Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 19

January 19;      2 Peter 2:18;       228/260(III);        ‘Words of Emptiness’

2 Peter 2:18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error

There have always been false teachers and it appears that in the last days, the number of false teachers will increase.  This verse tells us that their words will be empty.  Their deception will not be so much false teaching as teaching that appeals to the flesh, especially the sensual nature.  When we become born again, our flesh does not change.  It still has natural desires that must be controlled by our spirit, that is alive unto the Lord and by the renewing of our mind.  As a believer grows spiritually, his or her ability to control the flesh increases, but it is still subject to temptation.  The Jews in the Old Testament were not born again.  The Holy Spirit did not live in their spirit.  The desire of the Lord was to prosper Israel in every way, so that the heathen nations would be drawn to the Lord because of His goodness and blessings.  Unfortunately, the Jews often were seduced by the immoral ‘religious’ practices of these pagan nations and the Jews were more impacted by them than they were by the Jews.  The deception of the devil and the lust of the flesh has not changed.  Our protection is what it has always been, walking close to the Lord.  The Word, prayer, worship, being active in a local church and heeding the Holy Spirit when He warns you of erroneous teaching protects you from your fellowship with the Lord ‘going backwards.’  I Corinthians 9:27 tells us to discipline our flesh so that our life is not hypocritical.  It takes work but freedom results.