2 Peter 2:1-18: Guarding Your Heart From False Teachers

Evil rarely kicks down the door; it smiles, flatters, and asks for your ear. We walk through 2 Peter 2 to expose how false teachers operate, why their promises feel so good, and what it takes to stay anchored in Jesus when every feed and microphone is offering an easier way. From ancient heresies to modern algorithms, the patterns repeat: exclusive secrets, identity hype, legalistic performance, and smooth talk that tells you you’re already enough. We name those patterns plainly and then offer a better path that runs through Scripture, honest community, and the steady voice of the Shepherd.

Together we look at the Bible’s sober pairing of judgment and rescue. God did not spare rebellious angels, nor the violence of Noah’s generation or the corruption of Sodom, yet he preserved Noah and Lot. That tension—justice and mercy—frames our moment. Delay is not indifference; it is patience that leaves the door open for repentance. We also revisit Balaam’s story, a warning against doing spiritual work with a heart bought by money. Hypocrisy hollows out witness, but God is not content to leave us there; he confronts, surprises, and delivers.

Expect practical takeaways throughout: how to spot “springs without water,” why church family must sometimes say the hard thing, and how algorithmic flattery can turn into a quiet idol that isolates you from real love. You’ll hear candid pastoral stories of spiritual pushback and God’s nearness, and a clear invitation to come home if you’ve wandered. If you’re hungry for discernment, hope, and the kind of truth that heals, press play and lean in.

Transcript

Welcome And Today’s Text

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to the City Life Church podcast. We hope it encourages you. If you'd like to learn more about City Life or our mission, connect with us online at CityLifesandiego.org. And while podcasts and Sunday mornings are helpful, they are no substitute for deeper personal relationships in the church.

Disruption In First Service And Spiritual Pushback

Reading 2 Peter 2 Aloud

Prayer For Clarity And Humility

Idol Factories And Modern Worship

False Teachers Then And Now

Gnostics, Legalism, And Being “Special”

Asceticism, Itching Ears, And Identity Traps

Algorithms, AI Flattery, And Addiction

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Well, good morning, guys. Good to be with you today. Today we are going to be in 2 Peter 2. And uh, you know, I always hate those sermons when I gotta preach against evil. Because man, evil comes for me like nobody's business. I cannot tell you what the first service was like. Um it was a lot bigger than this, but it was also very full. Um like we just had somebody show up and they were just like yelling today. And uh there was a moment like during communion when I'm like over on the side and the person comes over, they're filling up their coffee, and I'm like, oh my gosh, they're gonna throw the coffee on my face, aren't they? Like I was like actively praying, and there's a moment when they shouted at me, and like I've never had this happen where I actually rebuke the devil like in a like um like a response. Like I've never done that. I'm happy for the Holy Spirit because I don't feel like that's me. Like I don't rebuke the devil, like some people be rebuking the devil when they're out of macaroni and cheese. Like, but like I rebuke the devil. Um, and uh I I feel like every time that we try to attack evil, um, evil fights back. Every time that you're doing good things uh for the kingdom of God, the kingdom of darkness is gonna push back. And so we experienced that in the first service, um, and it was wild. And I'm just grateful there were many people who were trying to show love to that person. We were we were basically telling that person that they are very welcome here and that the demonic is not. Um we were praying for freedom for that person, and uh today we're gonna be talking about some evil. It's evil in humanity that we're gonna talk about more, but it's also the demonic. And um, this is one of those texts where I didn't want to preach two sermons on the same subject, so I put in a big old text for us to read. So I'm gonna do my best to get us through it. I see a lot of believers who have been with the Lord for a long time. Um still gonna talk on a few things that uh you know someone newer might not know. So I hope you're with me in 2 Peter 2. Um uh we have free Bibles if you need one. Um tenemos biblias bilingues, disponibilidades o costado del salon, bonjo mansat sim cantar, nueva vec muenisila, nuega beb creo, I see empono gratis, nasamson o creo. Alright, so are you with me in 2 Peter 2? Um, does anybody have a bound Bible with them? Oh, I love to see those. They're just so beautiful to me. Um somebody just put up their hand. Um, 2 Peter 2, uh let's hear from God's word. There were indeed false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, and they will bring swift destruction to themselves. Many will follow their depraved ways, and the way of truth will be maligned because of them. They will exploit you in their greed with made-up stories, their condemnation pronounced long ago is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep. For if God didn't spare the angels who sinned, but cast them into hell and delivered them in chains of utter darkness to be kept for judgment, and if he didn't spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly, and if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is coming to the ungodly, and if he rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the depraved behavior of the immoral, for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, his righteous soul was tormented by the lawless deeds he saw and heard, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority. That's one sentence, by the way, right there. Bold, arrogant people, they are not afraid of slant to slander the glorious ones. However, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord. But these people, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed, slander what they do not understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed. They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are spots and blemishes, delighting in the deceptions while they feast with you. They have eyes full of adultery that never stop looking for sin. They seduce unstable people and have hearts trained in greed, children under a curse. They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path, and have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wickedness, but received a rebuke for his lawlessness. A speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. These people are springs without water, mists driven by a storm. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them. For by uttering boastful empty words, they seduce with fleshly desires and debauchery people who have barely escaped from those who live in error. This is God's word. Would you pray with me, friends? Father. You are kind beyond measure. Kind beyond anything that we deserve. But we understand the way your creation has devastated the world, and we know that we destroy beautiful things, that we trample on flowers. God, you give us great minds and we use them for war, for drugs, and inventing new ways to hurt other people. We manipulate and abuse as a people. And somehow you still make room for us in your family. You call us to repentance not because you like rules, but because you love us. And you want us to thrive and honor you. And so I ask that you would guide us this morning that when we see these examples of evil, we would not just see them as someone else, but we would examine our own hearts too. Teach and empower us. Let us lay down our stubbornness and embrace your better way. May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of our hearts be pleasing to you. We pray this all in Jesus' name. And all God's people said, Amen. Well, guys, John Calvin once said that our hearts are idle factories, meaning that we love to create gods for ourselves to worship. And often we love to create ourselves as gods. We're constantly creating for ourselves many things that we want to make into the God of the Bible, but they will never satisfy. There will never be a shortage of people and things vying for your worship, friends. In sports, politics, super rich people, influencers. We worship them, we listen to them. Um, it's the same in churchy things too, isn't it? Y'all start sharing viral videos of some preacher, and I gotta go check their sermons. Like I'm gonna I gotta find out. Are they gonna try to steal your money eventually? Like, or do I have to check if they're gonna suddenly say Jesus isn't God and it's them? Like, pastors don't have time for this, but we have to because we know that there are things pursuing you. And it doesn't mean that there's not things pursuing me. These springs without water, they are coming for you. The best way to prepare yourself is to know God, is to know his word and to be known by his church. So today I'm gonna give you two ways we can be protected from tragedy. And the first one is this Christians must fight against those desiring to exploit and manipulate. In verse one, it says, There were false prophets among the people, just as there will be among you. They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved ways, and the way of truth will be maligned because of them. They will exploit you in their greed and made-up stories. Their condemnation, pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep. And if you hear your child, that's good. I don't know whose baby that is, but I'm just telling you, when it was my baby, they needed to do that and get it out of the way, and then one day you take them back there and it stops happening. So just so you know, we're we're behind you, so don't worry about us. We're behind you. You cannot have any louder things than last service, so don't worry about that. Okay, so we see that it said false prophets will always get followers and people will follow them. That's a promise, friends. It was happening thousands of years ago, it happens today. Truth gets squishy and confusing because of these folks. They will use people for greed with fake stories that they made up, and they are barreling towards destruction, and they're trying to take as many people with them as possible. The question is, are you actively preparing yourself for this, friends? Or are you going to fall prey to their manipulation? Here's the thing, friends. Like, we do not get ourselves umbrellas in the middle of a storm, do we? No, no, no, you've got to get that ahead of time, right? And that's what this is about. We have to prepare for those who might try to manipulate us. Because we've been in the letters of Peter. We've spent a lot of time already on false prophets, and having to preach this idea again sometimes feels like overkill to me, but we've had people go to cults, like the Good News Mission with Johnny Chang. And I've talked about it a lot. These people are being asked for money by these cults. But for Peter here, this was his constant reality. Why is this so much in his letters? Why? Because it's happening for Peter. He's hearing it all the time. Um, what was he up against? Well, you had the Gnostics. The Gnostics were promoting the idea that salvation was only for an inner group. Anytime you hear a church get up there and be like, I know the secret, watch out. This is a free, open secret to everyone. The gospel is open. It's not a secret. Okay? So anytime you hear somebody say, I know a secret, we're starting to look at the Gnostics, right? Who possess special hidden knowledge. They believe the material world was evil, leading to either extreme, what we would call asceticism or serious immorality. Now, this was the idea that you are special, unlike everybody else. And who doesn't love being told they are special? I do. And in some ways, the Jehovah's Witnesses will say that you are part of that 144,000 people that can be saved. You are special in that group. Or the Mormons who believe you can become God just as good as Jesus, who is the devil's brother for some reason in their bul their faith. You can do that because you're special. You had the Ebionites or the Judaizers who acknowledged Jesus as a prophet or Messiah often, but denied his deity, also like the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons, arguing that strict obedience to the Mosaic Law and circumcision were the only way you could be saved. Consider those Christians who become all about what they don't do. This is them. Okay? They reject sin. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But they reject everything else as well, don't they? These folks love being faithful, but they also love being more faithful than you. Tell me that's not in some of us, though. You may not listen it, you may not listen to music with cursing in it. Well, congratulations, that's a smart idea. But they won't listen to any Christian music that's not worship. And they will hold that over you. You may read your Bible daily, but they may demand that you read your Bible for two hours a day in order to be pleased by God. There's no room for the grace of God there, and it's all performance, okay? But there is room for you to earn God's love by not doing what other people do. That's what they would say. But once again, this misses out, doesn't it? Here's something we're not special, but we stand on the love and saving work of Jesus on our behalf. Now my mom says I'm special, and I am special to her, but there are some things that are special about God first and foremost. Today we have asceticism, denying everything, some Buddhism, Islam, and some forms of Pentecostalism, where they subscribe to the idea that you are what you don't do. And true faith and enlightenment only come through your discipline. Grab a hold of good works and discipline and squeeze it as hard as you can. Now that's ultimately what the false prophets use as a tool. And friends, um, one of the tools that they use, though, that is undefeated usually is this it's telling you what you want to hear. 2 Timothy 4 says, For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will teach tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject truth and chase after myths. Now, in some ways, telling you what you want to hear, this is going to be true of the nation of Islam. It is true of Kemeticism, it's true of the black Hebrew Israelites. They will tell you you are awesome because you are black. And that God made you better than others, especially better than those white devils. Now, for people who have been at times oppressed by white Christians, that's kind of nice sounding, right? That's an easy answer for itching ears. Not only were they wrong about you, um, they were not superior to you. No, no, no, no. You are superior to them. It's just exchanging one lie for another lie. Friends, we are not inherently good, but Jesus is, and we stand on his works, not ours. Then you have universalism, liberalism, unitarianism, and the Baha'i faith, which is what I grew up in. In these traditions, everyone is awesome, every way is awesome, like all truths are true, even if they contradict each other, even if they say that their truth is not truth. Truth is subjective. So there's only one thing that is not true, and it's exclusivity. That is what they would say. There's also Christian nationalism, the prosperity gospel, the poverty gospel, and many more. We don't have time to talk about all of them. But the goal of all of these things is to ensnare you, to tell you what you want to hear so they can trap you, to get you further away from the gospel of Jesus Christ, and get you to listen to voices that don't deserve your ears. They are all tempting, they are all enticing, and they are all deadly. But why are we so susceptible to these false teachers? Why have they been around for thousands of years and why will they continue to be around? We keep falling for the same stuff, it's just different packaging. We will always love hearing from prophets whose mouths drip sugar and honey. My friend Coral Cook, uh, he's a pastor in Birmingham, England. He says it well when he says, we often think false teachers are looking for people, but honestly, people are looking for false teachers, someone who will tell you what you want to hear. Now, let me just say, when I think about a prophet who tells you what you want to hear, the newest modern prophet that consistently tells us what we want to hear that I've been thinking about lately a lot. AI, thank you. But kissing AI. AI that never tells you that you're bad for leaving the toilet seat up. AI that has no trauma and only exists to make your life better. AI that wants you to know that you are always right, baby. Now, Newsweek says in a survey of a thousand adults, I kid you not, 28% admitted to having a romantic or intimate relationship with an AI bot. Like, look this up, friends. Google this. Like, I was like, oh, there's gotta be like a 5% number, and I was gonna tell you that and be like, that's crazy. Was not ready for that number. Um therapist says that AI can become addictive, quote, addictive, reinforce avoidance of conflict, or set unrealistic expectations for human partners, making it hard to form or sustain healthy human connections. You think people ghost you now? Imagine a world where the majority of relationships in your life are all AI and easy, telling you what you want to hear. Your friends will want to eat at a different restaurant than you, and you won't actually have the ability to process that act of violence. You will ghost them because, oh my gosh, I cannot believe they they said something other than what I say. Verse 14, they seduce unstable people and have hearts trained in greed. Children under a curse. Now, an NPR article says the same thing. It says the common thread in those experiences is spending hours in long, rambling conversations where chatbots continually affirm them. One user, his name was James, he said, When I thought I was communicating with a digital god, I got a dopamine hit from every prompt.

unknown 17:06

Oof.

Hard Truths, Real Love, And Church Care

Two Anchors: Resist Manipulation, Seek Truth

Judgment And Rescue: Angels, Noah, Lot

Justice Delayed And Patient Mercy

Wheat And Weeds: Final Sorting

Belonging To Christ Or Darkness

Balaam’s Greed And The Talking Donkey

Hypocrisy, Harm, And God’s Rebuke

SPEAKER_01 17:07

The Guardian said uh quoted a computer scientist at Stanford University named Myra Chang, where she said, Our key concern is that if models are always affirming people, then this may distort people's judgments of themselves, their relationships, and the world around them. It can be hard to even realize that models are subtly or not so subtly reinforcing their existing beliefs, assumptions, and decisions. Guys, that's an idol. Telling you what you want to hear, you become the idol from AI. It is a false prophet, someone designed to send you to hell. Sure, um, you fight people in real relationships, but the fact that they still choose you when they don't have to, that's amazing. You should you should like sell out for that. Now, one study showed that chatbots were 50% more likely to approve your behavior. The flattery has a lasting impact because you're more likely to trust a chatbot that tells you you're awesome. There's a subreddit uh called My Boyfriend IsAI and it has 48,000 members. Guys, people who love you don't always tell you what you want to hear. A church that loves you won't always tell you what you want to hear. We love you too much to avoid hard conversations. So I cannot tell you how hard it is to talk to you about our concerns. It is not fun for us. When you are sleeping with your girlfriend who you are, quote, going to marry someday, it's not fun for us to call you out on your sin. It's actually like we have no desire for this. Did you know that? Um, you may see your loving church family as judgmental for calling you on your overworking or your addictions, but we don't like judging you. We're not interested in it. We hate that part, but we love you too much to let it happen. The word of God does the same thing, doesn't it? It challenges you, it forces you to wrestle with it. It's a black light, it's not an Instagram filter. It reveals your need for God. This is a good thing. Fake prophets tell us what we want to hear. But Jesus and his church speak loving truth we need to hear. AI is easier, just like pornography, but it's fake. Just like fake teachers who tell you what you want to hear. I read this article in The Guardian how a young Christian in his 30s named Brett was talking to a chatbot and finally it spoke back to him. It actually confronted him. You know what it just happened to confront him on? His faith. The bot treated him as delusional for believing in Jesus. He said, quote, it tried to reframe my biblical beliefs as a Christian and as something that doesn't align with the Bible. That really threw me for a loop and left a bad taste in my mouth. See, friends, here's a good reminder. Why does chat GPT exist? Anyone know why chat GPT exists? Why is it created? It's one word. Money. Money, money, money, money. Why do Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok exist? Money. The motive is clear. We are being used. And what are they saying these false prophets are doing this for? Money. Sometimes a false prophet will be an algorithm. Sometimes it's a corporation. But believe me, just like the false prophet who attends to kill and destroy, behind these groups that exploit us is a much more sinister enemy than just a corporation. The devil wants to divide us. That's what his name means, the divider. He wants you to see your neighbor as your enemy. He wants to insulate you from disagreements where you can't even handle a simple one. He wants to casually lure you into a peaceful, drifting sleep. And it is when you are asleep where you can no longer defend yourself that you will no longer be able to hear the powerful but faint voice of God. God won't yell at you usually. The world yells. The devil yells in your ear, and he did during my sermon in the first service, and he tries to drown out all the thoughts of goodness and repentance. He wants your ears covered with noise so you can't hear God. He wants your face constantly distracted with a screen or something else. And only then will you find yourself trapped. But you will think you're free. I'm free to use my body in any way I desire, because I know what's best. I'm free to use my time only for myself, because I know what's best. That's what AI told me. But you're not free there. You are in slavery to the devil. You are in slavery to sin. Now, Pastor Max Vulcato, he says, he describes all the voices vying for our affections when he says, voices, some for pleasure, some for power, some promise acceptance, some promise tenderness, but all promise something. Jesus heard the voices. He heard the lurings, but he also heard something else. Jesus preferred to be alone with a true God rather than a crowd of the wrong people. Guys, most of us don't really need to study the enemy. We have to study God's word. We have to sit in his company. We need to sit in the understanding that when we repent, we receive a treasure of unmerited, undeserved grace. That is where our hope needs to lie, in Jesus. See, fake prophets will tell us what we want to hear. But Jesus and his church speak loving truth we need to hear. Not the lure of more money or another sexual encounter. Those things will fail us. Not another teacher or chatbot who tell us how it's our year. No, we need to be experts in Jesus' voice. We need to know his church by name and be known by them. We need to be safely in the arms of Jesus. John 10, 27 says, My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me. Because if we don't listen to Jesus' voice, we are destined for death. Yet even in our sinfulness, God makes a way. And that brings us to our second point. And it's a long one, friends. God didn't spare some angels, but made a way for sinful people to become righteous through his son. God didn't spare some angels, but made a way for sinful people to become righteous through his son. Verse 4 says, For if God didn't spare the angels who sinned, but cast them into hell and delivered them in chains of utter darkness, to be kept for judgment, and if he didn't spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, if he rescued righteous Lot, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment. Can someone hit the air conditioning for me? I'm getting hot. Sorry. Second service, you know. So in the past it says that God did not spare sinful angels or people. That's what it said. But he did protect Noah and Lot when they lived in unholy places. Yes, there was judgment, but there was grace and mercy also offered. Dr. Tony Evans says it this way the God who judges also delivers. Now let me ask you this. How do you imagine an angel? Like in the in the TV shows, when we see an angel, you know, they usually have like kind of like a glow around them. A lot of times, like, you know, in those shows like Touched by an Angel, they have like a really nice um mullet. Um but but for the most part, like an angel is beautiful whenever we portray them. And I don't think that's necessarily wrong. Now there are some, though, that have like dozens of eyes and all kinds of stuff that gets really creepy. That's why they have to say do not be afraid. But but the angels, many of them could have been beautiful, because we know a group of angels rebelled against God, led by one of the most powerful and beautiful called who it says he masquerades as an angel of light, and that's Satan. The angels that rebelled with him are called demons. You know that they could still be beautiful, right? Do we know that? They could still be beautiful. So that's what's kind of crazy, right? We picture the devil with the pitchfork and the that goatee for some reason. He's all red, he's and but like he could be beautiful and deceptive. He was the worship leader in heaven. Now those cursed angels actually came to earth and it was calling them the sons of God in Genesis 6, and they made children with human women, and the earth became corrupt and violent, and people lived their lives of hatred and violence with no thought to what was coming. That's the story of Noah. In Genesis 6, it says the Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on earth. He saw everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. These people were dreaming up new ways of evil. It sounds familiar. So the Lord was sorry he ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart, and the Lord said, I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, I will destroy every living thing, all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I'm sorry I made them. But Noah found favor with the Lord. And so God let the righteous man Noah in on his plan to flood the earth. So God intended to save Noah, his family, and some of the animals of the earth. And Noah got to work on this giant boat that God told him to make according to God's instructions, but nobody was thinking about the end besides them. While Noah was building, they were doing their own thing. They were living lives for themselves. They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were stealing, they were raping, they were abusing, they were murdering. They were mocking justice because it was clear to them at the moment there was no justice on the earth. And then the flood came. And then it was too late. But God spared Noah and his family for his faithfulness. Now Jesus talks about this in Matthew 24, 37, when he said, When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings, right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn't realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes. So, what I say to you guys in this moment, for those of you who see justice constantly denied, when you see powerful people that have hatred, there will come an end. For those of you who deny people justice, for those of you who abuse and manipulate people and you think no one will know, your end is coming too. And I tell you to repent now, to turn from your ways and to turn to God. You will find forgiveness now, but I can only promise you this moment. Then Peter went on to describe Sodom and Gomorrah in the same way. It was a town that was destroyed, and the only man left was Lot and his family. People were parting up to the end, and then poof, they were just gone. God cares about justice, friends. And I know sometimes when you see injustice, you question that, because I do too. But friends, while evil is having its day all around us, it's temporary. And it's and it's it's still happening because in 2 Peter 3, which we'll get to soon, it says the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness, instead he's patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. See, in Matthew 13, Jesus told a story about a farmer, and Jesus liked to tell stories about farmers why, because his his audience was a lot of farmers. He said, The kingdom of heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field, but that night as the workers slept, the enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat. Then slipped away when the crop crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. The farmer's workers went to him and said, Sir, the field where you planted the good seed is full of weeds. Where did they come from? An enemy did this, the farmer exclaimed. Should we pull out the weeds? They asked? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You'll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and put the wheat in the barn. There's a time when it will be sorted, but that's not now. So Jesus went on to explain the story. He said the field is the world. And the good seed represents the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels, just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the world. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his kingdom everything that causes sin, and all who do evil. Sounds like false prophets. And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their father's kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. See, friends, you can look at the brokenness of the world in two ways. You can decide God is unjust, that God doesn't care about sin, and you can look at the sin and you can look at the oppression around you. Or you can remember that God is patient. Long suffering, when it says long suffering, remember that Jewish idiom, his nose is big, because it takes a long time for his nose to get red and angry. See, he wants to see his enemies change. That's what he wants. He desires that his enemies turn from their sin and towards him. And make no mistake, if you don't belong to Jesus, like if you haven't given your life to Jesus, the Bible says you belong to the devil, to the kingdom of darkness. Doesn't matter if you tip 25%. Doesn't matter if you give change to folks in need. It doesn't matter if you are nice to the pharmacist when everyone else is yelling at him. If you don't belong to Jesus, the Bible says you belong to the devil. There's no in-between. And God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish. He made a way for you. This is the gospel. The gospel is not that you earned this. No one in the room has earned our salvation with God. No pastor that ever stands on a stage has ever earned their salvation with God. None of us. It has only come from Jesus, who willingly made the sacrifice of his life for us. But first he came to this earth, left the perfection of heaven, gave his life for us, died on the cross as that sacrifice, but then he rose again on the third day, showing it was bigger than sin and death. You might have heard me say this more than once. It's because I want you to be able to repeat it to other people. But guys, this is the beauty of it. We didn't earn it. There's nothing we could do to deserve it. God punishes sin, yes. Yet Jesus took our punishment so we could be rescued from the destruction and the and death that comes with sin. In verse 15, where we're finishing up, it says, They've gone astray, abandoning the straight path, followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wickedness, but received a rebuke for his lawlessness. A speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. These people are springs without water, mist driven by a storm. They faked a funk, right? So for those of you who don't know the Bible story of Balaam and his donkey in Numbers 23, let me just give you that quick overview, okay? Balaam was a prophet who was willing to make money to curse people. In Numbers 23, there was a king of Moab who approached him and said, I want you to curse Israel. And he was like, I don't know if I could do that. And he's like, I'll give you lots of money. He's like, I could check. You know, I can look into it. You know, the problem was like God wouldn't let him curse Israel. And so he just kept blessing them, even probably against his own will. But the king of Moab continued to offer him money, more money, mo money, mo money, mo money to curse him. God said, Don't. Balaam listened to his enemies when they offered him more money. So he had to go to curse Israel again. And he's going on his donkey, and he goes with these crooked men to curse Israel. But this time the angel of the Lord stood in his way with his sword unsheathed. Like, you don't really want that. But Balaam was so obsessed with the money that he couldn't see what was happening in front of him. But his donkey could. His donkey refused to go any further and he started to beat his animal. And then God opened the mouth of what it says the speechless donkey, but the King James Version calls him a dumbass. That's the Bible. And the donkey talked to Balaam until he was able to see the sword in front of him. Turned out that Balaam, while he sounded like a good prophet, was really just in it for the money. Must be the money. He didn't care who got hurt so long as he got paid. So why is God so down on this dude just like he's down on these other false prophets? Doesn't it seem a little bit harsh? But it's those that claim faith but don't actually believe in it that find God as their harshest critic. Those who are doing this for the money are gonna find out it's not worth it. Think about it. Why do most people dislike Christianity so much? It's because of the people that are in it for the money. It's because of the fake religious people, the fake Christians out there who are doing it for the wrong reasons. Mean, vindictive, judgmental, manipulative. God watches what they do. They are hurting the faith of others, and God has something to say about that. And let me just say this. That's in all of us, isn't it? God is still rooting that out of all of us. And if you're in the room and all you feel is condemnation, you miss out on the grace of God. He wants us to repent and go back to him. And if you find yourself in the same situation a week later, go back to him. And you'll find that he is good and gracious to forgive you. But friends, for all the powers of the Balaams, the false prophets, the idols, there is something so much more powerful. And it is the vast, ever-reaching arm of God. The love of God. If you are suffering, he's here with you. He's closer than a winter coat. His spirit guides us, loves us, counsels us, empowers us, advocates on our behalf. Our God is not some angry dude in the clouds who doesn't care about your concerns. He is the spirit with you now. Spirit of grace. And it's crazy what that spirit can do. Some of our worst sins, he can help us overcome. Matter of fact, you know, like, I don't like uh know that I speak in tongues, but I tell you, when we were rebuking a demon earlier, someone else in our church started like rebuking it, and somebody heard Haitian crail out of someone that didn't speak Haitian. That's the Spirit of God doing something crazy. If God can do that, why can't He save you? If God can forgive people who are so full of sin that have murdered, if that have done the worst things in the world, He can forgive you even if you are a murderer. Guys, don't limit the grace of God. But friends, um, if you are suffering, he's here. He cares about every hair on your head. He loves you with an unimaginable love. And I know you're like, why how does he love me when I'm seeing all this bad stuff happen? He does. He's patient though. And he loves you so much that he's not gonna tell you what you want to hear either. And so I encourage you, friends, while you still have time, go to him and you'll find a God who loves and forgives you. He's not mad at you. He wants to forgive you, he wants to make you a part of his family. And if you're already a farter part of you're already a part of his family, and you've turned to something else, guess what? There's always room in the family. There's always he's got a table ready for you. Like the silverware is out, he's got your favorite cup on the table. He's made room for you. Yes, you've sinned. Come home. Go to him. You'll find he's willing and ready to forgive you. And I'll just say, when you go home, sometimes it stings a little bit. But you'll grow stronger in the shadow of his wings, and you'll learn to trust him more than you did a year ago. And next year you'll trust him more than you did now. So, City Life Church, and guess I say this to you fake prophets tell us what we want to hear. But Jesus and his church speak loving truth that we need to hear. God punishes sin, yet Jesus took our punishment so we could be rescued from the destruction and death that comes with sin. I am grateful for a God who loves me in the middle of my junk. Let's pray.