Spiritual Error is Rampant - II Peter 2

Misinterpretation of the scripture is rampant in today’s society
This whole second chapter was written to warn us about false teachers.

I was born and raised in the northern edge of rice country and that means there were a lot of flat lands, low elevation, swamps and big mosquitoes. How big were they? Some could stand flat-footed on the ground and eat out of a wagon bed. Well, nearly. In flat country, section lines run straight and most roads follow the section lines. When it is rice country most of the timber has been removed and one can stand at a cross-road and watch traffic traveling east and west for several miles in the distance.

The level land orientation as a youth gets the credit for me being able to have an inherent knowledge of direction. In all my travels down through the years I invariably knew when I was going in the right direction. The things that have caused some problems along the way are the mountainous areas. Mountains form an obstruction that prevents long range sight, and after I go around one side of one mountain then up and over another, I have lost my direction. Living on the river has not helped. Roads on section lines that always run north and south help. Little Red River that takes the water from the water shed west of Clinton to the White River at Georgetown forgot to stay on sections lines and is deceiving. Water running down is not always running south. The truth is that it is running almost due west as it passes my house.

When we lose our way while traveling the interstate, state, county roads or unmarked pig trails, it will hardly ever be disastrous, although it is always an inconvenience. There is always more than one solution and something will usually work. We can check the map again; watch for known road signs or remembered landscapes, and we could stop and ask the man at the gas station or even a policeman. Finally, the extreme option could be to just go home. [If you can find the way]

When we loose our way along life’s spiritual journey toward heaven it becomes a more serious matter. There is only one bible sign that points in the right direction. There is only one spiritual message with the correct directions included. And there is only one dependable messenger [Not a cop] but Christ. Finally, the extreme option found in earthly travel—of just going back home is not available—we must go on home even if it is the one that is in a bad location with no electricity or water. The sad truth is that our culture today has many fine-sounding slogans that are delivering deadly spiritual messages. It makes no difference who the author is, or what church or spiritual group is sponsoring and approving the message—Peter labeled these messages as deception by False Teachers [2: 1-3]. Some of the phrases you will hear come from the New Age movement and other Liberal groups and cults and here are just a few of those I have heard in recent years.

· “It may be true for you, but not for me.”
A. Truth is truth and applies to every one.
· “All roads lead to God.”
A. Only one road and it is narrow and only a few find it.
· “All that matters is that you believe there is a God.”
` A. The Devil believes God is. We must believe IN god, repent & trust.
· “All that matters is that you believe in God.”
A. We must believe IN, but also repent, trust, submit to and live for him.
· “It doesn’t matter what you believe, so long as you are sincere.”
A. What if you sincerely believe in a God that does not exist?
· “Truth is relative.”
A. Truth is constant, and never changes and does not depend on what men think.
· “Absolute truth is fiction.” [That means you can play-like it is truth]
A. Absolute truth does exist as surely as God does. He is truth.
· “A literal burning hell does not exist.”
A Then where was the rich man when he begged for a drop of water for his tongue?
· “A loving God will not send good people to burn.”
A. That is true. God gave man freedom of choice; and so man decides…he makes his own choice to accept Christ or burn in hell. It is not God’s will that any should be lost. He gave his Son to prevent it.

There may be some who sincerely believe one or more of these errors to be truth—but they are heading in a tragically wrong direction. Each one of us…each individual has the responsibility to recognize spiritual error and stand for spiritual truth. Some of you may ask the question: “How can I know the truth?” Jesus said, “I am the truth.” Therefore, all you need is to know Jesus as your personal savior, and there is only one book that contains the instructions that each person must follow. That book is the Holy Bible which is the inspired word of God.

The insight that Peter had regarding the growth in the numbers of false teachers is a miracle in itself. He told us that the motivation behind the growth in false teachers is greed; and we know that one of the strongest influences toward sinful living and false teaching is the greedy desire of man for wealth and power. I hesitate to name individuals and ministries that are subject to question when it comes to preaching truth and nothing but truth for no other purpose than to lead sinners to know Christ, grow God’s church and glorify our Lord. Peter introduced this subject for our good and I believe that we should carefully examine any leader or movement before we become a part of the movement or support it in any way.

We have examples of many false teachers who have promised freedom and delivered slavery and death. One church story that is still hard to believe was started here in the USA by a pastor said to be an inspiring preacher and teacher that preached about God and even claimed the power to heal and perform miracles. The first most unbelievable thing was that he decided to move his church to another country—and most of his congregation went with him. This should have been the warning that they were following man and not God. Then 780 members of the Peoples Temple Christian Church trusted this false teacher [pastor] Jim Jones and joined him and each other in drinking Kool-Aid laced with cyanide poison and all died in vane. False teachers can and do exercise unbelievable power to control the minds of his/her followers.

The Dali Lama, exiled from his home land, has refuge in Chicago where his followers have constructed a throne for him. This was in the Arkansas paper, two weeks ago. He was said to have assured everyone that we are all headed for the same place. This is one of the most common errors being taught by false teachers—they will tell you that all roads lead home. If you believe this and live in Heber Springs—the next time you are in a hurry to get to Little Rock, take highway No. 5 North—you will save time and gas money.

In my opinion, the most dangerous of all false teachers are among the big name T V Evangelist that are promoting their personal ministries and that are not affiliated with any church body or movement that has any right or power to monitor the ministry in any way. With no attempt being made to rank the most questionable ones operating big-time, I simply suggest you think twice and hard before you send your hard earned money to promote any of the following: Note: The spelling of the proper names are guess-work, as I did not have time to search for proper spelling. If they spend more time begging for your money than they spend preaching…watch out!


Duplantis: This is a personal ministry based in Louisiana and not responsible to any denomination therefore free to use all monies received at his personal discretion. One of his egos is ownership of private jet planes with personal pilots. His message to his people is that if they will stuff his pockets and continue to make his lavish life-style possible, God will put two cars in their garage.

John Hagee: Claims to have been a Southern Baptist until he learned better. His ministry is not affiliated with any source that would be able to offer any kind of reasonable audit control. He has extensive knowledge of the Bible and was able to set himself up as a leader of people that can help them all become prosperous as he is. One of his greatest accomplishments is that he was a poor boy—done well, by requesting a huge plantation in Texas which God has blessed him with…using the gullible “Partner’s” money as capitol. One of his greatest interests is that he must sell more books and other personal writings.

Oral Roberts: Is one of the first to tell everyone about the importance of “Seed-Faith.” Now, seed are very important. No seed…no corn, or beans, or watermelon, not even a tomato and everyone knows that. Well, you gotta plant “Seed –faith in order to reap a harvest from God. These seed are made from paper [good grade] and green, and must be engraved with the words—“In God we trust”. And they gotta be planted in Tulsa Oklahoma soil in order to grow into a university and keep the family flying high. And of course, it doesn’t require a board or any kind of controlling officers to decide who will be the next pastor in charge of the church or president of the university…Oral can and did make that decision. All you need to do is just plant your “Dollar seed” in Oral’s pockets.

I listened to Joel Olsten this week. Someone asked him what denomination he was and he didn’t know. They asked if he was an evangelical and he admitted that he didn’t know what an evangelical is or was. He got his position as pastor of the largest church in North America from his dad. He doesn’t account to anyone and runs the whole show. [Note: Many of these very important pastors refer to their weekly programs as … SHOWS.] One good point…Joel gives an alter call at the end of each message. Many…in fact, most of these big timers do not have time to give an alter call.

Ed Young in Texas is a young modern preacher. He uses cantaloupes, fancy sports cars and bass boats to get your attention. He has a big church and needs money. keep growing, He does use the Bible some and quotes scripture and really does put on a pretty good show.