I heard a story one time about a young doctor just getting started in his first practice out in the country. This was back in the days when doctors made house calls.
Late one night he got a call from a farmer who said, "Doctor, come quickly, my wife is seriously ill." Well, grabbing his little black bag he hurried out to the farm. The farmer met him on the steps, rushed him into the house, and upstairs into the bedroom where his wife lay sick. The doctor took a look at her, told the farmer to step outside and shut the door.
In just a moment the doctor opened the door and said, "Quick, get me a screwdriver." The farmer ran downstairs, got a screwdriver and handed it through the door. The doctor shut the door, they stood out in the hall wringing their hands; they could hear moans and groans.
In a minute the doctor was back at the door. He said, "Quick, get me a pair of pliers." The farmer ran downstairs, got a pair of pliers, came back and stuck them through the door. The doctor shut the door and they began to hear more moans and groans.
In just a minute the doctor came back and said, "Quick, get me a hammer and chisel." Well, by that time the farmer had had it. He said, "Wait just a minute, Doctor, what is wrong with my wife?" The doctor said, "I don't know, I can't get my little black bag open."
Dr. Jude did not have that problem. He knew what was wrong. For the first sixteen verses Jude has painted a bleak picture. The tunnel has been dark, the road has been long, and the path has been rough. He pulls no punches and he minces no words, and warns of the danger of apostates; false teachers who at one time profess to know Christ, but then turn away from the truth.
Then in v.17 we read these two words: "But you." Now he is talking not about apostates, but rather to the saints. He has been dealing with false professors of salvation, now he is talking to real possessors of salvation. Jude opens up his little black bag and pulls out "God's prescription for a healthy Christian." He tells us now some practical ways that we can guard ourselves personally, and our church corporately, from the dangers of apostasy.
I. A Reminder of the Fact of Apostasy
The reason Jude wrote this letter to begin with was because the boat of the church was being rocked with the tidal waves of doctrinal apostasy, and he did not want them to have a spiritual shipwreck. Though he gives a reminder, "But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ," to be forewarned is to be forearmed. Where Jude has been talking about apostates, he now talks about apostles.
He gives a principle that has been good for two thousand years in helping the church to guard against apostasy. The principle is this: The teaching of the apostates will always go against the truth of the apostles. Evidently, some in the church were shocked at certain ones who had been previously thought of as being orthodox, regenerate, and trustworthy teachers of the Word; but had proven instead to be false teachers and apostates. Jude warns them and warns us that we should not be surprised.
If you remember what the apostles said, you won't be surprise, shocked, or stunned when people turn from the faith. So often we tend to get discouraged when we hear of false prophets and those who get off the beaten path of orthodoxy and truth. But we should not be discouraged, we should be encouraged. The very fact that pseudo-scholars, false professors, and liberal theologians deny the truth of the Bible, simply demonstrates the truth of the Bible.
The apostles before Jude had already reminded the church in v.18, "that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts." For example: Let's remember the words of the Apostle Paul who said,
"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron." (1 Tim. 4:1-2)
Let's remember the words of the Apostle Peter who said,
"But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction." (2 Pet. 2:1)
Let's remember the words of the Apostle John who said,
"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1)
You see, apostates never take God by surprise, and they should never take His church by surprise. Jude specifically tells us that these apostates will be "mockers." Now the word mocker literally means "to act in a childish fashion, to make fun of, to play a trick on someone." Now there is nothing wrong with being childlike, but there is something wrong with being childish. Like a child, they will mock and make fun of holy things.
They will mock at the gospel of God. They will say things like "Jesus is not the only saving Master, nor is the gospel the only saving message."
They will mock at the grace of God, saying things like, "It's okay to be a homosexual. You can be a homosexual and a Christian because of the grace of God."
They will mock at the goodness of God, saying things like, "I don't believe in hell. God is too good to let anyone suffer in hell." Now we may be angry, and we may be grieved when we hear things like this coming out of the mouths of those who should be defending the faith, but don't be surprised because we have been given a reminder of the fact of apostasy.
II. Some Remarks about the Flaws of Apostasy
Jude has spent most of this book trying to describe in as many creative ways as he could the marks of an apostate. He is going to do it one more time. Jude is like a great black preacher I heard one time, who, when he was asked what was the key to great sermons, he replied, "Preaching to me is very simple. First, you tell ‘em what you're going to tell 'em, then you tell 'em what you told ‘em you were going to tell ‘em, and then you tell ‘em what you just told ‘em." Well, that is exactly what Jude is doing now. One more time he shares the four major flaws of the apostate:
a. They Are Theologically Divisive
He says in v.19, "These are sensual persons, who cause divisions." These apostates march to the beat of their own theological drum, trying to lure the spiritually weak away from the flock, and thus bring division to the fellowship. Paul warned about this in Acts 20:30, "Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves."
The apostates work in the fields of the fellowship sewing seeds of discord and division. When they deviate from the truth, and you stand against them, they will call you divisive, intolerant, bigoted, arrogant.
I am reminded of the story of two brothers who got into a fight. The mother ran upstairs to break it up. She said, "What happened?" One of the brothers said, "It all started when he hit me back."
Friend, it is not the person who stands for truth that is divisive, but rather the person who stands against the truth.
One of my favorite stories is of an old farmer who was driving down the road in his old pickup truck. His wife was sitting all the way on the other side of the cab. She looked at him and said, "You know, I can remember a time when we used to sit right next to each other." He looked at her and said, "I ain't the one that moved." Well, dear friend, when it comes to standing for the truth or against the truth, the one that moves and causes division is the one who stands against the truth.
b. They Are Emotionally Deceptive
Jude said, "These are murmurers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage." (v.16) In other words, the apostate will play on people's feelings. They will use buzz words like "tolerance, open mindedness, mutual respect..." The type of things that it's hard in one way to be against. They will lie, they will speak half-truths, they won't take a stand against popular opinion. Generally, they will be nice and they will act nice.
They will engage in theological double talk. Their favorite song is "Love the one you're with." They know what to say; they know how to say it. Their greatest weapon is words. If you listen the apostate long enough he'll have you believing that he believes what you believe, and you believe what he believes, and everybody believes the same thing whether they are saved or not.
With their sweet talk they will do everything they can to make it difficult for you to stand up for the truth.
The greatest counsel concerning these apostates I have ever come across is something that Charles Haddon Spurgeon said.
It is one thing to overleap all boundaries of denominational restriction for the truth's sake; this we hope all godly men will do more and more. It is quite another policy which would urge us to subordinate the maintenance of truth to denominational prosperity and unity. Numbers of easy-minded people, weak at error, so long as it is committed by a clever man and a good natured brother who has so many fine points about him.
Let each believer judge for himself; but for our part we have put on a few fresh bolts to our door, and we have given orders to keep the chain up; for under colour of begging the friendship of the servant, there are those about who aim at robbing the Master.1
c. They Are Morally Destructive
Jude says, "These are sensual persons." (v.19) The Greek word there is psychikos which gives us the word psyche or psychology. It literally means soul-less, worldly, natural. These are people who live by natural reason rather than by supernatural revelation. Ultimately, their theology will affect their morality.
One of the things Jude makes plain is that apostasy and depravity are Siamese twins. Remember he said in v.4, "they turned the grace of our God into ludeness." He said in v.7, "They have given themselves over to sexual immorality." He says in v.13, "They are raging waves of the sea foaming up their own shame."
He says in v.16, "They walk according to their own lusts." He says in v.18 again, "They walk according to their own ungodly lusts." Do you know the real reason apostates deny the Word of God? They don't want God telling them how to live.
Mark Twain was an atheist, but he said something one time that has the great ring of truth. He said, "It is not that part of the Bible that I don't understand that gives me so much trouble; it's that part that I do understand that gives me fits."
d. They Are Spiritually Defective
The real problem of the apostate is he is lost. Jude characterized the apostate as one "not having the Spirit." (v.19) These are synthetic saints, counterfeit Christians. For the Bible says in Rom. 8:9, "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His."
Remember an apostate is not someone who had salvation and lost it; it is someone who never had salivation and proves it. John was talking about these apostates when he said:
"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us." (1 John 2:19)
Never forget that position, plus profession, does not necessarily equal possession. Judas Iscariot had a position; he was a disciple. He gave a profession; he called Jesus Lord. Jesus said in reality he was a devil.
III. The Remedy for the Force of Apostasy
In vv. 20-21 Jude gives us the strategy on how to guard ourselves against apostasy. It all centers around the command in v.21, "keep yourselves in the love of God." Now this does not say "keep loving God." Jude is not talking about your love for God, he is talking about God's love for you. You are to keep yourself in his love.
Now God never quits loving you. But God's love is like an umbrella. You can take an umbrella, walk outside while it is raining and keep the rain from hitting you. Or, you can hand your umbrella to someone else and simply walk away from it. Now the reason why the umbrella will no longer protect you from the rain is not because of the umbrella, but because of you.
What he is saying is, don't ever get out from under the umbrella of the love of God. Well, how do you keep yourself in the love of God? The key is in three words all ending in ing, which tell us how to keep ourselves in the love of God. The words are building, praying, and looking.
a. Building on the Scriptures
He says, "But you beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith." Now the faith that Jude speaks of here is not trust in God, but the Word of God. He means the same thing he meant in v.3 when he said, "contend earnestly for the faith." You see, the key to any building is the foundation, and although the focus of our faith is the Son of God, the foundation of our faith is the Word of God. Paul said in Acts 20:32, "And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up..."
Not only are we to battle for the Bible, we are to build upon the Bible. Did you know that every time you read the Bible you are strengthening the foundation of your faith? Bible study is spiritual weightlifting, and the more you read it the stronger you become.
I want you to remember that the devil is not afraid of a Bible that has dust on it. A person who won't read his Bible is no better off than a person who doesn't own a Bible.
Did you know that one of the reasons why a lot of Baptists shut the door on these cults who come knocking on their door and refuse to even talk to them, is because deep down they know they can't handle them. John Calvin said, "It is impossible for man to obtain even the minutest portion of light and sound doctrine without being a disciple of this Book."2
Your faith will never be any stronger than its foundation. That's why Paul said, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." Dwight L. Moody said, "I prayed for faith and thought that someday faith would come down and strike me like lightning. But faith did not seem to come. Then one day I read where "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." I had closed my Bible and prayed for faith. I now open my Bible and begin to study and my faith has been growing ever since."
b. Praying In the Spirit
Paul goes on to say in v.20, "We are to be praying in the Holy Spirit." Now Bible study and prayer must go together. If you read your Bible, but you don't pray, you'll have light but no heat. If you pray, but don't read your Bible, you'll have heat, and no light. Now light and no heat makes for a cold Christian; heat and no light makes for a confused Christian. But heat and light will produce a committed Christian. We are to pray in the Holy Spirit. He is the key to our prayer.
Did you know the Bible teaches two wonderful things about prayer? It teaches on the one hand that the Son of God prays for you. For the Bible says that Jesus "always lives to make intercession for us." (Heb. 7:25) But did you know that the Bible also says that the Spirit of God prays through us. If you find it hard to pray, find it difficult to get an answer to your prayers, why don't you ask the Holy Spirit to help you. Paul said in Rom. 8:26-27,
"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."
The Holy Spirit will give you the longing to pray because the flesh does not want to, and He will give you the leading to pray because the mind does not know always how to pray, and He will lead you to pray the right way.
Now the only person that can pray in the Spirit is, first of all, the person who has been regenerated by the Spirit; that is, he is saved. Secondly, he is illuminated by the Spirit; he knows what to pray for. Thirdly, he is dominated by the Spirit; he only wants what the Spirit of God wants for him.
c. Looking For the Savior
Jude goes on to say that we are to be "looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." (v.21) As apostasy increases so should our awareness that the second coming is near. The word for looking literally means "earnestly expecting."
You see, many Christians are waiting for the second coming. Some Christians are working toward the second coming. But too few Christians are actually watching for the second coming.
There is a difference between waiting for the second coming and watching for the second coming. The skipper of a fishing boat had been at sea for over a week. He was bringing his ship back home, and as the boat neared the shore the men on his boat were looking eagerly toward the dock where a group of their loved ones were waiting. The skipper looking through his telescope identified some of the women saying, "Bill, I see your wife. Tom, I see your wife. David, I see your wife." Well, one man was very anxious because his wife was not there.
He left the boat with a heavy heart, walked up the hill where he saw a light in his cottage. As he opened the door his wife ran to meet him saying, "I have been waiting for you!" He replied, "Yes, but the other men's wives were watching for them."3
Now I know that you may think that Jude has simply beat the apostate horse to death. But before you draw that conclusion, think about this: In 1845 a single potato peeling, infected with a deadly fungus from an American ship, washed ashore on the Island of Wight. A blight swept across the nation of Ireland, and by 1847 90% of their potato crop was diseased and destroyed.
Now the problem was that 80% of the diet of Ireland was potatoes. Because of that blight almost 1.5 million Irishmen starved to death or died by disease; almost one quarter of the population. In ten years the population of Ireland went from 8.5 million to 6.1 million. Even today the population of Ireland is almost 50% lower than it was in 1840, all because of one single potato peeling with one single fungus which washed ashore from one ship.4
Jesus was right when he said, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." The greatest remedy against disease is health. God's prescription for a healthy Christian is love for the Son of God, loyalty to the Word of God, and life from the Spirit of God. That is a prescription guaranteed never to fail.
1. Arnold Dalamore, Spurgeon (Chicago: Moody Press, 1984), 206-207.
2. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Translation by Henry Beveridge, I (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1953), 66.
3. Michael P. Green, ed. Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Bookhouse, 1989), 50.
4. U. S. News & World Report, March 17, 1997, 16.