Well, we turn now to our sermon for this morning, which will be coming from the book of 2 Peter. We're continuing our series in the book of 2 Peter during these morning services. Our text comes to us, this is the entire second chapter of this book. It's quite lengthy. There's a lot that Peter discusses. I hope to be able to hit all of it. But in God's grace, His Spirit will fill what I miss. But let us stand, let us rise for the reading of God's Word. We'll be reading 2 Peter 2, verses 1 to 22. This is the Word of God. 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. Their destruction is not asleep. For if God did not spare the 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 the flood upon the world of the ungodly. If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. if he rescued righteous lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked. For as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard. Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment. under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passions and despise authority. Bold and willfully, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones. 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 up and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction. Suffering wrong is the wage of their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, revealing 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 Baor, 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 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 of the flesh, 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 state 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 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 the wallow in the mire. Let us pray and ask for God's blessing on his word. Heavenly Father, before us this morning and oftentimes in scripture, there are some difficult matters which must be dealt with. We ask Lord that as we seek to understand your teaching that you have for us through the Apostle Peter, we ask that You would bring to us interpretation. You would bring to us your word that we would understand the meaning of this word. Heavenly Father, all these things we ask in your son's name, amen. Please be seated. So kids, I have a question for you. whether you're homeschooled or you go to an actual school during the school year, when you hear a sudden, loud emergency bell, whether it's a drill or not, or whether someone's burning the cooking, and you're in the middle of class, what do you do? What do these bells mean? Do we let these bells continue and just do nothing about it? Or do they mean that there could be danger, that there could be a fire somewhere? Well, of course, it means that there is probably, whether it's a drill or not, there could be a fire. and that there's something wrong, there's something that we are supposed to be doing in response to this and we are to take immediate action. Okay, this is what our parents train us for. Well, Peter is doing the same thing in our text today. Peter is sounding an alarm. In the first chapter, Peter has shown us that we must be diligent in our calling and election. And that it is His desire for us to know this salvation, to remember this salvation after He has passed on this salvation, which is found only in Christ. We are also, we also can be sure of this because Peter has shown us that we have a fully confirmed word in Christ. And we do not believe in myths and fairy tales. This is not some fun story that men made up. No, this is, this faith is actual fact that is built on the real proven events of Jesus Christ. And so Peter, in this second chapter, he is sounding the alarm. He's sounding the alarm to the church. He's already alluded to the reality of false teachers in the previous chapter, but here he deals with false teachers head on. He calls them out for who they are. Peter shows us the reality of false teachers. He shows us that God has declared their judgment. long ago. He has also shown us though, Peter shows us that the Church has been given a rescue, the Church has been given salvation from these false teachers. As he says in verse 9 when he says, So we'll be looking at the way Peter outlines these false teachers, these false prophets. He outlines first the ministry of the false teachers in verses 1 to 3. He talks about then the judgment of these false teachers in verses 4 to 10. And then finally he looks and he shows us the signs of these false teachers in verses 10 to 22. And so, Peter, in his opening, in this first verse, he's continuing his thought from the previous chapter. It reads like this, But false prophets also arose among the people. So here Peter is stating a contrast. He's contrasting all of the teaching of the Old Testament, all of the witness of the apostles, he's contrasting that against these false teachers. As I said, he's sounding the alarm. He's calling the church to attention. He's saying, be on alert for false teachers. However, if we look at the language which Peter uses, he starts out in the past tense. He says that prophets arose, indicating that there have already been false prophets that have arisen in the past. Think, for example, back to the book of Jeremiah. When Jeremiah says, Ah, Lord, behold, the prophets say to them, You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place. And the Lord said to me, the Lord said to Jeremiah, the prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision that is worthless divination. And the deceit is of their own minds. So, there has been this problem of false prophets throughout the Old Testament and throughout the New. And this is not a new fact. In fact, Peter isn't even sounding a new alarm. If anything, he's continuing the alarm. He's continuing to make sure that the Church knows this is a problem. So, the question can be asked in this first section. is ask where did these false prophets come from? Why are they seeking to distort the witness of the Old Testament and the Apostles, these servants of God? Well, to understand why these false prophets exist, to understand where these false prophets get their motivation we must go back further than Jeremiah, we must go all the way back to the book of Genesis. Specifically Genesis 3.15 and the curse of the serpent. which says, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. Peter understands that since the fall of man, there have been two parties opposed to each other. In one corner, we have the offspring and the seed of the woman. And in the other corner, we have the offspring and the seed of the serpent. And this is a theme which is woven throughout the book of Genesis. It's woven throughout the whole Bible. But Genesis highlights events in which one person is set against another. Genesis has this clashing theme. And so it is true in Peter's day that there is this clashing going on between the false teachers and the false prophets versus the apostles and the elders of the church. And so it is true in our day as well. As there will always be a believer and a non-believer, there will always be that tension until the day of judgment, until Christ comes to separate His sheep from the goats. But we'll speak more on that judgment in a second. Peter then shifts from the past tense to a present and future tense, saying, that there will be false teachers. He shifts from false prophets now to false teachers. And it is here that he highlights the specific nature of these false teachers. They secretly bring in destructive heresies. They deny Christ. and they bring upon themselves swift destruction. And this results in the distortion of the way of truth. This results in the distortion of the gospel. And they do this boldly before the face of God. They don't deny the fact that God exists. They boldly look at Him and say, nope, This way is going to be a bit easier for me. False teachers come promising many things. But in reality, these false teachers are just leaders of a pyramid scheme in which they sit on top and they reap any reward that is possible. They reap all of the money, all of the power, all of the sexual immorality that comes with the message that they're bringing. And so while those who choose to follow them, well, they get nothing. And in fact, they come out worse than they started. And that's the result of this pyramid scheme. And it's a pretty serious and grim picture which Peter is painting. And yet this is the reality. This is the reality of the world we live in. It's true for Peter's audience and it's true for us today. There has been a whole myriad of issues that have come up throughout church history. Sometimes they have led the church very much astray. Sometimes the church has been able to catch these false teachers. They've been able to catch these heresies and confront it, just like they've confronted it in those Trinitarian creeds that we recite, confronting those heresies. Sometimes, though, men have needed to step up and bring reform to the church. And then today it would seem that the culture has sought to force its message, force its ideals in through the back door of the church. And that is what the church is facing. But the question then becomes, are we without hope? Is this something which will go unpunished? Thankfully, the sermon and the text does not end there. Thankfully, the text continues. And Peter says in verse 3, their condemnation from long ago is not idle. Their destruction is not asleep. And so this brings us to the second point, the judgment of the false teachers. Peter does something interesting here to prove the coming judgment of the false teachers of his day. He uses three examples. He uses three examples to show how the seed of the serpent has already been brought to judgment. And so let's reread these three examples in verses four through nine. For if God did not spare the 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 the seven others, when he brought the flood upon the world of the ungodly, If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. If he rescued righteous lot greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked, or as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard. Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. So, in this section, he's using, Peter is using three if statements. Three if this, if this, if this. And then he's building up to one final then statement in verse nine. So let's look for a second at these three if statements. The first if statement that Peter deals with, he's calling our attention to the judgment of God's angels. Now, the specific event which Peter has in mind here in the Old Testament, it's hard to pin down. Some commentaries say that he's referencing Genesis 6, 1-4. And that he's also referencing the book of 1 Enoch, which is an extra-biblical Jewish tradition text. These sources claim that Peter may have chosen this particular Old Testament example because these fallen angels engaged in unnatural sexual immorality and were supposed to exercise the teaching ministry for the benefit of humanity, but instead it led to their condemnation. However, on the other side of the conversation, on the other side of the coin there are some commentators like Calvin who hold that Peter is not referencing a pre-flood event, but actually as Calvin says, God has made known that the devils were first created, that they might serve and obey God, but through their own fault they apostatized. because they would not submit to the authority of God. This is where I would land. We're welcome to debate this afterwards. But this is what Peter, I think, is getting at here is Satan's fall and the demons that fell with him. The view which Calvin brings to the table seems to be more in line with scripture as we look at Jude 6, another book that is actually quoted very often throughout 2 Peter. And 2 Peter is quoted very often throughout Jude. Jude 6 seems to reference the same understanding when he says, And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling. He has kept an eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day. Both of these accounts are pointing forward to that which is foretold, that which is recorded and described to us in Revelation 20, which says, and he sees the dragon, that ancient serpent. That seems to be the event which Peter is referencing, but the lesson, the event maybe confusing as to which one it is, but the lesson is clear. And the lesson is clear for us today. That if God did not even spare the angels when they would not submit to them, what do the false teachers think God will do when they will not submit to Him? And so this lesson is then continued in the next two if statements. Peter uses these two examples, the flood and Noah, and Sodom and Gomorrah and Lot. Those are the two situations. These two situations have more in common than with the first situation, because interestingly enough, these two second if statements have a salvation element to them. In both of the examples, the flood and Sodom and Gomorrah, we see God bring judgment. We see him bring water judgment on the one hand and we see him bring fire judgment on the other. And so the reason for this judgment which is brought is because in both cases, these groups of people who are being condemned have sought to reject the authority of God. They have pursued their own lifestyle in their own values and their own rights. These people were led by false teachers. These two examples are societies which moved to justify their sin. Instead of seeing the wrong which their sins produced, they changed and they altered their laws so that they would not feel guilty anymore about their sins, but actually feel entitled to be able to do whatever it is they want to do. So it is for this reason that God, in his just judgment, moved to execute his fire and water punishments on these two societies. But as I noted earlier, God does not leave out His chosen elect. He does not leave them to ruin, but He has actually saved them and separated them from His judgment. Peter shows us that both Noah and his family, as well as Lot and his daughters, were given salvation from the judgment which was cast upon these unjust societies. We can ask the question that how did God save these people from his just judgment? Well, the answer is that he saved them not because they were righteous, not because they were just in and of themselves, but because they, being elected from before the foundations of the world, were covered by the grace and the salvation which is ours in Christ Jesus. And so in these examples which Peter gives, we can see some clear commonalities with our own society today. As everywhere we look, we see false teachers on every side. We can look to society. We can look to the media. We can look to entertainment. We can even look to the church, sadly, sometimes. We know that God has long ago declared judgment upon these false teachers. But as he says in verse nine, the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials. He knows how to rescue his elect from trials. And we've been granted this rescue, brothers and sister, this escape. from our trials, we've been granted this in Christ. And Paul outlines this point really well. He hits the nail on the top of the head in 1 Corinthians 10, 13, when he says, no temptation has ever overtaken you that is not common to man. But God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape. that you may be able to endure it. Christians, as we look around the world today, we see what Peter is warning us about. We see clearly the times which God is putting before us, and we are to stand firm, knowing that we are in Christ, that there is no temptation which is ever beyond our limit or our ability to stand. Because it is here, it is here that we have our escape from our trials. The escape which is found in Jesus Christ. Who bore the punishment which was due to us for our sins. He bore that for our sake. So that we can stand firm as Peter has been constantly reminding us. We can stand firm in our calling and our election. But how do we know for sure who the false teachers are and who isn't a false teacher? Well, Peter, now that he has declared the punishment that he assured us of earlier, he is foretelling of the coming and the power of Jesus. Now that he's made that clear and shown us that that is coming for the false teachers, Peter addresses this sign, the signs of these false teachers in his third point, in our third point. So Peter discusses the signs and evidence of the false teacher. He gives us two case studies, if you will. He gives us, the rest of the text is divided into two sections, both dealing with the same thing. The first case study is in verses 10 to 16. Let's just give that a brief reread. and especially those who indulge in the lust and defiling passions and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones. 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 the wage for their wrongdoing, they count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception 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 Baor. 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. That's the first case study that Peter brings to us. And so in in verse 10, he's starting to call out the false teachers directly. Look at the language in which he uses to describe them. Indulging in the lust of defiling passion and despising authority. It is in this picture that Peter points the false teachers. These false teachers are people who have some knowledge and understanding of who Christ is. They don't deny this. They understand that they know who God is. As Paul says in Romans one, what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. Yet they see an avenue. They see an avenue, a way to control power and wealth. These false teachers are motivated by their own self-interest. They are creatures of instinct, Peter calls them. They are like irrational animals. In their teaching, they boldly and willfully look at God and declare to him You are wrong in your message, but I am right. These creatures look at their creator and they blaspheme him. Therefore, what is their reward? What do they have coming to them? Well, their wage, their reward is their destruction. There is nothing which keeps these false teachers back. They do all of what they do in the daylight. What is normally secret and shameful and done in the dark, Peter says, they do this in the daylight. They're so bold in their ministry. But their destruction is their reward. Peter calls them blots and blemishes. This language contrasts that which we have in Christ. In Christ, God's elect are made spotless. We're made pure. Yet these false teachers, they boast about their blemishes. They boast about their spots and their blots. And it's in verse 14 that Peter describes these blots and blemishes, the main motivating factors for these false teachers. Their eyes, well they're full of adultery, seeking only sin. Their hearts, well they're trained in greed, looking only to their desire. These two descriptors, they capsulate what Peter is trying to drive home. That the false teachers only want two things. They want to live out their sinful lifestyle, and they want a comfortable living while they do so. This reality, brothers and sisters, has not died away, as I've said already. As we look to the broader church, we can see that as the church is allowing for a more inclusive gospel, we're just moving to ignore sin, to justify sin. We have, the broader church has only eyes for sin, eyes full of adultery. That's where the false teachers have crept in. And as we see these false teachers enticing unsteady souls, taking advantage of those who are not standing firm in their calling and election, Peter calls them what they are. They are accursed children. And Peter then uses this example to cement this reality for us. This isn't just a lofty idea, but this has actually happened. He uses the example of Balaam in Numbers chapter 22 to 24. We don't have time to discuss all of the details around that story, but Peter focuses on one interesting element. Peter outlines that Balaam was asked by the king of Moab to bring a curse upon the nation of Israel. And he was even offered money to do so. Initially Balaam refuses, but then eventually he accepts. He has his heart trained in greed, looking only to his desire. And so what then happens? Well, during these events, Balaam is rebuked by a truly irrational creature. He's rebuked by his donkey. The donkey is given by, they're walking along the road, and the donkey sees the angel of the Lord in front of them, and he veers off course. Balaam tries to correct him, and then he veers again, and then he tries to correct him. The donkey sees the angel of the Lord. There's something blocking the way. Balaam doesn't. Balaam doesn't get it. And so the angel of the Lord opens up the mouth of the donkey to show that even this stupid animal who is just an animal, he recognizes his Lord and creator. Why can't Balaam? A man who is supposed to be of more intelligence, of a higher knowledge. And so too it is with the false teachers. They can't recognize Christ, and so the donkey rebukes him. The Lord opens up the donkey's mouth and rebukes him. And so Peter brings all of this to a head in verse 17, as he moves to show that the false teachers, he moves to show them for who they truly are. And this is the second case study which he brings to us, which is in verses 17 to 22. And this case study says, For speaking loud boasts of folly they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 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 state 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 the wallow in the mire. In this second case study, Peter opens up with a second set of imagery. That these false teachers are waterless springs. They are mists driven by a storm. The imagery which Peter uses is contrasted with the language which is used with Christ. Christ is the source of free and living, flowing water. a riverbed full of water. Yet these false teachers are dry riverbeds, barely even containing mist. These teachers, they promise freedom to their people. Yet Peter says these teachers are not free. They are actually enslaved to their sin. They are slaves to their lust. They are slaves to their greed. They think that in being able to live however they want to live, in wanting this freedom, that they have this freedom by being able to do whatever they want, but they're blind to the true reality. They are actually slaves to sin, the sin which they commit in broad daylight. For this reality, Peter gets real. Peter uses some pretty harsh language to describe their reality. Look at verses 20 and 21. He says, after they have escaped the defilements of the world and that they have knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they then become entangled and overcome. The last state has become worse for them than the first. This is where it gets really harsh. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it, turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. These are teachers who at one point understood the picture of grace, the grace which is given to us in Christ. Yet, they saw their sin as more freeing, they saw more freedom in their sin, so they went back to it, never returning again to Christ in repentance. So Peter says it would have been better for them to have never understood this grace, because it is on them that the judgment will be more harsh, the judgment will be more just. And the picture which Peter concludes this case study with is true of them. And that is the image that we have of these false teachers, that they are like a dog who returns to his own vomit to eat it. It's a gross picture, but it's true. The second one, that a pig, a sow, a pig, after washing itself, after being made clean, returns to the wallow and the mire, returns to the mud. After being cleansed, after these teachers have been given righteousness, they moved to deny it. That's the reality that Peter paints for us in the text before us. But before we close, there's one thing I want to mention by way of comfort that this text brings to us. Peter has spent much time and effort to ensure that the church is able to see and understand who the false teachers are. These people who are so driven by the lust of their heart and the greed of their desires that they've twisted the gospel message for their own purposes. But where in this is the sense of comfort? It is wonderful that Peter has made all of us known, but what is the church to do with this? How is the church to combat these false teachers? Well, the answer to this is twofold. First, God has given us Christ. Christ who will come again to bring judgment on these false teachers who have distorted His gospel. It is Christ who preserves His church. It is Christ, our chief cornerstone. on which the Church stands. No false teacher can ever destroy the Church. Just as the nations and the empires have come and gone, so too will false teachers and false ideologies. They will come and they will go. And at the end of the day the Church will remain standing. because of Christ, because Christ has preserved it. But how has Christ preserved it? What has Christ given to His church for preservation? Christ has given, and this is the second part of the answer, Christ has given to the church elders. Paul in 1 Timothy 3 gives the qualifications, that commonly referred to passage when it comes to elders. When he gives the qualifications for the office of elder the word which Paul uses is overseer. And in the Greek this term overseer has got the connotation, the understanding of a shepherd. One who watches over the flock, who protects the flock. One who guards it against the wolves. This is why we fence the table, is to guard and protect the flock. And Calvin once said about a pastor, he also, I could add, you could add elders here as well, that Calvin said that a pastor should have two voices, one for gathering and tending to the sheep and another to chase away wolves. false teachers. So, you and I, we can take comfort knowing that God has given us both his son and the office of elders to keep and guard his church from these false teachers. Amen. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for your thoroughness. You saw fit that in your word, not only would you make known to us Christ and our salvation and our escape from our trials, whether they be from false teachers or from Satan or from the world, or our own flesh, you've given us an escape from that. We thank you for that. But you have also made known to us how to combat and how to recognize false teachers and false prophets. Heavenly Father, we ask that you would continue to preserve your church. We ask that you would make your church into a mighty fortress in which our walls are Christ and our walls are the word of your word. Heavenly Father, all these things we ask in your son's name. Amen.