upon the men of old, the Holy Spirit moved upon them to pen down these words. These are God-breathed words. These are not man's words. So let's look at the description of the deceiver. You say, Preacher, why do I need to know that this morning? Because this world is full of deceivers. And sadly, there are churches and organizations all across the land that appear to be right, but they are not. And Peter now is going to give us the litmus test, if you will, of whether an individual is a false deceiver or not. Number one, I want you to notice he begins in verse 12 by showing us their character. Listen, you know, contrary to popular belief in our day, character does matter. And your character does define who you are. In verse number 12, he starts out with a similarity. He said, but these, talking about these false teachers that he spoke of in verses 1 through 11, he said, these as natural brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed. He gives us a similarity here. Quite often through the Word of God, especially in the book of Revelation, John uses simile a lot to show us something, to teach us something, something that's similar. Peter here is not saying they are specifically brute beasts, but he says as natural brute beasts. He's talking about the animal kingdom here. He said just like that natural beast, that grizzly bear, that lion, that whatever it may be out in the animal kingdom that would rip you to shreds. He said that is the similarity here of these false teachers. They want to devour. The Bible tells us that the adversary, Satan himself, has come to steal and to kill and destroy. So therefore those that follow him want to do the same thing. We need to understand this morning, not everybody with a suit and a smile on their face is your friend. Not everybody that carries a Bible is your friend. There are those deceivers out there that want nothing to do but to destroy you and your family and everything that has to do with God. So here Peter refers to them in this similarity as brute beasts, just as You and I would be fearful in some places concerning a brute beast. We ought to be fearful of these deceivers. Listen, if I get the opportunity, and I have a time or two, to be in grizzly country, I'm gonna be on guard, amen? I don't worry too much about these little black bears around here, and they can get you now if you get in the wrong position, but I'm telling you, you get around a grizzly bear, I've never been in the Arctic, really, where the polar bears are at, but I've watched a lot of things on there. I'm gonna be on guard. I'm going to have something with me that's going to even the odds if one of those brute beasts come after me. And so it is with these deceivers. They are brute beasts. And Peter reminds us here they are made to be taken and destroyed. You say, Preacher, that's pretty harsh. Listen, I'm going to remind you this morning what God's Word says about apostasy. Those that are apostates are not just someone that has never been enlightened to the truth. It's not someone that's just wandering aimlessly lost in the world. That's not what Peter's talking about. We know that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And I realize this modern generation can't stomach definites of the Word of God, but I'm telling you, God said an apostate is bound for the fire. They're going to be destroyed because the fact is they have seen the truth. They've been at the threshold of the truth. They're not saved and lost again. They never got saved to begin with. But they've tasted that truth. They've been enlightened of the truth and they spit it out. And they didn't want it and they rejected it. And the only remedy to apostasy is judgment. That's why it is so dangerous. So there's a similarity that is mentioned here. And then Peter tells us something else about their character. He reminds us of their speech. And boy, this is important this morning. You can tell a lot about somebody by their words, and not just the words they say, but how they get those words across. Look in verse number 12 also as we go down a little bit here. He said, "...and shall utterly parry..." Or let me back up just a little bit. I missed it there. He said, "...made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things they understand not, that's spiritual things, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption. My, how this speaks of our generation. We're living in a generation where those that claim to be spiritual, they claim to be saved, they claim to know God, but their whole ministry or their whole life is about attacking the people of God. I saw something the other day where a man said that the only thing a liberal preacher hates is a fundamental preacher, amen? The only thing a liberal preacher's against is a fundamental preacher, and that's about the truth, amen? They're not against anything else. I mean, they usher in all kinds of sin and ungodliness, and they're okay with this and that, but you let somebody stand on the truth, and all of a sudden, they get angry. So Peter's reminding us the speech of these false deceivers, they speak evil against things that they understand not. There is a crowd today. Proverbs talks about that generation, that devour and that generation, their teeth are like knives and they devour. There's a generation like that today. Man, I'm telling you, There's a crowd out there that they love playing clips of old-fashioned fundamental preachers and then mocking them and laughing at them and cutting them to pieces. You say they're just misguided. No, they're not misguided. They're headed to the flames of hell, buddy, and you can tell them I said so. It's the truth, amen, and they're beguiling unstable souls. Peter's going to deal with that here in just a minute. You remember what happened to Peter there, when he was camped out by the devil's fire, and he denied the Lord three times, and the Bible said he even cursed, and his speech betrayed him. He could not hide the fact he was a Galilean. He could not change the fact of who he really was. And the Lord told him, he said, Peter, when you get converted, then strengthen the saints. He was not right with God yet, and God had to deal with him later on. And there's a crowd today, I'm telling you, their speech reveals who they are. I'll tell you something that'll help you this morning. Many, many times, don't necessarily listen to what a man's saying as much as listen to what he's not saying. You can tell a lot about somebody by what they're not saying, what they're not dealing with, what they're not shining the light on, what they're not telling you about. Anybody can make a speech of fair words, and anybody can say sweet, swelling words in all the congregation, but I wanna know, are they saying what the Bible says? And that's where our litmus test is at. It is the Word of God. So Peter talks about their speech. And let me just throw this out, especially to our younger generation. They love the social media platform. They love the... See, these guys couldn't get in the pool pit because they're crooked as a dog's hind leg. I remember one time I was preaching in Mexico with an interpreter and I said crooked as a dog's hind leg. He stopped and looked at me and he said, I don't have anything for that. And that just came to my mind there. That's an old Southern saying. You know what I'm talking about? And this crowd that Peter's talking about, they're so evil and so crooked. They're not going to have a pulpit because anybody with the right mind is not going to let them in a pulpit. But they're going to have this social media platform and the podcast of these days. And I'm telling you, young people, you better stay away from them. You better not listen to them. You better not let their poison get into your mind. All they want to do is speak evil of things that they understand not. And the reason why they don't understand it is they've never been born again. So he deals with their similarity. He deals with their speech. Peter goes on to deal with the sentencing of this crowd. God is not playing with this. Because you see, when you tamper with the Word of God, when you tamper with salvation, you're tampering with souls. You're dealing with men's eternities. That's why it is so important that we stay with the book. God does not take it lightly when deceivers deceive men, women, boys and girls to go to hell. God doesn't take it lightly. He's going to deal with that. So you'll notice in verse 12, the last part of verse 12, in verse 13, Peter reveals to us the sentencing of this crowd. He said, "...and shall utterly perish in their own corruption." They're destroying themselves by their own lifestyle. They're destroying themselves by attacking the God that loves them and died on Calvary for them. Verse 13 said, "...and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness." Listen, there's a reward for faithfulness this morning. There's a reward for the believer. Thank God for that. But I want to remind you, there's a reward for the unrighteous, those that reject the Lord, those that carry a false gospel and try to deceive others. I'm telling you, payday's coming someday and it's not going to be good for them. He goes on to say this, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the daytime. They're not doing this accidentally. They're not doing this because they don't know any better. They know exactly what they're doing. They're steeped in pleasure and their righteous behavior, and they do it out in the open. They're not ashamed of it. Never seen such a time where people that claim to know God, and they're not ashamed of their sin. I mean, they'll promote their sin, and they'll plaster it all over the internet and wherever they can. They're proud of their sin. You can mark it down. That person's not born again. Amen? There's something wrong with that. If you're saved, you know this for a fact this morning. If you're saved, you know we're not sinless. But you know when you do sin, you sure don't want to make it public, do you? You sure don't want to wave a banner and say, look at me. Here I am. I'm sinning and I'm enjoying it. That pride crowd today, I'm telling you God's going to burn them up if they don't get saved. God's going to tear them up because that's sin. God hates sinfulness and ungodliness and those that would promote their sin. And that's what Peter's telling us here. These deceivers will perish because of their evil doings. Jude said something very similar. In the book of Jude, verse 11, he said, He gives three Old Testament stories or indications or characters, if you will, of those that went that way. Three Old Testament prophets. One of them was Cain. Abel came and he brought the lamb that God said for them to bring and Cain showed up with the fruits of his hand, the salad of the field, if you will, and God rejected that. And God even gave Cain an opportunity to get it right. And he wouldn't get it right. He talks about Balaam here. We're going to look at him in more detail in just a moment. And how he was hired by Balak, the king of the Moabites, to curse the children of Israel. And all he wanted was what Balak could give him and the profits that he would get. Then he talks about Korah. You remember Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rose up against Moses. spewed out false teachings, and like one preacher said, God sent them to hell with their shoes on. Amen. He did. He opened up the earth and swallowed them whole. I'm telling you this morning, we need to understand in this generation, God is not playing with deceivers. Again, there's one thing for a lost sinner to be wondering through this world lost, God has mercy on them. And again, he loves them and he woos them and he sends the gospel to them and he wants them to be saved. But when somebody rightfully is twisting the word and knowingly and willingly is taking the Bible and twisting it and bringing a false doctrine to promote themselves and to fulfill their pleasures, God will drop the hammer on that crowd and I don't wanna be anywhere around them when he does, amen? So you see their sentencing. Notice this before we move on. In their character, Peter gets pretty strong here now. Again, this is the wording of the Holy Spirit. In verse 13, he says, they are spots. Notice what he said, spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves. There again, that shows their lack of humility. That shows their unconcern of their sinfulness, their pride, if you will. He said, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you. I'm telling you, all you gotta do is look at the average church today and you'll see a crowd like that. You look at the average religious movement today across the land and it's full of filthiness and ungodliness and there's spots and there are blemishes in that body and nobody wants to say anything, nobody wants to deal with it. Just let it go. Preacher, we may hurt somebody's feelings. What about God's feelings? Amen? Listen, I don't go wanting to hurt people's feelings. I like to get along with people. If you know me, you know that. I don't like to be the bad guy. I don't like to be mean to people. I don't get any joy out of that. But I'm telling you, I want to please God this morning. I want Him to be honored with my life and my ministry and what I do. And when you please God, you can mark her down. You're going to offend man along the way. It's going to happen. And there's spots, and we allow them to come in and defile the body of Christ, and we shouldn't do that. When's the last time you heard of a Bible-believing church practicing church discipline? It's there for a reason, amen? It's not there to be mean to people. It's there to bring a reverence in the congregation. There used to be a day. I can take you to records right here. Little Ivy Baptist Church, we've got records back to 1820. I can take you some places in the records this morning if we had time where folks were churched over things that you think would be very insignificant. But what that did is that put a holy fear in the congregation. I mean, that put a desire in people's life to walk with God. You remember Acts chapter 5? There in that early church, God was moving. Souls were being saved daily. And here come this couple, Ananias and Sapphira, and they thought they had lied to the Holy Ghost. How foolish that is. I'm telling you, you can't lie to God. He knows everything. They lied to the Holy Ghost, they lied to Peter, and both of them were carried out, wrapped up in a sheet, and dropped in a hole in the ground. God does not play with these things this morning. And I'm telling you, our generation just doesn't seem to understand that. Matthew chapter 13, 25, we find the parable of the wheat and the tares. He said, but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. Those are these spots that Peter is talking about. They're tares among the wheat. They're good for nothing but to be bound up and cast into the fire. You say, preacher, where's the love in that? The love in that is Jesus hanging on the cross. The love in that is God giving His only begotten Son. Where they went wrong is they rejected that love. And when you reject that love, there is nothing left but damnation and ruination. And people need to understand that this morning. Notice this, I gotta move on. There's sinfulness in verse number 14. He said, having eyes full of adultery. He's telling us their character. Are we not living in a generation that is saturated with adultery? I mean, there's primetime television shows that some of you probably watched this week that are nothing but adultery in them, amen? I'm telling you, the years ago used to be the soap operas, you know? And God help, I remember hearing a story one time, true story, in a church, Dear, dear lady, God bless her, amen. She probably had some issues. But during prayer time she said pray for so-and-so and she named some character on the soap opera. God help us, amen. Y'all have more to do, sit around and watch all that garbage, amen. God's people don't need to be looking at that. But he tells us here, sinfulness, eyes full of adultery that cannot see some sin. You know why they cannot see some sin? Because they don't have the new nature in them. They've never been born again. They're living according to their nature. And in verse number 14, Peter lets us know this. Now, look at this. Revelation 2.14, the Bible tells us this, talking about Balaam that was mentioned before, and we'll see it again here. He said, But I have a few things against thee, Jesus said this to the church at Pergamos, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam. who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. What he's saying there in Revelation is when God would not allow Balaam, Balaam, the false prophet, to curse Israel, he said, well, I'll tell you, Balak, how you mess them up. Just get all them Moabitish women out there and get them parading around half naked in front of them, and you won't have to worry about it. God'll take his hand off of them. But that's exactly what the enemy's done in our day today, amen? Through the internet and all the foolishness and the filth in this society, we have weakened ourselves as a church, as a whole, become anemic because of these sins, and these false teachers know exactly what they're doing. They're sinful, don't forget that. Notice this in verse 14, and I'll move on to the next point. Here's what's dangerous this morning. If you don't get anything else, I want you to get this. They are subverting, they subvert people. And this is where I think God gets angry. You say, preacher, why does God get angry? I'm going to bring it down to an earthly point of view, okay? If I found out, if I came home one day and one of my children came to me and said, Daddy, I was out and about today and there was this fella come up to me and offered me drugs. I'm going to say, what's his name, where's he at, and where can I find him? And I'm going to go pay him a little visit, amen? And I'm going to say something like this. You get around one of my kids again, and you're not going to have to worry about getting around anybody else anymore. Amen? I would fight for my kids over that. How much more should we fight over the spiritual subversion? How much more should we stand our ground against those false teachers? And they're everywhere this morning. Some of our men are so-called Bible-believing Baptist churches, amen, and they're fake, and they're phony, and they line up with what Peter says here, and all they're wanting to do is subvert people to themselves. Notice this, he said, beguiling unstable souls, and heart they have exercised with covetous practices, cursed children. Peter is telling us here their lifestyle is ungodly. We've seen it in our day, this prosperity gospel, nine times out of ten, that's what your false preachers preach. You know, you do this and you send me this and you buy this for me and take care of this and God's going to bless you and God's going to give you. That's a lie. That's false doctrine. That's heresy. That's ungodly. They're just robbing the souls of men. That's all they're trying to do. And they're subverting people and wonder how many of hundreds of thousands of people in this generation have been subverted from the truth over these false teachers. And that's why God is so angry with them. So, Peter gives us a little bit about their character. And you can go back and read that and meditate on those verses and remind yourself of the character. Listen, I have seen people before that fit this standard of character right here. There are preachers, not many, but there are preachers that I have heard before that you go down this list and they line right up with that. You better steer clear of them. You better run away from them. Now notice the second thing here, and I'm hurrying this morning. We see their deception and the danger of them and the description of them. Peter now reveals to us, beginning in verse 15 of their course. You see, we've got to understand where they're headed. You've got to understand where they're going. And the course, not only that they're going on, but the course they have taken. A lot of times you can see how they've acted before and it reveals to you who they are. In verse number 15, notice the turning. Again, here is what an apostate is. Look at verse number 15. He said, which have forsaken the right way. Again, they have known the right way. They have seen the right way. The right way has been preached to them. The right way has been given to them. There's a crowd today that grew up in fundamental Bible-believing churches. And let me just throw this out there. Not every fundamental Bible-believing church is right. There are times when the pastor's wrong, and it's not dealt with like it should be. There are times when members are wrong, and they're not dealt with according to the Bible. And listen, I'm against that. I'm against cover-ups. I'm against sweeping sin under the rug. I'm against that. That's not right. But there's a crowd today that have come out of those churches, and because something happened, that they didn't like or that hurt them, they've now went on a rampage to try to tear down Bible believers. And it's ungodly, and he tells us here, "...and have forsaken the right way and are gone astray." These deceivers know the truth. The problem is they have willingly forsaken the truth. The Apostle Paul wrote this in the book of Hebrews, chapter 10, verse 26 and 27. He said, "...for if we sin willfully, After we have received the knowledge of the truth. Now this sin here he's talking about is living in sin, not getting saved. He said if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. What is Paul saying there? He said Jesus went to the cross once. All through the book of Hebrews, you'll find once and for all, once and for all, one sacrifice, one God, one body, amen? And he said, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. Again, we find out these false teachers, these individuals, they once walked on the path right or seemingly did. Again, don't be confused this morning. They're not people that were saved and got lost again. They're people that played the game and never was saved. And they can play it a little while. They can play it a few years. And they may go a little while. But after a while, the real truth will come out. Who they really are is going to come to the surface. And they turned away. They turned from truth. I thought about this in studying this yesterday. Isn't Pharaoh a good example of that to some degree? There's Pharaoh. He knew the truth. Moses gave him opportunity after opportunity to get right. And Pharaoh turned, and he hardened his heart, and he hardened his heart. And what was the end of Pharaoh and all those Egyptians? They were drowned in the bottom of the Red Sea. Destruction is what comes to those that turn away from the truth. So we find they're turning. And then with their course, Peter tells us about their track. Look at verse number 15 again. "...which have forsaken the right way and are gone astray." Notice it's following the way of Balaam. Here's that prophet, that Old Testament false prophet, Balaam. The way of Balaam, the son of Bozor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. Peter is referring to this Old Testament false prophet to remind the believers that are reading this, this is the way they operate. If you study the life of Balaam there and you read him there in Numbers, you'll see it. I mean, he came in and he acted like he really wanted what was right. You know, he said, God won't let me curse you. But he just kept on pushing and kept on going and kept on going. And finally God said, OK, have your way. And he's a pitcher of those ungodly deceivers. knew the truth, but yet chose to steer away from the truth and steer others away. In Numbers 22, 40, the Bible said this, and Balak offered oxen and sheep and sent to Balaam and to the princes that were with him. The Bible tells us here in verse number 15 that they love the wages of unrighteousness. Listen, I'm gonna remind you this morning, there's a payoff in unrighteousness, but the problem is the payoff here is not the same payoff you get in eternity. And there's a crowd this morning that all these false teachers are trying to do is build their own kingdom. You listen to somebody and how many times they use the word I when they're so-called preaching or talking about something. That's a red flag, amen? I'm not up here to tell you about me. I'm up here to tell you about Him, amen? Preaching's not to tell you what I think and what I believe and what I might want. It's about what He wants and what He says. And this group of false teachers and false prophets in this day, it's all about them and what they need and what you ought to do for them. And they build that cult following. Listen, I'm going to say this. I know some people aren't going to like it, but I'm going to say this this morning. There's some cult followings even in independent Baptist churches. And I'm telling you, that's not right, amen? That's not right. It shouldn't be that way. It ought to be according to the book. There are times when the preacher's wrong, okay? You heard me say it. You shouldn't disrespect the pastor. You shouldn't belittle them. But I'm telling you, there's times when preachers go wrong. And when preachers go wrong, you don't follow them. The Apostle Paul said, you follow me as I follow the Lord. And when a man gets out of this book, or a man makes shipwreck of his faith, or he gets into some kind of sin, you are not obligated by the Word of God to follow them. Don't follow them blindly, amen? Follow them according to the Word of God. And so many times they'll take religion and hold that power over people to say, you gotta follow me or else no matter how I'm living or what I'm doing. No, that's false. That's dangerous. Stay away from that stuff. Their track is revealed. Take time sometime and study if you haven't done it. Study the life of Balaam there in the book of Numbers and read about him. It will reveal a lot to you. He was after those wages of righteousness. Notice their turmoil. He goes on to say some more about Balaam. Here, look at this. He said, "...but was rebuked for his iniquity." God tried to stop... I mean, he could have killed him, but God tried to stop Balak or get him to the point where he would stop himself. And look what he refers to in verse 16. He said, "...was rebuked for his iniquity, the dumbass speaking with a man's voice forbade the madness of the prophet." If you know your Bible, you know he gets on his donkey one morning, he's riding down through there, and that thing turns, and he gets mad and starts beating it. And it turns again, finally it runs him into the wall and crushes his foot. And the next thing you go, you know you got a preacher that's having a conversation with an animal. Now that ought to tell you something right there, amen? I like what one preacher said there. There wasn't just one donkey in that story, amen? There was two. I mean, you got somebody that's having a conversation with an animal. They do crazy things. That's what sin will cause you to do. Crazy things. Weird things. I see it all the time in some of these modern-day churches, some of the most far-out, crazy, unreal, just weird things. God's not in that. God's not weird. This Bible's not weird. It's not spooky. It's right, amen? It's the truth of God's Word. And I'm telling you, we've got somebody that's all full of hype and all the All the smoke and all the hoopla and look at me. I'm going to eat an alligator next Sunday or whatever it might be. All kinds of crazy things. Your red flags better go up. You better realize there's something wrong with that cat. He's barking up the wrong tree. There's something bad wrong. Here, Balaam is an example. and turmoil in their life. You know you've got mental problems when you're talking to a donkey, okay? And I'm telling you, some of these fellas got mental problems. The problem is they need to get saved, amen, and get born again. Some of the craziest things. And people will buy it hook, line, and sinker. And I'm not knocking off on people. I'm not trying to be mean to people, because a lot of people don't know any better. And he's gonna deal with that here in just a moment. That's why God hates his sin. That's why you and I need to stand strong against it. We see the turmoil, but then we see the torment. Look at verse 17. He tells us this, these are whales without water. What good is a whale? Can anybody tell me what good a whale is without water? Nothing. A whale without water will do nothing but get you hurt, amen? You'll fall down, you'll get trapped, it's no good. They're whales without water. They are clouds that are carried with a tempest. They have no purpose, they have no direction, there's no use to them. They're blown to and fro. He goes on to say this, "...to whom the midst of darkness is reserved forever." God said, I'm going to torment that crowd. They've tormented people so long in doing their foolishness. God says, I'm going to torment them in the lake of fire forever and forever and forever. Revelation 20.15 said this, "...and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." You go to Matthew chapter seven sometime and you read that crowd said, Lord, Lord, have we not done great wonders in your name? Have we not prophesied in your name? He's talking about false prophets. That's the context of that. He said, you depart from me, you workers of iniquity. He said, I never knew you. I like what one preacher said. He was dealing with a man, believed you could lose his salvation. He said, he didn't say, I knew you and forgot you and knew you and forgot you and knew you and forgot you. He said, I never knew you, amen. They never were saved. They never were born again. The danger of these false teachers. Then, let me give you the third and final thing this morning and we'll wrap up the message. Here he's revealing to us these false teachers and who they are, how they operate. We've seen their character this morning down through verse number 16. We've seen their course and the direction they're going. Not only are they going to the flames of hell, but they're leading multitudes with them into the flames of hell. And then finally this morning, Peter reveals to us from verse 18 down to verse 22 the confusion that all of this causes. Listen, God is not, and we know that's in the context of tongues there in 1 Corinthians 14, but God is not the author of confusion. I'm telling you, if you're confused about, if something's confusing, if something's just all twisted up, you can mark her down this morning. God's not in that. His Word is clear. His way is bright. I mean, His pathway is open there. He told Jeremiah, seek out those old paths and walk there yet. He wouldn't have done that if Jeremiah couldn't have found them. He said, seek them out, walk there yet. He said, that's where you're gonna get the blessing at. We don't need a new way. Listen, we just need to get right with the old way. We don't need a new Bible. We just need to get back into the old Bible and read it and study it and put it into practice in our life. Notice this, and I'll finish up this morning. Look at their confusion. Here's the sad state of these false prophets and not only them but those that follow them. We see their propaganda in verse 18, and I wanna remind you this morning, they are big about propaganda, amen? They're big about putting it on. In verse 19, while they promised them liberty, boy, I wish I had time to do a message just on that word this morning, but I don't have time. Liberty, is that not the buzz phrase of this generation in religion? Liberty, liberty, oh, you've got to have liberty. We've got liberty in Christ, but that liberty's not to live like the devil, I'll promise you that. We are not to use our liberty as a cloak of maliciousness according to the scripture. That liberty is the fact that we got set free when we got saved to serve the Lord. We didn't get set free to run out here like a bunch of heathen, amen? But that's what they say. Their liberty. Notice this, he said in verse 18, when they speak great swelling, yeah, when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lust of the flesh through much wantonness those that were clean escape from them who live in error. Their propaganda here, they promise this liberty and all this freedom and oh, I mean, if you'll come join us, man, you don't have to sit in that old archaic King James Bible. Oh, you don't have to dress like the 1800s, amen. No, you don't have to do that. Just come follow us and you'll have a big old time. Look at their lives, amen. Their lives are nothing that I'm interested in this morning. Their mess that they live in and the world they wake up to this morning. Listen, I don't have one inkling of wanting to be living in that kind of life. They use this propaganda. They speak great swelling words, you know. How are you? Are you going to have a good day? Amen. God is going to bless you. No matter how you're living, He's going to bless you. You know what I'm talking about. That's how they do. They allure through the lust of the flesh. They tell you it doesn't matter about what you do with the flesh. God said the flesh is to be put down. Paul said having no confidence in the flesh. You can mark it down. An individual tells you to let your flesh do what it wants to, they are as false as can be. Listen, your flesh will destroy you, my flesh will destroy you. I have to put the hatchet of the Word of God to it every single day, sometimes multiple times in the day. That I have to take this Word again and go back to my flesh and say, no, no, no, God said this. While they're saying, whatever your flesh wants to do, you just do it. Oh, you just enjoy it. You're out from under all that bondage. No, you're going into bondage you ain't never going to get out of. That's what Peter tells us here. We find their propaganda. Galatians 6, 12, Paul said this, As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, They constrain you to be circumcised. That was the deal in the churches of Galatia. They were majoring on, you know, you've got to get this flesh thing here and do this. Only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. They were muddying the waters of the gospel. And I'm telling you, that's not right this morning. God will deal with that. We see their propaganda. Then notice their promise in verse 19. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption. I've seen them before. I've seen them on their podcasts. I've seen them on their shows. And they say, oh, we got liberty. And I'm looking at them and they ain't got enough clothes on to wad a shotgun. Boy, you got liberty. You're dressing like some heathen over in the dark jungles of Africa, but you're doing good living in the 21st century. Oh, we got liberty. They're on multiple wives. Got children scattered all across the country. Don't know where they're coming or going. Got child support and alimony payments stacked up to the roof. Boy, you got some liberty, don't you, buddy? You're having a good old time, aren't you? Amen. That's not liberty to me. Liberty's pilling my head at night knowing I'm right with the Lord. Liberty is getting up in the morning knowing I'm saved, and knowing I'm going to have a Savior that walks with me, and when I do sin and come short of the glory of God, I can fall on my knees and confess it, and get it right with Him and get back on track. Liberty is living in the confines of the Scripture, amen? Liberty is enjoying the pasture that God's put me in, and the pasture that God's put you in, and the protection of the fences and the walls in this Bible. I'm telling you, that's where liberty's at. You take an old animal out here that has no fences and has no borders, that thing, it'll be on edge all night, sleeping in the woods, you know, wondering if some predator's gonna get it. But you take one that's in a good fence and got a good caretaker and got somebody watching over, but they'll sleep like a baby at night. You know why? Because they know they're protected. And I know tonight, as long as I, or this morning, as long as I'm walking in the Word and walking with Christ, my liberty's protecting me, amen? Oh, I wish I could say more about that. I gotta hurry, I'm almost done. They're promised. They promise things that they themselves don't even have. He said, this, for whom a man is overcome, the same is brought in bondage. They're bound and don't even realize it. They're tied up in sin and can't even figure it out. Notice they're polluting in verse 20. He said, for if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I want to remind you, they're not saved. They just have the knowledge of it. They know it. They've come to that threshold of salvation, just like those in Hebrews 6. They've come to that threshold. They see it. They know it. But they purposely and willingly reject it. He said, after they have escaped... After they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome. The latter end is worse with them than the beginning. I heard Brother Wade Huntley say one time, he's been in heaven for years, he said, I'll tell you one thing, pastors, he said, we ain't got so many backslid people on our church pews as we think we do. He said, we got some that's never slid forward, amen. But I believe he's right. I understand there is a backsliding. I understand a believer can get out of the will of God, but I think a lot of this in this modern church today is they've never been born again. They've never been washed in the blood. They've never seen themselves as a sinner and called on Christ as a Savior. The Holy Ghost has never moved in their heart in the regeneration, in the new birth, because when He does, I'm telling you, you're not gonna enjoy that life. You're not gonna wanna live that life. You may come short and you may mess up from time to time. There's gonna be a longing inside of you to keep you out of the pollutions of this world. That's what happens with someone that's saved. Paul said this again to the church at Galatia. Chapter 3 verse 1, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? That's what these false prophets are doing. They're bewitching you. I heard Brother Charles Worley preach one time, who's the who in your life? Now I'm telling you, you're talking about a message. If you can find it on the internet. Brother Charles Worley was at Providence Road Baptist Church preached on who's the who in your life. I'll promise you the devil will send a who in your life. And that who will try to bewitch you and pull you off the path of righteousness. It's probably some of you sitting here this morning, there's a who in your life you need to get rid of. There's a friend, there's a co-worker, there's a family member in your life that is false and ungodly and pulling you away from the things of God, and you need to kick that joker to the curb, amen? You need to tell them, I'm not talking to you anymore, I'm not listening. Ladies, there might be some man, perverted man on the job that the devil sent that's the who in your life, and he's trying to sweet-talk you and tell you, you better get away. I'd quit my job before I'd hang around that. Men too, amen. It's as bad, probably worse for men, because we're more gullible a lot of times than the women are. And some old Jezebel on the job and she's flashing her eyes at you. She don't have to be on the job. Sometimes she's sitting on the church pew, amen. I've seen that happen many times. She's batting her eyes at you and she's telling you all those sweet things. Thing is, she ain't lived with you long enough to figure out how you are, amen. You think you're going to run off with her and do any better than what you're doing? No, you're going to do worse, amen. I'm telling you, they're beguiling people. It's dangerous this morning. He said, O foolish Galatians, who have bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you. Jesus is the only way. Walking with Christ is the only way. I'll give you this, and I promise I'm done. The proverb, verse 21 and 22. He said, For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, then after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. You think about that this morning. What is the judgment going to be on someone that knew the truth, said they knew the truth, confessed they knew the truth, but really didn't, and then died and went to hell? Can you imagine the judgment on that? I'm telling you, I wouldn't want to go to hell for any reason or any way. But one thing, I'd hate to go knowing the truth and having the truth laid in my lap and saying I believe the truth and then willingly turning from it. That's so dangerous. Verse 22 said, but it has happened unto them. And this is it right here. Notice this. It has happened unto them according to the true proverb. The dog is turned to his own vomit. You know what? And I hate to make you sick for lunch this morning. I'm just preaching the Bible. You know why a dog does that? We're country people. You know why a dog does that? It does that because it's in its nature. He talks about the sow wallowing in the mire. You can get an old hog out and you can get a sow out and you can clean it up. You can put a pretty ribbon on it. People do that now. Why, they march them down the aisle and have weddings, amen. God help us. You talking about sick and deranged, amen. That's the world we're living in. God help a church that would let that happen. Marrying dogs and cats and roosters and hogs. He says right here, he said it's going to the mire. You know why? And I'm telling you, whatever your nature is, is what you'll run to. And that ought to convict us this morning. Whatever our nature... What you're running to right now is what your nature is. And may God help us this morning not get caught up in these deceivers. I'm telling you, especially... This can happen to anybody. But I'm especially burdened this morning for our young people because there's so many voices in this society today. There's so many charlatans and fakes and frauds out there. Boy, they'll promise you this, and they'll tell you this, and they'll say you don't need to listen to mom and daddy, and you don't need to listen to the preacher, and you need to throw away that old King James Bible. I'm telling you they're sucking you into their trap. The Jim Bakers, many of you remember that. The Jim Jones, amen. I mean, you're messed up. You're messed up when you drink a bunch of Kool-Aid thinking you're gonna see some kind of star and it takes you out into eternity just because one man says so. And I meant to say this, I didn't say this before, but most of those false teachers where he talked about them having eyes full of adultery, they pervert young women, young ladies to be specifically careful this morning because they prey on you and they try to draw you into their trap. I'm telling you it's a dangerous thing and it's all in the name of religion so many times. Peter reminds us this morning of this description of false teachers. And may God help us in these last days to be aware. Amos, I believe it's the book of Amos, where he said, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. He said, Preacher, why are there so many false teachers in these days? Why are there so many churches rising up on every corner that are so anti-Scriptural against the Bible? It's because we don't know the book. It's because we don't understand the Scripture. The best thing we can do is put our life into this Bible. and sit under good Bible preaching and listen to preachers throughout the week that are biblical and sound and Bible teachers that are right with God and right with the book. And that'll strengthen you concerning these deceivers. There's not one person in this church this morning that I want you to be pulled away by deceivers. I want you to be strong in these last days, be able to stand against this crowd. Raise your children to know to stand against this. Because I'm telling you, it's on us. It's not coming. It's here. It's on us. Multitudes of people this morning that have been raised up in Bible-believing church have been snatched out into these ungodly things because they did not know the truth of God's Word. May God help us this morning be able to identify these deceivers and run clear of them every time.