And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. — 2 Peter 2:2-3
Men, in Peter’s, and in our own, time, we are warned of false teachers. Peter goes on to say, many will follow them and their destructive lifestyle. By them, the way of Truth will be slandered. Their greed will exploit with destructive words. But God in heaven sees, and their destruction is not sitting idle or asleep. In the past few decades we have seen all manner of false teachers. What starts as subtle deception turns into a cult. Many cult leaders draw in followers to exploit a sense of power and authority, some for sexual deviance, some for money. We have seen mass rape, suicide, and downright strange practices from these cults.
It’s still happening. Many of today’s pastors prop themselves up as “king and queen” of the church on the corner and expect accolades from their followers, or at least that they be “in line” with their wishes, which often stray from Scripture. Galatians 6 says “…be not deceived, God is not mocked…” A just reward will come to those who sow seeds of evil among the Father’s sons and daughters. Still, we are told to beware and watchful.
We live in a time where we don’t pick up our Bibles for ourselves, nor do we even carry them to church. How then will we know if we are deceived? Will we listen to the Spirit? Which one? Our own spirit can deceive us, the spirit of the enemy can deceive us. We must be diligent about searching out His truth and hearing His voice through our own noise.
Move forward men, watchful that we are not swept away by the schemes of the enemy. If you are more passionate about your favorite sports team, or paycheck than you are about meeting with the Father, you sir, are already far swept down stream in a raging river.
Vance Durrance
