Sermon: The Lord Knows How

As we come now to God's Word, turn with me to the book of two Peter. Find it on page 1019 as we, if you're using the the uh pew Bible, we are gonna continue our series through this book tonight. I will add my greeting to Pastor Jason's and I'm excited to get to spend some time thinking about God's word with you Before we hear from God's word, would you join me as we pray to him?

Father, would you shine the light of your revelation into our minds and hearts You would illuminate and give us understanding and to give us sight. We might see more of who you are. We might stand more firmly on the truth of who you are and that we might live more faithfully and more boldly and light of the truth of who you are. We pray these things in the name of your son Christ. Amen.

I'm going to read tonight from two Peter chapter two. I'm gonna read verses four through 10, a first half of verse 10

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 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 to ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen

to the ungodly and if he rescued righteous lot greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked. 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. Then the Lord knows how to rescue the Godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

If you were with us a few weeks ago, you will remember that at the beginning of chapter two, Peter introduced the topic of false teachers and this will be a theme that is going to run through the entire chapter. He began by pointing out that throughout the history of God's people, there have always been false prophets who rise up among the true prophets and that Christians should expect the same in the church. False teachers will rise up along with genuine teachers.

Peter then proceeds to give some insight into the character of these teachers as well as to highlight that they are destined for destruction and this is where we will pick up tonight for those of you who like me, find it easier to listen and follow along if you know what is coming. We're gonna take a minute tonight to put these verses into context and then we are simply going to walk through Peter's argument from beginning to end.

I hope you will see that there is a steady flow to our passage tonight that culminates with one goal and that goal being that you would have a clear idea in your mind of who God is and how he deals with the unrighteous and with the godly In. In these verses, Peter is seeking to address a specific question, one that he begins to engage with at the end of verse three where he states there that is the false teachers there condemnation from long ago

is not idle and their destruction is not asleep. What Peter is addressing, what he's speaking into is the disconnect between the promise of condemnation and destruction for false teachers with the fact that they seem to be doing fairly well, meeting with some earthly success exploiting by their greed and leading people away into sensuality with no adverse consequences. In verse one, Peter writes that these teachers are bringing upon themselves swift

destruction and yet it doesn't seem to be happening. It appears that their condemnation is idle and their destruction is asleep. Does God not see is he idle or asleep? Why is he not doing something? Is he ever going to act?

In Psalm 73, David describes his own struggle with these questions and I want you to hear as he wrestles with this, but as for me, my feet had almost stumbled. My steps had nearly slipped for I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs until death. Their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are. They are not stricken like the rest of mankind. Therefore, pride is their necklace.

Violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell out through fatness. Their hearts overflow with folly. They scoff and speak with malice loftly. They threaten oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens and their tongue struts through the earth. Therefore his people turn back to them and find no fault in them and they say, how can God know? Is their knowledge in the most high behold, these are the wicked always at ease.

They increase in riches. All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence?

Can you identify with David? Do you ever look around and wonder if you have in vain tried to hold the truths of scripture or in vain have fought to live out a biblical morality? Do you ever feel like things aren't fair that those who rebel against God and his words seem to be flourishing while those who are seeking to humbly and ply follow him and his word are being afflicted? Does it seem like God doesn't notice that he doesn't know

what the wicked are doing or at least doesn't deal with them how we would like him to? Does it seem like he doesn't see the trials of his people? Do you get tired of waiting for him to act? Are you tempted to take matters into your own hands, perhaps to imitate the methods of the false teachers or simply to give up and follow the pattern of falsehood and of sensuality? These are the types of questions that Peter is dealing

with in these verses and it may be that Peter is anticipating objections that may arise knowing that this will be a struggle for every generation of the church, or it may be that he knew that there were questions or misunderstandings about God's character and his work in the world that were present among those in his audience. Either way, Peter wants to reassure his readers that God indeed is trustworthy, that the condemnation

and destruction of the ungodly are not idle or asleep and that the wicked will not escape judgment nor the Godly be abandoned after stating this truth. In verse three, he proceeds to encourage those who are troubled with such thoughts by demonstrating the same truth, building a case for the character and nature of God based on the evidence of history. And that brings us then to the passage for tonight where Peter makes an argument

that even though false teachers are present, perhaps even seem to be thriving, they are bringing upon themselves certain destruction and the Christian can and should trust God, follow the doctrine and the ethics of God's word as supporting evidence for his conclusion. He uses three specific instances of past judgment using a series of if statements to build up to the crescendo of a then statement, contain his main thesis in verse four.

You can see the first of these if statements as Peter points to God's judgment of rebellious angels 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. There is some uncertainty about what exactly Peter is referring to, but it seems most likely from few hints here and in the book of Jude and a little bit elsewhere to be looking back to a rebellion

of angels sometime before Genesis three. Don't know much about this event, but this rebellion explains the presence of Satan in the garden as well as the existence of spiritual beings that are at enmity with God. These are not uncreated beings but angels who rebelled against God and were not spared in their disobedience. They were cast into hell where they are in chained while they wait for the final judgment to occur.

These rebellious angels are under punishment now even as they anticipate more punishment to come, more judgment to come, and Peter wants you to see that even though even those with with glory and power of angels cannot and will not escape the judgment of God. Next Peter turns his attention in verse five to the ancient world, if he did not spare the ancient world but preserve Noah a herald of righteousness with seven others when he brought a flood upon the world

of the ungodly. This ancient world is the world of Genesis six where we read that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

So you're likely aware these wicked men were destroyed by a God sent flood, but Noah and his family are preserved. The ancient world is not spared. Noah and his family are the judgment of God is such that he can and has wiped out almost the entire human race, but it is also measured in such a manner that it can reach down in the midst of universal destruction and rescue. Eight people.

Final episode is in verses six through eight where Peter brings up Sodom and Gamora if by turning the cities of Sodom and gomorra to ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly and if he rescued lot greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked. 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. Genesis 18 and 19 recounts the story of God sending down fire to destroy these immoral cities, turning them to ash, condemning them to extinction and making of them an example to all who would come after. Again, the destruction is almost total but not quite God rescued lot who is described as a righteous man for his unwillingness to conform or reconcile himself to the evil around him.

God brings him out of the city before it is destroyed, but we see the severity of God's judgment is such that there is no recovery for those upon whom it ultimately falls.

You may have heard the statement that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior and this is certainly and especially true when considering the actions of God who is unchangeable the same yesterday, today and forever. If he did not spare the rebellious angels or the wicked ancient world or immoral Sodom and Gamora, if he was able to preserve Noah and lot in the midst of a multitude of the ungodly, then you can depend on him to do so today

and forever and this is exactly the point that Peter has been working toward As we come to the climactic conclusion in verses nine and 10, all those if statements are coming to a head, if God has acted this way in the past, if he did not spare the angels and did not spare the world in Noah's day, if he did not spare Sodom and Gomorrah and if he saved a lot and Noah, then you can be confident that verse nine is true. The Lord knows how

to rescue the Godly from their trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.

This is what Peter has been building toward. Look again at the text. Our entire passage tonight is one sentence, a really long sentence and now he comes at the end of this thought to the truth that he wants his readers, he wants you Christian to be CD of God isn't ignorant, he isn't impotent, he isn't indifferent. The character of the holy God of the universe is such that he will vindicate the righteous and condemn the unrighteous.

It is who he is, it is what he has done and it is what he will do always.

God knows how to save and how to punish.

Consider for a minute some of the things that God knows how to do that we see here. He knows how to distinguish between the righteous and the ungodly. Noah and lot did not get lost in the mass of wicked humanity in their respective days. God knew them and he knew their hearts. He knew that they were not swept along with their cultural moment. He knew that Noah was heralding what was right and he knew that lot was a righteous man.

This was a little bit eye-opening for me frankly as I was studying this week. I don't tend to associate lot with righteousness when I first think of him,

Don't tend to think of him as someone who who sought to live faithfully for God. He moved to Sodom. He had children with his daughters among other things, but God knew him and he knew that despite his failures, despite his shortcomings, he lived among the sensual conduct of Sodom day after day and yet he did not adopt their ways. How easy it is to be desensitized to unrighteousness is one of the main methods of those who would be transgressive is slowly keep pushing further

and further until what was once out of the question comes normal lot did not give into that. He continued even after being there for a long time to be greatly distressed and even tormented by the lawless deeds which he saw and heard day after day and God knew he knew his heart and it is a great comfort to know that God perfectly discerns and that he knows the Godly like a good shepherd who knows his sheep.

God knows the ungodly as well, those who are described as sensual in verse seven, lawless in verse eight, indulging in lust and despising authority in verse nine. These are the ungodly and they are not hidden from God's sight. Peter is going to spend the rest of the chapter describing these people, so come back next week to hear more. You can know with full assurance that God knows the heart of all men and that he knows how to distinguish

between the godly and the unrighteous. He can tell the difference.

In addition, God knows how to rescue the Godly from trials.

It may feel like those who oppose the truth are too numerous, too influential, too powerful, too wicked to be overcome it. It may seem like the inevitable march of history is moving forward, pushing God and his people aside. It may look like God doesn't see or doesn't care about the plight of those who are His, but that is not the case. Noah and lot were vastly outnumbered and yet God in his mercy intervened on their behalf

and delivered them from his watery and fiery judgment illustrating the truth of God's promise. In Isaiah 43, when you pass through the waters, I will be with you and through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned and the flame shall not consume you.

Scriptures are clear over and over and over and over. Following God does not mean a life free from trials, but it does mean that when the trials come, God knows how to rescue his people. Matthew Henry and his commentary says, the wisdom of God is never at a loss about ways and means to deliver his people. They are often utterly at a loss and can see no way. He has both the wisdom to contrive the way and the power to work out the deliverance.

Brothers and sisters, you can know that God has both the wisdom and the power to save. He knows how to deliver his people. Finally, he knows how to keep the ungodly under punishment. If even the angels were not spared, then there is no power that can withstand God's judgment. No persecuting government or pastor or church that perverts the truth of God's word. God doesn't deal in majority rule. He doesn't yield to the schemes and the plans of men.

No one will be spared by blending in with the crowd. No one is outside the reach of God's righteous judgment. No one is beyond or above the scope and the reach of God's right and just rule over this world. There is no escape for the ungodly from punishment and from ultimate final judgment,

can you trust God even when it seems like the wicked are flourishing and the righteous are seeking God in vain, the answer is an emphatic yes, yes. You can trust him. He knows how to rescue the Godly and he knows how to keep the unrighteous under punishment.

As we begin to come to the end of our time together tonight, I I want to take a few minutes to think about who needs to hear this.

Peter here does not write this as a warning to false. Teachers wants to remember He's warning against false teachers, so certainly I think there is a word here for leaders, a warning to elders and deacons, growth group leaders, pastors, mentors Watch your life and your doctrine Closely. God sees, God knows and God knows how to rescue and how to punish,

but the main thrust of Peter's argument here is not teachers. It is to all Christians that you might not be swayed or seduced by false teaching. This is a warning to expect your leaders to conform to the word of God, to be motivated by love of God and to live in accordance with godly morality, students, others. If you move away from East Lansing, this is what you are to look for when you are looking for a new church and you are to avoid those who would teach

or live differently no matter how nice the people are who we welcome you no matter how much you like the music, no matter how convenient the location is, do not be swayed by teachers who would teach something other than what the word of God teaches.

For all of us in the digital world in which we live, there are thousands of teachers at your fingertips. Let me urge you to use discernment in who you listen to or watch. A 15 second clip may be powerful. The viral teacher of the moment may seem fresh and relevant no matter who you are. You can find someone out there who agrees with you and is saying what you have been telling. Everyone needs to be said. Who's sticking it to those people who get it wrong?

Someone who will tickle your ears. Be careful, be watchful, be wise.

God knows how to rescue the Godly and he knows how to punish the unrighteous. Consider for a couple reasons why it may be important for us to remember and to stand on this truth that God knows how to rescue and punish. Some of you may need to hear this as a warning. You may be tempted to believe that God is going to overlook sin. Maybe you think he grades on a curve or like speeding on the freeway. Maybe you look around and think,

surely God can't pull everyone over. As long as I'm in good company, as long as I don't stand out in my unrighteousness, I will be fine. Maybe evil has ceased to disturb you, has ceased to torment you like it did. Job what you listen to or what you watch or how the people around you talk, the thoughts that go through your mind don't bother you and maybe they should. You need to hear as a warning so as not to be led astray

that God knows how to punish ungodliness and he will.

On the other hand, you may need to hear this as a comfort and to brace you to keep being faithful. Do you worry that God will not be able to rescue his people or that he will not choose to? Is it hard for you to believe that God sees, hears, knows? Are you deeply troubled and overwhelmed by the evil that you see and hear? Do you feel alone and fear being swept away by the current of the day? Do some who claim the name

of Christ disdain you for not being loving? Don't you know that God is love? Do others belittle you because you are too weak, too willing to compromise, too fearful to say what needs to be said.

There are false teachers who put God through, who put God and godly people through trials. They use the moral high ground to look down upon God's people for not being compassionate in the ways they think you should be compassionate, not being courageous in the ways that they think you should be courageous. Are you tempted to feel scared or sorry for yourself or angry? Don't confuse delay with indifference. God knows his people

and he knows how to deliver them out of your trials. He knows how to deliver you out of your trials. You need to hear that you can be confident that God knows how to rescue.

Do you believe that God will rescue his people and judge his enemies? This is the testimony of scripture. Peter could have added God's judgment and deliverance as it related to the Egyptians and Exodus to Elijah and the prophets of Baal to David and Saul or any number of other examples would've been a very, very long sentence, but he could have added a lot more. All of these examples are simply shadows that point to and culminate in God rescuing his people

by sending his son Jesus. Jesus who alone in all the world is righteous, who was deeply troubled by the evil that he saw and heard and who died to save his people. This Jesus who was raised from the dead on the third day and who is going to return one day to judge the world? Rest assured no one ultimately gets away with anything and anyone who puts their hope in Jesus will not be put to shame. If God did not spare his own son

but gave him up for us all, then you can trust him. Don't lose heart when you see rebellion and error around you. When you feel alone, when obedience is challenging. Do not be deceived by temporary appearances or by the ancient enemy who would subvert God and ask, did God really say, does God really know He does? God knows how to rescue the Godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.

He who promised is faithful and he will do it. As we close, I want to go back quickly to David and Psalm 73. Listen to how David responds when he has come face to face with the reality that God will judge and save.

Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You hold my right hand, you guide me with your counsel and afterward you will receive me to glory whom have I in heaven but you and there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for for behold, those who are far from you shall perish. You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you, but for me, it is good to be near God.

I have made the Lord God my refuge that I may tell of all your works. What a change from where he was, and you can know that same change as you stand firmly on the reality of who God is. Christian, if you are united with Christ, you can have the same confidence that David has here. He will never leave you or forsake you. He is your wonderful counselor. He has a glorious inheritance for you which is being kept for you in heaven.

He is your refuge. Take heart, declare the goodness of who he is and what he has done. Would you join me now as we pray?

Father, we praise you for who you are. We praise you that you are a God who knows. We praise you for your wisdom. We praise you for your power. We praise you for your son Christ. We praise you that you are a just and perfect judge. We praise you that you are the holy God. We praise you that you will never change. Would you help us Lord to live in confidence knowing who you are and knowing what you have promised? Ask these things in the name of your son Christ. Amen.