Be Careful Little Ears What You Hear Series

“Be Careful Little Ears What You Hear”

2 Peter 2:1-3 / Jude 1-4

A sermon for 1/25/26

2 Peter 2 “1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.”

Jude “1 Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:

2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

For my sermon title, I was thinking about the verse in a kid’s song:

Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear,

Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear.

There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love,

Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear.

We teach this to children because we know that what goes in will come out. Let me geek out for a minute because this is also true for those infamous algorithms. “"Garbage in, garbage out" (GIGO) is a principle in computer programming and mathematics emphasizing that the quality of output is directly linked to the quality of input. This concept asserts that if a system receives flawed or incomplete data, the results produced will also be flawed, regardless of the system's sophistication.”

https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/computer-science/garbage-garbage-out-gigo

That’s why Peter and Jude warn us about only listening to the TRUTH that comes from GOD!

Jude: WHO?

The writer of this letter identifies himself as the brother of James. He is most likely referring to the leader of the house churches in Jerusalem. In Galatians 2:9, names James and Peter as being in Jerusalem: “and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.” So who was James? He was the brother of Jesus: Mark 6:3 “Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” The Greek for Jude is “Joudas,” which is often written as “Judas.” Jude avoids making a direct family connection to Jesus, but the Early Church knew he was Jesus's brother.

False teachers will face judgment 1 Peter 2:1, 3b & Jude 4a

“1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.”

“3b for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.”

Jude 4a “4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation,”

Peter begins v. 1 with a reference to the false prophets who stand in stark contrast to the true prophets we saw at the end of chapter 1 last week. In 1 Kings 22, we see a perfect example of these false prophets. Israel (10 northern tribes) is at war with Syria, and King Jehoshaphat goes to ask King Ahab of Judah (2 southern tribes) for help. Ahab seeks advice from his 400 prophets, who tell him to go to battle. Then they sent for another prophet, Micaiah, the son of Imlah, who gave this prophecy: 1 Kings 22:19-23 “19 Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left. 20 And the Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. 21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ 22 The Lord said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’ 23 Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.”