MidTree Church
The sermon audio of MidTree Church in Harris County, Ga. BEHOLD // BELIEVE // BECOME
MidTree Church
Faith Over Knowledge | Pastor Will Hawk | July 20, 2025
What happens when knowledge becomes more important than faith? In this penetrating exploration of 2 Peter 2, we confront the uncomfortable reality of false teaching and its destructive influence in our lives.
The sermon begins with a fishing story that captures our relationship with Scripture. Sometimes we throw out a perfect cast net that catches nothing, while a tangled mess somehow brings in fish. Similarly, our approach to God's word shouldn't depend on our expertise but on our willingness to swim under whatever net the Holy Spirit casts.
At its heart, this message examines how false teachers operate—secretly introducing destructive ideas that appeal to our desires for comfort, success, and sensuality. They promise freedom while being enslaved themselves. The metaphor is striking: false teachers hand you a spoon to dig out of your prison while Christ stands nearby holding the key. Most dangerously, their deception doesn't explode like a short-fused firework; it slowly leads you down a path until you're far from truth.
What makes this message uniquely powerful is its challenge to the knowledge-centered Christianity prevalent in Bible Belt culture. Through biblical examples like Noah (who built a boat before ever seeing rain) and Lot (who made terrible decisions yet remained righteous through faith), we see that God values faith over expertise. Noah is called righteous not because he knew everything but because when he had nothing to go on except God's word, he said, "That's enough for me."
The sermon concludes with a profound insight: God isn't terribly concerned that we get everything right; He's concerned that we never stop running to be made right. This distinction changes everything about how we approach our spiritual lives. Are the voices speaking into your life drawing you closer to Jesus or further away? Are you pursuing knowledge as your salvation, or are you pursuing Christ with the knowledge you have?
If you've ever felt that intellectual understanding of Scripture should be enough, or if you're wondering how to discern true teaching from false, this message offers both challenge and hope. Listen now and discover why swimming under God's net is always better than trying to throw your own.
If you want to learn more about the MidTree story or connect with us, go to our website HERE or text us at 812-MID-TREE.
Good morning ministry. We're going to be reading 2 Peter 2, 1 through 6 in the Pew Bible. It's on page 1018. But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the master who brought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality and because of them the way of the truth will be blasphemed and in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle and their destruction is not asleep. For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment, If he did not spare the ancient world but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly, If, by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly, this is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 2:Thank you, shane, much appreciated. I intentionally stopped in, got Shane to sort of stop in the hellfire and brimstone part of that, and so if you're like gee, that was a rough way to start. Yeah, I just need to give you a little bit of a heads up. Today I was talking with Luke Smith, who was leading earlier, while we were kind of praying and getting ready for the service, and I just got back from vacation and I was sharing with him a frustration that I was dealing with over the past week. We're at the beach and for years I've been trying to learn how to throw a cast net. If you don't know what a cast net is, it's the ones that you may have seen on social media, where a guy on a boat swings his hip and throws it and it like opens in this beautiful circle, lands exactly on the water and then the dude just hauls out a ton of fish.
Speaker 2:I have been trying to figure that thing out for years, literally for five years. I probably haven't, because I don't vacation enough. That's what I'm going to go with, but I couldn't figure it out. And this year I'm throwing the net and just getting like so irritated because I'll throw it once and it's like beautiful. And then the next three times it's just like throwing a tangled mess. And everybody's on the beach watching the one weird dude who's like throwing in a net. So then you like feel self-conscious about the whole thing. Well, I'm walking and this guy comes up and he's like hey, you need a hand with that. I'm like so badly, like so badly, do I need a hand with this? So he's like, well, you just got to do this. It's a huge mess. I give it to him and he throws it beautifully and I'm like teach me your ways, show me your paths, I will follow Right. And then he throws it a second time and it's a tangled mess. He throws it a third time and it's a tangled mess. And I'm like this whole thing, like how did Peter ever fit? Do you want to know why they followed Jesus? They finally caught fish. They were like this is the Messiah. I've been doing this forever and it's finally happening.
Speaker 2:Well, it finally clicked for me on like the next to the last day and I got to where 50 to 75% of the time I could throw it, caught over a hundred fish. Most of them were about this big. Put them in a bucket. Kids are throwing them to seagulls. Some people love it, some people hate it, doesn't matter. I was successful. That's what I was leaning into. It was wonderful. And as I was looking at this text, this is how I would encourage you and Luke and I were talking about this. He was thinking about worship, I was thinking about the text. Sometimes I would throw that net perfectly Big, wide circle lands, weights go deep, I pull it in and there's nothing. Other times I throw it, it looks like a tangled mess and there are still fish inside of it.
Speaker 2:I always want us to be non-lazy listeners to the word of God. I am giving you a heads up. You're gonna have to choose that today, because the text that this fisherman wrote, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is incredibly dense, and I have been praying throughout the week, especially for those of you to whom church is new or you didn't grow up in Sunday school. You didn't grow up like Dwight did with all of this knowledge, because Peter is pointing back to angels, he's pointing back to Sodom, he's pointing back to Lot, he's pointing back to Noah, and there are people who come to church regularly and they do not know the difference in Moses and Noah, and that is wonderful that you are here, but here is what I would plead with you. I always want us to not be lazy listeners. Today, you're going to have to choose. I am going to try to swim under the net that the Holy Spirit is throwing. I want to be caught by him. I want to be lifted up by him. I want to be captured by him as we go into this text. So I'm praying for us guys. I am and this was written by a fisherman, so we can figure this out right. This guy did not go to Harvard, never had time to go to seminary, hung out with Jesus a lot On my way to vacation.
Speaker 2:This was a card that came through. I know who wrote it. We're on good terms, no problems whatsoever. It started with like a lot of encouragement hey, hope you're doing well, enjoyed the sermon. Thanks for helping us know that we need to be reminded and then it turned into this.
Speaker 2:However, I think you missed a pretty important point about 2 Peter. This letter was written as a warning against and I wanted to take an opportunity to point to this Gnostic teachings and a testament that God's word is not written by man's interpretation but by God's verbal inspiration. It is a call to warn against false teachers, teachers who shift God's focus and misinterpret and add to scripture. I completely agree with this. By the way, the prayer cards are typically for us to pray for you and praise with you. I will take this all day long, not offended by this. This is actually the best way to transition into chapter two of second Peter, which is exactly what is going to happen. But I wanted you to see this because this guy who was knowledgeable, this idea of Gnostic comes from the word gnosis, which means knowledge. There is a reason I asked Dwight to share his testimony today and I hope you see why in the moments ahead.
Speaker 2:Here is how the second chapter of 2 Peter starts. Please notice this. These first three verses are an overview of the whole chapter. If you can seek to understand these three, it is going to give you a structure to appreciate everything that we are gonna look at this morning. Here is my encouragement Be the fish that looks to swim under the net. Choose not to be a lazy listener, and I'm giving you the heads up. We have a theological lift. You are going to have to, like, engage your brain. Like, if you have glasses, pull them out for that part and look the part of being smart, but trust me, we can handle this. It was written by a fisherman. What we need is the same spirit that led him. Here is the overview of what we're looking at today.
Speaker 2:False prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. It is going to happen. Peter is telling you Now, does that mean you need to be like all right, well, let's see if you're a false prophet today. Yeah, yeah, you sort of should. I'll be honest with you. You should never put your antenna all the way down, all right.
Speaker 2:However, this is not saying that one of the elders is a secret, clandestine, like, like implementer of evil. What it is saying is this every one of us, every one of us have people who are speaking into our lives. All of you do. Some of them are speaking to you like. Some of them are speaking to you like this. Some of them are speaking to you like this. Some of them I don't have, yeah, dude, some of them are speaking to you like this.
Speaker 2:The question is are the things that they are saying drawing you to or from what is true knowledge and faith in Christ? And Peter says I need to warn you of a couple of things. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies. They will deny the master who bought them. They'll bring upon themselves destruction and many will follow their teaching. No, many people are gonna follow their sensuality. Many people are gonna listen to what they're saying, but what they're saying is do you wanna have the good life? Do you want your body to be happy? Do you want to be physically pleased? Do you want to feel like the smartest person in the room? Do you want to have the most effective investments? Do you want to feel like a success wherever you go? I can give you that in my expertise, it isn't just people following their teaching, it's following their sensuality. I'm going to make you feel good about yourself and because of them, the way of truth will be blasphemed and in their greed, they will exploit you. You are going to think you are benefiting from them All the while they are draining you and you don't even realize it. They will do this with false words, but know this. Even realize it. They will do this with false words, but know this. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle. Their destruction is not asleep. If you take all these same verses and you organize them like this. Here is what Peter is saying.
Speaker 2:When it comes to false prophets, false teachers, they are used interchangeably. Here Five things. You should expect Destruction, but here's the problem. The problem is a lot of the teaching that we take in, a lot of the influence that affects us, does not have a short fuse firework reality. If every bad philosophy blew up in your hand and blew up in your face, nobody would walk down it. The problem is true, deceptive teaching takes a long time before you see where the path is going, but it is destructive. In addition to being destructive, it is also denial. Denial of Christ, who he is, why you need him. Your own sin. It's a distraction by offering you what your body wants. It leads to distrust.
Speaker 2:The way of truth will be blasphemed. What this is actually saying is this won't be trusted If false teaching comes in. People like Dwight just said I am walking away from the church. He didn't pick a specific one. He said it doesn't matter which one they are. I want nothing to do with it because I've seen who they are. I've seen what they really believe. I grew up in a family where I was an altar boy, only to find out there was this teaching that was going on behind the scenes. Therefore, nothing that I have ever seen is real.
Speaker 2:The way of truth will be blasphemed and people will be defrauded. This is what Peter says the consequences of false teaching in your life will bring. But there is one hope. There's this one thing that he points to in the verses ahead. What is that? Well, he doesn't tell you right away. Instead, he goes into a history lesson. This is going to be theological lift number one. All right, if we're about to start repping 225 in a minute. This is a warmup. Okay, gear in antennas up, try to swim under the net.
Speaker 2:What is Peter saying? He's about to build a history for you. He's saying I want you to remember the past of history. If God didn't spare angels when they sinned, but he cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until judgment, you remember that in history, when good angels here, a third of the evil angels over there, and if he didn't spare the ancient world but preserve Noah, a herald of righteousness, and seven others when he brought a flood upon the world of ungodly. Let me give you one more argument here. If, by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes. He condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. Then here is what Peter's doing. Please watch this.
Speaker 2:This he's saying human history is an example that even in the midst of false teachers, people wanting to lead you astray, there is this promise that we have been given a faithful example, and this is what it looks like. God's righteousness is guaranteed. It doesn't matter to me if you are born in year one or if you're born in the year 2020, or if you're born in the year 2300, if the Lord waits to come until then. What Peter is saying is anyone in human history has always been able to look back and say God is righteous, in the midst of whatever worldview and philosophy wants to lead me astray. There is a way to trust God. There is a way to believe him when everything else speaking into your ears, looking at your faces wants to tell you God is not authority, he is not there, he does not care. The spiritual realm doesn't matter. Become is not there. He does not care. The spiritual realm doesn't matter. Become your own expert and you will be fine.
Speaker 2:Peter says no, there were angels I put before creation. I understand that angels are created beings. If you want to go like Theo Bro with me on this, we can. But Job talks about the angels, the sons of God, singing over creation. Okay, so we can go all the way back to before what we would call creation. And when God called Noah. The point was Noah could look back. Noah was able to look back to this as an example. I want to trust God, because those who do not trust God, things go poorly for. And then, when it comes to Sodom and Gomorrah, lot was able to look back at Noah and say, if Noah was able to have faith with almost nothing to stand on, then certainly I can. And Peter says I'm able to look back at Lot and realize that God is always righteous. So today we are able to look back at Peter.
Speaker 2:And what's really cool about the year that you live in is this Almost exactly. I know all of that seems old to you, right? You're like angels being created. That feels like a long time ago. Well, can I really relate with this ancient world? It's literally called ancient. Like? Am I supposed to connect with that thing? Sodom and Gomorrah? Anybody on Yelp checking out the reviews to plan your vacation. No, like good luck, like go check it out. And even when we think about the early church, we're like they didn't have AC, like how on earth did they even like really worship? Well, but what's really fascinating is this the distance from today to Peter is almost the exact same as Peter looking back at Lot. Isn't that cool to know that the way you see him would be the way that he looked at Lot. And all throughout this, god is just showing my righteousness is guaranteed. My righteousness is guaranteed, my righteousness is guaranteed. And if he rescued righteous Lot, see if God rescues him. Greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked, what was it like for Lot living near Sodom and Gomorrah? For, as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard.
Speaker 2:Here's the point. Why is Peter giving us a history lesson? Because the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment. This is the first little lift. This is the thing to swim on. Do I believe that God, and God alone, knows how to rescue? Can I trust his track record? And he basically just says here is how it plays out. It isn't you who know how to rescue yourself. It is the Lord who knows, and this is the one hope that we have, that in the midst of a world who is going to do all of that, wants to do all five of those things to you. Just as with the angels, just as with Noah, just as with Lot, there is deliverance available for all of those who would look to God, and look to God alone. The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials.
Speaker 2:Now you'll notice at the bottom of the screen here I grabbed verse five and I plastered it back up. It's out of order. The reason is I want you to notice what is repeated here. He rescued righteous Lot and he preserved Noah a herald of righteousness. I want you to notice these things, but this is one of the coolest parts of this text in 2 Peter. I have two favorites and this is one of them. The fact that Lot is called righteous, the fact that Noah is called righteous, is fantastic for you today, and you might be sitting there saying, will, you were talking about a lot of history, a lot of history.
Speaker 2:Well, here's how it plays out. Noah is called a herald of righteousness, somebody who proclaims how righteous God is. Where does that come from? Well, hebrews tells us a little bit about his story. By faith, noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear, constructed an ark and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by knowledge. No, it came by faith, at no point. Just imagine for a moment. You have this quiet time, all right, lord, putting on some worship music.
Speaker 2:I'm getting in the car. I'm going for a drive. I'm closing the door, I'm locking it. Kids are outside. I'm going for a walk in the woods. I'm going to sit at the base of a tree. This is my time with you. I'm just going to spend time. Lord, speak to me. Speak to me through your word, through prayer, through the worship I'm listening to, and here's what God says hey, I'm going to need you to build a boat real quick. It's going to take a minute. What did I fall asleep listening to? Was I like watching some weird movie?
Speaker 2:If you didn't know this story, if Peter couldn't already point back to this, you would look at that and you would say God, I've never even seen rain before. What do you mean? Build a boat for a flood? What are we talking about here. This is why Noah is lifted up in scripture. This is why he's called a herald proclaiming righteousness, because when he had nothing to go on except God and his word, he said that's enough for me. The whole world can call me a fool, but if I am hearing from the Lord, I know exactly where I need to walk. That is why he is called a herald of righteousness. Now some of you may look at that and you may say I don't have that faith. I've made some pretty big mistakes, to which I would say did you notice he included Lot as righteous as well? Did you notice he included Lot as righteous as well? You know Noah is righteous and in 1 Peter 1, verse 5, I think, he says add to your faith self-control and steadfastness and virtue. Add to your faith these things. Noah added to his faith a hammer and a saw, and he actually built something because God called him to.
Speaker 2:Lot doesn't have as good of a story. How does he make the book and get called righteous? Here's Lot's story. Lot and Abram were about to split ways. They were about to split ways. They loved each other, but they had these large flocks and all of their herdsmen started arguing with each other. They basically all wanted to use the same grass, the same water, the same whatever. So Abram says look, lot, you just pick whatever part of the land you want to go to and I'll go to the other. And here's the story from Genesis. And Lot lifted up his eyes and he saw he had knowledge that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord. He looks and he's like it looks like the garden of Eden. Over there I'm trying to grow animals. They tend to like water, they tend to like grass. I'm going to go that way.
Speaker 2:Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Okay, is Sodom a good place or a bad place? All right, not too much enthusiasm, guys. Try to reign it in just a little bit. Like we know this, lot looked and his brain said go this way. And he moved into the worst neighborhood he ever could have been. From our peripheral knowledge of scripture, it seems like Lot lived there for 20 or 30 years. We don't think he had children when this discussion was going on. He moves. There has a number of daughters, I think four. Two of them end up married.
Speaker 2:Before this happened, he probably lived there for 20 or 30 years. He saw a beautiful house. He saw a fenced-in backyard. He had always wanted a large fireplace and there it was. He didn't take a moment to think about the people living around him. He didn't take a moment to look at the schools. He didn't take a moment to think about the people living around him. He didn't take a moment to look at the schools. He didn't take a moment to think about the influences on his children. All he did was look and say I have knowledge that looks good and I am going. He made a huge mistake and the Bible calls him righteous. How Well.
Speaker 2:Even though the men of Sodom were wicked and great sinners against the Lord, even though Lot, because of one boneheaded decision, had to live for 20 or 30 years in the wrong place, when he heard God's voice, he moved. Do you want to know why? I'm like slowly working through this one little piece of the text? Because, even though we're talking about creation and angels and Noah and Lot and I'm pleading with you guys to trust God's word as it does this we're talking about a lot of history. Here's what we're really talking about. We're talking about somebody who made one decision that was not wise, somebody who made one wrong decision, one short-sighted decision. What job they took. And they feel like I made a mistake. I made a mistake in what I studied. I made a mistake in the place I moved. I made a mistake in the person that I married. I made a mistake in this.
Speaker 2:And even though Lot made a mistake, here is what we find. One wrong decision does not preclude you from living righteously in the midst of that decision. Even in the middle of a choice you regret, even in the middle of a choice that you have regretted for years, you are not beyond living righteously in it today, which was exactly what Lot did and how he ended up making the book. Why? Because the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, like Lot, like Noah. But the bigger issue is this Good luck, little guy. I hope you make it. I'm struggling right there with you. The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials. But, guys, here's the deal your name is not included in this. It's not saying Will knows how to rescue himself from trials and the rest of this.
Speaker 2:The rest of what we're going to look at is this who has authority to speak into your life. Are you the expert of your life? Are you the expert of your own decisions, or might you need to submit to one who knows way more than you? It is the Lord who knows how to do this, and when we choose ourselves as an authority or when we choose not to have one self-chosen authority is simply self-rule with a mask. If you are going to pick influences that only tell you what you want to hear, are you really under authority? If you're the one choosing your authority, are you really under authority? I don't think so. So how can you find authority worth being under?
Speaker 2:To discern when other people are deceived, god's word wants you to look for two things the decay within and the destruction that follows. If somebody is going to speak and influence, teach, preach, guide, coach or counsel you, before you start eating what they are giving you, what does the inside of them look like and what does the trail behind them look like? Peter says well, it's not hard to see the decay within In his day and age, while he's in prison, writing truth. There are people in the church that are bold and willful. This is a very easy way to say. They are arrogant, incredibly arrogant, arrogant to the point that they feel like the experts in all matters, so much so that they do not even tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones.
Speaker 2:All right, I'm going to pray. I'm going to pause now to pray, because we're going to go into the densest part that we're going to go in and I want to do the best job that I can to throw the net, and I want you to do the best job you can to swim under it. God, as we go into this particularly dense piece, would you show us the reality of our own soul? Would you make this clear as we move forward? In Christ's name, amen, all right, I would like for somebody to be brave enough to guess who the glorious ones are, and I don't care if you get it right. Does anybody want to venture a guess as to what this is pointing to? Okay, you were here first service, and that doesn't count, josh, but you know what. Everybody here is grateful for you, so we'll let it be.
Speaker 2:In all likelihood, this is pointing to angels. What's really going to mess you up is it's probably pointing to fallen angels that you would never call glorious. One of the reasons that we think this is because the same phraseology appears somewhere else in Scripture. It appears in the book of Jude, and Jude uses the same phraseology. And notice he's talking about a very similar group of arrogant people. Yet, in like manner, these people also relying on their dreams, relying on their expertise, relying on what they have that you do not, this gnosis, this special knowledge, them being just a step ahead of you and a step smarter than you, they defile the flesh. They just give themselves whatever feels good. They reject authority and they blaspheme the glorious ones. What is probably happening here is that when we look at where we fit in the created order, by the way, just keep swimming under the net. Keep swimming under the net. This is the order that currently exists.
Speaker 2:God is more glorious than the angels At this point. Angels are more glorious than you. You are created in the image of God. I am not taking anything away from that, but there is a reason. When an angel shows up and what you're about to read in 2 Peter, people fall on their knees. There is a reason.
Speaker 2:People started worshiping angels and the angels had to say don't worship me, worship Christ instead. The reason is they have more power, they have more glory, but these people so bold, so arrogant, these teachers who would lead you astray. They have become over inflated. They have started to believe that they are a big deal, they are impressive, and when you think that highly of yourself, it does not take much for you to do this, and I will tell you what the next step is, though we will not often be honest with ourselves. This is what it means to reject the authority that God would place in your life the authority of church, the authority of husband, the authority of parent, the authority of pastor, the authority that God would place in your life, the authority of church, the authority of husband, the authority of parent, the authority of pastor, the authority of these things and guys. I'm not preaching because I want to be up here Whenever I preach this stuff. Stuff goes more difficult for me, not easier, but I'm just telling you what the Bible says. This is what they began to do, and we have this one very odd example, which is why I'm just pleading keep swimming under the net.
Speaker 2:You'll only see this in Jude. We don't see it referenced anywhere else in scripture, but there's an argument between two angels, and it looks like this when the archangel Michael contended with the devil, both angelic beings, one fallen, one not. They were disputing about the body of Moses. We don't know what the argument was about. We don't know how the argument went, but Jude's argument in that is this he, being Michael, did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said the Lord, rebuke you Even though you have angels, michael and Satan, lucifer, you can pick, even though they're on an even playing field. He didn't feel comfortable blaspheming, rejecting or judging him. Instead, he said no, I'm not gonna do that. May God deal with you as God sees fit.
Speaker 2:So what is happening in 2 Peter? Why is he pointing to the glorious ones, and what is that saying about false teachers? On the one hand, it is saying that they think of themselves bigger than they should. On the other hand, it's saying they are erecting themselves to a higher place than they should. And what it's ultimately saying is this they are living as though they are such experts in life that the spiritual doesn't matter. They're not worried about demons affecting them, they're not worried about the spiritual world affecting them. They are an expert, they have knowledge, they are brilliant, they are impressive, their skills are high, their successes are well known. They need not worry about the spiritual world.
Speaker 2:Why did I ask Dwight to share his testimony? Because his brain had grown quite large. His arguments were solid, his logic was reason and he was as far from the Lord as a person could be. And what saved him? A really good argument. No, he read a genealogy.
Speaker 2:Can I just tell you, if somebody came to me and said, will, I feel like I need to repent, I need to get my life right with the Lord the last place I would probably turn is let's read 50 names you can't pronounce and see if the Lord is going to work in your heart. No man, I'm going to Romans, right, I'm going to Ephesians. I'm going hyper New Testament. What happens when we think knowledge is the main thing? That, and in case you don't know it, you, you live at the epicenter of biblical knowledge. You live in the buckle of a Bible belt. You live in a place where people believe that knowledge means righteousness and it doesn't Faith does. Why does Noah make the book? Because he'd never built a boat before, he'd never seen it rain before, but he said God, if you say it, then I'm gonna do it, because I am small and you are great and I know my place. So lead on God, but not them.
Speaker 2:They blaspheme the glorious ones. This is Peter jumping into it. Angels, though greater in might and power, don't pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. But these have become like irrational animals, like creatures of instinct. They're born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant. They're born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant. They talk like they're smart, but they know absolutely nothing. They will also be destroyed, as they are destroying others. It's a pity that the fuse is so long. Sometimes they will suffer wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. To discern when others are deceived. Look for the decay within. Look for people who are arrogant. Look for people who are short-sighted when it says irrational animals. I'll tell you what it reminds me of.
Speaker 2:On our way to and from, we only stopped at Bucky's. Our kids are now big enough. We don't have to make. You know what I'm starting to realize? Our kids are big enough and we aren't old enough to where we have to stop for the bathroom. A lot. That's actually what's coming next, isn't it? It's going to be me, I'm going to be the problem next, but right now it's great, like one stop and we're like at the beach.
Speaker 2:I have a dumb dog. Okay, nothing I can do about it, nothing he can do about it. He was made small, his brain is quite small and he is absolutely irrational. He is absolutely a creature of instinct. And this is what happens with experts in their field. This is what happens when we have been taught by opinions of others rather than the infallible word of God, who will always be right and righteous.
Speaker 2:What happens is you pull into Bucky's and the dog says I know exactly what's going to happen. The door is going to open and I'm going to walk out and I'm going to enjoy the world. No, what's going to happen is, if I open the door and you run out, you're going to get hit by 12 cars because there's 400 people here and all of them are in a hurry to either get to the beach, because they want to be there, or get home because they're tired of driving. Everybody's in a hurry, nobody's being patient. They haven't gotten to the beef jerky wall yet, so it's going very poorly for everybody. But my dog is convinced he's like man. Just open the door. Open the door. There is a world of delights just waiting for me. No, man, there are nothing but wide rim tires wanting to wreck your life and cause my Monday to look very differently, as I bury a dog and then get convinced the next day that we need another one. That's what I see.
Speaker 2:Do you want to know how to know if somebody is short-sighted? Look for this. Look for people who cannot be reasoned with. Their lives will play out like a script. You've seen it before and you know you'll see it again. You just wish you could get them to see it while they're in the midst of it. It's like a dog who's convinced that when he runs outside it's going to be new, but he always takes the same path and you can see exactly where he's going. By the way, that is how the chapter will end as well. Exactly where he's going, by the way, that is how the chapter will end as well.
Speaker 2:These are people who are living as though the spiritual realm does not exist. But it isn't just that. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. These people are very comfortable with sin. They're not just arrogant and they're not just short-sighted. They can always make an excuse not to work. They take things that would be beautiful and they become bl just short-sighted. They can always make an excuse not to work. They take things that would be beautiful and they become blots and blemishes. This word blemish actually appears as Christ talks about you. The church Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. How did he do it? He gave himself up for her so that you could be saved from your sin. Yes, but only no, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot, without wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. But when we look at these people, they take something that would be beautiful and they make it ugly.
Speaker 2:Do you know what makes this place beautiful? It is not flowers, it is not a pew, it's not cool chandeliers or a pretty neat looking ceiling that I'm sure some of the kids have counted the slats in. It's what I did when I got bored. What makes this pretty or not? Is you, not me, not even other pastors? You make this place beautiful when people walk in and they see people who aren't faking it, folks who are willing to share their story.
Speaker 2:I didn't get a chance to share this with the first service, but I was talking with Rob and Rob was crediting somebody in the. I'm intentionally being vague here, but Rob was crediting somebody in the room for a level of excellence that they have in something they do, and I said do you know their story? He said no. I said their story is one of great loss A brother who is in the midst of dying in his 20s, a father who has passed away. But you won't see it on their face and you won't hear it in their voice, because they have found a greater thing to love than what this world offers. You make this place beautiful when you're honest, when you're open, when you're led by the Spirit, not when you're smart, when you're humble.
Speaker 2:And the scary thing about this is Peter says and here's the deal, guys, these people are right next to you, they eat with you and this doesn't mean they come over after Sunday lunch and you know, like back in the day when grandma cooked, and they're sitting at the table and you're like you deceptive little weasel of a snake. You didn't take a note, did you? I bet you didn't even pray, right? No, that's not what it's saying. What it's saying is these same people are taking communion with you. They're feasting on the broken body of our Savior. They are drinking the juice that points to the blood that he shed for us. They are incredibly comfortable with sin in a place that ought to convict. But that isn't all. They have eyes that are full of adultery. They can make excuses for all of their behaviors. Their sin insatiable can never get enough of it, and the problem is they entice unsteady souls people who are coming to church for the first time in a long time I want you to know that. I'm really glad that you're here People who have walked into this room and they feel uncomfortable because they don't know Noah, they don't know Lot and they're not going to know Balaam in just a second.
Speaker 2:You're welcome here. It's not about how much you know. It's about who you are being led by. They have hearts that are trained in greed because they're going to try to take from you rather than give. Do you want to know? One of the best ways to determine if somebody should be influencing you Is it to their detriment that they are talking to you? It is so so much easier not to walk into awkward conversations and situations. It is easier not to call out sin. It is easier just to live and let live. But somebody that you can trust is going to be uncomfortable enough with sin to repent of their own and to call you out on yours. Be around those people If they're only ever telling you how great you are and your ego is becoming ever so inflated to the point that you feel like the church is lucky to have you with all of your gifts and all of your abilities and all of your knowledge. Have you begun to believe that your and all of your abilities and all of your knowledge, have you begun to believe that your sin is so small that you sort of have life figured out? Is repentance something you used to do or you once did, or is it the world that you live in now? You see, these people are accursed children. They're forsaking the right way. They've gone astray. They've followed the way of here you go. Another history lesson, but I'm not going to lift this one very hard.
Speaker 2:Balaam Balaam was a prophet. You can read about him in the Old Testament. Basically, he was supposed to speak for God, but instead he decided he wanted to make some money. And so he's on his way to make that money and the donkey that he's on stops walking. So he starts smacking the thing and the donkey won't move. And in this fantastic story which is beyond knowledge, but only of faith. The donkey turns around and speaks human language to him.
Speaker 2:The son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing but was rebuked for his own transgression, a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained at the prophet's madness. What's happening here? The donkey says look, I know that you feel like you're the authority. You're sitting on top of me, you feel like you're the expert, you're the one telling me where to go. You can't see that there is one more glorious in front of you. You can't see that there's one more powerful in front of you. There is an angel standing there and you can't see it. If you want me to walk forward, fine, I'll do it, but your head's going to roll down the sidewalk. And the one who was most wise was not the one who would put himself in a position of authority, but the one who is being ridden upon. This is what we must be cautious of.
Speaker 2:When somebody is preaching, when someone is teaching, counseling or influencing me biblically, you biblically, you must ask yourself this question If I continue on that path, will I be more like Jesus than I am today, if I continue walking with that person? When Bill Harrison met with me at Chick-fil-A for years to talk about being a husband and being a father. Was I going to leave that place being more like Jesus? And the answer was yes. But there were lots of people who were speaking into me who would have made me far worse. Will, don't you know? You'll be happier if you just you should be happy, you should seek pleasure, and that is what these teachers were doing. But don't just ask biblically. When somebody is preaching, teaching, counseling or influencing you secularly, secularly is just sort of a fancy churchy word for not biblically it doesn't necessarily mean bad. Am I going to be more like Jesus than I am today? Sometimes the answer is yes.
Speaker 2:Ms Newton, second grade class, I started falling in love with science. Mr Skinner, 10th grade chemistry. The guy ate chalk to prove points while he was talking about molecular chemistry. I was like that dude's awesome and science is amazing. Hopped on science Olympiad, became a nerd right Like. That was a good influence, because the more I study science the more I see the grandeur of God.
Speaker 2:When coach Causey, when I was like 10 years old playing my first like year of baseball and my arms then were smaller than my wrists are now Like when I was 27,. I looked 15, like super small. I was never gonna hit a ball out of the infield, never. And he said, will, just so you know, I didn't get you so that you would swing the bat. That's why we got Rob.
Speaker 2:I actually remember that guy. He was jacked at like 12 years old and he was just like hitting bombs. Every guy he was jacked at like 12 years old and he was just like hitting bombs. Every Saturday he said, will, I got you for one reason I just know that you can run fast. That is all I need from you. Do you know how freeing that was for me? Like, who had a dad who was like get in the garage, start swinging the bat. You got to get stronger. You got to do this For my coach, by the way, we made it to state.
Speaker 2:Second in the state, awesome, right, all he said was I need you to steal bases and I need you to learn how to bunt. And I was like teach me, I will follow. Right, consistently bunting triples. Right, because they would overthrow Stealing. But he, in a secular way, overthrow stealing. But he, in a secular way, said there is something of value in you when you don't see it in yourself, that is worthwhile.
Speaker 2:The shows you watch, the things that you imbibe on in social media are they going to make you more like Jesus than you are today? Because if you really want to put your antenna 20 feet high, keep this in mind when Peter was writing this, people did not have a lot of books on their shelves. They weren't getting influences from remote options. We have podcasts of people whose lives you never get to look into, pastors and sermons whose lives you don't really know, though we hope online experts who will speak into every piece of you. Be careful when you can't look inside of them and watch for the destruction that follows. They're waterless springs, they're mists driven by a storm. We don't live in an agrarian culture, so you can't appreciate this.
Speaker 2:But if you've ever gone to a theme park and you bought the souvenir cup so that you get free refills and then you can't find anywhere in the park to get a refill, that's what Peter's saying. He's like you go to the water fountain and it won't turn on. You go to the register and they're like sorry, we're closed. It's like well, I paid, like I bought the ticket, I want to ride the ride. You tell me you're the expert. You told me this was going to be life-giving. It's like this storm that comes in rumbling and thundering and all that comes out of it is a mist that will never saturate the ground with life.
Speaker 2:They speak loud boasts of folly. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens, but not them. They speak. They speak often and frequently, and loudly. They entice people with sensual passions. I can make your life feel good, I can make your flesh feel good, and they do this to those who are barely escaping. They promise freedom, but are themselves slaves. Freedom but are themselves slaves. They come to you in your cage with a spoon to help you dig through the wall, all the while Christ is holding the key and saying why do you remain in this sin when I would gladly let you out? Whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. That is who these people are. Is anyone in your life teaching you to indulge? Are they telling you it is okay for you to indulge? Are they making big promises that they cannot back up? Because if that is the case, here's what you will find. This is the last scripture, luke. If you want to go ahead and come up, feel free.
Speaker 2:When we read through this two weeks ago, reading through the entire book of 2 Peter, I had more responses come in on the phone for us to respond to this than anything else. For if I'm only going to circle one word, but notice how many times it gets circled. 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. It would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them the dog returns to its own vomit like an irrational animal and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire. What's happening here?
Speaker 2:A lot of people ask the question Will, does this mean I can lose my salvation? I'll just give you two real, quick responses. Did these sound like people who were saved to you in the first place? These sound like people who are their own authority and they're not under the authority of Christ. These sound like people who are going about everything other than what Jesus has directed them to go after. But don't get me wrong. They've got lots of knowledge and so people assumed their knowledge is steadfast, therefore their soul must be. Their knowledge is steadfast, therefore their soul must be Not the case.
Speaker 2:And for those of us in the room with high amounts of knowledge please be warned in this it would have been better, according to Scripture, for them never to have known the way. How on earth is this possible? How would it be better for you not to walk in the door? Because if you know the way of Christ but you don't receive it, if you know the way of Christ but there is no relationship, if you have the answers but you do not follow after him, you're unlikely to ever consider Jesus in the future. You've seen what he has to offer and it wasn't enough. But you're more accountable to God than anybody else because this knowledge has been shared with you and you're also probably leading other people astray who see you button it up, get your lashes right, do your hair nice dress, nice outfit, slide into church and this is the only thing that you're looking to feed.
Speaker 2:If we don't have faith, we don't have anything. I'm not telling you not to have knowledge. I'm just telling you, peter wants you to have it in the right place, because if you don't, because if you don't, knowledge without faith creates one thing a Pharisee and you live in the pharisaical breeding ground on the planet. Moms and dads, if you're more concerned with your kids getting their yes sirs and their yes ma'ams right than being the kind of person who opens the door to your room when you do not want them to come in late at night to repent and say that there's something wrong, that they want to seek the Lord, that they're struggling with something, it says more about us than it says about our children, because that is who God is with us. He's not terribly concerned that Will gets it all right. He is terribly concerned that Will never stops running to be made right.
Speaker 2:And if I were to simplify the whole thing, I would simplify it by saying this the problem from the beginning was always knowledge over faith. Go to the garden. The knowledge of good and evil was the problem, not the solution. The solution was to have faith in God enough to know you do not need that to follow him. It doesn't have to start to rain for you to build a boat. You don't have to end up in the perfect place to begin seeking after him. You can trust him today, even in the midst of bad decisions you've made or circumstances you didn't choose. I give you a few questions to ponder as we worship and get ready to close out together. When we begin to sing. If you want to sit, stay seated. If you want to stand, stand, but let's reflect on these realities. If you need prayer or to talk, a couple of us will be down there. Use the back porch to walk around, but let's pursue the Lord as a people of faith, not just a people of knowledge.