“Beware of Wolves”
Intro
2 Peter 2:1-3
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will
be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies,
even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow
their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be
blasphemed. 3 By
covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their
judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
A false teacher is
someone who intentionally teaches erroneous or errant doctrine with the intent
of deceiving the people of God. False
teachers won’t necessarily teach a complete lie, but they will generally merge
the truth with inaccurate or flawed information from other sources. Many false teachers are masterful story
tellers who have mastered the art of dramatization with the intent of appealing
to the emotions of the listener. In some
cases, they may incorporate music with their teachings in order to cause the
listener to become more receptive to the message they are conveying.
Some teachers will
teach poor or false doctrine as a result of insufficient study time or
inaccurate research. Therefore, these
teachers are generally teaching out of ignorance. There is, however, a difference between false
teachers and those who teach from a lack of knowledge. While both are dangerous, it is the INTENT of
the person that distinguishes the false teacher from the ignorant teacher.
Unfortunately, even people
who may be knowledgeable and actually have a heart for God can be negatively influenced
by false teaching if caution is not exercised while listening to others. When we listen to different sermons or
lessons, it is very important for us to investigate the origin of the
teaching. If the teaching is not a sound
biblical exposition, we need to question the source of it. Does it promote a false religion or a societal
view that conflicts with God’s values?
Half-truths are still
lies, even though they may contain a large portion of truth. Once someone has listened to and accepted a lie,
they tend to become resistant to the truth.
But Jesus has revealed in His word that the Holy Spirit will guide us
into all truth. It is essential that we
remain faithful to searching out and studying the truth of the Word of God;
even when it offends us. ACCEPTANCE of
the truth will SET and KEEP us free.
