A Daily Walk

John Randall: Pastor John Randall identifies a problem within the church today. There is a problem within the church in the area of biblical illiteracy. People don't know the scriptures. You can say something, mention something, and people look at you like, "Is that in there?" It's in there. It's in the word of God. I'm not talking about this group, but you know what I'm saying? People just look out and there's a blank stare. People haven't read the word so they don't know what the reference is. And there are teachers that claim to be Christian, yet their content is off.

Guest (Male): It is time once again for A Daily Walk. Pastor John Randall will join us in a second as we continue our journey through the Bible. Our point of reference today is 2nd Peter chapter 2 verses 1 through 3. It sends out the call to beware of false teachers.

In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus says, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." Today, Pastor John points out that these false teachers are very much around today, even in the so-called progressive movement.

John Randall: Chapter 2 as we consider together a message entitled "Beware of False Teachers." 2nd Peter chapter 2 beginning in verse 1, if you'd follow along with me as we read from the word of God.

"But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber."

There was a Sunday school teacher that asked his third-grade class a question. He said, "Does anyone know what false doctrine is?" A little boy responded and he said, "I know what false doctoring is. It's when the doctor gives the wrong stuff to the people who are sick." In one respect, his response was accurate.

The word doctrine is a set of ideas or beliefs that are taught or believed to be true. Biblical doctrine refers to teachings that align with the revealed word of God, the Bible. False doctrine is any idea that adds to, takes away from, contradicts, or nullifies doctrine given in God's word.

Therefore, when we refer to false teaching, we mean those who reject many, if not all, of the orthodox truths of historical Christianity set forth in the Bible and reaffirmed over and over again throughout history from the earliest days of the church even to the present time.

Some of those essential doctrines are as follows: the inspiration and inerrancy of scripture; one eternal triune God in three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; the undiminished deity and true humanity of Jesus Christ; Christ's virgin birth; His sinless life; His substitutionary death for sin; His miraculous bodily resurrection and literal future return; the special creation and subsequent fall of humanity; salvation by grace through faith; the eternal life of believers; and condemnation of unbelievers. These are the essential doctrines of the Christian faith.

False doctrine has been around since the beginning of man's existence and under attack since the beginning. In fact, the first false teacher that ever existed was the devil himself, Satan. In the book of Genesis, he lied to Eve, deceived her by twisting God's word and slandering God's character. Sadly, both Eve and Adam sinned.

Jesus referred to the devil as the father of all lies and he warned his disciples to be on guard against those who would try and deceive them. It was in Matthew chapter 7 verse 15 in his Sermon on the Mount that Jesus said, "Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves."

Much of the content of the epistles found in the New Testament were written to contend and combat false teaching. It ranged from Greek mythology, philosophy, Gnosticism, and legalistic Judaism. The Bible constantly exhorts Christians, believers in Jesus, to test the spirits, to watch out for the doctrines of demons.

As we come to chapter 2 of 2nd Peter, the apostle unmasks the false teachers. We begin, first of all, by identifying the false teachers. In verse 1, he said, "But there were also false prophets among the people," talking about the past, "even as there will be false teachers among you."

Peter began by identifying the false prophets of the past that were among the people of God. All throughout the Old Testament, if you've read through it, you know that there were moments when there were false prophets peddling lies directly alongside of the true prophets that were preaching the truth. As it was a problem back then, Peter said not much has changed. It's still a problem even at the present time among false teachers.

The apostle Paul was also well aware of the danger of false teachers. In fact, on his last trip to Jerusalem, he met with the elders of Ephesus on the shores of Miletus and he gave them a warning. He said this: "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in, not sparing the flock."

When it comes to false teaching today, we observe many different cultic groups. Some of them are larger, they're more well-known, they have a greater influence, such as Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness, Buddhism, Christian Science, Scientology, Hinduism, Islam, and more.

However, I believe that there is a more subtle and more difficult to detect false teaching. The reason why I believe that it gains traction within the church is because people don't know God's word. There is a problem within the church in the area of biblical illiteracy.

People don't know the scriptures. You can say something, mention something, and people look at you like, "Is that in there?" It's in there. It's in the word of God. I'm not talking about this group, but you know what I'm saying? People just look out and there's a blank stare. People haven't read the word so they don't know what the reference is.

There are teachers that claim to be Christian, yet their content is off. Rather than being discerning, some people want to be accepting. They don't want to be too judgmental. There is something that I want to make you aware of, and it is referred to as progressive Christianity. It's kind of hard to nail down. It varies on a scale. What I mean by progressive is an evolving and drastically changing theology.

One church that claims and boasts of being progressive said it this way. This was the opening line: "While our Christian faith is 2,000 years old, our thinking is not." That just sets the stage. Churches that started off solid, sound in doctrine, have become and classify themselves as a progressive Christian community. That's what they say that they are.

Some of the subtle marks, not so subtle if you know the word, are things like this. How would I identify something that's more progressive? First of all, there will be a very low view of scripture. That's the first thing. Christians have viewed the Bible as the word of God, as the authority in their lives, yet progressive Christianity generally abandons these terms and instead emphasizes your own personal belief over biblical command and truth.

In some places, they will let the culture interpret the Bible for them instead of allowing the Bible to speak into the culture. Again, I cite one of these churches. This is their core belief: "We don't believe the Bible to be inerrant and infallible. We don't agree that creationism should replace science of evolution in public schools. We don't believe that homosexuality is a sin. We don't believe that people of other faiths are going to hell without coming to Christ and Christianity."

At least they're telling you what they believe right upfront. These are the more bold progressive churches that will tell you what they don't believe. But the Bible teaches something else. Some of the things you have to listen for and be concerned about are comments like this: "The Bible is a human book." Here's another one: "I disagree with the apostle Paul on that." Well, that doesn't matter, but okay, thanks for letting us know.

The Bible contains the word of God. Actually, the Bible is the word of God. There's the difference. You've got to listen for it to be discerning. A very low view of scripture. Another mark of the progressive movement of churches today is feelings are emphasized over facts.

In progressive churches, personal experience, feelings, and opinions tend to be valued above objective truth. As the Bible ceases to be viewed as God's definitive word, what a person feels to be true becomes the ultimate authority for faith and practice. They'll say words like, "That Bible verse just doesn't resonate with me."

"I thought homosexuality was a sin until I met and befriended some gay people. I just can't believe that Jesus would send good people to hell." They forget that there are no good people. The Bible says there's none good, no not one. We've all sinned.

Here's another phrase that is deceptive and subtle, but listen: "You don't have to believe to belong." Actually, you do have to believe to belong. The Bible makes that clear. Feelings emphasized over facts. Another point of reference I think that often times is found in these types of places: essential Christian doctrines are open for reinterpretation.

Progressive Christians are often open to redefining, reinterpreting the Bible on hot-button moral issues like homosexuality and abortion and also essential doctrines like the virgin birth, the bodily resurrection. You'll hear comments like this: "The resurrection of Jesus doesn't have to be factual to speak truth."

"The church's historic position on sexuality is archaic and needs to be updated with modern framework. Look at the culture. The idea of a literal hell is offensive to non-Christians and needs to be reinterpreted." I'll tell you what's going to be really offensive is if they end up there and you didn't tell them.

Another thing that I think will stand out in these progressive movements of churches is the heart of the gospel message shifts from sin and redemption to social justice. It's all about social justice. Granted, the Bible commands us to take care of the unfortunate, to defend those who are oppressed, to be a voice for the voiceless, to minister, to be the hands and feet of Jesus when given the opportunity to do so. That's an important part of what it means to live out the Christian life, our faith.

But the core message of Christianity is the gospel. That Jesus died for our sins, He was buried and resurrected, and therefore we can be reconciled to God. That is the message that brings true freedom to the oppressed. Many progressive Christians today find the concept of God willing His son to die on a cross to be embarrassing or even appalling. Sometimes they have referred to it as cosmic child abuse.

The idea of blood atonement is deemphasized or denied altogether with social justice and good works enthroned in its place. These are the things that you have to be aware of. These are the days in which we are living. I think that it's always been around, but now it's repackaged. It's more appealing, it's more attractive, and you find people gravitating toward it because they want to be part of something.

Peter identifies the fact that there are false teachers. They've always been at work. But the next thing we see is the influence of the false teachers. If you look at what it says, it says they will secretly—make note of that—secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.

And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. The influence of the false teacher, Peter says, first of all, it is deceptive.

He uses the word secretly. It's like covertly. We don't want anybody to know until it's time, so we just kind of make our way in. Of course, the picture that Jesus gives of wolves in sheep's clothing is obvious. Because their influence is very subtle and it's secretive, it's not always easy to detect right at the beginning. It takes some time.

There's a little leaven mixed in with the truth. Most false teachers have some truth and then false teaching mixed in. If you're not discerning and you're not aware of what the word of God says, sometimes it's hard to tell. Something's off about what they're saying.

The Holy Spirit is good to remind us of that when we're in that situation. Somebody says something and you think, "For some reason, there's like an alarm going off inside of me that something's not right about that." Pray about that. Don't just drive right through that. Make sure you're listening to the Lord.

In fact, Jude tells us in Jude chapter 1, also encouraging us to contend for the faith. He said, "Certain men have crept in unnoticed." They just find their way in. They come into a crowd like this and they just kind of sit, just kind of take it in, see where everything's at. Don't get suspicious of everybody around you, but I'm just saying it's a real thing.

If you walk in the truth, you're able to see it, you're able to spot it. Here's what Warren Wiersbe said. I thought this was an incredible quote that really explains. Here's what he said: "False teachers use our vocabulary but not our dictionary." But their teaching is not only deceptive, very subtle, secretive, bringing it in, it's also divisive.

It brings division. It gets people into sides and categories and kind of splits things up and picks them off. It's divisive. Those are some of the marks that's subtle, but it's also divisive and it's also destructive, he says. They disrupt the fellowship. They contradict. They have an agenda. What makes their teaching so destructive is they deny the work of Jesus Christ who bought them.

Denying the work of Christ. Peter says sadly, he alludes to it here, in some places they have been effective. There are some he tells us here that have actually followed them. They've listened to them. They've followed their destructive ways. That's also something to mark. How do you recognize—and we'll talk more about this as he goes on in the letter—but look at their life.

Look at the way they're living. That should speak to you and hopefully unmask some of the subtleties of the things that they're teaching. How do they live in comparison to what they're saying? They get people to follow them because what they say is enticing. It sounds good. Some of the prosperity doctrine that floats around in churches today, it sounds good.

Wow, that's incredible. It sounds good. But is it accurate? Is it biblical? You have to be discerning. In this case, you'll notice that Peter says these destructive heresies, they deny the Lord who bought them, and many follow them because the way of truth is blasphemed. The way that they live blasphemes the truth. It's the exact opposite.

Peter warns of the deception, of the destructive nature, but he also adds this. Here's another mark. Notice verse 3: "By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words." Covetousness. The motivation for the deception, what's behind it, is to pad their pockets. That's the goal.

And to take something from undiscerning believers rather than to impart something helpful to them. What they can get from the people rather than what they can give to them. This should be—everyone should see this one. When they get up there or they're on TV or you hear them on this and it's like, "Money's coming. It's coming. There's a hit coming. They're going to ask you for something. And we just feel like if you want to be blessed, then you should. And if you're not doing it, then you're not really in. And if you want God to increase you, then you should increase this."

All those kinds of things that they say, immediately you should know. I am shocked, I am. But that just gives insight to how undiscerning people are. How do they stay on? When you've got godly teachers out there that are actually teaching the word and couldn't afford to be on there and people just keep giving these false teachers money and they just roll with it. I do not know. It's shocking to me.

But you have to be aware. You have to be discerning. He said they want to exploit you. You know what the word exploit means? It means to make merchandise of you. It's a merchant using false information, false advertising to take advantage of people. Do you know there's a lot of that going on?

I'm sure that in this room, all of us at some point have been taken advantage of by somebody. We thought, "Oh my goodness, this is such a great deal. I should totally invest in this." And then you got ripped off. You thought it was a good idea and it wasn't. You didn't read the fine, fine, fine, fine, fine print. "Wow, what does that say? Don't worry about it, just sign it." "Okay."

Beware, they want to exploit you. You know a great example of this, and I think Peter encountered such an individual. You remember in the book of Acts chapter 8 when there was a revival that broke out in Samaria? Philip goes down there, people start getting saved. It's incredible what's happening.

And so he calls for Peter and John to come down to Samaria to pray over the people so that they could be baptized with the Spirit. Now there was a guy that joined the group. His name was Simon, formerly the sorcerer. He used to astound the people with his magic tricks. And they used to listen to him, but he saw what was going with Philip and he said, "I'm in." So he joined the crowd.

But when Peter came down, prayed over the people to be baptized with the Spirit of God, something happened and he said to Peter, he offered him money. "Can I have that trick?" in other words. "I would like to know how to do that. Can you—I'll write you a check right now. I need that so that I can use that."

And Peter just rebuked him. Understood what his motive was, to exploit people. And he said, "May your silver perish with you because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money." That's not possible.

Guest (Male): You're listening to A Daily Walk with Pastor John Randall and a study based in 2nd Peter called "Beware of False Teachers." You can listen to our recent programs on our website at adailywalk.org or at oneplace.com. Look for us wherever you get your podcasts, too. And I should also mention our free mobile app. Do a search for Calvary South OC.

Jesus chose twelve ordinary men to be his disciples: fishermen, tax collectors, political zealots. And the master shaped these disciples for greatness. He wants to do the same with you and me. In his book, Twelve Ordinary Men, John MacArthur draws helpful principles from Christ's careful hands-on training of the original disciples, applying it to today's modern disciple. That's you and me.

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If you'd like to donate to the ministry, please go to adailywalk.org or call 877-242-0828. And we're very grateful to the Lord when we hear back from our listeners. Write to Pastor John today by email at adailywalk@gmail.com. He loves to read listener letters and emails. Let him know what's going on in your life and how we can pray for you at adailywalk@gmail.com.

Maybe you're one of our new listeners. Let us know what you think of A Daily Walk when you write to us at adailywalk@gmail.com. Well, that'll do it for this edition of A Daily Walk with Pastor John Randall. May God richly bless you and strengthen you in your daily walk. Join us next time as we continue our journey through the Bible.