“Living In Displeasure” – 2 PETER 2:10-16

Last time we examined Herod’s “pleasure” in hearing John the baptizer’s message, even though John forcefully spoke about Herod’s sin and his need for repentance. Peter warns us of those who will “slander the way of Truth (2:2) and follow Satan and the angels that sinned into eternal woe. Our only hope of rescue (2:9) is Jesus Christ.

The stakes are high and the message is clear … the highway to hell is a busy road filled with those who refuse to heed God’s Word.

Those who follow after darkness are described as “self-willed” (2:10a) and answer only to themselves as authorities over their actions. In some macabre sort of self-defense, those who are in the wrong sense a need to slander those who speak for what is right (2:10b). Truth is a persistent creature that can be covered over by men but still refuses to stay buried.

Brethren, we need not check ourselves against our own standards, ethics and morals – we must look to God for guidance in living lives that are pleasurable to Him. All else is vanity.

Men like Herod who “enjoy” the message but do not “live” the life are, in Peter’s inspired words “irrational beasts” (2:12) acting on self-willed instinct and not self-denying submission. Following these paths is walking by sight and not by faith, like a mule or an ox.

We cannot earn salvation, but we sure can earn punishment (2:13a), “the reward of unrighteousness”! Herod lived resplendent in his self-indulgent opulence and convinced himself there was “real” pleasure (2:13b) in sin. Short-term pleasure of sin is quickly replaced by looming reality of judgment.

Sadly, Peter foretold a day when teachers encourage unrighteousness and excuse immorality. As is always true of inspired prophets of God, he was right. Our world is filled with them. “Religious” teachers excuse murder, terrorism, and hedonism just to name a few.

Balaam went after the riches promised him if he would curse the Israelites, even when his rebuke came from an “irrational beast” (2:16). People were still seduced into sin (Numbers 25 and 31) and the stigma of his name being attached by inspiration to future deceivers (here and in Revelation 2:14).

It is not a matter of tolerance … it is a matter of sin.

The way of truth is the way of repentance. The way of destruction is in those who live in displeasure to God. The way of tragedy is in those who take pleasure in hearing truth and choose to do otherwise.