Home     2 Peter             
SOMEONE'S KNOCKING AT MY DOOR
2 PETER 1:20-2:3
 
Pastor Stephen Muncherian
August 23, 1998

About a month ago I received an email from a pastor who had read our church’s statement of faith - which is posted on our web site. The point of this pastor’s his email was that how we stated our belief in the Trinity was unfounded and in his words, “blasphemous and idolatrous.” And then he signed his letter with the same benediction we conclude our Service of Worship with - “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you.”

It sounded so right. This pastor sounded like a real brother in Christ who perhaps had a difference in belief and was trying to help us understand something about God.

But, as I carefully read his email it became evident that what this pastor was saying was heresy. Here was a man - claiming to be a Christian pastor - who in reality was denying the deity of Jesus Christ - saying that Jesus is not God.

Spiritually - there are a tremendous number of voices that demand our attention - many beliefs and teachings. These are not words that we easily toss around - blasphemy - idolatry - heresy. They’re serious accusations. But, with all the voices that demand our attention - How do we evaluate them? How do we know which voices to listen to? Which are heretical - blasphemous - and which are of God?

Often I am asked, “Pastor, what do you think about so and so - this pastor who’s on T.V. or that group of people.” There are questions we all have when we are exposed to different beliefs and teachings. And so, this morning we would like to look at evaluating these different voices that we hear.

I invite you to turn with me to 2 Peter 1:20 - 2:3. And we want read what the Apostle Peter writes about understanding whether something is God’s truth or some other teaching.

First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.  But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.  And many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled.  And in their greed they will exploit you with false words; from of old their condemnation has not been idle, and their destruction has not been asleep.

In looking at what Peter writes - and thinking about false teachers and false teaching - there are three questions here that we need to ask. Questions - based on what Peter writes - that will help us to evaluate the spiritual teachings we’re confronted with.

1. WHAT DOES THE TEACHING - OR TEACHER - SAY ABOUT THE BIBLE? (1:20,21)

There you are - sitting at home - minding your own business - and the doorbell rings. And there are these two really well groomed young boys at the door - elder so and so and elder so and so - missionaries with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And they have tracts and literature - and they want to speak to you about what they believe.

And if the discussion goes far enough they’ll give you a copy of the Book of Mormon and ask you to read it and then pray and see if the Holy Ghost tells you whether or not what you’ve just spent several days reading is really true.

How do we know if the Book of Mormon is God’s truth? According to Peter - we should find out what it says about the Bible. Compare what the Book of Mormon says - what the Mormons teach - and the Bible. For example:

2 Timothy 3:15-17 tell us that the Bible is God’s unique and complete Word to humanity. In Proverbs 30:5,6 we are warned not to add to what God has said - and that warning is repeated in Revelation 22:18,19 in the last verses of the Bible - don’t add or subtract from what God has said.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - the Mormons - recognize the King James Version of the Bible as being “part” of the Word of God, “so far as it is translated correctly.”

In other words - as long as we’re reading the King James Version of the Bible - and no other version - and the King James Version is translated the way they say it should be translated - then we’re reading “a part” of the Word of God. The Mormons also say that the Bible is incomplete without the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price.

The Bible - in several places - Galatians 1:8, 1 Thessalonians 5:21 - and other places - tells us to examine everything we hear under the microscope of the Bible. 1 John 4:1 says, “Beloved, do not believe every, spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

Compare what we hear today with what God has already written. The New Testament must agree with the Old Testament or the New Testament can’t be the Word of God. What God says cannot contradict what God has said - otherwise God’s a liar or He’s feeble minded - mixed up - confused.

The Mormons have received “revelations” from “angels,” men and even supposedly from Jesus Himself. The problem is that these revelations contradict the plain teaching of the Bible. In fact, their are a tremendous number of contradictions within Mormonism itself.

In the Book of Mormon - 3 Nephi 12:2 and Moroni 8:11 - the forgiveness of sins is a result of baptism. In Doctrine and Covenants - Section 20, verse 37 - the forgiveness of sins is by works.

All of which contradicts Ephesians 2:8,9:  “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works....”

I don’t mean to just pick on the Mormons. We could choose any belief system or teaching. The principle still applies. Any teaching we receive should be examined in the light of what the Bible says.

This is what Peter is saying in 2 Peter 2:20,21. “No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation.” We can’t just go off and interpret the Bible any old way we choose. Interpretation - or as the Armenian puts it - "megnouteun" - explanation - Peter says, “was never made by an act of human will.” - it comes from God who cannot contradict Himself.

This is why it is so vitally important that we constantly be involved in the study of God’s word. That we encourage our children to know what the Bible teaches. To know what we believe and why. To be able to personally evaluate the belief systems of the world in which we live by the Word of God.

The second Question we should ask - First: What do they say about the Bible? Second:

2. WHAT DOES THE TEACHING - OR TEACHER - SAY ABOUT JESUS CHRIST? (2:1)

Peter writes in 2:1 “There will also be false teachers....who will secretly introduce destructive heresies - teaching which subtly contradicts the Bible - even denying the Master - Jesus - who bought them.”

One of the consistent characteristics of any heretical or non-Christian belief system or teaching is that it denies the deity of Jesus Christ and that He - Jesus - is the only means of salvation.

By way of example: The Bible tells us that Jesus is God Almighty who came into the world as a human being. The Jehovah’s Witnesses tell us that before His incarnation, Jesus was Michael the Archangel. He was a mighty god, but not God Almighty.

The Bible says that Jesus Christ made atonement for us by paying the full penalty for our sins on the cross. The Jehovah’s Witnesses say that Jesus’ death made it possible for us to be saved, but He didn’t pay the full penalty for our sins. Salvation is based on our own individual effort.

The Bible says that Jesus rose physically from the dead. The Jehovah’s Witnesses say that Jesus rose spiritually from the dead and that His body dissolved into gasses or something.

The Bible says that Jesus will physically return to the earth one day in the future to judge the world. And everyone will know when He gets here. The Jehovah’s Witnesses say that Jesus returned invisibly in 1914 and is directing them from their Brooklyn, New York headquarters.

I don’t mean to pick on the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The principle can be applied to any belief system or teaching. Whenever we are confronted with a belief system or teaching we should ask what it really says about who Jesus Christ is.

Third question:

3. WHAT DOES THE TEACHING - OR TEACHER - SAY ABOUT HIMSELF? (2:2,3)

Years ago - when I was in college - I was teaching a college Bible study at a church I was attending - down in Los Angeles. And one Wednesday evening I was teaching about the need to study the Bible for ourselves.

Prior to the study I had prepared a Bible passage where I had changed some of the words and phrases in the text - just slightly - so that the difference in wording was subtle - but the meaning became pure heresy.

That night the class was pretty typical - only one person brought her Bible. And everyone sat there expecting me to teach them. And so, I asked them to open their Bibles - even though though only one person had one - and told them where I’d be reading from.

And then I read the passage I had “translated.” And not one person said anything. And then I started to teach from the passage. And at first I didn’t say anything too controversial. But, I just kept adding to the deception as I went along. After a long time - like 20 to 25 minutes into the study - finally one person said something like, “Excuse me, but what do you mean by that?” Interestingly it was the girl who had brought her Bible who asked the question.

When I explained what I had done - I told them that there was no way they should just blindly accept what I was teaching - without reading their Bibles and thinking on their own.

A lot of people in our Armenian Churches just take for granted that whatever the "verabadveli" or "kahana" says about spriritual things must be true - they’re the experts - they’ve gone to seminary - they’ve got a Rev. in front of their name - or a Ph.d. And that’s really dangerous. We’re not always right. And no one should ever risk their life and eternity on the opinions of a man or woman.

One of the consistent characteristics of cults and non-Christian belief systems is that they focus on a singular person and not God. Leaders who have received a new “revelation” from God. Who demand loyalty from their followers.

Joseph Smith - Charles Russell - Mary Baker Eddy - L. Ron Hubbard - and other false teachers. And those from within the Church who have led for their own profit - Jim Baker, Jimmy Swaggart - and the list goes on.

Peter says, 2:2,3: (2) “....many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; (3) ....in their greed they will exploit you - they will use you for their own gain - with false words....”

Jeannie Mills, a former member of the Jim Jones cult and a survivor of the Jonestown, Guyana massacre - in which 912 members of the People’s Temple movement committed suicide. Remember that back in 1978? Jeannie Mills writes this: “When you meet the friendliest people you have ever known, who introduce you to the most loving group of people you’ve encountered, and you find the leader to be the most inspired, caring, compassionate, and understanding person you have ever met....and all of this sounds to good to be true - it probably is too good to be true!”

Peter concludes by saying the coming destruction of the false teachers is not asleep. I like the Armenian translation -"bidi chumurapeh" - it will not doze off - its not taking a nap. They will be judged.

Sometimes when it comes to the people that knock on our door - or the people we meet in our community and at work - we hesitate to speak up - or to say something about what we believe.

This world needs less people standing in judgment of others so much as it needs Christians to realize that God’s judgment is coming. And if we - in love and compassion - don’t share the truth - who will?

Let’s not be afraid of these people. Let’s love them - reach out to them - care for them. Let’s focus on being who God has called us to be in the middle of a society which has so many deceptive and destructive voices.