Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Church. Would you pray with me, please? Father, we are really grateful for another Sunday to come together. This really is a privilege for us. Gather to see one another, friends and family, and just to celebrate you, to take a break from our busy lives and spend some time focusing, concentrating on what really matters to us. This song was great. Thank you for. For the word's in it and that we get to, in this country, we get to confess what we believe without fear of persecution. There's brothers and sisters we have around the world that are not so fortunate, and so we pray for them.
[00:00:37] There's many who are being persecuted for their faith even today, losing homes, losing property, even losing lives.
[00:00:46] And so, Father, we pray for them, for the church that is strong around this world, still carrying the light of the cross of Jesus Christ, to the people that need to hear it, your gates still open wide to all who would come in. And so, Father, we pray that you would give them just an encouragement in their devotion to you today.
[00:01:09] May you encourage them. And, Father, remind us to keep praying for them, for the people around the world that don't know you as their savior, Father, that are fighting for land or prestige or position.
[00:01:22] I pray for them as well. It seems to us like every time we turn on the news, all hell is breaking loose in one part of the world or another.
[00:01:30] And yet we know, Father, that nothing happens beyond your control. You never wake up some morning and go, I didn't see that coming.
[00:01:37] You are always in control. You have absolute authority. And so, Father, our prayer as a church is that you preserve life, your people, even in Jerusalem, even in Israel today, the lives that are threatened on a regular basis, the Palestinians following a God that does not include Jesus Christ.
[00:02:04] What's going on in Ukraine, what's going on?
[00:02:06] What's going on in all these different areas of the world that we just see these conflicts.
[00:02:14] We just pray, Father, that you would preserve life.
[00:02:17] May your grace overcome all the evil in every corner of this world. And may your people stand up boldly and unashamed with the gospel, which is the only hope of the nations.
[00:02:30] So, father, today, as we look into your word, I know there are some here today that are tired, they're broken, some are dealing with. With pressure on their shoulders that they never expected, they never wanted, they never asked for, and yet they come in here with a weight.
[00:02:46] I pray, father, that in this short time, looking into your word, you would just relieve them of that for a little bit, help their eyes to focus on you. Some are worried about what comes in the future. Finances are tight. Bank accounts just don't ever seem to get above what we owe.
[00:03:03] Father, I pray that you would encourage them as well.
[00:03:07] Let them know that no matter what we have in this world, as long as we have you, we have everything.
[00:03:13] Thank you for loving us that much. And thank you for your word. As we look into it now, that reminds us that no matter what we go through and what we're challenged with, that you love us and you'll never leave us, you'll never forsake us. In fact, when we wander, you'll seek us out, even if there's 99 left behind, because you love us that much, just one of us. So, father, I pray that all of that would come out this morning and that your people would be lifted up not only by what we've sung, but now what we listen to and how we receive your word. Open our hearts, help us to be tender to the voice of your holy spirit as he speaks to us today. I pray in Jesus name. Amen. Please be seated. Church.
[00:03:59] Sorry. It's good to see you. My name is Craig Jarvis. I'm the lead pastor here at village church east, and it's my privilege to be able to continue our study through the book of Second Peter. We're going to be in here a little while, and it actually is an intriguing journey that we're going to be taking together. And so I'm excited that you're on the road with us. Where we left off last week was we left off talking about how do you know what is true? And today is kind of like a hinge on that in a very, very poignant way. Like a 2024 kind of way. Have any of you ever been lost before? You ever got lost? Like, not lost, like, esoterically. I'm lost in life, but, like really lost in the woods. Like, anybody ever get lost before?
[00:04:45] Yeah. Okay. Because I can't see you. The lights are incredibly bright today, so if you got your hand up. Thank you for your participation. I got lost when I was a kid. I mean lost lost. Went to visit our grandmother and it was unfamiliar territory. My brother and I, we loved to explore, and so we headed out in the backyard and we just kept walking. It was snowy and we were out hunting for rabbits. We had our homemade bow and arrow, and so we were going to bring back some dinner. So we're out hunting for rabbits, of course. I was very young. You can imagine this was just last year. No, no, no. We were hunting for rabbits.
[00:05:21] And as we walked through, it started snowing more and more and more, and everything changed. You know how that looks like? You walk out and it's like, okay. And then the snow hangs down, and the trees change shapes and everything changed. And we got a long way out there, and we're following these rabbit trails and trying to find some rabbits. Never saw one rabbit, but we saw lots of rabbit trails. And as it snowed more and more, we figured out all the tracks are being covered up, so we'll just head home.
[00:05:49] We are way in the woods at this point, and we have a dialogue in the middle of the woods. I was certain I was right, that the way home was that way. My brother was certain that the way home was that way. And our dialogue turned into more of a conversation, which turned into more of an argument. And we just decided that we were going to part ways. Because I knew he was wrong and he was going to get lost. He knew I was wrong and I was going to get lost. All right. Do you want to guess who was right?
[00:06:20] Yeah. We were both right. That's right. That's right. The way home is such. This is such a pluralistic church. Okay, so both of us can't be right. So he. Chris headed in one direction, I headed in the other direction. And it kept on snowing.
[00:06:38] As I'm walking, I'm walking now. I'm sweating now I'm. We've been out there for a while, you know, I've got all my winter clothes on, and I'm out there a long time now. And I have walked at least twice the distance as I should have. If I was going in the right direction, I should have been back by now. And now I'm getting nervous because I figured whether or not Chris was right, I was definitely wrong. And as I'm traveling along, I'm thinking to myself now I think to myself, and if you've ever been there, you know this. I'm thinking to myself, is it worth redoing my steps, going back to that place, which is like miles away, and then trying to find the way that Chris took? Or should I just keep going?
[00:07:24] Well, I decided to follow my tracks back. So I turned around and I started walking back. The problem was, it was snowing. All the tracks filled in. Now I'm standing there and I don't know. I've gone that way and I've come back. I don't know which direction I'm going at all.
[00:07:42] I was terrified.
[00:07:44] It was one of the first times in my life that I can remember being that terrified. Since then, it's happened a couple of times. But that's one of the first times when I was a little boy.
[00:07:56] So I started praying and panicking, and I started walking in any direction that I decided to go. And I was just walking, walking, walking, until I heard one of the best sounds I've ever heard, a dog barking. Because if there's a dog barking, then, well, likely there's a house nearby, unless I'm the meal for the coyote, right? I was thinking, okay, hopefully that's a tame dog. And so I started walking toward the dog. Finally, I come out of the woods hours later on the street, miles up from where I had entered. And I came back and found my way back, and I walked through the door, and Chris just says, where you been?
[00:08:42] My first time. Absolutely terrified.
[00:08:46] Listen, in a world where everyone is selling you their version of the truth, it is very difficult to decipher who's right and who's wrong.
[00:08:58] Who do you listen to?
[00:09:00] What is your criteria for deciding what voice you will listen to? What sound will lead you? Whose idea is right and whose idea is wrong? And quite frankly, church, these days, it's a little more scary even than it was 20 years ago, because information is coming at us like a fire hose. You can turn on your computer screen, you can turn on your media, and you can get instant information from God knows who about any subject that you desire.
[00:09:36] The Internet is an incredible thing. I mean, it can be a wonderful blessing. I use it almost every day. But it also provides us with lots and lots of voices, lots and lots of opinions. And so my question to you, church, is, who do you follow? Who do you listen to?
[00:09:52] It naturally goes to say that we are hearing more definitions of people's point of view expressed as truth than ever before.
[00:10:01] And the best way to guard yourself against falsehood, to know what you're hearing is actually true is to know the truth.
[00:10:11] This is nothing new.
[00:10:13] Jesus told us when he was here on this earth that even in his day, this was happening. In our day, I think it's even more so because information is coming at us very fast. Matthew 24. These are his words. Jesus said, if anyone says to you, look, here's the christ, or there he is, don't believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders. So as to what are the next two words? Church they will perform. They will dance like monkeys on a stage for you. They will do whatever it takes to get you on their side. And their goal is simply to get you to believe what they are selling their goal is to lead you astray, if possible, even to lead the elect astray.
[00:11:10] This is Jesus speaking, but you should know in the Bible, there are warnings about false teaching all over the place. Here's a few of my favorite acts. 2030. And from among your own selves will arise men speaking. What kind of things? Church. Twisted, twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. Where did these people come from? Church.
[00:11:38] Where do these people come from? Right in the first line, from.
[00:11:41] From among you.
[00:11:43] From among you. There will be people, even from among you, who will rise up, and their goal is to draw you astray.
[00:11:52] Second Corinthians 1113. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. Matthew 20 411. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
[00:12:07] These are just a few. There's all kinds of them. And I think what Jesus, what God is getting to is to help us understand that there will always be people who are trying to sell you a version of truth based on what they can get from you to lead people astray.
[00:12:27] These people are intentionally looking for gullible people.
[00:12:31] They're weasels.
[00:12:33] They look for the weak.
[00:12:35] They look for people that are hurt, that have been hurt. They look for people that the church has let down, and they appeal to their sensuality in one way or another. We'll get to that in a minute. We already read the verse earlier today, but they appeal to something in their soul.
[00:12:51] If you've been in a church setting and your soul has been broken by that church setting, you are in a vulnerable state for people who are trying to lead you astray. This happens all the time. They are largely looking for followers who've been hurt, not just by churches, but also by relationships. You know how you feel after you get dumped in a relationship. You know how you feel after a relationship breaks down.
[00:13:14] These are vulnerable moments, and wolves will prey on people that are going through those situations. Lions of the evil one, looking for prey. We know this. Second Peter one. We already talked about this. We did not. Peter says, we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But we were eyewitnesses of his Majesty. Peter is saying, we are not like them. We are not trying to get you to buy something. We're selling. We're trying to pass on something that has been passed on to us, the truth. And you have every reason to believe us because we are continuing to share with you what Jesus shared with us. We were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
[00:13:58] This next part of two, Peter, is an amazing part because it helps us understand and see what's the word I'm looking for. Discern. Thank you very much, Chris. Yes. Helps us to discern what the lies of Satan really is. So second Peter, by the way, second Peter, chapter two is where we're at. We're going to cover the whole thing today, but we're not going to read much of it at all because I would encourage you to go home today and read two Peter, two. You will be amazed at what God thinks of people who are trying to lead his people astray or lead the world astray. He is not kind.
[00:14:43] 22 verses in this chapter. And they all deal with what God thinks of people who are trying to sell Satan's lies.
[00:14:53] Let's start in verse one. False prophets also. Here we go.
[00:14:56] Arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. This is Peter writing to the church in Asia, Asia Minor. Just as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
[00:15:19] Notice that he says false prophets also arose among the people, just like false teachers will rise up among you. This is nothing new. This has always been the case. There are always wolves looking for injured lambs.
[00:15:39] Peter is saying this has always happened. It's happening today. In the Old Testament, you will find several false prophets for every single godly prophet that there was.
[00:15:52] And the same is true today. In fact, it might be more prevalent today.
[00:15:57] They had initial reaction to Jesus Christ, these false teachers. He'd even been intrigued by Jesus Christ. But they are not believers. That's very key. You can find this in the way that this is structured. They are not followers of Jesus, but they're intrigued by him. Hitler was starting to be a priest, did you know that?
[00:16:17] They are intrigued by Jesus, but they are not his followers?
[00:16:23] What you will find about these people in two, Peter, two are lots of bad innuendo's language toward them. Here's verse ten to twelve, they are rebellious. Verse twelve a, they are irrational animals. Verse 13, they are deceitful blemishes on life. Verse 14, they are sinners trained in greed. 15 to 16, they love money more than morals. Verse 17, they target and destroy the weak. Verse 18, they are bound for utter darkness. Verse 19, they have a technique of destruction that they use where they offer you freedom but don't give you answers and end up enslaving you instead.
[00:17:02] That's just an encapsulation of the chapter.
[00:17:07] So you might think, okay, Craig, we don't think you're a false preacher because you told us you steal everything from the Bible. And I do.
[00:17:15] Hopefully. I don't want to have an original idea. I would rather steal all of my stuff from God's word.
[00:17:24] So the question might be, okay, Craig, well, how does that affect us today?
[00:17:30] This is where it gets a little bit tenuous.
[00:17:36] Verse two.
[00:17:38] What does it say? Church and many will what?
[00:17:44] Not a few. How many will fall? I just gave it away. How many will follow their sensuality? Many. And because of them, the way of truth will be blasphemed. There are two dangers. For some people, the pull of the cell will be compelling. And for others, the actual truth of God is too hard to swallow. Some people will follow them because they like what they're selling. Other people will follow them because the truth of Jesus is too much to ask. The humble heart you need to come to Jesus. The open hands is too much to ask.
[00:18:22] Truth is often the casualty of the desperate soul.
[00:18:27] Truth is often the casualty of the desperate soul. When we get to a place where we feel like our soul has been damaged, our hearts have been damaged. You could throw that up there, Callie.
[00:18:45] Truth is too often the casualty of the desperate soul. We have a tendency to sacrifice truth because we need something to fill the void we just found.
[00:18:58] I've seen this with people who have had relationships that are falling apart and they're thinking to themselves, I've got to salvage the relationship. But in order to do that, I have to give a little bit on the truth.
[00:19:12] Truth is too often the casualty of the desperate soul.
[00:19:16] I need to remind you, church, that this is the reason jesus came.
[00:19:21] Our souls are regularly wounded.
[00:19:25] In Matthew 1128, Jesus knows this, which is why he says to us in a very tender shepherd kind of way, come to me, all who are labor and heavy laden.
[00:19:40] Don't you feel like there's a weight on the shoulders of the people he's talking to here?
[00:19:45] Come to me, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and I am lowly in heart, and you will find, I love this four letter word. You will find what rest for your souls. But coming to Jesus requires a humble submitting to God and saying, you are right and I am wrong. It's standing in the middle of the woods with your brother that you desperately want to be wrong and couldn't care less if he gets lost in the woods, just knowing you're right and he's wrong.
[00:20:24] Coming to Jesus requires a humble submitting to God and his truth. The other thing I find interesting about this verse is many will follow not their words, but many will follow their. Can you put that verse up there again? I know it's not there. Kelly, would you. No. One before that.
[00:20:43] It's interesting the way one before that. Sorry, I'm blowing it. There it is. Many will follow not their words, but many will follow their what?
[00:20:51] Why?
[00:20:53] Many will follow their sensuality. That seems weird, doesn't it?
[00:20:59] That word, sensuality. There is the word as, which means nothing to any of us, but in the Greek. I think I have a slide on this. The appeal is to your senses. What they do is they appeal not to your brain, but they appeal to your emotions, right? So if you feel like you've been hurt by life, I can make that better. If you feel like your church has hurt you, I can make that better. They appeal to the part of you, the central part of you, the senses part of you, the part of you that lacks moral restraint a lot of times.
[00:21:42] And they encourage that part of you. And because of that, the truth will be blasphemed. They will sacrifice truth on the altar of popular culture. Look in verse three. And in their greed, they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
[00:22:05] Can I ask you a question? I want you to just read that very slowly and answer me this.
[00:22:11] In their own greed, what do they exploit you?
[00:22:21] In their greed, they exploit you.
[00:22:27] False teachers will rise up. They will try and get you to buy something they're selling. And if they can get you to buy it, they exploit you because of their greed. They exploit followers. We're no longer talking about the teachers here. We're talking about the listeners. We're talking about the people that actually follow them. Listen to them. And what will they actually bring upon these people? Destruction. There's swift destruction in the next three sections.
[00:22:57] In the next few verses, there are three illustrations of what swift destruction looks like. In verse four, swift destructions include angels that rebel against God. In verse five, it includes the flood. When you say, that was swift destruction, of course, they had 100 years to repent, 120 altogether, but it was swift destruction when it finally came. And the last one is Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah was swift destruction. All of these are given examples because they appeal to the senses. All of these illustrations, the angels that rebelled against God, the flood and Sodom and Gomorrah, God brought swift destruction because they were following teachers who appealed to their sensuality.
[00:23:47] These are all given. These three illustrations are given as example of those who follow people who redefine truth. They redefine what God says is righteous living, and then they redefine what God says is unrighteous living.
[00:24:03] They create a culture based on their definition of the truth, and they don't go by God's definition. They go by their own, and they go by their own. And they appeal to the senses. Part of the followers.
[00:24:20] Verse six.
[00:24:22] If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ash, he condemned them to extinction, making an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah? The story there, lot is living among these people. Abraham goes and rescues him. He says, ah, let's just spend a little more time here. Do you remember the story? He's there with his wife and his kids, and then he's begging him, we got to get out of here. We got to go. We got to go, we got to go. Bad stuff is going to happen. And he's going, well, finally, they had to get him out. They had to take a lot out, because Abraham said to God, you're not going to destroy a whole city if one person is found righteous. And God said, no, if you can find one person righteous in this entire city, I'll save them.
[00:25:09] They did. They found one. Guess what his name was. Lot.
[00:25:13] And when lot was taken out of the city, by the way, kicking and screaming, and his wife did not want to leave the city. She was told not to look back. She did. And bad stuff happened to her. You remember this story?
[00:25:26] And boom, sudden destruction.
[00:25:30] This is the illustration Peter chooses to use to help us understand the way that God reacts to those who would lead other people astray by telling them lies.
[00:25:46] Bad teachers, verse seven.
[00:25:50] Now, this is where I started reading, and I'm just going, yeah, Peter must have made a mistake here.
[00:25:56] Verse seven. And if he rescued. What's the next word? Church?
[00:26:00] If he rescued lot, who was what?
[00:26:04] He chose to live in Sodom and Gomorrah, but God said he was righteous, and when he was taken out of the city, there wasn't anyone left that was righteous. And so, boom. If he rescued righteous lot, who was greatly distressed by the sensual. There it is again. Interesting. The sensual conduct of the wicked. Verse eight goes on further. For as that righteous man, lot, lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard we in a picture in Dalat's life that we have not seen before anywhere in scripture. Apparently this guy was living in Sodom and Gomorrah and he belonged to God. So as he's living among the unrighteousness, his heart is tearing up, his soul is tearing up by what he sees and what he hears on a regular basis. He is living in a culture that does not care about God. They are living by their senses and they're following everybody's idea, all the leaders idea, about how to fulfill that side of you, that sensual part of you.
[00:27:15] There are a few who lived in these pockets of humanity, apparently, whose souls are tormented by what they see living around them, happening around them. And we get an illustration of lot who lived among the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah, still faithful, still righteous, because God declared him righteous.
[00:27:34] And I love the fact that God wouldn't leave him behind.
[00:27:40] Sidebar this takes me right to Jesus as the good shepherd who leaves the 99 and goes back for the one.
[00:27:51] You ever feel like you've been out of contact with God for some period of time? You ever feel like there's a portion of your prayers that just gets to the ceiling? Do you ever feel like you don't have the ear of God, that you're all by yourself and you are tormented by the things that are going on around you and your family and your culture? And you think to yourself, Jesus, how long do I have to, how long do I have to put up with this stuff to live in this condition?
[00:28:18] And I want you to know that Jesus knows right where you are at. And he gives us this illustration of him as the good shepherd that leaves the 99 and goes back for the hurting one.
[00:28:31] God is still faithful and protects those who are really his. In fact, this is what Peter says in verse nine then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials. Church I'm going to read that one more time because I think this is really one of the main things that we learned this morning, and that is the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials.
[00:28:56] This is all kinds of trials. Trials like, what has the culture done to my children?
[00:29:02] Trials like what has this world done to my spouse? Trials like, what is this world giving me these temptations that I can't seem to overcome? These trials that tear at our soul.
[00:29:17] The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials church the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. The bottom line is the Lord knows how to bring the ungodly to ashes while rescuing those who love his son, Jesus Christ.
[00:29:37] He knows how to do both things at the same time.
[00:29:41] Peter knows the world in which he lives is soon going to be full of apostasy. All the apostles are about to die. Peter is one of the last to go.
[00:29:50] Soon the disciples will be removed. They'll be gone off the planet, and all of a sudden, their teaching will be passed on to people who have listened to them, who have learned from them. And they are going to be responsible as followers of Jesus to carry on the message. Peter knows this.
[00:30:06] Peter is saying, and we've been saying this all along, I am not going to be around forever. Your faith has to be your faith, and it has to be strong enough to endure whatever the devil throws at it.
[00:30:19] Many will come, and they will try and lead christians astray. They'll lie, they'll cheat. They'll try to steal souls. But here's the bottom line. Don't fret. God will hold them accountable and God will preserve you like he preserved Noah and lot.
[00:30:40] Lot didn't seem to be too righteous. And maybe you're sitting here this morning, you're going, well, I'm a follower of Jesus, but I'm not that righteous. That's okay. God declares you righteous. It's not up to you to pull up your own bootstraps and demonstrate to everybody around you how godly you are. When God says you're righteous, you're righteous. That's the end of the story. You get hit by a bus and you just sinned, you go straight to heaven and God looks at you and he goes, I don't know even what sin you're talking about, because my son has taken care of all your sins, past, present and future.
[00:31:12] There's no big screen in heaven. When you get up there, everybody's gonna go, oh, that's the kind of person Craig was.
[00:31:21] God doesn't keep track of wrongs. Good grief. Are we reading the same word of God? God says, I have cast your sin as far as the east is from the. If you go north far enough, you'll eventually start going south, right? He doesn't cast them as far as the north is from the south. You'll run into them again. But if you go east as far as you can, you never start going west. You just keep going east. He throws your sins so far away that he can't find them again. When Jesus takes care of your sin, they are gone, past, present, and future.
[00:31:52] So, church, I want to tell you, when God declares you're righteous, you're good to go. Lot was not, in my opinion, a very righteous individual.
[00:32:02] He chose the wrong place to live. He did it out of greed. He saw that it was green and it was going to make him rich. All the wrong reasons. I would have looked at lot and would have said, I'm not related to you anymore, man. Let's think about the gospel. Not what you can get for yourself, but according to God, he belonged to him. Lot was righteous.
[00:32:25] According to this verse, lot bemoaned way down deep in his soul what his culture was doing to his family. And I got to tell you, church, this sounds a lot like 2024, because sometimes I live in a world where I'm going, man, this culture is killing my family.
[00:32:40] This culture. I heard one parent just recently, and they said to me, they said, my kid goes to school, and then they come home at the end of the day, and I got to deprogram my kid every day. From what they hear in school, I got to tell you, in 2024, there are plenty of people selling plenty of things, and they'll couch them as all these wonderful things, but underneath, they try and sell us their version of truth, and it always appeals to our sensuality.
[00:33:15] It feels good. It seems good. Love is love. No, no, no. Love is not love. That is such a perverted thing to say. In fact, if you play a game where you're trying to figure out a word, the rules of the game are you can't use the word in the sentence, right?
[00:33:34] You can't say, love is love. That's a dumb thing to say. It doesn't even make sense.
[00:33:39] But you can say, God is love.
[00:33:42] God doesn't have love, church. God is love. And by the way, God doesn't have truth. God is truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth. God doesn't have the truth. He is the truth.
[00:33:59] God has little patience for those teachers and those who follow them. And there is a wide road that leads to destruction, but a narrow road that leads to eternal life. And if you feel like you're on the narrow road, meaning that there's not a lot of people walking this journey with you, that's okay.
[00:34:16] Find a good church. You'll find a lot of people that will take the journey with you. But if you feel like you're out of touch with the world and that the majority of people are going a different direction, you're like me in the woods, and everybody chooses to go with me, and I'm dead wrong.
[00:34:33] But Chris says, no, I'm going to go this way because I'm pretty sure this is right.
[00:34:37] The road to destruction is wide. Many choose it, and everyone is responsible. Church for what road they choose to promote and what road they choose to walk on.
[00:34:51] Contrary to popular thought, here it is on the screen. Not every path leads you out of the woods.
[00:34:58] We live in a world today that says there's a lot of paths that lead you out of the woods. That is not true, by the way. Let me just say it one more time.
[00:35:05] Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the no one comes to the father except through me. You want to meet an intolerant person? Meet Jesus Christ.
[00:35:23] Jesus was under the assumption that the entire book is about him. And Jesus was under the assumption that if you want to get to heaven, the only way is through him. You want to get to heaven, you ride Jesus coattails. That's the only way you're getting there.
[00:35:39] In fact, if you choose other paths, some have incredibly painful consequences. Look at verse 19. They promised them freedom, but they themselves are slaves to corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. Whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. Do you want to stay out of this group? Do you want to stay on the narrow path? Learn more about Jesus. Brent hit this numerous times when he preached a couple of weeks ago. Learn of Jesus. Jesus said, learn of me. For I am meek and gentle in heart. Verse 20. For if they escape the defilements of the world through here, we go through the knowledge of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. How do you escape the defilements of the world? Through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:36:29] But if they walk that road and they are again entangled in them and overcome, their last state is worse than the first. Do you know what that means? They had a knowledge of the truth. They said it was too hard. They walked the narrow path for a little while just to check it out. They're intrigued by Jesus. They're intrigued by the Bible. They know that Jesus is a good prophet, good guy, but they don't know Jesus.
[00:36:55] Listen, knowing Jesus is key. Not just knowing about Jesus.
[00:37:02] Knowing Jesus is the key. Not just knowing about Jesus.
[00:37:11] These self promoters are intentionally targeting weak people intrigued by Jesus to teach them false doctrine.
[00:37:20] Kelly, can you give me that one up there? Knowing Jesus is key. Not just knowing about Jesus. They will twist the truth. They'll sell it to consumers. And when you buy a twisted version of the gospel. It is really difficult to untangle yourself from that.
[00:37:35] If you chained anything to the gospel of Jesus Christ, you are risking entangling somebody else up in something that is not true.
[00:37:49] That's why the Bible calls it the pure gospel.
[00:37:53] Now, here's the very, very good news before we get to the so WhatsApp. Very good news is a verse that I read to you already because you might be sitting there thinking, oh, man, this is like a dangerous world. The darkness is great. I live in 2024. There's all kinds of information coming at me. There's information coming at my kids and my loved ones and my relatives, and how will I be able to help them know what is really true?
[00:38:22] The verse that I read right at the beginning, I read it for you one more time. This is one of my favorite. They're becoming one of my favorite verses in the Bible. Matthew 24 23. Listen to this. If anyone says to you, look, there's the Christ, or there he is. In other words, look, there's the messiah. There's a messianic figure. Jesus says his own words. He says, don't believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders like monkeys on a stage so as to lead astray. This is my favorite two words so as to lead astray. What does it say?
[00:38:58] Even the elect, if possible. What does that tell me? That tells me that Jesus thinks and teaches it is not possible to lead the elect astray.
[00:39:12] In layman's terms, that means if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, it is not possible for you to be duped by Satan's lies.
[00:39:21] Isn't that great?
[00:39:23] You are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. You are led by him. You can think a lot of different ideas about theology and things like that, but as far as buying into a lie that will lead you to the gates of hell, it is impossible for you to buy into it.
[00:39:39] There will always be a part of you that goes, yeah, that doesn't sound right. Yeah. No, no, no. I'm not buying that. Somebody be talking to you. They're going, no, no, no. It's the best thing ever. I tell you, it's the best thing ever. You got to buy into this. This is like truth. This is like brand new, and it's going to change your life. And you're just going, yeah, no, I don't think so.
[00:39:57] That is the holy spirit that keeps you from buying into the lies of the evil one.
[00:40:04] By the way, not only is God truth, but there is a father of lies. And who is that?
[00:40:10] Satan. These guys play different roles.
[00:40:14] God gives you the truth. Sometimes hard to swallow.
[00:40:18] Satan will always couch it with a lie. And by the way, Satan is not as bright as I am because I take everything or try to take everything from scripture. He takes everything that God has made and twists it in a way. Yeah, I say that facetiously. He's very, very bright and he will try and sell you something that sounds like the truth but has a little twist to it.
[00:40:47] And if you start walking that road far enough, you will find yourself in a place you do not want to be.
[00:40:56] Their version of God's truth becomes tangled in whatever sensual, whatever soul my sensual soul desires the most.
[00:41:05] By the way, this is why we do not promote anything at VCE other than God's truth and his word.
[00:41:12] We don't mix the gospel with politics, legalism, prosperity, cultural mantras, cultural movements or rainbows that represent anything other than God's promise to Noah.
[00:41:24] We speak the gospel.
[00:41:28] That's what you are attracted to hopefully, when you come to villager Jesus.
[00:41:35] The last verse is kind of a kick in the pants. Want me to read it?
[00:41:40] This is why the proverb says and why it's true. What happens to these people that follow these false teachers? The dog returns to his own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.
[00:41:57] And there you have it, walking the path of truth. For some of us, when we come to Jesus is such a relief. Our souls find rest. But for all people, it's not that way. For some people, they walk that road enough to know. When Jesus says, you want to follow me, take up your cross, open your hands. Don't love anything more than me. I might take that away from you. And it's too much to ask.
[00:42:20] And so they turn back and the Bible describes it. Peter describes it with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, describes it as going back to the lies they heard before. Like a dog goes back to lick up his own vomit.
[00:42:33] Isn't that disgusting?
[00:42:35] I told you it's not very nice. And I didn't even read you most of the verses in here.
[00:42:42] This is a rich young ruler coming to Jesus and going, Jesus, I have kept all the commandments. I've done pretty well.
[00:42:51] Ask me anything. Ask me what I did last Saturday night soup kitchen. Ask me what I did the week before that clothes giveaway. I've been doing wonderful things for Jesus, wonderful things for God, and you should know about it.
[00:43:06] So Jesus looks at him and he goes, I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Let's tap on the glass. In the part of your life that it seems like you love more than me, why don't you go home and sell everything you have, then come back to me and talk. Now, the gospel is not about selling everything that you have. It never says that. Why did Jesus say it to him? Because he mixed the truth of God with a sensual desire to have more stuff.
[00:43:39] And so Jesus said, you give up that sensual desire and we'll walk the path together. And it says, the man went away very sorrowful because he had a lot of stuff.
[00:43:54] Jesus said, forsake yourself. Deny what appeals to your senses and follow me.
[00:44:01] Listen, church, my entire life in Jesus is learning to love what he loves and leave behind what he doesn't.
[00:44:13] Jesus doesn't want a space to share with anybody.
[00:44:17] So listen, if you're going to a church that's about Jesus and something else, you're in a dangerous spot.
[00:44:26] Followers of Jesus have to be able to identify these things. So I give you a list here real quick.
[00:44:31] If you're following a teacher online or whatever way you get your source of information. If you're following a teacher, if you're watching online, if you want a list, here's a list. Number one, does this teacher exhibit characters that glorify the Lord? All right, do they act? Do they live what they say they believe? All right, number two is what this person teaching bringing glory to God or something or somebody else? That's pretty easy to figure out. Does what this person teach bring glory to God or glory to something or somebody else? Number three, this is from last week. What does this teacher say about Jesus? This is why Peter said they will deny the master that bought them.
[00:45:18] Every false prophecy, at its core, is about changing something about the character of Jesus Christ. Let me say that one more time. Every false philosophy, every false prophecy, at its core, is about changing the identity or the character of Jesus Christ.
[00:45:36] All right, any religion, stack them up. 2024. Any religion, you want to stack them up and ask that question, what do they say about Jesus Christ? Is Jesus God?
[00:45:50] What do they say about his divinity, his deity? Did Jesus live a sinful life?
[00:45:57] Do we get to heaven alone through Jesus Christ?
[00:46:02] You have to decide. Do their teachings match up with Jesus own teachings about himself and every single religion, every single false teacher, every single philosophy of this world will fall on those questions about Jesus.
[00:46:19] All right, so what? Number one, you are held accountable for the maturity of your faith.
[00:46:26] Peter is confident in the idea. The Christians he's writing to they will stand firm after his departure, but they are going to be growing in their concern about the apostasy all around them. Like lot, Peter's not afraid they're going to fall away. Because if you belong to Jesus, you belong to Jesus. You belong to Jesus. But what he is concerned about is that they will see apostasy grow and it will be hard on their heart.
[00:46:50] So he writes to them two, Peter, chapter two. And he says to them, basically, don't worry too much about it. God will hold all of those false prophets and all of those false followers accountable. And God will preserve you like he preserved Noah and lot. So be a light in a dark place. Be relentless to believe and speak only the truth. We cannot simply consume content, nor are we called to listening to endless content. But we are called to seek the truth and live it out.
[00:47:25] Just learning more doesn't cut it.
[00:47:30] Remember the stats from last week?
[00:47:32] You have to be able to grow in your faith. The stats from last week. The Bible, like all sacred writings, these are questions given to evangelicals. Contains helpful accounts of ancient myths, but is not literally true. You remember in 2022, only 26% agree with that.
[00:47:51] The Bible is not literally true. 26% agree from evangelicals. People are going to churches that say they're teaching the truth. Number two, religious belief is a matter of personal opinion and not objective truth. In 2022, 38% agree with that. These are people that are going to church where they're supposed to be listening to God's word.
[00:48:14] 38% and the last one, Jesus was a good teacher, but he wasn't God. 43% oy, yo yo yo yo yo.
[00:48:26] Remember, church, you are accountable for the maturity of your faith. You have to grow. You are responsible for saying the right thing and for believing the right thing. And if you've got kids, your faith has got to grow so that you can help theirs grow as well.
[00:48:41] Remember, you've been given everything you need for life and godliness. It's already yours. Supplement it with all the things that Peter talked about in chapter one, and I give you this one verse before we go on. Romans twelve two. Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed. There's a time to be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may test and discern what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable and perfect. Don't conform to what you did know. Transform into who God is making you into. Number two, followers of Jesus cannot be duped. But do your homework.
[00:49:13] Followers of Jesus cannot be duped. Yay let's all hear an applause. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But do your homework.
[00:49:19] Search the scriptures. Pray. Ask the Holy Spirit what you are currently believing. You might need to be deprogrammed, so you need to hold on to things loosely. What are you not willing to put on the altar and ask God to burn up? That might be an idol for you. Second Timothy, 215. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed. Rightly handling what church?
[00:49:49] The word of truth. You are responsible for your spiritual growth.
[00:49:55] Spend time in God's word. Learn of it. A strong faith and a weak faith may start in the same place with Jesus, but they will deliver incredibly diverse and different results. I've got that up on the screen for you. Strong faith and weak faith may start in the same place, but deliver dramatically different results. We have to grow. There's nowhere in the Bible that God says, oh, you have a weak faith. Good for you.
[00:50:21] Doesn't happen. Right?
[00:50:23] God always. And even in the new testament, it says, watch out for the weak, brother. It never says, oh, I'm so glad we have weak brothers. It encourages the weak to grow. This is why Jesus constantly went to the disciples and said, o you of little faith, it's time to grow.
[00:50:42] How to develop a strong faith. Number one, know Jesus more. Know Jesus more. The more you know about Jesus, the more you love him. I guarantee it. Right. Know Jesus more. It'll make you love him more. Number two, invite somebody to speak into your life. Listen to them humbly. Ask them for their opinion. Ask them help. Ask them to help you grow. Make sure they are godly followers of Jesus. Number three, be willing to lose what you might currently love.
[00:51:11] That's a tough one. This is the rich young ruler. Be willing to lose what you might currently love. Number four, hoard community, where Jesus is present. Run to church on Sunday morning.
[00:51:23] Hoard community, where Jesus is present. You need it. It's like filling up your gas tank on Sunday so you can make it through the next six days.
[00:51:32] And number five, don't stop.
[00:51:34] The Bible says, stand firm in the evil day.
[00:51:40] Finish with this, and I'm stealing it from Darren. If you're not a part of the men's breakfast and the men's group, I encourage you to. We got, like, the activity this Saturday. You can sign up for that. Hanging out with these guys is one of the highlights of my life. I love hanging with these guys. So yesterday we had a breakfast. We have our breakfast. Is it the third Saturday of every month? So Darren is in charge of our. Put your hand up. So everybody knows. There he is. Darren is in charge of our men's ministry. And Darren did a devotional yesterday while we're having breakfast, and it was a great devotional.
[00:52:17] In fact, I told him I was going to steal this. I didn't think I was going to use it today, but it's really, really good. So he said I should let him do it. He said, the word of God is like a lamp.
[00:52:30] It's like a lamp. And when you light it, it illuminates only a small portion of the darkness around you.
[00:52:40] Now, this comes from psalms, right? That word is a lamp under my feet and a light to my path, right? So it's like a lamp. And when you light it, you light it and it just has it. You don't know what's out there, but you do know what's right in front of you. And it helps you take one step, and then it lights up a little more and it helps you take another step.
[00:52:59] And the word of God is meant to be that because it's truth. It helps us stay on the path of truth.
[00:53:07] But if that light goes out, you're like me in the woods, and the snow falls and you're guessing as to what direction to walk, and all of a sudden you panic and you start walking on all different. Then you light the lamp again and you're going, what? This ground doesn't look the same.
[00:53:24] I don't look like I'm in the same place anymore. How do I get back to where I was before? You see, the point of all of this is to help us understand the word of God is meant to light the next step for us, and the next step for us, and the next step for us. And when we follow God's truth, we stay on his path and we veer from it to our own detriment.
[00:53:51] Teach your kids God's word.
[00:53:54] Speak God's word boldly.
[00:53:56] It is truth in a dark world. And there's a fire hose of people trying to sell truth down people's throats like never before. And the Internet makes it extremely easy.
[00:54:09] And church, now is our time to be a light in the darkness.
[00:54:13] Light that lamp. Be bold about the steps. And would you do one other thing? Invite somebody to walk with you, because their gates to heaven are still open wide, and God is still bringing in family members one at a time, and he can do it through you.
[00:54:34] Let's pray. Father, I'm grateful for the truth of your word and that it's powerful 2000 years after it was accumulated and put together, written long before that, even penned by your own finger, the ten Commandments.
[00:54:55] Your desire to give us truth and preserve it for us blows me away.
[00:55:00] So, Father, let us cling to your truth in a world of a million voices trying to call us off the path.
[00:55:09] May we pay very close attention to your word and let it light our path for us.
[00:55:16] May your holy spirit guide us, grow us as a church, help us to be more of a light in this darkness than we are now. May you use us, Father, as beacons of hope to a world that's desperately running in circles trying to find the right path.
[00:55:36] This is my prayer for village church east and each one of us, as we go from this place and seek to be an example for you, for your truth and your gospel. I pray.
