The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Peter — Section 57

Thrse folso lcnchers wern per~isting in their wilfolnc.~q, an<l brin;,;incr uprin themse1vr 3 swift destruction. 3. 1'l,e sad resultd ef it. They will not be witho~t followers· many will be drawn away from the truth, and will follow these false teachers tbis w~y and that, to strange heresies or to licentiousness of life. Men banker after novelty; they <lisliko strictness of life; they arc easily led to embrace systems which offer somn new phase of error, or permit laxity of morals. .And thus the way of truth is evil spoken of. Men rail at Christianity because Christians are split up into so many sects and schools; they speak againot religion because so many of its professors live unworthy lives. It was so in the early days of the Church; it is so still. The evil lives of professing Christians give occasion to much scoffing and blasphemy at home; while abroad the progress of the gospel in heathen countries is sadly checked by the same unhappy cause. 4. The molive of thefalse teachers. They do not care for the souls of men; they want their money. Their words are fair, but they do not spring out of strong conviction; they are carefully thought out, cunningly devised to attract atten- tion and to ensnare men. .And so they make a. gain of their followers, reversing St. Paul's practice, "I seek not yours, but you." For they care nothing for the flock, but only for their own sordid gain. Very terrible.is the guilt of those unhappy men who seek the ministry with such miserable objects. Their teaching is but hollow hypocrisy, their whole life is a falsehood. Thus to deal with sacred things is awful exceedingly. 5. Their danger. God's sentence of condemnation is already gone out against them; it idleth not; it is active a.nd energetic, They have brought in heresies of destruction, doing what they could to destroy the souls of men. But the Lord most holy gave himself to die for those precious souls. These false teachers a.re doing what they can to frustrate the grace of God, to slay the souls for whom the Lord endured the cross. His wrath, except they repent, must come upon them to the uttermost; tha.t utter destruction which they are bringing upon themselves, slumbereth not; it will fa.II upon them suddenly a.nd consume them irl a. moment. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God," II. Goo's WRATH AGAINST THE FALSE TEACHERS: EXAMPLES OF ms AWFUL JUDG- MENTB. 1. '1.'he judgment of the angels that sinned. Even angels sinned; so strange a.nd awful is the mystery of evil .. We must not be surprised that there are sinful men in the visible Church, sometimes, alas I irl its highest offices, when we read that there was sin in heaven, that angels of God sinned against their King. The power of evil must be very terrible, wide-reaching, and alluring, if it could draw angels from their allegiance to the Creator. What need have we men to watch and pray, if even angels fell from the grace of God I St. Peter bids us remember their punishment. God spared them not; he is of purer eyes than to behold evil; the sinful cannot a.bide irl his presence. He cast out even angels when they sinned; Tartarus, not heaven, was henceforth their fitting abode; he delivered them to cha.ins of darkness. Holy Scripture gives us no details concerning the sin of the angels or its punishment. We do not know the measure of restraint under which they are now kept; we do not know whether this description applies to a.11 angels who sinned, or only to some. Those evil angels of whom St. Peter is here speaking are under some restraint and suffering some punishment; and they are reserved for the judgment of the great day. Their fall is cited for our warning; if God spared not evil angels, he will not spare evil men. 2. The judgment of the antediluvians. Satan, the prince of the devils, brought sin into the world; it spread with fearful rapidity, a.11 flesh corrupted his way upon the earth. God had created man after his own image ; but now the wickedness of man was great, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil contirlua.lly -an awful picture of the corrupting power of sin. The fixed immutable laws of the Divine government require the punishment of sin. God brought the Flood upon the world of the ungodly. But in wrath he remembered mercy; he guarded Noah, the just man who walked with God, the preacher of righteousness. Noah had proclaimed the blessings of righteousness, the misery of sin; the ark itself had been a silent preacher during the many years which elapsed while it was being built; the long labour showed the faith of Noah, and proved that his preaching came from deep con- viction. Bis neighbours would not listen; but his preaching, though it saved not them, returned into his own bosom: God knoweth how to deliver the godly. Only eight souls wore saved in that tremendous visitation, Let us ta.kc wannug and fc,\r. 62 THE SECOND EPISTLE GENERAL OF PE:'l'ER. [oa. n. 1-22.