Perservering in the Faith (Jude 12-25)

Opening Prayer

Bible Reading

Jude 12–25 NKJV

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, 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.” These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.

Introduction

So last week we had a look at what it means to contend for the faith. The apostles had laid out key doctrines in the early church, doctrines that the believers were familiar with. False teachers that had risen up amongst the believers, and Jude called the people of the church to defend the truth. But like in any fight, we aren’t called just to defend ourselves but we are expected to perservere until the end of it.

I don’t know if any of you have every done boxing or some kind of combat sport, but I use to be a boxer. One day I was sparring with my coach, who was a western province champion in the light weight division. I knew I was the bigger fighter, and that I had the power in my punches to do some serious damage. I knew I only needed one punch to land clean, and his lights would go out. But his strategy was far better than mine. He was an experienced fighter, and facing a new fighter who was overly excited - He knew that I would start the fight hot out the gate with the hope of ending the fight quickly. He understood the threat, so he needed a good strategy. He knew I was a big guy, that couldn’t move as fast as he did and that I did not have the stamina to keep up the fast pace I had started with. So he drew me into deep water. He allowed me to punch hard right at the beginning of the fight, and to use up all my energy. But after a minutre or two into the first round, with four more rounds to go. I was completely exhaused, to the point where I could barely even defend myself. It was at that moment, I realized I was in some serious trouble. Needless to say, I got humbled that day. He beat the brakes off me. But I thank God for the expierence, because I had learned that power of endurance!

And that is exactly what Jude will be adressing today in the second half of his letter. He calls us not only to defend the faith but to perservere in the battle against false teaching and the devil. However, he gives very spesific instructions on how to do this. We don’t fight the way the world fights. When we defend the faith, we act like Christians and we keep our hearts pure before God in the process.

Jude gives us some practical tips on how to respond to these false teachers. But first, he continues to finish his description of these false teachers that he started in verses 5-11.

Read:

Jude 12–13 (NKJV)

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.

In these verses Jude uses metaphors to describe these false teachers. A metaphor is figure of speech used to describe something. Jude is painting us a picture of these false teachers, by which he is explaining what they are like.

Jude calls them “spots at your love feasts”

The word spots can be translated as “hidden rocks”, “hidden reefs” or “stains”. By calling them spots Jude is comparing these false teachers to dirty spots on a clean garmet. By comparing them to hidden rocks or reefs, he is painting the picture of people in the church sailing on a boat in still waters. The church might be under the impression that everything is going fine, and that they are perfectly safe - and then all of a sudden while they are sailing on smooth waters, these hidden reefs or hidden rocks appear that lead to people in the church shipwrecking their faith.

He also makes use of the word “love feasts”. When refering to love feasts, Jude is refering to occasions when the church would gather together for a common meal, and in doing so that would partake in the Lord’s supper. Meaning they would take communion together at these events. We read more about this in 1 Corinthians 11:20-30).

Jude says, “while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves”.

Here Jude makes it clear that these false teachers have infiltrated the church, and that they were already among the members of the church pretending to be Christians.

The CSB translates “serving only themselves” as “they are shepherds who only look after themselves.” By saying this Jude is telling us that these false teachers are sheperds who do not care about other people, they only want to look after themselves.

Jude calls them “clouds without waters, carried about by the winds”.

By calling them clouds without water, Jude is painting us a picture of empty promises. Just like we would expect rain when we see clouds appear, these false teachers make promises that they cannot deliver on, all that the bring is dryness and death. Because they preach a false message and a false gospel.

Jude says these false teachers are like “late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots”

These false teachers are like trees that fail to bear fruit at harvest time. Meaning that these people lives are barren and their lives do not produce the fruit. You can see by their lives and behaviors that they do not know Jesus, that Christ does not abide in them by the Holy Spirit. Meaning that if Jesus really lived in their heart, they would be able to clearly see it in their lives - but with these teachers you don’t see Jesus in them, rather lives are full on sin and they live the fullfil the desires of their flesh. (v18)

The Bible tells us that we will know these false teachers by the fruit of their lives:

Matthew 7:17–20 “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a 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.”

Jude says these false teachers are are called doubly dead and that they will be pulled out by the roots - meaning that judgement awaits them.

In verse 13, Jude tells us that they are “raging waves of the sea, foaming up their shame”

By calling them “raging waves of the sea, foaming up their shame” Jude describes them as people who try to look like they have powerful ministries, but all they do is reak havoc in the church.

And lastly, Jude says “wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”

By calling them wandering stars, Jude describes these false teachers as people who others look towards for direction in their lives. However as others look towards them for guidance and direction - they look others into destruction, into “blackness and darkness forever”. Where judgement and hell awaits them.

Read:

Jude 14–15 (NKJV)

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 their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Here we read of “Enoch, the seventh from Adam”.

Enoch was seventh in the line of Abraham, and the Bible describes as a man “who walked with God,” and that God took Him to heaven before he died.

Genesis 5:24, “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.”

Enoch prophesied about the coming judgement of these ungoldy men. Its interesting to note that Enoch prophesied about the second coming of Jesus Christ before the flood happened in the Old Testament before the Lord raptured him.

Jude here is quoting directly from a extra-biblical source called the book of Enoch. Although this book is not part of the Bible, its important to understand that Jude is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” and in 2 Peter 1:20–21 “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” So although Jude is quoting an extra biblical source, the points that He is making is affirmed in the Bible.

Firstly, the Bible speaks about Jesus Christ returning to judge the world in the Book of Revelations.

Secondly, the Bible speaks Jesus returning with his saints.

Saints can refer to both believers or angels. Both will be present at the second coming of Jesus.

The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:2 “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?”

The Bible also tells us about the angels returning with Jesus who will perform acts of judgement for Jesus

Matthew 13:39–41“The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,” ,

Matthew 13:49–50 “So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.””

In verse 15, Jude makes it clear that Jesus will hold these ungodly men accountable for both their deeds and their words. Especially for the insults and the harsh things they spoke against the Lord Jesus. Jesus says in, Matthew 12:36–37 “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.””

Read:

Jude 16 NKJV

These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

Just like Israel in the wilderness (which Jude mentions in verse 5), these false teachers are grumblers. Meaning that they are discontent. They murmur and complain against God, they are unhappy and dissatisfied with God’s way of doing things.

They are fault finders, and in their pride and arrogance rebel against God’s way of doing things. Thinking somehow their way of thinking and doing things is better than God’s. They are loud-mouthes and are extremely opinionated. And they flatter people with their words to get out of them what they want from them.

They adapt teachings and messages to please the influential people in their audiences, the rich and the wealthy members of the church to get out of them what they want.

They are great communicators and make magnificient speeches, and to people who don’t know their Bible are attracted to them like moths to a flame.

But their messages are lifeless and empty, they have no spiritual value or divine truth. They tell people what they want to hear, not what God’s word says.

2 Timothy 4:3–4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”

Read:

Jude 17 (NKJV)

But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ:

In verse 17, again we see Jude calling these believers, “beloved”

Why does he do this? Because he reemphazises, as he did in verse 3, that he has a personal concern for these believers and that God has placed a love in his heart for them.

Its because of this love that he needs to both warn these believers about these false teachers and the coming judgement.

He wants to protect them.

Jude reminds them of the “words which were spoken by the apostles”:

The apostles both predicted and warned these believers that these apostates would rise up in their and our generation.

Acts 20:29–30 “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.”

1 Timothy 4:1–3 “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”

Its because of these false teachers and apostates that God gave us his word as a means of warning us and protecting us

Read:

Jude 18–19 (NKJV)

how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

Verse 18 describes these ungodly people as “mockers that walk according to their own ungodly lusts”

These false teachers scoffers, they mock those who follow the teaching of the apostles in the Bible, and by doing so they mock God Himself - because God is the author of the Bible as we read in 2 Peter 1:20-21.

They pretend that they know the truth, but they deny that judgement will ever come.

Verse 19 tells us that they are “sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit”

By sensual, Jude is telling us that these people are worldy, and unspiritual. They are ruled by the ruled by the things of the flesh and the thing sin that the world has to offer them.

Because they are sensual, they cause divisions in the church because they are rebellious towards the things that God says in his world about issues of morality and doctrine. They don’t want to follow God’s way. They want to do things their way, and they want to try and convice others that God approves of their behavior. They are utterly deceived.

And lastly, Jude makes it very clear that do not “have the Spirit”

The Bible told us earlier that we would know these false teachers by the fruits of their lives (Matthew 7:17-20), and here we see why these people act the way they do - because they do not have the Spirit of God in them. They don’t act like Jesus, because Jesus doesn’t live in their hearts. They do not belong to Jesus, but to Satan. And that is why they act like him.

Romans 8:9 “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”

The Christian Response:

Now before we head into how Christians should respond to these false teachers in verse 17-25, lets quickly summarize the characteristics of these false teachers and apostates. John MacArthur lists their characteristics as follows:

The MacArthur Study Bible (Chapter 1)

1. Ungodly (v. 4)

2. Morally perverted (v. 4)

3. Deny Christ (v. 4)

4. Defile the flesh (v. 8)

5. Rebellious (v. 8)

6. Revile holy angels (v. 8)

7. Dreamers (v. 10)

8. Ignorant (v. 10)

9. Corrupted (v. 10)

10. Grumblers (v. 16)

11. Fault finders (v. 16)

12. Self seeking (v. 16)

13. Arrogant speakers (v. 16)

14. Flatterers (v. 16)

15. Mockers (v. 18)

16. Cause division (v. 19)

17. Worldly minded (v. 19)

18. Without the Spirit (v. 19)

Read:

Jude 20–21 (NKJV)

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Here Jude tells us how we should respond in our personal walk with Jesus:

We tells “build ourselves up in the faith”. How do we do this? We abide in Jesus and His Word. This also means becoming familiar with sound doctrine.

Acts 20:32 ““So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up...”

We are to “pray in the Holy Spirit”, meaning we are to pray in the will of God, by guidance of the Holy Spirit, and in the name of Jesus.

We are to “keep ourselves in the love of God, and to look unto Jesus”, meaning that we are to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and to eargerly expect His return.

Read:

Jude 22–23 NKJV

And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

Here Paul lists three responses to these false teachers. Different people require different approaches:

In verse 22, the NLT describes the first response as follows:

Jude 22 NLT

And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering.

Here we see that we as the church are called to show compassion on those who are doubting their faith and who deserve mercy.

In verse 23, we second and third response.

The second response deals with those who have fallen so deep in unbelief, them we need to reach out to and pull them out of the fire because they are in danger of God’s judgement.

The third response, deals with our response to these apostates themselves. We should still have a desire to see them saved, we are to reach out to them and give them the true gospel - but we need to do so wisely and with fear. Because there is a danger in us getting contaminated and negatively influenced by them. We are called to hate their sin and rebellion, but not the apostates themselves. We need to be very careful in our dealings with them.

Read:

Jude 24–25 NKJV

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.

Jude closes with the statement that God is the one who is able to preserve us and to keep us from stumbling . He is able to protect us both from sin and false teaching. The Bible makes it clear that those that truly belong to God will never fall away from Him, and that God is able to present them blameless at the second coming of Jesus. He gives God all the glory for having the glory for having the power to both protect and preserve us.

Philippians 1:6 NKJV

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

John 10:28 NKJV

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

Closing Prayer: