Scoffers of the Truth

There is an analogy called the Elephant and the Rider. Now let’s say the Rider has someone that he has to get to. He holds the reins, he knows where they both have to get to. But the Rider’s control of the elephant is precarious. Because unless this six-ton elephant chooses to move, the rider is going nowhere. If the two disagree about which direction to go, the elephant wins. He is over matched. If the elephant is frightened or stressed, than the rider is going to have a hard time getting where it needs to go.

We are often influenced by our “emotion” and “instinct” it what drives us forward. Passion, peer pressure, anger and sadness. This is how we make most of our decisions, with emotion.

Therefore, what the rider needs to do is learn how to calm the elephant down, to help it see the path forward is what is best for it.

What this shows us is how our mind can be conflicted between the rational and the emotional.

What Jude tells us is that the False Teachers have let the Elephant take over, that they are letting the Elephant decide which way they are going, and that really means they aren’t going anywhere at all. They have “gone the way” of Cain, they have “plunged” into error. He shows us how they had a choice, and they led desire overcome truth.

The Choices of the False Teachers

They choose the path of evil over the path of good

Cain was given a choice by God. God was willing to forgive Cain, but Cain was so full of pride that he chose to go his own path anyways.

-God gives Cain a warning, he is willing to accept Cain if he brings the right offering before God. But he was not willing to submit to God’s will

-Cain allowed his hatred to take him over. He chose to take this path

-There is a form of cynicism present, that God “will never accept me” or “the world is all evil anyways” that leads us to turn away from God.

We can choose this path with arrogant and boastful words

Specifically, in the way they rebelled against God. They took pride in turning away from God’s Word.

They arrogantly believed they could rise up against God and makes claims about Him with no consequences

They despise “religion”, or at least God’s Word and the morality that He calls us to. They scoff at God’s judgment. They reject God’s teaching for their own teaching.

In the same way these false teachers had chosen the path of evil.

-They understand God’s standard yet they have chosen to reject it. They decide they don’t believe there is a right or wrong or that God will judge them.

They choose greed over compassion, they are “worldly”

Balaam was willing to morally entrap Israel in order for his own profit.

-They set out the daughters of Balaak as a trap for the Israelite men.

These false teachers deceived those who listened to them for their own gain. They cared more about money than about the people who listened to them. They routinely spoke falsely in order for them to profit.

-They were worldly in that they followed what the teaching of the day was

Be careful of hidden motivations

It can be easy to be “flattering”. Saying what people want to hear so we can gain an advantage with them.

They were willing to be fake so that they could receive a financial reward.

We can seek to gain influence by going along with the popular beliefs and ideas

We can choose to follow our desires rather than God

In our world we find this everywhere. Social media profits on those divisiveness. Divisive content gets more eyes than content that speaks positively about a point of view.

-Don’t look for content that speaks negatively about another point of view. Look for content that gives you information to support your beliefs.

-If you notice when I teach I almost never bring up specific people or specific views. I may speak to what the Bible specifically states, but not negatively about people.

They chose to reject God’s authority for their own authority

Korah disputed the authority that was given to Moses by God.

Numbers 16:3 CSB

They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have gone too far! Everyone in the entire community is holy, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”

What dangers do you hear in this statement?

Ignorance about the state of the community - They were sinners!

Arrogance about their own ability to lead - Why did they think they would lead any better?

Disrespect for those God has chosen to lead - Moses was a humble leader, God says he was the most humble leader ever!

Notice Moses’ response. He says that God will reveal, He doesn’t condemn them himself.

-Korah was publicly swallowed by the earth.

-In the same way these false teachers will be publicly condemned by God.

They “grumbled” against God

Like the Israelites who grumbled against Moses. He were always angry that God wasn’t giving them what they wanted.

-Think about if on Christmas day you had a list of things you wanted for Christmas and your parents gave you a few of the things on your list but not all of them. You might “grumble” about the things you didn’t get. But shouldn’t you be excited for all the things you DID get? Including the things that you needed even if it wasn’t what you wanted?

“Yeah, I wanted this…but I also wanted that”. “Yeah, I wanted to go out for dinner, but why can’t I also get the most expensive thing on the menu?” “Yeah, I have an Iphone…but why can’t I have the brand new Iphone?”

-We can think we are “better off” going somewhere else, but what God gives us is better than what we deserve to begin with.

-If all we do is grumble against God, than we will find ourselves never being content with Him

The false teachers that Jude talks about look to find faults and weaknesses in others to build themselves up.

We can use grumbling as a way of ignoring our own responsibility. “Luck wasn’t on my side”, “If only this would have happened than I would have been fine”

Jude is accusing these false teachers of opposing the authority of the leaders of the church.

-Korah decided that when God said Moses’ would lead them that this isn’t really what he meant. These false teachers also decide that what God’s Word says isn’t really what God means

-They attempt to replace God’s laws with their own laws

-Many churches replace God’s law with their own.

The Threats of False Teachers

They wreck good community

Like a reef under the water that sinks a ship.

They don’t come to enjoy community, they come to enjoy their own benefits. They sit down with the rest of the church but they are blemishes in the community of faithful people.

Jude will later say that they “Create divisions”. They deny God’s Word and they want others to follow them in their denial. They begin to create divisions in the community through this.

They disregard their responsibility

They are supposed to be caring for others but they only look out for themselves

They used their position to make their own life comfortable.

These meals were supposed to provide unity with one another, but these teachers were just feeding themselves.

They came with empty promises, there is no fruit to their words

They boast all the great things they can provide, the gifts that come in following them. But they don’t have anything to give. They reject the Bible and produce nothing good.

In fact the opposite, their path leads to death. They are uprooted.

Jude will say in v. 19 that they don’t have the Spirit. That is, the fruits of the Spirit are not present in their life. They are missing crucial aspects of being a Christian.

There will be people who said they are “led by the Spirit” but in fact say things contrary to God’s Word. Who say they have a “divine message” but is really just what they want to believe.

-Always take God’s Word over any message of man

They leave pollution behind all of their controversy

Isaiah 57:20–21 “But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its water churns up mire and muck. There is no peace for the wicked,” says my God.”

They crash against everything the church does, they make statements about how bad things are. But when you look behind them, they just leave all this pollution, this filthy scum

They are unreliable guides

If you are trying to follow a star in the darkness, it needs to stay in one spot so you can follow it to its location. But if the star is constantly moving what happens? You get lost.

People are mesmerized by the stars, they look at one that looks good, then they look at another. But then you are just lost in the ocean. You are left with uncertainty and danger. God’s Word is the guiding star.

-It would also been the case that they would have connected stars and planets with the gods.

-Following the stars would have been like following different gods. You follow one and then the other, rather than focusing on one star.

They might be able to come in with Bible verses, or words that seem like they make sense. But in the end they speak empty words.

We live in a world that doesn’t trust arguments but trust “vibes”

“Logical coherence” and recognizing “obvious inconsistencies” aren’t valued. When people are presented with how illogical their viewpoint is they aren’t bothered, in fact, they try to explain away the inconsistencies rather than deal with them.

Instead, people live by the “vibes”. “Memes over messages…relatability over rightness…feelings over facts.”

-If you get a “bad vibe” about someone, no matter what they are actually saying, you disregard it compared to someone who gives you “good vibes”.

-The word now is “ick”. If you feel the “ick” then you move on, you don’t listen to them.

-Consider a recent clip of a college student, Naima, debating Charlie Kirk on abortion. At one point, Kirk asks Naima to define “fetus,” which leaves her somewhat flustered. Instead of answering, she immediately pivots to a vibe-oriented comment by saying Kirk’s smile is “creepy,” which gets applause from the audience.

-Vibes feel more “authentic” to us. But vibes are very misleading to the truth.

But it makes sense in a world where there are is so much information in front of us. It feels like we need to trust our gut about who to listen to rather than wade through the waters of who is telling the truth. The world is full of so much incoherence, opinions, and narratives that we feel like we just have to choose which one we relate to the must. But narratives aren’t always true of reality. We don’t stop long enough to check the facts.

It’s like the writer T.S. Eliot said. “When we do not know, or when we do not know enough, we tend always to substitute emotions for thoughts.”

-So this is what people aim at us. Emotions. Making a good 1st impression. Putting on the right face that gets our attention. Like when we look at someone’s profile we get an idea of if we are going to believe them or not without even knowing anything about their life.

-We have gone back to the “judging a book by its cover” idea. Where if someone is accused of something they are automatically guilty…unless they disagree with us.

We need to learn to ask ourselves “why do I believe this thing”. To search for sources rather than 1st impressions. To not just listen to people who agree with us but to put all the evidence out in front of us.

-God’s Word is the 1st place we should start. Asking ourselves, “is this thing that someone is telling me to believe align with what Scripture tells me?”

What is 1 Enoch?

The Message of 2 Peter and Jude 1. Enoch (14–15)

It is heavily influenced by the Old Testament, and opens with a dramatic setting of the day of judgment. Then come a lengthy explanation of the first six chapters of Genesis, which gives a major role to Enoch himself; a series of parables on judgment and the last things; an examination of the sun and the stars in the light of what will happen at the end; and visions about the end times. It closes with a description of what will happen on the earth before the close of its history.

1 Enoch is a late Jewish writing that isn’t considered as Scripture by Judaism, Catholicism, the Orthodox Church, or Protestants.

But if Jude quotes it, why would it not? Just because they get 1 part of God’s story correct, does not mean that it should be considered Scripture. Paul quotes ancient poets and philosophers, that doesn’t mean all that these poets said was inspired.

-It could also mean that Jude knew that this opponents saw this as inspired and so he took the works that they trusted to prove his own point.

“Jude is simply doing what all the NT writers do, and which every writer must do in every age; he is speaking to men in a language which they recognize and understood” - Barclay

-Also, Jude doesn’t say “it is written”, he says that Enoch “prophesied”.

-We also know the book wasn’t written by the historical Enoch as well.

Stating that Enoch was the “7th from Adam” designates a completion or perfection. Enoch would be the one who went to be with God and didn’t die.

This also is a reminder that Jesus would come again in judgment over all the unrighteous.

-Why is God coming again? To convict those who have live against God and said things against God. It is their own actions that condemn them

-”All the ungodly” will be judged

God will judge our words and our actions

Many people think they can free themselves from God’s judgment by being “good people”, or being “religious”. Some believe that although God wants us to live good lives, that in the end he won’t judge all people. He may make some threats, but God won’t follow through. In the end, they believe that God won’t do what He says He will do. And that is far more dangerous to believe than anything else. Because if we can’t trust His words, than we have no reason to believe in His promises.

Remember God’s Word