Well, this evening we continue our three-week series, our short series, in 2 Peter. Please do turn to 2 Peter, and I'm gonna read for us, and then we will pray and ask for the Lord's help. We're gonna read 2 Peter, and we're gonna start in chapter one, verse 16, and read through to the end of chapter two, one Peter, sorry, 2 Peter 1.16, 2 Peter 1.16, and read through to the end of chapter two. We didn't finish all of chapter one last week, and I hope as we go forward this evening, it'll be clear why that is. So 2 Peter 1.16, through to the end of chapter two. The apostle Peter writes this, for we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. We ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you would do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Knowing this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. But, and here we see a turn in the road, but false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell, and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness, to be kept until the judgment, If he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly. If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is gonna happen to the ungodly. And if he rescued righteous lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked. For as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard. Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and how to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. bold and willful. They do not tremble as they blaspheme the Glorious One. Whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 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, suffering wrong as they'll 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. They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed, accursed children, forsaking the right way they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression. A speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. These, these false prophets, these false teachers, these are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions the flesh of those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 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 date has become worse for them than the first. 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. 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. Let's turn to the Lord and ask him for his help as we come to his word. Heavenly Father, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. Friends, this evening, as we come to God's Word, to undoubtedly a difficult passage with many questions that may well be raised from it, but as we turn to God's Word, all I want to do this evening is to draw for you two pictures. draw for you two pictures. Now, don't worry, okay, I don't mean with paper and pen, we're not gonna get a whiteboard up here, but with words, I want to draw for you two pictures. I want to draw for you a picture of people who know their God, a picture of people who Christians, in picture one, ought to listen to. A picture, one, is of people who Christians, if you like, ought to listen to. And a second picture we're gonna draw this evening is who Christians ought to be on guard against. The kind of teaching and the kind of teachers that Christians ought to be on guard against, to watch for, and to put their fingers in their ears and block it out. This morning we had two men in their response to the gospel, while this evening we have two teachers, or two groups of teaching if you like, one to be listened to, one authority, one to be sought, one to be loved, and one to be ignored utterly and blocked out. And as we come to this letter of 2 Peter again, if you were here last week, you'll remember there's a real pressing nature, as Peter writes to them. We saw this last week, didn't we? If you just put your eyes down to verses 12, 13, 14, and 15, I won't read them, but glance down, you'll remember that Peter is about to die. Peter is about to die. I want to remind you of these things as long as I'm in the body. Make every effort so that after my departure you can recall these things. Peter is about to die and he's looking to prepare these Christians for the future. A future that probably feels pretty shaken and very uncertain. Peter is writing just before Nero will ascend the Roman throne as emperor. Terrible suffering unleashed. Terrible suffering on Christians unleashed on God's people through Nero. There is uncertainty in the air. The church is scattered. The apostles now are nearing departure. Persecution is rising. And he says, when I'm gone, dear brothers and sisters, this evening, he's gonna say to them, make sure you are listening rightly. Listening rightly. Friends, as we thought about last week, are not these similar to our days? What temptation we have to put sanctification to the side or to put listening to the side. We thought about that last week. The first thing he says to them as Christians are to be sanctified, are to grow, keep growing in godliness, keep going. And this evening we come and says, you need to make sure you listen rightly. And what temptation we have under pressure in uncertain days to think, well, wouldn't it just be easier to push some of this teaching on godliness or holiness aside? How much easier would life be not to mortify sin, just to go along with the crowd? And Peter says, no, we don't do that. No, we are to listen rightly. You see, the Lord Jesus, hasn't he? We see that right at the start in verse three. He's granted to us all that we need for life and godliness. He's given us everything. Peter last week said, remember the gospel. Having remembered what Christ has done, grow. And then right at the start of verse 16, our passage this evening, he says, for, because of these things, because of who you are as God's people, because Christ has bought you and rescued you, made you his own and wants you to grow in godliness because of all these things, because of who you are, for, because of these things, you now need to listen rightly. Friends, what temptation to stop listening or to have selective hearing, particularly in days that are uncertain. The ground feels shaky beneath us, lots of voices around, but he's saying, no, keep paying attention, listen right, listen rightly, for to stop listening rightly or to listen to false teachers could prove fatal for the Christian. And so, Peter, if you like, or what I'm gonna try and do for us this evening, is he draws two pictures, if you like. It's almost like he takes them to a local art gallery and he says, okay, sit down. You know how sometimes people do. I don't actually know if there's an art gallery here in Beaufort, but you know, you've been to an art gallery, there's little benches in the middle, there's a security guard in the corner looking kinda like, do you really belong here? That's how they look at me anyway. You sit down, and it's like he unveils two pictures before them. And he says, you listen here, but not here. So our first picture then is, who are these believers to listen to? With the apostle about to die, who are the believers to listen to? And that's one at 16 to 21. And what I want to do this evening, and particularly as we come to the second one and we see them together, see them side by side, I hope this works, I want to try and draw them for you. So first of all, Here's the teaching you're to listen to. Let me draw you their eyes, okay? The first picture. We're just going to walk through these two pictures. Let me draw their eyes. What does Peter say first of all? He says, ah yes, listen to those, chapter 1, 16, those who are eyewitnesses. It's right there at the end of verse 16, those who are eyewitnesses. You need to be listening to those who saw what the Lord Jesus did on earth, his life, death, resurrection, and ascension. They saw real events, real, tangible, physical, historical events. Like verse 17, the transfiguration. Peter says, we were there. Their eyes must be those of eyewitnesses. You can think of John writing in 1 John as well, those verses. We won't look at them, you can look at them later. 1 John, what does John say? Those of us who were there in the beginning, who saw and heard and touched. So their eyes are those of eyewitnesses. Secondly, let me draw you their ears. What is their ears? Ah, yes, their ears, verse 17. They have heard, or verse 18 there, we ourselves have heard this very voice born from heaven. Ah, yes, those you're to listen to, they've heard God speak. Not only were they on the mountain and saw, but no, they heard God speak. They heard the Father speak at the transfiguration. They've heard the voice of God. Thirdly, let's draw, if you like, verse 16, let's draw their legs. What did their legs look like, these people? These people did not follow myths. They've not walked off the trail way off to the side here. They've not traveled down the road of fantasy or fable or cleverly devised stories. No, they saw and heard and have passed on. Next, I want you to try and picture this with me. In this frame, on the wall in the art gallery, their eyes have seen, their ears have heard, their legs have not wandered, they've followed Christ. Next, let's think, what's in their minds? What's in their minds? Look to 3.16. Look to chapter 3.16, that'll help you here. The apostle Peter writes to them about the apostle Paul. Actually, let me read in from 14. Let me read in from 14. Chapter 3, 14. Peter says, Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found in him without spot or blemish and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him. as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant are unstable, and they twist to their own destruction as they do other scriptures. So what's in their mind? Verse 15, wisdom. Wisdom's in their mind, given to them by God. You see, what's interesting, isn't it, as Peter is writing to these Christians in the very early 60s AD, even some of Paul's writings now are being recognized, being seen as scriptures. That's at the end of 316. As they do the other scriptures, they twist Paul. As they do the other scriptures, Paul is writing to them scripture. Now, it has to be said that chapter three, verse 16, is one of the most reassuring verses in the Bible for Christians. Okay, glorious verses about the redemption we have in Christ and all he's done for us, and then what does Peter say? This just comes like one step down the ladder for us. Some of the things that Paul writes about are hard to understand, right? That's reassuring for us. It certainly is for me, right? It's hard. But the Lord has filled their minds. He's given them minds of wisdom. Okay, so they've seen and they've heard and they've followed the Lord Jesus with minds of wisdom. Lastly then, in this frame, in this picture, what are they doing with their hands? What are they doing with their hands? Verse 21, no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along in the Spirit. Now, these are some of the most helpful and clear words about canonicity, about Scripture as canon that we have in the Scripture, but the key thing to underscore when we're kind of flying over the top of all of this chapter, the key thing to underscore is that the author of Scripture is God, the Holy Spirit. God writes Scripture. God wrote Scripture. It's not as though Peter or Paul kind of did draft one, okay, did draft one, and then handed it to God, if you like, as their copy editor or teacher at school, could you just get the red pen out and do some markings here or some correction, and there's some kind of back and forth, right? It's not like that, no. Friends, the words we have before us, the Holy Spirit wrote this book. through the pens of men who had seen and heard and known God and followed him. God didn't put them into some kind of trance where all of a sudden Peter kind of wakes up and he's like, oh wow, right, I've wrote this, I did a pretty good, no, right, no. God wrote it through men. The Holy Spirit gives us Scripture. He wrote it, inspired. Here we have before us the Word of God, and he's saying that is the authority you need to come under. Let me add one more thing and then try and pull at these threads together with some application. If you imagine this picture in an art gallery, and imagine a frame around it, and we've drawn this person that we're to listen to. In art galleries, don't they, next to the picture, there's often a little sign, some words that you read, or maybe it's at the bottom of the picture. Well, what's the little sign there? What does it say? What's he saying? He's saying, listen to the apostolic testimony and the authority of scripture. Okay, do you see all the way through here from verse 16 he writes, we, for we did not follow. Okay, the end of it, but we were eyewitnesses. Okay, verse 18, we ourselves heard, we have the prophetic word. Okay, all of these we's, we's, we's, he's talking about the apostles. The apostles, he's saying that's who you're to listen to. There's your teachers, the apostolic testimony, those who have seen and heard commissioned by God as apostles. There's your authority. There's your authority. What does he say in 21? No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man. No prophecies for men, no. God speaks in this book. This is his book. And what does he say in verse 19? And here's our listen bit. What does he say in verse 19? We have the prophetic word, more fully confirmed, to which you would do well to pay attention. Right, that's the key bit. Verse 19, to this, pay attention. Friends, in short, he is saying, listen to the scriptures. Listen to the scriptures. Okay, that is what authority, what you're under. Listen to the scriptures. Friends, in a way, it is the question that splits the world in two, isn't it? In a way, it's the question that splits the world in two. Yes, of course the question is, what do you think of Jesus Christ? Lord or liar, right? There we have it, yes, but how do we know about Jesus? How do we know about him? Answer in his word. So if you like, the question is, or at least it's underneath that or goes along with that is, do you believe his eyewitnesses? Do you believe the testimony of the apostles? Do you believe his word? The Bible is God's word, God's book about God. And so let me try and drive this home in a couple of ways. The main one really, the main one I wanna drive home is friends have confidence in the word. utter confidence in the trustworthiness of Scripture, of its inerrancy, of its infallibility. Scripture does not err, and it cannot err. We must have confidence that this is God's Word, and this is the thing that the Lord would have us lean into in hard times. Let's think about it this way. If you ask someone, why are they a Christian, or how can they be sure I think Peter here would say to us, the answer we want to give is because I trust the reliability of the Scriptures. Those who were there and saw and heard and did not walk, but they had minds of wisdom, I trust those who were eyewitnesses. Because that is what Peter's pointing them to here. He's saying those who know their God. Firstly, we saw last week growing godliness, and here he's saying pay attention to the Scriptures, trust the Bible. The reason I want to be cautious of that is, as we think about following Christ and what it is to do that, I think we want to be really cautious of saying, I'm a Christian because it just kind of makes sense. I think something like that, I would want to say, well, what happens if one day it just stops making sense? or some worldview comes along and applies so much pressure that we don't think it does make sense anymore. No, I think what we want to say, and there are nuances to what I was saying there, but I think what we want to say is I trust, I know, because the reliability of God's word, because he's spoken in his word. Friends, let me put it this way. The question the world is putting to us all the time, I think at least one, or if not the underlying question the world is putting to us all the time is do you trust this book? Do you trust it? Do you trust the God who speaks to us in it? Do you trust what it says about salvation? Do you trust what it says about sexual ethics? Do you trust what it says about the human condition? As we're gonna come to next week, do we trust what it says about Jesus' return? That's where we're going. Do you trust it? And Peter says, yes, pay attention. As a lamp in a dark place, pay attention to it. The Bible, God's word, God's book about God. Lastly then, how does that apply to me? How does that apply to me as someone who is teaching and preaching this evening? What are you to look for in me? Well, the question you must ask yourself as I teach you this morning, this evening, a couple more times before I leave here is, is what he's saying in line, lined up with, lined up with the apostolic testimony, in line with the Scriptures? And as a preacher, am I saying, listen here, look at this, eyes down, listen to God, listen to the Lord speak, for that is what we need. So if you like, there's drawing one. There's who to listen to. We listen to God's Word. We listen to God's Word. We're under its authority. And Peter is saying to them, pay attention to it. No prophecy was produced by man. No. The Spirit has spoken. This is God's Word. Listen to Him. Now, Peter, in chapter two, draws a second picture. Here's how to spot false teachers. Here's who not to listen to. Look at the first three words, but false prophets. Oh, if it would be so easy as to, in the art gallery of life, if you like, there was but one picture hanging. But Peter says, no, look at the wall. There's a second one here. And we need to spot false prophets. Now, before we start, if it was only as easy to say as watch out for people with dark blue suits and glasses and Scottish accents and stripy ties, okay, it would be easy, right? Or if all false teachers kind of walked around with fangs and tails and, I don't know, horns sticking out their head or something like that, right? But it's not like that. No, what do we see? Chapter two, verse one, they do it secretly, secretly. But even still, God gives us a portrait that ought to help us as believers, as Christians, to know who not to listen to. So what does Peter say? We're gonna jump around a little bit here, so do have this before you, and we'll try and paint it in a similar way. What does Peter say? Well, let's start with their eyes as we did last time. Let's start with their eyes. Chapter two, verse 14. Chapter two, verse 14. What does he write about their eyes? They have eyes full of adultery. Eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. What did we see in the first picture? Oh yes, eyes. The apostles, they saw the glory of Jesus and fell down in worship. But these false teachers, their eyes are full of adultery and sin. We see there as well in chapter two, verse two, many of them follow their sensuality. Eyes for sin. From that, verse 10, if you look down to verse 10 there, you'll see that they have, sorry, verse nine and 10, we see lusts of the flesh, lusts of the flesh. Oh, these people cannot get enough of sin. They say they're Christians. We're gonna come to that, but they say they're Christians. What does Peter say at the end? It'd be better for them not to have known. No, they say they're Christians. They maybe wear dog collars or whatever it is. They say they're Christians, but really the object of their eye, the apple of their eye, we might say, is sin. It might be sexual sin, but it could be pride, authority, greed, sensuality. Friends, spot the fake false teacher in his eyes. In his eyes. The false teacher says, oh yes, you want that? You want that? Go and take it. Go and take it. Never mind the Bible. Even Peter writing here says in chapter three verses 16 and 17 what they had. He said the false teachers, they twist Paul. For us, the fact that Paul is hard to understand is kind of reassuring because he's tough. But for them, it's an excuse. Oh no, Paul's difficult to understand. No, when he says keep away from that, that's not what he really means. No, go and take, take the fruit and eat it. Friends, spot a false teacher with their eyes. Briefly, we can also look at their minds. Verse 12, right there in the middle of verse 12, near the end, he says, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant. They're ignorant. Contrast that with the minds of the apostles. No, they have wisdom from God. But no, these false teachers are ignorant. Then we're gonna paint or look at the drawing. He says, oh yes, their hearts. Let me tell you about their hearts, verse 14. They have eyes of adultery, they entice unsteady souls, we're coming to that, but they have hearts trained in greed. They're greedy. Spotted false teacher by his heart, he's greedy, more for me, please. Pouring out for you, no, more for me. Verse 15, what about their legs? They've forsaken the right way. They've walked off the track, way off the path. like Balaam or Balaam in Numbers 22 to 24. You can read that later. What happens there? He's bribed to bring a curse down on God's people. Money over obedience, personal gain over glory to God. So these false teachers, they have adulterous eyes, ignorant minds, greedy hearts, legs that don't follow God, oh, and their mouths. Look at the painting, look at their mouths, hear their mouths, their mouths blasphemed. Did you just see that as we read it, how many times the word blasphemy came up? There at the end of chapter, of verse two, chapter two, verse two, there, the last word, blasphemed. We see it there in verse three. as well. Verse 9, blasphemy, verse 9, blasphemy. Verse 18, they gloat in their folly and ignorance. Verse 19, verse 19, don't we hear that today? Oh, they promise freedom, they promise freedom, but they're actually enslaved. Now, it's hard not to go with sexual ethics, because we hear so much of that today, isn't it? But think about those things. Oh, you can be free. Be free to be yourself. Come and belong to this church family. You can follow Jesus and live how you like. That's what we hear, isn't it? Freedom is promised, but what do we have? Verse 19, oh no, they're actually slaves. Slaves to corruption. Whatever overcomes a person to that, they are enslaved. It's just a twist on the lie right back in the garden in Genesis 3. There's so much going on in Genesis 3, is there not? But in a way, what we could say Satan is promising Eve is freedom. Oh, eat this and you'll be free. You'll be free. She eats, Adam eats, and they find themselves to be slaves, slaves to sin. They offer freedom, but there is only corruption. So imagine Peter in this art gallery, if you like. He's drawn these two pictures hanging there. He's painted one and painted the other. He's saying, listen to the witness of the apostles. Listen to the scriptures. He's saying, this painting, do not listen to these people here. But then he goes on to describe it even more. He says, okay, I've drawn it for you. Let me describe this painting for you. Let me describe these people well. Let's have a look down. Verse 12. What does he say? He says, these false teachers, they're behaving like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters which they're ignorant. These false teachers, they're behaving like irrational animals, creatures of instinct. Verse 13, his words get stronger. They are blots and blemishes. Verse 13, they are deceivers. Verse 14 at the end, he says they are accursed. Verse 17, he says they're a waterless spring. Do you know, until being in Beaufort this summer, I don't think I've really understood the glory of clouds, right? In Scotland, every day you see clouds. You want them to go away, okay? Because you're just there all the time. You come here, it's like a million degrees, and you're standing outside, and you've been outside the car for 7.2 seconds, and you're already like melting. there's a cloud or there's shade and oh it feels so good and then there's maybe even a bit of rain and it comes the promise of that well he says these false teachers are like a cloud coming over your head promising shelter and rain and water but it doesn't do it it provides nothing it provides nothing no they're a waterless spring misdriven by a storm they promise promise promise and deliver nothing Verse 21, Peter, in describing these false prophets, he said, it'd be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to turn back from it. They've heard the gospel. Like in Matthew, the parable of the sword Jesus, in Mark particularly, it's memorable, the parable of the sword Jesus teaches. They've kind of shot up a little bit. They've shot up a little bit. They've shown some promise. but no, only for thorns and thistles to come and pull them down. Verse 22, as the dog returns to its vomit and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire. They've heard the gospel, responded, and then they've turned right back around and gone rolling about in the mud. Peter does not hold back against these false prophets, does he? I don't think the Apostle Peter really was one to hold back. But this is the most heinous teaching, and it's so heinous because it takes people away from the gospel. Look at verse 14. Verse 14, their eyes are full of adultery, insatiable for sin, and they entice unsteady souls. They see the weak and the vulnerable, and they pray on them. And instead of pointing them to the Lord Jesus, they take them. and preach to them a gospel that is no gospel at all and put them after sin. Jesus says in words that just cut me every time I hear them, Jesus says in Luke 17, it would be better to have a millstone hung around your neck and to be thrown into the sea than to lead any of his people astray. This is very serious. And so what's gonna happen to these false teachers? What's gonna happen to them? Verse three, we see condemnation is coming, condemnation. Verse 12, destruction, they're gonna be destroyed. They're gonna be destroyed. Peter's saying eventually one day God will come along and take this painting off the wall and utterly destroy it and burn it. Those who follow that way, those who fit that description, this will be utterly, utterly destroyed. Judgment will fall upon them. And Peter gives kind of three illustrations. Did you see that? Verse four, he speaks about angels being cast into hell. Then we get Noah and the flood. And then we get Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah as well. And he says, yes, on false teachers, destruction is coming. Do not listen to them. two portraits, listen to God and his word, and do not listen to these false prophets and teachers. Let me just close then, there's three illustrations here, it'd be great to go into all of them, let me just close very briefly as we pause and think about Noah. I'd like you to imagine Noah there in Genesis, and we could even imagine Noah walking into this portrait gallery. Okay, he walks in, and what does he hear? He hears God speaking to him. The word of God, coming from God, and he says, God says to him what? Build a boat. Build a boat in the middle of the desert. I'm gonna flood the waters of the world with judgment. I'm gonna send water. The waters of judgment are coming. God speaks. Then think of all those who must have been around Noah, scoffing at him. A boat here in the desert? Judgment? Noah, we've not had rain in weeks. Judgment is coming, what is this guy on? Salvation only found in that boat? And so Noah has a choice, listen to God, pay attention here or not, and listen to those words of those who are about to perish. And friends, the choice is same for us. Salvation in Jesus? Jesus is coming back in judgment? and we're gonna see next week that people scoff at that. Jesus is coming again. But yes, Christ is going to return. And we're not scoffed at for hammering nails into wood to build a boat, but we are scoffed at for trusting our salvation to one who had nails driven through his hands to a cross. So are we gonna keep listening to the Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus who was crucified? Are we gonna place our lives on his word and his word alone? Or will we listen to the scoffers? Friends, if one day, if one day we're standing alone as Noah was, bearing witness to the coming judgment of God, to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, will we keep going? Will we keep holding fast? Friends, trust the testimony of the apostles in Scripture. Judgment is coming. Let us be found inside the ark that is Christ. Will we trust it? For if we will, for if we will, verse nine, verse nine, and with this I close, the Lord knows who are is. Did you see that there? The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials. So as we stand utterly trusting the word, trusting the word of our God and having confidence there, we know that the Lord knows his sheep, and he will not let one of them fall. Trials will come. This is not escapism, but as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, the Lord is with us, and our great hope is in him. So friends, my encouragement to you this evening is listen rightly, or keep listening rightly. The world is under judgment. Christ will return. but the ungodly, the false teachers, will perish, and the godly will be delivered. Keep trusting the Lord Jesus, and always keep paying attention to his word. Amen. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you for this epistle. We thank you for all that the Apostle Peter wrote here. We thank you here we have the words of scripture. Yes, penned by the Apostle Peter, but it is your word written by the Holy Spirit. May we in these days keep always bringing ourselves under its authority, trusting it, having confidence in it, for it is your word. Lord, we pray that with all the pressures that are around us, help us to hold fast, knowing that you are coming and that you will deliver and hold on to the godly. We ask it in Christ's name.