Living Victoriously in a World of False Teacher - 2 Peter 1:1-2

1:26Several years have passed since the writing of 1 Peter. 1 Peter was written around 64 to 65 AD, shortly before the outbreak of the Neronian persecutions, a very savage and intense persecution. Nero dies around 68 AD. And according to reliable tradition, Peter was martyred during Nero's persecution, as was Paul. And Jesus had told Peter that he would die as a martyr in John 21. And Clement recorded that before Peter was crucified, he was forced to watch his wife be crucified. And as he watched her being led to her death, Clement tells us that Peter called to her by name, saying, Remember the Lord. And when it was Peter's turn to die, he wanted to be crucified upside down because he didn't count himself worthy to die in the same manner as Christ did. And so he was nailed to a cross with his head downward. Such was the end of Peter, or certainly his earthly existence. Such was the end. And this happens just shortly before this event, his martyrdom, this letter is written. In fact, it's evident, if you Look at verse 13, that Peter knew his time had come. In verse 13, he says, I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made it clear to me. So he knows he is at the end of his life. And this letter was probably written somewhere around 67 to 68 AD, shortly before his death, and he is probably writing from prison. So about three or four years has passed since Peter concluded his first letter to these churches that were scattered throughout Asia Minor. Cappadocia, Pontius, Galatia, Bithnia, and Asia.

3:54So what had happened? If you remember the theme of 1 Peter, Peter was very concerned about the church, and I think he wrote that letter right after the outbreak of the Neronian persecutions, not before, but shortly thereafter, that there was intense persecution, a fiery trial that had come upon these churches. And so Peter writes to encourage them to stand firm in the midst of persecution. That's what he does in 1 Peter. Well, several years have passed, and these Neronian persecutions have. Been going on for several years.

4:33If you remember, as I shared previously in 1 Peter, about Nero, he had a reputation for being very self-indulgent, immoral, and he had an insatiable lust to build. And so in 64 A.D., he lit Rome on fire, or at least history blames him for this, that he set the city on fire because he wanted to clear more land for his building projects. Well, this devastated Roman culture. This devastated a lot of day-to-day life in Rome. And so many were very angry with Nero. And he was perhaps feeling that political pressure. And he quickly came up with a scapegoat and blamed it upon the Christians. And so a widespread persecution broke out against the Christians.

5:32In fact, Tacitus, a first-century Roman historian, writes about this, and this is not a friend of Christianity. And he says this. He says the fire he blames upon the Christians. And then he says he proceeded, he falsely charged them with the guilt and punished them with the most exquisite tortures. And among these, vast multitudes were convicted. Not so much because they burned the city, but because they were haters of the human race. So back then, they were charged for hate crimes and persecuted. And this is what Tacitus says. And their deaths were made the subjects of sport, for they were covered with the hides of wild beasts, and they were mauled to death by dogs, or they were nailed to crosses, or they were set on fire. And when the day declined, they served as nocturnal lights. In other words, they would burn the Christians and use them as lights. In fact, Nero's own gardens were used for this spectacle, according to Tacitus. Well, this is the kind of persecution that had been raging between 1 Peter and 2 Peter. And what's incredible is that the churches of Asia Minor are still there. They had endured Nero's persecution. Nero is going to pass off the scene, and they're still there. Nero will be gone, but the churches of Asia Minor will still be there. And it's clear that these are the same people. If you look at verse chapter 3 and verse 1, Peter says, This, this is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you. So he's already written to them, and he is writing to them again. It's the same. Audience. What we can certainly conclude from this is that the lion that was spoken of in 1 Peter 5:8 did not devour them, was not able to devour the faith of these churches. It is safe to assume that many in these churches heeded Peter's instruction given to him in 1 Peter, and as a result, the churches endured the fiery trial. They learned, as 1 Peter had taught them, how to live victoriously in the midst of a hostile world. But there was another threat that was now bearing down upon them.

8:14It was a threat in many ways that was greater than the first threat. It was not a threat from the outside, but a threat from the inside. Peter's first letter taught them how to live victoriously in the midst of a hostile world. And what 2 Peter does is it teaches them how to live victoriously in a world of false teachers, how to live victoriously in a world of false teachers. In many ways, these two books are really applicable to our times.

8:47There is persecution. I think we can see a rising hostility. There seems to be a cultural shift in our society. And even... Open, I wouldn't say persecution yet, but certainly an isolation, a marginalization, loss of privilege. Free speech may be given to all except for those who teach the word. And in the midst of this, there's a temptation of churches to redefine themselves. In the midst of cultural persecution and cultural marginalization, there is a desire to morph, twist, change the doctrines, change the teaching, change your emphasis so that you can be more readily accepted by the culture. And there are far too many people within the church that are ready to go this route and lead the church away from the true faith. You see, if the devil couldn't devour the church from the outside, he will seek to lead them away from the true faith from the inside.

10:03And this is what he says in chapter 2 and verse 1: but false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them. Teachers that had infiltrated the church, leading the church, churches of Asia. Minor away from the true faith. The question becomes: what is the nature of these false teachers or their teachings? What is the nature of their teachings? Well, Peter doesn't really tell us, but it's important to understand that the historical context of these false prophets arose during a time of persecution, not in a time like we have known it, a time of peace in the history of the church. Certainly, in this country, these false teachers didn't come up out of an easygoing, culturally acceptable Christianity. It came up out of a very different one. So, what were the nature of their teachings? Well, I think the false teachings sprung from two sources. Number one, persecution. I think that pressures one to want to compromise or adopt a system of belief that is compatible with the culture. And certainly, I think that played a factor.

11:32Let's just ease off a little bit. Let's just take, you know, we don't have to be so dogmatic on this one issue. And they learn to navigate a system of theology that is compatible with popular culture. A second issue, of course, is very evident, is that of fleshly desire. Fleshly desire will motivate a person to adopt a belief system that is compatible with the lusts of the world. The flesh. And both of these lead to destructive heresies that will even deny Christ as the only Savior and his exclusive Lordship.

12:12Well, with this backdrop, let's look at Peter's greeting in chapter 1, verse 1. First, I want you to see how Peter describes himself. Verse 1, Simon Peter, a bondservant, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now, the word bondservant is actually kind of a little bit more of a politically correct term because the term is actually slave. Slave. Peter, a slave, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Word for slave is the lowest menial slave, one that had no rights, a galley slave. In fact, in the ancient world, a servant could change his master, but a slave could not.

13:02A master could do with what he liked with his slave. His slave was very much like a tool, like a hammer, or any other tool. It was his property. He could send him where he wanted. He could do with him whatever he willed. In fact, in that culture, a slave to a slave, his master's command was the slave's only law. Very graphic. Very lowly position. And a slave in that culture had no time of his own. Every moment he was to be consistently and constantly in service to his master. Such is how Peter refers to himself, a slave of God. So when Peter uses the title of slave, he was saying he had no will, he had no aim, he had no objective in life but to do whatever God wanted him to do. Total resignation, totally tied to his master.

14:09Second, he describes himself as an apostle. An apostle is one who is officially sent forth by Christ himself as a divinely commissioned witness of the death and resurrection of the Lord, and who Christ himself gave authority to proclaim the facts and the details of his life and ministry. Such was Peter. A slave and an apostle. We could think of it as an ambassador in many ways. And what a lofty title. Boy, that Peter had changed. You remember early Peter we saw in his early life? And now look at him. I am a slave and an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I will take no glory, no satisfaction.

15:00No pleasure in any other title, for that is the loftiest and the highest title that I could ever hope to be. But second, I want you to see how Peter describes his audience. Verse 1: to those, so he's writing this letter, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Interesting language here. He writes to those who have received a faith just like, literally equal to, that of the apostles, equal to, writing to those in the church who have received the same kind of faith that Peter had and the others had. Speaks of a faith that is equal in rank, equal in position, equal in honor, equal in standing, equal in price, equal in value, all of that. It's equal, the same faith. Think about that. If you come into Christ, there's only one faith.

16:07And when you are in Christ, that faith is the same as the Apostle Peter's and the others. Only one faith. And he refers to those who are in Christ as like them, apostles and slaves and ambassadors. This refers to evangelists. Very elite cast of people. But notice that they had received this faith. Interesting, the text. It's translated in the passive, but that's not the form of the verb. So they say, we have received. That's the idea. But the verb is different.

16:51It's literally saying, you have received by lot. You have not just received by lot, you have been chosen by Lot, is the term. In fact, Luke 1:9, you remember Zacharias, according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by Lot to enter the temple and to burn incense. That's the sense of this verb here. And at the crucifixion, you remember John 19? What did they do? They didn't want to tear up Jesus' clothes, so what did they do? They decided, let's cast lots for it to decide whose it shall be. This was to fill the scripture. They divided my outer garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. So literally, the plain meaning of the text here, literally, they were chosen by Lot to have faith. In fact, you could translate it this way: to those who have been chosen by Lot to have a faith of the same kind as ours by the righteousness of God and Savior Jesus Christ.

18:01Don't let your mind go off trying to answer a whole lot of others. Let's stick to the plain meaning of the text right now. We'll come back and talk about a few things in a moment, but just let's stay within Peter's vein of thought. He doesn't dart off and start trying to explain a bunch of mysteries that haven't really been able to be explained since he uttered these words, but he keeps going. Let's stay within his vein of thought. You remember in 1980? Well, some of you don't. I remember this, even though I was only 13 years old. I remember the 1980 Olympic Games when the American hockey team did the unthinkable. They won the gold medal. How many of you remember that and are not ashamed to raise your hand? Okay, okay, there you go nice and high there.

18:55Well, I remember that, and I don't really, I didn't mean to watch any of the matches, but I remember how excited everybody was in the culture. Wow, this is incredible. And then as time went on, what remained was not so much, or what impressed me was not so much that they had won, but the pep talk that the coach gave the men before they stepped on the ice. And basically, I'm going to give you my condensed version of what I understood him to say. He took the guys. And he said, okay, everything in your life has led up to this point. Everything in your life has been centered around this one thing. And in the moment, you're going to go out there, take the ice for the big game, for the big contest. You were destined for this night.

19:49Everything in your life led up to this. You were born for tonight. Now go out there and win. Pretty powerful, right? What do you do? Okay, I'm born for this. This is what I'm going to go do. And wow, bring home the gold. Well, if you think about this, think about this in the context of Peter. What is he saying? Those of you who have survived the trials and the fiery trial under Nero, you have been born for this purpose. You have been born to have faith.

20:32You have been born to exhibit faith, to proclaim faith. And through you, the world will see and understand God. Now get out there. Live your faith boldly so that the world can see you. Pretty powerful, isn't it? You have received the same kind of faith that I. Have received now. Get out there. That's what Peter is saying. It's incredible. If your mind and your heart can grasp this truth, it will change you. And Peter knows this. And both 1 Peter and 2 Peter start on this note.

21:20And notice also in verse 1 that this faith comes by the righteousness of God, of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Not God and Jesus, but the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Both faith and righteousness are a gift to be treasured, to be exercised. And that imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ comes to those who are in Christ, those who exercise faith, those who have faith, those who have been given faith. The righteousness of Jesus Christ, both God and Savior, is imputed to them. But next, I want you to notice Peter's desire for his audience. Verse 2: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

22:19He wants them to grow in grace and peace. That's what the idea of being multiplied, right? Grow, multiplication. He wants them. To experience growth. Look at how this growth happens through knowledge, through knowledge, through true knowledge, as opposed to the false knowledge that is being peddled by the false prophets. I want your grace and your peace to be multiplied. And that's going to happen in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. And so that's what he does. He sits to unfold, telling them about the knowledge that they need to know so that they will grow in grace. With this introduction, we're ready now to look at a quick overview.

23:18See, the great apostle writes these three chapters as a father in his death chamber, giving his children a final advice, final exhortations, and a final farewell. And Peter's overarching main concern in this whole book is on instructing believers how not to be carried away by destructive heresies, how to avoid false teachers. We could even put it in the framework how to live victoriously in the world of false teachers. And his instructions, his exhortation, really boils down to. Three mandates, three mandates. And I want to, in a broad sweeping overview, I want to see these three mandates. I want you to see these three mandates so that you will know how not to be led astray by false teachers. And they're very simple. They follow the chapter breaks. First of all, you need to exercise true faith. Chapter 1, this is what it's about, exercising true faith. First of all, you need to exercise true faith by knowing its divine origin and its purpose. We already looked at its origin. Look at verse 3. Seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness. His divine power has given you this. So that, verse 4, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. The whole purpose of faith is that you may know and believe who God is, and that He has given you everything you need for a life of godliness in Him.

25:11He gives this to you so that you will be a partaker of that divine nature, not of the fallen, sinful nature, but that you will be a partaker. And I can't wait to unpack that next week. So, first, you exercise true faith by knowing that you are not. Knowing its divine origin and purpose. Second, by cultivating its spiritual graces. And this is what verses 5 through 15 are about. Look at verse 5. Now, for this very reason, this very reason that he has granted all these things to you. Now, for this very reason, also applying all diligence in your faith, supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then look over in verse 12. He tells you why he says this. Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things. They already heard these things, but he writes so that they will cultivate these spiritual graces and be mindful and reminded to do so.

26:40Third way you exercise true faith is by paying attention to its authoritative foundation. By paying attention to its authoritative foundation. And this is what verses 16 to the end of the chapter is about. He relates the account where he was on the Mount of Transfiguration. And then he says in verse 19, so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you will do well to pay attention as a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your heart. But know, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. And what Peter is saying, even more sure than my testimony about what happened up on the Mount of Transfiguration, more sure than that is the Scriptures, the Scripture.

27:47And this is what faith is going to involve: growing in true faith, exercising by knowing the divine origin and purpose of true faith, by cultivating its spiritual graces, and by paying attention to its authoritative foundation. This is what exercising your faith looks like. And exercising faith is as important to strengthening your spiritual physique, just like physical exercise is necessary to strengthen your physical physique. Exercise makes you grow. So the first thing, first mandate. Exercise true faith. Second mandate that Peter gives: expose false teachers. Expose false teachers. Chapter 2. There are four things that need to be exposed. Number one, they're destructive teachings. This is what verses one through three of chapter two is about. Peter does not go into the details of the specific teachings. It's interesting. He doesn't say, okay, here's this one that's doctrinally incorrect, this one that's doctrinally incorrect. He doesn't go down that route at all, but rather he focuses on the character of the teachers because corrupt doctrine always leads to corrupt living. And so, what he says is, look at the character of these teachers, and they will tell you something about the doctrine they teach. That's how you're going to identify them. He doesn't go down and trace out every possible heretical system that was going on at the time, but he lays a foundation to say you can identify them all because worldly doctrine will lead to worldly living. And there are three characteristics. You look at chapter 2 and verse 1: but false teachers also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them.

30:01So there is a denial. Three characteristics he brings up. Number one is they deny the lordship of Christ in some fashion. They do not give to him his master position. Second characteristic: many of them will follow their sensuality. There is sensuality in their teaching or in their character. And then they, in their greed, look at verse 3, in their greed they will exploit you. They deny Christ's rightful position as master. There is a sensual conduct and a greedy conduct that you will notice.

30:45And because of them, the way of the truth will be maligned. And so, if you're going to live victoriously in a world of false teachers, you are going to have to be accustomed to exposing false teachers, especially their destructive teachings, because of them, the way of the truth is maligned. The second thing, expose their certain doom. This is what chapter verses 4 through 10 is about in chapter 2. Look at verse 4. For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness reserved for judgment, then look over at verse 9, he picks it up. Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Those who indulge in the flesh and those who despise authority, there is a certain doom. Your whole train, the engine, the coal car, and the caboose, everybody is going down to a certain doom. Third thing to expose about false teachers is their base nature. And this is where he picks up in verse 11 of chapter 2 and goes through verse 16. But these, in verse 12, like unreasoning animals born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed. Wow. Brutes. Instinct. And in verse 14, he describes them.

32:25They have eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in greed, accursed children. Verse 15, their feet, even though he doesn't mention them, they forsake the right way. They have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. This is the characteristic. They love the wages of unrighteousness. And anyone who follows in their train. Will become like them. You know, forgive the analogy. And I ask for your forgiveness in advance. But I'll tell you what, if it looks like dog poop and if it smells like dog poop, friends, don't taste it. You don't have to taste it. And that's exactly what Peter is saying. If you see these things, if you see their denial of Christ's rightful lordship, if you see the denial of, or if you see their characteristic sensuality and their greediness, look, don't sit under their teaching. That's enough. That's enough to cause you to walk away. And that's exactly what Peter is saying. You'll see these things. You can tell, don't come under their teaching.

34:02Fourth thing to expose about false teachers is their fleshly slavery. This is what verses 17 through 22 looks like. For speaking, verse 18, out arrogant words of vanity, they entice. This is how they build up their congregations. They entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves. Are slaves of corruption. For what a man is overcome by this, he is enslaved. So that though they talk about freedom, though they talk about liberty, they themselves are enslaved to corruption. And this needs to be exposed because multitudes will follow in their wake, and their doom is certain. So, first of all, you need to exercise true faith. Second, you need to expose false teachers. And number three, in chapter three, expect Christ's return and coming judgment.

35:09Expect Christ's return. These three mandates are the mandates of how you live victoriously in a world of false teachers. And the third one is: expect Christ's return and his coming judgment. It is certain. 2 Peter 3:3. Know this, first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. In other words, expect mockers coming, dude, it's been 2,000 years. Where is he? It's no here.

35:54Mockers will come. Expect them. And there's two ways to explain this. This delay. How do we explain Christ's delay in coming? Peter tells us how to understand that. First way you can understand it is he's not coming back. And that's how the mockers interpret it. He's delaying. He's not coming back. He hadn't come back, and it seems everything just seems to be rocking right along. That means he's not coming back. Abandon this notion. But then Peter gives us the correct way to interpret this. And that is that the Lord is patient. The Lord is patient. Look at verse 9 of chapter 3. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. And we're going to take this at face value as well. The heart of the Father is that he does not want any to perish, but he wants all to come to repentance. And Peter doesn't go in here and start defining the world of the elect and starts getting into a complicated argument. He just lays out the father heart of God. If you are in Christ, you are in Christ because you were born for this. And if you are not in Christ, it is the Father's desire that you come to Christ today.

37:28That is his heart. Have you heard his voice? Will you come to him? That is his desire. That is his call. That is why I am standing here today speaking to you. That you would come, that you would put your faith and trust in him, that you would know him, that you too would have a faith like that of the Apostle Peter and the great myriads that have gone on to glory and who will return with him in triumphant glory. Do you see the heart of God?

38:08Peter says it again in chapter 1 in verse 15. Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. This delay, regard it as a time of salvation, a time of salvation. Peter doesn't try to reconcile these two principles, and neither should we. Take them at face value. This is how they are revealed. And be comfortable with trusting your soul, even in places that we can't fully explain. But let us not set aside the clear, plain meaning of the text.

38:52It is certain Christ will return, and the day of judgment will certainly come upon the world, for sure. Look at verse 10 of chapter 3. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. It is certain. It is certain. So, this return, expect Christ's return and his coming judgment, it is certain. It also has practical implications. And this is what verse 11 through verse 18 is about. There are practical implications. And if you're going to live in expecting Christ's return, there are practical implications for your life. And look at verse 11. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat? But according to his promise, we are looking for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. First practical implication goes on in verse 14 to be diligent. Be diligent. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless and blameless. Be diligent in light of these things, to be found in him.

40:29Because those who Are in him certainly are in a place of eternal favor. Second thing in verse 17 he says, Be on your guard. Be on your guard. The practical implications of Christ's soon return and coming judgment is for you to be diligent, but also to be on your guard. In verse 17, you therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness. It's interesting how he brings this whole thing down to this one principle. Don't be led astray by unprincipled men. Don't be led away from the faith. In his first letter, he says, I don't want you buckling under the pressure that society is putting upon you. And in the second later, he's saying, I don't want you to be led astray from the true faith, from unprincipled men. And then verse 18, but grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. It's really interesting. He doesn't give a lot of goodbyes, not a lot of little you'd expect from a death chamber letter. There might be some greeting, oh, by the way, this, by the way, that, remember that person and this, and by the way, I really appreciate that. There's none of that language. He gets right to the point, don't be carried away by false teachers. They are going to be rife among you. You and you need to be equipped to identify them. You need to be able to expose them. And you need to be able to grow in grace and lead others to do the same. Recently, somebody gave me an orange tree in a little pot. You know something? Orange trees don't do all that well in Brazos Valley, right? So we've got it in a bucket, and it's going to come in and out, so it's going to take some really pretty little tree. But this really isn't the environment where an orange tree is going to thrive. Maybe further south, yes, but not here. You see, growth happens in the right environment. And Peter's exhortation is: grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord. Growth happens in the right environment. You growing in grace has to happen in the right environment, in an environment where you have a Christ-centered routine. And that's really what Peter is talking about here. What does your routine look like? What does your daily, weekly, even hourly routine look like?

43:21If you're going to grow in grace, you're going to have to have a routine, a Christ-centered routine that brings a growth in knowledge. A routine of personal and corporate Bible study and fellowship and labor alongside of like faith. So, Peter's message: three mandates: exercise true faith, expose false teachers, expect Christ's return in the coming judgment. Those three mandates: if you will obey him and heed his words, you will live victoriously in a life and in a world filled with false teachers. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for the word. Thank you for Peter's exhortation again that speaks so profoundly to our times. Father, help us as individuals to evaluate our routine so that it becomes more and more a Christ-centered routine where we will be growing in grace and effectiveness in your ministry. Father, take this time to convict us of anything that needs to be convicted of, and just give us a time to meditate and respond. In Jesus' name.