Spotting a Spiritual Terrorist - part 1
009 Spotting A Spiritual Terrorist - part 1
2 Peter 2:10b-22
October 17, 2010
As you know, here on Sunday nights we are dealing with an issue
That has Peter all fired up.
Peter is a pastor.
Peter is a shepherd, and Peter has identified the wolves
That are presently headed toward his flock;
And like any shepherd Peter has moved into defense mode.
And he is pointing out the facts about the wolves.
THEY WILL BE HERE
(1) “there will also be false teachers among you”
THEY ARE SNEAKY
(1) “who will secretly introduce destructive heresies”
THEY ARE REBELLIOUS
(1) “even denying the Master who bought them”
THEY ARE EFFECTIVE
(2) “many will follow their sensuality”
THEY ARE DECEPTIVE
(2) “because of them the way of the truth will be maligned”
THEY ARE GREEDY
(3) “in their greed they will exploit you with false words”
THEY ARE DOOMED
(1) “bringing swift destruction upon themselves”
(3) “their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep”
And of course also including verses 4-10
“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned…”
“And if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah…”
(9) “then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.”
And so Peter has already given us a great help
In understanding these false teachers
And in raising our alert levels toward their schemes.
But Peter is not finished.
PETER IS PASSIONATE
These are people who are seeking to destroy the flock
He was specifically commissioned to protect.
And so Peter is taking no chances.
And as our text continues Peter continues to give us specifics
On how to spot these spiritual terrorists; these wolves in sheep’s clothing
And what we see in these final 12 ½ verses of chapter 2
Are three main ways that you identify a spiritual terrorist.
3 main character traits that they possess.
Obviously we use the word of God to evaluate their teaching.
John said:
2 John 10 “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting;”
Paul said:
Galatians 1:8-9 “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”
And so we know that we must be diligent to know the word of God
To be able to spot deception when we see it.
But even beyond that obvious point,
Peter gives us here three actions that false teachers perform,
Which makes them much easier for us to spot.
#1 THEY REVILE
2 Peter 2:10b-13a
I think after you read a couple of verses like those
It really solidifies in our minds what Peter thinks about these people.
Verse 12 alone ought to help us understand Peter’s anger with these men.
Where Peter calls them “creatures of instinct to be captured and killed”
“Don’t sugar coat it Peter, tell us what you really think”
And so you can see that Peter has no love loss for any wolf
That would come in and seek to destroy one of his sheep.
And as Peter exposes them to us, he really does so in the first two words.
“Daring”
“Self-willed”
These are the attributes that help us identify these false teachers.
“Daring” translates TOLMETES
And it means to be “bold”, it can even carry the connotation of “courage”.
We would say “They are really Brass”
They seem to be fearless.
Now that is not to say that a true prophet is a coward,
For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power.
But there is a difference with these guys.
Look at the second word.
“self-willed” translates AUTHADES
It comes from two Greek words and it means “to please self”
And now we are beginning to understand the reason for their boldness.
They don’t mind being bold to get what they want.
They don’t mind boldly or courageously demanding something.
And then Peter gives us an example of their boldness.
“they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties,”
I suppose in Peter’s mind this was the most unbelievable example
Of brassness or boldness that he could fathom.
That these guys have no fear about reviling “angelic majesties”
The word there is literally “glories”.
Now when we say that, most immediately assume
They are speaking against the good angels of God.
But that isn’t really the case here.
Read on.
“they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord.”
When you read that, you realize that whoever it is these guys are reviling,
It is someone that not even the good angels will revile.
The only possible answer for who these “angelic majesties”
Could be is the demons, or fallen angels.
HOW CAN YOU CALL A DEMON A “GLORY” OR “ANGELIC MAJESTY?”
I know we often have tainted view of satan and his angels as some sort of ugly, mangy coyote. Some sort of twisted evil looking being.
But that obviously isn’t the case.
Paul called Satan a prince – “Prince of the power of the air”
Jesus called Satan a ruler – “Ruler of this world”
And don’t forget that just from their creation
They maintain a certain depiction of glory.
Take man for a second.
The Old Testament gives a specific reason why you cannot kill a man.
Genesis 9:6 "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.”
The New Testament says for that reason you can’t even slander him.
James 3:9 “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God;”
Now, is man fallen? – yes
Is man wicked? – yes
But does man still hold some evidence of glory? – yes
And so it is with the fallen angels.
They are fallen, they are wicked, but they still hold some semblance of glory simply because they are part of the creation of God.
And so it is not surprising that Peter refers to demons
As “angelic majesties” or “glories”.
These men are not slandering the good angels,
They are reviling the fallen angels.
Jude makes this even more clear.
Jude 8-9 “Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, " The Lord rebuke you!"
Jude’s writing makes it clear
That it is slander of demons that we are referring to.
Jude said these men slander demons
When even Michael the archangel wouldn’t do that.
Furthermore, even Christ in the Old Testament wouldn’t do that.
Zechariah 3:1-2 “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?"
And so there we see two instances where someone with more power and rank wouldn’t even revile a being of lesser rank and power.
So how is it that these false prophets actually feel secure in reviling something that is actually more powerful and of higher rank than them?
Are demons of a higher rank?
Yes.
Hebrews 2:7 "YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS;”
And I hope you are seeing the point.
These false prophets are so brass, so bold,
That they don’t mind reviling or slandering fallen angels,
Even though those fallen angels are more powerful than them
And have a higher rank than them.
And that helps us understand what Peter says in verse 12
“But these like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge”
They don’t have a clue what they are talking about or what they are doing,
Yet because they are so brass they don’t mind putting on a big spectacle.
And boy have we ever seen this even in our day!
(TV preacher – Rod Parsley, dragging Satan – “Come on you dog”)
He was reviling satan.
He was mocking the enemy.
And I’m sure you’ve heard that type of speech go on before.
But when you read the Scriptures, do you ever hear Paul or Peter or even Jesus make fun of the devil?
Do you ever even hear them disrespect him?
They don’t slander him any more than they slander another human.
Scripture does reveal the truth about the devil.
That he is a liar.
That he is a deceiver.
That he is a thief.
That he is a destroyer.
That he is defeated.
That he will be destroyed.
But never in bold, outlandish, brass terms.
What Peter is referring to here is a false prophet
That desires to make himself look good by waiving his arms in the air
And boasting about some power he thinks he has over demons.
But there is a major problem with their shenanigans.
(12-13a) “But these like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong.”
Peter says in performing this show, they are like “unreasoning animals”.
Now, they are like “unreasoning animals” in that
They revile “where they have no knowledge”.
They participate in things they have no clue about.
If you open the doors, a dog may walk into this church,
But he won’t have any idea about what to do in here.
An animal is certainly “unreasoning”.
They are not on this earth to give wisdom.
They are not on this earth to solve problems.
They are not on this earth to make it a better place.
And in particular a wild animal (especially in Peter’s day)
Was only for the purpose of destruction.
They had no use for a lion, they had no use for some other wild beast, EXCEPT TO DESTROY IT.
And that is what Peter reveals as the fate for these men.
They “will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed.”
There again Peter reveals their coming doom.
They are unreasoning, they do not bring any benefit,
Their only real fate is destruction.
Peter says they are “suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong.”
Ever hear the statement “If you play with fire, you will get burned”?
That is these guys.
They are bold and arrogant.
They are brass, and they don’t mind mocking and scorning
Something that is far more powerful than they are.
And some day they will get what is coming to them.
We have actually seen this a little in Scripture.
Acts 19:11-16 “God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches." Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, "I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”
Let me just paint you a picture.
Suppose we caught Osama Ben Laden
Suppose you mocked him relentlessly
Suppose he escaped
Instantly you would realize that
You might have bitten off more than you could chew.
You see these men stand and mock satan and revile his demons
Like they are some sort of really powerful preacher.
And the only reason they are not instantly killed is because
Satan and his demons are under bounds from God.
These men will suffer wrong as the wages of doing wrong.
And don’t misunderstand me here.
We are not to go around terrified of Satan,
Literally trembling in our tracks.
And the reason is because:
1 John 4:4 “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”
But even that does not give us the right to mock and slander
And revile the devil or his angels.
But the false prophets do,
And Peter says that is one way you spot them.
They revile
#2 THEY REVEL
2 Peter 2:13b-16
Here comes the second revealing sign about these false teachers.
“They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime.”
There are a couple of things about that statement.
First, we know that most people choose darkness for their sin.
Because even though they have chosen sin and enjoy it,
The shame of it still pushes them to do it in the dark.
1 Thessalonians 5:7 “For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.”
But these don’t do their sin at night.
They “revel in the daytime”.
They are proud of their sin.
They are like those we have seen who organize parades to show off their sin.
Peter says “they revel”.
WHAT IS THAT?
“revel” translates TRUPHE
(it is only used one other time in Scripture)
It means “soft or dainty”
Let me show you the other place it is used.
Luke 7:25 "But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces!”
A form of the word is used in James.
James 5:5 “You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.”
So the word is often translated “luxury”.
And it carries the connotation of a person wrapped in a super soft robe
Or expensive gowns who loves to show off their luxury.
Today they have on their $10,000 suit and their fine jewelry.
Ray Stephens sang a song that went like this:
Woke up this mornin' turned on my TV set
There in livin' color was somethin' I can't forget
This man was preachin' at me.. yeah.. layin' on the charm
Asking me for 20 with 10,000 on his arm
He wore designer clothing and a big smile on his face
Selling me salvation while they sang Amazing Grace
Asking me for money when he had all the signs of wealth
Almost wrote a check out.. yeah.. but then I asked myself…
Would He wear a pinky ring, would He drive a fancy car
Would His wife wear furs and diamonds, would His dressing room have a star
If he came back tomorrow there's something I'd like to know
Would Jesus wear a rolex on His television show
Would Jesus be political if he came back to earth
Have his second home in Palm Springs.. yeah.. but try to hide his worth
Take money from those poor folks when He comes back again
And admit He's talked to all those preachers who said they'd been-a talking to Him
Ray Stevens had these guys pegged pretty well.
They not only surround themselves in luxury, but they love to display it.
They do it in the “daytime” because they want everyone to see it.
But Peter sees them differently.
“They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you,”
Peter is saying, if you look at a congregation, and in the midst you see some guy dressed in ultimate luxury and flash.
You may see a rich man, I see a stain.
That man sticks out like grape juice on white carpet.
He is a blemish.
Peter says “as they carouse with you.”
“carouse” literally means “to eat”
And Peter was most likely referring to the love feasts
That the church had as they partook of the Lord’s supper.
It is sort of like those Corinthians who had turned the Lord’s Supper
Into a drunken buffet filled with indulgence.
That is what these men were doing.
They were flashing their luxury and wealth and prominence
Throughout the church.
(14) “having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin”
Sure this could indicate men who lust, and who desire sexual adultery. (False prophets have certainly not been exempt from such behavior)
But probably in a more real sense, Peter is referring to
Their constant lust for the things of the world.
They always want more.
They are rich trying to get richer.
They are in luxury, trying to get more comfortable.
And the danger is that in their greed,
They are “enticing unstable souls”
“enticing” is literally a fishing term that means “to bait”
You take a poor man who has come to church
Because he doesn’t know what to do.
And then he is tempted to seek a God who can make him rich,
And he misses the point.
He was a hungry fish and the worm was just too good to pass up.
Little does he know it will land him in the fire.
These false prophets entice people.
“having a heart trained in greed”
That word “trained” translates GUMNAZO
It is where we get our word gymnasium.
And that paints a picture of what these guys do.
They have actually trained to perfect their craft.
They actually study to see how they can get more money
(Robert Tilton’s partner)
And not only do they train in ministry, but they train their heart.
They purposely ignore those guilty feelings.
They purposely ignore those convicting passages.
They train their heart to believe a gospel that is not correct.
And that is why Peter simply calls them “accursed children”.
These are men who are greedy in every form.
They love what they get,
They show off what they get,
They tempt others to want it,
They themselves want more.
They are in grave danger before God.
And then Peter closes this argument with a very pointed illustration.
(15) “forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;”
And we all remember Balaam.
We don’t have time to turn and read the story, (Numbers 22)
But to make a long story short.
· Balak, wanted to hire Balaam to curse the children of Israel.
· Balaam asked God, and God said no.
· Balaam told Balak no.
· But then Balak offered more money, so Balaam said, let me check again,
· And this time God permitted him, but planned to kill him on the way.
(16) “but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.”
And you remember that story.
What Peter indicates is that Balaam was MAD.
He was out of his mind.
His greed had consumed him, and he wasn’t thinking straight.
And that is a great depiction of these false prophets.
They are given over to greed, they are consumed with it.
They are mad, they aren’t thinking straight, and they are a ticking time bomb.
Two ways you come to recognize a false prophet.
They REVILE where they have no knowledge.
The REVEL in their greed and are consumed by it.
And we’ll have to finish this text next Sunday night.
But thus far you see that these men are not hard to spot.
2 Peter 2:1-3 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”