Deception in the Last Days- 2

Subtitle: Warnings From The Apostles

A link to the audio can be found at the bottom of this article.

Multiple Passages. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, October 25, 2026.

Last week, we looked at the warnings of Jesus regarding deception.  He warned against deception in general in the days ahead, but he also warned of a specific deception that would come about during the Great Tribulation.

Today, we are going to look at how the apostles of Jesus continued the warning about deception both in general and specifically in the last days.

Let’s get started.

A warning for the Church Age

We are going to look at a number of passages which demonstrate that the apostles warned about deception in general for the Christians.  This will involve multiple passages.

I would say up front that the whole letter to the Galatians could serve as a warning against the deception of requiring Gentiles to follow the Law of Moses in order to also follow Jesus.  Paul even used a term in Galatians 3:1 describing them as being charmed or bewitched into following this deception.  They had come under a persuasion that was not of the Holy Spirit.

We can also recognize that some passages speak of the Last Days as having already started in the first century, whereas other passages are clearly looking to the end of this age.

The Messiah had been revealed.  The nation of Israel had rejected him.  Yet God was calling all men (Jew and Gentile) everywhere to repent and believe upon Jesus as the one anointed to save them.  The rejection of Messiah by the Jews had led to the grace of God going out to the nations.  This is often called the Age of the Church.  However, it is more specifically an age of grace to the nations.  The length of this age of grace is unknown.  However, it will come to an end (see Matthew 24:3 and Matthew 28:20).

This is God’s last program before sending Christ to take up the kingdoms of this world and restore the Kingdom promised by God through the prophets.  In this sense, we are in the last days.

Yet other passages make clear that there will be a period at the end of this age, the last of the last days.  Jesus referred to it as The Great Tribulation.  The believers are removed and the earth plunges into the last great test that prepares everyone for the coming of Christ.  Some will be judged and removed, and some will be found worthy to enter the Millennial Kingdom.

For now, let’s focus on passages that speak to the Church Age, or the Age of Grace to the Nations.

2 Peter 2:1-3

This whole chapter is a warning to Christians that false teachers will try to pull them away from the truth of Christ given through his apostles.  They are false prophets because they have not actually heard from God, and they are false teachers because they do not actually teach you how to please God and serve Him.  They have heard from something else and teach you to serve them and yourself.

Peter warns that they “introduce destructive heresies.”  These are the opinions of teachers that fly in the face of the Truth revealed in the Bible.  The word “heresy” also has a sense of people being captured to their false position.  Peter emphasizes that the power of their deceptions will even lead to Christians “denying the Master who bought them…”

How could a Christian deny the Lord Jesus who purchased them by his blood?  This is typically done by denying a part of the teaching about Jesus.  In short, they redefine who Jesus is and what he has accomplished.

Very early on, you had some people who denied that Jesus was really human.  They had no problem believing that he was God among men, but they could not fathom him taking on a human, flesh nature.  To them Spirit was good and mortal flesh was bad.  They refused to accept that a good Spirit took on bad flesh.  Jesus only seemed to be human, only appeared to die on the cross, but this didn’t actually happen, according to them.

The opposite heresy was promoted as well.  Jesus was human: a great prophet, teacher, and example for us.  However, he was not God.  Sometimes these heresies only demoted Jesus to a lesser heavenly being, but generally he was treated as only a wise man.

A common heresy today is to teach that Jesus didn’t actually pay a price for our sins.  They teach that Jesus only came to give an example of how to love.  Our salvation is accomplished by us as we follow him.

In all of these, a critical part of the New Testament is rejected and a different picture of Jesus and his work appears.  In the letter to the Galatians, Paul called this a different Jesus and a different gospel.  These are people who did not get rid of the idea of Jesus and the Gospel.  Instead, they hollow out the meaning of these words and fill it with what they think.  I know that they have not been authorized to do that by the “Master (Jesus) who bought them.”  Thus, they are bringing destruction on themselves, all while claiming to believe in Jesus.

Verse 2 tells us that their way of life is sensual (flesh-based).  Many believers throughout history have been attracted by such teachings.  How many people do a good job of restraining their flesh, and yet, a part of them resents not being able to cast off restraint.  When a false teacher comes along with a deceptive rationalization for why they can do it, their flesh can jump at the opportunity.  We are not saved by our perfect performance, but true faith in Christ will go to battle against the lusts of the flesh.    In fact, Scripture tells us that our fleshly lusts war against our souls.  When you show up in that battle (no matter how well you do), you are helping to guard your heart against deceivers who come along promising freedom.

Peter says that they cause the way of Truth to be maligned (vs 2).  They help to keep the lost deceived to the truth of the Gospel of Christ.  No matter what your history has been, or what others have done throughout history in the name of Christ, you are called to believe on Jesus and not on them.  The job of true Christians is to live our life in such a way that the lost will be able to see Jesus over the top of the pretenders.

Verse 3 states that they will exploit Christians (who are not paying attention to the fact that their words are false).  God help us to be Christians who are standing against the attack of our own flesh through lust and who are paying attention to the deceivers that come along shilling a false gospel.

Of course, the rest of the chapter continues warning against false teachers, but let’s move to another passage.

James 5:7-8

The Apostle James also dealt with people who promoted the idea of faith without works.  Essentially, James warns that this is not a true faith.  A true, living faith will find its way to the surface of our life.  It always does something, never nothing.  A person who claims such does not understand the Gospel is not being led by the Holy Spirit.

In verses 1 to 6 of chapter 5, James warned the rich of this world who have heaped up treasures in this world in the last days.  This is pictured as something that has happened, and so, this is one of those verses that speaks of the Church Age as the last days.  The rich have also oppressed their workers while living in pleasure and luxury.  He closes the description with the challenge that the rich have condemned and even murdered the righteous while going after luxury.

Verses 7 to 8 then turn to Christians.  Christians need to be patient in a world where the wicked pursue luxury at the expense of the righteous.  The word for patient here is not the “hang-in-there” word.  It is the idea of having a long fuse.  In other words, be patient in the sense that you don’t blow your cool, explode in anger. 

What does this have to do with deception?  There are many ways to be deceived.  Anger is a powerful motivator.  The Christian can blow their top towards the rich and be deceived in thinking that getting justice against the rich is the main thing in life.  However, we can also be tempted to be angry with God.  We can be tempted to quit “farming for God” and start farming for ourselves.

James reminds them, us, that the Lord’s judgment will come.  No one is getting away with anything.  We must strengthen our hearts because the coming of the Lord is near.  Jesus will be the judge of both us and them.  It would be tragic to lose my soul because of the deceitfulness of riches or any other sin.  We have a whole generation that is raging on either side of this issue.  Do you trust that Christ is coming to set these things right?  Can you trust him and live out the truth in this age until he comes?  That is the question.

Jude 1:4

Lastly in this section, we have the Apostle Jude whose warnings follow closely to Peter’s warnings in his letters.

Jude was going to write about the salvation that Christians shared.  However, he found it necessary to challenge them in this area of deception.  Verse 4 makes it very clear that already in that first generation, “certain persons have crept in unnoticed…”  These men were in the process of turning “the grace of our God into licentiousness…”  The verb for this is present tense.

Licentiousness pictures someone who is unrestrained by the truth of God.  It is unbridled lust.  The point is not that they have desire, but that these desires are out of control and out of God’s proper boundaries.  The NIV translates it as a license for immorality.  Jesus, of course, did not teach this and did not die on a cross so that we could continue in slavery to sin.  Such people deny the teaching and purpose of Christ in favor of a twisted teaching that promotes a purpose of their own making.

Jude says that they also deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.  This is not only in theory or interpretation of Scripture, but also a denial of the Holy Spirit sent by the Lord to teach us how to follow him.

Jude writes his letter to warn believers not to go along with those people (or any such in the future).  Instead, he says, “Build yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”  Christians must keep focused on Jesus and his way instead of being drawn away by the deceivers who are deceived themselves.

This has continued down through the centuries into the modern era.  Yet Scripture also speaks of an intensified deception that occurs in the Last Days leading up to the Great Tribulation.  We already see deception ramping up to greater and greater levels of attack and sophistication. 

A warning for the end of the age

I believe that Christians will be raptured before the great deception of the Great Tribulation.  However, this does not mean we can ignore the truth about how great the deception is that lies ahead of us.  First of all, that deception does not drop out of nowhere.  The groundwork is even now being laid for these things.  People are even now being deceived and drawn away from the truth of Jesus.

On top of this, there will be people who are not ready at the rapture that come to faith in Jesus during the Tribulation.  Yes, a great deception will sweep over the lost of this world and most will be taken up in it.  Yet the warnings we give today will live on in the minds of people and the media we leave behind.  No matter what, the biblical warning is that an Antichrist figure will arise and make the world take a mark in order to buy and sell.  Anyone who yields to this deception will forfeit salvation.  Our warnings today leave signposts and footprints for those who realize too late that the warnings of God’s judgment at the end of the age are very real.

We are going to look at four passages that speak to this end time deception, saving 2 Thessalonians 2 for next week.

By the way, let me just add this.  It is not our belief about how and when the rapture will occur that saves us.  Neither does our particular belief disqualify us.  Regardless of your belief about the rapture, hear the warnings of the apostles on top of the warnings of our Lord from last week.

2 Peter 3:3-4

Just as Peter warned against deception in general in chapter 2, he also warned against deception at the end of the age.  He speaks of mockers in the Last Days.  There have always been mockers and scoffers, but it is even now growing stronger and stronger. 

Peter warns that it will be common to mock the second coming of Jesus.  “Things have continued as they always have from the beginning!  Where is this coming of Jesus!”  Of course, this is said in ridicule.  It is easy to think of this as only being unbelievers.  However, this has also started to enter into the Church.  There are teachers in the Church who do not believe in a literal return of Jesus to this earth.  If you think I am being too judgmental to say that they are mockers, you should listen to some of their diatribes against those who expect and look forward to a literal return of Jesus Christ.  Yes, not every single individual who believes this is a mocker.  But this is a very real dynamic happening today.

Mocking is a subtle form of deception.  It creates a tension and environment that is uncomfortable for you.  You are tempted to feel smaller and smaller, and more and more isolated.  As the ridicule mounts, you can be tempted to drop the Truth you are holding or at least moderate it to a less “ridiculous” (as defined by the mockers) form.  The temptation is to relieve the tension through compromise.

In truth, the apostles all hold forth the return of Jesus as the blessed hope of every generation of Christians.  Just because Christians in prior generations lived and died without Jesus coming, it doesn’t mean that their hope was in vain.  First of all, that hope strengthened them through many difficulties in their life.  They kept the faith knowing that Jesus would come back to set all things right.  Second of all, all such people who kept the faith in prior generations will participate in the resurrection together with those of us who are still alive.  The Blessed Hope did not fail them because they are even now at the right hand of the Lord anticipating the Father’s command, “Go!”  What a glorious day that will be!

1 Timothy 4:1-3

Let’s look at several passages from the Apostle Paul.  He tells us that the Holy Spirit explicitly says that in the latter times “some” will fall away from the faith.  This pronoun in English comes across as meaning a small number.  However, in the Greek, it does not have this idea.  It is simply an indefinite pronoun referring to an indefinite number of Christians defecting from the faith.  We call this apostacy.  They are apostatizing from the faith.

Paul states that they will do this because they will pay attention to “deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.”  How do we connect with deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons?  The answer is in verse 2. It is through hypocritical and lying humans whose conscience has been seared.  They may have at one time, but they no longer have any qualms about teaching things that are contradictory to the words of Christ and his apostles.

Let’s dispense of one idea.  Demons, fallen angels, and the devil are not teaching anything good through these unwitting humans.  These beings have no love for humanity.  Satan was a murderer from the very beginning as he tempted Adam and Eve into rejecting God’s instruction.  He was a liar from the beginning when he questioned God’s veracity and intentions.  When he says, “Did God really say that?”, how ought we to respond?  We should respond with the Words of God and stick with it.  To stay close to God’s Word is to stay close to safety.  The last days will be full of people who have been enticed to embrace teachings that have their source in a spirit being that hates us, a demonic source.

Verse 3 mentions that men will forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from certain foods.  It may seem strange to think that large groups of people could be deceived into embracing a theology, a teaching, that forbids marriage.  It seems like society has been fighting over the ability of homosexuals to marry.  But the ultimate trend is not towards more and more people marrying.  Homosexuals marrying only dilutes and diminishes the institution that God created to be between a man and a woman.

Many today are blaming hard break ups on the old notion of marriage for life.  Like somehow making commitments to one another is the problem.  No, the problem is that we lack the intestinal fortitude to back up our commitments. 

Marriage is also slandered as a patriarchal construct to bind women under tyranny.  Some people may be using it this way, but they will have to answer to God for it.  Men did not make marriage.  God did.  When we abuse what God has given us for His very good reasons, we sin against Him and against one another.  We do great damage even to ourselves.  Open relationships (uncommitted to one another beyond the present) will not solve the woes of humanity.  It will only plunge us into even greater pain and suffering.

The same thing is happening with parenting.  The trend will be away from people raising kids.  The emphasis will be on the importance of kids being raised “by professionals.”  It is true that parents are not “professionals” at raising kids.  The lie is that this will make things better as we reject God’s better way.  In fact, getting pregnant will be seen as a tragedy for women.  The government can artificially produce the necessary number of citizens each year.  Women can have their DNA modified to make them sterile so they will never have to face the “horrors” of pregnancy.  The message will be, “Quit getting married; quit making babies, and just have fun with sex!”

However, these are solutions that refuse to understand how God has created us.  Marriage and family are powerful parts of how God has wired humanity.  We reject this at our own peril.  It is kicking at God for how He has created us.  It is foolish to think that we can fix His creation with our “better” vision for humanity when the true source of this is demonic.

The area of food is not made explicit, perhaps because there may be several different approaches to this.  It may have the angle of the Old Testament dietary laws.  We see that cropping up throughout the centuries.  Certain teachers and certain groups have taught that Christians should be following these restrictions, which is contrary to the teaching of the apostles.  There is nothing wrong with a person following these restrictions, but it should have nothing to do with a kind of legalism that affects our relationship with God. 

It could also connect with the modern movement towards veganism.  Various groups, religious and secular, have promoted this way of living as a higher and enlightened form of living.

Paul emphasizes that everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude (to the person offering it and to God who created it).  Christians should not be judging one another on the food that they do or do not eat.  It should remain at the level of person taste, and that is all.

2 Timothy 3:1-5

Paul tells us that difficult times will (future tense) come in the last days.  The word for “difficult” refers to strong resistance against making the proper movement.  Christians who want to follow Jesus will find more and more resistance from society, peers, families, even from within the Church.

He then describes why this will be so.  The hardness of these times will be driven by the fact that people are essentially lovers of themselves.  The list he gives begins with “lovers of self” and ends with “rather than lovers of God…”  This creates a kind of parenthesis.  Because they love themselves rather than God, their character exudes along list of vices: love of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure.

This has always been a list of things the world does.  However, this is clearly about the way that many will turn from loving God in the last days, the apostacy.  Verse 5 further describes this as holding to a form of godliness but denying its power.  The deception is to hang on to some outward shell of godliness, or Christlikeness, while refusing to let the power of the Spirit of God to work in your life.  It is to hollow out what it means to follow Christ and fill it with self-serving substitutes.

The power of following Christ is that the Holy Spirit dwells within us.  He helps us to resist and even conquer the war of our own lust against our soul.  The power of godliness is the power of fruitfulness that comes from obeying Christ and his apostles.  It is powerful because it is built upon and works in conformity with truth, reality, God’s creation.

True Christians are to avoid those who are lovers of self over the top of loving God.  You can warn them of the perils they are surrounded by, but do not embrace them.  They will become a stumbling block to you.

One form of this deception has been to emphasize that you can’t love others until you properly love yourself.  The truth is that this is not your problem.  You should first press into loving God.  He will teach you to love others, and in that experience, also heal the things that are wrong within your heart.  You will never heal yourself by turning towards yourself.  Jesus never taught this.

2 Timothy 4:1-2

There are some textual issues in verse 1, whether it should be “at his appearing and His kingdom” or “by his appearing and His kingdom…”  Regardless of this, Paul reminds Timothy who is a pastor that Jesus will come back and judge those who are alive and those who are dead.  Because of this, he is to preach the word and always be ready to correct people with great patience and instruction.  The point of this is that his job is to help Christians resist the things that are pulling them away from the truth.

Verse 3 states that “the time will come” (in the future latter days) when people not endure sound (healthy) doctrine.  Notice this too describes people being tempted to fall away from the truth, apostasy.

He pictures a time when people will no longer listen to truth, but instead, they will want to hear “myths.”  Myths are fictitious narratives.  It is interesting that political parties and the media love to talk about “narratives” and “controlling the narrative.”  Talk about myths!  Yet, when it comes to God, His narratives are truth!  The baby in a manger is not just a fictitious story to inspire us.  Jesus hanging on the cross is not myth to inspire us.  It is Truth intersecting a world enamored with lies and built upon them.

C.S. Lewis left the world of atheism and became a believer in Jesus when he saw that God’s stories were real.  In a sea of fictitious stories, God sent a real story to reach the hearts of the lost.

Paul says that they want their ears to be tickled.  So they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with what they desire.  Think about how platforms like YouTube accelerate this process.  In the past, you would have had to drive to a location, or buy a cassette tape, CD, DVD, etc., in order to hear what you like to hear.  Now a computer algorithm will analyze what you like to click on and create an echo chamber of your own desires.

This only accelerates our turning from truth and embrace of fictitious narratives.  This is the basic war between lies and truth.  Lies cannot win because they deny reality.  They persist against that which cannot cease being true.  This is the tragedy of our modern era.  We will encourage a young kid to chop off their breasts and have a sex change surgery promising freedom.  In truth, they are being taught how to war against truth and reality.  Kill it and burn the bridge behind you.  Make your own path in defiance of all that is true. 

One man who was on the leading edge of transgender surgery back in the 1970s tells the story of how he was perverted at a young age by a grandmother who loved to see him wearing a purple dress when he visited.  This messed with his young psyche.  Long story short, as an adult he tried living as a cross-dresser and then made the plunge to surgery.  It never made him happy.  Later, as a 70-year-old he realized that all along this torturous path, there was a young boy inside of him wondering why he was never enough. 

God help us to stand with the truth of Christ given to us in the Scriptures without losing compassion and hope for a world tortured by lies and tortured by the deceptions that have led them down a long path of shame, guilt, and regret.

It is getting darker in this world, but we are still the light in this world for now!

The Apostles Warn audio

Deception In The Last Days- 1

Subtitle: Jesus Warns Against Deception

This is a series regarding the warning of deception that is particularly powerful in the end times. 

The audio link appears at the end of the article which will be posted later.

Matthew 24:3-5, 9-14, 21-15.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty
Bonner on Sunday, October 18, 2026.

We are going to take some time to deal with the topic of deception particularly deception in the end times.  We are not to focus on setting dates.  However, there are many good reasons to believe that we are approaching, or are near, the end-times.  Of course, God is the One who is in charge.  He can keep things going for another hundred years.  Yet, these lessons are important for understanding deception and not falling under its power.

Today we are going to focus on the warning against deception that Jesus gave in Matthew 24.

Ultimately, I want to help us develop a way to see through powerful deceptions of any type.  That may be deceptions that come from occult circles, from religious cults, or even something as strange as an alien/UFO disclosure (now called UAPs- Unidentified Aerial Phenomena).

A recent movie called Disclosure Day has challenged whether such a revelation would shatter Christianity.  What if aliens arrived and said they had technology to fix our problems and, by the way, we created you!  I am not saying that this is going to happen.  I am saying that Christians need to be able to analyze any such things from a biblical perspective (from God’s perspective) and respond appropriately.

Let’s look at our passage.

Deception and the Beginning of Sorrows (v. 3-5)

In verses 1 to 2, the disciples are impressed with the temple complex and point it out to Jesus.  Jesus responds that not one stone will be left there upon another that will not be thrown down (presumably into the valley below). 

This sets the disciples aback.  It may be because they didn’t expect such an answer, or perhaps because they weren’t sure what he meant by it.  Regardless, in verse 3, they have moved across the valley on the Mount of Olives.  It is there that the disciples ask Jesus about his revelation that the temple would be torn down.

Their first question is clearly about the destruction of the temple.  “When will these things be?”  Yet, they also know that Jesus has been talking about being rejected, leaving and coming back.  They take opportunity to expand this question to reference this.  “What will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?”  We won’t deal with whether this is two more questions or only one.  Yet, notice that the response of Jesus is not immediately an answer about timing.  Rather, Jesus warns of deception ahead.

“See to it that no one deceives you.”  This is a good warning in general.  I don’t believe God wants His people to become fodder for scammers and deceivers in general.  However, Jesus transitions this to the particular deception of people coming in “My name.” 

Coming in my name can mean using the name Jesus.  Yet, Jesus quotes them as saying, “I am the Christ.”  This emphasizes that they are coming in his position or reputation.  God the Father had made Jesus to be the Christ, or Messiah.  Though the nation as a whole was going to reject Jesus, this would not change God’s mind on who is the Messiah.  It was, it is, and will always be, Jesus. 

False christs would play on two things.  First, those among the Jews who had rejected Jesus as Messiah would still be looking for another person to be the Messiah.  This makes them good targets.  However, Christians also believe that Jesus is coming back.  So, they too can be targets for a wannabe false christ.

It can be understandable that non-Christian Jews would be taken in by false christs, but Jesus is giving a warning to his disciples (and us).  On top of this, there are several passages in the Old Testament and the New Testament that make it clear that, when Christ returns, he will come on the clouds of heaven with a contingent of angels and resurrected humans.  No false christ to this day has ever mimicked that.  Yet, some Christians are tempted to believe such claims, at least for a time.

The first person to claim to be the Christ after Jesus was a man named Simon bar Kokhba.  Simon was a military leader who led a revolt against Rome in AD 132.  He claimed to be the Messiah, the Christ.  On top of this, a well-respected Rabbi named Akiva supported his claim.  This revolt was quashed by the Romans by AD 135 and resulted in his death.

Several other things followed from the Romans.  The area of Judea was renamed Syria-Palestina.  Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitolina.  On top of this, a temple to Jupiter was built.  All of these things would help to erase Jewish connections to the area.

Today, from time to time, there are religious people, whether in Jewish circles or Christian, who gather a following of people who believe them to be Christ.  Of course, they are false christs.

In a way, all nations of the world are open to or looking for someone who can fix this world.  This is what God has promised Messiah would do.

In verse 8, Jesus called this the beginning of sorrows.  It is not the end, but a period that is more closely associated to labor pains.

Transition from the beginning of sorrows to the end (v. 9-14)

Though Jesus is still speaking about the beginning of sorrows period in these verses, verse 14 becomes a clear transition to the end of this age.  The end of this age is not a Hollywood production where the world is destroyed.  Rather, it is the end of the open door of repentance that God has given to the nations.  It will be time for showing which side you are on, that of Jesus or that of a false christ.

In this section, Jesus once again warns us against deception, but this time he points out false prophets (v. 11).  This may seem anticlimactic, but it is an error that we run into more often.  People claiming to have a word from God about the world and the end times happens more than people claiming to be Christ.

We can recognize that Muhammed was a false prophet from outside of Christianity.  We can also recognize some false prophets from within Christianity.  The word prophet generally means a religious approach, but I wouldn’t overlook that atheistic philosophers today proclaim that they have the answer the world should follow, much like a false prophet.

It is easy to recognize false prophets that are from outside of your nation and influence.  Westerners are generally not drawn to Muhammed.  But those who have been raised in eastern lands find it much harder to resist the social pressure and see through his words and life.

As we approach the transition to the end, Jesus warns that we will still have to deal with false christs and false prophets.

We should also notice that there are other factors that Christians must face.  In verse 9, Jesus says that we will be hated by all nations and delivered up to tribulation and being killed.

He warns that many will stumble (be offended), betray one another, and hate one another.  Of course, Christians can fall into these errors.  However, Jesus is showing us what the world will be like and what Christians will have to endure in order to keep faith. 

The word for stumble, or offend, has the idea of causing someone to be tripped up and fall.  In this case, it is clearly about a moral and spiritual stumbling.  We will be tempted to turn away from the way of Christ and turn towards betrayal and hatred.  We see this happening in our world today.  More and more society is infected with a viral tendency towards anger and fighting one another.

It is here that Jesus warns of false prophets who will deceive many.  Just like scammers are more prevalent when the economy is dire and people are desperate, so false prophets come forth like a scourge as the world becomes more and more hateful towards one another.

In verse 12, Jesus warns of lawlessness.  This is not about man’s laws, although people will flaunt those too.  Rather, the lawlessness here is that of rejecting God’s law.  God has made clear through Jesus the Christ what He expects of humanity, but we refuse to obey that.  As we cast off God’s law, the love of people grows cold.  There is a natural love between parents and children, family, people of a particular nation.  However, these bonds are coming under severe spiritual attack.  People are stumbled and tempted into loving themselves and not loving the people in relationship with them.

Christians are called to love everybody, even our enemies.  But it is hard to love people who love themselves and are cold towards you.  It is in this context that false prophets arise promoting a way that will appeal to the flesh of those who are perishing.  Thus, Jesus warns believers that only those who endure to the end shall be saved.  It will be a heavy load, but believers in Jesus need to remain in relationship with him and his commands in this difficult time.  Everyone of these things can threaten our steadfast faith in Jesus.

Verse 14 gives us a clear sign for this transitional period.  When the Gospel of the Kingdom has been preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, then the end will come.  It doesn’t say how quickly and how soon.  I believe we are in this transition from the Beginning of Sorrows period to the end of this age.

During the Great Tribulation (v. 21-25)

Jesus then moves to speak about this end.  I am going to focus on verses 21 through 25 because I want to highlight the problem of deception during this coming period.

In verse 21, Jesus points to a time that we call The Great Tribulation from this passage.  It will be a time of difficulty that has never been this bad before and will not be this bad after.  Many Bible commentators try to make this about AD 70 and the destruction of Jerusalem.  As bad as those days were for the Jews in Jerusalem, there have been worse days since, in numbers killed and in atrocities committed.  However, Jesus seems to be talking about the whole world in this passage.  This Great Tribulation will involve a series of Judgments from God ending with the appearance of Jesus to take over the nations of the world.  It also involves a series of actions by the Devil and his Antichrist.  This period can really be thought of as a time that forces everyone to choose a side: Team Jesus or Team Antichrist.

Jesus warns in verse 23 that we are not to believe those who says to us, “Look, here is the Christ!” or “There!”  In some ways, Scripture makes it clear that no one will have to tell you when Jesus truly returns.  However, there will be powerful deceptions at play here as well.

Verse 24 speaks to this powerfully deceptive time.  False christs and false prophets will rise up and show great signs and wonders to deceive…  Some versions refer to them as lying signs and wonders.  Which begs the question.  Are these actually true wonders (miracles), or are they fake?

First, the idea of false is not connected to the signs and wonders other than they are done by false christs and false prophets.  Second, they do these powerful signs to deceive people, i.e., into following them.

This appears to be an amping up of the deception.  It wasn’t warned against earlier.  Of course, the devil is a trickster.  He will do what he can to separate you from Christ. Some have the mentality that says, “The devil can’t do miracles.”  We need to be careful with that statement.  The devil is not God, but he is a fallen angel.  Angels have powers that humans do not have.

There is an added angle to this.  Next week, we will look at a passage that speaks of a restraint upon the devil and his works.  In the end times, this restraint will be removed.  This means we will see far more powerful deceptive signs and wonders coming from his followers.

They will have enough wow factor to them to deceive possibly those who have been chosen by God, the elect.  Of course, Jesus ends this by warning, “See!  I have told you beforehand!”  Does the presence of a wonder or miracle necessitate that we believe the person doing it?  Jesus says, “Don’t be deceived.”

Jesus warns “if possible.”  It is up to each one of us.  We will be tempted but have been told in advance.  If we remember the words of the true Christ, we will not fall to such false prophets.

Maybe a part of you thinks that it would be impossible for our modern era to be wowed by false prophets.  We are not as easily deceived as people 2,000 years ago.  I wonder though.  Are we less manipulable or more?  We live in a day that has enormous manipulations happening all over the world.  Governments and smart people plan how they can manipulate large groups of people to do what they want.

In fact, it is good that Jesus came and spoke the truth 2,000 years ago.  Imagine if he waited until this highly manipulated age to come and speak.  How would we know he spoke truth?

Today, we have the words of Jesus and his apostles warning us against the deception of the Beginning of Sorrows.  We also have the Holy Spirit helping us to see through deceptions and grow spiritually.  Yet, a great deception is coming upon the earth that is intended to test every soul.  Make sure you are immunized and inoculated against it by knowing the true Christ’s words to you!

Jesus Warns audio

The Second Letter of Peter- 8

Subtitle: The Problem of False Prophets 5

2 Peter 2:17-22.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, September 6, 2026.

Peter continues with more descriptions of false teachers that the Church will potentially face.  However, we also get a description of those they target.

Let’s get into our passage.

They promise freedom but deliver bondage (v. 17-22)

The main point of these last verses is that these false teachers cannot and will not deliver what they promise.  They are offering freedom to people while they are slaves to corruption.  They can only deliver that same bondage to those who follow them.

Verse 17 gives us two metaphors that picture this.  Peter calls them springs without water.  A person goes to a spring because they believe they will find water there.  These teachers claim to be a source of water, but you will get none from them.

It is important to point out that water, rain, and dew are used as a metaphor for God’s revelation, or truth.  We see this in Deuteronomy 32:2. Of course, Moses can share these things because God has revealed them to him.

These false teachers talk like they are giving you God’s Word, but in the end, God’s Word is not in them nor coming from them. 

Peter also calls them mists driven by a storm.  There is a parallel to this in Jude 1:12. Jude describes them as clouds without water, carried about by the wind.  This would work well with what Peter is describing.  If you prayed for rain and saw dark clouds on the horizon, you would be excited in hope for rain.  However, these teachers pass by without leaving any true, word of God behind.

Yet, Peter’s words are a bit different.  The clouds or mists are being pushed about by a violent wind.  This is not a good thing, but a destructive thing. No one who wants rain rejoices when a hurricane approaches.  In fact, though a cloud can be a good metaphor, mists tend to give a negative image.  Like truth (water) broken up, atomized and aerosolized, their teachings often employ just enough truth to sucker you into believing them.  Yet, there are always destructive lies riddled throughout their teachings.

The true prophets of God are pictured in the Old Testament (see Deut. 32:2) as delivering the life-giving truth of God from heaven.  It causes the lives of those who receive it and believe it to become fruitful with good things.  The promises and teachings of false prophets bring nothing but destruction and corruption.

Verse 17 ends with a phrase that is similar to that about the angels who sinned before the flood (1 Peter 2:4).  Those angels are being held “in chains of darkness reserved for judgment.”  Peter speaks of an even greater darkness that can be translated as “the black darkness” or “the blackness of darkness.”  In the prior case, the darkness is a temporary holding cell.  Those beings are held there being reserved for God’s coming judgment upon the rebels of heaven and the rebels of earth.  In this case, Peter says that these false teachers are reserved for the black darkness.  This does not seem to be the same place as verse 4, which is called Tartarus.  It is something that is their final destination.

I believe that this black darkness should be connected to the outer darkness that Jesus referenced several times.  In Matthew 25:30, the outer darkness is spoken of in the parable of the talents.  “[C]ast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  Jesus then teaches what will happen when “The Son of Man,” (himself) comes in his glory.  This is often called the Second Coming.  This teaching is what the parable of the talents is picturing.  Notice in verse 41 that those who are judged are cast “into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels…”  In other words, the parable (the symbolic picture) of being cast into outer darkness is connected to the teaching that the wicked are cast into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  This is generally connected to the Lake of Fire mentioned in the book of Revelation.

How can darkness be used for an everlasting fire?  In truth, both of these are probably metaphors.  The Lake of Fire is not a place on earth or even on a planet or sun somewhere.  It is a unique place that is walled off (firewalled) from God’s good creation.  Fire on earth is known for its destructive properties to that which is burned.  Darkness is generally connected to the absence of light, which is the truth and goodness of God.  This would make the Lake of Fire, the outer darkness (the black of darkness), to be a place bereft of any truth and goodness of God, a place that destroys those who are put there.  Would you like to live in a society where there is no truth or light of God in anyone?  Would you like to live in a society that is a destroying destruction at all times?  This is a place where no sane person would want to make their goal.

False teachers cannot lead you to any good place though they surely promise such.  You will be like Pinocchio being tricked to go to Pleasure Island.  In fact, this brings up verse 18.  They entice, or allure, people with fleshly desires and sensuality.  Of course, we have already established that they are full of their own fleshly desires.  However, they find purchase within your heart because you also have desires of the flesh.  The temptation is to realize those desires in actions that please your flesh. 

By the way, the word for sensuality here simply means unrestrained lust.  There is a powerful pull within us when we are offered the chance to release our lust in action.  It is even more powerful if there is a logic or teaching that promotes it as acceptable to God in some way.

These lusts can be for food or sex or money or power, etc.  They can manifest in a variety of ways among false teachers.  A person may be the epitome of control in the areas of sex and personal wealth.  Yet, a false teacher always wants power over people.  Even this cannot be known completely.  A teacher may be quite adept at hiding their lust by satisfying it in secret.  The Christian must always be careful not to put their trust in a teacher over that of Christ and His Word.

Verse 18 describes these false teachers as speaking arrogant words of vanity.    The words are empty (vain) in that they cannot deliver anything good for you from God.  Vanity always includes a puffed-up sense of pride. They are enticing you towards things that pamper your flesh and puff up your pride, but they are empty of any of the goodness of God.

At the end of verse 18, it mentions that they are enticing “those who barely escape from the ones who live in error.”  This is essentially saying that their target, or those they have success in capturing, are those who are newly saved.  “Barely escaped” can have the sense of distance, i.e., they were close to falling short of being a Christian.  However, it most likely is meant to be taken in the sense of time.  They have just (barely an amount of time) escaped from those who are living in sin.

A predator would love to take down a large adult prey, but they have more success with prey who are newly born, sick, or dying.  If you are a new Christian, stay close to those who are spiritually mature Christians.  Learn and grow in the things of Christ so that you will not be a successful target of false teachers.  Of course, on the other hand, mature believers need to go out of their way to help new believers be discipled.  We must help them to become savvy to the schemes of false teachers and become stronger in their faith.

Verse 19 puts the fine edge on this whole area.  They promise people freedom while they are slaves to corruption.  This brings up the whole issue of freedom.  Many people don’t realize that freedom can be speaking of different things.  The false teacher is promoting the freedom to sin, whether in all areas or particular ones.  Whereas Christ came to give us freedom from sin.  Sin brings death.  We see this detailed in Galatians 6:7-8.  “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”

A slave offering freedom is an impossibility or an empty promise.  Like Lampwick resisting Jimny Crickett and encouraging Pinocchio to plunge into pleasure, these false teachers lead weak Christians to ignore the Word, ignore the Holy Spirit, and transgress their own conscience.

Christians are not perfect, but this does not mean we abandon the ways of Christ.  We pursue the righteousness of Christ as the Spirit of God leads us.  When we fall short, we repent and ask for forgiveness.  We are still tempted, but we draw moral lines empowered by the Holy Spirit and the truth of Christ.  Any teacher trying to convince you that it is okay to sin, or it is okay to cast off restraining yourself in these areas, is a false teacher.

Verse 19 ends with a statement in the NASB that reads, “[F]or by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.”  You will see other versions that have the sense of a person being overcome, controlled, or mastered.  This is not the complete sense of the word.  It also has the sense of something that you do to yourself.  You yield to a powerful force and end up being a slave to it.  You succumb to the lust of the flesh that these false teachers promote, ending up as a slave to it.  To give in is to become a slave.

The best defense against seduction is to go into relationship with God, loving Him, loving His things, and walking in His love.  Some may counter that this is just being a slave to God.  However, being a “slave of God” is a thing of freedom because it is He who has made us and not we ourselves.  He knows what is good for us versus what is bad for us, enslaving to us.  A person who becomes a slave to their flesh, this world, or the devil, may speak of a moment of “freedom,” but in the end, they manifest as a person tormented by their slavery.

Verses 20-22 highlight a great problem.  Peter warns us.  If you have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of Jesus, but then are entangled in them and overcome, your resultant state is worse than when you started.  Though this would be a warning to any Christian in danger of deception, Peter is talking about the false teachers.  This is what has happened to them (at least the ones who are not complete liars).

It is good for people to hear the Gospel of Jesus, be confronted with their sin problem, and put their faith in Jesus.  This is what Peter means by the “knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”  He speaks of this as an escape from the defilements, which are caused by living for the lust of the flesh.  1 Corinthians 6:11, after listing all kinds of defiling sins, reads, “and such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

Yet, Peter is speaking of a person who has become entangled in these things again.  You might describe this as a shipwrecked faith (1 Timothy 1:18-20).  Peter’s point is about the person’s resultant state.  It is better not to believe in Christ in the first place, then to believe for a time and then fall back into sin, rejecting Christ or redefining him.  The voluntary act of Jesus to sacrifice himself for our sins is God’s means of shocking our hearts back to faith in him.  If we then trample that sacred ground with unbelief, we make our hearts and minds that much more insensitive to God’s love.  What more can He do to break through to us than to lay His life down for us?  Of course, nothing more can be done.

It may sound unthinkable for Peter to say in verse 21 that it would have been better for them not to have known the truth at all.  But he is recognizing the great spiritual damage we can do to ourselves.  This kind of hardening of a heart following its softening by the Gospel is extremely dangerous.  Such a person becomes insensitive to God’s conviction.

Hebrews 6:4-9 even states that it is impossible for those who do such a thing, “if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance.”  I believe the writer’s emphasis of impossibility is on our human ability to bring them back to repentance.  If the Gospel is no longer drawing them, what else do we have to draw them back?  Yet, what is impossible for us is not impossible for God.  In 1 Corinthians, Paul speaks about the man who was sleeping with his stepmother (1 Cor. 5:5).  Paul writes to “deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”  Essentially, the Church, believers, can’t do anything more, but cast them out of the Church (deliver to Satan).  To coddle them in this condition would be even worse.  If the impenitent person is cast out of the Church, the destructive nature of sin itself will be God’s last leverage on their souls.  The destruction of their flesh does not guarantee the salvation of their souls but is their only hope at this point.  Only God can reach them now, and even that is questionable.  To be hard towards God is bad, but to be hard towards the Gospel of Jesus after having believed it is worse.

Peter ends this chapter with a quote from Proverbs 26:11, which is the part about a dog returning to its vomit.  The vomit is analogous to the person who has a bad reaction to what the world has been feeding them.  The world has been feeding them the lust of the flesh.  Vomiting is a moment of deep-seated rejection of the bread of wickedness.  Yet, what do I do next?  Do I find good food, or do I follow my flesh and keep gobbling up the same stuff?

Peter adds a similar picture of a pig that has been washed (for the fair or what not).  If you release a washed pig, it is only going to go back into the mud.  It is the nature of pigs to love wallowing in the mud.

Both of these images speak to the heart of our identity.  Christ is saving us out of our chosen identity of being a dog and a pig, spiritually speaking.   We animalistically live to please our flesh appetites.  That is all we know.  Christ calls us to become the Children of God by the work of the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit in us begins a process of expelling the lies of this culture and a process of washing us from the defilements of a life of fleshly pursuits.  However, to turn away from the Spirit, from Christ, and to go back into sin is to choose to be a dog, a pig, spiritually.  It is to choose to eat the very things you have vomited from your life.  It is to wallow in the defilement that Christ has been washing off of you (remember 1 Corinthians 6:11).

God is able to take us from among the dogs and pigs of this world.  He is able to make us real, live children of God because He is not willing that any should perish, and Christ has paid the price for your redemption.  However, false teachers, who may look good on the outside, are themselves dogs and pigs trying to draw you back to the vomit, back to the mud.

Be alert Christian.  Stay in fellowship with mature believers and do not be led back into the bondage of sin!

False Teachers 5 audio

The Second Letter of Peter- 7

Subtitle: The Problem of False Prophets 4

2 Peter 2:10-16.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, August 30, 2026.

Today, we continue Peter’s warning against false prophets and false teachers.

He has warned them that the Church will face false teachers just as Israel had.  He has also reminded them that the judgment of God will certainly fall upon these false teachers as it had in the Old Testament.

Verse 10 serves as a transition from two Old Testament examples of God’s judgment to a description of the false teachers and false prophets that the Christians will face.  We can leave their judgment to God.  He knows how and when to judge them.  Our focus is to recognize them.

Let’s look at our passage.

Further Descriptions (v. 10-16)

Peter says that God’s judgment is especially for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority.  These two are connected because a person who is indulging their flesh will not like godly authorities.  The godly authorities (like Peter) will remind them that they are not to live for their flesh but for Christ.  Of course, they then use rationalizations and human reasoning to justify their rejection of such godly men and women.

Verse 10 describes them as daring.  Daring can be good in certain contexts, but it is not good here.  They are bold in stepping over the proper boundaries and purposes of God in order to promote their own ideas and flesh.  Thus, daring here could be thought of as audacious and presumptuous.  To be bold in your areas of ignorance is not wise.

They are also called “self-willed.”  The word has a sense of pleasing yourself.  Such people over-value their own ideas and opinions about Jesus and God’s will and reject those who walked with Jesus and received the truth directly from him.  In the end, it is a rejection even of Jesus.  Many a false prophet has redefined Jesus into their own image.  They see Jesus as a helpful symbol, but they want to hollow out the true content of the character, work, and teaching of Christ, so that they can fill it in with their own desires.  Instead of praying “Not my will, but thine be done,” they put their will in the place of God.

It says that they are not afraid to revile majesties.  To revile or to speak evil of someone comes from the word for blasphemy.  They speak things that are untrue of God, of Jesus, of the heavenly beings, etc., without fear (remember they are daring).  It is not so much that they know they are saying something untrue.  This is certainly possible.  However, it is also possible that their slander is just wishful thinking, and uncareful projection.

Who are the “Majesties” (NASB) or “Dignitaries” (NKJV)?  The word is literally “Glorious Ones.”  In light of the commentary in verse 11, it is speaking of heavenly beings.  This fits in with Paul’s language of a hierarchy of heavenly beings in Ephesians 1:21; 6:12 and elsewhere.  Peter is not envisioning himself as a glorious one that they are slandering, though they most likely would do that.  He speaks of people who have no fear of blaspheming spiritual beings of the heavens.  Because this is a general warning, we can understand that the specifics of the blasphemies and their targets are left unsaid.  We can imagine untrue things being said of the good angels, and even Satan and his angels (fallen).   Of course, we should recognize that the Most Glorious One who has authority over all the heavens, Jesus, will be slandered and blasphemed as well.

If a teacher or prophet speaks of heavenly things revealed to them, how can you verify the veracity of these things?  Do I have to wait until I go to heaven for myself to verify?  And how would that stop false teachers?

First, we can compare what the teacher teaches to what the Holy Spirit has already revealed and confirmed in the Scriptures.  If you know the truth, then the contradictions will stick out for what they are, lies, vain imaginations, and fantasies.

Second, there are times when a so-called revelation speaks of things that we are not told in Scripture.  It doesn’t contradict per se but goes beyond what Scripture reveals.  In such a case, do not lean upon what the teacher teachers.  Don’t build your life on it because we already have everything we need for life and godliness.  Put it on the “back burner” and let the teacher’s life prove out the veracity or deceitfulness of such revelations.  No false teacher will be able to hide the fact that they are as this chapter describes.  It will be obvious to those who observe their teachings and life.

In regard to their daring blasphemy towards spiritual beings, Peter warns that even angels are careful with the things they say to one another or charge against one another.  His main point is that angels (who are greater than us) are careful in bringing charges against one another.  Therefore, how much more ought we to be careful?  The answer is that we should be much, much more careful, fearful even.

Where is Peter getting this idea?  There is an example in Zechariah 3:1-2.  God shows Zechariah a vision of a man named Joshua who was the high priest in the new community of Jerusalem that had come back from exile in Babylon.  He saw Joshua standing before the Angel of the Lord and Satan at Joshua’s side to accuse him.  The Angel of the Lord responds to Satan’s opposition, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!  Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”

For the sake of time, let me just point out that the Angel of the Lord doesn’t personally stand against Satan’s opposition.  He stands in the truth of the Father’s purpose.  God was plucking burnt branches out of the fires of the Babylonian judgment on Israel.  Whatever the Angel of the Lord had come to do with Joshua, Satan’s resistance is not taken personal.  The Angel calls upon God the Father to rebuke Satan.  Essentially, this is a challenge.  If Satan really thought he was in the right, then he should press his luck in opposing Joshua.  However, the Angel knows God’s will.  The Father will back up those He sends in His service.  The point is the Angel in the right does not blaspheme Satan (even though we might say he warrants it).

Another example comes to us in Jude 1:9. It is unclear where Jude obtains this information.  In Deuteronomy 34:5-6, we are told that Moses died on the mountain, unable to enter the promised land.  It only says “he” buried him in Moab, and no one knows where his burial place is to this day.  Since no one was with Moses, it must be God having Moses buried, which would presumably be accomplished by an angel of God.  In the first century, there was a tradition that Satan tried to stop the angel from taking Moses to bury him.  It is irrelevant at this point why he might oppose this.  The main point is that the angel said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you!”

Whatever the source of this story, Jude is not saying that the document this story comes from should be Scripture.  Rather, he is using this story as an example.  In both cases (Zechariah and Moses), a spiritual being is standing against Satan, or the devil, yet calls upon Yahweh to rebuke him (as opposed to themselves).  Instead of railing on about how bad the devil is, they call for the judgment and help of God who knows all things about Satan’s evil and slanderous work.

False teachers through the ages have had no problem saying untrue things of all the spiritual beings, our Lord Jesus and the Father included.

Let me just say that, in Christ, we do not need to fear any wicked spiritual being from Satan down to the weakest imp in his fallen empire.  Yet, neither should we become arrogant nor vocally swagger before them.  Our power is not just from Jesus but is in him.  Satan fear Jesus not you.  However, he does fear you standing by faith in Jesus and his work.

Verse 12 compares them to unreasoning animals.  Animals are creatures of instinct alone.  When Peter says “to be captured and killed,” he is not saying this is the only design of animals.  These false teachers are predators on the level of an animal.  In the end, a predator will not be reasoned out of its prey.  The predator is incapable of feeling guilt and shame for its actions.  False teachers, such as Peter describes here, are also predators.  God has a day of capturing and killing them.  Their judgment is certain.

Like an animal, they revile where they have no knowledge (like with the angels).  However, they also revile the true Gospel, the why and the how of God’s salvation through Jesus.  They revile the Lord Jesus Himself in a variety of ways (He’s not completely God; He wasn’t really human, etc.).  They revile the teaching of the apostles on how we ought to conduct ourselves in this life, i.e., in holiness and righteousness.  They daringly say all manner of untrue things about all of these.

Verse 12 states that they “will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed.” The word creatures is added for understanding.  It is simply the pronoun “them.”  So what plural noun is “them” referencing?  The closest and most likely candidate is “animals.”  What destruction of the animals that false teachers will also be caught up in is in mind?  Most likely, Peter is referring to the ultimate day of judgment where the current heavens and earth melt in fervent heat, destroying all material things (animals included).  The only way to survive such a judgment is to be in right relationship with God, and these false teachers are not.  They will die like the animals in that great heat, being cast into the Lake of Fire where all rebel imagers will be banished.

Verse 13 speaks of their wages.  There is a textual issue.  Some manuscripts have “receiving the wages of doing wrong (evil).”  Whereas other manuscripts have suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong.  Regardless of which verb we use, the connection to wages is clear.  The wages of sin is death, not just the first death (separation from our mortal body), but also, the second death (separation from God and His good creation).

Verse 13 further describes them as stains and blemishes in the midst of the Christian community, “reveling in their deception as they feast with you.”  If we picture the Christian life and even the life of the Church (its witness and worship) as a volunteer sacrifice to God, the idea of spots, blemishes, and stains reflects an unacceptable sacrifice.  We cannot leave false teachers and false prophets in our midst.  They will defile our ability to be an acceptable worship of the Lord Jesus Christ.  They are not to be tolerated and accepted.  They are to be rebuked and, if necessary (in the case of refusing to repent), cast out of our gatherings.

This is not a call for perfection, but of being truly under the saving work of Christ.  The Christian is cleansed by the work of Christ, the Spirit of Christ, the Word of Christ, and this through our faith in the One who supplies these things.  The false teacher has no faith in Christ, no faith in God.  They only have faith in their ability to manipulate these things to their own ends.

They are “reveling in their deceits.”  What a horrible picture of intentionality that is opposed to the work of Christ.  Some versions have “as they carouse with you.”  I think this is a misunderstanding.  Carousing in English fits well with the feasting of the wicked.  However, this is a feasting they are doing with the true Christians.  I believe Peter has the Love-Feast of early Christians in mind.  Their times of communion were part of a meal that they ate together.  The Apostle Paul gives us insight into some early problems with this in the Corinthian Church in 1 Corinthians 11:20-22.  Some people were over-eating while others didn’t get any.  Others were over-drinking to the point of drunkenness.  Paul rebukes this lack of Christian love and propriety.  He tells them to go home and eat if you are that hungry.  Our gathering together must not be about gorging our flesh but honoring our Lord Jesus by ministering to each other in love.  These false teachers are such.

Verse 14 describes them as having “eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin…”  The eye here can be compared to a greedy or evil eye.  They may be literally looking to commit adultery, but they are most assuredly also symbolically lusting for ways to be unfaithful to the Lord Jesus Christ.  A false teacher may be the definition of restraint when it comes to food, drink, even sexuality (of course, many are not).  Yet, they will always prove unfaithful to the Lord Jesus himself.  They will present themselves as in close relationship, but their lives will look nothing like the true Lord who bought us from slavery with his own blood.

Notice the idea that they never cease looking for ways of being unfaithful (that they can get away with doing). Without pause from sin is the sense of no true restraint within them.  If you see restraint in an area, it is only as a means of deception and satisfying their flesh in another area.  In fact, many who look restrained in public are anything but restrained in private.  Do not overly trust a person’s public image.

They also entice “unstable souls.”  New believers are necessarily unstable in the sense that they have not yet been strongly rooted in the things of Christ.  It is important for mature believers to help new Christians develop a good understanding of what God desires of them and a good spiritual relationship with Him by the Holy Spirit.

Some believers should be mature by now, but through neglect, they are easily misled by false teachers.  They will appear steadfast until their foundations are tested by the false teacher.  Martyrdom is another test of just how steadfast our foundation has become.

They also have a heart “trained in greed.”  The picture is that they go to the gym and train so that they can win the Olympics of greed.  They are well practiced in it, experts even.

“Accursed children” reminds us of Cain.  They are not cursed because of their genetics.  It is a spiritual thing that developed over time in their lives.  It was a series of decisions in opposition to the Spirit of Truth that has taken them down a cursed path.  Like Cain, they bear a curse, but they also are a curse to others who cross their path.  God did not purpose for them to be like this.  They are choosing it over the top of His warnings and calls to repentance.

Verses 15-16 end with the imagery of Balaam.  They forsake the right way and follow the same path as Balaam.  Of course, the right way is the way of the Lord, the way of Jesus.  It is not only right because God points us in that direction, but it is also right because the Lord Jesus has blazed that path before us.  He also empowers us with his Spirit to walk it. 

Balaam is presented in Numbers 22-26.  While Israel was in the wilderness, the king of Moab contracted the prophet Balaam to curse Israel for him.  Balaam starts out saying the right things like, “I can only say what God tells me to say.”  However, God rebukes him.  The whole story of the Angel of the Lord and the “mute donkey” speaking a rebuke to Balaam shows us that Balaam was excited at the prospects of making a lot of money.  The story looks like Balaam only blessed Isreal and that is the end.  However, a brief statement by Moses in Numbers 31:16 shows us that the counsel of Balaam was behind a seduction event that happened at Peor (Numbers 25).  Balaam could not directly curse Israel because God would not let him.  However, he taught the king of Moab how to get Israel to show unfaithfulness to God, thus bringing God’s punishment upon them.  What was the idea?  Send your scantily clad girls out to the edge of the Israelite camp and invite the young men to come worship with you.  Keep in mind that the worship of these false gods involved sexual immorality.  Through sexual seduction, and this in the guise of honoring a god other than the One True God, 24,000 Israelites were caught up in this sin and died in a plague from God.

This is the heart of a man who wants the wages of unrighteousness (whatever can be obtained by not following the Lord).  It cares not that thousands will come under the judgment of God.  It only cares about satisfying its own wicked lust.

Such men come into churches.  They even have websites and are on TV.  Yet, they are standing against the truth and purpose of God in true believers.  We must be careful and refuse to come into relationship with these false teachers.  As Ephesians 5:11 says, we must “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”

False Prophets 4 audio