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Man, the title of my sermon this morning is false prophets among us. False prophets among us. Look at verse 1 there in 2 Peter chapter 2. But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction. Notice what it says here, that there shall be false prophets among you. He didn't say that there might be. He said there were false prophets among the people back in the Old Testament and he said that there shall be among you also. Now I've been preaching this for a long time and one thing that I've noticed is that no matter how much I preach this, people don't really realize how true this is until they see it with their own eyes. This is one of those things that you almost have to experience for yourself before you really believe it. But if you're smart, I mean, you'll just see what the Bible is saying and just understand that there are going to be infiltrators. There are going to be Judas Iscariots. There are going to be tares amongst the wheat, the children of the wicked one who are there even among us, even feasting with us, even fellowshipping with us. And the Bible says that these wicked people are there to bring in damnable heresies. They are there to beguile unstable souls. They are there to hurt and to destroy. That's why they've come. And we have to understand that we can't just assume that every single person in church is a great person or that every single pastor who gets up and preaches the clear plan of salvation that he's a good person. Look, I guarantee you that Judas Iscariot preached the correct plan of salvation many times. He was with them for three and a half years. He was side by side every single day. He was sent out two by two. You know, I don't know who his soul winning partner was when we get up in heaven. So who was paired up with Judas, you know, you know, probably all of them, because I'm sure they probably rotated through the soul winning partners when Jesus sent him out two by two and they didn't suspect Judas at all. At the Last Supper, they said, is it I Lord? They suspected themselves more than even Judas. So we need to heed this warning here when he tells us there shall be false prophets among you. Now in second Peter two and Jude, he goes through the attributes of these type of people and what they're like. And I think one mistake that you could make when you're trying to understand these passages is to think that one person is going to fit all of these things. There are so many different bad things listed in second Peter two and in the book of Jude, it'd be pretty tough for one person to do all of that. Okay. What I believe he's doing is listing off different kinds of false prophets. These are the types of things that they're going to do. He's talking about a whole bunch of different people and the attributes that each of them might have. But the Bible says here that these people will bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them. Some would even go so far as to even deny the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction. Now let me just make this crystal clear. These people are not saved. A lot of people would get confused when they see where it says the Lord bought them. But what we need to understand is that Jesus Christ has paid the price for everyone's sins whether they're saved or not. You know, the Bible is crystal clear that Jesus tasted death for every man, that he died on the cross, not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world. So yes, Jesus bought them in the sense that he did pay for their sins. Salvation is available to them just like salvation is available to everyone until a certain point where they die without Christ or when they're given over to a reprobate mind. But the Bible is clear that these people are damned. It says in verse two, many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. So these people give Christianity a bad name. They give Baptist a bad name. It says in verse three, through covetousness shall they with fainted words make merchandise of you. Fainted means fake. So these people will say the right things and that's how they'll trick you and make a fool out of you and make merchandise of you. It says whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not and their damnation slumbereth not. So these people are not saved. Their damnation slumbereth not. And then look who he compares them to just to prove that these people are unsaved infiltrators. He says for of 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. That's who these people are being compared to. Then in verse number five, it says he 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. Verse six, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensemble unto those that after should live ungodly. So look, these people are compared to demons. They're compared to the people that were disobedient before the flood and they're being compared even to those who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. Now flip over if you would to Jude, just a few pages to the right, we're going to go back and forth between these two books. These two books are what's known as a parallel passage and a parallel passage is when we have two chapters that talk about the same things in the same order. The same subject matter is being covered and it's great when you find a parallel passage in the Bible because you can compare them side by side and learn so much more when you see both angles. Look at the book of Jude. It says in verse three, beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. What's he saying there? Look, I would rather write a positive letter unto you. I would rather preach a positive sermon unto you where we can just talk about the grace of God and how great it is to be saved, but it's needful to write and warn you of these dangerous people. The Bible says in verse four, there are certain men crept in unawares. That's why we have to cover this. You see a lot of people, they only want to hear a positive sermon. They want to hear nice things. Look, we're mindful to preach a lot of nice things, but then there are things that's needful for us to preach. You know, whether it's what we want to hear or not, it's important. It's needful. It has to happen. So he said there are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old, ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. So the Bible here, when it says that they were before of old, ordained to this condemnation, that this condemnation is the condemnation that's being delivered in Jude. Jude is a book that's condemning these people. What does it mean to condemn someone? You know, to basically say how bad they are and how guilty they are and how wicked they are. So they're being condemned in second Peter two. They're being condemned in the book of Jude. They're before of old, ordained to that condemnation. Why? Because every person who fits this bill, you know, Jude's talking about them. Second Peter two is talking about them. And the Bible says in verse five, I will 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. Now why are they before of old, ordained to this condemnation? Because they were the same kind of people back then and they were condemned this way. And in Jesus's time and in the time of the apostles and even in 2018, these people still exist. They're being knew under the sun. And the Bible says here that the important thing to remember is that when the people came out of the land of Egypt, God afterward destroyed them that believed not. Now what that means is, and this is a very important key, especially later in the sermon to remember this, is that when the people left Egypt, there were a lot of unsaved unbelievers who left Egypt with them. Because the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt afterward destroyed them that believe not. Now Egypt represents the world or worldliness or just kind of the ungodly systems of this world throughout the Bible. It pictures that. So there are going to be people who outwardly make a separation and they say, oh yeah, look, look at me. I'm leaving the world. Oh look, I just got saved. Oh look, I'm joining the church. But that doesn't mean that they're sincere. There are people who believe not, yet they'll leave Egypt. There are people who believe not, yet they'll cross the Red Sea, which pictures baptism. Because remember in First Corinthians 10, it says that they were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. So it's a picture there of people who are, they're leaving Egypt, they're getting baptized, they're part of the church in the wilderness, but in their heart, they're what? An unbeliever. And that is what makes them unsaved is that they don't believe on Christ because whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. But there were people even amongst them that believed not, it says in verse five. Then in verse six he says, and the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, under the judgment of the great day. Again, the demons and fallen angels. Verse seven, even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise, also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion and speak evil of dignities. This is a pretty important verse here to show you just how low these people can go. Just how bad these people can be. Just how perverted they can be, these false prophets among us or these Judases or infiltrators that would creep in. The Bible even says that they would defile the flesh like unto Sodom and Gomorrah did because he mentions the people in Sodom and Gomorrah going after what? Strange flesh. And then the next verse he says, likewise. What does likewise mean in verse eight? Likewise means the same way. The same type of thing, in like manner, in the same way these filthy dreamers defile the flesh. He's saying that they defile the flesh the same way they did it in Sodom and Gomorrah. What is that talking about? That's talking about men with men, women with women. It's talking about those who would even harm children. And this is the seriousness of how wicked these people can possibly be. The Bible says that they will even defile the flesh like Sodom and Gomorrah. It says in verse number seven, likewise, all these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion and speak evil of dignities. Now in second Peter two in the parallel passage, it didn't say they despise dominion. It said they despise government. Now what does that mean to despise dominion or despise government? Basically we would say this in 2018 as they despise authority. They hate authority in any form. Okay. These are people that are disobedient to their parents. These are people who have no respect for the pastor. They don't want the pastor to have any authority. These are people who go to work and they don't respect the boss at work. They just hate anybody telling them what to do, whether it's a, it's a woman doesn't want her husband to tell her what to do or a child doesn't want their parents to tell them what to do. Any area of life. These people hate authority and anyway, you know, brother Bruce is going to be preaching this Wednesday night on Romans 13, which talks about legitimate authorities in our life and how the powers that be are ordained of God. You know, we are not anarchist. Okay. Obviously our current government in the United States is wicked, perverted and out of control, but we shouldn't despise government in general. You know, we might look at a certain disgusting leader or a wicked ruler, but in general we have to understand that God has put certain authority in our life, whether that's a parent, a husband, a boss at work, a pastor, whatever in different spheres of our life. These people hate authority. They despise government. They despise dominion. And the Bible says in verse nine, yet Michael, the Archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, the Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not, but what they know naturally as brute beasts in those things, they corrupt themselves, woe unto them. For they've gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the era of Balaam for reward and perished in the gainsaying of Korah. And you say, what is it that motivates people to creep in? You know, the false prophets among us. And look, this could go for pastors who pretend to be a man of God, but they're just wicked infiltrators that just set out to deceive and teach lies. This could be people who come into an independent fundamental Baptist church and they're just there to commit adultery. They're just there to spread heresy. They're just there to corrupt people and cause problems. What's the motive? Well, the Bible tells us here that they've gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the era of Balaam for reward and perished in the gainsaying of Korah. Now these are three totally different examples. And let's look at these three examples. First of all, what was the error of Balaam? The Bible says that Balaam loved the wages of unrighteousness. And here it says they've followed after the way of Balaam for reward. So some people's motive is money. Now you can see this with your false prophets on TV, right? They make millions of dollars. It's pretty easy to see a financial motive to get up and preach lies when you're making a million dollars every year, when you're living in a mansion, when you're flying around a private jet, you could see the motive there for that type of false prophet. But on a smaller scale, there can even be false prophets who creep in to make merchandise of God's people in other ways, like for example, stealing money from the offering plate. You know, some people could infiltrate like Judas. He handled the offerings with Jesus and his disciples. It says that he had the bag, he was like their treasurer. So he had a motive of getting in there and stealing money. The Bible tells us that he stole money. Judas is scaring himself. So Judas was like Balaam in that sense. He loved the wages of unrighteousness, or it could be people that could creep in to steal from other church members, even if they're not stealing from the offering, maybe they're just building people's confidence as a church member. Maybe they're going to rip them off in business or maybe just actually literally pick their pocket. You know, everybody got your wallet close to you right now because a lot of people just think to themselves, Oh, you know, we're in church, we can just trust everybody. Let me tell you something, there are people that would creep into churches that are there to beguile unstable souls. They have eyes full of adultery and they defile the flesh, even as Sodom and Gomorrah. And let me tell you something, I would not leave my kids at somebody's house, I'm talking my little kids, leave them at somebody's house, Oh, they're from church. There's my babysitter. You know, recently we had somebody in our church was saying, Hey, you know, I want somebody to watch my kids or I'm willing to pay money, you know, to have somebody babysit my little tiny kids. And you know, I said, Hey, we don't do that here. We don't do that. You know, I said, you know what, if you want to pay somebody to watch your little toddler, you'd be better off to just open the phone book, just open the phone book. Because I said, we don't want to go around giving people the idea that that's what we do here, that we just drop our kids off with anybody from church. And I know this isn't necessarily popular, but let me tell you something. I'm not up here just preaching this. I'm living it because I have 10 kids and I know what it's like to need some childcare. Okay. I know what it's like to need a break from the kids because I have 10 kids. But you know what? When we go on a date though, we bring the kids with us, or we have the older kids watch the younger kids, or I'll have my mom watch them or somebody like that, that you know, that's family. But I don't just assume that since somebody's at church, oh, I'll just drop my kids off. And look, I'm not trying to just rain on your parade here or ruin your date night. And look, if you want to drop your kids off with strangers, go ahead. But you know what? You're the one that's going to have the pain and the heartache because we're living in perilous times and there are Judases out there and wicked people and you say, oh, it never happened at Faithful Word Baptist Church. We've thrown out people for being a sodomite at our church. We've thrown people out for being a pedophile at our church. We've turned them over to the police. Okay. We have seen these things. I've seen these things my whole life. It's hard to believe until it happens, but it's out there. So you don't want to be the one that has your kids victimized. So you need to make sure and just watch your kids and not just assume that since people are from church, that they're automatically good people. And then some people say, oh, they've been coming here for five years. So we know they're good. Judas was there for three and a half, just biding his time. Look at Absalom. He was biding his time for years and years and years, just waiting until the opportunity of his wickedness would arise. So we need to be careful with that and understand that there are people who are greedily following after the error of Balaam for reward. They want to steal from you. They want to rob you or rob the church or even worse, they would want to defile the flesh like Sodom and Gomorrah. But then there's another group here. It says, woe unto them. Verse 11, they've got in the way of Cain. Now what is the way of Cain? Well there are a few things we know about Cain. First of all, Cain pictures a works-based salvation because instead of bringing the blood of the lamb for the offering, he actually brought fruits and vegetables, his own produce, his own works, his own efforts. So a lot of these false teachers, the damnable heresy that they bring in is what? In all of its various varieties and shades. But not only that, one of the key attributes of Cain was that he hated his brother Abel. The Bible says, not as Cain who was of that wicked one and slew his brother and wherefore slew him because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous, marvel not my brethren if the world hates you. So there's not just a financial motive where somebody can creep in and be an infiltrator. There's also just motivation where they hate church. They hate God's people. They hate Jesus. They hate Christians. So they want to just come in and do as much damage as they can. Think about that. I mean, they hate Abel so much that they want to come in and see if they can damage Abel's children or if they can hurt Abel in some way or just lead people astray. It's just like Cain. Just hatred for God's people would motivate people to come in and just try to do as much damage as they can. Now it's hard for us to understand this. And I think the reason why a lot of people, they can hear this over and over again and it doesn't really sink in is because they're good people. You know, you're a good person. I'm a good person. It's hard for us to imagine that anybody would do these things because we would never do these things. We have to understand that just because we would never do these things, it doesn't mean that there aren't people who would. We need to trust the Bible when it tells us about these rotten, evil people that they exist. See, the world today has this delusion that there's good in everyone. Even the worst murderer, there's still just a little good in there somewhere if we could just draw it out. Isn't that what Hollywood teaches us? You know what I mean? You go through just the whole movie with Hollywood and then at the end of the movie, just the worst bad guy, the worst psychopath, the worst reprobate at the end of the movie, he like does the right thing, right? Except that in real life that doesn't happen because there's not always a little good at everyone. There are some people who are just rotten people to the core. They're reprobate. They're done. And so that's what the Bible is warning us about. So we need to not be naive today. We need to be aware. What does the Bible say? Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil as a roaring lion, he's stalking about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And listen, it's not the devil who in person literally walks in to FWBCLA. He sends one of his minions. He has his agents that he sends and he doesn't do it personally himself. The devil is transformed into an angel of light and his ministers are transformed to ministers of light. They come in, they walk the walk, they talk the talk outwardly, they look the part. They are in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. They're seeking whom they may devour. So they're like Cain, they're like Balaam. And then the third example says they've perished in the gainsaying of Korah. Now Korah was the guy who despised government. He despised dominion. He was the guy back in Numbers chapter 16 who said, well, all the people are holy. We don't have to listen to Moses. We're all God's people. We're all holy. We're all the same. We don't need a leader. We don't need him to be the boss. And then of course, you know how that story goes. So that ties in with the despising dominion right there. But look at verse 12. These are spots in your feasts of charity when they feast with you feeding themselves without fear. Clouds they are without water, carried about of winds. Trees whose fruit wither without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame, wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Now there's so much here that's important, but let me just point out a few things. They feed themselves without fear. What does that mean? That means when they're at the church potluck, they're not trembling and shaking and looking around and you know, that guy seems a little squirrely. You know, they just walk in and they just are comfortable and you might not be able to spot these people because they're just, they just act totally normal. They're just fearless about it. And he says that they're carried about of winds. Clouds they are without water, carried about of winds. Now what is a cloud without water? That reminds me of something in Proverbs where it talked about somebody who boasts of a false gift. They're like, you know, clouds without rain. You know, there's no substance there. It's all fluff, right? Now these type of people can often be braggarts or arrogant, speaking great swelling words as we see later in the chapter. But also when I see this thing of, you know, being kind of a cloud without water that's just carried about of winds, I've noticed that these people will just, they'll switch their doctrine on the drop of a hat. They're like a chameleon. It's like they have no core beliefs. You know, like those, those of us who love the Lord and read our Bibles, we have core beliefs. We have certain things about which we're steadfast and unmovable. You know, we're not ready to just change our doctrine on a dime. We actually strongly believe things and aren't willing to move. We're not willing to compromise that we're willing to die for these things, not just change it all. But you know what I've noticed about these infiltrators, they'll change their doctrine like that because when we think of being carried about of winds, what verse comes to mind? Carried about with every wind of doctrine, right? Here's what I've noticed. Anytime somebody gets thrown out of our church or anytime somebody gets mad and quits the church but they don't just get backslidden but they're actually like trying to cause a bunch of damage and trying to take a bunch of people with them. You know, I've noticed is that they'll just change their doctrine like just crazy. Like I mean I'm talking about people who come to church for years and then all of a sudden they're just not King James anymore. It's like what in the world? I remember, you know, we had this big controversy last year where, you know, one of these people that we're talking about this morning crept in and taught this damnable heresy denying the Trinity and was going around teaching that, right? And then what happened was there were certain people in the church that during the time we were fighting against this heresy of non-Trinitarianism, you know, of denying the Trinity, there were people that are just like, yeah, that's so wicked, you know, you know, how can they deny the Trinity? And, you know, they were like the biggest cheerleaders in that battle. Then later they got mad and quit the church and it's like the next day they're a modalist. The next day, next day they're denying the Trinity. Next day they're just like, oh yeah, these people are great that they were throwing. It's like we've thrown people out for being a pedophile and a heretic and then another one just ended up leaving the church because of just, they were gossiping and causing problems and I tried to correct them and they just got mad and left because they were just starting all this conflict in the church. But then it's like they all end up in the same place. It's almost like a joke. Okay, so, you know, a pedophile, a railer, and a heretic walk into a church, you know. It's like, what do these people have in common? But what it is, is it's like, you know, if the battle is against those who would deny the Trinity and teach this foolish modalist doctrine, you know, if that's the battle, then whatever they can do to hurt the church the most, they'll just change their doctrine and be like, oh, okay, well, you know, if the church is fighting for the Trinity, we'll just turn against the Trinity like that. So here's the thing, a real Christian, no matter how mad they get at the pastor or how mad they get at the church, isn't going to start denying the Trinity. I'll show him, I'll deny the Trinity. I'll show him, I'll start using the ESV. I'll show you, buddy. I'll become a Calvinist. It's like, what in the world? Because here's the thing. When people who actually have beliefs have a personality conflict, they don't just start changing their doctrine. Well, this is war, buddy. I'm changing all my doctrine. What now? It doesn't even make sense. But when you realize that false prophets are just clouds without water carried about with winds, you realize that these people, all they care about is doing damage. All they care about is, you know, hurting Abel. They just want to kill Abel. They just want to get the reward, whatever. They just despise dominion. So you know, because they hate the pastor, anybody who's fighting the pastor suddenly becomes their best friend. I mean, anybody who pays attention on social media or anything knows that for the past few months, it's been like enemies of Pastor Anderson unite month for the last 30 days. Like it's people who hate me for all different reasons. And it's just like, it's making for some strange bedfellows. When you start seeing the, it's like the Rachmanites and the dispensationalist, non-Trinitarians, come on in. You know, oh, you love the Sodomites? Come on in. You know, it's just like they all just joined together. Why? Because they have no core beliefs, friend. This is the sign of one of these type of infiltrators or false prophets is that they don't have any core beliefs because they believe not because it's not about faith to them. It's about what? Just causing problems, earning a reward, tearing down authority, whatever, drawing away disciples after them. They don't have any core beliefs. They are carried about with wins. The Bible says that they are trees whose fruit withereth without fruit twice dead and plucked up by the roots. I firmly believe that none of these type of infiltrators or false prophets will ever win someone to Christ because the Bible says they're without fruit. They're trees whose fruit wither. The Bible says an evil tree cannot bring forth corrupt fruit. I'm sorry. I got that wrong. An evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth corrupt fruit. The good tree brings forth good fruit. The evil tree brings forth corrupt fruit. Now you say, well, don't these people go out soul winning and people say, look, just because somebody goes out soul winning and somebody prays a prayer doesn't mean that that person necessarily got saved, number one. You don't know for sure that those people even got saved. Because I'm telling you right now, Judas went out and preached the gospel with the rest of them. I do not believe that Judas had a single convert because of the fact that it's a good tree that brings forth good fruit and an evil tree that brings forth corrupt fruit. But that doesn't mean that they don't go through the motions and give the gospel to people and people pray a prayer. But you don't know what's going on in the heart in those situations. And look, when we go out soul winning all the time and we count up how many people we got saved, that's pretty much an estimate if you think about it because do we really know for sure that all those people actually got saved? No. And when we go out soul winning, a lot of times I'll give the gospel to somebody and I think that they got saved, but if they're a little bit sketchy, I don't count it. You know what I mean? Like if I kind of get a vibe, I'm not a hundred percent sure this guy really understood what I was saying. He seemed a little shaky on it and I won't count that person, but then sometimes a week later I'll be in that same neighborhood and I'll go talk to that person again and they're solid on it. And then I'm like, Oh, I guess that guy really did get saved because a week later he's got it down. He understands it. It really was in his heart. So look, there are going to be some people that we don't count who really got saved and then there are going to be other people that we do count and it turns out they were just going through the motions and they didn't really get saved. Okay. But I think that our numbers are pretty accurate because I think those two ideas kind of balance it out. A lot of people that we give the gospel to that don't get saved, they might get saved later or we might pray with them and doubt them, but in their heart they were sincere. We don't know. Okay. So these numbers, when we say, Hey, we had this many people say it's an estimate. Okay. And a lot of people will criticize that and say, well, how do you know all those people got saved? I just say, well, I don't. But I know that if we went out and clearly presented the gospel to 10,000 people and we went through a very clear, thorough plan of salvation, they said they believed it all and then they prayed to call upon the name of the Lord right then and there. You know, I know that a lot more of those 10,000 people are going to be in heaven than the five people that your church reached last year. Even if a hundred percent of your five are going, you know, let's say only 90% of the people that we thought got saved really got saved. That's still 9,000 out of 10,000. You know, who cares? Does it really matter? No, because when we get to heaven, we'll find out the actual impact of what we did. When we get to heaven, we'll find out exactly how many people were reached. But we know this. If we, if the first year of faith, Lord Baptist church, we had 200 salvations logged, you know, and then 12 years later we're logging like 12,000. I think it's safe to say we've increased our soul winning. You know, the exact numbers aren't the point. So I strongly believe that you can't bring a clean thing out of an unclean thing and that an evil tree can't bring forth good fruit. These false prophets, these infiltrators, they're without fruit or they're bringers forth of corrupt fruit. He said raging waves of the sea, verse 13, foaming out their own shame, wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Jump down to verse 16. These are murmurers, complainers walking after their own lusts and their mouths speak a great swelling words, having men's persons and admiration because of advantage. But beloved, remember you the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. And this part is parallel with second Peter chapter three. When he gets into that, he says, these be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the spirit. Go if you would to second Peter two. What does it mean when it says they separate themselves? This has to do with them taking people off to the side, not wanting to be a part of the main group, but trying to develop their own little clique, their own little faction. They'll separate themselves into their little club to draw away disciples after them. Back to second Peter chapter two. It says a lot of the same things that we just talked about. It says that they feast with you at the end of verse 13, it says in verse 14, they have eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin. Beguiling unstable souls and heart they've exercised with covetous practices, cursed children which have forsaken the right way and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Bozor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but was rebuked for his iniquity. The dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbade the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever. Look, these people have a place in hell waiting for them, it says. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lust of the flesh through much wantonness, those that were clean escape from them who live in error. Now I like what he says here when he says they speak great swelling words of vanity. The word vanity has to do with emptiness, okay? And he says great swelling, what's swelling? Think about something that's swollen. Think about a balloon being inflated. And isn't a balloon actually empty? Because what's in it is just air, just hot air. So this is sort of like the cloud that's without water. It's puffed up, it's a big puffy cloud, but there's nothing there, there's no content there. So they speak these great swelling words of vanity. Now what does that mean? This is the preacher who gets up and he preaches maybe a really dynamic sermon and he's very eloquent, he has a lot of great illustrations, he has a lot of great words that he'll use and funny stories, he's interesting, and maybe he's even yelling and beating the pulpit and stomping his foot. And it's very theatrical, but here's what he's lean on, content. Lean on content. Great swelling words. I mean, people walk out and say, man, that was a powerful sermon, what was it about? It was awesome. Or it's just great swelling words, but it's lean on doctrine, it's lean on the Word of God. This can be, sometimes it's just bad preaching, but it could be also a false prophet. So he just has a lot of great swelling words, but there's no content there, right? It's empty. It's words of vanity, meaning that you walk out saying, man, that sermon was so awesome, that was so powerful, but you can't really tell what did you learn. Did you learn the Bible? Did you learn a new scripture? Did you learn some new doctrine? No, there wasn't really a lot of meat on the bone. And so he says, they speak these great swelling words of vanity. They allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from those who live in error. While they promised them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption, for of whom a man is overcome of the same as he brought into bondage. Many of these people that are false prophets, when it says they promised them liberty, this is a doctrine that you'll see a lot amongst the TV preachers, which they'll call like Christian liberty, or they'll call it being free in Christ. Now here's what this doctrine says. And again, every false prophet isn't going to be all of these things. This is just talking about all different types of false prophets in 2 Peter 2 and Jude. But what you'll find is a doctrine that says this, and I don't know if you guys have necessarily been exposed to this or not, but I remember when I was a teenager, I spent five years in what I would call the new evangelical movement or the neo evangelical movement. And this is basically your NIV, rock and roll type churches, whether they're Baptist or not. We went to those that would be considered a little more conservative because they were Baptist, but they still were really liberal, watered down, they use the NIV, they had the rock band, nobody ever got saved or baptized or anything. It was like we went there for three years, there was one baptism or something. And when you're in those type of churches, you'll hear this doctrine a lot. And this would also go for like your fun centers, the big giant non-denominational purple lighting bar stool kind of skinny jean type of churches. It's like a McDonald's Playland for church, you know, where the food is junk, but you're going for the toy, you know, you're going for the playground. That's kind of like people go to the church, it's not the spiritual meat that they're there for. It's not the Happy Meal that tastes that good, it's a toy that they get or whatever. So there's a doctrine in that whole world of liberal churches. And let me say this, there are a lot of saved people in those churches. When you got so many, you talk to people who go to these giant fun centers, a lot of them are saved. A lot of these liberal Baptist churches, they're saved. But usually when you talk to them, they're like, oh, I got saved in a Baptist church. And so why don't you go to a Baptist church, you know, or they'll quote you the King James about getting saved, but then they go to some NIV liberal church. So here's the thing about that, there's a doctrine in that crowd that's pretty common, this Christian liberty or free in Christ doctrine. And here's what they'll say, and if you've ever been in that world, this will sound familiar to you, you'll point out a scripture where something's a sin. You know, hey, X, Y, and Z is wrong, and here's what they'll say, well, you know, if the Holy Spirit's spoken to you about that, then that's a sin for you. But the Holy Spirit hasn't spoken to me about that. You know, so I'm just following the Holy Spirit's leading in my life. And you know, if the Holy Spirit showed you that, then don't do it. But the Holy Spirit's just not showing me that, you know. So basically, and they'll even say things like, well, what's wrong for you might not be wrong for me. And what's wrong for me isn't necessarily wrong for you. We got to just follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. And then you try to show them, well, no, actually the Bible just said it's wrong. You know, like let's say, you know, thou shall not print any marks on your body. You know, you say, hey, tattoos are wrong. Whoa, buddy, we're free in Christ, Christian liberty. You know, you're trying to tell, hey, you know, do you think you should be wearing a Marilyn Manson shirt to church? Whoa, why are you judging me? And you know, that might sound like an extreme example. I've seen it. Hey, my dad visited a church one time where the usher who took his offering was wearing a Hooters t-shirt. I'm not kidding. That was the guy who took the offer. And then I told that story to Brother Dave Berzins. He told me about, you know, a guy who wore like a Metallica shirt and was taking the offering at a church. Okay. So I mean, this is, you know, but as soon as you point that out, hey, why are you wearing a Metallica shirt? You know, Metallica is satanic and there there's all this wicked stuff and the lyrics is demonic. It's a God hating thing. You know, why would you wear a Hooters t-shirt? Is that really respectful to the house of God? Oh, you're so judgmental, you Pharisee, isn't that what they'll say? We're free in Christ, buddy. Why are you trying to put us into bondage? Even when you tell people why you're King James only. I told this guy I was out soul winning one time and I'm explaining to this guy why he needs to be King James only and the guy I was explaining it to was really receptive and he was like, oh wow, this is really interesting. And I'm like, yeah, let me show you, you know, what, why the King James is right. And I was showing him some things in the NIV that were wrong and this other guy's just standing there. And then finally the guy just said, you need to get free bro. I'm like, excuse me? He's like, bro, you need to get free. You're under some kind of bondage. I'm like, because I only believe that there's one Bible, you know, that puts me in bondage because I don't have five different Bibles that all say five different things. But that's the mentality of that world is like Christian Liberty, we're free in Christ. And you just try to tell them, hey, the Bible says not to steal, to lie, to adulterate, fornicate. And they're just like, whoa, buddy. I'm looking for a relationship. You got too many these and thou's and do's and don'ts and rules. It's about the relationship, man. It's about our heart. So what if he's wearing an ACDC t-shirt? What's in his heart? Yeah, except you know what? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth's speaking. The abundance of the heart is the way you're going to act and the way you're going to look and the way you're going to dress that shows what's going on in your heart. The Bible says cleanse first that which is within the cup and the platter that the outside of them may be clean also. He didn't say, hey, clean up the inside and on the outside you can still look like the devil. He said clean up the inside that the outside may be clean also. But these false teachers, many of them, it says they promised them liberty. Free in Christ, Christian Liberty. But they themselves are what? The servants of corruption for of whom a man is overcome. The same as he brought into bondage. Look, the thing that really puts you in bondage is sin. The Bible says whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin. Just ask anybody who's addicted to gambling. Ask anybody who's addicted to pornography. Ask anybody who's addicted to drugs or alcohol or cigarettes or anything else. That stuff brings you into bondage. Try going out and robbing a store. You'll go into bondage. It's called jail. It's called prison. Right? A lot of sin will lead you into crime that will put you into literal bondage of being incarcerated. But you could also be brought into a figurative bondage of addiction. Now he says this, if after they've escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after they've known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it has happened unto them according to the true proverb, the dog is returned to his own vomit again and the sound that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. Now here's the thing about this scripture. These people are not saved, okay? And let me explain this to you. This is pretty important. Because the Bible says here it'd be better for these people who have not known the truth. Why? Keep your finger here, flip over to Hebrews chapter six. Hebrews chapter six. You know, I don't have time to go into it this morning. But there's a doctrine in the Bible where he talks about those who are a reprobate. You know, Romans chapter one is the big chapter on that. And if you read Romans chapter one, you can read about a downward spiral that a person goes through where they eventually get given over to a reprobate mind. And one of the first things that it mentions on that downward spiral toward becoming a reprobate is that it says that when they knew God, that's the first thing it says. It says they knew God, but they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. So these really bad people today, these infiltrators, false prophets among us, reprobates, these evil trees that bring forth corrupt fruit, these Judases, these Korahs, these Balaams, these canes. What do they all have in common? They all knew the truth. I mean, think about Balaam knew the truth, Cain knew the truth, Korah knew the truth. Judas Iscariot definitely knew the truth. I mean, he heard the best preaching that man has ever heard. Never a man spake like that man spake, the Jesus that they were with day and night. And so all of these people had this in common. They knew the truth. In Romans one, that's the first thing they knew God. It doesn't mean they're saved. It means that they know of him. They know about him. They know who he is. It'd be like if I said, you know, I know Alex. It doesn't necessarily mean that Alex is my savior. It doesn't mean that I even necessarily love Alex or that I even have any kind of a relationship with Alex and I'm even friends with Alex. I just say, yeah, I know Alex, right? There's a difference between that knowing someone and actually receiving that person. Right? So like they know Christ, they know of God, they know the creator, but it doesn't mean that they glorified him as God says they knew God, but they did not glorify him as God. They became vain in their imagination and their foolish heart was darkened. So that's the common denominator, whether you're in Romans one, whether you're looking at other examples throughout the Bible, second Peter two, Jude, these people knew the way of righteousness. They knew the truth. They knew the word of God. Now look at Hebrews chapter six. It says in verse four, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened. What does it mean to be enlightened? That's when the light bulb goes on and you understand the truth. You know the truth. He said, it's impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come. If they shall fall away to renew them again, it repents. Notice they tasted it, but did they receive it? No, they tasted it. They were enlightened of it, but they, and the Holy Ghost was there convicting them. The Holy Ghost was there speaking to them, reproving them, but they did not believe on Christ. They didn't pull the trigger and get saved. They are just, they just heard it. They tasted it. They're right there and they turned away from it. It says, if they shall turn away, it's impossible to do what? To renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the son of God afresh and put him to an open shame for the earth, which drinketh in the rain that cometh off the pond and bring forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed receive a blessing from God. That which bareth thorns and briars, watch this, is rejected. That's a synonym of reprobate. He says that which bareth thorns and briars, that evil tree that brings forth thorns and thistles, not good fruit, that which bareth thorns and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing. But notice these people, they knew the truth. They were enlightened. They had tasted it. They even partook of the Holy Ghost. Why? Because the Holy Ghost works on people that aren't even saved. The Holy Ghost even spoke through people that weren't even saved in the Bible, like even spoke through an animal, Balaam's donkey. The Holy Ghost even spake through Caiaphas, the high priest, not saved. You know, Cyrus the Great was probably not saved, but yet the Holy Ghost spoke through him. But these people, they've been enlightened. They've understood it. They tasted it. They comprehended it. And they said no. And once they said no, that was it for these people. It's impossible to renew them again to repentance. Now in 2 Peter chapter 2, if you'll go back there, it says here in verse 21, for it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after they've known it to turn away from the Holy Commandment delivered unto them. Look, the people of this world that are just not saved are better off than those who are reprobate. You know, those who've known the truth and turned away from it. These people that we're reading about in 2 Peter 2 and Jude, they're scum. I mean, they're sodomites, they're adulterers, they're, I mean, what kind of a horrible person would just come to church just to cause problems? Not because they love the Lord, not because they want to learn the Bible, not because they want to worship Christ. No, they come here, why? To steal money? To steal the offerings? To commit adultery with someone's wife or to beguile unstable souls? To teach Dan Blair? What kind of a person? I mean, think about it. If you and I, as normal people, didn't believe in Christ, we would just eat, drink, and be married because tomorrow we die. And that's what most people are doing. That's why it was so easy to get here this morning, because all those six-lane freeways were all empty this morning. You know, on Saturday and on Friday, it was gridlock, right? I mean, the traffic was rough. Trying to get here on Thursday nights, rough. But on Sunday, it's like smooth, we were just going like this in the road, just, we were using all six lanes, we were the only one on the freeway. Why? Why? Because that's what most unsafe people are going to do, right? Just eat, drink, be married, tomorrow we die, they're at the lake, they're partying. It takes a special kind of wicked to get up on Sunday morning when you don't even believe in Christ, and put on a shirt and tie, and go sit in church for week after week, month after month, year after year, because you're a Judas. Judas forsook everything to follow Christ. Why? Because he was a devil. It's weird, right? But that's a really, really rotten person. So look, hell is going to be hotter for the Judases and the Canes and the Balaams. It would have been better for them if they had just not even known the way of righteousness. They would have been better off just growing up as a Hindu in India, and just hearing about Jesus here and there, and I'm convinced that every person on this earth hears about Jesus, but it doesn't mean they get a real clear presentation of the gospel. They would have been better off growing up in Hindu India, they would have been better off growing up in China, and just vaguely hearing the gospel, then after they'd known the way of righteousness, they heard the truth, they got in church, they heard the preaching, and they rejected Christ unto whom much is given of him shall much be required. These people are worse off. Let's look at this scripture carefully. It says, if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, notice the word knowledge. It all starts with them knowing and understanding the gospel and the word of God, but not receiving it as their own. It says they are again entangled therein and overcome. The latter end is worse with them than the beginning. Now you say, wait a minute Pastor, it says here that these people have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior. Here's the thing about that. A lot of unsaved people, and especially a lot of these reprobates, they start out by cleaning up their life, but it doesn't mean they believed on Christ as their savior. You see, you don't get saved by cleaning up your life. But to these people, a lot of these people, that is what they think salvation is, cleaning up their life. That's how they start out. And you know what that is? That's pride. Arrogance, pride that says, oh, I'm going to go to heaven because I clean up my life. And what does the Bible say? When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places seeking rest and findeth none. Then saith he, I'll return into my house from which I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself. And they enter in and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also to this wicked generation. Who is he talking about? The Pharisees, many of whom he said will reprobate. They could not believe their heart had been darkened and their eyes blinded. Think about this. He said that these people, they have an unclean spirit in them, right? The unclean spirit goes out of them and they clean and garnish and sweep up the body. What does that mean? It means people clean up their life and turn over a new leaf. But then that evil spirit comes back with seven more. Why? Because they're not saved. See, if they had the Holy Ghost inside them, he's not going to bring seven more spirits because he can't get in. Those that are saved, they can't have an unclean spirit living inside of them because they have the Holy Spirit living inside of them. And greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. And don't tell me that people can't reform themselves without Christ because they can't. People do it every day. People quit drinking every day without Jesus. I don't know where this goofball doctrine came up that said, oh, you can't quit drinking except through Christ. What about Alcoholics Anonymous? People quit drinking all the time. People stop looking at pornography all the time. People quit smoking all the time. People quit gambling all the time. People quit all kinds of things all the time. People clean up their life all the time and it doesn't mean that they got saved. People can turn over a new leaf in life and then other people can get saved and not clean up their life because these are two different things. So what we see here is these people who they've escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior. They go to church. They get in church and they're hearing the Bible preached and they start obeying the preaching and cleaning up their life and going to church and turning over a new leaf. But they've not put their faith and trust in Jesus as their Savior. Maybe they're trusting in their own works or they're just going along with the flow just because they want to live this new kind of Christianized lifestyle of a cleaned up life. And it says that these people, after they've 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 than the beginning. They become even more evil than when they entered that church. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness that after they've known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. And I'm telling you, I have seen this in my life so many times and my dad has told me a ton of stories where he saw it before I was even born where he would give the gospel to one of his friends and he would get that friend to go to church and he would think that that friend got saved. The friend would claim that they got saved. Maybe they came down an aisle at a church service and got saved or maybe he led them in a prayer and he thought they got saved. And basically this person would, for a few months, they'd be going to church, they're cleaning up their life, it just seems like everything's going great, they're going in the Lord is what it seemed like. But then after two or three months, they would just turn away from it and want nothing to do with it. And then you'd watch that person become more rotten than they've ever been. Like first they were just a run of the mill, unsaved person. But then after they hear the gospel, go to church, clean up their life and everything, and then they get out of it, they just go off the deep end, super wicked. Look, I have a good friend of mine and this good friend of mine, her father was one who was just kind of Joe unsaved. He wasn't a bad guy or anything, he was a nice guy and I met this guy and he was just a pretty normal, nice guy, but he was just an unsaved guy, right? Well, all of a sudden this unsaved Joe unsaved, all of a sudden he started taking an interest in the things of God. And all of a sudden he started asking his daughter about the Bible and she's showing him scriptures and she's giving him the gospel and all of a sudden he just wanted to hear about the Bible and he started reading the Bible. He read a few books of the Bible and everything. And so they're thinking to themselves like, Oh, this is great. You know, dad's finally coming around. Okay. Then next thing you know, he just comes out and says, I'm a sodomite. Now I'm becoming a sodomite. And he just wanted nothing to do with God, nothing to do with the Bible, nothing to do with church. And now he's living a full blown sodomite lifestyle, you know, which basically involves just different every week. You know, I'm not going to say any more than that. Basically whatever's in AIDS, the judgment of God, that lifestyle that's portrayed there. Okay. That's the lifestyle he's living now. But isn't it interesting that before this guy became a reprobate, what did he do? He went through this phase where all of a sudden he's wanting to know about God and reading about God and learning about God. Why? Because he's making his final decision. That's why he was making his final decision. So he wanted to just make sure before he goes all the way off the cliff, he wants to basically make sure or try it or what, you know, taste it, taste the word of God and see, you know, and then he went off the cliff. But I could tell you, I'm not just going to get up here and tell you stories, but I can get up here and tell you story after story after story of friends that my dad had that were like that relatives of mine that I've seen go through something where they, they get in church and then it's like when they get out of church without getting saved though, it's like they become way worse than they ever were before that. Why? Because they're a reprobate now. And so that's what this is saying, because if you look at what the scripture is actually saying here, what did these people do? We know they're unsaved because we've been reading this whole chapter. The whole chapter is about, you know, and this scripture is often taken out of context all by itself. Get it in the whole chapter. The whole chapter is about who? Balaam, Korah, false prophets. They're damned darkness is reserved. They're like demons. Hell is reserved for them. They're like the Sodom and Gomorrah, right? It's all, he didn't just change subjects all of a sudden at the end, we're still talking about these wicked, unsafe, reprobate people. The fact that they escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and savior and then get entangled there in again, that's not salvation friend. Even when you believe on Christ, if I heard a false teacher try to try to twist this scripture, it was a David cloud and he's one of these big like repent of your sins for salvation guys. So he teaches that the way to be saved is to turn from your sins, repent of your sin. That's what they teach instead of teaching that salvation is by faith. This guy gives a big story about these people who say they believe in Jesus and they go to church every week, but they're still living the same sinful life from before they got saved. Are you listening? So it's like they, they, they believe in Jesus, they go to church, but they're still sinning. Okay. He used this verse about them and say, see, you know, they're not really saved, but, but hold on a second. This verse is saying the opposite because the people in this verse, they did escape the pollutions of the world. It's actually the exact opposite of what David cloud is saying. David cloud is saying, Oh, well, if you believed in Christ, but if you haven't gotten out of the world, you know, you're still not saved or whatever. That's not what this verse is saying. This verse is about a guy who did go out of Egypt, right? He did leave Egypt. He did cross the red sea. He did go into the wilderness with Moses. He is in church, but he's what? An unbeliever. That's what's going on with this guy. It's just funny how people can teach the exact opposite of what the verse is actually saying. When the verse actually says these people escaped the pollutions of the world, but when they go back to the pollutions of the world, they go deeper than they've ever gone into it is what he's saying. This is the guy where he had one unclean spirit. Then he cleans it up and goes to church, rejects Christ in his heart. Now he's got seven devils inside of him, and now he's even worse. He's the worst kind of scum, and he says that these people would be better off to have not even have known the way of righteousness than after having known it to turn from the Holy Commandment delivered unto them. What's that Holy Commandment that was delivered unto them? Just I'll close on this. A few pages to write in your Bible and go to 1 John chapter 3, verse 23, 1 John 3.23. It says in verse 23 of 1 John chapter 3, and this is his commandment that we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave us commandment. God has commanded all men everywhere to repent, but he didn't say, hey, repent of your sins and you'll be saved. He said, you need to repent and believe the gospel. The repentance is turning from a false god to the true and living god, turning from false religion to the true religion, turning from thinking that you're going to heaven because you're a good person to trusting Christ alone for your salvation. That's the repentance in regard to the gospel. And so the title of the sermon is False Prophets Among Us. Don't be shocked. Don't be blown away when someone from the church turns out to be a wicked person. And don't let the way of truth be evil spoken of because of that. You know, don't sit there and look at that and say, oh, this church is just full of hypocrites and phonies. No, it's not full of them. It just has a few, right? Oh, church is full of Judases. No, but one out of 12 are Judases. I hope not. I hope it's not that high of a ratio. You know, that'd be rough. I mean, can you imagine if we could put on a spiritual glasses and just see the Judases that they would like glow red or something? Would that be interesting? Like going to church, put on glasses? Him? You? Her? What? You gotta be kidding. Because it's all, it's the people that you don't suspect. That person who's just feeding themselves without fear at that potluck. That's the one. You know? And so the point is you're not going to know and you say, I don't know, this is kind of a negative sermon. Isn't this Palm Sunday or something? Look, this kind of preaching is needful. Why? Because otherwise you'll have people just share or borrow a thousand bucks because you're from church. Don't loan out a thousand bucks unless you're ready to kiss a goodbye. Oh sure. You want to watch? Oh yeah. I'll let my kids spend the night at your house. Here. Yeah. Watch my five year old overnight. Yeah. We're all from church. Big mistake. So God gave us a whole chapter here. Second Peter two, a whole chapter of the book of Jude, tons of other supporting scriptures just to warn us that these kinds of bad people are out there so that we can be on our guard and be sober and vigilant. He warns us because he loves us. I'm warning you because I love you and I don't want you to be harmed. So it's good to just know these things and be safe. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word Lord. And we thank you so much for the fact that we're saved and that you've sent your only begotten son into the world that we might live through him Lord. And we just pray that you would just help us to enjoy this beautiful day in, in righteousness and holiness Lord. And just help us as we study our Bibles Lord to, to continue to grow and learn and to live a life of wisdom. And Lord, I just pray that you protect us from the wiles of the devil and in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen.