Hello my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends on this first weekend in March,
I live in a part of the world where we occasionally receive warnings about dangerous animals like venomous snakes or alligators. Perhaps where you live you’ve learned to take precautions to protect yourself from such dangers, but what about dangerous people? Can you detect a dangerous person and discern when they are attempting to ensnare you in something that could harm you or even destroy your life? Let’s join the apostle Peter again today as he gives us some important cautions about potentially dangerous people in our world.
You’ll recall Peter is writing this, his second letter, in about 67ad, to Christians living in precarious and dangerous times of great persecution. The second chapter of Peter’s second letter is especially important for times like ours when there seem to be so many people who are dangerous to the people living in their cities. Yes, of course those dangerous people would include criminals of all types and predators seeking to ensnare teenagers in drug or alcohol addiction or sex trafficking. Or those producers of pornography attempting to draw men and women into the self-destruction of a deep porn addiction.
But Peter is especially calling us to be alert to another type of very dangerous people. Peter describes them like this: “…those who follow the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings…these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand… They have left the straightway and wandered off to follow Balaam son of Beor who loved the wages of wickedness… These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them…” (2 Peter 2:10-17) Oh my! As you and I look at our world, through the lenses of these verses, do we see today what Peter was seeing in the Roman empire 2000 years ago? So honestly now, friends, do you see evidence of Peter’s words describing people where you live? “…those who follow the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority.” Yes, of course we do! Anyone who passionately follows the corrupt desires of our sinful nature will always be led us to despising authority, isn’t that right?
Kids despise the authority of parents and grandparents. Students despise the authority of teachers and principals. Employees despise the authority of bosses, and people looking to do wrong despise the authority of police and other civil leaders trying to build cities which are safe and enjoyable to live in. This is normal in every city in the world, isn’t it? In fact, often these people are as Peter said: “Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings.” Do you know people who mock or curse angels and even God Himself, using the name of Jesus in vile and despicable ways? Peter was right when he wrote: “these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand…”!
Have you found, my friends, that the vocabulary a person regularly uses is a good reflection of that person’s character and the condition of their soul? That’s what Peter is talking about here! So, what do the words and attitudes which flow out of our mouths tell people about our character and the condition of your soul and mine?
Now friends, let’s please take note of this next phrase Peter wrote: “They have left the straightway and wandered off to follow Balaam son of Beor who loved the wages of wickedness… These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them…” The remarkable story of Mr. Balaam is found in Numbers chapter 20 in the Old Testament of the Bible. You may recall Balaam was fairly famous in his day as being a man who was routinely in touch with demonic spirits and deeply involved in divination and things of the occult. Balaam was hired to cast a demonic curse on the people of Israel. As he was riding his donkey, suddenly Balaam’s donkey began to speak and Balaam was chastised by a donkey who, empowered by God, spoke in Balaam’s language and rebuked him.
Peter calls us to recognize that of all the dangerous people in any society, among the most dangerous are those who seek to draw people into confusion about God and God’s truth. Some even try to draw people into the enslaving darkness of rebellion against God or even all the way to the point of denying God and outright rejecting the salvation from sin condemnation which is offered by God and earned by Jesus. When Peter warns about those who have“…left the straightway and wandered off to follow Balaam son of Beor who loved the wages of wickedness” who do you think Peter is talking about? Do you know anyone who used to attend church, perhaps even read their Bible often or maybe even proclaimed themself to be a Christian yet they have wandered far away from that lifestyle into a place of rebellion against God? I imagine you do, for they are everywhere, perhaps even in your own extended family. Why? What happened in their hearts and minds? What led them to reject what they once cherished or denounce what they once believed?
Oh, my friends this is not simply a terrible reality in the spiritual lives of people, it’s true in their romance isn’t it, and that’s why divorce court is so busy? It’s true in employment as people turn sour toward their employer and run to something they hope will be better. We are a fickle species, we humans, and leaving those we love, rejecting that which once we believed, turning against those who once were friends, is evidence, as Peter said, of “loving the wages of wickedness.”
No matter who you are or where you live, you and I have a sin nature inside us. We were born with it and it has an appetite, have you noticed? The appetite of our sin nature is what awakens in us an awareness of the attractiveness of sin and the opportunity for us to indulge ourselves. But we also have a God given conscience, we all do. That conscience is inborn and is your natural resistance to sin.
But let’s be clear here, the conscience you and I were born with is tainted, it is enveloped by our sinful nature and therefore more often than not you and I and every person will find ourselves drawn to attitudes or choices or behavior that is selfish and satisfies that sin nature appetite that we all have. In so doing we deny our conscience and we yield to our selfish, sin nature’s appetite.
But for those who trust Jesus Christ to be their Savior God does a powerful, wonderful, miraculous transforming work inside of us. God does NOT kill or destroy or even bind the normal sinful nature we were born with, rather God births a new, holy, spiritual nature inside us which awakens and empowers that God given conscience deep within you. That is what Jesus explained to Nicodemus when Jesus described being “born again”, as John recorded in John 3:3-7. It’s the reality of what Paul described in Romans 8:5-9.
But it’s a battle, isn’t it, for all of us, everywhere, every day, and that’s what Peter is calling us to recognize and understand here in 2nd Peter 2. On Monday, we’ll pick it up right here and go much deeper with Peter. For this weekend I urge you to look closely at the predatory people who have some influence in your life. Also, consider the reality that you and I, every day, are being pulled away from God and toward enslaving darkness. How are you and I handling the appetite of our sinful nature?
I hope this weekend you’ll prioritize time with Jesus and God’s people, and here’s a song of worship to help with all we’ve considered this weekend…
Today’s Scripture is 2 Peter 2:10-17.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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