2 Peter 2:1-11

Rachel Workman: 2 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 3 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed. There are false teachers among us. They are clever and many will follow. They are full of greed and after money. That sounds about right. That's why we need to read God's word every day. What did it say? It said they are clever. How do we recognize a false teacher? By knowing God's word.

4 For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment. 5 And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood. 6 Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people. 7 But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. 8 Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. 9 So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. 10 He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority. There are a lot in these verses. God spared Noah why? Because Noah warned the world of God's righteous judgement. Why was Lot rescued? Because he was sick of the wickedness around him. See it had to do with both of their hearts. Noah had a heart that wanted people to be saved and Lot had a heart that wanted to separate from the evil around. Those are the types of hearts God honors.

I LOVE verse 9. So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials. I need to strive to be godly even during my trials so that I can be rescued from them.

I looked at verse 10 quite a bit. As we have read in a lot of our readings we need to keep our sexual desires aligned with God. It is not for me to judge that but God. But what really strikes me is the part that said He is especially hard on those who despise authority. That hurts my heart a little bit. In today's time we are turning out more people who despise authority than ever before. And false teachers are being raised more than ever.

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John Burnett:  False Teachers and Their Destruction

2 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies  The Word Faith movement is notorious for this.  They preach a little gods doctrine that states because we are made in God’s image, we are gods with a little g. I would highly recommend going to youtube and watching the expert in False Teachers, Justin Peters, speak on the subject, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. ³ 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.  I cannot fathom the wrath that God will pour out on Joyce Meyer, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Creflo Dollar, TD Jakes, Joel Osteen, Jesse Duplantis and Benny Hinn.

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,^[a] putting them in chains of darkness^[b] to be held for judgment; ⁵ 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; ⁶ 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; ⁷ and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸ (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹ 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 judgment. ¹⁰ This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh^[c] and despise authority.  Just as God condemned those who were evil and claimed to be evil, how much more will he condemn the evil that claim to be good.  Unfortunately, these are just the big names on TV.  Even more worrisome is the number of these teachers in small churches around the globe.  The Word Faith movement is exploding in Africa, South America, and Australia.

Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; ¹¹ yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from^[d] the Lord. 

Wretched TV and Wretched radio (Google or youtube them) are program’s where they point out the false teachers and their doctrines.  If you know someone who may be caught up under this type of teaching, this is where I would start looking for resources to help educate.

God’s grace is so amazing that if these false teachers were to repent and put their trust in Jesus Christ, he would be merciful and show them grace.  He died for theirs and our sins 2000 years ago and He is risen because He overcame sin and death and satisfied God’s wrath towards us.  Have a joy filled Easter remembering what He did for you and I.

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Krista Cook:  2 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. ³ In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.

- we must be diligent in searching the scriptures daily to guard against false teaching. 

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Mike Grimm:  2 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. ³ In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed. It’s happening today in front of our very eyes. It’s called government and religion. As Christians we are losing more and more rights in a country that was founded on Christianity. We are losing our voice to the liberals, abortionists, gays, Islam and every other group that feels they don’t need Christ in their lives. Their day is coming.

There are also many religious groups and TV Evangelists who are now teaching a more “gentle and tolerant” doctrine. They are preaching what the people want to hear and not what God wants us to do. We have Mega-Churches here that are teaching financial strategies to their parishioners in an attempt to extort more money from them. I find this very sad because James 3:1 clearly states “Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.” The Joel Osteen’s and Joyce Meyer’s of the churches today just don’t get it, and they are steering many Christians in the wrong direction. It seems to be more about their interest instead of God’s. We must be careful to avoid false teachers today. Any book, tape series, or TV message must be evaluated according to God’s word. Beware of special meanings or interpretations that belittle Christ or His work.

⁴ For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment. ⁵ And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood. ⁶ Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people. If God did not spare angels, people who lived before the flood, or the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, He would not spare these false teachers, nor will he spare the unfaithful (us). Genesis 6:3 says; And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." However, these 120 years are a countdown to the Flood. In other words, mankind’s violence had reached its peak and God declared that 120 years was the “drop dead” date for mankind who is a mortal being. You would think that after 120+ years some of the people would have wised up and “made the trip” with Noah. ⁷ But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. ⁸ Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. ⁹ So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. Just as God rescued Lot and Noah, so He is able to rescue us from the temptations and trials we face in a wicked world. Sadly, this is only the beginning. There will come a day when we will be persecuted for our Christian beliefs. This will be persecution like we’ve never seen before. We will be tortured or killed very violently. We take too much for granted. In America we are simply chastised for our beliefs. In North Korea, Sudan or any Islam (you know, the peaceful religion) Nation you will be killed for having a Bible. There are many people willing to die just to read the bible. On judgment day what will be telling God that we did in His name?

¹⁰ He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority.

These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at supernatural beings without so much as trembling. ¹¹ But the angels, who are far greater in power and strength, do not dare to bring from the Lord a charge of blasphemy against those supernatural beings. Many people in our world today mock the supernatural. If they can’t see it they don’t believe it. Many Christians believe the God side of the supernatural but overlook Satan’s side. We should not take Satan’s power lightly. Nor should we become arrogant about how God is going to defeat him. He will be completely destroyed and cast into hell. But right now he is trying to render Christians complacent and weak. With no threat of persecution or death, it is so easy for us to become complacent and drop our guard.