Sermon Brief
Date Written: Aug 19, 2014
Date Preached: Aug 20, 2014
Where Preached: OPBC (Wed - PM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: A Deeper Look: Key Verses
Sermon Title:
Sermon Text: Jude 1:12-13 [ESV]
Introduction:
Several weeks ago we had reached v8-11 and we had learned what Jude had said about what was happening in the church and who was responsible. Jude gave 3 examples of the fate awaiting the false teachers who were misleading so many people away from Christ.
Tonight we are going to continue in Jude’s description of these teachers. Tonight we will look at how he describes them… NOT by giving human examples, but by comparing them to OTHER things that people would understand.
Read v12-13 here…
12These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
12These [men] are [like] hidden reefs…
Hidden reefs – Greek term/phrase – spee-las which is the word used for reef, but Jude is using it here as a metaphor. He is saying that these men… these false teachers are LIKE reefs in the ocean… You see clear sailing, but there is danger underneath the surface!
These men portrayed a life that was free of care and supposedly smooth sailing and they based their teaching on a perversion of God’s grace. Jude tells us that they perverted God’s grace to sensuality… in other words they used God’s grace as a license to DO WHAT THEY PLEASED… to do what felt good!
They portrayed this life as what God had for His believers, but Jude is telling them that this is nothing more than a hidden reef… what they say may LOOK and SOUND good, but it carries great danger to your walk and witness for Christ!
…at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear...
Love feasts – Greek term/phrase – agape which is the word used for unconditional love, but it was also used in conjunction with the meal in which they celebrated communion.
A ‘love’ meal that celebrated God’s ultimate and unconditional love for them… a meal in which they transparently shared their lives with one another and fellowshipped as like minded believers!
Jude tells us that these false teachers Feast without fear – Greek term/phrase – ah-fob-ose which is the word used for boldness. In other words these men would partake of this love feast boldly and had NO fear of the repercussions.
Paul taught that to partake of this celebration in an unworthy manner was to invite the wrath of God upon you… these men flaunted their lifestyle and partook of this celebration in a manner that had NO fear of God’s wrath!
This reflects a blatant disregard for the solemn nature of this event. This reflects their blatant disregard for the deity of Christ and their blasphemous approach to God’s grace!
…shepherds feeding themselves...
Shepherds feeding themselves – Greek term/phrase –
poi-mine-oh which is the word used what a shepherd does to feed his flock. BUT in this case Jude reminds these believers that these men were NOT out to feed the flock, but to feed and care for themselves! Their focus was NOT on kingdom work, but on self-preservation and self-indulgence.
Can you imagine a parent who fed themselves BEFORE feeding the children? Can you imagine caring for YOURSELF ahead of those in your family who needed help in being cared for? It sounds ridiculous to say, but this was exactly their mindset… I will get mine FIRST…
This revealed these teachers to be men who lacked compassion or love for those they were teaching. No self-respecting teacher would honor themselves and provide for themselves before his/her students! These teachers were self-centered and did not care who got fed, only that they got what they wanted.
…waterless clouds, swept along by winds…
Waterless clouds swept along by wind – Greek term/phrase – neph-ell-ay which is the Greek word for cloud, but it was used to refer to the cloud that led the Children of Israel thru the wilderness.
Jude is using this term at this point as another metaphor. He is saying that these men… these false teachers present themselves as leaders and those who will direct you in the right path… but the path they are on leads only to danger and destruction.
The cloud that led the Israelite nation was a cloud they could count on, a cloud that was there regardless of the wind or weather… it represented God’s presence with them! God’s presence is UNCHANGING… it is a constant.
Their ‘cloud’ was a cloud that was swept & driven by the passions of their heart and the lure of pleasure in this world. There was NOTHING stable or constant about their ‘cloud’… it was like a cloud promising rain but not capable to deliver!
Another metaphor we can relate to to this description can be found from a farmer’s perspective. Can you imagine the excitement of the farmer seeing the skies darken and the clouds roll in but then that excitement crushed when the clouds simply blow over and his field is left dry and dying…
NO LIFE GIVING WATER is delivered, only the empty promise that never materializes. This is what Jude is saying about these teachers…that they are like that cloud that promises life giving water, but cannot deliver!
…fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted;
Fruitless trees (2x dead/uprooted) – Greek term/phrase – neph-ell-ay which is the Greek word for cloud, but it was used to refer to the cloud that led the Children of Israel thru the wilderness.
This translation says ‘fruitless trees’ but it can also be translated as ‘autumn trees’ which is to say, a tree entering the winter cycle. What happens to trees during the autumn/winter? They lose their leaves and they do NOT produce anything.
The metaphor here is that these men and what they are teaching is about as valuable and useful as a dead winter tree… What Jude is saying here is that if they were to see the ‘spirit’ of these men, it would look something like a tree in the winter time… empty and gray and holding NO life!
The describing adjectives here are twice dead and uprooted which describe what the ‘tree’ looks like. Twice dead is a repetitive descriptor that seeks to emphasize its ‘deadness’ and the term uprooted allows the listener to visualize what it would be like if a tree was that ‘dead’… it is like uprooting a tree… without its roots in the ground a tree will die!
So what Jude is doing here is using hyperbole within his metaphor… there is NO way you can be DOUBLY dead, but what he is trying to do here is emphasize the ‘spiritual deadness’ of these men and their teaching! They are like trees who have been pulled up by their roots and left to die!
13wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame…
Wild sea waves – Greek term/phrase – ag-gree-oss kuh-mah which is the Greek for angry wave… this would have been understood to be a wave of destruction, not merely a wave of the sea. The implication here is that these men and their teaching revealed a teaching that was WILD, UNPREDICTABLE and DANGEROUS!
The wild sea waves will crush whatever gets in its way. These people and their teaching were NOT a part of the fellowship… but their teaching was compared to the destructive causes of a wild ocean wave! Not only is it unpredictable… it is entirely uncontrollable.
Their teaching and way of life was unpredictable and uncontrollable outside of God’s holy spirit and Jude wanted these believers to stay away from that type of behavior.
Wandering stars – Greek term/phrase – plahn-ay-tace which is the Greek word for a wandering star or heavenly body. This is a star that has lost its orbit… one who has lost its guidance system (so to speak) and because of that is pulled in every direction by the gravity of other planets/asteroids
Jude is telling the believers that the teachings of these men were like wandering stars. That their teaching lacks any true direction or destination…
…for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever...
Here we find Jude beginning to reveal the devestation of what these men are doing. This false teaching by these men carries with it a punishment from God… Jude says it will take them to the ‘gloom of utter darkness’… what a sad destination! What a terrible legacy to leave…
These men were leading other people to toward UTTER destruction… and were shaming the name of Christ in doing so. Jude calls them out and calls these believrs to see them for WHO they were… Charlatans and con-men who were out for their own selfish pleasures!
When we make the choice to alter God’s word and His Gospel, we face the same destination and it causes the same issues and problems as these teacher had caused in Jude’s day! We must remain true to God’s word!
