Considering the Character of False Teachers

Outline

2 Peter 3:18 - …but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…

3 truths to understand regarding the old man of sin that can be manifested in false teachers and at the same time helpful to us as we wrestle with sin

I. The Old Man of Sin has a Specific Nature

A. A way of seeing – “having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin” (v. 14)

“to be thoroughly characterized by something”

Romans 15:14 - And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.

James 3:17 - But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

Matthew 6:19-24 - Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness…No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve (love) God and wealth.

B. A way of loving – “indulging the flesh in its corrupt desires” (v. 10), “count it a pleasure” (v. 13), “loving the wages of unrighteousness” (v. 15)

C. A way of living – “having a heart trained in greed” (v. 14)

“The little human animal will not at first have the right responses. It must be trained to feel pleasure, liking, disgust, and hatred at those things which really are pleasant likeable, disgusting and hateful.” (C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man)

“In the life of God’s people will be seen first of all a remarkable reversal of values. They (God’s people) will prize what the world calls pitiable, and suspect what the world thinks desirable.” (Michael Wilcock, The Savior of the World: The Message of Luke’s Gospel, 86)

II. The Old Man of Sin has Specific Summary Characteristics

A. Deceived – “reviling in their deceptions” (v. 13)

B. Proud – “despise authority, daring, self-willed, do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, reviling where they have no knowledge.” (v. 10, 12)

“If we could sum it up, it’s the mindset of self, the pursuit of self-exaltation, a focus on the desire to control all things for self. In exalting himself, the person actually believes, ‘I am valuable and worthy. I am the source of anything good or wise or successful. I deserve the credit for whatever I achieve or acquire. I deserve love, admiration, and respect. All good things are from me, through me and to me. All honor and glory should go to me for my enjoyment and pleasure.’” (Stuart Scott, From Pride to Humility)

C. Animalistic – like “unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, a mute donkey speaking with the voice of a man restrained the madness of the prophet” (v. 12, 16)

Numbers 22:22-30 - But God was angry because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey…When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, the donkey turned off from the way and went into the field; but Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back into the way. Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pressed herself to the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck her again. The angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn to the right hand or the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam was angry and struck the donkey with his stick. And the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” Then Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now.” The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?” And he said, “No.” Then the angel of the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam.

III. The Old Man of Sin has a Sure End Result – Destruction (v. 12)

2 Peter 3:12 - But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed…

Good morning Faith Church West family

It seems like this week was the first week where we have really begun to see the change of the seasons.

It has been getting a little colder in the mornings and this week you can really see some of the trees start to pop.

You can see the reds, and the yellows, and the oranges coming out in many of the trees and the leaves are beginning to cover the ground.

We are not in the richest part of the fall yet but we can sure tell that it’s right around the corner.

And when you live in Indiana, the fall is beautiful for more reasons than just the trees and flannel shirts.

All of our Ag majors in the room know what’s beautiful about the fall. Harvest season is right around the corner.

You can drive down country roads here in Tippecanoe county and see rows and rows of corn and soybeans that are just dying to be harvested here in the near future.

It is a beautiful sight to see and it is sure easy to tell whether a field has been filled with corn or soybeans.

Around this time of year, the corn looks like it is three times taller than the soybeans. The corn is long and slim while the soybeans are shorter and more bush like.

Now our agriculture friends in the room I’m sure could tell the difference between corn and soybeans the week after they were planted but many of us would have a hard time distinguishing the two when they are both half and inch tall.

But that is not how it is once the crops are mature, a crop that is mature fully displays the characteristics of the roots of a plant.

When a stalk of corn is fully grown you can see all of its attributes correspond to the attributes of a corn plant and when a soybean plant has fully matured it possess the characteristics of a developed soybean plant.

In a similar way, the human heart displays the manifestations of its roots in fullness when it is fully matured.

Someone who has godly roots in their life, when they have matured, will possess attributes that correspond to that godliness such as love, peace, joy, and compassion.

They will be a person that is focused on loving other people, using their time in a sacrificial manner to bless others, and most of all they will want to please God with everything they do in life.

On the other hand, those who have roots characterized by sinfulness will exhibit traits of selfishness, envy, greed, and hatred.

They will be people consumed with themselves, doing whatever benefits them the most in a given moment, and prioritizing what pleases them over what pleases anyone else.

Witnessing the maturity of a sinful orientation is where we find ourselves this morning.

Please turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Peter chapter 2.

You can find 2 Peter chapter 2 on page 183 of the Bible that is under the chair in front of you.

Throughout this calendar year we have been focusing on the theme of…

Hope for Everyday Life

Over the past month we have been planted in the book of 2 Peter and our theme in 2 Peter has been…

“Growing in Grace and Knowledge”

We get this theme from the last verse of the letter which says…

3:18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…

Now, if you have not been with us for the past few weeks, I will give you a quick snapshot of what the Apostle Peter has been writing in this letter.

The first chapter of the book focused on the trajectory of a believer. What it looks like for a believer to grow and it really paints the picture of what a fully developed follower of God should look like.

In contrast to the first chapter, Peter focuses specifically on false teachers here in the second chapter.

Two weeks ago we learned about discerning false teaching from 2 Peter 2:1-3. We learned about the reality of false teachers and how we should respond to false teaching.

Last week, Pastor Viars was here and we saw what the end of false teachers looks like by studying 2 Peter 2:4-10. We learned about God’s judgement and how we as Christians should be thankful that we worship a just God.

This week, we are in 2 Peter 2:11-16 where we are…

Considering the Character of False Teachers

We are going to get a head start to help us with context before we read our passage for today so follow along with me as we start in 2 Peter 2:1

In this passage we can see that Peter has described to us the attributes and qualities that characterize false teachers.

In doing so, one of the things that Peter has done is that he has given us a mature description of the old man.

Now when I say the old man, I’m not referring to someone who is an old man.

No, rather “old man” is a term used in the book of Ephesians to describe the state of a person that is not a Christian. The old man is someone who is characterized by sinful desires, deceit, and corruption. On the other hand, the new man is someone who is characterized by both righteousness in their heart motivations and their actions.

Ephesians 4:20-24 20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

When we look at this passage, we can learn a lot about false teachers but we can also learn a lot about how the human heart works.

Three truths to understand regarding the old man of sin that can be manifested in false teachers and at the same time helpful to us as we wrestle with sin.

1. The old man of sin has a specific nature

A. A way of seeing— “having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin) v. 14

Having eyes that are full means that someone is…

—“to be thoroughly characterized by something.”

They have all the identifying qualities of a certain characteristic, they are consumed with something, and their attributes can be thoroughly attributed to them because of how their heart is being manifested.

So, for the false teachers in this case, this means that they are people characterized by adultery.

Now they are surely people who can be defined by spiritual adultery: that is – running to idols for spiritual satisfaction and teaching.

This is obvious because they are false teachers teaching doctrine that is unbiblical.

But these false teachers are also identified by their physical adultery.

Chapter 2 verse 2 indicates that they are defined by sensuality which indicates that this is referring to physical adultery or immorality

They are not just people that have committed sexual immorality, they people that are consumed with it and filled with it.

They have gone to the extreme to the point that their disposition is oriented around using other people for their own gratification.

Now we can see this “filling” in other places in Scripture and it’s not just used in negative connotations.

There are many positive ways people can be filled and characterized by something that is righteous and pure.

Hear what Paul writes here at the end of the book of Romans…

Romans 15:14 And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.

Now that is what we want to be filled with isn’t it?

I want people to say of me that I am filled with goodness and that I am able to build up my brother or sister in Christ.

That I’m filled with the knowledge necessary to live a righteous life in this present age.

James writes something similar in his epistle…

James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy

Aren’t you glad we get to be in a church body that is full of mercy and good fruits?

This congregation here at Faith Church West is filled with people who are producing fruit for the kingdom of God.

People in this church could be using their time in all sorts of ways for your own enjoyment this fall, but I know many of you who are using the free time you have to serve those in need and to help people grow in their walk with Christ.

Many in this room even financially could have bigger houses or nicer cars, but rather they use their money to see others prosper spiritually.

Now what is interesting about believers versus false teachers is that they see differently.

Not physically, but spiritually.

Our Lord reminds us of this truth in Mathew chapter 6…

Matthew 6:19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, … 20“But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, … 21for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23“But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. … 24“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve (love) God and wealth.

Christ reminds us here that the eye is an indicator for the rest of the body.

Those who have their eyes set on what God loves show that by how they live.

In the same way, the false teachers in this passage show what they love by the way they live adulterous and immoral lives.

In addition to having eyes full of adultery, this passage says that they have…

B. A way of loving —“indulging the flesh in its corrupt desires” (v. 10), “count it a pleasure” (v. 13), “loving the wages of unrighteousness” (v. 15)

In the passage we just referred to in Matthew, Jesus said, you cannot serve two masters you will love one and hate the other or vice versa…

In Jesus’ context he was speaking about loving earthly treasures…

Peter in his terminology says it a bit differently.

“Indulging the flesh in its corrupt desires”

Peter uses a Greek word translated as “indulging” which means “follow after something….

For example…when Jesus said to his disciples using the exact same term “follow after me” he means leave all other loves and love me and follow me.

Similarly, when Peter says, “indulging the flesh in its corrupt desires...” what does he mean?

The old man of sin follows after corrupt desires

“Count it a pleasure to revel (focus on extreme comforts of ease/luxury/delights) in the daytime”

Most people who do wicked things they know are wicked try to do them in the dark where no one can witness them, however, these false teachers are different. They have gone to the extreme in that they are taking pleasure doing sin in the daytime where everyone can see that their deeds are wicked.

These teachers are also characterized by their love of money. They love the wages of unrighteousness.

Not only do they have this disposition, they also want others to follow them in their path.

The text says that they are focused on enticing unstable souls with their unrighteous ways.

That corrupt way of loving is centered in what our heart loves the most in this world.

But before we apply this all, the last description I’m going to highlight that Peter uses to help us understand that the old man does not simply consist of isolated acts of sin but is an orientation…a nature…a disposition.

Is that the old man has…

C. A way of living —“having a heart trained in greed” , v. 14

Greed is typically associated with money but it can be used in more than just financial contexts.

You see, greed is a desire for anything that God has said that you cannot lawfully or righteously have.

Someone can be greedy for money that they don’t have but there are many more things they can be greedy for.

You can be greedy for power, for material possessions, or for someone’s status.

But what is really shocking about Peter’s statement is the “trained” part!!

Peter’s word “trained” is the same word used by Paul in 1 Timothy 4:7 where Paul exhorts young pastor Timothy to “discipline or exercise or train yourself for godliness”

Did you know that the old man of sin trains itself in living and loving for the earthly pleasures and treasures of this world?

Just as athletes train for competition, the old man of sin is training to win the prize of who can obtain the most earthly pleasures and treasures.

Now folks, let’s spend a bit of time applying what we have learned.

Just look at our world for a moment…

• What is humanity’s eyes full of?

• What does humanity love?

• What is humanity trained in?

Do you have to look long to come to a conclusion?

• Immediate Sexual pleasure

• Wealth

• Power

• Fame

What is humanity’s eyes not full of?

What does humanity not love?

What is humanity not trained in?

• How about forgiveness?

• How about returning good for evil?

• How about giving something of value to others that actually costs something?

• How about listening carefully?

• How about preferring others more than self?

The old man of sin does not see these as truly beautiful and satisfying

In this fall, how are you training yourself?

There are a lot of things we can be practicing and being trained in but I would encourage you to consider what your heart needs to be trained in as we continue through the fall.

There are many ways to be trained around here.

One of the best ways here at Faith West is to join a Faith Group if you have not already. This is our small group ministry where folks meet in houses throughout the week. They fellowship together and study God’s word together.

If you are in college, we have college Bible studies as well as PBF in this room on Thursdays at 6:45.

There are also Faith Community Institute classes on Wednesday evenings at Faith East from 6:30-8:00pm. You can go online and find many classes to choose from that can help you train your heart toward godliness this fall.

The second truth to understand regarding the old man of sin is that…

2. The old man of sin has specific summary characteristics.

A. Deceived—“reviling in their deceptions” (v. 13)

What is the essence of deception Faith family?

Believing a lie?

A lie about what?

From the beginning, Satan deceived Eve by proposing that there is another way to life and pleasure and beauty than God and His ways.

The essence of deception is that there is another way to fulfillment than God and his ways.

That’s what the old man of sin believes and rushes head long into.

“Another way”…deception…

• Another way….Delight comes from using other people sexually for my own pleasure—

• Another way….Security comes from accumulation of grasping earthly wealth

• Another way…avoiding hurt comes from me harboring grudges, dismissing, writing people off…not investing in community and keeping myself from people--deceived

• Another way…Love comes from me expecting what other people will do for me in relationships

And the most obvious of the false teachers is that they say there is another way to God.

Gospel Call

A second summary characteristic is

B. Proud—“despise authority, daring, self-willed, do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, reviling where they have no knowledge.” (v. 10, 12).

Folks, we do not know precisely what these false teachers were doing when Peter says they were reviling angelic majesties.

But what is clear is that they were speaking arrogantly in thinking they know all when they simply did not.

A summary characteristic of the old man is that he is proud.

Folks, not just with false teachers but this is a common issue for all of us.

For me to help me, I regularly have to review

• From Pride to Humility by Stuart Scott

I would encourage you to obtain this little booklet and review it regularly

Stuart Scott summarizes pride as

If we could sum it up, it’s the mindset of self, the pursuit of self-exaltation, a focus on the desire to control all things for self. In exalting himself, the person actually believes, “I am valuable and worthy. I am the source of anything good or wise or successful. I deserve the credit for whatever I achieve or acquire. I deserve love, admiration, and respect. All good things are from me, through me and to me. All honor and glory should go to me for my enjoyment and pleasure.”-Stuart Scott, From Pride to Humility

A third summary characteristic is that the old man of sin is

C. Animalistic—like “unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, a mute donkey speaking with the voice of a man restrained the madness of the prophet (v. 12, 16)

When the scriptures speak of pride and arrogance, you will find that references to animalistic descriptions are also not far from.

I can illustrate that in a number of ways, but the one is when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon became proud and God allowed him to loose his mind and become animal like.

You can read about that in Daniel 4.

But Peter has us recall this story about Balaam and a donkey.

We do not have time to read that story in Numbers 22, 23 and 24.

However, in summary, Balaam was a false prophet, and he was hired for money, wages of unrighteous, to curse God’s people.

On his way to gain what his eyes were full of, what he loved and was trained in —money, He was riding his donkey

And in one of the most hilarious and strange episodes in the Bible…God reduces proud, irrationally, and insane Balaam to be more foolish than the donkey as an illustration of what our pride does….

Numbers 22:22 But God was angry because he was going, and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey … 23When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, the donkey turned off from the way and went into the field; but Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back into the way. 24Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. 25When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed herself to the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck her again. 26The angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn to the right hand or the left.27 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam was angry and struck the donkey with his stick. 28 And the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29Then Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now.” 30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?” And he said, “No.” Then the angel of the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam.

Not only is the surprise in this story that a donkey talks but what is more is that mad Balaam engages in a conversation with a donkey…

The point: The donkey had her eyes more full of God’s way than Balaam did..

Our Old man reduces us to being animalistic or less than…

3. [The old man of sin has a sure end result—Destruction, v. 12

2 Peter 3:12 But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed,

Pastor Viars spent a considerable amount of time discussing this truth last week.

False teachers will one day be judged by God.

So, this morning from this passage we have seen that the old man that is seen in false teachers has a specific nature, it has specific summary characteristics, and it is clear that destruction is the sure end result of those who choose this path.

Now I know what you’re thinking.

Wow Pastor Reeder, that sure is some hope for everyday life!

Now did you find the one positive statement in this passage between verses 10-16?

I didn’t either! Trust me, I’ve been trying to find it all week.

In these 7 verses, not one thing is said that is positive.

True…but why is the apostle Peter giving us this?

This passage helps us know the old man of sin when we see it

• in false teachers

• or as a believer we see the old man’s remnants or habits in our life

You cannot reject/avoid/refute something that you do not recognize !

So, do you see that this hard passage is a gracious revelation from God describing our fundamental problem!

So even though this text does not have a positive statement…it is given to help us grow in the grace and knowledge of what is truly lovely—the NEW MAN Represented in the fullest by Christ Himself