Jude 4 In ur last lessn, Jude was expsing the false teachers in the church as dreamers, revilers, and depraved sinners He gave us the pattern fr their behavir They receive their insight frm demnic revelatins They engage in immral, depraved sexual practices and use their false teaching as a cver fr their licentiusness They reject church authrities, prclaiming themselves t be an authrity unaccuntable t anyne And they blaspheme the majesty f Gd and His revealed plan These men pse a great danger t the church, leading many astray and creating stumbling blcks fr thers But what mtivates these false teachers? Jude has already tld us that these men seek t cver their sin with false teaching cncerning Gd s grace But surely they culd sin withut entering the church yet they ve sught t affiliate with Christians S they must have sme ther mtive, sme ther benefit fr reaching int the church t find their audience Nw Jude begins t explain what drives these men in their evil pursuits Jude 10 But these men revile the things which they d nt understand; and the things which they knw by instinct, like unreasning animals, by these things they are destryed. Irnically, while these false teachers claim t pssess a new, better spiritual knwledge, they speak cncerning matters they can t understand They claim t have spiritual understand, spiritual wisdm, spiritual knwledge And they cme ffering that spiritual knwledge t the church Thereby claiming t be teachers f the wrd 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Jude 4 2 f 16 But Jude labels them as ignrant f the very things they claim t knw They are spiritually ignrant f the truth This is further evidence that we are talking abut unbelievers wh have jined themselves t the church culture thinking they understand the faith But they have cme shrt f the grace f Gd, as Hebrews says They are n nthing mre than what they have assumed in the flesh T qute Peter in Acts 8 speaking t SImn the magician Acts 8:20 But Peter said t him, May yur silver perish with yu, because yu thught yu culd btain the gift f Gd with mney! Acts 8:21 Yu have n part r prtin in this matter, fr yur heart is nt right befre Gd. But they d cme with knwledge f a srt...things knwn nly by human instinct The Greek wrd fr instinct means natural knwledge Jude s pint is that these men are limited t knwledge they cme by naturally r in their natural state As ppsed t a knwledge given t the them supernaturally by the Spirit f Gd Remember that the Bible uses the term natural t describe a sinful, fallen persn prir t receiving faith and receiving the Spirit Natural men cannt relate t the Lrd r t spiritual truth Natural men have selfish, evil intentins and mtives 1Cr. 2:12 Nw we have received, nt the spirit f the wrld, but the Spirit wh is frm Gd, s that we may knw the things freely given t us by Gd, 1Cr. 2:13 which things we als speak, nt in wrds taught by human wisdm, but in thse taught by the Spirit, cmbining spiritual thughts with spiritual wrds. 1Cr. 2:14 But a natural man des nt accept the things f the Spirit f Gd, fr they are flishness t him; and he cannt understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Jude 4 3 f 16 And there is nthing mre dangerus than a natural man pretending t have spiritual insight and preying n unsuspecting immature believers The danger is tw-fld First, the men deliver the ppsite f what they claim t bring They claim t bring truth cncerning Gd and His desires But because they have n insight t ffer, they can nly supply human wisdm and human understanding It s natural, and Jude says it s like the instinct f an animal It s knwledge that desn t cme frm study r disciplined submissin t the authrity f Gd On the cntrary, it cmes frm instinct, gut understanding present at birth And s the faithful hungry fr spiritual truth are sucked in t receiving knwledge that can nly feed the flesh And that the secnd reasn these men are s dangerus t the church Their teaching appeals t the flesh They speak with the nly spirit they knw: the spirit f the wrld And thse wrds seduce the flesh f thse wh listen They prmise spiritual enlightenment but stir up fleshly lust Jude says these men will als be destryed by these things Thse wh live in the flesh and seek t please the flesh will die by the flesh Rm. 8:5 Fr thse wh are accrding t the flesh set their minds n the things f the flesh, but thse wh are accrding t the Spirit, the things f the Spirit. Rm. 8:6 Fr the mind set n the flesh is death, but the mind set n the Spirit is life and peace, Rm. 8:7 because the mind set n the flesh is hstile tward Gd; fr it des nt subject itself t the law f Gd, fr it is nt even able t d s, Rm. 8:8 and thse wh are in the flesh cannt please Gd. Then in v.11, Jude prnunces we upn these men 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Jude 4 4 f 16 Jude 11 We t them! Fr they have gne the way f Cain, and fr pay they have rushed headlng int the errr f Balaam, and perished in the rebellin f Krah. T prnunce we against smene means t declare cming judgment The Lrd prnunced we against the Pharisees, scribes and lawyers fr leading the peple astray And in Tribulatin the angel prnunces we t the wrld because f the cming judgments And nw Jude prnunces we upn these false teachers And by extensin, all false teachers False teachers fllw the lust s f their flesh int the grave and int hell Which brings us t their mtivatin and t Jude s sixth triad First, they have gne the way f Cain Obviusly, we need t revisit a little f Cain s stry t understand hw these men repeat the mistakes f that man We knw Cain is Adam s first sn He was a man wh gets in truble with the Lrd and is sent away frm the family What was Cain s mistake? In shrt Cain believed that his relatinship with Gd was little mre than a business transactin Cain wuld hand ver smething f value t the Lrd And the Lrd wuld respnd with blessing and apprval In Genesis 4 we read this: 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Jude 4 5 f 16 Gen. 4:4 Abel, n his part als brught f the firstlings f his flck and f their fat prtins. And the LORD had regard fr Abel and fr his ffering; Gen. 4:5 but fr Cain and fr his ffering He had n regard. S Cain became very angry and his cuntenance fell. Gen. 4:6 Then the LORD said t Cain, Why are yu angry? And why has yur cuntenance fallen? Gen. 4:7 If yu d well, will nt yur cuntenance be lifted up? And if yu d nt d well, sin is cruching at the dr; and its desire is fr yu, but yu must master it. When Cain and Abel g t sacrifice t the Lrd, Cain bth bring tithes frm their respective labrs: Cain frm the harvest and Able frm the flcks But Abel understd by faith that mre than tithes were required Abel knew that sacrifice was required t cver sin S Abel brught bth tithes and a sacrifice While Cain nly brught the tithe S the Lrd shwed favr t Abel fr his sacrifice and tithe, while the Lrd didn t regard Cain s tithes This upset Cain wh was expecting their business transactin t be hnred The Lrd was bligated t repay Cain fr his gift, r s Cain thught But the Lrd explains t Cain that he has n reasn t be angry, since he had the same pprtunity t sacrifice and be accepted The lamb f the sin ffering is lying at the dr Cain need nly ffer the sacrifice and the Lrd wuld be Cain s master as well But Cain never submits t the Lrd s authrity (Learn mre in the Genesis study) Hw have these false teachers gne the way f Cain? Like Cain, they dn t understand that a true relatinship with Gd cmes nly n the basis f a sacrifice fr sin 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Jude 4 6 f 16 Specifically, the sacrifice f Christ n the crss And withut that sacrifice, n relatinship, n blessing is pssible Instead, these false teachers say that a relatinship with Gd is entirely a business transactin Mney changes hands Gd s blessing can be bught They believe this and teach thers We give Gd smething He wants, and then we get smething we want This is the errr f Cain and it reflects their lack f spiritual understanding A natural man nly understands what prfits the flesh The unbelieving wrld perates n the principles f selfcenteredness and pay fr play The natural man cannt understand a Gd f grace And a natural man sees true faith as flishness S these teachers tell themselves and their students that Gd requires payment fr His lve And cnveniently, these false teachers are ready t cllect yur mney n Gd s behalf Nw we see their true mtive Jude says because they want t be paid, these men rush headlng int the errr f Balaam The Greek wrd fr rushed headlng is literally the wrd pured like a river rushing dwnhill Once again, it s instinctive, natural and unthinking Their mtivatin fr false teaching is t gain mney Jude says this is repeating the errr f Balaam 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Jude 4 7 f 16 Balaam was a prphet f Gd Like all prphets, he was suppsed t serve Gd s peple But instead, Balaam peddled himself a freign King, ne wh was determined t destry Israel In the end, the Lrd prevented the prphet frm speaking against His peple Peter tells us mre abut the errr f Balaam 2Pet. 2:14 having eyes full f adultery that never cease frm sin, enticing unstable suls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; 2Pet. 2:15 frsaking the right way, they have gne astray, having fllwed the way f Balaam, the sn f Ber, wh lved the wages f unrighteusness; 2Pet. 2:16 but he received a rebuke fr his wn transgressin, fr a mute dnkey, speaking with a vice f a man, restrained the madness f the prphet. Peter says false teachers have eyes full f adultery They never cease frm sin They entice unstable suls And they have hearts trained in greed Then Peter says that false teachers fllw the example f Balaam in lving the wages f unrighteusness Balaam s true lve wasn t the Lrd r Gd s peple Balaam s true lve was the mney he culd make frm serving in as a prphet He turned religius service int a mney-making enterprise S ging the way f Balaam means having greedy hearts and crrupting religius service int an pprtunity t fleece Gd s peple S when we take Cain s errr and Balaam s errr, we arrive at a pwerful and destructive cmbinatin Men teaching that Gd demands payment befre He will respnse in blessing fllwed by a demand fr payment The teacher becmes Gd s debt cllectr 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Jude 4 8 f 16 And their greedy hearts drive them t devise increasingly clever ways t fleece the sheep But the damage desn t stp there because Balaam s errr ges a step further As Peter reminds us, the prphet Balaam wasn t permitted t speak against Israel But he still desired t cllect his fee, s he ffered the evil king Balak an alternative t destry Israel Rev. 2:14 But I have a few things against yu, because yu have there sme wh hld the teaching f Balaam, wh kept teaching Balak t put a stumbling blck befre the sns f Israel, t eat things sacrificed t idls and t cmmit acts f immrality. Balaam taught the king ways t entice the men f Israel int idlatry sexual sin, which eventually weaken the natin and gave Balak the victry he desired Likewise, the false teachers tday trip up Gd s peple by enticing them int idlatry and lust fr earthly wealth They emphasize their wn wealth and prsperity as a marketing ply And as PT Barnum famusly said, there s a sucker brn every minute Finally, in the last part f the sixth triad, Jude explains these men have unbridled ambitin He cmpares them t the rebellin f Krah, and they share his fate Krah s stry is tld in Numbers 16 Num. 16:1 Nw Krah the sn f Izhar, the sn f Khath, the sn f Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sns f Eliab, and On the sn f Peleth, sns f Reuben, tk actin, Num. 16:2 and they rse up befre Mses, tgether with sme f the sns f Israel, tw hundred and fifty leaders f the cngregatin, chsen in the assembly, men f renwn. Num. 16:3 They assembled tgether against Mses and Aarn, and said t them, Yu have gne far enugh, fr all the cngregatin are hly, every ne f them, and the LORD is in their midst; s why d yu exalt yurselves abve the assembly f the LORD? Num. 16:4 When Mses heard this, he fell n his face; Krah led a rebellin against Mses and Aarn in the desert 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Jude 4 9 f 16 They questined whether these men represented Gd And they demanded t rule themselves Obviusly, Mses wasn t pleased and he warned the peple nt t be assciated with this rebellin In fact, Mses instructed the peple that they must separate themselves frm these teachers entirely They culdn t even be near their tents r tuch their pssessins Otherwise, they wuld be caught up in the same judgment Then the Lrd appeared and the time fr judgment came Num. 16:28 Mses said, By this yu shall knw that the LORD has sent me t d all these deeds; fr this is nt my ding. Num. 16:29 If these men die the death f all men r if they suffer the fate f all men, then the LORD has nt sent me. Num. 16:30 But if the LORD brings abut an entirely new thing and the grund pens its muth and swallws them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive int Shel, then yu will understand that these men have spurned the LORD. Num. 16:31 As he finished speaking all these wrds, the grund that was under them split pen; Num. 16:32 and the earth pened its muth and swallwed them up, and their husehlds, and all the men wh belnged t Krah with their pssessins. Num. 16:33 S they and all that belnged t them went dwn alive t Shel; and the earth clsed ver them, and they perished frm the midst f the assembly. The errr f Krah was t rebel against the Lrd and His appinted representatives and get away with it But Gd will nt be mcked Sner r later the rebel in the camp is judged And we need t steer clear f them if we want t avid becming cllateral damage S in Jude s three examples, we see the three mtives f these teachers They share Cain s mtive 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Jude 4 10 f 16 Thinking with the flesh, they want t gain Gd s favr thrugh a business transactin They pay Gd, He returns the favr they think They fllw Balaam s lead They see religius services as a means fr persn financial gain S they see n prblem with prfiting at the expense f Gd s peple Finally, they share the rebellin f Krah They dispute any authrity in the church And they expect they can perate withut fear r cnsequences But the will share in Krah s fate as well Jude wants us t have an even better understanding f these men and hw they perate S he gives us six illustratins f false teachers using examples frm nature Here we find the seventh and eighth triads Jude 12 These are the men wh are hidden reefs in yur lve feasts when they feast with yu withut fear, caring fr themselves; cluds withut water, carried alng by winds; autumn trees withut fruit, dubly dead, uprted; Jude 13 wild waves f the sea, casting up their wn shame like fam; wandering stars, fr whm the black darkness has been reserved frever. The first fur illustratins are fund in v.12 and the last tw are in v.13 Each illustratins cnveys an essential thught S altgether we re lking at six additinal pints abut false teachers Because the mre we learn abut them, the less likely we are t be enticed by their smth wrds FIrst, Jude says these men are like hidden reefs in the church s lve feasts 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Jude 4 11 f 16 In the early church, cngregatins had adpted a practice f hnring the requirement fr cmmunin in the frm f a full meal The entire cngregatin wuld enjy a large meal r feast as the cmmunin bservance Since everyne attended these events, then the false teachers were there als Bt Jude says the presence f false teachers in the gathering are like rcky reefs that cause shipwreck Reefs lying just belw the water are impssible t see S if a ship s captain wasn t aware f the existence, he might run his vessel up nt the reef unexpectedly The shipwreck leaves the ship damaged and stalled n it s jurney This is Jude s pint f curse The presence f false teachers in the church is a dangerus peril fr Christians in the bdy Like ships n a jurney, a Christian may cme acrss ne f these false teachers and becme a man r wman f shipwrecked faith We re damaged by their influence and ur jurney f sanctificatin and spiritual maturity stalls ut Secndly, Jude says they care nly fr themselves My English translatin really ruins this cmparisn by the way it translated the Greek Jude literally wrte shepherding nly themselves in Greek The picture frm nature is f a shepherd with a flck in the field But the shepherd nly cares fr his wn needs rather than ensuring the flcks are fed Feeding sheep in a cmmn metaphr in the New Testament fr teaching Gd s peple the spiritually nurishing wrd f Gd This is the prper and expected rle f every pastr 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Jude 4 12 f 16 False teachers have a different agenda They nly care t feed themselves Yet they prtray themselves as pastrs r shepherds f Gd s peple Dn t be fled, Jude says; they nly care abut themselves Thirdly, they are cluds withut water carried by the wind A clud brings a prmise f smething gd, specifically f rain Rain is anther cmmn metaphr in scripture It s used as a picture f Gd s blessing, raining dwn upn us frm heaven And f curse we knw that rain cmes frm cluds that gather These men, Jude says, are like thse cluds They blw in prmising great blessings frm Gd But they have n blessing t ffer S instead, they nly manage t cver up the sun and increase darkness Instead f giving a blessing, they bscure the blessing f Gd s truth Furth, Jude s next triad begins with a descriptin f autumn tress withut fruit, twice dead Fruit trees, like mst trees, lse their leaves in the winter They lk essentially dead during the winter Then spring arrives and the arrival f leaves brings a prmise f fruit in the autumn Fruit is als a biblical metaphr, meaning healthy spiritual utcmes But these false teachers are like autumn trees with n fruit They never bring a crp, they never prduce gd fruit 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Jude 4 13 f 16 They give n spiritual benefit Furthermre, they are dubly r twice dead in the sense that they dn t just lk dead like a winter tree - they truly are dead Spiritually, speaking they are unbelievers Therefre, they are spiritually dead It s n wnder they prduce n fruit Jude says they will be plucked ut by the rts, as farmers destry trees that wn t prduce fruit Fifth, they raging waves, faming up their wn shame The ceaseless raring f the waves beating against the shre evkes a sense f restlessness, futility, a lack f peace Standing n beach r bardwalk, we can watch the waves rlling in ne after anther The mvement and the sund never rests It s energy and chas in the breaking fam...never peaceful That s the cmparisn Jude is making t false teachers They are frever stirring up discntent within the cngregatin They tell us we are missing smething Gd has fr us And untrained minds begin t cnsider their wrds while frgetting scripture The Bible teaches believers that we have everything we need in the reality f what we receive in Jesus Christ 2Pet. 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied t yu in the knwledge f Gd and f Jesus ur Lrd; 2Pet. 1:3 seeing that His divine pwer has granted t us everything pertaining t life and gdliness, thrugh the true knwledge f Him wh called us by His wn glry and excellence. When let ur minds wander away frm the wrd f Gd, we can fall fr men wh teach us we need smething else 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Jude 4 14 f 16 They rb us f ur peace and cntentment in Christ But their false teaching will be a testimny f shame fr them Finally, Jude ends the eighth triad with a cmparisns t wandering stars, fr whm a darkness has been reserved The Bible ften uses stars as a symbl fr angels, and that s the intentin here as well Wandering stars speaks t the fall f a third f the angelic realm in fllwing after the sin f Satan They wandered away frm Gd and int judgment The Bible als says that the endless darkness f the Lake f Fire was created fr Satan and the demns that fllwed him Matt. 25:41 Then He will als say t thse n His left, Depart frm Me, accursed nes, int the eternal fire which has been prepared fr the devil and his angels; The Lake f Fire will serve duble duty in als serving as the place f judgment fr all unbelieving men frm all histry Hebrews, says the Lrd desn t ffer help t fallen angels, but praise the Lrd He did make a way available fr men t receive mercy These false teachers are like the fallen angels, wandering away frm the pprtunity fr glry Instead they are n a ne-way trip t the Lake f Fire As unbelievers and men wh teach thers t sin, they are stumbling blcks wh face a terrible fate in the future Peter says this cncerning false teachers: 2Pet. 2:21 Fr it wuld be better fr them nt t have knwn the way f righteusness, than having knwn it, t turn away frm the hly cmmandment handed n t them. False teachers wh set themselves up inside the church have cme t knwn the way, that is the Gspel message They haven t believed in it s as t be saved They knw it in the sense that they have been expsed t it 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Jude 4 15 f 16 Ntice Peter says they have knw the way f righteusness They dn t knw righteusness itself Since they are men wrking arund and inside the church, they have heard the Gspel but they haven t believed They hw t get t Heaven but they aren t willing t make the trip And Peter says that in turning away frm the cmmandment t believe, they will suffer a wrst punishment in the end S let s sum up what we learned in this sectin f Jude s letter False teachers are unbelievers We re nt saying that a persn wh teaches smething incrrectly, falsely, has instantly becme a false teacher in the manner Jude describes We can say there are False Teachers and teachers wh teach falsely False Teachers are a very specific class f evil men These are the nes we ve been studying thrughut Jude s letter But any believer can make an errr in their teaching frm time t time In fact, every believer WILL teach errrs eventually, inadvertantly N teacher save Christ Himself is perfect in his r her understanding f scripture Paul says we all share that limitatin 1Cr. 13:12 Fr nw we see in a mirrr dimly, but then face t face; nw I knw in part, but then I will knw fully just as I als have been fully knwn. Every Christian can teach incrrectly, but this isn t Jude s cncern His cncern is that we knw these certain unbelievers and understand the dangers and the respnse that s required Jude recgnize their evil fruit 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
Jude 4 16 f 16 Dn t becme victim t their greedy desire Dn t trust their empty prmises f blessing Dn t let them rb yu f yur cntentment And dn t stand t clse because at any minute they might be swallwed up in judgment Next time we finish the letter, including anther explratin f apcryphal literature in the bk f Ench 2013 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.