Examples of Apostasy Pt. 4 "Religious Animals"

Introduction

Over the past three weeks, we have been looking at the examples of apostates that we are given here in the book of Jude.

The beginning of verse 8 says, “likewise” - Jude is again reminding us of what he has just written…Likewise what?

The rebellious children of Israel in verse 5...

The rebellious fallen angels in verse 6...

The rebellious cities in verse 7...

The Bible repeats things if ya’ll haven’t noticed that, and it doesn’t do so to waste our time, it does so because God knows we are slow learners…Repetition helps us remember! And the whole point here is to remember!

Why do we need to remember? Why do we need to know these characteristics so well?

In verse 4, let me remind you that:

Jude 4 (KJV 1900)

...there are certain men crept in unawares...

A lot of the time, apostates dress like us, they comb their hair like us, they drive the same vehicles that we do, they carry the same Bible, they have the same Sunday school literature. Apostates are not always easy to spot, they are not always easy to recognize, and they are not always easy pick out!

Apostates are not Christians they are the great pretenders.

Imposters infiltrate churches and damage the flock of God. People impersonate actors, presidents, singers, and apostates will impersonate Christians. Apostates must be identified and their doctrine must be resisted. REMEMBER: Christians are exhorted to fight because Christians have been entrusted with the faith.

Let’s take a look at three marks of an apostate from these verses:

The Dreamers

Jude 8 KJV 1900

8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

All authority comes from the throne of God, whether it is authority in the home, the church, or the state. Those who exercise authority must first be under authority, accountable to God. But the false teachers reject divine authority and set themselves up as their own authority.

They are living in a dream world.

Rejecting the Bible as their authority, they appeal to dreams and their own imaginations as a source of revelation and justification for their immoral lifestyle.

This is the “God told me” and “I prayed about it” defense for what Jude calls “[defiling] the flesh.” Claiming to have “a word from the Lord” does not make something legitimate.

False prophets in the Old Testament made such claims:

Deuteronomy 13:1–5 KJV 1900

1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

Claiming a source of authority outside of the Bible, these false teachers attempt to justify their immoral lifestyle.

Today, our culture encourages us to reject authority and to recognize self as the only real authority in our lives.

We can do this with the Bible, by choosing to only believe certain passages. We can do it with our beliefs, by choosing at the “salad bar” of religion. Or we can do it with our lifestyle, by making our own rules and not recognizing the proper authorities God has established.

In the darkest days of Israel, society was characterized by:

Judges 21:25 KJV 1900

25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Today, this is the same pattern of all the world.

When a person despises God’s authority, he feels free to disobey God’s Laws and live as he pleases. What he forgets is that those laws have penalties attached to them so that he cannot disobey and escape the consequences.

Let me remind you tonight that the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead establishes him as the one with all authority in heaven and on earth (cf. Matt 28:18), and those who are called by his name gladly submit to this authority for their good and his glory.

Notice the phrase, “speaking evil of dignities.”

This speaks of the practice of speaking in judgment of someone in a place of authority. The apostate’s lips lash out against those who God has placed in authority. They are quick to condemn and corrupt by the works of their lips. The actions of apostates show themselves to be apostate!

The Disputer

Jude 9 KJV 1900

9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

This is one of the most mysterious and difficult verses in the Bible to interpret. Its application is easier to grasp, but the exact meaning Jude intended is elusive and even troubling to some.

The actors in this spiritual drama are pretty clear. Michael is the archangel, the chief angel in terms of position and authority.

The term archangel only occurs one other time in Scripture (1 Thess 4:16). No name is associated there with the title, though most believe Michael is in view.

In Daniel 10:13 he is called “one of the chief princes” who came to help Daniel (“your prince” in v. 21).

In Daniel 12:1 he is called “the great prince” who watches over Israel.

In Revelation 12:7 Michael fights against the dragon (Satan) and defeats him, driving him out of heaven.

The devil is Satan, Lucifer, the greatest of all God’s creatures (Isa 14:12–15; Ezek 28:11–19) who fell from heaven due to his pride.

Moses is the great leader of Israel. The record of his death is found in Deuteronomy 34. We are told the Lord buried him and that no one knows where his grave is (Deut 34:6).

The point is that Michael did not rebuke Satan, but left that to the Lord. It is a dangerous thing for God’s people to confront Satan directly and to argue with him, because he is much stronger than we are. If an archangel is careful about the way he deals with the devil, how much more cautious ought we to be!

Unlike the fallen angels who didn’t keep their proper place, Michael the archangel knew his proper place. He knew it wasn’t his place to judge, but he simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!” We can learn a lot from this!

Before moving on, I want to make a point that whenever you hear of someone speaking of binding the devil, rebuking the devil, etc. as in, they have authority to do it. I’d be very cautious, they might just be an apostate.

I’ll say it again, if Michael didn’t do it, then, I’d say we probably shouldn’t...

The Defiled

Jude 10 KJV 1900

10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

In contrast to Michael, who would not even speak evil of the devil, these certain men spoke evil, especially when they rejected authority and spoke against dignitaries.

At the heart of false teaching is wrong thinking. Human depravity does not prevent us from using our minds, but it does prevent us from using them correctly.

Animals think, but they think like animals.

False followers of Christ think, but they too think like animals, and eventually they live like animals.

In what they say and what they do, they plummet to the level of “brute beasts” according to verse 10...

James Merritt writes, “What apostates say and believe are determined by human investigation and philosophical speculation rather than by Divine revelation.” Apostates are void of spiritual wisdom, insight, discernment, and understanding.”

All they can comprehend is natural truth, but not spiritual truth!

Jude tells us, “in these things they corrupt themselves.”

In their dirty dreaming and slick scheming they corrupt themselves.

In their defiling of their flesh and the rejecting of authority they corrupt themselves.

In their speaking evil of dignitaries and their blasphemy of holy things they corrupt themselves.

In their declaration of Ignorance they corrupt and condemn themselves.

Conclusion

These apostates are utterly corrupt and will be eternally condemned. They are without the Spirit and void of the truth!

Can you spot an imposter? Can you detect a spiritual fake?

Are you ready to defend the faith that has been once for all delivered to the saints? Are you a true believer?

Have you turned your back on the faith? Have you rejected the Lord Jesus Christ?

Those who reject Jesus are in danger of eternal fire.

Christian, are you busy defending the faith? Are you busy declaring the faith to lost sinners?

Is this church ready, willing, and able to identify apostates and resist apostasy?

God help us to daily read His word, prayerfully seek His will, and diligently apply His word in faithful obedience!