CALLING OUT BLASPHEMERS (PART 3)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity.

2 Peter 2:17-19a

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Through a good portion of the second chapter of his second letter, we have found Peter calling out the ungodly who had infiltrated the Christian church in “the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia” (1 Peter 1:1). Over the past two messages, we have seen him identifying traits of these counterfeit believers, traits which included the following:

1. Boldness and arrogance.

2. A fearless abusing of celestial beings.

3. An unreasonable demeanor much like you would find in animals.

4. Carousing in broad daylight while reveling in their sinful pleasures.

5. Eyes full of adultery.

6. Non-stop sinning.

7. A constant striving to seduce the unstable.

8. An affinity and expertise in the matter of greed.

Definitely not the kind of people the church should allow to go unchecked within the congregation because if left to do their wicked work, these representatives of Satan will eventually succeed in trying to destroy all the good the Lord is trying to accomplish through His body of believers.  

As we finish this series today, we find Peter adding yet more to what we’ve already learned and we see how severe this matter is given that the Word of God gives so much attention to it. That, in and of its own right, should be a powerful sign to any Christian. Look again at these words from today’s passage:

These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity. 2 Peter 2:17-19a

To the list of evil tendencies of the ungodly within the newly minted Christian church, we find Peter adding the following:

1. Uselessness.

What good is a spring if it offers no water for someone to drink from?

This is the point Peter is making here and we should contrast it with someone who comes in the name and Spirit of Jesus Christ for they offer someone a connection with the One who said that anyone who would drink from what He offers would never thirst again. Through Jesus, a true disciple will bring others to where they will be a spring themselves, welling up to eternal life (John 4:1-15).

2. Aimless and directionless.

Like a mist blown about by a storm is anyone who is not in Christ Jesus, the cornerstone and firm foundation for the Christian believer. Unrepentant sinners lack any true aim or direction in life because they lack a relationship with the One who is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).

3. Offer only words that are empty and boastful.

Anyone who is not in Christ has nothing of substance to say because they lack the Holy Spirit, the One who grants a Christian every good and perfect word to speak, good and perfect words that will never cease to glorify and honor the Lord. The wicked will always try and exalt themselves instead of the One who created them.

4. They appeal to their flesh and its lustful desires.

5. They entice others to join them in the slavery of depravity.

Traits four and five are essentially a repeat of what he said prior but this should only tell us that these sins deserved further emphasis. Indeed, sexual immorality had obviously invaded the church and threatened to infect others. Where Jesus was teaching that a believer should deny themselves, these sinners were promoting a life attitude that would have someone chase after and fulfill their fleshly desires that included sexual indulgence. It was a temptation that the church could not afford to take root.

Friends, unfortunately what we’re reading about here is hitting very close to home. For although the church has grown and evolved through the years with the Christian faith having a definitively stronger foothold now than in the first century, we still struggle with people living in very ungodly ways within the church with no interest in repenting and changing their ways. Further, there are complete Christian denominations who have endorsed sinful living as being completely appropriate, the Word of God be damned.

Of course, none of this should be surprising to us as we know where things are heading in this world and it’s not going to be pretty. Christians are increasingly going to be subjected to more and more persecution until the Day of Rapture when the Lord Jesus is going to take us away in advance of the Tribulation, sparing us from the worst before we get to experience the best He can offer.

Until that time, it’s our responsibility to continue to carry out the Great Commission tasking that Jesus has given and like Peter, call out the blasphemers when we see them.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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