But there were false prophets also among the
people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall
bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring
upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways;
by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through
covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose
judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and
delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And
spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of
righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning
the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow,
making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And
delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that
righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous
soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to
deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of
judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in
the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they,
selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. (2
Peter 2:1-10)
The
text before us contains very serious counsel regarding the rising up of false
prophets to the deception of not a few, but MANY! The Judgment of
God is sure and examples of it are given in the destruction of the antediluvian
world, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha, and the vanquishment of the
rebellious angels. The power of God to destroy does not outweigh His power to
save. For the righteous may be sure of salvation from the destruction that the
wicked will surely face. We will see the righteous Lot given as an example to
us of the effects of sin on our peace of mind and good disposition. There are
serious warnings and ramifications here for every Christian. Read and heed!
“But
there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false
teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying
the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”
These are very ministers in the church who are false prophets. We are told that
they shall be among us as well. It does not take a great mind to observe these
critters in the corners of our mainline denominations and in a great many
pulpits across the land today. They come in as meek and humble mice, but given
lodging in the branches of the church, they grow in size and become large rats
that gnaw away at the very pillars of the church. Having ingratiated themselves
to the people and to their fellows, they gain political acceptance and
spiritual influence. Those doctrines that they first pretended to accept
without question, they now begin to not only question but flatly refute. The
approach is not unlike that of their father the Serpent eastward in Eden. Please
note the approach of that old Serpent to Eve in the Garden: “Yea, hath God
said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the
serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the
fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall
not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent
said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” (Gen 3:1-4) Let us examine carefully this
exchange:
“Yea,
hath God said?” See? This is just an innocent question, isn’t it? Those
who would overthrow biblical faith will never start out as the atheist in flat
out denial of the word. The begin with a seemingly innocent question. But the
question is not finished. It gets more sinister: “Ye shall not eat of
every tree of the garden?” Notice the manner in which the
Serpent misquotes scripture in his attempt to undermine the Word of God – just
a seemingly small change, but one of tremendous impact. This is the same
approach modern bible versions take in altering meaning. The woman’s
response is quite correct: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the
garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,
God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”
Yes, it was ALMOST correct, but missed a very important detail. What was that
detail? There were TWO Trees in the midst of the Garden. “And
out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the
sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden,
and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen
2:9) Had Eve
remembered this First Tree of Life, she may never have fallen for the devil’s
ruse! This was the Tree which would have saved her. Christ is our Tree of Life.
Satan begins with an innocent question which moves on to a misquoting of God’s
Word. He then proceeds to flatly deny that Word. “Ye shall not surely
die!” “Has God said that Christ is divine, being His only Begotten
Son? Has God said that we are all like Christ being the sons of God?”
Next step, “Christ is NOT the divine Son of God else we are ALL
divine.” See the insidious direction of these Bible versions that attempt
to demean the divinity of Christ at every point? Simply view John 3:16 in the
Received Text Bibles and compare with the NIV rendition.
“And
many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth
shall be evil spoken of.” Not a FEW, but MANY shall follow
their pernicious and lascivious ways. They will follow them to damnation. They
will refute the truth and power of God to their own demise. “And
through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you:
whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth
not.” These are leaders of covetousness. They want what you have –
your home, your money, your car, and, disgustingly, often your wife or husband.
(see vv 14 below) They will enrich their pocketbooks with your labors and
sacrifice. This is the meaning of making merchandise of you. “For there
are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this
condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Jude
1:4) Their judgment
is not long in coming and it is sure and unfailing.
“For
if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and
delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;”
There was war in Heaven, remember? “And there was war in heaven: Michael
and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And
prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the
great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were
cast out with him.” (Rev 12:7-9)
And where are those fallen angels of darkness? They are fallen down to earth as
demons.
And
spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of
righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.” Remember the number most
often ascribed in the Bible for a new beginning? It is the number eight! The
Book of Ruth is a prefiguring of the Gospel of Christ typified in Ruth and
Boaz. It is a garden between judgment (Judges) and prophets (Samuel). It tells
us that God will make a new beginning in Christ. It is the eighth book of the
Bible! There were eight souls saved in the flood to repopulate the earth and
begin anew. Christ rose on the eighth day (Sunday) according to the Scriptures.
“"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits
of them that slept" (1 Cor.15:20) The sheaf offering was waved on
that eighth day. That sheaf clearly pointed to the resurrection of Christ. True
to the shadow, Christ rose on the first day of the week. So the eighth day on
which the wave offering was made, was a part of the shadow as much as the
offering. As certain as the sheaf pointed to the resurrection of Christ, so
certain did the eighth day on which it took place point to the day on which he
arose—the Lord's Day.
“And
turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an
overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly.”
Here is a stark and stunning reference to the very wickedness we see growing
upon the earth today. Sodom and Gomorrha were examples to us of what shall
occur in the latter judgment. Though God promised Noah that He would not
destroy the world with water again, He has told us that He will destroy the
last world with FIRE. How were the cities of the plain destroyed?
With FIRE! The sins of Sodom is the origin for the word ‘sodomite’
which means homosexual. Is this any kind of clue to you, Friend?
“And
delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that
righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous
soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.) Yes, Lot
was considered a righteous man by the Lord, but he suffered in his conscience
as well as his lifestyle for living among such egregious sinners. Psalms 1 tell
us that sin is a DIRECTION: “Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” (Psalms 1:1)
As you will recall, Lot chose from father Abraham that fertile plain over
against Sodom and, we are told, Lot pitched his tent TOWARD Sodom. If we begin
by walking with the ungodly, we will soon stop and converse seriously with them
and the next step is to make ourselves at home with the wicked. Lot wound up
sitting in the gate of Sodom!
“The
Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the
unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.” Do you believe the
Lord does not quite know how to go about delivering us from all this evil about
us? Think again! He knows, not only how to deliver the godly out of every evil
and temptation, but He knows exactly what He is doing in reserving the wicked
to be punished in the judgment.
“But
chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise
government.” Please note this warning! Those sins of the flesh
and lust of uncleanness will be especially judged and punished. Fornication,
adultery, homosexuality, abuse of little children – these will receive the
priority in punishment and, might I add, the nation and people who allow such
evils. These despise the authority and government of God, the Church, the
secular power (if they cannot control it) etc.
“Presumptuous
are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.”
Proud and stubborn knowing all to their hearts imagination, and are disrespectful
to all who hold authority or honor – flag burners!
We
live in a period of great sin and lasciviousness. A government which once
claimed Christ as her sovereign is now debating the legitimacy of homosexual
marriages and adoption. Filth is being taught in our schools where the Psalms
were once read to begin every school day. Our faith is under attack from
government and society, but the greatest enemy is within the gates of the
church – effeminate clergy, and unfaithful congregants. They hold the vote and
power in denominational churches, and they need only to rot the head in those
churches whose rule is through the episcopate. Balshazar may never have heard
the Army of Cyrus burning the bulrushes to enter into his city at which time
the iron-leaved gates were left open. But one thing Balshazar did, indeed, see.
He saw the Writing on the Wall! (Daniel 5:25) But by that point, it was
too late – his city had fallen. Have we seen the Writing on the Wall, Friend?
