The lesson this morning is in
2 Peter chapter 2. We're going to be looking at
verses 17 through the end of the chapter. And this entire
chapter has to do with false prophets. That's what it's talking
about. This is a verse-by-verse study. I'm not picking my topic. I'd
much rather preach on the cross. preach to you the grace of God. But this is a verse-by-verse
study that we're doing. And this entire chapter here
in 2 Peter deals with false prophets. It tells us their location. They're
among us. And it tells us that they are. I think folks like to deny that
and think of false prophets as something that the church was
plagued with in ancient days, but we're not bothered with it
anymore. That's not so. Peter tells us at the beginning
of the chapter, false prophets shall be among you. And it also
tells us about their ministry and the danger they present to
the souls of them who will give them their ears. Now, you might
choose to deny the existence of these men. This is how the
world deals with it. They just ignore it. They just
deny it. They just say, well, you're crazy.
You're crazy. A few weeks ago, I was preaching,
and we had a visitor come in and sit down in the back. And
she sat there until about a third of the way through the message.
And when I started dealing with this thing of false prophets,
She looked at me like I was a rattlesnake, and she went out the door. And
that's what most men, they just are not going to hear it. They're
not going to receive it. They don't know where you're
coming from when you talk about it. And you can deny the existence
of these men. And this is how the world deals
with them. They believe that any church with a cross attached
to it is preaching the gospel. Any church with stained glass
windows who call themselves a church are doing somewhat the work of
God. That's how this world deals with
these things. I believe that any church where
they use the name Jesus or God or Spirit is of God. And to the world, a false prophet
is a Jim Jones. It's a father divine. It's a
son young moon. It's one of these men. They're
false prophets, but these people out here are not false prophets. You might choose to believe that
such men pose no threat. Most people believe that. Well,
at least they're going to church. They might not be going to a
really good church, but at least they're going to church. That's
what I hear people say, as though that was better than nothing.
It's not. It's not. Well, you say they
seem to want peace. They cry, peace, peace. The scripture
said they would. But they cry, peace, peace, where
there is no peace. They seem to be logical. What
they say appeals to the natural reasoning of men. Reasonable
that a man ought to have a free will, isn't it? Huh? Isn't that
reasonable? That seems reasonable. Did to
me at one time. They seem to love people. They
visit the hospitals, the nursing homes, and the jails. They don't
seem to pose a threat to anybody. You might choose to believe that
these men pose no threat. Or you might reach a compromise
because of their relationship to you or to your immediate family. You might say, well, that man
out there that I don't know, he's a false prophet. But the
same man over here preaching the same thing because he's your
brother-in-law, you look at him a little different. That's just the way it is. I'm
telling you exactly the way it is. You may just reach a compromise. And if these things were not
so, these men could never get their foot in the door. They
could never get a hearing by anybody who ever read the Bible. And this is what these verses
that we're considering this morning are teaching. Look here in 2
Peter 2, verse 17. These, and he's already described
who these are. They're the false prophets who
bring in damnable heresies and destroy men's souls. He's already
told us who these are, these false prophets. These are whales
without water. clouds that are carried with
a tempest to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for everyone. I'm going to tell you something.
One of the most sobering facts that I ever had to deal with
in my Christian life was the fact that almost all of what
we call religion in this world is Antichrist. It's Antichrist
in its doctrine. It's Antichrist in its character.
And it's especially anti-Christ in its effects upon men. A preacher,
you're saying that you're at odds with these people? You're saying that you don't
agree with these people, that you're at odds with these people?
That's exactly what I'm telling you. And what's more, history since
the days of Christ have always seen the church and recorded
the church at odds with this world's religion. All you have
to do is read the Bible. The Jewish religion was already
established, been established for 6,000 years. It was accepted. Even the Romans, even those vile
Romans who took them over and the Jews were in captivity to
them, they still respected their religion and let them carry on
their religion. They were accepted. It was established. Everybody
knew that until Christ came. Until John the Baptist called
them vipers. In John 15, 18, our Lord said
to His disciples, you know that the world hated Me before it
hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love its own. But because you're not of the
world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you. Remember the word that I said
unto you, the servant's not greater than his Lord. If they persecuted
me, they'll also persecute you. If they kept my saying, they'll
keep yours. But all these things will they
do unto you for my name's sake. because they know not him that
sent me." There are anti-Christ churches
in the world. That's a sobering fact. I've heard men talk about him,
well, you know, he believes a few things. So does the devil. I don't make
him a Christian. So do demons. That didn't make
him a Christian. So did Alexander the Coppersmith,
who made those images for religious people, made those crosses and
rings and earrings and all that kind of stuff. There's antichrist churches in
this world because the prince of darkness, the prince of this
ungodly world, has transformed natural men into ministers of
righteousness. That's what they are. They're
out here preaching righteousness, but they're not preaching God's
righteousness in Christ, imputed righteousness by faith. They're
preaching self-righteousness. They're telling people that if
they'll do the best they can, God will accept them. That's
a lie. That's antichrist. Paul said, if righteousness comes
by the law, if it comes by your obedience to the law, if you
can gain favor with God by your obedience to the law, then Christ
died in vain. There's no need for Him to come.
No need for Him to die. They spread these venomous lies
throughout the world. You need to see that in the Scripture.
You can read it in 2 Corinthians 11, verses 13 through 15. Paul
warned Timothy. He said, the time will come when
they will not endure sound doctrine. But after their own lusts shall
they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. And they
shall turn away their ears from the truth. and turn their ears
to fables, catchy little sayings, fables, cleanliness is next to
godliness, that kind of thing. And nobody's immune to their
presence and their effect on them that hear them. But how
can these spiritual vipers, that's what John the Baptist called, How can these spiritual vipers
gain a hearing? Because they don't appear as
vipers. They appear as whales. Isn't
that what Peter is telling us? They're whales. They're whales. False prophets appear as whales
of water to thirsty souls. A man gets in trouble, some kind
of trouble. drugs, alcohol, divorce, sickness,
disease, catastrophe, whatever it is, he gets in trouble. He
begins to look for help and he looks around and he finds here's
a church. Looks like a godly church, got
crosses on the front of it, crosses on the steeple, says Baptist
on the sign. Look back in the Scripture, man,
from John the Baptist all the way down, Baptists have historically
stood for the truth. Surely these people are sin of
God. Parking lot's full of cars. People
go there. People evidently approve of what's
being preached there. So I'll go there and find help
for my soul. Looks like a well to me. And
I'm thirsty. But when I go inside a truly
thirsty sinner, finds no water at that well. Huh? He can't find any of that water
that our Lord told that woman at the well that day. If you
knew who I was, I wouldn't be asking you for a drink. You'd
be asking me. And I give you water, there'd
be a what? A well of water springing up
within you. They're whales without water. Sometimes men at great expense
travel long distances. They go inside only to go away
disappointed and unsatisfied. And then he tells us this about
these false prophets. They're whales without water,
and they're clouds blown about by a tempest. Now, tempest is
not a thunderstorm. A tempest is a strong wind. That's
what he's talking about here. A strong wind blows these men. They're blown about by every
wind of doctrine. Just blown about. They have no
certain place they need to be. They're just blown about. They
go here and they go there. And they promise refreshing rain.
And they carry all the signs, but when they come, they're all
show and no shower. Got nothing to say to pitiful,
helpless sinners. They promise relief from a life
of drought, but when they come, they offer no more than just
temporary shade. That's what these clouds blown
about, that's what they do. They come over and give you a
little shade and then they're gone. And of these men, the Holy Ghost
writes, He says here in this verse, the mist of darkness is
reserved forever. Who is it reserved for? False
prophets. False prophets. The mist of darkness
speaks to me of a spiritual fog in the night. I remember, oh,
this has been years ago, probably 35, 40 years ago. Kathy's mother,
her father was a railroader, so he got tickets and things
free. And she had a train ticket from
northern Ohio all the way down. We lived in Louisiana at the
time. But the railroad that he had the ticket for came over
Mississippi. And I had to pick her up at night. And we got caught in one of them
winter delta fogs after dawn. You couldn't see, I couldn't
see the front end of my car. We drove around and that, it
was so thick that you had to have your wipers on. That's what
he's talking about here, the mist of darkness. He's talking
about a fog after dark that cuts off all vision. You don't know
where you are. And I was looking for a place
that I'd never been. That's what thirsty sinners are
hunting for, somewhere they've never been. And these men are lost in a dark
fog, and they're never coming out of it. It's reserved for
them forever. Natural men are by nature in
a dark fog. They're called blind leaders
of the blind. And being reprobate, they're
cursed forever to wander in this mist of darkness. And I think
you could say that about most of these false prophets. They're
reprobates that God's given over to a strong delusion to believe
a lie. They believe it. They believe
what they preach. They're described in the Scriptures
in the book of Jude as trees whose fruit withereth. Raging waves of the sea foaming
out their impurities. and shooting stars that blaze
up in a light of glory for about two seconds. And then they're
gone forever. They disappear into the blackness
of darkness forever. All right, 2 Peter 2, verse 18.
For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure
through the lust of the flesh through much wantonness Those
that were clean escaped from them who live in error. Now this
verse speaks of the means and motives of false prophets. They
speak great swelling words of vanity. What's that? Something good is going to happen
to you today. Huh? That's vanity. Great, swelling, awe. What would
you rather hear than that? Something good is going to happen.
The Lord is going to bless you today, Luke. If you give to Him
like you need to, He is going to bless you. He is going to
give you twice what you give Him. Great, swelling words of
vanity. I guess every third caller I
used to see had a little bumper sticker on it that said, Smile. God's done all He can do. It's
all up to you. Huh? Oh, preacher, I'm in trouble.
Well, don't worry. God's not willing that any should
perish. Great swelling words of vanity. You're the master of your own
destiny. I stood up one time at a Southern
Baptist convention, and he said, the two biggest lies that's ever
been told, God loves you and Christ died for you. And he said
they gasped when he said that. That whole crowd gasped when
he said that. And he went on to tell them what
he meant. Great swelling words of vanity. Now watch this. These
great swelling words of vanity allure through the lust of the
flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped
from them who live in error." Now, I'm going to tell you something.
The Holy Spirit does not work in the ministry of false prophets. A man starts telling you about
his conversion and he starts talking to you about being converted
in an Armenian church, that man's a liar. I know he believes what
he's saying, but that don't make it so. The Holy Spirit does not
work in the ministry of false prophets. He works in conjunction
with His Word and the preaching of the gospel. False prophets
work and they walk according to the prince of the power of
the air and according to the course of this world. And this
walk, which is according to those two things, this walk, is in
the lust of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind." When Paul was converted, he said
he renounced the hidden things of dishonesty. He quit walking
in craftiness and he stopped handling the Word of God deceitfully.
False religion is geared to minister to the flesh, not our bodies,
but our fallen natures. That's what he's talking about.
He's not talking about your body, although that gets included in
it. But he's talking about this old nature. Health, wealth, success,
recognition, reputation, pride, love of self. Oh, how they preach
on these things. It's geared to appear to the
eyes, to the nose, and to the ears of natural men. Walk in them places and they
got an incense or something they burn in there. I don't know if
it's scented candles or what it is, but it has a smell. It's
appealing. And you look around at the architecture
and all the things that they've done and these statues and angels
and all of these things around and it appeals to the eyes, it
appeals to the nose and the ears of natural men. The preacher
stands up and brags on, exalts the flesh, promotes the flesh. But when God's people worship,
listen to this, it's in spirit and truth. In spirit and truth. Well, you
mean you can't worship without spirit and truth? That's exactly
what I mean. It's not worship. I don't know
what you're doing. You're having a hoedown or something. I see
people doing this all the time, you know, in these churches.
I see them, I don't know what this means, but they do this
a lot. I see that on TV all the time. Say, we don't have no preaching
tonight, we're just going to have music. We're going to have
worship. God's people worship Him in spirit
and truth. Spirit and truth. And I tell
you this, they rejoice in Christ Jesus. You want to send joy into
the heart of a true believer, you preach Christ. He'll rejoice. He'll rejoice. You might stand
up here and stumble and bumble around for an hour, but I tell
you, if you're telling Him about His Savior, He's going to jump
up and down with joy in His heart if He's listening. And listen
to this, this true circumcision, these true children of God, they
come in and they worship in spirit and truth, they rejoice in Christ
Jesus. Now listen, have no confidence
in the flesh. These preachers stand up and
rag on men. John the Baptist said it's time
for the ax to be laid to the root. Cut it off at the base. They allure through the lust
of the flesh. Now watch this. Through much
wantonness. What in the world does that mean?
Loose living. That's what that means. Loose
living. Unrestrained living. No fear
of God before they're out. They have no God to answer to
except that of their own making and that of their own imagination.
And what's their target? Those who had clean escape from
them that live in error. You bring in somebody and they
sit here for a while. They come back several weeks,
some of them months. And they listen, and they take
notes, and they go home and read it in the Bible. And they acknowledge
your doctrine. They say, I think you're right.
I think you're teaching what the Bible's saying. I didn't
know that, but that's exactly what the Bible's teaching. I
went to the scriptures that you referred to, and I looked at
them. That's exactly what it's teaching. They acknowledge your
doctrine. Seems right to them. Seems to
be according to the Word of God. And they come for a while. And then this false prophet catches
their ear. He catches their ear. And boy, everything that man
says appeals to them. Everything he said just pumps
their heart up, puts a smile on their face. And before you
know what's taking place, they're gone. There was a man named Demas.
He was a fellow laborer with the Apostle Paul. Paul acknowledged
him as a fellow laborer. And I'm going to tell you something.
The Apostle Paul wouldn't acknowledge anybody who wasn't grounded and
rooted in the doctrines of sovereign grace. And he acknowledged this
man as his fellow. But he said, Demas hath forsaken
me, having loved this present world. John said this, talking
about those in his own midst. They went out from us. But they
were not of us. For had they been of us, they
no doubt would have continued with us. But they went out that
they might be manifest, that they were not of us. They allure. What's that mean? That's what the harlot does to
her victims. They allure through the lust
of the flesh, that which it craves, that which it hungers for, that
in which it joys. and longs after. And they do it through much wantonness,
much unconstrained speech and environment, loose talk without
basis of foundation, not in subjection to God. And they do it to those who were
escaped from others who live in error. They were in an environment of
truth and Bible doctrine until the false prophet got their attention. I'm going to tell you something.
Many a young man has lost his resolve to an alluring woman
of the night. That's just a fact. And this
is exactly the picture given to describe false religion and
the result of their ministry. They go like an ox to the slaughter. Did you know that the Bible says
that in the book of Revelation he gives a name to this antichrist
religion? He calls it Mystery Babylon the
Great, the mother of all harlots. That's the name given to false
religion and it's described in the book of Revelations as drawing
the whole world in wonder to it. whose names were not written
in the book of life before the foundation of the world. That's
Revelation 17 verses 5 through 8. And their latter end is worse
than the first. Religion is not a step in the
right direction. It's a dead fall into which men
fall and never return. 2 Peter 2.21, For it had been better for them not to have known the
way of righteousness than after they had known it to turn from
the holy commandment delivered unto them. It would have been
better for you not to have ever heard it than to hear it and
throw it away. I don't know if you know this,
but faith is not a suggestion. It's a commandment. What did
Peter say they turned from? The holy commandment. Ain't that
what he called it? It's not a recommendation. It's
not an invitation. It's the commandment of God.
And everything about this commandment radiates from the glory of a
holy God. Holiness means wholeness. The wholeness of God. And everything
in the character of God being in harmony through the person
and work of Christ, manifested in Him, preached in Him, men
are commanded to believe, to believe. God can and He will save every
sinner who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, who believes that
He's able to save to the uttermost them who come unto God by Him.
That salvation accomplished in Christ testifies that God is
righteous and just in His salvation of sinners. God's wholeness is
declared in this Gospel. And he that believeth not the
Son, what was manifested in him, what was preached by him, what
was confirmed by him, shall not see life, but the wrath
of God abideth on him. And again, he says, after each
time where the great commission was given, he that believeth
not shall be damned. Because it's a holy commandment,
it has holy consequences. As there cannot be a greater
privilege given to men than to hear his gospel, even so I cannot
imagine a greater crime than to reject him who is the brightness
of the Father's glory and the express image of his person. Verse 22, 2 Peter. But it happened
unto them, according to the true proverb, the dog is turned to
his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing
in the mire. Salvation is that which reveals Christ
in you. That's the only way of escape.
There is no other way. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? There was one ark made and designed
to be a vessel to preserve life from the deluge. It had one door. It says that door was first,
second, and third stories in that ark. One door. No man could open that door.
No man could shut that door but God alone. God alone. Now, we did a lot of things.
Man did a lot of things. Old faithful Noah, he would describe
what God give him in his heart and his sons would go out and
they'd cut down that wood and shape that wood and built that
up. But not even Noah could shut the door. God shut the door and
God opened the door. And either God's man, as Noah
was, is a total religious fanatic or he's God's ambassador to a
dying world. And let me be quick to tell you
what I told you at the beginning about false religion and how
massive it is. And you look out here and the
majority, the majority, the vast majority around me, Well, surely
they have to be right. They weren't in the days of Noah. There was one man in all the
earth who had the gospel. That was Noah. That was Noah. Why? Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. May God give you the wisdom to
know the difference, the ability to listen, and the will to obey. Thank you.