Jude 1:17-25 (Part 5)
Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
3-17-2024
I am God
Jude has spent the majority of his letter warning his readers about false teachers and the dangers they pose to the church.
Unless we are tempted to think that false teaching was only around in Jude’s day, take the example of Jim Jones.
Jim Jones was initially ordained as an Assembly of God pastor before becoming an apostate cult leader of the People’s Temple.
On November 18, 1978, he ordered his 900 followers to drink poison-laced Flavor Aide.
Here he is “preaching” to his “church.”
[Video of Jim Jones preaching saying “I am God and there is no other!” [10:28-12:24]
Every book of the New Testament, except for Philemon, warns about false teachers.
We began five weeks ago with Jude challenging his readers to “contend for the faith that was once and for all entrusted to God’s holy people.” (Jude 3)
Why did he feel he needed to give that charge? Because false teachers were slipping in the side door of the church.
Again and again, Jude describes “these men”
Their condemnation was written about long ago
These men are ungodly
These men pervert the grace of God into a license for immorality
These men deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord
These men are dreamers
These men pollute their bodies with sexual immorality
These men slander angels
These men have taken the self-righteous way of Cain
These men have rushed into the greedy error of Balaam
These men have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion
These men are hidden reefs
These men are clouds without rain
These men are autumn leaves without fruit and uprooted, twice dead
These men are wild waves
These men are wandering stars
These men are grumblers
These men are faultfinders and complainers
These men are boastful
These men are flatterers
These men are apostates. They
Revere the truth
Reject the truth
Ridicule the truth
Replace the truth
The first 16 verses of Jude focus on these false teachers. But starting in verse 17, Jude will shift his attention from “these men” to his readers. In the first 16 verses, there are no commands. In the verses we will study today, there are seven!
Jude will give us a blueprint for staying strong when everyone else is falling for the smooth talk of these false teachers.
Today we end our series called Postcards. If you missed any of the sermons on 2 John, 3 John, Obadiah, Philemon, Haggai, and Jude you can always watch all the sermons from this series on Facebook, YouTube, and our website. All the sermon manuscripts can be found on SermonCentral.com.
Please turn with me to Jude.
Prayer
Remember
In verse five, Jude has already sought to remind his readers of examples from the Old Testament of apostates being judged
The Israelites who died in the desert because of their unbelief
The angels who joined satan in his rebellion against God and were kept in chains and darkness
The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that were destroyed by fire for their outrageous sexual immorality.
Even though they knew these stories, he wanted to remind them of the dangers that these false teachers pose and how God has responded to apostasy in the past.
But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
He begins this section the same way he began the letter, by calling them “dear friends” or “beloved.” He urges them to remember that the apostles had made it very clear that false teachers would be present in the churches.
Jesus Himself said,
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matt 7:15-16)
Paul, when he was saying goodbye to the Ephesian elders didn’t mince words:
“I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:29-30)
Peter warned:
“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. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.” (2 Pet 2:2-3)
Jude then gives five more descriptions of these false teachers:
Mockers
These are people who pour scorn on religion, scoff at truth, and lead others to do the same. They parrot satan’s question to Eve, “Did God really say?
Solomon wrote his son:
“Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.” (Prov 22:10)
This attitude is prevalent in our culture. Rain Wilson, the actor best known as Dwight Shrute from The Office, recently talked about his frustration with Hollywood power players overtly mocking Christianity and Christians in movies and television shows:
“…most Christians that I know are kind, accepting and loving and seeking to make the world a better place. They should also be honored in the media.”
The most interesting part of his stand for Christians in media is that he is not even a Christian but a member of the Baha’i faith.
Follow their own ungodly desires
These teachers chase after their own ungodly desires. Ungodly means “without worship.” Remember that they want to pervert the grace of God into a license for immorality. They encouraged sin, especially sexual sin because God will forgive anyway.
Peter predicted:
“Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.” (2 Peter 3:4)
Divisive
These people love to divide believers and cause splits in churches. We’ve all heard of church splits that would be funny if the stories weren’t so sad.
There are two churches with the same name about one mile from each other. They split back about forty years ago over Fried Chicken.
They were having a picnic on the ground and two ladies who didn't care for each other both brought fried chicken. The preacher, not knowing about this, stopped at one end of the table, grabbed a piece of chicken, and commented it was the best he'd ever eaten.
Well, group number two packed up their things, and within a few weeks, the church split!
When we studied 3 John, we met Diotrephes. John wrote of his love of division:
“I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.” (3 John 9-10)
We must always be on our guard against the spirit of divisiveness and be willing to confront such people in love and boldness to protect the unity of the body.
Follow natural instincts
They are worldly-minded. In verse 10, Jude calls them irrational animals. Animals do what they do out of instinct.
There was a song back in the 90s that these teachers would have loved, “You and me / We ain’t nothing but mammals / So let’s do it like they do it / on the Discovery Channel.”
I’m sure that many of you mourned the passing of Pigcasso, the 1,500-pound South African pig, whose paintings sold for between 5 and 25,000 dollars. He has been called a heavy-weight abstract expressionist. Here is one of his paintings entitled “Dolphin.” Talk about a ba-con!
Do not have the Spirit
In the end, the reason that these false teachers act the way they act is because they are not born again, they do not have the Spirit living inside of them.
“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” (Rom 8:5-9)
I’ve shared this story before. One of my professors, Dr. Doug Kelly, told the story of how hard it was to stand for Christ at Oxford in the 1960s. A lot of the students were denying the virgin birth, the divinity of Christ, and the supremacy of Scripture but Dr. Kelly didn’t flinch.
Forty years after college, he receives a call from a classmate. This individual thanked him for standing for Biblical Christianity all those years ago and relayed that he had gotten saved the week before.
What had he been doing for the last forty years? He was a pastor! He preached sermons and performed baptisms, funerals, and weddings. And yet, he didn’t know Christ. He did not have the Spirit.
Now Jude is going to transition from “these men” to “but you.” He will give his readers, and us, seven commands that will protect us from falling for the false teaching.
Remain
“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”
In this verse, the main command is “keep yourself in God’s love” and the rest of the imperatives flow out of that one.
Jude begins his letter describing his readers this way:
“To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ…”
Jude is encouraging us to remind ourselves that God loves us constantly.
One of the main lies that satan whispers to our souls is, “How can you think God loves you with all the ways you mess up and sin?”
To that, we allow truth to answer satan’s accusations:
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:6-8)
Jude then gives three ways to keep ourselves in the love of God.
Building yourself up in your most holy faith
The word “building” means to build on a foundation already established. That foundation is the Gospel.
While these false teachers were tearing down their faith and the faith of others, we are to be building up our faith.
God is ultimately responsible for our sanctification, and growing in faith, but we have to be intentional and active in the process.
Paul wrote:
“…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Phil 2:12-13)
Spiritual growth is not automatic, it takes time, effort, and a desire to grow.
I asked several people and put the question out on Facebook, what has helped you the most to grow spiritually? Here are some of the answers:
Studying the Word, Bible study on Wednesday morning, Bible Study Fellowship, fasting, praying, having Godly mentors, having accountability partners, listening to sermons at work, being in church with people who can encourage me, taking notes during the sermon, Sunday school, journaling, worshiping, and listening to Christian music.
The most important foundation for our growth in grace is the Word.
The Chinese underground church has a saying, “No Bible? No breakfast.”
We don’t read the Bible to check off a box or so that God will give us spiritual brownie points. We read/listen to the Bible because it is a lamp to my feet and a light unto my path. It is food to our souls. It is the way God communicates to us.
One of the reasons that false teachers can get a foothold in people’s lives is because of the amount of biblical illiteracy, even in churches.
Let me give you an amazing resource from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO. It’s called “For the Church Institute.” This is free and you have access to multiple bible classes taught by world-class professors, who design the material for the common person in the local church.
You can go through the New Testament with Dr. Patrick Schreiner. You can go through the Old Testament with Dr. Jason Derouche, Christian History with Dr. John Mark Yates, or Theology 101 with Dr. Matthew Barrett. Did I mention that it is completely free and you can go at your own pace?
Paul told the believers in Colosse:
“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Col 2:6-7)
praying in the Holy Spirit
Paul wrote:
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” (Eph 6:18)
The Westminster Shorter Catechism states:
What is prayer? “Prayer is the offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to His will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of His mercies.”
Many of us feel inadequate in the area of prayer.
Richard Halverson lists four reasons that we shy away from prayer:
1. Unbelief – we simply doubt that God is listening or that He cares
2. Indifference – if God already knows, then why pray?
3. Priorities – we are too caught up in this world.
4. It’s difficult – prayer is hard work and takes discipline.
Maxine’s mom and stepdad would pray all night. I have trouble praying for 20 minutes!
Dr. Adrian Rogers wrote this:
“The greatest problem we face is not unanswered prayer but unoffered prayer. Tragically, many of our prayers are so vague that if God were to answer them, we wouldn’t even know it.”
We pray to remind ourselves that we are weak and need to remember that God is sovereign and in control of our lives and future.
Billy Sunday was a famous baseball player who got saved and became an evangelist. Very early in his faith journey, a mentor told him that he should spend 15 minutes every day talking to God, 15 minutes listening to God through His Word, and 15 minutes telling others about Jesus.
Praying in the Holy Spirit means to pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
waiting for Jesus to come back
Many churches today do not want to talk about the Second Coming but there are over 1,800 mentions of the Second Coming in the Bible.
Another way that we can keep ourselves in the love of God is by eagerly expecting Jesus to come back.
Maxine only goes to the office at State Farm one week out of the month. When she is gone, Luna Mae is very confused. She doesn’t know where momma went.
She sits at the door waiting all afternoon. Even though I can’t hear it, she can hear the garage door open. Her ears go up and her tail starts wagging like crazy. She knows that momma is going to be home soon.
We wait for the mercy of the Second Coming. Why is it a mercy? Because, as we talked last week, we will be raptured before the tribulation and all hell breaks loose.
We need to keep an eternal perspective. Salvation can be looked at in three tenses.
We have been saved from the penalty of sin.
We are being saved from the power of sin.
We will be saved from the presence of sin.
We all are going to live forever. Where are you going to spend your 47, 235 birthday?
Redeem
“Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”
Be merciful who doubt
Sometimes we need to be willing to speak to people’s lives and decisions. When I proposed to Maxine, our boss at the children’s home we worked at, asked to meet with Maxine. His message? “Run, don’t walk! He’s a train wreck.” Luckily she didn’t listen to him.
When we see someone wandering toward these false teachers, we should be compassionate and gentle, speaking the truth in love. We should never write them off.
Our friend Donna was raised in a strong, Jesus-loving house and church. She loved Jesus and thought she was firm in her faith. Until she ended up divorced. She sank into deep depression and struggled to get back up on her feet.
Enter a couple in her neighborhood. They befriended her and took her in. They invited her to Bible study and did whatever she needed to be done around her house.
She started attending their church. She said that she was initially very uncomfortable with some of the things that they said and even sang, but they sounded like Christians most of the time and they loved her like no one had before.
She didn’t tell her mother on purpose for a while but it finally came out that she was attending a Mormon Church.
Did her mother go ballistic? No. Did her mother buy her a book to show how far the Mormon faith is from Christianity? No.
She simply started writing her long letters filled with Scripture, reminding her of what was true. This went on for about six months.
Donna said she was sitting in service and the pastor said something and she almost said out loud, “Wait, what? That’s not what the Bible says!” Her mother’s letters were helping her to discern truth from a lie.
She left the church and in an incredible twist, remarried her ex-husband, and now they have been married for fifty years all together!
save others by snatching them from the fire;
When we see people starting to buy into the false teaching, we should be willing to reach into the fire and pull them out.
Olga Booker always mourns on November 18. Her ex-husband had taken their two children and was involved in Jim Jones’s People Temple in California.
Her ex-husband was preparing to take their children to Guyana to be with Jim Jones in Paradise.
She flew to California and confronted Jones who told her the kids had to come with him to the Promised Land of South America.
She said, I’m going back to Tampa and I’m taking my children with me.”
Less than a year later, her ex-husband, ex-father-in-law, ex-brother-in-law, ex-sister-in-law, and her two kids drank the poisoned Koolaide in the mass suicide in Guyana.
She snatched her children from the fire.
to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”
To the false teachers themselves, we should be very careful. We can pray for them but we should have a healthy fear of their power.
Paul warns:
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. (Gal 6:1)
It’s like when I go into a hospital room and the nurse asks me to “suit up” in a gown and mask. Part of that is to protect the patient but it also protects me from being infected.
These teachers are spiritually defiled and we should hate the sin but love the sinner. The idea of clothing stained by corrupted flesh is a word picture of dirty underwear.
If you have a Mormon neighbor, invite them over, love them, and share Christ with them.
When the Mormon missionaries, who are as brainwashed as you can be, come to your door, seeking to bring false teaching into your house, just open your Bible and read from 2 John:
“If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching [the true gospel], do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.” (2 John 10-11)
Doxology
Jude spends the first 16 verses talking about “these men.” (Outward) Then in verses 17-23, he says “But you.” (Inward) Now he’s going to end with “Now to Him!” (Upward).
These two verses are called a doxology, which means to give praise to God.
There are 21 doxologies in the Bible and this is the most well-known of them all.
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
One time, while I was at Humiston Woods running with some friends, I stumbled over a root and fell. I tucked as I fell, did a flip and landed on my feet! The group I was running with was as astonished as I was and started clapping for me.
David wrote:
“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.” (Psalm 37:23-24)
The focus here is on God’s ability to protect from falling into false teaching and falling away from the faith.
He is able to keep you secure in the power of God.
Paul wrote to Timothy:
Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. (I Tim 1:12)
The writer of Hebrews calls Jesus the “author and finisher of our faith.” (Heb 12:2)
We can be “confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 1:6)
This is the doctrine of “perseverance of the saints,” or more informally, “once saved always saved.”
Jesus said,
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:27-30)
He not only will preserve us but He also will present us before the throne without fault and great joy.
I don’t know about you but I’m certainly not “without fault.” To stand before God we need perfect righteousness and none of us can hop high enough for God’s holiness.
But when we understand that sin doesn’t just break God’s rules it breaks His heart and repent and place our faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, Jesus makes an incredible trade.
His righteousness is imputed to us. We took the exam and got an F. He took the exam and made a perfect score. His perfect score was applied to our test and we got an A+.
Not only that, on the cross our sins, past, present, and future, were placed on him, and with His death, in our place, we can be forgiven and free.
Jude ends with the words to the only God our Savior and Jesus Christ our Lord. Jim Jones wasn’t god. David Koresh wasn’t a god. There is only one God worthy of our worship - now and always.
Jude uses four words in his worship:
glory - all that God is in His being and nature, character, power, and acts
majesty - God is greater than all. He is incomparable.
dominion - God is the strongest
* authority - He rules over all creation
There is one more word in this verse we need to look at. It is the small Hebrew word, “Amen.” This word can mean “firmness or truth, truly, or so be it.”
In this culture, we use the word all the time, oftentimes to show that we agree with someone. We often tack this on to the end of a prayer without really understanding the power of the word.
We say, “Yes Lord, this is our prayer and we mean it with all our hearts!”
Jude ends his letter with an exclamation of praise - let it be so! That’s how we are going to end today. ?
