Jump Start # 4084
2 Peter 2:14 “Having eyes full of adultery and that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children.”
In a perfect world certain things wouldn’t exist. We wouldn’t have nightmares, painful surgeries, pets that die, road rage, and evil. But this world lost perfection. Crime thrives. Wickedness abounds. And, false teaching tries to wreck every faithful congregation of the Lord.
Peter addresses the nature and the characteristics of false teachers thoroughly in this second chapter of his second letter. He bluntly reminds us, “There will be false teachers among you” (v. 1). And, sadly, the apostle foresees that “many will follow” and “the truth will be maligned” (v. 2). They are defined as “daring, self-willed” (10) and “reviling where they have no knowledge” (12).
And, then we come to our verse today. Peter holds nothing back. These troublemakers were not leading disciples closer to the Lord. Four things are said about them:
· Eyes full of adultery. They see adultery every where. Obsessed with adultery. They have become saturated with this. Their talk, their dress, their activities encompass adultery. People tend to find what they are looking for. These false teachers were looking for adultery. Satan always provides.
· Never cease from sin. Never. Never a moment of righteousness. Never a pause to honor the Lord. Never a good moment. This isn’t an occasional fall. Their life is sin. They live in sin. They love sin. They want more sin. They never stop.
· Enticing unstable souls. It’s not enough that their hearts are sinking deeply into Hell, they want others to join them. They attract those who are not strong. The unstable. The weak. The unsure. The uncommitted. And, what they see in these false teachers awakens their fleshly desires. Convinced, they jump in and become a part of this wicked pack that is terrorizing the people of God.
· Having a heart trained in greed. They have learned to be this way. Where did they learn such wicked ways? They have allowed falsehood to grow within their hearts. They have surrounded themselves with other wicked people. Rather than being influenced by godliness, these have chosen to follow the path of evil and wrong. They are trained. They know their way around all things that are wrong. They are comfortable with wickedness. Their hearts are cold, calloused and closed. Hurting families, hurting congregations does not bother them. They no longer have a working conscience.
Now, there are some thoughts that we need to pull from all of this:
First, God has allowed these false teachers to survive. He could have destroyed them, but He didn’t. Peter is warning his readers that evil was alive and well and all around them. This may be a purging of those who are true believers and those who are playing a game. This may be a test to what one really believes.
We need to wake up and realize that evil and wicked and false teachers are “among us.” Paul told the elders at Ephesus that from “among you will arise salvage wolves who will not spare the flock.” We can be so innocent and so naïve that we refuse to believe that anyone “among us” would ever act this way. For too many, the false teachers are found among the mega church pastors of today. Wake up. Open your eyes. This is how the seeds of error are planted within the hearts of some.
A preacher stood in the pulpit and said that he had prepared no sermon. He declared, “Let’s just see where the Spirit leads us today.” Sounds wonderful to many. Sounds good to some. But, oh so wrong. So full of error. It is poison to our souls. The Spirit doesn’t work that way today. One ought to know better. Maybe he does…
Second, Peter was not writing these words to the false teachers. They wouldn’t read it if it was sent to them. He is writing to the faithful of God. He is sending up warning flares. Don’t be asleep at the wheel. Don’t put your faith on autopilot. What’s being taught in Bible classes? What’s being said in homes? The faithful of God will arise and not give any space to the false teachers. The faithful of God will use the Bible to destroy the fake ideas of these wicked teachers. The faithful of God will awaken those who are following the music of the pied piper and get them to see that this is not what God says.
Third, in our homes, in our congregations and in our hearts, we must always be alert and watchful. This is not a call to hunker down in fear. Be strong. God’s word will defeat anything and everything that the devil throws at us. Bless the Bereans who left us a mighty example of examining the Scriptures to see if what they heard was true. That’s what we must do.
We must not put up with error. There is no compromising or common ground with error. When it is “among us,” we must take action and remove it from “us.” Stand with God or get out of the way. There is no time for the wicked ways of error.
We are of the day, just like the Thessalonians. So, then, they were told, let us be alert and sober (5:6).
Roger