March 31, 2023: 2 Peter 2:10-11 - To Walk in the Lust of the Flesh is to be Judged by God

“…and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. 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.” - 2 Peter 2:10-11

In this passage of Scripture, the apostle Peter continues to describe the doom of false teachers and how God will “reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment.” The society we live in today, including in and one could argue especially in America, is one that promotes doing whatever one wants as long as it makes them happy, no matter how wrong it is in the sight of God. Peter gave three examples in prior Scriptures of how God delivered His wrath upon the ungodly. First, He did not spare the angels who sinned and fornicated with human women. Second, He did not spare the ancient world that Noah lived in and destroyed them all by sending a massive flood because of their sins, sparing only Noah and his family. In the third example, God completely burned up Sodom and Gomorrah because of their rampant sexual sin. All of them saw the wrath of God because they refused to turn away from their sin and turn to Him, and we are doing exactly the same thing today. God is sending us warning after warning, trying to wake us up, but we are ignoring all of His warnings. In the days of Noah and Lot, they did whatever made them happy and whatever felt good to them, and so are we. They felt the wrath of God, and so will we. The sad thing is that most of American churches look no different than the unbelieving world.

Why do we as Christians think it’s acceptable to live like the devil six days a week and go to church on Sundays, many which are being led by false teachers/pastors, dress up in nice clothes, listen to worship music that doesn’t even mention the name of Jesus and is as loud as a rock concert, listen to a brief 30-minute sermon, and think that makes us Christians? God calls His people to be set apart from this world, and yet we have so many pastors who are doing all they can to appeal to the world. To do that, they water-down the word of God so that it becomes mores appealing, more palatable to the unbelieving world because they don’t want to offend anyone, in order to keep them coming back and hoping they will keep contributing financially to the church. Well guess what? The Bible IS offensive and it is intended to be! If you had an illness and the only thing that could save you is for you to go to the doctor and receive a treatment that could save your life, and that treatment has been tested and proven time and time again, would you want the doctor not to tell you that you have the disease because it might offend you? Would you want the doctor not to offer treatment and just tell you that he or she hopes you get better by doing the same things you’ve always done? Of course we wouldn’t. So why do we expect pastors to tell us only good things about ourselves, when we are not good? We are all sinners, and we all need Jesus Christ to save us. He alone is the antidote to the poison of sin. He alone can redeem us of all our sins. If there is anyone we should want to be more like it is Jesus Christ, the only One who ever lived on earth who was without sin, which is why only He can save us from our sins. If we think we are without sin, we are liars and we are deceiving ourselves. If we think God isn’t real and that He did not send His Son Jesus Christ to save us from our sins, we are antichrists. (1 John 2:22)

When I look at the horrific state of our nation, the USA today, I look at the pastors and how they have failed us. Yes, we ourselves, the attendees of these churches must take responsibility for our own actions, but it is the leaders of the churches, the shepherds of the flocks whose primary task is to feed the sheep, to ensure they know the word of God so that they are clear about how salvation comes - through faith in Jesus Christ alone - and that they can stand upon the word of God when tribulations come and they do not fall away from the faith. This feeding includes teaching Bible prophecy by reading from the prophetic books in the Bible, for without this, the flock is left unprepared and vulnerable to being deceived, and that is exactly what has happened at least in the past 50-60 years, and especially in the past three years, and many more will be deceived by the antichrist when he comes.

When soldiers go to war, they don’t go unprepared. They are trained right from the start after they enlist in the military. They go through a period of basic training, and after they complete that, they received specialized training in what their job in the military will be. Once they finish all of their training, they have units they are assigned to and they have their commanding officers who are over them. Periodically, they have exercises when they put their training to the test for a conflict or war-time situation. Military officers must also have graduated from college and have their own specialized training. When war or a conflict hits, there is no time for them to get up to speed in order to defend themselves, their fellow servicemen and women, and their country; no, they must rely on their prior training and be ready to use it at a moment’s notice. The same is true for the believer in Christ, for we are in a war with Satan for our souls, and he will use every weapon in his armament to steal them from us, and this includes infiltrating the churches with deceivers who are wolves disguised as sheep. To recognize them, we must know the word of God for ourselves so that when they preach something that is not true and is not from the word of God, we will recognize it as false and that the person is trying to deceive us and we must stop listening to that person, even stop going to that church. The best way to defeat your enemy is to infiltrate it without them even knowing, and that is exactly what Satan has done with the church. How many times have we heard recently that Jesus would be this or Jesus approves of that, Jesus is not the only way to heaven, and that we should do away with the Old Testament, when they are lies from the pit of hell?

We are at what is perhaps the most critical point in human history. During COVID, it was a time like no other, when the entire world shut down, and every country was singing to the same sheet of music. Churches were deemed “non-essential,” while marijuana dispensaries and strip clubs remained open. Intense pressure was put onto people, including by some church “leaders” to receive an injection that was rushed through when the typical time to safely develop and test a vaccine is 5-10 years (see link from John Hopkins University: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/vaccines/timeline), many businesses closed and people were paid to stay home instead of coming into work. Chaos and turmoil exploded, especially in the western nations, and governments became tyrannical. I believe we are drawing very close to the prophesied time period when antichrist, the worthless shepherd, will step on the world scene and sadly, many who say they are believers in Christ will be deceived by him, for they do not know the word of God, they do not read the Bible for themselves, do not know Bible prophecy, and will look upon this “man with a plan” as their savior. As the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12:

“The coming of the lawless one [the final antichrist] is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders; and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

The false teachers and pastors in the churches today are speaking out against the true pastors and teachers and anyone in authority who stands on God’s truth because, as Peter wrote in today’s Scripture verse, they are walking “according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority” and are presumptuous and self-willed. While they may thrive temporarily in a society that craves not the word of God and seeks not to be holy like Jesus, God has reserved them “under punishment for the day of judgment.” God’s delay is not God’s approval; rather, it is God’s mercy as He patiently waits before He withdraws His hand that holds back judgment and releases His wrath upon them.

Writing about these Scriptures in 2 Peter has been challenging for me. I am a positive person, an optimist, but I am also dedicated to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That includes telling others about Him and warning people of the time in history I believe we are in because many believers have no idea and will be completely blindsided by what is coming. I cannot urge you strongly enough to pick up the Bible and read it for yourselves, relying on the Holy Spirit to give you understanding of it; He will. We have never been at a point where the events prophesied in the books of Daniel and Revelation are lining up, converging, as we are now. Israel is back in its homeland, and it’s looking for the one they think is their messiah, and are ready to build its third Jewish temple. Chaos is ensuing in Israel and is increasing. We didn’t used to have the technology to support the prophesied mark of the beast, until now, with the implementation of a Central Bank Digital Currency worldwide just around the corner, and the extremely rapid advances in artificial intelligence. We have never been at a point when nations are willing to give up their sovereignty in order to form a one world government, until now. COVID was the event that pushed this into overdrive. And, we have many religious leaders who are pushing for a one world religion, including the opening of the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi that opened on March 1, 2023 that seeks to unite the religions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Instead of being blindsided by what is coming, let us immerse ourselves in God’s word, put on His full armor, and be battle-ready, standing in His power and might. For anyone reading this who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, ask yourself this: will you be able to tell the difference from one who proclaims to be the true Christ, or will you be deceived by the lie and be reserved by God under punishment for the day of judgment? Turn to Jesus Christ and be saved from all your sins, before it’s too late. ✝️