Pastor’s Notes
What is a false teacher? What is a heretic? How can we tell the difference between a man who is equipping the saints for work of the Lord versus a man who desires to hurt the church and lead the people down destructive roads? Are you personally prepared to tell the difference and speak out against such dangers?
In 2 Peter, while Peter aims to equip us to stand prepared for the Day of Judgement, he is also aiming us to see that there are those who seek only to entice unsteady souls for disaster. Peter knows that we are our own worst enemy, but desires for us to know that that there are other enemies lurking as well. An enemy who is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and who would love nothing more than to see us stumble into spiritual failure.
So far in 2 Peter, Peter has built up the children of God in building up one’s self to finish well and now Peter is warning us all of those who stand in the way of this. Peter shines light on these men by drawing attention to the words they say with their mouth, what they see with their eyes, and what the false teachers seek with their heart.
Scripture to go along with the message
Read 2 Cor 11:13-15, Matthew 7:15-20, and 2 Timothy 4:3-4. These are all verses on the dangers of false teachers and what we should be on guard against.
Highlight in your Bibles
Highlight “enticing unstable souls” in verse 14 in 2 Peter as much of what we will cover in this week’s message will hang on this statement.
Questions to consider
1.) What is a good example of false teachers in today’s time?
2.) How is the damage of false teachers obvious and hidden?
3.) Would you say that your soul is unstable and easily available to be hurt by men like this? Or do you feel equipped to stand faithful in truth?