I love the Rock of Ages. I'm so thankful His blood washed
away all my sins. Let's go to 2 Peter chapter 1.
Alright, 2 Peter chapter 1. This is Peter's second letter
that he wrote to some folks. If you go back to the first letter,
you'll find that he wrote to saints of God who'd been scattered. They'd been scattered because
of persecution that arose because of their love for the gospel.
Stephen had been, he had been martyred. You read about that
in the book of Acts. After his death, God's people,
they just, they left Jerusalem looking for safety, looking for
somewhere they could live without being persecuted. I think we forget, I'm absolutely
certain that we forget and we don't really appreciate the fact
that others have suffered a lot for the cause of Christ. We've not yet suffered under
blood. Maybe a little word of rebuked
from somebody or somebody that didn't like us. But I tell you,
these folks, they knew about persecution. They knew about
what it meant to lay down their lives for the
cause of the gospel. They loved Christ. You think
about this, that these folks, here's what they're guilty of.
They're guilty of believing in salvation by grace. That's what
they were guilty of. They were guilty of meeting together
and exalting God in salvation. And they were hated. So much so, it was so dangerous
that they just scattered. Let's give thanks to God over
and over again for the great privilege he gives us to meet
in peace without fear of somebody coming in and shutting us down.
I know that lots of our freedoms and liberties are eroding today. And every so often somebody will
say to me, do you think this is going to happen or that's
going to happen? during our lifetimes. Well, I
don't know what's going to happen. But I know who does. And I know
he controls all things. He does all things well. It may
become difficult. I'm thankful for the nation in
which we live, for the liberties we enjoy. But there's another
nation God's interested in. That's the nation of His elect.
And I know we sometimes sing God Bless America. Well, I ask
God to send a refreshing breeze of His grace to America. Indeed,
I pray that He will. He'll send the gospel forth.
But there's another nation, this nation of God's people, nation
of God's elect. scattered throughout the world.
That's the nation God's interested in. That's the nation God loves.
I heard somebody say the other day, God loves the United States
of America. God loves His people. God loves
His elect. He loves His elect with an everlasting
love. And so much so that He gave His
only begotten Son to redeem us, to save us from our sins. This
is the nation, this is the people God's vitally interested in.
God loves His elect. God embraces His elect. God's
looking after His elect. And whatever happens in this
world, whatever happens in this nation, and I don't know what's
going to happen and you don't know what's going to happen,
but I'll guarantee you this, whatever does happen will be
for God's glory and our good. And that all just satisfies right
there. These people were scattered.
They were scattered. And so Simon Peter writes to
them. Led by the Spirit of God, he
writes them two letters. You read the book of 1 Peter,
five chapters, and then he writes the second epistle, 2 Peter. And he wrote this one just a
little bit before he died. Maybe a year or so is what the
Bible scholars say. Of course, Peter was crucified
upside down. And if historians are right,
the Fox's Book of Martyrs, if you've ever read that, this is
what they say. If you haven't read Fox's Book
of Martyrs, it'd do you good to read it. It'd be to your benefit. But he first of all watched his
wife being crucified. His wife was crucified and he
watched him, according to the historians, he watched her as
she died and his constant words to her was, believe the
Lord, believe the Lord, believe the Lord, and she died. And then they crucified him and
as tradition says, he said, I'm not worthy to die as my Lord,
crucify me upside down. And so they did. But about a
year before that, he wrote this letter to these saints that are
scattered. And they're a troubled people. They're an afflicted people. And in these two letters, of
course, Peter writes to exhort them to faithfulness. He exhorts
them for encouragement. He's encouraging them. Back in
the first chapter of 1 Peter, he reminds them of their redemption
in Christ Jesus, that Lamb of God who was appointed to die
for them, appointed and ordained from before the foundation of
the world. He encourages them in many ways in the Gospel and
he admonishes them to be firm, to be strong. In the face of
opposition, in the face of severe persecution, don't quit. Don't
quit. And something that really troubled
him and the Spirit of God lays it upon his heart to write this
second epistle on this account, he was concerned that as these
people were out there and not under the sound of the apostolic
voices any longer, not under the sound of this faithful
gospel preaching of Peter, though they had their elders, we're
sure, Yet he was worried, or maybe the word worried is not
the right word, he was concerned that they would listen to the
false gospels that were out there, and so their minds would be contaminated
with error. And specifically, in chapter
1 of 2 Peter, In verse 16, he mentions fables. Fables. And he says, now what we preach
to you are not fables. You notice in verse 16, and really
this morning and then again this evening, our subject is beware
of fables. And we'll take this verse for
our starting point, but really I'll be making references throughout
this first chapter. But he says, we have not followed,
that is, those men that you've been listening to. When they
were back in Jerusalem, before they were scattered, before the
persecution broke out. Back in Jerusalem where God had
blessed with thousands of people becoming believers. Thousands
of people being overcome by free and sovereign grace. Thousands
of people embracing God's Word, God's truth as it is in Christ
Jesus. Now they're out there. He's very
concerned about them that they don't fall victim to these fables. We preach the truth to you. He
says, we haven't followed cunningly devised fables. You know that.
You listened to us. You heard us preach. Now where
did Simon Peter and the other apostles, where did they learn
their gospel from? From the Savior. From the Savior. In fact, He's the one that sent
them forth to preach the gospel. He said, go ye into all the world
and preach the gospel. You teach them whatsoever I command
you. And what did He command them
to preach? The gospel. What is the gospel? The good
news. The glad tidings of Jesus Christ
and His work of redemption. You go out, the Savior says,
you go out and you preach the gospel. You preach the message
that I give you. And now Peter writes to these
people and he says, now you know that when you were listening
to us, you weren't listening to some people who were making
up stories. These were not fables. You didn't follow and we didn't
follow these, what he calls, cunningly devised fables. He says, for we have not followed.
Here's the word, let me give you a definition of followed.
Yielded to. Or bowed to. Or submitted to. He says, we have not yielded
to. We have not bowed to, we have
not submitted to these devised, cleverly devised fables. That's what cunningly devised
means, artfully crafted by man's ingenuity. What they preached
to the people, they didn't make it up as they went along. They were instructed by the Master. They sat at His feet for months
upon end as He taught them, as He instructed them. It was said
of Him, never a man spake like this man. And He spake unto His
apostles. He gave to them the Word of Life.
He gave to them the Word of God. Peter says, we haven't followed
cunningly devised fables. We haven't yielded to the teachings
of men. That which we have delivered
unto you, that which we have preached unto you, is the very
Word of the incarnate God. We didn't get this from the old
rabbis. We didn't get this from the Pharisees. We didn't get this from the Sanhedrin.
These are not traditions that have been passed along by the
fathers. No, what we gave to you was the
very Word of the Incarnate Lord, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Fables. If we hadn't preached to you
fables, what's fable? A fable is something
that's fiction. A fable is that which is invented. Something that is made up. Something
that is not the truth. Most everybody here has heard
of Aesop's fables. Aesop's fables. Those fables
were credited to Aesop. He was a storyteller. He was also a servant. And he
was a storyteller who lived in ancient Greece. His stories were made up. They were fables. They were invented
in order to set forth certain life lessons. Well, there were
those in Peter's day and there are those in our day who have
their own kind of fables. And they speak these fables in
order to set forth certain life lessons. But they're not preaching
the gospel of the grace of God. This was so back in Peter's day
and it's equally so today. And Simon Peter writes and he
says, now, what we preached to you, what we believed and what
we preached to you, they weren't myths. They weren't fables. These were not some inventions
of our own darkened minds. We preach to you the very Word
of God. And even today, and this morning,
that which I come before you with are not fables. I'm not here as a religious psychologist. as a religious motivator to help
you in your walk on this earth, I come before you as a preacher
of the gospel. And I don't set before you fables,
I set before you the very truth of God. That which you have in
your hands is God's Word. This is God's message. God's
message. God's message to us. He who made
the world and all things in it, He has something to say and everything
He has to say, He says in this book. This is not fables. I'm not occupying your time with
some things that I've made up or some things that I have read
that other men concocted in their darkened minds. That which I
come before you with, day in and day out, is the very Word
of the living God. Thus saith the Lord. That's our message. Not fables? Not cunningly devised fables? And listen, there are lots of
cunningly devised fables to be heard out there. You beware,
this is what troubled Simon Peter. Here these saints of God were,
scattered abroad. Well, what's out there? Fables. Fables. We have not followed,
we have not yielded to, we have not bowed to, we have not submitted
to cleverly devised myths, deceitful fables. And let me tell you this,
if you have not fallen victim to a fable, If you have remained
true and constant and steadfast in believing the gospel of God's
free grace, it's not to your credit that you have persevered,
but it's to God's credit that He has preserved you. He keeps
us. He keeps us believing. He keeps
us in the gospel. Listen, others have left. Others
smarter than us, wiser than us, seemingly as much or maybe more
so committed than us. They have left and fallen victim
to the fables of the world, to false religion. Why is it that
you and I are still here? Why is it that we still love
to hear of Jesus Christ and Him crucified? Why is it that we
still love the message of God's free and sovereign and omnipotent,
irresistible grace? It's because He's kept us. Otherwise, we'd fall a victim
to these fables. Boy, if you listen to some of
these guys out here teaching their fables, they're so eloquent. They're so gifted. They're wonderful
speakers. And they tell you, God's got
a wonderful plan for you. If you'll just let Him. If you'll
just let Him have His way. Oh, the world is full of fables. There are many, many fables.
One gospel. One gospel. Go back to 2 Timothy
chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4. Well preacher,
you think you're right and everybody else is wrong? I know God is
right and all of us are wrong by nature. We better find out
what He has to say. I quoted this in Sunday school
this morning. Let God be true and every man a liar. Every man
a liar. That's you, me and everybody
else. There's only one truth and that's God's truth. God's
truth. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse
1. Here's what the Apostle says,
I charge thee therefore before God, 2 Timothy 4.1, I charge
thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
judge the quick and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom,
preach the word. Be instant, be earnest, be urgent,
in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, Exhort with all longsuffering
and doctrine. For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine." What is sound doctrine? That's
wholesome doctrine. That's healthy doctrine. Doctrine
that's good for you. I don't want to hear that doctrine
preached, but good doctrine is beneficial to you. That's how
you grow. That's how you learn. What is
the doctrine of our Lord? It's the teachings of the Lord
Jesus. That's what doctrine is. Doctrine is not a bad word, it's
a good word. It's a good word. Well, I don't
want to hear that doctrine, I want to hear about Jesus. Well, doctrine
of the teachings of Jesus. You want to hear of the teachings
of the Lord Jesus? Well, yes I do. Well, that's
doctrine. That's doctrine. Well, you say doctrine around
some people, they treat it like it's a four-letter word or something.
Well, it's not doctrine. We don't want doctrine. Well,
God talked about His doctrines like the rain. It's like the
dew. It's like the dew. God's doctrine.
Doctrine's good. He said, there's a time come
when people want to endure a sound doctrine, a wholesome doctrine,
a healthy doctrine. It's good for you. But after
their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having
itching ears. These people have itching ears
and so they search around. Do they find a teacher that teaches
what tickles their ears? What's satisfying? You know,
man, there are all kinds of fables out here. If you don't like the
truth, you go out there, there are many sorts of fables and
maybe you'll finally land on one that you'll like. But here's
the difference, there are many fables, one truth. Truth is singular. It's singular. You see, Christ
is the way, the truth, the life. He's not one among many ways. And He doesn't just show you
the way. He is the way. He's the way.
He said, I am the door. By me if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and go in and out and find pasture. This is
a singular gospel. It's a singular Savior. But look at verse 4. He says,
they shall turn away their ears from the truth and they shall
be turned unto what? Fables. Fables. And isn't it sad? And you have
friends and loved ones, you have relatives. They'd rather listen
to fables. They love the fables. And you
try to tell them the truth as it is in the Lord Jesus. Because
he is all the truth of God. He is a summary of all the truth
of God. He is truth incarnate. Old Pilate
stood in front of the Savior and said, what is truth? There
is truth standing in front of him. One truth. Lots of errors. Men don't believe
the truth. But they will embrace error every
time. You know, fables, they get a following. There was one
old writer who said that error will go around the world while
the truth is still putting its boots on. Why is that? Why are men so receptive
to error? Why are fables so popular? Well, because of man's condition,
that's why. Because we love error. We'll
receive error every time. Every time. And I tell you, here
and there, God has gathered people together who love the truth,
who hear the truth, who rejoice in the truth, who don't want
anything but the truth. But if God doesn't give you an
ear to hear the truth, if He doesn't give you a heart to discern
what is a fable and what is the truth, you'll follow a fable
every single time. That's sad truth then. That's
a sad fact. That's just the way we are. And
if you still love the truth, some of you have been listening
to this gospel 50, 60 years. Maybe longer than that. I don't
know. Have you been loving the truth? If you still love the
truth, oh, it's due to the faithfulness of God in preserving you and
keeping you. Keeping you. Otherwise, you would
have wandered off. You would have left too. Hey,
there's more excitement out there. They've got more exciting music.
I get so weary of people calling me, what are you doing for your
young people at the church? What kind of music program do
you have? Do you have contemporary music? Oh, that's a big... Contemporary
Christian music. It's exciting. I was asked to
preach at a Bible conference. Oh, you'd have just died if you'd
been there. I nearly did. About three years ago, when I
went in, the song leader had a tambourine. And he just, he had his tambourine
going and they had a band up here in the drums. Boy, he was...
And all of that kind of stuff. And people all excited. And I
was invited to preach there. In a circus. In a three ring
circus. That's out there. I tell you,
we live a sheltered life. Thank God for that. I like the
shelter of the truth myself. But every once in a while, you'll
have to go to a funeral or you'll have to listen to a false prophet
for whatever reason. And you might even wind up in
a service where you're observing all this. You say, my goodness,
I didn't know all this mess went on out here. It's absolutely
awful. But you know what? It appeals
to the flesh. They got more exciting music.
They got more exciting methods. They got a more exciting ministry. I preached years... I think you
preached for me up in Almon when I was preaching at a... There
was a church down below us. Their pastor took He'd been there
ten years and he took a month's sabbatical. If I'd been a church member,
I'd say, hey, we can do without you for a month, we can do without
you for good, but that's just me. But anyway, they decided
they'd invite different kinds of preachers in to, you know,
just enjoy variety. And one of the guys who was on
the board, he'd stop by and he'd hear me every once in a while.
And so Simon Mitch said, we need to have a Baptist preacher. He
said, I know the guy. Guy up in Almonte, First Baptist
Church. So they asked me to preach. He
preached for me in my absence. And I went down there. It was
another three ring circus. And they had all different kinds
of pastors. They had an entertainment pastor. Had their little button. Is him great. Wasn't one of those
sticker things. I mean, it was a permanent doodad. And they had two sessions. And they did exactly the same
thing the first session, or the second session, as they did the
first session. First session, we had about 300 or 400 people. And then the rest of them met
in Sunday school classes. And then they flip-flopped. The
second session had about 600 people. And those first group,
they went to Sunday school. But they did everything exactly
the same way. And this entertainment pastor,
he told the same lousy joke to begin the service, the second
service as he did the first service. Hey, that stuff's out there.
We're shielded, aren't we? Thank God we're shielded from
that mess. We're protected from that. Fables,
that's what they believe, fables. I was supposed to preach both
I did preach two times, and they told me, they said, you can just
preach the same message twice, Sunday morning. I said, well,
I don't do that. I just preach two different messages. And they
gave me a standing ovation when they introduced me. And everybody
was yelling, clapping, and I thought, I'm going to quiet this crowd
down. And I said, I stand before you
today as God's servant, and I'm only going to preach what the
word of God says. They said, yay! And they all
stood up and applauded. I was like, well, that wasn't
the right approach. So then I got to preaching on
depravity. That kind of quieted things down. Started telling them who God
is. Things got quiet. Then I preached the second service.
I was supposed to go back Sunday night and preach. I wound up
going to hear him Sunday night because I was notified then,
you don't need to come back tonight. I guess they'd heard all a Baptist
preacher needed to say there. That stuff's out there. There's
all kinds of fables. People's ears are being tickled.
And I tell you, it's sad. It's sad. And it's heartbreaking
what our friends and what our neighbors and what our loved
ones are listening to and what they love. And I'm going to tell
you something. The only hope they've got is
for the grace of God to invade the heart. That's the only hope
they've got. Show them the difference. Otherwise,
they'll just follow that. They're absolutely drunk on the
wine of the harlot. You see, the fables are all coming
from the harlot. Harlot religion. False religion.
And people are drunk on it. And you know they're intoxicated
on it because you try to talk to them. You can't get anywhere
with them. I know you've tried, haven't
you? You've tried to talk to your brothers and your sisters
and your mothers and your fathers and your kids and you try to
tell them. And they say, but our church is so exciting. It's
so exciting. We have dress-up Sunday next
Sunday and we have old-timers. We've got this kind of Sunday.
But they don't know anything about worship. They don't know
anything about bowing down before the God of glory. They don't
know anything about being quiet and being still in the presence
of God. God's in the heaven and you're
on earth. Let your words be few. They don't know anything about
that. All they know is about excitement. We're happy in Jesus. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah.
And all that's just blasphemy. Taking God's name in vain. It's
what the Apostle Paul... See, he's concerned about the
same thing Peter's concerned about. Fables! Beware of the
fables! Beware of fables. Say, but brother,
we've had the truth for a long time. These people listen to
the apostles. And Simon Peter's concerned about
them falling prey to fables. So is the Apostle Paul. He's
concerned about them embracing fables. People stop their ears to the
truth, but their ears are open to error. This is what sin has done to
us. If there's ever any evidence
of depravity, surely it's here. We love what's bad for us, and
we hate that what's good for us. That's what depravity's done
for us. That's what sin's done for us. We hate the good, we
love the bad. We hate the truth, we love the
error. We're in awful shape. No matter
how bad we paint the picture of our depravity, the half has
not been told. It's not as black as we can paint
it. The only hope for a poor lost
sinner is for God Himself to intervene and quicken the dead
soul. God's got to give life. He's
got to speak with power that raises the dead. That's our only
hope. Otherwise, we're going to go
to hell with a Bible in our hand. Embracing the fable. Preacher,
you ought not preach against these other religions. Why not?
Why not? I love people. I'm concerned
about people. Error is out there and people
are falling prey to it all the time. And even some who profess
to believe sovereign grace, they wander off into it. They say, I never will. Spurgeon said,
don't ever say what you won't do, you'll be found to be a liar
every time. By the grace of God I won't wander
off. By the grace of God I won't leave
this gospel. But I know this, He's going to
have to keep me. He's going to have to keep me. Look what Paul
says in Titus. Look at Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter 1, verse 9. Holding fast the faithful word
as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine
both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. Titus chapter
1, verse 10. Holding fast to the faithful
word, he says in verse 9. Hold firmly to the faithful.
What's going to keep me from fables? What's going to keep
me from falling victim to these slick-talking preachers? I tell
you, hold faithfully to the Word of God. Hold tenaciously. Don't
let go. Oh God, give me a resolve in
my heart and in my mind not to let go of this glorious gospel. Not to have my attention taken
away by the glitter and the glamour of these fables. Oh, hold fast. God give us a
determination. I tell you, determination is
good. You know, like the Apostle Paul
said in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, I'm determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Boy,
that's a determination. He said, deep in my soul I have
a solid, fixed determination. I'm not going to leave this gospel.
I'm going to preach this gospel. I'm going to declare the substitutionary
work, the satisfaction of the justice of God and the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you and I, we need to be
determined by the grace of God. This gospel is the gospel of
God and I'm not going to let it go. Paul tells Timothy, hold
it fast. I know He holds us fast, but
here's our responsibility. You hold fast to the Gospel.
You hold fast to the Gospel. The faithful word, that's what
He calls it, in verse 9. That you've been taught. Because
He says, look in verse 10, for there are many unruly and vain
talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision. There
are a bunch of liars out here whose mouths must be stopped.
who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not,
they do it for filthy lucre's sake. Why in fact, he says, one
of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said the Christians
are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is
true. Wherefore, rebuke them sharply
that they may be sound in the faith. When you see somebody
beginning to say, well, you know what? I don't think this other
religion is too bad. Wait just a minute. Hang on now. I love you, but don't you start
that kind of talk with me now. I know we've been friends for
years and years and years, but our friendship now, it's in question. You leave this gospel. That's
what Paul says. His witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply,
watch it, that they may be sound in the faith. Verse 14, not giving
heed to Jewish fables. and commandments of men that
turn from the truth. People that turn from the truth.
That's what Peter's concerned about over here in 2 Peter chapter
1. I don't want you to turn from the truth. Don't turn from the
truth. Well, go back to 2 Peter 1. My
time's about gone. Let me just give you this. We'll
pick up tonight. What is it that's going to keep
us from following these cunningly devised fables? And I'll ask it this way. What
is it that a minister of the gospel must do to prevent his
hearers from falling victim to religious error? Well, he's got
to remind people of the truth. Just over and over again. Notice how Peter urges the people
of God to remember. Just remember. Watch what he
said. Look in verse 9. A brother read through these
a while ago. He says, but he that lacketh
these things is blind. He can't see afar off. 2 Peter
1.9. Can't see afar off. He's forgotten.
Have you forgotten? Have you forgotten? Look at verse
12. Therefore I will not be negligent
to put you always in remembrance of these things. I'm here to
remind you, Peter says. I'm here to remind you. Look
at the rest of this. In remembrance of these things,
though you know them, And you're established and be established
in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet. I think
it's right. As long as I'm in this tabernacle
to stir you up by putting you in remembrance. In remembrance
of the truth. Remembrance. That's such a key
word here. Have you forgotten? Verse 9.
Verse 12 puts you always in remembrance. Verse 13 putting you in remembrance. Because look at what he says
in verse 14. Knowing that surely I must put off my tabernacle,
I'm going to die. That's what he says. Even as
our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me in the last chapter of John,
He told him about that. Moreover, I will endeavor that
ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in
remembrance. I'm here to remind you. What is the ministry of the preacher
of the gospel? You know what it is? to just
remind people of the truth. That's all it is. I'm not here
to tell you something you don't already know. I'm not here to introduce you
to some new doctrine. Because if it's new it isn't
true, and if it's true it isn't new. I'm here to remind you. That's
all what people say, well, he really says the same thing over
and over again. Yeah, so what's your point? Peter
says, I'm here to remind you. And you know why we need reminding? Because we forget. What is the
Lord's Supper? but a remembrance of our Lord.
This do in memory of me. As often as you do this, do this
in remembrance of me. Remembrance, what does that mean?
What does that indicate? We tend to forget. We tend to
forget. So every time we gather together,
it's just to put you in memory of this gospel that you already
know. It's nothing new. It's nothing novel. I'm trying to say the same things
using a few different words maybe and starting from a different
text, but it's the old gospel. Well, you wouldn't want anything
new. But the beauty of this old gospel is it's always fresh. It's always full of life. It's
always invigorating to the child of God. It's always like fresh
bread. It's like the manna that the
children of Israel gathered every morning. At least six mornings
a week they did. Always fresh. Let me tell you
something. This gospel, this gospel of the bread of life is
baked in the ovens of heaven. In the very ovens of it comes
from God Himself. The good news of redemption and
reconciliation and righteousness established and freely imputed
to those sinners who are made to realize their sinfulness and
who believe Him. I'm just putting you in remembrance.
That's all. I'm just reminding you. That's
all I'm doing. You come back tonight and I'll
remind you again. And I'll remind you we have service tonight again.
Alright, let's sing.