Naturally Superficial

ME: Intro

If you have watched the NBA countdown show in recent years,

You will have seen that they have a panel of commentators,

Most of which,

Are former players.

One of those men, Charles Barkley, can be particularly crude or callous.

But he has made it clear that he does not care what people think about him.

He has been this way since back during his playing days.

In fact, he was the centerpiece to a controversial Nike ad where he stated that he was not a role model.

He said that just because he dunks a basketball,

Does not mean he should raise your kids.

His message seems like he has a point.

But the issue is that his position came in response to a suspension he received,

After he claimed to be spitting at a courtside fan saying offensive things to Barkley,

Except his spit landed on an 8-year old girl who was sitting courtside.

The issue is that Barkley was out in the open with being a contentious and promiscuous person.

When a reporter first asked him if he was concerned about the negative impact he was having on kids,

Barkley responded that he does not get paid to be a role model,

He gets paid to play basketball.

In response to this,

Another NBA star at the time,

Karl Malone,

Who had played in the Olympics with Barkley,

Wrote a public essay to Barkley titled,

One Role Model to Another.

In it, he wrote;

“We don’t choose to be role models. We are chosen. Our only choice is whether to be a good role model or a bad one. I don’t think we can accept all the glory and the money that comes with being a famous athlete and not accept the responsibility of being a role model.”

Malone is right on in his assessment.

And both Barkley and Nike know it,

That is why they ironically had Barkley wearing all Nike gear in his “I am not a role model” ad,

Because people watching that ad,

Who saw Barkley as a role model,

Are more likely to buy Nike because they see Barkley wearing it.

His influence cannot be separated from the way he conducts himself.

Likewise, in 2 Peter, the focus is a warning about false teachers,

Who conduct themselves in ungodly ways,

Influencing the world away from the Gospel.

Peter continues his train of thought from the end of ch. 1,

Where he said;

Prophecy does not come from someone’s own interpretation.

Rather, the human authors of the Bible were inspired by the Holy Spirit,

So, the Bible is trustworthy.

But, Peter says at the start of ch. 2,

Not all prophets are true and trustworthy.

Using language that is very similar to Jude,

Peter points to the false prophets during OT times,

And shows how since the institution of the church in the book of Acts,

There have been false teachers.

These false teachers are just like the false prophets who arose among the people of Israel.

False teachers have invaded the church,

As early as Peter’s time,

These false teachers are among us today.

They target unsuspecting people.

Believers who, because they rightly trust God,

Trust people who claim to be teachers of God.

Peter has seen the invasion of these false teachers.

Therefore, he desperately tells us to pay attention to the light of God’s Word in 2 Pet. 1:19,

Which we looked at last week.

So, that we can recognize the darkness of the lies coming from the false teachers among us.

We will be able to discern the aim of false teachers who use God and His Word to draw people to themselves.

This is a really serious topic,

So, let me not mince any words here,

Peter makes it clear that historically there have been false teachers in churches,

And the same is true today.

There are false teachers among God’s people,

There will be until Christ comes back.

So, Peter begins in 2 Peter 2:1-3,

By revealing that false teachers are Naturally Superficial.

Their motivation is to secretly introduce teaching that divides and destroys,

Resulting in a defamation of the gospel to the world,

But they do not care because they are too concerned with exploiting others to satisfy their own greed.

Their pursuits are not supernatural in nature,

They do not pursue God and His glory.

Their pursuits are superficial,

They desire the world and all it has to offer.

So, our passage this morning is both a warning about those false teachers who are naturally superficial.

But also a warning against being naturally superficial yourself.

Together, we will unpack three points Peter makes about the motivation of a naturally superficial false teacher.

Secret Destruction (vs. 1)

Gospel Defamation (vs. 2)

Greedy Exploitation (vs. 3)

The gospel becomes believable when it is lived out by believers.

I would contend that false teachers are the greatest present danger to the health and vitality of the church.

There are three primary assaults Satan uses against the church,

Worldliness, persecution, and false doctrine.

Worldliness and persecution are attacks that come against us from the outside.

The allures of the world seek to lure us out of the fold.

Persecution seeks to intimidate us out of the fold.

But false doctrine is an attack that comes from within.

It is from those who claim to be of the fold,

Who teach two different types of lies to divide members from one another,

Leading to destruction, defamation of the gospel, and exploitation.

Those two types of lies are licentiousness,

Which is the idea that Christ’s death in our place gives us the license to sin.

That is the type of lie that Peter is addressing in our passage this morning.

But it is important we recognize the other type of false doctrine,

And that is legalism.

Paul addresses this in the book of Galatians,

This is the idea that our religiousness gives us God’s forgiveness,

Resulting in a self-righteous spiritual pride.

WE: Secret Destruction (vs. 1)

The Bible makes it clear that God is a just God.

Peter makes clear that false teachers will receive justice.

Lord willing next week, we will see Peter expand more upon that fate.

This morning, Peter begins in 2 Peter 2:1 with the Secret Destruction caused by false teachers;

2 Peter 2:1 (ESV)

But false prophets also arose among the people (Matt. 24:11), 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.

In Matt. 24:11 Jesus warned that “many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.”

Here, Peter is affirming that Jesus’ prediction was correct.

Just as there were false prophets during OT times,

False teachers are present among the believers in Peter’s context.

False teachers are just like false prophets,

They claim to be speaking for God but they simply are not.

They are false teachers because they are not being led by the Holy Spirit,

So, they are leading in the wrong direction.

False teachers do not teach lies by mistake,

These are people who deliberately deceive with their teachings.

They sneakily introduce these lies.

Picture it like you are wanting to bring your own snacks into the movie theater.

So, you pick the biggest purse or the pants or jacket that has the biggest pockets so you can hide them.

You know those snacks are not suppose to be in the movie theater,

They already have their own snacks there.

So, when you are handing your ticket to the person at the gate,

You are trying to be as secretive as you can so you can get your snacks into the theater.

If you were genuinely unaware that you cannot bring your own snacks,

You may carry the grocery bag in with you,

Or have them out in the open to see,

Or they are sticking out of your pocket,

Or you may even be snacking on them as you walk in.

Then when you get to the person at the gate,

They can tell you that you are not allowed to bring your own snacks in.

And you respond by saying, oh I didn’t realize.

So, you correct yourself and do not bring the snacks in.

Generally that means you try to scarf it down as quickly as you can then go in with your mouth full of goobers.

But this illustrates the way false teachers bring their lies into the church.

Which is obviously a much bigger deal than sneaking snacks into the movie theater.

False teachers are stuffing their bags and pockets with their own truths.

When the church already has our own truth given to us by God in His Word.

As they come to church they are secretive with their truths so they can get them into the church.

If they were unaware they would be out in the open with their truths.

Which people in the church could then tell that person,

No, that is not the truth of the Gospel.

So, that person would correct themselves and no longer bring their truth into the church.

And the result of their deception is destruction,

They lay waste to the faith.

A false teacher is not standing up saying,

“I have something to tell you all and it is completely false!”

No, they are introducing their lies as if it were the truth.

Jesus told His followers to protect the Church from false teachings.

Paul warned the elders in Ephesus in Acts 20:30 that;

Acts 20:30 ESV

and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

So, how do we do protect the church?

We have to be vigilant.

We have to take everything that is taught,

Everything that anyone in leadership may say,

And you have to test what we say by Scripture.

Please do that with everything I preach.

You must be certain that I, Pastor Ryan, or any elder, deacon, or leader are not leading the church astray.

In Matthew 7:15, Jesus refers to false teachers as wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Meaning what is said looks good from the outside,

But is corrupt on the inside.

No wolf comes into the church displaying that he or she is a wolf on the outside.

No, that person will come in with a disguise,

That person will look just like every other innocent sheep in the flock,

So, that he or she will be welcomed by the church.

The Apostle Paul was seriously burdened by this,

We already mentioned his warning to the elders of Ephesus in Acts,

Look what he wrote to the church in Corinth in 2 Cor. 11:13-15;

2 Corinthians 11:13–15 ESV

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

Now we get to the root of the problem with these false teachers.

Instead of being instruments in the Redeemer’s hands,

They are instruments in the reviler’s hands.

Satan is drawing unsuspecting adherents toward his own destruction.

He is not dressed up in the halloween costume with the red horns and pitchfork when he is drawing people to himself.

He is dressed up like pastors, leaders, teachers, and volunteers.

Peter says they are secretly bringing in destructive heresies because they mix truth with lies.

Pastor Andy Davis illustrates it as just a little bit of poison mixed in with a gourmet meal.

If their lies were obvious,

Then people would not listen.

It is a person’s ability to mix in some error with God’s truth.

This is what Satan did from the very beginning with the first people.

He subtly questioned God’s truth,

“Did God really say…?” He asked

Then, he snuck in the false doctrine,

Surely, you will not die.

False!

We have seen that death has come as a result of that sin.

Then he follows it up with the truth that eating that fruit will open our eyes to the difference between good and evil.

So, you see how he secretly mixed this false doctrine in with truth?

This means our recognition is not on any outward appearance.

Our recognition is based on their words,

Does their message line up with what the Bible teaches?

The secret lies false teachers bring in are destructive.

Peter refers to them as destructive heresies.

Heresies originally referred to a group or a sect,

Specifically divisive groups.

Over time it came to designate the specific teachings that were accepted by these divisive groups.

So, by the time Peter uses the term here,

It designates divisive teachings specifically against Christianity.

So, a heresy is a false doctrine.

And Peter says they are destructive because they promote a fatal ideology.

This is more severe than temporary destruction in this world,

Peter is warning that these heresies produce eternal devastation.

These heresies teach a lie that excludes people from Christ and His Kingdom.

What Peter is getting at is a matter of eternal life and eternal torment!

Teachings about God and the Gospel not rooted in the Bible,

Are teachings that lead people away from the truth,

Away from God,

Away from life.

These heresies lead people into hell because,

As Peter says,

They deny the Master who bought them.

They deny the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Because Jesus is the Master, He is God,

And He bought us with His blood,

He purchased us by dying for us,

He redeemed us on the cross.

It is important to mention,

Peter is not talking about Christians losing their salvation here.

That cannot happen.

Jesus clearly said in John 10:28-29;

John 10:28–29 ESV

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

Peter is talking about false teachers who claim to have faith in Christ.

These false teachers make this claim,

But then they teach things that contradict Christ’s teaching,

And they live in ways that contradict Christ’s teaching.

They confess Christ as Lord but they despise His lordship,

They deny Him as their Master.

They refuse to submit to His authority.

Their denial reveals their true allegiance is to Satan, not the Savior.

John explains this in 1 John 2:4,19;

1 John 2:4 ESV

Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

1 John 2:19 ESV

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

Dr. Jim Shaddix summarizes;

“Both in conduct and in doctrine, the false teachers were rejecting the life demanded by their Redeemer, thus revealing their true character as unregenerate…A lifestyle of ungodliness always stems from rejecting Christ and his redemptive work, regardless of what one claims.”

These false teachers were advocating something that is still present today.

They abuse God’s grace.

Absolutely, we gratefully proclaim the freedom Christ has granted us.

But where these false teachers get it wrong,

Is when they refuse to acknowledge or obey the responsibility to live godly lives.

Christianity is freedom.

And Christianity demand that we willingly and lovingly submit to the One who has freed us.

Both statements are true.

Let me briefly go back to the snacks in a movie theater illustration.

If you are caught with your own snacks in a movie theater,

Generally, the worst consequence you will face is having to throw it out.

But if you refuse to give up your own snacks,

The movie theater does have the right to remove you from the theater.

Peter highlights even greater consequences for false teachers,

Unwilling to give up their own teachings.

Like the movie theater,

God has the right to pour out judgment on false teachers.

And that is what these false teachers do not realize.

Their denial is bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

This is a perfect example of reaping what you sow.

Peter said they secretly bring in destruction,

And they reap the very consequence they are bringing upon those who listen to them.

The realization of their destruction will be swift.

They will not be able to prepare for it.

The Bible talks about Christ’s return being near,

And every day that passes means His return draws ever nearer.

For false teachers,

This means their destruction continues to draw nearer and nearer.

When it comes,

It will be eternal torment separated from God,

The source of life.

Michael Green comments on this;

“The man who attempts to serve God and self is on the high road to swift destruction, for either death or the [coming of Christ] will cut him off in mid-course.”

Christ does not tolerate false teaching in His Church.

So, He expects us who follow Him not to tolerate false teaching either.

I fear so many of us do the opposite.

Out of a desire to love or accept or tolerate others,

We allow any teacher who claims to be a Christian to have a platform in our lives and churches.

This promotes a sense of truth being subjective,

Which then leads to Christians getting uncomfortable with the absolute and objective truths of the Bible.

So, Christians begin to feel ashamed by the truth of the Bible.

Heed Peter’s words here,

Take false teaching seriously.

GOD: Gospel Defamation (vs. 2)

Because false teachers defame the Gospel.

Peter addresses this Gospel Defamation in 2 Peter 2:2;

2 Peter 2:2 ESV

And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.

It is almost a certainty that teachers are role models to those they teach.

It makes what these teachers are teaching extremely important,

But it also makes the way they live extremely important.

The ability for false teachers to cause destruction within a church can spread like a disease.

One of the greatest dangers of false teachers is there ability to influence others.

They tend to draw people to them;

They are outgoing or charismatic,

People are allured to them.

So, Peter says, many will follow them.

And many will be deceived by them,

Becoming devoted to their sensual and godless living.

This word sensuality does suggest an erotic or sexual nature to this way of living.

Jude compares it to the false teachers from the OT account of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Dr. Jim Shaddix comments on it here;

“In a sex-crazed culture like ours, large numbers of people are ready to jump on the bandwagon when such tantalizing merchandise is being peddled.”

But this path of sensuality includes more than just sexual sin.

This path of sensuality is any form of incorrigible or reckless indulgence.

It is unrestrained sinful abandonment.

This path leads to destruction.

It is living in totally depraved ways.

False teachers say you are free to do whatever you want,

Because Jesus has cleansed you.

So, you can do the wicked and sinful things you have always wanted to do anyway,

And your conscience can be clean.

This teaching leads many people astray.

These trendy messages should not surprise us.

Jesus said narrow is the way to true life.

Sadly, we see that many are led away from the narrow way by false teachers who decorate the broad way that leads to death.

They spruce it up with false promises of happiness and fulfillment.

These messages are appealing to our sinful and deceptive hearts.

They are sensual,

They appease this desire for independence or self-exaltation,

They tell us that we do not have to submit to Christ,

We can serve ourselves,

And that is what we want anyway.

We want to follow our sensuality.

This was what Revelation 2 warned about with the woman Jezebel,

She was leading the Christians in Thyatira into sensuality,

Leading people into this licentious lifestyle.

Those who follow their sensuality yet claim to follow Christ are the ones Jesus is speaking of in Matt. 7:21, where He says;

Matthew 7:21 ESV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

If a person says they follow Christ,

But their actions show they are following sensuality.

The reality is that no person can serve two masters,

They are denying the Master who bought them,

To serve the master of their own sensuality.

The negative effect of following their sensuality is the damage done to the Gospel.

The path of truth is defamed in the eyes of the world.

This means that people who claim to be Christians,

But live in these egregiously immoral ways give Christianity a bad name among unbelievers.

Unsaved people look at these false teachers and they do not know what the true Gospel is.

False teachers cause unsaved people to misunderstand Christianity.

The credibility of the gospel becomes tarnished in the eyes of the world.

When false teaching is embraced in the church,

The result always will be gospel defamation.

This means the way you live is bigger than you.

When a self-proclaiming Christian blasphemes the Gospel by living in a false way,

The Gospel is what gets damaged.

The world will forget about the false teacher,

But that disdain for the gospel will remain.

This is why Christians are urged to have exemplary behavior,

Because this type of living helps keep the gospel from being hindered.

The path of truth leads to life.

Live righteously for the sake of the Gospel’s reputation.

Different types of Christians are commanded to live righteously repeatedly throughout the NT,

And each time, the reason given is for the sake of the gospel.

1 Tim. 6:1 tells slaves to honor their masters so the gospel would not be criticized.

Titus 2:5 tells young wives to live godly lives so that the gospel would not be reviled.

2 Cor. 6:3 tells believers not to be an obstacle in anyone’s way so that no fault would be found with the gospel.

In 1 Peter, Peter said to live honorably and do good so that critics of the gospel would be silenced and put to shame.

So, when it comes to the way you live,

Your highest concern should not be your own reputation,

It should be the reputation of the gospel.

The way the gospel becomes believable to the world,

Is when it is lived out in the lives of believers.

Brothers and sisters, live in such a way that shines bright in a dark world.

Just like Charles Barkley was a role model whether he liked it or not.

If you are a Christian, you bear the reputation of the gospel,

And your godly living, or lack of godly living,

Will always have an affect on the way others perceive the gospel.

As false teachers discredit the gospel for selfish and sensual reasons,

Let it spur you on to live a holy life for the cause of the gospel that has rescued you!

YOU: Greedy Exploitation (vs. 3)

False teachers have a deep rooted greed that they will satisfy at the expense of others.

This type of person makes me think of Bernie Madoff.

Perhaps you remember his Ponzi scheme earlier in the 2000s.

This was the largest financial fraud ever.

He exploited nearly 5,000 clients for nearly $65 billion!

His entire investment firm was one big lie.

And that is the connection Peter gets at in 2 Peter 2:3;

2 Peter 2:3 ESV

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.

Greed and falsehood are deeply linked.

The motivation of false teachers is not ultimately to destroy others or to defame the gospel.

Their deepest motivation is greed.

So, they are willing to destroy others and defame the gospel to satisfy their greed.

Their false teachings were for their own personal gain.

Because they are sensual and licentious,

They offer worldly benefits.

Things like power, possessions, prestige, pleasures, prominence, prosperity, and privileges.

They exploit your greed,

Offering you everything the world has to offer,

For their own gain.

This is the same thing Satan offered Jesus in Matthew 4,

Tempting Jesus to bow down and worship him,

And he would give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.

All the riches and power the world has to offer.

Here Peter is focused on the greed of the world.

This can be a tangible, material greed.

Like more money or more toys or a bigger house.

Or it could be an intangible, abstract greed;

Like exploiting people for career advancement, sexual endeavors, or manipulative control.

You are not satisfied having to answer to someone at work,

You are greedy for power,

So, you seek to overthrow those who are over you.

You are not satisfied with your own spouse,

You are greedy sexually,

So, you seek satisfaction from someone else’s spouse.

You are not satisfied that people in your life do not obey you,

You are greedy for control,

So, you seek to manipulate others to gain control over them.

These type of folks Peter is talking about are greedy.

Scripture often describes false teachers in this way.

They always crave more,

And they become experts at swindling others to get more.

So, there is danger that you may be exploited by these types of people.

But there is also danger that you may become these types of people.

That inward greed may grow so much in your heart,

That you begin exploiting others to satisfy your inward greed.

Peter is concerned about protecting sheep from being exploited,

But his highest concern is still protecting the testimony of the Gospel.

Because once again,

Peter is warning that people outside the church will see the greed of false teachers,

And the destruction,

And they will conclude that if that is what it means to be a Christian,

Then I want nothing to do with it.

Think about what this word exploit means.

It is a powerful word.

Peter pictures believers as sheep,

So, if you think of it this way,

To exploit the sheep,

Is like a person shearing the sheep in the middle of winter,

Leaving the sheep cold and vulnerable,

Just so they can have more wool to keep themselves warm.

It is a pervasively evil type of greed Peter is expressing.

They will make up stories to exploit you with their greed.

They will deceive you to deprive you.

Driven by their inward greed,

False teachers invent these deceptive and imaginative stories,

With which they exploit all who listen to them.

They take the resources of the flock,

The make themselves wealthy.

And this teaches the sheep to just exploit other sheep.

If you get your wool taken and are cold,

Well all you have to do is shear the wool from another sheep and you will be warm too.

It creates a cycle of exploiting one another.

Peter says these false teachers use false words to exploit you.

They will use phony arguments to convince you of their lies,

And they will profit off you if you buy into their lies.

This is most obvious today with what we call the prosperity gospel.

They twist the true gospel telling people that their faith is measured by how much they give to their ministry,

All the while they are padding their pockets,

Buying their own private jets, yachts, and mansions.

These false lies are a disease to the true gospel.

Do not buy into false teachings,

Do not be destroyed by their lies.

Discern the truth from these lies with the depths of God’s Word.

You will not be able to discern these lies on the surface level.

These opening verses of ch. 2 tell us so much in such few words.

It is a description of naturally superficial people during ancient times,

Which somehow remains true today.

False teachers will secretly introduce their destructive lies.

They defame the gospel through their sensually licentious living.

And they exploit Christians because they are greedy.

This is a sobering reminder of the work of Satan.

As Peter said in his first letter,

The devil prowls around like a roaring lion,

Looking to devour anyone he can.

For that reason, Peter tells us to be sober-minded and alert.

Our primary defense against these false teachers is a deep knowledge and obedience of God’s Word.

Every generation of believers face this challenge from false teachers.

We face it today,

And the church will continue to face it until Christ returns.

Peter described this reality all the way back during his time.

Naturally Superficial people do not follow the path of truth,

They follow the path of sensuality.

There are naturally superficial people who claim to be Christians in our culture.

They threaten to extinguish the light of the gospel,

They beckon us to follow them after wealth, sensuality, and worldliness.

May we never follow them down this path of destruction.

And in response,

May we shine ever brighter the light of the gospel in our lives.

Because the gospel becomes believable when it is lived out by believers.

Pray.