Call to Commitment

God saved righteous Lot

  

False Prophets and Teachers

       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. 

 Peter continues to prod the believers’ memory, reminding them of Old Testament stories, which were familiar to them. He warns them that there will be false teachers among them, as there were false prophets throughout the Jews’ history. Paul also warned the Ephesian elders, who met with him in Meletus, before he sailed on towards Jerusalem. I will first point out that Paul recognized the three-fold ministry of the elders, which we studied in 1 Peter, chapter 5. They are elders, but also, bishops and shepherds or pastors: “The Holy Spirit has made you overseers (bishops), to shepherd the church of God” (Ac.20:28).

 He went on to caution them: “From among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Ac.20:30). As long as we are in this deceitful world, we must beware of false people with wrong motives and their false doctrines. Jesus spoke of them in the parables of Matthew 13, telling of tares among wheat, a mustard seed which grew into a tree, leaven mixed into a loaf of meal, and bad fish netted along with good fish. In Matthew 25, He began, “The kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins… five of them were wise, and five were foolish.” To the seven churches in Revelation, Jesus exposed the false doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans, a false prophetess and her disciples. Can we expect less in these days of deep deception?

 Note that the false teachers will not work openly, but secretly, because deception thrives best in darkness. In these days, we hear much about transparency and accountability, but we do not see much of either. Peter exposes the wide extent of the heresy in the churches, some even denying the Lord who bought them.

 He does not use the common Greek word for Lord, such as we have from the beginning of his epistle, chapter 1, verses 2, 8, 11, 14, and 16…kuros, the definition of which can simply be a respectful title, but reaches far beyond to supreme authority. I have sometimes been challenged, when pointing to the meaning of the original Greek given for Lord in this chapter, verse 1… despotes, from which despot is obviously derived. I try to explain that I am not the author of this verse or this term, the apostle Peter is, and he is inspired by the Holy Spirit. I understand that every human despot is a tyrant, but the Lord is worthy to be absolute Ruler and Master, as the Greek word is defined. Self-reliant men are reluctant to bow before an absolute Owner, Who has purchased them, and because of their yen for independence, Peter says, they bring on themselves swift destruction.

 Many will follow their destructive ways, who will also be swiftly destroyed and the root of their problem is a refusal to walk in truth. Truth will be blasphemed in the world’s society and lies will be popular. Adding weight to the apostles warning is his use of the word many. Men are escape artists, who would like to think that deception is confined to a few on the far outskirts of the church. They think that certainly they cannot be deceived!

 Good men of God have told us that it is wise for us to have a healthy lack of self-confidence. Having that, we can recognize the need to rely wholly on the Lord. Peter’s source was Jesus Christ, Who said, “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name… and will deceive many… Many will be offended… then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many… the love of many will grow cold” (Mt.24:4, 5, 10, 11, 12). The Word of God made flesh, while He certainly did not intend to dishearten the believer, saw that it was wise to warn him (2).

 The motive behind the false teacher is covetousness, which will exploit Christians, taking advantage of their generosity, while building his own prosperity. God foreknew that the tendency to believe lies is a real danger, even in the church, and already has prepared destruction for the deceiver, which therefore can be swiftly executed. The destruction is active, not idle or passive, and does not slumber but is awake to execute judgment. From before the foundation of the earth, God created hell (3). 

 

Fallen angels, the flood, Sodom, and Lot 

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)—  

The history of deception includes fallen angels (4). Lucifer, the son of the morning, said in his heart, “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God… I will be like the Most High” (Is.14:12-14). In his arrogant ambition, he deceived a third of the heavenly host and a short history is recorded in Revelation 12:4: “His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.” Revelation 12:7 tells of an angelic war yet to come: “Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought.” Revelation gives the account of imprisoned angels, set free to do evil in the last days (Rev.9:1-11; 14-19; 16:13-16).

 The next history lesson is taken from the time of Noah, whose ministry was preaching. While speaking of the righteousness of God, he prepared an ark of salvation. Of the entire population of the ancient world, only eight people heard, believed and were saved, Noah included. He and his family alone survived to preserve mankind and start a new civilization. The vast majority were wiped from the face of the earth and that disaster set the trend for the rest of world history (5).

 When someone in the crowd following Jesus, asked Him, “Are there few who are saved?”, He answered for the benefit of all: “He said to them, ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Lk.13:23-24). In Matthew’s Gospel, 7:13-14, He spoke even more plainly: “Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

 After mentioning the flood, Peter tells of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were reduced to ashes, exterminating the entire population (6). They join the multitude of the eternally damned, who became an example in the Old Testament of the sure judgment of God against sin and the sinful. The prophets brought those cities to Israel’s remembrance, showing that the same judgment could fall upon them. He even called them by the name, Sodom (Is.1:10), and the apostle John likewise called Jerusalem, Sodom (Rv.11:8). Jesus said the judgment of the Galilean towns, which refused to repent, would experience greater judgment than Sodom and Gomorrah (Mt.11:23-24). Likewise, God promised that the destruction of Babylon would be like that of the two condemned cities (Jer.50:40), as would Israel’s neighbor, Edom (Jer.49:18).

 It should be comforting to us, to see that Lot, with his mistakes, is found among the righteous (7). Abraham´s nephew participated in the precious faith of his uncle, through which he was declared righteous before God. As we studied in the last chapter, faith is the only way, in the Old Testament or New, in which God´s righteousness is satisfied.  Along with justification, he received a nature, which abhorred the sin around him and could not accustom himself to it. All the time that he lived in Sodom, he remained a stranger in his heart and the sin was daily, spiritual torment to him (8). Are you attracted to the world, or tormented by it? No one knows the writer of this old gospel song… 

This world is not my home, I´m just a-passing through,

My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue;

The angels beckon me, from heaven’s open door,

And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.

 

 Examples of deceptive godlessness

        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, 

10.  and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, 

11.  whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. 

12.  But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 

13.  and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, 

14.  having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. 

15.  They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 

16.  but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet. 

 Verse 9 gives a spiritual principle, straight from the Lord’s nature: 1) The Lord unfailingly delivers His people and 2) always punishes the wicked. Even in Sodom, the Lord knew how to deliver His people, sending angels, who “urged Lot to hurry… while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand… the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out” (Gen.19:15, 16). It is a wonderful example of the Lord’s mercy, even while Lot hesitated!

 It warms the heart to see His grace upon unworthy people. There is no end to His love and His accompanying, delivering power! Just as sure as His mercy for the righteous, is His hatred for the wicked. However, his people must flee Bunyan’s “City of Destruction”, because His judgment upon it is sure. We see His sure sentence against, not only Sodom and Gomorrah, but Jericho (Josh.6:20-25) and Babylon (Rv.18:2-8), to use two outstanding examples. I recommend that every reader examine them anew.

 Peter specifically shows the error of the ways of the ungodly: Above all, they walk according to the flesh… the biblical term for fallen nature. This is the old, Adamic nature, which controls the entire human race. The cross dealt, not only with sin, but it destroyed this hopelessly sinful inner force, that enslaves the sinner. Christ entombed it and resurrected, breathing Holy-Spirit life into His disciples (Jn.20:22): “The last Adam became a life-giving spirit,” (1 Co.15:45) creating a new man.

 The ungodly continue to walk in the filthiness, into which Adam fell. He has a rebellious nature, characterized by insubordination to all authority. It carries an insane mentality, an unreasonable arrogance, an egotism that only seeks the fulfillment of its senses. It stands up defiantly against superior authorities (10) and this is unwise, daring presumption.

 The Bible teaches a certain care, even in dealing with demonic sources. While appreciating the amazing authority given to the believer… “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 Jn.4:4)… he is not to foolishly insult evil spirits. Angels, with greater authority than humans, give us an example, showing that they do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. Remember that an insubordinate pride comes from the fallen, egotistical nature (11).

 See how badly Peter describes this kind of human characteristic. They are like natural (referring to nature again) brute beasts, or wild, destructive animals, lacking common sense or a proper fear, who must be exterminated. They are unreasoning, corrupt creatures, who are self-destructive and ignorant of the consequences of their own actions. There is no remedy for this characteristic and all, who are under Adamic nature, possess it. For this reason, I often say, that Christ is not a mechanic, Who came to ‘pick up the pieces of a broken heart,’ as one song claims, but to carry it to the cross for absolute destruction (12).

 “The wages of sin is death” (Ro.6:23); the alternative to the cross is hell-fire. Peter describes the shamelessness of those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. Their audacity even brings them into the church, muddying the pure waters, from which the believer drinks. They are deceived and they deceive. They have an urge, not to reach out to the lost and dying, but to mingle with the believers, in order to spread their false doctrines, which are nothing but spots and blemishes. Peter witnessed it in his day and they still exist in ours (13).

 A Christian joins with the Lord in war against his own wretched carnality, of which he is aware. The apostle Paul admitted, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells” (Ro.7:18). But Peter describes eyes, that are a window for an evil heart, that willingly look to fulfill unclean desires, who neither can, nor will, cease from sin. They are egocentric, at war against the Lord. They reveal the nature of an unstable sea, “driven and tossed by the wind”, as James 1:6 shows. Paul teaches of the discipline of an athlete, “Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.  Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air” (1 Co.9:25-26). On the other hand, Peter writes of these, who train themselves to obtain selfish desires. They live under a curse (14).

 In verse 15, we learn what kind of prophet Balaam was. In blessing Israel, he was obligated to act contrary to his inner yearnings. He said the right things, because the Lord overruled his selfish thoughts. In his heart, he had forsaken the right way and gone astray. In the Old Testament account, we find him ‘caught between a rock and a hard place,’ as the adage goes: “The Angel of the Lord… stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left” (Nu.22:26). He was insanely walking under the observation of an angry Lord and, at that time, it came near to ending his life. Eventually, he died with the Midianites (Nu.31:8). It happened in Joseph’s case, that the Lord sovereignly intervened and turned the evil deeds of his brothers into a blessing. No greater example is seen than that of the cross, where men, doing their absolute worst to destroy Jesus, only fulfilled God’s eternal plan. The same happened in the story of Balaam and obviously something similar happened in Pergamos, because his spirit was discovered in the Pergamos church (Rv.2:14). Balaam loved the wages of unrighteousness.

 A dumb donkey knew more this carnal man and I think sometimes that the evil in mankind rivals the evil in demons. Remember how Satan reacted to the word of the Lord, when Jesus challenged him, but how many times do we see men, who are totally deaf and blind to His word. Demons recognized the presence of the eternal Lord, while the religious leaders did not.  A donkey, speaking human language, restrained the prophet, but did not stop him. Balaam was mad, and so is human nature, revealing itself in the population in our day (16). 

 

Christian zoology                 

17. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved  blackness of darkness forever. 

18.  For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.  

19.  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 

20.  For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 

21.  For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 

22.  But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: "A DOG RETURNS TO HIS OWN VOMIT," and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire." 

 Wells give hope for finding water, essential to life, but Peter describes wells, that dash that hope and leave the thirsty one’s mouth parched. Clouds carry the hope of a refreshing rain, but the clouds that the apostle describe, blow over and leave the soil dry and hard. The ones, who personify the empty well and clouds, are hoping for the glory of heaven, but only the blackness of darkness awaits them (17). The writer of Hebrews describes: “If (the earth) bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned” (He.6:8). 

 Wells and clouds without water, as well as words of emptiness, speak to and allure the Adamic nature, but have no appeal to the new nature of Christ. I cannot see what the ‘health and wealth’ preachers have to offer godly nature, as they attract openly, people’s lust for money and possessions. It is not difficult to go beyond those desires, into baser lusts: “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition” (1 T. 6:9). They are working in the church, among those that were actually escaped from the error in the world. This doctrine was found in the Thyatira church and resulted in immorality (18).

 The teaching goes beyond the liberty, which stems from the truth, as Christ offers in John 8:32 “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” The ‘liberty’ that false teachers offer opens to licentiousness, a danger, of which Paul warned the Galatians (5:13): “You, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” The liberty in Christ, finds its satisfaction in serving others in love. Desires that overcome the will, in the church, bring bondage and not freedom (19).

  Verse 20 takes us back to those who were actually escaped in verse 18. Because of a personal encounter with Jesus Christ the Lord, He became their Savior. However, they are caught in the trap of false doctrine, which leaves them in worse condition, than they knew in the world. Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 12:43-45, applying it to Jewish society in Jerusalem, but he literally spoke of what happens in an individual:  "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came’…  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."

 It is better to die in total ignorance, as a pagan in the jungle, never brought in contact with God’s righteousness, as it is revealed in the gospel. It is far worse to turn away in rejection or in an unworthy reaction to it. The Corinthians, for instance, were taking part in the Lord’s Supper unworthily, and God judged them for it: “Whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord… For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep” (1 Co.11:29, 30). Those verses should strike fear in the heart. We are involved in a holy word that leads to holy living (21).

 

Vance Havner, the great Baptist preacher, used to say that a Christian should know something of spiritual zoology. He was referring to verses, such as the final one in this chapter, about dogs and sows. The Bible has much to say about sheep and goats. Peter quotes a very legitimate proverb, which illustrated something beyond the habits of dogs. He is speaking of a spiritual ‘dog’, which still carried the nature of a ‘dog’, who had never become a ‘sheep’. I believe that Peter’s message in this chapter, particularly, was aimed at a kind of people, certainly people exposed to the gospel. They may even have reached a place of recognition in the church, but still walked, basically, in carnality. We pointed to people in Pergamos and Thyatira, for example, who were still ‘dogs’, with a taste for their own vomit. They were still ‘sows’ that enjoyed wallowing in filth. The piety, the divine nature, of which Peter spoke earlier, is missing. Their Christianity is superficial or dead, and they have not known the true nature of the gospel, the forgiveness of sins and the love of God. Healthy and true preaching of grace is the best antidote for clever deception. Nothing is better than the life that Christ offers.