1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:04,740 A quick summary of what we’ve learned so far from this letter, that God has given us everything 2 00:00:04,740 –> 00:00:09,760 we need for life in knowing Jesus, and God has given us everything we need for knowing 3 00:00:09,760 –> 00:00:14,780 Jesus in the Bible, that’s a quick summary of 2 Peter chapter 1. 4 00:00:14,780 –> 00:00:18,959 And you have all that you need in Christ because you participate in a divine nature. 5 00:00:18,959 –> 00:00:23,840 In Christ the Spirit is given to you, and in Christ you escape the corruption that is 6 00:00:23,840 –> 00:00:27,660 in the world caused by lust, by evil desires. 7 00:00:27,840 –> 00:00:33,439 In Christ, sin is no longer your master, it is your enemy, but no longer your master. 8 00:00:33,439 –> 00:00:40,400 So 2 Peter chapter 1 is all good, and you might wish that the letter ended there. 9 00:00:40,400 –> 00:00:46,279 But it doesn’t because alongside truth there is error. 10 00:00:46,279 –> 00:00:53,900 Close to the genuine you will find the counterfeit, mixed with the wheat you will find the weeds, 11 00:00:53,900 –> 00:01:01,779 and outside of heaven there is hell, and 2 Peter chapter 2 is all about counterfeit 12 00:01:01,779 –> 00:01:04,040 Christianity. 13 00:01:04,040 –> 00:01:08,419 Now let me just have a little parenthesis here because it’s important for us as a congregation 14 00:01:08,419 –> 00:01:11,000 to understand why we do what we do. 15 00:01:11,000 –> 00:01:15,139 Why we approach ministry in the way that we do in this church. 16 00:01:15,139 –> 00:01:20,660 We are committed to the expository preaching of the Bible, which means that our normal 17 00:01:20,660 –> 00:01:25,820 diet in our services in the ministry of God’s Word is to work through Bible books in a kind 18 00:01:25,820 –> 00:01:27,459 of systematic way. 19 00:01:27,459 –> 00:01:33,800 I have to tell you there are some weeks when I am a little tempted to wish that it were 20 00:01:33,800 –> 00:01:41,680 not so, and this week is one of them, because 2 Peter chapter 2 is one of the hardest chapters 21 00:01:41,680 –> 00:01:43,720 in all of the Bible. 22 00:01:43,720 –> 00:01:48,239 Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones sort of encouraged me when he said this in my reading this week, 23 00:01:48,260 –> 00:01:49,300 and he says, 24 00:01:49,300 –> 00:01:54,680 of all the chapters that are found in the entire Bible, the second chapter of 2 Peter 25 00:01:54,680 –> 00:01:59,459 is among the most terrible of all the chapters in the Bible. 26 00:01:59,459 –> 00:02:06,620 Anyone who enjoys reading a chapter like this, he says, must surely be abnormal. 27 00:02:06,620 –> 00:02:13,940 So if you read this and you think, oh my, at least you know you’re normal. 28 00:02:14,059 –> 00:02:19,759 Now this reminds us, I think, it’s very easy, isn’t it, to understand why many churches 29 00:02:19,779 –> 00:02:25,800 today take a channel-hopping approach to the preaching and teaching of the Bible. 30 00:02:25,800 –> 00:02:27,179 You know the channel-hopping bit. 31 00:02:27,179 –> 00:02:30,559 At least all the guys in the congregation know about this. 32 00:02:30,559 –> 00:02:35,259 You know, we sit down on the sofa, and what do you have in your hand? 33 00:02:35,259 –> 00:02:37,820 You have the remote, when you put on the television. 34 00:02:37,820 –> 00:02:38,860 And what do you do? 35 00:02:38,860 –> 00:02:42,460 You ask the question in your mind there, what’s on that I want to watch? 36 00:02:42,460 –> 00:02:43,440 And you watch for a few minutes. 37 00:02:43,440 –> 00:02:45,279 And then what do you do? 38 00:02:45,279 –> 00:02:47,179 You flick the channel and say, what else is there? 39 00:02:47,179 –> 00:02:51,380 I’ll go onto something else because I’m losing interest in the thing that was there. 40 00:02:51,380 –> 00:02:53,639 Now that is fine when it comes to television. 41 00:02:53,639 –> 00:02:57,800 Actually moving off a channel is sometimes essential, but it is not good when it comes 42 00:02:57,800 –> 00:03:00,080 to the Bible. 43 00:03:00,080 –> 00:03:04,759 If we jump around the Bible, only choosing the bits that we want to hear, if we are Bible 44 00:03:04,759 –> 00:03:10,559 channel-hoppers, we will not have everything that we need for life because we are not hearing 45 00:03:10,559 –> 00:03:13,360 everything that Jesus has to say to us. 46 00:03:14,199 –> 00:03:20,320 We become kind of malnourished Christians, and if you are a malnourished Christian, you 47 00:03:20,320 –> 00:03:24,399 don’t have the energy, you don’t have the muscle, you don’t have the resistance to 48 00:03:24,399 –> 00:03:26,979 spiritual infection that you need. 49 00:03:26,979 –> 00:03:32,220 And what is true of an individual also can be true of a church. 50 00:03:32,220 –> 00:03:38,639 A church that simply picks from the Bible the things that people most want to hear can 51 00:03:38,639 –> 00:03:41,360 only ever produce weak Christians. 52 00:03:42,279 –> 00:03:46,759 I mean we all want to be affirmed, that’s just in human nature. 53 00:03:46,759 –> 00:03:53,839 But if a church lives on a diet of affirmation and only affirmation the Christians will not 54 00:03:53,839 –> 00:04:00,419 develop the muscle or the marrow that is needed for a healthy Christian life. 55 00:04:00,419 –> 00:04:06,080 Now, if this church took a channel hopping approach to the Bible, you can be sure you 56 00:04:06,080 –> 00:04:10,279 wouldn’t be hearing a sermon on 2 Peter chapter two. 57 00:04:10,679 –> 00:04:16,440 We are committed to hearing what God has placed in the Scripture, whether it immediately appeals 58 00:04:16,440 –> 00:04:18,059 to us or not. 59 00:04:18,059 –> 00:04:21,279 Give me some encouragement to tell me that you agree with that this morning. 60 00:04:21,279 –> 00:04:22,279 Is that right? 61 00:04:22,279 –> 00:04:23,700 That’s where we are. 62 00:04:23,700 –> 00:04:31,119 Now, I’m working on the assumption today that if the Holy Spirit moved Peter in his 63 00:04:31,880 –> 00:04:40,480 to the church, to spend one-third of it on the subject of counterfeit Christianity, then 64 00:04:40,480 –> 00:04:44,799 this must be something of great importance for the church in every age, and therefore 65 00:04:44,799 –> 00:04:50,760 by default of great importance for us in this church today. 66 00:04:50,760 –> 00:04:55,160 And so with that introduction, I hope you will have your Bible open, and let’s apply 67 00:04:55,160 –> 00:04:58,760 ourselves to what God is saying to us here. 68 00:04:59,359 –> 00:05:06,720 There were also false prophets among the people just as there will be false teachers among 69 00:05:06,720 –> 00:05:07,720 you. 70 00:05:07,720 –> 00:05:09,660 Now, that’s a definite statement. 71 00:05:09,660 –> 00:05:16,579 It’s a matter of history that there were false prophets among God’s people in the Old Testament. 72 00:05:16,579 –> 00:05:18,820 You remember what the penalty was for false prophecy. 73 00:05:18,820 –> 00:05:20,940 We spoke about that last week. 74 00:05:20,940 –> 00:05:25,600 The truth was that the people rarely had the will to deal with false prophets, and so instead 75 00:05:25,880 –> 00:05:30,899 of being restrained or cast out from the community, they multiplied. 76 00:05:30,899 –> 00:05:35,440 And just read the Old Testament, you will find that false prophets caused untold spiritual 77 00:05:35,440 –> 00:05:39,320 damage to the life of Israel. 78 00:05:39,320 –> 00:05:46,000 Now it says, Peter, in the same way, there will be false teachers among you. 79 00:05:46,000 –> 00:05:49,500 Now, notice the phrase among you, who is he writing to? 80 00:05:49,500 –> 00:05:55,279 He’s writing to the church, and he’s saying to local churches like ourselves, ordinary 81 00:05:55,640 –> 00:06:01,260 congregations and gatherings of Christian believers, he says there will be false teachers 82 00:06:01,260 –> 00:06:02,739 among you. 83 00:06:02,739 –> 00:06:07,380 He’s not talking about the false teachers that, you know, new-age folks that turn up 84 00:06:07,380 –> 00:06:08,799 on television and so forth. 85 00:06:08,799 –> 00:06:10,260 We expect that. 86 00:06:10,260 –> 00:06:13,160 He’s saying, you know, I’m addressing a much more serious problem. 87 00:06:13,160 –> 00:06:18,799 And that is counterfeit Christianity within the local congregation. 88 00:06:18,799 –> 00:06:24,100 Within the gathering of a church just like this. 89 00:06:24,100 –> 00:06:30,140 Now this reminds us that of course there is no such thing as a pure church this side 90 00:06:30,140 –> 00:06:32,179 of heaven. 91 00:06:32,179 –> 00:06:38,140 The wheat and the weeds grow together always. 92 00:06:38,140 –> 00:06:44,339 Warren Wearsay, perhaps one of the most gracious of Christian writers, puts it this way, Satan 93 00:06:44,339 –> 00:06:46,480 he says is the counterfeiter. 94 00:06:47,299 –> 00:06:54,019 He has a false gospel preached by false ministers producing false believers. 95 00:06:54,019 –> 00:07:00,079 And Satan plants his counterfeits wherever God plants true believers. 96 00:07:00,079 –> 00:07:04,100 That’s a principle of Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the weeds. 97 00:07:04,100 –> 00:07:09,899 Wherever the wheat is planted the enemy comes Jesus says, and he plants the weeds among 98 00:07:10,540 –> 00:07:17,899 Wherever God is doing a work in any church Satan will always plant weeds beside the wheat. 99 00:07:17,899 –> 00:07:20,700 So this is the issue that’s before us in 2 Peter. 100 00:07:20,700 –> 00:07:22,399 It’s relevant for us as a congregation. 101 00:07:22,399 –> 00:07:23,519 We’re not exempt from this. 102 00:07:23,519 –> 00:07:28,579 No church in any time or place ever is, can, or will be. 103 00:07:28,579 –> 00:07:32,559 The obvious question is how can you then recognize a counterfeit Christian? 104 00:07:32,559 –> 00:07:37,200 How do I know that I am a real Christian and not a counterfeit one? 105 00:07:37,679 –> 00:07:39,779 That’s what’s before us today. 106 00:07:39,779 –> 00:07:44,320 We’re going to look at seven general characteristics of the true and false believer. 107 00:07:44,320 –> 00:07:48,760 Then one distinguishing mark by which we may know that we are in the faith. 108 00:07:48,760 –> 00:07:53,519 And then two ultimate outcomes. 109 00:07:53,519 –> 00:08:00,260 So first then, seven general characteristics of true and false believers, authentic and 110 00:08:01,220 –> 00:08:02,079 counterfeit. 111 00:08:02,079 –> 00:08:08,019 Believers who you will find in a gathering of a church like this. 112 00:08:08,019 –> 00:08:12,299 Remember Second Peter chapter one has been describing the true, Second Peter chapter 113 00:08:12,299 –> 00:08:16,880 2 is describing the false, you put the two alongside and you see some very obvious contrasts. 114 00:08:16,880 –> 00:08:22,579 The first is that the true and false operate with different sources. 115 00:08:22,579 –> 00:08:28,760 Chapter 1 in verse 16 Peter says we did not follow cleverly invented stories. 116 00:08:28,760 –> 00:08:32,900 But if you look at chapter 2 in verse 3 the false teachers exploit you with stories they 117 00:08:32,900 –> 00:08:34,659 have made up. 118 00:08:34,659 –> 00:08:38,419 We don’t invent what we’re saying, it’s the word of God, Peter says. 119 00:08:38,419 –> 00:08:43,940 But the false teachers they are not drawing primarily on the word of God, they are developing 120 00:08:43,940 –> 00:08:49,840 ministry on the basis of their own creativity rather on the basis of the word of God. 121 00:08:49,840 –> 00:08:53,940 The false teacher makes up his own message. 122 00:08:53,940 –> 00:08:56,500 There’s a different message therefore. 123 00:08:56,500 –> 00:09:01,479 That is the substance of the message for the true teacher Jesus Christ is central. 124 00:09:01,479 –> 00:09:07,159 We have everything that we need for life and for Godliness through our knowledge of Him, 125 00:09:07,159 –> 00:09:10,359 it’s through Jesus Christ that we have everything we need for life. 126 00:09:10,359 –> 00:09:16,640 So Jesus Christ is at the center in the true teaching, but the false teacher pushes Jesus 127 00:09:16,640 –> 00:09:18,640 to the margins. 128 00:09:18,640 –> 00:09:24,840 Chapter 2 verse 1, it will secretly introduce destructive heresies even denying the Sovereign 129 00:09:24,840 –> 00:09:27,599 Lord, who bought them. 130 00:09:27,599 –> 00:09:28,700 Notice the word secretly. 131 00:09:28,700 –> 00:09:35,940 You don’t expect someone who is counterfeit to sort of walk into a church and just openly 132 00:09:35,940 –> 00:09:37,799 deny the Lord Jesus Christ. 133 00:09:37,799 –> 00:09:40,200 They don’t have any influence in that way. 134 00:09:40,200 –> 00:09:42,179 And so what happens is it is much more subtle. 135 00:09:42,179 –> 00:09:46,059 It is just a movement away from the centrality of Christ. 136 00:09:46,059 –> 00:09:49,780 If you listen very carefully to what the false teacher is saying. 137 00:09:49,780 –> 00:09:54,419 He talks a lot about how your life can change if you connect with other people, have accountability. 138 00:09:54,460 –> 00:09:56,299 All of these good things. 139 00:09:56,299 –> 00:10:00,500 But if you ask the question, is Jesus Christ really at the center of what he’s saying? 140 00:10:01,640 –> 00:10:06,940 Would what he’s saying still be true if you took Jesus Christ out or if he had never existed? 141 00:10:06,940 –> 00:10:09,719 The answer is Jesus is not essential to what he’s saying. 142 00:10:09,719 –> 00:10:12,340 It’s basically sociological. 143 00:10:12,340 –> 00:10:15,500 It’s basically people in community. 144 00:10:15,500 –> 00:10:21,260 And Jesus Christ is somehow at the margins, not at the center. 145 00:10:21,260 –> 00:10:23,799 And therefore he does not get the glory. 146 00:10:23,799 –> 00:10:29,039 And that is one of the key distinctions between the true and the false. 147 00:10:29,039 –> 00:10:31,080 The true and the false are in a different position. 148 00:10:31,080 –> 00:10:35,559 Thirdly, the true Christian escapes the corruption in the world caused by evil desires, chapter 149 00:10:35,559 –> 00:10:37,280 one and verse four. 150 00:10:37,280 –> 00:10:40,340 But listen to how Peter describes the counterfeit. 151 00:10:40,340 –> 00:10:41,679 Chapter two and verse 19. 152 00:10:41,679 –> 00:10:48,020 They promise freedom but they themselves are slaves of depravity because a man is a slave 153 00:10:48,020 –> 00:10:50,280 to whatever has mastered him. 154 00:10:51,119 –> 00:10:54,080 So, two very different dynamics at work here. 155 00:10:54,080 –> 00:10:59,440 The true believer is one who is escaping the corruption that is caused by evil desires. 156 00:10:59,440 –> 00:11:05,000 The false believer is one who is mastered by the corruption of evil desires and his 157 00:11:05,000 –> 00:11:07,520 position has not changed. 158 00:11:08,039 –> 00:11:10,840 Fourthly, there’s a different character. 159 00:11:10,840 –> 00:11:15,359 The true believer we saw, from chapter one and verse five, he is pursuing goodness and 160 00:11:15,359 –> 00:11:19,919 knowledge and self-control and perseverance and godliness and brotherly kindness and love. 161 00:11:20,799 –> 00:11:23,940 What is the counterfeit Christian marked by? 162 00:11:23,940 –> 00:11:38,200 Verse ten, arrogance, slander, verse fourteen, experts in greed, eyes full of adultery, verse 163 00:11:38,200 –> 00:11:39,200 fourteen. 164 00:11:39,200 –> 00:11:46,140 And notice, in verse ten, that Peter especially underlines that the false teacher, the counterfeit 165 00:11:46,159 –> 00:11:50,119 believer, is one who despises authority. 166 00:11:50,340 –> 00:11:56,940 In other words, if within you there is a deep and intense despising of authority, you always 167 00:11:56,940 –> 00:11:58,840 fight it. 168 00:11:58,840 –> 00:12:02,960 You need to check your spiritual condition. 169 00:12:02,960 –> 00:12:10,059 That is not saying something that is encouraging about where you are at, is what we learn here. 170 00:12:10,059 –> 00:12:13,280 Fifth, the true and the false make a different appeal. 171 00:12:13,280 –> 00:12:17,539 And if you’re listening to a Christian teacher, or you’re listening to a Christian counsellor, 172 00:12:17,539 –> 00:12:22,059 it’s always worth asking the question, what are they appealing to here? 173 00:12:22,059 –> 00:12:25,659 The true teacher appeals to scripture, chapter one in verse 19. 174 00:12:25,659 –> 00:12:30,179 We have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you’ll do well to pay attention 175 00:12:30,179 –> 00:12:31,179 to it. 176 00:12:31,179 –> 00:12:35,619 Why should you listen to what I’m seeing the true teacher says, because it’s the word of 177 00:12:35,619 –> 00:12:37,179 God. 178 00:12:37,179 –> 00:12:43,000 But when you come to the false teacher in chapter two in verse 18, notice that he appeals 179 00:12:43,000 –> 00:12:47,320 to the lustful desires of sinful human nature. 180 00:12:47,359 –> 00:12:55,520 In other words, while the true teacher shapes his message by saying, what is in God’s word 181 00:12:55,520 –> 00:12:58,200 and how can I say it well? 182 00:12:58,200 –> 00:13:02,020 The false teacher starts from saying, what does people want to hear? 183 00:13:02,020 –> 00:13:05,200 What is really gonna ring the bell with the folks? 184 00:13:05,200 –> 00:13:07,239 And works from there. 185 00:13:07,239 –> 00:13:15,719 This is a distinguishing mark, appealing to the fallenness of human nature. 186 00:13:16,719 –> 00:13:19,719 And then there’s a different fruit, what fruit comes from these ministries, what fruit grows 187 00:13:19,719 –> 00:13:22,119 in the lives of these different people. 188 00:13:22,119 –> 00:13:26,799 The true believer, chapter 1 in verse 8, we saw is effective and productive in the knowledge 189 00:13:26,799 –> 00:13:27,919 of the Lord Jesus. 190 00:13:27,919 –> 00:13:34,760 But the counterfeit believer, chapter 2 and verse 17 is like a spring without water. 191 00:13:34,760 –> 00:13:37,400 Whatever phrase that is. 192 00:13:37,400 –> 00:13:44,320 Promising much, delivering little, a spring without water. 193 00:13:44,320 –> 00:13:46,179 And then of course, there is a different end. 194 00:13:46,179 –> 00:13:51,500 If you ask about the ultimate end of a true and a false believer, this is the most disturbing 195 00:13:51,500 –> 00:13:53,940 contrast of all. 196 00:13:53,940 –> 00:13:58,359 Chapter 1 in verse 11, the true believer receives a rich welcome into the eternal Kingdom of 197 00:13:58,359 –> 00:14:01,900 our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 198 00:14:01,900 –> 00:14:07,919 But the false believer, chapter 2 in verse 1, will experience swift destruction. 199 00:14:07,919 –> 00:14:10,640 And their condemnation has long been hanging over them. 200 00:14:10,640 –> 00:14:15,599 Verse 3, their destruction has not been sleeping. 201 00:14:15,599 –> 00:14:22,880 Now, only an abnormal person would find any pleasure in this, but we’re trying to take 202 00:14:22,880 –> 00:14:27,559 into our minds and hearts here what the Word of God is saying. 203 00:14:27,559 –> 00:14:33,280 And remember that our Lord Jesus Christ said that on the last day there would be many who 204 00:14:33,280 –> 00:14:39,039 had been involved in ministry in His name, and he would say to them on the last day, 205 00:14:39,080 –> 00:14:43,159 depart from me, I never knew you. 206 00:14:43,159 –> 00:14:50,179 Many who’d been involved in ministry in His name, and He would say, depart from me, I 207 00:14:50,179 –> 00:14:51,400 never knew you. 208 00:14:51,400 –> 00:14:54,659 Now, who are these people? 209 00:14:54,659 –> 00:15:03,280 Well, surely they are the ones that Peter is speaking about here, the counterfeit believers 210 00:15:03,280 –> 00:15:06,059 who he’s saying will be found in every church. 211 00:15:06,700 –> 00:15:13,239 The weeds planted alongside the wheat. 212 00:15:13,239 –> 00:15:17,159 And there are these great differences between the true, the authentic and the counterfeit. 213 00:15:17,159 –> 00:15:19,719 The true and the false. 214 00:15:19,719 –> 00:15:25,619 The counterfeit believer professes some kind of faith, has some kind of experience, but 215 00:15:25,619 –> 00:15:29,859 it’s a different source, it’s a different message, he’s in a different position, different 216 00:15:29,859 –> 00:15:34,619 character, different appeal, different fruit and different end. 217 00:15:35,559 –> 00:15:40,679 Now that leaves us with the obvious question—boy how can I be sure that I’m a true believer? 218 00:15:40,679 –> 00:15:46,000 Now we’re going to answer the question clearly in just a moment. 219 00:15:46,000 –> 00:15:50,039 But I want just to make two applications before we leave this distinction between the true 220 00:15:50,039 –> 00:15:51,039 and the false. 221 00:15:51,039 –> 00:15:57,619 The first is this—the Word of God says to Christian churches, there will be false teachers 222 00:15:57,619 –> 00:15:59,539 among you. 223 00:15:59,940 –> 00:16:05,320 Is there anyone who really thinks that when the Word of God makes such a categorical statement 224 00:16:05,320 –> 00:16:09,859 about the true and the counterfeit being alongside each other, that somehow this is nothing to 225 00:16:09,859 –> 00:16:12,700 do with us and that we never know anything of that? 226 00:16:12,700 –> 00:16:15,520 Is there anyone who is arrogant enough to think that? 227 00:16:15,520 –> 00:16:18,919 Surely not. 228 00:16:18,919 –> 00:16:29,119 What this means then is that the church needs to be protected. 229 00:16:29,119 –> 00:16:34,640 The reason that the church needs to be protected is that amongst the many wonderful people 230 00:16:34,640 –> 00:16:41,320 who come through the doors of the church each year, there will be some who would do the 231 00:16:41,320 –> 00:16:43,679 church more harm than good. 232 00:16:43,679 –> 00:16:49,599 They may seem the nicest people in the world, but they do not believe in the authority of 233 00:16:49,599 –> 00:16:58,679 the Bible and they do not believe in the exclusivity of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 234 00:16:58,700 –> 00:17:02,400 They have religious interest and they want to be involved in ministry, but they have 235 00:17:02,400 –> 00:17:07,160 a different source, a different message, a different position, different character, different 236 00:17:07,160 –> 00:17:11,239 appeal, different fruit, and a different end. 237 00:17:11,239 –> 00:17:17,319 And we must welcome such people because they need Christ as much as we do, but we must 238 00:17:17,319 –> 00:17:22,479 not allow them to have influence within the church. 239 00:17:22,479 –> 00:17:29,199 Part of the responsibility of pastors and of elders is to protect the flock of God. 240 00:17:29,199 –> 00:17:33,479 Remember Paul said there are wolves who would come in sheep’s clothing. 241 00:17:33,479 –> 00:17:38,479 And if we’ve understood this important teaching that Peter gives in his last letter to the 242 00:17:38,479 –> 00:17:43,280 church, you’ll understand that the church needs to be protected, you will be very grateful 243 00:17:43,280 –> 00:17:51,000 to those who are charged with that heavy responsibility, and you will pray for them as they discharge 244 00:17:51,239 –> 00:17:53,880 that for the good of the flock. 245 00:17:53,880 –> 00:17:57,079 Is that clear from this passage of scripture? 246 00:17:57,079 –> 00:18:01,719 There’s a second application, and it’s simply this, and you might be able to use this evangelistically 247 00:18:01,719 –> 00:18:02,959 even this week. 248 00:18:02,959 –> 00:18:07,439 Have you ever talked with someone who said that they weren’t going to follow Christ because 249 00:18:07,439 –> 00:18:10,719 they’d seen that some people who say that they follow Christ are hypocrites? 250 00:18:10,719 –> 00:18:15,199 Ever heard that argument as an excuse for not believing? 251 00:18:15,199 –> 00:18:19,760 Well, I think Peter just blows that away and really gives us the way to answer that. 252 00:18:19,880 –> 00:18:25,760 I mean, isn’t that the strangest, strangest excuse for not being a Christian? 253 00:18:25,760 –> 00:18:31,719 I’m not going to follow Christ because some people who claim to do so are hypocrites or 254 00:18:31,719 –> 00:18:32,880 are inconsistent. 255 00:18:32,880 –> 00:18:38,300 Look, what Peter teaches us here, there will be false teachers among you, just makes it 256 00:18:38,300 –> 00:18:46,780 plain to any mature person that skeptics will always be able to point to inconsistency and 257 00:18:47,140 –> 00:18:52,359 hypocrisy and failure in one way or another that takes place within the church of Jesus 258 00:18:52,359 –> 00:18:53,540 Christ. 259 00:18:53,540 –> 00:19:02,140 But listen, the existence of the counterfeit is never a reason for rejecting the true. 260 00:19:02,140 –> 00:19:07,660 And Peter’s kinda saying to us here, come on, grow up. 261 00:19:07,660 –> 00:19:10,900 Don’t be so naive. 262 00:19:10,900 –> 00:19:15,300 Of course there will be counterfeit Christians and you will meet them and you will be disturbed 263 00:19:15,300 –> 00:19:19,619 and disappointed by their example, but what else would you expect in this fallen world? 264 00:19:19,619 –> 00:19:27,859 Don’t be so naive and don’t miss what’s real just because you have seen what is counterfeit. 265 00:19:27,859 –> 00:19:34,939 Let’s be done with that nonsense as an excuse for you staying away from real faith and real 266 00:19:34,939 –> 00:19:39,040 following of Jesus Christ. 267 00:19:39,040 –> 00:19:40,020 So seven general characteristics. 268 00:19:40,719 –> 00:19:46,300 It’s important to understand this issue that’s always with the church. 269 00:19:46,300 –> 00:19:50,140 Now one distinguishing mark, and we’re homing in on the question how, then, do I know that 270 00:19:50,140 –> 00:19:54,479 I’m a real Christian and not a counterfeit Christian. 271 00:19:54,479 –> 00:19:59,459 Well, there is one distinguishing mark that Peter draws out here. 272 00:19:59,459 –> 00:20:03,319 I’m not saying it’s the only mark, but it is one mark that he draws out for us here 273 00:20:03,319 –> 00:20:05,060 and it’s very helpful. 274 00:20:05,060 –> 00:20:07,780 It is hidden in your heart. 275 00:20:08,459 –> 00:20:12,839 And therefore you cannot know it for sure in other people, but you can know it for sure 276 00:20:12,839 –> 00:20:15,939 in yourself. 277 00:20:15,939 –> 00:20:19,359 And just before we look at what it is, let me just remind you that we do need to be very 278 00:20:19,359 –> 00:20:23,060 careful about making false judgments. 279 00:20:23,060 –> 00:20:28,079 Find in my own spirit that I need to check myself because I jump to conclusions too quickly 280 00:20:28,079 –> 00:20:31,479 again and again. 281 00:20:31,479 –> 00:20:38,300 Remember this, when we read in verse two of false teachers who deny the sovereignty 282 00:20:38,300 –> 00:20:44,939 of the Lord, the sovereign Lord Jesus Christ, who’s writing this word about denying? 283 00:20:44,939 –> 00:20:46,540 Peter. 284 00:20:46,540 –> 00:20:48,380 Peter! 285 00:20:48,380 –> 00:20:51,939 His pen must have quivered when he wrote the word, deny. 286 00:20:51,939 –> 00:21:00,160 And if I had been in the courtyard hearing this man call down curses and denying the 287 00:21:00,239 –> 00:21:05,199 three times, I might have been tempted to say, well, there you go, you see, he was a 288 00:21:05,199 –> 00:21:11,479 counterfeit and I would have been dead wrong, would have been a premature judgment. 289 00:21:11,479 –> 00:21:13,619 So, be very careful about making judgments. 290 00:21:13,619 –> 00:21:17,579 You can’t make, you see, because the distinguishing mark is hidden within the heart. 291 00:21:17,579 –> 00:21:20,300 You can’t know it for sure of other people. 292 00:21:20,300 –> 00:21:24,199 That’s why there’ll be some surprises in heaven, both in who is there and also in who 293 00:21:24,199 –> 00:21:28,339 is not there, but you can know it in yourself. 294 00:21:28,339 –> 00:21:29,339 What is it? 295 00:21:29,359 –> 00:21:36,859 The truth of the good is, godly people are distressed over sin. 296 00:21:36,859 –> 00:21:38,819 That’s chapter two and verse eight. 297 00:21:38,819 –> 00:21:40,479 Now, let’s think about this. 298 00:21:40,479 –> 00:21:47,699 Peter reminds us of a man called Lot, who was a godly man living in an ungodly city. 299 00:21:47,699 –> 00:21:50,140 Lot had made a bad decision. 300 00:21:50,140 –> 00:21:55,180 You can read about it in the book of Genesis, where he chose where to live and he experienced 301 00:21:55,760 –> 00:22:01,219 because he had chosen to live in an unusually wicked city. 302 00:22:01,219 –> 00:22:07,260 But I want you to notice that Peter does not say anything about Lot’s bad decision, which 303 00:22:07,260 –> 00:22:11,079 is interesting because that’s the first thing that at least comes to my mind and maybe yours 304 00:22:11,079 –> 00:22:12,380 when we think about Lot. 305 00:22:12,380 –> 00:22:16,900 Peter doesn’t say anything about his bad decision. 306 00:22:16,900 –> 00:22:21,459 That helps me because you know, there are some decisions that we make in life that have 307 00:22:21,579 –> 00:22:23,699 lasting consequences. 308 00:22:23,699 –> 00:22:27,619 And if you could run your life again you would make a decision different. 309 00:22:27,619 –> 00:22:34,180 And talking here about decisions of where to live, what career to pursue, perhaps even 310 00:22:34,180 –> 00:22:40,920 a decision of who to marry, decision about where to locate, and the truth is in the back 311 00:22:40,920 –> 00:22:45,140 of your mind if you could rerun the last 20 years or 10 years or whatever it is you would 312 00:22:45,140 –> 00:22:48,900 have made that life decision differently. 313 00:22:48,900 –> 00:22:51,339 And it weighs on you. 314 00:22:51,380 –> 00:22:54,819 And Locke made a decision that brought a whole lot of sorrow into his life when he chose 315 00:22:54,819 –> 00:22:59,400 to live in Sodom, and I think it is wonderful that Peter doesn’t say a single word about 316 00:22:59,400 –> 00:23:01,420 it. 317 00:23:01,420 –> 00:23:09,520 Because as Peter looks back on the life of this man, see one bad decision can’t stop 318 00:23:09,520 –> 00:23:12,979 the grace of God in your life. 319 00:23:12,979 –> 00:23:19,520 One movement that has lasting consequences can’t stop the grace of God. 320 00:23:19,599 –> 00:23:23,900 The thing that matters about Locke is not that he made a bad decision that brought a 321 00:23:23,900 –> 00:23:25,140 lot of sorrow in his life. 322 00:23:25,140 –> 00:23:28,280 There’s one thing that matters about Locke, and that is that he was a Righteous Man. 323 00:23:28,280 –> 00:23:30,939 That’s all that matters. 324 00:23:30,939 –> 00:23:34,780 And Peter says it three times in verse 7 and 8. 325 00:23:34,780 –> 00:23:38,060 God rescued Locke, who was a Righteous man. 326 00:23:38,060 –> 00:23:43,699 He was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men, for that Righteous man lived among them 327 00:23:43,699 –> 00:23:44,959 day after day. 328 00:23:45,099 –> 00:23:51,359 And he was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds that he saw and he heard. 329 00:23:51,359 –> 00:23:52,800 Three times he was a Righteous man. 330 00:23:52,800 –> 00:23:57,959 That’s the one thing that matters about Locke, not his bad decision but that he was a Righteous 331 00:23:57,959 –> 00:23:58,959 man. 332 00:23:58,959 –> 00:24:05,459 Now what is the mark of a Righteous man in an unrighteous world? 333 00:24:05,459 –> 00:24:10,459 Peter says he was distressed and he was tormented, and that was his experience day after day. 334 00:24:10,959 –> 00:24:17,959 Here is the distinguishing mark of a Righteous man in an unrighteous world. 335 00:24:24,459 –> 00:24:29,520 He is distressed over sin. 336 00:24:29,520 –> 00:24:35,199 He is distressed over sin in the world around him, he is distressed over sin that remains 337 00:24:35,199 –> 00:24:39,319 in his own life that he battles against. 338 00:24:39,319 –> 00:24:45,199 The distinguishing mark of Lot as a righteous man was not that he was without sin. 339 00:24:45,199 –> 00:24:50,239 There is nobody without sin in this world save our Lord Jesus Christ and that is why 340 00:24:50,239 –> 00:24:52,520 he is our Lord and Savior and He alone. 341 00:24:52,520 –> 00:24:56,500 The evidence that Lot was a righteous man is not that he was without sin but that he 342 00:24:56,500 –> 00:25:01,020 was distressed over sin wherever he saw it. 343 00:25:01,180 –> 00:25:04,020 How helpful. 344 00:25:04,020 –> 00:25:17,979 Because some of you live and work in an environment in business that causes you distress, tension 345 00:25:17,979 –> 00:25:26,859 in your conscience every day and you say, you are not off the world – you belong to 346 00:25:26,859 –> 00:25:30,819 Christ, but you are in the world and you are doing business in an environment that you 347 00:25:30,819 –> 00:25:35,839 wish was different from what it is, and you find there is a distress and a torment and 348 00:25:35,839 –> 00:25:43,939 you think wouldn’t it be nice to be a minister instead? 349 00:25:43,939 –> 00:25:48,959 I want to say to you, I will tell you there are people who go into ministry for that reason 350 00:25:48,959 –> 00:25:51,060 and they never last. 351 00:25:51,060 –> 00:25:57,219 I want to say to you, your distress over that environment is a mark, a defining mark that 352 00:25:57,359 –> 00:26:02,140 are the real thing and I thank God for it and you should thank God for it when you feel 353 00:26:02,140 –> 00:26:03,619 the pressure. 354 00:26:03,619 –> 00:26:11,219 You’re like Lot, the distinguishing mark of a righteous man in the unrighteous world is 355 00:26:11,219 –> 00:26:12,280 that he is distressed. 356 00:26:12,280 –> 00:26:13,880 He experiences distress. 357 00:26:13,880 –> 00:26:18,319 You see, the counterfeit believer takes a light view of sin, it doesn’t bother him. 358 00:26:18,319 –> 00:26:22,660 He finds a way to accommodate it in his own life, live with it, become comfortable with 359 00:26:22,660 –> 00:26:23,660 it. 360 00:26:23,660 –> 00:26:25,579 Oh this is just something I can’t change. 361 00:26:25,579 –> 00:26:26,939 He sees it in the world around him. 362 00:26:27,160 –> 00:26:30,219 And well, you know, that’s just the way of the world, it doesn’t really bother him. 363 00:26:30,219 –> 00:26:36,339 But if you are Christ, here is the distinguishing mark that you can see evidence of in your 364 00:26:36,339 –> 00:26:48,579 own soul, if you are in Christ you will experience distress over sin, wherever you see it whether 365 00:26:48,579 –> 00:26:50,979 it be around or within. 366 00:26:50,979 –> 00:26:52,939 Thank God for that distress. 367 00:26:52,939 –> 00:26:55,260 Can you see that mark in your life? 368 00:26:55,619 –> 00:27:02,640 Does your own sin distress you or have you become comfortable with accommodating what 369 00:27:02,640 –> 00:27:05,939 you have no intention of ever changing? 370 00:27:07,900 –> 00:27:11,219 Now, the true Christian is distressed over sin. 371 00:27:11,219 –> 00:27:13,780 Lot is the model of this. 372 00:27:13,780 –> 00:27:18,300 And the opposite therefore just reinforces the point, and you’ll see it in verse 22 373 00:27:18,300 –> 00:27:24,060 that unrighteous people, far from being distressed over sin, love sin. 374 00:27:24,060 –> 00:27:32,239 Speaking of the ungodly, Peter says, verse 22 of them, the proverbs are true. 375 00:27:32,239 –> 00:27:34,579 Kids, listen up for this one. 376 00:27:34,579 –> 00:27:43,660 A dog returns to its vomits and a pig, a sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing 377 00:27:43,660 –> 00:27:45,140 in the mud. 378 00:27:45,140 –> 00:27:52,199 I think this is a marvelous verse for an illustrated talk to middle school students, don’t you 379 00:27:52,199 –> 00:27:53,199 think? 380 00:27:53,199 –> 00:27:56,920 I mean, when you read that, you go, oh, gross. 381 00:27:56,920 –> 00:27:58,540 That is disgusting. 382 00:27:58,540 –> 00:28:04,959 Which is exactly the effect that Peter’s words, given by the Holy Spirit, are intended to 383 00:28:04,959 –> 00:28:05,959 have. 384 00:28:05,959 –> 00:28:13,000 A sinner who loves what is filthy and goes back to it is disgusting, it’s gross. 385 00:28:13,000 –> 00:28:14,000 Now think about this. 386 00:28:14,000 –> 00:28:21,359 The dog returns to its own vomit, it sniffs around what it has just thrown up. 387 00:28:21,359 –> 00:28:23,119 The dog is interested in it. 388 00:28:23,160 –> 00:28:25,780 It’s intrigued by the vomit. 389 00:28:25,780 –> 00:28:32,280 Because the dog loves the vomit, as the unrighteous man loves his sin. 390 00:28:32,280 –> 00:28:35,219 That’s why he keeps going back to it. 391 00:28:35,219 –> 00:28:39,780 And if you think about the pig that has just been washed by the farmer, the pig goes back 392 00:28:39,780 –> 00:28:42,280 to wallow in the mud. 393 00:28:42,280 –> 00:28:48,839 Why, because pigs love mud, and sinners love sin. 394 00:28:48,839 –> 00:28:50,800 And keep going back to it. 395 00:28:51,199 –> 00:28:56,839 Any change, therefore, in the dog or in the pig is not a change in nature, but it is merely 396 00:28:56,839 –> 00:28:57,839 temporary. 397 00:28:57,839 –> 00:29:02,439 The pig when it’s washed looks better, but it never lasts because it goes back to the 398 00:29:02,439 –> 00:29:04,479 mud and ends up as it was before. 399 00:29:04,479 –> 00:29:06,479 The dog that was sick feels better. 400 00:29:06,479 –> 00:29:07,479 Isn’t that right? 401 00:29:07,479 –> 00:29:11,479 When you’re sick, you always feel better when you got rid of it, right? 402 00:29:11,479 –> 00:29:13,579 Feel better when you’ve been sick, but what does it do? 403 00:29:13,579 –> 00:29:17,880 It goes back to its vomit, and therefore, ends up being as ill as it was before. 404 00:29:17,959 –> 00:29:19,359 So the pig looked better. 405 00:29:19,359 –> 00:29:22,800 The dog felt better, but neither were better. 406 00:29:22,800 –> 00:29:24,920 The change was only temporary. 407 00:29:24,920 –> 00:29:30,560 Now, Peter was saying, that’s the counterfeit Christian right there. 408 00:29:30,560 –> 00:29:34,800 You had some kind of religious experience that had a temporary effect in your life. 409 00:29:34,800 –> 00:29:41,339 It made you look better, made you feel better, but you remained the same person that you 410 00:29:41,339 –> 00:29:47,719 were before, and Peter says in verse 20, if that’s you, you are worse off. 411 00:29:48,060 –> 00:29:54,339 You are worse off, than if you had never had that experience that only had a temporary 412 00:29:54,339 –> 00:29:57,719 effect in the first place. 413 00:29:57,719 –> 00:29:59,260 Worse. 414 00:29:59,260 –> 00:30:03,780 Now, I want to make this application. 415 00:30:03,780 –> 00:30:07,520 We’re coming up to graduation time in the year. 416 00:30:07,520 –> 00:30:14,099 Now, I want to speak to our high school students, especially, and this throughout all of our 417 00:30:14,099 –> 00:30:15,500 services. 418 00:30:16,219 –> 00:30:19,959 Some of you know Christ. 419 00:30:19,979 –> 00:30:27,900 The Holy Spirit ives within you, you love the Savior, you hate sin where you see it 420 00:30:27,900 –> 00:30:35,060 in your own life, and as you go out to college, I have no fear for you. 421 00:30:35,060 –> 00:30:40,660 And your parents need have no fear for you either. 422 00:30:41,359 –> 00:30:46,319 But there are others who are in a different position and you know it. 423 00:30:46,319 –> 00:30:50,979 Of course, other people think that you love Christ, but you know in your heart that that 424 00:30:50,979 –> 00:30:54,739 is not true. 425 00:30:54,739 –> 00:30:57,619 And here’s what’s gonna happen to you. 426 00:30:57,619 –> 00:31:05,260 You’re gonna go in a few months to a university campus, and you’re gonna find that there are 427 00:31:05,439 –> 00:31:11,119 people who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ before. 428 00:31:11,119 –> 00:31:17,500 They’ve never been in a church, and they hear the gospel, and they receive it, and their 429 00:31:17,500 –> 00:31:22,619 lives are changed by it. 430 00:31:22,619 –> 00:31:28,380 But with you it will be different because you’ve heard it all before and you are tired 431 00:31:28,380 –> 00:31:33,000 of it and in your heart you can’t really wait to get away from it. 432 00:31:33,000 –> 00:31:41,199 Here’s the irony, having grown up in an environment where you have become used to 433 00:31:41,199 –> 00:31:48,900 pushing off the claims of Christ on your life, you have developed a hard shell around you 434 00:31:48,900 –> 00:32:00,760 even as I’m speaking to you now, and you are in the worst possible spiritual position. 435 00:32:00,780 –> 00:32:09,640 I don’t know of any group in the world that are harder to reach than older people who 436 00:32:09,640 –> 00:32:16,540 have become used to hearing the gospel and not being affected by it. 437 00:32:16,540 –> 00:32:20,219 You’re already on that track. 438 00:32:20,219 –> 00:32:27,119 The truth is, and I do not exaggerate, every time the gospel is preached, every person 439 00:32:27,180 –> 00:32:35,160 who hears it is changed, because either, in the hearing of the gospel, you are softened 440 00:32:35,160 –> 00:32:43,719 and drawn nearer to Christ, or in the hearing of the gospel comes to you, makes no difference 441 00:32:43,819 –> 00:32:47,839 in your life, and what happens is another layer of that hard shell develops over your 442 00:32:47,839 –> 00:32:48,520 life. 443 00:32:48,520 –> 00:32:55,239 And I’ll tell you, it’s not just in a secular campus that this is true. 444 00:32:55,359 –> 00:32:59,880 That you could be going to a Christian campus and just be under the radar as a counterfeit 445 00:33:00,020 –> 00:33:07,400 Christian and you know it, but everyone else assumes that it’s real. 446 00:33:07,400 –> 00:33:09,319 You know I hate your sin. 447 00:33:09,319 –> 00:33:12,800 You love it. 448 00:33:12,800 –> 00:33:16,920 So I’m making this appeal to you today, and especially the high schoolers that are 449 00:33:16,920 –> 00:33:23,939 on my mind and heart as I was preparing this message, but others, please hear this too. 450 00:33:23,939 –> 00:33:29,979 Today, if you hear the voice of God, do not harden your heart. 451 00:33:29,979 –> 00:33:32,819 That’s what the Bible says. 452 00:33:32,819 –> 00:33:36,040 You yield yourself to Jesus Christ. 453 00:33:36,040 –> 00:33:38,300 You turn in repentance to Jesus Christ. 454 00:33:38,300 –> 00:33:46,540 You tell Jesus Christ, I have been pushing you away for years, and I cannot go on making 455 00:33:46,540 –> 00:33:47,819 this shell harder. 456 00:33:47,880 –> 00:33:53,579 Father, O Lord, I come to you now in your mercy. 457 00:33:53,579 –> 00:34:07,000 Save me, because I don’t want to go on as a counterfeit believer. 458 00:34:07,000 –> 00:34:09,560 Seven general characteristics. 459 00:34:09,560 –> 00:34:11,479 One distinguishing mark. 460 00:34:11,479 –> 00:34:14,139 Here’s the last thing very briefly. 461 00:34:14,139 –> 00:34:16,060 Two ultimate outcomes. 462 00:34:16,959 –> 00:34:18,659 And in the verse that we’re learning this week, 463 00:34:18,659 –> 00:34:20,159 and it’s a very important verse, 464 00:34:20,159 –> 00:34:22,820 there are obviously two outcomes of life, 465 00:34:22,820 –> 00:34:25,620 one for the godly and the other for the unrighteous, 466 00:34:25,620 –> 00:34:28,060 and they could not be more different. 467 00:34:28,060 –> 00:34:31,620 Peter makes an argument that kind of leads up to this verse 468 00:34:31,620 –> 00:34:32,959 and so let’s just follow it. 469 00:34:32,959 –> 00:34:36,199 It begins in verse four, he starts giving three examples 470 00:34:36,199 –> 00:34:39,139 of how God deals with the unrighteous 471 00:34:39,139 –> 00:34:42,580 and how he deals with the godly, and it’s always different. 472 00:34:42,580 –> 00:34:45,300 With the unrighteous he starts with the angels, 473 00:34:45,320 –> 00:34:48,120 as in verse four who rebelled and he sent them to hell 474 00:34:48,120 –> 00:34:50,379 and he holds them in the gloomy dungeons 475 00:34:50,379 –> 00:34:52,300 holding them for judgment. 476 00:34:52,300 –> 00:34:53,879 Thank God for that by the way. 477 00:34:54,879 –> 00:34:58,820 I mean, with the demons that God allows 478 00:34:58,820 –> 00:35:02,860 to stock this earth, evil is bad enough. 479 00:35:02,860 –> 00:35:04,780 Can you imagine what this world would be 480 00:35:04,780 –> 00:35:06,979 if all hell was let loose? 481 00:35:07,939 –> 00:35:09,899 Thank God that he keeps these rebels 482 00:35:09,899 –> 00:35:12,840 in the gloomy dungeons reserved for the day of judgment. 483 00:35:13,600 –> 00:35:16,719 Evil only goes as far as the sovereignty of God allows. 484 00:35:16,719 –> 00:35:18,159 That’s what we learn from the Book of Job 485 00:35:18,159 –> 00:35:21,280 and we learn it supremely from the cross. 486 00:35:21,280 –> 00:35:22,679 He’s keeping most of them locked up. 487 00:35:22,679 –> 00:35:24,639 Thank God for that. 488 00:35:24,639 –> 00:35:26,239 It’s called common grace. 489 00:35:27,699 –> 00:35:30,040 Second example is from the life of Noah. 490 00:35:30,040 –> 00:35:31,899 God did not spare the ancient world 491 00:35:31,899 –> 00:35:34,860 when he brought the flood on ungodly people 492 00:35:34,860 –> 00:35:37,399 but he protected Noah so he does different things 493 00:35:37,399 –> 00:35:38,679 to these two different groups 494 00:35:38,679 –> 00:35:41,179 and Peter wants us to learn from this. 495 00:35:43,739 –> 00:35:48,040 Third example, from the time of Lot, verse six. 496 00:35:49,260 –> 00:35:53,120 God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah 497 00:35:53,120 –> 00:35:56,179 by burning them to ashes 498 00:35:58,199 –> 00:36:00,500 and he made them, that’s these cities, 499 00:36:00,500 –> 00:36:05,500 an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. 500 00:36:05,879 –> 00:36:07,080 Could that be clearer? 501 00:36:09,120 –> 00:36:12,280 The burning to ashes of Sodom and Gomorrah 502 00:36:12,280 –> 00:36:15,260 is, Peter says, an example that God gives 503 00:36:15,260 –> 00:36:19,000 of what is going to happen to the ungodly. 504 00:36:21,280 –> 00:36:22,919 But he says, verse seven, 505 00:36:22,919 –> 00:36:26,719 he rescued Lot, a righteous man. 506 00:36:28,000 –> 00:36:30,520 Now what do we learn from these three examples? 507 00:36:30,520 –> 00:36:33,300 Well, what we learn is this, verse nine. 508 00:36:33,300 –> 00:36:37,459 The Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials. 509 00:36:37,459 –> 00:36:39,040 You see that in Noah? 510 00:36:39,040 –> 00:36:40,280 You see that in Lot? 511 00:36:40,679 –> 00:36:43,959 Take that in and receive it as a promise, 512 00:36:43,959 –> 00:36:45,780 brother and sister in Christ. 513 00:36:47,300 –> 00:36:50,540 God knows how to rescue the godly from trials. 514 00:36:51,879 –> 00:36:53,860 That’s his promise. 515 00:36:53,860 –> 00:36:55,020 You love the Lord. 516 00:36:56,080 –> 00:36:57,820 You grieve over your sin. 517 00:36:58,840 –> 00:37:02,179 You grieve over the sin in the world around you. 518 00:37:02,179 –> 00:37:05,300 Listen, God knows your trials, 519 00:37:06,500 –> 00:37:09,760 your very distress is a mark of his grace in your life, 520 00:37:11,000 –> 00:37:13,879 and he knows how to rescue you from these trials, 521 00:37:13,879 –> 00:37:15,120 and he will rescue you. 522 00:37:15,120 –> 00:37:16,360 You can count on that. 523 00:37:17,860 –> 00:37:19,280 You have everything that you need 524 00:37:19,280 –> 00:37:22,439 for living a Christian life in this ungodly world 525 00:37:22,439 –> 00:37:24,600 through the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, 526 00:37:24,600 –> 00:37:26,020 you have everything that you need 527 00:37:26,020 –> 00:37:29,520 for your intense battle against the flesh 528 00:37:29,520 –> 00:37:32,820 in your knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 529 00:37:32,820 –> 00:37:34,780 and you hold on to this today, believer, 530 00:37:35,679 –> 00:37:39,600 that God knows how to rescue the godly 531 00:37:40,820 –> 00:37:41,879 from trials. 532 00:37:42,719 –> 00:37:47,479 That’s your promise for whatever you face this week. 533 00:37:48,659 –> 00:37:50,020 Then there’s one more thing, 534 00:37:51,600 –> 00:37:53,280 the second part of the verse. 535 00:37:54,520 –> 00:37:58,820 God also knows how to hold the unrighteous 536 00:37:59,840 –> 00:38:04,459 for the day of judgment while continuing their punishment. 537 00:38:05,800 –> 00:38:07,080 So you see Peter is telling us 538 00:38:07,080 –> 00:38:08,840 that there is a punishment for sin 539 00:38:08,840 –> 00:38:10,360 that begins right now. 540 00:38:10,360 –> 00:38:12,320 Sin brings it’s own sorrow. 541 00:38:13,560 –> 00:38:15,300 Brings it’s own consequence in life, 542 00:38:15,300 –> 00:38:17,260 the way of the sinner is hard. 543 00:38:18,719 –> 00:38:20,000 But there is worse to come 544 00:38:20,000 –> 00:38:22,139 for those who will not turn from their sin, 545 00:38:22,139 –> 00:38:24,560 those who love it and remain in it. 546 00:38:25,719 –> 00:38:30,120 God holds the unrighteous for the day of judgment. 547 00:38:32,139 –> 00:38:34,280 Now, can you feel the weight of this? 548 00:38:34,540 –> 00:38:35,379 No. 549 00:38:37,040 –> 00:38:40,699 If the truth about you today as you sit in church 550 00:38:41,979 –> 00:38:46,719 is that you love your sin and you will not turn from it, 551 00:38:48,219 –> 00:38:51,840 if that is the truth of you today, 552 00:38:51,840 –> 00:38:54,639 then you need to hear this right now, 553 00:38:54,639 –> 00:38:57,379 this is what God is doing in your life. 554 00:38:58,360 –> 00:39:00,919 If you love your sin and you refuse to turn from it, 555 00:39:00,919 –> 00:39:02,520 what is God doing in your life? 556 00:39:02,719 –> 00:39:05,840 He is right now continuing your punishment. 557 00:39:08,760 –> 00:39:13,760 And right now He is holding you for the day of judgment. 558 00:39:15,760 –> 00:39:20,419 And the weight of it even to say it is awesome. 559 00:39:22,419 –> 00:39:24,739 But if you love your sin and you will not turn from it, 560 00:39:24,739 –> 00:39:26,120 that is your position, 561 00:39:28,560 –> 00:39:32,419 and dear friend, that is not where you want to be. 562 00:39:33,379 –> 00:39:35,639 You do not want to be among 563 00:39:35,639 –> 00:39:37,639 the unrighteous who love their sin. 564 00:39:37,639 –> 00:39:40,800 You want to be among the Godly who grieve their sin 565 00:39:40,800 –> 00:39:42,360 and who repent of their sin 566 00:39:42,360 –> 00:39:45,239 and turn to, in faith from their sin, 567 00:39:45,239 –> 00:39:48,320 to Jesus Christ crucified for us. 568 00:39:50,360 –> 00:39:51,879 You say, I hear that. 569 00:39:51,879 –> 00:39:53,939 And I’d love to do that. 570 00:39:53,939 –> 00:39:56,320 But someone is saying in the congregation right now, 571 00:39:56,320 –> 00:39:58,479 yeah but how can I change? 572 00:39:58,479 –> 00:40:00,500 I know myself, I’ve tried to change. 573 00:40:00,500 –> 00:40:01,860 I’ll tell you what I’m like. 574 00:40:01,879 –> 00:40:04,320 I’m like the dog that returns to its own vomit. 575 00:40:05,679 –> 00:40:08,820 You’re talking to me about becoming Godly. 576 00:40:08,820 –> 00:40:10,120 How can I do that? 577 00:40:10,120 –> 00:40:10,959 Listen. 578 00:40:12,560 –> 00:40:15,739 God’s divine power has given us 579 00:40:15,739 –> 00:40:19,000 everything we need for life and, 580 00:40:20,060 –> 00:40:21,500 come on, 581 00:40:21,500 –> 00:40:22,820 Godliness 582 00:40:23,939 –> 00:40:26,060 in our knowledge 583 00:40:26,060 –> 00:40:28,439 of Jesus Christ 584 00:40:28,439 –> 00:40:32,000 who calls you right now 585 00:40:33,639 –> 00:40:34,560 to follow Him 586 00:40:36,000 –> 00:40:39,959 by His own glory and goodness. 587 00:40:43,239 –> 00:40:44,739 Let’s pray together, shall we? 588 00:40:49,879 –> 00:40:52,000 Seal your Word in our hearts, we pray. 589 00:40:52,760 –> 00:40:58,639 Remove and break down all false self confidence 590 00:40:58,639 –> 00:41:01,360 in any ability to change ourselves. 591 00:41:04,300 –> 00:41:06,939 Grant faith in the Lord Jesus Christ 592 00:41:06,939 –> 00:41:10,760 in whom there is everything we need for life and godliness. 593 00:41:14,800 –> 00:41:19,120 Work such a change of new birth and new nature 594 00:41:19,159 –> 00:41:23,000 in those who turn to you right now 595 00:41:25,939 –> 00:41:28,679 that it may be not like a dog returning to vomit 596 00:41:28,679 –> 00:41:31,580 or a pig returning to the mud, 597 00:41:31,580 –> 00:41:35,620 but rather a dog and a pig becoming a sheep. 598 00:41:38,040 –> 00:41:41,419 New nature, new birth, new life, 599 00:41:42,320 –> 00:41:47,320 new power, new desire in and through 600 00:41:47,320 –> 00:41:49,199 our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 601 00:41:49,199 –> 00:41:50,580 Father, we call out to you 602 00:41:50,580 –> 00:41:53,800 in the name of Jesus putting trust in him 603 00:41:53,800 –> 00:41:56,100 to do what we cannot do for ourselves, 604 00:41:57,100 –> 00:41:58,719 to make the unrighteous godly, 605 00:42:00,040 –> 00:42:01,239 and thank you that for this purpose, 606 00:42:01,239 –> 00:42:04,020 Jesus died and for this purpose Jesus lives. 607 00:42:05,219 –> 00:42:06,959 We give you our thanks in his name. 608 00:42:08,760 –> 00:42:09,600 Amen.