False Teachers...Their Fleshly Slavery - 2 Peter 2:17-22

0:38And I want to reorient you to this chapter. We'll be finishing it up today. But the overarching exhortation of this chapter is to expose false teachers. Expose false teachers. I think many of us in this room may be good at recognizing false teachers and not following them per se, but I think some of us may be a little bit weak in exposing them. And there is a reason why we need to expose them because we need to recognize them so that we don't follow them, but we need to expose them so others do not either.

1:182 Peter chapter 2, verse 1, Peter tells us, there will be false teachers among us, and they will introduce destruction. Heresies. They will be here. And they will even deny the master who bought them. They will deny the lordship of Christ, his right to rule and reign over his people. And that is kind of at the foundation of what Peter is dealing with. Those who would see grace as a excuse or a justification for sin or a means whereby, okay, sin can be minimized. But at the foundation is there's going to be a whole battery of false teachings that's going to come against the church. And at the bottom of it, it's going to be denying Christ's lordship. He calls us to follow him. And what a privilege. That day when he called Peter, come, follow me. What a privilege. If you ever read there, you walked through some of these gospels and you're like, Lord, I wish I was there at Galilee on the seashore and hearing your voice saying, Come, follow me. Well, he accomplishes the same today through his Spirit. Come, follow me.

2:49The ongoing call through the nations throughout time and throughout this era. But he says, destruction. Destructive heresies will be in the church. And in verses 4 through 10, he goes on to say that certain doom is in store for those who teach and follow destructive heresies. And he speaks in verse 4 about the angels, in verse 5 about the ancient world under Noah, and in verses 6 through 8, he talks about Sodom and Gomorrah. And then he goes on in verses 10 through 16 to outline the base nature of those who teach these destructive heresies. They're ignorant, he tells us of verses 10 through 13. They're ignorant of angelic majesties and they're ignorant of the destruction that awaits them and those that they are leading. They're ignorant. They're evil. They delight in deceiving others and they use their false religion to extend their sexual conquests and extend their financial empires.

3:59And in verses 15 and 16, he tells us they have forsaken the right way. They are misguided. They have followed the fleshly way of Balaam. And what Peter does here is he brings us back to these two fundamental paths in life that have been throughout scripture. There's two fundamental paths. One is broad and one is narrow. One leads to the narrow. To destruction, one leads to life. One is according to the flesh, one is according to the Spirit. Two ways in life. And you are going down one of those ways right now as we sit here today. You are either driven by your fleshly desires, those inclinations that come naturally to your fallen humanness, or you are being led by the Spirit of God into following the perfect Son of God. Two paths throughout Scripture. We first see this way of the flesh given to us in Genesis 3:6.

5:18When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that their tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. This is the way of the flesh that says, looks good. I want it. I'll do it, regardless of what God says. That's the way of the flesh. Proverbs 14:12 says, There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

5:58The way of the flesh. Psalm 1 speaks about the blessed way, the blessed man. The blessed person is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, that does not grow and develop in serving their fleshly appetite. But the blessed person is the one who delights in the law and the law of the Lord and meditates day and night. And the last thought that Peter brings before our passage this morning is this picture of Balaam going astray. This is an example of somebody who is enslaved to his fleshly appetite.

6:42And he makes this comparison to false teachers. There is a slavery, a bondage that Peter wants to expose. So let's come to our text this morning, beginning in verse 17. These are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity, 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 by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. For if after they have Have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They are again entangled in them and are overcome. The last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb: a dog returns to its own vomit, and a sow after washing returns to wallowing in the mire. Well, I want to walk through this passage in three steps this morning. And Peter is going to expose the fleshly slavery of these false teachers really by what they are and by what they do. I just want to walk through this in three steps. Let's look at verse 17. I want you to see a reservation. A reservation has been made. You know what Merriam-Webster defines a reservation as an arrangement to have something such as a room, a table, or a seat held for you for a later time. A reservation. We make them all the time. In fact, about a month ago, the young adults group decided to have a special year-end celebration at a local Italian restaurant, Gianni Carino's, and we reserved a special room for this. I've been Through a McDonald's, and I'm sure many of you have seen this little special room set aside with balloons and happy birthday signs all over. Do you know what that might be reserved for? A little birthday party, right? We see, we make reservations all the time. In fact, this last week, my wife and I made reservations in a hotel on the riverwalk to celebrate our 21st anniversary there. And we make reservations all the time appropriate to the occasion.

9:36Well, there's also reservations made of another kind. This past week, I've spent some time studying the most secure prisons in the world. And there are some very interesting prisons that have been engineered and designed and have built solely for the purpose of keeping the bad people in there. There's one in China that has over 5,000 security personnel. They have built this thing 3,000 feet above sea level, and a deep and desolate valley surrounds it. So if one were to get out, may hit the ground, have a long way to get away. There's another one in Syria that the only way in is by crawling. The only way into this security or into this prison is to crawl through a tunnel. So you Literally have to crawl through to get in. And once they get in, they shackle them in chains. There's one in Japan that has the most advanced emergency alert system in the world.

10:44Another one brings their most notorious prisoners and criminals, and they put them in solitary confinement for three years before they'll even let them talk to someone else. And that's if they have good behavior, dark and in heavy chains. But all of these, and there are many more, all of these have this in common. They were conceived, they were carefully designed and built for the occasion of keeping those who cause harm away from the general population. That's the nature of a prison. And the governments that oversee these, they just want these people out of society. They're done with trying to reform them. They just want them out.

11:37Well, God has created such a place. And it's one of the most frightening place described in Scripture. It's here in verse 17. If you look at the end, the black darkness has been reserved. A reservation of black darkness. It has been reserved. That is, it exists. It's kept in store. And this black darkness refers to hell, perhaps even the most intense degree of hell. It's a place of eternal punishment where both, as we put it all together, fire and darkness and weeping and gnashing and teeth of teeth exist, coexist. It is the most dreadful state described in the Bible.

12:28But it has a purpose, just like any prison. And its purpose is to keep those who sin and those who cause sin from the general population of God's people. See, God has something in store for humanity. And in Revelation 21, 27, it says, when you're looking at this, John sees this new Jerusalem, the words, and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into it. The place that God has in store for humanity is a world without the way of the flesh.

13:14There is going to be a different principle that guides forever God's people. And it is not what seems good, what feels good, regardless of what God says. That way is going to perish. And those who walk it. And they will be. Out, apart, incarcerated in an eternal prison, so that they will not cause harm or sin again. The question is: who's going to occupy this? Who's going to go there? For whom is it reserved? The answer comes in verse really 18 and 19, in parts of 17. Who is this reserved? Of course, it's for the false teachers that Paul is talking, or Peter is talking about here. I think we can even be more precise. What is it specifically about these false teachers that is going to put them in this place? Well, and this is where Peter describes the false teachers by what they are and what they do. He describes their fleshly slavery by what they are and what they do. Not necessarily who they are, but what they are. And he gives two very, right off the bat in verse 17, he gives two very graphic descriptions. These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Now, a spring without water, literally waterless spring, it's pictured like a formation that looks like it ought to have water. Maybe there's some greenery around it, and in a parched and desert. Land, think of yourself as a traveler through that land, you'd be very disappointed if you looked up, say, off the beaten path and you saw a little outcropping that looked like it might have water. And so you go off the path, you travel up there, you get to this little formation, only to find it dry.

15:22You'd be very disappointed, right? Well, that's what false teachers do. They raise false hopes for those who are spiritually thirsty, but they provide no relief. There's no true substance, there's no true spiritual substance that satisfies the soul, even though they maybe show all the promises of spiritual relief. They give none. Second description is a mist driven by a storm. In the Mediterranean world, there are these heavy mists or fogs that blow in and they look like they are going to rain.

16:10And they're enough to really excite farmers who need rain on their crops. It's enough to blow in and get excited, maybe raise the hope that there's going to be some rain. But in the end, they leave behind virtually no rainfall at all. Just a mist. And notice these mists are driven by a storm. In Mark 4:37, this same word is used to describe the fierce gale of wind that caused the waves to come over the boat and caused the disciples to think they were about to perish. That's the kind of storm they're driven by a storm. Mists driven by a storm. And what Peter is giving us is he's giving us an inside look at the fleshly desires that rage within the hearts of false teachers. And this is what compels their false teaching.

17:09It's an inner storm of fleshly desire. Peter describes them by what they are. They are springs without water, they are mists driven by a storm. They appear to be bearers of something good, something refreshing, something that would satisfy the soul, but they give nothing. Then he goes on to describe them by what they do. Not just what they are, but what they do. Look in verse 18. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity, they speak out these arrogant words of vanity, of nothingness. Word for arrogant words. It's really the word for swollen, like a river outside its banks. We've seen a lot of that lately here in Texas, have we not? As we were making our way over to San Antonio to celebrate our 21st anniversary, we saw a lot of evidences of rivers that got outside their banks and the collateral damage that they caused. We even saw some serious, raging rivers.

18:27Well, that's the picture of someone who, the arrogant, abundantly overflowing with utterances that man should never make. Man's life is but a vapor, and these teachers say things ought not to be said. Arrogant, vanity, empty, foolish is the idea. In other words, they're big about nothing. Their words may be impassioned. They may have very motivational messages or convincing. They may be filled with flowery language, or they may have great personal charm. They may have intense religious rhetoric, or very articulate, or ornamental ceremony, or political ingenuity. There may be scientific merit to their thoughts, or an academic. Skepticism that is just very convincing, and they attract many, and they are boastful about a lot, but in the end, it's really about nothing. They're big about nothing. That's how Peter describes them. So are all who deny the Lordship of Christ.

19:51It's how he characterizes them. They speak out, but look at what they do. They entice. For speaking out words of vanity, they entice. And this is the main verb of this whole section here. They entice. Literally, they are enticing. It's in the present. They are enticing people. They are luring people. They are in the business of luring people to their destruction. When I was growing up, I had my favorite little fishing lure. I had a couple of them, actually. I had a tackle box of one. One is my little red and white one that's kind of beat up a little bit, and it just seemed to be the one that caught the fish. I had a little fly that could sit out there, and what do those flies do? They look, they make the fish think, ah, food, lunch. It's like, yeah, it is lunch. You just happen to be it. Now you take that, and you're lunch. That's the idea. Allure to attract.

21:01That leads to destruction. And the poor little fish, he sees that lure and he goes, ah, food. And the fisherman's saying, ah, food. But a lure is intended to deceive. And that's what these false teachers do. They entice with a certain kind of fishing lures, if you will. Look back at verse 18. They got a tackle box full of them, but they really boil down to two categories: by fleshly desires and by sensuality. They play upon the natural cravings of fallen man. And they got all these different fishing lures, if you will, to draw people away, whatever their vulnerability may be. For money lovers, they promise prosperity. For those who are insecure, they use the lure of security. For those who are lonely, they offer that lure of carnal friendship. And for those who love their sin, they promise guilt-free permission. All of these are lures, and the sensuality deals with those unconscious. Unchased passions manifested by sometimes off-color speech, looks, movements, whatever. But that's the idea. There's a kind of a fleshly tone to their message. It's not that everything that they say is fleshly or even false. In fact, I would say the really good ones, the moreover, are very skilled and understand theology pretty well and can articulate their views extremely well.

23:03But there's an overarching tone that takes all of that to serve the interests of their flesh. And that's how you're going to recognize it. Fleshly or false teachers, there will be a fleshliness that will show and pop up its ugly head from time to time. Their goal is not to communicate truth, but to play on people's fleshly desires and to lure them to their destruction. But they target a certain kind of people. Look back there. Look back there in verse 18. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity, they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, who? Those who barely escape from the ones who live in error. The word for barely there literally is on the verge of.

23:58In Acts 26, 28. Remember, Agrippa said to Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian? That's how the King James describes it. Almost on the verge of those who are coming out, they're on that edge, they're barely coming out. They're almost, they're coming out of this mass of humanity who live in error. So you think about the general population. There are those that come to a point in their life where they're like, they're tired of their sin. Or they find out, they discover, you know, life just has to have something more. And they begin a search, and they may even come under the influence of godly teaching or teachers or people. And they begin that journey out of the world.

24:48But they're caught between two worlds. Their flesh wants to do one thing, but yet they are yearning for something else. And they become very vulnerable. And these are the ones that these master deceivers play on. You know, Satan doesn't want people to come out of the world. And you can be sure that when people start coming out, there are going to be those lures to draw them back into the fleshly system. That is the way the adversary of God operates.

25:31And look, they entice by promising freedom. Look at verse 19. Here they are, these master deceivers, and they promise them freedom. But the freedom that they promise is the kind of freedom that gives liberty to fleshly pursuits. It's not a freedom like Christ grants freedom, freedom from the flesh, freedom from that whole system, the penalty and the power of the flesh, to a life in the Spirit of following Him. That's true freedom that Christ gives. But the kind of freedom that false teachers give is one where you can be content with your sin and pursue it, or pursue whatever you want in life and don't get so riled up about your sanctification.

26:29It's a freedom that denies the privileges of the one who bought them. He is Lord and He is Redeemer, or He is neither. And it's a freedom that they offer that stands opposed to Christ's words. If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me, he cannot be my disciple. He cannot be my disciple. Let these words ring in your ears. He cannot be my disciple. If you love the way of the flesh more than you love Christ, you cannot be his disciple.

27:23Of course, the work of grace in our life is that he makes us to where we grow in this love for him daily. None of us have this love inherently in us, nor can we manufacture it or make it. But he grants it. That's why he says, come and follow me. He makes provision for sin. He makes provision for the penalty of sin, satisfies it, and then he makes provision for you to walk in the way he walked.

27:57But if you love the pattern of the flesh more than you love the pattern of the Son of God, you cannot be his disciple. You are not his disciple. See, false teachers will teach you to be comfortable with your sin, with doing what you want, when you want, and how you want to do it. Our true shepherd tells us that way leads to destruction. That's the broad way. And the true shepherd. Says, come out of that. Remember, shortly after I became a believer, a little group from church went to see Billy Graham, a movie put out by Billy Graham. And it was this little theater, movie house, and there was two sides of it. There's basically two screens, and I think the wall was very, very thin because you could hear everything that was going on in the other movie. The other movie happened to be, I think, Friday the 13th. So there were a few people in the Billy Graham movie, and there were a lot of people packed house in the Friday the 13th. And it was, I mean, they were howling, they were yelling. We could hardly hear this movie. We could just hear it. And that was kind of intriguing. Wow, what are they watching in there? So then, after the movie, me and this little group, we went over and got in line to watch Friday the 13th. Then somebody comes out who was in the Billy Graham movie and he comes over to me and he says, How can you go in and watch that and then go in and watch this?

29:46He was not a legalist, not coming, but making a clear judgment. How can you do this? How can you love this and love this? What's wrong with you? Have to say that. I stood there for a minute, and I didn't, and I realized I don't have an answer. And so we left. Listen, if you are entertained by the filth of our times, you cannot be his disciple. There are two roads in life. Are you going to pick out a religion that allows you to go and serve the interests of your flesh, or do you want to live by the principles of Christ? False teachers promise freedom. And the irony is that while they're promising freedom, they themselves are slaves of corruption. Look at that, verse 19. They promise freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption. Picture, it's the word doulas, a slave, a galley slave. Picture them in the days of the ship, down in the galley, shackled to their oars, rowing, rowing. That's who they are. They're slaves to corruption, slaves to their fleshly appetite, their debased fleshly appetite.

31:22They are springs without water. They are mists driven by a raging storm, and they are slaves of corruption. And a slave. Slave is someone who is completely and hopelessly subservient to another. I remember, of course, now you can picture this galley slave. I mean, if somebody says, if you're down there in that day and this galley slave comes in, yeah, come on in, join me in my freedom. Join me in my freedom. Come on, put these things in joy. It's free. I'm free, free. I remember in my corporate days, I had a client that liked to go fishing in the Pacific Ocean. So we'd get this boat, and we'd rent this boat. He was one of these clients that this is what he liked to do. So he'd get this boat, and we'd go out for two days, and we'd fish for the big tuna and the swordfish and all that kind of stuff. And there was one guy on the boat that was the captain's galley slave, I'll call him. He did everything. I mean, he had to wash the boat. He had to keep it ready. And then he had to bait everything. He had to cook. He had to clean everything. And then when the fish came in, he had to cut them. And I remember we caught all these tuna one day, and he was sitting out there fishing, or he was sitting out there cleaning all these fish. And he's like, yep, I'm living the dream. Living the dream. And he says, the captain needs some more people. You can go with him. And you can go. He'll let you live the dream too. I'm like, you keep telling yourself that. You're living the dream. It looks like a nightmare to me. But that's the idea. Living a dream. Living a dream. And that's the idea of the. Fleshly teachers. Do what you want. Don't worry. God has made provision, and you can continue and be fine.

33:12But there is some truth in that. God has made provision. And if you are His, He is going to sanctify you. And you can take great comfort in that. But if that's your disposition of life, be warned. You may not be what you think you are. It's by their fruits you shall know them. And you need to judge yourself by your fruits. What lures you? Satan is like this master fisherman. And in your generation, there are all these lures that are attracting you to the way of the flesh. And it naturally resonates with your fallen, sinful nature. And that's why you're attracted. But that's what he does. And the overarching principle in Scripture is that the enemy of God is constantly trying to get people to live according to their fleshly desires. This is what happened in Genesis 3: Live according to your fleshly desires rather than the clear revelation of God. Two totally different paths in life. With two totally different eternities in store. Which one are you on today?

34:39Jesus said, This: It's inevitable that temptations to sin come, but woe to the one through whom they come. Jesus says, if a blind man guides a blind man, both are going to fall into a pit. So there's a reservation that's been made, and it has been reserved for those who lead others into sin. False teachers, yes, but specifically it is reserved for those who lead others into sin. Be careful. And the question is: why is it reserved for them? Or why is it reserved for this class of people?

35:35Look at verse 20. The answer is given there. The last state has become worse for them than the first. Think about what Peter is saying there. There is a worse state after hearing the gospel message than before. They heard it, but they rejected it. They understood it in part. In degree, but they turned away from it. And the latter state is worse for them than the first. There's no hope for them. Look at this. There's two actions described in verses 20 and 21.

36:14Being overcome and turned away. Look at those. Let's just look at verse 20. The worst state is being overcome. For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and the Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome. The defilements are those shameful deeds or enslaving corruptions. And the way one escapes is through knowledge, but not just a simple knowledge like they have here, but a true knowledge, one that implies faith and belief. And these knowledge of who? Look back, knowledge of the Lord and of the Savior. There is one master over all, he is Lord and He is Savior. And if He is not Lord, He does not have the final authority to be Savior. He must be both. Otherwise, we must look to somebody else. But these knew enough about Him to have begun the journey of coming out of the world. But little by little, they became entangled again. Like the seed on thorny ground, the cares and the desires of other things choked them out. The word for entangled really means braided or. Emeshed like woven fabric. You know, I have four daughters. I watch them braid hair all the time. That's the idea. Some of that hair gets pretty entangled. I mean, you can't just pull one out anymore. That's the idea, braided. They were, first of all, lured by their sinful desires. Second, they were entangled with their sinful desires. And then, third, they were overcome by them. And by doing so, they showed that they loved their self more than Christ. And these are the seed that fell on thorny ground. So let us flee the allurements of the world. But there's a second worse state. Look in verse 21. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It's one of the same, described differently, but they knew the way of righteousness, Christ's atonement, following him, being born again, not to serve the flesh, but the interests of the Spirit of God. They knew enough, and they even had begun to experience some of its sanctifying effects. But somewhere along the road, they turned. They turned before they let grace do its work in them. They turned. Literally, they did an about faith. Faith, they understood it. At least in theory, but they rejected it. They turned away from the holy commandment.

39:08We've studied Acts, we've looked at Peter's message, involved repentance, belief, follow Christ. But see, they are worse off now because they have rejected the only remedy for their sins, the only means of true salvation, true freedom, they have rejected. It's kind of like been there, done that. I'm looking for something else that's going to serve my fleshly desire. And they're worse off. Two very graphic images of the last state becoming worse. Look at verse 22. It has happened to them according to the true proverb: a dog returns to its own vomit, and a sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.

40:01Pretty graphic. It's almost hard to talk about. I think if you've had a dog, at least if you live in the country, you've probably seen it vomit sometime, and you've probably seen it return and eat that vomit back up. In fact, this past week, a little dog came and joined our little family for a couple of days. I went out early in the morning, and there he was sitting down there, had my cup of coffee, and there's these two piles of barf.

40:30So then I go in and spend some time in the Word, and I told them, I said, that's kind of rude. And then I came back a little while. One of those piles was gone. I don't know what happened, but I know my kids didn't come out there and clean it up at 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. or they wouldn't have cleaned it up. They'd leave that stuff to dear old dad. So, but you understand the picture, right? And you think, if it made you vomit the first time, what do you think is going to be different the second time?

41:05That's what sin does. And I see so many people coming out tired of sin and beat up by their sin and reaping the consequences of their sin, and then they are enticed to go back to it. Look, if sin didn't satisfy you the first time, don't think it's going to the second time. And then there's also this pig. Pig, after washing, doesn't do any good to wash them because they go right back into their mire, and that mire is a nice euphemism. Because what's in that pig pen is not just mud.

41:46And they go back to wallowing in it. There's no hope for a clean pig if that's the disposition. Eventually, the people just stop washing them. And this is about as Graphic image of what it's like to return to your sinful, it's like vomit. And to return to it is what has happened to these false teachers. Well, there's a reservation, and it's a horrible place. It's reserved for those who cause sin and follow their own fleshly way. And it is reserved for them because they have rejected God's truth, the only means of salvation.

42:41But this does not have to be your eternal home. Proverbs 14:12, as I read it earlier, there is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death. Psalm 1:6 says, For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish, even the whole way, the whole manner of fleshly living will perish. But the good news of the gospel is there is a way of escape. And it's there in verse 20 and 21. For having, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, there is a good news that there is an escape through the knowledge, not just a superficial knowledge as these false teachers, but a true knowledge, a knowledge that Involves belief, faith, trust, and obedience.

43:38There is a way of righteousness. That's the good news. It's the way of grace. Grace is not a justification for sin. Grace is a power to overcome it. And that's the difference between false teaching and true teaching. Say that again. Grace is not a justification for sin, but it is a power to overcome it. Will you receive that grace today? It's there. He will take care of the penalty, and he will give you the power. And when you fall, he will be there to give you the grace to get you back up. And he will give you the power to keep going. And when you fall again, he will be there to give you the grace and the power. So keep going, obey. But he will never lead you anywhere except for that way, which is according to the Spirit. Are you willing to walk in it? Let's ask him. Heavenly Father, we do come before you thanking you for how your word just so clearly lays these two ways of life out. Father, and what a joy we could hear your voice today. Maybe not in the same way that Peter did.

45:02But truly in the way of your Spirit, that you call us today to follow you, to take your yoke, to follow your way, to accept your sacrifice, to set our eyes upon you, to love your way more than our way. Father, forgive us. Forgive us in large or if we have failed to walk in your way and in small ways. Father, if there be anyone here today who does not know you, I ask that you would do that miracle of grace. Awaken. Cause them, Father, to cry out, hear your voice, and turn to you.

45:52Father, we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.