Calvary Bible Church - Pastor Ken’s Weblog

Message for Sunday, May 11, 2008

Scripture Text: II Peter: 2  “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you”

“Crop Report”

Kind of a weird title for a Mother’s Day message isn’t it!   The text is even weirder, but that’s because this message is not a “Mother’s Day” message!  To be honest, I had the message selected before I realized it was going to be Mother’s Day when I gave it.  So Mom’s, don’t take this message personal unless it applies!  It’s a message for all of us, not just the Mom’s!  The last Sunday that I was here, before we went on vacation, we tackled the first three verses of this chapter, and Peter warned us that false teachers would be “among” us.  That is a sobering thought.  We expect them to be active out in the “world” and we do a pretty good job of identifying and avoiding them and their heretical teaching, but “among” us?  That’s an area we may not have thought much about, but hopefully will pay more attention to after heeding Peter’s warning.  He pointed out that “many will follow their shameful ways” which means we need to be on guard not just for ourselves but also for one another.   Some “among” us will want to follow false teachers.  Hypocritical liars paint a pretty picture, a kind of “you can have your cake and eat it too” spirituality.  But as we saw two weeks ago, when they deny the Word of God they deny the God of the Word!  Remember the quote from the prophet?  Jeremiah 5:30-31: “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way.  But what will you do in the end?” The problem is, some of God’s people do love it that way, as Jeremiah pointed out, and many times their churches are full, they have the appearance of success, even of God’s blessing.

Peter’s second observation or warning was that by their behavior, they “bring the way of truth into disrepute.”  Those who call themselves “Christian” but by their beliefs and actions deny it, harm not only themselves but also all who claim the name.  The watching world doesn’t discern between those who have and practice the truth and those who are apostate.  They lump us all in together, and every time sin is judged and brought out into the open, they feel justified in their distrust and avoidance of anything “Christian.”  Peter pointed out that false teachers are motivated by greed, either for the praise of men or for material wealth, and often both.  Peter also pointed out that they wouldn’t get away with it, at least not in the end.  Peter says their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.  God is watching, and will bring judgment.  Although delay makes it seem that they have escaped God’s judgment, destruction is a reality that is sure to come upon them.  We closed with Paul’s reminder from Galatians 6:7-8: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”  That brings us to the topic of our message today, “The Crop Report”.  Again, it’s those first three verses that give us the context.

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.  They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them–bringing swift destruction on themselves.  Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.  Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”  Peter then gives us some well-known examples of God’s judgment in the past, demonstrating that while their condemnation and judgment may be postponed, God’s patience has a limit.  One characteristic of God’s nature, that which makes Him God, is His immutability.  He does not change.  Malachi 3:6a “I the LORD do not change.” That’s about as clear as you can get.  Listen to this from Numbers 23:19: “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.  Does he speak and then not act?  Does he promise and not fulfill?”  He is also a God of justice.  His justice demands that sin be punished.  Nahum 1:3a “The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished.”  To make his point, Peter then gives us a few examples of God bringing judgment in the past on those who deserved it.
Verses 4-9: “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; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)–if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.”   Here Peter gives us three examples.  First, because it was probably the first transgression, the first episode of sin, he speaks of the angels who joined Satan’s rebellion and sinned.  Understand that scripture does not clearly explain the specific sin of these angels, but it would appear it was the sin of rebellion against God’s plan and purpose.  One source said: “the sin referred to in this verse probably occurred before the fall of Adam and Eve.  The angels who fell became the devil and the evil angels, probably the demons and evil spirits referred to in the NT.”   God judged their sin, and “sent them to hell”, lit., “Tartarus”, a word used only here in the New Testament.  Tartarus was the term used by the Greeks to designate the place where the most wicked spirits were sent to be punished.  Why some evil angels are imprisoned and others are free to serve Satan as demons is another one of those things not explained in Scripture.  Their “sending” to hell is a process, evidently, and will be completed in the final judgment.  The logic Peter points to is that if God so punishes angels, surely He will not spare these false teachers.  He then points to one of, if not the most profound judgment leveled against mankind, the Noahic flood.  “if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others…..”

Here we first see God’s mercy in His judgment.  He brought the flood on those ungodly who deserved it, but spared righteous Noah and his family.  Genesis 6:5-11: “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.  The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.  So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth–men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air–for I am grieved that I have made them.”  But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.   This is the account of Noah.  Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.  Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.  Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.  God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.”  We struggle to imagine how far man had fallen since creation.  We live in a sin-filled and sick world today, but this was even worse.  Listen to what Matthew Henry said as he describes man’s condition: “The wickedness of a people is great indeed when the most notorious sinners are men of renown among them.  Things are bad when bad men are not only honored notwithstanding their wickedness, but honored for their wickedness, and the vilest men exalted.  Wickedness is then great when great men are wicked.  Their wickedness was great, that is, abundance of sin was committed in all places, by all sorts of people; and such sin as was in its own nature most gross, and heinous, and provoking; it was committed daringly, and with a defiance of heaven, nor was any care taken by those that had power in their hands to restrain and punish it.  This God saw.”

We think we see the evil in the world around us, but much is hidden and takes place where we don’t attempt to go, but God sees it all, thoughts as well as actions, and will one day judge it.  It is almost beyond our comprehension, this world-wide enacting of justice.  We have no idea how many people perished.  We know no righteous persons did.  Of the entire population of the whole earth, 8 people were saved due to their righteousness.  Noah preached for 120 years while he built and fitted the ark, yet evidently only his family believed and were saved.  The point Peter makes is that they were saved!  God protected Noah and his family while passing judgment on the ungodly.  Today, people will say: “But what about the animals?  They didn’t sin.”  True, but they are animals.  If God had not destroyed the animals, Noah and his family would have been overrun by them, and that was not His plan!  God gave man dominion over the animals, and He protected that by sparing those who entered the ark with Noah and his family and destroying the rest.

One lesson we can learn from that is that the consequences of our disobedience can have widespread effects.  Then, as if to show that ungodliness didn’t die in the flood, Peter gives his third example, that of Sodom and Gomorrah and “righteous” Lot.   Verses 6-8: “…if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)”  You probably remember the story.  Abraham pleaded with God to spare the city for the sake of 10 righteous people.  (He started with 50, but bargained down to ten.  He knew his nephew Lot and his family lived there, and probably had hope they had been a positive influence on some of the people of that wicked city.)  So God agreed.  He said if there were 10 righteous people there, He would spare the city.  They found four.  Well, one evidently, and his family.  (I’ll be honest with you, I struggle with these verses describing Lot as a “righteous” man, but that’s a sermon for another day.  Ryrie gives this explanation, and it’ll have to do for now: “He was a righteous man in that he believed God and was vexed at the licentiousness of the wicked people about him, though his life was lived for himself.”  I have to simply trust that Peter, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, knew something about Lot that we miss as we read the account in Genesis 19.  (Fortunately, I don’t stand in judgment of him, God does, and God knows his heart.)   But again, the point is that God brought just punishment on the ungodly and rescued those He saw as deserving it.  And that’s Peter’s point in Verse 9: “–if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the Day of Judgment, while continuing their punishment.”  Peter says history demonstrates that God is paying attention and that He does deal with Saints and with Sinners according to what they deserve.  Peter reminds us that God’s goodness led him as forcibly to save Lot as his justice did to destroy the ungodly.  His goal is to show the people to whom he was writing that, although God would destroy the false teachers he had warned them about, God would also powerfully save his faithful servants from their wicked influence and from the destruction that would come on them.
This is a powerful promise for us, but we need to make sure we properly understand it.  God does not promise to prevent trials and temptations, but to rescue us in them!  Psalm 34:15-22:  “The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.  The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.  The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.  A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.  Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned.  The LORD redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.”  The Lord knows how to rescue godly men.  The key for you and me is to live a godly life!  That is our part, that and trusting Him to do His.  History demonstrates He will.  It also demonstrates we tend not to!   That’s one reason Peter reminds us that the Lord also knows how to hold the unrighteous for the Day of Judgment, while continuing their punishment.  Interesting statement there, “continuing” their punishment.  Sin is its own punishment.  It may seem exciting and fun, but the reality is far different, and God knows that full well.

Peter wraps this section up with a final warning for a specific group of people.  Verse 10a: “This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.”  Peter says God is a just God who punishes sin, especially that of following the corrupt desire of the “sinful nature” and despising authority.  In the context it would seem he is talking first of all primarily of sexual sin, homosexuality to be even more precise as evidenced by the example of Sodom and Gomorrah, but in reality any sexual sin.  Romans 8 sheds a little more light on following the desires of our flesh.   Romans 8:5-8:  “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God.  It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.  Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”  The question for you today is: On what do you have YOUR mind set?  What dominates your thought life?  The things of the world or the things of God?  Are you heading toward and focusing on “life and peace” or death?  It is a critical question that must be asked and honestly answered.  Romans is also a great place to go to see more details on what “despising authority” is all about.  Chapter 13, right?  (You knew I’d take ya there, didn’t ya!)  Actually, that’s probably not what Peter is talking about here, so today I want to have you listen to Titus instead.  You can do Romans 13 for your homework!  Titus 3:1-2: “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.”

That gives us a glimpse, but I think Paul nails “despising authority” in his description of what people will be like in the “last days’ with these words from II Timothy 3:1-5: (I know I used this reference last time too, but like Peter said in verse 12 of chapter 1, “I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them…I think it is right to refresh your memory…”) Listen to Paul one more time for me: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God–having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”

To me, that describes despising authority.  Living for self, making my own rules, doing it my way.  Finding a way to make scripture say what I want it to, rather than adjust my life to conform to it’s guidelines.  Peter warns that such people will attempt to infect the church and its doctrines, and that they will enjoy success, at least for a while.  But false teachers and false doctrines and the people who follow along will ultimately be judged, and it is a judgment you and I want no part of.  Stay alert.  Keep up your guard.  Concentrate on the “Truth” so that you can better detect error.  And remember, God knows how to rescue godly men, and how to “hold” the unrighteous for the day of punishment.  Don’t sell the glory of eternity for the vain pleasures of this life.  Don’t get caught in the lie.

In His Grip,

Pastor Ken

Passage for Sunday, April 27th, 2008

II Peter:2  “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.  They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them–bringing swift destruction on themselves.  Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.  Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

“The Danger Within”

Reading this chapter you get the impression that Peter gets a little worked up about those who attempt to mislead God’s people, don’t you?  Last week he made it very clear that Scripture is the very Word of God, and that Scripture, and that which aligns with it, is the only truth.  He dedicated his life to the advancement of the gospel, the Truth, to feed, protect and Shepherd Christ’s sheep, and he understood the danger from those who would change the gospel message to fit their own schemes and plans.  Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah, and the many Scriptural prophecies fulfilled by his birth, life, substitutionary death and resurrection support that claim.  But there were those who attempted to deny it then, as there had been in ancient times and, he says, there will continue to be.
In Jeremiah 5:30-31 the Prophet reports this chilling statement from the Lord: “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way.  But what will you do in the end?”  Not much has changed in all the time since he penned those words, has it.  Prophets, preachers, preach lies, rule by their own authority rather than submit to God’s as revealed in the Word, and the people “love it” that way.  How did Paul put it?  II Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”  Sometimes the people initiate the false teaching, sometimes the Teachers do.  Recently, one such group that subscribes to false teaching and follows a false Teacher has made quite a splash in the News.  I’m talking about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  FLDS for short, the group in Eldorado, Texas most recently under fire for their abhorrent “religious” practices, this time again accused of forced marriages between very young teenage girls and older men, marriages allegedly arranged by the Church’s “Prophet” and Elders.  The church currently practices the “law of placing,” where a young woman of marriageable age is assigned a husband by “revelation from God” to the leader of the church, who is regarded by the people as a prophet.  The prophet elects to take and give wives to and from men according to their worthiness.
FLDS is a splinter group that broke with the Mormon Church in the 1930’s over the issue of polygamy.  The Mormon Church had agreed to abandon the practice as a condition of Utah statehood in 1890.  Their current “Prophet”, Warren Jeffs, was convicted in Utah on two felony counts of accomplice to rape for his part in the 01′ marriage of a 14-year-old follower to her 19-year-old cousin.  He was sentenced to two consecutive prison terms of five years to life.  Today he sits in a cell in a Kingman Arizona jail, awaiting trial on similar charges related to two other child-bride marriages.  The power of the lie is evident in the way his followers still follow him and his teachings, and still look to him as their God appointed Prophet.  No wonder Peter was concerned.
I want to take you back to verse 19 of Chapter 1 as we begin today’s message, to give you again the context of Peter’s statement. I’m going to read through verse 3 of chapter 2:  “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.  Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.  For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (False prophets always claim their message comes from God, but if it contradicts the Word, it is a lie.  The Holy Spirit will never contradict scripture.)  “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.  They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them–bringing swift destruction on themselves.  Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.   Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”
Peter first establishes the veracity of the Scriptures, God’s very Word. We looked at that last week.  Having established the standard, he then warns that just as there have always been those who would mislead and twist scripture, they will continue.  His desire is to warn his readers, to help them be aware of the danger.  The battle for truth and trust in what God has said has been raging for all of recorded history.  The Enemy introduced a destructive heresy in the attack against Eve.  Listen again.  Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.  He said to the woman, “Did God really say, `You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”  First he calls into question what God really said.  He inserts the seed of doubt.  Did God “really” say…?  They use the same tactic today.  “Does the Bible really say…..?”  And then he deliberately inserts error; he denies God’s character by calling Him a liar.  Verses 4-5: “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.  “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Here is the destructive heresy Satan introduces: God lied, and is withholding something good from you.  And she chose to believe the lie.  And Adam stood there and failed to protect his wife from the attack, instead joining her in following the liar. People still do.  Satan’ tactics haven’t changed much because they don’t need to.  Why change what works?
There is one notable example of his tactic failing however.  When he tempted Jesus in the desert, he used the same basic tactics, but Jesus successfully resisted him.  He trusted in the indwelt power of the Holy Spirit (in each of the Gospel accounts the “temptation” followed His baptism and Holy Spirit anointing or indwelling) and the truth of Scripture to resist the temptation and win the battle.  Scripture was His defense against the Enemies schemes, and when the Enemy tried to use Scripture, he had to “misuse” it to attempt to make his point.  They will do the same thing today.  Jesus saw through him and told him to go away!  (Which, by the way, he did!)  He gave us the example to follow.
Drawing on the power of the indwelt Holy Spirit, knowing Scripture, and knowing when and how to use it, is our best defense against false teaching and Satan’s attacks as well.  Peter points out that the false prophets were “among the people.”  They blended in, seemed to be viable, trustworthy, were widely accepted as “one of them.”  So will the false teachers against whom we need to be on our guard.  The attack on the 21st Century Church rarely comes from outside, but begins when those inside secretly introduce destructive heresies.  There are several other warnings in Scripture for us besides Peter’s. Naturally, Jesus said it best: Matthew 24:4 “Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.”   But he wasn’t the only one.  Paul shared Peter’s awareness of the danger and mentions it several times.  Here’s just a few: Acts 20:28-31a: “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.  Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.  I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.  Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.  So be on your guard!”  One function of your church Elder Board, your Shepherd and under-shepherds, is to guard the flock against the wolves (danger from outside the church) and the sneaky sheep (danger from inside the church)!  Paul says in Colossians that he presents the word of God in its fullness, proclaiming Christ, so that no one may deceive them by fine-sounding arguments.
Knowledge of the truth is our best defense.  He goes on with this warning in 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”  Anytime the focus is on tradition or worldly principles (business strategies and numerical growth for instance) you need to be on your guard.  He really gets down on the false teachers in I Timothy 4:1-5:  “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.  Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.  They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.  For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”  Notice how it is the awareness and knowledge of truth that defend against error?
I’ll give just one more.  Paul is given a pretty bleak picture of humanity as the end comes closer, and when you hear his description you can’t help but see our world today.  II Timothy 3:1-5: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God–having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”  I can’t help but think of the cult in Texas, and the women and children caught in that trap.  Where did they first get tangled up in the lies and false teachings?  Maybe a quick look at what defines a cult will help.  I found this information at “gotquestions.org”, it’s a site I recommend.
Often in our minds we think of a cult as a group that worships Satan, sacrifices animals, and takes part in evil, bizarre, and pagan rituals.  In reality, though, most cults appear much more innocent.  The specific “Christian” definition of a cult is a religious group that denies one or more of the fundamentals of Biblical truth.  Or, in more simple terms, a cult is a group that teaches something that will cause a person to not be saved if they believe it.  In distinction from a religion, a cult is a group that claims to be Christian, yet denies an essential truth of Biblical Christianity.
The two most common teachings of cults are that Jesus was not God and that salvation is not by faith alone.  A denial of the deity of Christ results in Jesus’ death not being a sufficient payment for our sins.  A denial of salvation by faith alone results in salvation being achieved by our own works – something the Bible vehemently and consistently denies.  The two most well-known examples of cults to most of us are the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons.  Both groups claim to be Christian, yet both deny the two key doctrines I just mentioned.  Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons believe many things that are in agreement with and/or similar to what the Bible teaches.
However, the fact that they deny the deity of Christ and salvation by faith alone qualifies them as a cult.  Many Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and members of other cults are “good people” who are genuinely seeking God and genuinely believe they hold the truth.  Our hope and prayer is that many people involved in these “Christian” cults will see through the lies and will be drawn to the truth of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  The danger of cults is not so much for us, as our children and friends.  Seldom does someone leave a mainstream fundamental church to join with the Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses or cults of their like.  But our kids do.  Once away from home and the influence of their local church they are often attracted to the zeal and seeming lack of hypocrisy in these cults.   They do live their faith, oftentimes more convincingly than professing Christians.  It’s one reason why it is so important that what we profess to believe is evidenced in how we live, especially in our homes.
Our kids are watching, and they are not going to be impressed with our “religion” if they see rampant hypocrisy in our lives.  But, as Peter reminds us, the real danger comes from within.  We need to be aware of those who would “secretly introduce” destructive heresies.  We read that Satan, masquerading as the Serpent, was more crafty, variously translated as: more cunning, more subtle, sneakier, or more clever.  He seldom uses a frontal attack, but sneaks up on your blind side, ambushes you, catches you when you aren’t expecting it.  In the church it may be a new program, an idea brought forward by a trusted member, a suggestion to follow what “worked” at a different church, etc.  None of these are bad in themselves, it’s just that we need to carefully examine any changes we make.
It can be just as wrong and harmful not to make changes.  “We have always done it that way” are the seven last words of a dying church, or so the saying goes!  We may not like to hear that, but there is truth to it in certain areas.  The truth never changes, but the presentation of it often does.  Peter’s point is that the change introduced “subtly” is a destructive heresy, not simply a different look at truth.   One source defined destructive heresies as: “Divisive opinions or teachings that result in the moral and spiritual destruction of those who accept them.”  Satan’s plan is to render the church ineffective.
Division will do that, so we must guard against an introduction of opinions or teachings that divide us.  God’s will for us is unity.  John said in II John 1:7-11: “Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world.  Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.  Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.  Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.”  It’s the message that matters, not the format.  Paul, writing to the Philippians said in chapter 1:15-18a: “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.  The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.  The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.  But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached.  And because of this I rejoice.”
That’s spiritual maturity!  We get all caught up in arguing and fighting about the method, and the Enemy grins, cause we’re being divided.  But, says Peter, the false teachers are even more insidious, because they deny the sovereign Lord who bought them.  John agrees, and identifies them for us very clearly.  I John:2:21-23: “I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.  Who is the liar?  It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ.  Such a man is the antichrist–he denies the Father and the Son.  No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”  You can’t deny the Son without calling the Father a liar, and that will bring “swift destruction’ on those who do it.  Not swift in the sense of “say it today, pay for it today,” but swift as in when it comes it comes swiftly.
Peter points out several results of these false teachers and their heresies.  First of all, he says “many will follow their shameful ways.”  It seems there is no shortage of people, even in the church, looking for a way to please their own sinful appetites while pretending to serve God.  Immorality often accompanies deviant theology.
We have, as an example, once orthodox churches accepting homosexual behavior, not simply in their congregations, but in their pulpits and leadership.  Many “seeker-sensitive” churches condone, by their silence and unwillingness to confront sin, couples openly living together and raising children outside of marriage, as well as those involved in other “alternate lifestyle” choices against which Scripture clearly speaks.  By denying the Word of God they deny the God of the Word!
But, people like it, as Jeremiah pointed out earlier, and their churches are full.  Peter’s second observation is that by their behavior, they “bring the way of truth into disrepute.”  Those who call themselves “Christian” but by their beliefs and actions deny it, harm not only themselves but also all who claim the name.  The Christian faith is not simply a matter of correct doctrine but also correct living.  Peter points out one motive behind many false teachers, greed.  They are greedy either for the praise of men, or material wealth, and often both!  They abandon scripture and teach “made up” stories and doctrines to exploit those who follow them.  (Why does the word “Televangelist” come to mind?)   But Peter also points out that they won’t get away with it, at least not in the end.  Jeremiah again, remember?  Jeremiah 5:30-31: “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way.  But what will you do in the end?”  Peter says their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.  God is watching, and will bring judgment.   Although delay makes it seem that they have escaped God’s judgment, destruction is a reality that is sure to come upon them.
Remember what Paul said in Galatians 6:7-8: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”  What kind of crop are you sowing?

In His Grip,

Pastor Ken