Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends around the world,
No matter the country in which you live today; no matter the ethnic background of your family; no matter your age or education; you and I are living in a world of distortion, did you know that? And it’s been this way as far back as we have historical records. Have you heard any of these phrases: “the truth and nothing but the truth” or “the unvarnished truth” or “the God honest truth”?
In the past several weeks we’ve gone back in time, almost 2000 years ago, to the city of Rome, Italy. We’ve been sitting with a famous man, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ. His name is Simon Peter, and the year is 67ad.
Peter has been writing his two letters which we have in our Bible. The first was to encourage Christians living under great persecution, similar to the persecution faced by Christians in our day in many parts of the world. In his second letter Peter challenged Christians to develop their wise discernment so they could tell the difference between God’s truth and distortions or even outright contradictions to God’s truth. This is needed in every part of our world today, do you agree?
Peter has rolled out his parchment again. First, he re-reads the words he finished writing yesterday: “Above all you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation… For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit of God.” (2 Peter 1:20,21)
What a wonderful, powerful, confirming statement that what they had received from their ancestors, as the treasured Old Testament, and what we know as the New Testament, which was being written in their day by Paul (13 books) and John (5 books) and Peter (2 books) and Luke (2 books) and several others who each wrote one book (Matthew, Mark, James, Jude) were all men led by God’s Holy Spirit as they wrote.
But Peter also needed to warn the Christians of his day, and every generation since. Listen: “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord Jesus who bought them – bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” (2 Peter 2:1-3) Wow! Now that’s a very clear condemnation of truth distorters, truth manipulators, truth re-writers, isn’t it? Do you see any of that going on in your part of the world these days? Peter was right and everyone knew that the long history of the nation of Israel had many famous people, both men and women, who had tried to draw Israel’s leaders away from God into moral failure or idolatry or leadership corruption. Some were so influential they actually undermined the moral and spiritual integrity of Israel and both the nation’s leaders and the common people followed the heresy or deception or truth distortion to their demise.
But Peter was calling his readers to be alert for such people in their day who might be using new tactics to accomplish the same dastardly impact. Also, do you see Peter’s claim that this warning is timeless? All people, in every generation, in every society of the world, need to take heed against the terrible enemy of truth doubt or truth denial or truth distortion! Here’s an important question:
Can you detect these three things in your world: truth doubt, truth denial and truth distortion, in real time, as they are happening, or do you need to wait to see the end result over time in order to discern truth from false, right from wrong?
Peter was right when he wrote: “They will secretly introduce destructive heresies”! Have you seen that in your world? Sly, slowly changing words or phrases or attitudes or political positions or philosophies which lead people to believe, then embrace or follow that which is blatantly not truth! And over time we see the shocking evidence that people have followed these destructive heresies deep into the darkness! Can you see many evidences all around you, today?
Peter was also right when he wrote: “Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories.” Oh my, we have seen that in deceitful business leadership leading to collapse of some very large, global firms, haven’t we? We’ve seen it in suddenly discovered corruption in governments around the world. We’ve seen it in major universities and even large religious denominations or even large churches! Have you found yourself exploited my friends? Do we understand all this is a work of the devil? Jesus Himself said “Satan was a murder from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) Yes, all truth doubt, all truth denial, all truth distortion has its roots in the kingdom of darkness and the devil himself!
Peter’s warning is clear, they are “bringing swift destruction on themselves…Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” Revelation 20 tells us the end of the global, historical story, doesn’t it? The Great White Throne judgment will bring EVERY person, from all time, who has not acknowledged God’s truth, and has not believed God and God’s truth for their salvation, into a time of judgment where they will face their sin condemnation which is eternity separated from God in a place of torment. (Rev. 20:11-15)
So, Peter calls us, all of us, to be on the alert, to discern truth from heresies, and to stand firm on God’s truth even when all around us is rejecting God’s truth. Are you and I doing that my friends? And are we teaching our children and grandchildren to be even more discerning than we have been? Let’s spend some time praying about this and asking God to help us be discerning. And then worshiping God with this powerful song:
Today’s Scripture is 2 Peter 2:1-3.
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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