th th th th th Yeah. All right, if you would open your Bibles to 2 Peter 2, as we're continuing our study through the book of 2 Peter, studying on how we are to prepare for persecution. We've been going through this and last week we had really what was probably my favorite sermon out of 2 Peter 2, God knows how to save. And that was phenomenal. But this week we're back in the heart of 2 Peter. chapter 2, which is all about false teachers. So we'll spend two more weeks talking about false teachers. This is a little heavy, but I think it's very important for us because God spent a lot of time in the book of 2 Peter telling us about false teachers, so we too need to spend a good bit of time studying these false teachers and hearing what the Word of God has to say to us about these things. So we will take the time, we will do the diligence to study through passages like this. Josh, I was just talking to Josh as I was coming up here, and this is expository preaching for you. You have one passage that you feel like, wow, this is the greatest verses on the earth, and then you get to the next one and you're like, You have to remind yourself, all scripture is profitable. So sometimes we get to passages like that that are more heavy, but we study them and we preach them nonetheless. So if you would stand in the honor of the reading of the word of God, for this is the only perfect part of the sermon here today, is when God speaks through his words. 2 Peter 2, verse number 10, the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God says, "...but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lusts of uncleanness and despise government. Presumptuous they are, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord, But these, as natural brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption, and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they count it pleasure to riot in the daytime. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery that cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable souls and heart that they have exercised with covetous practices, cursed children. which have forsaken the right way and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Bozar, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but was rebuked for his iniquity, the dumbass, speaking with man's voice, forbade the madness of the prophet." Let's pray and we'll study this passage. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, I come to You this evening and I ask for Your help. God, I pray that You would Empower me with the Holy Spirit to rightly divide and to preach and to apply these words of truth to these people. And God, I pray that each and every individual would have their hearts open to be receptive to what the Word of God says. So be with us here tonight. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. There are many situations in life where it is beneficial to know your opponent. And that's what I've titled the sermon here this evening, Know Your Opposition. And so I think there's many times and many situations in our life where it is good for us to know who the opposition is. Think about it in battle, right? In battle, it is beneficial to know the strengths and the weaknesses of your opponent's army, right? You want to know how big they are. For example, if the United States and their big army is going against the country of, I don't know, Djibouti, I don't know how big the army of Djibouti is, but I can't imagine that it's very large. So it would be wise for the country of Djibouti to maybe think twice about their opposition. So you want to know how big they are. You want to know what weapons do they have. Are they fighting with spears or are they fighting with bombs? That's a big deal when you're coming to battle when life and death is on the line. You want to know how strong their defenses are. Do they have a big beautiful wall built around their borders or not? This is an important... That was a joke. So it's beneficial in battle. It's beneficial in sports to know your opposition, to know the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent. Many hours have been spent by opposing teams and by coaches studying the tape, watching the opposition, seeing what plays do they run, what offense do they have, what defense do they have, those things. I played tennis in high school. and I wasn't the greatest tennis player in the world, but I knew how to play smart, right? If my opponent had a strong backhand, I'm sure I was setting them up for a forehand shot every single time. And you know similarly my forehand was much stronger than my backhand So I would want to set myself up for to the forehand shot, right? I just knew I wanted to know the the strengths and the weaknesses of my Opponent you could use that application in all sports, right? If your basketball team is really good at three-point shooting. You don't need to put four big guys down low If the offense of the football team is really great at running the ball, you don't need seven secondary defenders, so on and so forth. So in sports, it is beneficial to know the strengths and the weaknesses of your opponent. What I want to tell you here tonight, the same is true of the Christian life. That in the Christian life, we need to also know the strengths and the weaknesses of our opponents. We need to know who they are and what they will do. We need to know their motivations, their methods, their characteristics, their tendencies. We need to be able to recognize them and recognize their deceptive ways. We need to be able to resist their attacks. So just like in battle it's beneficial to know your opponent, and in sports it's beneficial to know your opponent, in the Christian life it is beneficial to know your opponent. And this is incredibly practical as we prepare for persecution. That has been the theme that has ran throughout 2 Peter, this theme of preparing for persecution. And the book of 2 Peter has a lot to say about these false teachers who are our opposition. But I actually want to take at least this passage here this evening one step further. Because I think our opposition in this passage and the people who are being described in verses 10 through 16, I think it is false teachers that are being described here. But I also think it's even more. I think it's even the people who follow after false teachers. So it's false teachers and their followers. This is going to describe, these seven verses will describe who they are. So we can pick them out. off of crap. So we can watch them on Facebook or wherever it might be and we can say, that's false. That's not true. I know, I've heard about things like that before and that doesn't line up with the Word of God. So that's what Peter's doing here. That's what God is doing here. He's allowing us to see, you know, these are the people who will oppose you in this life. Be wary of them. Be warned of them. Look out for them. And as I said earlier, you know, this is heavy. Peter is issuing here a stern warning against these false teachers. And sometimes the Bible has some harsh words for us, some tough things that we must deal with and that we must wrestle with. But it's needed, right? It's needed. Especially in our world today, we talk so much about how we could be on the precipice of persecution. And as persecution comes, false teachers will run rampant. We need to be prepared for when these things happen and when these people come. Otherwise, we'll be taken by surprise. So I have three points for you this evening. Three I's. The letter I, as we step through this passage. So know your opposition. Number one, our opposition is indulged by the flesh. And this is one of the defining marks of false teachers and their followers. They are people who are indulged by the flesh, who are indulging the flesh. We start here in verse number 10. It says, but chiefly them that walk after the flesh. So we start here by saying this is the source of their indulgence. They walk after the flesh. To walk is to, it literally means to indulge. That's where I got the title of this point. It means to indulge, but it's a pattern of life. It is the inward state coming out in the everyday activities. We talk about that all the time in the Christian life or the Christian walk, that we would walk like we are Christians. That means that our inner being, who we are, who we've been changed to be by Christ and for Christ, is now coming out in the way that we live life each and every day. So it's our walk. It's where the pen hits the paper. It's where the rubber meets the road. And for these people, they are not walking the Christian walk, or walking after the truth of the Word of God, but instead, it says here, they are walking after the flesh. These people are lost, and their lives show it. When you look at the way that they live their lives here, It's fleshly, or it's sinful. That is the pattern of their life. They're living lives that are sinful. And Matthew tells us about this. Matthew 7, 16 tells us that you will know them by their fruits. We oftentimes use that to talk about Christians, that you'll know Christians by their fruits. Well, actually, I think that passage goes both ways. There are two ways to live your life. You can either live your life fleshly or you can live your life godly. And at the end, you'll know them by their fruits. You will be able to discern or to figure out who a person serves, what master a person serves, by the way that they live their lives. And the world lives their lives and walks after the flesh. Whereas Christians live their lives and walk after godliness. Now, I'm not saying that Christians are perfect, far from the truth, but perfection is the goal of the Christian life. We might not obtain perfection, but that is the goal. We are ultimately aiming for sinlessness. That is the mark that Paul was pressing toward, right? That mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus. It is perfection. We won't get it. We won't get that mark. We won't obtain holiness, not in this life. But we will still pursue that because of what Christ has done for us and in us by changing us. But this is not the aim of the world, right? They're not aiming for sinlessness. They're aiming for sinfulness. There's something out there today that people, it's called hedonism. And what it is, is it is the aim in life for pleasure. And you might see people, they put this as their religion on Facebook. I'm a hedonist. And it's basically like people just openly saying, the goal of my life is pleasure. And really what it is, is just another way to say, I walk after the flesh. That's what it is. We're putting a bow on top of something that the Word of God has said for thousands of years. They're people, they're hedonists. They're just walking after the flesh. So these people walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness. That's the next thing here in verse 10. Just stepping through this word by word. These people have corrupt desires. Their motives are not pure. They have a hidden agenda. And I'll be honest, it's not even hidden all that well. Because you know what it is. Their agenda is corruption. Their agenda is deception. Their agenda is evil. And the word that's being used here is lust. So they're lusting in their uncleanness. They are burning within. to do these corrupt, evil, and sinful things. And then, the one I wasn't prepared for last week when I read this verse. The third kind of thing there that's used to describe the source of their indulgence is that they despise government. Now, I'll be honest with you, I'm not convinced that government is the best translation of this Greek word, because this word here, it literally means lordship. So these people despise lordship. I think the right way to translate this is authority. A government may be a more specific word, but I think the more general term applies here, that these people despise authority. They disrespect authority. These are rebellious people. They hate having someone who tells them what to do. They hate having someone who tells them right from wrong. They want to be the captain of their own ship. They despise authority. I think this could be referring to just a general despising of authority. I think we see this some in the world. People who are just anarchists and they want to stick it to the man and they just despise authority. But I think that this is referring to despising the Lordship of Christ. I think that these are people who are refusing to bow the knee and to kiss the ring of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. These are people who say, I won't submit to the Lordship of Christ. Jesus isn't going to have say-so over my life. No, I despise that. I rebel against that. But Christians, as Christians, we submit to the Lordship of Christ. At salvation, we're no longer slaves to sin, but we are willing slaves for Christ. But these people, they hate that notion. They hate the concept of that. They could never imagine having someone tell them what to do and how to live. So I think the real reason why these people indulge the flesh is because of their sinful nature. We've seen it here in just a half a verse. The life that they live, the desires that they have, the allegiances that they have, or that they lack to have, it's all in and around sin. And it's the complete opposite of the Christian life, which is all of that is in and around Christ. Our life is around Christ, our desires are for Christ, and our allegiance is to Christ. But these people, these false teachers and their followers, they're the complete opposite. And it ultimately results in arrogance here. Just moving on here, look at verse number 13. It says, "...and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness." So there are, what we see here in verse number 13, there are rewards for unrighteousness, just like there are rewards for righteousness. We see that in heaven, that there will be crowns given and there will be rewards given. But here it says there's rewards for unrighteousness. What we said last week. These are the people, again back to verse 10, but chiefly them, referring back to what we studied last week in verse 9, that God knows how to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. God knows how to judge. And these are the people who are the target of that judgment. So their reward of unrighteousness is judgment. It's damnation. It's hell. Despite this, despite these warnings, Despite this certainty of judgment, these people still arrogantly sin. They keep on sinning. And get how bad this is. Moving on with verse 13, it says, They count it pleasure to riot in the daytime. You know what this means? This means that private sin has become public sin. Typically, the worst sins imaginable were committed over the cloud of darkness. It was committed at night. Because people were shamed of their sin. But it says that these people, these false teachers, they riot in the daytime. These people aren't even trying to hide their sin. Their sin is out and in the open. Their private sin has become public sin. They are without shame. They are prideful in their sin. Their sin is of great pride to them. Now, you wouldn't know anybody or any groups of people who were very prideful in their sin, would you? There wouldn't be a month out there anywhere where people have a pride month over sin. That wouldn't happen in our world, would it? In our world today, there are literally parades for sin. I think verse 13 here is a description of our world. They count it pleasure. Our world counts it pleasure to riot in the daytime. What was once in the closet has now fully come out to riot in the daytime. So that's who these false teachers are. It goes on. I mean, there's a long list here describing these false teachers. It goes on to call them spots, they are, and blemishes. This is a gruesome and a gory term. It means an open sore that is full of infection and disease. You really want to be called that. That's how you want to be described in the Bible, but that's how they're described. If somebody saw this today, you would say, you need to get some kind of medical attention. You've got something wrong going on. And the same is true of these people. These people need help. But instead of getting help for their sin and their disease, they just continue on sinning, allowing their wounds to fester. This is the complete opposite of how the church is described to us in the Bible. The church is described as holy and undefiled. In Ephesians 5 verse 27, speaking about sanctification, it says that, "...that he might present it to himself, a glorious church, having not a spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that it should be holy and without blemish." All of these things are standing, as we describe these false teachers, they are standing in complete opposition to that of Christians and to that of the church. When God sees the church, He sees nothing but the perfect righteousness of Christ. When God sees these people, He sees nothing but spots and blemishes. Just moving on here in verse 13. Sporting themselves with their own deceivings, so they take pleasure in deceiving others. And it goes on to there, at the end it says, while they feast with you. This is likely talking about the love feast that they had in that day. It was called the agape feast. It's where the local church would gather and they would share a meal together. Now clearly the early church was Baptist because they loved having fellowship dinners. They did it. It was the love feast. You know, it's what we do. But what was happening here is that these people, these false teachers, they're full of sin, but they're still enjoying fellowship in the church. They likely should have been excommunicated from the church through church discipline, or they should have cleaned their lives up and repented and turned to Christ. But they're still full of sin, fellowshipping with the other people in the church. And here in a second, we'll see, as we get down into verse 14, it's more than just fellowshipping. They're trying to trick and deceive the people of the church. Let's just go ahead and move on. Verse 14, it says they have eyes full of adultery. Their eyes are full of adultery. All they think about is sin. They cannot look upon a woman without lusting after her. That's how bad these people are. That's how ugly their indulgence of the flesh really is. Eyes full of adultery. And it goes on. And they cannot cease from sin. They have no restraint whatsoever. The lengths that they will go to satisfy their sinful desires is inconceivable. There is no length that they will not go to not cease from sinning. No restraint. Cannot cease from sin. And it goes on here. It says, beguiling unstable souls. You say, wow, that's a King James word if I've ever seen one. Beguiling, what does that mean? It means to bait a hook, right? So they are, they're fishing. These people are fishermen. But they're not the kind of fishermen that catch fish. They're the type of fishermen that bait a hook to trick somebody. These people are predators, and they're looking to take advantage of others. And they're sneaky about it. These people are not wearing a, I'm a false teacher, you know, hello my name is false teacher sticker on their front here. They're tricky about it. That's what this word is. It's deceitful, right? When you catch a fish, You know, I don't think the fish said look, you know, here's a hook I would love to be caught today and fillet right you you trick fish That's the whole purpose of fishing you want to trick the fish into believing that it's gonna get some food and then surprise We just caught you. I mean, that's what these that's a very simple. You can tell that I'm not a fisherman It's I'm just going with it here That's what these people are, right? They're sneaky about it. They're out to get these people. Sometimes it's not even what they say. It's what they don't say. I heard that said this week, Richard Caldwell, a preacher in Texas, he said that he said you can tell a false teacher by what he will not say. They're sneaky about it. Sometimes they won't even tell you what they really believe. They hide it. And they're preying on what the Bible says here as unstable souls. Beguiling unstable souls. Those who are constantly up and down. Somebody who is on fire today and in the pits of depression tomorrow. And again, this is the opposite of who Christians are. Christians are depicted in the Bible as the Christian life is depicted as a life of stability. Unwavering stability. I'm not saying there aren't going to be ups and downs to Christian life. But it's not like what's being described here. These unstable souls. Those who are not discerning. Those who lack in maturity. Now, I mean, that makes sense if you're a new convert or if you're a young Christian, but I think we have people in the church today who are lacking maturity and they've been Christians for years. This is why you need to be firmly rooted in the truth. So when false teachers or false influencers come, you won't be fooled by their trickery. You won't be caught in this hook. Let's move on for sake of time. It says they have an heart. They have exercised with covetous practices. They have hearts full of greed. They're motivated by greed. The word that's being used here is exercise, and that literally means what you think it means. They're training. They are training themselves in greed. This is something that they do habitually. That they are working out their greed muscle. And they're getting pretty good at it. Over and over again, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, they're getting better and better at being greedy. I can't help but think about the Olympics that are currently going on right now. You know, these athletes, they've probably trained their whole lives for this. There's a very short window for these Olympic athletes to perform at their prime. So they've probably trained their whole lives for this, maybe this one opportunity to go for gold. These people have been training their whole lives to be greedy, to take advantage of someone by greed, and are motivated by greed each and every day. And it finishes here. I mean, it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse and worse. Describing these people, it says, they're cursed children. The curse of sin is fully upon them, and this curse will ultimately result in damnation to hell. They're cursed, and they don't have the antidote. The only antidote for them is the only antidote for any of us. It's Christ. It looks bleak for these people. It looks like doom and gloom for these false teachers and for their followers. But no matter how cursed they are, no matter how sinful they are, no matter how bad off they are, there's still hope in Christ. But I want you to know today, this is how the world is trying to indulge you. Just like these false teachers are indulging their followers here, this is how the world is trying to indulge you, all of these things. This is how they're trying to indulge your children. So we must prepare ourselves. We must guard our children. Let's move on. Point number two, so we've seen that these people, they indulge the flesh, and they're irreverent to higher powers. Let's go back to verse number 10 here. The second half of verse number 10 says that they are presumptuous. They're arrogant. They're boastful. They think that they know more than they really do. They think that they have it all figured out and no one else does. They're presumptuous. They're self-willed, it says here. They're selfish and self-centered. Instead of aiming for God and for His glory, they aim for their own glory. This is the opposite of a pastor. In Titus 1.7, one of the descriptions of a pastor is that he is not self-willed. And really, the pastors, and all Christians for that matter, are to put God first in all things. But not these people. These people are putting self first. I think that there is an alarming trend in our world today that again seeks to justify being self-willed. You hear things like, well, you have to look out for you. Nobody else will. I think that we try to sometimes justify being selfish, putting self first. When the Bible over and over again says, we put God first in all things. Not some things, but in all things. But these people, these false teachers and their followers, they put self first. And then it says that they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. You say, well, what does this mean? These people are not afraid to blaspheme demons. That's what this means here. To speak evil is to blaspheme. And the dignities here is referring to angels. We know, and we think, and commentators think, because I'm not going to claim to know everything, that because verse 11 is ultimately talking about good angels, we think that verse 10 is talking about bad angels or demons. So what these people are doing, they're doing something that we see in our world today. They're rebuking Satan. They're binding demons. That's what they're doing. We see that all the time in our world. We see people who think that they can rebuke Satan or they can bond demons. What they have here is a lack of fear, a lack of reverence, or I'll put it to you in Southwest Virginia terms, they're getting too big for their britches. That's what's happening here. These people, they're so arrogant and they're so selfish, they think that they can do whatever they want to do. They say, I'm going to rebuke Satan. I'm going to bind me a demon. No. If we know anything, sorry, that was a little country, wasn't it? If we know anything from the Bible, I mean, think about Ephesians 6. Ephesians 6, we have the armor of God, and it gives us there all the things that we need to withstand Satan's attacks. Right? And that's to withstand Satan's attacks, not fight back. We are withstanding. Those are the things, all of that armor is for us to stand. that shows you how powerful these evil spiritual forces really are. And you think you're going to rebuke Satan or bind demons? Let's keep going here because we're going to actually talk about this for a second. Because in verse number 11, we're given a comparison here. You say, okay, these people, they're doing all these crazy things to these demons, but we've got angels on the other hand. Not even angels do stuff like that. Verse 11, whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. See, you've got these angels, and angels are so much more powerful and so much greater than these people. Angels understand the spiritual rail. But not even the angels are bringing railing accusation against these people. Not even angels would speak like these people do. The book of Jude is a parallel passage to 2 Peter 2. It has a lot of very similar topics and conversations, and we won't get into that. Not tonight, at least. In Jude, we're given the example of Michael the archangel who is unwilling to confront Satan directly. Instead, he goes to God and has God confront Satan for him. So, not even Michael, one of the archangels, one of the most powerful angels there are, is willing to confront Satan. And yet we have these poor pitiful false teachers out here who are trying to rebuke Satan every day. Trying to do something that not even an archangel can do or would do. It's foolishness is what it is. And that's what Peter says too. That's what God says too. Moving on here, verse 12. But these as natural brute beasts. Natural brute beasts. They're acting by instinct. That's what it means. They're natural, acting by instinct. They're following their fleshly desires, doing whatever seems right in their own eyes. They're brute. They're irrational. I'll give you an example of this. Every morning I drive to work and in Mount Carmel there are a lot of deer. I don't think anybody hunts in Mount Carmel because the deer are everywhere. But I pass these same deer. It's like a flock of deer. I mean, there's so many of them. I've never seen so many. There's like 15 deer. And they're always there. I'm pretty sure it's the same ones. I'm probably going to name them sometime soon. Hey, Sally. Hey, Tim. There's these deer. And I pass them every morning. And we have a stare down. Every morning, I'm in my truck. And I'm staring at this deer. And the deer's off on the side of the road. And I'm like, don't jump in front of me. Don't jump in front of me. Don't do it. Don't do it, Sally. Do not do it. but they're natural brute beasts. They are irrational. So what do these deer do to me all the time? I've got to slam on my brakes because there they go, they jump in front of me. Makes no sense whatsoever. They're completely safe on the side of the road, but they are like these false teachers. They are completely irrational and they jump in front of me. And ultimately, it goes on here, The natural brute beast made to be taken and to be destroyed. God has made animals for us to eat and to kill. PETA would not like me to say that, but that is their purpose, right? That's what God has given us, these animals. And so is the purpose of these false teachers. They have no better purpose other than just to be taken and to be killed, to be destroyed. And what's interesting here is that's the same word that's used back in chapter 1 verse 4. We covered it a few weeks ago. It's talking about us. It's talking about believers. Chapter 1, verse 4 says, "...whereby we are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that these might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." So through salvation, we have escaped the corruption of the world through lust. So we've escaped the destruction. But these people are irrationally running toward destruction. They're running headstrong toward destruction. They're made to be destroyed. And it also says here, they speak evil of the things that they understand not. Again, we know so little of spiritual wickedness in high places described to us in Ephesians. I've said it before. I think I said it in the Q&A. The angelology section of my theology book is the smallest chapter in the entire book. We just don't know that much about that. God hasn't told us about these things. But some people, they speak on these things like they're experts. Like they know everything. And we don't. They speak evil of things that they don't understand. I think more broadly, we live in a world like this today. We live in a world where everyone is an expert on everything. Now, I mean, I'm not saying that you should listen to everything the news tells you. I'm not telling you that. But be careful not to speak evil of things that you do not understand. That's a good, that's a good practical reminder for all of us to take home here today. And it goes on to say, and they shall utterly perish in their own corruption. that today their irreverence continues. These people are irreverent to these higher powers today. But there is coming a day where their irreverence will cease. When every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And in that day, these people will be doomed. Those who have not bowed the knee and kissed the ring, those who have not believed in the Lord Jesus Christ unto salvation, Those people will be dead. So I say all of that to say don't fall victim to the irreverence that we see here of these false teachers and their followers. Third and final point, the final defining mark of false teachers and their followers is an interest in personal gain. An interest in personal gain. We see this in verse 15. which have forsaken the right way. So they have rebelled from what is right. I want to tell you all, there is a right way to live your life, and there is a wrong way to live your life. There's not many people that will tell you that today. They'll tell you, well, you know, it's just everybody's finding out what's best for them. No! No! There is a right way to live your life, and there is a wrong way to live your life. This world is too full of subjectivism today. The Bible is the objective truth. You either follow God's way, or you're wrong. It's God's way or the highway. People hate that today. People absolutely despise that concept. But that's what the Bible says. It's God's way or nothing. And that's what these people have done. They have forsaken the right way. They have forsaken God's way. It says they've gone astray. They've erred. They've wondered. They've been deceived. You know, some people, they are outright defiant in leaving the right way. Forsaking the right way. I think that's what the first expression here tells us. They have forsaken the right way. I think these are people who are defiant in departing and going astray. But I think this next expression there, those who are gone astray, I think these are people who do it more subtly. Those people who, over time, they just become less faithful, they become less involved, they become less devoted. Those people who slowly start to embrace the ideas of culture and of their friends. It starts with just a little bit of false teaching. Sprinkled in here, sprinkled in there. Before you know it, you're a full-blown heretic. It's a slippery slope, and I think that's what we're getting at here. that they've forsaken the right way and they have gone astray. And we're given an example of this, an example of doing what's wrong here. It's the example of Balaam, the son of Bozar, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. Now, if you're not an Old Testament Anishinaabe, you may not know who Balaam is. That's why I'm here, to explain to you who Balaam is. Numbers chapter 22. We won't go there. The story of Balaam covers about three chapters in the book of Numbers. Numbers 22 through Numbers 24. And I'll summarize those three chapters for you. The armies of Israel were at the gates of Moab. And the king of Moab, Balak, sought out a prophet, Balaam, to curse Israel. So Balak, the king of Moab, knew he did not stand a chance against Israel. He just saw them obliterate other countries and he said, we don't have a chance. I need a prophet to curse Israel. That's the only way. So he found Balaam. Balaam would do anything for a buck. He was one of those type of guys. There was some back and forth negotiation. Balaam eventually agrees to curse Israel. But there was a stipulation. He said he was only going to use the words that God gave him. And what actually happened was, instead of giving a curse to Israel, he actually pronounced a blessing upon Israel because he was doing what God said. So when this curse failed, he tried to lead the Hebrews into sexual immorality. He tried to induce pagan practices to God's people. We actually hear of Balaam in Revelation chapter 2. When God is confronting the church at Pergamum, In Revelation 2.14 he says, "...but I have a few things against thee, because thou hast them that hold to the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication." So Balaam is this example. He's an infamous character in the Bible of someone who was motivated by wealth and motivated by popularity. It's a lot to say to get to that one point. I could have just told you that. Balaam, he liked money. But you needed the back story here. And this is true of all false teachers and their followers. Right? They're motivated by wealth. They're motivated by popularity. They love the wages of unrighteousness like Balaam did. They love the rewards. It's stemming from their hearts that are full of greed. They love the reward of doing evil. It gets even more interesting in verse 16. And as you dig deeper into the story, you say, well, what happened to Balaam? Well, he was rebuked by a donkey, a talking donkey. So as Balaam is on his way, the angel of the Lord appears before Balaam's donkey, and so Balaam starts beating his donkey, and the donkey starts talking to him. It's kind of a subtly bizarre story here about this talking donkey. But then Balaam's eyes are ultimately open to also see the angel of the Lord, and I think it teaches us that in the end Balaam was so far off in left field that his donkey had to correct him. That's how bad off Balaam was. That's how bad off these false teachers are. So here is your take home message for tonight. Here you go. It is better for you to listen to a donkey than a false teacher. I want you to take that home and remember that for the rest of your lives. I would rather you listen to a donkey than a false teacher. OK, sermon in a sentence. There you go. Yes, there's a t-shirt somewhere. Right, that's what it says here. Who's rebuked for his iniquity? Speaking with a man's voice forbade the madness of a prophet. Balaam had allowed his sin, that greediness, to consume him. And as we said earlier, he started acting like a brute beast. He started acting irrationally. I don't know who said it. It could have been Josh. I've heard it said at one point in time. But I think the quote is appropriate. Sin will make you stupid. And that is a true quote epitomized here by Balaam and epitomized by all these false teachers. They become completely irrational, completely consumed by their sin. So for application, we need to check ourselves and our personal motives. Are we motivated by personal gain like these false teachers are? Because it's dangerous here. I don't think that Balaam thought, you know, hey, I really want to be a rational person and go down this path of sin. I think what Balaam saw was money, was popularity. He was motivated by what he was going to get out of it. And it consumed his life. Again, so are all of these false teachers. So that's our opposition here tonight. People who are indulged by the flesh, People who are irreverent to higher powers. People who are interested in personal gain. And I think for Christians here tonight, I think there's a lot of warning that comes with this passage. There are dangerous men and women on the loose out there to get you. Think of it, picture it in your mind. It's like we've put up a poster here tonight. Danger. Warning. Watch out for people like this here tonight. They're out there. And they're not even out there hiding in the nighttime anymore. Right? They're coming out in the daytime. That's what we said earlier. These people are out there. They're out there to get you. They're out there to get your kids and your loved ones and your fellow church members. We must be careful, we must be on guard, we must know who these people are so we can avoid them. And these people are the definition of everything that God hates. So we must be careful that we are nothing like them. They must truly be our opposition. The core of that word, opposition, is opposite. May that be true of us, that we've gone through all of these words and all of these expressions here about who these false teachers are. But let's be sure that we take a deep look at our lives and say, I want to make sure that there's none of this in me. So that's for believers here tonight. For unbelievers, or for people who have perhaps fallen for these false teachers, or falling for this false teaching, I would tell you, as I said earlier, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. For there still is an escape from the corruption of the world. 2 Peter 1, verse 4. whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that ye may be partakers of the divine nature. You can be a partaker of the divine nature today. You can escape the corruption that is in the world today through lust. How do you do it? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. So I bid you today, if you've fallen for false teaching, from those ways and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you this evening for giving us passages like this. God, I'm so thankful that you give us warnings in the Bible. God, that you don't just leave us hanging. You don't just leave us out there to fend for ourselves. but that you equip us with the word of truth, that we can read this, and we can study this, and we can hear these words, and we can be equipped to know our opposition and to withstand the false teachers that are in our world today. So God, we thank you for this passage, and God, I pray that you would apply it to our hearts and to our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.