Deception: 2 Peter 2:10-16
In every generation there are those who stand up and speak for God with power, authority, and charisma. Many people are encouraged, persuaded, and become true believers of whatever the popular preacher says. Word begins to spread like wildfire, the YouTube channel blows up, he makes the podcast circuit, and what he says is clipped and shared on every platform imaginable like it is Holy Scripture itself. What is said? Well, let me give you a sample of what I’ve heard this past week.
“Who told you you can’t achieve your dreams? Your destiny is calling out. It is time to start living large!”
“I declare you debt free today, saith God!”
“It is as easy to get healed as it is to get forgiven.”
“99.9% of people are not bad people. They may make poor choices, but deep down, they’ve got a good heart.”
Each of these statements was spoken in the midst of a sermon by very successful preachers, very successful preachers. Because they are so popular, because they draw such huge crowds, every word they speak must be true, right?
There’s a commonality between those who lead people astray today and those who have been leading people astray throughout history. False teachers are highly skilled at giving the people what they want so the false teacher can get what he or she wants. Peter writes about this in our Scripture for this morning found in 2 Peter 2:10-16. Before we read our Scripture for this morning, I want to take you back to Jeremiah’s day, more than 600 years before Peter wrote about false teachers.
Jeremiah was a prophet in the southern kingdom of Judah where Jerusalem was the capital. Jeremiah was only one of many prophets who were at work in the city. As a matter of fact, Jeremiah was the least favorite of all of the prophets. The people loved the other prophets because they told them exactly what they wanted to hear. The Babylonians were on their way to destroy Jerusalem and carry the people of Jerusalem into exile in Babylon because of the sin of God’s people, but all of the prophets, except for Jeremiah were saying, “It’s going to be just fine. Don’t worry about anything.” They refused to even mention the word sin. Listen to just a snippet from Jeremiah 23.
15 Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says concerning the prophets: "I will make them eat bitter food and drink poisoned water, because from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land." 16 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They keep saying to those who despise me, 'The LORD says: You will have peace.' And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, 'No harm will come to you.' 18 But which of them has stood in the council of the LORD to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word? …21 I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people and would have turned them from their evil ways and from their evil deeds. (Jeremiah 23:15-18; 21-22 NIV)
Throughout God’s Word we see this same pattern. False teachers were such a concern in New Testament times that 26 of the 27 books of the New Testament talk about false teachers or false prophets. This should alert us to the reality that false teachers have been and will forever be a problem for God’s people. Let’s read our Scripture for this morning found in 2 Peter 2:10-16.
10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; 11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. 12 But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish. 13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. 14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed-- an accursed brood! 15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey-- an animal without speech-- who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. (2 Peter 2:10-16 NIV)
I read this past week that if Peter had written these words about false teachers in our day, no publisher would publish the article or book because it is too pointed, too harsh, too unkind. The publisher would tell Peter to do a rewrite, soften the language, and show more kindness. Why is Peter so fired up? That’s not a hard question to answer. Jesus, after His resurrection, told Peter to “feed my lambs,” “take care of My sheep,” and “feed My sheep” in John 21:15-17. Peter was furious when he learned God’s people were being poisoned by false teachers. We are our brothers and sister’s keepers and we should feel as threatened and incensed by what is happening in our day to those who are easily persuaded as Peter did in his day. Let’s dig in and see what we can learn. Let’s read verses 10-11 once again.
10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; 11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. (2 Peter 2:10-11 NIV)
This is the most difficult section of 2 Peter 2 for me to understand. The false teachers Peter had in mind were “bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings;” The false teachers were shooting off their mouths about angels, most likely evil angels, dismissing them or claiming power over them–we don’t know exactly which, but it is clear that they were overstepping their estimate of themselves. There is a very similar statement made in Jude 1:8-9. Read it with me.
8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" (Jude 1:8-9 NIV)
The point Jude is making is that even Michael, the archangel, didn’t get into with Satan, but knew that God alone would deal with him. Evidently the false teachers of Peter’s day were dismissing the possibility that there is an evil spiritual realm which all of God’s people need to be aware of, or they were boasting of their ability to do whatever they wished with no spiritual consequences because of their power over the evil spiritual forces. We should avoid both of those mistakes. The Apostle Paul wrote to the people in Ephesus to alert them to the spiritual battle that was ongoing and the need to put on the full armor of God. Look at Ephesians 6:12-13 with me.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. (Ephesians 6:12-13 NIV)
Let’s move on. In verses 12-13, Peter describes the false teachers as people who “blaspheme in matters they don’t understand.” They are like “unreasoning animals” who are driven not by reason or logic or spiritual truth, but by their desires. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes who revel in their pleasures while they feast with you. All of these descriptions come from verses 12-13. Let’s read these verses together.
12 But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish. 13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. (2 Peter 2:12-13 NIV)
Animals are driven by instinct, not by reason. The false teachers Peter has in mind are driven by the same self-serving instinct. False teachers claim to know deep spiritual truths which are unavailable to ordinary Christians like you and me. I have seen this over and over again throughout the years and I have seen how those who truly desired to have all that the Lord desired for them were taken advantage of by these wolves in sheep’s clothing. I want to make something perfectly clear to you, each and every one of you who are followers of Jesus. You may be a brand new believer, not knowing hardly anything about God’s Word or the Christian life. You may have been walking with the Lord for decades. You’ve been attending Bible study for decades. You are active in allowing the Lord to use you to share the Good News about Jesus with others. Or, you find yourself falling somewhere in between these two groups of people I’ve described. There were both new believers and mature believers in the churches Peter wrote. He told them,
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Peter 1:2-3 NIV)
There is not some secret, mystical spiritual truth that God has reserved only for a few special people. False teachers will try to convince you that they have what you need, or let me rephrase that, they have what God wants you to have. Everything God desires for you is found in His Word and by His Holy Spirit He will grow you into the man or woman He desires for you to become.
I want to point out something that is very important for us to understand, which Peter identifies in verse 13 when he writes, “Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight.” The word Peter uses in this verse for “pleasure” is the Greek word, “ἡδονή” (hēdonē). This is the word from which we get our English word “hedonism.” Hedonism, as defined by the dictionary, is the pursuit of pleasure, sensual self-indulgence. This same Greek word is used in Titus 3:3 where Paul writes,
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. (Titus 3:3 NIV)
We, who are followers of Jesus, were at one time “deceived and enslaved” by pleasure, but Paul goes on to say that we have been washed, cleansed, and made new by Jesus so that we no longer have to live as slaves of our fleshly desires.
The false teachers were “carousing in broad daylight.” Historians tell us that Roman society tolerated, even celebrated carousing at night, but it looked down upon deeds of debauchery done in the daylight when everyone was supposed to be at work. Pagan Romans disapproved of lust, greed, and debauchery in the daylight hours while the false teachers celebrated these very things. We are not to follow the paths of the false teachers or the pagan Romans, but we are to follow in Jesus’ steps. Paul wrote,
12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. (Romans 13:12-14 NIV)
The false teachers of Peter’s day, the false teachers in our day, and our society in general is driven by an all-consuming desire for pleasure and its many empty promises. I can describe pleasure’s promises as empty because pleasure can never deliver on its promise. Douglas Moo has written,
Moreover, like the false teachers of Peter’s day, who found themselves in a never-ending pursuit of more and more pleasure (cf. “they never stop sinning” in v. 14), people in our day also find themselves caught in one of the ‘laws of pleasure’: diminishing returns. The food that used to satisfy no longer does, so we search for ever more exotic and more expensive dishes. What once entertained us now seems blase; so we demand new media, bigger TVs, more stations. The spousal sex that used to satisfy our natural urges is no longer enough, as a result, we try sex with others and explore various deviant practices to bring the excitement back. Pleasure, in other words, is a goal never reached, it is always somewhere in the distance, urging one on to new and usually more sinful practices, never quite satisfying. (Moo, Douglas. 2 Peter, Jude. pg. 135)
I was at Costco last Saturday and ran into an old friend. He has been involved in ministry for many years. He is a counselor for those who have addiction issues and he specializes in sexual addictions. He shared some stories with me about the impact of pornography on both men and women. He is now seeing an increasing number of young boys and girls who have become addicted to pornography through social media and the internet. Before we parted ways I told him, “If the smartest man in the Bible, Solomon, can fall prey to sexual sin and the strongest man, Samson, can fall prey to sexual sin, and the most powerful man, David, can fall prey to sexual sin–what makes us think that we not vulnerable?” We are all vulnerable. The false teachers twist God’s Word and use grace as a license to pursue their own sinful desires while enticing others to follow their lead.
For many years there was a powerful preacher named Ravi Zacharias who made a huge impact on my life and the lives of many others around the world. Then allegations were made, but those closest to Ravi publicly protected his reputation while privately paying off the accusers. More and more allegations kept coming in until an investigation became unavoidable. The investigation found that over decades Ravi had sexually abused dozens and dozens of women. One of the women, a message therapist, testified that Ravi “warned her not ever to speak out against him or she would be responsible for the ‘millions of souls’ whose salvation would be lost if his reputation was damaged.” (The New York Times. Ravi Zacharias, Influential Evangelist, is Accused of Sexual Abuse in Scathing Report. February 11, 2021). That is sick. That is a false teacher my friends. Jesus, in Matthew 7:16, was sounding the alarm about false prophets and teachers when He said, “By their fruit you will know them.”
I want us to move on to verse 14 or we will never get through our Scripture for this morning. This verse is packed with insight into the character or lack of character of false teachers and their motivation for doing what they do. Read 2 Peter 2:14 with me.
14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed-- an accursed brood! (2 Peter 2:14 NIV)
The first phrase in Greek literally reads “having eyes full of an adulteress.” Michael Green writes,
They lust after every girl they see; they view every female as a potential adulteress. Peter makes another shrewd psychological observation. Lascivious thoughts, if dwelt upon and acted upon, become dominant. It becomes impossible for them to look at any woman without reflecting on her likely sexual performance, and on the possibilities of persuading her to gratify their lusts. (Green, Michael. 2 Peter and Jude. pg. 135)
Peter goes on in verse 14 to tell us “they seduce the unstable.” The Greek word translated “seduce” in your English Bible is “δελεάζω” (deleazō) and it means, “to lure by the use of bait, to arouse someone’s interest in something.” This word comes from the hunting and fishing world. We find this same Greek word used in James 1:14. Let’s read verses 13-15 together.
13 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:13-15 NIV)
Did you notice who the false teachers target with their bait? It is the “unsteady souls.” They go after those who are unstable in their grasp of God’s Word. Is this still the case today? I don’t think there is even a need to discuss it. This is absolutely the truth. So, the question is, “How can we, the followers of Jesus, help to make the unstable in their faith, stable?” The answer to that question is to help them grow in their knowledge of Jesus and His Word. Encourage them to join us in Bible study. Invite one of them to join us for discipleship. This church is full of people who have lots of knowledge in various fields of study, but that doesn’t translate into a knowledge of God’s Word. We all must grow if we want to become strong, stable in our faith. The great Bible teacher, J.C. Ryle, in 1887, wrote,
You live in a world where your soul is in constant danger. Enemies are round you on every side. Your own heart is deceitful. Bad examples are numerous. Satan is always laboring to lead you astray. Above all, false doctrine and false teachers of every kind abound. This is your great danger. To be safe you must be well armed. You must provide yourself with the weapons which God has given you for your help. You must store your mind with Holy Scripture. This is to be well armed. Arm yourself with a thorough knowledge of the written Word of God. Read your Bible regularly. Become familiar with your Bible. Neglect your Bible and nothing that I know of can prevent you from error if a plausible advocate of false teaching shall happen to meet you. Make it a rule to believe nothing except it can be proved from Scripture. The Bible alone is infallible. Do you really use your Bible as much as you ought? (Ryle, J.C. Bible Reading.)
Those are strong words that were written 150 years ago. The urgency to arm ourselves with God’s Word cannot be stressed enough. It is really ironic when you stop to think about it. There are more Bibles, commentaries, and Bible studies right here in the United States than in every country of the world combined and yet we are a biblically illiterate people. Because of our lack of understanding of God’s Word, false teachers are having their way. In the last phrase from verse 14 that I want to highlight for you, we see why these false teachers are so effective. Peter writes, “...they are experts in greed-- an accursed brood!”
The Greek word translated “experts” is the word, “γυμνάζω” (gymnazō) and it is the word from which we get our word “gymnasium.” Paul used this same word when he urged Timothy, in 1 Timothy 4:7,
7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. (1 Timothy 4:7 NIV)
We are called to train ourselves, discipline ourselves, apply ourselves like an athlete training to be the very best at her sport to become more and more like Jesus, but these false teachers had trained themselves by their greed. William Barclay wrote,
The picture is a terrible one. The word used for trained is used for an athlete exercising himself for the games. These people have actually trained their minds to concentrate on nothing but the forbidden desire. They have deliberately fought with conscience until they have destroyed it; they have deliberately struggled with their finer feelings until they have strangled them; they have deliberately trained themselves to concentrate on the forbidden things. Their lives have been a dreadful battle to destroy virtue and to train themselves in the techniques of sin. (Barclay, William. The Letters of James and Peter. pg. 392-393)
Be careful my friends. False teachers have invaded the Body of Christ, but they have also invaded society. You and I are to view the world around us through the lens of God’s Word. God’s Word is the plumbline to judge between truth and error. God’s Word is to you and me what the square is to the carpenter. We have all the tools we need, but we must utilize God’s Word, pray for the Holy Spirit to teach us, lead us, guide us, and correct us. If you are not a follower of Jesus then I want to invite you to receive Him as your Lord and Savior this very morning.
Mike Hays
June 1, 2025
