We Shall Not Be Moved
Notes
Transcript
Jude 17-19 ESV
17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.
One thing that I believe all people are apt to do is look at the defects of others and blame many of the problems in their own lives on those defects of others and then don’t do a whole lot about the problems themselves.
Do you ever notice how we are so quick to do that when it comes to politics? To society? To culture? We see the decay of these different spheres and we say, “It’s their fault!”.
And you’re right, it is their fault. But it is also your fault, and my fault as well. And the reason why I say that is because while it may be those different people’s behaviors that have gotten us into this mess, we as the people of God have basically just sat here and not really done anything about it.
We have, for the most part, just kind of quietly faded into the background, blended in, and for the most part, we don’t really stick out. We’ve kind of taken the position of, “You don’t bother us, and we won’t bother you”.
In many ways, the people of God as a whole have not taken seriously our responsibility to stand out from the rest of the world. Indeed, the Church is different from the world, but in many ways, the Church has not made it publicly known that they are different from the world. And as a result, in the eyes of a great many in our society, the Church isn’t really anything; to them, the Church is viewed almost like a non-entity.
In many ways, we have come to accept the inevitable and not done very much about it. But that is certainly not what God has intended for His Church. We have a responsibility to not just sit back and accept the inevitable, but rather, our responsibility is to be salt and light to a dark and saltless world.
We see Jude emphasizing this very truth to those Christians that he is writing to in this epistle. Starting back at verse three in this epistle, Jude has spoken extensively about the false teachers who had crept into orthodox circles and amassed followers.
After speaking about this at such great length, Jude now turns his attention back to the elect people whom he is writing to in this epistle and he tells them that in spite of what these false teachers are teaching, in spite of the fact that many in their circles who appeared to be true believers are now leaving, they still have a responsibility.
Jude tells them that they are not to sit back while these wolves ravage God’s flock thinking that all is lost, but instead, he instructs them to do what the first verse in our reading, verse 17 says, where we read:
Jude 17 ESV
17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, the first thing that we notice about this verse are the first three words: “But you must”. These words give us insight into the distinct message that Jude was conveying here.
So, first of all, Jude says the word “but”. This signifies that Jude is saying that in spite of everything that the recipients of his epistle have heard and read in it thus far, especially concerning the false teachers in their midst and the following that they have amassed, they are not to despair and sit back while the wolves ravage God’s flock.
Instead, Jude says that these “must” do something. Now, we take note of the fact that Jude does not recommend that something be done, he does not suggest that something be done, he does not ask that something be done, no, he says that the following “must” be done. It is an imperative.
And what Jude tells these believers that they “must do” in the midst of this crisis is not give way to despair, not sit back and accept what is going on in their midst, but rather, what Jude says these “must do” is “remember the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Now, I don’t know about you, but whenever I think of a prediction, I think of a guess, something uncertain. It may be an educated guess, I may research heavily and after taking all of my research into account, I offer my prediction, and thus, I offer an educated guess. But no matter how educated a guess is, it’s still a guess, and therefore it is in no way absolutely certain.
But these predictions that are spoken of here in our reading are the farthest thing from uncertain possibilities that may or may not come to pass.
No, these are not mere possibilities, but rather, they are certainties that must come to pass. And the reason why they are certainties that must come to pass is because they have been given by those who are identified as “the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Now, the apostles of the Lord Jesus were those who were witnesses to the life of Jesus, to the teachings of Jesus, and to the resurrection of Jesus. And the apostles were inspired by God, therefore the words that they were inspired by God to preach, carry authority with them.
Therefore, because these words carried authority with them, they are certain words. Words that must come to pass.
Furthermore, as Jude is sure to point out in this verse, these apostles are the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. He points out that these are the apostles, the ones who authoritatively speak the Word of God, apostles of the Lord Who is indeed their Lord. Thus, these words that are spoken by the apostles are words that are specifically addressed to believers.
Thus, it is imperative that the elect people of God, “remember” these words, as Jude says, they “must” do this. It is of the utmost importance as they, and we, live in a world that seems to be spiraling out of control and increasing more and more in godlessness.
Now, concerning the words of the apostles and that which they had predicted, we read the following in verse 18:
Jude 18 ESV
18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.”
Now, we look at that, we see the words “the last time” and we probably think of some short period of time right before the Lord Jesus physically returns. And in thinking of that time period described as “the last time” it makes sense that we would automatically think of it in that light.
But this time period described as “the last time” is not in reference to what we likely think of. Rather, “the last time” is in reference to the entire period which stretches from the first advent of Christ to His second coming, the time in which we are now living. Thus, “the last time” is certainly in reference to a very lengthy period humanly speaking.
And Jude says here in our reading that sporadically throughout this “last time” period that we are now living in, there will be those who “scoff”.
To scoff indicates the manifestation of contempt by insulting words or actions. It combines bitterness with ridicule. In other words, those who scoff are those who make fun by mocking with a dismissive attitude of self-assured arrogance.
Thus, Jude indicates that in these last times in which we today are living, there are many who scoff at the legitimate Christian faith.
Now, we observe our society, every sphere of it and we see that it is a society that by and large, is openly hostile to the Christian faith and to the God of the Christian faith.
Those who are loudest and proudest of it are those who openly live sinful lifestyles, knowing that it is wrong and yet proudly and stubbornly persist in it. They are our neighbors, celebrities, extremely influential people in society, the political leaders whom God has ordained to lead the people they represent into godliness, members of our families, maybe even people who live in our homes.
But those who scoff are not always those whom we would ordinarily group together with those who appear to be ungodly. Sometimes, those who scoff are even men and women who appear to have all around good morals.
But just because they appear to have good morals, the fact remains that if they have no true faith in the Lord Jesus, Who He is, what He has accomplished, what He is still to accomplish, then their “good works” are not actual good works at all, and thus, their scoffing, the contempt that they have towards God is an inner contempt that laughs at ever trusting an all-powerful, merciful, loving, sovereign God.
And they have this inner contempt because in their minds, they are the makers and the sustainers of their own being. In their minds they are needful of nothing because according to them, they are more than capable of providing for themselves physically, spiritually, and everything in between. They are proud people who make gods of themselves.
But these scoffers are also found within the church. They are those in the churches who hear of God as He actually is, according to the orthodox faith. And when they hear of Who God actually is, they don’t like it. They are uncomfortable with it. And thus, the solution that they arrive at is a denial of God as He actually is, and a creation of a god made in their own image. A “god” that they are more comfortable with.
Thus, as these fashion a “god” that is more suitable to their own preferences, they are at the same time scoffing at the true Christian faith and the God Who has established the faith.
And Jude says that as these scoff, they “follow their own ungodly passions.” What it is that scoffers, all scoffers, whether they be those who are openly godless, those who are too proud to worship God, or those who are in the churches who seek to fashion a god after their own liking, what they all have in common is they scoff as a result of following passions that are far from God.
They refuse to recognize God as He truly is and therefore, rather than submitting to God and obeying His commands, they instead submit to and follow after their strongest desires. Whether those desires be living lives that are recognizably opposed to God, a state of such pride that one is blinded to the fact that they are sustained every moment by the hand of God, or a hope that God is Who you want Him to be, and not Who He actually is.
And as we come to the end of our reading for today, Jude makes plain that it is not the orthodox but rather, it is these who follow these ungodly passions who bring division in the church.
We see this in the last verse of our reading, where Jude says concerning such scoffers:
Jude 19 ESV
19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.
It is “these,” those who scoff at the orthodox faith, Jude says, are those who cause divisions in the church.
They reject orthodoxy and thus they divide themselves from orthodoxy and in so doing, they divide themselves from the people of God. It is not the truth itself that divides, rather, it is those who reject the truth who seek to divide themselves from the truth and those who adhere to the truth.
And Jude says that there are two reasons why these scoffers cause divisions in the church.
The first reason that he gives is because these people are “worldly people”. To say that someone is “worldly” means that such people place concerns of the material and the ordinary above the spiritual. They think of the immediate, what most suits their flesh right now, and they base their course of action upon that.
And the second and most important reason why Jude says these scoffers cause divisions in the church is because they are “devoid of the Spirit”.
To say that someone or something is devoid of something means to be entirely lacking or free from. Thus, to say that someone is devoid, or entirely lacking and free from the Spirit of God means that such a person is not a saved person.
And thus, has there ever been and so will there ever be those among us who scoff, who are divisive, and they scoff and they’re divisive because they focus more on the material than the spiritual.
But we shouldn’t be surprised that there are such, for as Jude tells us, the apostles of the Lord Jesus prophesied that this would be so. “Remember”, Jude tells us, remember that we have been forewarned of these realities.
And as we have been forewarned of these realities, we must do all the more to remain steadfast in the orthodox faith. The others may seek to divide themselves from the orthodox truth, from the God of the orthodox truth, let them go if that it is their wish. But beloved, may we remember that we have been told this would happen, and may we remain faithful to He Who set us apart for His own purposes.
Amen?
