Tuesday after the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany of our Lord
Posted on February 1, 2022 by under
Scripture: 2 Peter 2:1-16 (NKJV)
2:2 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, 11 whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.
12 But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 13 and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, 14 having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. 15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.
Devotion
Judgement for false prophets isn’t idle, even though it may seem like it at times. The entire world, except eight souls, was destroyed in the flood. Before the flood the Lord saw that “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Years later, the Lord turned Sodom and Gomorrah to ash as an example to all who would defile themselves with homosexual acts. Although the ancient world and these two cities were secure in their sins for some time, the Lord’s judgment came at the precise moment He intended.
But with the judgment of the wicked came the deliverance of the righteous. The flood destroyed all life, but delivered Noah and his family. Fire from the Lord devoured Sodom and Gomorrah, delivering Lot and his family so that he would no longer be tormented by the sights and sounds of unlawful deeds. These examples show us that “the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment.”
God will not let evil men go unpunished, even if that punishment isn’t until the next life. Neither will God fail to deliver His saints from trials and temptations. He delivers us now through faith in His promises. On the last day He will deliver us from all evil by condemning and punishing evil forever.
Prayer: Almighty God, Who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: Grant to us such strength and protection as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
