Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. With so many voices seeking to influence us, how do we know who to listen to, who to follow? The Bible warns us against false teachers, but without discernment, we can be easily deceived. Thankfully, 2 Peter 2, 10-16 lays out for us the character of false teachers. Pastor Rich unpacks how effectively the passage describes lying voices around us even today, and he warns us about the pitfalls we face when we entrust ourselves to lies. Let's listen in to this message titled, The Character of Liars. This is part 4 of the message.
It was first preached on September 10, 2023 at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Because if you're staying so busy for God, but you're not communing with Him so that you indeed are captivated by Him, your busyness for God will leave your soul thirsty, and you will become an unsteady soul. Number 5, God is not enough. And I'm just going to leave that one there.
If God is not enough, you are an unsteady soul. You are vulnerable to being enticed by false teachers. Hank Hanegraaff wrote, false teachers invite people to come to the master's table because of what's on it, not because they love the master. So as we bring this to a close today, Peter's warning us about false teachers. We could spend a lot of time unpacking all the details of what he says about false teachers. And you can do that. I encourage you to do that. Be able to recognize a false teacher.
So whose faith should you follow? Let me just read an illustration here, if I may. Again, thinking about all the different influences, books, TV, Internet, social media, all of that coming into our lives, into our minds, vying for our affections and our allegiance. Doreen Virtue was the world's top selling New Age author. She enjoyed a phenomenally lucrative lifestyle.
Her publisher treated her like a rock star, flying her and her husband first class to sold out workshops across the globe, rubbing elbows with celebrities. She described her life and her teaching this way, and I quote, New Agers often view Christianity as having dogmatic rules, but they have their own rigid rules and standards about what an enlightened person must and mustn't do. During my 20 years as a New Age teacher, I promoted techniques like positive affirmations, believing and teaching that, quote, your words create your reality. We need we held up our wealth and fame as evidence that our principles were true and effective. Yet despite this worldly success, we were unrepentant sinners with lives marred by broken relationships and addictions.
Having sold out workshops, standing ovations, adoring fans, celebrity friends gave us swollen egos. I remember believing my every thought was a message or a sign from God or his angels. In January of 2015, Doreen was traveling on a road in Hawaii where they lived, and she was listening to Alistair Begg on the radio. It was a sermon called Itching Ears from 2 Timothy 4. Paul wrote, in the end times, people will want their itching ears tickled by false teachers who offer false hope.
And again, I quote from Doreen Virtue, I could tell he was describing people just like me. God used Begg's sermon to convict me for the first time in my life. His words pierced my stony heart. I felt ashamed of my false teachings.
Then when I read Deuteronomy 18, 10 to 12, I encountered a list of sinful activities that included several I was practicing, such as divination, interpreting signs and omens, mediumship. I was broken, deeply ashamed and humbled. I dropped to my knees in shame and sorrow, and on that very day, I gave my life to Jesus as my Lord and Savior. This decision, her surrender to Jesus Christ had very far reaching consequences. Obviously, her publisher dropped her, and everyone in the New Age movement treated her as an object of scorn. And then she concludes by saying this, having to admit that I was wrong to the entire world, her books were published in over 38 languages.
She was wildly wealthy from this. And having to admit that I was wrong to the entire world had been deeply humbling. Even so, I needed that humility to better learn how to lean upon God. After seeking but never finding peace in New Age, I have finally found it in Christ. It may be that none of you in here this morning are lured by the New Age movement, but that's just an example of a false teacher, a popular person, a well-known author, a lot of energy, a lot of success, and we're drawn to that, aren't we?
We're drawn to that. But that's not the gospel, folks. That's not the gospel of grace and Jesus Christ. Whose faith should you follow?
By the way, the article in Christianity Today magazine was entitled, Please Don't Read My Books Anymore. Whose faith should you follow? Let me just give you four characteristics here.
We're done. If there is a leader that you're going to follow as a spiritual shepherd, number one, that leader needs to demonstrate genuine humility. And by genuine, I mean not false humility, genuine humility.
You can't fake genuine humility. Genuine humility, how can you tell if a person is genuinely humble, they clearly don't think of themselves too much. And if a spiritual leader is constantly talking about himself and how humble he is, he's not humble.
And I mean that, honestly. Anybody who talks about themselves more often than anybody else, they're not humble. They're preoccupied with themselves, even as ostensibly humble people. Number two, a servant heart. A true spiritual shepherd will have a servant heart, not lording over or manipulating people, but serving with the mind of Christ.
What is the mind of Christ? To consider others more important than yourself. Genuine humility, a servant heart, number three, faithful commitment to the Scriptures. A spiritual leader needs to demonstrate that he can accurately handle the word of God and not go beyond what is written. Not go beyond what is written. Fourthly, a spiritual shepherd worthy of being followed, and I use that word because in Hebrews it says whose faith follow or imitate their faith, another translation says.
Fourthly, they will point you to the sufficiency. The sufficiency of Christ. They will not point you to yourself, they will not point you to themselves, they will not point you to their ministry, but to Christ.
Even when, now please listen to this, even when that's not the thing you're looking for in the moment. We all have our moments of weakness where we might be distracted by the luring of the flesh. But a faithful shepherd will point you to the sufficiency of Christ even when that's not the thing you're looking for. I love what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 5, but what we proclaim is not ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord with ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake. Loved ones, Christians, family of God, let's be discerning. Let's follow Christ and only follow someone who is genuinely, humbly following Christ.
Would you stand with me please? Father you have given us your son the Lord Jesus to take upon himself our sin and the debt of that sin. And the wrath, your holy and just and righteous wrath that it deserves and he took that upon himself for us. And then for our justification he rose again so that we too may have life.
And he died for all that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. Father we are so grateful for the simple, plain gospel of grace in Jesus Christ that requires our surrender. Find our hearts surrendered this morning Father. Fill us with a spirit of discernment. Rescue us Father from being unsteady souls that we will not be carried away by false teachers for they abound today Father. We will thank you for your truth that transforms, that frees us and transforms us. In Jesus name, Amen. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace. You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace mission is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good and your deepest satisfaction in him, the one who is infinitely good. We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10am.
