"12 These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever."
We will notice the faults and inconsistencies in other people, especially that we are closest to, that's why the Lord’s Supper is usually preceded with a time of self-examination. As you begin to confess your sin before God, taking a bona fide look at your life, asking God to cleanse you as you repent from sin. It is very important to address disciplinary concerns before partaking in the Lord's Table.
Paul said in I Corinthians 11:28, " But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. And, in verse 31 he says "But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged."
Sin is serious, and is always that which is offensive to God. The most important truth about sin is the one least recognized in our day. And, that is, all sin is a sin against God. I believe that a correct biblical understanding of sin is essential to change the way we think about and fight sin.
In Psalm 51, David cried out to God saying "Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight." When
David says he has sinned 'only' against God, he means that by far the greatest
offense has been against God, because all other sin pales in comparison. Sin is a spiritual virus, for which Jesus Christ is the only cure.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we again thank You for Your Word for us today. Thank You for reminding us that we must earnestly contend for the faith. Help us to be faithful to the truth and faithful to those who proclaim it. Thank You for telling us that we must give no place to false teachers, or we become partakers of their evil deeds. May knowing how You feel toward them significantly impact our attitude toward them. Thank You for equipping us to be discerning and ma we we help others be discerning. We have been so greatly blessed by Your truth. We know there is quickly coming a day of judgment when You return, help us not only to be ready ourselves but to help others to prepare. May it all be for Your glory and increase in the kingdom. And for Christ's sake.
It is in His name we ask and pray.
Amen
Today's Message: Delivered Or Doomed?
In his letter, Jude has been sounding a warning concerning apostasy in the church.
Not only does he warn the true believers to beware of apostasy and to
be ready to "earnestly contend for the faith", he warns the apostates of
what is to come if they continue to rebel against God.
Toward the end of the 20th century churches took it upon themselves to redefined the church. They have done so by setting themselves up as the authority rather than
using the authority of Scriptures. They have done so by prostituting religion. They have taken the pastoral authority and given it to committees and people who have no absolutely interest
in the things of God. Scripture is clear, the church is to be subject to Christ. The church is to be actively performing the
Great Commission. The church is to be the pillar truth.
Having stated what the church is to be, allow me to point out what the church not to be. It is not to be responsible to
entertain the congregation, nor is the church to
make you feel good about yourself. And, the church is not to be a stage for the pastor to promote his latest CD's and books.
The church is to be a place where preaching the Word of God takes precedence over everything else, an institution that the gates of hell shall not prevail against.
"These are the men who are hidden
reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring
for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn
trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever."
As Jude goes on to describe these apostates, he moves to the natural world to provide some unique analogies. Notice verse 12, "These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted."
They are called "hidden reefs" which speaks which speaks of their unseen danger. They are called "clouds without water" which speaks of their false promises. And, they are called "autumn trees without fruit" which speaks of the barren profession of their lives. Jude describes these apostates as full of much promise, but lacking in
delivery. These false teachers will actually block the living water, and
spiritual food from a church, thereby starving it to death.
For those of you who are unfamiliar, love feasts were dinners that were held in the early Church. It was a time when the church all came together. It was much like a potluck dinners of today, where everybody brought food and shared the food, so everybody, even the poor, would have enough to eat. It was a time of fellowship, love and celebration.
The love feast was being corrupted. It had become so corrupted in fact, that love feasts actually disappeared from the scene in New Testament times. One of the reasons, was because it was being abused, these corrupt people embedded themselves in the love feast and were devouring the food so fast so that the poor couldn’t get anything to eat. These "hidden reefs," ripped the bottom of the church and caused destruction and therefore, were spiritually drowning. The boldness of these spiritual terrorists is really amazing.
These were meals for fellowshiping, sharing and talking of the matters of the faith. These vile men got into these meals, they espoused their lives, and they flaunted their immorality. This is where these purposely embedded apostates began to speak their lies and to cultivate their iniquity. They submerged themselves in the church until the right time when they could
do the most damage to the local church. He also says "caring for themselves," because the love feast was designed for people to care for each other.
Today, these apostates preachers produce shallow, weak, spiritually anemic believers that have no concern for sound doctrine, biblical exposition, sacrifice, missions, or
God. They preach a false gospel which comforts people in their sin. These men have no conscience,
The
context is that of these hidden reefs had grown close to the vessel, and forged relationships. If you remember, it happened in the Corinthian church, to such a degree, that the Apostle Paul nearly calls a judgment down on the heads of the Corinthians for the corruption, divisions, and little cliques. You can read about it on your own in I Corinthians chapter 11.
Jude calls them "clouds without water, carried along by winds." The Apostle Peter makes a very similar statement in II Peter 2:17, in which he calls them "wells without water." In the arid climate of the Middle East
would be a welcome sight, water is a source of life. Clouds would have given hope of a much needed water on a parched land. However, when the wind blows them, they
pass over, these clouds of encouragement become clouds of disappointment and
despair. False teachers have nothing to offer. They give no satisfaction. The Word of God is like spiritual rain, bringing life to the thirsty.
Proverbs 25, Solomon says "Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of his gifts falsely."
These hypocrites destroy the integrity of the church by acting like they
care deeply for the work of God, when in reality, they could really care less. Sadly, there are so many people follow after these false teachers, with their name it and claim theology, they
are full of heresy.
Next, Jude says they are "like autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, and uprooted." That is a very strong statement, because you can’t be more fruitless than to have no fruit, be double dead and uprooted. Autumn is the time when the last of the crop comes in. It is the last harvest before winter comes. So, Jude is saying nothing is going to come. You wait and you wait, now, it's the last harvest, and still there is no fruit.
In Matthew 7, Jesus had quite a bit to say about fruit, "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits."
Jesus is
clear that we are to bear fruit. Then Jude says they are "doubly dead." They were first dead in trespasses and sin. They are fruitless. The when the apostasy
has taken place they have become dead a second time. They became dead at the root. They are barren, are absolutely void of spiritual life. They are good for nothing, they are doubly dead. They are uprooted, they have no connection to the soil and its nutrients, to the supply of water, that brings life. In other words, they can’t produce true Christians. There is no new life.
In Matthew 15, Jesus said "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted."
In verse 13, he calls them "wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam."
Waves
make much noise and have much movement but for all the effort the produce foam. The term "sea," by the way, in the Bible, is used as a symbol very often of those who don’t know God. False teachers create a lot of motion, and they stir up a lot of foam and a lot of noise, but at the end of the day, all you have is the filth of immorality, insubordination, and irreverence.. Nothing but muck and mire!
In Isaiah 57:20, Isaiah says "But the wicked are like the tossing sea, for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up refuse and mud."
Jude's final illustration in verse 13, is they are like "wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever."
Their movement is erratic and if followed could lead to great
destruction, they light will eventually go out, which would cause the follower to end
up in darkness forever. Actual stars have a precise orbits, and they shine all the time. Their light never goes out. By the way, what we call shooting stars, are not really stars. They quickly flash across the sky, in a brief moment of brilliance, and then they disappear into eternal blackness, never to be seen again.They have a very short life. And, so it is with apostates.
The analogies Jude uses are actually quite graphic. The imagery is that they are here for a brief time, then, they are gone without producing any benefit. Disappearing forever into eternal blackness. The apostate is a wandering
star leading people away from God.
In Closing..
When the gospel is preached, you should see rivers of living water flowing out of your life. You
should see lives changed by virtue of knowing you. You should be
constantly opening the life-gate for others as you point them to Jesus Christ. People should be growing in their knowledge of Christ, and the depth of their walk because of you. They are being spiritually fed.
As we listen to the "gospel" being preached, we must be able to discern between that which is good, and of God, and that which is from those thinly veneered in Christianity that are of Satan and his spiritual terrorists, lest we be drawn into damning error. False teachers are enemies of the grace and mercy of God.
This doesn't mean to critical, complaining and impossible to please, it simply means be discerning. Constantly aligning things up with scripture to see if they are correct. And, So we must remind ourselves to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints."
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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