All right, so if you look there in 2 Peter chapter 2, and it's great to have Michael
visiting us for the first time, so welcome to church.
And just for our first time visitor, just so you're aware, we do on Sunday mornings
go through the Bible chapter by chapter, and we'll be going through 2 Peter, and we're
up to 2 Peter chapter 2.
And if you look at verse number 1, 2 Peter chapter 2 verse number 1, it says,
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers
among you.
The title for the sermon this morning is, False Teachers Among You.
This is something that the Apostle Peter wanted the New Testament churches to be aware of.
It's not that they might come, they will come.
There will be people that will come into churches that are seeking to teach false things.
They come into churches to teach false doctrine, they come into churches to take leadership
positions.
Look, a prophet is a position of leadership, a teacher is a position of leadership.
You are passing on knowledge, you are passing on teaching, you are passing on the Word of
God.
And so what we see there, it's not that they might come, it says,
Even as there shall be false teachers among you.
Now there was a time when I would read through this passage, I thought there was a difference
between a false prophet and a false teacher.
Just as a young person, I used to think there was a difference, but what we see in this
passage is there is no difference, as there were false prophets among the people, even
as there shall be false teachers among you.
And so these are one and the same thing.
The false prophet is the false teacher.
Sometimes we have this idea that a prophet is someone that tells the future.
And yes, many times in the Bible, yeah, prophets did foretell the future, but more often than
not the prophet is a forth teller.
He tells the Word of God, he preaches the Word of God, he teaches the Word of God, and
so these are one and the same things.
Now why do they come into churches?
Why do they creep in to the house of God, it says there, if we keep going, who privily
shall bring in damnable heresies.
Now what are heresies?
Heresies are things that are false.
They come and bring false teaching.
Now look, it's not just that they're false teaching, the Bible says these are damnable
heresies.
Okay, damnable.
These are things that will send someone to hell.
This is something that will damn an individual.
It says even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
So let's break down this verse.
There's a lot in verse number one here.
So let's break this down.
If you can keep your finger there and go to 1 Corinthians chapter 11 please.
First Corinthians chapter 11.
There's a lot here to unpackage in verse number one, but they bring in damnable heresies.
Let's have a look at this term heresy.
This word, we see it in the Christian world, it gets thrown around a lot, heresies, but
it's only mentioned like four times in the Bible.
Okay, now it is a big deal.
Heresy is a big deal because it is a false doctrine, but if you look at 1 Corinthians
chapter 11 verse number 17, 1 Corinthians 11 17, it says, now in this that I declare
unto you, I praise you not that you come together, not for the better, but for the worst, verse
18, for first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there'd be divisions
among you, and I partly believe it.
And so we've gone through the Corinthian church before, and we know that there are major divisions
within the church.
Okay, that church is not operating from unity, but then he explains why there is.
Look at verse number 19.
For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest
among you.
Okay, so it says, look, the reason you've got major divisions in your church is because
you have heresies in your church, heresies, okay.
So these are false teaching.
It's causing a division within the church.
Now there is an advantage to some extent when it comes to heresies, if you look there, it
says that they which, in verse number 19, that they which are approved may be made manifest
among you.
One of the advantages, now it's not good to have heresies in a church, but one of the
advantages, if there is heresies in a church, those that speak the truth, those that are
approved by God, they're going to be manifested.
They're going to shine forth.
They're going to be able to show, hey, from the word of God, why certain things are true,
and the person that's preaching damnable heresies, they're not going to have the word of God
to support them.
They're going to be the ones twisting scriptures.
They're going to be the ones adding things to the word of God without proving things,
you know, with the two or three witnesses from the word of God, okay.
So we see that heresies cause division in a church, okay.
Now I'm going to read to you from Galatians 5 19, because who can get into heresy?
So in Galatians 5 19, it says, now the works of the flesh are manifest, these are the works
of the flesh, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft,
hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies.
Heresies is a work of the flesh, okay.
And we all have the flesh, we all have the sinful nature, these are sins that we could
be tempted to do, and so if heresy is listed as a work of the flesh, listen, heresy is
something that anybody can get into.
Anybody in this church can get into some false doctrine, false teaching, read the Bible and
come with a false understanding, okay.
And so this is why we have to be careful, we have to make sure that we are sound in
doctrine, we make sure that we read and we receive the word of God, you know, we go line
upon line, precept upon precept, we slowly build upon the things that are black and white
in the scriptures, and not allow ourselves to get into heresy.
Now there is one other time that heresy is mentioned, okay, and I'll read the passage
to you in Acts 24 verse 13, this is when the Jews were persecuting Paul, and Paul says
in Acts 24, 13, he says, neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me.
So he's been accused, right, he's been persecuted, been accused of false things, but then he
says this in verse number 14, he says, but this I confess unto thee, that after the way
which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which
are written in the law and in the prophets.
So Paul is very clear here, he says, look, I believe everything that's written in the
word of God, everything that is in the law, everything the prophets wrote, Paul says,
I believe these things, and because I believe these things, these people that are accusing
me, they're calling that heresy, but he's saying, look, I admit, yeah, I believe what
the Bible says, but they call it heresy.
And so just because someone uses the term heresy, just because you might have certain
beliefs, and they say, well, that's heretical teaching, it doesn't mean it's heresy, okay,
because people can use that term falsely and accuse you of believing heresy.
But what do we learn from these passages, that heresy is something that is false, some
false teaching, some false doctrine, it's a work of the flesh, anybody can get into
heresy, so we have to be careful when we read the Bible, we have to be careful that we establish
ourselves and ground ourselves in the word of God.
But if you go back to second Peter chapter two, it's not just that these false teachers
brought heresies, they brought in damnable heresies, damnable heresies, all right.
Now I'll just read a few passages to you, and if you can please, you go to Matthew 23
for me, please go to Matthew 23, I'll read to you a passage here in Mark 16, 16, it says,
he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be
damned, okay, let's understand that, what is it that dammed somebody to hell?
He that believeth not, so the person that does not believe the gospel, does not believe
in Jesus Christ, shall be damned, okay, what does it mean?
He's going to hell, damnation, he's going to be damned by God, he will spend eternity
in a lake of fire, and so if someone's bringing you damnable heresy, this is a teaching that
will cause people to be damned, this is a teaching that will cause people to not believe
the gospel which saves, okay, in second Thessalonians chapter two verse 12, it says that they all
might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness, okay,
so who gets damned in second Thessalonians chapter two, they all might be damned who
believed not the truth, and so damnable heresy of course is not the truth, okay, and again,
what is it that damns us, not believing the gospel, not believing on Jesus Christ, this
is something damnable, now you're in Matthew chapter 23 verse number 29, Matthew 23 verse
29, Jesus says to the scribes and the Pharisees, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,
because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
but then drop down to verse number 33, speaking to the same group, he says ye serpents, ye
generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell, okay, so these false scribes,
these false teachers, these scribes, these Pharisees, Jesus saying how are you going
to escape hell, how are you going to escape the damnation of hell, in other words they're
not going to escape the damnation of hell, they've been reprobated, these people are
the false prophets, the false teachers that of course Peter is speaking about, but we
need to then apply this to 2020, in our church, we might have people come to this church,
you know desiring to teach, desiring to preach their doctrine, hey these are false teachers,
you know how will they escape the damnation of hell, you know they're bringing in about
these damnable heresies, now in saying all of this, what are some things that would damn
someone to hell, as we said, someone that does not believe the gospel, or someone that
believes a false gospel, someone that believes you've got to add works to salvation or you're
not saved, hey that's a false gospel, salvation is by grace through faith, and not of yourselves
it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast, the Bible says, right, so
someone bringing in a false gospel, but what else, someone that believes in a false Christ,
you know we get warned in the Bible that there is another Jesus, hey there are false Christs
being preached even in churches, even to the people of God, there is a false Jesus
being preached there, you know I think immediately of the oneness theology, of modalism, this
is another Jesus, or you know the Jesus of the JWs, you know they don't believe he is
God, you know they just believe he's a man, they don't believe he was bodily resurrected,
that's another, in fact that's another gospel, if he was not raised bodily, the gospel is
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, they've got another Jesus and another gospel, you
know the Mormons who say that the devil is the brother of Jesus, and it's some lesser
God, that's another Jesus, hey this is damnable heresies, believing these things will damn
you to hell, and that's what the false prophet does, they want to come into not just the
horrible churches, not just the churches that belong to the devil, they want to come into
Bible believing churches, Christian churches, and defile the minds of the people in this
church.
So we have to be careful, there's a lot of false prophets out there, we have to be careful
about the preachers we allow ourselves to listen to.
Now another reason I was a little bit confused in verse number 1, which I believe is important
to cover, 2 Peter chapter 2 verse number 1, it says, even denying the Lord that bought
them.
And so I remember when I would read this passage when I was younger, I used to think, well
these must be saved people, because they've been bought by Jesus Christ, so I was just
thinking wow, even a saved pastor can become a false teacher.
Until obviously I had to unpackage that mentality a little bit, and understanding the reprobate
doctrine actually helped me understand these passages a lot more actually.
And so it says, and the reason these are not saved is because it says after that, it says
even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
So these people are going to be destroyed, these people are going to be destroyed by
God, but when it says denying the Lord that bought them, we need to understand that we're
not Calvinists, we don't believe that Jesus only bought a select few.
It's not that he just died for some, the Bible tells us that God purchased the church with
his own blood.
The sacrifice of Jesus, in fact let's turn to some passages, I'll get you to go to, let's
have a look, please go to 1 Timothy chapter 4, go to 1 Timothy chapter 4, 1 Timothy chapter
4.
And I can understand maybe how a Calvinist can read this and conclude that these believers,
these false teachers are believers who have somehow rejected Jesus.
But if you go to 1 Peter chapter 4, I'm going to read to you from 1 John 2, it says, and
he is, speaking of Jesus, and he is the propitiation for our sins, so he has satisfied the judgment
for our sins, but then it says this, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the
whole world.
So Jesus has paid for the sins of the whole world, right, for the whole world.
Now you're in 1 Timothy chapter 4, look at verse number 10, 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse
number 10, it says, for therefore we both labour and suffer reproach because we trust
in the living God who is the saviour of all men, but then it says this, especially of
those that believe, okay.
So what is it that saves us brethren?
Believe in Jesus Christ, believe in the gospel, but look, yes, he's our saviour, especially
our saviour, because you know by believing in him we can go to heaven, but he's also
the saviour of all men, he has provided himself, he's provided salvation to anybody, to whosoever
believer, and so he's born it all, all of it has been paid for.
You go to 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse number 5, 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse number 5, 1 Timothy
chapter 2 verse number 5 reads, for there is one God and one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus, now look at verse number 6, who gave himself a ransom, now what
is a ransom?
We've looked at this before, a ransom is to make a purchase to free somebody, right,
you're making a purchase, you're making a payment to free somebody, it says he who
gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.
Jesus Christ has paid, Jesus Christ has bought all men, all of it has been paid for, but
only those that believe on him, only those that believe the gospel, only those that place
their faith on Jesus Christ are actually saved, okay.
And so when we read 1 Peter chapter, 2 Peter chapter 2, and it says that the Lord bought
them, yeah, the Lord has bought them, the Lord has paid for their sins, the Lord is
offering them salvation, but they reject Christ, they reject Jesus, okay, and they're striving
to cause others to reject Jesus Christ as well.
Let's go to verse number 2 now, 2 Peter chapter 2 verse number 2.
Now you say, well, you know, we'll definitely be able to differentiate the true prophet
from the false prophet, well yes we can, and this is why 2 Peter chapter 2 is written for
us, so we can identify a false prophet, but many will be deceived by the false prophet,
because in verse number 2 it says, and many shall follow their pernicious ways, many shall
follow them, okay, these false prophets, they're able to get a crowd, okay, they're able to
have their mega churches, their huge churches, you know, the Joel Olsteins, why do they have
so many people following them, even though they don't preach Christ, they don't preach
hell, they don't preach against sin, they don't preach the gospel, they don't preach
Jesus Christ, why is it that they can have such a great following?
Because many will follow them, they love to have their ears itched, they love to just
think about just the goodness of God, just the love of God, and they never get challenged
about God's wrath and God's judgment that is coming upon this world, it says here, by
reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of, okay, and so, you know what it
says there, sorry at the beginning of verse number 2, and follow their pernicious ways,
that is basically speaking that it causes insidious harm or ruin, or their teaching
is deadly or fatal, and of course we know why it's deadly and fatal, because it's leading
people to believe a false gospel, believe a false Christ, but not only this, it says
in verse number 2, it says by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of,
alright, so they give a bad name to Christianity, how many times do we go and we knock doors
and we, you know, we ask somebody, hey now, are you a churchgoer, have you been to church
in the past, and they're like, yeah, I'm out of church, I don't want anything to do with
God, and you kind of ask why, and they say, because, you know, I used to go to church,
I used to go to the Roman Catholic Church, and I was abused by the priest, I was molested
by some man there, okay, and these are false prophets, these are people that are causing
the way of truth to be evil spoken about, it's like they've been turned off by God,
they've been turned off by church, because of some wicked false prophet that was in their
midst, okay, and look, this is the same, you know, when it comes to, I mean, you know,
I'm thinking about, you know, obviously pedophile priests, things like that, that abuse children,
that destroy families, you know, I'm thinking about cults that, you know, break up family
units and it's like, you know, if you're part of our church, you have to break relationships
with anybody that's not part of that church, but they destroy people's lives, these cults
and these pedophiles, you know, and they cause the true preachers, the true churches
of God to be evil spoken of, they don't want to be part of churches because of what they've
been taught, you know, some people have been taught, you know, that salvation is by works,
you know, and they've been put, so much pressure have been put upon them, it's like you've
got to live godly or you won't be saved, and people get turned off because they realise
I can't keep up, I'm not perfect, I keep sinning, and so they give up on church, they give up
on salvation, and listen, we teach that you ought to live godly, we teach that you need
to give up sin, but that's not your way to heaven, that's not salvation, salvation is
through Jesus, and once you're saved, now you try to live godly, now you try to live
righteously, okay, and you don't have to worry about the pressures, am I going to go to hell,
because you know that, you know, salvation was only by Christ, Christ who bought you,
but these false prophets, they cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of.
Verse number three, and through covetousness, that's obviously lusts, shall they with feigned
words, what's feigned, fake words, make merchandise of you, whose judgment now for a long time
lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not, listen, these are not saved, it says
there look, and their damnation slumbereth not, there is coming a day when they will
be damned, just like Jesus says, how will you escape the damnation of hell, that time
is coming for them, okay, but listen, they come with feigned words, they tell you they
love you, they'll even say doctrines that you agree with, you know, but what they're
saying is fake, what they're saying is fake, I know sometimes, you know, we might listen
to a preacher and we think, man, what a great man of God, he knows so many doctrines, you
know, like Judas Iscariot, he would have had a lot of doctrines correct, but they're
fake, they're feigned, eventually, they'll come out with a damnable heresies, but the
entire time, they were faking it, they were faking it the entire time, you know, think
about some of those charismatic churches, you know, where they got the tongue speakers,
I don't know how many people have told me, you know, it's like, you just fake it till
you make it, you just fake it, and so many people who are tongue speakers literally fake
it, okay, they're faking it till they make it, whatever that means, right, until they're
just so comfortable faking it, they think it's real, okay, it's all fake, but you know
what, the first prophet does the same thing, like, you know, obviously they'll come to
our church, they'll say they believe the doctrines that we believe, they'll preach those doctrines,
eventually it's like, what are you teaching, you're teaching something so unusual, it's
another Jesus, it's another gospel, and then it's hard to, you know, I've been there,
you start to think, well maybe he's just a little mistaken, maybe he needs a bit of correction,
but then he gets worse and worse in his doctrines, and then you just have to conclude, well,
all of that he said before must have been fake, it was feigned words, and he did it
to make merchandise of you, he's seeking to make money from you, he's seeking to make
a profit from you, okay, that's why these people come into a church, because they know
people generally are trusting, people generally are trying to love one another and to serve
one another, they come and they say, hey, this is an opportunity to come and make money,
you know, I had once, somebody come up to me and say, hey, can I come to your church,
I'm like, yeah, absolutely, someone that I know very well, and then they're like, oh,
is it okay if I come and bring, and they had some side business, and they wanted basically
to sell all this stuff to the people in the church, and I'm like, no, you're not coming
to do that, you know, why, I thought you were coming to know Jesus, to know God, to learn
the Bible, no, they're coming to make money, and that's why they're coming to churches,
to make merchandise of the people, and as I said, because it mentions that their damnations
slumber if not there, this is further proof that they are not saved, because once saved,
always saved, everlasting life, eternal life, you can never lose it, if you could lose it
tomorrow, it wasn't eternal to begin with, look at verse number 4, now verse number 4
begins speaking about some historical events here, and well let's read it, verse number
4, and if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered
them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment, now it might seem like unusual
that this has just been brought up here, so obviously Peter's speaking about the fallen
angels, fallen angels, and many of them, yes some of them roamed this earth today,
but many of them are right now in hell, you know, and just chained up, okay, they're
so wicked, they're chained up in hell, reserved unto judgment, eventually they're going
to be cast into the lake of fire, okay, but what this is telling us is that the false
prophet is being compared to the fallen angel, okay, so I mean, obviously the false prophet's
a very wicked person, I mean we would think of devils, you know, demons, as extremely
wicked, and Peter's just comparing these fallen angels, these devils, to the false
prophets, okay, now remember the false prophets are ministers of Satan, okay, so there is
a connection between this, alright, let's keep going, verse number 5, and spared not
the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the
flood upon the world of the ungodly, so now we go back to Noah's flood, go back to the
judgment of God, how he judged a wicked world, destroyed everybody except 8, right, Noah
being a preacher of righteousness, again, speaking of the judgment falling upon a wicked
world, that's being compared to the judgment that's coming to the false prophet, okay,
verse number 6, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemn them
with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly,
so the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, why was that city destroyed, why were those
cities destroyed? Because of the homosexuality, okay, because of the sodomy, because of the
LGBT agenda back in those days, alright, and what does it say, it says here, making them
an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly, alright, listen, God brought
judgment upon these wicked cities, because of their wicked sin, okay, he destroyed it,
he rained fire and brimstone, destroying them, that was his judgment on that wicked sin,
okay, these people are being compared to the false prophets, okay, because the false prophets
are full of lust, full of covetousness, alright, and listen, it says that those cities are
an ensample today, okay, today, today we have the agenda, the LGBT, the sodomite, the homosexual
agenda, you know, on show, you know, being shoved down our throats, being shoved down
on television, you know, through politics, through protests, whatever it is, listen,
when those people are doing these things, for us, we ought to be brought to remembrance,
what did God do to Sodom and Gomorrah, hey, that's an ensample of how God's feeling
about things today, he's going to bring his swift judgment in due time, okay, you
know, the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah aren't some Old Testament myth, hey, it's to serve
an example today, to those that live ungodly, to those that live that wicked lifestyle,
God's going to bring them judgment, they're going to be cast into hellfire as well, so
the false prophet's been compared to the fallen angels, the false prophet's been
compared to the destruction of the wicked world with the flood, and they've been compared
to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, now the reason I say this is, can you please
turn to, keep your finger there, turn to the book of Jude, turn to the book of Jude, because
the book of Jude only has one chapter, it's not even like, you know, it's one chapter,
it's a small book, but the entire book of Jude is dedicated to false prophets, okay,
and it's basically, you know, if you compare 2 Peter chapter 2 and Jude, it's almost identical,
there are so many similarities, even the structure of what is written is almost identical, the
reason I want to, I just want to turn to Jude chapter 4, because there is, you know, I hate
false doctrine, I really do, I really do hate heresy, okay, and I don't know, because look,
I've got friends that believe this, okay, but I don't know how some people believe,
and I'm, if I was talking about this too much, and you tell me, Pastor Kevin, you're going
over it too much, alright, but it's crazy, some people believe that fallen angels married
women on this earth, okay, they could, you know, they had intimate relationships, and
out of that union, these giants roamed the earth, people believe this myth, people believe
these fables, it's very popular, okay, they say, why do people believe this?
It's mainly coming from the book of Jude, let's have a look at the book of Jude, and
let's compare it with 2 Peter chapter 2, Jude verse number 4, it says, for there are certain
men crept in unawares, but the false prophets, who were before of old, ordained to this condemnation,
that's like damnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ, so we saw that as well in 2
Peter, they denied Jesus Christ, verse number 5, I would therefore put you in remembrance,
though you once knew this, how that the Lord having saved the people out of the land of
Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not, and so we see another judgment here,
the judgment of Egypt, okay, and again, you know how we're comparing judgments of historical
stories that we know of, comparing to the judgment of the false prophets, okay, but look at verse
number 6, and the angels which kept not their first estates, but left their own habitation,
he have reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of that great day,
so here we have the fallen angels mentioned, right, but look at verse number 7, now what we
have in 2 Peter chapter 2, before it goes to the angels, and before it goes to Sodom and Gomorrah,
in 2 Peter chapter 2 we have the wicked world destroyed by Noah's flood, the flood of Noah,
okay, so we have that to break up those verses, but in Jude we don't have that to break up the
verses, and so straight after that we go to verse number 7, even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities
about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh,
and this is what homosexuality is, it's strange, they give themselves to strange flesh,
this is why that word queer is used, queer means strange, okay, strange flesh, but then it says,
are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire, listen the fire
that fell on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were not, it's not just a volcano, it's the fire,
it's the eternal fires of hell that fell upon those cities, okay, but I want to, let's read
verse number 6 and 7 one more time, just alone, just alone, okay, and the angels which kept not
their first estate, but left their own habitation, he have reserved in everlasting change, and the
darkness unto the judgment of the great day, even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them
in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, going after strange flesh, and so
the people that teach this crazy doctrine, these crazy fables, they'll see these verses together,
and they'll say, we'll see the angels were judged even like the people of Sodom which went after
strange flesh, and so the angels they'll say went after strange flesh, being human women, and then
they had that union with the Giants, okay, so I can understand if you're just reading verse number
7, you might end up with a crazy idea like that, but that's what second Peter chapter 2 is great,
and listen whenever you have parallel passages in the Bible, always compare the two things,
because they help bring to light what is being taught, okay, verse number 6 in Jude, verse number
6 is not, the angels are not being compared to Sodom and Gomorrah, no, okay, the false prophet
is being compared, the judgment of the false prophet is being compared to the judgment that
fell upon Egypt, and then their judgment is being compared to the judgment that fell upon the false,
sorry, the fallen angels, and then their judgment is being compared to the judgment that fell upon
Sodom and Gomorrah, okay, so it's not linking the angels to Sodom and Gomorrah, it's linking the
angels to the false prophets, it's linking Sodom and Gomorrah to the false prophets, okay, so that's
why second Peter chapter 2 is great, because it has between that, the destruction that fell upon
the old earth with the flood in Noah's day, okay, so you can see that separation much clearer in
second Peter chapter 2, alright, that's a bit of a sidetrack thing, but I hate that doctrine, I
think it's so stupid, okay, please go to second Peter chapter 2 verse number 7, so we finished off
speaking about the destruction that fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and we know there was one man
there that was pulled out of that city, that was Lot, so Lot gets mentioned here in verse number 7,
and delivered just Lot, just Lot, boy if you read Lot in the Old Testament, you're not going to say
to me that Lot was a just man, just means justified, justified before God, okay, this is why the New
Testament is great, it adds light, hey he was justified, Lot was a saved man, and he was living
in that wicked world, he put up, he accepted the wicked lifestyle around him, he got used to his
environment, and this is why we need preaching against the wickedness and the filth of this
world, against those that go off the strange flesh, so we don't become used to it, churches
are becoming used to it, they're even accepting homosexual pastors and preachers to preach before
them, this is not to be accepted by the people of God, just Lot, look at this, vexed with the filthy
conversation of the wicked, he was in that city, but his soul was being vexed, it was upsetting him,
okay, just looking at that stuff, but he says well that's life, that's the world, he put up with it,
you know, but he vexes, what does it say about that kind of lifestyle, it says it's filthy,
the filthy conversation of the wicked, listen homosexuality is wicked, it's filthy, it's dirty,
this is why so many people of that lifestyle have so many diseases, you know, AIDS and things like
this, you know, it's a filthy lifestyle, this is why suicide is so high, so high in that community,
because they know they're filthy, they know their lifestyle is disgusting, okay, it's a filthy
lifestyle, and listen I'm a preacher of the Bible, okay, I'm not going to sugarcoat what God says,
he calls it filthy, he calls it strange, and God brought the fires of, the everlasting fires to
destroy those people, okay, that's what the Bible says, right, we come to church to hear the Bible
preached, that's why we come to church, we don't come to church to be sugarcoated, and say well
that's all good, you know, love is love, no God is love, God is love, and God said that lifestyle
is filthy, that's not love, look at verse number 8, further proves that Lot was saved, for that
righteous man, wow he's righteous, yeah he's righteous, because hey it's not our righteousness
that saves us, right, what happens to Lot, we know that he lived in that filthy city for so long,
he got out, he got drunk, he committed incest, I mean he did not go to heaven on his own
righteousness, let's put it that way, okay, and but the reason it's called the righteous man is
because he went to heaven through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, when you believe on Jesus Christ,
you believe that he died for your sins, that he was buried, rose again three days later,
that he's had victory over hell, over death, over sin, and we go because of his victory,
we go to heaven because of his righteousness, what an amazing thing, how wickedness was given
to Jesus, and Jesus, his righteousness was given to us, what an amazing swap, I'd swap that any
time, okay, and once that's been swapped, hey we go to heaven because of the righteousness of Christ,
for the righteous man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to
day with their unlawful deeds, and listen that sin, homosexuality, is an unlawful deed, what does
that mean, it's illegal, you know in God's laws it was a crime, a crime punishable by death, you know
even in Australia we had the Buggery Act, that was a sin, that was a crime punishable to death, it's
illegal, it was illegal in our nation, it's illegal to God, it's unlawful, it's an unlawful deed, it's
a crime in other words, okay, it's a crime, but today, you know, I mean there are so many things
that today are legal, abortion, killing babies in a mother's womb, you know these are unlawful deeds,
we live in a, boy, I don't think we're far from Sodom and Gomorrah, I don't know how much longer
God will withhold his judgment, maybe the judgment has already begun, I don't know, look at verse
number nine, the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the
unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished, and so you know when these false prophets come to
a good church, there are people of God, and God's going to help deliver the godly out of temptations,
okay, and those that are unjust, again just repeating to us, they're going to have the day of
judgment, they're going to be punished on the day of judgment, again these false prophets that are
being compared to, you know, the fallen angels and to those that left to the destruction of Egypt,
and the wicked world of the flood, etc, Sodom and Gomorrah, these people will be punished by God,
there is a coming punishment, alright, verse number 10, but chiefly them that walk after the
flesh in the lust of uncleanness, now what else are they like, and despise government, now I don't
know, we really need to hear this teaching today, you know, I'm not like, I'm not like purposely
trying to preach that we need to obey the government or anything like that, especially in
this day and age, it's just the verses that we're coming across is teaching this stuff, right, these
people despise government, okay, they will tell you, don't obey the government, they'll tell you
that, now look, I'll tell you, don't obey the government if they're making you, if they're causing
you to sin, if they're asking you to do something ungodly, and God's asking you, yeah, that's when we
should not obey the government, but when it says here that they don't, when they despise government,
it's saying here they despise authority, they despise authority, look, it says presumptuous are
they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities, what are dignities, dignities
is someone of an elevated rank, office or station, okay, so they hate any authority, okay, now look,
there are wicked people in governments, I understand, there are wicked laws passed by
government, I'm not saying you have to love that, okay, but governments is an institution that God
put in this world, whether it's a good government, whether it's a wicked government, brethren, it's
what God has instituted in our world for some level of law and order, okay, but not only that,
government or authority comes in many shapes and forms, right, when it comes to children,
your parents have authority over you, when it comes to the local church, the pastor has authority
there, when it comes to the workplace, your employer has the authority there, the false
prophet hates authority, he doesn't, he's self-willed, right, he comes and he speaks
bad of the pastor maybe in the church, he elevates himself, he hates having anybody
telling him what he can or can't do, look at verse number 11, whereas angels which are greater
in power and might bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord, against who? The
dignities, the authorities, even the angels of God are careful not to rail, not to make accusations
against authorities, okay, now we have to be careful of this because there is a time to call
out people in their sin, there is a time to call out false prophets, false teachers, there is a
time to call out the government but when we call out people, especially when we call out authorities
and we say, look, Jesus had no problem doing that, John the Baptist had no problem doing that,
the prophets of old had no problem doing that, it's just that when we do it, we have to be careful
like the angels not to do it by making a railing accusation, what's railing? False accusations,
making things up, making someone look worse than they are, you know, lying about that person,
even if that person is wicked, even if that person is a damnable heretic, we have to be careful when
we accuse that person, we don't do it with railing, okay, but hey, the false prophet,
he's got no problem railing, he's got no problem making things up about a person, even if he's
trying to preach against someone false, he's got no problem making up situations or causing people
to feel a certain way which is not true, okay, the angels of God are careful to do that and it's said
that they're greater in power and might, you know, than the average human being, look at verse number
12, but these, so these false prophets as natural brute beasts, what's a beast? An animal, what's a
brute? Stupid, okay, stupid, hey, these false prophets, the Bible says, hey, these are as, as
they are like, naturally like animals, they are like dumb animals, they are like stupid animals,
made to be taken and destroyed, again, these guys are not saved, okay, speak evil of the things that
they understand not and shall utterly perish in their own corruption, so false prophets, you know,
are just dumb, stupid animals, did you know the Bible says these things about people, I mean,
you go to your average church, they're not going to preach through 2 Peter chapter 2, they're not
going to say, hey, homosexuality is filthy, they're not going to say it's strange, they're not going to
say false prophets are dumb, stupid animals, okay, I don't know why, look, it's in the Bible, these
are the words of God, I didn't come and put that in your Bible today, it's right there, these are
the words of God, this is how he feels about these people, says they shall utterly perish in their
own corruption, you know, they corrupt themselves, you know, they're going to be held accountable to
all the corruption, all the destruction they've caused and they're going to be thrown into the
lake of fire, they're going to be destroyed, it said speak evil of the things that they understand
not, so they'll preach the Bible but they don't understand it, you know, and they'll just twist
the scriptures, things like that, let's keep going, verse number 13, and shall receive the reward of
unrighteousness as they that count at pleasure to riot in the daytime, spots they are and blemishes,
sporting themselves with their own deceivance while they feast on you, that's why they come to
church, they love to just take advantage of God's people, what a disgusting people, right, they
find, hey, these people are trying to live godly, these are the children of God, hey, these are the
people I'm going to attack, that's what they think, these are the people I'm going to feast upon,
these are the people I'm going to make merchandise off, man, how wicked can you be to hate even the
people of God in such ways, now please keep your finger then go to Ephesians chapter 5, go to
Ephesians chapter 5, verse number 25, because it spoke about this false prophets being spots,
spots they are and blemishes, okay, spots they are and blemishes, Ephesians 5 25 says husbands
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself
a glorious church, not having spots or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy
and without blemish, so what we see there, Christ is seeking that the church, hey, that New Life
Baptist Church would be a glorious church, that would be a church without any spots, a church
without any blemishes, so when we see the false prophet there, what are they? They are spots and
they are blemishes, so what's it saying? If we want to have a glorious church, when the false
prophet reveals himself, we don't put up with it, we kick that guy out of the church, say hey,
you have no part here with God's people, you've come here to hurt the people of God, you've come
here to make us spots, to make us blemishes, you've come here to make this church no longer
glorious before Jesus Christ, these people need to be cast out of the church, kicked out of the
church, now I say that and I mean that, I mean that, if a false prophet reveals himself like
that, he's out of this church, as your pastor, I promise you, I will not allow these people in our
church, but I have to also put a condition there, I just got to, you know, make sure you understand,
because just because someone visits our church, okay, someone comes and let's say they have a
false gospel, they have a false Jesus, they have another spirit, okay, they come in and even in
conversation, they bring up some top and you know they're wrong, you know that their answer, what
they believe is not Bible-based, that doesn't mean that person is a false prophet, it doesn't mean
it's your job to drive that person out of church, you know what, my desire is that many people come
to this church of many kinds of backgrounds, with many experiences, they will come to this church
and they will grow here, they will be able to get rid of their false doctrines and if they're not
saved, they would get saved, listen if someone's not saved in the church, don't make them feel
horrible, hey tell that person lovingly, listen can I please share the gospel with you, you know,
and if they're like, but I'm already saved, just like look, just humour me, just allow me, let's
just see where we have common ground and if we find somewhere where we're not, we don't have
common ground, hey let's work this out, let's talk about it, okay, I just want to be sure, hey there
can be nothing more loving than making sure somebody is saved, okay, so just because someone
walks in and believes some weird things, might not be saved, come from some crazy church background,
don't think immediately this is a false prophet, the false prophet seeks to elevate himself, the
false prophet seeks to put himself in a position of teaching, of authority, of preaching, okay,
that's the false prophet, just because someone says something that is wrong, doesn't mean he's
a reprobate, doesn't mean he's a false prophet, doesn't mean he's a natural brute beast, we all
had to learn, you know, for those, I got saved early, I got saved, you know, I never had that
problem but many of you guys came from false churches, many of you got cleaned up because
you listen to good preaching online, you know, good YouTube preaching, a lot of people have not
had that experience, maybe some of you have spent years and years, days after days listening to good
preaching and got yourself fixed, okay, now use all those hours you use to get yourself fixed and
get yourself right and to realise, hey, I believe the false gospel and I got saved, you need to
afford that to other people that come to into the church, they believe false things, give them time,
okay, they're not necessarily going to be like us after day one, they need time, you know, preaching
through 2 Peter chapter 2, a lot of people will be turned off by that preaching, give them time,
if people don't like it and they leave the church, so be it, okay, but let them make that decision,
it's not for you to drive people out unless they're a false prophet, okay, I will cast out
the false prophet, I did not spend the last three years building up this church, trying to grow this
church, you know, serving our Lord God, serving you to allow just some false prophet to get here,
you know, and preach whatever he wants, preach on Damndel heresies, you know, make a merchandise
out of you and no one is allowed to buy and sell in this church, you got a business, great, make
money out of your business, but don't bring your business to the church, you know, don't look at
your brothers and sisters that, oh, these are my customers, they're going to make me rich, that's
a wicked way, that's the attitude of the false prophet. Verse number 14, having eyes full of
adultery, hey, so look, when they preach, they just have sexual perverted thoughts about
everybody, eyes full of adultery, that they're trying to, you know, destroy marriages, I mean,
how many stories do I know of some pastor giving marriage advice to a husband and wife, he ends up
sleeping with a wife, destroying the family, destroying, that's a false prophet, okay, it's
not just a Christian that fell, a guy that's pastoring, trying to give godly counsel, hey,
everything that he preached before that were faint words, he was a fake, he was seeking to
have that adulterous relationship in his church, he says having eyes full of adultery and that
cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable souls, he's going for the unstable, he's trying to work
out, hey, if you're strong, if you stand strong in the word of God, he doesn't want to talk to you
anymore, he's looking for the guy that, he's looking for the person that's unstable, hey,
that's the baby in Christ, the newly saved person, hey, that's the children of the church,
he's looking to beguile these people and hearts, they have exercised with covetous practices,
cursed children, okay, so their heart is covetous, they lust, they desire, hey, maybe it's not money
so much, they could just desire being a pastor, they desire just having authority in the church,
that's what they covet after potentially, you know, but then it says cursed children,
there's a lot of thoughts as to what this is about, cursed children, I don't think it's that
complicated, they're cursed, okay, they're going to be damned but they're cursed children and I
told you these false prophets here, these false prophets that have been named here are reprobates,
okay, please take your Bibles and go to 1 John chapter 3, 1 John chapter 3,
1 John chapter 3 verse 10, 1 John chapter 3 verse 10, in this the children of God are manifest and
the children of the devil, whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that
loveth not his brother, so what we see here in verse number 10, we have people that are children
of God and we have people that are children of the devil, okay, now there is a third group here
and that's the majority and that's just children of Adam, okay, all of us when we were born into
this world, we were children of our mothers and fathers, children of Adam, children of man, okay,
even Jesus Christ described himself as the son of man, describing his humanity, okay,
but then there comes a time when you're born into someone's family, hopefully the gospel gets
preached to you, you believe the Word of God, you believe on Jesus Christ, what does the Bible say,
and as many as received him to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name, the moment you believe on Jesus Christ in his gospel, you become a child
of God, a son of God, and listen, once you're born into a family, you can never be unborn,
once you've been born with your mum and dad, doesn't matter how good or bad your relationship
is with them, they will always be your parents, okay, even if you run away from home and you never
see them for the rest of your life, they're still your parents, hey, once you're born into God's
family, you can never be unborn out of God's family, even if you have a bad relationship
with God, he will never cast you into hell, even if you say God, I just don't want to live this
life, hey, he'll chastise you, he'll correct you as his child, you might live a destroyed life,
you know, quite a ruined life, hey, but when you die, you're still going to go to heaven because
you're a child of God, but then the most scariest part of all this, there is another criteria,
people that are born into the family of the devil, okay, the devil becomes their father,
when Jesus Christ was arguing against certain Jews, he said, hey, your father the devil,
you do the works of your father, the devil, okay, and the Bible tells us in 1 John 3, 10,
these are children of the devil, hey, once you've been born into a family, you cannot be unborn,
once someone becomes a reprobate, they were always a reprobate, they've rejected God,
God has rejected them, spiritually speaking, they're born into the family of the devil,
and so when we look at the false prophet in 2 Peter chapter 2, verse number 14, it said they
are cursed children, you know, I believe quite strongly that cursed children there is referring
to the fact that they are children of the devil, the devil's being cursed, they're going to be
cursed along with the devil, okay, look at verse number 15, which have forsaken the right way and
gone astray following the way of Balaam, the son of Bosa, who loved the wages of unrighteousness,
so we go back to Balaam as another example, hey, he was someone that was doing it for the money,
and so the false prophets are being described here just like him, hey, they do it for financial gain,
verse number 16, but was rebuked for his iniquity, the dumb ass, the ass there is the donkey,
I was talking about this with brother Michael recently, right, he was saying the dumb ass,
yeah, that's speaking about Balaam's ass, okay, the donkey, that spoke to him, remember it said
that the natural brute beasts, stupid or dumb, you know, the dumb ass there, speaking with man's voice
forbade the madness of the prophet, now lots of opinions out there whether Balaam was a real
prophet of God or whether he was a false prophet, it's hard to be all the way one way, kind of is a
little bit, okay, but if you were to ask me, I lean more toward him being a false prophet, and
it's basically 2 Peter chapter 2 that confirms that a little bit more for me, okay, because I
mean we're seeing the wicked, we're seeing the false prophet compared to some very wicked people,
and now he's being compared to Balaam, okay, now not only this, it says there that the,
when the, when the donkey spoke to him, it says forbade the madness of the prophet, now madness
there, he's not talking about the prophet was angry, you know, it's saying that when he's mad,
he's insane, he's gone crazy, okay, he's not mentally there, he's lost his sanity, okay,
that's talking about the madness of the prophet, now please go to Romans chapter 1 for me, Romans
chapter 1 verse 28, and so this leans toward, you know, the belief that Balaam definitely was
a false prophet, and I do, I do lean that way, but if you believe differently, I don't think it's a
big deal, there's a lot of different opinions as to what people believe about Balaam, but it says
in Romans chapter 1 verse 28, speaking about the reprobate, it says and even as they did not like
to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which
are not convenient, so the reprobate, okay, first they hate God, they don't want to retain God in
their knowledge, they don't want to think about God anymore, they knew who God was, they don't
want to think about him, so God gives them over to a reprobate, what does reprobate mean? Rejected
mind, okay, they go insane, they haven't got the same level of sanity, you know, mentally as a
normal person, they become as these natural brute beasts, they become like animals, you know, human
beings, like, you know, when you think of, think of an animal, you think of a lion, the lion doesn't
give any second thought, when he finds an animal to eat, it just goes in there, claws and teeth,
you know, rips that animal apart, right, it just acts on instinct like that, okay, a human being
does not think like that, a human being has, you know, thinks, generally thinks about others, you
know, and has a natural care for your common man, even if you're not saved, there's a natural sort
of care for the common man, okay, this is why we have families and friendships and all these kinds
of things, right, the animal does not think like that, and so when somebody goes mad like that,
a false prophet, it's because they've been given over to a reprobate mind, they no longer think
like a natural human being, they're more like an animal, you know, they look at human beings as
something that I can take advantage of, not how can I bear help, how can I serve this person,
how can I bless this person, how can I be friendly to this person, no, whatever acts of friendship
may appear, my feigned words, it's all fake, to take advantage of other people, you know,
whether sexually, whether financially, whether just the enjoyment of seeing somebody destroyed,
okay, and so when we look at Balaam, it says that he got mad, he became insane, he lost his mind,
and that seems to go well together with the fact that he may have at that point been given over
to that reprobate mind, alright, verse number 17, these are wells without water, so you go to
a well because you want water, you want to drink, okay, you want to be nourished, you want to be
sustained, you want to get something out of that well, hey, but the false prophet will look like
a well, but he's not going to give you anything of substance, there's no value in that person,
it says clouds, they're clouds that are carried with a tempest, normally clouds, you know,
are full of water, full of rain, okay, and the rain clouds, they don't travel as quickly as
clouds that are not rain clouds, okay, and so these clouds are being carried away with a tempest,
there's no substance in these clouds, to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever, okay,
they have a reservation in eternal darkness, the Bible also speaks of the outer darkness,
which is the lake of fire, this is their end, verse number 18, for when they speak great swirling
words of vanity, hey, that's what they like, great swirling words of vanity, have you ever come
across people, now look, I encourage you to say things like praise God, praise Jesus, glory to
God, hallelujah, hey, that's awesome, we ought to give God thanks, have you ever met people,
that's all they say, I can think of individuals, you know, in my past churches, where they are
wicked people, they are sinful people, they are causing divisions in churches, they are fighting
with people in churches, alright, I'm thinking about certain individuals in my past churches,
and you talk to them, praise God, glory to God, hallelujah, it's like, boy, are you really that
close to God, no, it's feigned words, it's fake, you know, these people, because they don't know
how to be spiritual, they don't know what it means to be close to God, they don't know what it means
to be a believer, they think if I just turn it on somehow, everyone will be fooled into thinking
I'm a Christian, but they really stand out, because it's overboard, it's too much, it's like
nobody's that happy, nobody's that injured, you know, nobody's living like that, it's just too much,
they get up to pray, praise God for your glory forever and ever, it's just, you know, it just
keeps going on and on, no substance, world without water, you know, it's all emotional driven,
there's nothing that you can ground yourself on doctrine, okay, they speak great swelling
words of vanity, they allure, verse 18, through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness,
those, so pay attention now, the next few verses are a little bit challenging, and you might mistake
them to be about the false prophet, but it's not about the false prophet, it's about those that
they deceive, okay, it's about the people they deceive, I'll just show you in a minute, okay,
through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error,
so let me break down verse 18, at the end of it when it says those that were clean escaped
from them who live in error, those that were clean escaped are speaking about the believers,
speaking about the people in the church, okay, now if we look at verse 18 again, it says they
allure through the lusts of the flesh, okay, so they cause people to follow after them, okay,
but who, who do they allure? Those that were clean escaped, okay, so let's break this down,
so people come to church generally, you know, they got saved, they're trying to live godly,
they're trying to fix up their lives, and listen, just because someone's a bit off in their
lifestyle, it's not you for you to tell somebody else that they're not living righteously, that's
not your position, we're all at different stages in our Christian life, we're all trying to learn
the Bible, you know, some grow faster than others, some need more time, okay, we all have different
backgrounds, okay, and we're all trying to escape, what does it say there? Error, we're trying to
escape, living in error, we're trying to live righteously now, okay, but these false prophets
come and they allure those people that are trying to keep themselves clean, okay, they're trying to,
hey, they look at Christians and they say, wow, these people are trying to live righteously,
they're not trying to live in error, I'm going to cause them to live back in error, I'm going to
cause them to go back into their sins, that's what the false prophet does, okay, so once you
understand that, you can understand the rest of the passage here, look at verse number 19,
while they promise them liberty, so that them are those that are trying to live righteously,
so the false prophet promises them liberty, hey man, we have liberty in Christ, we have freedom
in Christ, just go ahead and give yourself tattoos, even though the Bible says not to put
markings in your flesh, oh, we're free in Christ, hey, there's liberty, it's like, oh wow, alright,
maybe I can go back and add another tattoo to my body, okay, no, that's what the false prophet
does, right, they promise liberty, they promise freedom, hey, if you follow after me, hey, we can
go back and live in our own lifestyles, we're free, I've heard that, I've gone to a Christian
school, and that was being preached, it's like, it's basically saying, you're free to sin,
because you've been saved, crazy, these are false prophets, they promise liberty, let's keep going,
they themselves are the servants of corruption, so they serve corruption, they promise, hey,
I'm going to help you live a free life, but then, they're servants themselves of corruption,
for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought into bondage, so he's promising liberty,
but he's causing people to go back into bondage, into the bondage of sin, into the bondage of a
lifestyle of error, is what they're trying to do, okay, now let's keep going, verse number 20,
now verse number 20 is not about the false prophet, it's about the person that the false
prophet is corrupting, okay, for if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, now
let's stop there, so they've escaped the pollutions of the world, who has escaped the pollutions of
the world, again, verse number 18, those who escaped from them who live in error, so it's the
same group of people that have escaped, you know, living in error, the same people that have escaped
the pollutions of the world, these are the victims of the false prophet, okay, these are the people
that have been deceived by the false prophet, for if after they have escaped the pollution of the
world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled
therein, so the false prophet gets them to be entangled back into their old ways, and overcome,
the latter end is worse with them than in, than the beginning, so they end up becoming worse,
when they got saved and they cleaned up their life afterwards, they end up going into worse
sins, because they followed after the false prophet, okay, verse number 22, sorry, verse number 21,
for it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have
known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them, okay, now the way of
righteousness here is not about salvation, again, it's about our living, living godly, okay, so
they've learned how to live godly, they've come to church, they've been challenged on their
sins, they've cleaned up their life, they're living more for Jesus, they're living more
righteously, they've learned that way, but because they've gone back into the sins, it would have
been better if they just didn't learn that, is what it's saying, because they were deceived by
that false prophet, okay, so what this is saying is that obviously because you're children of God,
we're going to be chastised by God, but us who have a greater advantage, us who go to a Bible
believing church, us who have Bibles in our hands that have heard great preaching, we're going to be
judged heavier, you know, than somebody who's just been saved and is committing those same sins,
if we go back to some old sins we used to be at, God's going to chastise us even more, because
we've had more opportunities to hear the way of righteousness, okay, it's like me as a pastor,
you know, I've got a position where if I commit a sin and you commit the same sin, I'm probably
going to be judged harsher by God, you know, he's probably going to bring the chastisement heavier
upon me and my life than upon somebody else in the church, okay, let's keep going, verse number 22,
but it had happened unto them according to the true proverb, the dog is returned to his own
vomit again, and the sow, the sow is a female pig that was washed to her wallowing in the mire,
and so the false prophet will cause us to be like a dog that returns back to its own vomit,
okay, the vomit represents our sinful lifestyle, the vomit represents our life before Jesus Christ,
the false prophet will cause us to go back and eat up that vomit again, like a dog that returns
back to his or a pig that's been washed and just goes back to the mud and just gets filthy all
over again, okay, so we have to, we're being warned at the end of that passage, we're being warned
of how the false prophet will affect you, we have to get this guy out of our church because
he's going to cause us to go back, back to the vomit, cause us to get back dirty,
living in that sinful lifestyle once again, that's the dangers of the false prophet,
once again brethren, let's just be mindful, be careful, not everybody that has a different
belief than us that believes a false gospel is a false prophet, just those that are seeking to
elevate themselves, those that have become reprobate, okay, those that have gone mad,
those that have no escape of damnation, those that look at people of God and say well I just
want to defile them, I just want to destroy them, I just want to be made rich out of these people,
hey those people, those people are false prophets, okay, let's pray.