According to Peter: False Teachers & Future Judgement

Introduction

Last week we looked at how Peter warned the believers in Asia Minor of the firey ordeals that would be coming and encouraged them to patiently endure through these times until the revelation of Yeshua. This week we will look at Peter’s second letter which focuses on an internal warning to the congregations. Whereas an external attack from the Adversary can be painful, there is nothing as damaging to a congregation as when sin and false doctrine are allowed. In the commentary included in the Tree of Life Version we see:

Peter’s second letter reminds us that doctrine and behaviour are interconnected. What we believe affects how we live. and how e live can affect what we believe - for sometimes people can change their beliefs to justify an improper lifestyle and, on the other hand, living according to Scripture can strengthen our faith.

As we go through 2 Peter we will also see that Judah (one of Yeshua’s half brothers) says many of the same things but to a different audience. We will pick up in 2 Peter 2:1-3

2 Peter 2:1–3 TLV

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies. They will even deny the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result the way of the truth will be maligned. In their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

False Prophets/Teachers

Peter starts out by showing us that prophets and teachers are synonymous and Peter points back to times in the past where these false prophets arose. One of those examples can be found in Jeremiah 14:11-16

Jeremiah 14:11–16 TLV

So Adonai said to me: “Do not pray for the good of this people. If they fast, I will not hear their cry. If they offer burnt offering or grain offering, I will not accept them. Instead I will consume them with sword, with famine and with plague.” Then I said: “Oh my Lord, Adonai! The prophets keep telling them: ‘You will not see the sword nor famine, but I will give you true peace in this place.’ ” Then Adonai said to me: “The prophets prophesy lies in My Name! I did not send them, nor commanded them, nor did I speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, divination, futility, a delusion of their heart.” Therefore thus says Adonai: “About the prophets who prophesy in My Name, though I did not send them, yet keep saying, ‘Sword and famine will never be in this land’—by sword and famine will those prophets be consumed. Also the people to whom they prophesy will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, because of the famine and the sword. They will have no one to bury them, their wives, their sons or their daughters. For I will pour their disaster on them.”

The false prophets preached, “Peace” and “Safety” but never repentance! There was no call to turn from their wicked ways. This nation of Australia is no different! Do you think that God will simply ignore the wickedness of our nation forever?

Later Jeremiah would write in Lam. 2:13-14

Lamentations 2:13–14 TLV

How can I admonish you? To what can I compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what can I liken you, so that I might console you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your wound is as deep as the sea! Who can heal you? Your prophets have seen for you false and worthless visions. They did not expose your iniquity, so as to restore your captivity. Rather, they have seen for you false and worthless oracles.

The false prophets would not expose the iniquity of the nation, and would not lead the people toward repentance. How can the nation repent unless they realize that they have sinned against Adonai? If we choose not to follow the ways of Adonai, then how can we expect to receive any blessing from Him?

Coming back to Peter, he points out that because of the immorality and destructive heresies that are brought into the body of Messiah by these false teachers, the way of truth is maligned! There is no room in the congregation for allowing sin, and Peter points out that this sin comes in the form of greed, immorality, false words, and this occurs within the congregation, specifically from the mouths of those who teach.

The half-brother of Yeshua, Judah would write Jude 11-13

Jude 11–13 TLV

Woe to them! For they went the way of Cain; they were consumed for pay in Balaam’s error; and in Korah’s rebellion they have been destroyed. These people are hidden rocky reefs at your love feasts—shamelessly feasting with you, tending only to themselves. They are waterless clouds, carried along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

Balaam was willing to preach only what people want to hear for the purpose of financial gain (Num. 31:16), and Korah (Num. 16) led a rebellion against God’s ordained leaders. Both of these men did not fear Adonai, or his judgement, nor did they treat God as holy. They were both only doing what would bring themselves personal benefit. Judah is pointing out that within the congregation there were people who were only interested in feeding their own belly, and tending only to themselves. These people do not exhibit the fruit of the Ruach in their lives , but rather are filled with shame and emptiness.

Do we think that Adonai will allow this sort of pollution to continue within his body unchecked forever? No, judgement is coming and it will absolutely begin within the Body of Messiah! Whether it is greed, or immorality or false heretically teaching, Adonai will bring correction, but woe to those who participate in this behaviour.

Future Judgement

Now Peter continues and provides several historical examples of what the end will include. Let’s continue reading from 2 Peter 2:4-8

2 Peter 2:4–8 TLV

For God did not spare angels when they sinned, but threw them into Sheol. He put them in chains of gloomy darkness, to be held until the judgment. He did not spare the ancient world. He preserved only Noah, a proclaimer of righteousness, along with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly. He devastated the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, reducing them to ashes—making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly. He rescued Lot, a righteous man deeply troubled by the shameless immorality of the wicked. (For that righteous man, while living among them, was tormented in his righteous soul day after day by lawless deeds he saw and heard.)

The three historical examples of the coming judgement are:

Judgement of Angels

The Flood

Sodom & Gomorrah

If Adonai did not spare the angels when they sinned, then what hope is there for humanity? Adonai causes nations to rise and brings them down. He judged the entire world with a flood during, Noah’s day, and afterwards we see that Adonai promises in Gen. 9:12-16

Genesis 9:12–16 TLV

Then God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I am making between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you for all future generations. My rainbow do I place in the cloud, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the land. Whenever I bring clouds over the land and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant that is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the rainbow is in the cloud, I will look at it, to remember the perpetual covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the land.”

And today, we have taken the very promise of Adonai and use it to flaunt our pride and arrogance against Him, and against His morality. Do we think that Adonai will ignore this forever?

Adonai has promised not to destroy the entire world again with a flood, but time and time again throughout the Scriptures we see Eze. 21:36

Ezekiel 21:36 TLV

I will pour out My indignation on you. I will blow on you with the fire of My fury. I will hand you over to brutal men, skilled to destroy.

or in Amos 5:6

Amos 5:6 TLV

Seek Adonai, and live— lest He rush like fire through the house of Joseph. Yes, it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it.

Or in Rev. 8:7

Revelation 8:7 TLV

The first trumpeted, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and they were thrown upon the earth. A third of the earth burned up, a third of the trees burned up, and all the green grass burned up.

Judgement is coming, but this time it is by fire.

Peter finished up by talking about Lot and the judgement of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot’s heart was broken for his city, and he wept over the sin that he saw every day. Are our hearts moved with compassion for the neighborhoods that we live in? Peter points to what happened to these cities, and says that it is an example of what will happen one day when the judgement of Adonai falls on the world.

Rescue of the Godly

Peter lets us all in on what Adonai will do at the Day of the Lord. We continue reading 2 Peter 2:9-10

2 Peter 2:9–10 TLV

Therefore the Lord certainly knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and how to keep the unrighteous being punished until the Day of Judgment— especially those who follow after the flesh in its unclean desires and who despise the Lord’s authority.

Not only is Adonai going to be bringing judgment on the unrighteous in the world on the Day of Judgment, but he is also going to preserve or rescue his people. Peter has used the example of Noah and of Lot to show that Adonai will be able to protect his people from judgement. I realize that many will point to these passages and say that they refer to a pre-tribulation rapture. And while I acknowledge that it can be argued that Lot was taken out of Sodom prior to it’s judgement, Noah was not taken out of the earth, but rather were rescued through the middle of the storm.

Also there are many other passages of Scripture that point to Adonai delivering us through the middle of the trials and judgements. One such Scripture is, Isa. 26:20-21

Isaiah 26:20–21 TLV

Go, my people, enter your rooms, and shut your doors behind you. Hide for a little while, until the wrath is past. For behold, Adonai is coming out from His place to punish inhabitants of the earth for iniquity. The earth will disclose her bloodshed, no longer covering up her slain.

I do believe that we will sheltered by Adonai during the middle of the judgement of God, but that does not protect us from the persecution of people around us. This passage above is definitely speaking about the end of days, and you can read the whole lot later. For now we will look at Isa. 27:13

Isaiah 27:13 TLV

It will also come about in that day, a great shofar will be blown. Those perishing in the land of Assyria and the exiles in the land of Egypt will come and worship Adonai on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

Michael Brown writes the following:

The Lord will provide a place of refuge for us right in the midst of the storm (as He did for Noah). He will give us a way of escape from His judgements (just as He did for Lot). He will make a distinction between His people and the world (just as He did for the Israelites in Egypt and for the righteous in Jerusalem). Yet we will not escape all tribulation and suffering for the Gospel. In other words, we will not be exempt from the hatred of people and the attacks of Satan. To the contrary, we were promised this as part of our faith. But we will be protected from God’s wrath - right here, in this world. The storm will be great, but our God will be greater, and we will take refuge in Him. (Prov. 18:10)

What can we do?

Now much of what I talked about today applies specifically to teachers of the Word of God. And I can tell you that I fully realize that I am preaching to myself, and to others who teach the Scriptures. I was recently remined of the Modesto Manifesto, a series of conversations between Billy Graham, Cliff Barrows, George Beverly Shea and Grady Wilson in 1948. This discussion contained a commitment to uphold the Bible’s standard of absolute integrity and purity for evangelists, specifically in 4 key areas:

Financial integrity,

Sexual morality,

Publicity, and

Partnership with the local church

Billy Graham wrote in his Autobiography, Just As I Am, that there is a “temptation to wring as much money as possible out of an audience, often with strong emotional appeals.” Billy Graham implemented several safeguards to ensure that greed would not have any place in his ministry.

Financial Integrity

Eleanor and I also decided that we also would put safeguards in place at HYC to ensure that the temptation of money would watched as closely as possible. We did this in three specific ways:

We decided that I would hold a secular job to provide for my family. There is nothing wrong with being full-time in the ministry, but we decided, that we would have a tent-making career just like Paul.

We decided that we would not take a weekly offering, by passing the plate. Now we fully believe that tithing, the giving of 10% to God, should be done, and we have personally tithed even when we were living on Centrelink payments. But we decided that we would leave tithing between you and God.

We decided to set up the finances such that all financial transactions required 2 signatures. This means that no one single person makes financial decisions here at the congregation.

Sexual Morality

With regards to Sexual morality, Billy Graham pledged with the others to “avoid any situation that would have even the appearance of compromise or suspicion.” And from that day on he did not travel, meet or eat alone with a woman other than his wife. This is also something that Eleanor and I have committed to. We all should avoid anything that even appears wrong, and we live in a day and time where the Devil does not play fair. There are many examples of where pastors have been deliberately set up to make it look like they are in a compromising situation and then they are slandered. By the time that the truth actually comes out, it is too late and the damage is done.

Honest Publicity

In terms of publicity, for Billy Graham this meant that they would never claim higher attendance numbers than what they actually had. This point was really about being honest in the reporting of how many people they were reaching.

For us at HYC, this has not been much of an issue, but as we continue to grow the temptation to exaggerate might increase. We are very thankful for all of you, and we want to be very careful that we never become more focused on numbers than we are on individuals. As we grow, we must do so in such a way, that everyone here knows that they are loved, and that they belong. Nobody gets left behind, and each one of you is of infinite value to Yeshua.

Partnership

The final point that Billy Graham focused on at Modesto, was the “tendency of many evangelists to carry on their work apart from the local church, even to criticize the local pastors and churches open and scathingly.” Graham decided that he would cooperate with all who would work with them in the public proclamation of the Good News. He also decided to avoid an antichurch or anti-clergy attitude.

For us, this is also an important issue. We need the rest of the Body of Messiah, and we should not be criticizing other denominations or congregations. There can be a tendency in some messianic congregations to criticize other believers who meet on a Sunday instead of a Saturday. This, and other similar criticisms, is counter-productive and does not lead people toward a closer relationship with Yeshua. I have no problem calling out areas of heresy, especially as it relates to the person of Yeshua, and the why of salvation, but we need to hold areas of tradition loosely. They are just traditions, things that we do, that we enjoy, that build a community, but they are not issues of salvation. Just remember, that the way that you talk about others, will most certainly be the way that others talk about you.

I realize that some of these things might seem like a rabbit’s trail, but they are very similar to the issues that Peter and Judah are talking about. We must do everything that we can to ensure that we hold ourselves to this level of integrity.

Summary

Let us summarize and have another look at the Summary slide and the Timeline.