The So, skilled actors take on the language and

the language and behavior of the characters they're portraying

and if they're good they can be quite convincing.

False teachers in the church can put on a similar show,

but rather than entertaining, they're endangering their audience.

Today on Truth for Life, we'll find out how to discern a biblically sound preacher from a crafty imposter.

Alistair Begg is teaching from 2nd John versus 7 through 13.

According to Irenaeus who lived a long time ago, Polykarp, who was the first Bishop of Smyrna,

records in his writings an incident that took place in the public baths in Ephes. Apparently Polykarp writes that at a

particular moment in the day the Apostle John shouted out, let us flee lest the building fall down.

For Serenthus, the enemy of the truth is inside.

Serenthus was a first truth is in sign.

Serenthus was a first century heretic, and according to Polycarp, he found himself in the

public bathing area in Ephesus at the same time as the Apostle John,

the writer of this little letter.

If it is an accurate statement of history,

then it serves in a quite graphic way to underscore

John's significant concern regarding the danger of those who profess to walk in the truth being led away by those who are

deceivers. He has commended in the first six verses those who are walking in the truth following Jesus, and he has

taken time to start there because of what follows. And in verse seven, he turns

to the dangers that they face.

And essentially the danger that they face is a form of counterfeit Christianity.

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