FALSE PROPHETS, FALSE TEACHERS, AND FALSE MESSAGE OF DOOM

• Warnings are because of love.
  • Example: Jesus warned His disciples; He sent letters to the seven churches; Paul taught Timothy about false teachers; Peter also gave a warning.
• False teachings come from the spirit of the Antichrist.
  • They do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came in the flesh.
• What should we do? We need to be rooted and grounded in the love of God.
  • Study the Bible, scriptures. Analyze the Sunday message.
  • We have to be knowledgeable. We have to study the Word of God.
  • Matthew 7:15-20
    • False prophets – existed then and now in our time.
    • Pretend to be Christians (in sheep’s clothing).
    • You will know them by their fruits.
    • These verses are false prophets detector not believer detector.
  • Believer detector – John 13:35 – By this all will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.
  • Importance of context: Example – 2 Peter 2:20 – others teach this saying believers can still lose their salvation.
    • When reading the Scripture, it is important to know the context.
      1. Who is speaking?
      2. Who are they talking about?
      3. Is this applicable to me or is it for Pharisees, sinners, saints, Old Testament people but still relevant to me?
      4. What is the situation? Was it talking about a specific thing or issue? For example, discussing the punishment of Jesus on the cross – some thought it applied to them, so they were also crucified.
      5. Who wrote it?
    • Example: The Bereans in the Book of Acts – they received the Word readily and searched the scriptures daily.
  • Ask the Holy Spirit to help you because the Bible is not man-made but God-made, you need the Holy Spirit to understand it.
  • Going to our text, the best place to start to read by context is from the start, verse 1.
  • 2 Peter 2:1-22
    • The context or topic being discussed is false prophets and false teachers. Not Christians, not believers.
    • They deny the Lord Jesus – so we are not the ones being discussed because we are believers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
    • Way of truth – they speak evil of it.
      • Example of truth is – we are to believe in the Lord Jesus to be saved – they will say, “Everybody is saved already. You do not need to believe in the Lord Jesus. Because God is love. Everyone is loved by God so everyone is saved.” Wrong! (Teaching of Universalists and Inclusionists)
      • Example: We don’t need to undergo water baptism because we are not Jews – But Jesus said it! We learned from Scripture that even Gentiles were baptized (Cornelius and his household, Roman jail warden, Eunuch with Philip).
      • Example: From RD (Rightly Dividing) people – Only read the books of Paul, Romans to Philemon are for us – Wrong! 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
    • They twist and pervert the way of truth, they make it evil.
      • Covetousness – exploiting or profiting from you.
      • Hell – there is hell unlike what they teach that there is no hell. Hell is for the devil and demons. God is a just God that’s why there is punishment for the ungodly.
      • They are against the government.
      • Deceive unstable souls.
      • They only have knowledge of Jesus but no faith, they don’t apply faith.
      • They are like dogs that turned to their own vomit again or pigs that go back to the mire/mud – Believers are not called dogs or pigs that return to their vomit or mire/putikan.
  • So for us, the message is:
    1. Be warned, there are false teachers arising from among us.
    2. They can deceive you – that is why we, Pastors of the sheep, should not only feed you the Word only but also warn you to protect you.
       • It will be a great neglect or irresponsibility of a Pastor if they only provide food without protection through warning.
       • Warnings are repeated because they are dangerous and deceiving.
    3. These false prophets and false teachers were never saved. They deny the Lordship of Jesus.
    4. Sheep can be gullible. They, the false prophets and teachers, beguile only those who are unstable.
       • They are easily swayed by new teachings.
       • Always focus on scripture verses, not testimonies or words that sound good to the ear.
       • Unstable because they never trust their pastor. They feel they know better than their pastor. They always have their own ideas and think they are right compared to the pastor of the church.
       • They have itching ears – 2 Timothy 4:3-4.
       • They don’t stay in church.
       • What if the sheep is deceived? They will not lose their salvation, but they will experience confusion, sadness, and go through many errors.
       • A believer, once saved, once he/she believed in the Lord Jesus Christ is forever saved. But it is possible to be deceived. If deceived, though saved, that person will be in error or in confusion, nevertheless, still saved.
  • So we pray for:
    1. Our children/spouse;
    2. For one another to not be deceived;
    3. Those who were deceived to return to the truth;
    4. We thank God that our Lord Jesus will not lose anyone of us that the Father has given Him – John 6:39-40.