In
the past few months the Lord has impressed it upon our heart (me and my husband
Craig), to warn people about the reality of hell. He has led us to defend His Word where people
have been denying the truth about the existence of hell. We have done this by reviewing a book that
denies the existence of hell (see Craig’s
review here), and Craig has begun to write his own book about the surety
and existence of hell. I have also been
doing my own Biblical research about this important subject. The following is an article I wrote about
hell a couple of months ago. It was one
of the most difficult articles I’ve ever had to write, and I even asked the
Lord several times if I really had to go through with it. I wanted Him to ask someone else to write it
and publish it, but I kept getting the impression that I was supposed to write
it. So now I am led to share it, not
only as a warning to beware of people who teach that hell does not exist, but
as a reminder that we have an important job to do – to warn people that hell
exists and to avoid it at all costs.
When people
do not have a healthy reverence, revelation, and fear of God, they will not be
afraid of the horrific, doomed, everlasting place of torment called hell. Today many people are deceived and being
deceived because they do not have a revealed knowledge of the Scriptures
regarding hell. In turning to 2 Peter 2,
there are many parallels to the world at that time, to the world we live in
today. We are going to go through this
important passage to discover just how serious it is to not only know that
certain judgement awaits the unrighteous, but what provokes God to judge the
world in the first place. We’ll also
look at false prophets, who they are, and what they are about.
Who
are the messengers, masking the truth about hell, and saying that people will
not end up there? They are the false
prophets that the Bible warns us about, and today they are in our midst, some
of them masquerading as Christians, leading as many astray as they possibly
can. Let’s take a look at 2 Peter 2, to
discover more about them.
2 Pe 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the
people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall
bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring
upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2
And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way
of truth shall be evil spoken of.
2Pe 2:3
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise
of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation
slumbereth not.
2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned,
but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of
darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
2Pe 2:5
And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a
preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2Pe 2:6
And turning the cities of Sodom
2Pe 2:7
And delivered just Lot , vexed with the
filthy conversation of the wicked:
2Pe 2:8
(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing,
vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful
deeds;)
2Pe 2:9
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to
reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
2Pe 2:10
But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness,
and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not
afraid to speak evil of dignities.
2Pe 2:11
Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing
accusation against them before the Lord.
2Pe 2:12
But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed,
speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in
their own corruption;
2Pe 2:13
And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that
count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes,
sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
2Pe 2:14
Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling
unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed
children:
2Pe 2:15
Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the
way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
2Pe 2:16
But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice
forbad the madness of the prophet.
2Pe 2:17
These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest;
to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
2Pe 2:18
For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure
through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were
clean escaped from them who live in error.
2Pe 2:19
While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of
corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in
bondage.
2Pe 2:20
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the
knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled
therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21
For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness,
than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment
delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22
But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is
turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in
the mire.
In 2
Peter 1-3, we have a description of the false prophets. They bring in heresies (these can be personal
opinions, theories, and so on that are not backed up by Scripture – subtle,
cunning, and evil), deny the Lord, pernicious (destructive, wicked, harmful),
and covetous. They take the truth and
make it sound like it is something evil.
This is evident today as we see in the news media, how Christians are
branded “intolerant” for their far “right wing” opinions, and said to be
prejudiced towards anyone who is not a Christian. If the news media and liberal thinkers had
actually read the Bible, they would discover that, for a Christian, tolerance
(not of sin) and love are the first commandment, and that true Christians are
the first to accept and forgive others in spite of their (the unsaved) sin and
continued abuse towards believers!
People
think that things are different today than they were when Peter wrote this
around 64 A.D. The world, in its liberal
thinking, expects us to tolerate everything, from sex before marriage to
same-sex marriage, even though the Bible condemns such behavior and
practices. If God punished the same
behavior, or worse, and caused the destruction of the angels, the world with a
flood, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah Sodom and Gomorrah
Also,
in verse 10, the unjust and unrighteous are described as walking in the flesh,
and giving in to the vilest form of lust and uncleanness. They despise authority, are presumptuous, and
self-willed. They are fearless and
heartless towards those over them, and they have no respect to those whom
deserve respect. In several verses in
this passage, notice the surety of the end of the unrighteous:
2Pe
2:3 And through covetousness shall they
with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time
lingereth not, and their damnation
slumbereth not.
This
is a promise for false prophets: They
will be quickly judged and their damnation is imminent.
2Pe
2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the
godly out of temptations, and to reserve
the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
They
may not be judged today, but far worse, they are reserved for the “day of
judgement.”
2Pe
2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts,
made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand
not; and shall utterly perish in their
own corruption;
Notice
that the Lord will not cause them to perish, but that they will perish because
of their own corruption.
2Pe
2:13 And
shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting
themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
2Pe
2:14 Having eyes full of adultery, and
that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have
exercised with covetous practices; cursed
children:
What
is the reward of the unrighteous? To
perish, without any hope of salvation.
And in verse 14, they are cursed, which means they are already damned.
In
this passage in 2 Peter 2, we can see that people who do not revere or respect
others, will not revere or respect God.
In keeping with an evil agenda to do harm, they will invent all kinds of
doctrines to avert people from the truth.
They will lead as many people astray as possible so that they will not
be confronted with their own sin. They
love their unrighteousness, and will make it a public policy for you to love it
too. They will orchestrate parades and
parties to flaunt their lusts and love of sin.
They will not tolerate you if you happen to disagree, but will judge you
as intolerant if you challenge them in their sinful practices. Is it possible that people love their sin so
much that they’d rather perish, and go to their chosen end, rather than repent
and turn away from their evil ways?
According to 2 Peter 2, this is exactly the kind of people who have no
fear of hell.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Today my husband received an email from Chad
Holtz. If you remember, last year he was
fired from Marrow’s Chapel United Methodist church in North Carolina Chad Chad
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