Pastor Marty Wednesday, November 4, 2026 at 8:14AM A link to the audio can be found at the bottom of this article.
2 Thessalonians. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, November 1, 2026.
Pastor Marty Wednesday, October 28, 2026 at 6:21AM A link to the audio can be found at the bottom of this article.
Multiple Passages. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, October 25, 2026.
Last week, we looked at the warnings of Jesus regarding deception. He warned against deception in general in the days ahead, but he also warned of a specific deception that would come about during the Great Tribulation.
Today, we are going to look at how the apostles of Jesus continued the warning about deception both in general and specifically in the last days.
Let’s get started.
We are going to look at a number of passages which demonstrate that the apostles warned about deception in general for the Christians. This will involve multiple passages.
I would say up front that the whole letter to the Galatians could serve as a warning against the deception of requiring Gentiles to follow the Law of Moses in order to also follow Jesus. Paul even used a term in Galatians 3:1 describing them as being charmed or bewitched into following this deception. They had come under a persuasion that was not of the Holy Spirit.
We can also recognize that some passages speak of the Last Days as having already started in the first century, whereas other passages are clearly looking to the end of this age.
The Messiah had been revealed. The nation of Israel had rejected him. Yet God was calling all men (Jew and Gentile) everywhere to repent and believe upon Jesus as the one anointed to save them. The rejection of Messiah by the Jews had led to the grace of God going out to the nations. This is often called the Age of the Church. However, it is more specifically an age of grace to the nations. The length of this age of grace is unknown. However, it will come to an end (see Matthew 24:3 and Matthew 28:20).
This is God’s last program before sending Christ to take up the kingdoms of this world and restore the Kingdom promised by God through the prophets. In this sense, we are in the last days.
Yet other passages make clear that there will be a period at the end of this age, the last of the last days. Jesus referred to it as The Great Tribulation. The believers are removed and the earth plunges into the last great test that prepares everyone for the coming of Christ. Some will be judged and removed, and some will be found worthy to enter the Millennial Kingdom.
For now, let’s focus on passages that speak to the Church Age, or the Age of Grace to the Nations.
2 Peter 2:1-3
This whole chapter is a warning to Christians that false teachers will try to pull them away from the truth of Christ given through his apostles. They are false prophets because they have not actually heard from God, and they are false teachers because they do not actually teach you how to please God and serve Him. They have heard from something else and teach you to serve them and yourself.
Peter warns that they “introduce destructive heresies.” These are the opinions of teachers that fly in the face of the Truth revealed in the Bible. The word “heresy” also has a sense of people being captured to their false position. Peter emphasizes that the power of their deceptions will even lead to Christians “denying the Master who bought them…”
How could a Christian deny the Lord Jesus who purchased them by his blood? This is typically done by denying a part of the teaching about Jesus. In short, they redefine who Jesus is and what he has accomplished.
Very early on, you had some people who denied that Jesus was really human. They had no problem believing that he was God among men, but they could not fathom him taking on a human, flesh nature. To them Spirit was good and mortal flesh was bad. They refused to accept that a good Spirit took on bad flesh. Jesus only seemed to be human, only appeared to die on the cross, but this didn’t actually happen, according to them.
The opposite heresy was promoted as well. Jesus was human: a great prophet, teacher, and example for us. However, he was not God. Sometimes these heresies only demoted Jesus to a lesser heavenly being, but generally he was treated as only a wise man.
A common heresy today is to teach that Jesus didn’t actually pay a price for our sins. They teach that Jesus only came to give an example of how to love. Our salvation is accomplished by us as we follow him.
In all of these, a critical part of the New Testament is rejected and a different picture of Jesus and his work appears. In the letter to the Galatians, Paul called this a different Jesus and a different gospel. These are people who did not get rid of the idea of Jesus and the Gospel. Instead, they hollow out the meaning of these words and fill it with what they think. I know that they have not been authorized to do that by the “Master (Jesus) who bought them.” Thus, they are bringing destruction on themselves, all while claiming to believe in Jesus.
Verse 2 tells us that their way of life is sensual (flesh-based). Many believers throughout history have been attracted by such teachings. How many people do a good job of restraining their flesh, and yet, a part of them resents not being able to cast off restraint. When a false teacher comes along with a deceptive rationalization for why they can do it, their flesh can jump at the opportunity. We are not saved by our perfect performance, but true faith in Christ will go to battle against the lusts of the flesh. In fact, Scripture tells us that our fleshly lusts war against our souls. When you show up in that battle (no matter how well you do), you are helping to guard your heart against deceivers who come along promising freedom.
Peter says that they cause the way of Truth to be maligned (vs 2). They help to keep the lost deceived to the truth of the Gospel of Christ. No matter what your history has been, or what others have done throughout history in the name of Christ, you are called to believe on Jesus and not on them. The job of true Christians is to live our life in such a way that the lost will be able to see Jesus over the top of the pretenders.
Verse 3 states that they will exploit Christians (who are not paying attention to the fact that their words are false). God help us to be Christians who are standing against the attack of our own flesh through lust and who are paying attention to the deceivers that come along shilling a false gospel.
Of course, the rest of the chapter continues warning against false teachers, but let’s move to another passage.
James 5:7-8
The Apostle James also dealt with people who promoted the idea of faith without works. Essentially, James warns that this is not a true faith. A true, living faith will find its way to the surface of our life. It always does something, never nothing. A person who claims such does not understand the Gospel is not being led by the Holy Spirit.
In verses 1 to 6 of chapter 5, James warned the rich of this world who have heaped up treasures in this world in the last days. This is pictured as something that has happened, and so, this is one of those verses that speaks of the Church Age as the last days. The rich have also oppressed their workers while living in pleasure and luxury. He closes the description with the challenge that the rich have condemned and even murdered the righteous while going after luxury.
Verses 7 to 8 then turn to Christians. Christians need to be patient in a world where the wicked pursue luxury at the expense of the righteous. The word for patient here is not the “hang-in-there” word. It is the idea of having a long fuse. In other words, be patient in the sense that you don’t blow your cool, explode in anger.
What does this have to do with deception? There are many ways to be deceived. Anger is a powerful motivator. The Christian can blow their top towards the rich and be deceived in thinking that getting justice against the rich is the main thing in life. However, we can also be tempted to be angry with God. We can be tempted to quit “farming for God” and start farming for ourselves.
James reminds them, us, that the Lord’s judgment will come. No one is getting away with anything. We must strengthen our hearts because the coming of the Lord is near. Jesus will be the judge of both us and them. It would be tragic to lose my soul because of the deceitfulness of riches or any other sin. We have a whole generation that is raging on either side of this issue. Do you trust that Christ is coming to set these things right? Can you trust him and live out the truth in this age until he comes? That is the question.
Jude 1:4
Lastly in this section, we have the Apostle Jude whose warnings follow closely to Peter’s warnings in his letters.
Jude was going to write about the salvation that Christians shared. However, he found it necessary to challenge them in this area of deception. Verse 4 makes it very clear that already in that first generation, “certain persons have crept in unnoticed…” These men were in the process of turning “the grace of our God into licentiousness…” The verb for this is present tense.
Licentiousness pictures someone who is unrestrained by the truth of God. It is unbridled lust. The point is not that they have desire, but that these desires are out of control and out of God’s proper boundaries. The NIV translates it as a license for immorality. Jesus, of course, did not teach this and did not die on a cross so that we could continue in slavery to sin. Such people deny the teaching and purpose of Christ in favor of a twisted teaching that promotes a purpose of their own making.
Jude says that they also deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. This is not only in theory or interpretation of Scripture, but also a denial of the Holy Spirit sent by the Lord to teach us how to follow him.
Jude writes his letter to warn believers not to go along with those people (or any such in the future). Instead, he says, “Build yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Christians must keep focused on Jesus and his way instead of being drawn away by the deceivers who are deceived themselves.
This has continued down through the centuries into the modern era. Yet Scripture also speaks of an intensified deception that occurs in the Last Days leading up to the Great Tribulation. We already see deception ramping up to greater and greater levels of attack and sophistication.
I believe that Christians will be raptured before the great deception of the Great Tribulation. However, this does not mean we can ignore the truth about how great the deception is that lies ahead of us. First of all, that deception does not drop out of nowhere. The groundwork is even now being laid for these things. People are even now being deceived and drawn away from the truth of Jesus.
On top of this, there will be people who are not ready at the rapture that come to faith in Jesus during the Tribulation. Yes, a great deception will sweep over the lost of this world and most will be taken up in it. Yet the warnings we give today will live on in the minds of people and the media we leave behind. No matter what, the biblical warning is that an Antichrist figure will arise and make the world take a mark in order to buy and sell. Anyone who yields to this deception will forfeit salvation. Our warnings today leave signposts and footprints for those who realize too late that the warnings of God’s judgment at the end of the age are very real.
We are going to look at four passages that speak to this end time deception, saving 2 Thessalonians 2 for next week.
By the way, let me just add this. It is not our belief about how and when the rapture will occur that saves us. Neither does our particular belief disqualify us. Regardless of your belief about the rapture, hear the warnings of the apostles on top of the warnings of our Lord from last week.
2 Peter 3:3-4
Just as Peter warned against deception in general in chapter 2, he also warned against deception at the end of the age. He speaks of mockers in the Last Days. There have always been mockers and scoffers, but it is even now growing stronger and stronger.
Peter warns that it will be common to mock the second coming of Jesus. “Things have continued as they always have from the beginning! Where is this coming of Jesus!” Of course, this is said in ridicule. It is easy to think of this as only being unbelievers. However, this has also started to enter into the Church. There are teachers in the Church who do not believe in a literal return of Jesus to this earth. If you think I am being too judgmental to say that they are mockers, you should listen to some of their diatribes against those who expect and look forward to a literal return of Jesus Christ. Yes, not every single individual who believes this is a mocker. But this is a very real dynamic happening today.
Mocking is a subtle form of deception. It creates a tension and environment that is uncomfortable for you. You are tempted to feel smaller and smaller, and more and more isolated. As the ridicule mounts, you can be tempted to drop the Truth you are holding or at least moderate it to a less “ridiculous” (as defined by the mockers) form. The temptation is to relieve the tension through compromise.
In truth, the apostles all hold forth the return of Jesus as the blessed hope of every generation of Christians. Just because Christians in prior generations lived and died without Jesus coming, it doesn’t mean that their hope was in vain. First of all, that hope strengthened them through many difficulties in their life. They kept the faith knowing that Jesus would come back to set all things right. Second of all, all such people who kept the faith in prior generations will participate in the resurrection together with those of us who are still alive. The Blessed Hope did not fail them because they are even now at the right hand of the Lord anticipating the Father’s command, “Go!” What a glorious day that will be!
1 Timothy 4:1-3
Let’s look at several passages from the Apostle Paul. He tells us that the Holy Spirit explicitly says that in the latter times “some” will fall away from the faith. This pronoun in English comes across as meaning a small number. However, in the Greek, it does not have this idea. It is simply an indefinite pronoun referring to an indefinite number of Christians defecting from the faith. We call this apostacy. They are apostatizing from the faith.
Paul states that they will do this because they will pay attention to “deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.” How do we connect with deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons? The answer is in verse 2. It is through hypocritical and lying humans whose conscience has been seared. They may have at one time, but they no longer have any qualms about teaching things that are contradictory to the words of Christ and his apostles.
Let’s dispense of one idea. Demons, fallen angels, and the devil are not teaching anything good through these unwitting humans. These beings have no love for humanity. Satan was a murderer from the very beginning as he tempted Adam and Eve into rejecting God’s instruction. He was a liar from the beginning when he questioned God’s veracity and intentions. When he says, “Did God really say that?”, how ought we to respond? We should respond with the Words of God and stick with it. To stay close to God’s Word is to stay close to safety. The last days will be full of people who have been enticed to embrace teachings that have their source in a spirit being that hates us, a demonic source.
Verse 3 mentions that men will forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from certain foods. It may seem strange to think that large groups of people could be deceived into embracing a theology, a teaching, that forbids marriage. It seems like society has been fighting over the ability of homosexuals to marry. But the ultimate trend is not towards more and more people marrying. Homosexuals marrying only dilutes and diminishes the institution that God created to be between a man and a woman.
Many today are blaming hard break ups on the old notion of marriage for life. Like somehow making commitments to one another is the problem. No, the problem is that we lack the intestinal fortitude to back up our commitments.
Marriage is also slandered as a patriarchal construct to bind women under tyranny. Some people may be using it this way, but they will have to answer to God for it. Men did not make marriage. God did. When we abuse what God has given us for His very good reasons, we sin against Him and against one another. We do great damage even to ourselves. Open relationships (uncommitted to one another beyond the present) will not solve the woes of humanity. It will only plunge us into even greater pain and suffering.
The same thing is happening with parenting. The trend will be away from people raising kids. The emphasis will be on the importance of kids being raised “by professionals.” It is true that parents are not “professionals” at raising kids. The lie is that this will make things better as we reject God’s better way. In fact, getting pregnant will be seen as a tragedy for women. The government can artificially produce the necessary number of citizens each year. Women can have their DNA modified to make them sterile so they will never have to face the “horrors” of pregnancy. The message will be, “Quit getting married; quit making babies, and just have fun with sex!”
However, these are solutions that refuse to understand how God has created us. Marriage and family are powerful parts of how God has wired humanity. We reject this at our own peril. It is kicking at God for how He has created us. It is foolish to think that we can fix His creation with our “better” vision for humanity when the true source of this is demonic.
The area of food is not made explicit, perhaps because there may be several different approaches to this. It may have the angle of the Old Testament dietary laws. We see that cropping up throughout the centuries. Certain teachers and certain groups have taught that Christians should be following these restrictions, which is contrary to the teaching of the apostles. There is nothing wrong with a person following these restrictions, but it should have nothing to do with a kind of legalism that affects our relationship with God.
It could also connect with the modern movement towards veganism. Various groups, religious and secular, have promoted this way of living as a higher and enlightened form of living.
Paul emphasizes that everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude (to the person offering it and to God who created it). Christians should not be judging one another on the food that they do or do not eat. It should remain at the level of person taste, and that is all.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Paul tells us that difficult times will (future tense) come in the last days. The word for “difficult” refers to strong resistance against making the proper movement. Christians who want to follow Jesus will find more and more resistance from society, peers, families, even from within the Church.
He then describes why this will be so. The hardness of these times will be driven by the fact that people are essentially lovers of themselves. The list he gives begins with “lovers of self” and ends with “rather than lovers of God…” This creates a kind of parenthesis. Because they love themselves rather than God, their character exudes along list of vices: love of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure.
This has always been a list of things the world does. However, this is clearly about the way that many will turn from loving God in the last days, the apostacy. Verse 5 further describes this as holding to a form of godliness but denying its power. The deception is to hang on to some outward shell of godliness, or Christlikeness, while refusing to let the power of the Spirit of God to work in your life. It is to hollow out what it means to follow Christ and fill it with self-serving substitutes.
The power of following Christ is that the Holy Spirit dwells within us. He helps us to resist and even conquer the war of our own lust against our soul. The power of godliness is the power of fruitfulness that comes from obeying Christ and his apostles. It is powerful because it is built upon and works in conformity with truth, reality, God’s creation.
True Christians are to avoid those who are lovers of self over the top of loving God. You can warn them of the perils they are surrounded by, but do not embrace them. They will become a stumbling block to you.
One form of this deception has been to emphasize that you can’t love others until you properly love yourself. The truth is that this is not your problem. You should first press into loving God. He will teach you to love others, and in that experience, also heal the things that are wrong within your heart. You will never heal yourself by turning towards yourself. Jesus never taught this.
2 Timothy 4:1-2
There are some textual issues in verse 1, whether it should be “at his appearing and His kingdom” or “by his appearing and His kingdom…” Regardless of this, Paul reminds Timothy who is a pastor that Jesus will come back and judge those who are alive and those who are dead. Because of this, he is to preach the word and always be ready to correct people with great patience and instruction. The point of this is that his job is to help Christians resist the things that are pulling them away from the truth.
Verse 3 states that “the time will come” (in the future latter days) when people not endure sound (healthy) doctrine. Notice this too describes people being tempted to fall away from the truth, apostasy.
He pictures a time when people will no longer listen to truth, but instead, they will want to hear “myths.” Myths are fictitious narratives. It is interesting that political parties and the media love to talk about “narratives” and “controlling the narrative.” Talk about myths! Yet, when it comes to God, His narratives are truth! The baby in a manger is not just a fictitious story to inspire us. Jesus hanging on the cross is not myth to inspire us. It is Truth intersecting a world enamored with lies and built upon them.
C.S. Lewis left the world of atheism and became a believer in Jesus when he saw that God’s stories were real. In a sea of fictitious stories, God sent a real story to reach the hearts of the lost.
Paul says that they want their ears to be tickled. So they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with what they desire. Think about how platforms like YouTube accelerate this process. In the past, you would have had to drive to a location, or buy a cassette tape, CD, DVD, etc., in order to hear what you like to hear. Now a computer algorithm will analyze what you like to click on and create an echo chamber of your own desires.
This only accelerates our turning from truth and embrace of fictitious narratives. This is the basic war between lies and truth. Lies cannot win because they deny reality. They persist against that which cannot cease being true. This is the tragedy of our modern era. We will encourage a young kid to chop off their breasts and have a sex change surgery promising freedom. In truth, they are being taught how to war against truth and reality. Kill it and burn the bridge behind you. Make your own path in defiance of all that is true.
One man who was on the leading edge of transgender surgery back in the 1970s tells the story of how he was perverted at a young age by a grandmother who loved to see him wearing a purple dress when he visited. This messed with his young psyche. Long story short, as an adult he tried living as a cross-dresser and then made the plunge to surgery. It never made him happy. Later, as a 70-year-old he realized that all along this torturous path, there was a young boy inside of him wondering why he was never enough.
God help us to stand with the truth of Christ given to us in the Scriptures without losing compassion and hope for a world tortured by lies and tortured by the deceptions that have led them down a long path of shame, guilt, and regret.
It is getting darker in this world, but we are still the light in this world for now!
Email Article | Print Article | Share Article | tagged Deception, False Teachers, Food, Heresy, Jesus, Last Days, Marriage, Parenting, Sexuality Pastor Marty Tuesday, October 20, 2026 at 8:23AM This is a series regarding the warning of deception that is particularly powerful in the end times.
The audio link appears at the end of the article which will be posted later.
Matthew 24:3-5, 9-14, 21-15. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty
Bonner on Sunday, October 18, 2026.
We are going to take some time to deal with the topic of deception particularly deception in the end times. We are not to focus on setting dates. However, there are many good reasons to believe that we are approaching, or are near, the end-times. Of course, God is the One who is in charge. He can keep things going for another hundred years. Yet, these lessons are important for understanding deception and not falling under its power.
Today we are going to focus on the warning against deception that Jesus gave in Matthew 24.
Ultimately, I want to help us develop a way to see through powerful deceptions of any type. That may be deceptions that come from occult circles, from religious cults, or even something as strange as an alien/UFO disclosure (now called UAPs- Unidentified Aerial Phenomena).
A recent movie called Disclosure Day has challenged whether such a revelation would shatter Christianity. What if aliens arrived and said they had technology to fix our problems and, by the way, we created you! I am not saying that this is going to happen. I am saying that Christians need to be able to analyze any such things from a biblical perspective (from God’s perspective) and respond appropriately.
Let’s look at our passage.
In verses 1 to 2, the disciples are impressed with the temple complex and point it out to Jesus. Jesus responds that not one stone will be left there upon another that will not be thrown down (presumably into the valley below).
This sets the disciples aback. It may be because they didn’t expect such an answer, or perhaps because they weren’t sure what he meant by it. Regardless, in verse 3, they have moved across the valley on the Mount of Olives. It is there that the disciples ask Jesus about his revelation that the temple would be torn down.
Their first question is clearly about the destruction of the temple. “When will these things be?” Yet, they also know that Jesus has been talking about being rejected, leaving and coming back. They take opportunity to expand this question to reference this. “What will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” We won’t deal with whether this is two more questions or only one. Yet, notice that the response of Jesus is not immediately an answer about timing. Rather, Jesus warns of deception ahead.
“See to it that no one deceives you.” This is a good warning in general. I don’t believe God wants His people to become fodder for scammers and deceivers in general. However, Jesus transitions this to the particular deception of people coming in “My name.”
Coming in my name can mean using the name Jesus. Yet, Jesus quotes them as saying, “I am the Christ.” This emphasizes that they are coming in his position or reputation. God the Father had made Jesus to be the Christ, or Messiah. Though the nation as a whole was going to reject Jesus, this would not change God’s mind on who is the Messiah. It was, it is, and will always be, Jesus.
False christs would play on two things. First, those among the Jews who had rejected Jesus as Messiah would still be looking for another person to be the Messiah. This makes them good targets. However, Christians also believe that Jesus is coming back. So, they too can be targets for a wannabe false christ.
It can be understandable that non-Christian Jews would be taken in by false christs, but Jesus is giving a warning to his disciples (and us). On top of this, there are several passages in the Old Testament and the New Testament that make it clear that, when Christ returns, he will come on the clouds of heaven with a contingent of angels and resurrected humans. No false christ to this day has ever mimicked that. Yet, some Christians are tempted to believe such claims, at least for a time.
The first person to claim to be the Christ after Jesus was a man named Simon bar Kokhba. Simon was a military leader who led a revolt against Rome in AD 132. He claimed to be the Messiah, the Christ. On top of this, a well-respected Rabbi named Akiva supported his claim. This revolt was quashed by the Romans by AD 135 and resulted in his death.
Several other things followed from the Romans. The area of Judea was renamed Syria-Palestina. Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitolina. On top of this, a temple to Jupiter was built. All of these things would help to erase Jewish connections to the area.
Today, from time to time, there are religious people, whether in Jewish circles or Christian, who gather a following of people who believe them to be Christ. Of course, they are false christs.
In a way, all nations of the world are open to or looking for someone who can fix this world. This is what God has promised Messiah would do.
In verse 8, Jesus called this the beginning of sorrows. It is not the end, but a period that is more closely associated to labor pains.
Though Jesus is still speaking about the beginning of sorrows period in these verses, verse 14 becomes a clear transition to the end of this age. The end of this age is not a Hollywood production where the world is destroyed. Rather, it is the end of the open door of repentance that God has given to the nations. It will be time for showing which side you are on, that of Jesus or that of a false christ.
In this section, Jesus once again warns us against deception, but this time he points out false prophets (v. 11). This may seem anticlimactic, but it is an error that we run into more often. People claiming to have a word from God about the world and the end times happens more than people claiming to be Christ.
We can recognize that Muhammed was a false prophet from outside of Christianity. We can also recognize some false prophets from within Christianity. The word prophet generally means a religious approach, but I wouldn’t overlook that atheistic philosophers today proclaim that they have the answer the world should follow, much like a false prophet.
It is easy to recognize false prophets that are from outside of your nation and influence. Westerners are generally not drawn to Muhammed. But those who have been raised in eastern lands find it much harder to resist the social pressure and see through his words and life.
As we approach the transition to the end, Jesus warns that we will still have to deal with false christs and false prophets.
We should also notice that there are other factors that Christians must face. In verse 9, Jesus says that we will be hated by all nations and delivered up to tribulation and being killed.
He warns that many will stumble (be offended), betray one another, and hate one another. Of course, Christians can fall into these errors. However, Jesus is showing us what the world will be like and what Christians will have to endure in order to keep faith.
The word for stumble, or offend, has the idea of causing someone to be tripped up and fall. In this case, it is clearly about a moral and spiritual stumbling. We will be tempted to turn away from the way of Christ and turn towards betrayal and hatred. We see this happening in our world today. More and more society is infected with a viral tendency towards anger and fighting one another.
It is here that Jesus warns of false prophets who will deceive many. Just like scammers are more prevalent when the economy is dire and people are desperate, so false prophets come forth like a scourge as the world becomes more and more hateful towards one another.
In verse 12, Jesus warns of lawlessness. This is not about man’s laws, although people will flaunt those too. Rather, the lawlessness here is that of rejecting God’s law. God has made clear through Jesus the Christ what He expects of humanity, but we refuse to obey that. As we cast off God’s law, the love of people grows cold. There is a natural love between parents and children, family, people of a particular nation. However, these bonds are coming under severe spiritual attack. People are stumbled and tempted into loving themselves and not loving the people in relationship with them.
Christians are called to love everybody, even our enemies. But it is hard to love people who love themselves and are cold towards you. It is in this context that false prophets arise promoting a way that will appeal to the flesh of those who are perishing. Thus, Jesus warns believers that only those who endure to the end shall be saved. It will be a heavy load, but believers in Jesus need to remain in relationship with him and his commands in this difficult time. Everyone of these things can threaten our steadfast faith in Jesus.
Verse 14 gives us a clear sign for this transitional period. When the Gospel of the Kingdom has been preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, then the end will come. It doesn’t say how quickly and how soon. I believe we are in this transition from the Beginning of Sorrows period to the end of this age.
Jesus then moves to speak about this end. I am going to focus on verses 21 through 25 because I want to highlight the problem of deception during this coming period.
In verse 21, Jesus points to a time that we call The Great Tribulation from this passage. It will be a time of difficulty that has never been this bad before and will not be this bad after. Many Bible commentators try to make this about AD 70 and the destruction of Jerusalem. As bad as those days were for the Jews in Jerusalem, there have been worse days since, in numbers killed and in atrocities committed. However, Jesus seems to be talking about the whole world in this passage. This Great Tribulation will involve a series of Judgments from God ending with the appearance of Jesus to take over the nations of the world. It also involves a series of actions by the Devil and his Antichrist. This period can really be thought of as a time that forces everyone to choose a side: Team Jesus or Team Antichrist.
Jesus warns in verse 23 that we are not to believe those who says to us, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “There!” In some ways, Scripture makes it clear that no one will have to tell you when Jesus truly returns. However, there will be powerful deceptions at play here as well.
Verse 24 speaks to this powerfully deceptive time. False christs and false prophets will rise up and show great signs and wonders to deceive… Some versions refer to them as lying signs and wonders. Which begs the question. Are these actually true wonders (miracles), or are they fake?
First, the idea of false is not connected to the signs and wonders other than they are done by false christs and false prophets. Second, they do these powerful signs to deceive people, i.e., into following them.
This appears to be an amping up of the deception. It wasn’t warned against earlier. Of course, the devil is a trickster. He will do what he can to separate you from Christ. Some have the mentality that says, “The devil can’t do miracles.” We need to be careful with that statement. The devil is not God, but he is a fallen angel. Angels have powers that humans do not have.
There is an added angle to this. Next week, we will look at a passage that speaks of a restraint upon the devil and his works. In the end times, this restraint will be removed. This means we will see far more powerful deceptive signs and wonders coming from his followers.
They will have enough wow factor to them to deceive possibly those who have been chosen by God, the elect. Of course, Jesus ends this by warning, “See! I have told you beforehand!” Does the presence of a wonder or miracle necessitate that we believe the person doing it? Jesus says, “Don’t be deceived.”
Jesus warns “if possible.” It is up to each one of us. We will be tempted but have been told in advance. If we remember the words of the true Christ, we will not fall to such false prophets.
Maybe a part of you thinks that it would be impossible for our modern era to be wowed by false prophets. We are not as easily deceived as people 2,000 years ago. I wonder though. Are we less manipulable or more? We live in a day that has enormous manipulations happening all over the world. Governments and smart people plan how they can manipulate large groups of people to do what they want.
In fact, it is good that Jesus came and spoke the truth 2,000 years ago. Imagine if he waited until this highly manipulated age to come and speak. How would we know he spoke truth?
Today, we have the words of Jesus and his apostles warning us against the deception of the Beginning of Sorrows. We also have the Holy Spirit helping us to see through deceptions and grow spiritually. Yet, a great deception is coming upon the earth that is intended to test every soul. Make sure you are immunized and inoculated against it by knowing the true Christ’s words to you!
Pastor Marty Wednesday, October 14, 2026 at 2:47PM A link to the audio can be found at the bottom of this article.
2 Peter 3:14-18. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, October 11, 2026.
Peter finishes this letter with a final exhortation to believers on how we should now live in light of the future that God has planned and revealed to us.
Let’s look at our passage.
This verse opens with the condition, “since you look for these things…” The word for looking here has the sense of an expectant attitude. It could be translated as “looking forward to these things.” This should be our condition of heart. As opposed to the earlier scoffers, we hold on to the promise of God’s judgment and look forward to it.
Peter’s main exhortation is for us to be diligent, or exert ourselves, to be found by Him in peace. The second part helps us to understand what kind of exertion we are to give ourselves. To be in peace refers to a particular state or way of life that is marked by God’s peace in our life.
This peace originates internally. We are no longer enemies of God but are at peace with Him through Jesus. This reality is the bedrock of our inner life. It is then supposed to express itself through a life of peace towards others. Even when the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and points us to repentance, we can respond in the reality of His grace towards us. His purpose is not to destroy me and cast me out. His purpose is to teach me, train me, help me to grow into the character and faith of Jesus. We can repent with the peaceful joy that this is His desire, and we will be accepted.
We also need to live at peace with the wisdom and timing of God’s judgments. Many people scoff at the word or even turn back from following Christ because they allow their hearts to be stirred up in turmoil against the judgments of God. Rather than kicking against them and falling back into a life of scoffing unbelief, we are to trust Him and hold onto the peace that comes into our heart when we know that we are at peace with God.
In reference to the idea of being found by Him, it is easy to jump to the belief that this is talking about the Second Coming alone. Thus, it would have the idea of being diligent so that Jesus will find you living in His peace when he arrives. This can definitely be a part of what Peter is saying. However, the verb “to be found” has the sense of an inspection or examination. Yes, the return of Christ will be a day that reveals the results of God’s inspection and examination of every heart. However, the Holy Spirit within believers is helping us every day to hear the Word of God and inspect our own hearts. This co-laboring process ensures that we will be found on the ultimate day, whether his coming or our death, in his peace. In fact, the phrase “by Him” is literally “to him.” It has a sense that we are inspected and found “in his estimation” to be in peace. It doesn’t matter what the world thinks about us, but what Christ thinks about us.
Peter then adds two extra descriptions of this state of peace: spotless and blameless. It emphasizes the imagery of a sheep that is being inspected by the Good Shepherd. It can even emphasize a sacrificial lamb that is inspected by the Priest in order to determine if it is worthy of offering (notice that Christ is both our High Priest and Good Shepherd). We want our lives to be a holy offering unto God that, when inspected by the Priest (Jesus), is found worthy. That is not something that we wait for the end of our life to discover. It is a daily spiritual walk with Christ by the Holy Spirit.
Remember also that in 1 Peter 1:19, Peter had reminded them (us) that they were redeemed by “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” Just as the life of Christ was found acceptable as a sacrifice that would redeem others, so we should want our lives to be acceptable to him by following his path. Of course, our sacrifices cannot pay the price for the sins of others, but they don’t need to do so. Jesus has already done that. Our sacrifice in a lesser but still important way can help people to see and embrace the forgiveness of sins found in Christ.
How can I live a life of sacrificial love that is spotless and blameless? We won’t do it in the same way that Jesus did it, i.e., without error. However, we can be spotless and blameless by walking in God’s love through repentance and forgiveness. This is not just between us and God, but also between us and others. We need to be quick to ask forgiveness from people we have wronged. We also need to be quick to give forgiveness to those who ask. Our goal must be to draw people into the peace of Christ and help them remain there by the love of Christ.
By the way, this is not blameless in the eyes of people, or even yourself. You may ask forgiveness and turn away from prior sin, but some people may never let it go. They may continue to blame you as a bad person because of something you did in the past. This is blameless in the eyes of Jesus. He sees your heart and your attempts to make things right with people. They may hold on to blame in your regard, but they will have to answer for their lack of forgiveness. None of us will stand before Christ blameless because we have never sinned. We will do so because we have followed the Holy Spirit on the path of repentance and following Jesus, the path of loving God and loving others. It is only the judgment of Jesus that puts us in a place of being spotless and blameless in his peace.
In verse 15, Peter reminds us of the earlier point that the Lord’s seeming delay is actually patience making room for salvation (2 Peter 3:9). We are to consider, regard, the Lord’s patience (the long time of not coming yet continued to this day) as the opportunity of salvation for those who are even now perishing. Each day that he doesn’t come is another opportunity of salvation for the lost. In fact, each day that a person wakes up on the right side of the dirt is a gracious opportunity of salvation.
The “delay” of Christ should not be called a delay. It is truly an exercise, a gift, of patience. It is an opportunity of salvation. It is a cause for rejoicing and not complaining to God or scoffing at His promises.
Working for the Lord in this life is meant to be a joyful thing. Even when people bite your head off simply for pointing them to Jesus, we can rejoice as Jesus said in Matthew 5:11-12. “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” We rejoice because we have a ministry of reconciliation that can turn enemies into fellow brothers and sisters. We rejoice because we are in good company and have a sure reward for our labor.
Peter brings up the Apostle Paul and the letters that he had written to these same Christians. Paul had founded these churches and was the primary apostolic influence. Peter emphasizes that what he tells them is no different from what Paul had already written to them. God had given Paul wisdom, which he had shared with these believers in person and in letters. It was a message that agreed with Peter and the other apostles.
This is important because there have been attempts by certain teachers through the years to present Paul as having hijacked the early Church. They accuse Paul of changing the Gospel. Yet, this is not the testimony of Peter who had sat at the feet of Jesus as he taught. The early apostles were clear on the reason why Jesus had not come back yet. Christ had not come back yet because God was patiently keeping the door of salvation open for the lost. Yet, this would not be without an end, which is the main point of this chapter.
In verse 16, Peter mentions that some of the things that Paul has written are hard to understand. Paul was trained in the Scriptures to a high degree. When this was surrendered to the Holy Spirit, it gave him a deep understanding of what God was doing in Christ and how that connected to the Old Testament. People (apparently even Peter) found it hard to follow his train of thought and line of argument.
We should also notice that Peter includes Paul’s letters in the category of Scripture: “some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures…” The Apostles knew that their teaching was inspired by the Spirit of Christ. The duty was upon them to lay the foundation of faith for the Church, once and for all. Their writings about the Gospel were inspired (God-breathed) and binding upon those who would follow Christ.
Let’s broaden our perspective on this. When Paul wrote a letter to the churches that he had founded, his letters were not out of the blue without any context. He had taught them many things and answered many of their questions. They knew his mind about many things.
Even if his letters were hard to follow, they understood the bottom line of what he was teaching. They could not twist Paul’s words to mean something other than what he had already taught them and remain intellectually, even morally, honest. However, those who were untaught and unstable had no such guardrails. Even if they were told of Paul’s true meaning, their wisdom and flesh would pull them away from that meaning to a distortion, a lie. You cannot live out lies and find life. It always leads to destruction, for yourself and for those who follow you.
The scoffers earlier in the chapter are in this category. They were distorting, perverting, and twisting Paul’s words to mean something that he did not mean. The Judaizers in the book of Acts similarly twisted Paul’s words. In this case, they were accusing Paul of teaching error. They accused him of promoting lawlessness and destroying the Law of Moses. Of course, Paul was not doing this. Anyone who knew him knew that this was not the case.
Both Peter and Paul have done their job to forewarn Christians of the danger posed by those who twist Scripture and the words of the apostles of Jesus. Thus, we must be on our guard against such false teachers. However, the guarding begins in our hearts. We must know the Word of God and refresh our memory in it every day. We must prayerfully work it into our lives by the various helps of the Holy Spirit. Yet, this guarding has an external aspect. We are to reject false teachers as they surface in our lives and in the lives of our Christian communities. Church elders must clearly stand against any false teachers who come into their assemblies.
If we do not stay on guard, then we (or others) can be carried away by the error of these “unprincipled” men. He calls them unprincipled because they are a person who refuses laws, boundaries, and wisdom in order to gratify the desires of their flesh. They cast off sound teaching, or twist it to support their desires, in order to follow paths that are not from the Lord.
Earlier in the letter, Peter had mentioned Balaam in connection with these false teachers (2 Peter 2:15). They stray from the path of Jesus onto the path of Balaam. The path of Balaam was a path of trying to gain riches through God’s Word. The lie behind this is the same lie that the devil told Eve. You can get something better by going your own way, rather than God’s Way, i.e., Christ’s Way. This lie always leads to destruction, unless we repent and turn back to the Way of the Lord.
Not only can we be pulled down a path of error, but it can also be described as falling from our steadfastness. Believers have been securely set upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus. As long as we remain in Him, we are secure. However, we can be deceived, seduced, discouraged into following a path of error. We step off the foundation of Jesus and the place of security that God has given us. It would be as if one of Noah’s sons jumped off the boat as the flood waters began to rise. Those who have faith in Jesus remain in the place and life that God has set them. They hold to the truth despite the chatter of unbelievers and false Christians. This is what Peter is warning against.
Peter closes with the call for Christians to grow, to increase and become greater, in grace and knowledge of Jesus. The grace of Jesus is the foundation upon which we grow to become more like him. Grace is the whole measure of God’s good gifts, particularly salvation. It is the constant supply with which we are enabled to become more like him. This is true as individuals but also true for us as a local expression of the Church. We are all called to be a part of God’s grace to one another.
Knowledge of Jesus is primarily what Jesus taught. We come to know this through the faithful work of the apostles recorded in the New Testament. However, it is also how that teaching (knowledge) affects our life and makes us more like him. Therefore, it is a knowledge that comes from experience and relationship with Jesus and his teaching.
Peter reminds us of just what Jesus is to us. He is Lord. That not only meant that he had authority over all powers on the earth (Lord of lord and King of kings), but also in the heavens (save the Father Himself). It was also understood to directly tie into the covenant name of God at Sinai. He is Yahweh of the Old Testament, the LORD.
He is also Savior. He is the one who has delivered us, or rescued us, from sin and the slavery in which we were stuck. He has rescued us from the path of error and destruction while placing us in a place of being children of God.
He is also Christ, the Messiah. He is the Anointed One of God sent to redeem humanity back to its rightful place of direct relationship with the Father and Imagers of His dominion upon the earth.
Peter lastly declares that to Jesus be the glory now and forever. Our aspirations in life should be to give him all the glory, the credit, the praise. But also, we should desire that our life itself be lived in a way that causes Him to be praised. Thus, we glorify him in the present, but everyday until eternity. The idea is not that it stops when eternity starts, but that it continues to eternity.
May God help us to live lives that are growing each day to be more like Jesus. May we bring glory to him and may we praise God for all that Jesus has done for us.
Remember this. The wrong things that happen in the Church or are done by Christians, happen because someone wants the glory, the praise, of others. Don’t give people the praise that belongs to Jesus alone. In short, let him who boasts boast in the LORD Jesus!
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