Transcript

There is an expression that encourages people to be on what is called “the right side of history.” In other words, as cultures and morals and worldviews change, you need to keep up with the times you are in. You certainly do not want to be on the wrong side of history.

Take Harvard University as an example. When it was founded in 1636, its mission statement included these words: “To be plainly instructed and consider well that the main end of your life and studies is to know … Jesus Christ.”

Harvard employed exclusively Bible-believing Christians for professors, and course work emphasized character formation. And every diploma had printed on them the Latin words meaning, “Truth for Christ and the Church.”[1]

Today, as you survey the course offerings of Harvard, just like so many other universities, there are anti-God and anti-Bible courses designed to eliminate any worship of Jesus Christ.

Universities today would claim that they are now on the right side of history and that back there in 1636 they were on the wrong side of history. Now, they think, they are finally getting it right.

Like liberal universities today, so many churches are changing their moral ethics and their definitions of gender and marriage and sexuality—claiming now, of course, to be on the right side of history.

As we sail back into the apostle Peter’s second letter, now at chapter 2, Peter is going to deliver a warning about drifting—about unbiblical professors, so to speak. Peter begins here by predicting the presence of false teachers.[2] He writes, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you” (verse 1).

Do not miss that they are “among” you. They are already in the church. This is one of the reasons they are so dangerous. They do not start out by deceiving the church; they join the church. They start out on the right path but then adopt some wrong perspective. Something changes their thinking from right to wrong. Peter writes in verse 1 that they “secretly bring in destructive heresies.” You can translate it “smuggle in error.”[3]

And here is where they eventually end up: they deny “the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” At first, they were fine; they seemed to be believers. They might have been the most gifted Sunday school teachers or church leaders, but they drifted. They veered off the biblical path and ended up denying biblical truth.

Verses 2-3 give us another clue as to what to watch out for. Peter writes that sensuality and greed are a part of their agenda. So, be aware of self-centered, materialistic lifestyles—that should be a flashing warning sign to you.

Their teaching is going to be more about how you can be happy than how you can be holy, about how you can get what you want in life, rather than giving your life to the Lord. Their teaching will be popular, because their beliefs will be comfortable, even fashionable.

I am reminded of what G. K. Chesterton wrote many years ago: “Fallacies . . . do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.”[4] The culture around you—even religious leaders—are going to embrace fallacies and declare with confidence and happiness that they now are on the right side of history, but God has another point of view.

Peter now speaks of the coming judgment of false teachers. To make his point, Peter—in one long sentence—cites three Old Testament examples of God’s judgment.

First, in verse 4, is the sin of angels, which resulted in God’s confining them to “hell.” The Greek word translated “hell” here is tartarus. Other passages tell us that this is a temporary holding place for certain fallen angels, or demons. It is also called the “abyss” in Luke 8:31 and the “bottomless pit” in Revelation 9:1.

There is a lot of debate on what the sin was that caused these fallen angels to be judged and confined so suddenly. I believe this connects back to Genesis 6, where fallen angels inhabited sinful men, and through the offspring of these demon-possessed individuals, the human race became corrupted, leading to a global judgment.

And that is the second judgment Peter addresses in verse 5, as he writes that God “brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.”

The third Old Testament judgment Peter mentions relates to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. There are many people, even religious leaders, who say this judgment came upon them because they were inhospitable. Well, Peter is referring to their judgment, and the issue was not just hospitality, but homosexuality. Peter writes that God “[turned] the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes . . . condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly” (verse 6). The word here for “ungodly” is the same word Peter uses up in verse 5 for the ungodly, unrepentant human race.

Here is Peter’s point: Just as God brought judgment upon the wicked in the past, there is a coming “day of judgment” (verse 9). And beloved, our only hope today is to repent of our sin and call upon the Lord to save us from the judgment on that final day.

How tragic it will be for those who realize too late that they thought they were on the right side of history, only to discover they were on the wrong side of God Almighty.  

Now to help us avoid false teachers, Peter reveals some of their characteristics.

In verse 10 he describes them as “bold and willful.” Without hesitation they “blaspheme the glorious ones.” That is, they show no respect for any divinely established authority. In contrast, the holy angels would not even dare assume God’s authority in pronouncing judgment against the wicked (verse 11).

False teachers, verse 13 adds, are “reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you.” They are bringing a casserole to the church picnic. They are feasting with you, enjoying the church gathering—you just do not realize it. But Peter says they are “forsaking the right way” (verse 15).

They would tell you they are moving over to the right side of history, but Peter says they are “forsaking the right way.” They are going to be on the wrong side of God Almighty.

So how do they gain such a following? Peter tells us in verse 18: these false teachers entice people with “sensual passions.” Verse 19 adds, “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.”

They do not have the power to free anybody. Only Jesus Christ can promise, “You will know the truth, and the truth [His truth] will set you free” (John 8:32).

Peter then gives another warning in verses 20-21:

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back.

The apostle is talking about people who at one time professed to know Christ, but they eventually chose their sin over Christ. He says that it would have been better if they had never heard the gospel. You see, beloved, there is a greater judgment coming for those who knew the right way but chose their own way.

So, let me ask this question: What side of history are you on? Let me invite you to the only side that is right. That is the side God is on, as revealed in the Word of God. Come to His side, and that will place you, not just on the right side of history, but on the right side for all of eternity.