Harsh Words About False Teachers.

Opening:

It is a beautiful thing to open the Word of God on the Lord’s Day.

Introduction of the Passage:

The largest section of 2 Peter is addressing false teachers.

We have seen Peter warn:

There will be false teachers in the church.

They will bring in heresy and deny Christ.

Many will follow them.

But...

God knows how to save the righteous and judge wicked.

God judged the angels who sinned but saved Noah.

God judged Sodom and Gomorrah but saved Lot.

Please stand with me out of reverence for the reading of God’s Word.

Reading of the Passage:

2 Peter 2:9–17 NKJV

9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, 11 whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 13 and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, 14 having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. 15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. 17 These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

Behold, the Word of God. Let’s Pray.

Prayer:

Introduction:

Remember where we ended last week.

God will save the righteous but will judge the wicked.

God is going to judge the false teachers.

Text Idea:

Peter here addresses more of what these false teachers will do and how God will judge them.

Sermon Idea:

This morning we will dive into the specifics of what Peter said and even see the importance of the language Peter used.

Transition:

This passage is not laid out in a linear style. Peter is sort of all over the place.

There are three main things happening in this passage.

What the False Teachers Will Do.

Explanation:

Peter tells us a lot in these verses.

False teachers will:

Walk according to their lustful flesh.

Despise authority.

Be self willed (arrogant).

Speak evil of dignitaries.

Speak evil of things they do not understand.

Find pleasure in carousing in the daytime.

Carouse in their deception while feasting with the church.

Fill their eyes with adultery.

They cannot cease from sin.

Entice unstable souls.

Covetous.

Forsake the right way.

Follow Balaam.

A lot of things. But there are themes.

Five main things.

What are the false teachers going to do?

1. Hate Authority.

2 Peter 2:10 “10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,”

Explanation:

They despise authority.

This could be a general hatred of any authority.

It could be hatred of the church authority.

False teachers would naturally hate the church authority because strong church authority is their primary opposition.

They speak evil (Slander) of dignitaries.

Dignitaries is literally translated as “glorious ones.”

Either angels or demons. (I think more likely angels.)

These false teachers either deny the supernatural (as some early heresies did)

The supernatural is real. Angels and demons exist. To deny their existence is dangerous.

or they were flippantly and wrongly speaking evil of these supernatural beings. (as some early heresies did.)

Many false teachers and heresies even to this day revolve around false teaching about these spiritual beings.

Angels (who are greater in power and might) do not speak this way. They are careful in their speech, not flippantly reviling.

Jude 9 “9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!””

Angels (who are far more powerful) are controlled in their speech. These false teachers are not.

They speak evil of things they do not understand.

This could still be referring to their speech about angels.

Or it could be about the heresies they were bringing in.

Think of what false teaching is: Slander (speaking evil) of true Christian doctrine.

Examples:

Arius (300’s) denied the Trinity saying Jesus was another god than the Father.

(Today)Jehovah’s witnesses and Mormons slander the Trinity. Many do this because they do not understand.

Gnostics slandered The Father and the Son because they believed the physical was evil.

(Today) Many false teachers still teach this and many Christians have bought into the lie that the physical is somehow dirty and unimportant.

We could say of all these false teachings/teachers that they do not know the severity of what they are saying. They are slandering what they do not understand.

2. Practice Immorality.

Peter gives a long list of their behavior but it is summed up well as they actively practice immorality.

Follow their flesh and lusts like wild animals.

Peter is using hyperbolic language to say they have abandoned their humanity and sense of reason for the sake of this sin.

Fill their eyes with adultery and lust.

Peter’s focus here is that these false teachers are filled with sexual degeneracy.

Argumentation:

Even today we see many mega churches filled pastored by false teachers that inevitably end up in a sexual scandal.

Sexual sin is a sin any pastor can fall into but it seems more common in the realm of false teachers. They use their power as the “man of God” to seduce their secretary.

3. Deceptive and Enticing.

They are crafty liars. They are deceptive. It is not always obvious.

Peter says they are filled with deception while feasting with you.

Jude 12 “12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;”

They deceptively take the Lord’s Supper.

This is perhaps one of the worst things they do.

The Lord’s Supper is where we commune with Christ. He is with us in a powerfully supernatural way in this act. They blaspheme this holy act.

This shows again that they are part of the church. They are not outsiders.

They entice unstable souls.

They pull the immature and weak Christians into their sin.

It is easy to be wrapped up in false teaching if you are not stable and mature in your faith. (sober minded.)

This is why it is so important to mature in your faith.

4. They Carouse.

I did not know what this word meant.

Some translations say “revel.”

The Greek Word means several things: They are effeminate, seeking luxury or indulgence.

They are soft and focused on their own pleasure.

5. Followers of Balaam.

Peter says here that they are following the way of Balaam.

Balaam was the pagan prophet the king of Moab hires to curse Israel in Numbers 22-24.

Balaam was reluctant to do this until the king paid him more and more.

Balaam was willing to curse God’s people for money.

In the same way these false teachers are willing to curse and lead God’s people to hell for their own gain. They love money.

Peter confirms Balaam was rebuked by the donkey. It really did happen.

Transition:

Next, Peter moves on to:

Judgments on False Teachers.

(Don’t spend long here. We covered it well last week)

Explanation:

Peter again confirms that they will be judged. He speaks about it in several ways.

1. Destruction, Cursed, and Hell.

He uses the language of destruction several times.

Destruction speaks of God’s wrath. God will destroy these false teachers.

They are accursed children.

Again Peter uses covenantal language to emphasize that they are part of the church.

But they are not blessed children. They are cursed.

This means the wrath of God remains on them. They denied the Lord. They tasted His goodness and then rejected Him. They are cursed.

Finally Peter ends with this: “for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”

This is a common picture of hell in Scripture.

Peter is saying that these false teachers will certainly be in hell.

Transition:

That is not the only judgement: There is a real temporal judgement.

2. Slavery to Sin.

Peter says this in 2 Peter 2:14 “14 having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin...”

This language of bondage and slavery.

They are unable to be free.

Argumentation:

We must not forget that sin is a curse.

There is a theme in Scripture:

Often the punishment for sin is more sin.

Scripture uses the picture of God handing people over to their sin.

A pattern we see in Scripture is when Israel wanted to Go after false Gods, and God would turn them over.

Often God’s judgement can be “Okay, you want that sin? Here you go.”

“Sin will take you further than you want to go and keep you longer than you want to stay.”

Scripture tells us sin is only fun for a season. Then it will bind you.

Transition:

The third and final thing we see in this passage is rather shocking to our modern sensibilities.

Peter’s Harsh Words.

Explanation:

Peter calls these false teachers a list of very harsh names.

Lust-full.

The picture is that they are like animals who cannot control their urges.

Presumptuous and self willed.

Selfish and ignorant.

Brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed.

This is perhaps one of the meanest. They are no better than animals who exist only to be destroyed.

Carousers.

Effeminate seeking only luxury.

This is purely derogatory. Like the derogatory insult of “you’re gay.” “You’re not a real man.”

Spots and blemishes.

Literally They are a disease.

Specifically Peter and Jude are referring to how they are a disease when taking the Lord’s Supper.

Specifically this holds the idea of leprosy.

Think of this. “You are a putrid rotting almost corpse in our gatherings. You violate the whole space when you come in.”

Coveters.

Accursed children.

If you think of cursed biblically you get the idea of being damned.

Peter is issuing a curse on them.

Wells without water, Clouds carried by a tempest.

They are empty and barren. Fruitless.

like a cloud that promises rain but leaves the ground dry.

Argumentation:

Imagine if I started calling people out by name with terms like these. (Paul often did)

It would be shocking.

This language and even worse is not uncommon in Scripture, so why is it shocking?

It is shocking because in our age, we have added to Scripture.

The 11th commandment, “Be nice” and it overrides every other command in the Bible.

Here is the reality:

Harsh Language is Biblical.

The Bible is filled with

I’ve often heard it called The Serrated Edge.

The serrated edge is used in several ways in Scripture. Here are just a few:

Sarcasm or righteous mockery.

Elijah to the prophets of Baal.

Your God is on the toilet.

Elijah is being sarcastic and mocking these false prophets.

God blesses Elijah in this.

Cursing.

Often people are called “damned.”

Paul says his righteous works are “dung.” (equivalent to our curse word for the same)

Philippians 3:8 “8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ”

Hard (mean) words.

John the Baptist.

Jesus to the Pharisees.

Peter and Jude to the false teachers.

Peter is saying the false teachers are damned animals good for nothing but to be eternally destroyed.

The Bible is filled with harsh language. (just read the prophets) We often sanitize it.

Here is an important point:

Peter, Paul, Jesus, John the Baptist, the prophets were not sinning by using the serrated edge.

Objection:

typically here there comes an objection.

Doesn’t the Bible say we should avoid harsh language?

Ephesians 4:29 “29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

How can Paul say this in Ephesians and yet regularly use incredibly harsh language himself?

Answer:

The serrated edge can be used sinfully or righteously.

None of us would accuse Jesus of sin, but Jesus used this rhetorical tool against the Pharisees OFTEN.

Just read Matthew 23-24.

Objection 2:

“That was fine for Jesus and the Apostles and Prophets, but we should not use harsh language because we aren’t them.

Answer 2:

That would be fine, except we are called to imitate Christ and the Apostles.

Christ often tells us to use dangerous things.

Illustration: Love is dangerous and often misused to incredible harm, but we understand that love must still be used correctly.

In the same way, there are many occasions where Christians will need to use this tool in the right way. We will have to say hard things.

Example: If a false teacher came in here and began to teach rank heresy, it would be my job to publicly rebuke him in no uncertain words.

Men, if someone started yelling at your wife and kids, it would be your job to give that man a verbal spanking.

note: biblically this is a masculine virtue. Just like with physical warfare.

How do we use the serrated edge?

Or

How do we speak hard things in the right way?

If you are in a place where you have to issue a very strong rebuke we must remember things:

Harsh language is sharp.

We have to recognize that this is dangerous.

It must not be done flippantly.

just like you handle a knife or loaded gun, you should handle your words.

Keep the warnings in James in mind.

James 1:19–20 “19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

Recognize that at times we must honor God in using harsh words. It is a tool, but it is a sharp tool not to be used flippantly or in uncontrolled emotion.

It must be used wisely and Effectively.

practically: you need to know when and when not to use it.

When not to: If sister Sarah is singing off key in the choir, you don’t jump up and yell down biblical curses on her.

When to use it: When someone is leading people astray it is perfectly acceptable to use this took.

Sharp tools are used best by those with wisdom.

You must also use it effectively.

If you swing a sharp too effectively it works well. If you don’t, you can lop off your toe.

This takes wisdom. It takes a clear mind. It takes calm emotion.

At this point many would be tempted to say that we should never use it.

Just like there are people who are afraid of firearms because they are truly dangerous, there are many Christians who are afraid of the serrated edge.

Remember, love is equally as dangerous. Love is equally as if not more damaging when misused.

Transition:

We simply have to mature and learn when and when not to use these Christian tools.

Application:

Peter gives us perhaps one of the best examples of how to use this tool of harsh language in this passage.

we see here a good lesson:

Do not be afraid to call a spade a spade.

This is what Peter is doing here.

Every word Peter wrote about these false teachers is true.

They are not nice, but they are true.

A few weeks ago I warned that false teachers will attempt to manipulate us emotionally.

One of the warnings I gave was that they will try to manipulate us through fear.

If you say ______, you will be called ______.

Do not be controlled by this fear.

Peter was not afraid of the false teachers calling him mean, or harsh, or “un-Christlike.”

They were leading people to hell. He told the bare blatant truth.

In the same way, we must not be afraid to tell the truth.

I pray that I would be unafraid to be bold in confronting false teachers like Peter.

I pray I would not be afraid of saying those who deny the Trinity are heretics.

Here is a bare bones practical application:

Do Not Be Afraid to Defend What is True, Even if You are Called Mean.

The truth is worth defending.

Many today would say Peter was mean.

The truth is worth defending.

Appeal:

Be velvet covered iron. Be gentle where you can, but be firm as iron on the truth. May God help us be so.

Closing Prayer:

Offering:

Offertory Prayer:

Benediction:

Numbers 6:24–26 “24 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’”