The Warning against False Teachers – 2Peter 2:1-9
INTRODUCTION- If the world ever needed a warning, it needs to be warned against false teachers. Why? Because false teachers lead a person to doom himself quicker than any other single thing. Too many people are to quick to believe a lie. Why? So they can go ahead and live like they want. They want some excuse to get away from the restraints and demands that Jesus Christ puts upon them. Therefore, they GROPE after any teaching that lowers the Person of Christ. The more He is lowered, the less binding His demands are. There is one major problem with false teaching. It’s a lie; it is not the truth. A person dooms himself to an eternal hell if he follows false teaching. This is the critical message of this section of 2Peter: the warning against false teachers. This particular passage describes false teachers for us.
1. False teachers have always existed.
2. False teachers teach destructive heresies.
3. False teachers mislead people.
4. False leaders exploit people.
5. False teachers shall be judged and destroyed.
1. False teachers and false prophets have always existed. They have always carried on their destructive work. Note verse one: There were also false prophets among the people, just like there will be false teachers among you (2:1). The false prophets were at work while God was giving His word to men. Imagine! Even while God was speaking and giving His word to men there were some who were denying His word and teaching destructive heresies and misleading people. There were false prophets all throughout the Old Testament period. They were the people that were denying God and His word. False teachers did not only exist throughout the O.T. period. Scripture declares plainly: “there will be false teachers among you.” The idea is this: there will always be false teachers; false teachers will fill every generation of man and they will continue to introduce their destructive heresies until the world ends. 1John 4:1 tells us, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirit to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” This means there are false teachers among us. We must, be alert to what every man and woman teaches. This does not mean that we should be on a witch hunt. It means that we should test all preaching and teaching by the Word of God. I love how Jesus puts it in Matt. 7:15, “watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”
2. False teachers teach destructive heresies. False teachers secretly teach destructive heresies. Scripture tells us that false teachers secretly introduce or bring in destructive heresies. They teach it, but they do not do it openly. They do it deceptively, quietly, secretly, slipping in false doctrine here and there. False teachers are all in every part of the world even in our churches, among believers. They have joined the church and they have been outstanding members long enough to become teachers and preachers within the church. This may also be in the work place. They hold leadership positions from which they can teach their destructive heresies. Note that the word heresies is plural. What are the heresies being referred to? Any teaching that goes contrary to the Scripture, that is, the Word of God or the Bible. This is clearly what is meant, for the exhortation has been given: “pay attention to the word of the prophets, to the Scripture.” 2Peter 1:19-21, “and we have the word of the prophets [Scripture] made more certain and you will do well to pay attention to it……for prophecy never had it’s origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The point is this: any teaching that is contrary to God’s Word is a destructive heresy. It destroys God’s purpose for the church, and it destroys the lives of people within the church. Teaching that are contrary to God’s word are destructive and there is no escaping the fact. No matter how personable a person may be, no matter how much we may like him, if he is teaching a destructive heresy, he is destroying the church and the lives of the people. William Barclay states it well: “A heretic [is]…a man who believes what he wishes to believe instead of excepting the truth of God which he must believe. What was happening in the case of Peter’s people was that certain men, who claimed to be prophets, were insidiously persuading men to believe the things they wished to be true rather than the things which God has revealed as true. They did not set them selves up as opponents to Christianity. Far from it. Rather they set themselves up as fine fruits of Christian thinking. Insidiously, unconsciously, imperceptible, so gradually and so subtly that they did not even notice it, people were being lured away from God’s truth to men’s private opinions, for that is what heresy is”(The Letters of James and Peter, p.374)
A. The most tragic heresy is the heresy that denies the Lord who bought us. Jesus Christ has bought us and He has paid the supreme price to buy us. He gave all that He is and all that He has, even His life, in order to buy us out of sin and death. We owe our lives to Him. We owe everything to Him. The picture is that of a servant: We owe Christ our minds and hearts, our duty and service. Therefore, to deny Him is to deny our Lord and Master. We all know what happens to a servant who denies his Lord and Master: swift destruction. No matter who the servant is, no matter how high the position he holds or how influential he is, if he denies his Master, he brings swift destruction upon himself. What does it mean to deny Christ? --to deny Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That He left heaven above and came to earth as Man (the God Man) to reveal God’s great love for man.
--to deny that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. That He lived a perfect and sinless life and secured the perfect righteousness for man.
--to deny that Jesus Christ died for man. That he took man’s sin upon Himself and bore the judgment and condemnation and punishment for man.
--to deny that Jesus Christ arose from the dead and conquered death for man.
--to deny that Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God to receive all the worship and glory and honor and praise of the universe.
The list could go on and on. To deny any teaching of Scripture is to deny Christ. This is the very point that Peter is making: we must take heed to the Scriptures…..”..for the scriptures have been given by God Himself (2Peter 1:21), and there are false teachers among us.” Remember these men are in the church. They are the preachers and teachers who profess Christ and say that they are following Christ and building up His church but, what they are teaching of is a complete denial of Him, and it is destroying the church. Matt. 10:33 says, “ Not every one who says Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father in heaven.” 2Tim. 2:12 tells us, “If we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us…”
B. False teachers shall be destroyed swiftly. They bring destruction upon themselves. They are responsible for their own actions. They do not have to teach false doctrine; they make the choice to teach it. They could teach the truth [the Holy Scriptures], but they make a deliberate choice to teach contrary to what God has said. Therefore, they shall bring swift destruction upon themselves. The idea of swift is both certain and quick. When the judgment, comes there will be no discussion about the matter, no questioning, no leniency, no mercy, no love. There will be pure justice: swift, immediate judgment and destruction.
--The word “destruction” (apoleian) means to loose one’s well being; to be ruined; to be wasted; to perish; to be destroyed.
Matt. 13:41-42 tells us, “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Matt. 24:51 also tells us, “He will cut him to pieces and assign him to a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains upon him.”
3. False teachers mislead many people. False teachers do two terrible things. First, false teachers encourage people to live immoral lives. This is what is meant by shameful ways. Shameful means the ways of immorality and of the flesh(sinful nature). How do false teachers lead men to live worldly and fleshly lives?
A. False teachers take the love of God and twist it. They say that God is so loving that He would never condemn man to an eternity of hell.
B. False teachers take the grace of God and faith and pervert them. They say that a person must believe in Jesus Christ. This, of course, is true. We are saved by believing in Jesus Christ. We are saved by grace through faith, but false teachers add that once we believe, we are okay forever and ever even if we do return to the world and live in sin. Thus, you do not have faith. False teachers say that God accepts us even if we live like the devil and live after the world and flesh. False teachers say that faith exists without ever producing fruit: that a person can believe in Jesus Christ without…repenting, changing his life, separating from the world, denying and controlling his flesh and following Christ. The picture here is that false teachers say that God’s love and grace are so inexhaustible that a man is free to sin just as long as he believes in Jesus Christ. The result of this teaching, of course, is the indulgence and license to sin.
Second, false teachers cause the name of Christ to be abused. They cause people to slander God, Christ, the church, believers and Scriptures. The very name of God is blasphemed because of hypocritical living and false profession. How often do we hear comments such as, “those hypocrites.” Note that the blame lies at the feet of the false teachers. It is they who mislead people:
Rom. 2:23-24 says, “You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by braking the law? As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed because of you.”
4. False teachers exploit people. They are in the church ministering and teaching, but they are covetous, full of greed and lust. What is it that they are coveting? Popularity, recognition, a large church, security, position, leadership, attention, a following, success, money, gifts and fame.
A. A false teacher is often more interested in being popular. He is more concerned with a people group following him [instead of Jesus]. False teachers exploit people for their own ends.
Rom. 16:18 says, “For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naïve people.”
Ezek. 34:2-3 says, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.”
5. False teachers shall be judged and destroyed. Verse three is descriptive language. Upon earth it may seem that false teaching goes on and on forever without ever being corrected or handled by God. No matter how successful or prosperous a false teacher may seem to be, judgment does not linger; it is not idle. The damnation of false teachers has not fallen asleep. The day is coming when all false teachers will pay for teaching destructive heresies. They will be damned, that is destroyed, because they did not teach the truth of Christ and of God’s Word. Now, how do we know that false teachers will be judged and destroyed? Because God is God, which means that He is not only love, but He is also just. He has the power to not only love people with a perfect love, but He also has the power to judge people with a perfect justice. Note some facts:
A. God did not spare the angels who sinned. He sent them to hell. In the distant past, Satan was apparently the highest created being ever created by God. At that time his name was Lucifer, but he did what so many people have done. He chose to go his own way; he rebelled against God. He led a host of angels to rebel with him. Therefore, God judged him and sent him from his exalted position to hell. From what we can get from Scripture, this is how Satan and the angels fell and became antagonists of God. The point is this…even angels were sent to hell and chained with darkness. God is holding them for eternal judgment. If God judged such glorious beings such as Lucifer and the angels, how much more will He judge men, especially if they teach false doctrine and mislead people?
2Pete 2:4 tells us, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment.”
Jude 1:6 tells us, “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority, but abandoned their own home- these He has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.”
B. God did not spare the ancient world. The world became totally wicked; wickedness prevailed in every mind, heart and life. He destroyed the whole world of ungodly by a flood. God had no choice. His righteousness demanded that He judge the world of the ungodly. There was one family that was saved. A preacher and his family-the preachers name was Noah. Noah was saved because he preached the righteousness of God. All the other preachers and priests of that day perished with the ungodly. Noah was faithful. He lived and preached the truth of God and His Word. The point is that if God destroyed the whole world of ungodly people, He will certainly judge and destroy a false teacher.
C. God knows how to deliver the godly and reserve the unjust until the day of judgment to be punished. Note what God delivers the godly from: temptations and trials. There is no excuse for a false teacher preaching or teaching false doctrine, no excuse to fear other preachers or teachers or other men within his church nor to shy away from the truth. God knows how to meet the needs of the man. God knows how to deliver the man from every obstacle and through every difficulty, no matter how great a trial or temptation. He delivered Lot and Noah both through the most trying opposition and ungodliness.
Matt. 25:46 says, “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Rev. 20:15, “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
God knows how to keep the ungodly until the day of judgment and doom. All false teachers shall be judged and doomed to punishment.
