Mike Bickle addresses the alarming prevalence of false teachers within the church, emphasizing that many who appear to be genuine believers may ultimately lead others astray and face severe judgment. He highlights the dangers outlined in 2 Peter 2 and Jude, warning that false teachers often promote covetousness, immorality, and pride, while being supported by large followings. Bickle stresses the importance of discernment among believers, urging them to recognize that popularity does not equate to truth and that many false teachers exploit their congregations for personal gain. He calls for a return to the 'main and plain' teachings of Scripture, encouraging the church to remain vigilant against these deceptive influences. Ultimately, Bickle's message serves as a sobering reminder of the need for spiritual discernment and adherence to biblical truth.

...of your word. We're not ashamed of your conclusions and your decisions on how you run the church and how you run human history. We agree with your judgments. We agree with your standards. We take our stand with them in Jesus' name. Amen. Talking about false teachers and their danger in the church. This is an issue that is far more widespread than I believe that most of us, myself included, are aware of. I think that when we stand before the Lord at the end, we might be shocked how much of this is going on. And one of the reasons that this is an important chapter, 2 Peter chapter 2, is a terrifying chapter, as I mentioned last night. It's a heavy chapter. And it's heavy because God's talking to people that are leaders in the body of Christ, and he's talking about them ending up in the lake of fire. Bible teachers ending up in the lake of fire and being supported by the church throughout their ministry, but they end up in judgment at the end. I can't think of too many things as equally terrifying as 2 Peter chapter 2. The parallel passage is the book of Jude, which is one chapter. Jude and 2 Peter 2, as you will tell by reading them, and we'll compare them a bit tonight, run along the same lines as they are exposing not the dangers outside of the church in the end times, but the dangers within the church in the end times. Now this danger has existed in the church for 2,000 years, but it has a particular increase in the generation the Lord returns. I want to say this again. There is a marked increase, a marked increase of false teachers inside the church, of which many in the church are unaware that they're false teachers. We think, when we study the end times, we think mostly of the dangers on the outside. We think of the rage of Satan, or we think of the judgment of God against the Antichrist's empire, which is what most of the book of the Revelation is about, God's judgment against the Antichrist's empire. But Jude and Peter, and Paul touches this point on a number of occasions as well, Paul prophesies about false teachers more than anybody. Jesus prophesied of them as well, but the idea that the dangers in the end time church are not only without, they are within. And false teachers, some of them have very large followings. Many people are following them and applauding them. Many born-again people, as well as people that aren't born again, that are members of the church. So the the first point that is startling to 2 Peter 2 is that this is far more common in the church than we would naturally assume. And this chapter gives us the boldness to think this way, because our natural way of thinking, we would be very, very hesitant to assume that anybody who names the name of Jesus that stands before, you know, with a, behind a pulpit with a large gathering of thousands of people, a lot of excited people, a lot of momentum, we would be hesitant to think the word false teacher. We would almost automatically assume it's the favor and the blessing of God. And so it takes, it's a paradigm shift. But we have to have this paradigm shift. We have to be not a walking around in suspicion, but walking around with discernment and clarity and not afraid to think what God's thinking. I am, I'm convinced there are many false teachers in the body of Christ that in my heart, I've identified a number of them. I will not mention them by name in private or in public, because if I was to do that, I would need to go to them as members of the body of Christ personally and confront them. And if I did that, then I might go to them personally. I would go through the Matthew 18 steps. But at the same time, I'm aware in my heart that they do exist. And I'm not intimidated to conclude that in my spirit. I do it carefully. But it's just as dangerous to not be open to this as it is to be overly zealous about this point. And I don't know too many people overly zealous. There are a few. But by far, the problem is on the opposite end. It's the people, the vast majority of the body of Christ, who is not paying attention to this great problem. Now the goal isn't to be overly zealous or to be inattentive. The goal is to be operating in the spirit of truth. But the first obstacle is the fact that the vast majority of the church can't imagine that they are false teachers. They just can't imagine it, because they're really born-again people. They're really men and women that are really born again. And being born again automatically disqualifies them in the mind of most people as being a false teacher. Now what 2nd Peter is going to show, they are in the church, they are born again, they have a saving knowledge of Jesus, and yet they're promoting false teaching, and they end up in hell at the end. And so we're startling, troubling, and it's supposed to be. Another point of why we care about this chapter is that Peter's point, as is Jude's, over and over, stresses they will be judged. They're judgment, I'm talking about in the lake of fire. I don't mean just their evaluation. Everybody's going to be evaluated. They will come under the terrifying judgment of God. It is sure they will end up in judgment. And this is supposed to alarm us, because God is not impressed by how popular they are. If they have left the precepts of the Word of God, the main and plain, I'm talking about the main and plain. I don't mean that everybody has to dot every I and cross every T of every Bible point just right. I don't know of anybody that's a hundred percent right on everything. But on the main and plain of Scripture we're talking about, the main and plain, they've left it. But because it's so popular to leave it today in our culture, it doesn't appear as though they've left it. Because there's more false teachers with big ministries that are not promoting the main and plain doctrines of the Bible. And so we're supposed to be, have confidence that their judgment is sure. And the reason, because we, even though they're popular, we don't want to become a false teacher. That's part of what 2nd Peter is about. It's not just to warn you from them. It's to warn you not to be one. Because they will be judged for sure. And the false teachers that are 40 and 50, we're having the found, 40 and 50 years old and 60, are having, had the foundation laid in them of their teaching when they were 20 and 30. And so for the 20 and 30 year olds, you determine in your spirit, I am NOT going to go this way. That's it, that's the second reason why you care about this chapter. A third reason we care about this chapter is that even though one may not ever be a false teacher, if we follow their ways, we will end up in judgment like they will. So Peter and Jude outlined the ways of a false teacher and the three primary things that they highlight is their covetousness. They say it over and over. They're motivated by money in their ministry. That's their primary motivation for ministry. It's an overwhelming motivation in their ministry is the gain of money. Number two, they have immorality in their life and they allow it in their teaching. They don't necessarily openly say, hey be immoral, but their preaching and teaching promotes an atmosphere which immorality is tolerated and actually allowed to go unconfronted. Immorality in their life and in the life of those that they teach. Immorality is a lifestyle. I'm not talking about as a momentary lapse. I'm talking about as a lifestyle. They're comfortable with it. And number three, they're proud and self-willed. Very, very strong-minded and confident in themselves and they think and their their confidence and self-willed sometimes comes across as authority in the anointing and the Lord sees it as pride. And those are the three things that characterize them. But those are three things not just that we care about, you know, recognizing in them, we care about them so we don't imitate them in our own lives. Because if they lead the false teachers to judgment, they will lead the others to judgment as well. Another reason we care about it, understanding this chapter, we want to warn the people we love. We don't want the ones we love to swept away unaware by them. Because when people get swept away by false teaching, they get emboldened. A false teacher will create boldness in the listeners to walk in compromise, particularly in covetousness. It's one of the number one issues of a false teacher. They live in covetousness and they produce it in the church. That doesn't take just a whole lot of discernment to look across the landscape of the body Christ of our nation and covetousness is one of the most prevailing strongholds in the ministry and in the church. And the tolerance, and not only the tolerance but the enthusiastic approval of the spirit of covetousness under biblical language of God's blessing and God's promise, in the ministry and in the congregations of the Lord as well, is false teaching. And that's one of the primary things that Peter strikes. He goes, don't be swept away by their swelling words that are empty but are filled with flattery. He goes, it's false. It's not God's Word. It's not God's heart. No matter how many Bible verses they put on it and how many people attend their meetings, it's false. And another reason we care about it was that we don't want to care about understanding this chapter. We don't want to support financially or just promoting with our enthusiasm false teaching. We don't want to get on the bandwagon. We want discernment. I've been in meetings where as long as the man of God or the woman of God is bold enough up front, if you give to this ministry, you will this. And it's just, it's amazing how many people lose all their discernment in their frenzied desire to get more money. Bible in hand, confession of Jesus on their lips. But in near frenzied, it's just, it's remarkable to me what a person on a platform can do to a congregation and how everybody lays aside, not everybody, how many will lay aside their discernment and their commitment to truth because everybody's caught up in the frenzy of it. And it's false teaching. A lot of it has to do with economics. But Peter's point, it's that this danger was in his day. I mean, they were in his day, but they were also yet in the future. But the, but the testimony of the New Testament is, Paul particularly, these teachers will emerge in the last days, particularly. And as I look at the body of Christ in America, again, I would never name a name except I went to them personally and follow the steps of Matthew 18. I would rather point out the trends. Again, unless I went to the person and the Lord led me to do that and they listened and we, you know, we went on, you know, follow the process. I've never done that before with the view of, I've talked to people before about things like this, but never with the view of ever saying their name publicly. I don't, I'm not interested in that kind of thing. I'm more interested in proclaiming the truth and to let people open their Bible and say, Holy Spirit, teach me. But the thing that we've got to get first is we got to get people off. We've got to get them free from the natural intimidation that says they couldn't be a false teacher. They've got a Bible. They say they love Jesus. They cry occasionally. They've got a giant church and it has to be true because I know they're born again. And they really can be born again and still be a false teacher and end up at the end of the race, not in the faith. Though through the process, as they're beginning to turn into darkness, they're still in the faith for a season until there's a point when they exit the faith. But that process may take a decade or two. And so some of the time when they're promoting their false teaching, they genuinely are born again at that time. It's real. Says Roman numeral one, the greatest enemy of the church. And I would, and I have written later, the greatest human enemy. I mean, the greatest enemy of the church is Satan or sin. But the greatest human enemy. Worse than, you know, militant Islam that will rise up against the church. The greatest enemy against the church is actually within it. Sheep and wolves clothing. I said it backwards, didn't I? Wolf and sheep's clothing. There you go. Yes, there you go. I said it right when I corrected it. Okay, let's read it. Second Peter chapter two, verse one to three. There are, there were also false prophets among the people. That's something about the Old Testament. The people meant the Old Testament times. And he says, in the same way there were prophets in the Old Testament, false prophets in the Old Testament day, even so, even as there will be in its future tense, false prophets among you. Although he makes it clear later on the chapter, they're there right now in the present tense. So it's future and present, but plenty of other verses make clear that the false teachers are present all through church history. But there is a great increase in the generation the Lord returns. Here's what they do. They will secretly, and that's the key phrase we looked at in the last session, secretly, it's subtle. That's, they're subtle. They're not blatant about their deception. And I think that many of them are not aware they're in deception. And I, possibly in some areas, they, they understand they're not being straightforward. But in other areas, they're, they are themselves deceived, particularly in the arena of immorality, in the arena of covetousness. Now the place where they, false teachers are, they know they're speaking falsehood, it's like I mentioned the other day, you know, it's the national talk shows and the big famous ministries get on and the guy says, will people go to hell if they don't believe in Jesus? And all, and I've seen a few guys or gals hold the line, but almost all of them cough and, you know, kind of turn red and they come up with some answer that's less than truth. And I believe they know they're giving it and they're, hopefully, they feel horrible afterwards about it. That's, that's a false teaching. If a person does that enough times, they are a false teacher, even though they themselves have a living faith. That's false teaching to do that. But to take a stand and to say, yes, they will go to hell, you'll get in a lot of heat. If you take a public, a big national platform on a, you know, a national television thing, interview, and you hold the line, you will get an incredible amount of heat. And very few of them do it. Mostly they stumble and they deny the Lord. They, they deny the absolute importance of His death when they make those statements. That's a form of denying the Lord, for sure. There's forgiveness for it, but it is a form of denying the Lord. Now, in that way, false teachers typically know they're stumbling out of the fear of man. Afterwards, they're pretty much aware that they didn't do right. But the other type of false teaching in the arena of money, in the arena of morality, and the lack of humility, I'm, I'm, I'm assuming that a lot of them are genuinely deceived by what they're teaching. That it's opposite of what the testimony of Scripture is. And, of course, if you read the Word and give yourself to the Word, it's obvious. But having been in the ministry for 30 years, I can assure you this, there's many, many preachers who don't pray and read the Word, except for to get a few little stories to give to their congregation. My point isn't, I'm trying to be negative on a bunch of preachers. That's not my point. My point is because somebody has a congregation doesn't mean that they're committed to the Word. They'll secretly bring in or subtly bring in destructive heresies. They will even deny the Lord who bought them. These are men and women who have been bought by the blood of the Lamb. They are born again. They've been purchased by His blood. It's important that you understand that. Because if they're inside the church, it's a far greater problem. If it's the false teachers, you know, the cults, if it's the Jehovah Witnesses and the Christian science, or if it's the Eastern religions, well, that's a whole other matter. But Peter's not talking about them. He's talking about people in the church. He says, and they're gonna bring upon themselves swift destruction. So young people that are enamored by some of these ministries understand they will bring, they are bringing upon themselves the judgment of God. Do not be enamored by that which God is not approving. No matter how big the crowd, how much the gold glitters. Peter said they're bringing swift destruction upon themselves by the way that they are conducting their ministries. Verse 2, And many will follow their destructive ways. So they have large ministries, some of them. Large ministries. Multitudes are following them. The size of a person's ministry is absolutely no indication to the truthfulness of what they're preaching. Some people get so excited if a ministry grows fast. I've heard it over the years. That place is growing so fast, it is amazing the favor of God's on it. And I don't instantly assume because something is growing, a ministry is growing fast, it is the favor of God. It can just as easily be, it's man-pleasing and it's tickling ears and it's removing the offense of the gospel and making people feel good about the relationship with God even though it's deception. Many ministries grow fast on that basis. Verse 2, Many will follow their destructive ways. And because of these false teachers that are in the church, the way of the truth is blasphemed. And what that means is they produce a certain quality of lifestyle in the hearers that are, they claim the name of Jesus and these hearers live non-christian lifestyles and the unbelievers ridicule the gospel of Jesus. The gospel is blasphemed because of the fruit of the lifestyle of these false teachers. It's not only the false teachers themselves but it's what they produce in the church. The way of the truth is blasphemed, meaning unbelievers say if they're Christians I want nothing to do with it. Verse 3, By covetousness these teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. And for a long time their judgment has not been idle, their destruction does not slumber. Now that's a phrase that was familiar in Peter's day. What's happening is these teachers are, it looks as though things, their ministries are getting bigger and better. Maybe God's not so concerned. Maybe it's not an issue with God. They assume because things are going well that the judgment of God, just a phrase here, has fallen asleep because God is standing back in patience, watching them, giving them a chance to repent. And he's giving the people a chance. He's testing the people as well. It's in Deuteronomy 18 where God says this. He says, When a false prophet gets raised up in the land and the false prophets words come to pass, the words come to pass, he says, is it not to test my people to see if they will love the Lord with all their heart? Some of these will actually have accurate words. They'll have a certain momentum about them and the Lord will give a chance so that the false teacher or prophet has a chance to repent because God loves them. But he also, there's a dual purpose. He's allowing the body to have to exercise discernment. He's testing them to see if they love him. That's what it says in Deuteronomy 18. And Peter says, Don't worry. He tells the false prophets. Of course, they're not listening to him or the false teachers. I mean, they're not paying attention to Peter. But the people are. He goes, They assume because things are going on well, the judgment of God is idle or it's fallen asleep. And they have no idea that this thing is real in the sight of God right now. It is not idle in the presence of God. God is angry at what they're doing to the church. Well, if God's so angry, why are they filling up so many buildings? And there's a verse I don't have here. Ecclesiastes chapter 8 verse 11. It says that because the judgment of God, the sentence of God's judgment is not executed quickly, because the sentence of judgment is not executed quickly, the ungodly take it to heart and say, Hey, there is no judgment. They assume, that's Ecclesiastes 8.11, they assume the judgment of God has fallen asleep, which means it is no longer operative in the sight of God. It's idle. It's of no effect. It's sleeping. God, He got distracted. He's not concerned anymore. Peter says, Don't think for a moment that it has fallen asleep because your ministry is growing. God's giving you a chance to repent, false teacher. And he's testing the body of Christ if they will use their discernment. And they will cling to the Word of God even though there's a certain momentum in their geographic area with this ministry. And I want to encourage you not to get overzealous or zealous in an inappropriate way. You are not the one called in the body of Christ to go name everyone who's right and wrong. I'd really urge you not to do that. I'm clear in my spirit about a number of false teachers. I don't know that I possibly have mentioned them to close friends privately. I don't remember having ever done that. Maybe I've done it once or twice and I've forgotten. I'm the type that typically forgets when I do bad and remember and exaggerate when I do good. That's how my memory works because I'm a fallen man. So I'm not positive what I'm saying is true, but that is, but I know that I've never said it publicly. And I think that's important because you can get zealous and in our zeal begin, then it's really even about ourselves. We want to be the, you know, the the lone prophet who knows who will take a stand that will call on fire on everyone. And the Lord saying, no, I didn't tell you to do that either. Just embody the truth and preach the truth and let me take care of those guys. Unless I've given you a specific assignment and then again you go through all the steps of Matthew 18, go to them in private. If they won't let you go to them in private, well then you're off the hook. You knock on the door, they don't let it. You just wait until the Lord opens the door. Paragraph A, 2nd Peter and Jude are parallel passages. They are among the weightiest chapters in the whole Bible because they're warning of eternal judgment on teaching ministries that are among the church. Beloved, I can't think of anything more severe than that. I mean, it's not just judgment, it's judgment on popular teaching ministries within the body of Christ. A terrifying subject. Paragraph B, I want to stress this point again because without this point, you lose the urgency of these chapters. These are born again people. If they're not born again and if it's the Eastern religions or the cults, then we can relax. He's not talking about those. He's talking about people within the body of Christ. That brings it to a whole other level. This brings it, again, our natural timidity, our natural disposition is to assume if it's a big growing ministry, they got the Word of God and they say Jesus, you know, fairly regularly, that everything is solid. Nowhere in the Bible did it say if they say the name Jesus and they grow their ministry, they're solid. It says judge them by their fruit. A lot of false religions say the name Jesus. Islam talks about Jesus being a prophet. Many false religions talk about Jesus. Peter said, they are among you. They're among the church and they deny the Lord who bought them. They are purchased by the blood of Jesus. He goes on later in verse 13, he says, they are carousing in their own deceptions while they are feasting with you. They're at the fellowship dinners. They're a normal part of the community of the body of Christ. They're at the fellowship dinners on a regular basis. Jude touches the same point. They are spots and he means blemishes, negatives. You know, if you got a nice white shirt on, you got a big spot on it. It's like that's something's wrong. That's what he means. They're spots, they're stains, blemishes in your love feast while they feast with you. They have no fear of God when they feast with you. They are such a part of that community of believers. Paragraph C, they are those who have forsaken the right way. The way that they once embraced. Look how it says in verse 15, they have forsaken the right way and gone astray. To have forsaken the right way implies clearly they've embraced it and now they've turned on that which they once embraced. The verse 2nd Peter chapter 2, for if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus, so they've escaped the pollutions of the world, these false teachers, through the knowledge of Jesus as their Savior and if they are again entangled in the pollutions of the world and if they are overcome by the pollutions of the world, again we're not talking about a struggle, a temporary lapse. I don't know a believer who doesn't have a lapse somewhere in the things they're committed to. Whether thought, word, or deed. We're not talking about a lapse. We're not talking, and I'm not making light of that, but there's forgiveness. That's why we have a Savior. I'm talking about they're overcome which means they've incorporated that ungodly value into their everyday lifestyle. That's what overcome means. They have accepted it as part of their lifestyle. They've made peace with that sin and that's a negative thing. They've said, I'm not warring against it. You know what? I'm just gonna do it this way for now. That's what it means to be overcome again. To be overcome with the pollutions of the world. I know what it means to come up short and to sin and to stumble in my life and I know what it means to stand up and war against it and yet to stumble again. That's a very different thing than being overcome. Overcome again means you could decide to yield to it as a as an issue in your life. It becomes a part of your accepted lifestyle before God. You've made peace. You've decided you're not declaring war on the issue anymore because I don't want to raise the right standard and then have you apply it in your sincerity in a wrong way and then all of a sudden you think you're the false teacher. It's the real sincere ones who do this who don't have a foundation in the scripture. Whenever I you know give a kind of message like this there's always that five or ten percent they've they're so sincere with the Lord they're just you know they come up they want to get born again. You are born again. It's not gonna help you. I love your sincerity. Don't go there because you're you're denying many other important things like the grace of God. You are born again. You're weak. You're immature. Hang in there. Don't don't don't overreact to this in a in an inappropriate way and the sincere if they're young in the Lord that they sometimes do that but it's not so bad because in a you know in my years of ministry I look back in a couple days they typically go that was just a crazy emotion and I think you know what you don't need to go on that you know that kind of intimidation fear thing every time you hear a fiery message. You can be secure in the grace of God. You can know that you know that you're in the grace of God. Anyway let's keep going on this. For if they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus and again are entangled and overcome the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. They are worse because their conscience is seared. That's why they're in worse shape. Verse 21. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness because these are men and women that know the way of righteousness. It would have been better for them to not have known it than to have known it and then turned from it. These are clearly born-again people. I've seen you know because I got my fair share of commentaries and I've read the commentators and I like you know sometimes that some of these guys who are very sincere and brilliant stuff in some of their comment their books commentaries but they really dance on this. It's really hard to make this person somebody who was never saved and I've seen them really try. They've escaped the pollutions of the world to the knowledge of Jesus their Savior. Well they wasn't really saved. What they were was well they were in the ministry and they were thinking about being saved. You know it's just really difficult to make this a non-saved person. So just settle it. It's somebody who's saved and they're far worse off having been saved and known the way and escaped the pollution of the world and then to renounce it being swept away in their darkness and it's a progressive it takes some time to do this. It's not like one weekend they make a decision that's over. I mean it's over. Their heart is little by little calloused and the reason it's worse for them because their heart is permanently calloused when they get to the place of denying their faith at the end. Paragraph D. Many false teachers have a large following within the church. They gain a following by flattering people and by promising the people liberty from their problems. Now there are there is liberty from some of our problems in this age but a lot of the promises are overstated and out of context and they make it as though the whole point of why Jesus came to so you can have more friends more money and more comfort right now and that's not mostly why Jesus came. There are promises of God that pertain to having more honor more money and more comfort in this life but the fullness of those promises are for the age to come. There's a there's a down payment of those promises in this age and what false teachers do is they bring it to an inappropriate application and they got and that which is has truth in it it's sum total is a false teaching. They have true precepts but by the emphasis in the presentation the context of it the presentation of it is a false teaching. Here's what it says. Verse 2. Many will follow their destructive ways. We've already looked at that verse a minute ago. They mouth great swelling words. To mouth them means to preach them. Great swelling words. I mean words of promise is the idea. Flattering people and the reason they do this is to gain the money from the people. To gain an advantage from them. The advantage more times than not is financial. Sometimes it's to gain the person's influence you know to win the person over so they'll open a door for you but at the end of the day that's about finances. It's about getting a door open so you get more money. Let me read verse 16 again because this happens often in the body of Christ among non among non false teachers. Just this is called carnality where we speak swelling words that flatter people so they will like us so they'll open a door for us. That doesn't mean you're a false teacher if you do that because many people that are just carnal do that and they're not of the status of a false teacher. We don't want to speak flattering words great swelling words to open doors for our ministry. That's that's that's called lying. Happens all the time and particularly in the prophetic ministry because the people operating the prophetic ministry they they have that extra little dimension of saying God told me and well somebody goes well I don't know if God told you or not that's a subjective thing how can we tell God told me hey brother the Lord will say unto thee and the whole point is to flatter them so they'll open a door for you and Peter said that's really wrong to do that. God sees it and that's what false teachers do as a lifestyle. Don't even flirt with that. Don't even start there. Renounce it if you do it because that's the that's the way a false teacher begins. Verse 19 They promise the people liberty. They're talking about liberty from their problems. They promise the people liberty from the things that oppress them and these false teachers are themselves slaves of corruption. He goes here are these slaves of darkness promising people the freedom in the blessing of God. He goes how can a slave of corruption be the mouthpiece of the liberty in the blessing of God? He goes there's a contradiction. It's a fundamental contradiction. They don't live in the liberty of it themselves. On the inside they might have great circumstantial blessing or great circumstantial increase but he says there there's a there's a fundamental contradiction because on the inside they're living in corruption but on the outside they're promising you if you participate in their ministry you will have liberty economically physically financially spiritually you will enter in if you will just lay hold of them. Let's go to paragraph E. Now the more we get go through this the more common the profile is quite common in the body of Christ today. Paragraph E. They are subtle in the way they distort and deny the grace of God. I've mentioned this. Number one these false teachers they secretly bring in destructive heresies and the heresies again I mentioned that just by repetition part of the heresies are in doctrine meaning well you know that the most common one by far the most common one if you mean if we don't believe in Jesus just we don't can't go to heaven well God loves everybody in his own way and well I mean you gotta believe in Jesus sort of I mean you know yeah sort of anyway it's it that's heresy but the heresies don't are not just in the in the issue of doctrine the heresies are in the promotion of lifestyles they're out there that reject and neglect the Sermon on the Mount. Paragraph F. We'll read the verse from Jude because remember Jude and 2nd Peter 2 are parallel they you could put them together and get the whole picture of what the two are you know what the Spirit is saying between the two apostles most of it overlaps but each of them have that extra little phrase or two that it's unique to them Jude said writing under the same burden that Peter was I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith to fight for it to fight for the faith that was once for all delivered to the Saints in other words fight for the faith the presentation of the gospel and the power that Jesus and the Apostles presented now we've used this verse a lot at IHOP there's several different ways that you contend for the faith I don't want going to go into that right now but one of the ways we contend earnestly for the power that the Apostles operated and that's part of our faith is to operate in power we do that through prayer and fasting and laying hands on the sick and prophesying etc etc but we also contend for the faith we fight for it in terms of a pure presentation of the message that Jesus and the Apostles presented and there is no clearer message in terms of lifestyle there's no clearer message than the Sermon on the Mount it's meant to be understood as the summary message of God's heart in terms of our lifestyle and we have no right to reduce that message to please people and the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5 6 & 7 is the standard of which all kingdom ministry is evaluated by when we stand before God you don't have to use the phrase Sermon on the Mount you don't even have to use Matthew 5 6 & 7 because the same principles are from Genesis to Revelation I mean the principles are the whole Bible you find them all kinds of places but never so succinctly and never so so purely presented as when Jesus did on the Mount he laid the Sermon out that is the message by which authentic ministry is judged by at the throne of God am I living the Sermon on the Mount in secret and am I producing it in the people who hear my ministry obviously the Lord produces it but is the so is the seed that I'm sowing does it make people hungry for the eight beatitudes is the seed that I'm sowing does it make people want to resist the six negative things of Matthew chapter 5 the anger and the lust and the covenant breaking and those things in Matthew chapter 5 does it make people want to embrace the five things of Matthew 6 the fasted lifestyle when people hear you do they want to say no to the six negatives yes to the five positives and do they want to live in those eight beatitudes if they do then your ministry is having fruit it doesn't matter the size it's making impact if you're if you got a large number of people following you but people are not they're not signing up for the Sermon on the Mount lifestyle beloved that is not gonna stand in the presence of God that's the faith that was once for all delivered to us by the Apostles in the days of old and Jesus the chief Apostle himself paragraph G if the first priorities of the kingdom become secondary this is the big issue the first priorities of the kingdom become secondary then truth is distorted the first priorities of the kingdom or meekness and love and obedience and purity those inward things the inward things are is not the whole message of the kingdom there are the outward things for sure but with the outward things become primary and the inward things become secondary it is distortion when the inward things are primary in the second and the outward things those outward circumstantial blessings are secondary and those outward circumstantial blessings actually motivate us to an inward righteousness then we're in divine order we're in kingdom order when it's reversed it's it's a distortion of truth and almost always when it's reversed it's not like this outward blessings are first and inward blessings are second inward blessings of purity and righteousness are like number ten they get way down when they're not number one they're way at the bottom of the list more times than not and that is clearly I want you to understand this that is called false teaching in the Bible does it mean that a ministry can't be emphasizing something for three months or six months you know in a 10-year teaching ministry or 20-year you know some maybe a ministry to over here there are is really focusing on the outward things for three four five six months you don't write them off you don't you know take one little section out of their ministry and judge them you don't want to be a judge anyway just want to make sure you're not doing it that's the real issue you don't want you want to make sure you're not supporting it again I don't have enough energy to pay to figure myself out let alone figure out who's right and who's wrong in the body of Christ I'm a big enough mess and I take enough time just to keep me I was gonna say straight or trying to be you know it's just a lot of work and I'm sure the same is true for you here's what John said he said it brilliantly in paragraph G 2nd John 2 he said I pray that you prosper in all things in other words the outward the outward circumstantial blessings I want you to prosper all things this is the will of God it really is a being health but according to how your soul is prospering according to the meekness of the purity being worked on the inside of you and if we take out that second part of that verse we end up with a distortion okay paragraph J I've already said all that let's go to I now I've said this a number of times so I don't want to spend much time on this so but I just want to give you a little list of verses there 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 Paul said know this that the day of the Lord won't come until the falling away comes and why is the falling away going to come the falling away is going to come because there's going to be false teachers there's going to be false teachers that are going to be being used of the enemy in the falling of the way I mean there's going to be a lot of pressures but false teachers are going to make a way for many people to deny the Lord I'm talking about mega church ministries certainly not all of them many mega church ministries are are in the vein of what God's doing and many of them aren't and I don't know which are which are because I don't know most of them in the world but at large men and women with large teaching ministries will be used of the enemy to set up the situation for the falling away they'll make it they'll present the truth in a way that will make the multitudes go well you know I guess it's okay if we kind of don't hold the line on this point you know so-and-so they're really famous and well known they must know and they take their liberty and they compromise they end up falling away first Timothy for the Spirit expressively says that in the last two latter times some will depart from the faith they're gonna pay attention to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons they're gonna speak lies and hypocrisy now a doctrine of demons isn't just a doctrine about demons a doctrine of demons is a doctrine that a demon has inspired the logic of it in the mind of the teacher it's not a doctrine about demons it's a doctrine where a demon whispers in our ear so to speak and the ear of the teacher and motivates them and the logic and persuades them with motivation to push the thing heavy it's what a doctrine of demons look at the next one 2nd Timothy 4 for the time will come they will not endure sound doctrine isn't that a heavy word the word endure sound doctrine the Sermon on the Mount and that's not the whole of sound doctrine but that's just the one I'm focusing on here sound doctrine must be endured meaning sound doctrine challenges us to the core sound doctrine calls us to deny ourself into go contrary to our flesh and there is an element of endurance of which sound doctrine requires but the day is coming and beloved the day is now is well I would venture to say a large percentage of the body of Christ in our nation cannot endure the Sermon on the Mount they cannot endure preaching on the Sermon on the Mount once a year maybe but not not an insistence not a repetitious pressing it to its logical conclusions in our lifestyle most the body of Christ in our nation cannot endure that type of presentation of Christianity and that's the only kind of Christianity that's real the other is no Christianity at all even though they use Christian terms look what it says it says the time will come they won't the bot talking about the people who claim to be Christian that that's who the day that they are people who claim to love the Bible they will not endure sound doctrine but according to their own desires that was they have their own agenda they have itching ears they will look for teachers they will heap up for themselves teachers which what's what that means they'll get a whole array of teachers that will teach exactly what their agenda is when you heap up teachers oh I've got this guy here and this guy here a whole list of them they are all my favorites why why have you heaped up this big list of favorite teachers because they're all the ones that are enforcing using the Bible and confirming to me what all of my personal lustful agendas are they prove to me from the Bible I'm right and I can have them that's what he's talking about he says they're going to have their own desires are gonna heap up teachers I mean get this big you know big stack of teachers as big stack of books that affirm them in their carnal ways because these books are filled with Bible verses that tell them they can keep doing what they're doing and what Paul says they have itching ears you know what an itching ear is an itching ear just imagine somebody just tickles your ear just go ahead the person next to you just kind of like make sure you know but uh somebody tickles your ear and it kind of annoys you and what happens when when your ear gets tickled you have to act it it craves to be scratched it craves a response and what it says is they have itching ears they demand they demand to have their ears are crying out I need more Bible verses to back up my lifestyle because an itching ear has to be scratched it has to it demands a response it doesn't want to just be tickled you know it'd drive you crazy go ahead and again take a look at right there here's what it says in verse 4 they will turn their ears away from truth and why are they turning their ears away from truth because they were actually in the truth for a season they actually had their heart turned towards the truth for a season they have now turned their errors away from the truth it's a it's a process of time look what it says in Timothy 3 2nd 73 know this in the last days perilous times will come men will be lovers of themselves lovers of money lovers of pleasure now this isn't just men in society this is men in in organized religion it's not is he's not talking about society per se is talking about people that have a form of religion a form of godliness the general people society have no form of religion they're not claiming to be religion there they're not claiming to walk in godliness and obey God so you you misapply this verse if you think of it is just the trends of evil in society there's plenty of verses on that and certainly this first includes that but that's not the strength of what Paul saying I mean the trends of society certainly many of unbelievers will be doing this that's not what he's talking about he's talking about men that are claiming to walk in godliness in the sight of God they will have a form of it they'll have no power these men will creep into households that what's you know creep into households what on earth does that mean that means they will manipulate through their Bible teaching an open door and entry into households to creep into a household means it's not a straightforward it's it's a manipulative way to get an open door these are Bible teachers and they will make captives of gullible women there's plenty of gullible men as well and here's here's the characteristic of these men and these gullible women they're always learning they've got their Bibles out they've got their tape recorders they got a stack of books they got their notepads and they're always taking notes to learn more these are religious men they have a form of being godly and some of them are in the body of Christ and others of them are in other religions this isn't limited the body of Christ but certainly it's part it's gonna happen in the last days in the body of Christ 2nd Peter know this first scoffers will come in the last days and the main thing they're gonna scoff is the teaching on the second coming and these scoffers will mostly come from within the body of Christ the unbelievers don't mock the second coming they they don't think about it much the mocking on the second coming comes from mostly not only but mostly within the church and Jude says the same thing mockers will come in the last days let's go to Roman rule to false teachers now they're gonna deny the Lord we know they did they deny the Lord in their doctrines of salvation again by the most prominent example that I give is most false teachers that are born again they don't say Jesus they don't lie about Jesus being God or not most false teachers in the body of Christ will still say Jesus is God that's not false teaching in Eastern religions will say he's not God but within the the body of Christ I've never heard I've never seen a person with a large ministry stand up in the church and say Jesus is not God that's not where the false teaching comes there the number one false doctrine is that you don't have you don't need Jesus to be saved and there's a number of others but that's such that's so prominent and that's more and more that's happening today or that hell isn't real if hell isn't real Jesus died for nothing he became human can you imagine can you imagine the extremity of God becoming human something is so out of order and so intense for God to determine the need to become human something is so off that he had to become human beloved that is beyond exaggeration how how drastic that is and it's only surpassed by one other point that's even equally and even more drastic this human man who's fully God is crushed by the wrath of God God crushes him with his wrath the extremity of the situation for him to become human and then to get crushed by the wrath of God and to say there is no point for that that he didn't really have to do that that there's no hell anyway and we all go to the same place absolute heresy it was required and it was the most extreme situation that's ever existed in history and we thank him for it and we're not wiser than God trying to say well that was just a little extreme he didn't really need to do that absolutely he did not do that or we would be banned forever in the lake of fire away from the presence of a holy God absolutely necessity for Jesus to become human and get crushed by the wrath of God well we deny the Lord not just by doctrines we deny the Lord by our lifestyle and by lifestyle teaching and I guess lifestyle teaching is a doctrine of sorts too but I'm talking about the doctrines of salvation but there's you know that's one way but now the doctrines of lifestyle and the three main ways and I've just got them all here we don't have to go through them all in any depth I just laid them out for you covetousness is clearly number one we just don't like to push this point of covetousness Jesus pushed it you know I did a bit of studying over the years on how many times Jesus approached the subject of covetousness he was intense about it because he knew covetousness would spoil a person's heart it would ruin their I mean it would it would it would defile their spirit he didn't preach in covetousness like just say hey hang in there you know it's better if you don't do it he's saying no this will defile you this will quench your spirit this will cause your love of the Word of God to be extinguished covetousness it's a serious serious defiling diminishing dark thing that touches our spirit it must be resisted covetousness is just as powerful as immorality and pride is those are the three biggies that Peter well all the Bible talks about but covetousness is normally the one we stay away from we normally touch immorality a little bit we stay away from pride and covetousness although we hit pride as long as you're never specific about it just pride is bad everybody will praise God we agree with that just don't get any more specific than that we'll be fine with it it says this paragraph B by covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words now to exploit means to manipulate you they will teach you the Bible or teach whoever for the for the express means of getting people to buy into ideas so that they can make money from them it's called exploiting them Peter said they're manipulating them now these teachers are not disinterested teachers they are highly motivated entrepreneurs they I mean you use you cancel out one of their gigs you cancel out one of their conferences they are really upset this is not these are not kind of mild kind of casual they are highly motivated fundraisers for their personal lives they're not raising it just for their for their ministry they want it for themselves their personal life here's what Peter said they will just they will exploit you with deceptive words you know what the word which the Greek for deceptive words is it's called the fabricated words you know what that really means they make up stories deceptive words means they make up stories well this one time me and the Lord and he told me this and I told him that and beloved you're the one that's gonna get blessed it's a totally made up story take my money preacher as long as I get to touch you and you get them and the anointing comes on me like the amount of deception and manipulation going on the body of Christ in America on this kind of issue and it's deceptive words the guy made up the stories what Peter said it's not even true don't be exploited by it they're hawking a product they're looking for the best deal to sell you their thing to enhance their personal economic status he goes down and Peter's same verse I mean Peter is like really to the point isn't it I mean Peter's like whoa this guy was intense they have a heart trained in covetousness they're experts they're trained they're experts beloved they're good at it they're trained at it they're sophisticated in the way to move another person to give them money they're trained in it they're experts in it they have forsaken the right way we already looked at verse earlier they're there they're in the way but they have forsaken it the money thing that they've seen the potential for money and they think man this is intense I've been in ministry now full-time ministry for 30 years and I have seen many many a good guy in his 20s and 30s a couple gals as well and they found out they had a little bit of zip in their ministry they could get a crowd a little crowd but a little bit of energy and it was amazing within five and ten years I've seen a number of them with the ability to get a little bit of momentum it's amazing that within a five or ten year period it doesn't normally happen in a year they turn and they get consumed about getting that room full and getting that money flying and they become false teachers though they still might be born again at that point in time and they might even end up born again they may not ever deny their faith but their works their ministry will their works will be burned at the judgment seat of Christ and some of them will go further on and actually deny their faith but I don't not all false teachers deny their faith but their ministries have no fruitfulness at the judgment seat what they do is they follow the way of Balaam if you want to read about Balaam read numbers 21 to 24 numbers 21 to 24 Balaam was a Jewish prophet who was anointed of God and when the children of Israel went to the country right next door to Moab Moab is right next door I mean literally just right state line is touching right there and when the children of Israel were next to the to Moab the king of Moab said okay Balaam come over here because I know I'm the enemy but I tell you what you're supposed to prophesy against me but I'll give you money I'll pay you well if you will prophesy against Israel and and I won't go into the whole story it's a very interesting story but it's more than interesting because Balaam is used over and over well I mean he's used by I don't want to exaggerate it he's used by Peter and he's also used by Jude as an example he's used also in the other places as well in the in the New Testament two or three places where he's alluded to let's say it that way where here's what the king of Moab wanted to do we want you to use your anointing in a way that's contrary to God's purposes but will pay you well use your influence use whatever you can get going in the grace of God or whatever power you could look like you have or or and he operated in sorcery and he also operated in the true anointing but the thing that moved Balaam as he started off I'm assuming real I mean straight but over the years he turned his heart he began to do it for money money was the first thing on his mind when he thought about his ministry it says that he he says Peter says these false teachers they go the way of Balaam it's a way it's a process the way of Balaam isn't an afternoon of Balaam it takes some years to go that way it's a way it's it's a progression look at Jude verse 11 woe to them they have run greedily somebody's false teachers Judas they have fallen into the air of Balaam and they've they've run into this way for profit they have figured out how they can make more money for their life and their consideration about ministry is more about money than it is about bringing people to the Sermon on the Mount now everybody says they bring people to Jesus I don't know any ministry who doesn't say they don't bring people to Jesus let's bring it a little more specific do we bring them to the Sermon on the Mount lifestyle in their devotion to Jesus that gets a little more specific verse 17 2nd Peter these Bible teachers who leave the truth they are wells without water meaning here's the here's the the the pictures the caravan you know has been traveling across the desert you know for a hundred miles and they're parched and their animals are about to collapse and their children are so parched with thirst and they've come across the desert and they see a well about a kind of a little mount there and they can see the distance and they're going oh we finally made it and they get to the well the well has no water in it and for a season it enticed them at a distance Peter says these ministries for a season they will entice you they will promise you water they have no water in them they will not refresh your spirit and righteousness they won't bring you into living contact living understanding with the Lord in a way the Word of God describes what a terrifying statement verse 18 they speak great swelling words of emptiness they allure through lust through lewdness and here's who they allure this is what's so grievous this is why you care about it for yourself but you care about it for your friends in the ones you love they allure the ones members of the body of Christ who have actually escaped they've actually escaped from the people who live in air you know what the ones who have actually escaped for the people of the air that's called new converts they go after these new converts or they go after these people they don't have to be new converts but they vote they go after the people that actually escaped their former lifestyles and these false teachers promise them Liberty breakthrough well these false teachers are themselves slaves of corruption look at this principle for by whom a person is overcome by him he is also brought into bondage what a statement if you are overcome by the persuasiveness of a false teacher you are been brought into bondage by that false teacher if I point somebody to a wrong ministry and that person is overcome by that ministry was what I mean by that that person just gives themselves to that way and it's not the true way of the Lord Peter says by whom it doesn't say by what a person is overcome because you would think it would say by what a person's overcome like a sinful vice but it's saying by the ministry that overcomes you if it's false that ministry has brought you into spiritual bondage because the people that get overcome in that they find it hard to break free from the bondage of that wrong thinking I know lots of folks that I see that are they are in bondage to wrong they're into complete mindsets and paradigms that are contrary to the Sermon on the Mount and if you touch it they say legalism false teaching they are in bondage to it they've been overcome by it well we already read this verse already they mouth great swelling words flattering people but look what Paul says I slip Paul in here second Corinthians Paul for we are not so as so many and it's the word so many that oh my good these others the many of them they peddle the Word of God they're hawking it on the street they're peddling it they're in the ministry not only for money but mostly for money they peddle the Word of God and Paul says many of them do this many of them are like this okay I'm gonna just run through the rest of this it's real fast see you can read through this on your own the false teachers they deny the Lord through sensuality and immorality which is the same thing the point I want to make on this not only do the false teachers live this way in private the false teachers they don't necessarily blatantly tell people to do it but the spiritual atmosphere of their ministry does not forbid immorality the spiritual atmosphere of it I'm not saying they all get up and say be immoral but the whole environment is such that immorality is not a problem look what it says here in verse 12 these men are like brute beasts they will perish in their corruption they have verse 14 they have eyes of adultery look at Jude down there these dreamers they defile the flesh whatever they know naturally like brute beasts and these things they corrupt themselves they have here's what it means by brute beast it's pretty it's pretty bad that their whole view of why sex has been created is for temporary gratification of their flesh and that's why having multiple partners doesn't strike them as odd because it doesn't strike a brute beast as odd because they see no beauty and no glory and no higher purpose in the sanctity of sexual activity they see it like a brute beast it's a momentary pleasure there's no higher reason for it than that and that's why the the proliferation of activities and partners and means and ways doesn't trouble them because they think and they have logic like a brute beast they can't see the glory the beauty and the sanctity of this great gift of the human race paragraph D won't develop this but they're proud they're rebellious they have here he's talking about they're not afraid to speak against dignitaries says in verse 10 they are presumptuous self-willed they're not afraid to speak against dignitaries that means angelic dignitaries that means angels and what it means actually is fallen angels who are dignitaries meaning they are not afraid to stand before Satan or the stand before principalities and powers and to rail them to kind of show their bravado and their boldness and and and and Peter and Jude said you could read both of them together Jude says even Michael the archangel would not talk to Satan that way Michael the archangel would not rail Satan who was an angelic dignitary who fell he only said the Lord rebuke you nothing more nothing less he didn't show himself as you know the man of the hour filled with power I'm not afraid of anything and they move into these realms that they know it says it both for Jude and Peter they they speak of things they have no knowledge of with arrogance and with accusing spirits it's about angels and fallen angels he goes don't go there walk in meekness just use the name of Jesus and don't this isn't a show of your power and a show of your great authority this is about the Lord's purpose when we deal with principalities and powers it's not about us and these false teachers love to make a show of their spiritual power and their spiritual knowledge Roman numeral three now look at this verse I know you probably you've read it the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah Roman numeral three the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah guess what the sin of Sodom was pride abundance of food idleness and they wouldn't give any money to people in need the sin of Sodom was they were proud they ate too much and they were lazy and they kept all the money for themselves and that always leads to other things that's a really interesting verse Roman numeral four all I want to say is this is that he gives Peter gives three examples angels in verse 4 fallen angels then the ancient world in verse 5 and then the Sodom and Gomorrah verse 6 he gives three examples of people who had the blessing of God and lost it and they ended up in judgment and Peter's point is if these three situations originally had the blessing of God but they lost it and they ended up in judgment so will the false teachers but even more specifically so will you it's like whoa Peter's saying no this for sure if the angels if the entire world in Noah's day and if these cities that were greatly blessed and all the the the plushness and prosperity of their our circumstances lot chose the cities because they were so prosperous had the blessing of God on them he said if they ended up in destruction surely these false teachers will too and surely so will you if you go the way it's like whoa tense that's his logic but he goes well don't go there all the way he goes let's look on the other side not only will God surely bring people who reject him into judgment God knows how to keep those that want him he knows how to keep them clean Noah and Lot Noah and Lot were right in the middle of trouble and he said God knows how to keep Noah and Lot away from deception you think it all this deception I'm gonna get swept away by no beloved God knew how to kept Noah and Lot he can keep you if you want to be kept he can keep you from deception and he can keep you from falling to the temptation of it and from for being tricked mentally and being swept away emotionally if you want to be kept you can be kept that's what this he's saying verse 9 is the whole point God knows how keep the godly if they want to be kept you don't need to live in fear you're gonna be swept away stay in your Bible stay committed to righteousness and stay in the body of Christ you're gonna be fine God did keep Noah and you think Noah and you think you got it tough how would you like to be locked he couldn't go he didn't go to church he was the only guy in the city who didn't have a near more a demon of immorality I mean there was no fellowship there was no Bible Noah had no fellowship there was no Bible God kept these men you know you know a thousand to one odds I don't mean odds I'm not thousand wasn't the right number they had they were so the minority but God kept them if you're in the minority God will still keep you if you want to be kept Roman numeral five I just give some of the destructive influences these are really every one of these phrases are filled with meaning obviously we're not gonna go there but at least take a little look at them and say Lord go get a commentary and open up and say show me what some of these things mean amen let's stand