The Promise Of Liberty-2 Series

The PROMISE Of LIBERTY-II—2Peter 2:17-22

Attention:

“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here.”—Patrick Henry(Founding Father/2X Gov. of Virginia, late 1700s)

“Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, & a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty.”—Abraham Lincoln(President during Civil War, 1860s)

There are many purveyors of false ‘truth’ who are infecting & effecting our great country’s government.

The politicos promise happiness, prosperity, peace, freedom, wellness, care, etc...BUT is their’s True(real/actual) Liberty/Freedom?

We must ask ourselves a question in all seriousness...

Is Liberty/Freedom a reality for you?

Peter revealed that a false liberty had been presented to the Church.

The true Church yields to true liberty.

But panderers of false Liberty/Freedom can mislead the Church.

Why must the Church yield to God’s liberty?

9 stipulations of true Liberty...God’s liberty.

OR—

9 deficiencies/distinctions/expressions/functions/hindrances/hindrance/imitations/implications/invitations/limitations/quagmires/relegations of false liberty.

This morning we found that...

True Liberty...God’s Liberty stipulates...

1. A QUENCHED THIRST(:17a)“wells without water”

2—True liberty stipulates...

ETERNAL LIGHT(:17b)

Explanation:(:17)“blackness of darkness forever”

:17—“These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”

Jude :12-13—“These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”

*A “star” that “wanders”(erratic/sporadic) is worthless for navigation or seasonal planning!

There is a particular destiny which is kept & secured for these false prophets & teachers. That destiny is an eternal(“forever”) “blackness of darkness.” Their destiny is that they will remain eternally in a land of only twilight at best. From the point of their entrance into eternity, these will never again see another brilliant & beautiful day!

“Reserved”—threw—Verb—1) To attend to carefully, take care of—1a) To guard, 1b) metaph.--To keep, one in the state in which he is, 1c) To observe, 1d) To reserve: to undergo something. “To watch or keep.” Threw expresses watchful care & is suggestive of present possession, fulassw indicates safe custody & often implies assault from without; threw may mark the result of which fulassw is the means. Strong—from terov(a watch; perhaps akin to yewrew); To guard(from loss or injury, properly, by keeping the eye upon; & thus differing from fulassw, which is properly to prevent escaping; & from koustwdia, which implies a fortress or full military lines of apparatus), i.e. To note(a prophecy; figuratively--To fulfill a command); by implication--To detain(in custody; figuratively--To maintain); by extension--To withhold(for personal ends; figuratively--To keep unmarried); by extension--To withhold(for personal ends; figuratively--To keep unmarried).

“Blackness”—zofov—Noun Masc.—1) Darkness, blackness—1a) Used of the darkness of the nether world. Zofov meant originally the gloom of twilight. It was then applied in classical Greek to the darkness of the underworld, the gloom of a sunless region. The latter meaning seems to be practically the one which the word has in the N.T. Strong—akin to the base of nefov; Gloom(as shrouding like a cloud). Used 4X.

“Darkness”—skotov—Noun Neuter—1) Darkness—1a) Of night darkness, 1b) Of darkened eyesight or blindness; 2) metaph.—2a) Of ignorance respecting divine things & human duties, & the accompanying ungodliness & immorality, together with their consequent misery in hell, 2b) Persons in whom darkness becomes visible & holds sway. Skotov is a general word, meaning darkness in any sense. Strong—Shadiness, i.e. Obscurity(literally or figuratively).

From the base of skia—apparently a primary word; “Shade” or a shadow (literally or figuratively [darkness of error or an adumbration]).

“Forever”[TR/Byz]—eiv aiwna—‘Into the ages’—aiwn—Noun Masc. Accusative Sing.—1) For ever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity; 2) The worlds, universe; 3) Period of time, age. Aiwn is usually better expressed by age, it is the world at a given time, a particular period in the world's history. Kosmov has very frequently an unfavorable meaning, denoting the inhabitants of the world, mankind in general, as opposed to God. A similar meaning is often attached to aiwn, it means the spirit of the age, often in an unfavorable sense. Strong—properly--An age; by extension--Perpetuity(also past); by implication--The world; specially(Jewish)--A Messianic period(present or future).

Argumentation:

DARKNESS:

Jude 1:6—“And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;”

Previously Peter had stated:

2Pet. 2:3-4, 9—“By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, & their destruction does not slumber. For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell & delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;”.....“then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations & to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,”