I invite you to turn please to the New Testament book of 2 Peter chapter 2 and we shall use for our text tonight verse 4. 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 4. The title for the sermon tonight is The Destruction of the Fallen Angels. If you have found the text, we will read verse four. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness reserved unto judgment, By way of introduction to the sermon, I remind you that this verse of scripture is set in a larger context which began at verse 1 and continues throughout much of this chapter. He has given us a warning in the early verses of the chapter regarding false prophets and false There will be false teachers among you, he says. These false teachers will come in privately. They will not announce their agenda and they will bring in damnable heresies. They will even deny the sovereign Lord. who brought their forefathers out of Egyptian bondage. Many will follow these false teachers, and the way of truth shall be evil spoken of because of their heresy. Have you heard people at the restaurant, at Walmart, at the optimist ball field laugh, mock, and ridicule Christianity and religion because of some of the men they hear and see on television who claim to be preachers and teachers of the gospel. Often the way of truth is ridiculed. because of false teachers. In our day, many believe that gain is godliness, and they equate Christianity with health and wealth. But let me remind you that you can be happy, and you can be healthy, and you can be wealthy, and you can still die and go to hell. We must beware of false teaching. Now, he has announced the judgment of God, which will fall upon these false teachers. In verse three, he says, their judgment lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. And he's going to give us three reasons why we can be certain that false teachers are going to be judged. I gave for my sermon at the last session verses four through nine. I presented these three examples of how God has judged angels, He has judged the antediluvians and he has judged the adulterers in Sodom and Gomorrah. I kind of gave you a shotgun blast in the last session and presented all of that in a general fashion. Now tonight, I am going back and I'm going to take up the theme of the fallen In our next two sessions, I will talk about the destructions of the fallen antediluvians, and then I shall preach a sermon on the destruction of the filthy adulterers in Sodom and Gomorrah. Now, in our session tonight, we can learn much and we can benefit greatly by looking at the lesson taught by history. We will not be looking at any new thing tonight. Have you noticed how in our day folks want something new? Well, you're not getting it tonight. We're going to get something old. In fact, We are going way back. We're going back to a time uncharted in the scriptures. Perhaps before the creation of the universe as we know it. To a time when God judged angels and cast them out of heaven because of their sin. These angels were of a higher quality and nature than you and I. If we can discern how God has related to the angels who sinned, we can learn much about what to expect when men sin. If God judges the higher order of beings, then surely a lower order of beings will not escape the judgment of God. Does that make sense? That's the theme of our sermon tonight. Now, I have three divisions in the lesson. I want to call your attention to them. Number one, we have the angelology in this text. We have this study of angels. What does this text tell us about angels? And then secondly, there is the theology of this text. The word theology simply means the study of God. Anytime we teach or preach, we should ask ourselves basic questions about the text. What does this text teach us about our God? And when we ask that question of this text, we can learn much about the character and the nature and the activity of our God. And then I have added a third item in this lesson, and you might not think there's any soteriology in this text, but I think otherwise. The word soteriology, that's at the bottom of the outline, is the study of salvation. Can you say soteriology? Let's say it together. Soteriology, it's the study of salvation. Now, I think we can come to some certain conclusions after our investigation of this text regarding our own salvation. Are you ready to look at it? All right, here's Roman numeral number one, the angelology in this text, and I have three items. Number A, these angels existed. Now, isn't that a profound statement on my part? You see how I just dug that out and laid that on you? That's heavy stuff, isn't it? These angels existed. That's having a firm grasp of the obvious. Now let me say something to you about the existence of these angels. Number one, angels are created spirit beings. They didn't always exist. Are you aware that there was a time way back yonder when the unnavigated ether of endless space had never even been disturbed by the brush of an angel's wings. There was a time when angels did not exist. And God created them out of nothing. God created angels. They do not possess eternality. They had a beginning. Now, here's a second item. They were created as intelligent rational beings. Angels possessed the ability to think, to rationalize. And then thirdly, these angels were moral agents. They knew good from bad. and they possessed free will. Now in quotations, beside item number three, I have this statement. To say that these were moral agents possessing free will is to say that they were sufficient in and of themselves. to stand in perfect obedience to their God and Creator. You got that much? Nod your head up and down like this. Now, but not only were they sufficient in and of themselves to stand in obedience to God, they were also free to fall. That's what free will is. Can you think of any other being that has ever possessed that kind of free will? And who would that be? Quickly now, if I'm gonna let you participate, you're gonna have to respond quickly. Adam and Eve possessed that kind of free will. Now, when did Adam and Eve possess that kind of free will? Prior to the fall. They were sufficient in and of themselves. They had the volitional capacity to obey God. But they were free to fall. Now, has any man since Adam and Eve Possessed that kind of free will? Did you ever possess the capacity to stand in perfect obedience to your God? Or were you free to fall? As a matter of fact, you never possessed either of those. You were never sufficient in and of yourself to stand in perfect obedience before God, and you had nothing to do with your fall. You fell in Adam first. And when you came into this world, unlike the angels, you came with original sin. You came with natural depravity. The torch on your moral ability, or should I say inability, was to the left. And it was ratcheted down tight to the left. Doesn't that bear witness with your own spirit that you always had this tendency to sin? But look, that gets me down to the fourth item regarding the angels. Think about it now. The angels were pure, holy. They had no original sin. That'd be a good place to say hallelujah. They had no natural depravity. And you know what else? They had no tempter. The world and the flesh and the devil were not a temptation to the angels. Now some have suggested that I am in error at this point. However, I am unwilling to concede my point. For they say the devil tempted the other angels to fall. I respond, show me the verse. And if that's not sufficient, I ask this question, who tempted the devil? Are y'all getting this? Here's a fifth item. These angels were created as ministering spirits with access to the very presence of God Almighty. They stood face to face with God. But you know what Jesus said in John chapter 1 verse 18? He said, No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, He hath declared Him. But while man has not seen the face of God, the angel stood as ministering spirits in the intimate, close presence of God Almighty. Isn't that something? We're talking about a higher order of beings here. Why, it is said of our Lord Jesus that He was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. And yet, these angels sinned. Isn't that sobering? Well, let's look at number B. These angels were evil. They sinned. Now, two questions come to mind regarding these evil angels, these fallen angels. What was their sin? And when did this sin occur? Now Jude says that they left their first estate. Now we can deduce from that that they became dissatisfied with their office and their position as ministering spirits. Pride and ambition and rebellion came into their hearts. We cannot be more specific than that, albeit many have set forth more specificity regarding the sin, the actual sin of the angels. Some have suggested that their sin in particular was that which in their opinion is recorded in Genesis chapter 6. Do you remember the story? We will not turn there, I'll just simply remind you of the story. It is prior to the flood. Evil characterizes the day. And it is said that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair. And they married and cohabited with these daughters of men. And giants were born of this union. They say that the sons of God here where the fallen angels, this is how the angels fail. They marry daughters of men and they come up with this fanciful notion that this is the sin that caused the angels to fall and for God to cast them out of heaven. I do not agree with that position at all. I will give you just two or three reasons why. Number one, it is not sound biblical exegesis to make angels out of sons of God in Genesis chapter six. Number two, the angels do not engage in sexual activity. Do you remember when our Lord responded to the question regarding the woman who had seven husbands? They all had her. Therefore, whose wife shall she be in the judgment or in the resurrection? You remember that story in the New Testament? And what did our Lord say? He said, you do err not knowing the scripture, for in heaven they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels. That's clear indication that angels don't marry. They do not procreate. Now, here's another question. If their sin was to marry daughters of men, and the giants were their offspring. How do you answer the question about giants who showed up several decades later? How do you explain Goliath? Did one angel sin by cohabiting with one woman in Goliath? Or did he have brothers? But it gets more absurd. These offspring of the union of angels and daughters of men, were they all angel and no human? The giants I'm talking about. Or were they all human? and no angel, or were they half angel and half human? Are those germane questions to ask about that theory? But it gets worse. The angels know nothing of salvation. There is no mention of angels. They are excluded from the atonement of Christ. These offspring then of the mixed union of angels and human women, could they have possibly been eligible for salvation? What about their offspring? How many generations down the line would you have to go before you worked your way out of that dilemma? Let us not build our view about angels where God has not clearly spoken. Let us be satisfied with what the Bible says and leave the rest up to God. I don't know when the angels sinned, and I don't know what their particular sin was. I've got a notion that it was a long time ago, and it was a terrible sin. It was a violation of the law of God. And that leads us now to the third idea regarding these angels. They were not exonerated when they sinned against God. They were not cleared. They were not justified. The text says they were cast down. Now I'm going to discuss that further under our heading, the theology in this text. Let's move now to Roman numeral number two, the theology in this text. What does this text teach us about God? Well, number one, it teaches us about the power of God. Hey, it takes a God, it takes a powerful deity to create angels. Isn't that power? And not only does he have power to create, he had power to destroy his enemies. Now think about the nature of the enemy. And think about the number of the enemies. They were many. They were legions. There were thousands upon ten thousands of the angels. And yet they posed no threat. Now, when I was a kid in school, just a little kid, I mean just six, seven years old, I learned that if there was a big bully on the playground, I don't care how big he was, If you could get enough guys to help you, you could take him down. Isn't that right? Do any of you ever do that? You wouldn't be any match for him on your own. Two or three of you would be outmanned. But you get enough, and you come at him from all directions, you can take him down. But listen, the angels were of a higher nature than you and I, and there were many of them, but God cast them down. That's the power of God. Don't let these false teachers think for a moment that they're going to escape the judgment of God. Now here's a second item. The providence of God is seen in this text. God created these angels knowing that they would sin and that he would ultimately cast them down to hell. Isn't that right? Did God know that ahead of time? Well, let me just ask you a question. Why did he do that? Is God then culpable? Is He in any way to blame? He created beings that He knew were going to sin and that He would ultimately destroy. How did He do that without being culpable Himself? the providence of God. Let me quote you Article 4 from the Abstract of Principles. God from eternity either decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, governs, and directs all creatures and all events, listen now, yet so as not in any way to be the author or the approver of sin. God created them sufficient to stand and free to fall. Let no man say when he is tempted that he is tempted of God, for God tempteth no man, neither can be tempted himself. Here's the sovereignty of God. When the angel sinned, God made no offer of redemption. He gave no overtures of grace. He extended no mercy. He cast them down to hell. Do you know what God has said? He has said, I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy. Are you aware that God owed you and I know mercy? Have you ever heard someone make this statement? Now they make it in good faith. But they say something like this, if you were the only person on earth, God would have still sent his son to die for you. Well, perhaps he would, or perhaps not. He didn't send his son to die for the angels. You all see that? God is under no obligation to us. He is sovereign. Now glory to God and hallelujah and praises to His name. He has shown mercy to us. And He has extended grace to us. But He did it out of sovereign love. He did it according to the counsel of His own will, and not because of anything in us. Amen? He owed us nothing. Now, here's a lesson regarding the justice of God. Are you aware that God casting the angels down to hell is the earliest record we have of the justice of God. Why do you suppose God, from the beginning, and meted out justice well he's also a God of benevolence and it's best it's good for the rest of the created order that sin be punished if you just let sin go unpunished if you let it run rampant then it wreaks havoc throughout the universe that's why if you got a small child, and he looks you right in the eye and says, no. And you extend a little grace and mercy and you say, did you understand what I was asking you to do? Now, are you ready to do it? And he says, no. And if you don't patiently stay with that, Even to the point of executing justice and judgment. You know what you do for that child? That's bad for him. That becomes a habit. That'll follow him throughout his adult life. And you know what else? Up at the nursing or up at the daycare center, that'll wreak havoc up there. benevolent in God that he act as judge and execute judgment. Hey, you want to take that further? What about in our own culture, in our society, in our government? You can't just let sin and rebellion and murder and rape and child abuse go unpunished. It's good that sinners be punished. All right, here's another item, the severity of God. This text says that God cast them down to hell. He didn't just slap them on the wrist. Now listen to me, the revisionists in our day have constructed a God out of their own imagination that the Bible knows nothing about. Many of the mainline denominations today would never admit to the justice and the severity of God in his actions toward men. They have only a God of benevolence and love and mercy. People will tell you quickly, well, my God would not do that. Well, you have to ask the question, is your God the God of the Bible? Because the God of the Bible casts even the angels down to hell. And they are reserved unto judgment, the great white throne judgment, when death and hell will have delivered up all and they will then be officially sentenced to eternal death. Now, one other item, the immutability of God is in this text. This is Peter's whole theme right here. If God spared not the angels, then he hasn't changed. He is immutable. He is consistent in the way he's going to deal with sin. And don't think for a moment that these false teachers are going to escape. Would God be God if he dealt with sin in one way in the past and dealt with it totally different in our day? If he just let it go unpunished? No, God is immutable. He changes not. Now, what does this tell us about our own salvation? It tells us that if the angels created without sin and without a sin nature and without a tort to the left, and they sin, how can fallen man ever exonerate himself? Salvation is of the Lord, or men will go to hell, as did the fallen angels. It's all of grace. Is there a Christian in this room tonight who would not admit to the struggle, the fierce struggle? Nay, who would not yourself confess to the existence of constant warfare in your own heart and mind and soul, and that being regenerated. For even though you are saved and regenerated, your flesh wars against the Spirit. And if it were not for God's power and God's grace, in your life, you would not be able to stand even as a child of God. So Jude concludes his statements with these words, now unto him who is able to keep you from falling. And Peter in verse 9 says, but God knows how to deliver the just out of temptation. It's grace. Hallelujah and amen. Let's pray together. Our Father, we're deeply grateful for this passage of scripture. Lord, I pray that you would help us to understand these things. We confess that there's so much more here than we're able to discern. We confess that these are high things, too incomprehensible for us. Would you enlighten our eyes to these truths that we may benefit therefrom in Jesus' name.