If He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction...

2 Peter 2 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

But false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. ² Many will follow their indecent behavior, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; ³ and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, held for judgment; ⁵ and did not spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example of what is coming for the ungodly; ⁷ and if He rescued righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the perverted conduct of unscrupulous people ⁸ (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), ⁹ then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from a trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt passion, and despise authority.

Reckless, self-centered, they speak abusively of angelic majesties without trembling, ¹¹ whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a demeaning judgment against them before the Lord. ¹² But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, using abusive speech where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, ¹³ suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions as they feast with you, ¹⁴ having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having hearts trained in greed, accursed children; ¹⁵ abandoning the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the reward of unrighteousness; ¹⁶ but he received a rebuke for his own offense, for a mute donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the insanity of the prophet.

¹⁷ These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For, while speaking out arrogant words of no value they entice by fleshly desires, by indecent behavior, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, ¹⁹ promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what anyone is overcome, by this he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. ²² It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

As I said in yesterday’s meditation, I will defer to those who were witnesses of Christ rather than those today who come up with new false and destructive doctrines and heresies.  In today text it says: But false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their indecent behavior, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. We are past the point when false teachers and false prophets secretly introduce destructive heresies. Now they openly speak and teach what is false. They introduce these destructive heresies even to our youngest and most vulnerable members of society, in our schools and pre-schools. Our public schools have become institutions of unrighteous and immoral indoctrination. While sadly many will follow their indecent behavior, those who exploit with false words will suffer the judgment and destruction. James 3:1 says: Do not become teachers in large numbers, my brothers, since you know that we who are teachers will incur a stricter judgment. In Matthew 18:6-7 Jesus says: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person through whom the stumbling block comes!”  In Isaiah 5:20 God says: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who  substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute
bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!  If there will be woe to those who call evil good and good evil, how much more for those who are stumbling blocks and teach our children what is false?

The text says: For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, held for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example of what is coming for the ungodly; and if He rescued righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the perverted conduct of unscrupulous people (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from a trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt passion, and despise authority. It is foolishness or presumption to think that God will no longer judge sin because Jesus died on the cross for forgiveness of sin. God has not changed His mind about sin. Jesus died on the cross to redeem us from sin. His sacrifice did not make sin acceptable to God, it redeemed us so that we would be acceptable to God. Anyone who believes or teaches that if Jesus were here today, he would embrace the immorality and lawlessness of our culture, believes and teaches a false and destructive heresy.

In Revelation 1:8 the Lord says: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” He is the same. He has not and will not change. In Deuteronomy 30:15-20 God said: “See, I have placed before you today life and happiness, and death and adversity, in that I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, so that you may live and become numerous, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but allow yourself to be led astray and you worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you will certainly perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and take possession of it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have placed before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding close to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days.” In Matthew 4:17, at the beginning of His ministry Jesus said: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  When he returns to establish His eternal kingdom, in Revelation 21:5-8 He will say: “Behold, I am making all things new… It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give water to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life, without cost. The one who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Revelation 22:20-21 says: He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.