Jude - Part 7

Jude
Contending for the Faith

Instruction To the Church

Jude – Contending for the Faith

Review of 14-16
Judgment of the Apostates


"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, 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.” These are grumblers, finding fault,
following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly,
flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage."
(Jude 14-16)


Exposition of 17-19
Instruction to the Church


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


“But you beloved, ought to remember…”
Jude uses the term “remember” in the indicative
mood, which indicates a command – he is
commanding his audience to remember the
teaching of the apostles. Most of Jude’s
message is a walk down memory lane of what has
happened in the past and how it should serve as
a warning to all Christians then and now.

Just as nothing takes God by surprise, God
does not allow His people to be taken by
surprise; it is a sign of His sovereignty. Through
His prophets He has supplied us with the
instruction that we need to remember so that (1)
we will be ready for what is to come; (2) we can
rest knowing that God’s omniscience and
omnipotence mean all things are known by Him
and He will work all things out according to His
promises and plans.

“Words spoken . . . by the apostles…”
While our Lord had many disciples, He selected only a
few to be apostles. The word means “one who is sent
with a commission.” In order to qualify, a believer had to
be a witness of the resurrection of Christ (Acts 1:21–
22; 1 Cor. 9:1). The Apostles lived with Christ during
His ministry, learned from Him, and were sent by Him
into all the world to carry the Good News of salvation.
Wherever there is the authentic, the counterfeit will
appear; this happened in the early church and happens
today as well. False apostles and teachers began to
appear, and it was necessary to develop a system to
protect the church against false prophecies and forged
letters. Since Christ had committed “the faith” (Jude
3) to His Apostles, one of the main tests in the early
church was, “Is this what the Apostles taught?” When
the church assembled the New Testament books, it
was required that each book be written either by an
apostle or by someone closely associated with an
apostle. Apostolic teaching was, and still is, the test of
truth.

“Words spoken . . . by the apostles…”

"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,
but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are
of God’s household, having been built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ
Jesus Himself being the corner stone"
(Ephesians 2:19-20)


“In the Last time…”
Whenever the phrase “last time” or “last
days” is used in Scripture, it refers to the
period between Christ’s first and second
advents (arrivals or comings).

" But realize this, that in the last days difficult times
will come."
(2 Timothy 3:1)

"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the
prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these
last days has spoken to us in His Son"
(Hebrews 1:1-2)

"For He was foreknown before the foundation of
the world, but has appeared in these last times for
the sake of you"
(1 Peter 1:20)

“There will be Mockers…”
" Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers
will come with their mocking, following after their own
lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His
coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all
continues just as it was from the beginning of
creation.” For when they maintain this, it escapes
their notice that by the word of God the heavens
existed long ago and the earth was formed out of
water and by water, through which the world at that
time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But
by His word the present heavens and earth are
being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment
and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this
one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the
Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a
thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow
about His promise, as some count slowness, but is
patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but
for all to come to repentance."
(2 Peter 3:3-9)


" But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be
lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to
parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without
self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they
have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who
enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on
by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of
the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also
oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. But they
will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s
and Jambres’s folly was also. Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose,
faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as
happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I
endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! Indeed, all who desire to live
godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will
proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."
(2 Timothy 3:1-13)

“If ever there was a case of a lame
excuse we have it here. Ignorance is
ignorance; no right to believe anything
can be derived from it. In other matters
no sensible person will behave so
irresponsibly or rest content with such
feeble grounds for his opinions and for
the line he takes. . . . Where questions
of religion are concerned, people are
guilty of every possible sort of
dishonesty and intellectual
misdemeanor.”
- Sigmund Freud


"“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered
to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will
hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the
third day He will be raised up.”"
(Matthew 20:18-19)

"In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him
among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself."
(Mark 15:31)

"And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking
Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate."
(Luke 23:11)

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will
also reap."
(Galatians 6:7)


"...people say to me
continually,
'Where is your God?'"
(Psalm 42:3)


“Following after their ungodly lusts…”

“Lusts” is epithumia (ἐπιθυμια), “a
passionate craving,” good or bad.
According to the context, it is evil.

The apostles predicted and/or
warned that apostate teachers would
come and they would be driven by their
own sinful lusts.

"Now those who belong to Christ
Jesus have crucified the flesh with its
passions and desires."
(Galatians 5:24)


“Following after their ungodly lusts…”

One way to recognize an apostate: What do they follow?

"“My sheep hear My “Following after
voice, and I know them, their ungodly
and they follow Me;" lusts”
(John 10:27) (Jude 18)


“These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.”
- Jude 19

1. They cause divisions
2. They are worldly-minded
3. They are devoid of the Spirit


“who cause divisions…”
The word “division” is only used in
Jude and literally means “to draw a
boundary through”. One of the
characteristics of the apostate
teachers is they wrongly divide the
Church and cause schisms and
friction.

This stands in stark contrast to Jesus’
prayer of unity for His followers:
“Holy Father, keep them in Your
name, the name which You have given
Me, that they may be one even as We
are."(John 17:11)

"Therefore if there is any encouragement in
Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if
there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any
affection and compassion, make my joy
complete by being of the same mind,
maintaining the same love, united in spirit,
intent on one purpose."
(Philippians 2:1-2)


Word Study – Worldly Minded
Greek Meaning
psychikos ① To the life of the natural world
② Unspiritual
③ One who functions bodily
“These are the ones who cause Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000).

divisions, worldly-minded, A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament
and other early Christian literature.
devoid of the Spirit."
(Jude 19)

Interpretation & Application
Jude says that a characteristic of the apostates is they are worldly in their thinking, which means they
think about and focus on things in contrast to God: "You adulteresses, do you not know that
friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world
makes himself an enemy of God."(James 4:4) . And what makes up the world? "For all that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father,
but is from the world."(1 John 2:16). A key trait of fakes is what they focus their mind on – they focus
on these things and themselves instead of God’s will.


"But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish
ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and
so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that
which comes down from above, but is earthly,
natural, demonic. For where jealousy and
selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and
every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is
first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable,
full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering,
without hypocrisy."
(James 3:15-17)

“Whatever a man
thinks about, when
he is free to think
about what he will,
that is what he is or
will soon become.”
- A. W. Tozer


"Do not love the world nor the things in the
world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes
and the boastful pride of life, is not from the
Father, but is from the world.”
(1 John 2:15-16)


"Set your mind on the things above, not on the
things that are on earth."
(Colossians 3:2)


“Devoid of the Spirit…”

This is perhaps the most succinct
statement made by Jude that
describes the apostate’s true spiritual
condition: they are devoid of the
Spirit, which means they are not
believers, but simply pretenders and
fakes.

A person without the Holy Spirit is
unable to submit themselves to God’s
Word and Law (1 Cor. 2:14), so it
stands to reason the apostates act in
the manner that they do.


"However, you are not in the flesh but in the
Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in
you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit
of Christ, he does not belong to Him."
(Romans 8:9)


"Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is
born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God."
(John 3:5)

"The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him,
and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the
Spirit whom He has given us."
(1 John 3:24)

"By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us,
because He has given us of His Spirit."
(1 John 4:13)


The Apostate’s Profile

1. Ungodly (vs. 4) 10. Grumblers (vs. 16)
2. Morally perverted (vs. 4) 11. Fault finders (vs. 16)
3. Deny Christ (vs. 4) 12. Self-satisfying (vs. 16)
4. Defile the flesh (vs. 8) 13. Use arrogant words (vs. 16)
5. Rebellious (vs. 8) 14. Use false flattery (vs. 16)
6. Revile angels (vs. 8) 15. Mock God (vs. 18)
7. Ignorant about God (vs. 8) 16. Cause divisions (vs. 19)
8. Proclaim false visions (vs. 10) 17. Worldly minded (vs. 19)
9. Self-destructive (vs. 10) 18. Devoid of Spirit/unsaved (vs. 19)


Concluding Thoughts
• Christians need to keep themselves bathed in God’s Words so
we can remember His promises and so we won’t be surprised at
the persecution and opposition that comes against us/the
Church
• Mockers of the Christian faith have been around since Christ
walked the earth. We should expect them to treat us no better
than they treated Him.
• What a person follows oftentimes provides good evidence for
their true spiritual condition
• God asks us to strive for unity, but not at the expense of truth
• A person’s persistent thoughts are a good temperature of how
much in the world they are
• The Bible is clear: a person lacking God’s Holy Spirit is not a
true believer. And the Spirit influences all of the above.


Jude - Part 7

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Jude - Part 7