Participants: Tom Shepherd & Deyvy Rodriguez
Series Code: PBOTB
Program Code: PBOTB00022B
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00:01 And we're back to Books of the Book.
00:02 Dr. Tom Shepherd is with us. Dr. Tom, what is the circle of 00:07 damnation that you were talking about? 00:09 Well we talked about the implicit circle of damnation 00:12 that is in 1 Peter where he warns them about the pull of 00:15 passion and the push of persecution that could draw them 00:18 back out of the church. But in 2 Peter he talks directly about 00:22 the wrong path of the false teachers and that's what we call 00:25 the explicit circle of damnation. How did this happen, 00:29 what's involved in this. It's rather interesting looking at 00:34 this passage through the book of 2 Peter to notice the kinds 00:39 of words that Peter uses to describe the actions of the 00:44 false teachers. He says in chapter 2, verse 1 that they 00:48 bring in destructive heresies. Just like they're importing them 00:53 they bring in... In chapter 2, verse 3 that they exploit with 00:59 false words. He says in verse 10 that they indulge in lust and 01:05 despise authority and blaspheme angels. Then he says in verse 14 01:10 and 18 of chapter 2, they entice unsteady people. He says in 01:16 verse 19 they promise freedom. In verse 21 he says they turn 01:21 back from the holy commandment and in chapter 3, verses 3 and 4 01:26 he says they scoff at the second coming and in verse 5 that they 01:31 deliberately forget what creation was all about. 01:35 The order of this list in 2 Peter isn't chronological 01:39 because certainly somebody had to turn back from the holy 01:43 commandment, which was the seventh item we mentioned before 01:46 they would bring in destructive heresies which is the first 01:51 thing that he mentioned. So we can argue about the logic and 01:54 the order of how this all occurred but it seems like there 01:58 are kind of three steps that these people followed. First was 02:02 deliberately forgetting, deliberately forgetting the 02:05 truths that were inconvenient for them to remember. Then they 02:10 continue in this path, they turn back, they scoff, they despise 02:16 authority and they start blaspheming. They start to take 02:19 the holy and misuse it; they don't take it seriously anymore. 02:24 Then this leads them into more boldness where they indulge lust 02:29 they bring in heresies, they exploit people and they start 02:33 enticing people and promising them freedom and the freedom 02:36 turns out to be the very lusts that they are entrapped by. 02:41 So this three-step pattern that begins with this deliberate 02:47 diminishing of the truth has its outcome in terrible downfall 02:54 They begin on an intellectual level it seems but they end in 03:00 debasing immorality. So it's a pretty sad picture of the way 03:08 things progress in their lives. Now if you think back to 1 Peter 03:16 and the way it described ministry; we talked about this 03:23 before that there were three sets of antitheses and that if 03:28 somebody was under compulsion to become a leader that there 03:34 could be a step where they would them move from under 03:39 compulsion they might then think well I gave everything so 03:43 they should give back to me. So they seek gain, they think 03:48 the money and then they start to use their power to rule people 03:53 that this could be the very beginning steps of these false 03:58 teachers coming into the wrong path, the path of destruction. 04:02 So let me just kind of lay this out as to how this could develop 04:07 So if the step before the deliberate forgetting was people 04:11 being pushed into leadership, we start to see where the seeds of 04:15 the problem reside. Power can easily go to your head if you're 04:20 not mature and recognize it's seductiveness. All right. 04:25 So that can lead you to see yourself as the person of wisdom 04:28 and authority. After all, they put you in that position, they 04:31 put you in the position of authority so what you say must 04:35 be good. All right. Then instead of relying on the council of 04:40 God's word you start relying on yourself and you start to 04:44 conveniently "forget" teachings of the scripture that go against 04:49 your point of view. You don't like to hear those anymore and 04:53 you resent those who oppose you and you start to scoff at their 04:58 warnings and indulge yourself in self-pity and worse than that 05:04 when things don't go as you want you go into further trouble. 05:08 You become convinced of your own views and persuasively induce 05:14 other people to do the same. You put your prospective in the best 05:19 light and you scoff at the views of others. Soon it seems all 05:23 right to do the things you used to do that you used to consider 05:27 terrible and reprehensible and when someone confronts you on 05:30 that matter you accuse them of being in the wrong rather than 05:36 yourself. It's a rather sad downward spiral, the circle of 05:40 damnation. Now we're putting together the two scenarios here, 05:44 one from 1 Peter and 2 Peter where ministry went in the 05:49 wrong direction because people were pushed into leadership too 05:55 early. To me this whole picture illustrates how any of us can go 06:01 wrong and how we should be really humble about who we are 06:06 that we don't think that nothing wrong could happen to us. 06:12 We also must take really good care of those who are new in the 06:17 faith. We must take time to establish them in the faith and 06:23 not require of them or push them forward into things too early in 06:27 the faith. There are many people who leave the church. 06:32 You probably have examples in your own experience of someone 06:36 that you remember that went away from Christ. 06:40 Certainly. I think we've all had experience like that and you 06:43 know in my Christian walk I've learned that faith is not 06:48 permanent. So every day it's a constant renewal of that 06:54 relationship with the Lord. With technology these days such as 06:59 social media networks, you're able to somehow find old friends 07:05 you haven't seen in years. It's very easy to do. I think most of 07:11 us have an account and recently I remember there was a friend 07:16 who posted a picture and in this picture was a group of us. 07:21 It was a group members from the church, Pathfinders actually, 07:26 and in that group, that must have been 15 years ago, I 07:30 remember each and every one of my little friends and I was 07:35 still a boy there. And I recall that we are tagged. You know 07:39 when we are tagged that means that each person can get that 07:43 same picture. So looking at this picture, I'm looking at myself, 07:48 I'm looking at my other friends and here they are and I'm 07:52 wondering, wow, where are they now? So as I recall each of 07:56 their names I know them now, where their lifestyle has gone 08:01 and what it used to be before as we were together going to church 08:05 going to these Pathfinder meetings and how they've drifted 08:09 from that walk in their life. 08:11 So what is it that's helped to keep you in the faith? 08:15 Well that's a good question. I think it's really like I said 08:20 that daily communion with the Lord, that daily manna, if you 08:25 will, to continue growing in Christ. That's probably one, 08:30 not a secret, but I think that's helped me a lot. 08:35 I talk to people sometimes about helping to keep their children 08:37 from leaving the faith and I present four principles that 08:42 I believe can, it's not foolproof but it is very 08:47 helpful. The first think is to love your children, but you 08:51 have to love them dearly. They have to be able to see that that 08:54 you care about them and you love them. And of course, they talk 08:58 about love languages. There are different kinds of love 09:00 languages. For some people it's time together, for some it's 09:03 just a little present, for some it's words of affirmation. 09:06 There's these different kinds of love languages, but the thing 09:10 they know, they are clear, that you love them. Okay. Second is 09:14 that your rules that you have in the household are reasonable 09:19 rules. They aren't just on a whim and they don't come and go. 09:24 They're simple, they're reasonable. In my family it was 09:28 anything that would harm your life; that was a rule that you 09:33 didn't do that or if it was direct disobedience to a 09:36 parent's statement. Third is, and this is very important, that 09:40 is to live your faith in front of your children. To live your 09:44 faith in front of your children. Your children should see that 09:48 your faith makes a difference. So when I put the tithe envelope 09:52 into the offering plate, I am saying to my children that my 09:57 faith is important. When they do something or if I make a 10:01 mistake and I have to go apologize for that maybe to them 10:06 maybe to somebody else and they see me take a role of humility 10:10 they see that those principles of my faith are important to me. 10:14 When they know if I'm honest; I didn't get something, I got 10:19 too much money back that I go back and return it. They are 10:24 seeing me live my faith. If I'm involved in the life of the 10:27 church, I'm a Sabbath School teacher or leader, when they're 10:31 in Pathfinders I'm the Pathfinder leader, when they're 10:34 in the cradle roll I'm in the cradle roll, when they're doing 10:37 youth I'm in the youth. I'm with them and helping them and 10:40 I'm helping to encourage them, then they see that I'm living my 10:43 faith, that my faith is important to me, that helps them 10:46 for that faith to be important to them. And the last thing is 10:50 to answer their questions when they have questions and if you 10:53 don't know the answers it's better to say you don't know the 10:56 answers and go find somebody that does. And of course, there 10:59 are just some things in life where you just don't have 11:01 answers. But if they see again that you have the faith that you 11:05 can have certain answers that you've put into a little box 11:09 called "I'll ask Jesus. " You don't' have all the answers in 11:13 life but you're still a person of faith. These four principles, 11:16 love, reasonable rules, living your faith in front of your 11:19 children and answering their questions are almost 11:24 irresistible to stay in the faith. Not totally but it really 11:29 helps. Dr. Shepherd, perhaps someone is 11:31 watching who has gone astray or knows someone, a family member 11:34 or friend who no longer is in church, maybe one of my friends 11:38 is watching. What would you say to them. Is there hope for 11:42 someone who has gone astray? 11:43 Where there's life there's hope. You can come back. I know that 11:48 coming back to church can be a great struggle. Most people 11:51 in church don't realize just how hard it is to come back. Please 11:55 come back. Don't stay away. The Lord wants you back. He wants 11:59 to bless you. We're going to study 2 Peter 3 and find a very 12:04 interesting concept about those who have gone away; what could 12:08 happen for them in the future. I hope that you'll join us as we 12:11 continue to study this wonderful book of 2 Peter. Our next study 12:15 will be in the book of 2 Peter chapter 3. |
Revised 2014-12-17