as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven, we thank you again for your word
that you care enough about us to instruct us.
And Father, we ask that you would do that this morning,
that you would teach us in these verses
about our need for you
and also the way that you meet us in our need
and that you have sent your son to redeem and to save us.
We ask these things grateful
that we don't have to evaluate
whether we've done enough for you to do them for us,
but instead we ask them boldly
in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
There are two kinds of people in this world.
People say that about all kinds of things,
but I'm gonna say about one thing in particular.
There are people who want to know secrets
and there are people who don't want to know secrets.
Now, I used to be in the latter camp.
I used to be someone who wanted to know secrets.
If there was something that only a few people knew,
I was eager to be in on it.
It was shortly after, perhaps, I moved to Colorado Springs
that I began to become someone
who would rather not know secrets
because secrets can have a double edge to them.
And not only are there two kinds of people,
people who want to know secrets
and people who don't want to know secrets,
there are two kinds of secrets.
There are secrets that you can keep secret
and secrets you can't keep secret.
Give you an example.
Sometimes when I was a teacher,
and of course, this is true as a pastor as well,
you may have people come up to you and say,
I wanna tell you something,
but you have to promise not to tell anyone.
What's the response?
Well, I had this happen one time.
When I was a teacher, I had to say to this student,
unfortunately, I can't promise you that.
There are some things that you can share with me
that I will keep secret.
There are other things that you share with me
I actually can't keep secret.
There are some things that if you tell me,
I am obligated to act on them.
I'm obligated to do something.
It would be irresponsible.
It would be complicit for me
to keep certain things to myself.
The same thing, of course, is true
when we hear about scandals that come up.
One of the questions is this, who knew?
You do not have to be involved in a crime
to be guilty for that crime.
There are people who, by their silence, are complicit.
There are people who commit crimes,
and then there are people who just cover them up.
Now, you might be wondering,
what in the world does this have to do
with 2 Peter 2?
The point is this.
Knowledge sometimes requires,
it includes a responsibility to act.
Knowledge often includes a responsibility to act.
Knowledge sometimes demands action.
Knowledge increases responsibility and accountability.
That's exactly the principle, the concept we see here
in verses 20 and 21.
We are told,
it would have been better for them
never to have known the way of righteousness
than after knowing it,
to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.
In other words, Peter is saying something
actually scandalous here.
It would have been better for them not to know about God.
This knowledge of God has proved
to be incredibly dangerous.
And so, this morning,
we're going to turn to several ways
in which knowledge is dangerous.
I'm going to give you actually three of them.
And we've already come to the first one,
which is that we're accountable
and responsible for the knowledge we have.
So, if you are here this morning,
which you are,
unless you're listening to a recording,
you're in a dangerous place.
If you were here last week,
you were in a dangerous place.
You now have a greater responsibility.
When it comes to the lies
that this world tells us,
offering freedom but presenting slavery,
you are no longer able to say,
no one ever told me.
You're no longer able to say,
if only I knew.
And so, this highlights for us, right,
that knowledge,
as we've talked about before,
is meant to go somewhere.
Loving theology is a dangerous hobby.
It is never merely an intellectual exercise.
You are responsible for everything that you learn.
And so, if you're loving theology,
if you're growing in knowledge,
but you're not growing in grace,
it's sort of like this.
You're the person who goes to the gym.
You know all the machines that are there.
You know all the names of the workers.
You've sat on all the machines.
You've never lifted a single weight.
It has not gone anywhere.
Some of you might be this person.
If you've been to a gym,
you've probably seen this person.
They are going to the gym to work out.
You're like someone who's invited to a workout
with a bunch of other people,
but all you do is sit on the sidelines and watch.
You can describe the workouts in detail.
You know the names of all the equipment,
but somehow it has not led to any growth for you.
Your knowledge has done nothing.
Jesus himself warns us about this problem
in Luke chapter 12.
He tells us about a master
who goes to a wedding feast
and he leaves his servants.
And he comes back,
and there are servants who have not done
what the master has told them.
However, there's two kinds of servants
who haven't done it.
Servants who knew what they were supposed to do
and didn't do it.
Servants who didn't know
what they were supposed to do
and still didn't do it.
So both of them didn't do what the master told.
One, however, has greater responsibility
than the other.
And we're told this in Luke chapter 12.
And that servant who knew his master's will,
but did not get ready or act according to his will,
will receive a severe beating.
But the one who did not know
and did what deserved a beating
will receive a light beating.
Everyone to whom much was given,
of him much will be required.
And from him to whom they entrusted much,
they will demand the more.
In other words,
to those who much knowledge is given,
much is required.
Those with little knowledge received a light beating.
Those with great knowledge received a heavy beating.
We are responsible for what we know.
Knowledge is dangerous.
And so the point for us is this.
There's a call,
just as there was,
I mentioned this in 2 Peter chapter 1,
verses 8 and 11,
there's a call to self-examination.
What has our knowledge done?
Where has it taken us?
Is the knowledge that we're gaining
at work in our lives?
Because scarily enough,
dangerously enough,
we are accountable and responsible
for our knowledge.
The Bible teaches this principle
of greater degrees of judgment.
For example,
we see in James chapter 3,
verse 1,
that teachers will be judged more harshly.
The same thing is true here.
Those with great knowledge
will be judged harshly as well.
And so the question
for self-examination is this.
What is the knowledge
that God has given you?
What is the knowledge
that God has given you?
Have you acted on it?
God gave us knowledge last week, right?
We now have great knowledge
about the lies of our enemy
and the ways he tempts us,
offering freedom but delivering slavery.
If you were here with us last week,
you can no longer,
as I mentioned earlier,
claim ignorance.
You're responsible for that knowledge.
You know that the body makes a promise
whether you do or not.
You are now held to a higher standard
than you were before last week.
Knowledge creates responsibility.
You can't say,
well, it's really not that big of a deal.
This is just going to be easier
and more fun
for me to ignore those rules.
Maybe it's a different kind of knowledge.
Maybe you know the knowledge
that the book of Proverbs tells us
that not every person
who is poor is a sluggard.
The book of Proverbs
has a category for poor people.
Those who are poor
through no fault of their own
are called the poor.
Those who are poor
through their own fault
are called sluggards.
We have that knowledge, right?
What are we going to do with it?
Are we going to continue
to turn a blind eye
to everyone that's poor
despite knowing that's truth?
What are we going to do
with our knowledge?
Maybe it's knowledge
that parents have.
We know what our kids are up to,
but we pretend not to notice
because that's a lot easier
than dealing with it.
Maybe it's the knowledge
that I have emphasized
over and over
that God calls us
into community
and we can't survive
without it.
And yet you are responsible
if you embrace
Proverbs chapter 18 verse 1
which tells us
whoever isolates himself
seeks his own desire.
He breaks out
against all sound judgment.
Another way of looking at it
is this.
When we get to the end
of a Bible study,
when we have grown
in our theology,
our question is this.
What is this knowledge
going to create in us
in terms of growth and grace?
What are we going to do
with this knowledge?
Knowledge is dangerous.
And it's dangerous
because we're accountable,
we're responsible
for everything that we know.
Everyone to whom
much was given of him,
much will be required.
And from him to whom
they entrusted much,
they will demand the more.
Now I told you
I was going to give you
three ways that knowledge
is incredibly dangerous.
That's only the first one.
It's dangerous
because it increases
our accountability
and our responsibility.
Knowledge also is dangerous
in another way
and I want you to think about it
in this illustration.
Let's say,
hypothetically,
you're a single person
and you go on a date
with someone,
you go on one date.
And after that one date,
they say,
you know what,
I actually don't really
want to continue this.
Now I want you to imagine
that you go on dates
with someone for three months.
And after three months,
they say,
you know what,
I actually don't really
want to continue this.
Which rejection is greater?
The one date rejection
or the three month rejection?
Well, we know in most circumstances
the three month rejection
is greater.
Why?
I can give you a lot of reasons
the three month rejection
is greater.
One of them is this.
The person has greater
knowledge of you
and so their rejection
is more real.
After one date,
you could say to yourself,
well,
they didn't really give me
a chance.
They didn't know the real me.
They didn't give me
a chance to warm up,
you know.
If they'd only gone
on a second date,
they would have known.
They would have known
what a mistake it was.
You can't say that
after three months.
Right?
Knowledge increases rejection.
You can think about it
in another way.
Which is worse?
An engagement breaking up
or a divorce?
A marriage breaking up?
Well, a divorce, right?
This person has known you intimately.
They know things about you
that no one else knows.
And they rejected you.
Knowledge increases rejection.
And so knowledge is not just dangerous
because of our responsibility.
Knowledge means that
when we walk away
from Jesus Christ,
if we walk away
from Jesus Christ,
the rejection of Him
is even greater
than it would have been
had we not walked
in His ways.
There is an increase
in judgment,
an increase
in rejection
when we walk away
after we have known
the goodness
of the Lord
and His community.
And so that's why
we're told in verse 22
this is like a dog
returning to its vomit.
If you walk
in the Christian community
for a time,
if you see the goodness
of it
and the richness of it,
and then you go back
to the world,
then you go back
to your sin,
it is returning
to something disgusting
that you had left behind.
You are a dog
returning to its vomit
knowing that there
was something better.
And so your judgment
is greater
because of knowledge,
right?
Knowledge increases.
In some ways,
this is a subset
of the first one.
Knowledge increases
our accountability
and our responsibility.
The greater,
the more we know
about Jesus,
the greater our rejection
of Him
when we walk away,
if we walk away.
And so that's again
why Peter is telling us here
it would be better
that these people
had known nothing
and that they would know
that they would be
a part of the community
and then desert it,
then abandon it.
Finally,
knowledge is not something
that just recreates
responsibility.
It's not just something
that increases rejection.
Knowledge is also something
that can inoculate us.
It can make us numb
to what's true.
I want you to think
about this in this way.
The best illustration
I've heard is this.
Imagine you have a ruler
or some piece of metal
and you're rubbing it
against your arm.
You're rubbing it
against your arm
over and over
and over again.
Now there's two things
that could happen, right?
One thing that could happen
is you could rub
your arm raw.
It could become
more sensitive,
more tender,
more responsive to pain.
The other thing
that could happen,
depending on how
you could do it,
instead of becoming
raw and tender
and more responsive
to pain,
you could grow
a callous on your arm.
And so suddenly
you don't feel
the rubbing anymore.
You've grown
this resistance to it.
You've grown
this immunity to it.
Knowledge can be
like that
when it comes
to our spiritual lives.
People think,
I'm just going to keep
hearing this over
and over again.
I don't have to make
a decision.
I don't have to decide.
I can kind of hold
on the side
of the Christian community
and just always
have my toes
in the water.
And when I want,
when I decide
it's the right time,
then maybe I'll jump
in the pool.
The problem is
is that as you're
hearing the message
over and over,
it is not making
you more tender.
As you reject it
time and time again,
it is making you
more callous.
And so it's a lie
to believe somehow
that we can always
just tiptoe around
the edge
of a Christian community.
We can always
just sort of think
about it and consider it,
but never make a decision,
never commit.
That's one of the lies
that the enemy tells us
that somehow
that's the choice
of freedom.
This is why
in customer service,
if you have a complaint,
they work so hard
to keep you
as their customer
if they're smart
because they know
once you've walked away,
you're probably
not coming back.
You've been inoculated,
right?
Sometimes it's worse
that you've had
experience with them.
Some of you
are dancing around
the edges of our community.
Some of you are dancing
around the edges
of Christianity.
And we're glad you're here.
also,
you need to commit
because what's going
to happen
is you're going
to develop a callous.
You're going
to become less responsive,
not more responsive.
You are accountable
for the knowledge
you have received
here in this room
and this church.
God will hold
you responsible.
And so,
embrace that knowledge.
don't tiptoe
around the edge.
It is time
to embrace
Jesus Christ
and it's time
to embrace
his community.
The idea
that you can always
float around the edges
is a lie.
It's similar
to the lies
that we looked at
last week
that present freedom.
Looks like freedom
comes from having
no commitments,
right?
But it's actually
no commitments
that gives us
slavery.
So,
our knowledge,
it makes us
responsible.
Our knowledge
increases our
rejection
if we walk
away from Jesus
and our knowledge
also can inoculate
us.
And so,
there's only one
solution and it's
this,
to take our
knowledge and
do with it
what it was
meant to do,
to embrace
Jesus Christ
and his ways,
to put it
into action,
to do what
God has given
us to do,
to stick with
him no matter
what.
Peter is
warning these
people about
returning to
the vomit of
the world.
And so,
the solution,
of course,
is to stay
and to stick
and to commit.
Now,
you may be
feeling at this
point that I've
laid a heavy
burden on you
to do everything
you have knowledge
for.
And for some
of you,
perhaps that's
what you should
feel.
If someone
who's tiptoeing
around the
edges,
you think you
have freedom
by not making
any commitments.
For others of
us,
though,
that's the
wrong image,
it's the wrong
response.
Because if you
think about
knowledge in
that way,
you are thinking
about it as an
independent study.
You've been given
a reading list,
no one's going to
help you,
you don't have a
class to attend,
you're supposed to
go off and read it
by yourself.
You're supposed to
get the work done
on your own
schedule,
and then when it's
ready,
you turn it back
in.
Now,
for most of
us,
that's not
going to work,
right?
There's a few
of you,
a few of us,
who are disciplined
enough to pull
that off.
Most of us
are not.
Thankfully,
when God
tells us about
his knowledge,
he is not
telling us about
independent study
knowledge.
He is inviting
us to something
very different.
Not independent
study knowledge,
not knowledge
where we pull
ourselves up by
our bootstraps.
No,
he is inviting
us onto a
team with
a coach
and a
reward.
You know,
I talked
earlier about
working out.
You know,
it's one thing
to try to
discipline yourself
with your
New Year's
resolutions to
get X amount
of exercise,
right?
You have to
fight against
your will.
It's another
thing to know
that you have
a group and
a team that
you're working
with.
It's another
thing to know
that you have
support.
You're not
alone.
The same is
true for us
and our
knowledge.
Now,
I could have
just recorded
this sermon
today,
right?
And we
could just
email it
out to
everyone on
MP3,
which is
already outdated,
I guess.
Why are we
not doing
that?
Because we're
not pull
ourselves up
by our
bootstraps
kind of
knowledge,
people.
We're to
hear together
as a
community.
There's a
reason for
that.
God knows
we are not
able to do
these things
by ourselves.
He's given
us many
things.
He's given
us his
presence and
his spirit,
which he
promises when
his people
gather.
He's given
us each
other to
work alongside,
to cheer
each other
on, to
coach and
encourage and
help.
And so we're
joining here,
not an
independent study
in the
Christian life,
but a group
and a team
filled by
God and
his spirit
and his
resources that
we would be
able to
grow and
walk in
his ways,
taking
responsibility
for the
knowledge that
he's given
us in
this community.
And so
rather than
being a
daunting and
intimidating
task,
this is a
team,
where there's
no tryouts
and there's
no cuts.
All you have
to do is
show up.
And all you
have to do
is to keep
showing up
week after
week,
knowing that
if you
follow with
your teammates
after your
coach, God
and his
work and
his spirit
will be
with you,
changing
you and
growing you.
Now, some
of you know
I dabble
in being a
runner.
By dabble,
I mean that
my mileage
is pretty
low per
week.
If you
know much
about the
running
community,
you know
it can be
pretty brutal.
It's so
bad, it's
almost as
bad as
the cycling
community.
Yes, I
said that.
One of the
things you
need to be
afraid of if
you join a
running group
is that
you'll get
dropped.
Getting
dropped just
means you're
not fast
enough, you
can't keep
up.
Everyone else
is running
a 715,
you're running
a 930,
so you're just
alone by
yourself at
the very
end.
However,
there's
something very
rare in the
running world
called a
no-drop
group.
Now, if you
can find a
no-drop
group, it
means that
no one will
leave you
behind.
Someone will
stay at the
back with
you.
You know
that no
matter your
pace, you
will have
someone.
Jesus invites
us as we
grow in
knowledge to
a no-drop
group.
the requirement
is not that
we meet a
certain standard,
that we hit
a certain
speed.
What is
required is
that we
follow Jesus'
command, that
we obey
him when he
says, follow
me.
And no
matter our
speed or
our strength,
all we have
to focus on
is that.
I had a
professor in
seminary who
said this,
that Jesus'
disciples got
many things
wrong.
They made
many mistakes,
they failed
in many ways.
There's one
thing they
got right.
They always
kept following
Jesus.
And so the
same is true
for us as we
see the danger
of knowledge,
as we see the
accountability of
knowledge, as we
see the
inoculation of
knowledge.
All we need
to do to
protect ourselves
from that is
to do what the
disciples did,
and that is to
follow Jesus.
But we have
to follow
him.
you show up
right for the
team, maybe
show up to
the gym.
You can't
lift as much
as everyone
else can
lift.
You don't
have perfect
form all the
time.
You can't
do everything
that everyone
else is able
to do.
And you
still show
up.
Remember,
back in
2 Peter 1,
verses 8-11,
we talked
about fruit
and this
idea of
obedience,
our work
and God's
work.
And I
told you
the story
of the
gardener.
And I
read to
you from
John chapter
15,
where Jesus
says this,
I am the
vine, you
are the
branches.
Whoever
abides in
me and I
in him,
he it is
that bears
much fruit.
For apart
from me,
you can do
nothing.
The tree
doesn't water
and feed
itself,
but it
responds to
the water
and nutrients
it's given.
one of
those
nutrients
is
knowledge.
Is the
tree
working?
Yes.
Because of
the nutrients
and care
and feeding
and pruning
of the
Father.
And so
knowledge
is dangerous.
It's dangerous
because we're
accountable and
we're responsible
for it.
It's dangerous
because if we
have it
and we
reject Christ,
it increases
the severity
of our
rejection
and our
judgment.
And it's
dangerous
because if we
don't embrace
it, if we
play around
the edges,
it inoculates
us.
It makes us
immune to
the truth.
And so
as Christians,
we know
knowledge is
the nutrients
that God
gives us
that we
might grow
and so
we embrace
it and
we love
it because
we know
that we're
held accountable
for it.
we know
that Jesus
is the
one who
is with
us,
using it
to grow
us and
to change
us.
And so
we're going
to pray
to him
now,
asking him
to do
that very
thing.
I invite
you to
pray with
me.
Dear
Father in
heaven,
we thank
you that
you've
given us
knowledge
in your
word and
we thank
you that
you've
warned us
of the
dangers
of knowledge.
We ask
that you
would use
those warnings
as your
instrument in
our lives
to stir
us up.
For those
of us
who are
complacent,
believing our
knowledge is
enough,
we ask that
you'd stir
us up to
grow in
holiness.
Father,
for those
of us
tempted to
reject you,
remind us
of what we
know from
our time
in this
community,
of your
goodness and
your love.
And for
those of
us who
are at
risk of
becoming
immune and
inoculated
against the
truth,
stir us
up that we
would embrace
it,
knowing that
freedom comes
from commitment
to you,
from embracing
you rather
than avoiding
you.
We thank
you that
you're the
one at
work,
that we
don't stir
these things
up or pull
ourselves up
by our
bootstraps,
but instead
we do one
thing,
and we
follow after
you.
We ask
that you'd
help us
to do that
now by
your spirit,
and we ask
these things
in Jesus'
name.
Amen.