4. Remember to Beware of False Teachers

Introduction

God didn’t heal my eyesight.

2 Peter 2:1-3. There will be false teachers.

Sometimes they’re obvious, like the televangelists who exploit people for money so they can buy $54 million jets. “If Jesus had come today, he wouldn’t be riding around on a donkey.”

Most of the time, they’re far more subtle.

How can God allow false teachers?

How do we recognize false teachers?

What will happen to false teachers?

Warning: 2 Peter 2 is weird! But it’s also God’s Word, and we trust it.

Body

How can God allow false teachers?

He doesn’t spare them from judgment (2 Peter 2:3b).

Three examples

If God did not spare the angels who sinned (2 Peter 2:4; see Gen 6:1-4),

If God did not spare the ancient world, but rescued Noah (2 Peter 2:5; see Gen 6-9),

If God condemned Sodom and Gomorrah, but rescued Lot (2 Peter 2:6-8; see Gen 18-19),

2 Peter 2:9… Then God knows how to rescue the righteous while bringing judgment on the wicked.

2 Peter 2:9 M:BCL

9 So God knows how to rescue the godly from evil trials. And he knows how to hold the feet of the wicked to the fire until Judgment Day.

Takeaway: Trust God to bring judgment and justice.

How do we recognize false teachers?

Look again at 2 Peter 2:10a… Jesus taught something similar in Matthew 7:15-20… We recognize false teachers not necessarily by their teaching but their fruit.

Two examples

False teachers despise authority (2 Peter 2:10b-12a).

Today: Dismissing spiritual authorities and powers. “The devil’s greatest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist.” But Michael Quinlan says, “A greater deception, perhaps, is convincing people that the devil’s existence does not matter, because God is so merciful that He will not send anyone to hell. This presumptuous confidence in God’s mercy… is a repackaging of the same old lie from the Garden of Eden: you should not believe God when he says disobeying Him will lead to your death.”

Today: Dismissing the authority of Scripture… often in favor of experience.

Today: Dismissing the authority of the church.

False teachers follow the corrupt desires of the flesh (2 Peter 2:12b-14).

Lust, hypocrisy, lying, greed… self-indulgence.

They assume every desire must be a good desire, but this is clearly false (see Luke 9:23).

“Doesn’t God want me to be happy?” No. God wants you to be holy (1 Peter 1:16). That means to be made whole… in Christ.

In short, they are lunatics who will be brought to shame, like Balaam (2 Peter 2:15-16; see Num 22-24).

Like the YouTube prophets in 2020… See 2 Peter 2:2.

Ravi Zacharias (1946-2020) vs. Tim Keller (1950-2023)

Takeaway: Look a person’s fruit, not just their teaching

Paul’s words in Philippians 3:17.

Is this teacher/leader/person someone whose life I want to imitate?

What is my example teaching others?

What will happen to false teachers?

2 Peter 2:17… Blackest darkness is reserved for them.

They will continue to be enslaved to their sin (2 Peter 2:18-19).

It’s unlikely they will ever repent, and if they don’t repent, they won’t be forgiven (2 Peter 2:20-22).

Takeaway: Follow Jesus together.

Conclusion