Slides: False Teachers (1 Peter 2:1-10)

 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. ² And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 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. 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; 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; ⁶ 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; ⁷ and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked ⁸ (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); ⁹ then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

 

Wooly Wolves

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves… Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matt 7:15, 22-23)

 

Pseudo = false
ψευδοπροφῆται [pseudoprophetai]
ψευδοδιδάσκαλοι [pseudodidaskaloi]

• False identity
• False message
• False lifestyle

 

False teachers

1. Sneak among God’s people
2. Bring in destructive heresies
3. Deny Master and Redeemer
4. Appeal to immoral urges
5. Prize prosperity over truth
6. Get condemned and destroyed

 

Punish and rescue

• Cast sinful angels into hell
• Flooded Earth, rescued Noah,
• Burned Sodom, rescued Lot

The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment. (2:9)

 

Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.  (Jude 1:7)

 

• A pastor who never warns of false teachers is one.
• A pastor who never warns of hell is headed there.

 

My prayer

• Help me know you better, grow more like you, and boldly speak your truth. Never let me be a false teacher.
• Help me not to judge godly teachers or condemn every mistake as heresy.
• Help me stand against false teachers and defend your flock from them.