Preparing for the Last Day - 2 Peter 3:9-13 - December 12, 2021

 2 Peter 3:9-13 Preparing for the Last Day

Good morning! We are going back to 2 Peter 3 this morning, we are going to look at verses 9-13, that’s on page 1019 in the pew Bibles.

I want you all to know that I am not unaware of what time of year it is, I know that Christmas is just around the corner, just because we are not hearing sermons about shepherds and angels and silent nights and all that doesn’t mean that there is no “Christmassy application” for our text in 2 Peter.

In fact, Peter’s main point is echoed in a very popular Christmas hymn. I’m not going to sing it but I will recite it for you.

You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why: Santa Claus is coming to town. He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, he knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake! 

What does this have to do with 2 Peter? It’s a song of preparation, to get ready, to get your behavior in line in preparation for Santa Claus.

Well, Peter doesn’t have much to say about Christmas and Santa Claus, but he has a lot to say about how to live in preparation for Advent, specifically the Second Advent.

Let’s look at the text of 2 Peter 3:9-13.

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Let’s pray.

Peter has been warning the church against false teachers and scoffers and now he turns his attention to encouraging the believers.

You’ll remember back to chapter one, verse thirteen where Peter says, “I think it right, so long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder…” And again in verse one of chapter three, “I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles…”

Here in verses 9-13 Peter is reminding the church that this age has an expiration date, a day where all things will be brought to an abrupt end and so, we ought to be prepared.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:36,

36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

As I considered this prediction and the words of Peter I couldn’t help but wonder, if we knew the date that Jesus would return how would we live our lives, would anything change?

If the coming of Santa Claus is enough to spur kids on to good behavior, how much more should we be motivated to good behavior knowing that Christ is returning and returning at an hour that we don’t expect?

Peter makes a powerful statement in verse 9, 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

This is a powerful reminder of two things, number one: that the Father does not operate on our timeline but on His, He stands outside of time; and two: in His great love for the world, for all mankind, He doesn’t wish for any of us to be destroyed but to come to repentance, to turn away from our wicked ways and follow after Him through faith in Jesus.

This is not merely a New Testament idea either, God is immutable, unchanging, and His desire has always been for the wicked to turn to Him in faith. 

God said in Ezekiel 18:23, “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?”

And also Ezekiel 33:11, “As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?”

Paul echoes this thought in 1 Timothy 2:4, …God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all…

You may be wondering, “If God wants everybody to repent and be saved, why aren’t they? Why do people still die without faith in Christ?”

The Father doesn’t want any one of us to perish, He wants us all to be saved, and He has provided the means for our salvation- faith in Jesus Christ. Sadly, not all choose the way of salvation. Even though God wants everybody to be saved, we will all still be held accountable for whether or not we reject Christ.

Peter doesn’t bring this idea up so we can have a theological debate on the doctrine of predestination but because of what follows in verse 10.

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

I would remind you again of Jesus’ words from Matthew 24, “43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

So what is Peter trying to communicate to us? The Lord is coming back, He’s coming suddenly at a time we won’t expect, and when He comes all the works that are done on earth will be exposed to judgment.

Peter is telling us the same thing that Jesus told him, “you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

It is far too easy to get distracted, to take our eyes off the Lord and His coming and focus on this world, this life, and on the pursuit of happiness. 

This world is going to be burned up, and all the work we did to ensure our happiness and ease and comfort will be dissolved. 

When we take our eyes off the coming of Christ we stop preparing for it and we get back to living as if happiness is our goal and not holiness.

And that’s Peter’s main point here.

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

What sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God?

JP Lange wrote, “You must evidence yourselves as persons of more noble origin, as citizens of the heavenly kingdom that are only strangers here on earth.”

We must live lives of holiness and godliness as we wait, eagerly expecting that day, watchful, prayerful, and zealous for evangelism and so hastening the day when our faith shall be sight and the clouds be rolled back as a scroll.

Paul wrote of this day in 1 Thessalonians 4,

15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

The Lord said Himself through the prophet in Isaiah 65:17,

For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.

And again in Isaiah 66:22-23

22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your offspring and your name remain. 23 From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the Lord.

What a wonderful reminder that this world is not our home, we are waiting for a new world that is being prepared for us to live in for all eternity face to face with the Lord.

…according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

In order to dwell on that on that new earth where righteousness dwells, we must ourselves be righteous, and the only way to be declared righteous by God is through faith in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

CrossRoads Family Christmas Party - December 18, 2021

Come celebrate Christmas with fun and friends on Saturday, December 18, 2021, from 1-3pm! Cookie decorating, cocoa, crafts, games, ornament making, and stories!

Click here to respond or invite friends with the Facebook event page.

Facts Overlooked - 2 Peter 3:1-8 - December 5, 2021

 2 Peter 3:1-8 Facts Overlooked

Good morning! We are going back to 2 Peter this morning, we are going to look at verses 1-8 of chapter 3, page 1019 in the pew Bibles.

Just as a reminder, all of  chapter two was dedicated to a warning about false teachers that have always been around and will continue to be; to be wary of them and to be sure to not be like them.

Here in chapter three Peter warns again of scoffers and he also has some very important reminders for his readers, which includes us. So let’s look at the text and let it speak for itself.

This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Let’s pray.

Peter has written this second letter as a reminder, his goal was to remind his readers of the things that were most important. Verse two shows us exactly what that was: the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles…

Not to beat a dead horse but I would also remind you of our one sermon point from last week: get to know your Bible!

This is exactly where Peter starts off this new chapter. He didn’t stick that big number three in there anyway, that’s just for reference.

Remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, remember what the Bible says!

It will not only protect us from false teaching and false teachers but it will also protect us from people that Peter calls, “scoffers.”

If a false teacher is someone who teaches what is false, a scoffer must be… someone who scoffs…

As far as the Bible is concerned scoffers are not the good guys.

Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

There is 107 references to scoffers in the Bible and not one of them is positive, they reject wisdom, the reject rebuke, they get beat up a lot, but they never learn their lesson.

A scoffer, biblically speaking, is a person that mocks that which is most important. According to Peter these scoffers first of all, in verse 3, will follow their own sinful desires.

Martin Luther wrote, “These are our Epicureans and Sadducees, who believe neither one thing nor the other, who live as they think best and walk after their own lusts, considering permitted whatever suits their pleasure; examples of such are met on every hand.”

What Luther called, “Sadducees,” other scholars call, “Antinomians.” It’s time for some fun scholarly vocabulary! Don’t worry, even if you forget these words, their meaning will ring in your ears.

An Epicurean was someone who saw a pleasant and smooth life as the highest aim, while an Antinomian held that because faith alone is necessary for salvation morality is of no use.

These are two types of scoffers that were active in Peter’s day, and are alive and well today. They may not have their own websites but they certainly can be found everywhere, maybe even inside our own houses, maybe even inside our churches, you may have brought one to service with you this morning… even if you rode alone.

When we hold a pleasant and smooth life as our highest aim, we scoff at the will of God and His desire for our holiness. When we act as if sin has no consequence just because we’re already forgiven we scoff at Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

But Peter points out another kind of scoffer, one who scoffs at the promise of Christ’s return.

4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”

We are in the season of the year that we call Advent where the world draws its attention to the First Advent of Christ. The word Advent simply means, “coming.” Advent celebrates Christ’s first coming.

But on the horizon is Second Coming, a Second Advent. Jesus is coming again.

Do you know how I know that? Just as Peter wanted to remind his readers: we know that because the Bible says so!

Jesus said in John 14:1, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

And in Luke 21:25, 25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Matthew 24:29, 29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

Acts 1:9, 9 And when [Jesus] had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

1 Thessalonians 4:14, 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

Hebrews 9:27, 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

James 5:7, 7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

This is by no means a comprehensive list!

But the argument of the scoffers is that that was all written 2000 years ago, where is He?

4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

By the Word of God the heavens and the earth were created, you can look that up in Genesis 1, and by the Word of God the world that then existed was deluged by water and perished, you can look that up in Genesis 7.

The word Peter used that we translate, “deluge,” is the Greek word from which we get our English word, “cataclysm.”

God intervened cataclysmically once, in the flood of Noah, and He will do so again, next time with fire.

According to Peter those scoffers deliberately overlooked the facts of creation by the Word of God, they overlooked the fact of the cataclysmic flood of Noah by the Word of God in which all of mankind except Noah and his family were destroyed, and they overlook the fact that by the same Word of God the heavens and the earth that now exist are being stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

But Peter has a reminder for the church. Scoffers overlook those facts, but you beloved, do not overlook this one fact, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary says, “People see time against time; God sees time against eternity. In fact time only seems long because of Man’s finite perspective.”

God’s eternal-ages-measurer differs completely from man’s hourglass.

Just as God the Father began creating on the day He intended, He started it raining around the ark on the day He intended, He sent the Lord Jesus to be born in Bethlehem on the day He intended, He will send Jesus back to judge the living and the dead on the day he intends.

Again, Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” -John 14:1

Amen

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. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 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. 

4 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; 5 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; 6 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; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (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); 9 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.

4 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; 5 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; 6 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; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (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); 9 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. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 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.