WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.160 Hey, church. Good morning. Pastor Matthew here. We're back in the old times because I'm joining 00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:12.500 you from my home office in my house. We're, of course, if you're in Shine Meadows or you're in 00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:17.679 Broadmoor Bluffs, you know how bad the roads are right now. And so we're trying to protect folks 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:22.920 and stay inside and stay off of them. Of course, great thanks to Tom Gearing, who is out this 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:28.379 morning clearing our parking lot so that just the sun can do its work. So our parking lot's good, 00:00:28.379 --> 00:00:35.000 but the roads outside the church are very, very bad. As we come together, we're separated at a 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:39.920 distance, so I encourage you to welcome one another on the comments section of the Facebook page. It's 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:44.700 at your bottom right, and that just gives us a sense that we're together even as we're separated. 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:49.920 And you can just say something as simple as good morning. You can tell folks who you're watching 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:55.420 with or where you're watching from, but that helps us to know who was with us. It also helps me. I can 00:00:55.420 --> 00:00:59.719 see a little bit as I try to talk. I'm looking at my phone right now, but it helps me know that I'm 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:07.480 not just alone in a room in my house. So as we gather together, if you're visiting with us, of 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:11.900 course, we're glad that you're here and we encourage you to connect with us. The only option right now is 00:01:11.900 --> 00:01:18.120 digital, and if you go to our website, which is cmpca.net, immediately there will be a pop-up where you can 00:01:18.120 --> 00:01:24.200 fill out our online visitor card, and that will give us a chance to connect with you and to connect you 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:30.420 with our community. So we're going to just jump right in this morning. We're going to continue our 00:01:30.420 --> 00:01:37.359 series in 2 Peter, and you'll remember that 2 Peter is a letter written by a man named Peter, 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:44.120 and he writes it to a church somewhere in the Roman Empire in the 60s AD. And Peter writes this letter 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:51.180 with one desire. He wants these people, he wants this church to grow, and he wants them to grow 00:01:51.180 --> 00:01:58.040 in two ways. He wants them to grow in knowledge, and he also wants them to grow in grace. We're still 00:01:58.040 --> 00:02:05.500 in chapter 2. We're in chapter 2 starting at verse 10, and chapter 2 is a chapter that deals with false 00:02:05.500 --> 00:02:10.680 teachers. And so we started at the very beginning. We've had three sermons in chapter 2 right now. 00:02:11.159 --> 00:02:16.620 We started looking at the false teachers in verses 1 through 4, and then we spent a couple weeks 00:02:16.620 --> 00:02:23.920 in verses 4 through 10. And now we're coming to verses 10 through 16. So I invite you to turn there 00:02:23.920 --> 00:02:32.719 with me, whether it's in your Bible or on your phone or on your computer. And this passage before us 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:38.819 is a tough and challenging one. So we need to have a strong, clear game plan going into it. 00:02:39.620 --> 00:02:45.480 And it's a tough and it's a strange one because as one man has said, the Bible is written for us, 00:02:45.479 --> 00:02:50.039 but it's not always written to us. In other words, this letter was written to this church 00:02:50.039 --> 00:02:54.739 in the 60s AD to people who spoke Greek. And so there are certain things that are going to be 00:02:54.739 --> 00:02:59.139 difficult to us because we don't live in the 60s AD. We live in Colorado Springs. We don't speak Greek. 00:02:59.419 --> 00:03:03.419 We are not the immediate audience of this letter. So we're going to see some interesting things 00:03:03.419 --> 00:03:08.780 about angels, for example, in this passage. And that would have been easy for the original 00:03:08.780 --> 00:03:12.459 audience for this letter. It's going to be a little bit more challenging for us. 00:03:12.460 --> 00:03:20.620 So my game plan for this passage is this. We are going to cover what is new. We are not going to 00:03:20.620 --> 00:03:26.040 focus on what's a review. So a lot of what's going to be in this passage is a review of things that 00:03:26.040 --> 00:03:31.560 we've seen previously in the book of 2 Peter. I'll give you an example. At the end of this passage, 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:36.900 we're going to hear about Balaam. And that's a story from Numbers chapter 22 through 24. I'm not 00:03:36.900 --> 00:03:40.879 going to focus on the story about Balaam because it's a review of what we've already seen about the 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:46.519 false teachers. The point of the story about Balaam is to remind us again that like Balaam, 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:50.620 these false teachers are interested in money. They're interested in profit and they encourage 00:03:50.620 --> 00:03:56.019 sexual sin. Balaam did the same thing. So we're not going to stay on that because that is review 00:03:56.019 --> 00:04:00.719 of what we've seen before. Also, there's a lot of talk in this passage about the fact that the false 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:06.240 teachers are going to face judgment. We've already talked about that extensively. So we're not going to 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:11.800 dive deep into the fact that the false teachers are going to face judgment. Instead, our focus this 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:19.259 morning is going to be on the new material, the things that we have not seen previously in this 00:04:19.259 --> 00:04:26.280 letter. And so with that introduction, I'm going to jump right in here. We're going to see two things 00:04:26.280 --> 00:04:31.480 in this passage. We're going to see the dangers of false teaching and we're going to see our protection 00:04:31.480 --> 00:04:36.140 from false teaching. We're going to see the dangers of false teaching and we're going to see what 00:04:36.140 --> 00:04:41.000 protects us from false teaching. And so with that, I'm just going to jump right in. Remember that this 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:47.520 is God's word. And God tells us that his word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. In other 00:04:47.520 --> 00:04:54.960 words, God has not left us to stumble alone in the dark, but instead he's given us his word to show us 00:04:54.959 --> 00:05:02.759 the way to go. And so that's why we read now, starting at verse 10. And especially those who indulge in 00:05:02.759 --> 00:05:10.979 the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme 00:05:10.979 --> 00:05:17.919 the glorious ones. Whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous 00:05:17.919 --> 00:05:24.639 judgment against them before the Lord. But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:31.359 born to be called and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be 00:05:31.359 --> 00:05:38.560 destroyed in their destruction, suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:45.939 to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions while they feast with 00:05:45.939 --> 00:05:54.919 you. They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts 00:05:54.920 --> 00:06:02.920 trained in greed, accursed children. Verse 15, forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. 00:06:03.460 --> 00:06:09.379 They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Baor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked 00:06:09.379 --> 00:06:16.700 for his own transgression. A speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. 00:06:16.699 --> 00:06:21.639 I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word. 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:30.959 Our Father in heaven, we thank you that you speak to us and your word is not stopped by snow or by weather, 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:37.399 but that it's powerful. And we ask for that this morning, that even as we're separated, even as we have the 00:06:37.399 --> 00:06:44.240 difficulties of technology, the distractions that come from looking at a screen rather than sitting side by side 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:50.660 with other people, that you would help us. You'd help us to focus. Father, you'd help us to see and 00:06:50.660 --> 00:06:56.980 believe that we'd see your grace in this passage and that it would encourage us and it would challenge us. 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:03.480 We thank you that you promise to do these things, not based on anything that we've done, but because 00:07:03.480 --> 00:07:11.660 we ask them in Jesus' name. Amen. If you're just joining us, I mentioned just a few minutes ago that we have a 00:07:11.660 --> 00:07:17.880 lot of things going on in this passage. My plan is not to cover everything, but for us to focus not on 00:07:17.880 --> 00:07:23.180 what's a review of what's come before in the letter of 2 Peter, but what's new. And again, we're going to 00:07:23.180 --> 00:07:29.060 see the dangers of false teaching and also the protection from false teaching. Now, we don't have 00:07:29.060 --> 00:07:36.140 to look far to find out here one of our new dangers. Now, we've seen verse 10 tells us those who indulge in 00:07:36.139 --> 00:07:40.219 the lust of defiling passion. We've already talked about that. So, that's a review of what's come 00:07:40.219 --> 00:07:48.240 before, but here we see something new. These false teachers despise authority. That's at the end of 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:55.860 verse 10. Now, there's a variety of ways that this despising of authority can take place. We'll discuss 00:07:55.860 --> 00:08:01.279 just a few of them. One of them, unfortunately, we got to see on our national news, international news, 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:06.199 this week. We had a group of folks who sieged the U.S. Capitol. Now, I usually don't talk about 00:08:06.199 --> 00:08:12.639 politics, but I bring that up for this reason. At least one person who made it inside the Capitol 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:19.099 was carrying a Christian flag. And there was a variety of folks outside the Capitol who were 00:08:19.099 --> 00:08:26.239 holding up signs that said, Jesus saves. And yet, they're doing the very opposite of what Jesus commands. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:31.800 They are actually, instead of, remember, Jesus says, blessed are the peacemakers. These are people 00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:38.220 who are embracing violence. Jesus tells us to submit to the authorities. These are people who are despising 00:08:38.220 --> 00:08:44.139 authority. And why I bring this up is because this mixture of despising authority and Christianity 00:08:44.139 --> 00:08:50.940 captures what's going on with these false teachers here. These false teachers, at some level, 00:08:51.100 --> 00:08:56.060 hate authority, and that's part of what they're teaching. And so, they claim the name of Jesus, 00:08:56.240 --> 00:09:02.580 on the one hand. They also hate authority, on the other hand. And so, this is one of the dangers 00:09:02.580 --> 00:09:08.379 of false teachers. They're going to teach us the exact opposite of what Jesus commands when it comes 00:09:08.379 --> 00:09:14.279 to submitting to the authorities God's given us. And we can see that just like there were false teachers 00:09:14.279 --> 00:09:20.120 teaching those things, the people in 2 Peter, those false teachers are still present today. There are still 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:27.620 people who are mixing the teachings of Jesus with their own teachings about rebellion. They're teaching 00:09:27.620 --> 00:09:32.259 that Jesus is okay with these things. Of course, coming up against the government in that way is 00:09:32.259 --> 00:09:38.139 actually the exact opposite of what we see in the Bible. Matthew chapter 5, Jesus says, blessed are the 00:09:38.139 --> 00:09:45.379 peacemakers. Romans chapter 13, Paul tells the church to honor the authorities, to submit to them. 00:09:45.379 --> 00:09:51.580 And of course, if you were with us in the book of 1 Peter, you know that one of Peter's main themes 00:09:51.580 --> 00:09:57.980 in that letter was being model citizens. He tells the people in 1 Peter that they should be 00:09:57.980 --> 00:10:06.519 model citizens to make Jesus look good. It is a way that we give Jesus a good name in the world. 00:10:07.700 --> 00:10:14.620 And so, that's one way that we see the poisonous false doctrine, this false teaching of despising authority. 00:10:14.620 --> 00:10:21.700 Even in our world today. We also see it in other areas. We see it, for example, in disrespect for 00:10:21.700 --> 00:10:26.799 the church and its authority. You have folks who know a lot about the Bible. Remember, we've talked 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:32.440 before about the danger of knowledge. And while they may know a lot about the Bible, they refuse to 00:10:32.440 --> 00:10:38.419 submit to the leaders of the church. They are a law unto themselves. They love to talk about the Bible, 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:43.460 except when it comes to parts about submission. Except when it comes to parts that talk about our 00:10:43.460 --> 00:10:48.300 membership in the church, that we're supposed to honor and submit to the authorities that God's 00:10:48.300 --> 00:10:56.139 given us. Someone in the church says something they disagree with, that person's out. They love to 00:10:56.139 --> 00:11:01.139 talk about how important it is to be faithful to the Bible, and yet they can never find a church 00:11:01.139 --> 00:11:08.680 that's good enough for them. Finally, I'll point out that this is a specific characteristic of false 00:11:08.679 --> 00:11:17.839 teachers. False teachers, because they despise authority, hate accountability. If you move away 00:11:17.839 --> 00:11:22.939 from Colorado Springs, if you're looking for a new church, if you're trying to diagnose and discern 00:11:22.939 --> 00:11:28.799 whether a church is correct, this is one thing you need to look for. If this person is a true teacher, 00:11:29.239 --> 00:11:35.319 this pastor is to be trusted, they should be someone not who despises authority, but loves authority. 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:41.920 And so we have to ask questions like this. Are they accountable to anyone? Is there transparency 00:11:41.920 --> 00:11:46.980 within that organization? If you're at a church, does anyone know how the money's being spent? 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:52.920 Is there openness about these things? What's going to happen if this teacher starts teaching something 00:11:52.920 --> 00:12:00.300 that's false? Who is going to check him? If the answer is, I don't know or no one, the odds are, 00:12:00.299 --> 00:12:08.120 no matter how powerful of a speaker and a teacher this person is, he is a false teacher. Because false 00:12:08.120 --> 00:12:16.799 teachers hate and despise authority. They hate and despise accountability. But godly people, godly teachers 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:23.639 know that they are fallen and finite and prone to mistakes, and so they love and embrace accountability. 00:12:23.639 --> 00:12:30.039 And so when you look for a spiritual community, when you look at a church, you want to look at leaders 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:36.679 who love authority. And that's one way you know that you're not dealing with a false teacher. 00:12:37.860 --> 00:12:41.779 Now I told you we're going to talk about the dangers of false teaching and the protection from false 00:12:41.779 --> 00:12:48.059 teaching. Our first danger, of course, was this, that they despise authority. We also see in this passage 00:12:48.059 --> 00:12:54.059 our protection from false teaching. Because there's a certain type of person, we're told here, who's 00:12:54.059 --> 00:13:02.799 susceptible to false teaching. Look with me here at verse 14. These false teachers entice unsteady souls. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:09.679 Who's going to give in to this false teaching? Who's going to believe that we can mix violence with 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:15.899 Christianity? Who's going to give in to the idea that somehow there's no one who has authority over us 00:13:15.899 --> 00:13:22.179 and we're a law to ourselves? Well, it's going to be people who are unsteady souls. And you might be 00:13:22.179 --> 00:13:26.659 wondering what this means. We've actually seen the opposite of this word unsteady previously 00:13:26.659 --> 00:13:34.879 in the letter. In chapter 1, verse 12, Peter talks about being established in the truth that you have. 00:13:34.980 --> 00:13:40.679 This word established is related at a word level to this word unsteady. So the opposite of being 00:13:40.679 --> 00:13:47.599 unsteady is being established in the truth. People who are established in the truth, this gets at where 00:13:47.599 --> 00:13:53.039 knowledge is so important, are going to be less susceptible to this false teaching. If you were with 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:57.459 us at the beginning of 2 Peter, you might have wondered whether I had a problem with knowledge, 00:13:57.559 --> 00:14:03.239 as I talked about its dangers. But of course, knowledge is essential. It just needs to be used in 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:11.200 the right way. And here, knowledge protects us from false teaching. These unsteady souls are not firmly 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:16.460 established in the truth. And so they're easily swayed. They're easily pulled in by someone who has 00:14:16.460 --> 00:14:22.240 no accountability, but what they say sounds good. They're easily pulled in by someone who pulls them 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:29.360 into, who attracts them to a cause that is the opposite of what Jesus teaches us and tells us. 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:36.840 And so we need to be people who are established in the truth. And we've already seen in chapter 1 how 00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:44.659 this happens. I believe it's in verse 13. We're told that it's by way of reminder. Remember, Peter 00:14:44.659 --> 00:14:49.800 wants to stir them up by way of reminder. He's telling them the truth they already know. We're commanded to 00:14:49.800 --> 00:14:57.759 grow in knowledge. And so we want to be people who know God's word. And we know it so that we're 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:02.659 protected from the danger of false teaching. We know that Jesus is our King and our Lord, 00:15:03.259 --> 00:15:10.299 which is over against the lie that our hope is in political parties and politicians. Jesus calls for 00:15:10.299 --> 00:15:16.399 obedience and submission to others. We need to be established in that truth over against the false 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:23.519 teaching of independence and individualism. The Bible teaches us that Christianity is about dying to self 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:30.399 over against the lie that Christianity is about our privileges. And how do we become established in 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:36.679 this truth? Well, it's something that happens not in a moment, but it's week after week after week as we 00:15:36.679 --> 00:15:42.740 join together with God's people in worship, looking at his word together. That is the means that God has 00:15:42.740 --> 00:15:49.240 established. Becoming firmly established in the truth doesn't happen by one time of reading the Bible. 00:15:49.240 --> 00:15:55.360 It doesn't happen from listening to one podcast or reading one article. It comes from knowing God's 00:15:55.360 --> 00:16:01.700 word, being exposed to it over and over again. That is why Peter emphasizes this stirring up, this 00:16:01.700 --> 00:16:08.659 reminder in this book that it's important to come back again and again and again to the truth. Of course, 00:16:08.700 --> 00:16:13.639 that's part of the reason that we preach through books of the Bible so that we don't skip things. 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:18.580 It'd be very tempting, right, to skip this passage. It includes some strange things. There's blaspheming of 00:16:18.580 --> 00:16:23.340 angels, which we'll talk about in a minute. There's a reference to Balaam. And yet we want to be people 00:16:23.340 --> 00:16:30.480 who are firmly established. And so we come to God's word, whether it's convenient or not, over and over 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:35.920 again. We're reminded of these things, right? In the Lord's prayer, we're reminded that we come to God 00:16:35.920 --> 00:16:42.940 to see his kingdom come. We pray to him. It's not our job to establish some kingdom on earth. We, in our 00:16:42.940 --> 00:16:49.300 call to worship, confess over and over that Jesus is King and Lord. And so it's in these often mundane, 00:16:49.660 --> 00:16:56.240 repetitive things over and over that we become stable and steadfast. Many of you know, some of 00:16:56.240 --> 00:17:03.560 you know, that 2020 for me was a year where I started seriously weightlifting. And weightlifting is 00:17:03.560 --> 00:17:09.039 an exercise where if you want to become strong and firm and stable, it doesn't happen overnight. It 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:15.279 doesn't happen in one workout or two workouts or three workouts. It happens as you're disciplined 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:21.960 week after week after week. Sometimes you do the same workout over and over and over. Sometimes it's 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:29.899 boring. And yet you know that is the way you become firm and strong. For example, I've been trying for 00:17:29.899 --> 00:17:37.099 multiple months now, honestly, I believe since August, to up my one rep max on the bench press by five 00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:46.079 pounds. I'm trying to go from 160 to 165. I just got 165 yesterday after months of work. 00:17:47.619 --> 00:17:55.619 Becoming stable and firm and steadfast, just like becoming strong, is something that doesn't happen 00:17:55.619 --> 00:18:02.919 in a day. It happens as we commit to the process of becoming established in the truth. We do not rise 00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:09.400 to the occasion when false teaching comes. And so we fall to the level of our training. We fall 00:18:09.400 --> 00:18:15.700 to the level of our knowledge. And so we want to be firmly established in the truth so that we can 00:18:15.700 --> 00:18:23.320 stand against false teaching. Now the false teaching here, the new material that we find in this passage 00:18:23.320 --> 00:18:29.940 is not just that the false teachers despise authority in general, but we also find that they, 00:18:29.940 --> 00:18:34.259 and this is actually overlaps a little bit, in their despising of authority, they don't take 00:18:34.259 --> 00:18:42.019 spiritual forces seriously enough. And that's what we see in these verses about blaspheming angels. 00:18:42.220 --> 00:18:47.740 This is at the end of verse 10. We're told, bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme 00:18:47.740 --> 00:18:54.120 the glorious ones. Now this glorious ones is a reference to angels. And many people believe it's evil 00:18:54.120 --> 00:18:59.539 angels. Now whether it's evil angels or not doesn't really affect our ultimate conclusion from this. 00:18:59.539 --> 00:19:04.779 In my opinion. But most likely there's evil angels that they're trying to blaspheme, which is another 00:19:04.779 --> 00:19:11.180 way of saying they're judging these angels. They're speaking against them. But instead of speaking against 00:19:11.180 --> 00:19:18.039 them, there should actually be some fear here. As many people have pointed out, the response to angels 00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:23.500 in the Bible is one of fear. And yet these people have no fear of angels. They believe they can go up on 00:19:23.500 --> 00:19:28.899 their own and fight them. Now I know for us, this sounds strange. We don't talk about angels very often. 00:19:28.900 --> 00:19:34.620 It's not something we think about a lot as American Christians. The recipients of this letter, angels would have 00:19:34.620 --> 00:19:41.840 been something that was more familiar for them. And so that's why Peter uses this example. And so just to follow 00:19:41.840 --> 00:19:48.460 the logic here, verse 10, they don't tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones. They're judging angels. They don't 00:19:48.460 --> 00:19:55.519 even tremble. It's an example of them being what's said here, bold and willful. And then we're told even more in verse 00:19:55.519 --> 00:20:01.180 11, whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment 00:20:01.180 --> 00:20:09.420 against them before the Lord. In other words, even angels don't judge angels. Angels are more powerful 00:20:09.420 --> 00:20:16.879 than you, and they don't even try that. It would be like this. A parent says to his child, look, I am 00:20:16.879 --> 00:20:21.920 multiple feet taller than you, and even I don't cross the street without looking left and right. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:30.380 Even I, who am so much greater, don't do something like that. Even angels don't attempt these things. 00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:36.640 Now, there's lots of conjecture about what's going on here with the angels. Ultimately, I believe we 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:42.860 don't know for sure. The recipients of this letter most likely knew exactly what was going on. We sort 00:20:42.860 --> 00:20:49.840 of know generally what's going on with these angels. What we can say for sure is this. There is some level 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:57.319 of a lack of respect for spiritual forces. These false teachers don't take spiritual forces seriously 00:20:57.319 --> 00:21:03.019 enough, and they believe they can fight them on their own. In fact, we have a parallel passage in 00:21:03.019 --> 00:21:08.059 the book of Jude where we're told even more, and we're told about a story about the archangel Michael 00:21:08.059 --> 00:21:14.399 coming against Satan. And it tells us that the archangel Michael did not blaspheme Satan, 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:21.080 but instead said the Lord was going to have to rebuke him. So Michael knew he wasn't the one to go up 00:21:21.080 --> 00:21:27.980 against an evil angel. And so at this point, you may be wondering, what in the world does blaspheming 00:21:27.980 --> 00:21:32.880 evil angels have to do with me? I don't blaspheme angels. I don't talk about them. I don't talk to them. 00:21:33.280 --> 00:21:39.720 We seem to be in a very weird section of the Bible here. And I'd say for us, the point is this. 00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:45.579 There is a general principle here that these false teachers are fighting battles that are gods to 00:21:45.579 --> 00:21:53.980 fight. They are fighting battles that are gods to fight, not their battles to fight. They do not take 00:21:53.980 --> 00:22:00.200 the spiritual world seriously enough. And of course, we probably can already figure that out from the 00:22:00.200 --> 00:22:05.000 fact that one of the things they've been doing, as we've seen in previous passages, is speaking against 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:10.460 Jesus' second coming. They don't believe Jesus is coming again. And so it shouldn't surprise us that 00:22:10.460 --> 00:22:18.859 they also don't take angels seriously enough. Now, our problem as people in America in 2021 is probably 00:22:18.859 --> 00:22:25.900 not that we try to blaspheme angels. However, as we look at spiritual forces in this world, our problem 00:22:25.900 --> 00:22:32.220 in the West is this. We also don't take them seriously enough because we've given into the idea of 00:22:32.220 --> 00:22:38.240 materialism. Now, when I talk about materialism, I don't mean a love for objects and things. I don't 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:43.980 mean someone that's constantly buying things off of Amazon. What I mean is this. It's the belief that 00:22:43.980 --> 00:22:52.339 only what we see exists. Materialists only believe in the physical world. They downplay the fact or 00:22:52.339 --> 00:22:59.200 ignore or reject the fact that there's a spiritual reality. In fact, C.S. Lewis talks about this in his 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:05.080 preface to the screw tape letters, and he says this, there are two equal and opposite errors into which 00:23:05.080 --> 00:23:11.580 our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. That would be the 00:23:11.580 --> 00:23:16.740 materialists. The other is to believe and to fill an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. 00:23:17.360 --> 00:23:24.360 They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same 00:23:24.359 --> 00:23:31.919 delight. In other words, we make a mistake when we do not understand and take seriously the spiritual 00:23:31.919 --> 00:23:37.679 forces that are at work in this world. And so remember our interpretive principle from the beginning 00:23:37.679 --> 00:23:44.379 of chapter two. If we see a negative, we embrace the positive. The positive here is that we know and 00:23:44.379 --> 00:23:50.359 recognize that we as Christians are in a spiritual battle, and we're in a spiritual battle with the 00:23:50.359 --> 00:23:57.579 forces of darkness. And we recognize that those forces are things that we don't take on on our own. 00:23:57.939 --> 00:24:03.079 You'll remember from 1 Peter chapter 5, Peter warns the people about this. He says, 00:24:03.199 --> 00:24:11.039 Be sober-minded. Be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:19.219 devour. Resist him. Firm in the faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by 00:24:19.220 --> 00:24:26.160 your brotherhood throughout the world. The false teachers did not take spiritual forces seriously 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:33.920 enough. We as Christians heed Peter's warning in 1 Peter chapter 5. We know that our adversary the devil 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:43.200 prowls around like a roaring lion. We know there are real dark spiritual forces in this world. Now of course 00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:48.960 when we start talking about spiritual warfare and spiritual forces, it can go in a very strange direction, 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:54.380 very quickly. And yet the way the Bible talks about it is often very different than the way certain 00:24:54.380 --> 00:24:58.940 teachers talk about it. And so I'll just give you a few examples of what it looks like to take 00:24:58.940 --> 00:25:05.100 spiritual forces seriously. To take seriously the fact that the devil is prowling around looking for 00:25:05.100 --> 00:25:12.079 someone to devour. And in doing this, I'm drawing heavily on this book called Safe and Sound. And look at 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:18.160 the title Standing Firm in Spiritual Battles. Interesting it's firm, right? Because we're talking about those who are 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:23.080 unsteady, those who are firmly established. And it's a man by David Pallison, and he talks about what the 00:25:23.080 --> 00:25:28.900 Bible says about spiritual warfare. Here are some examples. Ephesians chapter 4. 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:35.040 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are 00:25:35.040 --> 00:25:41.980 members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no 00:25:41.980 --> 00:25:49.420 opportunity to the devil. What does it look like to give the devil opportunity? Being angry. 00:25:51.160 --> 00:25:58.700 Refusing to forgive others in our lives. That is part of spiritual warfare. When we choose anger over 00:25:58.700 --> 00:26:05.160 forgiveness, the devil is able to move forward. Here's another example, James chapter 3. But if you 00:26:05.160 --> 00:26:10.420 have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 00:26:10.420 --> 00:26:16.620 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:22.100 You want to know what demonic looks like? James tells us it's bitterness. 00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:29.480 And so we see that these battles, these spiritual battles that are at work in the world are the 00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:33.560 everyday sort of things that we face in our lives. Bitterness. Anger. 00:26:33.559 --> 00:26:40.779 Paulson goes on to talk in his book about things like addiction and fear and anxiety. When we give in 00:26:40.779 --> 00:26:46.740 to fear and anxiety, we're believing lies. Well, who's the father of lies? It's the devil. And so we don't 00:26:46.740 --> 00:26:53.679 have to go far to find how serious our battle against spiritual forces is. We don't have to 00:26:53.679 --> 00:26:59.440 watch strange movies or believe strange things. We just have to look in the Bible for what God tells us 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:06.539 our spiritual battles are. James chapter 4 gives us the answer. It tells us how we fight these things. 00:27:06.660 --> 00:27:10.860 Remember, we don't want to be like the false teachers. We want to take these things seriously. 00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:17.100 And so we look at how God instructs us to wage spiritual warfare. And we're told in James chapter 4, 00:27:17.099 --> 00:27:23.240 But he gives more grace. Therefore, it says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 00:27:24.019 --> 00:27:30.299 Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, 00:27:30.359 --> 00:27:36.699 and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 00:27:37.399 --> 00:27:42.879 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:51.600 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. How is it that we fight spiritual wars? 00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:59.360 Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:08.280 Goes on to explain repentance and humility. The false teachers are proud. That's what we saw in verse 10. 00:28:08.279 --> 00:28:13.899 And they are bold and willful. That's part of the reason they don't take these things seriously. 00:28:14.579 --> 00:28:20.160 Christians are humble. And so the way we fight these battles is doing what James tells us in chapter 4. 00:28:20.660 --> 00:28:23.960 We, unlike the false teachers, draw near to God. 00:28:25.639 --> 00:28:31.139 We know that these battles are too great for us. Battles against bitterness. 00:28:32.099 --> 00:28:35.700 Battles against anger. Battles against anxiety and fear. 00:28:35.700 --> 00:28:41.080 These are spiritual battles. They're battles that we need God's help with. 00:28:41.940 --> 00:28:43.480 And so we draw near to him. 00:28:43.900 --> 00:28:47.279 One of the ways, of course, that we draw near to him is in prayer. 00:28:47.480 --> 00:28:50.660 Prayer is the opposite of being bold and willful. 00:28:51.240 --> 00:28:56.440 And it's by definition something that should be humble because we're recognizing that we need help. 00:28:57.400 --> 00:29:02.700 We don't have the power that we need to fight these forces on our own. 00:29:02.700 --> 00:29:08.500 Another way that we fight these things is in community with other people. 00:29:08.700 --> 00:29:10.600 Of course, you've heard me say this over and over. 00:29:10.819 --> 00:29:14.080 If you've been with us for any time, we don't go it alone. 00:29:15.220 --> 00:29:20.840 If we're fighting the lies of the enemy, if Satan is the father of lies, as Jesus tells us that he is, 00:29:21.180 --> 00:29:24.299 we need other people around us to tell us the truth. 00:29:24.299 --> 00:29:33.059 If we are praying and recognizing our need for God's help, we need other people fighting that battle with us. 00:29:33.159 --> 00:29:35.879 We need them praying with us and for us. 00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:38.440 That is how we're the opposite of the false teachers. 00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:47.279 Instead of judging angels on our own, we are coming to God for help in all of the battles that are in front of us. 00:29:47.279 --> 00:29:53.099 Some strongholds are too great for us to fight alone. 00:29:53.299 --> 00:29:57.039 And so that's where arrogance and individualism go together. 00:29:57.200 --> 00:30:02.079 God has given us the church that we would fight and walk with one another. 00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:11.019 If you live an isolated life, you have underestimated the power of spiritual forces. 00:30:11.019 --> 00:30:19.500 If you live an isolated life, you have underestimated the power of spiritual forces. 00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:24.960 You are like the false teachers who are flippant when they should be afraid. 00:30:27.139 --> 00:30:32.279 And so we embrace the positive of the negative that's presented here. 00:30:32.940 --> 00:30:36.920 We do it in prayer, knowing that God is the one we need to fight the battles. 00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:38.619 That's what the archangel Michael did. 00:30:38.619 --> 00:30:41.239 He said, God's the one who's going to have to deal with this. 00:30:41.319 --> 00:30:42.279 That's what we do in prayer. 00:30:42.379 --> 00:30:43.699 We say, God, we need your help. 00:30:43.779 --> 00:30:46.819 We need you to be the one to deal with this. 00:30:47.479 --> 00:30:52.099 There's a famous, and of course, we're with one another in community as well. 00:30:52.279 --> 00:30:55.719 When it comes to being community, we help one another fight these battles. 00:30:56.339 --> 00:31:01.659 There's a famous video from David Attenborough, one of his shows, where you see a lion. 00:31:01.959 --> 00:31:04.359 And this solo lion is attacked by hyenas. 00:31:04.359 --> 00:31:11.539 And as hyenas are attacking him, you realize that even though he's a lion, he can't stand against them alone. 00:31:11.879 --> 00:31:14.659 He doesn't have enough strength by himself. 00:31:15.500 --> 00:31:21.939 And just as it seems like the battle is turning and the lion is going to lose, his lion friend joins them. 00:31:22.359 --> 00:31:24.019 And so suddenly there's two lions. 00:31:24.139 --> 00:31:25.119 They're fighting together. 00:31:25.779 --> 00:31:28.779 And this line comes from David Attenborough near the end. 00:31:28.779 --> 00:31:35.460 And even for 20 hyenas, a pair of male lions is too much to take on. 00:31:36.639 --> 00:31:39.720 Brothers and sisters, the same is true for us. 00:31:39.740 --> 00:31:44.720 If we are going to take spiritual battles seriously, we take them on together. 00:31:45.220 --> 00:31:49.660 We take them on together as we remind each other of the truth from God's word. 00:31:49.920 --> 00:31:54.519 We take them on together as we pray for and with each other. 00:31:54.519 --> 00:31:59.400 Prayer is a recognition of our powerlessness and our need. 00:32:00.099 --> 00:32:05.119 And community is also a recognition of our weakness, our powerlessness, and our need. 00:32:05.259 --> 00:32:07.720 That is how we remain stable. 00:32:07.859 --> 00:32:11.160 That's how we're protected from being enticed as unsteady souls. 00:32:11.879 --> 00:32:12.680 In verse 14. 00:32:14.160 --> 00:32:18.599 Of course, we do all of this recognizing that we can't do it alone. 00:32:18.599 --> 00:32:24.980 If we're drawing near to God in the way that James 4 tells us to, we can only draw near to God for one reason. 00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:28.539 And that reason is that we draw near to him in Jesus' name. 00:32:29.339 --> 00:32:34.459 We know that the story of the gospel is that we're separated and alienated from God by our sin. 00:32:34.819 --> 00:32:40.139 And the only way we can bridge that gap is coming in Jesus through his righteousness. 00:32:40.679 --> 00:32:47.619 Jesus is the one who, by dying on the cross, took the punishment that we deserve and lived the perfect life that we should have lived. 00:32:47.619 --> 00:32:51.500 And in doing that, he allows us to access God our Father. 00:32:51.679 --> 00:32:54.399 He allows us to have that protection. 00:32:54.539 --> 00:32:58.239 That's why every time we pray, we pray in Jesus' names. 00:32:58.799 --> 00:33:02.519 He is the one who protects us from false teaching. 00:33:03.500 --> 00:33:10.199 And of course, what's even more encouraging than that is not just that we're able to pray to God because of Jesus in his name, 00:33:10.599 --> 00:33:14.179 but Jesus himself also prays for us. 00:33:14.180 --> 00:33:20.620 We've talked about this before in 1 Peter, the fact that Jesus tells Peter that he prays for him. 00:33:21.420 --> 00:33:23.960 And so we see this in Luke chapter 22. 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:27.140 Simon, Simon, and Simon's another name for Peter. 00:33:27.740 --> 00:33:31.140 Behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat. 00:33:31.720 --> 00:33:35.740 But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. 00:33:36.700 --> 00:33:39.680 And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. 00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:45.720 We can face our adversary because we have an advocate. 00:33:46.140 --> 00:33:50.060 We have an advocate who represents our prayers to our Father God. 00:33:50.299 --> 00:33:54.519 And we have an advocate in Jesus who prays for us. 00:33:55.279 --> 00:34:03.380 And so we're able to stand firm, not because we're strong people, but because we have a strong Savior. 00:34:03.380 --> 00:34:10.519 And so for those who do not have faith in Jesus Christ, the call is for you to also draw near to God in repentance, 00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:16.300 knowing that trusting in Jesus' name is the only protection from spiritual battles. 00:34:16.780 --> 00:34:21.940 That without him, we are lost and orphans alone in a merciless universe. 00:34:22.119 --> 00:34:24.300 And so we have to come to Jesus. 00:34:24.300 --> 00:34:30.600 There are many false teachers out there who will tell us we can conquer these things simply by changing our thought patterns, 00:34:31.019 --> 00:34:32.680 simply by changing our habits. 00:34:33.320 --> 00:34:36.380 And even as those things are helpful in certain places in certain ways, 00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:40.740 the ultimate battle that we face is too great for us alone. 00:34:40.860 --> 00:34:43.480 We need a great and greater Savior. 00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:48.880 And so we see here our threat, the danger of false teaching. 00:34:48.880 --> 00:34:53.059 It's dangerous as false teachers entice us to despise authority. 00:34:53.440 --> 00:35:01.320 And it's dangerous as false teachers tempt us to underestimate the power and reality of spiritual forces in this world. 00:35:01.920 --> 00:35:07.019 And we also see that Jesus provides us with a solution to these temptations. 00:35:07.200 --> 00:35:10.559 He establishes us and makes us firm and strong. 00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:12.240 He does it through his church. 00:35:13.360 --> 00:35:18.300 And he does it as he invites us to join him, drawing near to him in prayer. 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:28.380 In her book, Educated, Tara Westover tells the story of growing up in a Mormon survivalist family. 00:35:28.920 --> 00:35:34.140 She grew up without any formal education, but then was able to make her way to college 00:35:34.140 --> 00:35:37.519 and then ultimately over to King's College in London. 00:35:38.400 --> 00:35:41.320 And she tells the story of when she was at King's College. 00:35:41.320 --> 00:35:45.800 They were invited shortly after she showed up there to take a tour of the chapel. 00:35:45.800 --> 00:35:50.380 And there was a spiral staircase that took them all the way up to the top of the chapel. 00:35:50.519 --> 00:35:54.460 And as they got there, there was this incredible wind that was whipping them. 00:35:55.480 --> 00:36:00.220 And as this wind was whipping them, the professor made this comment to Tara. 00:36:00.340 --> 00:36:03.340 He said, you're not afraid of falling. 00:36:04.260 --> 00:36:07.480 Of course, he said this as a statement, but it was sort of a surprise because it was different 00:36:07.480 --> 00:36:10.240 than what everyone else was experiencing in that moment. 00:36:10.239 --> 00:36:15.439 And the professor says this, I meant it as an observation, he said, when we'd made it down. 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:18.639 Here you stand upright, hands in your pockets. 00:36:19.279 --> 00:36:21.279 He gestured towards the other students. 00:36:21.979 --> 00:36:24.639 See how they hunch, how they cling to the wall. 00:36:25.419 --> 00:36:26.159 He was right. 00:36:26.159 --> 00:36:52.259 Tara's answer to this, why she was able to stand firm in the wind was this. 00:36:52.260 --> 00:36:55.940 I've roofed my share of hay sheds. 00:36:57.320 --> 00:37:02.960 She was able to stand firm in the wind because of everything she'd done to prepare. 00:37:03.140 --> 00:37:06.080 She had practiced at a small height. 00:37:06.900 --> 00:37:10.420 And so she was able to stand at a great height. 00:37:10.840 --> 00:37:13.640 Brothers and sisters, the same is true of us. 00:37:13.760 --> 00:37:20.640 We want to be firmly rooted and established in God's word as we're reminded over and over again. 00:37:20.639 --> 00:37:25.779 We don't rise to the occasion, but we fall to the level of our training. 00:37:25.900 --> 00:37:27.839 And of course, Tara did that in that moment. 00:37:27.980 --> 00:37:33.179 She was able to stand in the wind because of years and years of practice. 00:37:34.339 --> 00:37:37.659 And of course, it's not just that we know the truth from reminders, 00:37:37.799 --> 00:37:41.219 from coming and repeating it together again and again in worship, 00:37:41.339 --> 00:37:46.119 but also because God protects those who draw near to him. 00:37:46.119 --> 00:37:53.460 And so when the wind blows, the winds of false teaching, we stand strong and firm. 00:37:53.579 --> 00:38:00.159 We stand strong and firm as we worship and learn together and as we pray and fight together. 00:38:00.659 --> 00:38:06.219 And we do it ultimately because we don't do it alone, but we do it with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:38:06.339 --> 00:38:12.299 He is the one who teaches us and reminds us, and he's the one who prays with us and for us. 00:38:12.300 --> 00:38:19.039 And so we're able to stand firm, not being those who are unsteady souls, 00:38:19.160 --> 00:38:22.539 but instead those who are firmly established in the truth. 00:38:23.519 --> 00:38:24.660 Please pray with me. 00:38:26.400 --> 00:38:31.940 Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word that establishes us and protects us. 00:38:32.140 --> 00:38:39.160 It keeps us far away from the siren call of false teachers who would call us towards violence and rebellion, 00:38:39.159 --> 00:38:42.579 and those who would call us to be flippant rather than humble. 00:38:43.019 --> 00:38:49.619 We ask that you would continue to establish us, that you'd draw us together as people in one church. 00:38:50.299 --> 00:38:54.940 You remind us of the truth, and you draw us to you in prayer together. 00:38:55.139 --> 00:38:58.899 We thank you as we pray these things, that we don't have to earn them or deserve them, 00:38:59.239 --> 00:39:00.859 but we pray them in Jesus' name. 00:39:01.519 --> 00:39:01.819 Amen. 00:39:01.820 --> 00:39:12.220 As we end our time together, we'll end our time together with a benediction, even as we're separated. 00:39:13.019 --> 00:39:16.220 And remember that a benediction is a good word from God. 00:39:16.300 --> 00:39:21.180 It is a word that's true in a world filled with words that are not true. 00:39:21.700 --> 00:39:25.380 I'll invite you as we're separated to lift out your hands over the screen. 00:39:25.480 --> 00:39:27.920 Remember that it's tradition for the minister to hold up his hand, 00:39:27.920 --> 00:39:33.200 to send out God's blessing on God's people, and for God's people to hold out their hands to receive God's blessing. 00:39:33.920 --> 00:39:37.000 And so hear now God's good word over you from Numbers chapter 6. 00:39:37.820 --> 00:39:39.400 The Lord bless you and keep you. 00:39:39.840 --> 00:39:43.860 The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. 00:39:44.220 --> 00:39:49.480 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace, now and forever. 00:39:49.599 --> 00:39:53.840 So go now in the grace and peace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 00:39:54.240 --> 00:39:54.539 Amen. 00:39:56.200 --> 00:39:56.940 Thanks all. 00:39:56.940 --> 00:39:59.260 We hope to see you again soon. 00:40:00.200 --> 00:40:01.900 And until then, Godspeed to all of you. 00:40:02.079 --> 00:40:02.700 Thank you so much. 00:40:02.900 --> 00:40:03.220 Bye-bye.