The Word God Said - False Teachers, The Way To Destruction - 2 Peter 2:4-22  pt.2

Excellent. All right. Father, I want to thank

you so much for your goodness and faithfulness.

Thank you, Lord, for your word. Lord, help us

to walk in true liberty, to understand that the

very gift of freedom that has been given, it's

been given by you for the purpose of your glory

and honor. That this nation was founded solely

for the proclamation of the gospel. There is

no nation on the earth that has proclaimed the

gospel to peoples globally more than the missionaries

that have come out of this country. We thank

you for that. And I do pray desperately that

we have not lost our zeal for you and our desire.

To contend for the faith and to walk in true

freedom. Lord, we do praise you and thank you

in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, if you guys would

turn with me to 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter 2. We've

2 Peter 2 · chapter mention

dealt with the, been dealing with the issue of

false teachers from verses 1 and 3. Now we're

going to deal with the rest of this chapter.

I've decided to take this chapter and split it

off into two sections. The first section is going

to be dealing specifically with the destruction

of the rebellious. And then the second part of

the chapter deals with the clear understanding

of what you see in the heart of a false teacher

or what they bring about, the reality of what

happens because of their character. So we're

going to read. The whole chapter, the rest of

the chapter, and then we'll dig in. Verse 4,

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned,

but cast them into hell and committed them to

chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the

judgment, 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 into ashes, he condemned

them to extinction, making them an example of

what is going to 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

there. 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. And especially those

who indulge in the lusts of defiling passion

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 of 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,

accused children, forsaking right Forsaken the

right way, they have gone astray. They have followed

the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved

gain from wrongdoing. was rebuked for his own

transgression. A speechless donkey spoke with

a human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

These are waterless springs and mists driven

by 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 barely escaping from the 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 escape 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 to never 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 her, returns to wallow

in the mire. This is confusing and difficult.

I'm just, you read it and you go like, what is

all of that? I'm going to decipher as best as

I can by God's grace. So the best way to decipher

this in just in a informational context is to

split it into two particular sections, which

I told you. The first, the judgment of the rebellious.

As sure as God's salvation is for his people,

so is the judgment of the wicked and rebellious.

What do I mean? The reality of God's salvation

is sure. It's a guarantee for his people. And

so is the judgment of the wicked and rebellious.

It's just as guaranteed. God is just, God is

salvation and just. Grace. And punishment. He

is both. And you can't separate the two from

him. Except for us, our punishment and our judgment

has been placed on Christ. In 2 Peter 3, 7. But

by the same word, the heavens and the earth that

now exist are stored up for fire, being kept

until the day of judgment and destruction of

the ungodly. See, one thing I want you to understand

is the first time God destroyed the earth with

water. This time he's going to flood it with

fire. Very important. So in 2 Peter 2, 4 through

10a. For if God did not spare angels when they

sinned, but cast them into hell or committed

them. To chains of gloomy darkness is the idea

here. To be kept until the judgment. The ancient

world but preserved Noah, he did the same thing.

What does he do with the angels? Turn to Jude

6. And the angels who did not stay within their

own position of authority, but left their dwelling,

left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal

chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment

of the great day. And as you see in verse 7,

he talks about Sodom and Gomorrah. It's very

interesting. Revelation 20. Then I saw an angel

coming down from heaven, holding in his hand

a key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.

Verse 2. And he seized the dragon, the ancient

serpent, who is the devil, Satan, and bound him

for a thousand years and threw him into the pit

and shut it and sealed it over him so that he

might not deceive the nations any longer until

the thousand years were ended. After that, he

must be released for a little while. So the reality

is that the Bible doesn't say how many were chained.

The Bible just says they were. So let's... It's

not worth getting into a debate on that. We must

settle with what the scripture says. In 2 Peter

2, in Jude verse 6, in Revelation 20, they were

chained and locked up. And the number, I don't

know. That's not worth a debate. But what does

this teach? That the rebellious angels were locked

up for judgment by which they would be thrown

into the pit and destroyed. Well, not destroyed,

not really. Tormented for all eternity. I don't

believe in nihilism, so we won't go there. Verse

5, and if he did not spare the ancient world,

but preserved, kept safe Noah, a herald of righteousness,

a preacher of divine truth, and seven others,

which was his wife, his three sons, and their

wives. When he brought, when he was to bring

upon, God was to bring upon a flood or a deluge

of water upon the world of the ungodly. If by

turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into

ashes, what's it mean that he turned, that he

flooded the world of the ungodly? I want you

to turn to Genesis 6, 17. Genesis chapter 6,

Genesis 6:17

verse 17. I'm going to do a little bit of walking

today. Notice what it says here. For behold,

I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth

to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of

life under heaven. Everything that is on the

earth shall die. Well, why not Noah? I mean,

he was a sinner, was he not? Of course. But the

scripture says he was the only righteous one.

Perfect in his generation. So why did God not

destroy Noah? Because Noah was set apart as righteous

unto God. And what's interesting is that everything

else is destroyed. God has kept Noah the righteous,

his wife, one flesh, and his children, the future

generation. them for reestablishing the world

again. Does that mean that sin wasn't present?

Not at all. You've got to look. His son Ham was

a pistol. Turn to Genesis chapter 7 verse 12.

Genesis 7:12

And rain fell upon the earth for 40 days and

40 nights and on On the very same day, Noah and

his sons, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and Noah's wife,

and their three wives of his sons, with them

entered the ark. And every beast according to

its kind, and livestock according to its kind,

and every bird according to its kind, and every

winged creature according to its kind. They went

into the ark with Noah. and two of all flesh

in which there was the breath of life. When did

they enter the ark? The same day it rained. I

want you to get that. God says, Noah, get in

the ark. Noah gets in the ark. So do all the

animals. The same day it rains. The day of wrath.

The day of judgment. I want you to pay attention.

That is biblical. That's scriptural. Keep reading.

And those that entered, male and female and all

flesh, went in as God had commanded him and the

Lord shut him in. Same day. When was their salvation?

When was their removal from the earth? Their

rapture. If you want to say. They're taking out.

The same day. So that puts a monkey wrench. A

real big one. Into dispensational theology. Same

day. It's there for a reason. And you know good

hermeneutics. You got a scripture upon scripture.

So. That being said, what else do we understand?

God shut him in. Who saves? God. Who guarantees

you're in? God. In the same way that God has

placed Noah in the ark, God has placed us in

Christ. By the Holy Spirit. Who is the guarantee,

our seal, guaranteeing our inheritance. He has

closed the door for us. We are in the ark, Christ.

That's the point. If by turning the cities of

Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, he condemned,

he judged them to death. Interesting. He condemned

them to extinction by a catastrophe. So. If you

have any question that God makes extinct cultures

of people, it's right here. When I say extinct,

when we read it, you're going to go, everything's

extinct. Okay? Making them an example. Why did

he destroy the two cities by fire and leave nothing

behind? As an example. As a warning to avoid

or shun of what's going to happen to the ungodly.

It's a warning. Don't follow them. This is what's

going to happen to the ungodly. What does the

word ungodly mean? The destitute of reverential

awe of God. They have no awe, no reverence, no

splendor and majesty of the great king of all

creation. Turn to Genesis chapter 18. Chapter

Genesis 18 · chapter mention

18, Genesis verse 20 and 21. And the Lord said,

because... The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah

is great and their sin is very grave. I will

go down to see whether they have done altogether

according to the outcry that has come to me.

And if not, I will know. So why? You'll be like,

why does God do that? I thought God is omni -omniscient.

He is. But do you know what he says in Matthew

18? To establish a crime, because that's what

this is. You must have two or three witnesses.

Do you ever thought about that? How many went

into the city? Two. We won't get into who, though

I desperately want to. But I do encourage you,

read chapter 18 and 19, you'll know who. So these

two men go in as a witness to the destitute of

the ungodly, the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. It's

not the issue of proving that they're sin. It's

an issue of you have clearly sinned. And God

does never break his word, right? He always does

what his word says. And that's what you read

in Genesis. Now look at chapter 19, verse 24

and 25. It says, Then the Lord reigned on Sodom

and Gomorrah, sulfur and fire from the Lord out

of heaven. And he overthrew the cities and all

the valley and all the inhabitants of the city

and what grew on the ground. Did you hear that?

What's interesting is when you read about Lot,

which we're going to get to in a minute. God

destroyed not only every building, but even what

was growing. And you can easily go there now

and just see there's a bunch of softball balls

everywhere. And it only takes a match to light

it. They still catch fire. Because of sin. But

verse 7, this is your hope. If he rescued, if

he dragged out of danger. Is literally what this

word means. Righteous Lot. The just and upright

Lot. Because great distress. He was greatly distressed

by the sensual conduct of the wicked. This word

distress means to wear out. Lot was worn out

by the lewdness and their way of life. He was

exhausted. You ever get to a point when you're

in a situation so much that you're around it

so much, bad company corrupts good morals, and

what ends up happening to you? So if you think

because you look at yourself as godly and a Christian,

you can go into a very debauched environment

thinking that you're going to go in and save

these people, I'm going to tell you right now,

one good apple doesn't make a batch of bad apples

good. Eventually, they're all rotten. And that's

exactly what's happened here. He was worn down.

Walked in there all about the God of Abraham,

and then he was literally saturated with sin,

the sin of the people, and became conditioned

to the environment. 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. Isn't that interesting? Why

would God call Lot righteous? I mean, after all,

Lot didn't want to leave Sodom and Gomorrah.

Because what is God's promise concerning the

righteous? He will keep them. It's called the

doctrine of perseverance. He persevered of the

saints. And what you see concerning the reality

of Lot is that he is righteous not because of

anything Lot has done. It's because God has declared

him righteous through a promise that he made

to Abraham. We call that election. Look what

it says. Then the Lord knows how to rescue the

godly, the reverent, the devout from trials or

tests or the putting to the proof is the idea.

And to keep the unrighteous under judgment until

the day of judgment. Under punishment until the

day of judgment. He knows how to keep the unrighteous

under punishment until the day of judgment. What

about Lot? And especially those who indulge in

the lusts, in anything they go after concerning

the flesh. Of defiling is the word they use here.

The corruption and the pollution of passions.

And despise. They look, they scorn authority.

Isn't that interesting? God knows how to rescue

the righteous. Do you want to know how God rescues

the righteous? Turn to Genesis. Chapter 19. Chapter

Genesis 19 · chapter mention

18. Sorry. I want you to pay attention to this.

Very important. Genesis 18. How did God rescue

the righteous? Remember the term I used over

here? The word rescue means to drag. Genesis

19. Verse 15. As morning dawned, the angels heard

Lot saying, Up, take your wife and your two daughters

who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment

of the city. But he lingered. He's like, I don't

want to go. It's okay. I really don't want to

go. But what did the men do? So the men seized

him and his wife and his two daughters by the

hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and brought

him out and set him outside the city. I thought

salvation was my choice. Did Lot have a choice?

No. He was dragged out. Screaming and kicking.

I don't want to go. Not really, but. But then,

you know, you know what Lot says after that.

You need to go away. I'm going to destroy this.

Can't I just go over there? I mean, it's not

that far. It's not as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah,

but. God's like, yeah, go ahead. Then look, they

despise authority. They scorn authority. You

know what's really scary? Is that authority scorns

authority in our country now. When those who

are in authority scorn authority, we're in deep

trouble. Look what it says in verse 10b. Bold,

daring and willful, arrogant and stubborn. They

do not tremble. They don't fear as they blaspheme,

as they insult or slander the glorious ones.

Now I want you to understand something. The reason

why they use the word glorious ones in the translation

in the English is because it's between two particular

discussions. First is Lot being dragged out by

angels. Okay? And also in verse 4, dealing with

the issue of God did not spare the angels. And

then in the next verse, verse 11, whereas angels,

though greater in might and power. So they use

the word glorious ones, but I will tell you in

the original language, the word ones isn't present.

And what's really cool is whether you use glorious

ones or just glory, it actually keeps the context

anyway. I believe that the proper translation

for this particular verse is this way. Bold and

willful, they do not tremble, but they blaspheme

the glory. Of what? Of God. Why? How? How do

they blaspheme the glory of God? The glory of

God is seen in his creation. The image bearer.

is Peter particularly talking about? He's talking

about the men who are blaspheming God in their

attractions to one another. We got kids, so I'm

trying to... But I really think it's the issue

of blaspheming the glory. We see that in Genesis

19, 10, and 15 through 16. Which is what I just

read to you. So, second principle. Not everything

that is called Christian is Christian. So I want

you to get this. We have a problem in our country.

That everything that we consider Christian is

Christian. Just because it says it's Christian,

we think it's Christian. Listen to me. Don't

believe the hype. It's not true. I don't know

about you, but certain people just aren't Christian.

And certain positions that they carry just aren't

Christian. And certain music that is being played

now just isn't Christian. Why do I say that?

AI music is one of the most growing. genres in

music today. It's crazy. There's AI Christian

music everywhere. What's the problem with AI

Christian music? It doesn't come from the heart

of a man who is in love with Jesus. There is

no genuine beauty of worship. of a man pouring

out his love and his adoration and his reverence

and his fear for the living God. It comes from

a computer that feels nothing, but it just feeds

you information. And we go, oh, that's good Christian

music. Just because it's Christian doesn't mean

it's Christian. Be careful. There is deception

everywhere. Pay attention to the warning and

hold fast to the scripture. How can we tell what

is true? Scripture. What is worship? Obedience

out of love for God. Second Corinthians 11, 13

through 15. For such men are false apostles,

deceitful workmen, describing themselves as apostles

of Christ. And no wonder. For even Satan disguises

himself as an angel of light. It is no surprise

if his servants also disguise themselves as servants

of righteousness. Their end will correspond to

their deeds. Chapter 2, verse 2 Peter 2, 11 through

16. It's 10b, but... Whereas angels, messengers,

though greater, though they exist... As greater

in might and strength, or might meaning strength

and power, they do not pronounce, they don't

bear, they don't carry a blasphemous or a slanderous

judgment against them. Well, remember, Peter's

still talking about a particular event. We haven't

gotten done the comment concerning Lot. So this

bold and willful, they do not tremble, should

be up. Next to despise authority. And it should

continue because these angels that came to rescue

Lot did not slander him or did not make a judgment

against him. Didn't even say a thing about the

issue of his sin. It's interesting, isn't it?

Why? Because they came to rescue. He came to

rescue. I .e., Lot and his family is the them.

So they didn't come to make a judgment or slander

them before the Lord. The Lord has already dealt

with the issue of the sin of the city. Not one

thing did you hear about why they were destroying

the city. They just said the sin of the city

is an outcry. Didn't say anything else, did they?

No. But these, now he's changing his thought.

These who? Chapter 2, verse 1. But false prophets

also rose 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, bring upon them swift

destruction. These. That's who he's talking about.

Now that we've gotten through the examples of

the destruction of what was happening to those

who rebelled, he talks about these particular

false teachers, these people who bring in these

false teachings. These false teachers, they're

like, they're irrational, they're unreasonable,

they're brute. They live by instinct like animals.

Creatures of instinct. Born. Interesting term.

The word born literally means to beget. They

were begotten. They were born to be caught and

destroyed. Anybody like fishing? That's what

fish are for. But that's what it says here concerning

these people. Why is this important? Let me share

with you Romans. I'm going to make sure I get

this verse right. If I can remember where it's

at. There it is. Romans chapter 9 verse 22. I

Romans 9:22

want you to hear this. What if God, desiring

to show his wrath and to make known his power,

has endured with much patience vessels of wrath

prepared for destruction? In order to make known

the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy.

Now why does he use this statement here? The

previous verses, look what it says previously

in verse 19. What will... You will say to me

then, why does he still find fault for who can

resist his will? Why does God find fault if I

don't have a choice? If I'm not in control of

my own destiny? That's what Paul's saying here.

Verse 20. But who are you, O man, to answer back

to God? Will what is molded? Say to what's molder,

why have you made me like this? So I want you

to get this. Every one of you are clay. Do you

have any question about that? When we go to heaven

and we see Adam, say, Adam, like, what are you

made of? He'll be like, dirt. There's a reason

why Paul uses this terminology of potter and

clay, because we are clay. And I was knit together

in the secret place, was I not? Was I molded

in the womb? God is still molding. Has the potter

no right over the clay to make out of the same

lump one vessel for honorable use and another

for dishonorable use? And what if God, desiring

to show his wrath, and to make his power known,

has endured with much patience vessels of wrath,

prepared for destruction. And in order to make

his riches of his glory known, that's in parentheses,

because that's what he's implying here, for vessels

of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for

glory, even us, whom he has called, not from

the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles. Doesn't

God have the right as God to do as he pleases

for his own glory and purposes according to his

word? Absolutely. That's what he means here.

And if he does, then he also, back to 2 Peter

2 Peter 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, he has the right to bring about creatures

to be caught and destroyed. These creatures,

blaspheming, they blaspheme, they slander, they

curse, they revile, they defame. They talk about

matters which they are ignorant, they have no

knowledge of. They act like they know, but they

know nothing, is what he's saying. Will also

be destroyed. They will also be depraved and

corrupt to destroy. In other words, they will

not be redeemed. In their destruction. That's

interesting they use this word twice. They will

be destroyed in their destruction. It means to

destroy in order to destroy. Look at this term

here in verse 13. Suffering wrong. That means

to bring payment as a payment. They will be destroyed

for payment because of that is what they've earned.

Destruction. For what? For their wrongdoing,

for their evil, for their falsehood, for their

deceit. They, the false teachers, count it pleasure

to revel in the daytime. They lead the way. These

false teachers lead the way in gratification

and sensual pleasure. And they self -indulge

and they carouse in it during the daytime. Now,

I know you guys, you know, I mean, we live in

a woke culture, right? And what's the woke culture

statement? They don't even hide it anymore. It's

all out in the open. No, it's been out in the

open forever. It's always been open. We've just

been blind. Because we don't want to think the

worst of people. You're like, you sound so negative,

Pastor. I have to. It's false teachers. I can't.

It's not like pleasant. Then look what Peter

says. They are blots. They are stains. Blemishes.

You guys know what a blot is. Who eats spaghetti?

I'm Italian. We got some Italians here. You ever

wear a white shirt and it's real nice and then

you're killing the pasta and it splatters and

you're like, oh. And you try to get your Tide

pen out and it doesn't work because there's too

much oil in it. You know what I mean? You throw

it in the wash thinking it's going to come out

and what do you see? The blot. That's what he's

talking about. They're blemishes. They're a disgrace.

Reviling in their deceptions, in their delusion.

They are in delusion. Chapter 1 of Romans. While

they feast with you. While they have a love feast

with you. They sit down at your table. They're

part of your gathering. And they're sitting there

and they're just causing their stuff. They have

eyes full of adultery. Insatiable, unceasing,

unrelenting for sin. They love sin and they invent

ways to do it. They entice. They seduce. They

lure. What do they lure? Who do they seduce?

The unsteady, the unstable, the weak, the unsettled

soul. They don't go for the strong in the faith

and in doctrine. They go for the weaker in the

faith and the doctrine. Why? Because they can

be convinced quicker. And they have hearts. They

have hearts trained in greed. They practice greed.

It's one of the things I don't... I don't like

about the spiritual advisor of our president.

I know. She's like, give me $1 ,000. The Lord

wants you to give me $1 ,000. I'm like, I can't

get over that video. And people believe she's

a believer. Shakataka, wakataka, shakataka. I

mean, I can't. That's the easiest tongues I've

ever done. I'm just. You want me to translate

it? I want your money. Give me your money. Give

me your money. That's what I think. That's what

she said. Only in America. Now, look what else

it says. They are cursed children. They're cursed.

They're forsaking the right way, the straight

road. They have gone astray. They have wandered

into deception. They are deceived. They have

followed. They have obeyed. They have imitated

the way of Balaam, the son of Baor, who loved

gain from wrongdoing. Now, I want you to get

this. Balaam. Balak, I'm not going to go back.

We're not going to read this. Balak, the king,

says to his elders, I want you to go get Balaam.

I don't want Balaam to come, and I want Balaam

to come and curse the people of Israel. And I

want you to take a bunch of money to him. And

they do. I mean, they show up with bags of money,

right, for him to do a divination. A divination

is to curse. Okay? So Balaam's like, I don't

know if I can do that. So Balaam falls asleep.

And in his sleep, God talks to him and he says,

Balaam, if the men come to you, you can go with

them, but only tell them what I say you're going

to tell them. Balaam's like, okay. He wakes up

in the morning and he just goes. The men never

showed up to say, hey, Balaam, let's go. Come

with me. No, he decided he's going to go anyway.

I'm just going to wake up and go. That's what

he does. He wakes up and he goes. He gets up

in the morning. He gets his donkey ready and

he's going to go meet them. Why? God said, don't

go. The only time you can go is if they come

and get you. But they never came and got him.

Why? Balaam wanted the money. And you guys know

the rest of the story. Donkey goes walking. Donkey

sees Jesus with a sword. And he's like, no, it's

going that way. It goes this way. Gets between

a wall. Sees, no, it ain't going that way. Gets

between the hedges. No, I ain't doing that. And

drops down. And every time the donkey makes a

turn, Balaam smacks the donkey. And the donkey

turns around and says, yo, why you keep hitting

me, man? I've been with you all these years.

You keep smacking me. You know I haven't put

you in a bad situation. Well, why ain't you going

where I want you to go? Because of him. And all

of a sudden, the Lord reveals himself to Balaam

with a sword in his hand. And he says, Balaam,

I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you.

I don't know about you, but the donkey starts

talking. Now look what it says here. But, the

donkey, but was rebuked. He was rebuked for the

transgression. A speechless donkey spoke with

a human voice and restrains the prophet's madness.

Why was the prophet mad? He wanted the money.

And when you read Balaam's conversation, oh,

you can give me gold and silver in your house.

And I'm not going to say anything against what

the Lord tells me to say. Really? Well, you're

in trouble now anyway because you weren't supposed

to go with them in the first place. Verse 17.

These false teachers are waterless springs. They

do not quench. They do not satisfy. They are

mists like clouds driven by a storm. We've seen

that yesterday. Just clouds get blown wherever.

For them, the gloom of utter darkness. Now I

want you to understand this term, gloom of utter

darkness. That means the blackest or darkest

of darkness, that is dark. It's like dark. Why?

For speaking, for proclaiming loud boasts, they're

pompous, they're bombastic. And they're bombastic

about their emptiness and their futility, their

folly. They brag about it. They think it's good.

And then it says they entice, they seduce by

sensual passions, by desires and longings of

the flesh, meaning they live life in a debaucherous

way, those who are barely escaping from those

who live and return back in error. For the ones

that are in the continual delusion and deception

of wandering and fraud. They just keep, it's

just a cycle. They keep going through. They do

over and over and over again. Nothing changes

and they keep taking people with them. Verse

19, they promise, they announce freedom for you.

They'll tell you to get free. This is where it

is. This is where your freedom is. But they themselves

are slaves of corruption. perishableness, depravity,

destruction. For whatever overcomes, whatever

is lesser and inferior, that is what they're

enslaved to. That's what this means. For whatever

overcomes them, overcomes a person, that he is

enslaved to. It's the lesser, the inferior that

he's enslaved to. Verse 20. For if, after they

have escaped the defilements, the pollution and

the corruption of the world through the knowledge

of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. See, I want

you to see this. For if is the term. And that

is in the original. If. Not that it is. If they

had escaped because of the knowledge of our Lord

and Savior Jesus Christ. And then, again, if.

They were involved in the lesser things. Whatever

happens with them in the state they were in,

it gets worse than the first time. In other words,

they're far worse than they were before they

knew. We know what this is. This is the Matthew

12, 43 through 45 conversation that Jesus has.

Turn there. You guys know this little story,

right? Chapter 12. When the unclean spirit has

come out of a person, it passes through waterless

places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it

says, I will return to my house from which I

came. And when it comes, it finds a house empty,

swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings

with it seven other spirits more evil than itself.

And they enter and dwell there. And the last

state of that person is worse than the first.

So also it will be with this evil generation.

It's a parable. Isn't that interesting? And that's

exactly what Peter says here. Verse 21, for it

would have been better for them never to have

known the way of righteousness, meaning the gospel.

They should have never known the gospel. Then

after knowing it, to turn back from the holy

commandment of the gospel. Remember I told you

the gospel is not some invitation where it's

like, hey, do you want Jesus? You know, I want

to give you a way into heaven. No, this is a

commandment. Repent and believe the gospel. That's

the commandment. It's an imperative. That's what

he means here. The way of righteousness is the

gospel. Then after knowing it, to turn back and

disobey the commandment of the gospel that was

delivered to them. This is the analogy Peter

uses to describe this. What the true proverb

says has happened to them. The dog returns. The

dog returns to its own vomit and the sow, after

washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.

Proverbs 26, 11. The dog returns to its vomit.

A dog is a dog because it's a dog. It will always

be a dog. The only way I'm no longer a dog because

I was a dog. God had made me a new creature.

I'm no longer a dog. I don't return to my vomit.

And the reason why so many people do is because

they're not changed. They have believed a false

teacher. And this is important because we live

in days where things are off the hook. It is

crazy what is being given and taught as Christian.

And we've been told by preachers, you know, we

shouldn't judge. We live in very evil days. And

if you can't judge the right from the wrong,

how in the world, what do we just pacify it?

It's wrong. It's sin. As we read in Jude, the

scripture says that you should drag them out

of the fire. I love that. You're supposed to

go into the burning house and rip them out. Read

it. So if you ever want to know, Jude is the

sister letter to 2 Peter. It's amazing how close

they are. Jude says it very concisely. Peter

says it very distinctly. But they're almost identical.

It's quite remarkable. So that's my encouragement

to you guys. Stand firm in the faith. Know your

doctrine. It's the only way you're going to be

able to tell the difference. Not everything is

Christian that calls itself Christian. Okay?

All right. Father, I want to thank you so much

for your faithfulness and goodness. Thank you,

Lord, for your word. Thank you, Lord, for our

time today. And Lord, may you be honored and

glorified in all things. In Jesus' name, amen.