Saturday, November 27, 2021

Truth and Falsehood - 2 Peter 2 - November 28, 2021

 2 Peter 2 Truth and Falsehood

Good morning! We are going to look at 2 Peter 2 this morning, the whole chapter, that’s on page 1018 in the pew Bibles.

I know that a whole chapter is a big bite when studying like we have been but Peter is really only dealing with one topic in the whole chapter and it all really kind of works together.

So let’s start with prayer and then we’ll get to work.

Let’s pray.

So before we get to the text, let’s deal with the context. I just want to go over a few of the things that Peter has reminded us of before we jump into the deep end of chapter two.

So let’s remember Peter’s audience, the original recipients of this letter. They were predominantly Jewish Christians living away from Jerusalem in what is now northern Turkey. The fact that Peter’s audience were already believers in Jesus is important because it makes some of the things he says make more sense than if he was writing to people who didn’t know Jesus already. The fact that they were predominantly Jewish Christians makes a big difference, especially in our text for today because of the references to the Old Testament that they would have been very well acquainted with.

And that’s really the important point of the context as we look at this text today. Peter references several Old Testament accounts that were common knowledge to those Jewish believers. This is important because it should keep us from getting lost in the weeds. I think that will become clear when we read the text.

We also need to remember Peter’s statements that the Lord’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and goodness.

To further flesh out that idea, Peter says that we God’s great and precious promises, and we have the testimony of the Apostles, eyewitnesses of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ as well as the words of the prophets. This is all compiled in what we now call the Bible, both Old and New Testaments.

So knowing that we have all we need to live as Christians and everything we need to know is recorded in Scripture, armed with that understanding we can turn to chapter two and be a little more prepared for what is coming.

So let’s look at that together, 2 Peter 2.

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. 

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. 

Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. 

17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” 

The first thing that Peter points out here is that false teachers have always been around and that is not about to change. The Bible is full of accounts of false prophets and false teachers. Church history is full of examples, bookstores are full of examples, the internet is a never ending source of false teaching.

The church has been under constant attack, believers face a constant barrage of falsehood and the sad fact is that people believe the falsehoods.

Peter points out that false prophets and teachers have always been around and they always will be, and as sad as that fact is, Peter points out an abiding truth: the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. 

Peter points out God’s track record when it comes to rescuing the godly and punishing wickedness.

I got a little nervous at the thought of dealing with the fallen angels here in this text, who they are and where they are, but Peter references it as established fact. Satan was cast out of heaven and the angels that followed after him were as well. Peter’s point was not to deal with how and when and why that happened but simply points to the established fact that God knows how to deal with wickedness. 

He cast angels out of heaven, He destroyed the wicked in the flood while rescuing Noah and his family, He destroyed the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to make them an example of what will happen to the ungodly but rescued righteous Lot.

…the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment… and we can trust Him to continue to do it.

The other important point that Peter makes is how to recognize false teachers. We can trust the Lord to rescue the godly from trials, but we must also be equipped to recognize false teachers and false teaching to ensure that we stay in that group that he calls, “the godly.”

Peter says in verse one, “false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

Heresy and heretics are not foreign words to our vocabulary, but what do they really mean?

Heresy is simply false teaching and a heretic is someone who teaches or follows that false teaching.

Destructive heresies are false teachings that lead people away from trusting Jesus as Savior for the forgiveness of sin and denying Him as Lord by disobeying His Word.

What we must do is train ourselves to recognize falsehood, and Peter gives us several indicators to look out for.

In verse one Peter says that some false teachers will deny the Master that bought them. That Master is Jesus and He bought us with His own blood on the cross. Clearly denying Jesus and the price he paid for our sin is a clear indicator of a false teacher. Some false teachers profess to follow Christ but deny Him in their teaching and in their living.

Verses 10-19 give a summary of the tell-tale signs of false teachers: namely: pride, lust, and greed.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. 

17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

I could go on and on, maybe even name some names of false teachers, but I think it would be more valuable to remind us all of the secret to recognizing falsehood and that is the knowledge of the truth.

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness, by which He has granted to us His very great and precious promises, so that through them we may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

We have the promises of God, the testimony of eyewitnesses, we have the words of the prophets, this is the truth, and where can all this be found? In our Bibles.

We will only be able to recognize falsehood when we are well acquainted with the truth, and we have it right here in the Bible.

False teachers will tell you that the Bible is too old to be trusted, that it was written too long ago to be relevant today, that it doesn’t apply, that it can’t possibly be applicable to today’s culture, it was written by men and men are fallible and prone to weakness.

But we know that every word is inspired by God and is useful for teaching and reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness.

False teachers will promise liberty and freedom but deliver only bondage to sin, selfishness, pride, lust and greed, they promise more than the Word of God, as if all that we have been given by God, all that is available to us through faith in Jesus Christ, is not enough.

But God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, we have God’s Word the Bible the source of absolute truth.

Get to know your Bible and you’ll get to know the One who inspired it.

Get to know your Bible and you’ll be able to recognize falsehood.

Get to know your Bible and with God’s help you’ll be able to discern between truth and error.

Get to know your Bible!

Amen.