Good morning and hello Wednesday. The middle of the week, or the workweek anyway. Humpday for me today is especially exciting as we get to start yet another new book in the New Testament. The current stretch that we’re in has many short books and they come fast and furious. James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1,2 and 3 John and Jude are all books that are comprised of no more than 5 chapters, with three of them being only one chapter. When I first started out studying God’s Word, I thought that I would spend a lot of time in this stretch of books and study them tirelessly. I mean they’re so short you can read them and study them over and over and not get bogged down right? As I did this, I became so familiar with them that when it came time to start teaching the youth in Maui, guess where I went? Yep, this stretch. God had been preparing me and I thought I was skipping out on the longer books!
The book of Jude is fascinating for several reasons. First is it’s author, Jude. Or as he would have been called in his day, Judas. Now of course this is not the most famous Judas we all recall, Judas Iscariot, the one that betrayed Jesus with a kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane. This particular Judas believe it or not is the half brother of Jesus Christ. “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James” (Jude 1a) His brother he mentions here is the author of the book of James, also a half brother of Jesus. The ironic thing is that neither of the brothers mention in their letters, the huge fact that Jesus was their half brother. Why? A few reasons. The first would be humility in Christ. At the time of their writing, they knew Jesus as their Savior, not their brother. Their relationship had changed dramatically. They no longer knew him as a brother but as Lord. The other reason would be that after Jesus was raised from the dead and walked among the people, there was a large contingent that did not worship Him for who He was, but because of the fact that He rose from death. They thought He was some type of a magical sorcerer. As a result, His family was receiving much attention, they had become super famous. This combined with humility in Jesus would have caused the whole family to lay low, not wanting to draw attention to their relation to Jesus, but to Jesus himself.
Another cool thing about the book of Jude is the honesty Jude shares with the reason it was written.
“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.” Jude 3
Apparently, Jude had the intention of writing about salvation in Jesus. Maybe it was the resurrection. Or sanctification, or justification or reconciliation or faith or the body of Christ. But since this book was written about 69 AD most of those topics had been covered by Paul. So it seems the Holy Spirit changed Jude’s mind and had him write on the topic of the apostasy (false teachers) instead. You know, this is a great side point. Being completely open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Since my last name is Potter I always love the idea of being “as mallable as clay” to the Holy Spirt. That is being like a big ol’ lump of soft clay in His hands. That is being completely submitted to His will and His plan for your life. In this act we allow God to shape us and mold us into the vessel that He needs us to be in order to bear abundant fruit for Him. We’re told about this process in Jermiah 18:3-4:
“Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.”
This is a beautiful image here of Jude sitting down with a parchment and ink, readying himself to write for the Lord, but before He does He stops to pray. In that moment the Lord speaks and Jude, His servant is listening. He is a soft piece of clay on the wheel, ready to be molded into any shape that the Potter is currently in need of. Oh, how I can use this beautiful picture today. Dear Lord, mold me into something that serves you well today.
So what is Jude’s new topic if it’s not salvation? The great apostasy that was infiltrating the church and that has escalated to alarming levels in our churches today. An apostate is “a person who renounces or abandons a religious belief or principle.” In the books of 2 and 3 John, John boldly calls apostates 'antichrists.' This is basically someone that hears the Gospel of Jesus, denies it and then proceeds to teach others of their false beliefs. False teachers, apostates, antichrists. The Lord spoke to Jude in that moment and said this is more important. You need to warn the people of this danger. These false teachers will lead many astray from Jesus. So basically, Jude is a warning siren to the world. A big red flashing light. Apostates are here and they are flourishing, beware, protect yourself.
Jude starts out with a tremendous definition and description of these false teachers:
“For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Jude 4
To really get the power of this verse lets break down the word “crept.” The Greek word for crept is “pareisduno.” “Duno” means “to enter”, the preposition “eis” means “into” and “para” means “beside.” So the root word means to “enter alongside” or “enter by the side.” Basically it means to creep in through a side door. But a side door to where? The church. If you’re agenda is to preach against Jesus you will orchestrate your attack where it can do the most harm. You see, the true false teacher has an agenda and he does not want it to be fully known. He will slip in through a side door and blend in. Listen to the alarming congruency of what Matthew, Paul and Timothy tell us respectively about false teachers and how they infiltrate:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Matt 7:15
“I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” Acts 20:29-30
“having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions” 2 Tim 3:5-6
Take careful note of how the apostates surface. First, they are well disguised. Wolves in sheep’s clothing Matthew calls them. They didn’t just stumble into this disguise by the way. It is intentional, very intentional. They blend in, they look just like another regular ol’ church member. But inwardly they are ravenous wolves and what do ravenous wolves do? By nature, they kill, destroy and consume.
But also notice how they get into the flock. They “creep in” they “come in among you”, they “come to you” or they “creep in through a side door.” What an alarming picture we have here of the evil intentions of false teachers. It is real, it is happening today, and it is happening in churches all over the world.
Now, lets think about this. Satan has been attacking God’s church since the first church formed on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. He has tried just about every tactic possible to achieve his goal of either deterring or completely halting the work of God. He has tried attacks from the outside and he has tried attacks from within the church. How effective have the outside attacks been? Not very. Just go back and read the book of Acts to see what happens when the world tries to attack God’s church. It grows. In fact, when God’s church suffers great persecution from the world, it grows at unbelievable rates. In China where the communist government has outlawed open and free practice of Christianity, believers in Jesus Christ have skyrocketed. Check this out:
“China has witnessed a religious revival over the past four decades, in particular with a significant increase in Christian believers. The number of Chinese Protestants has grown by an average of 10 percent annually since 1979. By some estimates, China is on track to have the world’s largest population of Christians by 2030.” Council on Foreign Relations, ‘Christianity in China’, October 2018.
You see, the devil has learned from his mistakes. He realizes the best method to attack God’s church is from within. Using false teachers that look and act just like you and me.
Let’s look at a little historical story.
For ten long weary years, the Greeks laid siege to the city of Troy, but they did not make a dent in its heavy fortifications. It seemed impregnable, they could not gain entrance into the city. Then there came forth a very clever, very diabolical suggestion. Build a huge wooden horse with soldiers concealed inside and leave it outside their main gate and then pretend to sail away. So, they made the horse, put the soldiers inside and then placed it outside the gate. Curiosity got the best of the Trojans. When they saw the Greeks sailing away, they thought the war was finally over. The Greeks had given up and admitted defeat. They went out, saw the horse, perceived it as a gift from the conceding Greeks and pulled it inside. That night the soldiers on the inside climbed out, unlocked the main gate and let in their comrades who had secretly sailed back in the dark of night. What an entire army of men could not do in 10 years from the outside, a few soldiers did in one night from the inside.
In the same way, satan has and will continue to infiltrate God’s church. And he will do it using false teachers that will creep in through the side door. Silent, sneaky and with ill-intent. So, all of this sounds so scary, how do we defend against these wolves in sheep’s clothing? I’m glad you asked. I used this analogy a few weeks ago when we talked about false teachers in 2 Peter 2. Say I was to enroll in a doctoral level astro-physics class today. I pay my tuition, grab my overpriced textbook and wander into the classroom and find a seat in the front row. As I ready my new mechanical pencil, the professor begins to teach, and I immediately look around in utter confusion. You see, I’ve never read a sentence about astro-physics. I know nothing and I am completely unfamiliar with what the professor is saying and teaching. My friends, our churches all over this nation are full of people that don’t know the first thing about God’s Holy Word. They don’t study it, they don’t read it, they don’t know what it says. They don’t even pick it up except to tote it to and from church once a month. How will these people know if they are being taught or led by a wolf? How will they know if their Sunday school teacher has slipped in through the side door and is teaching a false doctrine? They won’t. And it will be like lambs to the slaughter as they are easily led to their demise.
So how to combat this? Simple. Study God’s Word. If I were to start studying Astro-Physics today and I achieved my Bachelors degree, I would now be able to sit in that class and discern if what the professor was teaching was accurate or not. I’m not simply assuming that because he is a professor at a university that he is accurate and truthful. In the same regard just because a man is a pastor, elder, deacon or bible teacher doesn’t mean he is teaching the absolute truth of God’s Word. You see it’s up to us to protect ourselves against the wolves. God has given us what we need, He has laid a set of tools at our feet, we need but pick them up and use them.
I pray today that you are in a study of God’s Word. If not that you are willing to mark your calendar today as the day that you start. Not only will you protect yourself, but with a deep knowledge of the truth of God’s Word, you will be able to protect others. Think about this prospect. What if you were to embark on a one year study of God’s Word starting today? What if at the end of that year God were to empower you to teach about His Word? Through that yearlong study, you learned the knowledge of God that in turn through the Holy Spirit produced the blessed wisdom of God. My friend you would be a fierce opponent to the wolf that creeps into the side door looking for prey. That wolf would see you and your knowledge of God’s Word and turn and run. You see predators naturally look for easy prey. The more you study God’s Word, the stronger you are against predators and the better equipped you are to lead and teach others to become just as resistant. Train yourself up in the Word of God today and protect yourself and protect those weaker than yourself.
God bless you in your personal study of His Word today and in your preparation for those that creep in through the side door.
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