Spiritual Terrorists
007 Spiritual Terrorists
2 Peter 2:1-3
October 3, 2010
Carrie and I just finished watching the old TV mini-series
Called “The Blue and the Gray”
And one thing you notice at least in that movie
Is the pride that was associated with being on either side.
Yankees didn’t want to be confused as Rebels.
Rebels didn’t want to be confused as Yankees.
If the man carrying the flag was killed another man would drop his gun
To pick up the flag.
And until recently that has been sort of an understood staple of warfare.
Differing armies wear differing uniforms.
They fly their own flags.
They are up front and bold about it.
But then we hit this new age of warfare called terrorism.
· They refuse to wear a uniform (in fact they try to dress like you)
· They refuse to fly a flag (in fact they might carry yours)
· They refuse to organize in ranks (in fact they might join yours)
But when the time is right they strike with lethal force.
And this requirement has frustrated more than one military commander who wishes the enemy would just come and fight like a man.
It calls for a more alert effort on our part,
For not only must we defeat the enemy, we must also identify them
This is the type of warfare that
Satan has been using since before the days of Abraham.
It is the military tactic of false prophets.
They don’t wear opposing uniforms,
They don’t fly a different flag.
They don’t identify themselves,
They don’t come marching across a battle field.
But they are every bit as lethal as any organized army.
Matthew 7:15 "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
And they have been here for generations.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ' Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. "You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. "But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.”
Jeremiah 23:25-32 "I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in My name, saying, 'I had a dream, I had a dream!' "How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, who intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal? "The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?" declares the LORD. "Is not My word like fire?" declares the LORD, "and like a hammer which shatters a rock? "Therefore behold, I am against the prophets," declares the LORD, "who steal My words from each other. "Behold, I am against the prophets," declares the LORD, "who use their tongues and declare, 'The Lord declares.' "Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams," declares the LORD, "and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit," declares the LORD.”
They are those who worm their way in,
Deceiving and ultimately destroying.
Their goal is to turn men away from God
And thus confirm their souls to eternal destruction.
Ezekiel recognized them for what they were.
Ezekiel 13:22-23 "Because you disheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have encouraged the wicked not to turn from his wicked way and preserve his life, therefore, you women will no longer see false visions or practice divination, and I will deliver My people out of your hand. Thus you will know that I am the LORD."
And it is these spiritual terrorists that are about to arrive.
And tonight we listen as Peter first describes to us
Exactly what a spiritual terrorist is.
We just closed chapter 1 speaking about those true prophets of God who instead of speaking words of their own imagination actually spoke the words of God.
But at the same time we must understand that true prophets are not the only people who claim to speak from God.
Notice the first word of verse 1 “But”
There is a valuable piece of information that Peter needs to reveal.
“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you…”
Satan has always been a sort of copy-cat.
So if God is going to send prophets, then Satan will to.
And this is what Peter is concerned about.
And please notice that the presence of false teachers
Is not a possibility, but a promised reality.
“there will also be false teachers among you”
They will be here.
Not from the outside looking in, but here on the inside with us.
Just as today we know we have terrorists living in our borders,
The church has to know that she has false teachers in the church.
And since they are coming,
Peter determines to help us understand them a little better.
4 facts about a spiritual terrorist.
#1 THEIR MISSION
2 Peter 2:1
The first thing Peter does is gives us
A basic introduction about these terrorists.
Three distinctives that describe their mission.
1) DECEPTION
“who will secretly introduce destructive heresies”
As we said a moment ago, these are not like normal enemies
Who wear uniforms and who wave flags.
The people Peter refers to here are NOT the ACLU or Islam or Atheists.
Those are all enemies but they are vocal identifiable enemies.
This enemy is altogether different.
This enemy is secret, this enemy is stealthy.
They don’t attack from the outside, they plant bombs on the inside.
“secretly introduce” is one Greek word PAREISAGO (pa-ray-sa-go)
It means “to bring in beside”
And the picture is that while you are a church in possession of the truth
They simply bring their “truth” in and set is right in with yours.
It is very much like a terrorist who brings in a bomb
And plants it right in among all your normal belongings.
They don’t come in with a gun announcing violence,
They quietly and discreetly bring in their bomb and put it in your midst.
WHAT IS THEIR BOMB?
“destructive heresies”
“destructive” translates APOLEIAS
And let me just give you a few other places this word is used.
Matthew 7:13 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.”
John 17:12 "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.”
Romans 9:22 “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?”
This word has much more meaning than just death,
But in fact refers to eternal destruction.
When Peter says that they secretly bring in “destructive heresies”
You understand that they are secretly bringing in lies
Which are meant to deceive people and send them to hell.
A terrorist today plants a bomb to kill your body.
A spiritual terrorist plants a lie to destroy your soul.
They come in with deception.
2) DEFECTION
“even denying the Master who bought them”
And here we even understand
The main purpose of the lie they secretly introduce.
It is a lie meant to cause you to defect from the Lordship of Jesus.
Some see the phrase “Master who bought them”
As a phrase indicating loss of salvation.
No, what Peter is referring to is that these men worm their way in to your fellowship by pretending to have been bought by the Master.
But their claim is false, as evidenced by their disobedience.
AND THEIR GOAL IS TO GET YOU TO DISOBEY HIM TOO
We have seen this in false prophets throughout Scripture:
Jeremiah 23:25-27 "I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in My name, saying, 'I had a dream, I had a dream!' "How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, who intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal?”
2 Timothy 2:16-18 “But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.”
They aren’t coming to kill you.
They are coming to get you to turn away from Christ,
Which is of course a condemning act.
Their mission is deception, followed by defection
3) DESTRUCTION
“bringing swift destruction upon themselves.”
And here is what makes a terrorist such a deadly threat.
They don’t care if they die along with you.
We see them all the time in our world – suicide bombers
Who are willing to kill themselves if they can only kill you as well.
Their actions bring “swift destruction” but that is fine with them
So long as you go down with them.
After all, is this not Satan?
John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
And behold Satan does this knowing that his doom is already set.
He knew it the day he was cast from heaven, yet he doesn’t stop.
So the mission of a false prophet is clear.
Deception – Defection - Destruction
That is their mission
#2 THEIR MESSAGE
2 Peter 2:2
Now obviously the first thing we do notice about this verse
Is the tremendous success of the false prophets.
“Many will follow”
Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Only a handful of terrorists died on September 11th,
Yet they took with them a massive number of casualties.
So it is with spiritual terrorists.
They will be highly successful in what they do.
If they weren’t effective Peter wouldn’t bother to warn us.
I suppose that brings the question, WHAT MAKES THEM SO EFFECTIVE?
And the answer to that is simple.
They preach a message that people want to hear.
In Jeremiah’s day it was “Peace, Peace”
And that sounded pretty good to people who had just heard Jeremiah promise that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed.
And things haven’t changed any.
2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,”
Peter gives two undeniable facts about the message of a false prophet.
1) THEY PROMOTE SENSATION
“Many will follow their sensuality”
“sensuality” translates ASELGEIA (as-el’-gay-a)
It is the same word Jude uses in his description.
Jude 4 “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
The idea is that they promote what feels good,
They offer to people what their sinful flesh desires.
They aren’t calling for examination of self and repentance from sin,
But instead are focusing people on felt needs and self esteem.
They push people to focus on self
Instead of on the righteous standard of God.
The danger in that is the result of it.
Not only does their message promote sensation
2) THEY CONFUSE SALVATION
“and because of them the way of the truth is maligned;”
Here is the danger.
They paint a terrible haze over the actual way to be saved.
Notice Peter doesn’t say “the truth is maligned”
Peter says “the way of the truth is maligned;”
THEY CONFUSE WHAT TRUE SALVATION IS
I told you last week about the woman who came into my office boldly claiming that the Bible was just a book of stories.
“If God loves me, and if I am precious in His sight,
Then why didn’t my life get any better? Why did bad things still happen to me?”
A false prophet offered her those things.
And when it didn’t work, she turned her back on the Bible,
Thinking it to be untrue.
He “secretly introduced” that destructive heresy.
To the point that this woman
Didn’t even think God’s word could be trusted.
SHE WAS CONFUSED ABOUT SALVATION
If a lost person landed in the middle of America
And wanted to know the truth,
Can you imagine all the different things they could be taught?
It is obvious that “the way of the truth” has been “maligned”.
That is what false prophets do.
They suck people in by telling them what they want to hear,
And leave them with a truth so garbled
That they don’t even know which way is up any more.
Their Mission Their Message
#3 THEIR MOTIVE
2 Peter 2:3a
“and in their greed they will exploit you with false words”
You may ask yourself, WHY DO THEY DO IT?
WHAT IS THE PAY OFF?
If they are going to die to, why then do they do it?
Terrorists today do it for false promises of virgins or after life
or something else.
Spiritual terrorists do it for money.
It is “their greed” that drives them.
They want this world and they have found the church
To be an easy platform to help them attain it.
Does no one today find it shocking that Jesus avoided crowds yet all most preachers today can think of is gathering them?
It is because for many, more crowds mean more money, more fame,
More opportunities to climb up the ladder.
Understand, I’m not knocking all preachers who preach to large crowds, Jesus did too on occasion.
I’m referring to the fact that for many gaining
The crowd is the ultimate goal.
Do anything you can to get them here.
They do it because they are greedy.
And according to Peter “they will exploit you with false words;”
“exploit” translates EMPOREUOMAI (em-pa-ru-o-my)
It is where we get our word for emporium or market.
It is the word James used:
James 4:13 “Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit."
They are on a business trip.
It’s all about how they can scam you, sell you,
And ultimately to make a profit off of you.
This morning in Sunday school we saw Ananias and Sapphira
Worm their way in seeking to gain influence in the church.
In a few weeks we see another false prophet.
Acts 8:18-21 “Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, "Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! "You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.”
Simon saw this as a business decision.
Peter exposed him.
Yet that is why false prophets do what they do.
And in our world of TV evangelism certainly we give a hearty “Amen”
To what Peter said here.
And there again we see that they do it “with false words”
“false” translates PLASTOS
It is where we get our word for “plastic”
That is fitting isn’t it?
They come preaching their plastic sermons in order to seduce you,
Steal from you, and ultimately destroy you.
I believe it was John MacArthur who called the new rage plexiglas pulpit
The most fitting symbol of our time.
They come lying so that they can make a prophet off of you.
Micah 3:5 “Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; When they have something to bite with their teeth, They cry, "Peace," But against him who puts nothing in their mouths They declare holy war.”
Their Mission Their Message Their Motive
#4 THEIR MARK
2 Peter 2:3b
“their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is no asleep.”
Here Peter gives one more interesting fact about these terrorists,
And that is that you can be certain they are not now,
Nor have they ever been on God’s side.
We are not talking about good men gone bad.
WE ARE TALKING ABOUT MEN
WHO HAVE ALWAYS BEEN CONDEMNED.
It is “from long ago”
Jude said:
Jude 4 “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
They have been “marked” by God.
Their condemnation is certain.
YOU CAN’T SAVE THEM
2 Peter 2:17 “These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.”
The point here is that these men are enemies of God.
God hates them.
Proverbs 6:16-19 “There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.”
God hates the work of false prophets.
Throughout the scope of His word
He has done nothing short of expose them, and condemn them.
And brethren, if God hates them, why do we tolerate them?
If God exposes them, why do we cover for them?
If God warns against them, why do we fail to do the same?
Peter is here drawing a line in the sand.
He will not participate with them.
He will not overlook them.
They are marked by God for condemnation
And therefore Peter steers clear of them,
And warns others to do the same.
If you knew of a terrorist living in the United States, would you invite him over for dinner?
Would you ride an airplane with him?
Would you accompany him on a tour of the White House?
Then why do we do it with spiritual terrorists,
When in reality they are much more dangerous,
For they destroy the soul of man?
Peter is calling us to wake up and pay attention.
And to make sure we are not deceived
And to help others not be deceived as well.
Matthew 7:15-20 "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. "So then, you will know them by their fruits.”