Turn with me to the book of 2
Peter. And we're going to be looking
at chapter 2, 2 Peter. We've been doing verse by verse
all through this letter, this general epistle. And I want to
read for you the first 17 verses of the chapter so that you know
I'm not trying to pull something out of the middle of it. It's
the subject. of the chapter. But there were
false prophets also among the people. He's talking about back
in the days of the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, all
these men. There were false prophets among
the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you who
privately, privily, That word means covertly, quietly. Shall bring in damnable heresies,
even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves
swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious
ways, these destructive ways, by reason of whom the way of
truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall
they with feigned words make merchandise of you, whose judgment
now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth
not. For if God spared not the angels
that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into
chains of darkness to be reserved under judgment, and spared not
the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher
of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the
ungodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes,
condemned them with an overflow, making them an example unto those
that after should live ungodly, and delivered just Lot, vexed
with the filthy conversation of the wicked, For that righteous
man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous
soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. The Lord knoweth
how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve
the unjust under the day of judgment to be punished. But chiefly,
them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and
despise government, presumptuous are they. self-willed, not afraid
to speak evil of dignities, whereas angels, which are greater in
power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before
the Lord, just ignorant men. You think about that. These angels,
who know that these men are saying things contrary to God, don't
say a word. They commit their judgment to
God. Don't say a word. But ignorant men do. And these as natural brute beasts
made to be taken and destroyed speak evil of the things that
they understand not and shall utterly perish in their own corruption
and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness as they that
count it pleasure to riot in the daytime. Spots they are. blemishes, sporting themselves
with their own deceivings while they feast with you, having eyes
full of adultery and cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable
souls and heart they have exercised with covetous practices, cursed
children. which have forsaken the right
way and are gone astray following the way of Balaam, the son of
Bozor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but was rebuked
for his iniquity. The dumb ass speaking with man's
voice forbade the madness of this prophet. These are whales
without water, clouds that are carried about with a tempest,
to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever. This entire chapter, what we
talked about last week, what we talked about the week before,
and what, by the grace of God, I'll be talking about for the
next couple of weeks is false prophets. There were false prophets
among you. And in the midst of this, He
gives us some hope. Some hope. He said, the Lord.
And he took an example. There's not a one of us here
today, if we had known Lot and known where he lived and known
the story behind Lot, would have said Lot was a saved man. We'd
have threw our hands up and said, well, he's one of them. But he
calls him that just man. He's a just man because he was
chosen in Christ. Christ died for him. Christ was
his representative. And he was a believer. But he
vexed his righteous soul day to day living down in a place
that he knew better than to go. And God delivered him. And then
he tells us, he picks this example up, no doubt, the bottom. And he said, the Lord knows how
to deliver his people. out of their temptations, and
at the same time, reserve the unjust unto their just judgment. He knows how to do that. God
does. Last week, we talked about where
such men appear. I read it to you a few moments
ago. They appear among the people. Among the people in general,
in the cities, in the marketplace, all over the world. in your families,
some even of those closest to you. They're among the people,
and they're among God's people. Oh, yes, they are. They're among
God's people. The enemy, our Lord said, has
sowed tares among the wheat. That's where they're at. And
then we talked a little bit about how they come in. Covertly, secretly,
don't call attention to themselves. Creep in, Jude said, unawares. And then we talked about the
doctrines of such men. He calls them here damnable heresies,
even denying the Lord at baptism. But you say, now wait a minute,
preacher. Some of these men you talk about, they don't deny the
Lord. They talk about Jesus Christ. They talk about His birth. They
talk about His death. They talk about the cross. They
don't deny Him. They pray using His name. They
speak using His name. And I don't know many people
who will deny Jesus of Nazareth. He was an actual man. He was
actually born. He's a part of our history whether
we like it or not. And only a fool would deny His
presence in this world. It's an account of history. You might not like Hitler. You
might despise Hitler, but you can't deny his presence. He was
born. He was an actual person. And
he lived in this world. They don't deny his presence,
but they deny the Lord that bought them. They deny the Lord that bought
them. They deny His all-sufficient sacrifice for His elect. They
deny Him. They make a mockery out of His
love, insisting that it's universal. If His love is universal, then
His love made no difference because some men are going to go to hell. They make His coming of no consequence,
teaching a personal righteousness. Isn't that what Paul said? He
said, I do not frustrate the grace of God. If righteousness
come by the law, then Christ died in vain. There was no reason
for him to come. They deny his deity in denying
his sovereignty. If God is not sovereign, God
is not God. Is that right? The scripture
said he's God Almighty. He's sovereign. He ruled. Even old Nebuchadnezzar,
after God struck him down and made him eat grass like a beast
and then brought him back and gave him some understanding,
he said, when my understanding returned unto me, he said, now
I know. He rules in the armies of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay
His hand or say unto Him, what doest thou? He's sovereign. If
you deny His sovereignty, you deny His deity. And they deny
His mercy, teaching a work salvation. Isn't that what our Lord told
those Pharisees? He said, now you go learn what
this means. I'll have mercy and not sacrifice.
I'm not come to call the righteous. I'm come to call sinners to repentance.
And to deny His appointments. And denying His everlasting covenant
of grace is to deny Him altogether. And they bring with them damnable
heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them. And then, fourthly,
we talked about the dangers of such men and their teaching.
Listen to this. Many, he said, shall follow their
pernicious ways. That word means destructive,
destructive ways. by reason of whom the way of
truth shall be evil spoken of." They call his gospel a license
to sin. They said it in an evil light.
They call his gospel unfair. Unfair. They say it closes the
doors to those who are non-elect who want to seek the Lord. They
call that because they're ignorant of God. That door is open to any man. It's open to any man. But nobody's
going to come except his elect. That's just so. That's just so. That's what he told those Pharisees.
They had knowledge of the Scriptures. They knew when a comma was out
of place. But he said, you search the Scriptures
for any of them you think you have eternal life. And they are
they that testify of me. But you won't come to me that
you might have life. You won't do it. And then finally they got angry
and they said, if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said,
I told you. But you believe not because you're not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. They call his gospel a stumbling
block to sinners who try to come to Christ. They say his election
of sinners in Christ is unfair and unrighteous. They say it
takes away man's responsibility to God. Let me tell you something. False prophets and their ungodly
doctrines, these damnable heresies, their pernicious ways, they leave
those who pay heed to these men looking at the gospel in an evil
light, in a bad light. And they speak evil of the truth. And then we talked about God's
judgment of such men. It says, His judgment lingereth
not. It doesn't linger. We say, why
don't God just strike these men down? Why don't a bolt of lightning
come out of the sky and just burn them up if they're evil?
They are judged of God right now. He gave them over to a reprobate
mind. That's God's judgment on them. He sent them strong delusion,
it says, Thessalonians chapter 2, the verses that lead up to
verse 13. Because they received not the
love of the truth, therefore God sent them strong delusion
to believe a lie and to be damned for believing it. His judgment of a long time lingereth
not, and their condemnation slumbereth not. Preachers, they don't appear
to be cursed. They do if you know what you're
looking for. Most false prophets believe with
all their heart the things that they preach. And some, having
listened to these false prophets, have been permitted by God to
turn aside to vain jangling. Paul warned Timothy about it. Desiring to be teachers of the
law, understanding neither what they teach nor whereof they affirm.
And he said again, evil men and seducers are going to wax worse
and worse. They're just going to get worse,
deceiving and being deceived. And God's judgment, especially
when it comes to His testimony concerning His Son, it lingereth
not. And their damnation, the damnation
of such men. is not sleeping. And all you
need to do to see God's judgment of these men is to open your
eyes and ears, look and listen. Just look and listen. I don't know how many people
come through these doors. Some for quite a while, some
just one time. Heard this gospel preached and
went out the door. I've never seen him again. Never
seen him again. Then we looked at some examples.
He gives us some examples. First of all, he tells us about
the angels. The angels kept not their first
estate. Over in the book of Jude, in verse 6, it says, And the
angels, which kept not their first estate, but left their
own habitation, God hath reserved in everlasting change under darkness
unto the judgment of that great day." Not even a hint, not even
a shadow of a hope for the fallen angels. None, none whatsoever. And Sodom and Gomorrah, the old
work, He goes on and on with these examples. God burnt that
city into ashes and everybody in it, except for Lot and his
two daughters. And then again in Jude verse
7, he says, And Sodom and Gomorrah, in like manner as the angels,
provided no mercy, no grace, no escape, and judged them to
suffer the vengeance of God in everlasting fire. And then concerning
the deliverance of the law, he said, the Lord knows how to deliver
the godly out of temptations and to preserve the unjust under
the day of judgment. Now this morning, I want us to
look at the next several verses here in 2 Peter 2 concerning
these false prophets. He says in verse 10, but chiefly
them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and
despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed,
they're not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Those who walk
after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness. This is not just
a walk, as Paul states it in Ephesians 2, according to the
course of this world and according to the prince of the power of
the air, but according to the judgment of God. That's what
he's talking about in this verse. According to the judgment of
God who had turned men and women over to themselves and gave them
over to do what's not convenient. That's what it means to walk
in uncleanness. To ignore God and to ignore His
warnings and to ignore His gospel. Turn with me to Romans chapter
1. I want you to check me out and see if what I'm about to
say is not true. Wherever idolatry and infidelity
and strong error and heresies prevail, where they win the day,
where they're accepted among the people, where they become
commonplace, practiced, promoted, these sins of Strange flesh,
women with women and men with men, abound, wherever that is. Now, you check me out and see
if that's not so. Now, in the physical, it pictures
the spiritual. What goes on outside in these
evil practices goes on inside as it pertains to God. It's contrary to the nature of
God, the way of God, and the means of God. Now watch this
here in Romans 121. Because that when they knew God,
they glorified Him not as God. Neither were thankful, but became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools. And they changed
the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like unto
corruptible man, and birds, four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore, God also gave them
up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor
their own bodies between themselves." Now listen to this, verse 25. who changed the truth of God
into a lie, worshipped and served the creature more than the creator
who's blessed forever. For this cause, God gave them
up unto vile affections, for even their women did change the
natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise,
also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their
lust one toward another, men with men, working that which
is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of
their error which was meek." What error? The error of not glorifying God
as God. And even, verse 28, even as they
did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them
over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient.
They walk after the flesh, Peter said, in the lust of uncleanness. And these men who do this, they
despise rule. They despise government of any
kind. They despise it. You're not going
to tell them what to do. We're seeing it right now. We're
seeing it right now in our country over this past election. We're
seeing it. They're not going to bow. They're
not going to bow to us. And this is not so much talking
about governments like dictatorships or socialism or democratic governments,
but of any and all rule which God has put in place for the
welfare of his people. They reject it. They reject it. And especially that rule in the
prophets, apostles, evangelists, and pastor teachers. They despise
the rule of God. Prophets, these false prophets,
are self-ruled. They've got no loyalty. They
have no submission. They've got no one to answer
to. Presumptuous they are. They presume to be children of
God. I listened to a false prophet
this past week. The first word come into my head
when he stood up to talk was presumptuous, presumptuous. They presume to have a calling
of God but do not know God and have not been reconciled to God
and will not obey God, will not submit to His Word. Presumptuous
they are, self-willed. moved by their own reasoning,
moved by their own convincing, moved by their own deceivings.
They're self-willed. And any man who's ignorant of
the sovereignty of God or just refuses to bow to Christ as the
head of the church is self-willed. He's self-willed. I don't have
to. We have two ladies here this
morning. And it'd be my privilege after the meeting this morning
to baptize these two ladies. They want to confess their faith
in Christ. And they're doing it according
to our Lord's command. They're not doing it because
they want to get in a tank of water before the people or to
make some big show before the people. They're doing it in obedience
to His divine command. A man who's ignorant of the sovereignty
of God, he refuses to bow to Christ as Lord and head of this
church, he's self-willed. He's a will-worshipper. He glories
in himself. He's not going to obey God. I'll
get baptized when I get ready. I'll bow to Christ when I get
good and ready. I'll start coming to church when
I feel like it. You won't ever feel like it.
That's the judgment of God on you. You'll never be willing. That's God's judgment on you. And then he further tells us
that this kind of a man is not afraid to speak evil of dignities. You know, I tell you all the
time, we have the right in this country to vote for whatever
politician that we feel would be best. And we have the right
to campaign for that person, whoever it is. And then I want
you on election day, I did, and I know many of you did, you go
out and vote your conscience for whoever you want. But let
me tell you something, when that man gets in office, that's God's
man. And the best thing you can do,
just keep your mouth shut about it. Just keep your mouth shut.
That's God's man. It may be that he's there to
take this country down, according to God's judgment, or it may
be that he's there to help this country act. Whichever it is,
it's God's man. He's not afraid. He's not afraid. And here's these angels, and
they know what's going on. These angels ain't saying anything. Just ignorant men. These men are not afraid to criticize,
judge, or slander those in authority, especially in the church. On the job, they're not afraid
to speak evil of their employers. As soon as he disappears, they
start. They're not afraid to speak evil
of local governments, military leaders, and on and on it goes.
2 Peter 2, verse 11. Whereas angels, which are greater
in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them
before the Lord. Why don't angels bring railing
accusations against them? I'll tell you why. They know
who sits on the throne, and they serve Him. They serve Him. Angels know who rules in providence. They know who rules in creation
and in the salvation of chosen sinners. And they submit the
judgment of such men to God who knows all things and is righteous
in all His dealings with men and angels. Verse 12, but these,
these false prophets, they're like beasts. You know, David
in one of his prayers, To the Lord, he said, I was as a beast
before thee. Talking about that old nature,
that nature's sin. And these as natural brute beasts,
made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of things they understand
not and shall utterly perish in their own corruption. What's that mean? That means
man without God will self-destruct. That's right. You don't have
to do anything to it. He'll destroy himself. The very will they rejoice in
and glory in will be his demise. And man without God is no better
than a beast. He serves no purpose except to
be taken out and destroyed. He's a fallen enemy of God, cursed
and condemned. Verse 13, "...and shall receive
the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure
to riot in the daytime." They're rioting, these men that Peter's
talking about. Christ has already come. He's
already appeared. He's already died on the cross. He's already served His ministry
in this world. He's already accomplished the
redemption of His sight. We're living in the daytime.
We're not looking at mysteries as they were in the Old Testament.
We're looking at the light of Christ that's been manifested. Manifested. But they're still writing, just
like it was midnight. Just like it was midnight. Spots they are and blemishes.
Now listen to this. Sporting themselves with their
own deceivings while they feast with you. That word sporting
here means to revel. It means to revel. To prance
about in pride. So they prance about in the pride
of their deceivings. Verse 14, having eyes full of
adultery, that they cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable
souls, and heart they have exercised with covetous practices, cursed
children, which have forsaken the right way and are gone astray
following the way of Balaam, the son of Bozar, who loved the
wages of unrighteousness, but was rebuked for his iniquity. The dumb ass speaking with man's
voice forbade the madness of the prophet. False prophets often go the way
of reward, prosperity. They love the wages of unrighteousness. And these wages are threefold.
Wages are their acceptance with a multitude. They live for that. They live to be accepted by all
men. They'll compromise the word of
God in a heartbeat so they can be your friend, so you won't
be angry at them. And then secondly, the honor
of this world. They want that honor of this
world. They want that recognition of this world. They want that
politician to stand up and name their name. Say good things about
them. And a life without struggle or
opposition. These are the wages of unrighteousness. Verse 17, and these men are whales
without water. You're thirsty. You want a drink. God's given you a thirst. And
you see that church and you say, boy, there's the well. I'm going
to the well. And you go down there and you
find out there's no water. That's what he's saying. There
are wells without water. There are clouds that are carried
about with the tempest. Just dry air. Just dry air. To whom the mist of darkness
is reserved.