The Wrong Way

592.  " The Wrong Way"                    August 24, 2012
2 Peter 2-Part 2
He deliverd just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked.  2 Peter 2:8  KJV

LET IT GLOW

We were headed to the big city of Little Rock for the annual state convention of  FHA (Future Homemakers of America). The car was driven by our sponsor and filled with us teenage girls. We sang, talked, giggled along the way, until the solomn moment came. The car was driving down a one way ramp, only we were going the wrong way. I prayed no car would come and hit us, and we were safe. That event was forgotten and we continued with the day full of excitement.
Have I ever gone the wrong way, forsaking the right way? I'm sorry to say yes I have.

The false teachers that Peter was warning his readers about had forsaken the right way, God's Way, according to verse 15.  It meant they were going the wrong way. Their judgment was surely coming, though it had not at that time, but in due time it would.
Peter illustrated the destiny of the disobedient in previous Scriptures:
1. the fallen angels
2. the Flood
3. Sodom and Gomorrah.

We see God's condemnation of the fallen angels who sinned and were cast out of heaven. Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:11-19 deal with Lucifer and one third of the angels. The angels now await for their release found in Revelation 9 and 12. They were sent to hell until the time of judgment. It is partly reserved until the end time.

Because of the ungodliness of the people in the ancient world, God brought a flood that destroyed them. He waited 120 years before He sent the flood. The wickedness, violence, and lawlessness abounded.  Peter's powerful illustration was of a certainty of God's wrath against evil. His mercy and grace was bestowed upon 8 people that were in the Ark that Noah and his sons built.

God burned the two cities because of their rebellion and immoral behavior. Lot's family and friends experienced it, as well as the people of two cities. Their sins of sodomy, homossexuality, and unnatural sex were rampid. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of a righteous, angry God.

What good can be found from all of this?

•  As children of God, we have in inheritance reserved for us (1Peter 1:4).
• Jesus is preparing a home for us believer in heaven (John 14:1-6).
• We aren't looking for judgment, but for the coming of the Lord to take His people home to glory! He has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ          (1 Thess. 5:9).
• God is able to rescue us from judgment. In Noah's case, it was a judgment of water, but in Lot's case it was a judgment of fire. God's people will be delivered from judgment by the grace and mercy of God. Are we ready?

[Resources: Shepherd's Notes and Be Alert by Warren Wiersbe]

LET IT GROW

Verse 9, again, says that God know how to deliver the godly out of temptations. Does it take a fire or a flood to wake us up? Do I warn the unjust that judgment and punishment is coming for them? False teachers fall into this category.

LET IT GO

Make sure I am a teacher of the Truth and not a false teacher.

Go with  Jesus, then I won't be going the wrong way, but the right way.