It's Not What it Seems

So, I wonder if you've ever caught yourself just getting lost down an internet rabbit hole

just looking at optical illusions.

I find that optical illusions are really fascinating.

There is something strangely intriguing by the fact that my brain is getting tricked

into seeing something that isn't quite there.

You know that what you're seeing, or you think you're seeing, is not there,

and yet you think it's there.

You look at something and it's just not what it seems.

If we go to the next slide, for instance, the llama that you see there is not ringing a bell.

That leg holding a bell is actually just a llama behind it.

It's not what it seems.

And this lady in the next one, she's not hovering over the sand on some magic carpet.

Of course, that's just the shadow of a flag that's nearby.

So, it's not what it seems.

And the next one, the next lady, she's not a half-dog lady.

She's just wearing something as black as the dog behind her.

And then finally, believe it or not, that is not a 10-foot-long cow.

So, you might have guessed it.

I reckon there's probably two cows behind that building.

I put that one just to please Lisa.

So, it's not what it seems.

And it's not what it seems in the next slide is,

are the words that just kept coming to my mind as I started this passage in 2 Peter.

The more I read the passage, the more it seemed to me as if Peter was just screaming these words at every turn.

As he describes the character and the actions of these false teachers.

It's not what it seems, brothers and sisters.

They are not what it seems.

Now, if you listened to Archie's sermon last week,

you will know that the whole of this chapter, chapter 2, is a warning against false teachers.

And I think in chapter 1 already there were signs that Peter would have addressed the issue of false teachers.

Because he says there that he knows he's about to die.

And in verse 10, he worries that then people might stumble.

And then in verse 16, still in chapter 1, he reassures the church that he didn't follow any cleverly devised stories,

as he puts it, about Christ's future coming.

It sounds like someone had been disputing that and had been spreading rumors that Peter had been making things up

and that his second coming wasn't real.

And so, in the first half of chapter 2 that we looked at last week,

Peter introduced us to the problem of false teachers.

And he told us in no uncertain terms that there will be false teachers,

that they will seduce people, that people will follow them.

But also that the false teachers are condemned by God and will not escape judgment.

And in today's passage, he expands on all of this,

but giving us an incredibly helpful description of how these false teachers live

and how they act amongst the members of the church so that we can recognize them.

And he doesn't go into the details of what these false teachings are.

These false teachings are being spread.

There are hints like the denial of the second coming that I just mentioned,

but otherwise what we get from Peter is more of a list of common traits of false teachers,

which I think is great because I reckon that if we'd known exactly what those teachings were,

that these specific false teachers were spreading back then in the context of that culture at that specific point in time,

we maybe would have been tempted to only label those specific heresies as false teachings.

Whereas what Peter does here is equip us to identify different false teachings,

any false teachings, including the kind that we'd expect in this part of the world in this century.

And so what he does is give us a sort of identicate of the false teacher,

an identicate that will apply no matter what specific nonsense they happen to be preaching where we are.

And so as he puts together this identicate for us,

he warns us that false teachers are not what they seem.

And we look at this in three sections.

Verses 10 to 12, they're not as wise as it might seem.

Verses 13 to 16, they're not as righteous as it might seem.

And verses 17 to 22, they're not as free as it might seem.

And so Peter is telling them, these people will do all they can to sound wise to you.

And they might think themselves righteous.

Maybe they might even look the part.

And they'll want you to believe that their lives are free from any restrictions and any limitations.

But they're not any of these things.

It's not what it seems.

So if we look at the first section then, they're not wise.

Now one thing you might have noticed as Alistair read the passage is that Peter really does not hold back in attacking the false teachers.

He uses such strong language.

In just a couple of verses, he says to the false teachers here just in this first section alone,

that they're bold and arrogant, that they're blasphemous, that they're like unreasoning animals,

that they're creatures of instinct, that they are born to be caught and destroyed.

And in verse 12, that like animals, they too will perish.

And he will come time and time again in this passage to the fate of false teachers.

He'd already told us in last week's passage that they're under judgment.

And today he keeps reminding us of what awaits them here in almost every other verse.

So he clearly wants this, the way that they will end, just to really get into our hands.

So why are the false teachers anything but what you would expect of a teacher?

I'm sure one of the first words that comes to mind thinking about teaching and teacher is wise.

Why are they anything but wise?

Why are they like unreasoning animals?

It's because they're not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings.

Now we don't know exactly what it was that the false teachers said and about what celestial beings,

but the most common interpretation is that they blasphemed against fallen angels.

Peter did mention fallen angels just earlier on in the chapter in verse 4,

or perhaps against the devil himself.

But what we do know based on Peter's words is that they're showing incredible arrogance

by speaking of angelic powers in ways that the angels themselves won't.

And so they might try and appear wise to those that they want to entice

by speaking so boldly and by coming across as so confident,

like they know what they're talking about.

But verse 12 says that the truth is they blaspheme in matters that they do not understand.

And so if what they're doing is not wisdom, it's not wise,

what is wisdom according to the Bible?

I'll go to a verse that many of us will be familiar with in Proverbs 9, 10.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

So wisdom is realizing that the Lord is above everything else,

and that the Lord is as loving and merciful as he is just.

So we should fear the Lord and live accordingly.

And of course, if we are the Lord, we should only fear him.

Fearing God means recognizing his authority, his glory, his majesty,

and then as a result of this understanding, strive to live in obedience to him.

So of course, we should not fear the devil in the same way,

because our allegiance is to God, and he's already won the battle against Satan.

And yet, by behaving the way that they do, these false teachers,

by heaping abuse and celestial beings,

they're showing that they're actually not grasping the seriousness of evil.

The power that Satan still does have on humanity by way of temptation, of course,

at this point in time, while we still live in a broken world that is dominated by sin.

And so if we underestimate the devil, like they do, then we underestimate sin,

and that's how we open the door to it into our lives.

Someone at my old job underestimated the risk of this link that they got in an email,

and they did what they always teach you not to do at any training course about phishing emails,

and they clicked on the link, and then they got to this fake web page,

and they entered their password they thought they were getting into their inbox,

and they were in the scammers.

They were going through our emails, and they were emailing our clients,

asking for our invoices to be paid into our new bank account.

We underestimated the risk, and we let the scammers in.

And the false teachers behave just as scaredlessly.

They don't wash their mouth when they talk about the spiritual beings,

about things that they do not understand,

and in so doing, they're lessening in their mind the seriousness of sin.

So I think Peter is warning us that if we come across someone who's trying to convince us

that we can laugh in the face of the devil,

that we can think that he's a thing of the past,

someone that belongs in fairy tales only,

then we should run away before we too start thinking that way,

and we make ourselves even more vulnerable to sin than we already are.

And I think it's absolutely not uncommon for us, unfortunately,

in this country and in this day and age,

to come across people trying to convince us,

or maybe to convince our children in school,

that of course God exists, or maybe gods exist,

and, you know, they're pretty much just an anonymous someone,

someone, someone good living in the clouds,

maybe living in a tree.

But evil beings?

No, they're not a thing.

They're just something superstitious.

And as wise as these teachings might seem,

of course these people would be way more eloquent than have just been,

but they can sound intriguing sometimes and even wise.

It's not what it seems, Peter says.

That is not wisdom.

And if any of these teachings infiltrate in our heads,

if they get into our heads,

there are many ways that then as a result we can end up underestimating the power

that evil can have in our everyday lives.

There are a lot of ways that we can arrogantly believe and behave

that we have the strength in ourselves to overpower temptation.

And we all have different weaknesses.

We all have different ways that we let the guard down

and we open the door to sin.

And so for some of us, it will be about frequenting certain people

who have a negative influence on us.

For some others, it will look like getting too close to alcohol

or certain contexts where there's too much of it.

And I'm sure you can all think of your own examples.

It could be gossiping.

It could be lust.

It could be greed.

And so let's be watchful.

Let's not let the attitude of any false teachers

who are too casual about that spiritual war

that we know is definitely going on between God's army and the devil's.

Let's not then be contagious.

Let's not then let them infiltrate in our heads.

We want to be wise by fearing the Lord.

We won't fear the devil because we are in the Lord,

but we do take the devil's intentions seriously.

And if he was ready to tempt Jesus in the desert,

he's certainly here ready to tempt us at our every step.

And so we want to be ready for him by living wisely

and by fearing our Lord, by showing obedience to him.

In the second section in verses 13 to 16,

the false teachers are not righteous.

Again, Peter immediately reminds us

the false teachers are condemned by God.

If you look at verse 13,

they will be paid back with harm for the harm that they have done.

And then again, he will not hold back

when it comes to the language that he uses to describe them.

Their blots and blemishes, they revel in their pleasure.

They never stop sinning.

They seduce those who are unstable.

They're experts in greed.

They're an accursed brood.

It's like Peter really wants his readers

to just feel disgusted at the thought

of what these people are doing.

And if the false teachers are trying in every way

to pass for good people who can't show us the way,

then Peter is doing all he can to make it absolutely clear

to the church and to us that they are just scum.

That's not what it seems, people.

Whatever nonsense these teachers are telling you

about themselves and about God,

verse 14, they never stop sinning.

They're experts in greed.

And so he, Peter, might not tell us anything

about these teachers' doctrines,

but he tells us a lot about their strategies

to entice people.

They attend church events

because he says they will feast with you,

in verse 13.

And so maybe that's one of the ways

that they want to appear righteous,

by going to church.

But the motives behind their attendance of church

should send a chill right down our spine.

While people are enjoying fellowship together,

while they're eating together,

like we do at our church lunches,

for instance,

those wonderful opportunities we have

to just enjoy fellowship together,

to take more of an interest into each other's lives,

to encourage each other as we walk with the Lord.

It's at these times that these cowards come in

with their eyes full of adultery,

verse 14, seducing the unstable.

And so these words here specifically

paint a picture of sexual sin,

of people who have stopped even trying to resist sin.

And they use even church meetings

to try and satisfy their desires

and to prey on the vulnerable.

And so who knows,

maybe they were convincing people

to join in their sin

by preaching that it doesn't matter how much you sin

because we're already saved,

or maybe going back to the second coming

that it doesn't matter how much you sin

because there's no second coming.

We've been left to ourselves.

Jesus is gone.

He's not coming back.

Just live and be merry.

No judgment day for anyone.

And then in verses 15 and 16,

Peter compares them to Balaam.

Now, Balaam was a prophet that we read about

in the book of Numbers,

in chapters 22 to 24.

Balak, the king of the Moabites,

knocks at his door repeatedly,

asking him to please go and curse

the people of Israel for him.

Now, Balaam is not a false prophet

because he does prophesize

what God tells him to in the end.

He won't curse Israel.

He will only bless Israel

as God commands him to.

However, his heart is not right with God.

And God sees right through him

as he accepts Balak's invitation

to go and prophesize

because Balaam's mind is clearly set

on the money that comes with this service.

And so God will humiliate him

by letting his donkey rebuke him.

That's what Peter is referring to.

Just when Balaam is very close

to being killed by this angel for his actions

and the donkey actually saves him

by refusing to go near the angel.

And so since Peter compares

the false teachers to Balaam,

it's fair to think that perhaps

the false teachers were getting money

in exchange for their services

that they were offering people.

And so again, it's not what it seems.

These false teachers will try

to make people believe that they're righteous,

but they're not.

And in verse 15,

the opposite of being righteous,

Peter will say that

they have left the straight way.

They're lustful, greedy people

who have left the straight way.

Now, of course, for the sake of clarity,

none of us are righteous in themselves.

But 2 Corinthians 5.21 tells us,

for our sake,

he made him to be sin who knew no sin.

God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin,

so that in him we might become

the righteousness of God.

And so through Jesus,

we become the righteousness of God.

And what we're called to do is,

if we look at 2 Timothy 2.22,

flee the evil desires of youth

and pursue righteousness,

faith, love, and peace,

along with those who call on the Lord

out of a pure heart.

So we're called to pursue righteousness.

And the false teachers we're seeing

are doing anything but pursue righteousness.

They've let all inhibitions go

and are pursuing only pleasure.

And in broad daylight, Peter says.

So I've got a couple of direct applications

for us here.

Number one,

are the teachers we're listening to

pursuing righteousness?

And number two,

are we pursuing righteousness?

So when we decide to listen

to someone online,

someone who's allegedly a Christian

telling us how to live a Christian life,

are we considering

if they're walking the walk themselves?

This is a point that Archie made

last week as well,

but I think it's worth making it again.

I think it applies to these verses as well.

Online resources are amazing

on so many levels.

They give us access to so much knowledge.

And we've seen during the pandemic,

one of the amazing things

that they can do is make church

at least partially accessible

to those who are housebound.

And of course,

I myself have used resources

to put together this talk.

But they do come with a warning.

And the same is valid for books

or really anything else

that comes from people

that we don't know personally.

Because the danger is that

these are people

that we don't do life together with.

We don't get to spend time with them,

to enjoy fellowship with them

in the same way that we do

with our fellow brothers and sisters

in our local church.

And so we want to make sure

that we're exposed

to the message of people

who are pursuing righteousness.

Because words can be deceiving.

Bible verses can be twisted

to fit around

what people want you to believe.

And rubbing shoulders with someone

can be a very effective way

to see past those deceiving words.

Of course, it can be

a very effective way.

We can all hide our sin

in our personal life.

We can deceive

by way of appearances too.

But I'm sure that,

for instance,

finding out that

a certain pastor

is buying himself

a private jet

with the money

that he's making

out of preaching,

that would make us

probably second guess

what he was preaching

in the first place.

And while this is

an egregious example

from the world

of the prosperity gospel

false teachings,

and it won't always be

as easy to know

if those that we listen to

live in accordance

with the gospel

in pursuit of righteousness,

I think we should

always do our due diligence

as much as possible

when we're reading

or listening to strangers.

And we should look

for evidence

of a godly life.

And then, of course,

we should look also

for real knowledge

of God.

Are the teachings

that we're listening to

rooted in the Bible?

And that's why

at Bransfield,

you'll always hear

anyone who's speaking

from the front

ask you to please

keep your Bible open,

to follow along

in the passage.

We'll be referring

to verses all the time.

And that's really

the bare minimum

that we should expect

of those that we listen to.

So are the people

we're listening to

pursuing righteousness?

And then when it comes

to our own lives,

are we ourselves

in pursuit of righteousness?

Do we strive

to live lives

in obedience to God

with Jesus

as our model?

And then in our third section,

Peter now warns us

that it's not what it seems.

False teachers

are not free.

They're not as free

as they would like us

to think.

Far from it.

Again,

he's got very strong words

for the false teachers.

He has two very powerful

illustrations.

The first one

is that these people

are like springs

without water.

What is more disappointing

than a spring

without water?

You think you've finally

found the water

and then there's none.

You walked all the way

to that spring

in the heat

of the desert.

You're sure

of that relief

that it's finally

to come

and now you're

back to square one,

still parched

and not knowing

where to go from here.

That's what false teachers

are like.

They promise solutions.

They promise freedom,

joy,

wealth,

health,

peace,

whatever it is

that they're promising

and they have

none of it.

In second illustration,

they're like mists

driven by a storm.

There's just no weight

to their words

where they say

it's empty,

it doesn't stick

and it just disappears

in the air

because there's just

no truth to it.

And now compare

what Peter is saying

about the false teachers

here with what he said

in his previous letter,

1 Peter 1, 24, 25.

Again,

a verse that we'll

be familiar with.

The grass withers

and the flowers fall

but the word of the Lord

endures forever.

What a contrast.

Then again,

Peter reminds us

in verse 17

of what the false teacher's

fate is.

These dried up springs

are destined

to eternal death.

Blackest darkness

is reserved for them.

There's a lot of

creative language

he's telling us

that they're going to hell

in like 20 different ways.

So why are they not free?

Because as they claim

to be able

to free from your poverty,

to use another

prosperity gospel example,

they're slaves

of their own greed

at the same time.

As they promise

to free you

from your sense of guilt

by not putting

any restraints

on the desires

of your flesh,

they're slaves

of their own lust.

This is the example

of someone telling us

that we're saved

so we can do

what we like now.

Or maybe

they'll do the opposite

as they promise

to free you

from your sadness

for the mourning

of a close

him relative

by praying

X number of prayers

to X number

of saints.

They're slaves

of their own

legalism.

That's people telling us

that we're saved

by actions.

And the list,

of course,

can go on.

So verse 19

is key here.

They promise

freedom

while they themselves

are slaves

of depravity.

For people are slaves

to whatever

has mastered them.

And he's already

told us,

hasn't he,

what masters them.

It's lust,

it's greed,

it's arrogance.

And then,

to add to this

already bleak picture,

they entice people

who are just escaping

from those

who live in error.

Verse 18.

People who are just

escaping from those

who live in error

are new converts.

And in verse 14

in the previous section

he said,

they're seducy and stable.

And so the sad reality

is that these false teachers

know exactly

what they're doing.

They're very intentional

when they go about

identifying their victims.

They prey

on the vulnerable.

And Peter knows it

and he's warning

the church.

And we,

members of

Brunsfield Evangelical Church,

we should take this warning

just as seriously

as hopefully

Peter's original audience did.

We have a duty

to look out

for our brothers

and sisters.

If we know of anyone

who's going through

a particularly vulnerable

time in their lives

or if we have

new converts

amongst us,

we must look out

for them.

Did we hear

that they're reading

a book with some

questionable teachings?

Did we hear

that they're listening

to that misleading podcast?

Did we hear

that they're going

to that Christian

student association

even in meetings

that are infamous

for being particularly

lenient when it comes

to tolerating sin?

Let's go speak

to them

in love

but without beating

around the bush.

Let's expose

those false teachings

for what they are

for their sake

because they might

need just that.

Because the false teacher

is offering to them

and to us

an idea of freedom

that is entirely

worldly.

And that type

of freedom

is so tempting

to all of us

because it appeals

to those same instincts

that made the first man

and the first woman

sin.

It appeals to our

arrogance.

It appeals to our

desire for independence.

It appeals to

our desire to be

independent even

from God.

And so a false teacher

will promise joy,

freedom,

but in reality

all they're offering

is judgment.

That judgment

that Peter keeps

telling us

their run

into words.

And then Peter

concludes the chapter

by pointing out

that the sad reality

is that these teachers

seem to have

accepted the gospel

at least from the outside.

They were certainly

exposed to it

and yet

they got entangled

in that corruption

again

and they went

right back

in.

Just like a dog

going back

to its vomit,

just like a pig

going back

to rolling

the mud.

And it would

have been better,

strong words,

verse 21,

it would have been

better for them

to not have known

the way of righteousness

than to know it

and turn their

backs on it.

What a sad

reality.

And just for the

sake of clarity,

I don't think we're

talking about losing

salvation here.

We're talking about

someone who was a dog

and remained a dog.

We're talking about

nominal Christians.

Because hopefully

we all know

that being a church

member does not

save us.

Being a church

goer does not

save us.

The change

has to be

within.

And so let's

conclude by looking

at the real

freedom.

If the false

teachers cannot

offer us

freedom,

who can?

1 Peter 2,

16,

leave as free

people,

but do not

use your freedom

as a cover-up

for evil.

Live as God's

slaves.

Leave us

free people,

leave us

God's slaves.

Very

counter-cultural,

maybe even

counter-intuitive.

Being God's

slaves is

freedom.

Freedom from

the power of

sin and

from the

power of

the law

because of

Jesus.

And we're

not saying

that we're

free to

sin as

much as

we please

just because

there's

Jesus up

there interceding

for us.

But we

are free

from eternal

death because

he's already

died in our

place.

And so

we as

Christians

decide to

become a

slave of

Christ and

we do that

with joy

because we

recognize that

it's God who

created us and

he knows way

better than us

what it is that

we need.

So we're going

to remember

later Jesus'

death on the

cross by

taking communion

together and

that's exactly

how he

bought us.

That broken

body,

that spilled

blood is how

we become

slaves of

Jesus if

we accept

his sacrifice

and if

we surrender

to him.

Let me

conclude by

acknowledging that

this is a

tough passage

just like

last week's.

Peter just

keeps reminding

us of the

end that

awaits these

false teachers

and it's sad

because we

never rejoice

when hearing

about lost

souls and

it's sad

because of

the damage

that these

false teachers

can do to

churches all

over the

world to

lives that

were going

in the

right direction

and were

sidetracked

by them.

But the

good news

is that while

Peter reminds

us of the

death that

awaits the

false teachers

in doing

that he

also reminds

us of the

life that

awaits us

if we remain

faithful to

God.

We must not

feel like we're

immune to

false teaching

we must be

in communion

with God

to know what

true knowledge

of him is

and to

recognize that

in other

people.

But as we

do live in

communion with

him let's

not forget

that we're

getting closer

and closer

to the day

that we will

be in his

glory.

Let's pray.

Father we

thank you for

these words

these words

by a wise

man

because he

feared you

these words

by a man

who was

in pursuit

of righteousness

who wanted

to do

right by

you.

We just

thank you

because we

know that

being Jesus'

slave,

being bought

by Jesus

is the

real

freedom.

God

and we

pray

Father that

you will

protect

every single

person who

comes through

these doors

Father

from false

teachings.

Help us be

a church

that is

rooted in

your word.

Help us be

a church

that has

discernment

and knows

how to

spot false

teachings,

anything that

deviates

from the

real gospel

Father.

help us

just stay

close to

you.

Help us

be a light

to those

around us,

to those

within us

who are

vulnerable.

Father may

your spirit

keep doing

the work

that it's

doing in

us Father

and may

it really

help us

just pursue

righteousness

by

using

Jesus as

a model

Father

in our

everyday

lives.

Amen.

Amen.