Sermon: God Knows How to Judge the Wicked and Save His Own 2 Peter 2:3b-10a
God Knows How to Judge the Wicked and Save His Own
2 Peter 2:3b-10a
Truth Taught- Peter proves from past examples that there is judgement coming for all who rebel against God’s authority and rescue for His People.
Introduction
People who stand against God do so with wrong ideas, perceptions, and conclusions. People who are against God such as the false teachers Peter speaks of here and all other lost people stand opposed because they think either there is no God or God will not or unable to pass judgement upon them. They think there will be no divine retribution whatsoever.
Please Stand
2 Peter 2:3b–10a (ESV)
3b Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 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; 6 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; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (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); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.
1. Condemnation for All Who Are Outside of Christ (2:3b)
3b Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
The false teachers Peter and Jude were dealing with were saying these very things, literally, there will not be a judgement nor will Christ return…everything is going on as before.
2 Peter 3:4 (ESV)
4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
We saw from last time that Peter tells these false teachers their judgement and destruction is immanent.
This fact is true for all who are opposed to God, not just the false teachers. No judgement is coming they think. What Peter tells all who are outside of Christ who say there is no judgement, is that their condemnation, their judgment has already been declared or decreed by God.
Notice the time of their condemnation…from long ago. They have been declared guilty by the Sovereign God even before their lies began. To be fair to the text, Peter does not specify when exactly their condemnation was declared but long ago usually means a long long time ago, probably referring to eternity past. In God’s sovereignty He knows the beginning from the end. He decrees certain things and they come to pass. The false teachers were denying God’s sovereignty… even denying the Master (Sovereign Lord) who bought them.
The false teachers say there will be no judgement coming and Peter tells them all, what you don’t realize is you’re judged already. Judgement has been hanging over your head like a dark black thundercloud and it will pour out judgement upon you. It will be swift and immanent.
False teachers were teaching doctrines of false gods. Idols and imagined gods have no power…
Psalm 115:2–8 (ESV)
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
8 Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
False teachers imagine the real God to be like the false god they proclaim. Because their god is powerless, there is no wrath for them from their god but what they don’t understand is that Yahweh is not like their god…
their destruction is not asleep.
Baal was either sleeping, relieving himself, or on vacation…this is not our God.
The true and living God is not asleep. Neither is their destruction. Peter uses two negatives…not idle and not asleep. Beloved realize God is not asleep. We cannot sin without God seeing it. Jonah thought he could escape God’s vision by getting on a ship headed the opposite way. He found out God is not idle nor is He asleep.
Now, Peter goes through the OT showing how it is God judges the guilty. Those who were saying there is no Coming of Christ in judgement should pay close attention to these examples. Here are examples of God’s judgement against the wicked…it’s not idle and not asleep.
2. Examples of Immanent Judgement from Biblical History (2:4-8)
A. God Condemned the Angels who Rebelled (2:4)
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;
Peter’s first example of God’s judgement is shrouded in some confusion. The important thing is we don’t loose sight of what his point is. Peter’s point is that God knows how to condemn sinners. God will judge sinners, even if it is an angel.
Genesis 6:1–4 (ESV)
6 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
These angels are not the angels who fell when Lucifer fell, trying to make himself like God. This is another occasion when angels left their natural order and had relations with humans.
There is much confusions and a lot of debate here regarding this section. The point is…God knows how and does judge the guilty.
Jude 6–7 (ESV)
6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
Three main lines of thought.
- Angels had physical relations with human women
- Fallen angels possessed human men and had relations with human women
- The line of Cain had relations with the line of Abel
Again, the point is that there were angels who rebelled and they are currently in chains awaiting judgement.
B. God Condemned the Ancient World Who Rebelled (2:5)
5 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;
Sinners are swiftly judged is Peter’s point. So, he uses another example of God doing just that. They were warned by Noah, a herald of righteousness. The entire human population apart from Noah and his family drowned in the flood.
God judges sinners and preserves His people.
Genesis 6:8–13 (ESV)
8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Humanity was evil and desperately wicked and God brought swift judgement upon the entire earth.
C. God Condemned Sodom and Gomorrah Who Rebelled (2:6-8)
6 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; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (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);
Here, Sodom and Gomorrah met with God’s condemnation and swift wrath due to their sin. They were not drowned like those in the world-wide flood but the people of S and G were incinerated. They died in God’s wrath as He rained fire from heaven to destroy them because of their sin.
Genesis 19:24–25 (ESV)
24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. 25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
Rather than repenting and turning from their sin those people chose rather to remain in their perversion.
Much like Noah, Lot was saved from the wrath of God.
God condemns the wicked and rescues the righteous.
3. The Godly are Rescued and the Wicked are Condemned (2:9-10a)
9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.
Peter tells us that God knows how to judge the wicked while at the same time preserving those who are His.
We should notice that while Peter does not specifically mention in any detail the sins committed, it can be deduced from the examples given and Peter’s conclusion here that it was in the realm of sexual perversion.
indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.
Angels left their natural behavior and indulged
The people of the ancient world also left natural behavior and indulged
The people of S and G left their natural behavior and indulged
In doing this, they despised God’s authority. God has set up certain boundaries and sinful people reject God’s authority and do what they want to do.
So, when the false teachers of Peter’s day deny the coming of the Lord in Judgement, Peter shows them that in reality they don’t have a clue as to what they are saying.
Conclusion:
The great lesson here for us is that we too must live our lives Corum Deo…Before the face of God. We must realize that the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,
People who stand against God do so with wrong ideas, perceptions, and conclusions. People who are against God such as the false teachers Peter speaks of here and all other lost people stand opposed because they think either there is no God or God will not or unable to pass judgement upon them. They think there will be no divine retribution whatsoever.
I pray we understand that God knows how to punish the wicked and rescue His own.
I pray we do not despise God’s authority by thank Him for it. We must not rebel but remain true to God and fear Him because He knows how to save His own and condemn the wicked.
Resources Used:
1 & 2 Peter and Jude by Thomas Schreiner
Jude and 2 Peter by Gene L. Green
Jude and 2 Peter by John MacArthur
The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude by Peter H. Davids
Word Biblical Commentary by Richard Bauckham
1&2 Peter by Alexander Nisbet
