True or False

DEVOTION 2 PETER TRUE OR FALSE 2 Peter 2:1-3 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them — bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. NIV A sad commentary on the condition of the human heart is expressed here. False prophets and teachers were then and surely are here now. How do men expect people to believe the truth of God when then live such lives as they do? It is fairly clear these people who use a form of the Gospel of Jesus Christ use it for their own personal gain rather than for the benefit of the Kingdom of God. It is because of greed for the ways of the world, greed for money which drives them to exploit others taking their money, not for God, but for themselves. They are shameful; they cast a horrible image to the non-believers of what followers of God are. We cannot allow ourselves to be influenced by these people. We cannot allow them to distract us from the real truth. Although they have taken in enough money to afford multimedia coverage of their supposed ministries and flood the market with hordes of material spewing forth their doctrines, we cannot be taken in by them. Maybe some of this types have good intentions, but that is why we have been given the gifts of the Spirit, one of them being the gift if discernment. If we simply allow the Spirit to speak to our hearts and minds we can see these false prophets and teachers for who and what they are. God will deal with them in all good time, but we have to be vigilant in not letting them fill our minds with their false teachings in the meantime. This might even apply to all the denominationalism in the world today. But the main focus is on those who use the Gospel for their own edification, gaining glamour and fame and glory for their dynamite personalities and flamboyant styles of preaching or entertaining the masses of people who gather around them. Carefulness must be the key word for the true believer in Christ, staying close to the Spirit, hearing the harkening to stay clear of such false teaching. The truth is clear, God has established this truth for us to understand and know deep within our spirits. We know when we hear anything else but the truth, even when these people include just enough of it, just a portion of the truth, to make their words sound good. We can hear the rest of their story and know not to listen, not to be taken in, not to subscribe to their words. We know what is true false.