Danger: Warning Signs!
2 Peter 2:13-22
Pastor Bill Young (bill@trc.life)
Four warning signs to help us avoid false teachers:
I. Danger!
a) 2 Peter 2:13-14 (NIV84) They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
b) 14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed-an accursed brood!
A. False teachers
a) I fear you will be led astray… (2 Corinthians 11:3)
b) I marvel you are turning away …to different gospel…(Galatians 1:6)
c) We should no longer be children … tossed by waves. (Ephesians 4:14)
d) Savage wolves will come… not spare. (Acts 20:29)a) Romans 16:17 (NIV84) I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
Are you believing the
II. Caution!
A. False teachers are greedy &
a) 2 Peter 2:15 (NIV84) They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
b) 16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey-a beast without speech-who spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
a) Jude 11 (NIV84) Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
1 . Are they
2 . Are they
B. False teachers make
a) 2 Peter 2:17 (NIV84) These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.
Are the “
III. Do Not Enter!
a) 2 Peter 2:18 (NIV84) For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.
b) 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity-for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
A. They promise
B. They promise
a) 2 Peter 2:20 (NIV84) If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.
Are you
IV. Warning!
a) 2 Peter 2:21 (NIV84) It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.
b) 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”
A. False teachers give in to their
B. False teachers only know
Do you
Discussion Questions:
1 . Have you heard any “false teachings” lately? Why do you think they were not true or biblical?
2 . Why do you think Peter is so upset with false teachers infiltrating his church? Can you relate to Peter? Why or why not?
3 . Have you ever been promised something, but didn’t get it? How did that make you feel?
4 . Have you ever been led astray by people who claim to be Christians? How did that affect your faith in God?
5 . Do you know for sure you are a born-again Christian? Give a brief summary of your salvation experience to the group.