The past few weeks we have been looking at 2 Peter 2:1-3. There Peter said, "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."
False teaching will be met with swift judgement. An umpire named Babe Pinelli once called Babe Ruth out on strikes. When the crowd booed with sharp disapproval at the call, the legendary Ruth turned to the umpire with disdain and said, "There’s 40,000 people here who know that the last pitch was a ball." Suspecting that the umpire would respond in anger, the coaches and players braced themselves for Ruth to be tossed. However, instead of ejecting the Babe from the game, the cool headed Pinelli replied, "Maybe so, Babe, but mine is the only opinion that counts." (family-times.net/illustration/judgment)
Just as the umpire's judgment was the only one that mattered, we need to realize that in life and death, God's judgment is the only one that counts. We need to resist the temptation to argue with God over disappointments and semantics concerning our sin. Instead, we need to submit to God's sovereignty and trust His choices for us wherever they may lead, because His judgment is always righteous judgment.
There is no greater type of judgment than righteous judgment. The word "righteous," by definition, refers to that which is right, or upright. So, righteous judgment is perfect because its foundation is God's Word, His truth.
God's Word must be the basis and guide for our thinking and for everything we do. Righteous judgment involves choosing God's commandments over man's. When commanded by the Jewish leaders not speak or teach in Jesus' name, Peter and John responded, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:19-20).
God is truth. This simple, yet profound fact is abundantly clear in Scripture: "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face" (Psalm 89:14); "He who is blessed in the earth will be blessed by the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of truth" (Isaiah 65:16, NASB); "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me'" (John 14:6).
It is often said that there is nothing God cannot do. That is false! There are things God cannot do. He cannot go against His basic character, who He is. He is righteous—He cannot do anything that would be unrighteous. He is truth—He cannot lie. Even Balaam, the prophet for hire, understood this: "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (Num. 23:19). And again, Hebrews 6:18 says, "It is impossible for God to lie."
When God speaks, He always speaks the truth. That means the God-breathed Word, the Bible is without error in its original form and completely trustworthy. It is our only infallible guide to life. To put it simply, the Bible is truth, and we are to proclaim it and explain it in a truthful way—accurately and completely.
In sharp contrast, Satan is the architect of lies: "He is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44b). In opposing God, his goal is to deceive and lead people away from God. Satan "has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Cor. 4:4). In the end, Satan's effort will come to not and all who join him in falsifying God's Word will be eternally punished. "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Rev. 21:8).
In a book entitled Down to Earth, John Lawrence tells the story of a city that dared God to show Himself and paid a terrible price. It seems that the city of Messina, Sicily, was home to many wicked, irreligious people. On December 25, 1908, a newspaper published in Messina printed a parody against God, daring Him to make Himself known by sending an earthquake. Three days later, December 28, 1908, the city and its surrounding district was devastated by a terrible earthquake that killed 84,000 people. (family-times.net/illustration/judgment)
This story was confirmed through several sources as quoted in The Young Lutheran's Companion (formerly the Augustana Journal) of Rock Island, Illinois, at page 2 of the edition dated, 30 April 1910 (skeptics.stackexchange.com). According to that article, the comic paper "Il Telefono," published in Messina, possessed a very vulgar anti-religious character. Its Christmas edition contained a satirical poem on "The Little Child Jesus." One of the stanzas is freely translated as follows:
'O little child who wouldest be
Not man alone but also God:
For thy dear cross' sake, pray we,
Let loud and clear thy voice us hear;
Since we, the living, know thee well,
Do thou send us an earthquake fell.'
Coincidence? Maybe. But it certainly points out the folly of defying God. As 2 Peter 2:1 pointed out, "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." Whether coincidence or the judgment of God, there was certainly "swift destruction."
There once was an agnostic farmer who wrote to the editor of his local newspaper, who was a Christian. He said, "In defiance of your God I plowed my fields this year on Sunday, I disked and fertilized them on Sunday, I planted them on Sunday, I cultivated them on Sunday, and I reaped them on Sunday. This October I had the biggest crop I have ever had. How do you explain that?" The editor replied: "God does not always settle his accounts in October." (family-times.net/illustration/judgment)
The late Southern Baptist evangelist, R.G. Lee, had a message he often preached entitled, "Pay-day some-day." The thrust of the message was that you may live a life of sin and appear to be getting away with it but judgment is sure to come, whether in this life or in eternity. (family-times.net/illustration/judgment)
The church today is at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to understanding the full impact of what Peter and others wrote to the early believers. Only those who face severe persecution and live every day in fear of being tortured for their faith, can really know how the saints that Peter wrote to felt. Only they can understand the fears that go with such insecurity.
These believers, scattered throughout Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), were persecuted by the Romans because they were considered a cult that worshipped a deity other than Caesar. Little did they know that Caesar was no god! Although our government is largely patterned after that of the Romans, the thing to remember is that we are guided by a felt need of tolerance toward those who oppose us; the Romans were not. Their solders, who carried out the persecution, had free reign concerning how they treated those they persecuted.
As if that wasn't enough, they were also infiltrated by false teachers. These charlatans twisted the Scriptures, teaching lies that sounded good and appeared biblical, but were not. They claimed to speak from God, but they did not. They were not sent by God. Their goal was to lead as many people astray as possible, even believers if they could.
God protects His Word and saves those who belong to Him. God is in control. Though it appears some get away with their lies and deception, they do not. Their destruction will come in God's time. Amen.
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