2 Peter 2

The true Scriptures are given to us by God, though spoken by holy men of old who wrote as they were told by the Holy Spirit. God not only inspired these writings, He uses them now by that same Spirit to direct and empower us in the way of the cross as we trust and obey. Unfortunately, there have always been evil imposters who insist that they too are true prophets, when they are not. The church cannot safely follow someone who claims to speak for God just because he says that he is a prophet, nor can we blindly receive every ancient Word that claims to be spiritual.

False prophets and teachers not only harassed Israel and the early church from outside the ranks of the people of faith. Even more troubling, purveyors of heresy and immorality also come from within. We may think it very strange that someone would insist that he is a messenger of God and a servant of Christ while promoting teaching that is a denial of our common historic and biblical understanding of who Jesus is, what He has done, and what He commands the church. But we have been warned by the Lord Himself, by the Old Testament prophets, and by many apostolic writers of the New Testament epistles that this very trouble will be a dangerous plague upon the church until Christ returns. The Lord is awake to those who try to sell their mischief to His children, and He will swiftly bring His own answer upon them as He sees fit.

Think of the many examples we have been given of how God has stopped the mouths of those who would claim to be His friends while they speak and work against His good purposes. Fallen angels cast out into the lowest realms of the world of the dead, the world of Noah that faced the judgment of the great deluge, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah turned to ashes, all these remind us that God will judge the wicked. Yet Noah and his family, and Lot and his daughters were kept for life. During our days here, we may feel like Lot or Noah, that when we are trying to walk in the way of righteousness, our souls feel the torment of what we see and hear all around us. If our guard is down we may soon be those who get drunk and are mixed up in some immoral mess. Yet God knows how to rescue His people from trials, though we ourselves may have almost forgotten up from down. Both Noah and Lot fell into very serious trouble after they had been rescued by God. But they were alive. They woke up from their stupor. What can we say about those that died in the flood, or those who saw fire come from heaven upon their cities and had no extra time to turn away from the biggest mistake of their lives? God help us to escape the lust of defiling passion and to listen to His warnings and respond now.

Yet in every age of the church, bold and willful men talk about things that they claim to know. Better to say nothing than to act like we have visited heaven and hell and know all about angels and demons. Is it God who is telling you to speak against great powers on earth and beyond this earth, or are you on your own in very dangerous territory, leading the church on some trail that you insist on blazing, despite the fact that we all seem to be heading toward Mordor?

If people are not adding virtue to their faith, no matter how well they speak, or how pleasant they are, we may not be safe in following them. Those who have been given the duty of protecting the church need to keep people like that away from any teaching authority. Not everyone in the church is equally stable, and smooth talkers hurt people that are just trying to follow the Lord and to find some measure of happiness in a complicated world. Watch out for those that are always ready for another collection that ends up going to them, or who present themselves as gatekeepers into secret spiritual realms of knowledge and freedom. If they do not add virtue to faith in a way that quietly moves them further on the pathway that leads to the love of the cross, then they are not ambassadors of the Lord of love.

Balaam was a super spiritual man, but he had to be corrected by his own donkey. He gave some of the most interesting (and true) prophesy in the Old Testament about Israel and the Messiah, but he also enticed God's men into a trap with some dangerous women. Yes, he was very spiritual, but not the kind of spiritual that is safe to listen to and to follow. People like that lead others to their death.

We have a better Savior than Balaam. When He came to save us, there were very spiritually aware demons who wanted to tell everyone that He was the Son of God. Yet they were silenced by the true Lord and Teacher of the church. His virtuous death was the greatest display of steadfastness and brotherly affection ever known among men. He became to us a fountain of living water welling up within us to eternal life. He now lives and reigns in the realm of heavenly light, and not in the gloom of outer darkness. He is the King of righteousness and not the slave of corruption.

True teachers of the faith speak of Him, and not just about angels, interesting theologians, or worst of all, themselves. True servants and ambassadors of Jesus help people not only to embrace the Christ who died for us, but also to walk in the way of righteousness that we have learned from the Scriptures. May God give the humble a discerning heart and protect them from greedy and immoral liars. May He grant them a love for Christ, so that they will not only start on the road to eternal blessing, but continue toward the light of heaven's most glorious King.