Defending The Faith And Warning The Wicked

II Peter 2:10-22

November 19, 2008

Pastor John L. Harper

Warden Assembly of God

“Defending the Faith and Warning the Wicked”

Introduction: How do we faithfully hold onto biblical doctrine, and warn those who are in error? If we are critical of everyone and everything, then we are wrong in our approach. If on the other hand we are positive and never take a stand then how will others know what we believe? The best advice I have been given about this topic is “Oppose error, not people” (Dr. Bernard Rossier)

I. THE REVILING NATURE OF THE WICKED (vs. 10-13)

A. The description of the false teachers

1. Those who walk according to the flesh

2. Those who walk in the lust of uncleanness

The Ermine

In the forests of northern Europe and Asia lives little animal called the ermine, known for his snow-white fur in winter. He instinctively protects his white coat against anything that would soil it. Fur hunters take advantage of this unusual trait of the ermine. They don’t set a snare to catch him, but instead they find his home, which is usually a cleft in a rock or a hollow in an old tree. They smear the entrance and interior with grime. Then the hunters set their dogs loose to find and chase the ermine. The frightened animal flees toward home but doesn’t enter because of the filth. Rather than soil his white coat, he is trapped by the dogs and captured while preserving his purity. For the ermine, purity is more precious than life.

HGB Our Daily Bread, April 21, 1997

3. Those who despise authority

a. They are presumptuous (very daring and bold)

b. They are self willed

c. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries (Jude vs. 8)

d. They are not like the angels who will not bring a reviling accusation before the Lord. (Jude vs. 9)

B. The downfall of the false teachers

1. They are like beasts (act on instinct, not volition)

Dogs bark because it is instinct, not because you are a danger to them.

a. natural beasts

b. brute beasts

c. made to be caught and destroyed

2. They speak evil of things they don’t understand (Jude vs. 10)

3. They will perish in their corruption

a. They will receive the wages of unrighteousness

b. Like ones those who take pleasure to carouse in the daytime.

C. The deception of the false teachers

1. They are spots and blemishes (Jude vs. 12)

• Spots: like a stain on a clean shirt

• Blemishes: scratch on a new car

• Remedy: (Ephesians 5:27)

2. They party in deception as they feast with you (Love Feasts: warning in 1 Corinthians 11:20-22)

II. THE REVOLTING OF THE REPROBATES (vs. 14-17)

A. The practice of greed

1. Their eyes are full of adultery (looking to satisfy their lusts)

2. They entice unstable souls (the picture of the fisherman baiting a hook)

3. Their heart is trained in covetousness (fund raising vs. people raising)

4. They are accursed children

B. The practice of forsaking the right way

1. They have gone astray

2. They are following the way of Balaam

a. The son of Beor

b. The on who loved the wages of unrighteousness

3. The error of the way of Balaam

a. He was rebuked for his iniquity

b. He had to be restrained from his madness

c. He had to be spoken to by a donkey

C. The peril of following the unrighteous

1. They promise everything, and produce nothing beneficial

a. They are like wells without water

b. These are like clouds carried along by a tempest

2. They are promised judgment

a. They are like clouds reserved for the blackness

b. They are like clouds destined for darkness forever (the darkest of the dark places)

III. THE RESULT OF THE EVIL RECRUITERS (vs. 18-22)

A. They use persuasive words

1. These are “great” words of emptiness

2. These are “swelling” words used to entice to evil

a. they allure others through the lusts of the flesh

b. they allure others through lewdness

3. They are enticing others to sin

a. The ones who have escaped from the grasp of sin

b. The ones who have escaped from those who live in error

B. The prisoners promise freedom

1. They promise liberty which they are not enjoying presently.

2. They are slaves of corruption

a. those who are slaves will be overcome

b. those who are slaves will be brought into bondage

C. The polluted ones forsake the way of righteousness

1. They were once set free from bondage

a. they escaped the pollutions of the world

b. they were able to “escape” through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, their Lord and savior

2. They became entangled once again in the worldly pollutions