2 PETER 2:12-222009 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Peter 2:12-22

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 in 2 Peter chapter 2, as we finish up the chapter, we're continuing the warning that Peter started to give last week at the beginning of chapter 2. And it's a warning about false teachers. And I want to encourage you as we look at these things that

The warning here is not for us to be consumed by false teachers and false teaching and try to uncover it all and try to figure out it all and counteract it all. That's not the purpose of why Peter is writing these things. We looked at chapter 1 about really the purpose of the letter is...

to call us and to cause us to grow in our relationship with God. We saw it in chapter 1, we'll see it again in chapter 3, that we are to give all diligence to add to our faith and to grow in our relationship with God. And that is the best protection that we have against false teachers.

Last week as we began the subject of false teachers, we looked at three points and the first one was that false teachers exist. We need to know and we need to be aware and alert that there are false teachers, that they are real. It's not hypothetical or a what-if type of scenario, but

but that there really are those who rise up and speak false doctrine in order to lead people astray and to gather people to themselves. As frustrating as that can be, Peter wants us to also know the second point we saw last week was that false teachers will be judged. And

And sometimes as we look at false teaching and we recognize that it is there, we can wonder, we can get impatient. Why aren't they being dealt with? Why isn't their ministry just being dissolved? Why hasn't God judged them? But Peter explained, he went to great detail and length to explain to us,

that God knows that they are in the process of being judged, and so we can know that they will be judged, that they're not getting away with what they're doing, but that they will pay the consequences for the false doctrine that they are promoting.

And thirdly, we looked at some of the characteristics of false teachers and that they're self-willed and that they're presumptuous and that they speak evil of things that they don't know anything about. And so we looked at this issue of false teachers, but Peter is now continuing on this morning with the subject of false teaching. And we have some more things that we'll be considering. But before we do, I have a short video that I'd like to share with you. And it's...

It's some clips out of a message that was delivered back in 2007. And I picked this particular one to show you because I remember actually stumbling upon this teaching as I was flipping channels one day back in 2007. And I was shocked and abhorred by it. And yet...

it's out there and there's really much worse things than I'm about to show you. But I want to let you know that the clips, they're one message but they're kind of clipped together just to show you pieces of the message. So I share with you that I saw it because I want you to know it's not out of context and actually it was much worse in the full-length version than it is in the clipped version. So just to let you know that. The other thing I want to make sure of is that you are aware ahead of time

this is the only time you will hear false doctrine of this church. Okay? This is not something we are promoting. In fact, if you could just look at the person next to you and say this video is going to be false teaching.

Okay. Just make sure that you know that up front. Because this is... But it's just as an example of some of the things that are out there in regards to false teaching. So let's just take a moment and see what this looks like. So this is 2007. Seven years. This is another Jubilee. There are certain blessings to Jubilee that God wants you to have.

and he wants me to have. The first one is, it said, men get their possessions back. That means everything you had lost or anything that was stolen from you, you're going to get it back. Oh, I see some of you shouting now. Number two, your family...

is going to be restored. It's going to be household salvation. I don't care who it is. You may have a wayward daughter or a wayward son. Number three, you're going to receive a commanded blessing. It's going to be commanded on you and you're going to eat the increase. God said in the year of Jubilee,

that oppression is going to stop. Number five, get ready, get your clapper out. This year of Jubilee, your debt is going to be canceled. Number six, prisoners go free. And then the seventh blessing is the poor are relieved.

Jesus preached the gospel to the poor, but they didn't stay poor. God told me to tell people this year of Jubilee is to give God a gift, a substantial gift of $2,007. What's $2,007 for? That's the year. Now, I don't care who you are. Everybody can do this. I know it. There's only 38 people getting blessed right now.

And there's 171 lines that are open. And God's talking to 500 people right now. You ain't going to get through in just a minute. And if you have nothing, you're the one God's talking to. You got a bank card? It's on your screen there where you can send it. You say, but I don't have it, Brother Schambach. Pay the tithe on it up front. Put $207 down on it.

That means you got 1800 more to pay and you're going to sell $2,000 right in the TBN. They don't need it, but you need it. You're getting out of debt. You have nothing but these seven blessings of Jubilee are coming to your house. They're coming to my house because make a card out for me, will you? I don't have it. But where does miracles start?

It starts with that available line, nothing. And I want you to tell that person that's on the phone that you talk with that you want to be debt-free. You're not going into debt, you're coming out of debt. If you do what I tell you. I've said it before, God's the one that gave us that redial button. Everybody that has called in this week, I'm going to make you debt-free.

$2,000! $2,000! $2,000! $2,000! I saw your hand now. You want to get out of debt? Put your hand up. They're going to put an envelope in your hand. I'm going to do this because I'm getting out of debt. I'm in debt again, but I'm getting out. I like to get in debt once in a while so I can get out. And I want you to do what God spoke to me about. You like that?

So we're laughing, right? It's funny, ridiculous. And yet, at the same time, it's tragic. Because the reality is, it's funny because we understand it's ridiculous. It's not at all what God has said. But it's tragic because teaching like that

is deceiving and leading people astray continually. It's prevalent. And like I said, the entire length of the message was much worse than the clips. And this is a mild example of false teaching. There's much even more atrocious things that are being taught in the name of Christ. And this is what Peter is dealing with. He's dealing with those who are teaching these things that are not biblical teaching.

These things that are atrocities, and he's telling us we need to be aware. This is not a minor issue. It's serious. As we will see here, even the first point this morning, there's four things I want to share with you. But the first point this morning is that false teachers are accursed. They are accursed. We'll deal with what that means in just a few moments. But let's start again in verse 12. It says this.

He says, He says, He says,

They're not good for anything. They're wild. They're ravenous. They're vicious. They only exist for them to be caught and destroyed. They have no other purpose. That's similar to these guys. They're vicious. They're preying upon the innocent. They're taking advantage of people and they speak evil of things they don't understand, Peter says.

We dealt with that last week, so I'm not going to get into it. But there's plenty of examples of them speaking evil of things which the angels don't even dare to speak evil of. But they let the Lord fight those battles and they don't involve themselves in it.

There's many who speak evil and are shouting at Satan and all kinds of blasphemous and insane things that they say and do, which I don't even have time to detail this morning. But they speak evil of the things that they don't understand. And Peter says they are going to perish in their own corruption.

Again, this is not something that is just a slight miscalculation, a little bit of an error. They are immersed in their own corruption and they're bringing upon themselves death and destruction. They're sowing to the flesh like natural brute beasts. They're behaving in a natural way. We looked at last week as we finished up that they walk according to the flesh.

They don't walk in the Spirit. They're not sowing to the Spirit, but they're sowing to the flesh. And there is a law, a principle of God that cannot be reversed. Paul tells us about it in Galatians 6, verse 7 and 8. He says to not be deceived, that God will not be mocked, that whatever a man sows, that's what he's going to reap. If you sow to the flesh, Paul said, you'll reap nothing.

corruption. If you sow to the Spirit, you'll reap everlasting life. Whichever one you sow to will determine what you get back, what you reap. These guys have been sowing to the flesh. They are going to perish in their own corruption, Peter says. As we saw last week, they are going to receive the judgment that they deserve. Going on in verse 13, he says, and they will receive the wages of unrighteousness

So these false teachers are going to perish. It's their own corruption that's bringing it upon them. He says they're going to receive the wages of unrighteousness. What are the wages of unrighteousness? Romans chapter 6 verse 23 tells us that the wages of sin is death.

But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The wages of unrighteousness, the wages of sin is death. It's destruction. It's, as Peter said, they're going to perish in their own corruption. The word wages, you're probably familiar with it because we get paid wages, right? When we work for a company or an employer. And it's a word that means a debt, right?

Usually, you don't get paid in advance for the work that you're going to do. No, you do the work and then at the end of the job or at the end of the pay period, at the end of the week, whatever the case may be, then you get paid for that amount of work that you have done. That employer owes you. It's a debt that's owed to you. That's what this word wages means.

The wages of unrighteousness is the idea that there's this debt that's owed because they're living in unrighteousness. They're walking according to the lust of the flesh. They're not walking according to the Spirit. They're not walking in relationship with God. But they're filling their lives with corruption. And so they're receiving what's owed to them is death. They're going to perish in their own corruption, Peter says.

In the same way, he says, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime.

To carouse in the daytime. Those who are out there partying and living it up. It's the idea of luxurious living. You could kind of think about the prodigal son who cashed in his inheritance and went out and just lived the life that he wanted to live. No expense spared. He just kind of did whatever he wanted to do. The same way that those are going to be judged, Peter says, these false teachers are going to be judged.

In the same way that they are receiving the wages of unrighteousness, those who are out there just completely against God, the false teachers are going to receive the same type of judgment, the same type of return. And so Peter calls them spots and blemishes. And again, here's how we see the severity of what Peter is dealing with here. Because he's talking about these false teachers and he calls them spots and blemishes.

What's the big deal about that? Well, Paul talks to us about spots and blemishes within the body of Christ in Ephesians chapter 5. There he's dealing with the subject of husbands and wives and relating that to Christ and the church and how their relationships parallel one another. And Paul explains to us that Jesus Christ, first of all, he gave himself for his bride. He gave himself for the church.

then he washes his bride, that's the church, he washes the church in the water of the word so that he can present the church to himself without spot or blemish. And so what we see is that Christ is watering and washing his bride. He's watering and washing the church in the word to remove spots and blemishes so that we will appear before him without spot or wrinkle.

What Peter is saying here is they are spots and blemishes. They are those who will be washed away by the word. They are not a part of the body of Christ. False teachers are accursed. They're not part of the body of Christ. They are going to be washed away and removed. They will not appear before Jesus Christ with the church.

He says that they're carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you. Again, they're carousing, they're living in luxury, they're filling their lives with their own desires and lusts, doing so in their own deceptions. They're deceived, they're thinking they're getting away with it. They're thinking that this is allowable. They're thinking they're not going to be judged.

They're continuing on and they're doing this in their own deceptions. Peter says, while they feast with you. And that's really an important point here that Peter is dealing with and that we need to be aware of. Peter is not talking about false doctrine and false religions outside of the church. He's talking about people within the church who are feasting with you. Now,

In those days, in that season of the church, they had what they called agape feasts. We call them potlucks today. They would get together and just fellowship together. Everybody would bring what they were able to and just enjoy one another and enjoy the presence and fellowship of God. And Peter says, they're amongst you. They're part of your agape feasts. They're part of your potlucks. They're there and they're false teachers.

in their own deceptions while they feast with you. Living in luxury and just pursuing their own desires. There was another video I was watching as I was preparing for the message this morning.

this other teacher, again, false teacher, he was saying, look, if you have a dream for a better life, anybody ever dream of, you know, having a different house, maybe a different car? He's going on explaining those dreams, the dream that you have for a better life or a better car or a better house, those dreams are God showing you what He wants for you if only you'll give to Him.

And it was another ploy for money. And so if you give to him, then God's going to give you that dream. He's going to give you... That's a vision of what God wants to do for you, the guy was saying. Basically, this guy is teaching, embrace your lust. Whatever you covet, whatever you desire, embrace it. All you got to do is pay God off and then he'll give you what it is that you desire. Pursue your lust is what he's teaching. It's what...

false teachers are doing and it's what he was encouraging others to do as well.

Peter is saying, look, they're not a part of the body of Christ, but they feast with the body. That's the danger. There needs to be an awareness that there are false teachers who go by the name of Christian, who call themselves disciples of Christ, who use similar vocabularies, who know how to disguise themselves. As we talked about last week, they're essentially con men who are ripping off people within the church.

Not just financially, but leading them away from a real relationship with God. And so that's why what Peter is dealing with here is very serious. And we need to be alert and aware that there are false teachers in the church. Verse 14. He says that they have eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls.

They have a heart trained in covetous practices and are accursed children. Their eyes are full of adultery, Peter says, and they cannot cease from sin.

We have an expression, in fact my wife reminded me of it last night as she was sharing some things with me. She said, Jerry, your eyes are bigger than your stomach. And you've probably heard that expression, right? And what does it mean? It means, well you're serving yourself a plate and you're looking at the food that you have on your plate and you're looking at the tray that you're getting the food out of and

This doesn't look like it's enough because I'm hungry. And so I'm looking at that and maybe I just switch the tray with the plate and I'll take the tray because my eyes are bigger than my stomach. Similar type of concept, he says their eyes are full of adultery. It's just captivated them. It's all they can see. And whether you want to look at it as spiritual adultery or physical adultery or both,

It doesn't really matter. The point is they're captivated. They cannot cease from sin. They're full of this covetousness, this lust of the flesh. They don't see anything else. So it's not like a part-time thing, right? They're like, well, yeah, I'm partfully adulterous.

But the other part, you know, I'm preaching the gospel. I'm partially, you know, teaching the truth, but I'm also partially, you know, fleecing the flock. It doesn't work that way. Peter says, look, they're full of adultery. They cannot cease from sin. They're not on again, off again. They are all out against the things of God. They've turned from him.

And they're full of a sinful lifestyle and desires. And again, that is a problem because Paul tells us in Galatians 5.24, those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Those who belong to Jesus have crucified the flesh. These guys, these false teachers, Peter says, they're full of adultery, they cannot cease from sin. But those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh.

Now, if a person does not want to belong to Christ, they're not forced to. God gives them the freedom to choose. He gives us the option to follow Him or to run away from Him. That's not the tragedy here. The tragedy is the next part. He says, "...they entice unstable souls."

Here's the real problem, and here's why Peter is giving the warning. Listen, if you want to go off by yourself and rebel against God, you're free to do that. But where it becomes a concern for the body of Christ is that there are those within the church who pretend to be part of the body, and they entice those who are unstable.

Those who are not on a solid foundation, those who are young, those who are weak, those who are vulnerable. They entice unstable souls. Consider for just a moment those who heard that message that you just saw a clip of and thought, man, I really need to be out of debt. All I got to do is give $2,007 and then I'm going to be out of debt. That's going to be so awesome. It didn't happen.

We would have heard about it, right? There would have been headlines. Thousands of Christians, debt free in 2007. Because they gave $2,007. It doesn't work that way. They entice unstable souls. As we look at these warnings this morning, it's not just a warning, watch out, these guys are out there. But we also need to take the warning and take heed for ourselves. And so I want to encourage you this morning, don't be unstable.

Don't be an unstable soul. Protect yourself with a solid foundation so that you will not be enticed. Because it's a reality. There are those who would seek to lead you astray, to cause you to follow after them, who would take you away from following God and relationship with God and take you down their path. Whatever it is that they're teaching, there's all kinds of variety. It's not always about money. There's all kinds of...

False doctrine and false teaching. Don't be unstable. Immerse yourself in the Word of God. Remember Psalm chapter 1? It talks about the one who meditates in the Word of God day and night. It will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. Fruitful, will not wither. They'll be deeply rooted. They'll be established.

That's how we need to be. Don't be an unstable soul. Immerse yourself in the Word of God. Plant yourself into the Word of God. Circle your life. Center your life around the things of God. Plant yourself right down the river, right down next to the river of water. Be close to God.

Draw near to Him. Pursue Him. As we saw in 2 Peter 1, give all diligence. Let it be the pursuit of your life to grow in your relationship with God. That is the best protection that you have to not be enticed because you've been deeply rooted, because you have a solid foundation in your relationship with God. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4 that God gave to us the church,

and authority within the church, apostles and prophets, evangelists and pastors and teachers, so that we will grow and that we will not be tossed to and fro, that we would not be unstable using Peter's vocabulary.

Ephesians 4.14 tells us this. We should no longer be children tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. Understand that there are those who are plotting deceitfully and they're cunning in their craftiness. They're trickery. They're tricking men and women. They're deceiving intentionally men.

and leading people astray. That's what Peter is warning us against. We need to be deeply rooted. We need to be diligently growing in our relationship with God. Peter goes on to explain that they have a heart that's trained in covetous practices, and they are accursed children.

The heart is trained. That word trained is the idea of exercise or practice. It's the word that was used to describe what a person would do to prepare for an Olympic event. So if you're preparing for an Olympic event, what do you do? You practice. You train. You prepare. Over and over and over again, you participate in the activity for which you are competing. That's the idea here.

Peter says they're trained in covetous practices. Their lives are filled with covetousness. They have this desire for more. It's greed. It's materialism. It's lust for power. It's this desire, this craving of the sinful nature. They're trained in it because they fill their lives with it and they practice it day in and day out. That's what they're living for. That's what they're focused on. That's what they're consumed with.

They have a heart trained in covetous practices. Sometimes you watch things like we saw there and you wonder how can they have the boldness to say such things? Because their heart's trained. Their heart is trained in covetous practices. And so Peter concludes that they are accursed children. The word accursed, it means that they've received a sentence of divine judgment. As we saw last week,

Peter was making it clear. God knows how to judge them. He's not lacking in information. He's not lacking ideas. He's not lacking strength or power. He knows how to judge them. They will be judged. He says that they have received the sentence of divine judgment. The sentence has already been given. They've received it. They are accursed.

Their judgment is coming. They will not escape. Justice will be served. God takes false teaching very seriously. And those who promote it, those who teach it, Peter says they're accursed. The second point we see this morning is that false teachers have forsaken the right way. Look at verse 15. He says, They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam, son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness.

They've forsaken the right way. Remember Jesus said that there was the narrow way and the narrow gate? There's few who enter through that, but that's how you get to eternity with God. Then there's the wide the road and wide the gate that leads to destruction. There's many on that road. There's few on the narrow road. There's many on the wide road. These guys, Peter says, they've forsaken the narrow road. They've turned away from it.

And they've gone astray. They said, well, we're going to take the wide road for now. It's a choice, a decision that they made to turn away from the truth. And instead, they're following, Peter says, the way of Balaam.

Now, Balaam was a prophet in the Old Testament. You can read about him in Numbers 22 through 24. Not much is known about his background, his history, and how he became a prophet. But he was a prophet who was hired by people in order to, you know, promote, pronounce blessings and things like that.

And the situation that Peter is referring to here is when the children of Israel were coming through the wilderness and the king of Moab sees this huge population, three million or so people, coming towards his area and he's concerned, he's nervous. And so he decides, hey, I'm going to hire Balaam to come and curse this people so that then we'll be able to defeat them because they're larger than we are. And so Balak the king sends to Balaam to come and curse them.

But the messengers come and Balaam hears them. He says, oh, let me pray. He prays. God tells him, don't go. Those are my people. They're blessed. They will not be cursed. And so Balaam tells the messengers, I can't go. God said no. So they go back. Well, Balak is not satisfied with that. So he sends more messengers, more noble. He offers more riches. He offers a better pay. He says, come on, Balaam. Please come curse these people for me.

Well, Balaam receives the messengers again. He says, well, let me pray. Already he knows what God has said, but we kind of picture him begging like, oh, come on, please, Lord, look at what they're going to give me. Look what I've got here. And we'll see that's his attitude in just a minute. So he prays. God says, okay, fine. If you want to go, then go.

But he also has this situation with a donkey. That's what Peter refers to here in verse 16. It says, And so it tells us in Numbers 22 through 24 that God was angry with Balaam for going...

And so he deals with them and he warns him through the donkey. The donkey turns off the road. Why? Well, because there's an angel in the road about to strike down Balaam. The donkey sees it and turns off, but Balaam doesn't see the angel and so he just beats up the donkey. Then they're going along again and there's like a wall and the donkey presses him against the wall and Balaam's freaking out. What are you doing? Yelling at the donkey, beating the donkey. Then the angel appeared again. There was nowhere to go, so the donkey just sat down.

And again, Balaam is beating him like, what's going on? And the donkey turns around and begins to speak to him. And Balaam is so upset and involved in the situation, he just talks back as if nothing's happening. Totally clueless. Then God opens his eyes, he sees the angel, and again God tells him, look, you only say what I tell you to say. But he still goes. Very clear what God has said. Very clear God's desire for the children of Israel. But Balaam goes.

And he goes to Balak. And Balak takes him up on a hill and says, okay, pronounce a curse. And Balaam opens his mouth and out comes a blessing upon the children of Israel. Oh, this frustrated Balak. So he takes him to another hill. Well, maybe if you look at it from a different direction. So he takes him up there. Pronounce a curse. He opens his mouth again. Blessing comes out. So far, so good, right? I mean, yeah, maybe he shouldn't have gone. You can talk about permissive will and perfect will, blah, blah, blah. So far, so good. He hasn't cursed Israel. But here's the problem.

Balaam wasn't satisfied with that. He didn't just go away. He thought. He schemed. He was cunning. He was crafty. How can I still get the riches and the wealth and the things that this king has promised to me? And so he came up with a way. Instead of pronouncing a curse on the children of Israel, he taught Balak how to cause Israel to stumble and fall into sin. We know that from Revelation chapter 2 where Jesus says,

To the church, he says, I have a few things against you, Revelation 2.14, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. Balaam taught Balak how to cause the children of Israel to sin in order to fulfill his covetous desires.

That is how these false teachers are, Peter says. They've forsaken the way and they followed the way of Balaam. Their goal, their objective is to fulfill themselves. And so they've come up with a way where they can fulfill themselves by teaching these kinds of messages and bringing forth this kind of doctrine and drawing people after themselves. But they followed the way of Balaam. It's not...

motivated in anything good. Again, it's not an accident or done in ignorance. It's a scheme. It's a plot to obtain their own desires. False teachers have forsaken. They've turned away from the right way, Peter says. And what do they do? Point number three this morning. False teachers allure through lust. Look at verse 17. Verse 17.

He says, these are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. He describes them as wells without water. Now, what good is a well without water? Maybe if we were, you know, Peter was in today's day, he would say they're faucets without water or sprinklers without water. You ever walk into a house, you see a faucet,

You turn it on, what do you expect? You expect there to be water. What would they expect when they come across a well? They would expect, I'm going to draw down this bucket and I'm going to pull it back up and I'm going to have the water that I need for the bath or for cooking or for washing or whatever it may be, to take a drink because I'm thirsty. But these guys, they're wells without water in that they promise all kinds of things, but in reality they're empty.

They have this great facade, "Look at me, I'm a well." But there's no water inside, they're empty. And as a result, they're not able to quench the thirsty soul. And so they have all of these ploys and gimmicks.

To cause people to say, oh, look, if I, oh man, if I give $2,007, there's a thirsty soul there. Oh, I want to be out of debt. I want to be able to be financially free and be able to serve the Lord in that way. And man, I want God to restore my family. There's a thirst there. And so they're promising, I can quench your thirst. All you got to do is follow my doctrine, follow what I say. God told me to tell the church, give this amount.

You follow that, you'll have. But it's a false promise. It's like a well without water. Now, if you want the real thing, Jesus said, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. And from within him burst forth torrents of living water. Hey, if you're thirsty, go to Jesus. But these false teachers, they make all kinds of promises, but they're empty. They're like the clouds that are carried by a tempest. So, there's a drought,

Your crops need water. You see the cloud coming. All right, there's going to be rain. But then it's driven away by the wind. Same type of thing. It's a promise that was made. You were expecting, oh, there's going to be all this blessing. It's going to just shower down upon me because I listened to this false teacher. But then it was driven away and you never see the benefit. That's how Peter describes them. Verse 18. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness...

They allure through the lust of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. So they speak these great swelling words of emptiness. Again, these empty promises, all these big promises that they make, they're just swelling words, but they're empty, like a cloud that does not bring forth the rain. And so they use these words, they use these promises to allure people

The ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. The word allure means to catch by bait. If you think about fishing for just a moment. How do you catch fish? Well, you take a hook and you put some type of bait on there. You throw it in the water and you wait. The fish sees and goes, hmm, that's a scrumptious worm. That sure looks good.

"Man, I like that!" And so it bites. And what happens? It gets hooked. And the fisherman reels in that fish. That is the activity of a false teacher. They allure. There's this hook. It's false doctrine. It's empty promises. But they put on that hook some good bait. What kind of bait is good bait? If you're going to catch trout, what's a good bait? If you're going to catch bass, what's a good bait? If you're going to catch a catfish,

what's a good bait? If you're going to catch a Christian, what's a good bait? Peter says, they allure through the lust of the flesh. Through the lust of the flesh. What do they do? They put this lust of the flesh on here and they say, if you follow me, if you do what I say, if you listen to my teaching, oh, you're going to have this. And it's some craving or desire that you want. Some lust of the flesh. Sometimes it's financial, as we saw. Sometimes,

Come on over here. Oh, you can continue a homosexual lifestyle. God loves you. You don't got to change that. False teaching. They're alluring through the lust of the flesh. Oh, you don't have to worry about this issue in your life. You don't have to change that. You go, ooh, so I can still be like this and still be a Christian, huh? I can still pursue these things. I can still walk this way. I can... Oh, that's appealing. Mmm, that's nice. I like that.

It's craftily designed. It's put in place on purpose to allure. Again, that's how Balaam ended up succeeding. He taught Balak to allure Israel. Oh, send down your ladies. Have them worship this God by sleeping with this woman. Oh, get them involved in idolatry. Get them involved in immorality. They're going to be enticed. Oh, they're going to be allured.

They brought a curse upon themselves by disobeying God. That's what these false teachers do. They have these great boasts and promises that appeal to the flesh, appeal to the sinful nature. He also says, through lewdness. Not only through the lust of the flesh, but through lewdness. And lewdness is a word that means no restraints. You don't have to restrain yourself, they'll teach. In various ways and in all kinds of ways.

activities, you don't have to restrain yourself. Some take, you know, there's the debate about whether a Christian is saved always. If they, you know, once saved, always saved. I'm not going to get into that. But there's different territories in that. There's kind of a middle ground. But there's also the extremes where there are those who teach that, hey, you prayed the prayer and so you can live however you want to live. In Paul's day and in Peter's day, they said, look, your soul is saved. Your flesh is

is what's judged and it's dying anyways. And so you can do whatever you want with your flesh because your soul is saved. And so they would get involved in immorality and all types of wickedness because, hey, well, what's the deal? My flesh is dying anyways. It's no big deal. It's fine. It's allowable. That was the false doctrine of the day and it still continues today. No restraints. You don't have to restrain yourself.

But that's not the truth. They use those things to go, oh, I like that, to catch, to allure those who have actually escaped, Peter says. Who's their target? Who are they fishing for? They're not outside the church. There are those who are outside the church and leading people astray. But what Peter is dealing with, these false teachers that he's talking about, are within the church. He's talking about those who are casting out the bait to those who have escaped.

to those who know the truth, to those who have come to learn of Jesus Christ and what He has to offer. These guys are within the church, enticing those who have escaped this world and trying to bring them back to walk in the flesh again. And so it's so important that we give all diligence to grow in our relationship with God. In Galatians 5.16, Paul says, Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Walk in the Spirit.

Fill your life with the things of God, with the Spirit of God, so that you do not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Number four, false teachers are slaves of corruption. Verse 19 says, While they promised them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption. For by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. They promised liberty, but at the same time they are slaves.

And they're slaves of corruption. They're in bondage. They're in bondage to their sinful heart, their sinful attitude, their sinful lifestyle. Again, their eyes are full of adultery. They are filled with and in bondage to sin. But at the same time, they promise liberty. The guy I showed here at the beginning, he promised liberty. He promised the year of Jubilee, supposedly being 2007.

supposedly being applied in the way that he declared it to be applied. Twisting the scriptures to say something completely different than really what was intended. But he's promising liberty. He's promising prosperity. Promising all kinds of things. All the while, these false teachers, they make these empty promises, but they're slaves of corruption. And again, understand this.

These are just little examples and there's much more severe cases. We need to be aware. We need to be alert. These guys are not innocent. They're in bondage. They're slaves of corruption. He explains that whoever, you know, whatever you're overcome by, that you're brought into bondage. As opposed to what Jesus said, the one who the Son sets free is free indeed. These guys, they're not in the Son. They're not set free. They're in bondage.

Slaves to corruption. Verse 20. Verse 21. Verse 22.

Here's these guys. He says, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world. They escaped the pollutions of the world, Peter says. They knew Jesus, he says, through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And now they're again entangled. They've gone back. They've forsaken the right way and have gone astray.

They've gone back and been entangled again. Peter says the latter end is worse for them than the beginning because they knew the truth, they knew the way of righteousness, but they turned away from it. And they went back and subjected themselves to bondage again. Paul deals with this as well in the book of Romans. The issue of not allowing yourself to be brought into bondage again, those things that once bound you. But they've gone back. They've been entangled again.

They're slaves of corruption. And so Peter explains that it's happened to them according to the proverb. A dog returns to his own vomit. Picture a dog for just a second. This is a good thought, right? So a dog's, you know, roaming along, wagging its tail, happy, finds, you know, maybe something smells really good to the dog.

First service I said cat poop and someone said that dogs don't eat cat poop. So I don't know. Whatever. Yes, they do. I thought so. Okay, so dog finds the cat poop. That's a good one. Mmm, this is good. Eat it right up. Good stuff. Then all of a sudden, man, I feel sick. So then the dog spits it up. I'll save you from the sound. And he goes on his way. Now he's wagging his tail again. Mmm, I feel much better. Then he comes back. Yeah, that really made me sick. Let me try it again. Mmm.

That's the idea. The dog returns to his own vomit. It made him sick. He spit it up, but then he comes back. Well, let me try it again. Maybe this time it'll be better. That's what these guys have done. They've been brought out. They realize, oh, this stuff made me sick. They vomited it up. They knew the truth, but now they've gone back and are eating their vomit. Or he gives another example of a pig. A pig that gets all washed up. And what does it do? It's back to the mud.

These guys, like pigs, got washed up. They learned the truth, but then they went back. And Peter says that's a worse condition because they know the truth and they have rejected it. They have turned from it. They're slaves of corruption. They allure through lust. They've forsaken the right way. Peter says these false teachers are accursed, but they exist again.

And so again, it's a warning. But not a warning in a way that, oh man, you better try to uncover as much false teaching as you can and learn all about it. Not like that at all. Think of it like a warning sign. Do you, at a yield sign, panic and freak out and try to investigate every yield sign in the city and get consumed by it and you're driving by and, I can't look at anything else because of that yield sign. No, you see it? Okay.

Yield. There may be cars coming. Let me look. If not, boom, I'm on my way. That's the type of warning that we're to have here. Look. Examine. Take a moment. Look around. Be alert. Be warned. Is there some false teaching that's going on? Is there some false teaching that you're following? The best protection, insulation from false teaching is what Peter encouraged us to do in the first chapter. And that is to give all diligence.

to grow in a relationship with God. Consume your life with knowing God. Fill your life with the things of God. Pursue Him completely and wholly. In closing, turn with me please to Hebrews chapter 11. In Hebrews chapter 11, we have what's called the Hall of Faith. All these examples of men and women who had faith, who believed in God. And in verse 13...

through 16, the author of Hebrews gives us a little summary and then goes on to list some more examples. Take a look at verse 13 with me. He says, "...these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland."

And truly, if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. Here the author of Hebrews says, look at all these examples of faith. Men and women of God who believed God. He says, look, they died in faith.

This morning, I want to encourage you. Die in faith. Both to your flesh, die to yourself in faith, but keep walking in faith until you die so that you die in faith. He says, look, these guys, they died in faith. They didn't receive the promises. They were far off, but they kept looking forward. They kept pushing forward.

He says that they classified themselves as strangers and pilgrims. And he says those who say such things, they testify, they declare that, hey, we're seeking a homeland. We're seeking something else and it's not of this world. The false teachers are seeking to fulfill themselves right now in this life. That's their drive. That's their thrust. And that's what they are throwing out as bait before us. You can fulfill yourself right now.

Here on earth. But the author of Hebrews says, they weren't satisfied here. They weren't looking for fulfillment here. They were looking forward to what God had promised. Waiting for that. And they died in faith. He says in verse 15, look, if they had called to mind the country that they'd come out from, they would have had opportunity to return.

If they would have spent time thinking about the good old days, if they would have brought to their mind the things that they used to do, he says they would have had opportunity to return. They could have gone back. They didn't have to go forward and die in faith. They had a chance if they would have thought about those things to go back, live in the old town, live in the old lifestyle, do the old things again. Like the false teachers, they could have gone back and been entangled again with the things that entangled them before.

But he says they desired a better that is a heavenly country. And so God's not ashamed to be called their God. As we close this morning, I want to encourage you. Desire that heavenly country. Don't seek to be fulfilled in this life here on this earth. Don't let the lust of the flesh consume your life. Instead, give all diligence. What did these people have? They had faith. Peter said give all diligence to add to your faith.

Grow in your relationship with God. Go forward in your relationship with Him. Draw near to Him. Let that consume you, not the things of this life, so that you die in faith, looking forward to those promises that He's given to you that will be fulfilled in eternity. Let's pray. God, I pray that You would help us this morning to let go of the things of this world. Lord, help us to see clearly

If there are any areas in our lives where we are walking according to the lust of our flesh, Lord, help us to see that we might turn from it, that we might let it go, that we might repent. Because, God, we don't want to be unstable and we don't want to be enticed. And there are those who would lead us astray. So, God, I pray that you would help us to turn towards you completely and wholly. Lord, that we would be filled with you. And, Lord, that we would not look back or wander back.

or dabble in the old things, Lord, that we would be in an all-out pursuit to know you, to walk with you, and to glorify you for the rest of our lives. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.