Baiting the Hook

597. "Baiting the Hook"                     August 31, 2012
2 Peter 2-Part 7
It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life.  2 Peter 2:21 NLT

LET IT GLOW
 
My parents liked to go fishing when I was growing up. Mom would catch the most fish, but Dad would have the most fun, helping me catch fish when I was a kid. One particular time we took a picnic lunch and fished on the neighbors creek, downstream from Grandpa's farm. It was a clear, shallow stream on a tall bank with trees overhanging. That's where we got down to business after eating our lunch. Dad baited my hook with wiggly worms, threw the hook with a bobbin into the water, and sat beside me, teaching me patience. (I didn't realize that he could see what the fish were doing.) Eventually those fish took the bait and I excitedly reeled in the catch.
Just as I used bait to lure the fish to swallow my hook, Peter talks about how false teachers did the same thing. Let's get a clearer look.

How are these ungodly false teachers able to allure, attract followers?
Allure means to bait, catch by a bait; entice, deceive (Thayer's Lexicon); a verb meaning to attract by some proposed pleasure or advantage; charming, tempting (Webster's Dictionary)

Warren Wiersbe, in his book Be Alert explains:

1. They are elequent promoters of their doctrine.
2. They appeal to the base appetite of the old nature.
3. They appeal to immature people, who have recently escaped from their old ways.

Am I watching out for those who would like to allure me, bait me, away from faith in Jesus?

LET IT GROW

In reading verses 18-22, I found out what these ungodly false teachers were like:

• They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. (verse 18)
• They lure back into sin those who have barely escapted fraom a lifestyle of deception, with an appeal to twisted sexual desires. (verse 18)
• They promise freedom, but are slaves of sin and corruption themselves. (verse 190
• They are worse off than before because they had escaped the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then got tangled up and enslaved by sin again.(verse 20)
• They knew the way of righteousness, but rejected the command to live a holy life. (verse 21)
• They prove the truth of the proverbs: A dog returns to its vomit and A washed pig returns to the mud.

I don't want to be like one of these teachers, niether do I want to be lured away from Jesus and His teachings. Do I stay alert to the source of teachings, which should be the Bible? Am I warning others of false doctrines? Be sure that I don't take the bait of these deceivers.

LET IT GO

Make sure the source of  the teaching I listen to is the Bible, not an added word of man.

Stay close to the Spirit so a teaching is not appealing to my flesh.

Warn immature believers of the false doctrine and teachers that are out there in the world trying to allure them away from the Truth.

Where the Wild Ferns Grew

596.  "Where the Wild Ferns Grew"    August 30, 2012
2 Peter 2-Part 6
These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest: to whom the mists of darkness is sreserved for ever.  2 Peter 2:17

LET IT GLOW

There was a small spring that flowed down the hill emptying into creek on my grandfather's farm. How I know that, I can't say. Perhaps my sister took me on one of her excurisons with her neighborhood girlfriends.. Anyway, I knew it existed, and how to get to it. Forty years ago, my soon-to-be husband and I went looking for it and found it. The spring was secluded, far away from the traveled dirt road. We trecked through our own Eden, where wild ferns grew, along with jack-in-the-pulpits and wild flowers,  making a beautiful bed of greenery. (No encounter with snakes, though.) Natural rocks and dead leaves were on the hill that we climbed to see the spring. What a scenery of God's creation! A place that only a few knew about. (My guy even carved our initials in a heart on one of the trees.) We haven't been back to that serene place, but I can visit it in my mind. I wonder if the spring is still flowing.

You may wonder why I thought about that secluded spring whenever the word spring is not mentioned in our key verse. Peter used the word wells, pege in the Greek, which actually refers to a fountain, a spring. (Thayer's Lexicon)
Now you know where I am coming from.

Either one, wells or springs, are quite worthless without water, aren't they? Why take your bucket to a well or spring for water if it is dried up?

Peter gives us three illustrations of the emptiness of these false teachers' promises:
1. Wells without water (verse 17a)
2. Clouds that are carried with a tempest (verse 17b)
3. The mist of darkness (verses 17c-18)

This word well, meaning spring, is the same one Jesus used when He ministered to the Samaritan woman in John 4:14 and that John used to describe the satisfaction the saints will experience for all of eternity in Revelation 7:17 and 21:6. If a person drank from Jacob's well, they would thirst again, but if they drank from Jesus' well, they will never thirst. This water produces a well that keeps on bubbling into everlsting life. We are invited to take of the water of life freely through the redemption of Christ.

People try to satisfy this thirst in various ways and end up living on substitutes. Only Jesus Christ, our Living Water, can give inner peace and satisfaction. False teachers had nothing to offer so they could not make such a promise.
They may promise spiritual refreshment, but were all show with no substance.  (MacArthur)

Friend, have you drank from the Spring of Living Water? It is free to us.

LET IT GROW

The second illustration of the emptiness of the false teachers' promises is that of clouds that are carried with a tempest. A tempest is a whirlwind. This windstorm is without rain, cloouds that are unprofitable.

The third illustration is that of a mist of darkness. Mist means blackness, gloom, so "the blackness of the darkness" would be an accurate translation. (Wiersbe) These false prophets lead people into the light, but they themselves end up in the darkest part of the darkness, hell.

Am I on the lookout for false prophets?

LET IT GO

Beware of empty promises. Check out the Bible.

Ask God for wisdom and discernment.


 

Stubborn as a Donkey

595.  " Stubborn as a Donkey"              August 29, 2012
2 Peter 2-Part 5
Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of righteousness.  2 Peter 2:15 KJV

LET IT GLOW

Have you heard the saying, "she's as stubborn as a donkey"? I have heard that donkeys will not go where they don't want to go. In fact, they will sit down and not move. Nothing can budge them until they are ready. Yes, Linda has been and can be as stubborn as a donkey.

Well, friend, it is my confession time. I can be that way-so determined to have my way, even if it is the wrong way, not the Lord's way for me. It was getting close to school time, when I was offered two positions at two different schools-one was a new Christian school and the other was a public school.
My faith failed and I took the teaching position at the public school, which paid many thousands more. It was not the way God wanted me to go, but my own way. I stayed there four years encountering many problems.

 I was like Balaam in Numbers 24-25. In case you don't know the story of the talking donkey, I'll tell it briefly.
Balak, king of the Moabites, who were Israels' enemies, sent men to bring the prophet Balaam to curse Israel, their enemy. Balaam refused two times, but then when he was offered gold and silver and honor, Balaam couldn't refuse. His heart was covetous. he sought the Lord's will in the matter. God let Balaam go meet the king, but Balaam was to only say what God put in his mouth to say. (We see God's permissive will.) On his way, Balaam's donkey encountered an angel of the Lord with a drawn sword, three times, and finally fell down. After  Balaam had beat the donkey three times, it spoke to its master. When Balaam's eyes were opened, he saw why the donkey would not go. (Balaam had been just as stuborrn as his donkey.)

As the story goes, God did not permit Balaam to curse Israel. However, Balaam told the king how he could defeat Israel-invite the Jews to a feast, an orgie. Israel participated and thousands ended up dead. 

Balaam was a man who could get messages from God, yet he led people away from God. Peter warns his readers of this. Sometimes animals obey God and their masters do not.

Friends, it took a talking donkey(actually a person acting like one) in my life to get me out of that place where I was not supposed to be. I quit the job, repented, and let God heal my cuts that words made. I don't ever want to repeat that lesson again. I will go where God leads, riding my weak flesh all the way. (I did teach one year at the other school.) That's another story.

Are you stubborn, too? An you pray for God's will, God's way, today?

LET IT GROW

Petre describes Balaam's weakness and love as the " wages of unrighteousness." His covetous heart was after the money-bottom line. He was rebuked of wrong doing by a donkey. What does it take for me to listen and obey God?

Luke 16:11 asks, If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

Luke 16:13b says, Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Mammon  is riches, wealth.

LET IT GO

Let go of money and go with God.

Have a submissive spirit, not a stubborn spirit.

Listen and obey the Holy Spirit.

Spots and Blots

594.  "Spots and Blots"               August 28, 2012
2 Peter 2-Part 4
And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you.  2 Peter 2:13 KJV

LET IT GLOW

Spots and blots-did you have them as a teenager like I did? I didn't like them messing up my face. I suppose my pimpley face was due to my hormonal imbalance. Now when I get a red spot, it is due to the side effect of a medicine, mostly whenever I get hot.

When Peter used spots and blots (blemishes in KJV), he was talking about a totally different thing.
Thayer's Lexicon says spots, used in this verse, is of base and gluttonous men; a stain or blemish, defect, disgrace; blemishes refers to blots, disgrace, insult of men who are a disgrace to a society.

That is a little stronger than those which appeared on my face. Gluttonous men that are a disgrace to a society. Now remember, these adjectives are describing the false teachers.
"The wages of unrighteousness, immorality and boldness will not pay. It will rob and destroy," says The MacArthur Bible Commentary.

These spots and blots are opposite to the character of Christ. 1 Peter 1:19 says, But the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

It is Christ's blood that washes away my spots and blots in my heart and makes it clean whenever I ask for forgiveness. Either way, I don't want those spots and blots in my heart or on my face. Have you asked Jesus to cleanse your heart of those sins?


LET IT GROW

Here we are again-Peter continues in chapter 2 to describe the charateristics of the false teachers. We learned the last lesson that they are arrogant, brutes in their understanding and dominated by lust and greed. I verses 13-16, Peter goes into a little more detail.
Peter says these false teachers:

• will be paid back harm for the harm they have done;
• have the idea of pleasure that  is to carouse in broad daylight;
• are blots and blemishes, reveling in their plelasures while they feast with you;
• have eyes full of adultery;
• never stop sinning;
• seduce the unstable;
• are experts in greed.

Not only are these deceivers unbelieving and immoral, but they are also clearly slaves of their unbelief and victims of their immorality. (Shepherd's Notes)

I want to be the opposite of these people-kind, humble, sharing and caring.

LET IT GO

Thank You, Jesus, that Your blood has washed away my sins.

Keep my eyes focused on Jesus.

Make sure my thoughts are where they should be and honor the Savior.

Don't be greedy, but sharing.

Accusations

593.  "Accusations"             August 27, 2012
2Peter 2-Part 3
Yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. 2 Peter 2:11 NIV 

LET IT GLOW

When I was young, one of my chores was to feed the dog. After supper, I would take the bowl or pan of table scraps out to Buster, my collie dog. sometimes I would let him lick it. When I was accused of the act, I could not deny it because of the evidence-a clean bowl. Do you now that angels do not accuse us before the Lord Jesus? Our key verse says so.

Accusations are a charge of wrong doing, according to Webster's Dictionary.

The MacArthur Bible Commentary says this about verse 11:

It is in reference to the holy angels, who are greater in power than human beings. Unlike false teachers who are defiant toward higher powers, the holy angels so revere their Lord that they will not speak insults againsts any authority. Even the archangel, Michael, recognizing the great presence and power of Satan,l refused to speak evil of him, but called on the Lord to do so. (See Jude 8-9. Zech. 3:2) No believer should be so boldly foolish as to mock or command the power of supernatural demons, especially Satan. 

How much do I revere my Lord Jesus? Do I speak against authorities He has set up? How's my character? Are accusations made against me true or false?

LET IT GROW

(Definitions are in parenthesis from Thayer's Lexicon)
Characteristics of a false teacher/prophet are:

• walk after the flesh in lust of uncleanness (act of defiling lust);
• despise (think little or nothing of) government, authority; not live under Christ's Lordship; 
• are presumptuous (a daring man), defiant;
• self willed (self-pleasing, arrogant)
• are not afraid to speak evil (redicule and blaspheme) of dignities (the majesty, glory, of angels), probably wicked angels-demons and satan;
• are natural brute (destitute of reason)beasts in their understanding, creatures of instinct as wild animals;
• will perish in their own corruption, killed like beasts
• are dominated by lust and greed-live constantly for luxury and sensuality;

[from verses 10-12]

LET IT GO

Be humble, kind, sharing and caring.

Make sure I teach the Truth so I am not a false teacher.

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.

Our Way or His Way

591.  "Our Way or His Way"               August 23, 2012
2 Peter 2-Part 1
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.  2 Peter 2:9  KJV


LET IT GLOW

But God has the power to stop murder, rape, incess, diseases, divorce. Why doesn't He stop it?  Why do bad things happen? I have asked those questions. Sweet ones, we live in a fallen world. This world does not love God nor His Ways. He gives us the power to choose-our way or His Way. The lost choose their own way, which is the way of sin. I find encouragement in our key verse. (This world isn't our home, anyway. We are just passing through on life's journey. Soon we will go on another journey in another place.)

God is able to deliver His people when tempted, and understands the best way in which it should be done. He sees a way to do it when we cannot, though it is often a way which we should not have thought of.   (Barnes' Notes on the Bible)

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, 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 alsdo make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

In past lesson, we have learned that it is because we are drawn away of our own lusts that we are tempted. Then if we yield to that termptation, it becomes sin, which leads to death. Death may be out witness or good reputation is killed. But if we deny ourself, take up our cross, and follow Jesus, we will experience Him working miraculously in our life.

God knows how to deliver me, when to deliver me from more than I can bear, when to deliver me before I get in too deep, and where He needs to deliver me, sending me out another way. Do I trust God to be my Deliverer? So I trust His wisdom and judgment?

Will I ever stop trying to figure things out and simply trust Jesus? Look at the word trust-it begins and ends with t; our trust begins and ends with the cross, as the letter t is formed. What's in the middle of the word trust?  Us is in the middle of trusting Jesus; we're in between the two crosses.

LET IT GROW

In chapter 2, Peter is warning his people about the false prophets. Christianity has always been plagued by false prophets and their false teachings.

Shepherd's Notes on 2 Peter says:
The agenda of false teachers include:

• They deny Christ (verse 1). These heresies are clever arguments against the true deity of Jesus Christ or persuasive contention against the true humanity of Christ. It is an opinion or doctrine that is not in line with the accepted teaching of a church.(It varies from the true expostion of the Christian faith. Thayer's Lexicon)
• They falsely lead others (verse 2). The denial of Christ leads to immorality, greed. A denial of Jesus leads to a denial of His way of truth and His moral urightness. False teachers are in it for the money.
• They exploit the weak (verse 3). False teachers are deceivers and seducers, not disciples. When their deception works, they lure unwary believers away from Christ and into lust.

Are my ears and eyes open to false teachers? Do I know enough of the Word to detect them and refute them? There are several demonations in my area which teach the Bible plus another doctrine, which have their own so called bible with changes form The Bible. If they come knocking on my door, I just point them to Jesus and His Word, which is the only Turth. Don't take their literature.

LET IT GO

Don't keep false teachings around my house. Only read the Bible, the Truth.

Turn to God when I am tempted to sin.

Trust Jesus.