“Blots and Blemishes” 2 Peter 2:10-19 June 10,
2012
SI: “If you can’t say something nice about someone, don’t
say anything at all.”
Did your mother teach you that?
Peter’s mother didn’t teach him that. Maybe she did, but Peter ignored her.
Peter says some very nasty
things about some people in this passage.
Listen to how commentators
describe his words we are about to read:
“A magnificent invective filled with the
fiery heat of indignation.”
“A rampage of rhetoric.”
“A torrent of violence that leaves the
reader almost breathless.”
Who were these people who
made Peter so angry that he blasted
them in his letter to the churches?
Let’s read and find out.
INTRO: I’m sure you’ve have heard about the college student
in Georgia
who was infected with flesh eating
bacteria. It got in through a cut on her
leg and
drugs have been powerless to stop it. Doctors have had to amputate her limbs.
Apparently there are more and
more drug-resistant germs.
An article in the New York Post said:
“A vicious skin infection
resistant to all but the most powerful antibiotics has jumped out of
“Usually with infections you
need a break in the skin to pass it,” said Dr. Howard Grossman, who has a
private practice in
Last month, Steven, who asked
that his last name not be published, developed what he thought was a pimple on
his leg, but it soon grew painful and larger.
Doctors lanced the boil that formed and began antibiotics, but the infection
failed to respond and started growing toward Steven’s groin. “The fact it wasn’t responding to drugs and
it was moving up that way was terrifying,” he said. “It was eating up tissue.” . . . Doctors told
Steven they believed he contracted it at the gym.
If you knew someone had this skin-destroying
disease, would you shake his hand?
Would you play a sweaty game of basketball
with him?
Would you let your child go over to his
house and play with his children?
Of course not.
According to Peter, there are
soul-destroying diseases that must be avoided.
He names them in 2:1. They are called “destructive heresies.”
If you believe them, they can destroy your
soul.
What is heresy? Do you remember from last Sunday?
Heresy is an attack on any established
Christian doctrine
by someone who calls himself a Christian.
A heresy will focus on one
particular doctrine—like the person of Christ,
or the attributes of God, or the nature of
man, or the corruption of sin,
or the way of salvation, or the authority of
Scripture—a big one.
And it will undermine that
doctrine by redefining it or denying it
and the effect will be an erosion of the
whole Christian faith.
That’s because the Christian
faith is an organic whole.
You take out or corrupt one part and the
whole message is lost.
When there is no Gospel, then spiritual
destruction occurs.
The carriers of heresies,
those people who pass on the infection are,
what Peter calls, false teachers. He has some nasty things to say about them.
Last week spent some time at
the beginning noting how very different
2 Peter chapter 1 and 2 Peter chapter 2 are
in tone.
Chapter 1 is one of the most
encouraging chapters in the New Testament.
It is a glorious, positive summons to
confirm what you have as a Christian.
To claim and use the promises of God as the
conduit for divine power
to bring real moral and spiritual
transformation to your life.
Chapter 2 is a negative
portrayal of false teachers in the church
and what will happen to them and the people
who follow them.
Peter makes one point over
and over in chap 2—heresy is a soul-destroying disease.
Heresies can harm you morally and
spiritually.
But in spite of difference in
tone between chapter 1 and 2—
Peter has one motive and one goal. His motive is love. Loves fellow Christians.
His goal is to convince them
to do all they can to grow in Christ and become
more effective and productive. To make calling and election sure.
He knows growth only comes one way—through
application of truth to your life.
So Peter is just as
passionate in chapter 2, warning you about what will happen
if you believe false teachers as he is in
chapter 1, encouraging you to believe
God’s promises.
I doubt any of you woke up
this morning worried about false teachers in the church.
I doubt you said: “I hope Andrew is going to preach about false
teachers!”
You have other things on your mind.
Other parts of your life
where you need God’s help—perhaps challenges in child-
rearing, or learning to be content with what
you have, particular temptations.
Here’s the thing:
It’s just as important to
take God’s warnings to heart as it is to claim his promises.
Although false teaching not immediate
concern, God’s word to you
Two observations about false teachers
One example of a false teacher
Three strategies against false teachers
MP#1 Two
observations about false teachers
Start with two observations
about false teachers that stand out in these verses.
1. In early
stages, false teachers are hard to detect and even harder to criticize.
Why did Peter use such strong
language against these false teachers?
Did you really notice all the things he
called them and said about them?
Says they are bold and
arrogant, brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born to be caught
and destroyed, blots and blemishes, experts
in greed, motivated by immorality,
intent on seduction, wicked, lustful,
boastful, empty, an accursed brood,
springs without water, mists driven by a
storm, and slaves of depravity.
Peter, tell us what you
really think!
Why did Peter write this
way?
Because believers getting sucked into false
teaching and Peter had to shock them.
The first time Peter’s letter
was read in the churches, don’t get the picture of
everyone in the congregation nodding their
heads saying: Yes, you’re right.
No! Jaws were hitting the floor.
He was using violent language to say—Wake
up! You are being deceived!
I tried to think of what 2
Peter was like for the Christians who first read it—
this example will seem far-fetched but I
think it will make the point.
Imagine a couple moves to
Cullman, professing Christians.
Visit churches all over town. Worship with us, Eastside, Spirit Life.
Very attractive people, strong
personalities, start Bible study in home.
Lots of people start to attend, various
churches, even this church.
One Sunday I stand up and
say—these two, whose Bible study some attending—
are blemishes on the face of Christ, they
are wolves among Christ’s sheep,
they want to use you, their teaching is from
the pit of hell.
Peter had to use this tactic
because heresy, in its early stages is often hard to detect.
And the reason is that people are blinded by
its appeal.
It meets a felt need of the heart. It seems to answer a perplexing question.
It scratches a deep itch. And it does this for lots of people in the
church.
And who can argue with success?
Heretics and false teachers
are not dirty men wearing trench-coats—
they are usually appealing people.
Teaching at the beginning has an excitement
and energy about it.
And that’s exactly the reason
why it’s so hard to criticize at the beginning.
Those who criticize, are seen as intolerant,
or afraid of the work of the Spirit,
or jealous of success, or territorial or
whatever. Happened to Paul, 2 Cor 10.
2. Heresy in
its latter stages is characterized by moral collapse.
Like diseases, heresies run
their course.
Sometimes that course is measured in
decades, sometimes in centuries.
Then they reoccur in slightly different form
and cycle starts again.
But one thing that seems to
be common in heresies is moral collapse.
Instead of moral and spiritual transformation
that comes from truth,
in which Christians battle sin and become
more like Jesus every year,
People who follow heresies
are not transformed by the power of God.
Instead, their sinful nature feeds off the
heresy and comes out in ugly ways.
Peter puts his finger on
three of the most common aspects of moral collapse.
First is arrogance.
Bold and arrogant, not afraid
to slander celestial beings. Strange
verse.
Hard to know exactly what Peter meant. His point is their attitude,
Arrogance shows itself in
mockery of truth, disregard for spiritual authority or
accountability. Often it is disdain for church discipline.
In contrast, one of the traits of a growing
Christian is humility and submission.
Second is greed.
You know that the love of
money is one of the great battles of the Christian life.
Won only by applying the truth to yourself
over and over.
“Godliness with contentment is great gain .
. .”
Heresy is powerless against greed—in some
cases it actually commends it.
Might also be greed and
craving for recognition and acclaim.
Third is immorality.
Very few heresies out and out
condone immorality—though not uncommon.
But they give a person no power to resist
and grow in purity.
Also, since heresy by nature
undermines other Christian doctrines—removes other
biblical incentives and restraints, like
fear of the judgment seat of Christ.
Years ago talking to woman
minister graduate of heretical seminary.
Miles apart theologically. “One thing disappointed about me about
seminary.”
Thought—the doctrine. “The immoral lives of so many of my
professors.”
Didn’t have the guts to
say—Isn’t there a connection? Where’s
the power?
This is where heresy
leads. Lies are powerless to transform
you.
A sub-biblical view of God, Christ, sin,
salvation
can’t transform you morally and
spiritually. Crucial to catch early and
avoid.
MP#2 One
example of a false teacher
This week I found an
interesting testimony on-line.
By a man who had spent 17
years, 1980-1997, following a well-known minister
who was a false teacher. Let me give you a little background, then I
want to
read some of this man’s testimony and make
some points.
The teacher he followed was a
man named Robert Tilton.
He taught a heresy that, unfortunately,
quite popular even today.
It goes by several
names. But the most common is
“Word-faith.”
Remember, a heresy denies or
re-defines an essential doctrine of Christian faith.
“Word-faith” redefines faith.
What is faith? Faith is simply trusting in God. Trusting in Jesus Christ for your
salvation.
Catechism: A saving grace whereby
we receive and rest upon Christ
alone for salvation, as he is offered to us
in the Gospel.
We speak of the power of
faith, but that’s merely a shorthand way of saying that
there is power that comes from trusting
Jesus—it’s his power.
There is no power in faith
itself. Faith merely connects you to the
Lord.
But Word-faith teaching says
that faith itself is a power that you can wield.
They say that even God has
faith. It was by faith he created the
world.
If you have faith, then you can actually
speak things into existence.
They call it the power of positive
confession.
I believe that I will be
rich. I envision it. I speak it into existence by faith.
I believe I will be well and
successful. I speak it into existence by
faith.
What you ultimately have is not faith in
Christ, but faith in faith.
The breakdown of this one key doctrine leads
to many other doctrinal problems.
A clarification: Associated with charismatic movement. But many of the
old, mainstream Pentecostals, such as Oral
Roberts, sr., condemned this teaching.
This is not a criticism of
charismatic movement. Major differences,
not heresy.
But back to this man I told
you about. Just wanted to read a few
interesting things.
“From my very first exposure to Bob Tilton
and the faith message, I was hooked. It
was at that first service we attended that Bob was beginning a new teaching
series he called Biblical Laws of Success. Wow! This
was exactly what I had been looking for. A sermon that was actually relevant to my
everyday life. Something I could
actually use. I remember thinking ‘why
hasn’t anyone told me these things before?’
My wife and I were perfect candidates for deception. We understood some scriptural concepts. I in particular thought I knew the Bible
pretty well although I really didn’t.
Well
anyway I dove in head first. I began reading everything I could get my hands
on. I began to study all the great faith teachers. I began to apply the ‘faith formulas’ I was
learning. My whole outlook on life began
to change. And Tilton’s ministry began to grow.
Around 1980, Bob’s church, Word Of Faith, moved into a brand new 5,000
seat facility. It was obvious to all
that the faith message was working for him, and we all knew that God was no
respecter of persons. If God would bless
Bob and Marte Tilton then certainly he would bless us as well. My job was going great. I was learning how to
live by faith (or so I thought). I got a
major promotion and raise, followed by several more pay raises in the next few
months. I tell you all this to say that
deception can be a subtle thing. The greatest deception consists of 99% truth
and 1% lie. It was God Himself that was
leading us according to the idols in our own hearts
Describes how two things
began to trouble him.
He refused to admit them for the longest
time, but finally he had to face them.
The first was that this man
he was following, was not a good man.
It’s amazing to read—I won’t go into
detail—but it’s exactly what Peter
describes.
He was arrogant, greedy, immoral—this pastor an expert in these.
But even bigger, this man
began to have problems in his life—
he began to see in his own spirit the same
arrogance and greed.
Troubles came into his life
and instead of the truth, power of God through Christ,
conduit of the precious promises of God—he
had this nutty teaching that it was
all about speaking the right words and
making proclamations of faith.
So rather than his sufferings
refining him, making him a sweeter and stronger
Christian, he became worse and worse. Not growing, sinking.
This
man preached a false gospel, a powerless gospel that is really no gospel at
all. I had become an active participant
in the great apostasy. Even now, many
years later it is difficult for me to write these words, to acknowledge the
cesspool of darkness that was my heart. Even more overwhelming though is the weight of
God’s grace and mercy upon my life. He
opened my eyes and pulled me out of that pit. I didn’t deserve it. I still don’t. I can never be any more than an unprofitable
servant to Him.
It’s
easy to see the faults of someone outside of your own church tradition.
Presbyterian usually don’t get sucked into
false teaching that comes out of
the Pentecostal/Charismatic branch of the
church.
Historically,
Presbyterians believe intellectual heresies that rob Gospel of power.
With Presbyterians almost always stated with
false teaching about Scripture itself. Denial of the inspiration and authority
of Scripture, allowing the culture to
interpret and critique the Bible instead of
the other way around.
That’s
appealing. Relevancy. Success.
Leads to breakdown.
MP#3 Three
strategies against false teachers
How are we to defend
ourselves and our church against false teachers and heresies?
Three strategies: Order of importance, least to greatest.
1. Authority
Church authority. Listen to the officers of Christ’s church
when they warn you
about a particular teacher or teaching. Don’t take their warnings lightly.
Don’t automatically question
their motives—that they are jealous of success.
Don’t turn the issue around and accuse them
of being the intolerant ones.
Let’s get back to Peter’s
tone in this chapter. It’s harsh. He was angry.
I have no doubt that he was offputting to
some people.
They heard him and said: What’s he getting worked up about?
But as an apostle and as a
pastor, he was deeply concerned for the people
under his care. He was warning them as their shepherd.
This is very hard for
American Christians to accept.
We
don’t like authority in general, and even less spiritual authority.
Who is this pastor to say this book or idea
is bad? I can decide for myself.
Peter
gives us a pattern here in this letter, that God has established the officers
of the church to be watchmen and warn the
people.
But
what’s the problem with relying on this strategy alone?
It’s
often pastors themselves who become the false teachers. And often they make
claims of pastoral authority. Listen to me, I’m God’s minister.
Brings
to second strategy.
2.
Growth
Very
last verse of 2 Peter is: But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. It’s a perfect summary of the way Peter
starts the letter.
He
says that as a Christian you must know the precious truth of the Christian
faith.
Our/your goal should not just be to know the
Bible but to see how it all connects.
That is absolutely crucial—how it all
connects.
Because heresy doesn’t deny
the whole Christian faith—it shaves the truth
at one point. If you see how the doctrines of the faith
connect,
then you will see the implications of
shaving that point.
We’re going to get into it in
chapter 3, but what were these false teachers teaching?
What was the one point of the faith they
were denying? The Second Coming.
The judgment. It’s not going to happen. God’s not going to judge people.
Peter says: It matters.
Because all the promises of God bound up in the promise of
the Second Coming. If you don’t have that, have no promises, no
power.
You can’t just see these
things in isolation—they have implications
for the Christian faith. Left alone they will bring moral and
spiritual decay.
Seeing these connections and
implications requires reading and thinking.
Adding to your faith knowledge and Peter
says.
That’s why we do the things
we do in our church life.
Reason we have Sunday school for children,
Adult Bible Fellowship.
Reason we have Covenant Groups, not just for
fellowship, so can discuss and
practically work through the implications of
Christian faith.
As you learn the truth so
that you will even be able to critique the spiritual
authorities in your life. So that, I hope this never happens, but so
that you would
be able to go home after church and say to
family.
What Pastor Andrew said today
was very wrong. Here’s what Bible says.
But what’s the problem with relying on this
strategy? Self-deception.
3. Humility
Heresy is a real danger. We are susceptible to believing errors that
will harm
us morally and spiritually. We can’t trust ourselves.
It was when Peter thought he
was strong that he denied Christ.
It is when churches and Christians think
they are too committed to Bible and to
Jesus to be in any danger of believing
heresy, that they are in the most danger.
Billy Graham’s right hand man
in early days, who helped him lead many
evangelistic meetings was a man named
Charles Templeton.
He was a gifted preacher, he had a sharp
mind, warm friendship with Graham.
Charles Templeton left Billy
Graham association for further theological training.
Went to a prestigious but theologically
heretical seminary.
And he bought into the heresy
completely—modernism—
which essentially denies the supernatural
aspects of Bible.
Charles Templeton has written
books debunking Christian faith.
No amount of reading and
studying will preserve you
Could even become a matter of pride that
weakens you to heresy.
You need Jesus Christ and his
Holy Spirit to preserve you and your church.
Prayer should often be—Lord,
keep me true to your word.
When pray—deliver us from evil—specifically,
heretical evils.
CONC: Let me ask you again:
If you knew someone had this
skin-destroying disease, would you shake his hand?
Would you play a sweaty game of basketball
with him?
Would you let your child go over to his
house and play with his children?
Of course not.
According to the Apostle
Peter, there are soul-destroying diseases
that must be avoided at all cost by
Christians. Called “destructive
heresies.”
Sometimes hard to
detect/criticize, but never bring moral/spiritual transformation.
Lord has warned you—make every effort to add
to faith knowledge.
But recognize your weakness
and susceptibility and put your trust
ultimately not in your knowledge—but in
Jesus Christ.
Jesus
said: You shall know the Truth, and the
Truth shall set you free.
And
he said: I am the Truth.
This solemn warning about falsehood must
drive you to him for safety.