2Peter 2:1-3
False Teachers
This morning, we considered false Christians. Tonight, let’s
consider false preachers. Peter tells us that there WILL BE false
prophets in the church. Why? Because the enemy will put them there.
Remember the parable of the Wheat and Tares. Anywhere and every
where there is wheat, there will be tares. Not all the tares will
sit in the pews. Some of them will stand behind the pulpit, sit on
deacon and elder boards, teach Sunday school class, hosts in-home
Bible groups, write VBS material, and make the decisions of the
church.
We must be aware of their presence.
I. There are three kinds of false preachers.
A. A preacher who lives right but teaches wrong is a false
teacher.
1. There are false prophets like this today—in fact, they
seem to be many.
2. People, who as far as the public know, are not immoral,
not unprincipled, not greedy, not lazy, not unkind,
but just plain wrong in the Scripture.
3. Perhaps you remember Harold Camping who predicted Jesus
return several times. He started a series of good
Christian radio stations, one of which I volunteered to
work for back in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, called
Family Radio. Every speaker I ever heard on that radio
station was a good, straight shooting preacher—except
for him. He topped his erroneous teaching off by
predicting that Jesus would return in 2011 (twice) and of
course Jesus did not return either time. Harold Camping
was a good man but he was a false prophet.
4. A false prophet does not have to be a sexual pervert or a
greedy huckster to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
(1) All he has to do is teach wrong doctrine.
(2) In fact, that it the primary thing that a false
prophet has to do to be one.
B. A preacher who teaches right but lives wrong is a false
prophet.
1. Jesus described the scribes and Pharisees of His day as
this kind of false prophet.
Matt 23:1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude,
and to his disciples,
2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit
in Moses’ seat:
3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you
observe, that observe and do; but do not ye
after their works: for they say, and do not.
4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous
to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders;
but they themselves will not move them with
one of their fingers.
2. These religious leaders would prove themselves to be
treacherous and evil.
a. They will bride witnesses to lie against Jesus, pay
Judas to betray Jesus, fabricate charges against
Jesus, and much more all to get an end that they
thought was justified.
b. Any preacher whose morals and teaching do not match
is a false prophet. (liars, thieves, immoral)
C. A preacher who neither lives right nor teaches right is a
false prophet. This is the kind of people that the New
Testament most often speaks of as a false prophets.
1. These are the ones Peter described in this text.
2. Notice how they will err in doctrine.
a. \\#1\\ They shall teach damnable heresies.
(1) A damnable heresy is any teaching that, if
believed, will damn a soul.
(a) Calvinism
(b) Baptismal regeneration
(c) Church membership, last rites,
(d) All roads lead to heaven
(e) All worship the same god
(2) They use "feigned" words.
2Peter 2:3 And through covetousness shall they
with feigned words make merchandise of you….
(a) Feigned means fictitious or lying words.
(b) They just make us stuff.
(c) They might use Bible words but change the
definition. (Warren Wiersbe said they use
our vocabulary but not our dictionary.)
(d) Of they might tell a half truth. (A half
truth is a whole lie.)
(e) Often to do that, they just over-emphasize
part of a truth while keeping the balancing
truth hide.
(3) Their false teaching denies the Lord that bought
them \\#1\\ and causes the way of truth to be
evil spoken of \\#2\\.
b. However, this false prophets also err in the way they
live.
(1) \\#2Peter 2:3\\ also hints at one of the
characteristics of this kind of false prophet -
greed.
(a) He makes merchandise out of you.
(b) This character is brought up again.
2Peter 2:15 Which have forsaken the right
way, and are gone astray, following the way
of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the
wages of unrighteousness;
(2) Another characteristic is their unbridled lust.
2Peter 2:2 And many shall follow their
pernicious ways;
(a) Pernicious means unbridled lust.
(b) Have you ever noticed how many of the false
prophets who live wrong have sexual
affairs?
2Peter 2:14 Having eyes full of adultery, and
that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable
souls….
(c) And they are not all with woman! Perhaps
that is why \\#7-8\\ speak of Sodom and
Gomorrha.
II. \\#2Peter 2:1\\ Notice the entrance of false prophets.
2Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets also
among the people, even as there shall be false
teachers among you, who privily shall bring in
damnable….
A. The word "privily" means clandestinely, secretly, sneaky
bring in.
B. Paul said they creep in to the church.
2Ti 3:6 For of this sort are they which creep
into houses, and lead captive silly women laden
with sins, led away with divers lusts,
Jude 1:4 For there are certain men crept in
unawares, who were before of old ordained to
this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the
grace of our God into lasciviousness, and
denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus
Christ.
C. All of these words means basically they same thing. They are
deceptive, sneaky, dishonest people who know from the outside
that they do not believe what you believe but make out as
though they do to get inside of a sound church. Then, when
they have earned your trust, they slowly erode the church’s
confidence and lead them astray.
1. This morning, I mentioned three things that God has given
to the church to keep this type of tare out of the church
and especially out of places of leadership within the
church.
a. Strong dependency on the Holy Spirit.
b. Strong Spirit-lead leadership.
c. Strong Spirit-filled preaching.
2. Since false spiritual leaders are just like false
Christians in that they look and act like the real
Christians, the church cannot pull them out until they
manifest themselves.
3. However, these three things can keep them in check.
4. We may not be able to pluck the root of false prophets but
dependency on the Holy Ghost will certainly keep them
from bringing forth fruit.
III. Consider how a false prophets conquers a church.
A. This is not Bible. This is experience. I have been blessed
to be at one church for more than 30 years, but from this
perch, I have watched several churches—some many times
larger than ours—be lead astray and some totally destroyed.
B. Stages of a church’s demise or how a false prophet takes over
your church.
1. Weaken in Holy Spirit dependence. They step also has
phases.
a. The church people quit praying.
(1) Prayer is usually always the first thing to go,
both in an individual’s spiritual decline and a
church’s. People start making their own
decisions and do not bath them in prayer.
(2) Joshua 9 - The people of Gibeon heard how God
gave Israel victory of Jericho so they dressed
themselves in old cloths, packed up old food,
and went to see the leaders—telling them that
they had come from a far distance and wanted to
make peace with them.
Jos 9:14 …and asked not counsel at the mouth
of the LORD.
(3) Three days later Israel came to Gibeon’s cities
and did not feel that they could destroy them
because they had made a treaty with them.
(4) The first evidence that we have quit depending
upon God is that we quit praying to Him.
b. The church pastor gradually quits preaching the hard
places in the Word of God.
c. The church people reading the Bible.
d. The church quits obeying and even trusting the Bible.
2. The church gets side tracked.
a. Typically what side tracks a church is activities,
good activities; however, these activities take the
church away from the primary purpose of the church.
b. Do you know what the primary purpose of the church is?
(1) Most would say, "To win the lost." No. In fact,
it is that very mentality that side tracts the
church.
(2) The primary purpose of the church is to glorify
God. If you do not get that as the primary
purpose, you will have some activities to win
souls that are not godly activities. Christian
rock music, super bowl Sundays, drive through
church services, and beer parties come in.
(3) The second primary purpose is to preach and teach
the Word of God.
(4) The third primary purpose is to win the lost.
c. Even if you get those three primary purposes out of
order, you will eventually destroy the church.
d. A false prophet will change the primary purposes of
the church and get the church side tracked.
3. These will cause a division within the church.
a. Just these two things will cause a conflict between
those in the church who are still desiring Holy
Spirit control and those who desire to change the
direction of the church to a more fleshly, carnal
leadership.
b. The third step is where the battle will either be won
or lost.
c. There are only three possible outcomes at this point:
(1) The church will recognize that they have been
deceived, repent, and turn back to God.
(a) That is called revival.
(b) And it seldom happens.
(2) The majority of the church will choose to turn
from the spiritual path and follow the carnal
path. (This also seldom happens.)
(3) The tares will argue that they want the same
things as the wheat and that wheat needs to give
it "some time," and the godly because they want
to believe their leaders will agree to an
uncomfortable wait and see.
(a) However, this is just a compromise on the
side of the godly for the tares will not
stop their deceitful conquest.
(b) The tares bide their time, win the hearts of
more people, and weaken the resolve of a
few more of godly until if anything else is
set about it, they are strong enough to
dismiss or run out those who sought to keep
the church holy.
4. Once the decision from the original conflict is made, the
lot for that church is cast. The only thing that can
safe a church is a revival. Anything else means the
church becomes a haven for the carnal and false doctrines
of the false prophet.
IV. It is essential that every church understand.
A. If there is wheat, there are tares.
B. If there are tares in the pews, they will work themselves into
positions of leadership.
C. The only way to keep a church spiritual is to depend on the
Holy Spirit and to preach the whole counsel of God’s Word.
D. Whether you count yourself a spiritual leader in the church
or not, your duty is to support the preached Word, spiritual
leadership, and to seek God’s face.
Two things are inevitable, tares and false prophets, but we can keep
them at bay until Jesus comes.
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