The Most Dangerous Preacher Alive - 2 Peter 2:1-3 Series

Introduction

The Danger of False Teaching

Somewhere out there is a preacher whose message would make you feel more free, more loved, and more at peace with God than you've ever felt—and that preacher is one of the most dangerous people alive. There is a version of the gospel being preached in thousands of churches that is more spiritually lethal than outright atheism. It’s a form of teaching that appeals to people who want to follow Christ and convinces them that the best way to do that is on a path other than the path of obedience.

Review

This is part 2 of our study of the opening paragraph of 2 Peter 2 (vv.1-3).

2 Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce heresies of destruction, even denying the Master who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring ridicule on the way of truth. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

I told you last time we can put all the material under 5 headings, all starting with D. Last time we covered the first three: Damnation, Damage, and Delay. My plan today was to cover the other two—Deception and Denial. The false teachers use deception (they secretly introduce their heresies) and they deny the master who bought them.

But over the past couple weeks I’ve decided the rest of what I want to teach from this passage really fits better under three headings, not just two. I should have known better than to think I would know 2 weeks ahead of time what my outline would be. So scratch the two Ds for today; instead we’re going to look at 3 M’s. We’re going to look at their method, their motive, and their message. Same material, but I think these headings will make it more understandable.

We saw that God promises severe destruction and damnation on the false teachers because of how much damage they do. But I didn’t say anything about how to spot these false teachers. How do they operate? What is their method? Peter answers that in v.1—their method.

Their Method

2 Peter 2:1 They will secretly introduce heresies

Angel of Light

Secretly—that’s why I originally titled this “their deception.” False teachers don’t show up with a big “false teacher” nametag.

2 Corinthians 11:14 Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.

“Angel of light” means an angel characterized by light. Light represents holiness and purity and truth. And the phrase “servants of righteousness” has the same idea—people who serve in the church who are characterized by righteousness. If you saw the devil in your church, your first reaction would be, “Wow, that’s beautiful.” And if you saw one of his agents, you’d say, “That is a person of integrity and godliness. That’s someone I can trust.”

Sin doesn’t approach us as sin. Satan never comes to us as Satan. Sin always comes to us as pleasure and Satan comes as an angel of truth and holiness and purity. Error never comes to us as error, error always comes to us as truth.

Whenever you point out a false teacher, a whole lot of people will get really upset. “He can’t be a false teacher. He’s such a good guy. I’ve learned so much from him. He leads hundreds of people to Christ. He does so much good.”

Prong 1: Relationship

So they use deception, but to just use the word “deception” isn’t enough. We need to get more specific than that. We need to know exactly how they deceive—what method do they use?

Their method, in this passage, is a two-pronged approach. For prong #1, look again at v.1.

2 Peter 2:1 They will secretly introduce heresies of destruction.

Secretly introduce” is just one word in the Greek, and it shows us how they operate. It’s the word “to bring in” with the word “para” attached to it. Para means alongside. A paralegal works alongside a lawyer. A paramedic comes alongside you where you are and gives medical attention.

In the NT, that para prefix often has the idea of drawing close to someone in a personal, relational way. For example, the word “to comfort” or “encourage” is para-kaleo—to call alongside. You comfort someone by being there right at his side.

So how do these false teachers manage to get Christians to buy into their heresies? Relationships. They don’t just blurt out their false doctrines on day one. First they move in close, right alongside you. They befriend you and win your trust. They don’t start saying any of the sketchy stuff until after they have completely won you over as a friend.