Sermon Tone Analysis
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“*RESCUE OR PUNISHMENT*”
(A Godly People – Series in II Peter)
Westgate Chapel 4~/29~/01 2 Peter 2:1-9
PROPOSITION: The God who punishes the ungodly also protects and rescues the godly.
! I. INTRODUCTION
!! - (Bulletin insert on Bible reading plan)
!! - THE apostle Peter writes his second epistle to the churches in Asia Minor because false teachers have infiltrated the church.
!! - FALSE teachers that…
!!! ~* …distorted and twisted Scripture to suit their own purposes (1:20; 3:16).
!!! ~* …lived shameful lifestyles (2:2).
!!! ~* … were motivated by greed (2:3).
!!! ~* …had eyes full of adultery, and never stop sinning (2:14).
!!! ~* …treated sacred and holy things flippantly (2:12).
!!! ~* …were arrogant and self-willed (2:10).
!!! ~* …mouthed boastful words that seduced baby Christians (2:18).
!!! ~* …rejected authority (2:10).
!! - AS a result of the influence of these false teachers…
!!! ~* The new Christians were becoming confused concerning what was Truth.
!!! ~* There was a growing perception in the church that there would be no consequences for how you lived your life.
!! - INTERESTING…that is exactly where we are as a culture today.
!! - THE words of the apostle Peter from our passage today are rejected out of hand by our society as ignorant, narrow, judgmental, and intolerant.
!! - IN fact the majority of American Christians do not believe in what I am going to preach to you today.
!!! ~* 67% do not believe that there is such a thing as absolute truth.
!!! ~* 20% believe that viewing pornography is a matter of taste, not morality.
!!! ~* 30% watch R rated movies.
!!! ~* 57% believe that Satan is simply a symbol of evil and not a living being.
!! - AMERICAN Christianity has created a God more to our liking…one made over in our image.
!!! ~* On the Bible He is open to any interpretation.
!!! ~* On truth He is flexible.
!!! ~* He is so loving that Howard Stern would be welcomed into His heaven.
!!! ~* And on consequences He is understanding and forgiving to a fault.
!! - SO I have a tough choice today.
!! - I COULD tear 2 Peter 2:1-10 out of the Bible and skip over the passage in this series.
Some might not even notice the omission.
Some would be much more comfortable without this sermon.
!! - I COULD allegorize the passage….make
it into some sort of symbolism so that its contents would not be so painful.
!! - THE problem is that I believe these ten verses are the absolute Truth, with a capital “T.”
And because I do I believe that I will be responsible before God for what I tell you about them.
!! - I BELIEVE in consequences.
I learned that when I was 2 and 3 and 4 years old.
!! - SO here it is!
!! - THE theme of these ten verses is about consequences…eternal consequences.
! II. the presence of the ungodly
!! - AND in these ten verses there are clearly only two kinds of people on the earth by God’s standards…the godly and the ungodly.
!! - IN Jesus’ parable in Matthew 13 He identifies the two kinds of people in the world as wheat (godly people) and tares, or weeds (ungodly people).
!! - BUT since we can’t always tell the difference, especially in the early stages of growth, Jesus told us not to try and pull the weeds ourselves.
!! - IN Matthew 25 Jesus identifies the two kinds of people in the world as sheep and goats….the
sheep inherit God’s eternal kingdom, the goats are separated out for eternal punishment.
!! - THE first three verses of 2 Peter 2 tell us basically the same thing…that in the world, and even in the church, the godly and the ungodly are present.
!! - BOTH blissfully in the church, in the same services, in the same classes, singing the same songs.
!! - REMEMBER last Sunday, from the last two verses of 2 Peter 1, the apostle tells us about the wonderful prophets of the Old Testament who were carried along by the Holy Spirit as they wrote Scriptures?
!! - NOW the apostle writes,
!!! “*But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you*.”
(2 Peter 2:1a)
!! - THE false prophets of the Old Testament…
!!! ~* Used flattery in their teaching.
!!! ~* Were ambitious about their personal finances.
!!! ~* Were immoral in their lifestyles.
!!! ~* Their consciences were seared.
!!! ~* Used deception as their methodology.
!! - AND they were “among the people.”
!! - THEY looked just like all the other prophets.
!! - THEY wore the same prophet’s outfits as the others.
!! - THEY used the same language as the other prophets.
!! - YOU could find them in the Temple precincts, or the palace, bending the king’s ear, just like Elijah and Jeremiah.
!! - THEY were right in the middle of God’s people!
!! - EXCEPT….they
are not on God’s agenda.
!! - AND the apostle Peter tells the new Christians in Asia Minor that in the same way there are false teachers “among you.”
!! - THEY are inside the church!
!! - PETER says that they…
!!! “…*secretly introduce destructive heresies.*”
(verse 1)
!!!! • Heresies are teachings that destroy faith, and erode confidence in God and His Word.
!!!! • “Secretly” means slipped in alongside the truth.
!!! “…*denied the sovereign Lord who bought them*.”
(verse 1)
!!!! • Some spoke derisively about His deity.
Others denied His humanity.
!!! “…(lead other Christians astray with their) *shameful ways*.”
(verse 2)
!!!! • These were the ones who denied Him by how they lived.
!!! “…*brought the way of truth into disrepute*.”
(verse 2)
!!!! • The unbelieving world was just waiting to make an accusation about the Gospel of Christ…and these people provide the opportunity.
!!! “…(were) *greedy*.”
(verse 3)
!!!! • They are in it solely for themselves.
!!! “…*exploit you with stories they have made up*.” (verse 3)
!!!! • You are simply their mark in a carefull orchestrated con game.
!! - THESE are false teachers, false Christians, side-by-side with true Christians in the family of God.
!
III. the punishment of the ungodly
!! - AND it looks like nothing is being done about it.
!! - IT looks like there is no consequence for the way in which they are treating the things of God.
!! - THEY appear to be getting away with it.
!! - THEY may even have themselves convinced that they are getting away with it….that even God really doesn’t care.
!! - MAYBE there is no absolute truth!
!! - MAYBE this sin thing is way overblown!
!! - MAYBE God really is going to over look sin after all.
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