Jude - Lesson 5

• In our previous lessons, Jude has left us no doubt that false teachers are evil men due judgment

  • In fact, in v.4 Jude said these men have been marked out beforehand for judgment because of their licentiousness and unbelief

    • They see religion as a means for financial gain

    • And they use religious service as a means to that end

  • And now Jude finishes his letter emphasizing the reality of their coming judgment

    • His purpose in this is to assure believers that we have nothing in common with these men

    • We and they have entirely different futures

    • Therefore, we need to see them for who they are: condemned men and women 

• To make his point, Jude chooses to quote from another apocryphal book, called the Book of Enoch

Jude 14  It was also about these men that  Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with  many thousands of His holy ones, 
Jude 15  to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which  ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” 

• There is no work of scripture written by Enoch

  • Yet in ancient Israel, there was a book called the Book of Enoch

  • In reality, the book bearing his name was written by someone else many millennia later 

  • The book is Jewish apocryphal literature

• As we learned earlier, apocryphal literature is a form of popular Jewish writing designed to read like true scripture

  • It interested ancient readers because of its mystique of appearing to be wisdom from above

  • But it is not scripture

  • It just poses as if it was inspired text

  • It weaves together historical fact, myth, tradition and fiction to create an interesting story

  • We can think of it as ancient form of pulp fiction 

• In this case (as with the Assumption of Moses earlier), there was a detail within the Book of Enoch that was accurate, and so Jude incorporates that fact into his letter

  • The detail concerns something that Enoch said prophetically

    • Before we look at what Enoch said, we might ask the question how would anyone in Jude’s day know what Enoch said approximately 3,000 years earlier?

    • Especially since Enoch lived 700 years prior to the flood of Noah

  • So how could anything he wrote have survived long enough for Jude or anyone else to know of it?

    • First, the Lord has the power to preserve His word, period

    • If God intended Enoch’s prophecy to become a part of scripture (as it did in Jude’s letter), then that prophecy must continue through history

      • Heavens and earth will pass away, but God’s word will never pass away

  • Secondly, the ancient Jewish historian Josephus reports a tantalizing detail concerning how Biblical authors like Jude came to know about historical events before and immediately after the flood

    • Josephus reports that Enoch’s son, Methuselah was an ancient historian

    • During his exceptionally long lifespan Methuselah wrote the history of the world since Adam, on two large stone obelisks

    • These obelisks stood on earth somewhere in Arabia during the years leading up to the flood

    • You may remember that Methuselah died in the year the flood came

    • So he lived long enough to record all the events of Genesis Chapters 1-6 on those obelisks

  • When the flood arrives at about the year 2,350 BC, Methuselah’s historical markers remained standing through the judgment waters

    • After the waters receded and Noah and his descendants emerged from the ark, they could still read about the history of the world prior to the flood preserved on those obelisks

    • In fact, Josephus reports that those obelisks remained standing and readable until Moses’ day

  • If this story is true, it would explain how Moses could have written Genesis during the desert wanderings

    • Perhaps the Lord led him to the obelisks, which were written in Hebrew, where Moses learned the story he then preserved in the Torah

    • And so the words of Enoch were preserved until Jude could record them in his letter, thereby including them in the canon of scripture

• Jude says Enoch was the seventh man in the seed line after Adam

  • He is mentioned in Genesis 5

    • He is the father of Methuselah 

    • And he is the man who we remember was taken by God before he died

  • Jude mentions his place in the life after Adam because seven is a significant number in scripture

    • The number seven means completeness, the fullness of anything

    • Enoch was the seventh in the seed line from Adam, the line that would lead to the Messiah

• In Genesis, Enoch is contrasted with another character, Lamech

  • In Genesis, the line of Cain is the family of unbelief and rebellion, while the line of Seth is the line of the seed promise

    • And the seventh member of each family is contrasted in Chapters 4 & 5

    • In Chapter 4, we see the seventh in the line of Cain

      • He is a man named Lamech

    • In Genesis 4 we read this about Lamech

Gen. 4:23  Lamech said to his wives, 
          “Adah and Zillah, 
Listen to my voice, 
You wives of Lamech, 
Give heed to my speech, 
For I  have killed a man for wounding me; 
And a boy for striking me; 
Gen. 4:24 If Cain is avenged  sevenfold, 
            Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.” 

• Lamech is the seventh in the line from Cain

  • He is a man who demonstrated great sinfulness and rebellion

  • In fact, he prides himself on being seventy-seven-fold more ruthless and dangerous than his forefather Cain

  • He literally brags about murder

    • While Cain tried to hide his sin

    • This man brags about it 

• On the other hand, Enoch is the seventh in the line of the seed promise

  • Concerning Enoch we read:

Gen. 5:22 Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had other sons and daughters. 
Gen. 5:23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 
Gen. 5:24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God  took him. 

• Enoch was a man who walked with God, we’re told

• It’s a brief statement, but it’s all we need to hear when contrasted with the seventh in the line of Cain

• Enoch was with God in faith and obedience

• While Cain’s descendants had moved as far from God as we might imagine

• We also notice that Enoch’s end is mysterious

  • One moment Enoch was walking with God, then the next moment he is not, for God took him

    • Genesis is very careful to describe the birth and death of every important person in the seed line

    • But here we learn that Enoch didn’t die; he was simply taken by God

  • Why did God take Enoch off the earth without requiring him to die first?

    • The answer relates to the flood of Noah and to the point Jude is making

    • Enoch’s removal from the earth is a picture of a future removal of God’s people from the earth prior to death

  • That future removal is the resurrection (or rapture) of the church which is yet to happen

    • That resurrection will happen seven years prior to a coming judgment for the earth

    • The Lord will remove the righteous (by faith) before He brings His judgment on earth

  • Enoch is a picture of God’s plan to separate the righteous before judgment falls on the unrighteous at the end of the age

    • In Enoch’s case, he was removed 700 years prior to the flood of Noah

    • While Cain’s line is left to experience God’s judgment waters

• So when Jude says Enoch was the seventh in the line of Adam, Enoch is causally making reference to Enoch’s role as the poster child for righteous followers of God

  • Jude is reminding his readers that God’s people are to be separated from the unbelievers prior to God’s judgment at the rapture

    • In fact, Enoch’s quote is itself an oblique reference to the rapture when he says that the Lord’s return is accompanied by His holy ones

    • First, did you notice that Enoch talked about a return of the Lord?

      • That means Enoch knew not only that the Lord would come but that He would leave

      • And then Enoch understood that the Lord would return in a future time

      • In other words, Enoch understood that there was to be both a first and second coming of the Lord

  • Next, we see that Christ’s return involves more than just Christ

    • He returns with thousands of His holy ones

    • Those holy ones are you and me...we are the ones returning with Christ

    • This means that we must have been removed from the earth prior to His return

    • Once again, this is an oblique reference to the rapture of the Church prior to Christ’s return to bring judgment

• So let’s put all this together as we move forward into the rest of these verses

  • Jude wants to emphasize that the believers in the church have nothing in common with these false teachers

    • So Jude reminds the church of Enoch

    • Enoch was a man who testified by his life and his words that God intends to separate the righteous from the unrighteous prior to judgment

    • Moreover, the righteous will have a role with Christ in executing judgment upon evil men, including false teachers

  • In v.15 Jude says this coming judgment will fall upon men like these false teachers

    • Notice, they will be condemned both by the ungodly things they do and the things they say

    • They will see judgment not only for living sinful lives without faith

    • But their judgment will also take into account their false teaching and lies concerning God and His word

  • Knowing this, Jude expects his readers to make the obvious conclusion

    • If these men are to receive punishment for what they do and what they say, then we need to see them the way God sees them

    • Their words will cease to be compelling and their lies will no longer have the power to deceive when we look upon them as condemned men

  • Next time you happen to catch one of the prosperity preachers speaking their lies on TV, take a moment and look upon them with an understanding of Jude’s words

    • See them as condemned men

    • Understand they are digging their own grave with their lies and their sinful lives

    • Know that you will accompany Christ at His Second Coming to execute judgment upon them

    • And quickly, they will begin to look very small and even pitiful in your eyes

    • And in that moment, they will have lost their power to deceive you

• Jude mentions they are condemned by what they do as much as by what they say

  • So he lists some of the patterns of speech that condemn these false teachers

Jude 16 These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts;  they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. 

• In the first part of this verse, we have the tenth triad

  • First, Jude calls these men grumblers (or murmurers) 

    • This is a uniquely Jewish insult in scripture

    • The Pharisees were said to grumble in the presence of Jesus’ teaching

    • The Israelites were murmurers in the desert wanderings

    • In both cases, these actions were intended to illustrate their lack of faith in God’s word

    • As in the case of the Pharisees, these men claim to be teachers of the word, yet they themselves grumble against true teachers

  • Secondly, they find fault or they are complainers

    • They are men who complain of their situation or fate

    • If complaining were enough to gain us the fire of hell, who could escape?

    • But the issue here is not complaining in the general sense

      • Their problem is complaining about not being free enough to follow their lusts

      • They find fault in leaders, other teachers who challenge their teaching and their behavior

      • They are like children complaining about rules they don’t like

  • Thirdly, they are men who speak arrogantly

    • The word in Greek for arrogant literally means of excessive weight or size

    • They are speaking in excessive ways

    • And they do so to flatter people in the Church for the sake of gaining advantage

    • There are two kinds of lies we can tell about people:

      • One that slanders and one that flatters

      • One tries to discredit someone, while the other tries to manipulate them

      • And both are equally sinful

• Now at this point in his letter, Jude has described these men in multiple levels of detail

  • The church is aware of their presence, their nature, their methods, their motivations, and their fate

    • The church no longer has any excuse for defending themselves and removing the false teachers’ influence 

    • The question is whether they will have the courage to do so

    • Some will, but others will waver and may not have the spiritual maturity to see things as truly

      • We see that problem in the church today

      • While some Christians are wise enough to recognize the false teachers on TV and in our local churches...

      • Others are taken in by their smooth words

  • So now Jude makes his final appeal

Jude 17 But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by  the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
Jude 18 that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” 
Jude 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. 

• Rather than listen to the grumbling, complaining and arrogant speech of the false teachers, Jude asks the church to remember the words of the Apostle Peter

  • Jude quotes from Peter again in v.18

2Pet. 3:3  Know this first of all, that  in the last days  mockers will come with their mocking,  following after their own lusts, 

• Both Jude and Peter speak of mockers in the last days

• The term “last days”  refers to the last period of our age

• Therefore, Peter was not speaking of the false teachers in his own day, including the false teachers Jude is writing about

◦ Nevertheless, Jude is making an application from Peter’s prophecy for his readers in his day

• His point is that false teachers always come in a similar way and therefore have a similar effect on the body

• They use false words to cast doubt and create division within the church body

• In a future day, false teachers will come mocking the prospect of Christ’s return

• Such mocking hadn’t yet begun in Jude’s day, because Christ’s first coming was still a fresh memory

  • People were still expecting His return to be right around the corner

• But as time stretches from decades to centuries to millennia, the opportunity to cast doubt grows

• So in a future day, Peter said men would begin to cast doubt on Christ’s return

• That future day has already arrived for us

• Why do false teachers mock Christ’s return?

• Primarily because it provides an excuse to follow after their lusts

  • If it were true that Jesus won’t return, then perhaps judgment won’t come to the ungodly

  • And if judgment is in doubt, then those who want  freedom to sin can do so with impunity

  • They have no fear they will be called to account for their sin

• So Jude uses Peter’s statement as evidence that whenever such men arrive, they create divisions by what they say

  • They drive a wedge into the body of Christ

  • They are worldly-minded men

    • They have only a focus on the here-and-now

  • They are men who cannot consider heavenly things, because as Jude says in the final part of the triad, they are devoid of the Spirit

    • If we had any doubt that they are unbelievers, this statement would settle our doubts

• So the defense against false teachers follows naturally from their methods

  • If they preach lies, we need to know the truth

  • If they divide the body, we need to remain united in our faith

  • If they sow discontent, the body needs to focus on the goodness of God

  • If they are worldly-minded, we need to keep our minds on eternity and the rewards of Heaven

Jude 20 But you, beloved,  building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 
Jude 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 

• Here is Jude’s response to the problem of false teachers in the church

  • He gives a two fold response, beginning with a focus on ourselves

    • First, each believer has a personal responsibility to keep ourselves spiritually strong

    • Notice Jude doesn’t tell us that our first defense is to attack these men?

    • We aren’t commanded to engage with these men

      • They are unbelievers, and therefore they have nothing in common with the believer

    • We are to leave room for the vengeance of God, as Paul says in Romans

  • It’s foolish to assume we can fight these men in our own power

    • The enemy is far stronger than we are

    • Only by putting on the full armor of God are we able to withstand his tricks and lies

    • In other words, we must fight in God’s power, and that begins with readying ourselves

• So Jude says our first line of defense against these enemies is to build yourself up on your most holy faith

  • Notice he says to build up “on” the most holy faith (not in)

    • He means to study up on the faith, to learn about our faith

    • Jude is emphasizing study of God’s word, the doctrines and the theology of our faith

  • To become a serious student of the word is the first and most important defense to false teaching

    • Spiritually, it strengthens us to resist the power of the enemy to draw us away from the truth

    • As we said, if false teachers work through lies, we need to know the truth

  • You have probably heard it said we don’t teach bank tellers to identify counterfeits by studying counterfeits

    • They learn to identify counterfeits by studying real money

    • And so we must become students of the truth in order to filter out the lies

    • And if the enemy is the father of lies, then how well do you suppose we must know the truth to be prepared?

• Secondly, Jude uses his twelfth triad to remind us of the importance of relying on all three Persons of the Godhead

  • First, we continue praying in the Spirit to ensure we are aligned with God’s heart

    • When false teachers makes claims about what God wants for us

    • Or when they tell us what God expects us to do for Him

    • We need the counsel of the Spirit to test those statements

      • If we are practiced in listening to the Spirit, then their words will set off warning bells

    • Like a young child who expects to hear the voice of a parent but instead hears the voice of a stranger, it will not sound right

    • This again is something we can only do if we are practiced at listening to the Spirit’s voice

  • Secondly, keep yourself in the love of God, that is of the Father

    • God’s love for us should be reflected in our attitude concerning all things

    • These false teachers are promoting attitudes, thoughts and actions that are inherently unloving

      • They are not loving toward God

      • Nor are they loving toward our neighbor in the way they promote jealousy, discontentment and division

    • If we use a test of love for all teaching, we will find it an amazingly accurate way to filter falsehoods from truth

    • Truth will promote love for God and neighbor while the enemy’s lies do the opposite

  • Finally, we are to wait for the mercy of Christ at His return

    • Said another way, Jude is calling for Christians to keep their gaze squarely on eternity

    • Keep thinking about the coming of Christ for the Church

    • Consider daily the judgment seat of Christ and how our judgment will go on that day

    • Let that eternal mindset guard your hearts against false teaching that attempts to lower your thoughts to earthly desires

• Next Jude asks the church to fight against the divisiveness of false teachers by strengthening each other in the fight

Jude 22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 
Jude 23 save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear,  hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. 

• With Jude’s thirteenth triad, we find his counsel for how to strengthen others around us when false teachers arrive

  • First, some of our more immature brothers and sisters in the faith may have doubts about what is true

    • They may hear the teaching of the false teachers and wonder if it’s true or even entertain it for a while

    • This is a natural result with immature believers, since they are always the most vulnerable

  • To this group, Jude counsels that we have patience and show mercy

    • The word for mercy can also be translated pity

    • We are to look at them with understanding and pity, so that we can respond in kindness

    • We do not further the enemy’s goal by creating division

    • We try to heal the divide by showing mercy

    • Mercy means being understanding of their doubting, while continuing to teach the truth and expose the lies, and allowing time them to mature

• For some believers, however, the deception has been too strong to resist, and they have fallen for the false teachers 

  • These are the believers who need to be saved, Jude says

    • Imagine a person who has fallen overboard into the ocean, and they need rescue

    • We must throw a life preserver to them and pull them back to safety

  • This can be difficult, and Jude makes no attempt to explain how we might do this

    • The specific steps to be taken will vary with the circumstances

    • The basic point is to act in their best interest, endeavoring to pull them away from the false teacher’s influence

    • Maybe you offer them some CDs with recordings from this Jude teaching

    • Or you sit with them and instruct them personally

    • But do whatever you can to save them from the penalty they will suffer for experiencing a shipwrecked faith

• Finally, you have the group who has listened to false teaching for so long and liked it so much that they are now repeating it themselves

  • These believers must be handled carefully, Jude says

    • This third group are not the false teachers themselves

      • The false teachers are unbelievers, as we’ve seen

    • But these are believers who have taken the message to heart and are repeating it as they have been taught

  • You run into these folks everywhere

    • When you are in need for something, these Christians will repeat the mantra they have been taught

    • “Name it and claim it,” “rebuke the devil,” “sow your seed,” etc...

    • By these false catch-phrases we can sometimes recognize the believer who has become saturated in the false teaching and believes it

    • More concerning, they may have started to follow in other lusts of the flesh, whether financial or sexual or otherwise

  • Jude says this person also deserves our mercy, but mixed with fear on our part

    • The fear refers to maintaining a distance from them

    • Especially if they have begun to mimic the fleshly sins of the teachers, then they are polluted by the flesh, Jude says

    • If so, then we still do our best to pull them out, but we need a sober view of the possibilities and the dangers

    • We probably have little chance of success and we need to protect ourselves and others from their influence

  • This is a problem the church faces anytime a believer has gone seriously astray

    • Even as we try to help the individual, our first priority is to the flock

    • Like a person suffering from a deadly contagious disease, we must quarantine the patient to protect the population even as we work to treat him or her

  • So Jude says the church has to fight against the false teachers in the church in three principle ways

    • First we strengthen ourselves in daily disciplines of the faith, relying on God in His power

    • Secondly, we work to help our brothers and sisters resist the enemy’s schemes

    • Finally, we protect the flock by isolating those who have fallen for the lies, limiting their damage

• Then Jude ends his letter with a vote of confidence in the church’s ability to carry out these instructions

Jude 24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with  great joy, 
Jude 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. 

• First, Jude gives the church confidence to resist false teachers by reminding them they stand in the power of God

  • God has the power to keep or guard us from stumbling

    • The point isn’t that God promises to keep us from making mistakes in our life or even from falling prey to false teachers

    • We know that many Christians do stumble and some fall for false teaching

  • Jude is referring to God’s ultimate power and promise to redeem us and sanctify us and glorify us in the kingdom

    • Whatever else may happen, we will one day stand in the presence of the Lord and be considered blameless

    • Our blamelessness is not a product of our own power or will or work, as we know

    • It comes strictly as a matter of grace

    • But because of His grace, we will stand blameless and in great joy over that change

    • This is the true hope of the Christian faith

• Secondly, we owe this all to Him, our only God and Savior, through the God-man Jesus Christ

  • Therefore, to Him rightly deserved to be all the glory, majesty, dominion and authority

    • Jude is specifically contending with a variety of false teaching in the church

    • He states that there is only one God and Savior

    • He states that the savior is Jesus Christ, Who is also Lord Himself

    • Remember, these false teachers were denying the Master Who bought them, according to Peter

  • Furthermore, Jude says this Lord is the holder of all glory

    • The mention of glory refers to the Shechinah glory of God known from the Old Testament

    • That mention of glory would remind Jude’s Jewish readers that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Messiah promises of the Old Testament

  • Next, Jude says He has all majesty

    • Like Matthew’s Gospel, Jude is emphasizing that Jesus was the King of the Jews

    • He was not merely a prophet

    • He was also the anointed King

  • He has dominion over all

    • He will return and rule the earth

    • Despite some claiming Jesus will not return to rule, Jude says yes He will since he has all dominion

  • Finally, He has all authority

    • There is no other source of power or authority in Creation other than Christ

    • Even the enemy and the false teachers are operating under the authority of Christ for a time

• To end the book, Jude can’t resist adding a fourteenth triad

  • He says that our God has existed before all time

    • Is in the present now

    • And will be forevermore

  • With that he adds an “Amen”

    • And so do we