Preached Sunday, February 16, 2014 from 2 Peter 2:4-10a
Theme: Arrogance toward the sacred things of God is a characteristic of those who stand in error.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
We continue our study of the second chapter of the Second Epistle of Peter. And we come this morning to a very important subject. All that this second chapter has had to tell us is, of course, very important; as we have already found. But we need to give particular attention to this morning’s subject, because it deals with an extremely serious matter of sin. And my heart convicts me that it’s a sin, dear brothers and sisters, that we may have more of in our own hearts than we may realize.
To set our thinking about this matter, let me review what we have learned so far. In this little letter of 2 Peter, the apostle Peter has taken up the first chapter to tell us about our complete sufficiency in Christ. He tells us that we have, as a present reality, “all things that pertain to life and godliness” through a relationship by faith with Jesus Christ. The great need we have is to embrace the truth of that, and faithfully build upon the foundation of our faith as God commands us to.
Now, that was the joyful theme of Chapter 1. But beginning with Chapter 2, the apostle Peter takes a different tone; and warns his brothers and sisters of a threat that could rob them of all the victories God had made in their lives, and that could prevent them from enjoying the unlimited resources they have in Christ. He tells them, in verses 1-3
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber (2 Peter 2:1-3).
Just as there were false prophets who arose to mislead the people of God in the Old Testament era, there would be false teachers who would arise within the church—secretly bringing in false doctrines and teachings that would lead God’s people away from a simple faith in the sufficiency in Christ.
Peter, of course, was telling them some hard things that they needed to know. But there was no reason for them to become fearful in it all, or to lack confidence. He goes on to assure his believing brethren that God will keep His protective hand on those who belong to Him and will see to it that those who mislead them will suffer judgment. He writes;
For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast thema down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority (vv. 4-10a).
And that’s what brings us to our passage this morning. Do you notice how he says, in verse 10, that these false teachers could be known by a couple of tell-tale characteristics? Peter writes that they “walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness”, and then that they “despise authority”. That first characteristic—that is, their practice of walking according to the flesh in sinful lust—is what he elaborates on from the latter half of verse 13 on down to verse 16. But before that, in verse 10 through 13, he speaks of that second characteristic—that is, that they “despise authority”. Peter writes;
They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness (vv. 10b-13a).
And those verses are what I ask that we consider this morning. Peter is telling us in them that an arrogant attitude toward the things of God—an unthinking arrogance that leads someone to despise divinely appointed authority and to speak in a reviling way of sacred things—is a chief characteristic of those who stand in the place of error and false teaching.
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Now; when I think of this whole matter—what I have come to call ‘the arrogance of error’—a couple of very significant examples come to my mind. Perhaps not surprisingly, one example is that of Satan; the great enemy of our souls.
The devil is a fallen angelic being. At one time, he enjoyed great power and glory before God. In fact, his name Lucifer means “the morning star”—and it suggests something to us of the beauty and majesty he once possessed. But he became prideful and arrogant. Although much of his story is something that God has not seen fit to reveal to us, Isaiah 14:12-15 tells us a little of it. In that Old Testament passage, God says;
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart:
I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit” (Isaiah 14:12-15).
Lucifer became prideful and arrogant. And in his arrogance, he dared to think that he could ascend to the place of his Creator! And wouldn’t you agree that Satan, in his arrogance and pride, has become the greatest disseminator of error in all the universe? He is, as the Lord Jesus has told us, the father of lies (John 8:44). He is the one who blasphemed against God’s own word in the garden of Eden; telling Eve, “Has God indeed said . . .?” I think it helps us to appreciate the seriousness of this subject when we see that the greatest of all examples of it is found in Satan himself.
But there’s another example that comes to mind. And that’s the example of the apostle Paul. He was, at one time, a fierce opponent to the truth of the gospel. He once said, “Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 26:9). And yet, God had mercy on him. He wrote;
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life (1 Timothy 1:12-16).
And so; I look to Paul as an example of someone who walked arrogantly in error—being, as, he said, an “insolent” man. But he is also an encouraging example of how God can deliver someone from the arrogance of error, and bring them into humble submission to the truth of the gospel. No arrogant blasphemer of the truth can ever be so far gone that they cannot be saved; because no one could ever have been more of an arrogant blasphemer than the apostle Paul once was.
I point to these two examples because I believe they help us put this rather difficult passage in 2 Peter 2 in to practical perspective. For one thing, we learn from Paul that we should pray for those who are arrogant toward the truth of God, and who fight against the truth by embracing and spreading falsehood. The fact is that God may yet have mercy on them and save them. He may yet show His grace toward them, grant them repentance, forgive them of their sin, and cause them to humbly submit to the truth they blaspheme. I can tell you personally—he did that for me!
For another thing, though, we learn from the story of Lucifer that this is a sin that—if unrepented of—God will judge. To become arrogant in one’s adherence to falsehood will lead someone down a path that will end in the destruction that the devil himself is doomed to suffer. And we should diligently search our hearts and make sure that there is no trace of it whatsoever in us!
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So; what does Peter tell us about the arrogance of those who walk in error? First notice how he describes . . .
1. THE MANNER OF THEIR ARROGANCE (v. 10b).
He writes, “They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries . . .”
You need to know that there’s a pretty wide variety of interpretations of what Peter means by “dignitaries”. The word that Peter actually uses in the original language is “glories”. But what exactly are “glories”? The New International Version and the New American Standard translation take this to refer to angelic beings. And that is certainly possible. It may be that these false teachers try to impress believers by they way that they rail at the devil or defy spiritual authorities in high places. Or it may be that, in some peculiar way, they even shake their fist at the angels of God. But other translations, such as the English Standard Version, or the King James Version, leave it uninterpreted—calling them “dignities” or “glorious ones”. And in that case, it may be that they were blaspheming the human authorities and governmental leaders that God had appointed over them; or perhaps blaspheming the church leaders who served and taught the churches; or even perhaps slandering the apostles and their writings, which God had given to establish the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith.
Whoever we understand these “dignitaries”—these “glories”—to be, though, I believe the principle is the same. The false teachers dare to speak evil of those that God has placed over them. They are rebels to the core. They will submit themselves to no greater authority than their own selves; and they are not afraid to criticize and blaspheme all who are over them—with the implication that, if they only knew these ‘dignitaries’ as they really are in the sight of God, they would tremble to say a single word against them! And notice the inner state from which they do so. They are “presumptuous”—that is, bold and headstrong and audacious. And they are “self-willed”—that is, arrogant and overbearing in their selfishness and self-centeredness.
We live in an age filled with dangerous temptations for this kind of arrogant behavior. For one thing, our culture tends to value the person who is independent, and bold, and perhaps even a bit irreverent. It loves the comic and the critic. It loves those who say, “Nobody tells me what to do. Nobody tells me how to think. I say what I feel.” We are prone as a culture to celebrate people like that. We are prone to imitate them. And what’s more, we even have more avenues to engage in that kind of arrogance than we ever have before. People used to only express their arrogance with their words. But now, they can be expressed through books, or blogs, or through talk-shows, or over social media, or even on bumper-stickers.
Well; the Lord Jesus had something to say about that; and it’s very frightening to consider! He said;
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:34b-37).
May God keep us far away from the kind of arrogance that boasts itself, and asserts itself in error, and dares to speak the kind of blasphemies that will condemn us on that day! It would be far better to never speak another word at all than to have that happen!
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But that doesn’t stop some who blabber away while standing in the place of error. They, as it were, ‘go where angels fear to tread’. Notice next how Peter shows us . . .
2. THE ABSURDITY OF THEIR ARROGANCE (v. 11).
He says that these false teachers recklessly utter such reviling words against dignitaries; “whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord” (v. 11).
Now; once again, there are a variety of different ways this could be understood. One way would be that the holy angels of God do not dare to utter a reviling word against their fellow angelic beings who have fallen in sin. There’s good reason for this interpretation. It sounds very much like what Jude wrote in Jude 8-9;
Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Jude 8-9).
Jude was writing about something that will have to remain somewhat mysterious to us; since it has to do with the activities within the angelic realms. But apparently, in some way—back when Moses died—Satan was disputing over Moses’ body. Perhaps he felt that he had some right to Moses’ dead body; and wanted to use it in some evil way to tempt the people of God away from a pure faith in Him alone. But whatever the nature of the dispute might have been, the mighty archangel Michael opposed him in it. But in doing so, Michael didn’t slander or revile Satan. He left it to God’s ultimate judgment and simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!” And think of that! Michael—the mighty angelic general in the armies of heaven—would himself not dare to speak an evil word to Satan. And it might be that, in this morning’s passage, Peter is talking about the same thing that Jude spoke of.
Or it might be that this is speaking of the way that angels deal with human authority figures. The Bible tells us clearly that, when it comes to human government,
there is not authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves (Romans 13:1-2).
God once told His people Israel, “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people” (Exodus 22:28)—making both acts equally sinful and seriousness. Perhaps that applies to the angels as well. The angels, who have a clearer view than we do of the divine appointments over men, recognize that those in positions of authority in human government are what they are because God Himself has placed them there. And Peter may be saying that they themselves dare not speak in a reviling way over our God-appointed leaders. Or perhaps this is speaking of those who are in positions of authority and leadership within the church. Angelic beings know that the redeemed saints are destined to exceed them one day in glory. And as they behold the workings of God with respect to His Son’s bride, it may be they look upon it all with great reverence; and that they dare not speak a reviling word against those who lead and serve in God’s church—even those who don’t necessarily do a very good job of it.
Perhaps all of these possibilities are in view. But however we interpret these words, the point is the same. If the angels—who, in this present state of things, are far greater in glory and power than we are; and who always behold the face of the Lord—dare not bring a reviling accusation against one another or against human authorities before the Lord, then what an unspeakable absurdity it is when weak, frail, fallen, sinful men dare to do so!
May God keep us from recklessly doing what even the mighty angels of God dare not do!
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So; why do these false teachers do it? Why do they dare to do what not even the glorious angels would do, and boldly and arrogantly speak evil of dignities? The answer, basically, is because they are unspeakably ignorant. If ever the word “stupid” applied to someone, it would be to them. Peter goes on to show us . . .
3. THE NATURE OF THEIR ARROGANCE (v. 12a).
He says, “But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand . . .” Notice what Peter says they are like. They are like dumb, unthinking, brute beasts. They operate only on the principle of instinct. They do not think of what they’re doing.
Many years ago, I watched a movie called “Grizzly Man”. It was a very unpleasant documentary about a man who believed he could live among and tame grizzly bears in the wild. He gave it a try; but he never had a chance to talk about his experiences on the talk show circuit. The only way anything was known about his short but illustrious life among the grizzlies was through a video camera that was found near the scene where he was killed. I’ll never forget the closing shot that was found on his camcorder. He had turned the lens on to the face of an enormous grizzly bear that simply stood close by and stared blankly at him. There appeared to be no threat. There was no growling or snarling. The camera man thought that he had successfully tamed the bear, and convinced it that he was friendly toward it. But the narrator of the film noted that, in examining the face of the beast, there was no sense of any intelligence whatsoever. It was simply a big, huge, brutish animal that operated only on the principle of instinct. The editor of the film believed that it was that very same beast that just a few minutes later—with the camera still running—turned on the helpless man and completely consumed him alive.
You can’t reason with a beast like that. You can’t put up stop signs to warn it or inform it of your kindly intentions. If one of them were to enter into a town or village, they must be caught and destroyed. And when I read Peter’s description of these false teachers—that they are “natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed”—I think of that terrible, closing scene of that grizzly bear. Except that rather than consume men, they do something even more terrible and eternally consequential. They dare to revile the sacred things of God. I believe that what this means is that, when we encounter someone who is bold and reckless and defiant in their blasphemies against the things of God, we should not bother to try to reason with them. They show by their behavior that they don’t have the capacity to be reasoned with. We shouldn’t try to ‘tame’ them. We should pray for them, certainly; but we should separate ourselves from them and stand far away from them in their self-destructive behavior.
And notice why Peter says that they do so. It’s because they “speak evil of the things they do not understand”. They are like unschooled barbarians who roughly handle precious and beautiful pieces of fine art—except, in this case, what they handle is infinitely more precious and beautiful. They have no concept at all of what they’re doing. They have no clue of the reverence owed to the things they dare to slander.
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And finally, notice . . .
4. THE OUTCOME OF THEIR ARROGANCE (vv. 12b-13a).
Peter tells us they speak evil of the things they don’t understand; “and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness . . .” They don’t realize that they are condemning themselves in what they revile; and are ensuring their own destruction because of where they choose to take their rebellious stand.
Peter’s way of putting this is remarkable. He uses the same word that was used to describe the ‘destruction’ of dangerous brute beasts; and says of these false teachers, “in their destructiveness they will be destroyed.” Similarly, he uses the word for “injustice” and says, “suffering injustice as the wage of injustice.” This is probably what is meant in Proverbs 21:7; where it says, “The violence of the wicked will destroy them, because they refuse to do justice.” In other words, the outcome of their own actions is their own destruction—just as Jude said in Jude 10; “in these things they corrupt themselves”.
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So, dear brothers and sisters in Christ; I believe the lesson we should learn is this: We must not be partakers of this sin! We need to let God search our hearts thoroughly. If there is anything in us of a contempt for the sacred things of God; if there is anything in us of rebellion against those whom God has placed over us—whether in the church, or in the school, or in the home, or in the government, or on the job; if there is any flippancy in us toward that which is to be held in reverence by us; may God help us to see that it is the sin that has sealed the doom of Satan himself. And may He give us repentance.
And where we see it in others; where we see that they have given themselves over to blaspheme the sacred things of God, and to revile those who belong to Him, and to speak evil of the gospel in such a way as to advance truth; beware of them! But, at the same time, pray for them. The apostle Paul was just such a man; and God saved him.