II Peter 2:12-14
Introduction: Verse 12-22 gives a description of false teachers. It is a most terrible description. If a person would read this description, they would immediately run from that type of person. But the truth is that people don't run away from this false teacher, they run toward them. You might think this isn't true, but note very carefully what verse 2 states. "And many shall follow their pernicious ways." At this point, it is very important not to follow the crowd, but Jesus Christ. Matt. 7:13,14 is not speaking only about salvation, but about the whole scope of living for God. There may be many people traveling down a certain road, but what is at the end of that road? Many people may be going down the road to "eternal hell", but is that the road you want to travel? Many people may be going down the road to "wasted life", but is that the road you want to travel?
Verse 12, But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
I. Natural brute beasts.
A. Some might believe that these lost people are nothing but animals having no soul, and therefore having no eternity.
1. This passage does not say they are natural brute beasts, but as natural brute beasts.
2. Ps 32:9, "Be not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle..."
a. The horse and mule, like all animals, have no spiritual understanding.
b. You can "witness" to an animal all day long, but they won't understand anything you say.
c. There are some people like that, they simply don't understand spiritual things.
B. A person who doesn't have a proper understanding of God and His authority is without understanding, just like a dumb animal.
1. They cannot understand spiritual things, because they do not have the spirit of God within them.
2. Romans 8:5-8 - Those that are after the flesh are carnally minded because they have not the spirit of God.
3. II Cor. 4:3,4 - The gospel is hid to them that are lost because the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not.
4. Matt. 13:19 - When the word of God is spoken to the person whose heart is as stony ground, Satan comes and catches away the word sown in his heart.
II. Made to be taken and destroyed.
A. I didn't read a single commentary that had anything to say about being "made to be taken and destroyed".
1. It seems to me that most commentaries skipped this part of the scripture.
2. It is a difficult scripture, but it is God's Word, so He intends for us to understand what it means.
B. God has made everything in this universe.
1. Proverbs 16:4 - "The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil."
2. Job 26:13 - The truth is that God has made everything, even Satan.
C. God doesn't make anybody sin.
1. A lot of people want to believe that God made all the good things in the universe and Satan made all the evil things.
2. The fact is that the Bible says that God made everyone and everything, but doesn't say God forced anything or anyone to be wicked!
3. God didn't make Satan sin, he did that of his own voluntary will.
4. God allowed Satan to sin, just like He allowed Adam to sin, and just like He allows sin to continue today.
D. There are some animals that are so wild they are fit for nothing except to be destroyed.
1. There are poisonous snakes, and stinging insects, and harmful plants that serve no purpose at all, except to fulfill the curse God has placed on mankind.
2. There are also some people like that.
3. They are not reasonable people, therefore nothing that is said to them does any good.
E. There are some who will condemn God for making these people and then destroying them.
1. Why would God make them for the purpose of destroying them? If God made them as wild people unfit for salvation, and unable to be saved, then can we blame Him for the suffering they cause others and for their own suffering in this world and the world to come?
2. Romans 9:13-25 explains that God does what He wants to do with that which belongs to Him - and everything and everyone belongs to Him!
a. This does not mean that everybody is saved, any more than it means that everything on this earth is good!
b. For a fuller explanation of Romans 9:13-25 see my notes on those verses.
3. Matt. 13:24-30 gives the parable of the tares which explains that the wheat are the children of God, sown by God.
a. The tares of the children of Satan, sown by him.
b. Satan is unable to create anything.
c. He can only use that which God allows him to use.
d. See my notes on the parable of the tares for a fuller explanation.
e. Luke 4:5,6 - God has allowed Satan to have a kingdom in this world, therefore, He has allowed him to have a people for that kingdom.
III. Speak evil of the things that they understand not;
A. The false teachers are carnal, they are spiritually blind, yet attempt to be teachers.
1. They are not content to be silent about those things they don't understand.
2. I Tim. 1:6,7 - Some have turned away from love out of a pure heart, desiring to be teachers of the law, but they don't know anything about the law or its purposes.
3. II Tim. 4:3 - In the last days, many saved people will not endure sound doctrine, but will turn their ears from the truth and heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, unto fables.
4. Titus 1:9-11 - False teachers teaching for money.
B. Some examples:
1. Today, 1990, some people declare that homosexuals have the right to do what they do because they are not sinning, they are simply living in an alternate lifestyle.
a. Their reasoning state that these homosexuals should be allowed to marry each other and live in a married condition, even to adopting children, whom they will raise after their lifestyle.
b. A very obvious error in this theory is that homosexuals cannot produce offspring. If everybody was homosexual, there would be no children born at all.
c. In one generation, the human species would go out of existence!
d. Men have been on this earth for the past 6,000 years (several million years according to some) and in all this time the race has propagated itself through the natural means of men with women.
e. The homosexual has probably existed throughout history, but they have been expelled to the outer limits of acceptable society because of their lack of contribution to the continuation of society.
f. They should be expelled from society today because they have nothing to add to the future of our world.
2. There are people who believe in the theory of evolution.
a. There are various opinions about how the world was started, but there is a glaring error in all their reasoning concerning the beginning of this universe.
b. Some evolutionists believe that one planet got too close to another planet which caused a mass of gases to spin off.
c. These gases cooled over billions of years, and eventually the world as we know it was formed.
d. But where did the two planets come from? Some evolutionists believe in the "bang" theory of creation.
e. But where did the elements involved in the "bang" theory come from?
f. Human reason demands that some power had to create even the things that evolution started from!
g. It is so much easier (and truer to Scripture) to believe that God created all the universe to start with!
IV. And shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
A. Compare "own corruption" and "made for destruction".
1. God has made them for destruction, but that is not why they commit wickedness!
2. They are not following an unalterable path to destruction that God placed them in.
3. They are going down the road to destruction of their own voluntary free will.
4. They are blinded by Satan from seeing the signs of coming destruction. (II Cor. 4:3,4)
5. They cannot blame God for their rebellion or for the judgment and condemnation they now face for God has not caused them to sin - they have do so willingly.
B. They perish because of what they say.
1. Verse 10 - They are not afraid to speak evil of dignities, even though angels have enough fear to refrain from bringing a railing accusation.
2. Verse 12 - They speak stupid things against a righteousness they do not understand.
C. There are two results of their evil speaking.
1. They shall utterly perish in their own corruption - received in their natural bodies the consequences of sin.
2. The first part of verse 13, they shall receive the reward of unrighteousness - eternal destruction in hell.
D. The extent of their destruction.
1. "Utterly perish" means to "spoil completely".
2. In other words, they shall be completely controlled, and everything they possess shall be taken from them and given to the captor.
3. Their own wickedness shall bring about their destruction.
a. AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a result of homosexual activity. This fact may be debated by some, but it must be remembered that AIDS wasn't called AIDS at first.
b. It was called GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency) because it was a disease caused by homosexual acts. (For more information see \winword\misc\aids)
c. The name was changed because of a uprising in the homosexual community.
d. This name change shows the power held by homosexuals, and the cowardice of heterosexuals people who had the power to give and change the name of a disease.
Verse 13, And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
I. The reward of unrighteousness.
A. Define.
1. They shall face the results of their wickedness during their lifetime. (Reaping what they sow.)
2. They shall also face the judgment of God in eternity.
B. Who are these people? See verse 13-22 for a full description.
1. Verse 13 - They count it pleasure to riot in the daytime, they are spots in worship services.
2. Verse 14 - They have eyes full of physical and spiritual adultery, that trick unsuspecting people for they have developed their wickedness to perfection.
3. Verse 15-17 - An example.
4. Verse 18-22 - A more detailed description of their methods and the conditions of their hearts.
II. Define - "They that count it pleasure to riot in the daytime".
A. Pleasure means to gratify the natural or sinful desires of the flesh.
1. Luke 8:14 - In the parable of the sower the third group are saved people whose lives are choked with the cares, riches and pleasures of this life.
2. Titus 3:3 - This passage tells us that the faithful saved were serving various lusts and pleasures when they were lost.
3. Saved people that fall back into the habits of the lost are false teachers because they are teaching by their lives that it is acceptable to God to claim salvation and to fulfill the sinful desires of the flesh.
B. Riot does not mean riot as a mob would cause a disturbance, or insurrection.
1. It means to live in luxuries, as in Luke 7:25 where rich people who care for the things of this world are described as living "delicately".
2. It is a time when people forget to serve God, serving themselves instead.
C. Day time.
1. This is two words, not one. I could not find the meaning of the word "time", but I suppose it would mean the measurement of the day.
2. Day can mean:
a. A period of natural light, as separate from a period of darkness.
b. A period where there is opportunity for service.
c. An undefined length of time such as; the day of trial or testing, the day of salvation, the day of evil, the day of revelation.
d. I believe "day time" (in this verse) refers to an opportunity for service, which is during the persons lifetime.
III. The meaning of the phrase.
A. People who are actively fighting God and His people.
1. These are the secular humanists of the day.
2. The evolutionists and homosexuals would also fit into this category.
3. The warped religious fanatic (the worshipper of dead men and idols) would also fit into this category.
B. People who work instead of serving God. We must understand that those that "count it pleasure to riot in the day time" are not necessarily doing anything contrary to "moral values".
1. They are living their lives to satisfy their own desires, not paying proper attention to spiritual necessities.
2. They are working toward their own advancement (through higher education) and the gaining of material possessions with no thought of eternity.
3. We must state that there is nothing wrong with trying to "get ahead", but to "get ahead" and leave God behind is not getting ahead at all!
a. There are a lot of God's children who work instead of serving God.
b. There is nothing wrong with working, because the Bible states that those that won't provide for their own families have denied the faith and are worse than infidels, but to work instead of serving God is a terrible sin.
4. Those that "get ahead" and leave God behind will pay in this life and in eternity for their lack of spiritually.
5. Remember an example will be given in verse 15 and 16 concerning Balaam, who was a prophet of God, yet would curse God and His people for money.
6. Their children will also pay for they will not know how to serve God.
C. People who play instead of serving God. We must understand that those that "count it pleasure to riot in the day time" are not necessarily doing anything contrary to "moral values".
1. They are living their lives to satisfy their own desires, not paying proper attention to spiritual necessities.
2. Their opportunity for service is now, but they actively refuse to give their lives to Christ. (They can be either saved or lost.)
3. Eccl. 12:1 - Remember the creator in the days of thy youth, when you still have the energy to serve God. Do not wait until your energy is gone and you are old, then give what is left of your life to God.
4. II Tim. 3:4, "...lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; {5} Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."
5. Their children will also pay for they will not know how to serve God.
D. I believe it is good for each of us to examine ourselves concerning our daily activities.
1. There may be nothing wrong with what we are doing, or want to do.
2. But is it God's will for our lives?
3. Do we do what we want to do, or do we do what God wants us to do?
IV. Spots they are and blemishes,
A. Spots and blemishes are both unacceptable as far as God is concerned.
1. A spot could be something that dropped on a garment, but is not a part of that garment.
2. A blemish is a flaw in the outward part of the garment.
3. A spot would be dead, and is not fed by the body.
4. A blemish, since it is a part of the body (skin) is nourished by the body since it is a part of the body.
B. I think it is important to distinguish between a deceiver and a person who honestly questions the true doctrines.
1. A deceiver is one who comes with his own set of beliefs.
a. He will listen to the truth, but he is not seeking the truth.
b. He only listens to the truth so he can find a way to present his lies in a way that they will be accepted and integrated into the truth.
c. His desire is to get you to believe what he believes, not to find out what the truth is and believe the truth.
2. A person who honestly questions will also listen to the truth, because they are seeking the truth.
a. They will come with their own ideas and doctrines.
b. They do not try to integrate their thoughts into the truth, but will readily disregard their thoughts when presented with the truth.
3. It is not wrong to question true doctrines when seeking the truth.
a. Acts 17:10,11 - The believers at Berea checked out what was preached with the Word of God.
b. It is wrong to blindly accept what some people consider true doctrine without first checking with the Bible to see what it says.
c. Everybody needs to understand for themselves what the true doctrines are so they will be able to teach others the truth.
d. There are some people who are more interested in teaching others what they believe instead of what the truth is.
e. These are the people to stay away from for they are false teachers.
V. Sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
A. The word sport indicates a living in luxury.
1. This may refer to the "name it and claim it" religion.
a. In this religion a person will see something they want, and say, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I claim that thing for my own."
b. Then it is the responsibility of Jesus to get it for you.
c. Notice that these people are deceived.
d. They truly believe their false doctrine is true.
e. Since they believe their doctrine is true, they appear to be honest when they present their lies.
2. There is also the "God wants you healthy, wealthy, and wise" religion.
a. In this religion, a person believes God intends for them to be healthy, for Isaiah 53 states that Jesus paid for all our sickness.
b. They claim Jesus wants us wealthy for He was poor for our sakes.
c. They teach that Jesus wants us wise because He is the source of all wisdom.
d. The only problem with these false is that this is not what the Bible teaches!
e. Some people in the scriptures were ill for the glory of God.
f. Some people were poor all their natural lives and God used them for His glory and honor.
g. I Cor. 1 states that most of the ones God chooses to use in this life are not the wise, but are the base people of the earth, people that are despised, and people that are lowly in the eyes of the world.
3. These people are taking great delight in their own deceivings!
a. They are extra deceptive because others can see they are enjoying themselves.
b. Please notice their enjoyment is in adultery, and beguiling unstable souls (among many other sinful practices) because they work at perfecting those deceptions.
c. They will do according to their own desires and claim God told them it was okay.
B. With they own deceivings.
1. Nobody has deceived these people.
2. They have convinced themselves that what they believe is right.
3. They have not been convinced from the Scriptures, but from their own traditions and reasoning.
4. They will not listen to the truth, except when that truth agrees with their own false doctrine.
5. They are always talking about how their false doctrine agrees with the truth, and in so doing lead others astray from the truth.
C. They feast with us.
1. Notice the blending of the false with the true.
2. Also, please notice that it is not the blending of the true with the false!
a. People that are true believers will always seek other true believers, God gives them that desire.
b. The false believers will always seek to line up with true believers, for Satan has given them that desire.
c. If they can join with believers, they deceive themselves as to their identity, and eternity.
3. An example should illustrate what I mean.
a. In the Southern Baptist Convention, there are many liberals, men who do not believe in the literal interpretation of Scripture, in a literal 7 day creation, in a literal world wide flood, in a literal salvation, or in a literal God given Holy Bible.
b. The conservatives in the SBC have allowed these liberals to feast with them for many years.
c. The conservatives have not enjoyed their fellowship, but have supported their liberal programs, and colleges, striving only to maintain control of the SBC.
d. Since the conservatives have been successful in their attempt to keep control of the SBC, the liberals have now decided they will form their own denomination.
e. Notice, the conservatives (those that teach the truth) were content to allow the liberals (those that teach lies) to dwell with them, but when the liberals saw they couldn't control the SBC, they decided to leave.
f. This is the way it always works.
g. False teachers will always seek to join and destroy the righteous, but the righteous will always seek to join other of God's children, letting the false teachers go their own way.
Verse 14, Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
I. This passage is speaking not only about physical adultery, but also spiritual adultery.
A. Physical adultery.
1. They do not mind destroying others while they satisfy their own lusts.
2. They do not mind breaking up homes while they satisfy their wicked lusts.
Proverbs 6:27 - They do not mind taking fire into their own bosoms, and thus destroying themselves.
Jimmy Swaggart is a prime example of this type of sin.
Pastors running off with another woman, then continuing to preach and pastor.
Churches accepting an adulterous preacher as their pastor.
B. Spiritual adultery.
1. Their eyes are full and running over with whatever fulfills the lust of their eyes and the desire of their hearts.
2. They will worship anything or agree to anything that will give them what they want.
3. And what they want is to be lifted up in praise.
4. They do not know what it is to worship God, for they only worship themselves.
See the parable of the Pharisee and the publican in Luke 18:9-14.
If these false teachers are saved, they follow their own thoughts and feelings instead of following the Bible.
I John 3:4 - Sin is the transgression of the law.
Much more necessary to follow the commands of God than our own feelings.
II. Cannot cease from sin.
A. This scripture does not say they will not cease from sin, but that they cannot cease from sin.
B. This is not because God will not let them stop sinning, but because they have already rejected the truth of God's Word and His free gift of salvation, and have deceived themselves into believing they have the truth, and continue to try to gain disciples to themselves,
III. Beguiling unstable souls. (babes in Christ, whether they have been saved a long time or not.)
A. Beguiling means to trick or entrap.
1. These false teachers come upon unsuspecting people with the purpose of enslaving them in false doctrine, not in the doctrines of Christ.
B. Unstable souls.
1. The people are unconfirmed or unsteady in the faith.
2. They should be people that haven't been saved very long and haven't had time to study their Bibles thoroughly.
3. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case in real life.
4. There are some people who have been saved for many years, yet don't understand some of the "foundation doctrines".
5. These are the kinds of people the false teachers will seek out in order to bring them into submission to their own personal brand of error.
6. False teachers can't trap everybody.
C. There are some people that cannot be trapped because they are stable in the Word of God.
1. This stability is not because they are better than others.
It is because they have spend years studying the Bible for themselves so they will understand God's purpose for their lives.
Young Christians follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
Young Christians follow Bible teachings.
D. There is a lesson here for young Christians.
1. It is important that false teachers don't get hold of them.
2. Their security will lie in trusting the advice of older Christians.
3. I Tim. 3:6 states that the pastor must not be a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
4. The deacons are to be like the pastor, teaching the younger men and setting a good example for all.
5. The older women are to teach the younger women how to love their husbands.
6. Children are to obey and honor their parents that they may live long on the earth.
If these things are followed, those unstable souls will lean on those that have proved themselves down through the years, not on those "Johnny come lately".
Be careful about following people instead of God and His teachings.
Prove all things, including teachings.
IV. An heart they have exercised with covetous practices.
A. The right way to exercise. Exercise means "to train".
1. I Tim. 4:7, "But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness."
a. It is absolutely necessary for our own well being, physically and spiritually, that we spend much time in God's Word.
b. We must understand the difference between old wives' fables and the truth.
c. We must exercise, or train, ourselves in godliness.
d. True holiness doesn't come easy, or without much struggling.
2. Heb. 5:14, "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
a. Young saved people cannot take the strong meat of the Bible because they don't have the necessary spiritual strength to understand.
b. It is only by using (testing and trying over a period of time) those things God gives can a person learn what is good and evil.
3. Heb. 12:11, "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."
a. No saved person enjoys chastening from God.
b. When chastening is over and we understand the lesson God has taught us, there comes a peace that passes all understanding.
c. Notice that chastening is training, not beating, or destroying the spirit of life.
B. The wrong way to exercise or train.
1. These false teachers have trained themselves in how to get more and more out of life.
2. In this day in which we live, few Christians see anything wrong with getting more and more.
3. This doctrine fits right in with the "me" generation of 1990.
4. Many preachers preach that to get more and more is the same thing as becoming a greater "Christian".
5. God says we ought to give more and more, not get more and more.
a. Matt. 16:25,26 - If we would save our lives, we must lose them for Christ's sake.
b. What will a man give in exchange for his soul?
C. The word "covet" strikes a strange chord.
1. Romans 7:7,8. Paul was a keeper of the law, yet he says the part of the law that revealed to him that he was a sinner was the law against covetousness.
2. This is the only "internal" law, a law of the heart.
3. The other parts of the law could kept externally and those looking on would say the person had also kept that law in the heart.
4. But this law cannot be seen from the outside.
5. It is seen only in the heart by that individual.
6. These people are so wicked, they have denied even what they know within themselves.
V. Cursed children.
A. They are cursed with the curse of God because of their continued disobedience.
B. They are the children of the devil.