As we all know we are very close to the date when this great nation will be celebrating “Thanks Giving”. It is a day when all of us will unite in our homes with our families and friends, to share an opulent and delicious feast, and although we have yet to reach this date, we will be holding our own small celebration after the service is concluded and will share a very delicious lunch. I really do not want to provide too many details about his tradition today, but I do want all of us to be very cognizant of the fact that it is a day to thank God for all of the blessings that He has poured and continues to pour over His people. This is the real meaning of this date, but unfortunately that will not share or experiment the blessings of God. Let me explain myself a little better.
If you will remember, last week I said that the Lord always provides us an opportunity to preach His word. The Lord will provide us the opportunities so hat we can preach the truth of God to all of those that do not know Him, and to those that have perhaps strayed from the path. This means that when we minister His word, sooner or later we will hear: “I am good, and God is always with me”. And this answer can and often times does come from the mouths of those that are not living or even attempting to lead a holy life. Therefore, today we will be exploring a very delicate theme. I say that it is a very delicate theme because it is one that will force us to examine ourselves. Something that I also mentioned last week is that we needed to look closely in the mirror to ensure that we were not deceiving ourselves. I said this because there is a large number of people that think that even though they are leading a life of sin, God is always at their side. But I regret to inform you that this way of thinking is completely erroneous, and it is one that causes many to stray from the true path, leading them to reject the salvation that Christ died on the cross to give us. Why do I say this? I say this because the truth of the matter is that God live in sin. But regardless of this great truth, many continue to believe that regardless of their actions, God guides them and blesses them at all times. But, what does the Word of God have to say about all of this?
2 Peter 2:12-21 - But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 13and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, 14having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. 15They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. 17These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. 18For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 20For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
As I always say, to obtain a better understanding of the message that God has for us today, it will be necessary to conduct a brief history review. According to the historians this letter was written by the apostle a little before his death between 64 and 66 a.C., and it was written with two specific purposes. The first purpose and the basic theme that is found throughout this letter is the contrast between the knowledge and practice of the truth verses falsehood. Therefore this epistle was written with the purpose of exposing the dangerous and seductive works of the false teachers and to forewarn the believers to prevent them from being dragged once again away from God’s presence. This is something that is very well reflected in 2 Peter 3:17 when we read “You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked”. The second purpose was to exhort believers to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is something that is very well reflected in 2 Peter 3:18 when we read “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen”. Keeping these brief details in mind, let’s now continue with our study today.
As we can all see, the apostle used some very strong words in these verses. These are words that many do not want to hear, but they are words that all of us should be preaching. I say this because as I stated in the beginning, the world is full of people that think that no matter what they do, God is always with them. There are many people that are totally convinced that because they have accepted Christ and have been baptized in the waters they can continue to sin and that God guides them and blesses them at all times, but this way of thinking is the greatest lie that the devil has ever invented. The main reason why many fall into this trap is lack of knowledge of the word of God. This is something that is very well reflected in the words of the prophet as we find in Isaiah 5:13 when we read “Therefore my people have gone into captivity, Because they have no knowledge; Their honorable men are famished, And their multitude dried up with thirst.”. Lack of knowledge and or ignoring God’s word is something very dangerous. I say this because when we know God’s word, and when we take the time to know God, we will not have to search too hard to find the truth. The truth being as we find in 1 Peter 1:14-16 when we read “as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy”. Tell the person sitting next to you, be holy.
It is sad to think about it, but all of us here know people that think this way. All of us here know people that think that regardless of their actions or behavior, God approves and blesses them at all times. It is sad to think about that fact that there are so many people that deceive themselves daily, thereby surrendering to the enemy all of the blessings that God has given them. They deceive themselves because the chose to follow doctrines concocted by men, which were inspired by demons. It is also very sad to think that many souls do not know the truth because there are many within the body of Christ that are afraid to preach the truth. The truth is very shocking and it is something that is frequently rejected by men. When we study the Word of God we quickly discover that the rejection of God’s truth is the biggest problem that mankind has faced from the very beginning. Look carefully at what we find in Genesis 2:16-17 when we read “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” God did not lie to man, but man chose to disobey and not believe His truth; the result was death. The same thing happed with Jesus Christ. Look carefully at what we find in John 14:6 when we read “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”. Jesus told them very clearly that the only way to reach the Father was through Him, but men decided not to believe Him; men decided to reject Him. Look carefully at how this is very well reflected in John 1:10-11 when we read “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” The truth is very shocking and it is not easy to preach, but the truth of the matter is that the truth is the only thing that separates us from the darkness.
I say that the truth is something that is not easy to preach because preaching the truth can make a congregation disappear. It is for this reason that we see how many preachers have opted to preach only the pretty messages; messages to please the ears, messages that everyone loves to hear. It is very beautiful to hear about how we are all saved, it is very beautiful to hear that God is always by our side, and it is very beautiful to hear that we will inherit eternal life. Now, I do not want to be misunderstood. What I have just mentioned is the truth about our faith, these are promises from our Lord, but in order to receive them we must be faithful. Look at how the Lord tells us in John 8:51 when we read “Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death”. And also in John 14:21 when we read “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him”. The key word in these two verses is “KEEP”. Tell the person next to you, keep God’s word.
What has happened is that many think to know God’s mind, but the reality of it all is that they are gravely mistaken. You can not imagine how many times I have been rejected by people simply because I preach God’s truth. I have been rejected because many refuse to accept it for what it is; conviction from the Holy Spirit so that we will always draw nearer to God. I have been rejected because many see it as if I am attempting to manipulate their life, or as an invasion of their privacy. This is why I have often heard people say things like: ”you are very wrong, God knows who I am and accepts me just as I am”; or perhaps, “pastor, you are forgetting that we saved by grace and not by works”. Let me tell you something, both of these responses are very valid to an extent. It is very true that we are saved by grace. This is something that is very clearly stated in Ephesians 2:8 when we read “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God”. It is very true that God does know us individually and accepted us just as we were; but something that is also very true is that He called us to change. Look at how this is very well illustrated in Romans 6:6 when we read “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin”. And also in Ephesians 4:22 when we read “that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts”. YES, we have been saved by grace, but this does not give us the license to sin.
Being saved by grace does not mean that we can continue leading a life of disobedience, rebellion and sin. Look at how this is something that is clearly stated in Romans 6:15 when we read “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!” In this brief statement we can clearly discern that when we allow ourselves to be dominated by sin, then we are not with God. The truth is that when we allow sin to influence and dominate our way of thinking and behavior, we can not say that God is with us. Look at how this is clearly stated in Romans 6:16 when we read “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” The truth is that if we continue to lead a life of sin, then we will never obtain the eternal life that Christ died on the cross to give us. This is something that is very clearly stated in Romans 6:23 when we read “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. And also in Hebrews 10:26-29 when we read “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” God provided us with the only thing that can defeat sin in our life, and His name is Jesus. God loves the sinner, but despises sin. God wants us to have a close relationship with Him; god wants us to turn our backs to sin and to walk with Jesus. But sin, traditions, and doctrines inspired by demos and implemented by men have created a barrier between God and men. And although God’s love for us is an eternal truth, another eternal; truth is that God will not change His word and character for anyone. Look carefully at how our Lord stated this very clearly in Matthew 24:35 when we read “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away”. Tell the person sitting next to you, God will not change His word.
In conclusion. The truth is that we serve the God who is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. The truth is that Christ died on the cross for our sins, it is as we find in Matthew 20:28 when we read “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Tell the person next to you, Christ came to rescue us. In John 8:32 we find that our Lord tells us “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” The truth is not easy to preach, but it is even more difficult to accept; but never forget that the truth has set us free. The truth is that we can not say that our relationship with God is good if we lead a life of sin. The truth is that if we do not serve Him faithfully, then we will never receive the blessings that He has in store for us. We are about to celebrate thanks giving day, a day when we will be remembering God at all times thanking Him for what He had done and continues to do in our life, but before that day arrives, take a brief time out and reflect in who you truthfully are. Examine yourself right now, reflect and ask yourself, is God with me? Remember that He can be and wants to be always with you, but the decision is yours to make.
