If God…
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; (2Peter 2:3-6)
FALSE TEACHERS ARE MOTIVATED BY COVETOUSNESS. They are wolves in sheep skins. False teachers want your money, your admiration or something else you have. To get what you have, they will butter you up. However, many of them will over-do it and are easy to spot. These are not the dangerous kind. Beware of the truly skilled false teachers who mix a lot of honey into the peanut butter. They quote Scripture; they are good “mixers.” False teachers would come in and “slick-talk” them with false doctrine and try to get some of their stuff. False teachers also had a reputation for improper attention to the women folk in the little groups of Christians.
McGEE TELLS US: “Feigned” – the Greek word for “feigned” is “plastos.” Dr. Joseph H. Thayer in his Lexicon of the New Testament says that plastos means “moulded, formed, as from clay, wax, stone.” Does that sound like another word you’ve heard? We have a new word, a word that wasn’t even in existence in Peter’s day, Plastic—that's the word Peter uses here. I love that, because today you can buy a plastic pitcher, you can buy a plastic bucket, you can buy plastic dishes, you can buy plastic toys. You can buy almost anything in plastic because plastic can be molded into every possible shape.
“MAY I SAY THIS, AND I DO WANT TO SAY IT KINDLY. There are also plastic preachers who can be molded and shaped by the people that they serve. They say what their congregations want to hear. They use plastic words. This is the reason that neo-orthodoxy, when it first appeared, deceived so many people. Peter tells us that false teachers will speak with feigned words, plastic words, words that are just molded words. They will fit their words to the people to whom they are speaking.” (McGee)
WELL, WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR THESE FALSE TEACHERS? You and I are to watch out for false teachers. But the All-Seeing Eye is also watching. He sees everything, and He does not like what He sees. It’s just a matter of time until false teachers will be summonsed to stand before the Almighty.
PETER SAYS OF THEM: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. God has been watching them a long time and their judgment is not just hanging around back there, waiting to happen. God does things “in the fullness of time.” (Galatians 4:4) Christ came into the world in the fullness of time and these false teachers are going to be judged in the time that is due them. Their damnation is not asleep, it slumbereth not. (We’ll look at this some more in Part 2.)
THE PSALMIST IN PSALM 73 thought God was taking too much time to get things done. He thought he had cleansed his hands for nothing. But when he saw the whole picture, he changed his mind. Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. (Psalm 73:17) In the House of God he learned that God is fully in charge of everything and in God’s own time, all the rebels are going to be put in their place. We can learn a lot of stuff if we will be faithful in the House of God.
IF WE IGNORE THE WORD OF GOD, we can get some twisted ideas about God. I’ve had people tell me they can just walk through the woods on Sunday morning and worship God in the woods. Yes, you can get some good vibes out in the woods, but the woods didn’t die on the cross to save your soul. The one who loves you and died to save you, told us all: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:25) And while we’re worshipping together, we need to be on the lookout for false teaching.
ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE THINGS I REMEMBER about my Grandpa Richards was watching him plow in the spring. He kept two good-size mules for breaking ground and he was a master-craftsman at not wasting all that mule-power. His eye was on the point of the plow and the beam of the plow that needed to be down close to the ground. He was a diligent manager of the plow handles to make sure the point of the plow was under the ground and not running on top of the ground. A certain amount of fresh-turned earth had to be rolling off that plow at all times or his day and the day of his mules was wasted.
OUR MINDS OUGHT TO BE LIKE MY GRANDPA'S OLIVER TURNING PLOW; turning over the soil and not scooting along on the top of the ground. The best way to spot false Bible teaching is to spend time plowing the Word of God ourselves. False teaching will not thrive in a congregation that regularly plows the Word of God. In Part 2, we’ll look at three things God has already done that illustrate what He is yet going to do. Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
MAY 28, 2018 – MONDAY
A.M. 1Chronicles 23-25 P.M. John 11:1-17
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
Good Memory Verse:
For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. (2Peter 2:21) (Write verses on scraps of paper and put in your pocket like President Abraham Lincoln did.)
Song for Today:
Lord, I’m Coming Home (4:01) – (Gaither Group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQuJhyTI0Tk
You may need to turn off the song when finished to avoid something else you do not want to hear.
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; (2Peter 2:3-6)
FALSE TEACHERS ARE MOTIVATED BY COVETOUSNESS. They are wolves in sheep skins. False teachers want your money, your admiration or something else you have. To get what you have, they will butter you up. However, many of them will over-do it and are easy to spot. These are not the dangerous kind. Beware of the truly skilled false teachers who mix a lot of honey into the peanut butter. They quote Scripture; they are good “mixers.” False teachers would come in and “slick-talk” them with false doctrine and try to get some of their stuff. False teachers also had a reputation for improper attention to the women folk in the little groups of Christians.
McGEE TELLS US: “Feigned” – the Greek word for “feigned” is “plastos.” Dr. Joseph H. Thayer in his Lexicon of the New Testament says that plastos means “moulded, formed, as from clay, wax, stone.” Does that sound like another word you’ve heard? We have a new word, a word that wasn’t even in existence in Peter’s day, Plastic—that's the word Peter uses here. I love that, because today you can buy a plastic pitcher, you can buy a plastic bucket, you can buy plastic dishes, you can buy plastic toys. You can buy almost anything in plastic because plastic can be molded into every possible shape.
“MAY I SAY THIS, AND I DO WANT TO SAY IT KINDLY. There are also plastic preachers who can be molded and shaped by the people that they serve. They say what their congregations want to hear. They use plastic words. This is the reason that neo-orthodoxy, when it first appeared, deceived so many people. Peter tells us that false teachers will speak with feigned words, plastic words, words that are just molded words. They will fit their words to the people to whom they are speaking.” (McGee)
WELL, WHO IS WATCHING OUT FOR THESE FALSE TEACHERS? You and I are to watch out for false teachers. But the All-Seeing Eye is also watching. He sees everything, and He does not like what He sees. It’s just a matter of time until false teachers will be summonsed to stand before the Almighty.
PETER SAYS OF THEM: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. God has been watching them a long time and their judgment is not just hanging around back there, waiting to happen. God does things “in the fullness of time.” (Galatians 4:4) Christ came into the world in the fullness of time and these false teachers are going to be judged in the time that is due them. Their damnation is not asleep, it slumbereth not. (We’ll look at this some more in Part 2.)
THE PSALMIST IN PSALM 73 thought God was taking too much time to get things done. He thought he had cleansed his hands for nothing. But when he saw the whole picture, he changed his mind. Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. (Psalm 73:17) In the House of God he learned that God is fully in charge of everything and in God’s own time, all the rebels are going to be put in their place. We can learn a lot of stuff if we will be faithful in the House of God.
IF WE IGNORE THE WORD OF GOD, we can get some twisted ideas about God. I’ve had people tell me they can just walk through the woods on Sunday morning and worship God in the woods. Yes, you can get some good vibes out in the woods, but the woods didn’t die on the cross to save your soul. The one who loves you and died to save you, told us all: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching (Hebrews 10:25) And while we’re worshipping together, we need to be on the lookout for false teaching.
ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE THINGS I REMEMBER about my Grandpa Richards was watching him plow in the spring. He kept two good-size mules for breaking ground and he was a master-craftsman at not wasting all that mule-power. His eye was on the point of the plow and the beam of the plow that needed to be down close to the ground. He was a diligent manager of the plow handles to make sure the point of the plow was under the ground and not running on top of the ground. A certain amount of fresh-turned earth had to be rolling off that plow at all times or his day and the day of his mules was wasted.
OUR MINDS OUGHT TO BE LIKE MY GRANDPA'S OLIVER TURNING PLOW; turning over the soil and not scooting along on the top of the ground. The best way to spot false Bible teaching is to spend time plowing the Word of God ourselves. False teaching will not thrive in a congregation that regularly plows the Word of God. In Part 2, we’ll look at three things God has already done that illustrate what He is yet going to do. Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
MAY 28, 2018 – MONDAY
A.M. 1Chronicles 23-25 P.M. John 11:1-17
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
Good Memory Verse:
For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. (2Peter 2:21) (Write verses on scraps of paper and put in your pocket like President Abraham Lincoln did.)
Song for Today:
Lord, I’m Coming Home (4:01) – (Gaither Group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQuJhyTI0Tk
You may need to turn off the song when finished to avoid something else you do not want to hear.
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