Introduction to Second Peter (Part A)

As those who go to churches and hear people introduce counterfeit ideas, ideas that are born on earth and in hell, that oppose the revelation of God, do we hear what the scripture says? We're dealing with true believers to spread their lives. This is what 2 Peter is all about. Good morning and welcome to the house of the Lord. We are beginning 2 Peter. If you have your Bibles, 2 Peter chapter 1. We will take verses 1 through 4. Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

In 1 Peter, we discussed the suffering saints. In 2 Peter, the saints are being seduced from suffering to seduction. That is what is going on here and it is exactly how Satan works against believers and churches. The same believers that were under physical attack from outside, that is the Roman Empire, are now under spiritual attack from the inside by way of false teachers. So Satan has broadened his attack from outright infuriation to deceptive infiltration and he has been using this combination ever since, from suffering believers to seduced believers by way of false teachers and false listeners.

It takes two. Webster defines the word seduce this way, to persuade to disobedience or disloyalty. The second definition of the same word, to lead astray usually by persuasion of false promises. Well, seduction works best on those who trust without verifying, who let their feelings make their decisions. It sounds good, it sounds right, but they have no proof, no evidence, nothing to substantiate what's being said.

And so they make their judgment, their decision based on how they feel about it. This was the case with Eve. She chased knowledge. She listened to the serpent at the wrong place no less. The place she was not supposed to really. She told not to partake of the fruit.

That would be a hint to not even be around that, we would think. Well, a great amount of innocence was there on Eve's part and I'm not trying to bash her, but I am trying to extract the lesson that the Bible gives us concerning listening without proof and then acting on what you've heard as Eve did. She saw that the fruit was good, we're told in Genesis. Satan is a devouring lion and he is a demonic liar. That's what we get from the suffering and the seduction. And when I say demonic liar, demonic means harmful to humans without exception.

It is spiritual activity that is concerned only with the destruction of the human soul and whatever can contribute to that. You know, the righteous do not have to do wrong to invite attack. In fact, doing right will draw enemy fire more often than not. I have quite a few verses this morning to drive this point across because we are living in a time where antichrist is preparing his bride, the apostate church, and it is becoming increasingly clear that those who stick by God's word are becoming the remnant in the houses of God. And those who are willing to mingle in those things that have no proof that are based on false and demonic experiences over God's word are stampeding off to destruction just as the scriptures have warned. Mark's gospel, chapter 13, and Jesus answering them began to say, take heed that no one deceive you. It would have been nice if Eve had that gospel according to Mark and memorized that verse. I say that only to make the point or to emphasize the point.

Again, not to pick on Eve. Matthew chapter 7 verse 15, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. Have we lost sight of these verses? Have those who go to churches and hear people introduce counterfeit ideas, ideas that are born on earth and in hell that oppose the revelation of God, do we hear what the scripture says?

In the earliest days of the first churches, Satan was hard at work with false teachers who mixed themselves in with true believers to spread their lies. This is what 2 Peter is all about. So important it is that God will reemphasize everything that Peter is saying through Jude. Very quickly, Jude gets to his point. He says, I want to talk about salvation, but I can't because I've got to deal with those who are creeping into the church and destroying the faith of believers through lies. And as you read Jude, if you've read 2 Peter and you read Jude, you say, boy, Jude heard Peter's sermon and he repeated it.

It gave us a fresh dose of what needed to be said. And so still amongst churchgoers are those who think little to nothing of disobedience to God. That's the time we live in now. Churchgoers who have really little regard for obedience. Obedience has to be disassociated from God. You don't have to obey. We're not accountable because we have grace to the point where we can trample the grace. Of course, this is absurd. Obedience.

Who needs that when we have the magical cross of grace that just doesn't care what caused the Messiah's death. This is what's happening around us more and more. Maybe you're isolated from these things and you don't see them going on.

Maybe you have not gone on the internet to see what's out there. How many are becoming apostates an hour right before us? Those who are trusted, whose books Christians bought and shared, bookstores touted, more and more of them are becoming apostates right out in front of everybody. Somehow, Jesus' words about obedience doesn't count. Luke's Gospel, chapter 13, Jesus speaking, I tell you, we would say it this way, I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will likewise perish. See, they asked him the question about a wall that fell on some people and killed them. And then Pilate, who had ordered his troops to destroy those who were perceived insurrectionists.

And they were asked, were these people more wicked than everybody else? And Jesus says, no, but unless you repent, that goes for them that died at the hands of Pilate and the wall falling on them and everybody else. Unless there is repentance, you perish and repentance is more than lip service. It is a genuine intent of the heart to comply with God to follow what he says as best we can. And if we fail, we have an advocate with the Father because we believe in him, we love him, and we want him. And that's why he advocates for us because he is love. He knows that we are weak, but he also knows we are capable of standing against that which is false. John 15, verse 10, if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.

Just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. What part of that does not belong in the New Testament church? Why is it more and more churches are dismissing these things?

Because the Tower of Babel is being rebuilt and the world is able to communicate with each other at a rate that is not interrupted by any barrier. Jeremiah, with all that Jeremiah has said about mingling lies with God's word, just the prophet Jeremiah alone, you would think that everybody would get this and be on board. So I'm going to take quite a few of them from Jeremiah. Jeremiah 26, verses 4 and 5, and you shall say to them, thus says Yahweh, if you will not listen to me to walk in my law which I have set before you, take heed. The words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them, but you have not heeded. And we're getting more and more people telling you the Bible is not trustworthy. In churches, but you can't believe it, it's defective. I'll tell you what parts to believe and what parts not to believe.

Oh no, you won't tell me that. There may be some gullible ones out there who really don't care too much about their own soul and are willing to trade it away to listen to some man Johnny come lately come along and tell you not to believe what God has made clear. Jeremiah 35, 15, I have also sent to you all my servants the prophets rising up early and sending them saying, turn now everyone from his evil and amend your doings. Do not go after other gods to serve them. Then you will dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers, but you have not inclined your ear nor obeyed me. This is what Jeremiah had to face of people who were called by God, by his name, whose promises rested upon them, whose covenant was with them.

And this is what he got from the people. Let no one doubt or be surprised that churchgoers are stampeding off to apostasy because they're being seduced. They're believing all the new stuff and one of the pieces, the juicy pieces of bait set before them is experience. Take yoga so you can heighten your Christian experience spiritually.

I'm not talking about just the poses. I'm talking about tapping into some spiritual force to make you a better Christian. That is anathema.

That is a lie. That is opening the door for demons to begin to rearrange the furniture in your inner temple. Maybe that will resonate with some. Jeremiah 14, 4, Yahweh said to me, the prophets prophesy lies in my name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them. They prophesied to you false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart. Jesus wanted his people to catch his vision, not man's vision.

His idea, his revelation, not just the book of revelation, his revelation of truth and of God. He who has seen me has seen the Father. Jeremiah 23, 21.

And think how many of the Jeremiah's I had to cut out of this because time wouldn't allow. God says about these false prophets, I've not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I've not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

They've just went without me using my name. Bunch of forgers, frauds, charlatans. Jeremiah 27, 15, for I have not sent them, says Yahweh, yet they prophesy a lie in my name that I may drive you out and that you may perish. You and the prophets who prophesy to you. There's a consequence to this, he's saying. You want to listen to them over my word?

There's a consequence to that. You see, the unbroken witness we have from Genesis is agreement. There's nothing outside of what God has revealed. When Isaiah spoke and Jeremiah comes later, he does not disagree with Isaiah. He compliments it.

He gives us, he zooms in a little bit more. Each prophet zooms in a little bit more. Jeremiah 44, verse 4, However, I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate. There are things that God hates.

We laid them out just the other night. We're talking about Haman, who was guilty of violating everything God hates as given in Proverbs 6, verses 16 through 19. Just get to Proverbs 6, you'll find it. Things that God hates that many churchgoers find little to no problem committing and are very impenitent about it. We get people who threaten us because we won't allow them to be impenitent on gross and blatant sin. They threaten us, they talk about us, when they're the ones sinning in front of everyone.

Our Bible is God's word to man, and it is full of condemnation about man's word to man in God's name. This is what 2 Peter is about. We won't get to the first hint of it until we get to verse 3.

This was his introduction to them. So where are we today? As I mentioned, Antichrist is ramping up his preparation, or Satan is ramping it up for Antichrist, prepping his apostate bride. You see, the church that gets raptured are the faithful, true believers who have adhered to the word of God. The ones left behind are those churches that have turned on God's word and still want to retain the name church and the symbols and portions of God's word that suit them. They will be left behind, and they will remain impenitent.

There are two ideas out there. One is that those left behind will say, okay, those who preached to me were right. Well, I hope that's the case, but you know I don't see that in Scripture, which alarms me. It doesn't really matter what I think, incidentally, about this part of it, because God is going to do what he wants to do, except to say that I am not going to tell somebody, don't worry about it. If you see me raptured, you'll be fine if you just go to this passage in the Scripture. No, I'm going to say, listen, you may not get another chance.

Once it comes, once the gate, the door is closed to the ark, you're stuck. Those who come to Christ, there will be many tribulation saints, incidentally, and it appears that they will be the ones who never heard the true gospel laid out. So my point in bringing this up is that we do not want to comfort anybody in their disbelief, as though they're going to get another chance. They could just drop dead before the rapture.

Today is the day if you harden not your heart. That's the message throughout the Scripture. And so it is becoming more and more a demand from churchgoers that their pastors not enforce the Word of God. The faithful in churches, as I mentioned, are becoming marginal.

That means unimportant. It doesn't matter what they say. In a church of a hundred people, of ten people, of a thousand people, of ten thousand people, if you're in a place where people start, I don't care what you say about the Scripture, this is fun. I like this. The apostles warned of this kind of heresy in pew and pulpit. 2 Timothy chapter 4, I charge you, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His kingdom, preach the Word.

Be ready in season and out of season. Convict, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. They just don't want to hear it. They don't want to hear the Bible preached. Hell has doctrine, I should point that out. The doctrine of demons, Paul says. We'll get to that in a little bit, but it's still here in 2 Timothy chapter 4.

One of the greatest pieces of literature you'll ever read is 2 Timothy. He continues, he says, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears. They will pile up for themselves teachers, not ordained. See, ordained means God sent, God's choice, God's appointment. But when you heap them up for yourself, you've bypassed God's appointment. These are not those who are sent, who are ordained, who have unction, who are called. Timothy continues, they will turn your ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. You'll be turned to lies, to myths, to things that are false and fake and deadly to your soul. He continues, but you, you, Paul writing to Timothy, you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

What words of encouragement. Could you imagine if you're Timothy and you get this, you love Paul. You've seen him go through so much for Christ and stand firm and not, not waver, not a bit. You love this man and you get this letter from him and in the letter, which is personal, he gets very personal about your faith. And he says, you be watchful.

He can see Paul looking at him, pointing at him, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. Well, what are you called for? What are you, why are you a Christian? You have ministry to do, that's why. It's not just about, well, let's get you saved and now you can just go lie down. Get saved, put some armor on, get in formation and let God use you. Isaiah chapter nine. This was a condition that Isaiah had to preach to the elder and honorable. He is the head, the prophet who teaches lies. He is the tail.

Well, the leaders of this people cause them to err and those who are led by them are destroyed. You catch that warning? God is very serious. He's not, oh, don't worry about it. Yeah, I have, I have ways to get around blasphemy. I've get, I have ways to get around you discarding what I've said to you. No, he does not.

He doesn't apologize. So long as God helps us, we are to keep our eyes on Jesus Christ and not anyone else on their behalf. As a pastor, my eyes are not on the people. My eyes are on Jesus Christ on the behalf of the people.

That's how it must work. Moses did it this way. Moses, you know, he's up on the mountain with God. When he comes down, he finds the people blaspheming. He doesn't side with them.

He doesn't try to work it into the tablets. Paul also, his eyes were on the Lord. He said in Second Corinthians, I will gladly spend to be spent for your souls, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.

What is that? You see why I don't like that Corinthian church? I mean, there were good, solid people in there, but there were a lot of just pencil heads, whatever that means.

I don't know which end of the pencil, but there they were. At one point in his ministry, Peter failed right here. Peter got his eyes off of Christ and he was looking at the people, he and Barnabas, and Paul had to set them right. And Peter did correct it. And he was going to write in this second letter of his, he's going to tell the people, Paul is right. Listen to him. Don't mess with what he has said.

I don't care how hard it is to understand. You listen to Paul. That's what Peter's going to say by the time we get to chapter 3. So we can expect physical attacks and theological attacks as well. Satan is not comfortable with you sticking with the scriptures. And if he can't shove you off, he's going to try to lure you off from suffering to seduction. Wolves in shepherd's clothing, false teachers, apostate leaders, and gullible congregations has somehow become vogue.

It's in style now. It's okay not to believe in the absolute meanings of scripture. Paul, when he got to, he's heading towards Jerusalem, he calls, he doesn't want to go into the city of Ephesus because he wouldn't get out. So he calls for the pastors to meet him in a place called Miletus.

They come and he lays it out to them what's going on, how he's worked and labored. That's all we have time for on today's edition of Cross Reference Radio. You've been listening to Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia as he teaches through the book of 2 Peter. If you'd like to listen to more messages from this series, or if you'd like more information about this program, please visit our website, crossreferenceradio.com. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast so you'll never have to miss a program. Just search for Cross Reference Radio in iTunes, Google Play Music, or your favorite podcast app. What a great way to keep God's word with you wherever you go. We hope you'll tune in again next time as Pastor Rick continues studying through the scriptures right here on Cross Reference Radio.