutely clueless to reality. They're deceiving others and yet in so many ways they are themselves deceived. And by these things we can recognize God.

the false teachers. These are the characteristics of one who is out to lead others astray within the body of Christ. We need to know. We need to be warned. We need to be alert. False teachers exist. Again, you know, we have been so blessed here in this body. We've not really had to deal with this from within our midst. False teaching or really major divisions within the body. But our time will come

And we need to be prepared. We need to be ready to recognize, to spot. And the way that we do that, it's not by, again, you don't need to study all the heresy that comes up. You don't need to study all the wind of doctrines that go through. No, we prepare ourselves by giving all diligence to grow in our relationship with God. Turn with me, please, as we close to 2 Timothy 2.

Again, in 2 Timothy, Paul is dealing with some of the same issues as he's writing to Timothy to encourage him in his ministry there in Ephesus. And he gives us, well, basically a similar line of thought as Peter gives us. It's a confirmation of the things that we've already been studying and also a little bit of clarification on what we do in response to or in preparation to the issue of false teaching.

In 2 Timothy chapter 2, look at verse 15. It says, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

And so first of all, we see same word, same idea that Peter is giving, the issue of diligence. What are we to be diligent to do? To rightly divide the word of truth. We present ourselves to God approved and we're workers that don't need to be ashamed as we rightly divide the word of truth. We need to be diligent, to give ourselves, to be disciplined, to pursue the right understanding of the word of God.

with God through His Word. That's why He's given His Word to us, that He might reveal Himself to us. So first of all, we must be diligent. Secondly, as we go on in verse 16, we're to shun...

Look at verse 16. He says, So here Paul is writing to Timothy about some false teachers. He says, He says,

those false teachings, those destructive heresies. Don't pay them attention. Don't regard them. Just cast them off. Shun them.

Because they will increase to more ungodliness. He gives a couple guys. These guys are involved in such a thing. What are they doing? Well, they're promoting this doctrine that the resurrection is already passed. That the resurrection has already taken place. And as a result, they're overthrowing the faith of some. They're false teachers. They've...

then from within the midst of the body, they are bringing forth this destructive heresy. Many are following their destruction. They're turned away from the truth and turned aside to these fables that increase to more ungodliness.

And so we must shun false doctrine. We must diligently study the Word and we must shun false doctrine. And finally, verse 19, he says, Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal. The Lord knows those who are His and let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Here's the solid foundation of God upon which we stand. With the issue of false teachers, we don't need to be freaked out. It's not our church.

We're not responsible to take care of every problem that comes up. God's going to do that. He's going to take care of those false teachers. Here's the solid foundation that we are to stand on. It's these two inscriptions, these two seals. First of all, the Lord knows those who are His. And so we can be assured, God's going to deal with those false teachers. He's going to deal with those who bring this false doctrine, this destructive doctrine.

He's going to take care of it. But He knows who are His. And He is able to deliver the righteous while reserving the unjust for judgment. So we can be assured. We can rest confident. He knows. As we walk with Him, as we diligently study, as we shun false doctrine, as we give all diligence to grow in our relationship with Him, He knows those who are His. He knows you. He'll take care of you.

The second seal, the second inscription says, let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. And so here's what we're to do. We're to depart from iniquity. Turn away from sin. You want to make sure that you're protected against false doctrine. You want to make sure that you're not led astray. Depart from iniquity. Sin blinds us. It clouds our judgment. It keeps us from really discerning right from wrong. It messes us up.

So we need to depart from iniquity. We need to turn from sin. When it comes to the issue of false teachers, Paul says, diligently study, shun false doctrine, and turn away from iniquity, that you might have a clear head, that you might know what the will of God is, that you might be able to continue to walk with Him. Let's pray. God, as we consider these things, they are heavy words, Lord, this idea of judgment and those who would

so maliciously seek to deceive and lead people astray. It's hard to comprehend and yet, Lord, we know it takes place. And so, God, I pray that you would help us. Lord, help us to be prepared. Help us, Lord, to give all diligence, to not be lazy, to not be slack, to not be caught up in sin. Lord, to turn away from sin, to follow you with all of our hearts. Help us, God, to draw near to you. And Lord, I thank you that you know

those who are yours. Thank you, God, that we can have absolute confidence and trust in you. Lord, that you will take care of unrighteousness. And Lord, justice will be served. It will be right and just. And you'll do it in your timing and according to your will. And that's what's going to be best. Thank you, God, that we can trust you. That it's not up to us. That we don't have to figure it out. Lord, that you'll accomplish it on your terms according to your purposes. And thank you, God, that we can trust you. That we don't have to fear your judgment.

Because of what you've done for us. And Lord, the example that you've given to us. That you know how to preserve those who are yours. And so God, we entrust ourselves to you. We hold fast to you. Lord, this morning we draw near to you. And ask that you would continue to cause us to grow. Lord, that we would not be led astray. But that we would hold fast. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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