Here in 2 Peter chapter 2, and the name of the sermon is
False Prophets Among Us.
Now, you might say,
Brother Stecker, why are you always preaching on false prophets?
Well, we're going verse by verse through this book,
and that just happens to be what the topic is in 2 Peter chapter 2.
So let's just start here in verse number 1, and Bob reads,
But there are false prophets also among the people,
even as there shall be false teachers among you.
So the Bible's saying here,
there is a guarantee that just as there is false prophets among the people,
there's going to be false teachers among us.
Okay?
It's a guarantee, it cannot be escaped.
And of course, there's famous false teachers like Joel Osteen,
John MacArthur, and people like that.
But even amongst us, there's going to be false prophets,
false teachers, and Bible says.
And it says,
who privily shall bring in damnable heresies.
So when it's saying privily,
what it's saying is basically privately and quietly,
they bring in a damnable heresy.
What they do not do is just come into a church like this and say,
hey, you know, we do not believe in hell.
Okay?
Or we do not believe in the King James Bible.
We do not believe in sowing.
What they'll do is they'll do it quietly,
bringing in a damnable heresy.
They're not going to make it obvious,
but they're going to be very subtle about that.
It says, even denying the Lord that bought them.
So the false prophets are going to deny the Lord that bought them.
So here's the thing, according to this verse,
it says that the Lord bought the false prophets,
doesn't it?
Even denying the Lord that bought them.
You say, why is that important?
Well, it's important because Calvinism teaches that Jesus only died for the elect.
He only died for those that go to heaven.
He didn't die for those that go to hell.
That's what Calvinism teaches.
And yet here it says, even denying the Lord that bought them.
So even the false prophets were bought by the Lord.
I mean, even John MacArthur and John Piper
and Paul Washer and those famous Calvinists,
they were also bought by the Lord,
even though they denied God.
Okay.
Now, whenever you listen to Calvinists try to explain this verse,
they'll never explain it in English.
I just listened to James White give an explanation.
He's a famous Calvinist.
You might know him from New World Revival versions.
He's the one who's having that conversation with Pastor Anderson.
And you know,
he tries to make it sound like Calvinists have the strong position here.
And what he said was this,
Well, you know,
whenever you listen to these people,
I always find it funny.
These people try to turn here to tell you Calvinism is false,
but they never properly exegete that passage.
You say,
what does that mean?
Well,
in English,
since he likes to use big words,
as you only know,
if you went to Bible college,
what that means is you go back to the Greek or Hebrew to change the meaning of what it says in English.
That is what exegesis is.
Okay,
when you go back to the original language,
then you change the meaning.
And what he said about this is we don't know if the Lord here is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ.
It might be talking about like your boss at work,
like a master according to the flesh.
He's like,
well,
the original language,
it could be translated as a master or boss at work.
And then he tried to change the meaning of bought.
Isn't it just a clear verse though in English?
How it's like these false prophets deny they do not believe on Jesus Christ,
the one who actually bought and paid for their sins.
Look,
no matter who it is in this world,
whether it's Judas Iscariot,
the Antichrist,
or whomever,
Jesus Christ died and paid for all of their sins.
But they go to hell when they deny the Lord.
They don't believe on Jesus Christ.
But that verse completely smashes Calvinism.
Then it says this,
and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
Okay,
now this,
this phrase can be a bit tricky because it almost sounds like immediately they're destroyed.
But see what the Bible is saying is actually,
it doesn't necessarily happen immediately.
But when the destruction takes place,
it's very swift.
It's very quick.
You see that pop up a few times here in the passage.
It says bring upon themselves swift destruction.
Verse number two,
and many shall follow their pernicious ways.
Go back to your seat Zeph.
And many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
So the Bible says many people are going to follow their pernicious ways.
Many people are going to be sucked in by the false prophets.
It's not just going to be a few people.
It's going to be a lot of people.
Many people are going to fall for this.
Sadly,
it's not just unbelievers that fall for this.
Sometimes saved people fall for these false teachers.
Many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
Now it says that they're going to speak evil of the way of truth.
Okay.
Now let me give you an example of this.
Us as fundamental Baptists with our beliefs.
We preach a lot of things that the world disagrees with.
Okay.
And here's the thing.
The world hates our message and these false prophets.
They criticize what we believe and it says by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
Okay,
first grade and through coverage is this shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you.
And so it says through coverage is this these false prophets.
They are coverage is this and they use feigned or fake words because they're using you.
They're making merchandise of you.
They do not care about you.
They care about themselves.
And what happens is these false prophets.
They make the way of truth evil spoken because here's the thing when we preach against the LGBT all these other false prophets.
Criticize our message and people speak evil of the way of truth because of the false prophets that mock us.
It's not just about salvation.
They cause the ways of God and the Commandments that are being preached to be evil spoken of when they preach against the message of the Bible.
And you want people by it people like Joel Osteen the world listens to Joel Osteen who will say that we're too harsh.
We need to be loving we need to be less hateful.
And what happens is it causes the average normal person out there to speak evil of the way of truth to say things like well,
we should just love everybody and just always be compassionate
and what they're doing is speaking evil of what the Bible actually says though.
The Bible is the one that has the death penalty for various list of sins.
We didn't come up with that.
That's what the Bible says.
But here's the thing these false prophets cause the way of truth to be evil spoken up.
Okay, now instead of verse three and through covetousness shall they with fame works.
Now I want you to go to Exodus 18 Exodus 18 Exodus 18.
Exodus 18 And you know when it comes to being in leadership,
one of the major major things the Bible mentions is people that are not covetous people.
Here's what it says next is 18 verse 21.
Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men.
Now, what is an able person according to Exodus 18 verse 21
because you might think of an able person as being someone like for example,
there's this conspiracy theorist in the US names Alex Jones.
I don't know if anyone's ever heard of him,
but I remember somebody told me one time man.
What if that guy got saved?
He could be a great preacher based on what because he had a loud voice
and he liked to argue is like one of the dumbest things you could possibly hear
but it's just like you know,
what an able person is is not someone who's got this natural gift.
It's someone who hears God such as fear God men of truth,
meaning they're going to stand up for the truth hating covetousness hating covetousness.
See one of the big attributes that you need from someone who's preaching is someone who hates covetousness.
You say why is that because if they don't hate covetousness,
they're going to preach sermons in order to try to get money in order to try to get donations
in order to say the things that you want to hear in order to line their pockets
and make more money and have more money for church.
And so instead of actually preaching the truth,
what are they going to do?
They're going to preach the things that are very popular.
Okay, go back to second Peter to second Peter to second Peter to verse 3.
And it says this about these false prophets and through covetousness.
So they with vain words make merchandise of you whose judgment now the long time linger
if not in their damnation slumber if not now,
it's not that the judgment takes place immediately,
but when they are going to be judged it's going to be very quick
and they're going to be destroyed verse 4 for God's fair.
Not the angels that sinned but cast them down to hell
and deliver them into chains of darkness to be reserved on to judgment.
Now think about the angels here.
Okay, because it's comparing the false prophets with angels.
The angels have not been cast down to hell yet.
Right, but what it says here at the end of this verse is to be reserved on to judgment.
Think about a reservation.
You go to a restaurant and you have a reservation.
That's not something that has already taken place.
It's something that's going to take place in the future.
Okay, and it says to be reserved on to judgment.
Now the judgment is going to take place after the thousand years.
Okay, but says cast down to hell.
Well, they haven't been cast down to hell yet.
They're going to be cast down to hell for the thousand years
and then they're going to be judged after those 1000 years.
Okay, but this is something that's going to be taking place in the future.
But the thing is it's a done deal with angels that chose to rebel against God.
One-third of the angels rebelled against God.
They have no hope of going to heaven, right?
Angels are not judged like humans.
They made a choice by their works and they're done.
And see the Bible is talking about false prophets.
It's linking them with reprobates is what we're going to see in this chapter.
And so what it's saying is well reprobate they're not in hell yet,
but they do have a reservation.
Nothing's going to change that.
It can't be changed because the angels they haven't been thrown down there yet,
but they've got that resurrection coming.
Well, same thing with the false prophets.
Okay, and it says and spared not the old world,
but save Noah the eighth person a preacher of righteousness
bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly
and see the Bible says the flood came on the world of the ungodly.
Now, I don't believe that most of the world were reprobates,
but there are certainly plenty of reprobates that know the world there
and God showed his judgment and destroy the ungodly with the flood.
Okay verse 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes
condemned them with an overthrow making them an example
unto those that after should live on God.
So here mentions the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that were destroyed.
Of course the big sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was sodomy homosexuality.
Okay what it says about them and this was from Genesis 19.
Making them an example under those that after should live ungodly.
And so here's the thing about this.
It talks about sodomites and this was all the way back in Genesis 19.
Here's the New Testament.
So here's my question.
If the sodomites are used as an example of God destroying the ungodly,
how does God feel about the sodomites today?
Because it's using an example from thousands of years ago
how they were destroyed and that's an example for us in the modern day.
So as God changes opinion in the New Testament,
I mean they are an example of wicked people and we have false prophets.
We have angels who have a reservation that have a set place in hell waiting for them.
Same thing with the sodomites the homosexuals.
That's what the Bible is teaching here.
Verse number seven and delivered just Lot vexed with a filthy conversation of the wicked.
So, Lot was delivered as the rest of the sodomite world was destroyed.
And it says for that righteous man dwelling among them in seeing
and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.
And so it says Lot who was a saved person in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day.
So the things that Lot saw and the things he heard vexed his conscience.
Okay, the same thing is true for us today.
If you're watching the television all the time, you're going to vex your conscience every single day.
You're going to feel guilty about the things you watched.
You'll be laughing at some joke and then something that is basically blaspheming God
or going against the Bible is going to come up and you're going to feel bad.
And you're going to be vexing your soul by the things that you see here.
The things you watch, the things you listen to, they will affect you.
And then the result of Lot is he becomes just a lame Christian that's doing nothing.
And you know, his sons-in-law don't even believe when he says judgment's coming.
And the reality is this, people have this idea.
I've got to be like the world to reach the world.
It's actually the opposite. People have this idea.
Well, you know what, how am I going to get my friends saved that are drunks unless I go to the bar with them and hang out?
Actually, if you don't go with them,
they're going to realize they're different and that's going to give you an opportunity to potentially preach the gospel.
Okay, now go to Matthew chapter six,
Matthew six, Matthew chapter six.
Matthew chapter six.
And Matthew six, notice what it says in verse 19.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust are corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust are corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal.
Notice this, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Okay, whatever you invest your money or time into, your heart is actually going to be in that direction.
Notice this, the light of the body is the eye.
If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.
If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness?
And so the Bible says the light of the body is the eye.
And being single means that you're only set on this one thing.
And so if your eye is just focused on the things of God, your whole body is going to be full of light.
However, if it is evil and it's looking upon the wrong things, and you're listening to the wrong things, it's going to result in your whole body being filled with sin and wickedness.
I mean, it's really that simple.
The things you see and the things you hear are going to affect the way you look at things.
And if you're looking at the wrong things, and you're listening to the wrong things, then your whole body is going to be filled full of darkness.
Your whole body is going to be filled full of sin.
Your whole body is going to be filled full of wickedness.
I mean, it's shocking to me how I hear a lot of people saying, Baptists think vice-pomping is hilarious.
I don't understand that.
I mean, to me, I think it's disgusting.
But you know what? You vex your righteous soul, and then you start laughing at the jokes, and then all of a sudden, well, you know, he's not a Christian, but he's funny.
It's not that bad, right?
Go to 2 Peter 2. Go back to 2 Peter 2.
2 Peter 2.
In 2 Peter 2, verse 9, it's sort of like a confirmation of the stuff that's already said.
It says here in 2 Peter 2, verse 9, the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations.
Now, what I think that's referring to is back with Lot, and how Lot was spared from all these evil people.
And God can deliver safe people from even worse situations.
And to reserve the unjust on the day of judgment to be punished.
Once again, it talks about reserving the unjust on the day of judgment to be punished.
Okay? So there's the reservation again.
So these wicked people, whether you're looking at the false prophets, these fallen angels, or these homosexuals, they have a reservation, and they're going to be judged.
And it's something we need to be reminded of when we're living in this world.
Because sometimes wicked people reign, and it can make us feel terrible.
We can start getting envious at the wicked, like it says in Psalm 73, the Psalm of Asaph.
We need to realize, they're going to be destroyed one day.
They've got a reservation.
And of course, you know, like the Bible says, let them go down quick into hell, but here's the thing.
The more they're here, the more sins they're going to get judged for.
And the more they're going to be punished.
And you know what? It's up to God if you would take them out or not.
But they have a reservation, and we need to realize that.
Okay?
Verse 10.
But chiefly, them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise government.
Despising government is hating authority.
It says, presumptuous are they, self-willed, they're not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
So the Bible says about these people, they speak evil of dignities, and they don't think anything of it.
They speak against authority.
And it says that they are presumptuous.
And what presumptuous means is this, they don't understand the boundaries of what is appropriate.
They will say rude things, obnoxious things, and that they don't even get it.
They don't even realize that what they've done is so wrong and everything.
And basically, they go outside the boundaries of what people would consider acceptable.
They say things that are just inappropriate.
Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing and accusation against them before the Lord.
Angels are more powerful than us, but what it says is they do not bring railing accusation against them before the Lord.
And a railing accusation would be like you're basically saying a false accusation that's being made.
And when it comes to people that are false prophets, we don't have to make things up to make them look better.
Someone like Pope Francis, he's got plenty of wicked things.
We don't have to make some accusation that we don't know about.
It says here in 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.
Unsaved people obviously can't understand the things of God, but yet these false prophets, they speak evil of the things of God.
They speak evil of the things they understand not.
People criticize soul-winning and say why soul-winning doesn't work, people that are unsafe, they're speaking evil of something they don't understand.
Or they'll speak evil about believing salvation's a free gift.
Right, these repentance of sins preachers will speak evil against our message of salvation.
And they criticize you for going soul-winning, they criticize you for giving the gospel to someone, and they're speaking evil of things they do not understand.
It says in verse 13, and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness as they that count it pleasure to riot in the daytime.
And so, the Bible says they have a reward coming.
Now, in our modern language, usually a reward means something good, but that's not really the forced application.
It can be something bad, okay? It's not always something good, it just means basically, you know, your recompense.
Oftentimes it's used as a gift or a reward, something good. It doesn't always mean that though.
And they're going to receive the reward of unrighteousness.
There is something that results from living an unrighteous and ungodly life, okay?
And it says as they that count it pleasure to riot in the daytime.
These false prophets riot, commit sins, mock the things of God.
They don't think anything of it, and you know what? They're going to receive the reward of unrighteousness on it.
It's a guarantee it's going to happen.
It says spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings, notice this, while they feast with you.
The Bible says these people are going to be among us, okay?
When you cross-reference in Jude, the indication seems to be like feasts of charity, that they're feasting at special events,
you're taking the Lord's Supper, and things that are special occasions, you know, maybe a special Christmas meal or whatever.
And then they don't feel any, you know, worry whatsoever.
They're just amongst you, and they're wicked people, and they don't worry at all.
Think about how many times Judas Iscariot ate with the rest of the 12 and Jesus Christ, and he didn't think anything of it.
He just did it all the time, and just until Jesus specifically said you're the guy, that seems to be the first time you ever really had any sort of fear of getting caught.
Notice this, having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin, okay?
Having eyes full of adultery, so with false prophets, one of the common things you see with them is sexual perversion, okay?
Having eyes full of adultery.
Now, of course, you'd assume most false prophets, referring to guys, would be probably married, right?
And yet, most of them are committing adultery, and they have eyes full of adultery.
And saying having eyes full of adultery is meaning they're looking for opportunities to commit adultery.
I mean, talk about being wicked.
It's not that they accidentally stumble into it. No, no, no, they're looking for it.
They have eyes full of adultery where they're looking for opportunities where they can commit adultery.
Many times, they'll use their positions in church to basically start a relationship with someone at the church, where basically they're almost forced into it.
The same thing takes place at schools and things such as that, or any position where you have an authority,
but it oftentimes takes place in churches.
Many cases you hear about these people that were the principal of this Baptist school or whatever,
and then they were involved with one of the girls that was at the school.
And you say, how is that possible? Well, they have eyes full of adultery, and they try to use their position to be able to fulfill their lusts.
They're bad people, right? That's what it's saying.
And it says, and that cannot cease from sin. They can't stop sinning if they want to sin, if they want to stop sin.
You say, why? Because their mind and consciousness is here.
They're bad people, and they just can't help themselves, okay?
Notice this, beguiling unstable souls.
Now, notice the people that they focus on are unstable souls.
You say, why? They're more easily manipulated.
Beguiling unstable souls.
And so this is why oftentimes it might be someone who's very young,
or it might be someone who's just gone through a divorce, who's gone through some sort of trauma, who's very emotional,
and they take advantage of them at their weak points in order to defile them.
Beguiling unstable souls.
There's no more unstable soul than a young child, right?
In heart, they have exercised with covetous practices, cursed children.
So it says that they are cursed children, okay?
Go to John chapter 8. Let me give you a reference here. John chapter 8.
John 8.
John chapter 8.
And it says in John chapter 8, verse 43,
it says, why do you not understand my speech, even because he cannot hear my word?
Notice this, year of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it.
So he says, year of your father the devil.
Who he's speaking to here are people that have children of the devil.
Their father is the devil.
Now we are not born as children of the devil or children of God.
But when you get saved, you get born again into God's family.
But someone can become a reprobate, a child of the devil, and they become a child of the devil forever.
So when it's saying cursed children in 2 Peter 2, it's telling you it's a child of the devil.
It's telling you it's a reprobate.
It's telling you it's someone who cannot be saved.
And you cannot change that.
Okay? Go back to 2 Peter 2.
Now when it comes to people like this that would pop into a church, there's a couple possibilities.
They could be someone who's well aware of what they're doing.
But they could be someone who's not necessarily aware of what they're doing.
I mean, there's people that could be reprobates that could attach themselves to a church for many different reasons.
Now there are those that would intentionally come to a church like ours to try to push Calvinism and get that to subtly creep in.
I've seen that many times with people with Calvinism.
I remember there was this guy that I thought I got saved in Sacramento when I was going out swollen him.
And this guy seemed, you know, like he got saved and everything and I got his number and everything.
And I kept inviting the church saying, oh, you know, maybe we can talk over coffee and everything.
And he sent me verses from his Calvinist buddies that he was saying, oh, you know, what about this verse?
But you know what? I realized after he did this a couple of times, you know what?
It's not that he's saved and he's trying to get an answer to get back to his Calvinist friend.
He's trying to subtly get me to be a Calvinist.
And this guy faked getting saved because he wanted to push Calvinism onto me.
And it's like, you know, what a wicked thing.
But you know what? There are people that do that.
There are people that are rejected, but they want to push their doctrine.
And since he has no morals as a reprobate, he's willing to lie and he has no problem with it.
Right.
And so it says in verse 15, which have having forsaken the right way and are gone astray,
following the way of Balaam, the son of Gosar, who loved the wages of unrighteousness.
So it talks about the way of Balaam.
And what you're seeing here is that Balaam is an example of a false prophet.
Balaam was a false prophet.
And you know what? When you're reading that story, you might not necessarily notice it
because it's like the Lord's talking to Balaam, but he wants to curse God's children.
He is a false prophet.
The Bible says, why did he become a false prophet?
He loved the wages of unrighteousness because there was money involved with being evil.
That's the whole reason why he wanted to curse God's people, because he wanted to get money out of it.
And he had a habit in his life as a false prophet of just saying whatever he needed to in order to get money.
Okay, loving the wages of unrighteousness.
Verse 16, but was rebuked for his iniquity, the dumbass speaking with man's voice forbade the madness of the prophet.
These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with the tempest, to whom the midst of darkness is reserved forever.
Now, the whole purpose of a well is to have water, right?
And so what we're going to see later on is they promise people that they have something.
They can suck a lot of people in. They suck you in. You get to that well, you're really thirsty, then there is no water.
Right? It doesn't do any good.
These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with the tempest.
So they go from place to place wherever the storm is, they're part of that drama.
Right? Wherever the tempest or the storm is, they are part of that as the cloud that goes along with it and helps cause the problems and is involved in it.
Okay? To whom the midst of darkness is reserved forever.
The Bible teaches that hell is a dark place.
You'll see that in the Bible. It's a dark place. And so it says, it says, outward darkness in the Bible.
And so these people that are false prophets, to whom the midst of darkness is reserved forever.
Look, they have their reservation. It says over and over again, reserved.
And that's something that's going to come in the future.
There are people alive today that are basically a walking dead man.
They're basically like, I guess like a zombie or whatever, right?
They have no hope. There's no hope of them getting saved. They're done.
They've got a reservation. They're wicked people. And they got rejected for that.
Okay? They chose to forsake the way of truth. They chose to forsake the right way, as it says in verse 15.
Verse 18. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they lurk through the lust of the flesh through much wantonness.
Those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
So they speak great swelling words of vanity. They speak flattery.
And the reason why they do that and why it's successful is they lurk through the lust of the flesh.
Kind of like we've talked about in this series, how the psychopath becomes the person you want them to be.
And so they lurk through the lust of the flesh. And so they can be very convincing.
I mean, Judas Iscariot, obviously he fit in very well and he was probably very well-liked amongst the twelve.
And he became the person that he needed to be to trick them and to get what he wanted.
Right? And see, that's what the Bible is saying here. They speak great swelling words of vanity.
They lurk through the lust of the flesh. They lurk through your lusts. Your weak points, they're going to analyze you.
And you know what? They're going to use it against you in these great swelling words of vanity in order to trick you.
Through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
Now, there's a couple different ways to look at this here, but it talks about the false prophets.
And they're alluring those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
OK. Now, you might take this phrase and assume that that means these people are saved.
But I think when you read the rest of this chapter, it indicates that they're not.
The false prophets, when it's tricking those that were clean escaped from them who live in error,
you would normally think when it says clean because clean is often a terminology for someone who gets saved.
But I believe it's referring to people who you might think got saved or people who got religious and made changes in their life and started to do the right thing and everything.
But then they got sucked into a false prophet and they went down the wrong road.
Right. And I'll show you the verses here in a second. But an example would be, let's say somebody's a drunk.
OK. And they're destroying their life. Many people in this world without getting saved end up becoming religious and trying to make changes.
They might hit the age of twenty five, thirty, thirty five years old and then they decide, man, I need to make some changes.
Or maybe they have their first child and they're like, man, it's like they never had problems with drinking before.
But now that they got a baby, you know, it's like I got to quit drinking. Right.
And they want to make changes in their life. And they clean up their life a little bit.
They get rid of the bad stuff. And what are they going to seek after? They're going to seek after God. They're going to seek after a church.
Unfortunately, many times the devil gets to them before we get to them and the devil gets to them.
And what happens is these false prophets come and they take people who are trying to make changes in their life and then they end up destroying their life.
It says in verse 19, while they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption for of whom a man is overcome of the same as he brought bondage.
And so these false prophets promise these people liberty. They promise them freedom. But they themselves are the servants of corruption.
I mean, they're bad people and bondage to their own sin. And yet they're promising liberty to these other people.
So I'll give you an example of this. Think of a guy like John MacArthur. And he's a famous Calvinist. I like to use him as an example.
But John MacArthur, let's say somebody is deciding they want to start going to church and reading the Bible and, you know, they want to, but they're not saved.
They're probably going to like John MacArthur if they listen to him. Because he sounds conservative, sounds intelligent.
I mean, I believe he probably is an intelligent person and everything. They don't know a whole lot about the Bible, so it's going to sound very compelling and everything.
And so they might get sucked into a church like that and listen online or whatever. But if you actually look at John MacArthur in life, he doesn't live a whole life.
I mean, he openly talks about the great things about wine, and he always talks about wine and drinking and everything. He's like, it's not a sin to drink.
But wait a minute. You got a guy who's trying to clean up his life. He has his first baby, so he wants to quit drinking, quit smoking, start serving God.
And he feels like this is a Christian leader. This guy, you know what? He's preaching the truth. He's conservative. And yet this guy is actually a servant of corruption.
This guy has a lot of sins. And you know what happens is that people at a church like ours, we preach hard against sin.
But you know what? There's really very few churches that are actually like that. Even the churches that are the strictest.
I mean, you take some of these religions, and you know, some of them will be like for women, dresses only, right? You always see that with Aung Da Te Khaan, generally.
But yet Eli Soriano talked about how, you know, well, you know, gay marriage is not really a biblical topic.
I mean, it's like you're justifying the LGBT, but you're telling the women that they have to wear dresses.
It's like those two things don't go together. And you say, what is that? Well, they have a form of godliness.
And people feel like, man, they're really strict. But in all actuality, there's these major sins that are attached if you're with a group like that.
But if you get involved with a group like that, you're going to feel like you're very spiritual. You're going to feel like you're making major changes.
What you're going to find is you're going to go back to those same sins and same problems. And yet you're going to feel spiritual.
Talk about the person who has the devil inside of him and the devil goes out and, you know, he's empty and then all of a sudden seven devils come back and he's worse than he was when he started.
And unfortunately, you know, another example in the US, they have these programs for people that are addicted to alcohol and drugs and they mix in religion with it.
But it's always repentance of sins. Whenever you talk to these people that used to be drunks and they quit drinking and you try to give them the gospel, they get incredibly offended when you say that you don't have to repent of your sins.
And what's happened is they become very prideful in the fact that they quit drinking and they've attached it to salvation.
Anyway, honestly, there's like no hope to get them saved. If we came to them when they're on their darkest day, when they're not drunk, they might actually listen to us saying, man, I need to get out of this mess.
And we teach them you don't have to make any changes. Just believe, right? But what happens is the repentance of sins heretics get to them and they repent of all their sins and they feel all spiritual.
And it's like, you know what? They're being deceived by false prophets.
And it says in verse 20 for after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they're again entangled therein and overcome.
The latter end is worse with them in the beginning. You say, why is the latter end worse?
Well, I mean, there's a couple of things to look at. One is because they're probably going to be in worse sin than they were before.
And it's like, man, they thought they had made changes and they find themselves in the same pattern.
They might give up hope. But, you know what? Honestly, the Bible talks about false prophets as being deceived and being deceived.
And see, people that are false prophets, they probably became false prophets because they were deceived by some false prophet themselves who have learned through the lust of the flesh.
But then they became the deceiver, just like someone who's a pedophile.
They probably became a pedophile because that happened to them. And then they became the person who does the same thing.
Same thing with false prophets. OK. And so it says here for after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are entangled again therein and overcome.
The latter end is worse with them in the beginning. You say, well, why is it worse with them in the beginning?
Well, another pretty valid application is because they're probably going to become a reprobate. They're probably going to become a false prophet themselves.
Anyway, the latter end is worse with them because they have no hope of getting saved. Right?
False prophets deceive people. And when people get very religious in a false religion, they're going down that road of becoming a reprobate because they're hating the way of truth.
Right? They're being lied to, but they're buying into it. And then when people like us try to come to them and say, hey, it's a free gift.
You don't have to change your life. You don't have to quit drinking. You don't have to quit smoking. And then they get mad at our message.
It's just like that doesn't get into happening. A great example of this is take the Mormon missionaries.
Right? Now, most Mormons, when they go on their two year mission, I don't think most are reprobates when they go out there.
But, you know, over the course of two years, they're probably going to hear a lot of Bible verses.
They're going to hear a lot of people that try to review what they say.
And what could easily happen is they could turn against the way of truth because they've heard it and chosen to reject it.
And at the end of those two years, there's probably many that are reprobates of that.
Verse 21 for it had been better for them not to have known their way of righteousness than after they have known it to turn from the Holy Commandment delivered on.
So they turned from the Holy Commandment.
And it would have been better if not to know the way of righteousness, because what makes someone to the reprobate is when they reject the truth of God.
And that's usually associated with the truth of God's word, like if somebody's hearing the Bible versus rejecting it.
But it's like, you know, when they heard the way of truth and rejected it, it was better if they didn't even know it.
Because then they had a hope to get saved.
But now after they rejected it, now there is no hope.
And these last several verses, they started off with a false prophet basically showing how they convert people and they suck people in.
And they usually suck people in that are kind of down on their luck.
They have problems in their life.
And they suck people in when they're vulnerable, when they're weak, when they're unstable, and then those people end up becoming the false prophet's honor.
The one religion that really typifies this really well are the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Because I've noticed through the years that Jehovah's Witnesses, the group of people they attract to them, are the ones who basically have a lot of problems in their life.
Maybe they went through a divorce, maybe they had, you know, problems with drinking or whatever.
And instead of causing those people to be holy and spiritual, they will make them feel like they're spiritual.
And what happens is they still have all these sins, but they're not celebrating birthdays so they feel spiritual.
And now they become one of those Jehovah's Witnesses knocking the doors and then they become a false prophet.
And so they are very good at sucking in the people whose lives are really tough.
You can tell that by looking at the invitations Jehovah's Witnesses hand out.
That's how I figured it out. Because it talks about, you know, why is there so much pain in this world?
Why is there so much suffering? Wouldn't you like a world that's...
And you know, it's attracting the people whose lives are really tough. They're going through a lot of pain.
And people see that and they're like, wow, you know? And those are the people they suck in.
The other religion that is really like this is Buddhism, because it's all about suffering.
And it's like, why is there so much suffering in this world?
And I don't know if they really do evangelism, but it's the same sort of philosophical idea of the people that they would suck in.
Verse 22.
But it has happened unto them according to the true Proverbs.
The dog has turned to his own garment again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
Now, I want you to pay attention to this, because the false prophet is deceiving somebody who's a normal person,
who's, you know, trying to clean up their lives sometimes, but they're not saved.
And then eventually that person can end up becoming a false prophet.
But I want you to notice this. The dog has turned to his own garment again.
And the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
So notice how it uses the masculine for dog, his own garment.
And it says her wallowing in the mire, referring to feminine.
Okay, you say, why is that? Well, what is a dog in the mire, other than an actual dog?
A reprobate, right?
So here's the thing, a male reprobate you would call a dog, but you don't really call, you don't call a female reprobate a dog.
Say, what do you call them? You call them a pig.
You call them a soap. That's what it is.
Okay, so basically, if you're trying to get the picture of a male reprobate, you're looking at a dog.
Anyway, I understood this once when I was sowing, because I was going sowing, and you know what?
It's, you know, when dogs are in heat, and then they just go after whatever.
And I remember just seeing this one dog go after one dog, and that dog escaped,
and then went after another one, and I was like, I understand why the Bible calls them those dogs.
Because they literally go after whatever, right?
But then when you think of pigs, I mean, pigs are a pretty disgusting animal.
They taste very good, okay?
But they're a very disgusting animal, right?
You see them, and they're just, and here's the thing, you might clean up a pig, and you wash it off and everything,
but right when it goes back out in that slop and that mud, it's just going to be dirty and disgusting again, right?
And then the dog, the same sort of thing, you know, you clean up a dog, and I had a dog when I was a kid.
And you know, you clean up your dog and everything, but then they just do disgusting things.
They lick the toilet bowl, or when they feel sick, they'll eat grass so they can throw up and stuff like that,
and then they, I mean, they are, I understand they're house pests, but they're kind of a disgusting animal too, right?
Dogs and pigs. So you can see why the Bible uses them as an example.
Let me go to 2 Peter 3 real quickly, I'm going to finish up here.
Finish up.
I got to hurry up because I lost my feeling in my left arm, and now I'm scared.
2 Peter 3.
This is how I feel Christabel asleep too. I practice preaching my sermons at home, and she's immediately like,
I don't know why that works, but it does, okay?
So 2 Peter 3 verse 16, I want to give you another application list.
So luckily the primary application are false prophets converting unsaved people,
and those unsaved people often become the dog or the sow themselves,
but let's make an application as well when we look at saved people,
because false prophets can confuse saved people as well.
Now when it comes to doctrines on salvation, they can only get so confused because they're dwelled with the spirit of truth.
They can trick people into false doctrines, get them down the wrong road,
and the Bible kind of gives us a link in 2 Peter 3, notice what it says in verse 16,
As also in all is epistle speaking to them of these things, in which are some things hard to be understood,
which they that are unlearned and unstable rest as they do also the other scriptures on their own destruction.
Eat therefore, beloved, seeing you know these things before,
beware lest he also be led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.
And so there you're seeing the error of the wicked, the false prophet beguiling the unstable soul,
and the Bible is giving us a warning even as believers won't be aware of that.
It's like you ought to know this, I just gave you a whole chapter in 2 Peter 2 about it, you know Peter's saying,
and he's saying this is their technique, as Christians we need to be aware of it,
and what they do is they rest scriptures that are confusing scriptures,
some things that are hard to be understood.
So they'll go to a passage in Hebrews or passage in Ezekiel or passage you know James 2 and stuff for a lot of people or whatever,
and they'll use a scripture that people don't know how to answer,
and then they'll basically change it and twist it,
and if you're newly saved you're not going to know how to answer it,
and you can get deceived by these bad people,
because there are things that are hard to be understood,
and when you first get saved there are many things that are hard to be understood.
I remember somebody came to a question about the book of Hebrews,
and they're like well you know if this is not what it means, then what does it mean?
I was like I don't know what anything in the book of Hebrews means.
I was like I have no idea. I was like I know it doesn't mean that.
Somebody told me well you know you could lose your salvation in the Old Testament,
and you had four years to get it back after Jesus came and said,
I don't know what that verse is talking about, but I know it's not saying that.
But you know there are things that are hard to be understood,
especially when you're first saved.
There's many scriptures that you do not understand.
We as saved people, we need to be aware of the fact that there are going to be false prophets,
and we can also be deceived by some of the things that they might say,
and they're going to bring them in very privately.
It's not going to be obvious, but they're going to bring it in,
and here's the thing.
They're going to be in guile with people that are unstable,
so they're going to try to trick people that they think they can fool.
In general, they're probably not going to come to me and tell me about their doctrine.
They're probably going to go to other people in the church,
and they're probably going to try to choose people they think they can deceive,
because they're not going to go to me because they want to do it privately in life.
I'm the last person they're going to show.
So many times these false prophets come into churches,
and people just have an idea that the pastor knows what's going on,
or knows what this person's doing,
but in reality they usually don't because they're not going to go to them.
If you think back to a couple years ago, the whole Tyler Baker situation,
he never went to Pastor Anderson with his doctrines.
He never went to Brother Segura with his doctrine.
He went to all the other members of the church.
You say, why? Well, he's not going to go to people that work for the church,
or the pastor of the church, because he's privily bringing in that doctrine,
him and his buddies, and they wanted to deceive people,
and you know what? They deceived a lot of people.
And you know what? I don't know how many people were deceived by it.
Obviously many of them weren't even saved,
but some might have been saved and got deceived by a false prophet.
We as God's people need to know our Bibles,
and we need to be aware of this.
If somebody's coming to you quietly, they say,
hey, let me show you this doctrine I learned.
It's like, that might be something you want to question,
because has he told other people about it?
And so we need to make sure we know our Bibles,
but realize there will be false prophets among us.
This doesn't work, right?