Guarding Against False Teachers: Truth and Discernment
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"And their destruction is not asleep. 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, 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, 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, and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly disgraced, dressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked, for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard. Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority." [00:57:24] (54 seconds)
"And in this state, not only will they risk living in forgetfulness without the needed reminders and reinforcements that we spoke about last week, but they also risk becoming vulnerable to false teachers. Now, in a book based on their podcast, You're Not Crazy, Gospel Sanity for Weary Churches, which may be one of the most validating and relieving titles I have ever heard, pastors Ray Ortlund and Sam Albury declare the following about this vulnerability to false teachers. Without a return to the good news of Christ crucified for washed sinners like us all, the heretics would own their churches as their own religious sandboxes to play in, their reign unchallenged." [03:50:39] (45 seconds)
"So when we stray from the gospel, when we live in this forgetfulness, it creates opportunity for false teachers to come in unchallenged, uncontended, undefended gospels thrown to the side for heretics to have churches as their own what they call religious sandboxes to play in, to completely just take full reign. And as we see today, chapter 2 is Peter's evaluation of these false teachers. They're telling us that they're not teachers. It's an assessment. It's how to spot them, how they gain influence, and most importantly, how God responds to false teachers. And while Peter absolutely narrows in. On false teachers, he uses some very strong and decisive language about them, as we just read." [04:35:49] (44 seconds)
"False teachers are not going to self-identify as false teachers, whether that is due to their own deceptive motives or because they themselves are so self-deceived in their sinfulness that they don't even realize they're teaching falsehoods. Either way, they are accountable to God and responsible for this deception. And either way, we cannot rely on them to let us know. That's why Peter's warning us, right? The only way to reliably fight against falsehoods is with truth. It's with the scriptures and with sound doctrine." [07:08:79] (39 seconds)
"In Matthew chapter seven, verses 15 through 20, Jesus says, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits." [08:07:23] (35 seconds)
"So while a false prophet or a false teacher will not self-identify, they will be recognizable to us. Maybe not immediately, but when we are armed with the scriptures, with truth, and we are acquainted with the Spirit in order to identify good and bad fruit, we will be able to recognize false teachers without them outwardly revealing their motives. Right? Even as Jesus speaks of, even in sheep's clothing, even with a veneer of goodwill, the ravenous wolf on the inside will be made clear to us if we're paying attention." [08:42:35] (34 seconds)
"Peter mentions that they do not tremble as they blaspheme. I think that shows a lack of reverence. That shows a lack of repentance, right? This seems to suggest that they may not even have any fear of God whatsoever. The fear of God, right? The foundation of wisdom and understanding. The willful yielding of our lives over to him. The reverent praise and worship of God as creator and king seems to be absent from their lives entirely. It says they despise authority. They despise God's authority. Their hearts, Peter says, are trained in greed. They do not struggle with greed. They do not bring their greed before the Lord in prayer or confess it to others in order to be cleansed and held accountable." [12:11:12] (49 seconds)
"Peter warns of the reality that many will follow their sensuality. The false teachers, he says, many will be exploited. Many will blaspheme and speak ill of the way of truth found in Jesus. And false teachers will be judged in the long term. And Peter even suggests they're kept under punishment in the short term. But in the here and now, we see that they can actually be very influential and powerful and convincing. And so we need to be careful. Maybe they're lax about sin, right?" [15:32:00] (42 seconds)
"And in this state, not only will they risk living in forgetfulness without the needed reminders and reinforcements that we spoke about last week, but they also risk becoming vulnerable to false teachers. Now, in a book based on their podcast, You're Not Crazy, Gospel Sanity for Weary Churches, which may be one of the most validating and relieving titles I have ever heard, pastors Ray Ortlund and Sam Albury declare the following about this vulnerability to false teachers. Without a return to the good news of Christ crucified for washed sinners like us all, the heretics would own their churches as their own religious sandboxes to play in, their reign unchallenged." [03:50:39] (45 seconds)
"So when we stray from the gospel, when we live in this forgetfulness, it creates opportunity for false teachers to come in unchallenged, uncontended, undefended gospels thrown to the side for heretics to have churches as their own what they call religious sandboxes to play in, to completely just take full reign. And as we see today, chapter 2 is Peter's evaluation of these false teachers. They're telling us that they're not teachers. It's an assessment. It's how to spot them, how they gain influence, and most importantly, how God responds to false teachers. And while Peter absolutely narrows in. On false teachers, he uses some very strong and decisive language about them, as we just read." [04:35:49] (44 seconds)
"False teachers are not going to self-identify as false teachers, whether that is due to their own deceptive motives or because they themselves are so self-deceived in their sinfulness that they don't even realize they're teaching falsehoods. Either way, they are accountable to God and responsible for this deception. And either way, we cannot rely on them to let us know. That's why Peter's warning us, right? The only way to reliably fight against falsehoods is with truth. It's with the scriptures and with sound doctrine." [07:08:79] (39 seconds)
"In Matthew chapter seven, verses 15 through 20, Jesus says, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits." [08:07:23] (35 seconds)
"So while a false prophet or a false teacher will not self-identify, they will be recognizable to us. Maybe not immediately, but when we are armed with the scriptures, with truth, and we are acquainted with the Spirit in order to identify good and bad fruit, we will be able to recognize false teachers without them outwardly revealing their motives. Right? Even as Jesus speaks of, even in sheep's clothing, even with a veneer of goodwill, the ravenous wolf on the inside will be made clear to us if we're paying attention." [08:42:35] (34 seconds)
"Peter mentions that they do not tremble as they blaspheme. I think that shows a lack of reverence. That shows a lack of repentance, right? This seems to suggest that they may not even have any fear of God whatsoever. The fear of God, right? The foundation of wisdom and understanding. The willful yielding of our lives over to him. The reverent praise and worship of God as creator and king seems to be absent from their lives entirely. It says they despise authority. They despise God's authority. Their hearts, Peter says, are trained in greed. They do not struggle with greed. They do not bring their greed before the Lord in prayer or confess it to others in order to be cleansed and held accountable." [12:11:12] (49 seconds)
"Peter warns of the reality that many will follow their sensuality. The false teachers, he says, many will be exploited. Many will blaspheme and speak ill of the way of truth found in Jesus. And false teachers will be judged in the long term. And Peter even suggests they're kept under punishment in the short term. But in the here and now, we see that they can actually be very influential and powerful and convincing. And so we need to be careful. Maybe they're lax about sin, right?" [15:32:00] (42 seconds)
