Get ready to start a journey…a journey through the pages of the Bible and the pages of your life.
While there is a real spiritual battle going on in the air that we can’t see, there is a real spiritual battle on the ground that we certainly experience. Scripture reminds us that our primary fight is not against flesh and blood. We battle in a hand-to-hand engagement against our adversary, the devil.
Let’s face it. We are most troubled when we act in disobedience. When we’ve decided that our way is best, chaos reigns, and anxiety is amplified! On any road trip away from God, our personal fear rides shotgun. But the fear of the Lord is different. The fear of the Lord is clean and clear, like a mountain spring flowing from a life that demonstrates refreshing obedience. The unpolluted life follows God’s Word.
There is no getting around it. Storms will come, and sometimes they are unleashed in our lives. Personal storms come through unmet expectations and unfulfilled dreams. Sometimes clouds of darkness from illness and grief build in our hearts: disappointment, discouragement, disillusionment, and depression rain in our souls. But amid the storm—God is our stronghold!
False teachers are a dime a dozen. They stand tall with stage presence. Their presentation is engaging. Their message is wrapped in an attractive package. But at the end of the day, the attractive package is empty, like “waterless springs.” The stage presence is backed by pride, and the message engages hearers by appealing to the “sensual passions of the flesh.”
False teachers always have an angle that slants in their favor. And the teachers Peter warned his readers about were coming into town for personal profit.
Since the beginning of time, they have been around. They come from every race. They have lived in every century. They have penetrated every culture. They have whispered their message behind closed doors and shouted it from the street corners. They have spread their poison one-on-one and before groups of thousands. They have used tablets, scrolls, books, radio, television, and the Internet to mislead anyone who will listen. False teachers have been and always will be among us.