Jude now comes back to the sinful opponents who might be misleading those to whom he is writing:
'Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.
These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm -- shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted -- twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved for ever' (verses 11-13 N.I.V.).
These people are likened to
three outstanding opponents of God. (1) Cain, the first great criminal
of the world's history who murdered his brother. (2) Balaam, the man
who was willing to do anything for money, although he first of all paid
lip service to the commands of God. (3) Korah, whose gainsaying
consisted of speaking against Moses as God's representative, and
seeking to start a revolution against him. These three rushed, as it
were, to carry out their opposition to God. The word in the Greek
translated 'ran greedily' in the A.V., means to 'pour out in streams',
and is a vigorous metaphor for excessive indulgence on their part in
what they intended to do in their sinning.
Jude's words point to the fact that the judgment of God had already
descended on some of them (verse 11). In the early centuries believers
met for fellowship, meditation and praise and shared a meal together,
but the enemies had wormed themselves in here. The words 'spots' in the
A.V. is more likely to be hidden 'rocks', as covered by water and
therefore dangerous in the extreme. They were like clouds without rain
and therefore of no good to soil. There was no stability in them, they
were blown about, as Ephesians 4:14, by 'every wind of doctrine', with
the consequence they were useless like fruitless trees, which were not
only dead but uprooted as well, 'twice dead' (verse 12). They were like
raging waves of the sea, bent on destruction, or like wandering stars,
useless and unpredictable.
'Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of His holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."O (verses 14,15 N.I.V.).
Why is Enoch called the seventh from Adam? It is to distinguish him from another Enoch, a son of Cain who was 'of that wicked one', Satan, (1yJohn 3:12). The true Enoch prophesied about these evil men by showing how God dealt in judgment and punishment of such men in early history. A number of translations put the coming of the Lord mentioned here, in the future, but the Greek verb is in the past tense (elthen), and this should be noted -- 'The Lord came with myriads of His holy ones'. We give some of the translations which recognise this:
'Lo, the Lord hath come with His holy myriads', J.B.Rotherham.
'Behold! the Lord hath come with tens of thousands of His holy ones', E.E.Cunnington.
'See! the Lord has come with His hosts of holy ones around Him', Twentieth Century New Testament.
'Behold, the Lord has come with His myriads of holy ones', The Berkeley Version.
'Behold, the Lord came with His holy myriads', Revised Standard Version.
This, therefore, must refer to
a coming of the Lord with His angels in judgment at a time before
Enoch's day, and probably refers to Satan's rebellion and the angels
who fell with him. Enoch quotes it as a warning to the ungodly of his
day and to all the ungodly generations to come, which includes the
ungodly that Jude is dealing with. The quotation is from the apocryphal
Book of Enoch, but, as we have before pointed out, we must not assume
that every statement in such books must be erroneous. Jude treats it as
truth, and we can do the same.
Thus we see how Jude in this vivid language portrays the gnostic
heretics and deceivers of his day, and writes this as a warning to his
Christian friends. He sums up by saying:
'These men are grumblers and fault-finders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage' (verse 16 N.I.V.).
In no sense could these people be a help to the believers to whom Jude was writing. The only wise thing to do was to avoid them completely. The apostles of the Lord Jesus had warned them of mockers who simply do what pleases them and suits their ungodly ideas:
'But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit' (verses 17-19 N.I.V.).
Peter had warned them of the
same thing in 2yPeter 3:3.
Note the triplet, (1) their ungodly desires; (2) they cause division
among believers; and (3) they do not have the Spirit. Thus they cause
schisms. The N.I.V. is better than the A.V. here. They do not separate
themselves so much as they split the people of God. This, of course,
Satan is a master at achieving, as can be seen by looking at the state
of the Christian world.
These false teachers claimed to have a monopoly of the Holy Spirit's
enlightenment, but verse 19 declares that they have not the Spirit at
all. The verses that follow give another group of three:
'But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life' (verses 20,21 N.I.V.).
(1) Build yourselves up; (2)
pray in the Holy spirit; and (3) keep yourselves in the love of God.
'Building up' speaks of spiritual growth and going on to full growth or
maturity. Note the number of times the apostle Paul stresses edifying
or building up. This is a very important part of a believer's
experience. Too many, alas, fail to grow spiritually after salvation.
They stay in a state of spiritual babyhood and become a liability
instead of being an asset to the Lord. They need to heed the warning of
1yCorinthians 3:1-3 and Hebrews 5:8-14.
There is only one true foundation and that is the Lord Jesus Christ and
His redemptive work (1yCor. 3:10,11). But as their context teaches,
upon this foundation the believer builds, and it is absolutely
necessary for him to put good materials upon this perfect foundation.
1yCorinthians 3:12-15 shows what these are and also the certainty of
the testing of the building by the Lord Jesus by the fire of His
holiness. This can only consume the poor materials (like wood, hay and
stubble), but the good materials are likened to gold, silver and
precious stones (verse 12). These stand the test of fire and the
believer receives the approval and a reward from the Lord. All the
service likened to wood, hay and stubble is rejected by Him and
destroyed. What a sad end to a lifetime of service to the Lord! Even
though salvation is not affected (verse 15), the shame of such loss
will be great.
There is not nearly enough teaching on this essential and important
subject among evangelicals today. God is certainly a God of grace, but
He has entrusted His truth to us in addition to saving us, and finally
we must all give account to Him as reliable and unreliable servants.
This is extra to our salvation by grace which we dare not neglect if we
want to be well-pleasing to Him.
The phrase 'pray in the Holy Spirit' is unique in the New Testament. It
means prayer that is energized and controlled by the Holy Spirit. The
Spirit is closely linked with our praying. He helps us in a remarkable
way as Romans 8:26,27 tells us:
'In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
And He Who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will' (N.I.V.).
How important then this
intercession must be for us and our prayer life! No wonder Jude exhorts
his friends to 'pray in the Holy Spirit'! He also reminds them that
although they are kept by Christ (verse 1), yet they must abide in that
loving protection. Here we have both sides of God's truth, human
responsibility and divine sovereignty. Philippians 2:12,13 is another
example of it. Abiding in His surpassing love results in consciously
waiting for His appearing and the revelation of His great mercy which
leads to everlasting life.
Jude's last thoughts are expressed in his beautiful doxology, one that
has been the hope and strength of the children of God all through this
dispensation of grace:
'To Him Who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy -- to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and for evermore! Amen' (verses 24,25).
After all his warnings which
have been severe, Jude ends in joyous confidence to Him Who alone can
make them effectual. With His almighty power He could guard and
strengthen each child of His so that they would not stumble, and
finally be presented before the glorious presence of the Saviour with
abounding joy. This reminds us that the apostle Paul wrote a similar
thing in Colossians 1:21,22, 'And you ... hath He reconciled in the
body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in His sight'. Here, in Jude's epistle, his believing
friends will be presented 'faultless before the presence of His glory
with exceeding joy' (A.V.).
The One Who alone can make this possible is 'the only God and Saviour'.
The seeker for truth should turn to The Epistle to Titus and note its
references to our God and Saviour. We give them here:
God our Saviour (1:3)
The Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour (1:4)
God our Saviour (2:10)
Our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ (2:13)
God our Saviour (3:4)
Jesus Christ our Saviour (3:6)
Now there cannot be two
Saviours Who are called God. Isaiah 43:11 says, 'I, even I, am the Lord
(Jehovah), and beside Me there is no saviour'. Therefore there is only
one God and one Saviour, and He is the Lord Jesus Christ. 'This is the
true God, and eternal life' (1 John 5:20).
To Him 'be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and for evermore! Amen.' (Jude 25).
STUART
ALLEN