Sermon for HCBC (20 September 2020). To listen use the audio player below or click here. Also available on your favorite podcast app (“Hunting Creek Baptist Church”).
We have a terrible tendency in the modern world to think that God is controllable or subservient to us. If we are honest, we might think he has to answer to us. We might even say, “He will have to explain this to me when we meet.” Such talk reveals a critical problem. It is the problem of playing God. We put ourselves in the position of God. We can do this in numerous ways. We do this when we try to control or manipulate God. We do this when we determine what is right and wrong. You might remember that that is what our first parents, Adam and Eve, did. The phrase “knowing good and evil” doesn’t necessarily mean a conscious understanding of what is right and wrong. It means a self-determining attitude about what is right and wrong. I am the arbiter of what is right and wrong. I am the judge. We do this when we insist on unbiblical rules. We do this when we reject the standards in God’s revealed word. We do this when we fashion a god of our understanding instead of learning who God says he is.
This is precisely what the false teachers are doing. They have gone their own way. They have set their own standards, and in doing so, they have placed themselves over God. They are not submitting to him or his Word. They are a lesson for us to keep submitting to God’s Word, to not chart our own path, but instead to return to Scripture. My desire and prayer for the future of HCBC is that you would be radically committed to placing yourself under the Word of God, not tradition or personal feelings.
Let’s look at how Jude begins his description of these false teachers in v. 8: “Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.” Notice the four characteristics: (1) rely on their dreams, (2) defile the flesh, (3) reject authority, and (4) blaspheme the glorious ones. So there is this pernicious self-reliance on their part. They rely on their dreams, which is completely subjective. It’s not a stable source of truth. The warning for us is not to rely on our feelings. Church people, even those who claim a commitment to Scripture, often rely simply on their feelings. They are not persuaded by biblical arguments. They are only persuaded by their traditions and feelings. This is a dangerous place to be and it’s something that HCBC should pay attention to.
These false teachers also defile the flesh. This means they don’t have high standards of holiness. The most obvious application of this today is the lax approach to biblical sexuality.
They reject authority. They refuse to be placed under authority. Here is a clear reference to that individualistic spirit that refuses to be humble before Scripture and even before church leadership. But Christians ought to joyfully submit to biblical authority.
Finally, they blaspheme the glorious ones. There are lots of interpretations of this phrase, but it seems to be a clear reference to rejecting Scripture. In Jewish tradition, Scripture was thought to have been handed down by angels. That is, Moses received the first five books from angels. The mention of Moses in the next verse seems to confirm that this is what Jude has in mind. Blaspheming the glorious ones means rejecting Scripture itself, which means ultimately rejecting God who gave the Scripture.
Next Jude contrasts these false teachers with Michael who understood his proper place. Verse 9: “But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you.’” Jude is referring to a story that would have been familiar to his readers. According to the story, the dispute has the devil accusing Moses of murder. But notice that Michael’s response isn’t a pronouncement of judgment, instead he defers to the divine judge, the Lord, who alone can determine accusation under the law. In other words, Michael understood his place, and he is an example for us.
The false teachers, however, do not understand their place. Verse 10: “But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.” Again, they rely entirely on their own feelings. “They blaspheme all that they do not understand.” This is folly because they are actually being destroyed by relying only on those things which they understand. They are not spiritually minded, even if they claim to be.
And their earthly mindedness is revealed in their self-motivated decisions. Look at v. 11: “Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion.” Jude mentions three OT characters: Cain, Balaam, and Korah. What they all have in common is a rebellion against authority because they are self-serving. This will destroy a church.
Look what Jude says next in v. 12: “These are hidden reefs at your love feasts.” Love feasts is likely a reference to the Lord’s Supper, meaning these people are present at the most sacred moments for the gathered church. A hidden reef is a danger for a ship. The ship will crash on the invisible reef under the water. These false teachers are destructive. They play the part according to the next phrase: “They feast with you without fear.” Without fear means they have no desire to submit to the Lord. Jude goes on: “They are shepherds feeding themselves.” That is, they are self-serving. They do not serve the church. Then he says, “They are waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted.” In other words, on the surface they may seem convincing, but there’s no substance. They are clouds without rain. Trees without fruit.
And their end is not good. Verse 13: “wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.” Then vv. 14–16:
It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
This is Jude’s way of telling us that judgment will come. They may be creating havoc now, but their end is destruction. So Jude gives us a warning. Submit to the Lord. Heed his Word. Remember the gospel.
Now this may seem irrelevant or harsh but let me comment on that. Notice how important Jude thinks the church is. I want you to understand what it means to be a church. To be a church means you have been set apart by the living God. He has called you by the gospel of Jesus. He has justified you. He is making you holy. You are the people of God. But when a church fails to place herself under authority, she is bringing great judgment on herself.
What do I mean by a church failing to place herself under authority? Let me give some examples. When the importance of making disciples is shown from Scripture again and again, and the church continues in apathy, this is a warning sign. When biblical leadership is laid out from Scripture and yet the church continues to rely on subjective feelings and tradition, this is a warning sign. When churches are consumed by all manner of things, like politics, holidays, community events, and never attend to the worship of God, this is a warning sign. When there is little desire for the Word of God, where there is no frequent repentance, where the gospel is not proclaimed and celebrated, where church members are self-serving, where there is no accountability, the warnings are clear.
We are still in the middle of a pandemic. It has created great fear. Perhaps it is has caused us to reevaluate what is important and significant. But I want to encourage you to consider the Word of God as the most important standard for God’s church. Martin Luther, who lived through real plagues, once said, “I have lived to see the greatest plague on earth—the condemning of God’s word, a fearful thing, surpassing all other plagues in the world; for thereupon most surely follow all manner of punishments, eternal and corporal.” The greatest danger for a church is not financial instability, a global pandemic, a pastoral transition, or a changing culture. The greatest danger is a lackluster commitment to the Word of God.