Tuesday, August 14, 2007
2 Peter 2:1-4 A Description Of False Teachers
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves.
2 Many will follow their unrestrained ways, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
3 In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation, [pronounced]long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.
4 For if God didn’t spare the angels who sinned, but threw them down into Tartarus and delivered them to be kept in chains of darkness until judgment;
Fakes
Donation of Constantine This ancient letter, which helped bolster the Catholic Church's power for roughly 700 years, was probably the first forgery to significantly impact the course of history. Allegedly sent by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great to Pope Sylvester I in the fourth century A.D., the letter testifies to the emperor's conversion to Christianity and grants vast authority to the pope and his successors. Among other privileges, the emperor gives the pope dominion over "Rome and the provinces, districts, and towns of Italy and all the Western regions." Constantine's conversion is an historical fact, but the letter is a pure fabrication. While its origin is debated, the Donation was likely concocted between A.D. 750 and A.D. 850, perhaps by a church official. Various popes used it over the ensuing centuries to defend their political power, and the Donation was even celebrated in a painting in the Vatican. It was revealed as a fake in the 15th century.
Protocols of the Elders of Zion Hitler and his fellow Nazis used a preposterous forgery from late-19th-century Russia as a brutal weapon of propaganda against the Jewish people. An agent of the Imperial Russian secret police had devised the Protocols in the 1890s both to demonize Jews and to target Russia's minister of finance, Sergei Witte, whose policies threatened many conservative Russians. The Protocols link Witte with a Jewish conspiracy to destabilize governments and take over the world, a mission supposedly plotted at a clandestine meeting among Jewish leaders in Basel, Switzerland in 1897. The Protocols, the "minutes" from this fictitious meeting, were first published in full in Russia in 1905, but tens of thousands of copies soon spread throughout Europe and the U.S. In August 1921, the London Times exposed the Protocols as a forgery, but this didn't stop Hitler and other anti-Semites from using it as fuel in their war of hatred. Joseph Goebbels, who helped orchestrate the Nazi propaganda campaign, had the Protocols translated into many languages and widely distributed. Even today, the infamous forgery remains in circulation among the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups, and it continues to inflame anti-Semitism around the world.
Hitler's Diaries Kenneth Rendell, a dealer in historical documents who helped unmask the Hitler diaries, called them "bad forgeries but a great hoax." The hoax began in 1981, when a reporter for the German magazine Stern caught wind of diaries recovered from a Nazi plane crash and stowed away for decades. Over 50 journals, purportedly handwritten by Hitler, revealed a kinder, gentler dictator whose "final solution" to the "Jewish problem" was not genocide but merely the deportation of Jews.
Stern hired experts to authenticate the diaries but gave them only a few select pages to review. Even worse, many of the examples of "genuine" Hitler documents Stern provided for comparison were from the same dealer who had proffered the diaries. They were, of course, all in the same hand—that of the forger. When Stern broke the story of the diaries in late April of 1983, it triggered banner headlines around the world. But they were soon revealed as fakes. At his trial, forger Konrad Kujau, a German dealer in military memorabilia, openly admitted guilt and gladly signed Hitler "autographs" for the crowd.
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.
No false prophets now, but false teachers in their place.
1. False Teachers Are Deceptive"Privily shall bring in" is pareisagō, made up of agō, "to bring," eis, "into," and para, "alongside," thus, "to bring in alongside." That is, these false teachers, teaching much true doctrine, would cleverly include false teaching with it. Vincent says that the metaphor in the word is that of a spy or traitor.
Paul forewarned us that this time would come as he wrote: “For the time will come when they (the people of the church) will not endure (tolerate) sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (II Tim. 4:3-4).
Paul had no tolerance for those who did not preach the gospel. In Galatians 1:8 he said, “But though we, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”
This is no time for “lite,” topical, entertaining preaching that whips doctrine into a creamy filling suitable for topping canapés that are palatable and rich, but ultimately not really sustaining food. Charles H.
2. False Teachers Are DeniersI believe the greatest doctrinal issue confronting the church today is the exclusivity of the gospel, or the belief that salvation is possible only through a personal relationship to Jesus Christ. It is incredible to think that the most fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith could be called into question or debated among people who call themselves Christians, but that is precisely what is taking place in our world today.
From a Christian viewpoint, the very idea that there are many ways to heaven is unreasonable, unscriptural, and offensive. If there are many ways – or even two ways – to God, Jesus Christ was a deceiver. For Jesus avowed more than once that he is the only way to heaven. He declared, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins; for if you believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24).
However, apparently there are those who do not believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven as emphatically declared in John 14:6. For example, a reporter of the Edmonton Journal in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada interviewed Tony Campolo, professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pa., and ordained Baptist minister, on Jan. 17. The professor was asked, “Do you believe non-Christians can go to heaven?”
Campolo responded, “That’s a good question to ask because the way we stand is we contend that trusting in Jesus is the way to heaven. However, we do not know who Jesus will bring into the kingdom and who He will not. We are very careful about pronouncing judgment on anybody. We leave judgment in the hands of God and we are saying Jesus is the way. We preach Jesus, but we have no way of knowing to whom the grace of God is extended.”
Some Deny The Divinity Of Christ.even denying the Master who bought them,
Some Deny The Atoning Work Of Christeven denying the Master who bought them,
Peter now mentions what was probably the most serious of the heretical teachings, the denial of the substitutionary death of our Lord. "Bought" is agorazō, one of the three words used in the N.T. which are translated "redeem." The word in classical use meant "to purchase in the market place," and was used of the purchase of slaves in the slave-market. Our Lord's precious, outpoured blood was the ransom paid to redeem slaves of sin from that slavery. His death satisfied the just demands of the High Court of Heaven, paying the penalty for the sinner, and making a way whereby a righteous God could be just and at the same time the justifier of the believing sinner. Strachan says: "The denial seems to have consisted in an inadequate view of the Person and Work of Christ, and their relation to the problem of human sin." Of course, such a person is unsaved.
Joel Osteen
Another example of a tap dancing, fence straddling, non-answering minister in line with Tony Campolo is Joel Osteen, pastor of one of the largest churches in America, Lakewood Church in Houston. He was interviewed on Larry King Live and asked if atheists go to heaven. He replied, “I am going to let God be the judge of who goes to heaven and hell.”
When Osteen was asked where Jews or Muslims go without trusting Jesus, he replied, “I’m very careful about saying who would and wouldn’t go to heaven. I don’t know.”
Although the Houston pastor issued a clarification of his response to King’s questions on his website, the fact remains that he refused to unashamedly respond with a definitive answer, choosing to waffle in his reply so that no one would be offended.
3. False Teachers Are DestructiveThey will secretly bring in destructive heresies,
The false prophet was above all a man who led other men further away from God instead of closer to him. The prophet who invites the people: "Let us go after other gods," must be mercilessly destroyed (Deut 13:1-5; Deut 18:20). The false prophet takes men in the wrong direction.
What was happening in the case of Peter's people was that certain self-styled prophets were insidiously persuading men to believe the things they wished to be true rather than the things which God had revealed to be true. They did not set themselves up as opponents of Christianity. Far from it. They set themselves up as the finest fruits of Christian thinking; and so it was gradually and subtly that people were being lured away from God's truth to other men's private opinions, which is what heresy is.
This false teaching had a second effect. It brought Christianity into disrepute. In the early days, just as now, every Christian was a good or bad advertisement for Christianity and the Christian Church.
4. False Teachers Are Depraved2 Many will follow their unrestrained ways, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
3 In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words.
"Feigned" is plastos; the verb form is plassō, "to mould" as in clay or wax. Vincent says: "The idea is, therefore, of words moulded at will to suit their vain imaginations." plastic words.. why?
We see the cause of false teaching. It is evil ambition. The word is pleonexia pleon means more and -exia comes from the verb echein which means to have. Pleonexia is the desire to possess more
So it can mean covetous desire for money and for other people's goods; lustful desire for someone's person; unholy ambition for prestige and power.
Lifted up
(i) The false prophets were more interested in gaining popularity than in telling the truth. Their policy was to tell people what they wanted to hear. The false prophets said, "Peace, peace, when there is no peace" (Jer 6:14). They saw visions of peace, when the Lord God was saying that there was no peace (Eze 13:16). In the days of Jehosaphat, Zedekiah, the false prophet, donned his horns of iron and said that Israel would push the Syrians out of the way as he pushed with these horns; Micaiah the true prophet foretold disaster if Jehosaphat went to war. Of course, Zedekiah was popular and his message was accepted; but Jehosaphat went forth to war with the Syrians and perished tragically (1Ki 22 ). In the days of Jeremiah, Hananiah prophesied the swift end of the power of Babylon, while Jeremiah prophesied the servitude of the nation to her; and again the prophet who told people what they wished to hear was the popular one (Jer 28 ). Diogenes, the great cynic philosopher, spoke of the false teachers of his day whose method was to follow wherever the applause of the crowd led. One of the first characteristics of the false prophet is that he tells men what they want to hear and not the truth they need to hear.
Lustful
(iii) The false prophets were dissolute in their personal life. Isaiah writes: "The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink; they are confused with wine" (Isa 28:7). Jeremiah says, "In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing; they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evil-doers.... They lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness" (Jer 23:14; Jer 23:32). The false prophet in himself is a seduction to evil rather than an attraction to good.
Hosea 5 Hear this, priests! Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, royal house! For the judgment applies to you because you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread out on Tabor.
2 Rebels are deeply involved in slaughter; I will be a punishment for all of them.
3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me. For now, Ephraim, you have acted promiscuously; Israel is defiled.
4 Their actions do not allow [them]to return to their God, for a spirit of promiscuity is among them, and they do not know the Lord.
Lording
Lucre Loving
(ii) The false prophets were interested in personal gain. As Micah said, "Its priests teach for hire, and its prophets divine for money" (Mic 3:11). They teach for filthy lucre's sake (Tit 1:11), and they identify godliness and gain, making their religion a money-making thing (1Tim 6:5). We can see these exploiters at work in the early church. In The Didache, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, which is what might be called the first service-order book, it is laid down that a prophet who asks for money or for a table to be spread in front of him, is a false prophet. "Traffickers in Christ," the Didache calls such men (The Didache 11). The false prophet is a covetous creature who regards men as dupes to be exploited for his own ends.
5. False Teachers Will Be Destroyed.Their condemnation, [pronounced]long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep
and will bring swift destruction on themselves.
"There is a "graphic picture in the sentence. The judgment is not idle. It is 'represented as a living thing, awake and expectant. Long ago that judgment started on its destroying path, and the fate of sinning angels, and the deluge, and the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah were but incidental illustrations of its power; nor has it ever since lingered. . . . It advances still, strong and vigilant49 as when it sprang from the bosom of God, and will not fail to reach the mark to which it was pointed from of old." "Damnation" is apōleia, "utter ruin and destruction, the loss of all that makes existence worthwhile."
Therefore
1. STOP and think about what preachers, pastors and writers are really saying.
2. LOOK at the lifestyles of these men and women
3. LISTEN carefully for both what these people are saying, and what they are NOT saying. They may be leaving out vital aspects of the gospel.
4. SPEAK These people only get a hearing because we evangelicals have left a void for them to fill when we don't speak up for the gospel.
2 tim 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
If you don't speak up they will! ANd they will lead others into destruction.
2 Many will follow their unrestrained ways, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
3 In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation, [pronounced]long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.
4 For if God didn’t spare the angels who sinned, but threw them down into Tartarus and delivered them to be kept in chains of darkness until judgment;
Fakes
Donation of Constantine This ancient letter, which helped bolster the Catholic Church's power for roughly 700 years, was probably the first forgery to significantly impact the course of history. Allegedly sent by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great to Pope Sylvester I in the fourth century A.D., the letter testifies to the emperor's conversion to Christianity and grants vast authority to the pope and his successors. Among other privileges, the emperor gives the pope dominion over "Rome and the provinces, districts, and towns of Italy and all the Western regions." Constantine's conversion is an historical fact, but the letter is a pure fabrication. While its origin is debated, the Donation was likely concocted between A.D. 750 and A.D. 850, perhaps by a church official. Various popes used it over the ensuing centuries to defend their political power, and the Donation was even celebrated in a painting in the Vatican. It was revealed as a fake in the 15th century.
Protocols of the Elders of Zion Hitler and his fellow Nazis used a preposterous forgery from late-19th-century Russia as a brutal weapon of propaganda against the Jewish people. An agent of the Imperial Russian secret police had devised the Protocols in the 1890s both to demonize Jews and to target Russia's minister of finance, Sergei Witte, whose policies threatened many conservative Russians. The Protocols link Witte with a Jewish conspiracy to destabilize governments and take over the world, a mission supposedly plotted at a clandestine meeting among Jewish leaders in Basel, Switzerland in 1897. The Protocols, the "minutes" from this fictitious meeting, were first published in full in Russia in 1905, but tens of thousands of copies soon spread throughout Europe and the U.S. In August 1921, the London Times exposed the Protocols as a forgery, but this didn't stop Hitler and other anti-Semites from using it as fuel in their war of hatred. Joseph Goebbels, who helped orchestrate the Nazi propaganda campaign, had the Protocols translated into many languages and widely distributed. Even today, the infamous forgery remains in circulation among the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups, and it continues to inflame anti-Semitism around the world.
Hitler's Diaries Kenneth Rendell, a dealer in historical documents who helped unmask the Hitler diaries, called them "bad forgeries but a great hoax." The hoax began in 1981, when a reporter for the German magazine Stern caught wind of diaries recovered from a Nazi plane crash and stowed away for decades. Over 50 journals, purportedly handwritten by Hitler, revealed a kinder, gentler dictator whose "final solution" to the "Jewish problem" was not genocide but merely the deportation of Jews.
Stern hired experts to authenticate the diaries but gave them only a few select pages to review. Even worse, many of the examples of "genuine" Hitler documents Stern provided for comparison were from the same dealer who had proffered the diaries. They were, of course, all in the same hand—that of the forger. When Stern broke the story of the diaries in late April of 1983, it triggered banner headlines around the world. But they were soon revealed as fakes. At his trial, forger Konrad Kujau, a German dealer in military memorabilia, openly admitted guilt and gladly signed Hitler "autographs" for the crowd.
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.
No false prophets now, but false teachers in their place.
1. False Teachers Are Deceptive"Privily shall bring in" is pareisagō, made up of agō, "to bring," eis, "into," and para, "alongside," thus, "to bring in alongside." That is, these false teachers, teaching much true doctrine, would cleverly include false teaching with it. Vincent says that the metaphor in the word is that of a spy or traitor.
Paul forewarned us that this time would come as he wrote: “For the time will come when they (the people of the church) will not endure (tolerate) sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (II Tim. 4:3-4).
Paul had no tolerance for those who did not preach the gospel. In Galatians 1:8 he said, “But though we, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”
This is no time for “lite,” topical, entertaining preaching that whips doctrine into a creamy filling suitable for topping canapés that are palatable and rich, but ultimately not really sustaining food. Charles H.
2. False Teachers Are DeniersI believe the greatest doctrinal issue confronting the church today is the exclusivity of the gospel, or the belief that salvation is possible only through a personal relationship to Jesus Christ. It is incredible to think that the most fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith could be called into question or debated among people who call themselves Christians, but that is precisely what is taking place in our world today.
From a Christian viewpoint, the very idea that there are many ways to heaven is unreasonable, unscriptural, and offensive. If there are many ways – or even two ways – to God, Jesus Christ was a deceiver. For Jesus avowed more than once that he is the only way to heaven. He declared, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins; for if you believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24).
However, apparently there are those who do not believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven as emphatically declared in John 14:6. For example, a reporter of the Edmonton Journal in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada interviewed Tony Campolo, professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pa., and ordained Baptist minister, on Jan. 17. The professor was asked, “Do you believe non-Christians can go to heaven?”
Campolo responded, “That’s a good question to ask because the way we stand is we contend that trusting in Jesus is the way to heaven. However, we do not know who Jesus will bring into the kingdom and who He will not. We are very careful about pronouncing judgment on anybody. We leave judgment in the hands of God and we are saying Jesus is the way. We preach Jesus, but we have no way of knowing to whom the grace of God is extended.”
Some Deny The Divinity Of Christ.even denying the Master who bought them,
Some Deny The Atoning Work Of Christeven denying the Master who bought them,
Peter now mentions what was probably the most serious of the heretical teachings, the denial of the substitutionary death of our Lord. "Bought" is agorazō, one of the three words used in the N.T. which are translated "redeem." The word in classical use meant "to purchase in the market place," and was used of the purchase of slaves in the slave-market. Our Lord's precious, outpoured blood was the ransom paid to redeem slaves of sin from that slavery. His death satisfied the just demands of the High Court of Heaven, paying the penalty for the sinner, and making a way whereby a righteous God could be just and at the same time the justifier of the believing sinner. Strachan says: "The denial seems to have consisted in an inadequate view of the Person and Work of Christ, and their relation to the problem of human sin." Of course, such a person is unsaved.
Joel Osteen
Another example of a tap dancing, fence straddling, non-answering minister in line with Tony Campolo is Joel Osteen, pastor of one of the largest churches in America, Lakewood Church in Houston. He was interviewed on Larry King Live and asked if atheists go to heaven. He replied, “I am going to let God be the judge of who goes to heaven and hell.”
When Osteen was asked where Jews or Muslims go without trusting Jesus, he replied, “I’m very careful about saying who would and wouldn’t go to heaven. I don’t know.”
Although the Houston pastor issued a clarification of his response to King’s questions on his website, the fact remains that he refused to unashamedly respond with a definitive answer, choosing to waffle in his reply so that no one would be offended.
3. False Teachers Are DestructiveThey will secretly bring in destructive heresies,
The false prophet was above all a man who led other men further away from God instead of closer to him. The prophet who invites the people: "Let us go after other gods," must be mercilessly destroyed (Deut 13:1-5; Deut 18:20). The false prophet takes men in the wrong direction.
What was happening in the case of Peter's people was that certain self-styled prophets were insidiously persuading men to believe the things they wished to be true rather than the things which God had revealed to be true. They did not set themselves up as opponents of Christianity. Far from it. They set themselves up as the finest fruits of Christian thinking; and so it was gradually and subtly that people were being lured away from God's truth to other men's private opinions, which is what heresy is.
This false teaching had a second effect. It brought Christianity into disrepute. In the early days, just as now, every Christian was a good or bad advertisement for Christianity and the Christian Church.
4. False Teachers Are Depraved2 Many will follow their unrestrained ways, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
3 In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words.
"Feigned" is plastos; the verb form is plassō, "to mould" as in clay or wax. Vincent says: "The idea is, therefore, of words moulded at will to suit their vain imaginations." plastic words.. why?
We see the cause of false teaching. It is evil ambition. The word is pleonexia pleon means more and -exia comes from the verb echein which means to have. Pleonexia is the desire to possess more
So it can mean covetous desire for money and for other people's goods; lustful desire for someone's person; unholy ambition for prestige and power.
Lifted up
(i) The false prophets were more interested in gaining popularity than in telling the truth. Their policy was to tell people what they wanted to hear. The false prophets said, "Peace, peace, when there is no peace" (Jer 6:14). They saw visions of peace, when the Lord God was saying that there was no peace (Eze 13:16). In the days of Jehosaphat, Zedekiah, the false prophet, donned his horns of iron and said that Israel would push the Syrians out of the way as he pushed with these horns; Micaiah the true prophet foretold disaster if Jehosaphat went to war. Of course, Zedekiah was popular and his message was accepted; but Jehosaphat went forth to war with the Syrians and perished tragically (1Ki 22 ). In the days of Jeremiah, Hananiah prophesied the swift end of the power of Babylon, while Jeremiah prophesied the servitude of the nation to her; and again the prophet who told people what they wished to hear was the popular one (Jer 28 ). Diogenes, the great cynic philosopher, spoke of the false teachers of his day whose method was to follow wherever the applause of the crowd led. One of the first characteristics of the false prophet is that he tells men what they want to hear and not the truth they need to hear.
Lustful
(iii) The false prophets were dissolute in their personal life. Isaiah writes: "The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink; they are confused with wine" (Isa 28:7). Jeremiah says, "In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing; they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evil-doers.... They lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness" (Jer 23:14; Jer 23:32). The false prophet in himself is a seduction to evil rather than an attraction to good.
Hosea 5 Hear this, priests! Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, royal house! For the judgment applies to you because you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread out on Tabor.
2 Rebels are deeply involved in slaughter; I will be a punishment for all of them.
3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me. For now, Ephraim, you have acted promiscuously; Israel is defiled.
4 Their actions do not allow [them]to return to their God, for a spirit of promiscuity is among them, and they do not know the Lord.
Lording
Lucre Loving
(ii) The false prophets were interested in personal gain. As Micah said, "Its priests teach for hire, and its prophets divine for money" (Mic 3:11). They teach for filthy lucre's sake (Tit 1:11), and they identify godliness and gain, making their religion a money-making thing (1Tim 6:5). We can see these exploiters at work in the early church. In The Didache, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, which is what might be called the first service-order book, it is laid down that a prophet who asks for money or for a table to be spread in front of him, is a false prophet. "Traffickers in Christ," the Didache calls such men (The Didache 11). The false prophet is a covetous creature who regards men as dupes to be exploited for his own ends.
5. False Teachers Will Be Destroyed.Their condemnation, [pronounced]long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep
and will bring swift destruction on themselves.
"There is a "graphic picture in the sentence. The judgment is not idle. It is 'represented as a living thing, awake and expectant. Long ago that judgment started on its destroying path, and the fate of sinning angels, and the deluge, and the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah were but incidental illustrations of its power; nor has it ever since lingered. . . . It advances still, strong and vigilant49 as when it sprang from the bosom of God, and will not fail to reach the mark to which it was pointed from of old." "Damnation" is apōleia, "utter ruin and destruction, the loss of all that makes existence worthwhile."
Therefore
1. STOP and think about what preachers, pastors and writers are really saying.
2. LOOK at the lifestyles of these men and women
3. LISTEN carefully for both what these people are saying, and what they are NOT saying. They may be leaving out vital aspects of the gospel.
4. SPEAK These people only get a hearing because we evangelicals have left a void for them to fill when we don't speak up for the gospel.
2 tim 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
If you don't speak up they will! ANd they will lead others into destruction.
# posted by Groseys messages @ 4:26 AM 
