Transcription
I don't know about you, but there's nothing worse than when you take bad advice. You guys ever do that? Where you get a piece of information and you're like, "Okay, I'm going to act on it," and it turns out to be the exact wrong piece of advice? So much of life is about being able to discern the good advice from the bad advice.
I think about my own life. I remember when Linda and I were first married. We got married in 2004, and I remember in 2006, we had Obadiah, about a year later. And I remember I had a friend who was a mortgage lender. And he was, you know, and we were renting a little apartment. He said, "You know, so Dan, I understand what, like, why don't you and Lynn own a house?" And I was like, "Well, you know, we really can't afford it." And this. And he said, "Well, listen, he's like, I can get you a mortgage. Everyone's getting a mortgage right now." And I said, "Well, we don't really have the money. We don't have the money in the bank." Yeah, this for that. And and he said, "Oh, listen, man, you don't need to worry about it. We'll get you as much as you want. We don't even need to document it." So we're talking about '06, you know? And so, sure enough, you know what happened? You know, you have this, the whole subprime mortgage thing. And I don't doubt, you know, I don't knock my friend for doing this. Looking out for me was his business. And and those things were there. But I'm so grateful that woman and I, you know, when we looked at it, we were like, you know, we really can't afford to do this. And so we didn't. And it kept us out of some trouble. Unfortunately, for many of you, you're like, "Yeah, well, I didn't, I did take that advice, and I got myself into trouble." You know?
But but depending on how serious the situation is, how the impact of bad advice can be even worse. I think about another thing. When I remember when Obadiah and Maranatha were small, I guess Obadiah was about five years old and Maranatha was two years old. And Lyn had something going on. So it was like, Dad's Saturday morning with the kids, which is always a blast, you know? And so, sure enough, I took Obadiah and I took Maranatha to the park. And and they're playing at the park. And I remember, you know, like any good mom, because it was Dad's day with the kids, she called like nineteen times just to make sure that like everybody was fine, the kids are doing well, and the whole thing. And so, sure enough, at one point, she calls. And I'm watching Obadiah, he's leading Maranatha up the big slide. He's carrying a big wheel behind him, you know? And so, and I'm watching this thing. And you know what it's like, especially you parents, when you go to the park, right? You know what goes on because everyone at the park is a perfect parent, you know? Everyone tells you what, how you're supposed to parent your kids. You guys ever have that experience? Like going to the park? It's like a clinic in everyone's way to parent, you know? I always wish I could just like take videos of it, then like when their kids are like 50, make remember how good of a parent you were, you know? But I remember like, you know, now we're at one of those parks where it was like everybody was like, you know, the perfect parent counselor. And I'm just on the phone, Lynn. And I'm watching this thing. And all of a sudden, I'm Obadiah and Maranatha are on the top of the slide. I know, but I was putting the big wheel down. He's starting to put Maranatha on the big wheel. And all these parents, you know, all these, you know, and I'm like the like one of like four dads at the park. And it's like 97 moms. And they're all like glaring at me, you know? And I mean, and so I'm like, and I'm on the phone with Lynn, you know, like classic dad, you know, I got the phone, I'm on the phone with the missus. I'm doing good, you know? So I go like this. I take the phone, I flick it up, and I say, "Obadiah, you can't send Maranatha off the down the big slide on the big wheel without a helmet on!" [Applause] At which point Lynn screams on the phone. And all these moms literally start yelling at me. And I, nah, I was just having fun in the moment. But coz, but you realize what horrible. Like it gives the impression that he can send her down as long as he has a helmet, you know? And so it was a great, a great life moment. But it's, I'm sharing these stories because when you take bad advice, it gets you into the wrong situations. And given what the advice is about, it could be really catastrophic. I mean, it's one thing to maybe get a bad mortgage, right? And and if that happens, obviously there's repercussions. But it's, it's really, it's not necessarily life or death. But if you go to a doctor and you find out you have a diagnosis and the doctor wants you to have brain surgery, at that point, you get a second opinion. Why? Because the the severity of what the advice is being given on, you want to make sure that that's verified. Because if you don't, it can have catastrophic effects.
Now, if you take that, you realize that depending on what the advice is about, depends on how serious it is. How important is it to make sure that the counsel and the teaching received of the things of eternity is solid? Because if you think you take a bad mortgage, you, you know, your credit gets bad, your financial state, you lose your house. Those are not good things, but they're not life-threatening things. And you, you amplify that to something like brain surgery, and now of a sudden, it takes the next step. But then when we realize that eternity is eternity, following good teaching is important. And so in this truth and lies series of what we're doing in 2nd Peter, today is going to be one of those messages that the Spirit of God inspires Peter to be rough. Like, like he's not mincing words, he's not pulling any punches. But the reason he is doing this is because when people follow false teaching, they could end up in a lost eternity. And that is not like a small thing. That is not like a, "Oh, that's no big deal." Like, this is one of the most important things ever. So in order to get at this, I'm calling this the truth about false teachers. Open up in your Bibles, 2nd Peter chapter 2, verses 12 to the end of the chapter, 22. So 2nd Peter 2:12 to 2:22. Us. I want you to open up your Bibles. If you're here in our Vancouver Center, if you're in our Southwest Portland sanctuary, we love you guys. Open up those Bibles. There's Bibles on the seats in front of you. It's easy to find 2nd Peter. If you start at the end of your Bible, you have the book of Revelation, then you have the book of Jude in one chapter, and then 3rd John, one chapter, 2nd John, one chapter, 1st John, now five, six chapters, five chapters, and then 2nd Peter. So 2nd Peter, of course, you can also open up if you have a smart device, you just type in 2 Peter 2:12, you'll get right there, and you'll be able to read along. And we're going to jump right on in. 2nd Peter chapter 2, verse 12 says this: "But these, like a natural brute beast, made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of things that they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions, while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but he was rebuked for his iniquity. A dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever." I told you, it's kind of a grueling text, isn't it?
So, in speaking of the false teachers that were going through the early church, I want to put these verses here under the heading, "It's All Bad." Every single one of these verses here leads us to something that's a problem. This is all bad here. And what you need to realize is that the problem with false teaching as it relates to the Church of Jesus Christ, the people of God, is that when somebody is a false teacher, no good comes from it. And we have to realize how dire the situation is. And there's that part of us in this day and age where we want to be more positive. That when you read something where it's so specifically bad, I don't want to take the teeth out of this. I want this to be able to sit there in such a way that you and I would realize the severity of the situation because eternity is at stake. I think we have a bad tendency of not thinking a lot about eternity because we're just trying to make it through today. But your life is designed to exist for ages upon ages without end. And eternity is a real reality. And you are going to live eternally. It's just a matter of how, where, and why. Nobody does not live eternally. But it does matter where you land. Because for 60 years, that's for 62 years is the average lifespan of somebody in the West. You don't want to fool. You don't want to live 62 years one way and then lose eternity. And we need to take the long view of our lives. And I think what goes on is so many people say, "Well, I just want to have fun now, and who cares about later?" And that is not smart.
See, for the early church, this was, don't miss the fact that when Peter wrote the second epistle, he was actually writing what would become the New Testament. But they didn't have all the writings that we can look at today. And so when the apostles would go around and missionaries would go around and they would start these churches, they would be proclaiming the good news of Jesus. The people believed it. But then false teachers would come on through and they would start to shipwreck people's faith. Now, what's interesting is today, we have the Bible to check it. Often, but most people don't check. If we live in a fact-check culture, I was reading an article about the amount of that the younger generation fact-checks things, which is great. I mean, that's why God invented Google, so you can fact-check things. No, don't miss the fact, of course, that everything you read on the internet is not true. No matter what the internet tells you, right? Guess what? It's on the internet doesn't mean it's true. But you can check your facts. But what's interesting as it relates to the things of God, oftentimes people don't fact-check that at all. They don't ever actually look as it's really real. And so Peter, concerned for the church that he's writing to, wants to help them understand these false teachers who have been seducing them and drawing them away. What's really going on here? So he begins in verse 12: "But these," speaking of these false teachers, "they're like natural brute beasts, made to be caught and destroyed, speaking of all things they don't understand." Verse 12. "And will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, are those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions, while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children." You see how bad this all is? Like, every lice, almost like it's compounded. First, he says that these are like natural brute beasts, that these are like wild animals. The only thing that the only reason were there there is to be caught and destroyed. They speak evil of things they don't understand. So they're not grounded in the truth. But what they do is they speak very flippantly about things that they don't understand. Notice, they will utterly perish in their own corruption. So these false teachers, they're going to perish in the corruption of what they're teaching. And they will receive the wages of unrighteousness.
Now, this idea of the wages of unrighteousness, I think, is very important. Because the Bible talks about wages. You think about something which you work for something, and then you receive the compensation for what you're doing, right? So like, if you go to your job, you put in your hours, and then you receive wages or compensation for what you've done. Now, the Bible teaches about these wages because the idea here is that it's the principle of sowing and reaping. That whatever it is that you sow, whatever it is that you invest, you're going to reap a harvest of that. And so the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Now, what that means is that the wages, the compensation that a person gets for sin, which is anything that is in rebellion against God, the the compensation for sin is death. So if a person sins, let alone has a sin nature that is bent on sin, the compensation for that is death. But then that same verse in the book of Romans says, "But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." And that is why we here at Crossroads, and any Christian church that is truly a Christian church, believes that a person needs to put their faith and trust in Jesus in order to be redeemed. Why? Because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There's not a human being except Jesus Christ himself who has not made mistakes. That's one way to say, has not transgressed against the perfect law of God, has not done something that isn't the best way they could have done it. As I like to say, that the sin nature is not that you're as bad as you could be, that you're the worst possible version of yourself, but none of us are as good as we should be. That it's not like you always do the most horrific thing you can do, but you actually don't always do the best thing that you can do. And in every way that you and I do not do the best that we can do, that is the Bible calls us sin. What's the compensation for sin? What's the wages of sin? Death. But for somebody who deserves the compensation of death for living in rebellion against God, the gift of God in Christ is eternal life. It's forgiveness. And each one of us has this opportunity in front of us. Will you allow God to forgive you? Jesus has already finished the work. But what you have here is that these false teachers, instead of teaching the righteousness of Jesus, this good news, this amazing reality of what it means to be in Christ, they're teaching the way of unrighteousness. And what he says, they will receive the wages of unrighteousness. The compensation for what they're doing.
But notice now, we start to see their lifestyle a little bit. Their lifestyle isn't they carouse in the daytime. They count it pleasure that they're reveling in the daytime. What should be hidden under darkness of night is now done in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes. Now, let me ask you, ladies, how many of you love spots and blemishes? I don't think I've ever seen a skincare product commercial that didn't have the phrase "spots and blemishes" in it. You know, as I see all these pictures, you know, because everyone's got like their their home-based business where they use you to make money, right? And they have all these pictures. And the first picture ever looks all, you know, decrepit. And then six months later, on this special cream, now look at this, like a model, you know? Why? Because those spots and blemishes are bad, right? It ruins a clear complexion. And straight up, he's like, "Look, these, these false teachers are spots and blemishes." Notice their reveling in their own deceptions while they feast with you. They have an angle on you. Notice in verse 14, "having eyes full of adultery, they cannot cease from sin." This picture is that literally every time they see a woman, all they can think about is adultery. That their their bent on rebellion on this lifestyle. Notice, "and they entice unstable souls. They have been trained in covetous practices." That idea, the unstable soul, that's a soul without faith. That's what the Apostle, that's what James uses. But when someone does that faith, they're like a boat being tossed about by the winds. Every wind of doctrine, they get all thrown around. And what I love about what God has done is he's given us this truth in the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation. That when you trust in the Word of God, you'll hear all these things, but you're not like a boat on a wave. You are anchored in the word. And waves come, but you, because you are anchored, you just can roll with it because you're not going to get picked off. But you got to ask yourself, are you the kind of person that every time something new comes up, you go off on the tangents? That's why I think it's such a gift that we've been raised in this generation with the Word of God because it's meant to be something that stabilizes us in an unstable world. There's going to be information, there's going to be teachings and doctrines everywhere. But we don't want to be unstable souls who are pulled in a million different directions. But we want to be people who are fixed, who are rooted, who are steadfast.
To explain these false teachers, in verse 15, he says, "They have forsaken the right way and they have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but he was rebuked for his iniquity. A dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet." He brings up the idea of Balaam. This comes from Numbers chapter 22, if you want to read it in your own time. This man Balaam was a prophet, and he was hired by a king to come and curse the children of Israel. But God said to him, he said, "I can only come at the Lord tells me to go." And Lord says, "Don't go." So he said, "I can't go." And then the king came back with more money and more riches. And and Balaam said, "Okay, you know, I can only go if the Lord tells me go." Put the word, I told him not to go, but he really wanted the riches. And so he said, "Okay, you know, like, if the Lord tells me to go." And Lord said, "Go." And then it was on the way, the angel of the Lord was there to kill him. It's a very strange story. And Balaam's donkey wouldn't go forward because although the Prophet couldn't see the angel, the donkey did. Is that donkey was pressing Balaam against the wall, and Balaam got mad, started hitting the donkey, and the donkey started to speak to him in human language, right? And so now we could talk about something like, "Well, that's why I don't believe the Bible." Listen, if you don't believe in talking animals, just go on YouTube. I love it. I can't believe the Bible. It's like mythology. How could an animal talk? Am I just go to YouTube, bro? Put a talking animal. It's amazing the things animals say. And listen, and but if there is a God, and there is, and if God has control over everything, which he does, and if God wants a human voice to come out of an animal, guess what? It's going to happen. And it's not like, because I wanted to. Like, this just makes it's the most rational thought in the world. If God is all-powerful, God could do anything. So I know, so some of you are skeptical. Every reason you can find not to believe the Bible. You do accept the thing is, is you're not actually wanting truth. You just want to trust your skepticism. And I know in this real local, I did this four years of my life. I, I could have, I could have argued anybody out of believing in the Bible because I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to be held accountable by God. I wanted to do what I wanted to do. I didn't want, you know, I didn't want all these things. So I had all the reasons why until I realized that it was all just an elaborate hoax. It was all just me wanting not to have to change. It's going to have to be different. So I have no problem as an educated rational person to believe that this donkey could talk to this prophet because I believe it's possible. And you may say, "Well, you know, their trainers train them how to say so their mouths can vocalize." That's fine, right? And if God wants to now give them something to say, then what's the problem? God can do anything. I've spoke the world into existence, sustains you in all of us every single moment. You don't think he can handle that? Of course, he can handle that. But what we learn here is that Balaam is an example of these false teachers because what we learn here is that what Balaam really wanted was he wanted the money. He loved the wages, it says, of unrighteousness. Even though God had blessed the children of Israel, and Balaam was not allowed to curse them, what Balaam really wanted was he wanted the money that came from being a prophet. So even though he wasn't able to curse them, if you read the story, Balaam blessed them three times. He actually did tell that king how to stumble the children of Israel by sending the women into the land and for the men to be enticed and drawn away. But what Balaam really was interested in is the money. And guess what? There is a lot of money in being a false teacher in the church. Lots of money. And if you don't believe me, just do a search of the richest pastors in America, people making millions and tens of millions of dollars on the message of the finished work of Jesus, the fact that God loves you and sent a son to die across. So one of the reasons many people are put off by church because all of a sudden you're like, "How is this possible?" Because people just like Balaam get into the things of ministry not for the things of God's kingdom, but for their own enhancement.
Now, we're reminded that even though Balaam loved the wages of unrighteousness, he was rebuked for his iniquity. A dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet. And then the section closes where we need to remember our reason. Because he says, "These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever." Now, you got to realize that in the area and region where Peter lived, it was an arid region. So if you find a well, you want to get water out of it. When you find clouds, you want to get rain out of it. So there's a hope that there will be some benefit or blessing from these things that you don't receive because it's not there. Now, for us, you're like, "Well, we're not really worried about water. I mean, only rain like 187 days this winter." Even though I think it's only 180 days in winter, we got extra winter days of rain this this past winter, right here in the Northwest. And so, so we, it's not the same problem. But in that arid climate, when there was a well, you needed water. And this was long before you can get distilled water, oxygenated water, twice purified, you know, whatever kind of water you want. You know, I don't like plastic because plastic, you know, it takes on the property. So I'd only drink my water under glass bottles. I only get the Whole Foods water because everything is three times expensive at Whole Foods or whatever, you know? I'm not knocking Whole Foods, I like Whole Foods just the same. But in that culture, there's a well, you wanted water out of it, right? If there's a cloud, you want it to rain so that you could get irrigation. And so there was, although there was the promise of benefit or blessing, in all these cases, there's disappointment. And the same thing with a false teacher. There's the promise of blessing, but it's only disappointment.
Moving on from there, look what it says in verse 18. "2nd Peter 2:4. When they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption. For by whom a person is overcome, by him also he has been brought into bondage." Now, these verses are challenging, but it's something that we've been seeing. If you want to, because you'll be saying, "Well, how to identify a false teacher?" And what we learn in what we just read in now these verses is that we need to check their motives. The motivation, why somebody does something, tells the story. So in some ways, you want to look behind what they're saying and look to what motivates them. Now, one thing that I know is that you're talking about checking someone's motivations is that oftentimes we have a, we do a terrible job of ascribing motives, don't we? Oftentimes, we give ourselves the benefit of the doubt, and we look at people's motives and we give them them worst possible ascription of motives. But what we find here is that these false teachers, they speak these great swelling words of emptiness. They allure through the lusts of the flesh. And through lewdness. So really, what you find is that these false teachers, they're not motivated by the things of God. They're motivated by the passions of the flesh. The idea of the flesh is rebellion against God. Through lewdness, things that would be considered impure are now being promoted through the teaching supposedly of God. And what they're doing is they're drawing people away. We have to be careful when a teaching doesn't minister to us in the eternal spirit that dwells within us when we were born again, but leads us into the things of the passions of naturalness. What we find with these false teachers is that they're drawing people away from the true and living God. And what it says here, it's important that "while they promise liberty, they themselves are slaves to corruption. For by whom a person has overcome, by him also he has been brought into bondage." So what happens is oftentimes there's a promise of freedom, but you're only bringing somebody into bondage.
And now this is something that's in the Bible, comes up over and over and over again. That we don't really like talking about this idea that it's very easy to be slaves to sin, slaves to bondage, slave languages. Very challenging post-African slavery in the West and all the atrocities that come from it. But you have to ask yourself, what are you enslaved to? Who is the master that drives your life? See, whatever it is that you, and live without that you, when you don't have it, you get really aggressive about that. It shows you into whom you serve. And Bob Dylan, that great American theologian, said, "Everybody serves somebody." And it's true, isn't it? That everyone is, "Oh, I'm an independent. I'm an autonomous person." No, you're not. Nobody is. We are driven people, oftentimes enslaved. And what you have is that Jesus offers liberty. "Whom the Son sets free is free indeed." Should be free in the freedom that's in Christ. But it's very easy to be hooked up into bondage again. Anybody who's ever admitted to their struggles with addiction, it happens. See, what's what's unfortunate in the day and age we live in is that when people think of addiction, that always goes to drugs and alcohol. But shopping is an addiction, right? Entertainment is an addiction. That addiction, the quest for money is an addiction. The question for, for I constantly need to have my emotions satisfied. Some people's addictions is drama. You ever meet someone who they're only function well when there's drama? So when there's no drama, they create drama. That's an addictive habit. I know somebody's like, "I only do good when there's mayhem going on." But you meet people like that, don't you? See, these are all addictions. People who are addicted to adrenaline, people who are addicted to high-risk behavior. See, we have a tendency to say, "Well, this is an addiction when it's very, very, you know, when somebody, when it's really destructive." But oftentimes, when you look at someone who the only way they feel pleasure is when they're running up their credit card, that leaves you in bondage, doesn't it? Your slave to to credit card debt. Or your enslave, your, you know, how many you guys ever saw that TV show Hoarders? Yeah. How many of you guys are hoarders? Know what this is? Good. You know, a couple of, yeah, you know, I, I, I know somebody who all they, they always need something to collect. They're a collector. So they want this thing, and this thing, and I must say these things are bad. But if you didn't do it, if you feel unfulfilled, it actually shows what you're addicted to. The studies today are telling us that kids growing up with technology, technology is almost like a heroin addiction for kids. The way it functions biochemically in your brain. You know, if you're the kind of person who every five seconds, you got to plot your phone and check to make sure you can get a new notification on Facebook, guess what? Addicted. Because literally, when you do that, it releases certain neurotransmitters in the brain that functions in the same way that drugs and alcohol function. We're raising our kids on this stuff. And so we have to be careful that we don't find ourselves having been delivered by Jesus, finding ourselves again in bondage. And these false teachers are doing that.
But we speak about motivation. Rather than just seeking to discern someone else's motivation, I think maybe the greatest thing we can do is say, "What's my motivation?" Have your ask yourself, what motivates you? I got a scripture verse for you. I found this. I love this. First Timothy chapter 1, verse 5. "Now, this is the purpose of the commandment: it's love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith." That should be our motivation. If you're here today and you're a follower of Jesus, that your motivation should be love, self-sacrificial love, from a heart that is pure, from a conscience that is good, and from a sincere faith. And just so you know, all those things, that's a gift from Jesus that you get by salvation that we respond to. See, if you're here today and you put your faith and trust in Jesus, right? And you receive that gift of God, that is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Now, because Jesus loves, and God is love, now of a sudden, now we love from a heart of purity. Not love where we're wanting to receive. We love because God has loved and loved us. And then we love other people. Not only that, from a good conscience. Because our conscience, although in our rebellion was seared as like a hot iron, as the Apostle Paul speaks about, but now our conscience has been purified. The way we live our lives mentally before God has been cleansed. And now we have a good conscience because we're not violating our conscience and how we live. And from a sincere faith. Because whatever is not done from faith is sin. I think so much of life is meant to be lived in response. Actually, all of life is meant to be lived in response from Jesus. As we say, either all time, we want to simply respond to Jesus. Why? Because Jesus invites us into a life of love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, from sincere faith. How powerful is that?
Now, when I read this, I realized, man, my motivations, God, I think you want to work on them. Because how often do I live not from love from a pure heart? How often do I not live with a clean conscience? How often do I make decisions based on doubt, my own fears and limitations, as opposed to a good God who wants to do unexpected and unbelievable things? But that should be our motivation.
Now, to close out this chapter, look what it says in verse 20. It says, "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: 'A dog returns to his own vomit,' and 'a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.'" And brothers/sisters, what we're taught here, and what we're exhorted to, is that you and I need to make sure we don't go back. And we don't go back. See, what does this speaking about is somebody who has come to know Jesus, right? And been delivered from bondage. And then because of a false teacher, now all of a sudden falls away and lands back in bondage. Now, this is really concerning, of course, because it happens all the time, doesn't it? Somebody comes to know Jesus, and God doesn't work. And then before they know it, they get caught up again, all these old temptations. Now they start giving in to them, and then they fall away. And this idea of the person who has come to faith but has strayed away from it again, how the latter end is worse than the former, that it gets worse. Now, the key for us is, and again, the theology of how all this works is very challenging because you, you see it in the scriptures, and there's other scriptures that you can put books on the book of Hebrews and different places, and churches argue, "Well, did somebody, I thought no one could snatch them out of their hand?" And then people start to say, "Well, were they really saved? Or they were saved, but they walked away from their faith?" And people argue about these things. And I don't want to bore you with all the arguments. I think the key for us is, is don't go back. Does that make sense? It's like the theology of when someone comes to know Jesus and walks, which is, and then gets drawn away by false teaching or whatever, and they end up somewhere that they don't want to be. What we realize is that we need to make sure that we abide in Christ. And if, and if you talk to anyone who's ever had a drug and alcohol addiction, they would tell you that when someone gets clean and when they relapse, it's way worse. All the time, the people get clean and they relapse, overdoses happen very, very easily because your body has changed, and now it's not used to just trying to keep you alive in the midst of your addiction. But it happens so often. Or somebody was an alcoholic and then they get clean, and then they become a worse alcoholic if they go back. [Music] And in the same way, when someone comes to know Christ and they're set apart, and all some, everything is amplified.
And in verse 21, it's amazing. It's like, "It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn from the holy commandment." That's a crazy statement, isn't it? I think it'd be better if they never even knew who Jesus was because of how bad it is. Because now you have the juxtaposition of, "This is what it was like before I came to know Christ. I came to know Christ, and I was happy, and God was doing a work. And now all of a sudden, it's such a mess." And then he says, "But has happened to them according to the true proverb, 'A dog returns to his own vomit.'" Proverbs 26:11, that's a quote. And then the idea of a pig who's been washed goes back to wallowing in the mire and the mud. Now, I think what's interesting on, you know, for those of you who are dog lovers, you're offended by the Bible right now. And I'm sorry. I got a dog, her name's Molly. I love my dog, except when she's totally gross. Can we admit that our dogs are little gross? Yeah. So I'll tell you some dog stories real quick. So I remember when I, Obadiah was a little baby. We ate or Maranatha, so, you know, Maranatha was a baby. And she was wearing her, her, you know, her poopy diaper be hanging. And she'd take it off, and Molly eat that business. Any of your dogs eat poop? Yeah. We have geese in our backyard. Molly's like, "Man, it's like caviar." You know, Molly just, it's like Snickers bars or something. It's nasty. Now, I love that dog, but that's nasty, right? Your dogs do nasty stuff like that? Yeah. I didn't want to talk about how those greet each other. Their arch and shakes are real weird, you know? And then the same way, it's like a pig. You can take the pig, wash that pig off the pig, and go back to just being in the mud. And so for the Jewish people, dogs and pigs were considered unclean animals, as you know, for a number of different reasons. And so that proverb is not meant to be anti-dog. It's just the idea of when you've on that, you should never go back. You know, it's like, it's like if you're, if you're in the mud and you get clean, don't go back. And I think that's the encouragement because I, I don't want to miss the fact that there are some of you right now who are starting to go back to the vomit. I've been a pastor for too long, or Crossroads is too large. Some of you right now, you're starting to go back to things that God delivered you from. Maybe it's drugs, or alcohol, or from asceticism, or stealing, lying. And that was your history. But God is gonna work. But now you find yourself kind of finding your way back there. And nothing good comes there for you. And you know it because you, because you are grateful that Jesus delivered you from there. When you came to Christ, you came with tears and you came with joy because God had done a work in your life. But if you are not careful, whether it's false teaching or the influence of others, or just you making some really poor decisions, you end up going back. And no good comes from that.
So if you're here today and you are a follower of Jesus, be warned. Let this serve as a warning because eternity is at stake for you. Every day. [Music] You don't want to go back to what to charge you the first go-round. So deal ruthlessly with those things. Respond to the Lord. Hear this concerned, pointed challenge from me, from God's Word, and respond to it. Don't go back. Remember what it was like why you were so grateful that Jesus delivered you in the first place. And if you're here today and you've never put your faith and trust in Jesus, the wages, the compensation of your rebellion against God is death. That's for everybody, not just you. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. And that gift is available for you. Now, I want to give you an opportunity to say yes to that gift. In just a moment, bow our heads in our hearts as we pray together.