Second Peter, chapter two in your Bibles. Second letter of Peter and the second chapter all the way in the back of your New Testaments. Almost to the book of Revelation, the book of Second Peter, chapter two of Second Peter is about false teachers, really the theme of this letter warning believers about the danger of false teachers. That's a concept. that is dealt with repeatedly through the Old Testament and in the New Testament as well. There's always the danger that God's people will be deceived and deluded and led astray from faithfulness and purity of devotion to Christ. These false teachers will infiltrate the body by presenting themselves as genuine, being accepted as such, And then they spread a twofold corruption, doctrinal corruption and moral corruption. And the two do go together. Put your bulletin or a marker in 2 Peter and turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter 11, where Paul gives a warning about false teachers. And I just want to make an observation or two out of his comments. In 2 Corinthians 11, verse 2, Paul says, I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, for I betrothed you to one husband so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. He is concerned for the purity of the church at Corinth. He has been involved in their lives. He has been used of God to bring that church together and ground it on the Word. He desires that they be a pure, chaste, virgin for Christ at His return. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. Note the comparison here with the work of Satan in the Garden of Eden in deceiving Eve. There we get some idea of the way these false teachers work. Satan came and presented himself in a positive way with some information and directions that would be helpful to Eve. You can be like God. The insight and knowledge you would gain from eating of the tree would be for your benefit. Just think about it. We see he undermined the credibility of God, the reliability of what God had said. But he did it in a way that seemed would be personally beneficial to Eve. And so was successful. After discussing somewhat further these false teachers, the conflict that's there, jump down to verse 13. For such men talking about these false teachers and false apostles are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness whose end will be according to their deeds. The danger of the deception that will dilute even believers, mar their testimony, mar their faithfulness as God's servants. Come back to 2 Peter chapter 2. In Jude, you can turn to 2 Peter 2, Jude, which is very similar in content to 2 Peter 2, and in verse 4, Jude writes, that certain of these false teachers had crept in unnoticed among believers. Again, the successful deception of satanic workers. In 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 1, Peter said that there were false prophets among the people in the Old Testament. There will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduced destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them. However, there's another side to the picture, and that is as we study a chapter like 2 Peter 2 or the Book of Jude, we are amazed at the picture drawn of the vile, depraved character and conduct of these false teachers. And as you read about the description that Peter gives in chapter two, you find yourself thinking, would any true believer ever be duped into thinking that men like this were truly saved? And we think, well, you know, if these kind of people come along, I'll recognize them. Well, two things must be kept in mind as we continue this study. Regarding false teachers, number one, they are often well disguised. Remember that they are often well disguised. We mentioned Satan with Eve, he came well disguised, speaking through very beautiful creature that God had created. with very enticing words. Number two, second point to keep in mind, the church often becomes so conformed to the world that it accepts as acceptable worldly conduct. And the more open the world becomes in its display of depravity, the more difficult it becomes for the church to be true to its calling to be holy and righteous. We see this in a variety of areas, where at one time the world takes a position against sex outside of marriage, for example. But now it becomes common practice And so it seems that the church is so out of step and we are just so inundated everywhere we turn with, quote, the normality of the practice. That the church begins to accept it as acceptable. That could be true in doctrinal areas as well, as there is a breaking down of a clarity of a stand for biblical truth, even among the church, within the church. then there is a willingness to accept within the church doctrine that is less than pure. So keep those two things in mind as we move through this chapter. In verse 10, Peter mentioned two characteristics of these false teachers that he wants to focus on. Especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Two characteristics of false teachers that he wants to focus on. They indulge the flesh, they despise authority. In the rest of verse 10 and down through verse 12, he talked about the matter of despising authority. At heart, these false teachers are in rebellion against God. As we'll see in our study this morning, they reject the truth of God. They have forsaken God's way. And because of that rejection against God and His authority in their lives, they reject all the authority that God has established. So whether it's in the home, the husband, the wife, the children, the parents, government and citizens, or angelic authority, or angelic greatness, There is a disdain in the particular area that Peter focuses on is their attitude towards Satan and fallen angels. These false teachers have a brazenness, an audacity that they speak with what seems to be a holy boldness. But which is really an unholy arrogance as they talk about the devil, the demons, as though they had some greater power. That they had nothing to fear from the devil, but the devil better tremble in their presence. These kinds of ideas reveal the fact they are not genuine. They are false. Which seems like a minor area. I mean, I want to be making decisions on whether a person is a true teacher or a false teacher on the way he talks about the devil and demons. Well, you better, because that's one of the guidelines that God sets down in verses 10 to 12 of 2 Peter. And if we don't follow his guidelines, if we don't use his word as the examining base, we will be deluded. Now, Peter wants to turn our attention to the second of the characteristics that he mentioned, indulging the flesh. The fleshly indulgence of these false teachers, and it is not a pleasant picture. But it's one that needs to be considered. Verse 13 begins, suffering wrong is the wages of doing wrong. That connects with the previous section. In other words, the wages of sin is death. They will be paid appropriately for the wrong they have done when God exercises his judgment. Then he goes on to say, they counted a pleasure to revel in the daytime. Now, this word pleasure is one of the words we carry over into English. Hedonen. Hedonen, hedonistic. We say we live in the hedonistic society. It comes from this Greek word hedonen. It means the pursuit of pleasure. They are driven by their own selfish desires for satisfaction. They counted a pleasure to revel The word to revel means to delight, to experience luxury, and has that concept of self-indulgent luxury and delight. They are driven by their selfish desires for pleasure. They are motivated by a desire to please themselves. And they count it a pleasure to continue this self-indulgence in the daytime. It was almost proverbial that the indulging in fleshly pursuits in the daytime was a revelation of utmost depravity. Even in the Roman Empire, with all its pursuit of vile things, doing it in the daytime was a mark of complete depravity. Paul refers to this fact when he wrote to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, and he says, those who get drunk get drunk at night. In Acts chapter 2, on the day of Pentecost, Peter said, these aren't drunken as you suppose, it's daytime. But here these false teachers are so brazen and so corrupt that they pursue their fleshly desires and the satisfaction of those desires even in the daytime. Then there is an exclamation given here. We have put it into a simple sentence. They are stains and blemishes. But in Greek, the words they are are not there. It's just an exclamation. Stains and blemishes. Is the declaration. In other words, these false teachers, as they are accepted among believers, are a marring influence. They're like a stain, a blot, a blemish on that fellowship of believers. These words, stains and blemishes, used in chapter 3, verse 14. Turn over there. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, spotless And blameless, that word blameless, same basic word we have blemish spotless and unblemished. That's to be the goal of God's people personally and as a fellowship of believers in the body of Christ, the local church. We want to be unstained and unblemished. Yet, Peter says. When you tolerate these kind of people in your fellowship, they are stains and blemishes. It's contrary to the character of Christ. In his first letter, chapter 1, verse 19, Peter said that Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God, without blemish and without spot. Same words we're talking about here. Unblemished, unspotted. The church is to be manifesting his character. and our fellowship together. Look how he develops this back in chapter 2. Stains and blemishes reveling in their deceptions. They revel in the daytime. They indulge themselves in the pursuit of their pleasures, even in the daytime. They indulge themselves in their deceptions. And here we see how this goes on. You know, these false teachers don't just come into the Fellowship of Believers and say, I want you to know I have doctrine that's contrary to the Word of God. I am driven by a pursuit of fleshly desires and to satisfy my passion for immorality. Obviously not. They revel in their deceptions. The word means deceits. Here you see why they make their way in. They're deceitful. They'll present themselves contrary to the picture that Peter is painting. But don't be deluded, go on with the end of verse 13 as they corrals with you. That word corrals, I don't think is the best word to use here because it gives you the idea of a beer party or something like that. But the word simply means to eat with feasting as they are feasting with you, as they are eating with you. Jude, in his parallel account in verse 12 of his letter, uses the expression, the love feasts, as they partake of your love feasts. And Jude is tying it to what we have in 1 Corinthians 11, where as you remember in New Testament times, in connection with the communion service, the memorial, remembering the death of Christ for our sins, the early church had a fellowship meal where they ate a meal together. where they were to express their oneness as they fellowship together at this meal. That may be what is in view here. They're eating with you, feasting with you. For sure, that would be included, whether it's beyond that in other meals of the church remains open to question. The point is when these false teachers are tolerated in the fellowship of the church, In its fellowship meals, they are stains and blemishes upon this church. They mar its appearance before the Lord as well as before a watching world. I need to keep this in mind. We're not saying unbelievers are not welcome. To attend this church, but this says something about. The approach is we want the unbelievers to come in. We want them to feel welcome and we want them to feel part of us. How are you going to reach them if you tell them they're not welcome to join in this fellowship meal? How are they going to come back if we tell them, well, they can't do anything in this church because they're not saved? We need to be careful that we maintain the line. We want to be warm and friendly and welcoming to any who do not know Christ. And they are certainly welcome to come and share in this service. We delight to have them come and sit under the ministry of God's Word and do that week after week until the Spirit of God would work in their hearts and lives. But there is a line drawn. I never wanted to be less than clear. They come as observers from the outside. We end across the line and say we want them to feel part of us. There are certainly certain duties they can do that you don't have to be safe. We won't let them be on the board. We won't let them teach Sunday school, but maybe they could do some of these tasks. Pretty soon, we're trying to open it up so that they can feel like they're part of us. We're deceiving them. They're not. We open the way for the marring of our testimony. Now, at times, we're not clear that they're not believers. That's why it's absolutely essential that we examine them, everyone carefully in light of the word of God for their good and so that we do not mar the body, the bride that belongs to Christ. Moving on into verse 14, you see something of their character. Having eyes full of adultery, which you have in these verses that we've been talking about, a series of participles that just build in the development of their character. Having eyes full of adultery is even more picturesque than we have translated. The word adultery is literally adulterous, referring to the woman, the person. Having eyes full of an adulterous. And it's an unpleasant, ugly scene that is laid out here. But the picture is every woman that they look at is a potential partner for them in adulterous relationships. Having eyes full of an adulteress that never cease from sin. They never stop in looking and watching. for a partner in their immoral desires. We'll see in a future study in this chapter, they are enslaved to their sin. They can't stop. They never cease from it. Every woman they meet is evaluated in their mind and their thinking as a potential partner in a sexual relationship. An ugly picture. Now, you note here, We go on, enticing unstable souls. That word enticing is drawn from a fishing metaphor, refers to the bait or lure that is used to attract the fish and ensnare him. So they are enticing, luring, putting out the bait, if you will, for unstable souls. Now, unstable souls would indicate that these people, particularly impacted by the false teachers and their deceit, are those who do not have stability. They are not people grounded firmly in the true knowledge of Jesus Christ. It seems to be a different group than Peter is addressing directly back in chapter 1, verse 12. He said, therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them and have been established. There is the basic word we have translated unstable. Unstable is a negative form. In Greek, you put an A on the front and that negates it. Unstable. Here he writes to those who have been established, who have been stabilized. who have been made stable in the truth which is present with you. But these false teachers are a particular danger to those who are unstable over in chapter three, verse 16. He uses this word to refer to unbelievers. He talks about the false teachers who twist the writings of Paul, as well as the rest of Scripture, you know, As in all his letters, referring to Paul's letters, speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable. There's our word distort to their own destruction. We're referring to unbelievers who are on their way to destruction. So these false teachers come in among believers as well as their ministry outside, and they are successful in an enticing, unstable, unestablished, ungrounded people, I may refer to unbelievers who are attending or visiting the fellowship of the church. You think about it. You invite your unsaved friend to come to church, to come to some activity. And here you have this false teacher who's putting out the bait to allure that person into an immoral relationship. It's disastrous. You have invited them so that they might hear the message of the gospel, they might see believers fellowshipping together in worship and service. And here you have one who is enticing them into an immoral relationship. It's disastrous for the testimony of the body. One of those cases in Peter refers to in verse two, because of them, the way of the truth will be maligned when those kinds of things happen and they do. Then the message of the gospel is maligned and see what happens when you go there. And they're all hypocrites. This word is also used in other places. In fact, it's used to Peter. Referring to a ministry to believers, remember, as Peter was told by Christ that he would betray Christ, Luke 22. And Satan has desired to have you to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you. And in Luke 22, 32, Jesus says, after you have returned. Strengthen your brothers, that's basically the same word we have here. Stabilize your brothers. In a ministry to strengthen them and stabilize them in their walk with the Lord. Also, second Peter, chapter two, verses two and three would indicate that these false teachers will have an impact and a certain effectiveness even among believers. Oh, we see here, it's important and essential. That the church exercise a ministry of discernment, not to put up the barriers and say no unbelievers welcome. But that we be careful that unbelievers are not allowed to partake in the ministry of the church. And I take it that's all of its ministry, because all the ministry is to be done through the power of the Spirit by those who are gifted by the Spirit. And that would include the tasks that we might say are less visible. They are not teaching. But they all are part of making the body function. We have to be careful we keep the line clear. This is a fellowship of God's people. We welcome those who have not turned from their sin to believe in our Savior, to join with us in these services. We regret you cannot really join in worship because that can only be done through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are glad to have you come and hear the word. to observe how it is when God's people come together to worship him in spirit and truth. We would love to have you come back. But we must be honest, you cannot really be a part of this church until you become a believer in Jesus Christ, that must be clear. Then we must take the next step and also be careful in evaluating in light of the word of God. those who would profess to be believers, to see if their doctrine and their lifestyle supports what they profess. We have to do that to protect the body. We say, oh look, I'm mature, I won't be deluded. Well, we're not only looking out for ourselves, we're looking out for others. There are others in this assembly this morning who are unstable, who would be subject and susceptible to the deceptions of these false teachers. So we have to have a perspective, not just for ourselves, but for the well-being of the body in its totality. So these false teachers have eyes full of an adulterous that never ceased from sin, enticing unstable souls. It could refer to unbelievers who have been invited to the assembly. It could refer to believers who have not yet firmly been rooted and established in their walk with the Lord. Having a heart trained in greed and another interesting picture here, this word trained is the word we get the English word gymnasium or gymnastics from. It's in the perfect tense. Because you know, it's something that happened in the past and results continue in the present. We're dealing with people who are well trained in greed or covetousness. It would be financial greed, but it wouldn't be limited to that. But Peter's going to focus on that. But it's covetousness of all kind, which also can encompass immorality, adultery. Why? You want what is someone else's, what is not yours. They have been well trained as experts in greed, in covetousness. And boy, you put that in the context of the unstable, the unstrengthened. And you see, you have the recipe for disaster, because here you have those who are well trained in their deceitful work of getting what they want. You put them in context of those who are unstable. Not strengthened. And you can see we have the recipe for disaster because these are well trained in carrying out their craftiness of greed and covetousness. The bait they put out is attractive and they are so well trained, well prepared in their craft that they work the unstable and unstrengthened and are effective. In their greed, it basically means an unbridled desire for more and more things, things you have no right to, things you have no need of. It's used of money. It's often used of illicit and unnatural intercourse. One writer says. Note here, we have another exclamation like we had stains and blemishes. Now, at the end of verse 14, a curse of children is a Hebrew idiom, a Hebrew ism. We're just drawn out of the Hebrew language, the Hebrew way of saying things. They are children of the curse. In other words, they are under the curse of God. A similar kind of thing in Ephesians. You talk about children of disobedience, referring to unbelievers. They are people whose lives are characterized by disobedience to God. So disobedience is their parent. Here, the curse is the parent. These are the children of the curse. They are under God's curse. We have to see them as they are, not as they want to be seen, not as they dress themselves up, but they are stains and blemishes on the fellowship when they are tolerated. They are under the curse of Almighty God. Verse 15, forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have abandoned the right way, literally the straight way. It's the way of truth, as it was referred to in verse two of this chapter. The way of the truth. The straight way, the right way is God's ways, comes out of the Old Testament. And this kind of expression is used a number of times in the Old Testament and comes over into the New Testament. This is God's way. They have forsaken that way. They have abandoned it. They have turned away from it. Now, you've turned away from God's way, the way of the truth. Every other road you choose is just a variation of error and rebellion. You've rejected God's way. The straight way. So forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have lost their way. We talk about people being lost. It's a good expression. It's used of these people here, they've forsaken the right way, they've lost their way. They've gone astray. What can you do? Here is truth. I reject the truth. Every other path, every other road I take will be a wrong road. I'm lost. You know, it's like you're traveling. And here is the only road that will get you to your destination. You turn off and now there are half a dozen roads to choose from, but none of them are the right road. You know, you're so narrow, well, that's narrow if you're taking a physical trip and you say this is the only road that takes you into the city and you get off and say, look, I got six to choose from here, why should I do his one? Because none of these six are the right road. So here they've forsaken the right way. They're lost. They've gone astray. Now he's going to give an example from the Old Testament. Remember, he started out this chapter by saying, just as there were false prophets in the Old Testament, there will be false teachers among you. So. They've gone out, they've forsaken the right way, they're lost. But they are following a road. They've gone the way of Balaam. They've followed the way of Balaam, the son of Baor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. Peter's writing to Jews who have been converted to Christ. They are well familiar with the story of Balaam. Numbers chapters 22, 23 and 24 record the account of Balaam. You can turn back there. I'll highlight a couple of passages, but I'll just tell you in substance what happens. When the children of Israel were traversing across the land after the exodus. Moab comes out to oppose them. And the king of Moab, whose name was Balak, calls a prophet named Balaam. He wants him to come out and put the children of Israel under a curse. Go to Numbers 22. God intervenes and says to Balaam, no, you cannot curse Israel, for I have blessed them. Balak has promised Balaam honor and riches beyond what he could hope for if he will curse Israel. Well, you know, you come down to verse 17, where I just alluded to the King Balak sent and said to Balaam, I will honor you richly, do whatever you say to me, please come and curse this people. I note the statement of Balaam in verse 18 really sounds good. Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small and great, contrary to the command of the Lord my God. That's why there is still a debate among commentators today. Was Balaam a true prophet or gone astray or a false prophet who never knew the Lord? I'm of the conviction in light of other passages, he's clearly a false prophet. But he's such a good counterfeit that people today aren't even sure. I mean, a statement like this is a statement like you underline in your Bible. Wow, that's great. You can't buy me. Yet other passages in the New Testament, like we are in Peter, tells us the real heart of Balaam was he loved the wages of unrighteousness. And he is constantly struggling and adjusting to find a way to get those wages. So he stays and seeks the face of the Lord again and again. Finally, God gives him permission to do what he wants to do, but God is very angry with him and the angel of the Lord stands and blocks the way. Now, put a marker in numbers and come back to Peter. Pick up Peter's account, then we'll go back and get it in numbers. They have followed the way of Balaam, verse 15 of 2 Peter 2, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. He wanted the pay he could get for his ungodly activity, but he received the rebuke for his own transgression for a mute donkey, a speechless donkey who has no powers really of human speech. Speaking with the voice of a man restrained the madness of the prophet. That word madness, we talk about a person being out of their mind and we say, I was out of my mind. I will say to somebody, you must be out of your mind. This is the Greek word you'd use madness. It's the word mind with the word preposition alongside of or beside. You're beside your mind. In other words, you're out of your mind. You're mad. You're crazy. That's the picture here. Now, in our day, we'd say, therefore, he's not accountable. He's not guilty. It's not God's way. He's mad because of his sinful. Desire, passion. Greed. He was rebuked by a donkey, you come back, what happens is the angel of the Lord blocks the path as Balaam is riding his donkey over to Balak. And the donkey sees the angel of the Lord, but Balaam doesn't. That tells you something about who's got the spiritual perception. Remember, Peter's already told us in chapter two that these false teachers are like unreasoning animals. Well, Balaam is just a step below his donkey in spiritual perception. Three times the angel of the Lord blocks the road and there's a wall on either side and Balaam keeps getting bumped into the side of the wall and he beats the donkey. So finally, the donkey lay down. And Balaam hits the donkey again, verse 28 of Numbers 22, the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, she said to Balaam, what have I done to you that you have struck me three times? Balaam said, You've made a mockery of me. He talks to the donkey. Maybe it was a practice. If there had been a sword in my hand, I'd have killed you. The donkey said to Balaam, verse 30, Am I not your donkey in which you've ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you? He said, No. Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam. He saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with a sword drawn in his hand. He bowed to the ground. The angel of the Lord said, Why did you strike the donkey three times? I've come out as an adversary against you because your way was contrary to me. And if the donkey hadn't turned aside, I'd have killed you because you couldn't get by. Balaam said, I sinned. That's an acknowledgement. See, Balaam knows he's pursuing what God told him not to. But he's not done. It's an amazing thing. And Balaam will go, and every time he stands up, he's supposed to give out a curse. God puts a blessing in his mouth, and the only thing that'll come out of the mouth of Balaam as he speaks is a blessing on Israel. It drives Balaam crazy. I paid to curse you. Come over here and try it. Balaam stands up, opens his mouth, and here comes a blessing. You leave, Numbers 24, and Balaam, the king of Moab, says, well, you lost it all, buddy. You could have had riches. But it's not done. You come into chapter twenty five of numbers and you find the people of Israel involved in immorality with the women of Moab. The people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab, they invited the people to the sacrifice of their gods, the people ate, bowed down to their gods, so Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor and the Lord was angry against Israel. You see what happens? False doctrine. False worship goes hand in hand with immorality, blended together. You know, if the church loses its doctrinal foundations, it loses any foundation to determine right and wrong, moral and immoral, and progressively becomes more conformed to the world around it. But you ought to be aware of, as many of you already are, is that this was Balaam's idea. God wouldn't let him curse Israel, so he told Balak, the king of Moab, I can't curse God. I can't curse God's people. But I'll tell you how you can get God's people destroyed. Get the women of Moab to entice them to immorality, the false worship that will follow on, and God will have to curse them. You're in numbers, turn over to chapter twenty five, you in twenty five, turn over to chapter thirty one. Look at verse sixteen. Numbers thirty one, sixteen, Moses is reiterating what happened back there. Behold, these these women of Moab caused the sons of Israel through the counsel of Balaam to trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor. You see, it was Balaam's counsel. than advice to cause the women of Moab to go out and entice the Israelites. It wasn't that the women of Moab saw the Israelite men and said, wow, we've never seen men like this. No, it was the Council of Balaam, and Balaam is executed as a false prophet when the children of Israel destroy the pagan people of the land. That's in verse eight of Numbers 31, the last statement of verse eight. They also killed Balaam, the son of Baor, with a sword. And Balaam becomes an example in 2 Peter 2, in the book of Jude, in Revelation chapter 2, in Christ's message to the churches of the corrupting influence of a false prophet. But you know, he's a good counterfeit. Even to this day, there are Christians who debate, was Balaam really saved or wasn't he? It seems to me this testimony of Scripture is clear. But you go through and see some of his statements. You can't buy me off with a house full of silver and gold. Let me turn and pray to my God. All of this sounds so good. But at heart, he's driven by one passion, the satisfaction of his pleasure, covetousness, greed, the wages of unrighteousness. Come back to second Peter, chapter two. That is the same thing. In First Timothy, chapter six, verse five, Paul says to Timothy that false teachers suppose that gain is godliness. They're in it for the money and they think when they get money, they're godly. And they present themselves sometimes in television, in their ministries and so on. Look how God's blessed. And they give all the credit to God, but they're driven the same way Balaam was. Titus chapter 1, verse 11, Paul warns Titus of the same thing as well. The false teachers have to be silenced. They're upsetting whole families, teaching things they shouldn't teach for the sake of gain. So you see, they're having their impact. They're having it accrete, they're upsetting whole families, getting corrupted by this teaching and it's driven by greed. Let me summarize quickly what he has said here. It is just what the verses have said, and I want to make a concluding comment. Number one, false teachers are shameless. They revel in the daytime. Do they know they're false? I mean, look what they do. They're so open and brazen. I remember watching a used example when I was gone this summer. A number of teachers, I'm amazed, they sit down and say, God can't bless you if you won't give some kind of physical evidence of your faith in him. Send your gift and God will bless you. I didn't talk about brazenness. You can actually look into that camera and say this with a straight face. They're shameless. They are blots on the church when they're allowed to fellowship with believers. They are blots on the church when they are tolerated among believers. They sometimes get concerned that we're too intolerant. God is concerned that we are too tolerant. Number three, they have a consuming appetite for immorality. Number four, they are trained, well-trained, in how to get what they want. Well-trained in how to get what they want. Number five, they are under the curse of God. Make no mistake about it. Cursed children. Number six, they are lost, having rejected the truth. They have forsaken the straight way. They have gone astray. They are lost, having rejected the truth. Number seven, they are consumed with greed. I want you to note something. There is no attempt by Peter in all of this, and we're not done yet. There is no attempt, there will be no attempt by Peter to find points of agreement. Any areas of similarity are superficial at best. You can go back through Numbers 22, 23, and 24 and mark the things in your Bible. You think, yeah, that was a great statement. That could be said by a true believer. And it was said by Baal. And it's all irrelevant. That's not what is brought up in the New Testament, in 2 Peter 2, in Jude, in Revelation 2. Because that's not what is significant. What is important is what is wrong. Now, if a person is a true believer, certain things have to be right to be sure. But when you're evaluating false teachers, you have to look for what is wrong in their doctrine and in their life. To maintain the purity of devotion to Christ, there must be no tolerance for false teachers and false teaching. This whole idea sweeping the land today, that we look for what we agree on. I was reading a four-page letter by an outstanding leader in the evangelical world today defending why he promotes and signed an agreement, the Roman Catholics and evangelicals together. It's abroad in the land. We look for points of agreement. But if you do that with the false teachers, you will be deceived. I agree with Balaam. You should not, as a follower of God, be bought with a house full of money. I agree with Balaam. You ought to turn to God and talk to him about the decision that's before you. I agree with Balaam when he says, I can't curse God's people if he won't let me. And on we go. But he's on a cursed child, driven by a heart of greed. The Church of Jesus Christ is suffering the stains and blemishes that come from an unwillingness, the lack of stomach to take the Word of God and hold it up and subject its teachers and leaders to a careful analysis of what God says, both in their doctrine and in their life. And when we decide That we don't need to do that. We think we are more clever than Satan. We are already deluded. Eve was already defeated. When Satan got her to think she didn't have to follow exactly God's word on the matter. It would work out better. So many in the church today, I don't want to be narrow, I don't want to be intolerant. We don't want the world to think we are exclusive. We are the people of God. We are lights in the midst of darkness, not because of any inherent superiority, because of the work of God's grace in our lives. Because of his grace, we are what we are. But because of his grace, we are what we are. We are not the world. May God help us to take to heart the truth that Peter is conveying, to be a discerning people, to examine carefully, to have no tolerance for error or for those who would promote their doctrinal filth and their moral filth among the people of God. Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your grace and salvation. Lord, we speak of these matters not from a position of superiority, not because we were of better moral character and higher standards or greater faithfulness. We were wretched, vile sinners, hating you, rejecting your truth, loving our sin. And in your grace, you took hold of our hearts and minds and turned us from our sin to yourself. Lord, we are trophies of grace and we give you all the praise. And we speak of these matters and we speak of these false teachers, not because we are better, but because your truth is truth. Because we are your people. Lord, I pray that unbelievers might be welcomed here, that we might have a spirit of love in showing to them the love of Christ who died for them. that they might experience here a caring concern that they would not find elsewhere. May they see in us a oneness and a harmony and a love for one another and a love for you and a purity in worship that is used to convict them. God, keep us from coming up with alternative plans to do your work, to make us seem more effectiveness in our greedy desires to have more people, more finances. Lord, may we be faithful. May we long and desire to be unstained and unblemished in our personal lives and in our life as a local church. And thank you for the gracious ministry of the Spirit. that enables us to walk in holiness and righteousness and purity of life. In Christ's name, Amen.