Poison in the pulpit – 2 Peter 2v1–22

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to the subject, and we are going to open this evening to 2 Peter, the letter of 2 Peter. And we’re going to turn to a chapter, chapter 2, that we could describe as necessary medicine. Necessary medicine.

Now, do you remember when you were a child and your parent came with a loaded spoon? The liquid colour was weird, the smell was grossly unpleasant, but you drank it. You drank it because you knew it was good for your health. Well, 2 Peter chapter 2 is definitely not pleasant.

It’s all about false teachers, their danger, and their doom. And this chapter is nobody’s favourite chapter in the Bible. But for the sake of our spiritual health, we need this chapter.

Let’s read the medicine that it provides in 2 Peter chapter 2, and we’re going to read the whole chapter. But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.

(1:28 – 5:12)

Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed, these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgement, if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly, and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless, for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard, if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgement. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings.

Yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgement on them from the Lord. But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals, they too will perish.

They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, revelling in their pleasures while they feast with you.

With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning. They seduce the unstable. They are experts in greed and a cursed brood.

They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam, son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey, an animal without speech, who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm.

Blackest darkness is reserved for them, for they mouth empty, boastful words, and by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom while they themselves are slaves of depravity, for people are slaves to whatever has mastered them. If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.

(5:13 – 5:42)

It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them, the proverbs are true, a dog returns to its vomit and a sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud. This is God’s Word.

(5:46 – 7:35)

Well, Peter packs a lot into these 22 verses, but when we zoom out, it really becomes clear why Peter is writing this chapter. See, in this short letter, Peter is encouraging believers to remain stable and keep growing in their faith. In chapter 1, verses 3 to 11, Peter talks about this vitality.

He speaks of the need for us to keep growing in godliness. And yet no Christian can grow in their faith unless they are first stable in the faith. That’s why in chapter 1, verses 12 to 21, Peter then underlined the certainty of what we believe.

For there to be vitality, for you to grow as a Christian, there must first of all be stability. You need to be rooted in the things that you believe. And interestingly, when we then get to the end of the letter of 2 Peter, these same ideas are echoed at the end of chapter 3. In chapter 3, verse 17, Peter tells us why he is writing this second letter.

It is so that his readers won’t be carried away by error and fall from their secure position. In other words, he wants them to be stable in their faith. He doesn’t want them to fall into error.

(7:36 – 14:25)

And then he adds in verse 18, and if we’ve read the start of the letter, we should know this is coming, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. See, Peter wants a stability in the faith that then leads to a growth in Christlikeness. That is Peter’s purpose in this letter.

That’s the beginning of the letter. It’s the ending of the letter, chapter 1 and the end of chapter 3. But what do we find in the middle? What do we find in the heart of the letter in chapter 2 and most of chapter 3? Well, what we find in the middle is a serious threat to our stability and growth. And that serious threat to our stability and growth is being led astray by false teachers.

The focus of chapter 2 is the false teachers themselves, and the focus in chapter 3, for most of the chapter, is the false teaching of the false teachers, particularly their denial of the return of Christ. Now, I think knowing that context really helps us when we come to chapter 2, because there’s lots of detail in this chapter, and there’s one or two quite unusual verses, which we will touch on some of them. But the really big point is that our stability and growth are in danger if we follow false teachers, right? That’s the point of chapter 2. So, let’s think that through and apply it a little bit more, and we’re going to cover this in three points this evening.

A little note that the third point will be really quite short. So, he says, first point, don’t be naïve, false teachers are around. Don’t be naïve, false teachers are around.

Take a look at verse 1, but there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. Peter’s point is that false teachers have always been around. They were among the people in the Old Testament era.

And in the same way, there will be false teachers among you, the New Testament church. It’s not that this is possible. It’s not even that this is likely.

This is absolutely certain, for it has always been this way. To use a bit of a silly illustration, it’s a little bit like the midges in the Scottish Highlands, the midges in the Scottish Highlands. They’re an absolute pest, but they’re also an age-old problem.

Did you know that there are books written in the 18th century where people are coming from down south, going up north and complaining about the midges? Maybe that’s why, you know, a lot of them ended up heading back home. Maybe that’s why the Romans didn’t come further north. I don’t know.

But they’re an age-old problem. They’re part of the package. They’re an unpleasant blight that has been there as long as memory.

And this is the case with false teachers. In the Old Testament, they were called false prophets, but they were doing the very same thing, plaguing the people of God and leading the people astray. And so, we mustn’t be naive about the present reality of false teachers.

But the question then follows is, how do we spot them? And I guess that’s part of not being naive. If you’re going to not be naive, you’ve got to be able to identify what a false teacher looks like. And Peter helpfully gives us some identifying marks.

The first mark is their subtlety. Take a look at the end of verse 1. They will secretly introduce destructive heresy. It’s a little bit like a scammer, whether it be a phone scammer or an email scammer.

The person who’s trying to destroy your finances and your life, they don’t announce that they’re doing that. No, they tell you that they’re trying to help you with your finances or help you with some problem or other. There’s a subtlety about it, a sneakiness, a craftiness to the scam.

And so, Peter says, the strategy of the false teacher is always subtle. They will tell you that they are helping you spiritually, that they are showing you what the Bible really teaches. And this means that we need to be extra vigilant.

The false teacher will often dress up error as the truth. They will sneak their deadly error into the mix. Well, you might say, if that’s the case, if they’re subtle, then how am I ever going to spot false teachers? It’s a kind of mark that’s hard to spot.

But the good news is that there’s often other marks that accompany their subtlety. And a number of them are to do with their character. Here’s the second one, their autonomy, their autonomy.

There’s always a proud, independent spirit in the manner of a false teacher. Look at verse 1, they deny the sovereign Lord who bought them. They don’t live under Christ’s lordship.

They don’t feel the obligation of the blood that purchases the sinner. No. In their arrogance, they make up their own beliefs and their own rules about behaviour.

(14:26 – 15:46)

We see this in verse 10. Indeed, Peter says that the false teachers in his day were so proud that they weren’t afraid even to heap abuse on celestial beings. Now, that might seem a really strange example of pride to us, but it’s an illustration of their proud autonomy in action, a proud spirit of being above everything and everyone, not just the church, but even the angels.

And that is often a telltale sign of a false teacher, their proud autonomy. Sensuality is another mark, sensuality. Spread across the whole chapter, there are references to unrestrained sensuality.

So, in verse 2, we read of their depraved conduct. In verses 4 and 6, there are strong hints of sexual immorality with the mention of the angels who sinned and the mention of Sodom and Gomorrah. There’s kind of sexually immoral overtones here.

(15:47 – 16:31)

In verse 12, the false teachers are creatures of instinct. In verse 13, they carouse in broad daylight. In 14, their eyes are full of adultery.

And in 19, they are slaves of depravity. See, it’s not just that their teaching is off track, their whole life is off of the rails. And let me just say here that this may not always be immediately obvious, but sooner or later, the false teacher’s life often is revealed in godless behaviour.

(16:32 – 17:04)

And yet despite this, and you might think this is quite discouraging, these people are also marked by popularity, the fourth mark, popularity. I remember about 20 years ago, going into a Christian bookshop, and I don’t mean like a kind of really, I mean, it was an evangelical Christian bookshop, let’s put it that way. And when I went in the door, there was a stand which had the top 10 selling books.

(17:05 – 19:23)

And seven of the 10 books were written by only two authors, two American authors. Both of these authors were teachers of the prosperity gospel, the idea that if you believe in Jesus, He will give you all the riches that you want. And one of them had publicly, on an American TV show, denied that Jesus is the only way to God.

He was asked the question, and he was like, I don’t know about that. I don’t know, maybe Muslims, maybe Hindus have got their own road up the mountain. And yet here they were, and their books were flying off the shelf of this bookshop.

Peter says, verse 2, many will follow their conduct. And in verse 18, look at the success there. They entice people.

They’re effective, you see. They entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. What that’s referring to there is the idea that a brand-new professor of faith is being immediately trapped by a false teacher.

They’re kind of too naive to realise that they’re being duped. And they’re led right back into error again. What a tragedy.

The proverbs of verse 22 just sort of capture this horrible image. It’s the picture of a dog returning to its vomit. That’s one of the proverbs.

And the other picture, I don’t know how you clean up a pig, but here we’ve got a picture of a clean pig. Maybe it’s been hosed down or washed or something, but here it is, returning again moments later to the muddy pigsty. And that’s what the false teacher is like.

They’ve professed to be a Christian, but they’ve gone back to the pigsty, back to the vomit. And all those who follow them there do the very same thing. And so, we need to be wary that just because something is popular does not mean it is sound.

(19:25 – 20:35)

Now, maybe I should just caveat that by saying that just because something is popular, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is always unsound, right? Occasionally, sound teachers are fairly popular. But in general terms—and think about this, this is logical—error will always be more popular than truth. Paul talks about this in 2 Timothy, because people want to hear what their itching ears already want to hear.

And so, if you’re telling them something that they like to hear because it’s compatible with their sinful behaviour or their current beliefs, then it will always be more popular. Are we aware of this, or are we naive to this? Now, this is not about becoming a professional heresy hunter, spending every minute of your day trying to track down every heresy. And it’s not about becoming uncharitable to fellow Christians who may differ in opinion on the less clear matters of Scripture—let’s put it that way.

(20:36 – 21:40)

But it is about not being naive to teaching that if you believe it and follow it, will lead you to destruction, not to heaven. Here’s a little question for you. If I asked you, what do you think are, let’s say, three of the biggest false gospels that are floating around today, what would you say? On the internet, in books, in conversations, sadly, in some poisonous pulpits where people are preaching this stuff.

If you could just list, what are three of the most popular ones? Even if you can’t name a false teacher, can you name, can you describe briefly what some of the big falsehoods are? Have a little think about that. Because if you can’t, then you’re a sitting duck to the false teaching. I’ll come back to that at the end.

(21:42 – 22:23)

Let’s move on to a second point. Now, this is another hard point, but in its own way, it’s kind of encouraging. Because I just said a minute ago that false teachers have always been around, you know, always been there.

However, they won’t always be around. They won’t always be around. And that’s the second point.

Don’t be in doubt, false teachers will be condemned. Don’t be in doubt, false teachers will be condemned. The sure and certain judgement of the false teacher is like a drumbeat drumming again and again through this whole chapter.

(22:24 – 23:09)

In verse 3, they are bringing swift destruction on themselves. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them like a guillotine poised to suddenly fall. God will suddenly unleash destruction on them.

And to prove that God will in fact do this, because clearly this was being doubted as the second coming was being doubted by these people. To prove that God will do this, Peter gives examples of God’s track record in the past. He goes back to the early chapters of Genesis and Peter says that right from the beginning, God has always been sure to judge.

(23:10 – 23:34)

And so, we get at least three groups of people who did not escape God’s judgement. In verse 4, we have a judgement that angels did not escape. If God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them into hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgement.

(23:35 – 24:04)

This isn’t referring to the general fall of some angels into sin, but it’s referring to a specific occasion recorded in Genesis chapter 6, where some angels sinned. If you read that chapter itself, we’re simply told that some sons of God, is the quotation, had sexual relations with women and married them. But it’s made explicit here in 2 Peter 2, that these sons of God were in fact angels.

(24:05 – 26:55)

Either they were angels taking on a human form, or they were possessing human beings who committed the sexual immorality. And either way, this was a shocking violation of God’s creation order. And the point that Peter, because we can get all interested in all the details of that, but the point Peter is drawing out is that these angels were not above God’s accountability.

It’s as if he’s saying, if you think you will get off the hook because you’re a pastor in a church somewhere, or an elder, or something like that, and you think you’ve got a high position, yet you’re teaching a false gospel, then you’re kidding yourself. Because even the angels were judged when they sinned. So, the angels didn’t escape.

But then secondly, the world did not escape. The world of Noah’s day was judged by a flood. And you think God is asleep when it comes to judging you? No, the angels didn’t escape, and the world didn’t escape, and the cities didn’t escape.

The third example, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in verse 6 and following. Now, just by the by, why does Peter go to these particular examples? I think they’re chosen because they are associated with the sin of sensuality and the immorality that we were just talking about in the first point. I think these are very deliberately chosen examples because it kind of mirrors the sin that the false teachers are committing.

And we see in verse 9 what the Lord’s going to do. He’s going to hold the unrighteous, that’s the false teachers, for the day of punishment, as God has done time and time before. Judgement’s not a new idea in the Bible, just as midges have always been around, just as false teachers have always been around.

So, God’s judgement has always been around. It’s always been operative. God will stop false teachers in their tracks.

And I think this is why the Old Testament character Balaam suddenly pops up in the chapter. In verses 15 and 16, Balaam is a false prophet. He appears in the book of Numbers during the time of Israel’s wanderings, and he appears there because Balaam is kind of like the role model for these false teachers.

(26:56 – 29:03)

They might not know this, but he’s the man that they’re modelling their ministry on. He’s a man who said some true things about God, but we see here, he left the straight way, and he, interestingly, when you read the story, he led God’s people into sexual immorality and idolatry, exactly the same issues that are going on here, the idolatry of a false gospel, false teaching, and a lifestyle where you can do what you want. So, that’s why he pops up here.

He’s the man they’re modelling their ministry on. But notice what Peter says about Balaam. He reminds us that Balaam was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey, an animal without speech.

So, this is a very unusual happening. It’s a kind of miraculous, obviously miraculous happening. But God goes to this extreme length.

Why? To rebuke a false prophet and to restrain the prophet’s madness, to kind of reign him in at least a little bit. Now, it’s a strange and funny little story, but what it makes clear is that God will go to extraordinary lengths to rebuke and restrain false teachers. They are so dangerous and deadly that God will even use a donkey to shut them up and to pull them back.

And they should listen to that rebuke if they have any sense. Because look at verse 17, they’re currently heading for darkness. And also there, I think this reference to waterless springs and a mist that vanishes, I think these are images of something that promises water and life.

And I think what this is saying is that they’re without spiritual life. You know, they look as if they’re a spring of water, but they’re dry. There’s no life there.

(29:03 – 29:46)

They’re spiritually dry and dead. Verse 19, they promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of depravity. It’s a frightening picture of who they are and where they are heading.

Friends, we should pray for false teachers. We should pray for them because they are heading, if they don’t repent, to a final judgement, which seems to be the worst of judgments. As verse 20 strongly hints, it would actually have been better for them to have never known the gospel than to have rejected it in such a public and clear way.

(29:47 – 30:08)

So these threats to the church are themselves under divine threat. I did say this is unpleasant medicine, but it is for our good. Now, before we finish, let’s end on a more positive note.

(30:08 – 30:22)

We’ve said, don’t be naive. We’ve said, don’t be in doubt about the judgement of false teachers, but now reassuringly and briefly, don’t be anxious. God’s people will be rescued.

(30:23 – 31:54)

Don’t be anxious. God’s people will be rescued. And it’s kind of, when you’re reading the chapter, so much judgement coming at you, you almost can just sort of kind of filter out the little mentions of rescue, but they’re there, aren’t they? In verse 5, God protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others.

There wasn’t a huge number that was protected from the judgement, but eight of them were. Or down in verse 7, He rescued righteous Lot. Lot here is presented as someone who didn’t buy into the idolatry and immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah, and God rescued him out of it.

What principle can we draw from this? Verse 9, that the Lord knows how to rescue not only righteous Lot, but He knows how to rescue the godly. That’s us. That’s the church.

He knows how to rescue the godly from trials. Listen, false teaching is a trial. Maybe not something we associate with being a trial, but it is a trial.

It’s a test for us. It’s one of the greatest onslaughts to your Christian faith and to our commitment as a church, all the false messages that are coming from our culture and from Christendom. But listen, false teachers will not prevail.

(31:56 – 33:54)

Every genuine believer will be rescued from the grasp of false teaching. So, I asked if you could name three of the more common false teachings today. You’ve had a little bit of time to think about it.

I’m not going to ask you to sort of shout them out, but I wonder if you’ve come up with a few of them. Let me suggest three quick ones. Here’s just for starters, three things.

One, the false gospel that you can live any way you like and be a Christian. You don’t need to repent. You don’t need to change.

There’s a false gospel. Two, the false gospel that if you believe in Jesus, He will give you everything you want. That’s the prosperity gospel, and it’s a false gospel.

Three, you can believe in Jesus, but you don’t need to believe all the things that the Bible says. What I would say, what I would call the, you don’t need to believe that bit gospel. You know, in the modern age, you believe in Jesus’ humanity, but you don’t need to believe that bit about His divinity.

You can believe in the cross. It’s a great act of love, but you don’t need to believe that bit that He turned away the wrath of God on the cross. I mean, you can believe that in some sense Jesus rose from the dead, but you don’t need to believe that bit that He bodily rose from the dead and that He’s actually coming again in glory to not only save but judge.

You don’t need to believe that bit. Well, those are three things that I came up with. Maybe over coffee, as you eat your cake, you could have a little chat with the person at the table about what you think some of these false gospels might be.

Don’t be naive to them. But don’t be unsettled by them. Amen.

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