Character Matters • 2 Peter 2:10-22

Notes

We’re supposed to guard ourselves against false teachers. How do you identify a false teacher? Do you really have to go through all the teaching with a fine-toothed comb, looking for false teaching like it was lice?

That’s too much work.

Jesus has a simpler detector: look at their lives. If they are right, they will live right. If they are wrong, they will live wrong.

This is not for the benefit of false teachers. They are ignoring me right now. They never listen to me so they get their lives right.

This is for our benefit so that we live our lives right.

Because true character matters greatly.

We’re reading in 2 Peter 2 from verse

1. The character that matters is God’s character.

A. Hebrews 1:3 Jesus is the express image of the person of God. The Greek word there is charakter. So that Jesus says to the disciples, when you see Me you have seen the Father. He displays to us the acts, habits, and character of God.

B. If we are born again from above, and Jesus lives in us by His Holy Spirit, then we should see the character of Jesus in our lives. The word that best describes that is humility, thinking about others, especially the Father. Every good thing comes out of humility, not thinking of yourself.

C. But false teachers are not thinking about Jesus or about having fellowship with Jesus. They only think about themselves. That’s pride, the very essence of sin. Every evil thing comes from thinking only of self.

2. The Lord will especially punish these false teachers.

A. Notice that word “especially”. The context is punishing false teachers. They are being singled out for severe punishment.

B. James 3:1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things.

C. These teachers teach others to do as they do: say one thing, live another way. The life doesn’t agree with the teaching.

D. Mark 9:42 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.”

E. It is necessary that the life and the teaching agree.

3. We see how their character contradicts Jesus.

A. They indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires. Galatians 5:19-21 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

B. They despise authority. Pride makes a man an authority unto himself. You remember what the centurion said to Jesus when he asked Him to heal his servant: Luke 7:7-8 for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” He recognised that Jesus was under the authority of God. Is that teacher under authority or does he resist authority?

C. Daring, self-willed.

1. Instead of seeing the character of God you see a big personality, bold, dominating, confident.

2. They even insult angels greater than they are. Not even angels insult other angels. Jude 1:8-9 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

3. Can you ever remember a situation where Jesus insulted the devil? Was offensive? Snarky, nasty, upset?

4. Love is not rude. Whenever you see a leader, a teacher that is rude you need to watch out. That’s not Jesus.

D. Peter says these are like unreasoning animals lower than men because they don’t operate by reason.

1. Sin can’t be controlled by reason. Remember Romans 7 where Paul says, “I don’t get it. I want to do what’s right, but I don’t do that, I do what I don’t want to do, which is evil.” He watches himself do what he knows to be wrong and he can’t stop himself.

2. Sin is only controlled by receiving and abiding in Jesus. You abide in His death to sin. You abide in His life to God.

3. But these men don’t have fellowship with God so their sin is not controlled and they live like animals, just doing what feels good. They earn the wages of sin, which is death.

E. They party during the day. Even the world works during the day and parties at night

F. These guys are like stains on your clothes and dents in your cars. They don’t add anything at all. They only make you lose value. They degrade you because they don’t direct you to holiness, to humility. They make you more lost. They distract you away from following Jesus to following after your own lusts. It’s my desires first and then I’ll follow Jesus. I’ll evaluate each church according to how it can serve me. If I don’t like the worship, if I don’t like the teaching, if I don’t like how it serves me, then I’ll look for a more fun and exciting place that serves me.

G. They entice unstable souls. Immature, not discipled, not taught. A better taught disciple should know better—I have nothing to learn here. This pride is not Jesus. So false teachers prey on vulnerable believers not able to defend themselves.

H. Heart trained in greed. If you don’t learn to receive satisfaction from Jesus you satisfy yourself the same way people do in the world—looking for satisfaction from things. Things are never enough because they are finite. False teachers betray the fact that they are not satisfied by their greed. More and more is never enough. An abundance of money and possessions doesn’t touch the inward need for eternal love and truth and relationship with God through Jesus is the only way to be satisfied. These guys aren’t satisfied because they have broken relationship with Jesus.

I. Accursed children. Not like Jesus. The Father said, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.” There are not acting like children, but like illegitimate children because they do not accept discipline from their Father who is in heaven. Illegitimate children do not inherit from the Father. They have no name, no connection. They are thrown out. They do not abide in the house.

J. Balaam is not like Jesus.

1. Balak king of Moab tried to hire him to curse Israel, because he whom Balaam blessed was blessed and he whom Balaam cursed was cursed.

2. God told Balaam don’t go with Balak, Israel is blessed; you can’t curse them.

3. But Balaam found a way to go anyway. And that’s when the Angel of the Lord stood in his way, ready to kill him, and his donkey saw the angel and saved him three times.

4. Balaam tries three times to curse Israel and three times God says to bless Israel. Balak is furious and tells Balaam to get lost. But Balaam told Balak how to defeat Israel in order to get paid. The only one who can defeat Israel is Israel. Get them to sin, and God will judge them and punish them.

5. Here’s a strange guy who knows God, knows that Israel is God’s people, yet works against God’s people, ultimately working against God.

6. A donkey could restrain Balaam’s madness, but these false teachers no one can restrain. They are worse than Balaam. When God said take vengeance on Moab, Balak was killed, and so was Balaam. These false teachers work against God’s people and against God. He’s not going to own them. He is going to destroy them.

K. These false teachers have nothing to give. They are like clouds that never rain and give life. No water in their stream. They give no light. And they are reserved for darkness forever.

L. Remember they entice unstable souls. In verse 18 Peter says they entice the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. These are immature, untaught believers in Jesus.

1. These big personalities, daring, edgy, irreverent, magnetic, influential.

2. And they make their followers just like them: arrogant slaves of corruption. They promise freedom, but it’s not the freedom of the Bible.

3. Galatians 5:13-14 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

4. 1 John 3:16-18 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

5. We have the freedom from sin, living selfishly, to be able to lay down our lives. A false teacher looks at that and says, that looks like death to me. No thanks. A false teacher is enslaved to corruption, what defiles and makes abominable. It’s not Jesus, who said greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend. And then He laid down His life for His friends. That’s us. A teacher has to look like Jesus.

4. These false teachers will incur a stricter judgment for breaking fellowship with Jesus and leading others to do the same.

A. They knew Jesus. The Greek word used for knowledge, epignosis, means full exact knowledge.

B. But they became entangled with sin again.

1. In chapter 1 Peter says anyone not having those seven qualities from Jesus is either blind or shortsighted, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

2. Remember that only Jesus can deal with sin. We remain in Christ, remain in the light, remain in the Spirit.

3. So what went wrong? These guys evidently broke fellowship with Jesus. They stopped going to Jesus, stopped depending on Him. They depended on their natural strength of personality. They went with their natural strength to sin. They turned from the holy commandment handed to them. Pick up your cross daily. Follow Me. Repent and believe in the gospel. Feed My sheep. Love one another. When you turn from one commandment you turn from all of them.

C. They went back to being dogs or pigs. These animals go back to living like animals because that’s what they really are. Treat them like humans and it’s a amusing because it’s only outward. The inward nature is still a dog or a pig, and that nature must come out. You can only stay clean so long and then, ahhhh, what a relief, to be back in the mud. This is home. The dog goes back to its vomit and says, hey, don’t be picky. It’s still good the second time, too.

4. So what?

A. Be on guard against guys whose lives don’t match up with Jesus. Matthew 7:15-21 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

B. The quality of your character really matters. Your character should show that Jesus lives in you as Saviour and as Lord. If there is no evidence, go back to the beginning. Lay the foundation right. You repent of living for yourself. You put your trust in Jesus, that He cleansed you of your sins. Remember that He cleansed you of your old sins every day. If you forget, you will sin. If you remember you will abide in Jesus.

C. Can you lose your salvation? That’s what everyone is asking. I’ll answer that two ways.

1. Why would you turn away from Jesus? What has He ever done to you that you should not come to Him? These false teachers stopped coming. Why should you? Jesus can fix anything, anyone. Come to Him!

2. These warnings are real warnings. If you turn away from Jesus there is no other way of salvation,

D. Be being filled with the Holy Spirit. Not by might shall a man prevail. It’s not possible to live right apart from depending on the Holy Spirit.

Are you continually trusting in Jesus?

Let’s pray.