Peter Warns All Believers Against False Teachers Within and Exhorts Us to be Steadfast Volume 16

Their are False Teachers of the Bible in Visible Christianity Part 1 2 Peter 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 heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. KJV Note: NKJV=New King 👑James Version The Apostle Peter transitions from the Old Testament Prophets and there being many among the children of Israel who were false and not sent by Yahweh. He used His true Prophets like Jeremiah to expose the false prophets to the children of Israel, for example when He (Yahweh) spoke these words through Jeremiah, "'I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings. 'Am I a God near at hand,' says the LORD, 'And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?' says the LORD; 'Do I not fill heaven and earth?' says the LORD. 'I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal." (Jeremiah 23:21-27) (NKJV). So we see that God the Father dealt with those prophets then and He is likewise dealing with the false teachers who have as the Apostle Jude says with these words, "For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ." (Jude 1:4) (NKJV). So then we have a uniformity of truth expressed by God the Holy Spirit through Jude and Peter, for here in 2 Peter 2:1 Peter declares that just like we saw the false prophets among Israel, we will see false teachers worming their way in and around the true Body of our Lord Jesus Christ. They are not in the Body of Christ, but they did have access in Peter's day and even more so in our day to influence true brothers and sisters 'in Christ' all around the world 🗺with the internet and social media there are countless numbers of false teaching being put out for consumption that is deadly to the souls of men 🚹and women 🚺everywhere. This is the very reason why Paul the Apostle wrote what he did in Ephesians 4:11-16 and verse 14 being the key verse, "that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting," (Ephesians 4:14) (NKJV). Paul, Jude, and Peter are all inspired by God the Holy Spirit and therefore they must warn us and keep us alert ⚠ to that which is false teaching by testing every teaching to what the Word of God says like the Bereans as it is written, "Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." (Acts 17:10-11) (NKJV). The little English phrase the Apostle Peter uses here in 2 Peter 2:1 'false teachers' is translated by a rather large Greek word pseudodidaskalos (used this one time only in the entire New Testament) meaning a spurious (intended to deceive)teacher, that is, propagator of erroneous Christian doctrine: - false teacher. The somewhat lengthy English phrase 'privily shall bring in' is translated by the Greek word pareisagō (used this one time only in the entire New Testament) meaning to lead in aside, that is, introduce surreptitiously or sneakily: - privily bring in. Is this not the way the devil 👿operates bringing in lies 🤥clandestinely or under cover of night 🌃to cause the souls who accept as truth because they did not search the Scriptures like the Bereans to find out if these teachers were real and what they taught was truly from God. These destructive heresies will cause many who listen 👂then believe them to be destroyed eternally. False teaching is no small matter, but it has eternal consequences without remedy. What produces these false teachers who introduce these damnable heresies? The Apostle Peter says that they even 'deny the Lord that bought them' and by this Peter does not mean that they were truly redeemed by Christ Jesus our Lord then they lost of forfeited or gave back their gift 📦of salvation, but instead what they did was let the cares and the riches of this life be more important as our Lord Jesus said here, "Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." (Mark 4:18-19) (NKJV). Balaam in the Old Testament was one of them just as we declared earlier and is affirmed in the New Testament of Balaam here by Peter (2 Peter 2:15) and by Jude (Jude 1:11). The true Old Testament Prophets of God always, at all times, and only spoke or wrote the Words God Himself gave them, whereas the false prophets of old spoke from their own imaginations and they spoke only words that would please human authority i.e. Kings. The true Prophets of old spoke and wrote the truth that God gave them no matter whether it pleased the human kings or not. Likewise the true teachers of the Word of God called by God Himself listen to the illumination of God the Holy Spirit and to the best of their ability using expository teaching declare the truth of the Word of God no matter what it cost them/us, for we live to please only an audience of One our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ. We answer to Him alone and only. Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of 2 Peter 2:1, "In the end of the former chapter there is mention made of holy men of God, who lived in the times of the Old Testament, and were used as the amanuenses of the Holy Ghost, in writing the sacred oracles; but in the beginning of this he tells us they had, even at that time, false prophets in the Church as well as true. In all ages of the Church, and under all dispensations, when God sends true prophets, the devil sends some to seduce and deceive, false prophets in the Old Testament, and false Christs, false apostles, and seducing teachers, in the New. Concerning these observe, 1. Their business is to bring in destructive errors, even damnable heresies, as the business of teachers sent of God is to show the way of truth, even the true way to everlasting life. There are damnable heresies as well as damnable practices; and false teachers are industrious to spread pernicious errors. 2. Damnable heresies are commonly brought in privily, under the cloak and colour of truth. Those who introduce destructive heresies deny the Lord that bought them. They reject and refuse to hear and learn of the great teacher sent from God, though he is the only Saviour and Redeemer of men, who paid a price sufficient to redeem as many worlds of sinners as there are sinners in the world. 4. Those who bring in errors destructive to others bring swift (and therefore sure) destruction upon themselves. Self-destroyers are soon destroyed; and those who are so hardened as to propagate errors destructive to others shall surely and suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.' Here is what the Expositor's Bible Commentary had to say of 2 Peter 2:1, 'It is as though the Apostle would say, Be not unduly dismayed. The lamp of Old Testament prophecy shows that yours is a lot which has befallen others. As Israel of old was God’s people, so the Church of Christ is now And among them again and again false prophet arose, not only those of Baal and Asherah, not only those who served the calves at Dan and Bethel, but those who called themselves by Jehovah's name, and of whom He says to Jeremiah, 'The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake I unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and thing of naught, and the deceit of their heart.' (Jeremiah 14:14) The picture is exactly repeated for these Asian Churches. False teaching had attached itself to the true, used its language, and professed to be at one with it, except in so far as it was superior. For the history of corruptions in the faith repeats itself, and- 'Wherever God erects a house of prayer, The devil always builds a chapel there.' It is the most perilous aspect of error when it parades itself as the truest truth. Hence the name by which St. Peter calls this dangerous teaching: 'destructive heresies.' They beguile unstable souls to their ruin. Their exponents choose the name of Christ to call themselves by, but cast aside the doctrine of the Cross both in its discipline for their lives, and as the altar of human redemption; And the men to whom St. Peter alludes were either among the teachers, or put themselves forward to teach; and there was a danger lest their authority should be recognized. They accepted Christ, but not as He loves to be accepted. He has called Himself Lord and Master, and has paid the price which makes Him so; but by their interpretations both of His nature and His office these men in very deed renounced and deserted His service, ignored their relation as His bondservants, and in this way denied the Master that bought them. Soon they chose other masters and became the slaves of the world and the flesh. Thus they entered on the path that leads to destruction, and soon it will come upon them. They who destroyed others shall themselves be destroyed. The lords whom they serve have all their empire in this life; and when the end thereof comes, it comes all too soon, and is a dread overthrow of everything they have set store by. On their lot the lamp of prophecy sheds its light: 'How suddenly do they perish and come to a fearful end.'" If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...