Doom for False Teachers.

Opening:

It is a beautiful thing to Open the Word of God on the Lord’s Day.

Introduction of the Passage:

This morning we will be in 2 Peter 2:1-9. If you recall, last week we began Peter’s main focus of this letter. He is warning the church that false teachers will come in among them and lead many astray. Peter was giving really an overview of false teachers and their false teaching. We saw who the false teachers were, they were in the church. They were “Christians.” They weren’t outsiders. We saw that they would be successful. Many would follow them. And we even saw some of how they would lead people astray. They would be deceptive and seductive. They would use manipulation to get people to follow them.

But there was part of this passage we did not cover. And so we will be going over the same verses again this week as well as the following verses. So stand with me if you are able for the reading of God’s Holy Word.

Reading of the Passage:

2 Peter 2:1-9

The New King James Version Chapter 2

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

Doom of False Teachers

4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,

Behold, the Word of God. Let’s pray.

Prayer:

Our gracious Heavenly Father, we commit this time in Your Word to You today. We pray that You would be honored and we would be edified during this time. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

Introduction/ Opening Illustration:

As I explained, in this passage last week we saw Peter warn the church about the false teachers that would come. And he warned what these false teachers would do. They would bring in heresies, and exploit the church. And we saw sadly that many in the church, rather than confront these teachers, would sadly follow them.

Need:

And this really left us with a question. Why would God allow these false teachers to lead many Christians astray? Why doesn’t God do something?

Text Idea:

Well the idea this morning is that God will act. God will not allow these false teachers to deceive the church forever. In the text this morning we see God’s reaction to the false teachers.

Sermon Idea:

God promises to save the righteous and judge the false teachers.

Transition:

And that is really the first thing we see in our passage this morning:

God Will Judge False Teachers.

Explanation:

2 Peter 2:1–3 “1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.”

Since we’ve looked at the other parts of this passage, we will just be focusing on the judgement God promises. First thing Peter says is that:

1. They Bring Swift Destruction on Themselves.

The first thing we notice about Peter’s wording is:

They bring this on themselves.

The wording of this is very important. They bring destruction on themselves. It is their action that brings the wrath of God upon themselves. This is important to note. Our actions will either bring blessing or judgement. And these false teachers who bring in destructive heresies, who corrupt the church, who deny the Lord who bought them by doing these things bring the wrath of God upon themselves. And think of the context of how they bring this wrath on themselves.

How? Heresy and denying Christ.

The context of this statement is directly linked to the fact they bring in heresy and they deny the Lord who bought them. This is what brings the wrath of God on these men. They heap destruction on themselves by bringing in heresy. They heap even more destruction on themselves by denying Christ. And we learn something from this.

God takes blasphemy seriously.

These men are blaspheming God and the Truth of God’s Word. And God does not take this lightly. Repeatedly we learn that God is stirred to wrath by blasphemy. To deny Christ is perhaps on of the single most dangerous sins. It brings the curse of God upon the heads of all who engage in it.

It is good to be cautious about how we speak of Christ. It is a grave sin to speak ill of Christ. And I think deep down we know this. Even most false religions attempt to honor Christ. They attempt to speak well of Jesus. They fail in this. They by denying who Christ is are still blaspheming Christ, but it is almost as if they know deep down how serious it is to curse Christ. It seems to only be the most vile of false religions that ignores this and actually openly curses Christ. Most try to hide their blasphemy of Christ.

Why is this? Because deep down we all recognize that a sure fire way to draw the wrath of God is to curse Christ. And that is what these false teachers are doing. They are blaspheming Christ. They are denying the Lord who bought them. And in doing this, they bring destruction on themselves.

But notice the type of destruction:

Swift destruction. It is not long and drawn out.

God will not delay. This judgement is coming soon. It is certain. And that really is the next point. We see next:

2. The Inevitability of Judgement and Destruction From God.

I mentioned this last week, but 2 Peter and the letter of Jude are really parallel passages. Both Peter and Jude are addressing the same thing. And we see this clearly in this particular passage. Peter and Jude use almost identical ways of speaking of the inevitability of judgement and destruction coming to the false teachers. Listen to:

Jude 3–4 “3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Jude says that these men were long ago marked out for this condemnation. Peter also says:

From long ago... God has been preparing this judgement.

God is not surprised by these false teachers. God is not in heaven wondering what to do about them. No, God knows and God has been preparing the judgement that will fall on false teachers from long ago.

It is not idle. Idle meaning inactive. Judgement is not inactive.

Destruction does not slumber. God is not sleeping on the blasphemy of the false teachers.

Argumentation:

All of this language teaches us something.

False teachers should be terrified.

This is incredibly frightening language. This is almost like many scenes from westerns where the hero puts the villains on notice that he is coming to town. It’s the “I’m coming and vengeance is coming with me.” But instead of a mere stern eyed hero, it is God putting these wicked men on warning. He is bringing vengeance on those who seek to corrupt His church.

And it should cause everyone who is in the role of a teacher to stop and ponder. “Am I teaching correctly. Am I honoring God in what I am saying? Am I leading this church well?”

This is the single most terrifying thing about being a teacher. Because if I am leading into false teaching, I will answer to God. This should cause every single pastor or teacher to tremble.

John Knox said once, “I have never feared the Devil, but I tremble every time I enter the pulpit.” This is the attitude that all teachers should have. Because those who teach falsely are bringing the swift wrath and vengeance of God upon themselves.

Transition:

And to prove that God judges the wicked, Peter gives two examples.

Two Examples.

Explanation:

He turns to the Old Testament to demonstrate the truth he is communicating. God will judge the false teachers. And it is here where we get to Peter’s heart in this. This really is a comforting passage. Matthew Henry summed up the central idea of this next section like this:

“God does not destroy the good with the bad. In wrath he remembers mercy.”

This is what Peter is demonstrating in these two Old Testament examples. They show us God’s wrath in judging the wicked, but also show us God’s mercy in saving the righteous. The first example Peter gives is:

1. The Judgement of Angels and Salvation of Noah.

Explanation:

Listen to verses 4-5.

2 Peter 2:4–5 “4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;”

Difficulty in understanding this text:

Now right off the bat I need to address something. There is a split here on how we understand this. This is a hard text. And it is difficult to understand. And it all comes down to what was the sin the angels committed? There are two opinions on this.

1. The fall of angels with Satan.

Some commentators believe that this is specifically referring to the event of the fall of Satan and his angels. Satan rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven. We read about this in Isaiah 14 and a couple other places.

Satan, Lucifer, was an angel and in his pride he desired to be greater than God and was cast out along with all those angels who followed Satan.

Many commentators take this to be what Peter is here speaking of. But there are challenges with this reading. What are the chains these angels are currently bound in? How can Scripture sometimes speak of the binding of fallen spirits as a future event but then speak of it as a past event here? They also have to say that Peter is here talking about something different than Jude is speaking of.

Now, many faithful men do hold this view of this passage, but I don’t agree. I hold a different view.

2. The sin of the Angels is referring to the events of Genesis 6.

I think what Peter is here speaking of is the events of Genesis 6:1–5 “1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. 3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. 5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

I believe that what Peter is speaking of is the fallen angels also called “sons of God” as angels sometimes, intermixing with human women and breeding a hybrid race of demonic giants. This is what I believe is the “sin of the angels” Peter is speaking of. And I believe this for several reasons.

1 This is how Peter’s audience would have understood this.

We have to remember Peter is writing this to a historical audience, not directly to us. The big thing is not how we would understand these words today, but how would the original audience would have understood this. And they would have certainly thought this was what Peter was referring to.

The people of Peter’s day were very familiar with an extra biblical writing called the Book of Enoch. Enoch talks of these angels mixing with human women and being punished by God for this sin. It certainly seems like Peter is uses similar language here. And it would have immediately made them think of this.

2. Jude uses similar language.

Jude 6 “6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;” Jude goes on to say that the sin of the angels was the same as Sodom and Gomorrah. What was their sin? Sexual degeneracy.

Answers our difficulties:

The fallen angels that engaged in this sexual sin, mixing with human women are the ones in chains. So when Scripture speaks of the future binding of all fallen spirits, there is no contradiction or even difficulty.

Peter’s comparison:

The plain reading of this text is that Peter is giving a comparison. The fallen angels and humans who engaged in demonic evil were judged by God, but God saved Noah and his family.

Argumentation: Judgement and Salvation.

And that is Peter’s point here. We have judgement and salvation. The fallen angels and sinful humans were judged. But God saved Noah.

And Peter does this a second time. Thankfully this one is more straight forward for us.

2. The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and Salvation of Lot.

Explanation:

2 Peter 2:6–8 “6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—”

God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness.

Sodom and Gomorrah were guilty of incredible wickedness. We read about their destruction in Genesis 18-19. Likely you remember the story. God tells Abraham He is going to destroy these two great cities. Abraham begs for God to be gracious. He begins to ask God if He would spare the cities if their were 50 righteous people in them. And Abraham’s reasoning is sound. He knows God will not punish the righteous for the sins of the wicked.

Abraham continues to lower the number. suppose there are only 45? What about 40? 35? 30? Eventually all the way down to 10. If there are ten righteous people in these two wicked cities God promises He will not destroy them.

But to their condemnation there are not even 10 righteous people. And God rained down fire on them. Fire and brimstone rained on Sodom and Gomorrah utterly destroying them for their sexual degeneracy. And Jude says that they stand forever as examples of God’s judgement. God will judge wickedness.

But like with the previous example, Peter is making a comparison.

God saved “righteous” Lot.

God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, but saved righteous lot. Now we may be confused on this. How could Lot be called righteous? Often when preachers cover the story of Lot, they really make him a bad guy. Now Lot was not very smart, but Peter is clear. He was righteous. Apparently he was not the swarmy villain many make him out to be. He was a righteous man surrounded by wickedness.

And God saved him. The Lord sent in angels to get Lot and his family out. Lot’s wife did die by turning back, but Lot and his daughters survived.

Lot was tormenting his soul by living in Sodom.

Peter even makes it clear that by living in that filth, he was tormenting his soul. It was a torment to him. His righteous soul was in agony being surrounded by the sin of Sodom.

Argumentation:

And this teaches us something.

Sin is a grief to the righteous.

Matthew Henry says it well, “Though the sinner takes pleasure in his wickedness, it is a grief and vexation to the soul of the righteous. In bad company we cannot escape either guilt or grief.”

Lot did not give in to the sin of Sodom, but by living there, was grieving his soul. We should not wilfully surround ourselves with sin. Lot should not have been living in Sodom. If you have options, seek to surround yourself with righteous people, live in righteous communities. Do not grieve your souls.

But, sadly, we do not always have options. Sometimes you are stuck in a place where you are constantly bombarded by sin. In that case, we must be grieved, and not participate.

Some will attempt to participate. They will fly the pride flag. We certainly see that happen. Others will simply ignore it. Bury your head in the sand and pretend nothing is happening. But the best reaction is to grieve. Be saddened by sin. Do not join in. Do not ignore it. Be grieved.

But this is a very particular type of grief. It is not a grief without hope. It is a grief that our Lord is hated. It is a grief that mourns that so many are deceived. But it is grief in hope. Because the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and salvation of Lot is told to us to give us hope.

Transition:

Peter is giving this account for a reason. He is telling us of the judgement of the fallen angels and destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah for a reason. Here is Peter’s central point.

The Lord Knows How to Save the Righteous and Judge the Wicked.

Explanation:

2 Peter 2:9 “9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,”

Why is Peter giving these examples? Because he wants the church to remember this. God WILL judge the wicked. He will judge them.

Peter has warned the church that false teachers are coming. But he wants them to know that God will judge these false teachers. I love how Peter says it. God knows how to judge the wicked. Those who are disrupting the church will not simply get away with it.

And I love Peter’s second point. He really did not have to emphasize this, but under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he did anyway. God knows how to judge the wicked AND how to save the righteous.

These words have certainly comforted Christians since they were written. Are there false teachers oppressing the church? Do not fear. God will save you from them. He will judge them and save the righteous.

I think of men like Athanasius. Athanasius was a brave Christian who stood against nearly the entire church. During his life (300’s) the church seemed as a whole to be falling to Arianism, a heresy that denied essential doctrines of God. He stood against the Arian heretics. He was excommunicated. And the phrase Athanasius Contra Mundum. Athanasius against the world.

Yet, he remained faithful. Alone, he stood strong knowing that God would judge. God would judge the heretics and God would save the righteous. Eventually the church repented. The Arians were excommunicated, being cut off from Christ. And Athanasius was vindicated. His faith was found right. And I imagine these words from Peter must have been so comforting. God will judge false teachers and heretics. They have their place in hell. And God will save the righteous.

Application:

And today, we must see the same thing. This passage calls us to :

Be Comforted:

Be at peace. I know the church is plagued by false teachers right now. I probably could not even list them all. There are the prosperity preachers, the trinitarian heretics, those who have fallen to the woke nonsense, those who blaspheme Christ by saying He is okay with sin, those who deny the exclusivity of Christ by saying Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and others are actually saved. Those who deny Scripture. The church seems to be in a rough spot. But be comforted. Let these words be a balm to your troubled soul.

God Has and Always Will Judge False Teachers.

God has always kept His church. No matter what, God has always preserved her. G.K. Chesterton once said that “the church has died five times, but that is okay because it serves a God who knows the way out of the grave.”

Christ promised that He would build His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. No matter how bad it gets, rest assured that God will judge false teachers. He will not be idle.

And hear this second promise.

God Has and Always Will Save His People.

God knows those who love Him. No matter how bad it gets, God knows those who are faithful. He sees. He hears. Do not be discouraged. He knows. He will rescue His people out of the hands of these false teachers and heretics.

These two realities bring comfort to God’s people. But what are we to do practically? How do we live this out?

Stand on Faithfulness.

As we continue on in 2 Peter, we will see some practical ways to oppose false teaching. But this text is teaching us to be at peace. We do not need to worry. Instead, we can simply continue to be faithful. And this is a powerful form of resistance against false teaching.

I am a little rural preacher. I highly doubt God will use me to put an end to any of the major false teachers plaguing the church in our age. He might, and He certainly could. But for right now, my focus is to simply see our church standing in faithfulness. How can we remain faithful and not be pulled too and fro by false teaching? How can we practically obey God more and seek to glorify Him better? That is our charge.

We know God will work this all out. He will save the righteous. He will judge the wicked. And He gets to choose how He does that. Our job is to simply remain faithful.

Apeal:

Guard your hearts because they will betray you to sin. Guard your minds because they will be easily corrupted. Guard your actions because they will easily be turned to sin.

Remain faithful to Christ. Be not discouraged. Fear not. Christ has won. Christ is winning. Christ will win.

Closing Prayer:

Offering:

Offertory Prayer:

Benediction:

Numbers 6:24–26 “24 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’”