Bill Fitzhenry's Thoughts For Today…

Understanding important truths from the Bible….

II Peter 2:2-3 NKJV

² And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.

³ 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.

James 3:1

¹ My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.

The church has failed to demand a knowledgeable and Spiritually gifted ministry. Anything in the ministry less than this will fail to meet the requirements of the Scripture. James 3:1 puts an insurmountable burden on the Christian ministry and those to whom it is directed separate from it being Spiritually equipped.

A benevolent, gracious, kind, and hardworking Christian minister can be without Spiritual gifts and ignorant of the gospel. His failure is destructive to the church and has brought on him “the greater condemnation.” Ignorance is no excuse. When a man professing a call to the ministry does not understand radical depravity, the content of the Gospel, and does not even know how to teach the basic truths of the Trinity he is not just ignorant he is dangerous and has brought judgment upon himself.

Peter has something different in mind than an ignorant incompetent minister. The one he describes is criminal. In verses 2 and 3, he describes three characteristics of the false teacher.

Vs 2 – First he is characterized by destructive ways. The desire of the false teacher is to destroy. This can be illustrated two ways. First, by the swine in the melon patch who eats his fill and continues to root up and destroy. Secondly, this is illustrated by God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah which was willful and complete in its extent. So are the ways of the false teacher. He is willfully destructive.

Vs 3- Secondly, he is covetous. He is greedy materially and sexually. With false teachers it is often if not always true that the proverb “follow the money trail” can be applied. They may, and many do, exercise great discipline and energy to further their lust. This not withstanding, the lust is not a result of temptation or labor fatigue, but as we shall soon see in II Peter 2, is an outworking of their nature.

The illustrations of this in the last 100 years only are too replete to name. But beginning with the high priestess of the Pentecostalism Aimee Semple McPherson to the present day fool Bennie Hinn, the road of Christianity is littered with false teachers and they are easy enough for any Christian to find for himself.

Vs 3- Third they are deceivers. How plain and positive Peter is. The word used for deceivers here is very unusual. It is the Greek word from which our word plastic comes. The idea here seems to be they mold words to fit the need of the moment with those words never being truth. This gives the picture of one who fits his words to the need of the moment, with the single intent of gaining his desire. But he has no desire or concern for the truth. I think Peter has watched a Benny Hinn broadcast.

Peter’s announcement of judgment on these men is terrifying. His blistering statement has a double intent. First they will be revealed. Their judgment begins here in the revelation of their evil and unclean lives. Again, go back and search out the revelation of false teachers just in the modern history of the church. Secondly, theirs is not victory but destruction and that utter final destruction.

Paul also has these men in mind. Look at II Timothy 2:19-21. The 20^th verse states the same separation. But our responsibility is to see them, mark them, and avoid their destructive deceptive message. “Cleanse” yourself from them and note the result.