Jude pt 3 - Beware Of False Teachers
July 4, 2016 · Pastor Miles DeBenedictis
In this teaching
A verse-by-verse study of Jude 12-15 examining how false teachers infiltrate the church, how they are identified by the fruit of their lives, and the dark eternal judgment that awaits them. Pastor Miles uses Jude's six metaphors to show that these teachers look just like true believers but lack the essential ingredient—the Word of God—and warns that every Christian is, in some sense, a teacher who must walk in transforming grace.
- Jude's call to "contend earnestly for the faith" is primarily about defending against corruption from within the church, not just attacks from outside or the culture.
- False teachers look just like true teachers; they are hidden reefs that go unnoticed and are identified by their fruit, not their appearance.
- They distort God's grace into a license for sin, rejecting God's authority and the lordship of Christ, while denying the transformation the gospel produces.
- Through six metaphors—reefs, waterless clouds, fruitless trees, raging waves, wandering stars—Jude shows they appear great but accomplish nothing and lack the life-giving Word.
- These ungodly individuals will face a dark eternal end and will be judged when the Lord returns with His saints.
- Every believer is a teacher to those around them and stands in need of God's grace and His transforming power.
Readable is a lightly edited reading copy; Verbatim stays close to the spoken words. The audio and video are the record of what was said.
Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ... For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ... These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all..." (, selected)
Wolves in sheep's clothing don't wear a badge—Jude teaches us to know false teachers by their fruit and to fear the judgment that awaits them.
Stand Up for What You Believe In
As I was thinking about this book of Jude—this man who lived 2,000 years ago exhorting us to stand for the faith, to contend earnestly for the faith—a song popped into my head and I couldn't get it out. So I did what many of us do: I went to the compendium of all human knowledge, Google, and typed in "stand up for what you believe in." In 47 seconds there were 14.7 million articles.
There were motivational quotes, five and six and seven-step processes. One five-step process started with "believe in yourself," then step three said "make sure you know what you believe in," and step four asked "do you really believe in this?" I was confused. There were inspirational stories—Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. And there was the song I was actually looking for: 1997, Veggie Tales, Junior Asparagus singing "Stand Up for What You Believe In."
Contending for the Faith from Within
Two thousand years ago, a follower of Jesus named Jude—who was actually the half-brother of Jesus—wrote this letter exhorting Christians in his day and ours to contend earnestly for the faith, to defend the faith.
When we hear "defend the faith," we usually picture going out to defend it against naysayers, against people who don't believe the Bible. Or we picture defending the faith from the onslaught of a culture pressing in against the church—a big talking point among 21st-century American Christians.
Yet when Jude uses these words, he's not talking about defending the faith from outsiders or from the culture. He's talking about defending it from that which comes from within. He speaks of ungodly individuals who have crept in unnoticed—into the ranks of the church, sometimes into its leadership—looking like everyone else. They reject God's authority, deny the lordship of Christ, and distort God's grace into a license to keep walking in unrepentant sin.
These are a cancer in the body of Christ. If left unaddressed, this cancer will destroy the body. As you survey church history, you'll find that the overwhelming majority of times churches have fallen into crisis or died, it came not from the onslaught outside but from the destruction within. That's why Jude, Paul, James, Peter, John—and Jesus Himself—all warn against this danger.
Spots in Your Love Feasts
In , Jude says, "These are spots in your love feasts." What is a love feast? In the first century it was simply a gathering of Christians for a meal—very similar to our connect groups, where believers gather during the week to share a meal, get to know one another, connect with God, and reach out to the world. The Greeks called it an agape feast.
The word translated "spots" is not a great translation. To me, "spot" pictures a stain—and I'll confess I'm a messy eater who knows about stains on shirts I rather like. But this Greek word is actually defined as a rock, a sea ledge, or a reef. The New Living Translation and ESV render it: these individuals are like dangerous, hidden reefs that can shipwreck you.
That translation is really helpful. We've already been told these destructive individuals crept in unnoticed. The idea of a rock submerged beneath the water, upon which a ship runs aground, ties right in. They are dangerous because they go unseen and cause devastation.
False Teachers Look Just Like True Teachers
Point one: false teachers look just like true teachers. They don't carry a badge saying "I'm a false teacher." They don't wear a black hat to distinguish them from the white-hat good guys. They look like everyone else. Often their teaching sounds very close to everything else you might hear in the church—dissimilar only in small, fractional ways, and those fractions can be incredibly devastating. Like a rock submerged under the path of a boat, it's unseen, and that's what makes it so dangerous.
How do we identify them? As we saw in our first study of -4, they use the grace of God as a license for sin, they deny God's authority and rule, and they reject the lordship of Jesus Christ. Ultimately, they are identified by their pattern of life.
This is exactly what Jesus taught. In , in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?... Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit... Therefore by their fruits you will know them. ()
Twice Jesus says you will know them by their fruits. Their teaching can sound so close to Scripture that it's hard to distinguish unless you really grasp the Word. That's why these teachers present a counterfeit gospel. Counterfeits are made to look like the genuine article in order to fool the one taking it. So how do we know wolves from sheep when they look so much like sheep? By their fruits. You have to examine their way of life.
Grace Without Transformation
These individuals live in a way that dishonors God, but they say it's okay because God is gracious. And God is gracious—that's why this teaching goes unnoticed. The Bible is very clear that our Lord is merciful, gracious, good, loving, and forgiving, and we are commanded to be the same. So when they say "God is gracious and forgiving," that's true—it flies under the radar.
Yet God has also called us to live in a way that brings glory and honor to Him, in line with His holy nature. Every one of us fails at this daily, which is why we need His grace—but the path of our lives should be to walk in a way that honors God, even when we trip up, with His enabling grace.
There are some who say, "No, it's okay, that's just the way God made you, so keep living that way." But gives a long list of sinful lifestyles and says those who practice them will not inherit the kingdom of God—and then adds, "And such were some of you. But you were washed." That's what God's grace does: He forgives our sin and cleanses it. As says, if we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The Christian faith is not only about forgiveness; it's also about transformation. Some take the good news of God's forgiving, transforming grace and say, "God will forgive you, but you don't have to change." That's not what the Bible says. But our flesh, our fallen sin nature, likes that teaching—because holiness is hard work. How many of you have discovered holiness is hard work? It's easier to say, "It's just the way I am," and keep living that way because God is gracious. He is gracious and forgiving, but He has called us to live in a way that honors His grace.
Self-Serving and Irreverent
Jude says these people are spots in your love feasts, "feasting with you without fear... serving only themselves." They have no fear, even though they aren't honoring God, because they know God is gracious and His people are gracious, so they have no fear to remain.
Point two: false teachers are self-serving and irreverent. They don't have a reverence for God's holiness or His law, and they live selfish lives. It's been said that character counts, that we should judge people by the content of their character. Those have become clichés, but they're still true. We need to take a careful look at a person's character—how they live, not just what they say. We can all talk a good game. False teachers are wolves masquerading as sheep, and they can blend in for a time, but ultimately by their fruits you will know them. They can't hide forever.
Clouds Without Water
Jude continues: these false teachers are "clouds without water, carried about by the winds." A little over ten years ago I lived for about a year in northwest Germany, in a town called Soest, which is a lot like the Pacific Northwest. They have a thing called "liquid sunshine"—it sounds amazing, but it's just gray, cloudy, gloomy, cold days. The sun wouldn't come up until almost 8:00 a.m. and would set at 3:30 p.m. By November I didn't like liquid sunshine.
But people in Seattle or Soest don't know what "clouds without water" means. Here in Southern California we do. This time of year, dry and hot, we see massive, beautiful, billowing pillars of cloud in the East. If you're like me, you stand in your front yard wishing they'd come down here and drop some water. But they don't—they just mock you all afternoon. When one finally makes its way down, one big drop hits the ground and that's it.
My kids and I watch a show called Oscar's Oasis—a little lizard in the desert whose whole quest is to get water. To my shame, I've seen every episode a dozen times, and even though Oscar never gets water, there's still hope in my heart every time. In one episode he chased a cloud he could never reach. These false teachers are like huge, awesome clouds without water.
Lacking What Is Essential
Point three: false teachers are lacking what is essential. What is it? Turn to , written about 2,700 years ago, where God speaks through Isaiah in word pictures:
For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud... so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please. ()
The rain is like God's Word. The rain waters the earth and brings forth food; in the same way, God's Word goes forth and will not return void but accomplishes what God pleases, bringing nourishment and growth. Then : "For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."
In a drought-ridden land, if you could tune your ears just right when the rain comes, you might hear the trees clapping and the mountains rejoicing. We are the clouds in this equation. We are sent into a dry world with God's Word, which the parched land desperately needs. But these false teachers lack that essential ingredient. They may look impressive—massive cumulonimbus pillars—but they lack the very thing they're there to give: the water of the Word that brings life and growth.
Fruitless Trees and Raging Waves
Jude adds another image: these false teachers are "late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots." They have a barren, fruitless life, because fruitfulness comes from the water of God's Word, which they lack. And throughout the Gospels, Jesus tells us what becomes of the fruitless: they are pulled up by the roots, cut down, and cast into the fire, as we saw in .
Then in , Jude says they are "raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame"—violent, huge storms that look awesome but ultimately produce nothing but destruction. Point four: false teachers appear great but accomplish little. They appear great but accomplish little because they don't have the essential ingredient, the Word of God. They are self-serving, they don't fear the Lord, and because of what they lack, they are destructive.
Wandering Stars
The final metaphor in : these false teachers are "wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever." What is a wandering star? The Greek word is planetes, from which we get "planet." Ancient astronomers could chart exactly where the stars would be night after night, and mariners navigated by them. But there were wandering stars that moved erratically—this direction, then back, then circling around. The ancients identified seven of these wandering bodies, and you couldn't navigate by them; they were useless for charting a course.
In the same way, false teachers offer no hope to people journeying through life, because they can't direct you anywhere. The Word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path—it guides us. If you don't have that, you can give no direction, no matter how much wisdom you sound like you have. The world is filled with people whose great swelling words sound wise but have no steadfast bearing on Scripture. Point five: these false teachers will meet a dark and eternal end, like wandering stars reserved for blackness and darkness forever.
Enoch's Prophecy and the Coming Judgment
In , Jude changes gears: "Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also." Who is Enoch? Genesis traces the line from Adam through Cain, Abel, Seth, and down to the seventh from Adam—Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. says, curiously, "Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." Every other man in that lineage lived and died, but Enoch walked with God and was simply taken. confirms he was a man of faith who pleased God.
Jude quotes a prophecy of Enoch—not found in our Bibles but in the Book of Enoch—saying, "Behold, the Lord comes." Church, there is coming a day when the Lord will return. On the day Jesus ascended (), He rose from the Mount of Olives, the clouds received Him, and His eleven disciples stood gazing into heaven. Two angels appeared and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven? This same Jesus... will so come in like manner." Ever since, every orthodox Christian has believed this simple truth: Jesus will one day come again.
And when He comes, He comes "with ten thousands of His saints"—a multitude of His followers. If you're a follower of Jesus, you're coming with Him. What is He coming to do? "To execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way."
Judged for Their Ungodliness
Here's the startling, scary thing: these individuals who look like Christians, talk like Christians, go to church, and sometimes even teach Bible studies are the ones described here as the ungodly upon whom God will bring judgment. Point six: false teachers will be judged for their ungodliness. They aren't numbered among the saints coming back with the Lord; they're counted among the ungodly of the world.
This is sobering. When Christians think about God's judgment, they often picture all the wicked people out in the world. But Jesus says there are some wicked among His church, not just in the world. That's why He said in that whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better for him to be drowned with a millstone around his neck. That's why says, "Let not many of you become teachers... knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment." And that's why Jesus gave the most startling passage in the Bible, Matthew 7: "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name... and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'"
Every Believer Is a Teacher
You may say, "That's fine, I'm never going to be a teacher—'let not many of you become teachers,' that's my favorite verse!" But here's a disconcerting word: if you're a follower of Jesus, you already are a teacher, whether you want to be or not. You're a teacher to your kids, your neighbors, your coworkers. For many people in your life, the greatest Bible study they will ever hear is the one they see in your life and mine.
So we all stand in this sobering position, where we desperately need the grace and forgiveness of God—and just as desperately need His transforming power to make us more like Him.
Closing Prayer
Father God, we need You. Jesus, we pray that You would work in our lives by Your power, God, by Your Spirit. Touch and transform us to make us more like You. Lord, You inspired Paul to write that if anyone is in Christ they are a new creation; all the old things have passed away, and everything has become new. God, make us new. Refine us. Remove anything that is not glorifying or honoring to You. And Lord, help us not to walk in continued sin because we are banking on Your continued grace and forgiveness. Though You are gracious, though You are forgiving, God, help us by Your grace to turn away from and repent of those things that don't bring glory to You. Work in our lives this week. I ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said amen.
Many times in the Scriptures, we are told about false teachers that find their way into the church. How do you identify them, and what is their ultimate end? That's what we're looking at today in Jude.
Amen. Good morning! Thank you, Rich, and thank you to our worship team. For those of you who are new to Cross Connection in the last several months, you probably do not know that Rich was diagnosed a little over two years ago with pancreatic cancer. The Lord has blessed us by keeping him here for this time, and we are still praying for God to heal him. So, praise the Lord! It's great to have him leading us.
Happy Fourth of July, at least tomorrow, to all of you! We live in a wonderful country, don't we? It's a blessing. This is our 240th birthday tomorrow, so that's awesome to celebrate. Also, this weekend marks our 35th birthday, if you will, for our church. Pastor Pat Kenny, who pastored the church before I did, came to lead this church when it was Christian Chapel of Escondido 35 years ago today. So, this is kind of our birthday as well. Happy birthday, church!
Would you open your Bibles? Amen. Stay standing and open your Bibles to the book of Jude, the second to the last book of the Bible. If you open the very last book, Revelation, just before that is the book of Jude. We are going to be looking today at a few verses in the middle of Jude. It's only one chapter, but we will read from the beginning, at verse one, to verse fifteen to get some context.
So, Jude, verse one: "Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you." Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation—ungodly men who turn the grace of God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. But I want to remind you, though you once...
Knew this: the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. The angels who did not keep their proper domain but left their own abode He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day. As Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Likewise, also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the Archangel, in contending with the devil when disputing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation but said, "The Lord rebuke you." But these speak evil of whatever they do not know, and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, and in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up in their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all the ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."
Father, as we consider this sobering passage today, I pray that You would give us wisdom and understanding. You would give us insight and application, that from the words we are going to look at today, we would see how we ought to live. We would see changes that may need to be made, and we would see how we can live in a way that brings glory, honor, and praise to You. God, work in us to make us more honorable, to bring glory to Your name. Transform us by the renewing of our minds, Lord, we ask.
This is in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, "Amen." You can be seated.
As I was thinking about this book, the Book of Jude, this last week, I reflected on the exhortations from this man who lived 2,000 years ago to stand for the faith, to defend the faith, and to contend earnestly for the faith. I found myself thinking of a song. You know how that is; a song kind of pops into your mind, and you can't get that song out of your head. So, I did what many of us do when those sorts of things happen. When a thought like that comes to mind, I went to the compendium for all human knowledge—Google—and I typed in "stand up for what you believe in." I clicked search, and in 47 seconds, there were 14.7 million articles at my reach on those words.
In that search, there were motivational quotes about standing up for what you believe in. There were five, six, and seven-step processes for standing up for what you believe in. One of them I clicked on to see how to stand up for what you believe in. In that five-step process, number one was "believe in yourself." Interesting, because number three said, "Make sure you know what you believe in." Wait a minute, I'm confused. I thought I was going to believe in myself; now I need to make sure I know what I believe. My confusion grew when I got to number four: "Do you really believe in this?"
So, stand up for what you believe in. There were not only motivational quotes but also motivational inspirational stories—stories like those of Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, or Martin Luther King Jr. We could go down the list of many different inspirational stories of people who stood up for what they believed in. There was an article on something called "riscy," the study of risk, and in that article, there were insights on determining how, when, and why to stand up for what you believe in.
Then, of course, there was the song—actually, the video—that I was looking for: the 1997 VeggieTales featuring Junior Asparagus, Bob, and Larry. Thank you very much, Bob and Larry! If you don't know who Bob and Larry are, you probably don't have small kids.
Grandkids, you probably didn't have small kids in the '90s, but I remember Junior Asparagus. I have heard him many times singing "Stand Up for What You Believe In." I will not sing it, but God bless you; you could go and look for it.
Two thousand years ago, a follower of Jesus named Jude, who was actually the half-brother of Jesus, wrote a letter exhorting Christians in his day, and also in our day, to stand up for what they believe in. As he said, we are to contend earnestly for the faith and defend the faith.
I think a lot of times when we think of those words as churchgoers, as people who study the Bible, we have in our minds—at least I do—the idea of going out and defending the faith against naysayers. We think of defending the faith against people who don't believe in the Bible, don't believe in God, or believe differently than what the Bible says. So, we picture defending the faith against outsiders, or perhaps we envision defending our faith from the onslaught of culture pressing in against the church. That seems to be a big talking point among Christians today in the 21st century in the United States of America. The culture is pressing in, and things have changed, so we need to stand strong and defend the faith.
Those are often the pictures that come to mind when we think of contending earnestly for the faith, defending the faith, and standing up for what we believe in. Yet, when Jude uses those words, he is not talking about defending the faith from outsiders. He is not talking about defending the faith from the culture that is coming against the church. No, he is talking about defending the faith from that which comes from within.
He talks about ungodly individuals who have crept in, as he says in and 4, into the ranks of the church—sometimes even into the ranks of the leadership of the church. They go unnoticed; they are there and they look like everyone else. He refers to them as dreamers and ungodly in the passage we are looking at today. They reject God's authority in their lives, deny the lordship of Jesus Christ, and distort the grace of God. They use God's grace as a license to continue walking in unrepentant error and sin. These individuals find their way into the church; they are literally a cancer in the body of Christ.
If left unaddressed, these issues will destroy the body of Christ. As you look at church history over the past 2,000 years, you will find that pretty much every time the church falls into crisis or chaos, or a church dies, it is often not due to an onslaught from the outside but rather a cancer from the inside—a destruction from within. This is why not only Jude, but also the New Testament authors Paul, James, Peter, and John, all speak about the importance of guarding against this pressure from within and the destruction that can arise. In fact, Jesus even spoke of it, as we will see as we go through the text today.
Here in , Jude says, "These are spots in your love feasts." The first question is, what in the world is a love feast? In the first century, it was simply a gathering of Christians, typically to have a meal together. It is very similar to what we do when we have connect groups here at Cross Connection. If you are not a part of a connect group, I highly encourage you to get involved in one. They will be on break a little bit this summer, but in the fall, when we restart them, I hope you will come to be a part of this.
During the week, we gather together as believers and followers of Jesus, as part of this church, to share a meal, get to know one another, connect with one another, connect with God, and hopefully reach out to and connect with people in the world. In the first century, they did the same thing; they just called it something different—a love feast, or Agape Feast, as it was known in the Greek language.
Jude warns that these spiritual creepers, who creep in unnoticed and bring in seductive heresies and false teachings, are spots in your love feast. They are not on the outside looking in; they are on the inside, looking like everyone else. Jude identifies them as spots in this love feast. However, the word "spots" is not a great translation of the original language. This was originally written in Greek, and it is translated in the King James and New King James versions, which I am using, as "spots" or "blemishes" in your love feast.
When I hear the word "spot," the picture that comes to mind is that of a stain. Maybe you have a similar image in your mind. I have come to realize that I might be a messy eater because I often find stains on shirts that I rather like. Can anyone else relate? You know how it is: you're enjoying a very good meal, and then all of a sudden, you look down and think, "Oh goodness gracious, there it is again!" The worst is when you're at a nice place or a gathering where you're supposed to look presentable. This happens to me often.
However, that's not the best translation of the word "spots" in this context. The word that is translated as "spots" is actually defined not as stains, but as a rock, a sea ledge, or a reef. This has nothing to do with a stain. In the New Living Translation and the English Standard Version, this verse is rendered as follows: "These individuals are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you." Another translation states, "These are hidden reefs at your love feasts." I think that translation is really helpful because we've already been discussing in this passage of Scripture in Jude that these individuals come into the church and bring destruction like a spiritual cancer. They can go unnoticed; we saw back in verse four that they are identified by their life and practice, but many times they look like everyone else.
The idea of them being like a rock submerged beneath the water, upon which a ship can run aground or be shipwrecked, is very insightful. It ties in with what has already been said. These individuals are dangerous because they can go unseen and cause significant devastation.
Point number one on your outline is this: false teachers look just like true teachers. False teachers do not have a badge that identifies them as such; they do not wear a special black hat to distinguish themselves from the good teachers. They look just like everyone else, and often, the teaching they provide can be quite deceptive.
Sound very close to every other teaching that you might hear in the church, or the writings that they produce can be very similar. Sometimes, the writings or the teachings are only dissimilar in small, fractional ways, but those fractional ways can be incredibly devastating. Like a rock submerged under the path of a boat, it's unseen, and so it can be incredibly dangerous.
How then do we identify them? We've already considered this a little bit. You can listen to the first study from a couple of weeks ago, where we were in . There, we saw that these individuals use the grace of God as a license for sin. They corrupt the grace of God and deny the authority and rule of God in their lives. They deny or reject the lordship of Jesus Christ. These are some of the ways that they identify themselves. Ultimately, though, they are identified by their pattern of life. This is what Jesus taught.
We are in the Book of Jude. Turn to the left about a third of the way through the Bible to the Book of Matthew, chapter 7. Right after the Book of Malachi, you'll find Matthew, and then Mark, Luke, and John. is a portion of Scripture that is referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. It's a message that Jesus gave while he was on a mountain, so we call it the Sermon on the Mount.
In , we read the words of Jesus. It might be in red in your Bibles. Jesus says in , "Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? No. Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, and every bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits, you will know them."
Twice, Jesus emphasizes that in identifying false prophets, you will know them by their fruits. Sometimes, their teaching can be so close to what you find in Scripture or seem to be in line with what the Bible teaches that it's hard to distinguish the difference unless you really understand and grasp the Scripture. That's why oftentimes these false teachers present what...
The counterfeit gospel is a false teaching. Counterfeits are designed to look like that which they are imitating, in order to fool the person who is receiving it. In the same way, these individuals bring in a counterfeit gospel, a false teaching.
So, how do we know that they are actually wolves in sheep's clothing? They look a whole lot like sheep. Jesus says, "By their fruits you will know them." We have to examine and watch their way of life. This is exactly what Jude has been saying. In this passage, he mentions that these individuals have crept in unnoticed. They use the grace of God as a license to live unjustly. They live in such a way that contradicts the biblical call to honor and glorify God. They justify their sinful practices by claiming that it is acceptable because God is gracious.
Now, listen. God is gracious, and that is why this teaching can go unnoticed. The Bible is very clear: our Lord is merciful, gracious, good, loving, and forgiving. We are commended to embody these very qualities. We are exhorted in the Scriptures to also be forgiving, good, merciful, and gracious. Therefore, these individuals can sometimes fly under the radar because what they are saying is, in fact, true. God is gracious, loving, and forgiving.
However, God has also called us to live in a way that brings glory, honor, and praise to Him. We are to live in accordance with His nature, which is perfect and holy. The Scriptures call us to live in a perfect and holy manner.
Now, don't get me wrong; every single one of us fails at that every day. That is why we need God's grace, mercy, and forgiveness. We all fall short, but the goal, the intent, the path of our lives should be to walk in a way that brings glory and honor to God. Even though we will fail, even though we will trip up, we still need to seek to live in that way with God's help and by His enabling grace.
Yet, there are some who say, "No, no, no, it's okay. You don't need to do that. It's okay; that's the way God made you." They suggest that it is acceptable to live according to that pattern and lifestyle. However, what we find in the Scriptures challenges that notion.
The Scriptures contain a long list of things we are not to live like, which is found in . The interesting thing about this list is that it states those who practice these sinful lifestyles will not inherit the kingdom of God. We could come up with a list five pages long of sinful practices and include them in that same list in .
At the end of that long list, Paul says, "And such were some of you, but you were washed; you have been transformed by the redemptive power and grace of God." That is what God's grace does in the life of a sinful person: He forgives our sin, but He also cleanses us of our sin. The Apostle John, in , states that God is faithful. If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive and to cleanse us of all ungodliness.
You see, the Christian faith is not only about forgiveness; it is also about transformation. There are those who take the gospel, the good news of the forgiving and transforming grace of God, and say, "Listen, God is gracious, and He is just going to forgive you, but you don't have to change." Let me tell you, that is not what the Bible says.
However, I will say this: my flesh, my nature, my fallen sin nature, and yours, likes that kind of teaching. It likes that kind of teaching because the holiness that the Bible calls us to is hard work. How many of you have discovered that holiness is hard work? It is hard work. By His grace and through His Spirit, God is able to enable us to walk in a way that brings glory to Him, but holiness is hard work.
It is easier to say, "No, no, no, it's just the way I am; it's just the way God made me," and therefore, "I'm just going to keep living this way because, well, God is gracious and He'll forgive me." It is true that He is gracious and forgiving, but He has called us to live in a way that brings honor and glory to His grace.
In Jude, it is said that these individuals are spots in your love feasts, feasting with you without fear. states that they serve only themselves. They feast with you without fear, being in the midst of the church, yet they have no fear, even though they are not walking in a way that brings glory and honor and praise to God, because they know that God is gracious.
Gracious, and so they have no fear to stay there; they serve only themselves.
Point number two on your outline: false teachers are self-serving and irreverent. How do we identify false teachers within the church? Not only do they take the grace of God and use it in a wrong way, but they also deny or reject the rule and authority of God in their lives or the lordship of Jesus Christ. They are irreverent; they don't have a reverence for God's holiness or for God's law, and they live a self-serving life. They're selfish, and it's very clearly seen in the way that they live.
It's been said that character counts. We are to judge people on the content of their character, and while those have become cliché or pithy sayings in 21st-century America, they are still true. Character does count, and we should judge people on the content of their character, not just on the way that they look. We need to make sure that we take a careful look at a person's character: how do they live, not just what they say? We can talk a good game, but how do we actually live these things out?
False teachers are wolves masquerading as sheep. They may be able to blend in for a time, but ultimately, by their fruits, you will know them. They can't hide forever, but we need to make sure that we're watching. Jude continues; he says in this passage that these false teachers are like clouds without water, carried about by the winds.
A little more than ten years ago, I had the privilege of moving from here to Northwest Germany, where I lived for about a year in a place called Zaan. Zaan is a lot like Seattle. Anyone ever lived in the Pacific Northwest? You know, in places like that, they have a thing they call "liquid sunshine." It sounds so amazing, but all it is is gray, cloudy, gloomy, rainy, cold days. Let me tell you, by about November, when I was living in Zaan, I would look at the weather report.
From Southern California, the sun in Seattle wouldn't come up until almost 8:00 in the morning, and it would set at 3:30 in the afternoon. You didn't even see the sun for weeks on end; all you saw was light gray everywhere. By that time, I found myself not liking liquid sunshine.
When you read that these false teachers are like clouds without water, people in a place like Seattle or even in Southern California may not know what that means at all. Here in Southern California, we understand that because right about this time of year, where it's dry and hot, just about every afternoon in the east, we see these incredible, massive, huge columns of awesome, billowing, pillowy clouds. They look beautiful and great, and if you're anything like me, and I'm sure you are, if you're out in your front yard looking at those clouds, you might think, "Oh, I wish that they would come down here and not only come down here but actually drop some of that water they're containing."
But they don't. They just mock you all afternoon. Those clouds are mocking us. When they do come, you know, at the end of July or early August, sometimes one of them will make its way down here, and you can feel a sense of hope. You think, "Oh, please, please," and then one big drop of water will fall on the ground.
My kids and I, over the last couple of years, have been watching a show that I like. You can look it up on Netflix; I encourage you to do so. It's called "Oscar's Oasis." It's a little animated short video about a lizard named Oscar who lives in a desert. The entire show is about Oscar trying to get water. Even though, to my shame, I'll admit I've seen every single episode probably a dozen times, every time we turn it on, there's still hope in my heart that Oscar will get water. There's still a part of me that thinks, "Maybe, just maybe." I feel so bad for Oscar because he never gets water.
In one episode, there was this cloud that he kept following, trying to get the water, but he could never reach it.
It is worse than Wile E. Coyote never getting that meal. Check it out: Oscar's Oasis. These false teachers are like huge, awesome clouds without water.
Point number three: false teachers are lacking what is essential. What is it? What is the thing that is essential? To answer that question, turn with me, if you will, to the Old Testament of the Bible. Turn to about the middle of your Bible; you'll be in the Psalms. Turn to the right, and you will come to a book called Isaiah. It is a big book with 66 chapters. Go to the 55th chapter, .
Here in , God is speaking through the prophet Isaiah. This was written about 2,700 years ago, and God inspires Isaiah to speak with metaphorical word pictures. He writes this: "For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, and they do not return there, but they water the Earth, they make the Earth bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater."
We all understand this kind of scientific water cycle and metaphor here. The rain comes down on the Earth, it waters the Earth, and it brings forth food. In the same way, God says, "So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please. It shall prosper in the thing that I sent it to."
So here in this word picture, the rain is like God's word. The rain goes and waters the Earth, causing it to produce so that we can be nourished, fed, and grow. In the same way, God's word, like the rain, goes forth and will not return to Him void. It will accomplish what He pleases and bring nourishment and growth in my life and in yours. That's the word of God; it's like the rain.
Well, where then is the teacher or the preacher? Look at : "For you, the people of God, shall go out with joy and be led with peace."
Mountains in the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. If you were in a drought-ridden land, which we know really well, and if you could tune your ears to hear the sound of the mountains, the hills, and the trees when the clouds come in and bring water and rain, what you might hear would be the trees clapping their hands. You would hear the mountains and hills going, "Yay!" That's what they would be doing, I'm sure.
So, what's going on here in this passage? The rain waters the earth; it's dry and parched, and it brings forth and produces growth. God's word goes forth, and we, you and I, are the clouds in this equation. We are sent out into a world with God's word to a dry land that desperately needs the water of the word of God.
However, these false teachers lack that essential ingredient. They may look really good, like those huge clouds in East County. They resemble massive cumulonimbus clouds—at least, I hope I got that right. These pillars of cloud look amazing, but they lack the very thing they are there to give: the water. These false teachers appear big and awesome, but they do not have the very thing that brings life and growth. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds.
Jude continues, stating that these false teachers are not only like clouds without water, but they are also like late autumn trees without fruit—twice dead, pulled up by the roots. They lead a fruitless and barren life because where does fruitfulness come from? It comes from God's word; it comes from the water of God's word in their lives. But they are lacking that. They do not have it, and so their lives are barren and fruitless. Many times in the Gospel, Jesus speaks about what will happen or what will become of the...
One that is barren or fruitless in their life is pulled up by the roots, just as Jesus says here in . He states that they are cut down and cast into a fire, as we saw back in . He continues with another metaphor in , saying they are like raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame. Raging waves of the sea, like violent, huge storms, these individuals appear impressive, but ultimately, they just cause destruction.
Point number four: false teachers appear great but accomplish little. They appear great, but they accomplish little because they lack the essential ingredient—the Word of God. They are self-serving and do not fear the Lord. Although they may look and sound, in many ways, like the true teachers of God's Word, they are lacking, and because of this lack, they are destructive.
The final metaphor he gives in describes these false teachers as wandering stars, for whom is preserved or reserved the darkness and blackness forever. False teachers are like wandering stars. What in the world is a wandering star? It sounds like something Bob Dylan was singing about. The original word in Greek that is translated as wandering stars is "planetes," from which we get our word "planet."
In ancient times, astronomers would look at the sky and chart exactly where the stars were and where they would be the next night. They knew where the stars would be so much so that they could navigate by them, especially those who were mariner-type peoples. They would chart the stars and map out where they could go, following the stars to direct their journeys.
However, there were wandering stars in the sky. Sometimes they would move in one direction erratically, then circle back around and go in another direction. They had numbered these wandering stars and identified seven different ones in the sky. The Moon and the Sun are among them, but there were also seven other planets that they would look to. These wandering stars were unhelpful for navigation; they were useless for charting.
Navigation in the same way, these false teachers ultimately offer no hope to people who are journeying through life because they can't direct you anywhere. Why? Because the Word of God is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. It is that which guides and directs us, and if you don't have that, you can give no direction. You can sound like you have all kinds of wisdom, but you can give no direction. The world is filled with all kinds of people who have things that sound like great swelling words of wisdom, but they have no steadfast bearing on Scripture.
When all is said and done, point number five: these false teachers will meet a dark and eternal end, like those wandering stars in the sky, reserved for blackness and darkness forever. These false teachers will meet a dark and eternal end.
Jude then, in , changes gears. He writes this: "Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also." Who is Enoch? Well, we're told that he is the seventh from Adam. The Old Testament begins with the Book of Genesis. In Genesis chapters 1 and 2, we are told of the creation account of God. There, God created man and woman in His image. He created Adam and Eve. In chapter 3, they gave birth to a child, the first child, Cain. They gave birth to another child, Abel, and many other children as well, but these notable ones are Cain, Abel, and then Seth.
Down the line from Adam came the seventh from Adam, a guy by the name of Enoch. He was the great-grandfather of a guy by the name of Noah, who built a big boat. We are introduced to Enoch in , and we are told there in that Enoch walked with God. But here's the amazing thing about Enoch: the Scriptures curiously say Enoch walked with God, and he was not, because God took him. What on earth does that mean? I don't know exactly, other than Enoch at some point was no longer on Earth. It says God took him. Every other guy in the lineage there in Genesis...
Chapter 5 states that so-and-so was born, lived, gave birth to children, and died. Then, it mentions Enoch. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, because God took him. That's pretty interesting. Enoch was a man of God. The Scriptures speak about him again in the New Testament, in . He trusted in God and was pleasing to God because he had faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God, for those that come to God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Immediately, the author of Hebrews goes right into talking about Enoch, a man of faith, a man of God who wrote prophecies. Now, those prophecies are not in our Bible; they are found in another book called The Book of Enoch, which Jude quotes from when he says in , "Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these things, saying, 'Behold, the Lord comes.'"
Listen, Church, there is coming a day when the Lord is going to return. On the day that Jesus ascended into heaven, it is recorded in the book of Acts, chapter 1. There, He was standing with His disciples on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. He began to lift off the ground and ascended into heaven, and the clouds received Him. The disciples, eleven of them, stood there gazing into heaven, probably in awe. Then, two angels appeared next to them and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand here gazing into heaven?" They said, "Did you just see that? You'd be gazing too!"
The two angels continued, "Listen, this Jesus who just ascended will come in like manner one day." Every Orthodox, true Christian for the last 2,000 years has believed this simple truth: Jesus will one day come again. There are people in our day and in every generation who say, "Oh, where is the sign of His coming?" We will talk about them in 2 Peter when we get there in just a few weeks. I might say, "Well, look around you; there are a few signs of His coming."
Jude, thousands of years ago, prophesied that the Lord comes, and when He comes, He comes with tens of thousands of His saints, a multitude of His followers. Listen, Church, one day the Lord is returning, and you know who’s coming with Him.
If you're a follower of Jesus, He is coming with ten thousands of His saints. What is He coming to do? He is coming to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.
There is a reused word here, and I don't know if you saw it. Here’s the startling and scary thing: these individuals who look like Christians, who talk like Christians, who go to church like Christians, and who sometimes teach Bible studies like Christians, are the ones mentioned in this passage as the ungodly upon whom God will one day judge.
Point number six on your outline: false teachers will be judged for their ungodliness. You see, they are not numbered among the saints who are coming back with the Lord; they are counted as the ungodly of the world. That is a sobering reality. A lot of times when Christians think about the judgment of God, when they think about God returning to punish ungodliness, they think about all those wicked people in the world. Yet Jesus says there are some wicked people in My church, not just in the world.
This is why Jesus would say in , "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depth of the sea." This is why James, in , says, "My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that you shall receive a stricter judgment."
This is why Jesus, in probably the most startling, scary, and sobering passage of the Bible in , says, "Many in that day will say, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? Did we not cast out demons in Your name? Did we not do many mighty works in Your name?' And He will say, 'Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness; I never knew you.'"
Now, you may say to yourself right now, "That's okay because I'm never, ever, ever going to be a teacher." Let not many of you become...
Teachers, amen! That's my favorite verse of the Bible. You may say, "I'm never ever going to become a teacher." I have a little disconcerting word for you: if you're a follower of Jesus, you already are. Whether you want to be or not, you're a teacher. You're a teacher to your kids, you're a teacher to your neighbors, and you're a teacher to your co-workers. In fact, for many people in your life, the greatest Bible study they will ever hear is the one they see in your life and in mine.
We all stand in this sobering position, and it's in that place where we desperately need the grace and forgiveness of God. We also desperately need His transforming power in our lives to make us more like Him. Amen.
So would you stand with me as we ask Him in prayer to work in us? Father God, we need You. Jesus, we pray that You would work in our lives by Your power. God, by Your Spirit, touch and transform us to make us more like You. Lord, You inspired Paul to write, "If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. All the old things have passed away; behold, everything has become new."
God, make us new. Refine us. Remove anything that is not glorifying or honoring to You. Lord, help us not to walk in continued sin because we are banking on Your continued grace and forgiveness. Though You are gracious and forgiving, God, help us by Your grace to turn away from and to repent of those things that don't bring glory to You.
God, work in our lives this week. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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