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Jude 5-11

Identify those creeps!

“Would you open your Bibles with me to...”

Jude 3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

Jude 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray

Intro

√ Identify the “creeps”!

Remember, the purpose of Jude’s letter was to warn Christians to watch out for the false teacher, and the pretend Christian who had “crept” their way into the Church.

These are not Christians who got off track, or were in error.

Rather, these were outsiders who had infiltrated the Church for the specific purpose of destroying the work of God in the life of the believer.

Vs. 8 of our study this morning is the key by which we can identify these “creeps”.

Jude 8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

They are…

Dreamers

Defilers

Rebels

Slanderers

…who must be identified and removed from the Church before the do any harm to God’s people.

You’ll notice that Jude employs rather picturesque language and a unique style to make his point.

Note the use of triads…

“Mercy, peace & love” – vs. 2

“Cain, Balaam & Korah” – vs. 11

…Bible students have counted 18 sets!

Dynamic style…

“Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.”

…a flare for the dramatic!

I personally enjoy his style!

However, it makes teaching a little tricky because of the way he bounces back and forth between Old Testament examples, current applications, and then reverses the order of his examples!

So, I’m going to group the verses of our study by the subject of his warning rather than going verse by verse!

Ap. Be on guard!

While the primary focus of the letter deals with identifying & removing pretend believers, there is also a broader application.

Ex. The carnal Christian & us

Listen, if you find any of these traits in the life of another believer or in your own life…

…recognize that you have identified an unhealthy Christian life.

Another Christian; beware and protect yourself that you are not led astray by their sin!

Your own life; recognize that you’re in sin and in danger of incurring the Lord’s discipline!

These are serious issues and demand our attention and careful application so that we are not brought back under the bondage of sin.

Dreamers (vs. 8)

Jude 8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

√ Dreamers

First of all Jude begins by identifying these people as “dreamers”.

Not day dreamers!

Rather, those who come to you with some fantastic tale of a supposed revelation from God!

They may claim to have…

Been given a vision from on high

Had a dream like Daniel did

Visited by angelic beings

That God talks to them through their ring (“Teacher Chi”)

Taken by aliens and given special knowledge

…etc., etc., etc., - “whatever!

The point is that these false teachers do not have the spiritual authority of God, like the apostles did…

…therefore, they try to establish a spiritual authority by claiming some special mystical experience.

Ex. Joseph Smith

Seduced weak minded people with his fantastic stories of mystical experiences (visits from an angel, Jesus, God the Father, etc.)

Today’s false religions – in every case they will try to gain authority over you by claiming some special revelation which they have…

…but you don’t!

Making you feel less spiritual and therefore in need of their spiritual guidance.

Ap. Spiritual authority comes from God’s Word

Heb. 1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,

Heb. 1:2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son…

The Bible is God’s complete revelation to Mankind…

Old Testament contains God’s Word spoken by His prophets

New Testament contains God’s Word spoken by His Son Jesus Christ and recorded by Jesus’ chosen servants.

The Bible, God’s Word, is the complete and final authority on all things pertaining to life and Godliness.

So, if anyone ever comes to you with some “new revelation”, or “dream”, or some “special interpretation of the Bible”…

…Jude tells us that you’ve found yourself a “creep” – a false teacher.

Defilers (vs. 7-8 & 11)

√ Defilers

The next warning sign that you’ve found a creep is that they are defilers. Note vs. 8…

Jude 8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

To defile the flesh can also be translated…

“To contaminate the body”

That is, these false teachers – these creeps – are people who have contaminated their body (and the bodies of others) by their immoral behavior.

In vs. 4 James described their behavior as…

“turn(ing) the grace of our God into lewdness”

That is, these people took the gift of the sexual relationship, which God gave to a man, and his wife…

…and perverted it to feed their own lust.

Worse, they did so under the banner of God’s Name – or His Grace.

Jude then gives us two examples from the Old Testament to illustrate the kind of behavior he is talking about.

Jude 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

The cities of Sodom & Gomorrah were characterized by an epidemic of sexual perversion.

The angels could not find even 10 righteous people in the city!

The men of the city attached Lot and his home that they might rape the angels who were visiting!

Jude’s reference to “strange flesh” means that the people of the city had abandoned God’s design for sexual expression – a man and his wife…

…and driven by their lust they perused sexual expressions that were not contrary to God’s design. Primarily referring to homosexual behavior.

And…

Jude 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

Here Jude reminds us of the incident recorded in Numbers 25 & 31 in which, Balaam counseled the king of Moab to invite the young men of Israel to have sex with the young women of his kingdom.

Balaam’s motivation was to enrich himself and he didn’t mind using sex as a tool to get what he wanted.

The point of both examples is that those who engage in sexual practices which are outside of God’s design – a man and his wife…

…is a character trait of “creeps” – ungodly, false teachers.

Ap. Beware of those who want to take advantage of you

This applies to both the “creep” – the false teacher, and to the “jerk” – the carnal Christian.

1Th. 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;

1Th. 4:4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,

1Th. 4:5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;

1Th. 4:6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified.

Far too many Christians today treat God’s gift of sex with little or no regard to His Word.

From cover to cover the Bible holds up as a model for us God’s design for sexual expression – one man and one woman in marriage for life.

So, if someone comes to you in the Name God, yet their life is marked by immorality, they are corrupted and corrupting…

…Jude tells us that we can identify that person as a “creep” – a false teacher.

Rebels (vs. 5 & 11)

√ Rebels

The next mark of the false teacher is that they are rebellious toward God and reject the authority which He has establised. Note vs. 8 again…

Jude 8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

The false teachers of whom Jude warns us were characterized by a lack of accountability in their life.

That is, they answered to no one but themselves.

They refused to acknowledge God’s authority in their life and rejected the authority of those whom God had placed in leadership roles in the Church.

√ Submission

Godly submission is a mark of a true believer, was modeled for us by Jesus, and commanded by scripture.

1Pe 5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

The point is that none of us lives to ourselves. Each Christian is a member of the Body of Christ and as such is called to be mutually submissive so that the Church can function properly.

The false teacher, the “creep”, however will not submit to anyone.

Jude provides us with two more Old Testament examples to illustrate the rebellious nature he is talking about.

Jude 5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

The unbelieving Jews

Jude reminds us that of the approximately 2.5 million Hebrews that God delivered from slavery in Egypt…

…only 2 – Joshua & Caleb entered into the Promised Land!

All the others (over 20 years old) died in the wilderness because they rejected the authority of God’s Word.

And…

Jude 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

Korah was a man like these false teachers, a self-appointed leader who organized a rebellion against God’s appointed leaders – Moses & Aaron.

God judged him and his followers by causing the earth to open and swallow them all alive! (Num. 16)

The false teachers were not called by God to a position of authority in the Church, instead they were self-appointed men like Diotrephes (3^rd John).

Ap. God chooses His leaders

Heb 5:4 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.

Beware of people who are self-appointed, and self-promoting. You will know them by the way they interact with others.

They’re very concerned that you know their title – “pastor”, “bishop”, “prophet”, etc.

They want you to be impressed & intimidated by their authority – and ultimately they want you to do whatever they tell you to do!

Yet, they themselves answer to no one.

You’ll know the man that God chooses, he doesn’t need a title or a business card – you can see by his life that he is a leader in the Church.

So, we can identify a false teacher by their rebellious nature and that they reject God’s authority in their life.

Slanderers (vs. 6 & 11)

√ Slanderers

The final mark or character trait of the “creep” – the false teacher – is that they slander spiritual beings and powers. Note vs. 8-10…

Jude 8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

Jude 9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

Jude 10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.

The false teachers in Jude’s day bragged that they had superior knowledge of the spiritual realm and those beings, which inhabited it.

In their arrogance they spoke abusively of angels.

In contrast to the false teachers, Jude points out that even Michael – one of the most powerful angels does not speak evil of even the devil!

He then points us to two examples in the Old Testament in which individuals demonstrated the same disregard for spiritual propriety.

Jude 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;

There is a lot of speculation as to what event Jude is speaking of in which angels abandoned their own domain.

The “sons of God” – Gen. 2

The angels who sided with Lucifer – Rev. 12

My personal opinion is that he is speaking of the angels who with Lucifer abandoned their proper domain…

…that is, heaven where they were created to worship God.

I hold that view in part because of Jude’s parallel example of Cain.

Jude 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain…

Cain’s sin was similar to the angels in that when he came to worship God…

…he too demonstrated a complete lack of respect for the way in which God prescribed worship to be done.

Jude’s point is that the “creepers” – the false teachers where characterized by spiritual ignorance.

While they claimed to have superior knowledge…

…they actually had inferior knowledge of the spirit realm and were more like animals in their thinking.