The Damning Desires Of Man - part 2
Notes
Transcript
PASTORAL PRAYER
PASTORAL PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus,
We kneel before your cross
and see the terrible reality of our sin—
the wrong in us that led you to bear the curse,
the evil that stirred the full force of God’s judgment.
You have shown us how serious our guilt is through:
the crown of thorns on your head
the nails in your hands and feet
your beaten body
and your final cries of pain.
Your blood is the blood of God in the flesh—
of infinite value,
beyond anything we can understand.
How great and awful must our sin be,
if it took such a price to deal with it.
Sin is our disease,
our enemy,
our curse.
It was born with us,
lives in us,
shapes who we are,
controls our thoughts,
and clings to us like a shadow.
It chains our soul, ruling us from within.
Knowing all this, why should we even deserve:
the light of the sun
the breath in our lungs
the ground beneath our feet
food to eat
or anything in creation serving our needs?
And yet, you still love us.
Your compassion reaches for us.
Your heart runs to rescue us.
You took our curse upon yourself.
You suffered the punishment we earned.
So let us live in deep humility,
aware of our need,
washed in your blood,
sensitive in conscience,
and full of joy
because we are your redeemed children…
heirs of salvation.
For Your glory alone, we pray. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
A couple weeks ago, we started exploring in 2 Peter 2 the characteristics of the false teachers who will be punished at the judgment.
Verses 10-12 - Bold In Their Blasphemy
There is no boundary in their proclamations.
Claim power over the supernatural
Pronounce judgment that is not theirs to give
Make more of themselves than what is real!
Verses 13 - Revel In The Daytime
These false teachers have no shame.
verse 2 - follow their sensuality
verse 10 - indulge in lust
They live in luxury and sinful pleasure, carrying out whatever they instinctively feel like doing.
Let’s read 2 Peter 2:10-16
Eyes Full Of Adultery
Eyes Full Of Adultery
verse 14a
They have totally lost moral control.
Dictated by the lust of the eyes (cf. 1 John 2:16)
They see it, they must have it
Not faithful to God, but faithful to their fleshly impulses
Matthew 6:22–23
The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Having eyes full of adultery means gazing at things that lead to temptation instead of focusing on what honors God.
Each time we choose to look away from impurity, we choose to nourish our souls with goodness.
Consider what you allow your eyes to indulge in – are they drawing you closer to God or leading you into darkness?
Matthew 5:28
I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Adultery/unfaithfulness is a heart issue
Are we cultivating purity or allowing our desires to rule us?
The largest contributor in the war for the hearts and minds of people is the pornographic industry.
$10-15 billion per year
~12-13% of Google searches are for porn related material
About 200,000 searches per minute
70% of men and 30% of women (rising!)
Largest demographic: 18-34 year-olds
Many studies report the negative effects of pornography on the brain, social behavior, and (of course) spiritual health.
Our thoughts are what lead to action, so we must be careful of what we allow in there.
Eve’s desire for wisdom like God’s led to original sin
David’s thoughts led to adultery and murder
We may find ourselves entangled in sin because we didn’t guard our hearts and minds.
Jesus was quite clear on the importance of protecting the mind:
Matthew 5:22
But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment
Matthew 5:28
But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Matthew 6:25
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life
ENEMY SIGHTING:
Social media gives opportunity to see images that stir up feelings
Jealousy, lust, dissatisfaction, fear
Having eyes full of adultery could mean succumbing to the temptation of comparing our lives to others, leading us away from gratitude and wholeness.
It's crucial to remember that these moments we see often don't represent reality.
Proverbs 4:23
Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.
Hearts Trained In Greed
Hearts Trained In Greed
verses 14b-16
Focus is on self-satisfaction and not God-honoring obedience.
Their hearts are trained in greed.
Lit. training by means of repetition and making gains
1 Timothy 4:7 (good kind of training)
Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness.
William Barclay
The picture is a terrible one. The word which is used for trained is the word which is used for an athlete, exercising and training himself for the games. These people have actually trained and equipped and taught their minds and hearts to concentrate on nothing but the forbidden desire. They have deliberately fought with conscience until they have destroyed it; they have deliberately wrestled with God until they have thrown God out of life; they have deliberately struggled with their finer feelings until they have strangled them; they have deliberately trained themselves to concentrate on the forbidden things. Their lives have been a dreadful battle to destroy virtue and to train themselves in the techniques of sin.
They have a strong desire to acquire more and more material possessions, irrespective of need.
For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils, and some by aspiring to it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Teachers in the Health and Wealth, Word of Faith, Prosperity Gospel movements
Make bold claims and promises tied to the money that is given to them by their followers.
Kenneth Copeland, TD Jakes, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, etc. exploit people for their money
They are fountains of heresy
Live lavish lives in their multi-million dollar homes and private travel accommodations without a shred of regret
They serve, and are served by, the God of money.
The Lord Jesus has warned against this thinking:
Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
It is one thing to notice and point out these false teachers, but we must also examine ourselves to make sure we are not erring down the wrong path.
Are we bold blasphemers?
Do we revel in the daytime?
Are our eyes full of adultery?
Are our hearts trained for greed?
We find hope in 2 Peter 2:9, the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials.
The Lord Jesus is our only hope against such opposition in life
Paul understood the struggle believers have in this life and he recognized that his only hope is Jesus Christ:
I find then the principle that in me evil is present—in me who wants to do good.
For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,
but I see a different law in my members, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a captive to the law of sin which is in my members.
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
The battle each day for the believer is tough… but can be fought and won.
And we daily engage the battle because we know one day it will be ultimately won for us when we are with Jesus.
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not been manifested as yet what we will be. We know that when He is manifested, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
We have hope in Christ alone.
Those who are apart from Jesus Christ have no hope.
[God] has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.
And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
