WHY HEALTH-WEALTH PREACHING CAN NEVER DELIVER (2 PETER 2:17-19)

Introduction

After years of Bible study in prison, Jim Bakker, the jailed televangelist, confessed. “I had been teaching false doctrine for years and hadn’t even known it!… I had been doing just the opposite of Jesus’ words by teaching people to fall in love with money.” He then proceeds to critique his own sermons.

While it is refreshing to hear a confession from one who confessed being a false teacher, those who will continue to refer to today never made a confession of their grievous sins of purposeful deception. We have been observing what it looks like when we are tempted to be deceived by false teachers. Last time we saw the illustration of a prophet for profit and his donkey that learned to talk. As we come to the text this morning we continue the devastating diatribe that Peter attacks the false teachers with. As we do, we will reveal why modern-day health-wealth preaching can never deliver. For all their high profile antics and all their deception of people, we will observe three reasons why this is so.

Reason #1: They are without Potential (2:17).

Health-wealth preachers will never ultimately deliver biblical truth because:

A. They are Destitute (17a).

“These are waterless springs.”

As we come to verse 17, we are confronted with a Greek demonstrative pronoun that connects back to verse 16. [read]

It is the word these. After using the illustration of Balaam to describe the false teachers as those using blasphemous words, having wandering eyes and greedy hearts, he now says they are waterless springs. If you are a well, what should you contain? That is right, you should contain water. Tt was and still is dependent upon the yearly rains to ensure an abundant harvest and an ample food supply for the coming year. Thus, water was a precious commodity that was not taken for granted. The worst situation you can be in is to be in a desert and come upon a well that is dried up.

The Middle East was and still is dependent upon the yearly rains to ensure an abundant harvest and an ample food supply for the coming year. Thus, water was a precious commodity that was not taken for granted.

Spiritually, this was the situation of the false teachers were making promises that they could not deliver on. They promised harmony but delivered only dissonance. Just like a well without water, these false teachers in the end were worthless. Not only were the false prophets destitute, they were also something else.

B. They are Disappointing (17b).

“and mists driven by a storm”

The false prophets were waterless springs and they were mists driven by a storm. Again, if you are a cloud what should people look for in you? That is right, a rain could should contain the moisture that brings much need rain for the parched ground. Picture this. It is a hot and sweltering day. It is one hundred degrees in the shade. Suddenly it begins to cloud over. You think, “Great, it is finally going to rain and cool things off.” You wait and wait but it never rains. It does not rain because there is not enough moisture in the clouds to cause it to rain. Eventually the winds come along and blow the clouds away. What an overwhelming disappointment.

These false teachers over promised and under delivered. One writer put it this way, “The new teaching was cool, edgy and sexy; but it has no spiritual vitality or substance to it.” The Bible says that if you are not in Christ that you will be blown around by every wind of doctrine. It is like sticking your finger in your mouth and then lifting that finger in the air to see which way the culture is blowing. This your belief for the moment. These people go up like a rocket and come down like a rock. They listen to the pop psychology preaching of people like Joel Osten and the other health-wealth nuts. They have rejected genuine truth because they are easily moved. Just let the first storm come into their life and they are gone.

The health-wealth preaching of our day is no different than the false gospel being perpetuated on people in Peter’s day. These perpetuaters of falsehood are destitute and they are disappointing. Yet, they are also something else.

C. They are Doomed (17c).

“For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved.”

In the end, those who teach such spiritually gullible people falsehood to their own destruction will themselves be destroyed. God promises eternal judgment for these. They were guilty of telling people of how wonderful they were. What they needed to hear was a message of how wonderful, marvelous and holy God is. They were telling people to believe in themselves and live their best life now. What they needed to hear was their need to surrender to Christ and believe in Him for their salvation and follow Him in obedience.

Action Point

Those who reject the truth are easily deceived, empty and in constant confusion.

As believers we will go through some rough days and maybe get off the path every now and again. However, we will not stay there. If you are genuinely saved you are not spiritually empty. Yet, if you reject the truth, you will always be empty. It does not matter how many drinks you consume, how many pills you pop, how many funny cigarettes you smoke or much sexual immorality you become involved in. You will be empty. The only way you will escape such emptiness is to be filled with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The first reason health-wealth preachers and their phony bologna spouting will never deliver is because they are without potential. There is also a second reason they will never deliver.

II. They are without Power (2:18).

These pop-psychology are full of hot air and devoid of substance. They claim to love and follow Jesus but their lies betray them:

A. Their Words Deplete (18a).

“For, speaking loud boasts of folly”

These claimed great wisdom and knowledge and they were quick to let people know about it. First, they spoke loudly. This means they were shouting their words. Yet, their words of wisdom was nothing but foolish boasting. They were words of arrogance and conceit. They, with great hubris in their hearts, declared they had a great new revelation from God. Their words were empty and deplete of any substance.

B. Their Words Deceive (18b).

“they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error”

The word entice is the same word we encountered in verse 14 (read). The term carries the idea of baiting a trap. These were baiting the spiritual trip for unsteady souls to fall for their verbal garbage. How do they do this? How do they trick people into following them? It is by means of the “sensual passions of the flesh.” It is by the lusts of the flesh that they lure people in. How does this happen? Here is how it goes. Do you not want more out of this life? Sure you do. Do you not want a better home? God wants you to have the biggest and the best. Do you not want better children? You God wants them to be happy. Just go ahead and get that newest version of the I-Phone. Who cares about the finances because if you are really saved you can just name and claim it and blag and grab and want it so you can flaunt it in Jesus’ name. Do you not understand that you deserve to be happy? Of course you do.

Let me tell you what you deserve. It is the same thing that I deserve. It is the same thing that Billy Graham deserved. Everyone of us deserve hell. Here is something else. The gospel is not about you and it is not about me. It is not about you being healed from cancer or anything else. It is not about your bank account, or even the church’s. The gospel is about Jesus. It is about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The benefits of the gospel are given to those who receive and surrender to this truth. The gospel is about the fact that we can have the best life to come , not merely a false assumption of a best life now. Anybody that tells you that when you come to Jesus that your problems and disappointments on this earth will be over is a liar.

Who are the people that are the unfortunate recipients of such flaming falsehood? It is “those who are barely escaping from those who live in error.” It is interesting that the word used here for barely can carry the idea of recently, which I believe is a more accurate use of the term. This is a reference to new believers who are especially susceptible to the false teachers’ lies. They are like the lion waiting to pounce on a weak member of an antelope herd that just cannot keep up. They wait until they can get them away from the protection of the rest and then they pounce. That is how false teachers operate. Here is how they go about it. They say, “Why, do not be worried about what that preacher says, that Bible says, or what the church says. God understands and realizes you are only human. I does not matter if you are living in open sin. What matters is “love.” Nothing matters as long as you believe and ask Jesus in your heart. Everything is okay.”

Do you want to talk about a pandemic? Let me tell you about a pandemic. Here is the real pandemic. There are many people who have asked Jesus “into their heart” and they are still going to hell. By the way, the Bible does not mention even one time this idea of asking Jesus “into your heart.” The Bible never says that. What the Bible teaches is the truth of giving Jesus your life and surrendering your all to Him. We are to die to self and live unto Christ.

Action Point

Believers are led astray when they choose shallow teaching over sound doctrine.

Shallow teaching produces shallow lives. The reality is that many like it that way. They want sweet, syrupy, cotton candy “feel good” sermons. Here is another reality. I am not going to preach a sermon that causes you to feel better about the “stuff” in your life that you ought to get rid of. False teachers give that sort of message to convince you to give them money and entice you back into bondage.

Health-wealth preaching from false teachers and preachers will never deliver because they are without power.

III. They are without Promise (2:19).

These false teachers of prosperity cannot deliver because their lifestyle contradicted their message in two areas:

A. Notice What They Declare (19a).

“They promise them freedom,”

They promised those unstable souls freedom. Yet, what kind of freedom were they promoting? There is a freedom that leads to bondage and there is a bondage that leads to freedom. The false teachers were promising the former where Christ has purchased the latter. They were using the promise of freedom to draw people back into spiritual bondage. How were they doing that? They offered the unwary freedom from the “moral constraints” of their faith in Christ.

They were saying, “Don’t listen to Preacher Peter with all of that holiness nonsense. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Just live any way you want to. Jesus saved you. There is no coming judgment and Jesus is not coming back. Just do it and have a good time doing it.” That is what they were teaching and it was and is a lie straight out of hell. Their preaching was heavy on feelings and light on truth.

Action Point

If your preaching is not backed up by your practice, you are powerless.

This does not apply only to pastors. It also applies to everyone else. You are preaching a sermon with every breath of your life. However, the focus is on these sorry worthless false teachers in Peter’s day and our day as well. If people are not listening to what you are proclaiming, it is probably because you are not out there practicing what you preach. You cannot proclaim one thing and do another.

I am not perfect by any means (no AMENs) and neither are you. However, as imperfect as I am, you can take this to the bank. What I preach on Sunday I endeavor to apply and live out Monday through Saturday. The false teachers declared a freedom that leads to bondage.

B. Notice What They Deliver (19b).

“but they are slaves of corruption.” For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.”

Do you see the irony? The false teachers offered freedom but they themselves were in slavery to corruption (2:14). The Bible says they are children under a curse. The freedom these offered was but an illusion. They preached freedom by they themselves were enslaved by their own corruption. The truth of Galatians 5:13 becomes clear here: “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” The false teachers did not want anything to do with love and service to others. They were interested in being served, listened to and followed. They promised liberty but led people into bondage. They promised to others that which they themselves did not possess.

Here is the accounting of why these false teachers can never deliver what they are declaring. It is because of the truth of the last sentence of this verse: “For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.” These teachers kept declaring liberty when all the while they were and are in the prison of lust. These did not understand or even consider the words of Jesus in John 8:34-36: “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Action Point

The God you really serve is the one you keep submitting to.

Try to convince me all day long how much you love Jesus. Yet, if you submit to something more than you submit to Jesus, you love that something more than you love Jesus. No one can serve two masters. It is either one of the other. You will either submit to culture or to Christ. You cannot have it both ways. Whatever you submit to the most is the real God you serve. Whatever overcomes us is our master. Whatever we tell NO to God about is our God.

Conclusion

No, the health-wealth self-focused and deceptive destruction of these false teachers will never deliver the truth of the Bible and will eventually be called to account. They are without potential, power and promise.

One day a multitude of people were following Jesus. Jesus turns to them and says, “I know you think you want to follow Me, but you do not really want to do that. it is dangerous to follow me. They protested, “No, Jesus. We will follow You even unto death.” It is at this point that Jesus puts it on them. He asks, “Are you willing to forsake father, mother, children, husband, wife , brother, sister and even your own life? Are you willing to forsake even all your earthly possessions? If you cannot put Me above all these, you cannot be My disciple.

Here is why such a statement makes us nervous. We equate full surrender of our lives to Christ with Christ taking everything away from us. Just give it all to God and He will take it all. Yes, that is His sovereign right to do so. Yet, He can do that whether you submit to Him or not. The question is not, “If I give my life to Christ, will He take it all away.” The question is, “If He wants it, will you give it to Him?” The difference is a freedom leading to bondage or a bondage that leads to freedom. Which will it be?

Here is the heart issue at stake. Is there a consistency between what you say you believe and how you actually behave? It does not matter what we say we believe about this Book. The only thing that matters is that we acknowledge that the only parts of this Bible we really believe are the parts we behave. What we believe will affect our behavior.

Prayer

Father, thank You for Your Word today. Thank You for its authority, but thank You even more for its sufficiency. Keep us from living one way and saying something different. May the tongue in our mouth and the tongue in our shes go the same direction.

Matthew 5:14-16