Scripture referenced 15 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
-
2 Peter 1:3-4 his divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness
3 seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue;
4 by which he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
2 Peter 1:5-7
make every effort to add to your faith goodness, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly love, and agape love
5 Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge;
6 and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control perseverance; and in perseverance godliness;
7 and in godliness brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, love.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
2 Peter 1:19
the prophetic message is completely reliable, like a light shining in a dark place
19 We have the more sure word of prophecy; and you do well that you heed it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the morning star arises in your hearts:
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
2 Peter 1:20-21
no prophecy of scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation but prophets spoke from God as carried along by the Holy Spirit
20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation.
21 For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
2 Peter 2:1-3
false prophets among the people and false teachers among you who secretly introduce destructive heresies
1 But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.
2 Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned.
3 In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
2 Peter 2:4-9
God did not spare angels who sinned, nor the ancient world in the flood, nor Sodom and Gomorrah, but rescued Noah and Lot
4 For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
5 and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;
6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live in an ungodly way;
7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked
8 (for that righteous man dwelling among them, was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds):
9 the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment;
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
2 Peter 2:10-22
bold and arrogant false teachers heap abuse on celestial beings, are like unreasoning animals, springs without water, promising freedom while themselves slaves of depravity
10 but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries;
11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don’t bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord.
12 But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed,
13 receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;
14 having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing;
15 forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing;
16 but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A mute donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet.
17 These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.
18 For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error;
19 promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.
20 For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.
22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.”
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
2 Peter 3:1-2
this is my second letter written as a reminder to stimulate wholesome thinking
1 This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you;
2 that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior:
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Numbers 22-24
the story of Balaam who loved the wages of wickedness and taught Balak to ensnare the Israelites
22:1 The children of Israel traveled, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.
22:2 Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.
22:3 Moab was very afraid of the people, because they were many. Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel.
22:4 Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this multitude will lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time.
22:5 He sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, “Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt. Behold, they cover the surface of the earth, and they are staying opposite me.
22:6 Please come now therefore curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall prevail, that we may strike them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
22:7 The elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand. They came to Balaam, and spoke to him the words of Balak.
22:8 He said to them, “Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as Yahweh shall speak to me.” The princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.
22:9 God came to Balaam, and said, “Who are these men with you?”
22:10 Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has said to me,
22:11 ‘Behold, the people that has come out of Egypt covers the surface of the earth. Now, come curse me them. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.’”
22:12 God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people; for they are blessed.”
22:13 Balaam rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land; for Yahweh refuses to permit me to go with you.”
22:14 The princes of Moab rose up, and they went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.”
22:15 Balak again sent princes, more, and more honorable than they.
22:16 They came to Balaam, and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me,
22:17 for I will promote you to very great honor, and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and curse this people for me.’”
22:18 Balaam answered the servants of Balak, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can’t go beyond the word of Yahweh my God, to do less or more.
22:19 Now therefore please stay here tonight as well, that I may know what else Yahweh will speak to me.”
22:20 God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that you shall do.”
22:21 Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.
22:22 God’s anger burned because he went; and Yahweh’s angel placed himself in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
22:23 The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the donkey turned out of the path, and went into the field. Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the path.
22:24 Then Yahweh’s angel stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.
22:25 The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel, and she thrust herself to the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. He struck her again.
22:26 Yahweh’s angel went further, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
22:27 The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel, and she lay down under Balaam. Balaam’s anger burned, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
22:28 Yahweh opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”
22:29 Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have mocked me, I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would have killed you.”
22:30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long until today? Was I ever in the habit of doing so to you?” He said, “No.”
22:31 Then Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw Yahweh’s angel standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face.
22:32 Yahweh’s angel said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me.
22:33 The donkey saw me, and turned away before me these three times. Unless she had turned away from me, surely now I would have killed you, and saved her alive.”
22:34 Balaam said to Yahweh’s angel, “I have sinned; for I didn’t know that you stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases you, I will go back again.”
22:35 Yahweh’s angel said to Balaam, “Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
22:36 When Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him to the City of Moab, which is on the border of the Arnon, which is in the utmost part of the border.
22:37 Balak said to Balaam, “Didn’t I earnestly send for you to summon you? Why didn’t you come to me? Am I not able indeed to promote you to honor?”
22:38 Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you. Have I now any power at all to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that shall I speak.”
22:39 Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath Huzoth.
22:40 Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes who were with him.
22:41 In the morning, Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal; and he saw from there part of the people.
23:1 Balaam said to Balak, “Build here seven altars for me, and prepare here seven bulls and seven rams for me.”…
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Numbers 31
Balaam died with the kings of Midian by the sword
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Avenge the children of Israel for the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”
3 Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Yahweh’s vengeance on Midian.
4 Of every tribe one thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, you shall send to the war.”
5 So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.
6 Moses sent them, one thousand of every tribe, to the war, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.
7 They fought against Midian, as Yahweh commanded Moses. They killed every male.
8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.
9 The children of Israel took the women of Midian captive with their little ones; and all their livestock, all their flocks, and all their goods, they took as plunder.
10 All their cities in the places in which they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire.
11 They took all the captives, and all the plunder, both of man and of animal.
12 They brought the captives, and the prey, and the plunder, to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.
13 Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went out to meet them outside of the camp.
14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.
15 Moses said to them, “Have you saved all the women alive?
16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Yahweh.
17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.
18 But all the girls, who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
19 “Encamp outside of the camp seven days. Whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.
20 As to every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood, you shall purify yourselves.”
21 Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who went to the battle, “This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded Moses:
22 however the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23 everything that may withstand the fire, you shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity. All that doesn’t withstand the fire you shall make to go through the water.
24 You shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. Afterward you shall come into the camp.”
25 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
26 “Count the plunder that was taken, both of man and of animal, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers’ households of the congregation;
27 and divide the plunder into two parts: between the men skilled in war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation.
28 Levy a tribute to Yahweh of the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred; of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks.
29 Take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for Yahweh’s wave offering.
30 Of the children of Israel’s half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites, who perform the duty of Yahweh’s tabernacle.”
31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh commanded Moses.
32 Now the plunder, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,
33 and seventy-two thousand head of cattle,
34 and sixty-one thousand donkeys,
35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of the women who had not known man by lying with him.
36 The half, which was the portion of those who went out to war, was in number three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep:
37 and Yahweh’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred seventy-five.
38 The cattle were thirty-six thousand; of which Yahweh’s tribute was seventy-two.
39 The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred; of which Yahweh’s tribute was sixty-one.
40 The persons were sixteen thousand; of whom Yahweh’s tribute was thirty-two persons.
41 Moses gave the tribute, which was Yahweh’s wave offering, to Eleazar the priest, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
42 Of the children of Israel’s half, which Moses divided off from the men who fought
43 (now the congregation’s half was three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
44 and thirty-six thousand head of cattle,
45 and thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,
46 and sixteen thousand persons),
47 even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duty of Yahweh’s tabernacle; as Yahweh commanded Moses.
48 The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses.
49 They said to Moses, “Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our command, and there lacks not one man of us.
50 We have brought Yahweh’s offering, what every man has gotten, of jewels of gold, armlets, and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before Yahweh.”
51 Moses and Eleazar the priest took their gold, even all worked jewels.
52 All the gold of the wave offering that they…
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Jeremiah 29:11
God telling Jeremiah he knows the plans he has, while warning of false prophets saying deliverance would come sooner
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says Yahweh, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Revelation 2:14
Balaam taught Balak how to ensnare the Israelites through sexual immorality
14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Matthew 7:22
not everyone who says Lord Lord will enter the kingdom, many will claim to have prophesied and driven out demons in his name but Jesus will say I never knew you
22 Many will tell me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?’
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Romans 13:12-13
Paul calling believers to put aside deeds of darkness, behave decently, not in carousing and drunkenness or sexual immorality
12 The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Psalm 119:105
your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, referenced when discussing scripture as a light shining in a dark place
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message was part of an ongoing series through 2 Peter, picking up at the second half of verse 10 in chapter 2. Pastor Ray worked through Peter's portrait of false teachers, what drives them, what they promise, and what awaits them, while keeping the congregation's focus on the call to holiness that runs through the letter from its opening verses.
What was said
Pastor Ray opened with a quick review of the ground already covered. Peter begins his letter with a positive vision: through the Holy Spirit, believers have been given everything they need for a godly life, and they are called to actively build on their faith, adding goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly love, and finally the unconditional love that comes from God. That stacking up is not earned by the believer's own effort alone but by submitting the will to God's will, the way you would seek first the kingdom.
The shadow side of that picture is what chapter 2 addresses. Peter has already established that scripture is completely reliable and that its meaning is not up to the prophet who wrote it or the reader who interprets it. It means what it means. The false teachers he warns about, then and now, are precisely the people who bend scripture to fit their lives rather than bending their lives to fit scripture. Their condemnation, Peter says, has long been hanging over them, even when it looks as though they are winning.
Pastor Ray spent time on the phrase "celestial beings," the word in Greek being doxas, glorious ones. His reading is that Peter is pointing toward demonic beings, and the point is that even the angels, who are stronger than those beings, do not heap abuse on them or treat them with the casual contempt that the false teachers do. He connected this to a pattern visible in the church today, where some teachers speak about demons with a boldness and bravado that not even the angels model, and he set that alongside the sobering words of Jesus in Matthew 7 about people who prophesied and drove out demons in His name and were still told, "I never knew you."
The description of the false teachers gets sharper as the passage moves forward. They are called springs without water, an image Pastor Ray sat with for a moment: you travel weary and thirsty toward what looks like a source of life, and there is nothing there. Their words sound good on the surface, much the way Balaam's words sound reasonable if you only read Numbers 22 through 24 without reading what Numbers 31 and Revelation 2 reveal about what he actually taught Balak. The real measure of Balaam, and of the prosperity gospel preachers Pastor Ray had in mind throughout, is not what they say in public but what they love in private: the wages of wickedness.
The bitterest irony Peter names is that these teachers promise freedom while they themselves are slaves of depravity. Pastor Ray read the Greek word order from the text: "freedom them promising, themselves slaves being." People drawn in by that message are often those who are just beginning to leave behind an old way of life, still unsteady, and a voice that says liberty in Christ means there is no need to keep putting down old habits can do real damage at exactly the wrong moment. He told a story about a musician friend who knew, whatever anyone else said, that certain music would pull him back, and that conviction was worth honoring.
Pastor Ray stopped before completing the passage and named it a to-be-continued message. The turn into chapter 3, where Peter calls these words a reminder meant to stimulate wholesome thinking, will be taken up the following week. His closing note was that the weight of chapter 2's judgment language falls on the enticers, not the enticed, and that for the people sitting in the room, the purpose of hearing it is not fear but honest, clear-eyed holiness.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Peter opens by saying God's divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life, and then calls believers to make every effort to add goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and love to their faith. What does it look like in practice to submit your will to God's will in one of those areas where you find it hardest?
- The sermon drew a line between bending your life to what Scripture says and bending Scripture to agree with your life. Can you think of a time when you were tempted to do the second, and what helped you recognize it?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 9,071 words
Share this message
Every word on these came out of the message. Download one and post it anywhere.
