Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
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/These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm.
Blackest darkness is reserved for them.
For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.
They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.
It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.
Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”/
Truth is a dangerous commodity.
The truth will indeed set us free … but that same truth, ignored and unapplied it in our lives will surely serve to condemn us.
Once revealed, the truth makes each of us responsible for obedience to its precepts.
Truth is a dangerous commodity.
Playing at religion is a form of toying with the truth.
Church membership though the member should be unconverted is a form of self-deceit.
Being baptised without personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is a form of self-deceit.
Claiming to live by the truth while walking in darkness is the grossest form of self-deceit.
Knowledge of the truth imposes severe limitations upon the one familiar with the truth.
More than that, the knowledgeable individual must give an answer to God who is truth, should that one choose to ignore implementing what is known to be true in his life.
Peter has begun to expose men he identifies as false teachers.
Perhaps they were “good” preachers.
Perhaps they were polished rhetoricians.
Perhaps they were even able and capable in their presentation of the Word.
But just as a salt spring cannot produce sweet water, and just as a fig tree cannot bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs, so a polluted heart cannot bring forth a life pleasing to God.
The teacher of the Word is responsible to both speak the truth and to live the truth.
*The Principle Stated* — /A man is a slave to whatever has mastered him/.
This is the overarching principle which is in view throughout this message.
Perhaps I could state that everyone is mastered by someone.
Either we are subject to the will of God, or we submit to what we believe to be our own will.
The great tragedy of those who follow their own heart is that the heart is /deceitful above all things and beyond cure/ [*Jeremiah 17:9*].
Thus, the heart leads us astray, fulfilling the will of the wicked one.
Have you ever taken note of the number of times the Bible states that the lost are under the control of Satan?
In his last letter to Timothy, the aged Apostle speaks of the lost as those who have been taken captive to do the will of the devil [*2 Timothy 2:26*].
This is, in effect, an iteration of his teaching concerning of the minister who must be of such character that he will not fall into the devil’s trap [*1 Timothy 3:7*].
In the second Corinthian letter, Paul warns that /the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the glory of Christ/ [*2 Corinthians 4:4*].
He is here speaking of the evil one, the devil.
Sinners are not free!
They are taken captive by Satan to do his will.
What is interesting in light of the text is that these teachers were taken captive willingly!
They knew all that Christ offered and yet they deliberately choose bondage.
Though presenting themselves as servants of Christ, confidently expositing the Word of God, these fraudulent ministers were nevertheless willingly enslaved by their own illicit, lustful desires.
From what Peter has written previously we may readily speculate that the lustful desires which ensnared and enslaved were their desires for personal wealth, for authority and position, and for sexual gratification.
You will no doubt recall Jesus’ words: /where you treasure is, there you heart will be also/ [*Matthew 6:21*].
It is that “treasure” which served to snare the false teachers that Peter had in mind as he wrote.
It is that “treasure” which still seduces people from their secure position in Christ.
You will likely tell me that Jesus is your treasure, or that you treasure doing His will or labouring to please him in all things; but I would urge caution until you have passed the test of discovering your treasure.
Do you wonder what your treasure is?
You may quickly determine what your treasure is by a simple little test.
Write down the test and apply it to your own life.
Your treasure is that which you would most hate to lose were it taken from you.
Your treasure is that to which your mind turns automatically when you are free to think of anything you wish.
Your treasure is that which engages your sincerest attention and occupies the majority of your free time.
Your treasure is that which you most love.
The great tragedy surrounding our treasures is that we are oftentimes ensnared by our treasures, and we soon become slaves to the very things we treasure most.
An old adage says that Good is Enemy of the Best.
This simply means that when I choose to treasure anything which cannot extend beyond this moment we call life, I have made a bad exchange.
Family is good; but family is not the greatest good.
Friendships are good; but friendships are not the greatest good.
Character is important; but character without spiritual transformation is for this life only.
So, Jesus warned that we must not /store up for []ourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal/.
Rather, we are urged to store up for []ourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal [*Matthew 6:19,20*].
Position and power can be good, if they are submitted to the Master for His use.
Without Him, I doubt that any person can truly exercise power over another or occupy a position of authority and responsibility without being compromised by the power itself.
Possessions can be a rich blessing, if they are used to the glory of the Lord who blesses us with the good things of this life.
Possessions tend to soon possess us if we fail to check ourselves constantly to insure that we are submitted to Christ as Master of life.
Pleasures can prove to be a source of much needed refreshment, provided we endeavour to refresh the soul and spirit as well as refreshing the body.
When Christ is excluded from the equation, however, pleasure tends to become a frightful taskmaster.
What has mastered you?
What is your treasure?
Has a relationship begun to assume such importance in your life that it now masters you? Are you more concerned with how others view you than with how Christ sees you?
Does the subtle scent of power so cloud your spiritual vision that you are unwilling to consider the impact of your actions on your testimony for Christ’s sake?
Has your love of ease, or your possessions, become so precious that Christ and His glory are in second place in your life?
I caution you that He shall never be second place.
If He does not occupy first place He occupies no place in your life.
*The Principle Examined* — The principle has been stated and it remains to examine more fully the implications of the rule.
Peter makes three particular statements concerning the false teachers, each of which flows quite naturally from the principle that /a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him/.
The first of those three derivative statements concerning the false teachers is that *empty themselves, these false teachers have nothing to give those searching for life*.
Peter describes these wannabe teachers as /springs without water/ and as /mists driven by a storm/.
They promise refreshment from the searing heat of the day, and though it appears that verdant growth is all about them, they are dry and empty.
In west Texas where I spent some time during my late teens, water tanks dot the prairies.
Each of those water tanks is easy to spot from a distance since they have a windmill to pump water into the tank.
What is not apparent to the casual observer of the prairies is that many, perhaps even most, of those windmills are no longer functioning.
They have seized up and no longer pump water.
Cattle coming to those tanks during the heat of the day will find no refreshment.
Should there be water present it will be stagnant and full of pollywogs.
Just so, false teachers, who are themselves empty, have nothing to with which to refresh others who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
The false teachers appear to promise substance, but they are like a fog bank.
We haven’t fog to the same degree that some cities of this West Coast experience fog.
During earlier days of our pilgrimage following Christ our family lived in San Francisco.
That city must surely qualify as one of the foggiest cities in the world.
Rare is the day which has no fog in the city itself.
Watching fog banks move toward the Golden Gate from Mount Tamalpias gives the impression of watching the creation of some new land.
Yet, when the fog washes over the city, nothing much happens except that the sky is darkened and the air chilled until the fog has burned away under the midday sun.
Again, false teachers have no substance, and as an airliner slices through the loftiest cloud, so the spiritual mind moves rapidly through the fog which false teachers spew forth.
The false teachers /mouth empty, boastful words/ which does appeal to the unthinking.
However, it is because they are just escaping from those who live in error and have not yet realised the danger of submitting to their own sinful human nature that they are so susceptible to the false teachers.
These liars appear to be sincere … concerned for the welfare of those to whom they reach out, honourable men and women who want only the best for their followers.
Beware of the one who only speaks to your emotions and leaves you feeling good because you are never confronted with your sin.
/Preach the Word/, thundered the Apostle.
/Correct, rebuke and encourage/ [*2 Timothy 4:2*].
To be on the receiving end of correction and rebuking is unpleasant, but there shall never be encouragement until they have completed their perfect work.
*Deceived themselves, they deceive seekers through appealing to their innermost lustful desires*.
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