2 Peter 2
2 Peter • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 3 viewsFalse teachers, their teaching and their ends.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning, brothers and sisters. Victor Chong is my name, if I have not the opportunity to meet you this morning. It is always good to catch up with some of you this morning. My wife Belinda is the pianist for our church this morning, so she is not able to join us. I bring you her greetings. She would have loved to come and catch up with some of you this morning.
The message today is based on 2 Peter chapter 2. We are going through a series on Peter, having finished 1 Peter, we are now in the midst of 2 Peter. Hopefully, we will finish 2 Peter by the end of this year.
Background:
Background:
Let us remind ourselves of the background of 2 Peter 2. As you might remember, Peter wrote 2 letters to the believers in Asia Minor, what is Turkey today, to encouraged them. These believers were exiled from Rome because of their belief, as recorded in Acts 18:2
And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,
and they now live in eastern frontier of the empire. In the first letter that Peter wrote to them, he wrote to encouraged them as they faced persecution from outside the church. In his second letter, he wrote to warn them against false teachers and their false teachings from within the church. He started by reminding his audience their calling in Christ, 2 Peter 1:10-11
Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
and the certainty of what they have believed in 2 Peter 1:19 to safeguard against false teachings.
And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,
What Peter is saying is that, firstly, we have been called and elected in Christ Jesus to be saved; we do not need anything more that Christ; not work, not another gospel, not another teaching. Secondly, the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we have believed in is confirmed by prophetic words - including prophets of the Old Testament and during the time of the New Testament. From then, Peter moves on to describe the false teachers and their false teachings in 2 Peter 2.
Prayer
Prayer
Let us begin with a word of prayer before we dive into the message this morning.
1. Who are these false teachers?
1. Who are these false teachers?
After reminding his audience of their calling and the certainty of the Gospel - of what they have believed; Peter started by warning his audience of the presence of false teachers among them, who are within the congregation, 2 Peter 2:1
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
Who are these false teachers? They were among the believers, but
They deny the Lord Jesus
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
and his return, 2 Peter 3:4
They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
2. They do so by lying, exploitation, 2 Peter 2:3
And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
and blaspheming, 2 Peter 2:10
and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones,
and 2 Peter 2:12
But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction,
3. They are motivated by lust and sensuality, 2 Peter 2:2
And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
And 2 Peter 2:10
and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones,
And 2 Peter 2:14
They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!
And greed, 2 Peter 2:3
And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
and 2 Peter 2:14
They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!
2. What will happen to them?
2. What will happen to them?
If this is who the false teachers are, and if their motives are evil, what will happen to them? They will be destroyed and their destruction is swift, 2 Peter 2:1
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
and certain, 2 Peter 2:3
And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
Peter gives the Examples of how God have judged the wicked in the past, as proof that He will certainly judge these false teachers but saves the righteous:
First, Peter gives the example of the angels who have sinned; 2 Peter 2:4
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;
Here, Peter is making a reference to Jude 6
And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—
The angels whom Peter and Jude talk about, refers to the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1-3 according to Jewish tradition.
When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”
2. The second example is the flood of Noah, in Genesis 6:5-7
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
And so the Lord brought the Great Flood in the time of Noah; 2 Peter 2:5
if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
3. The third example is that of Sodom and Gomorrah, but the righteous Lot was rescued, as recorded in Genesis 19, which Peter summarised in Peter 2:6-7
if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked
4. The last example is Balaam, the prophet who loved gain from wrongdoing, from Numbers 22, which Peter summarised in 2 Peter 2:15-16
Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
Therefore, as surely as God acted in judgment in the past, the judgment and destruction of the false teachers are certain, as certain as the salvation of the righteous, in 2 Peter 2:8-9
(for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,
and in 2 Peter 2:17
These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved.
Peter then wrapped up this section by warning his audience against the false teachers, and from being enslaved by the false teaching and false freedom, and the corruption that overcome them, 2 Peter 2:19
They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.
3. False Teachings today
3. False Teachings today
What are some the of examples of false teachings, false beliefs and false ideas that impact the church today? There are many, but we might just concentrate on one of them. It is not so much a false teaching, but as a false belief, it is not uncommon.
Spiritual Warfare versus Cultural Warfare
It is not uncommon among some of us Christians that we are fighting a cultural war with rather than a spiritual war. There is no doubt that we are fighting a spiritual warfare, a war for the lives and souls of men and women. But we are not fighting a cultural war. What is cultural warfare? Cultural warfare is to believe that Christians are under siege, especially in traditional Christian countries and societies. So, Christians must rise up, participate in the political struggle, and to wrestle political control of the society from the non-believers. There is a sense of urgency that we need to control the executive and the judiciary to win this cultural war, because there is where earthly power resides. And it is justified to use any means to achieve this end. What is wrong with cultural warfare? Well, first of all, in many, it is driven by fear. Secondly, it makes us view the non-believers as our enemies, as threats; it dissuades us from sharing the Gospel with them, from caring for them and loving them, instead, to treat them as foes. No where did Peter, either here in 2 Peter, or in 1 Peter; or Paul, or any of the Biblical authors ever encourage the believers to do so, despite the threats, mistreatment, persecution, and murderous punishment meted out on them. In Acts 19:37 the town councillor of Ephesus bears witness to Paul and his companions’ 2 years of ministry in Ephesus -
For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess.
Yes, we are fighting a war; a spiritual war; not a cultural war. Our opponent and enemy is the Devil; Satan himself, and not the people on the other side of the political divide; left or right, conservative or woke, or those with different definitions of genders from us, or those of different religion, Islam or any other. They are not our enemies; they are our neighbours, whom we are called to love and to share God’s blessings with. And there is no greater blessing we can share with them than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
By believing that we are engaging in a cultural war, not only are we fighting the wrong enemy - and left Satan alone - we are also abandoning the Great Commission, the call to reach out the world with the Gospel in love and compassion. More than that, we are bearing a bad witness to Christianity; to who God really is. Is there any wonder if the non-believers see our God as vindictive and blood thirsty when we ourselves fight toe-to-nail for our own political ascendency, power and control in the name of God? What does that do to the credibility of the Gospel? What does that do the reputation of the Church? What does that do to the name of God? How is our Gospel different to any other religion or belief system? Who would want a Gospel like that?
Is that who God really is? Absolutely not. He is the God who command us to love our enemies, Matthew 5:43-44
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
When Stephen was stoned, he prayed, Acts 7:59-60
And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Our Lord Jesus himself pray this on the cross, Luke 23:34
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
What we are fighting is a spiritual war, a war to win the hearts of souls of men; a war fought with Christian, godly characters - that is with truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and with the Word of God - the Gospel, as we read in Ephesians 6:10-18
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
To believe that Christians are engaged in a cultural war is false teaching; a false teaching that erodes away our calling to love the people and to share the Gospel with them. The true teaching is that we are engaged in a spiritual war with the devil; not a cultural war.
How do we respond?
How do we respond?
Now let us return to 2 Peter 2; and let us end by considering how then do we counter false teachings?
We come back to what Peter said in chapter 1; 2 Peter 1:3
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
And in verse 5; 2 Peter 1:5
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
One of the first thing we can do is by knowing God well; by knowing God’s heart - what is in his heart, what are his plans and desires for us; what are the commands and instructions he has for us.
And how do we know God well? By spending time with him in Prayer and Bible reading. These are the few things we can do:
Daily prayer and Bible reading
Systematic Bible reading
Involve in Bible study groups (bit.ly/rwatts)
Personal in-depth study; focus on knowing God.
Learn the original languages
We can consider any or all of these -
Daily prayer and Bible reading - Have a regular quiet time with God; you might want to consider something like “No God no dinner”, or “No Bible no bed”.
Being systematic - Adopt a plan that goes through the entire Bible in 1, 2 or 3 years. There are many plans available; if you are interested in one, you could use either the Youversion mobile app, or look up the internet.
Involve in Bible study groups - Life group, Bible Study Fellowship, taking courses or audits in the local Bible colleges; listen to sermons from good Bible teachers. My favourite is Professor Rikk Watts’ sermon (bit.ly/rwatts).
Personal in-depth study; focus on knowing God, strengthening our relationship with Him.
Learn the original languages - Which opens up a whole new world of tools, resources, material and knowledge; and to appreciate the beauty and magnificence of the Bible as a literary masterpiece; and through this God’s beauty.
Closing prayer
Closing prayer
