Below are notes to a sermon preached Sunday morning, Feb. 24, 2002, at Gospel Light Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia. For more outlines, including a zipped file of all of my 1999, 2000, and 2001 sermon outlines, click on the link at the bottom of this note, and go to our website:

BAD DOGS AND HOGS

By Michael D. O'Neal Pastor, Gospel Light Baptist Church Albany, Georgia

Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 2:1-3,12,22

Text: 2 Peter 2:22

2 Peter 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Introduction: Notice from verse one of the chapter that God uses the examples of the dog and the sow to characterize or identify false prophets. Also notice that in verse 22 the dog is turned to HIS own vomit again and the sow to HER wallowing in the mire! That is, a lost man, especially an unsaved preacher, teacher, or prophet, is compared to a DOG. A lost woman, preacher, teacher, or prophetess, is compared to a SOW.

On the SURFACE they may disguise themselves, as the scriptures state:

Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

2 Corinthians 11:14-15 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Therefore the average person who watches them on TV might not be able to tell the difference between a Benny Hinn and a Bob Gray ... a Paul Crouch and a Peter Ruckman ... an Oral Roberts and a Shelton Smith.

God-called preachers need to help identify these charlatans using the scriptures:

Ezekiel 44:23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

2 Pet. 2 is one of the greatest chapters in the Bible, except for Matt. 23, for identifying false teachers. Let's look at what the scriptures tell us:

THE SCRIPTURES POINT OUT

I. THEIR DIET

2 Peter 2:22a But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again;

A. They eat dirty things

The dog is turned to his vomit
Unsaved preachers will in public digest corrupt versions of scripture such as the NIV, the NKJV, the NASB, and others.
They love filth privately.

B. They eat discarded things

Trash, garbage
The churches of the cults are largely made up of people who were unsaved or backslidden members of Baptist churches!

C. They eat dead or dying things

Throw them meat
They will go after weak or wounded Christians

THE SCRIPTURES POINT OUT

II. THEIR DELIGHT

Notice the second part of our text verse:

2 Peter 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

A. They delight in their sound

1. Dogs bark and howl, and swine grunt and squeal.
2. They don't give out the true gospel of Christ, and they usually don't even KNOW that gospel.
3. By the way, KNOWING the gospel is not the same as TRUSTING Christ. Many people can make the sound of the gospel who have never believed on Christ.

B. They delight in their soil

You clean up either animal and they will go back to their dirty environment.
When a sheep, which is the symbol of God's people, gets filthy, he is uncomfortable.

C. They delight in sensuality

Dogs have no morals.
It is true that some good men and women experience moral failure, King David is an example, but it is a marked characteristic of the devil's counterfeit ministers.
Whether it is Garner Ted Armstrong, Jimmy Swaggert, Jim Bakker, or others, it eventually shows up.

THE SCRIPTURES POINT OUT

III. THEIR DAMNATION

2 Peter 2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

A. They are not real

They are phoney-balonies!
They are counterfeits!
They are professors, but not possessors of salvation!

B. They are not reborn

A saved person has been reborn in his spirit. He is part natural and part supernatural.
The unsaved man is 100 percent NATURAL. Any spiritual part or power in him is from UNCLEAN spirits!

C. They are not ready for heaven

They have been bought by the blood of Christ, but they have rejected salvation through that blood shed for them on the cross of Calvary.

THE SCRIPTURES POINT OUT

IV. THEIR DELIVERANCE

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

A. It is possible because of the love and plan of the Sovereign God

B. It is performed by the sacrifice of the Savior on the cross

C. It is personalized by the conviction and conversion through the Spirit

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