Jude 12-15

Empty Promises

“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

√ Empty promises

Remember, the purpose of Jude’s letter was to warn Christians to be on the lookout for false teachers, and the pretend Christians who had “crept” their way into the Church.

In our study last week we learned how to identify these "creeps".

In this section Jude calls us to consider what it is that these guys actually produce in their lives.

The overriding theme of Jude's description of these men/women is that for all their boasting and spiritual hype…

…in the end they never produce anything of lasting value, or provide a true benefit to anyone.

Rather, these false teachers who claim to have such superior spiritual insight, are of no value to anyone at all.

Ap. Don’t buy the hype!

Good Christian people often fall victim to the empty promises of the false teachers hoping for a miracle cure, a financial deliverance, etc.

The sweet saint then abandons the Bibles warnings regarding the clear signs of a false teacher in the vain hope that they can deliver on their promises.

Only to discover that the "creep" offered only an empty promise.

Jude's warning is important for us to heed for this reason; these "creeps" often worm their way into positions of leadership in the Christian community.

Once they get into a leadership role they use the authority of their position to seduce people to follow their schemes.

They'll promise just about anything to get people to follow them.

Yet, they never deliver.

The end result is that many tender lambs from the Lord's flock have had their faith shipwrecked, or worse, walk away from Christ wrongly believing that they've "tried Jesus" and He didn't work.

√ Pimples & Promises!

The behavior & broken promises of these "creeps" is a blemish to the beauty of the Church.

So, for you note takers I've outlined this section of Jude as…

Pimples

Promises

Prophecy

Oh my! J

Pimples (vs. 12a-13)

Jude 12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves.

√ Pimples

Judes' first order of business deals with their outrageous behavior at communion. Note he calls them…

"pimples"

…well, "spots"! the NIV translates the word " blemishes"!

The point is that these folks brought "ugly" to what was supposed to be a time of beauty.

Ex. The agape feast

The cornerstone testimony in the culture of the 1^st Century Church.

"Their master makes them believe they're all brothers"

It was into the "love feast" - the most intimate of Christian experiences in the Church - that these men crept in to spoil the precious work of Jesus' love.

Note their behavior…

"These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves"

That is, they made themselves the focus of attention and served only their selfish desires at the special time the church had gathered to serve one another!

Ex. The church at Corinth

1Co. 11:17 Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.

1Co. 11:18 For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.

1Co. 11:19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.

1Co. 11:20 Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.

1Co. 11:21 For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk.

1Co. 11:22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you.

The behavior of these false teachers was in stark contrast to the model, which Jesus gives us for the "love feast" in John 13.

Jesus serves the disciples by washing their feet & serving them the 1^st Communion meal demonstrating that we are called to be others-centered.

Remember, the name "communion" comes to us from two words which describe the nature of what the Lord's people are celebrating…

"Common" & "Union"

…that is, we share a common union of love in Jesus

But these false teachers have nothing in common with true Christians, worse their behavior is so self-centered that they are an ugly pimple that mars the beauty of the Church.

Ever been embarrassed by the behavior of "Christians"?

Ex. Treatment of waiters at a meal

So, Jude reminds us that it is to the Churches advantage to identify these "pimples" and apply some spiritual antibiotics to get rid of them!

Promises (vs. 12b-13)

√ Promises

The other way in which these false teachers mar the beauty of the Church is by way of their promises…

…that is, their false promises!

Jude 12 …They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;

Jude 13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

Jude returns to his dynamic writing style to describe for us the empty promises of these false teachers. He does so by using four pictures from nature.

√ Clouds without water

The first broken promise of the false teacher is that they claim to have some special spiritual blessing…

…but never deliver. Jude says…

"They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds "

That is, for all their arrogant boasting claiming to have some special spiritual blessing…

…they always leave people spiritually thirsty.

That is of course because they did not have anything real to offer to the thirsty souls of men.

Ex. The empty religion of the Pharisees

Only Jesus can satisfy our thirsty souls!

√ Trees without fruit

The 2^nd picture of the false teachers/leaders in the church is that they were people who were spiritually dead!

Jude says that they are like…

"late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots"

Dead trees…

At the time when one was supposed to be harvesting they have no fruit. Why? Because they are dead - ready to be cut down.

Pulled up out of the ground by the roots - dead!

Like dead trees the spiritual picture is that these men/women…

Did not bear spiritual fruit in their own lives or others.

Because they did not have their roots in Christ - therefore they were spiritually dead!

What is so striking about Jude's picture here is that the false teachers appear at the first to be the sort of folks who are very fruitful!

Usually very charismatic in their personality.

The kind of person who can motivate others to service.

Yet, the telltale sign of their apostasy is that after they've done their thing and moved on…

…there is never any lasting spiritual fruit.

So, we must be discerning as the Lord Himself instructs us looking for spiritual fruit which remains (John 15:16).

√ Waves without power

The 3^rd picture reminds us that the pretend Christian has no spiritual substance.

Jude says they are like…

"raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame"

Here we have a picture of the pounding surf. Waves roaring, surging to great heights and expending lots of energy…

…but all they produce is foam on the beach - nothing of real substance!

In the same way these outsiders, these pretend Christians, are those who put on a great show!

They're loud, they're convincing in their presentation, they're boastful of the power that they supposedly posses…

…yet, for all their noise they offer nothing of real spiritual substance.

In the final analyses they don't help anyone, build up anybody's faith, or provide nourishment for the soul.

Ex. The sons of Sceva - Acts 19

So, we too should not be overly impressed by the show that some people put on. Rather, we should look for real spiritual substance and power.

√ Stars without purpose

The final picture from nature which Jude uses to illustrate the worthlessness of the false teacher is of stars without a purpose.

Jude says they are like…

"wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever."

There are two illustrations which come to mind…

1) A shooting star - its bright and awesome to behold, but it burns out as quickly as it appeared.

2) A star without an orbit - sailors and travelers in John's day relied upon the fixed position of stars for navigation.

The spiritual application regarding the false teacher is…

1) A shooting star - like a shooting star the false teacher may seem bright and awesome for a moment - but they don't provide any spiritual light into a heart darkened with sin.

2) A star without an orbit - the false teacher/leader cannot provide spiritual direction to lead the lost safely into heaven.

Ex. The "Judiezers" who troubled Paul - II Cor. 11 & Gal. 1

So, Jude warns us to beware of the false teacher, or leader, because while they make great & boastful promises…

…they cannot light the way to Christ or direct the lost to God.

Prophecy (vs. 14-15)

Jude 14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints,

Jude 15 “to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

√ Prophecy

The judgement upon these false teachers, these outsiders, which Jude has just spoken of (vs. 4-7)…

…is now confirmed by a reference to a prophecy made by Enoch.

Ex. Enoch - Gen. 5

Only briefly mentioned in scripture, but a man greatly esteemed by God for the Lord "raptures" him from the earth before the Flood!

Where did Jude quote this prophecy from?

We're not real sure! J

Probably the best guess is that Jude is loosely quoting from the apocryphal book of Enoch that was in circulation among the Jews in the 1^st Century.

That's not to say that Jude affirmed the Book of Enoch in its entirety…

…rather, he was affirming the truth of the prophecy it contained.

My opinion is that Jude quotes from this book as a way of building a cultural bridge to his Jewish audience, much as Paul did when he quotes from a secular poet (Epimenides) in his letter to Titus.

Ex. Quoting the Beatles lyrics - "can't buy me love"

Building a bridge to the lost, but never suggesting that the Beatles lyrics were scriptural, only that they had discovered a truth of God from their life experience.

√ Judgements coming

Regardless of the source of Jude's quotation the truth remains the same and is expressed throughout the Bible.

God will one day return to the earth and bring judgement upon the "creepers" - the false teachers.

Reminds us that there is a heavy price to be paid by those who pretend to be messengers or spokesmen for God…

…when in reality they are servants of Satan.

Close

√ Pimples & Promises!

Jude tells us that the behavior & broken promises of the "creeps" - the false teacher - is a blemish to the beauty of the Church.

They mar the beauty of Christ as it is to be expressed in the people of God - the Church.

They profane the Name of Jesus by misrepresenting Him with promises that they cannot keep.

Don't be fooled!