II Peter 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
God’s Word is a mirror that gives an accurate picture of who we are. It shows what lost people are capable of and what saved people must be. We all often fail God. Lost people cannot please God until and unless they get saved.
Romans 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Our world is trying hard to erase that truth from their minds. They talk of protecting the “self esteem” of the person. Ignoring the facts does not make them go away. Admitting to the truth does not make a person want to be evil. Evil is bound in the heart of the child. God declared:
Genesis 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
God had just sent a world wide catastrophic flood. All but eight people were destroyed. God did not send that flood to change the heart of those who survived. He knew that would not do it. He sent that flood to destroy the wicked and to give the eight survivors another opportunity to go in a better direction. However, He knew that the heart of man is evil from his youth. The only hope for man is to repent toward God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
In our text, God directed Peter to begin with the angels that sinned. The Bible tells us that there were a number of angels that fell with Satan. Those angels can never be redeemed. They are finished. Some of them are locked away in chains of darkness. Some of them are out serving Satan and harassing people. Jesus cast out many devils. Paul cast out devils. There are still people possessed of devils today.
I watched a documentary of a young woman who was fifteen years old when she lured her former boyfriend over to a house where there were other boys together with her who intended to kill that former boyfriend. They carried out their evil plan and in prison now, she is still a cold, calculated criminal. The murdered boy’s parents are hurting and not willing to forgive. They are destroying their lives because of their hard hearts. That girl’s actions were wicked. She should have been put to death along with the others involved in that crime. However, holding bitterness in the heart will not solve anything.
To be sure, a fifteen year old girl should not have a “boyfriend”. Those young people involved in this tragic event were into drugs and alcohol and also immorality. Their parents were no help to them. When parents reject the truth, they can expect their children to be evil as well.
Peter was directed to remind us that God is the final judge. He makes no mistakes. He never overreacts. Every decision He makes is just.
In verse 5 Peter referred back to the flood of Noah’s day. God did not spare the old world. He saved Noah and his sons and their wives. Noah was a preacher of righteousness. The people that perished were given all the opportunities they needed to repent and quit their wickedness. They were not interested and they were destroyed and their souls are in torment now and will always be in torment.
In verse 7 Peter addressed the sin of sodomy. Today our public school system and our governments are promoting sodomy. They will not get away with that any more than Sodom and Gomorrha got away with it. Peter tells us that that event is recorded in the Bible as a warning to humanity: don’t follow that path. Today most cities have a “pride parade” which is designed to celebrate that wickedness.
Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
I know our governments want to silence the truth. Silencing the truth will not eliminate the truth. Those who silence it will still be judged by the truth.
In verse 7 Peter spoke of “just Lot”. Lot knew better than what he did. He moved into Sodom and Gomorrha. He was vexed with the filthy conversation of the people of that place. However, for convenience sake, he put up wth that and allowed his daughters to be corrupted by that. So much so that after they fled the destruction of that place, his daughters committed incest with their father. They knew better but they did it anyway.
In verse 8 we are further told that Lot knew better than what he was doing. He had no justification for what he did. He will be judged according to God’s righteousness. He is declared to have been a just man, but that does not mean he will not be judged for his actions after he believed in God.
In verse 9 we read that God knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations.
I Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Those who are saved can stop sinning. We can say no to the temptation. We can glorify God. God knows how to protect His children. However, His children must be willing to listen to Him. We do not always do that and we sin. That is why He has to chasten His own children sometimes. The lost are already under the wrath of God. Peter reminded us that they are reserved unto the day of judgment. That day is coming. It is the day when Jesus Christ will sit on the great white throne and judge the wicked. No one will be released and sent up to heaven at that judgment. The books will be opened and the wicked will be exposed for their wickedness. All the lost will be cast into the lake of fire.
In verse 10 we see more works of the wicked. They walk after the flesh. They are governed by what feels good. They love the promiscuous life and the drug life, etc. They despise government. Sadly, our current government is encouraging all kinds of wickedness. They are protecting the murder of unborn children. They are promoting the use of marijuana. They are encouraging the taking of human life through MAID. There are many other evil things that our governments are promoting. God will hold them accountable for what they are doing. He will also hold each person accountable.
His Truth can be known. There are still good churches around that teach the truth. Most people despise those places, but they are still around. We are still in Treherne and we still teach the Truth.
Verse 10 tells us the wicked are presumptuous and self-willed. The Greek word translated as “presumptuous” means “daring”. There are thousands of people in that position. They attend one of the many corrupt social religious places or they do not attend any church. They dare God to keep His Word. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Dignities in this context refers to those who are appointed as leaders by God. That would include the Scriptures themselves and also God-ordained pastors.
It is not wise to slander God or His servants. He knows all things. He sees all things. He will judge each person in righteousness. Peter was directed to write these words as a warning to those who want to live in defiance of the Truth. Judgment day is coming. All will face God’s judgment. Those who are saved will be at the judgment seat of Christ. There they will be judged as to their place in heaven.
Those who are lost will be at the great white throne judgment. They will be judged as to the degree of punishment they will face in the lake of fire. All who are cast into that place will never get out. Their torment is for eternity. The wise person heeds God’s warnings, and humbles himself and gets saved.
Every person will form opinions on many things. When it comes to spiritual matters, it is extremely foolish to develop opinions in a vacuum. When you develop your opinions without right understanding of the Word of God, you have chosen to live in a vacuum. The majority of people today who express an interest in spiritual matters, do so in a vacuum. False religion is abounding. Men and women are luring gullible people to their sites and they are feeding them lies. They obviously sound good to the undiscerning ears, but they are just lies. The only safeguard that God has given us is to take His Word, the King James Bible, for the English speaking world, and read it and find a true church to help you to understand God’s Word, and submit to the Truth. God’s Word is Truth. You will never go wrong in submitting to the Truth. You are wrong in submitting to the many perversions and the false teachers that use them. It will not do you any good now and neither in eternity. Choose wisely.
Pastor Bartel