Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Good morning, 1115.
[00:00:07] Good morning. If I have not met you, my name is Michael Fueling. I'm the lead pastor here at the village church, and I want to invite you. Would you open up your bibles to the book of second Peter? And we're going to be in chapter two this morning. So as a parent, it is my job to protect who and what influence my kids. And there are actually, for Brianne and I, there are three categories that we pay unusual attention to. Number one, social media. Number two, phones. Number three, friends. Social media phones, friends. If you want an acronym, SPF. Some of you are like, where's the p? It's in the phones. Social media phones and friends. I want to just give you a little bit of a snapshot into this past weekend in the fueling home. So our oldest just went to her very first prom, and with prom comes the after party and then sleepovers. And then the boy she's going with, who is incredible, by the way, he is a great young man, but I'm watching you, by the way.
[00:01:21] And so, like, there's that reality happening. We navigated a handful of sleepovers at our house. And if you're a mom or you're a dad, you kind of know all the ins and outs and concerns with that. And my son had his first baseball game this weekend, and we're just now meeting all of these new kids and coaches and parents who are going to be speaking into his life. And all of these influences, we don't know who they are. My kids are relentlessly asking me to get very specific social media apps that they want because all my friends are on them. And then my answer is no, and we'll figure it out later. But they're like, please, dad, they're begging me. They're bribing me, and I get it. And then this weekend, multiple times, somebody would text me or ask me a question, hey, dad, can I watch this tv show? Dad, can I watch this movie? And that's a regular conversation. So if I know about it, I'll give them an answer, or I'll go online and try to figure out if these are good things for them to be doing. This weekend, we had another circumstance where I'm gonna be intentionally vague as I say this, but one of our children was going to be a part of something that, when I was a part of that thing, when I was their age, had exposed me to three things that I wished to God that I was never exposed to at a young age. So we sat down and we had a pretty in depth. If this, then that conversation, if this happens, then what do you do? If that happens, then what do you do? Because what I need to be able to do is I need to be able to train, protect my kids, but also train them, because 99% of the time, I'm not going to be in the room, right? And then I need to make really good decisions. Given their age appropriateness, are they ready for these, these different things?
[00:03:17] I want to just pull back from this.
[00:03:20] 98% of the time, it is a joy, honor, and privilege to lead, provide and protect for my family. All the moms and dads. Can I get an amen?
[00:03:31] The 2% super irritating, but 98% of the time, this is our joy and our privilege. Why do we do this? And I want to say it very bluntly, because there are no good loser adults who do not love my children and want to introduce them to things that are beyond the appropriateness for their age and are getting paid to do it. There are people who get up every day, and their job is to put different images and algorithms in place for my kids social media, to expose them prematurely to things. This is their life and their job, and they get paid for it. And so I have to be really aware that we live in a world that not everybody has great intentions with kids. And kids are learning this, but they don't know the full scope of it. So enter moms, dads, grandmas, Grampians, guardians, like we come along. And our job is to lead, provide, protect, to shepherd these kids. Now go 2000 years back. This is not dissimilar to Peter's story and his experience with the churches that he pastors.
[00:04:36] And instead of, we'll just say, adults and social media and different influences that want to corrupt. What was happening in the first century churches is that men and women were coming into the church intentionally to do harm and to bring destructive ideas to Peter's churches. And he is like a father. He is a pastor. He is protective of his people. And so one of the best things that you can do to protect your kids or your flock is to let them know there are no good losers out there. And here are the ways you're going to identify them. And sometimes you won't see them at first, but over time, they're gonna play their cards. And when they play their cards, your eyes are wide open because we have loved you enough to train you. So two, Peter, chapter two. I'm just gonna be honest. Like, if you're new with us, this is one of those chapters that is super blunt. But we do blunt. So here we go. Like, Peter doesn't mince words. I mean, this is. He is going right for the jugular here. And so a couple months ago, Eric Bolling, he preached a great sermon on two, Peter two, as a part of our trap series, where he identified some of the false doctrines and ideas that false teachers bring into the church. I'm gonna do something a little bit different. I'm going to look at the character and some of the things that false teachers do so that we can identify who they are in two. Peter, chapter two. All right, verse one tells us right away where you're gonna find these low lifes creeping around. Verse one.
[00:06:09] But false prophets also arose among the people. Looking back to the Old Testament, to the nation of Israel, every time there was a move of God, there was a false prophet who would try to raise up, make the people stumble, and monetize off of it. He says false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. So eventually and inevitably, they show up to church.
[00:06:41] Whenever God is doing something good in a church, a family, or your life, there is a counterfeit and a saboteur waiting to counteract what God is doing. You need to be aware of that. That is a life principle. You cannot escape it. The evil one is absolutely intent on making sure that non christians do not get in the proximity of solid christians to hear the gospel. And if they do, they want to make sure that they discredit them as irrelevant or just silly or stupid. But if you are a believer and Jesus starts to do really awesome things in your life, be aware, because one of the most dangerous things for the kingdom of darkness is an on fire Christian who knows how to pray, who knows how to open their word and knows how to think. You give me someone like that, and you are a dangerous person to the kingdom of darkness.
[00:07:34] How does this happen? How do false teachers, how do false prophets, how do they get into churches? Verse one goes on, and it tells us who will secretly bring in destructive heresies.
[00:07:53] How do they get in secretly? They don't walk in. And they're not like, I'm gonna expose your children and immature christians to sexually immoral things. And by the way, I'm gonna monetize you while I'm at it. And, like, I'm gonna just try to get as much power and influence as I possibly can while I'm here. Is that cool? Everybody, like, that's not how they come in. They come in secretly.
[00:08:14] If people knew who they were and what they were up to. Well, then of course, somebody would say, hey, we know you're shenanigans. You're one of those no good false teachers.
[00:08:23] So listen to how the book of Jude describes them. Jude, chapter one, verse four, says, for certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, meaning God has the same judgment on all of them condemned. If you're going to do these kinds of things, ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only master and Lord Jesus Christ, listen, no good people sneak into churches.
[00:09:04] If you haven't noticed, across the country, across the world, church after church after church fights with each other, breaks down divides, closes. It is a story told over and over and over again. There are different reasons for that. But one of the most common reasons is people who sneak in. Yesterday I was on social media, and there's this person I was watching, and this person has their own designated little quiet ministry to help pastors who are pastoring conservative churches, to move those churches slowly and intentionally to progressive ideology. That's his whole job, secretly work with pastors to help them. They're like, oh, I'm part of this church, but they're too conservative. And I need to get them more affirming on this and that and here and there. And so his thing is, I want to come alongside of you. I want to help you secretly move your church to a more progressive church. And this actually happens around the country and the world. There are people who do this.
[00:10:01] And so here's just a fact. I am confident right now, probably in this room, there is somebody who is no good, who is up to something, and you're just hoping nobody notices.
[00:10:13] And I don't know who you are, but you actually know who you are.
[00:10:19] And this community has been designed to be protected from people like you. And I'm really grateful for that because there are policies and procedures and there are different things. Like, you can't just become a pastor or an elder or a deacon or a small group leader, etcetera. Like, there are actually things that, like, we try to protect people in this church because we love you, because we know that there are no good losers who want to get in and corrupt the church. How do we know that? Because almost every single book of the Bible tells us, be aware of these people.
[00:10:51] The primary target for exploitation are the most weak.
[00:10:57] Who are the most weak or vulnerable in a church.
[00:11:02] Number one, kids.
[00:11:05] Number two, new christians who don't yet have solid doctrine to steady their souls.
[00:11:13] Number three hyper compassionate christians. These are the ones that are like, I'm all grace, no truth, no truth. You do it, everyone. No truth, no truth.
[00:11:22] Hyper non compassionate christians. You know those guys, all truth. Who cares about you? No grace.
[00:11:27] And those who are mentally unwell.
[00:11:30] This is low hanging fruit. They know exactly who to look for and how to find them. They secretly, quietly do this. And what's interesting is that the most amount of trouble in churches does not come from these people, but from those who unknowingly follow them.
[00:11:46] I want to give you just a huge encouragement for a moment.
[00:11:50] 50 years ago, 52 years ago, when village church was planted, there was a commitment to make sure that everyone, young and old, was taught and trained in the word of God. For over five decades, this has been a commitment of this church. And here's what that means. It is not just your elders, pastors, deacons and staff members who know the word of God, but there is an army of men, women, students and children who know the word of God. And so here's the deal. Very rarely do these people get up to the point where the elders have to deal with them because the vast majority of the time they can't even get through a basic small group because of the amount of discernment, wisdom and knowledge of God's word on the very front line. And I am so, so grateful to pastor a church with so many people so aware of this reality, with ears kind of open, not paranoia, because like, that's not going to help anybody, but just an awareness that this is possible and a discernment to know when these things are happening.
[00:12:49] Let's go back to verse one, because verse one tells us what they are secretly bringing into the church.
[00:12:56] Verse one says, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies? Guys, heresy is a big word. And so the word heresy in scripture has two different kinds of meanings, two sides of the same coin. One, the vast majority of us are pretty familiar with, we're going to train on that one and then stick with me because the second one, most people don't quite understand that the Bible has a little bit broader definition of heresy than just this first one. So number one, heretics reject what we call tier one doctrines.
[00:13:32] These are doctrines that are essential for salvation. We call them gospel essentials, meaning that if you are going to be a true Christian, like a real Christian, you actually have to affirm or believe in essential, basic christian truths. And what we don't want to do is we don't want to make things essential that aren't. We want to keep it as focused as possible. So, like, what are these tier one doctrines? You can't be a Christian if you don't affirm the following things.
[00:14:05] You do have to believe that you're a sinner. That's like Christianity 101.
[00:14:10] You do have to believe that Jesus is fully God.
[00:14:16] You also have to believe that Jesus is fully man. You have to believe that God became flesh. You have to believe that when Jesus went to the cross, he was sinless because he's God. He died for our sins and our place.
[00:14:28] You have to believe that his resurrection was not mythology, but it was actual history. You have to believe in the ascension and that he's coming back.
[00:14:36] And here's the kicker. Ephesians two eight says that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works. Like, we're not trying to earn our way to heaven. That's not the gospel. That's actually terrible news. The good news is that we are saved by grace through faith. Like that right there.
[00:14:50] At the end of the day, there are so many different beliefs and so many different things, but we get these tier ones, and we just identify them. We say, these are the gospel essentials. Like, if you come to me and you say, I'm a Christian, but I don't believe Jesus rose from the dead, like, you have hijacked the word. The word actually means something. And a Christian is somebody who actually believes in the literal resurrection of Jesus. He was dead and he's alive. And so we're pretty clear about these minimal doctrines that are in tier one.
[00:15:19] Now. Are you allowed to doubt tier one doctrines?
[00:15:23] Yeah. Are you allowed to struggle with tier one doctrines? Welcome to being a human.
[00:15:30] Welcome to being somebody. Like, this is called faith. We believe this because, I don't know about you, but I've never seen God face to face. And so this is faith. And so it is okay to wrestle and to struggle. That is part of this. But at the end of the day, we affirm these, tier two. These are very important but not essential. They have a pretty significant impact on the way we think and then, therefore, the way we live. And so here are some examples of this. The role of men and women in the church and in home. I mean, we're gonna be in heaven, and there are gonna be people with all different kinds of ideas. And, of course, we're all gonna agree in heaven, because Jesus is going to center us on what is true and real this side of heaven. Lots of debate. Now, these are really important issues, and I do think that, like, a huge portion of truth is very discernible from God's word there. But again, as long as we're alive, people are gonna be all over the board on that issue. Predestination, free will and evangelism, and how these work together. I mean, goodness gracious, it's one of the most complex subjects. And when we get to heaven, we're all going to agree because Jesus is going to correct every single one of us and bring us to a place of unity. They're really important subjects because how you think on these issues determines how you read and apply God's word on so many levels. But guess what? When we get to heaven, there's going to be a whole bunch of people who died believing very different things.
[00:16:48] Tier three are less important. Don't get me wrong. Still important. Less important, but not essential. This would be your end times position, like, what's going to happen at the end of the world? How is all this going to play out? There are as many different positions in the end times as there are people in our church. The best Bible translations, I mean, there's a couple that are just pathetic and terrible, but by and large, by and large, like, there are so many good translations of the Bible. Infant baptism or believer's baptism. I mean, baptism is so important, but these are things that, you know what you can be a real genuine believer and have a different perspective on. The body of Christ is filled with ideological diversity, but the body of Christ has tier one unity. Okay? So that's one side of the coin of being a heretic.
[00:17:37] The other side of the coin is interesting because you can actually have good doctrine and still be a heretic. In fact, the second kind of heresy is the kind that churches who teach the Bible, like a lot, they often end up finding themselves susceptible to this kind of heresy. Number two, heretics advocate unbiblical behavior. So a heretic can believe in a pure gospel, but advocate unbiblical behavior. So what Peter does is he identifies at least three behaviors that you're going to find in false teachers, false prophets, three behaviors that are kind of the ones that really we should be looking for. And when you see these three things, you can know you're probably dealing with somebody who might believe in a pure gospel, but they are a false teacher. Okay, here's the first behavior. He says this. They deny Jesus when the pressure is on verse one, he goes on it says, even denying the master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. Okay, do you guys remember what Jesus said to Peter about denying him? I want to remind you Matthew 1032 and 33. Jesus says, so everyone who acknowledges me before men I will acknowledge before my father who is in heaven.
[00:19:02] But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my father who is in heaven.
[00:19:10] Could I remind you of something? How many times did Peter himself deny Jesus? Like, three in one night.
[00:19:19] Even as I say that some of you are in the room and the Holy Spirit is, like, poking at your brain, and maybe you were in school and you denied Christ, you're like, oh, I'm not a Christian. The kids ask, do you guys go to church? Oh, I just go to church, but I'm not a Christian. And deep down inside, you are.
[00:19:36] Maybe like, you were at work or in your neighborhood and someone tried to figure out if you're a Christian and you're, like, in the name of trying not to sound like you're one of the weirdos, you just. Oh, I don't. I'm not one of those weirdos who believes, like, the Bible's true and authoritative and all that kind of stuff. Like, I still believe in evolution and all that stuff, whatever, but I'm not one of those weirdos. Right? Okay. And you know, deep down in your heart, you were trying to make distance between you and Jesus to get their affirmation.
[00:19:59] I have really, really good news. That is not the unforgivable sin.
[00:20:05] Peter would look at you and say, if he forgave me after what I did, and my betrayal of him helped facilitate the crucifixion, the murder of Jesus.
[00:20:14] If God can forgive Peter, God can forgive you. And let me just tell you, like, there is hope, restoration, and forgiveness if you come to him and say, I am sorry, I was ashamed of you, but I will no longer be ashamed of you. You are my God, and I am proud of you.
[00:20:32] Heretics number two, they advocate a second behavior, which is unbiblical sensuality.
[00:20:38] So verse two says, many will follow their sensuality, and because of them, the way of truth will be blasphemed. This phrase, the way of truth, is really important because there is a way of Jesus when it comes to sexuality and sensuality.
[00:20:58] And when somebody comes along and they teach that you can do it a different way. His phrase is this blasphemes. This is a big word, by the way. I mean, Peter's not meant some words. This blasphemes the way of Jesus. It's not the way of Jesus. It actually makes a mockery of the way of Jesus.
[00:21:16] What you'll find is these false teachers. They'll kind of creep in. Oftentimes in one on one conversations or in your social media feed, and in the one on one conversations, you might even share with them some of the sexual struggles you have, because that is a human issue across the board. Man, woman, old, young, right? And they might say something like this, well, you know, you need to follow your heart on this. Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth. I'm sorry. My bad. You. You need to be. You need to be the most authentic you. Sorry, just. I can't. I'm gagging on the words as I say them. Let me just tell you, you don't want me to be the most authentic me. The most authentic me is a terrible human being. I work really hard to keep the most authentic Michael under wraps because he's a sinner and he's being transformed by the grace of God. But the grace of God hasn't done with me yet.
[00:22:07] Heretics number three. They advocate the unbiblical behavior of greed.
[00:22:12] Verse three. In their greed, they will exploit you with false words. I think in our brains, we have this idea that greed is about money.
[00:22:20] It can be. Greed is the relentless, obsessive pursuit of more.
[00:22:26] And so you might want more power, you might want more influence. You might want more control, you might want more cash. That could be it. But greed is this thing inside of us that is never content, and we want more. And so some people come to church to peddle their business, to bring in some kind of pyramid scheme to expand their influence, to exert control. And in their mind, they're justified to do this. Well, because I'm the most important person in the world.
[00:23:04] Why wouldn't you be somebody that I could utilize to make myself or to get myself more of whatever it is I want. Okay, so what would you do if somebody secretly came into your home to influence your children to do things that are against your will as a mom and dad? That's a rhetorical question. Don't say it out loud.
[00:23:27] I feel the same way.
[00:23:30] What is Jesus doing about these people?
[00:23:33] Because they're out there, and I want to make a distinction. So we're clear.
[00:23:36] There are the ones that come in to intentionally do this, and then there are those who fall prey to it.
[00:23:43] And I want to make a distinction because what he's primarily addressing are the ones who come in and intentionally do this.
[00:23:50] Verse three. And I love this verse. He says this, their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. In other words, do you ever look at somebody and they seem to be winning like, you look at these prosperity preachers, they just make me want to choke. I look at them and I'm like, oh. And they just keep making more money, and they look like they're just happy and they're getting away with it. Catch them. Why is this happening to these lowlifes?
[00:24:29] Is God idle?
[00:24:31] Apparently, he's not idle.
[00:24:34] Has he fallen asleep?
[00:24:36] Jesus is wide awake.
[00:24:39] Their destruction is not asleep.
[00:24:44] I want to put this on the screen because I want you to see this. But the human body and soul are designed by God to crumble when given over to sensuality and or greed.
[00:24:56] The human soul does not have the capacity to carry these things, let alone for very long. I want you to just check this out. That God has poisoned these behaviors.
[00:25:07] He's poisoned them in such a way that he has injected these behaviors with a silent, slow working venom that corrupts the mind, heart, and soul of the person participating in them.
[00:25:21] We see this on tv in huge ways, but if we're being honest, this is the struggle of 99% of christians and people in this room. It is the struggle with the desire for more. It is the struggle with sensuality. It is the struggle to figure out, how do I take these powerful forces in my life and submit them under the authority of God's word and to let Jesus bring healing and redemption to these areas.
[00:25:48] What happens and what you don't see it, the person on tv or the person in your life who keeps winning, is that when they do these things, when they are greedy for more, when they indulge in sexual immorality, that they have bitten the poisoned apple, and it is injected by the very participation in these behaviors, and they are slowly, steadily corrupting themselves, and they are going to try to hide that corruption and the desperation until the moment it breaks and it all goes public. This is how it works. So people are coming into Peter's churches with secret agendas to gain power and influence by using people, extorting people, dabbling with the weakest of people in the church. In fact, look at verse 14.
[00:26:34] It says, they have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. And this phrase, this is striking. They entice unseen souls.
[00:26:45] Who are the unsteady souls?
[00:26:49] Kids, new christians, hyper compassionate christians, all grace, no truth, zero compassion christians, all truth, no grace. And those with mental health struggles, they are unsteady souls. They are easy target. And so as a community, we build systems, processes, protocols to protect that crew.
[00:27:13] So what is God going to do about these no good, low lives? I know what you want to do. And I know what I want to do, but what is God going to do now? What's interesting in two, Peter is he gives four examples of these. And the first is this group called the nephilim. And where before the flood, demons procreated with women, and they had the giants of old, and God sent the flood to destroy them. And what's interesting is that God took these demons and he subjected them to this day to gloomy pits of darkness. Like, right now, we're here. We're sitting in church. They have been in gloomy pits of darkness awaiting the final judgment. That's where they are right now. And for a while, it looked like they were going to get away with it because these nephilim ruled the world.
[00:27:55] The second group of people he talks about is everybody who lived in the world pre flood. Like, we have this idea. Like, they were bad, they were disgusting, and it looked like for centuries, like, if I'm Noah, I'm like, century after century. Why are these people getting away with it? And then God brings in the flood, and then there's the post flood world. He uses the example of Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah are the closest example of what we can get to, of what the totality of the pre flood world was like. You have men taking young boys, teaching them how to inappropriately violate strangers who come into their city. Like, that is a level of disgusting. Most of us can't comprehend. And most of us have an issue with the flood because we do not understand the evil. You would demand the death penalty for anybody who did that, wouldn't you? And yet we're all like, oh, the flood, it's whatever, the end. It's like, trust me, guys, if you saw what God saw, the flood would have been too nice. And the fact that God even waited as long as he did is his kindness and his mercy. There's a fourth example that Peter gives. It's this false prophet. He's a prophet named Balaam. And Balaam was getting ready to sell out the nation of Israel, where tens of thousands of Israelites would have been killed for money.
[00:29:06] For money.
[00:29:07] And it's like, how low do you have to be to do these kinds of things? So what does God do? What happens is that these examples show us how God deals with this. And the best way to learn how God deals with it and what's going to happen to them is we look backwards to these examples to look forward, to see how God's going to deal with people. So God always executes justice. Amen. He does it in one of three ways.
[00:29:31] Number one, by giving people over to their sin.
[00:29:36] In verse 19, he says, they promise them freedom. So is freedom. On the other side of this, if you follow me, it will give you your heart's desires. But then it says, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. That's what you don't see. On the inside is the venom is taking its work, its place, its doing its job, its corrupting them. On the inside, he says, for whatever overcomes a person to that, he is enslaved. And so you will watch. You might see victory on the surface. You might see the guy on tv or something, and they look like theyre winning. But inside, the venom is doing its work. Part of the discipline and the justice is the slow but intentional giving over of sin.
[00:30:15] God always executes justice. The second way he does this is by bringing some kind of swift discipline, often death. In the four examples, all four people died because of their sin, or all four groups died because of their sin.
[00:30:30] So the second way he does this is by bringing discipline, often death, to end their destruction. Inevitably, there does get to a point of evil where God just says, enough is enough, and he will bring swift judgment. Sometimes it is public humiliation. Sometimes it is sheer death.
[00:30:46] The Lord does whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
[00:30:49] God always executes justice in a third way by sending them to hell. If they reject Jesus, look at verse 17. Again, the bluntness is just striking.
[00:31:00] These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them, the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. So there will be people who get away with it their whole life.
[00:31:15] You know they know, but you can't quite get them caught by the police, and the people around them can't quite end it. And they are going to win until the day they're dead. But then Jesus will execute justice.
[00:31:30] So this brought about for me so many questions. I'll share a couple with you. We'll fly through these.
[00:31:36] Question one, so what do I do when evil people seem to be winning?
[00:31:42] He uses the example of lot, and the first thing we learn is that we grieve over wicked people, we greed over what is happening. Yes, there is a part of us that is angry and wants justice, but there is a deep sadness when an image bearer is given over to their sin.
[00:31:59] The second thing we do, and we learn from lot, is that we wait in holiness for the Lord's rescue, that the temptation is to become like them. And that's not the answer. Our answer is to be holy, to follow the Lord to get rid of sin in our life and to totally trust him with these people.
[00:32:19] And then number three, we learned that our job is to never take vengeance. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.
[00:32:27] That is not my job. Anybody ever wanted to take vengeance. Not our job. I have. You have, everybody has.
[00:32:36] And yet here's the deal. When I take vengeance, what I'm saying is, Jesus, you don't know what you're doing. I'm going to do your job for you. I'm not a good Jesus. Anyone else? Some of you are. Like, I'm pretty good. As Jesus goes, I'm better than the rest. No, you're not.
[00:32:52] In two Peter 210 and eleven. This is interesting.
[00:32:57] It says, bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones. Whereas angels, though greater in might and power, like they could totally crush them. They have all the might and power. They don't even pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord because it's not their job.
[00:33:14] So my next question. Okay, then. Who is going to punish them? Who is going to punish these losers on tv who are extorting and exploiting people? Like, when is this going to happen?
[00:33:24] Other than Jesus? There are three institutions, if you will, that are authorized to inflict discipline even as an act of justice.
[00:33:33] The first is the government. It has a range of responsibilities given to it by God. The second are the elders of a church. Their scope of responsibility is the local church. And the third is parents called to discipline their children. And that is the scope of their responsibility.
[00:33:49] And often all three levels fail.
[00:33:52] And when they fail, we are not vigilantes.
[00:33:56] When we fail, Jesus is still Jesus and he will execute justice. Here's the third question. Can true christians get caught up in false teachers, ways of life or doctrines?
[00:34:09] I'm going to tell you from first hand experience, yes.
[00:34:12] Does it mean that you're not a true christian? No. Like, we are all susceptible. It's why we need to protect one another in our own hearts and selves and those who are the most vulnerable in this church, because we're all capable temporarily of falling into these kinds. Into these kinds of things.
[00:34:31] Question number four. But what if I do get caught up in this repent?
[00:34:38] It's interesting. In verse 20, Peter says, for if after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. I'm talking about christians. They are again entangled them and overcome. The last state has become for them worse than the first.
[00:34:56] And so here's this idea. Moms and dads, we discipline our children because we're good parents, even though the kids are like, I don't want you to do that. Sometimes we ground them and grounding. Hopefully it's not this indefinite thing. You're grounded till, I don't know, forever when I feel like you're not. Now we ground them for like two days or three days or a day or so something. It's a measurable discipline. Okay? And then when it's done, we release them from the cage of their grounding. Okay?
[00:35:21] In the same way, if you're a believer and you have been rescued from things, and then you run right back to those things, I want to just caution you because Jesus has every permission to give you temporarily over to that as an act of discipline, and you will not be released from it until he releases you. Your salvation is not on the line. It is an act of discipline. Peter says your first state is going to be worse than the latter. And he's saying this really truly to kind of like scare them and say, listen, guys, whatever you do, do not fall back into this. All right? To close, we have three. So whats number one is be vigilant.
[00:36:03] False prophets and teachers have snuck into village church through the back door, and you're wondering, what is he about to say?
[00:36:13] Their voices are found in social media, phones and friends.
[00:36:20] I'll come back to the very beginning. These are the primary avenues, and not just for your kids. For us as adults, these are the primary avenues where false prophets, false teachers are making their way into our children and our adults hearts, minds and souls. And it's always the same two dumb things. Entrap them in sexual morality. Entice them with more and more and more greed.
[00:36:50] So number two, be patient.
[00:36:53] God's justice is almost always a slow burn followed by an immediate and public judgment.
[00:37:04] And during the slow burn, do not underestimate what God is doing behind the scenes.
[00:37:11] As people are given over to their sensuality, as they are being given over to their greed. It may look like they're winning and happy and life is great. But inevitably, the judgment of God, which is what we learn from the nephilim, what we learn from the prefallen world, what we learn from Psalm of Gomorrah, we learn from balaam and so many other stories, is that inevitably these things break and judgment happens.
[00:37:37] We also learn in this process, never be Jesus by taking vengeance. That is his job, not our job. Hard job. I don't want it. I do want it. But I don't want it. You know what I mean? Finally, number three, turn to Christ, receive grace, and escape judgment.
[00:37:58] What I love is that Peter has so royally messed up. Peter did some of the dumbest things on the planet. And God didn't just save him, but called him to be an apostle and to be in ministry. If Jesus can bring that level of forgiveness, restoration and redemption, can he not do that for your life and for my life? The answer is absolutely. And so I love. I love this, that any person, it doesn't matter how evil and wicked you might be here. And you're like, how? It's like, how does he know? I think he might know that I'm the person who came in with ulterior motives into this place. And what I love is that even you, even you, who have a history of extorting and exploiting people and exposing people to things that they should never be exposed to, the grace of God. The blood of Christ is potent enough to cover your sin. And there is hope, restoration and redemption, even for you. It doesn't matter who you are in this room. If you come here and you acknowledge the tier one doctrines, I am a sinner. Jesus died for my sins. In my place, he was raised from the dead. I am not saved by being good. I am trusting in Jesus. Salvation is yours if you really want it. I love that. What awesome news. You know what terrible news would be? If you're good enough, maybe you can earn it. Nope, I don't want that good news. Anyone who trusts in Christ and believes in life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God's hand is extended. Forgiveness and reconciliation are yours. If you're here and you've never made that decision, I want to just encourage you. Trust in Christ. If you don't even know what that means, come talk to myself. Anyone up front? Pastor Dean. He'll be doing some baptisms here in a moment. Like, come talk to us. We would love to pray with you, encourage you, help you take whatever next step God might be asking you to take. And so it would be our joy and privilege to come alongside of you as you learn and figure out what does it mean to come to Jesus, to tell him you're sorry and to learn to repent and to live for Christ. Let's pray together. Father, I want to thank you for even just the baptism that we are about to witness together. The story of your intervention, your redemption, your restoration. You are just so unbelievably good. And I want to thank you for your word for 2000 years churches all over the globe have been experiencing the same kind of onslaught from false preachers and teachers extorting exploiting those who are most weak and vulnerable. God I pray you would continue to give us eyes to see what is real and true a heart of protection for our church those who are the weakest, for our families and for our children.
[00:40:30] And God I thank you that you are in control Jesus you are fully God you are sovereign, you are the king of kings and there is not a single thing that has gone on that we don't know about that you are unaware of. You are fully aware. And lord we just trust you and we declare today that we are not vengeance takers but we have confidence and trust that you our king, our judge and our savior you have things under control. In the meantime teach us to be holy, to live for you and to bring you glory. We love you. We pray all of this in Jesus name. Amenville Church.
