True & False (Part 3)

2 Peter 2:10 CSB

especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold, arrogant people! They are not afraid to slander the glorious ones;

INTRO—

Seeing the gathering clouds—like this past Tuesday—… OR, listening to weather alerts on your phone…OR hearing the warning sirens (unless you were in Liberty, then we were apparently to remain sheltered all afternoon & evening).

In a similar way—I guess—in today’s Scriptural focus we see (through an increasing clear radar image) a further developing picture of false teachers…so we more clearly see truly how empty their falseness is.

[[It appears their hypocrisy knows no bounds!]]

FALSE TEACHERS ARE (QUITE)…

Brazen [2 Peter 2.10-13; 10b-13a]

[Bold, Arrogant, Slanderous]

…(brazen=marked by shameless or disrespectful boldness)

BOLD… ‘Fearless’ is not always an admirable attitude [no fear of God is unquestionably a bad thing!]

ARROGANT…does not equal confident. [[There is a difference between confidence/conviction and arrogance…]]

SLANDER… evil words! (= one who speaks a false and defamatory oral statement about a person; Gk — βλάσφημος: blasphemos)

Specifically, against the ‘glorious ones.’

Jude 8–9 “In the same way these people—relying on their dreams—defile their flesh, reject authority, and slander glorious ones. Yet when Michael the archangel was disputing with the devil in an argument about Moses’s body, he did not dare utter a slanderous condemnation against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you!””

These actions—bold arrogant slander—stem from a significant source…PRIDE.

INSTEAD, WE SHOULD…

Beware of spiritual pride. [& run from it!]

1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time,”

[[ 1 Corinthians 10:12 “So, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall.”]]

Indulgent [2 Peter 2.13-16; 13b-16]

[Carousing, Adulterers, Seducers, Greedy]

CAROUSING…shamelessly (in the day); deceptively (while they feast with you).

ADULTERY…consumedly (eyes full of it)

SEDUCING…unstable (weak, vacillating, unsettled) people.

GREEDY…rehearsed, trained (like literally training, practicing…)

They’re just like ol’ Balaam [2.15-16]

Jude 11 “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, have plunged into Balaam’s error for profit, and have perished in Korah’s rebellion.”

[[Numbers 22:1-41; Numbers 22-24]]

These actions—greedy seductive adulterous carousing—stem from a significant source…SELFISHNESS.

INSTEAD, WE SHOULD…

Reject sin & pursue righteousness together.

2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

Empty [2 Peter 2.17]

[Waterless, Mists]

WITHOUT WATER…a “spring” [think of a dry watering-hole]

Jude 12 “These people are dangerous reefs at your love feasts as they eat with you without reverence. They are shepherds who only look after themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by winds; trees in late autumn—fruitless, twice dead and uprooted.”

MISTS…storm driven but not very useful, beneficial [like expecting the downpour and only getting the mist, sprinkle]

The vacuous nature of hypocrisy, falseness.

This condition—waterless mistiness—stems from a significant source…TRUTHLESSNESS (GODLESSNESS).

INSTEAD, WE SHOULD…

Be full of grace & truth.

2 Peter 1:5–8 “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [Galatians 5.22-23, et al.]

Lying [2 Peter 2.18-20]

[Promise…but, Freedom…slavery, Apostate]

PROMISE—FREEDOM…

“Freedom” = sexual ‘liberation’…being the most immediate focus.

It is nteresting that freedom is the stated focus. WHAT IS TRUE FREEDOM? [A train is only free—and truly fulfilled—when running on the tracks!]

BUT—SLAVERY…

False teachers are actually SLAVES OF CORRUPTION.

Corruption = destruction—2 Peter 2:12 “…slander what they do not understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed.” [[Moral depravity and eschatological destruction are most surely linked together.]]

This slavery is doubly (and more) deadly!! [[2.20]]

These actions—lying promises of corrupt ‘freedom’—stem from a significant source…REBELLION.

INSTEAD, WE SHOULD…

Love, learn, live (speak) The Truth.

2 Peter 1:10–11 “Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.”

[[2 Peter 1:12–13 “Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. I think it is right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a reminder,”

John 8:32 “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”]]

…AND speak the truth in love (in the case of confronting immorality (namely sexually) means speaking the truth redemptively!! [[uncompromised conviction with unrivaled compassion]]

CONCL—

2 Peter 2:21–22 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy command delivered to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and, “A washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.”

[[Problem described in v. 22 — the dog and pig remain unchanged in essence, merely outwardly ‘washed.’]]

The BOTTOM LINE = Be Sure to Be Real!!!

INVITATION

Salvation

Repentance (…not rededication; Conviction of sin…thank God for the grace of conviction of sin to move us to surrender our life to our Savior and Lord once again)

2 Peter 2:22 CSB

It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and, “A washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.”