SCRIPTURE: 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."
PROPOSITION: to use this text and others to show that swine in the scripture are a picture of unconverted sinners, and also to show what counterfeit repentance is, and also to show that without true repentance our miserable state will be sealed eternally.
1.) What are some things we can say about swine, and in what way are they a picture of fallen humanity?
A. The levitical law condemned swine as dietarily unclean, and the law condemns us as unclean because of our iniquity. Leviticus 11:7 "And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you."
Galatians 3:10 "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse..."
B. Swine by nature are comfortable "wallowing in the mire," and sinners by nature are comfortable wallowing in the mire of their sin. Psalms 40:2 "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
C. Swine are not to particular about the filth they put into their belly, and sinners are not to particular about the filth they put into their mind. Titus 1:15 "...unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled."
D. Jesus likened obstinate sinners unto swine, swine have no regard for the worth of anything, and obstinate sinners have no regard for the treasure of Gods word, or the "glorious gospel of Christ"
Matthew 7:6 "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."
2. Why does a washed hog give us a perfect picture of a counterfeit repentance and a counterfeit salvation?
A. Because washing a hog outwardly gives a swine the appearance of being a clean animal, and when a sinner reforms, it gives them the appearance of being outwardly clean." Luke 11:39 "And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness."
B. Because a washed pig will always return to what comes natural, and that is "wallowing in the mire" their nature has never been changed. That's why Jesus told the Pharisees that they should first cleanse the inward part that they might be "clean every whit."
Matthew 23:26 "Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also."
3.) Why are sinners tempted to offer to God, a outward reformation, or a counterfeit repentance?
A. Because this allows sinners to keep their sin and at the same time appear unto men as being religious, or a righteous individual.
Luke 16:15 "And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God."
4.) Do sinners who offer to God a counterfeit repentance always go back to wallowing in their sin?
A. A counterfeit repentance never leaves off sinning inwardly, they continue in an unregenerate state, with absolutely no change of nature "within they are full of extortion and excess" or just plain covetousness, outwardly they appear religious, but inwardly they are a sewage of sin. They are much like a decorative beautiful well that brings forth bitter, and poisonous water, painting or adding decor to a well pump might make it look better, but it cannot make the water taste better.
B. Sometimes a counterfeit repentance is maintained until the day of judgement, some sinners live their life as a fine-looking tare, without ever being discovered, they have all the outward trappings of a Christian, if Judas would have died the day before his betrayal the disciples would have never known what was really in his heart, he gave them no reason to suspected him, his secret love for sin was unknown to man, but Christ knew from the beginning that he "believed not" and that he was "a thief" and "a devil"
Matthew 13:30, 40 "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."
John 6:64 "But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him."
5.) What is true repentance and how does it differ from a washed sow?
A. In the scripture when you repent of your sin in truth and put your complete trust in Christ you go from being a sow inwardly to becoming a sheep inwardly. John 10:27-28 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."
CONCLUSION: An unconverted sinner has the nature of a hog or a dog, and there is only one solution, and that is a new birth by "repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ". a new birth means a new nature. John 10:26 "But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep..." a hog is a filthy animal and is a perfect picture of how filthy each one of us sinners are, if the sinner dies in his filth he will be a filthy swine forever. Revelation 22:11 "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still..."
Those who come to Christ can sing!
"There is a fountain filled with blood
drawn from Emmanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
lose all their guilty stains."
