Bible Studies led by Dr. Larry Reynolds, Denton, TX: June 2014

2 Peter 2:17-19

2 Peter 2:17-19

(A Bible Study Led by Dr. Larry Reynolds)

June 19, 2014

2 Peter 2 tells us four things about the false teachers, the counterfeit Christians who were infecting the church in the 1^st century…

--vv.10b-13a spells out their attitude…we saw that they…

· Had an overly inflated opinion of themselves

· Were selfish and self-centered

· Did not take the spiritual dimension of life seriously

--vv.13b-16 describes their life-style…was saw that they…

--”count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime”/have sensitive conscience

--”are stains and blemishes”/reflect well upon the Lord and His church

--”have eyes full of adultery”/live morally pure lives

--”have hearts trained in greed”/live contented lives

--vv.17-19, at which look in this session, focuses on their influence…

--vv.20-22, at which look next week, predicts their fate…

With that in mind, look at 2 Peter 2:17-19…(text)…

T.S. - Genuine Christians should be concerned about their influence on others…Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt.5:16)…Jesus also warned against causing others to stumble…

Question is, “How do we do that? What can we do to be a positive influence, to be good role models for those who observe us?”…from the negative example of these counterfeit Christians want to point out some things we can do to influence others in a positive way…

I. We can be real

1. First thing Peter says about the counterfeit Christians in v.17 is that they are not what/who they appear to be…they are deceptive…they put up a good front…but when you look beyond the façade there is nothing there …they are empty, hollow, having no substance…

2. Verse 17 contains two figures of speech, two metaphors to describe these counterfeit Christians…these figures of speech would have instantly communicated with Peter’s 1^st century readers who lived in the arid world of the middle east…

--“springs without water” – They were like a mirage… promised something they couldn’t deliver…image is that of thirsty person crawling through desert, dying for a drink of water…sees glistening in the hot desert sun what he thinks is refreshing spring…but when gets there, no water is present…finds nothing but sand…promises one thing but gives another…

--“mists driven by wind” is a similar metaphor…sometimes the desert winds would kick up the sand and dust in a way that resembled a refreshing mist…as the cloud approached the people in its path anticipated being refreshed and cooled…but when the mist arrived, it wasn’t mist at all but hot, dry dust and sand…promises one thing but gives another…

3. And what Peter is saying here is that these counterfeit Christians weren’t what they appeared to be…they weren’t real…they were an illusion…they promised one thing, but delivered something else…as he says in v.19, they promised freedom but delivered bondage…

1. It’s important to understand that to be a positive influence on others you don’t have to be perfect…if that were the case, no person would be a positive influence…some of the most well known role models in the Bible had great character flaws…Moses/murder…David/adultery …Peter/denied Jesus…Paul/persecuted Christians…

2. Truth is, we are always less than perfect…always stumble and fall…and while need not be perfect be positive influence, do need to be genuine, to be real…

3. Person calling a church prayer line… “Just want to know one thing. Are you for real?”…in other words, can you deliver what you promise…

4. Few things are more hurtful to our influence that pretending to be something we are not…if we profess—

--have relationship with Jesus, had better make certain relationship exists…

--care about people, better really care about them…

--have heart for doing God’s work, being God’s people in the world, that better be priority of our lives…

5. To be a positive influence, we must be genuine…real…

II. We can be honest

1. Out of the empty lives of counterfeit Christians came empty words… v.18 says they speak “…arrogant words of vanity…”

--“arrogant” is a compound word…first part a preposition which means over or beyond…second part a noun meaning bulk or size…kind of like our word super-size which, if you frequent fast food places, you know what that means…

--”vanity” means emptiness or nothingness…

…so the phrase can be literally translated “They were speaking super-sized words which said nothing

2. In other words, instead of telling people the truth, they were going out of their way to say what they thought the people wanted to hear…and their motive for doing that was to win their favor and to draw attention to themselves…and that is a sure way to be a bad influence on others…

1. If you think about that will realize something that we should know intuitively…for example—

--any parent who tells his/her children only what they want to hear in effort win child’s approval is not going be good parent…

--any teacher tells students only what want to hear in effort win child’s approval not going be good teacher…

--any supervisor tells employee only what employee wants to hear in effort win employee’s approval not going be good supervisor…

2. And same is true for Christians…if we fall into trap of desiring to impress people, to win people’s favor, to draw attention to ourselves by saying only what others desire to hear, we are not going be good influence on their lives…

3. We need not and should not be brutal with people…should be sensitive to how our words impact them…should, as the Bible commands in Ephesians 4:15 “…speak the truth in love…” …however, speak the truth we must if we are to influence people in a positive way…we can be real…we can be honest…and…

III. We can be encouragers

1. The counterfeit Christians Peter describes in these verses were anything but encouragers…instead of appealing to people’s higher nature, they appealed to their lower nature…notice what he says about them in the middle of v.18…”…they entice by fleshly desires…”…we came across this word “entice” a few weeks ago in v.14…told you comes from world of fishing/hunting…used to describe fisherman baiting a hook or hunter baiting a trap…

2. The bait they used to lead others astray was the appetites of the old sinful nature…they didn’t appeal to the best in people, they appealed to the worst in people…important to understand that “fleshly desires” means much more than just physical, sexual sins…as we have seen in Peter’s description of these false teachers earlier in this chapter, “fleshly desires” include such things as pride, arrogance, self-centeredness, and greed…

3. What want you see is that false teachers did not encourage others to a higher life…they enticed them to a lower life…

1. The book In Harms Way by Doug Stanton is the incredible story of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis by a Japanese submarine near the end of WWII…of the nearly 1200 crew members on the Indianapolis, 300 were killed by the impact of two torpedoes and the subsequent explosions…in about 10 minutes the 600’ ship was sunk and the other 900 crew members were afloat in the Pacific Ocean 600 miles from the nearest land…they stayed in the water for a horrifying 5 days and when rescue finally arrived, only about 300 of the 1200 man crew was alive…and many of those who survived credited the encouragement of a few brave leaders for helping them hang on and not give up…a number of the survivors said had it not been for the constant encouragement of others, they would have given up and succumbed to death…

2. Must never forget that the best way to be positive influence on others is to encourage them…to appeal to their higher nature…

Conclusion

1. There’s an ancient Persian fable about man who found a lump of clay… while looked like any other lump of clay, was anything but ordinary…had an amazing sweet fragrance about it…the pleasant aroma was so strong it would fill whatever room in which the clay was placed…the man who found the clay asked it, “What are you? Are you some exotic fragrance in disguise?…clay responded, “No, I’m just clay?”…man asked, “Then what is the source of your lovely fragrance?”…and clay said, “It is simple. I have been dwelling in the presence of a rose.”

2. And for those who dwell in the presence of Christ, there will be something attractive about us to others…we will be a positive influence on them…and we do that by being real, being honest, and being encouragers…

2 Peter 13b-16

2 Peter 2:13b-16

(A Bible Study Led by Dr. Larry Reynolds)

June 5, 2014

1. 2 Peter 2 warns us about these false teachers, counterfeit Christians...from middle part of v.10 through end of chapter Peter gives us graphic, detailed description of counterfeit Christians...tells us about their—

--attitude (10b-13a)

--life-style or actions (13b-16)

--influence (17-19)

--fate (20-22)

2. In our previous session we explored their attitude on vv.10b-13a. We saw that these counterfeit believers or false teachers—

· Had an overly inflated opinion of themselves

· Were selfish and self-centered

· Did not take the spiritual dimension of life seriously

3. In this session we are at the second thing Peter says about the life-style of these counterfeit Christians or false teachers. It is found in verses 13b-16.

The life-style of the counterfeit Christians (vv.13b-16) – The key phrase in this section in that phrase at the beginning of v.15 – “…forsaking the right way…” In other words, they got lost! And in this case, they didn’t just accidentally make a wrong turn. They deliberately and intentionally forsook the right way.

In the book of Acts Christianity is often referred to as “the Way”...that descriptive phrase reminds us that Christianity is not merely a set of beliefs; it is a way of life...there is a life-style, a way of living which characterizes true followers of Jesus...in the verses I just read Peter points out the deficiencies of the life-styles of counterfeit Christians...

The Bible makes it clear that there are two ways we can choose to travel in life...

--one is the right way...the other is the wrong way...

--one is narrow and difficult but it leads to life...the other is broad and easy but it leads to destruction...

--one is the way of God...the other is the way of the world...

Counterfeit Christians consistently choose the wrong way...as the first part of v.15 tells us, they forsake the right way and go astray...

Peter tells us four specific things about their life-styles:

1. V.13b – They “...count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime...”...basically, what he’s saying is that these people had no sense of shame...no conscience...they didn’t even try to hide their evil deeds under the cover of darkness...

The word translated “revel” refers to drunkenness and sexual misconduct... even in the morally bankrupt Greek and Roman society of the 1^st century, such activity was usually postponed until the sun went down...one writer points out that no self-respecting Roman would participate in such activity during the daylight hours...[LABC, p.195]...however, the counterfeit Christians in Peter’s day had consciences which were so desensitized that they proudly did such things in open daylight...

The lesson here is not that we should hide our sins under the cover of darkness...lesson is that we should have a sensitive conscience that convicts us when we fail to do right...I have mentioned before that difference between Christians and non-Christians is not that non-Christians sin and Christians do not...as we know from our personal experience, Christians can and do sin...difference is a real Christian cannot sin and enjoy it! Why is that? It’s because the conscience of a real Christian convicts us when we do wrong. And it is important to understand that a Christian’s conscience is not just a set of culturally conditioned beliefs. Our conscience is the Holy Spirit of God living in us. Just before He left this world Jesus promised that God would send to His followers a Helper, a paracletos, one to stand alongside to help them. And one of the functions of this Helper is to convict us of sin and to guide us into truth. When a real Christian strays from the right way, invariably that person is convicted by God’s Spirit. Genuine Christians have a sensitive conscience.

2. V.13b - “They are stains and blemishes...” The imagery behind that phrase is very graphic...they were like an ugly stain on a white fabric…

In 2 Peter 3:14 Peter says that Christians should strive to be “spotless and blameless”...it’s interesting that the words Peter uses here in v.13 to describe these counterfeit Christians are the exact antonyms, the exact opposite of “spotless and blameless”...instead of being “spotless” they were “stains”...instead of being of being “blameless” they were “blemishes”...

The idea is that like an ugly stain takes one’s eye away from the larger garment, so these counterfeit Christians kept people from seeing true Christianity. There is a statement I have heard virtually all of my life that strikes fear into my heart. It is the statement “The Jesus which you allow to shine through you may be the only Jesus some people will ever know.”

That statement is a reminder of the awesome responsibility we have to live our lives in a way which reflect well upon the Lord we claim to serve and draw people to Him...the implications of that for daily living are mind boggling...what does—

--how you do your job...

--how you spend your money...

--how you use your leisure time...

--how you treat the clerk at the grocery or department store...

--how you drive your car...

--how you relate to your family...

say to others about Jesus?

3. V.14a - They have “...eyes full of adultery and that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls...”...that is, they could not look upon another person without thinking of that person as a sex object...they were always looking for some weak person to seduce...

The word translated “enticing” has its roots in the world of hunting or fishing...it was used to describe baiting a trap to catch an animal or baiting a hook to catch a fish...like cunning hunters or fishermen, these counterfeit Christians were always stalking their prey...

4. V. 14b – They have “…a heart trained in greed…”

--“trained” is taken from the realm of athletics...it is the word from which our word gymnasium is derived...it suggests a long process of preparing to compete in an athletic contest...

--“greed” is the same word that is translated elsewhere in the Bible “covet” or “covetousness”...it is the Greek word “pleonexia” which is a compound word...”pleon” means “more” and “exo” means “to have”...literally, the word means “the desire to have more”...the Greeks said it was a desire which could not be satisfied...they compared it to taking a bowl with a large hole in the bottom and trying to fill that bowl with water...no matter how much water you pour in, it is never enough...the bowl never becomes full...

This phrase describes a person who is never satisfied, never content with life...he/she always striving for more...

We live in a culture in which we have been trained from our earliest days to desire more...a nicer car...a larger house...more stylish clothes...a bigger bank account...those things become the goals and even the gods of our lives...

But that should not be the life-style of genuine believers...

--Jesus often warned about making material things the focus of our lives...didn't say material things were evil...didn't say was wrong to have material things...but did warn that impossible to live for God and for material things at same time...

--in Hebrews 13:5 we are instructed to “Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have...”

We live in a world which is intent on making us discontent...each day we are told, sometimes in ways that are subtle and other times in ways that are not so subtle, that we need something else...the multi-billion dollar advertising industry is continually attempting to raise our level of discontent so we’ll buy something else...

In one of his books Ray Stedman makes a perceptive observation...says, “It is always spiritually dangerous to grow financially discontent.” [Stedman’s commentary on Hebrews]...and then he quotes Paul’s words in I Timothy 6:10 - “Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many a grief.”

In verses 15-16 Peter compares these people with the Old Testament character Balaam. In Jewish thought Balaam was a symbol of someone who desired to sell out his faith for money. The story is told in Numbers 22-23. Balak, the king of Moab, was concerned about the Israelites who were crossing his land on the way to the Promised Land. He summoned Balaam, a prophet, to place a curse on the Israelites. The Lord forbade Balaam from doing that. But Balak offered Balaam a large sum of money to do so. While Balaam never actually disobeyed God, he flirted with the idea, even going so far as to travel to meet with Balak. Along the way an angel of the Lord blocked his path, but at first the angel was visible only to Balaam’s donkey. Because the donkey stopped at the sight of the angel, Balaam struck him three times. At that point the donkey spoke to Balaam. The real dumb ass in the story was Balaam! It took a donkey to keep him from disobeying God for a money.