Eduardo Grequi
Advanced Member
Member # 3984
|
posted
Of Jude
What Is The Message Of This Tiny But Timely Book ?
by Sandy Simpson
Accredited, Unparalleled Quality, Unmatched Faculty, Tuition-free, Home-study Trinity School Of Apologetics & Theology
Lesson 1 – Vs. 1-4
Vs. 1-2 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
Jude was the brother of Jesus Christ. But it is significant that he calls himself the brother of James. Jude wants everyone to know that, though he is a half-brother to Jesus Christ through his mother Mary, he considers himself to be a servant of Jesus. I’m sure there were those who tried to idolize him for being the brother of Jesus Christ. If he had the character of someone like Benny Hinn, he would have written “Jude, the brother of Jesus Christ.” I’m sure if Benny could trace his roots back to Christ he would use that information to get support for himself and power over people. But Jude does just the opposite. He calls himself the servant of Jesus Christ.
He is addressing this letter to those who have been called and who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ. So he is addressing this letter to Christians. God has called every true believer.
Rom. 8:28-30 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Notice the pattern here. God foreknew us from eternity and also foreknew we would trust in Him for our salvation to the end. Because of that He predestined us. He then called us and we responded in faith. When we responded in faith He justified us, and He will glorify us in eternity. But there are those who act like they are believers but have not been foreknown of God, nor have they been predestined, called, justified or glorfied.
Matt. 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
It is hard to tell the difference between the saved and unsaved, but Jude goes on to spell out the difference so we can see it. There are those who have never been saved though they acted like they were believers. There are also those who believe for awhile but they wander away from the faith.
Luke 8:13-14 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.
James 5:19-20 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:20-21 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you.
1 Timothy 4:1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
2 Timothy 2:17-18 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.
2 Peter 2:15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
God knows who is saved because He foreknew everyone and everything from eternity past. Therefore He knows whom He has predestined, called, justified and glorified. But there is also the human perspective. We cannot know the final salvation of anyone. Therefore we must continue to believe, continue in the faith, and not wander away--because if we wander away we can be destroyed. So we must look at the subject of faith from a perspective of space and time in which we live. We must hold, keep, and persevere in our faith till the end. Those who stand in their Faith are those who share in God’s mercy, peace and love.
Vs. 3-4 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Jude wanted to write about the gospel of salvation and all the blessings we share as believers. But he was impressed by the Lord to write a warning and admonishment instead. There is a time to rejoice and a time to admonish and warn.
Ecc. 3:1-8 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
1 Corinthians 4:14 I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children.
Ezekiel 3:21 But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself."
Psalms 81:8 "Hear, O my people, and I will warn you— if you would but listen to me, O Israel!
What is the warning? What is the admonishment? To contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints! Who delivered this faith? The prophets, the Apostles, and most importantly the object of our faith, Jesus Christ. We must stay in those teachings that are the foundation of our faith. We cannot build on any other foundation, and a new foundation cannot be laid. If we do not contend (fight) for that Faith, we can lose faith. The Bible is full of verses that say we need to hold, keep, persevere and overcome by faith.
Hebrews 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
2 Timothy 1:13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
1 John 5:4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
But condemned men have slipped in. Today we have wolves among the sheep that don’t just fool sheep--they eat sheep.
Matthew 7:15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
Acts 20:29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.
Unregenerate people who claim to be saved but are not have slipped into the churches and our homes through TV. They are very good at looking like they are believers and they freely use the name of Jesus. They make big prayers and can look very holy in their actions. But their false doctrines and false prophecies betray who they really are. They are not sheep that follow the Shepherd. They are wolves that follow their own path, or worse they follow the enemy.
Matthew 13:38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,
Remember that the weeds grow up beside the wheat, the good seed. They act like they are wheat, but you can tell they are weeds by their teachings, prophecies and lack of the fruit of the Spirit.
Jude says they are godless men. Though they claim to worship Jesus Christ, their gods are of their own making – money and fame. They worship at the altar of power instead of humbly submitting to the Lord Jesus Christ. They use His name to their own ends. They make themselves famous and rich by seducing weak-willed Christians into following them.
2 Timothy 3:6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires,
When a desire for power or some kind of ecstatic experience take precedence over a relationship with Jesus Christ, that is evil. Our reason for following the Lord is not so He can make us feel like we are drunk or high, or to give us power over others. Our reason to follow Him is because we are being crucified with Him daily to those kinds of evil desires of the flesh.
Galatians 5:24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
These false teachers change the freedom from the Law of Moses that we have because of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ for immorality. They make freedom in Christ a license to sin. Immorality means to not be moral, to do whatever we want and to no longer obey the Lord Jesus Christ. It means not following God's commands, His Word. We must still obey the Lord Jesus Christ. His Law is now written on our hearts. Because we are freed from observing the whole Law of Moses in order to be saved, since we are now saved only by the grace of Jesus Christ through faith, we are now to obey the Holy Spirit who lives in us. We must not trade that grace away by trying to do the works of the Law. On the other hand, we must not live a life against the law of grace and the Holy Spirit.
Denying Jesus Christ: When a false gospel is preached, Christ is denied. When you just preach, “Decide for Jesus and come forward” you are not preaching the Gospel. But worse than easy believism, Third Wave teachers have people come forward so they can get you under their control. They do “slain in the Spirit” which is not biblical. Thus even if a person hears enough of the Gospel to be saved, the birds come and pick up the seed. One of the most dangerous times is right when a person is almost ready to believe.
Luke 8:5 A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up.
2 Peter 2:18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.
They preach a gospel like this: “God loves you. Just say, “yes” to Jesus and He will forgive all your mistakes, past, present and future. Come forward and receive Jesus Christ.” Nothing is mentioned about man’s sin condition, why Jesus Christ had to come and is the perfect sacrifice, repentance, the crucified life, etc. This kind of “gospel” does not have the power to save. They are empty, boastful words without real salvation power.
Rom. 16:17-18 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
People are often deceived into thinking big TV evangelists are true believers because they talk about Jesus and do slain in the spirit. But this is not true Christianity. They are smooth talkers and they flatter people with things they want to hear, tickling their ears with the promise of health, wealth and power.
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
Study In Jude
Lesson 2 – Vs. 5-10
Vs. 5-7 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
Jude reminds us of the judgments of the past. Remember that Israel was God’s elect, His people. But there were those who, though they claimed to be God’s people, did not believe in God, did not trust Him. Be aware that God will judge those who do not believe, even if they claim to be His people. The basis for judgment is always a lack of belief. Even some of the angels, who were made to serve and worship God, abandoned God for their own selfish ambitions. When we pit our will against the will of God, we are going to be judged unless we repent
Is: 14:12-17 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a desert, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?"
Satan said “I will” and was thrown down to the earth and he will ultimately be thrown into hell. Jude reminds us that even the angels, the chosen servants of God, can be judged for unbelief. Sodom and Gomorrah gave themselves over to sexual sin and were judged. If there had been ten righteous men in those cities God would have spared them. I wonder how many righteous men there are today? I’m afraid there are very few left. God has left us His warnings in history to remind us that if we do not repent and believe we will be judged. There are many false prophets and false teachers today who have been warned repeatedly to repent. Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Benny Hinn, John Arnott, Randy Clark, John Kilpatrick, Steve Hill, Rodney Howard-Browne, Rick Joyner, Paul Cain, Mike Bickle, Paul Crouch, Marilyn Hickey, Morris Cerrulo, Paul Crouch, Robert Tilton, C. Peter Wagner, Ted Haggard, Cindy Jacobs and many, many others. They pretend to be the leadership of Christianity, but they are really unrepentant heretics. The Lord will judge both them and those who follow them.
Jeremiah 5:31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?
Jeremiah 27:15’I have not sent them,’ declares the LORD. ’They are prophesying lies in my name. Therefore, I will banish you and you will perish, both you and the prophets who prophesy to you.’"
Revelation 18:4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
These are examples Jude gives of those who have blazed the trails to hell. The point is that we should follow Jesus Christ and His Word and not those who are false teachers and false prophets who are really working for the enemy. Let’s look at the verses in Acts 20:28-31 again.
Acts 20:28-31 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
Paul warned the Ephesians with tears about false teachers who would arise from their own church who would “distort the truth”. They are not called “brothers” but “savage wolves”. They do not spare the flock. They kill every sheep they can. This is not something we are supposed to live with. We are supposed to separate ourselves from these killers. I shed tears over many people who allow false doctrines into the churches today because, as Paul said with tears, they will “not spare the flock”. The flock can end up dead!
Vs. 8 In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings.
How do we tell who these wolves are? They come in sheep’s clothing. In other words, they look and sound like Christians.
(1) They are dreamers. They make dreams/visions more important than Scripture, even when Paul tells us not to go beyond what is written.
1 Corinthians 4:6 Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.
The wolves brag about how God has spoken directly to them. They colorfully tell about some fantastic dream they had where an angel took them to heaven or hell. They do these things so that they will be considered to be “holy men of God”, which is what they incessantly and continually drum into their follower's heads. This is exactly what Paul was saying should be avoided. If Christians do not go beyond what is written, they will not end up becoming prideful. This is not to say that God does not give dreams and visions. But they are rare, and when they are truly from God every detail will check out with the written Word of God. Every part of that dream or vision will be biblically correct, come true if predictive, and be in line with the revealed character of God in the Bible. But today we see churches carrying around “prophesy notebooks” instead of Bibles. We see people putting more faith in "words of knowledge" than in the Bible. When you see people who always have another dream to tell, you can be sure they are wolves.
(2) They pollute their own bodies. Apart from the many problems today of sexual sin in the churches, one of the biggest problems of body pollution is people allowing demonic influence into their lives because of doctrinal error in the church. There are so many false anointings out there today. Benny Hinn has an anointing for every occasion. But none of these anointings are biblical. Christians are allowing themselves to be slain in the spirit by false teachers and then exhibit manifestations that are not in the Bible as blessings, but as judgment or demonization. They get drunk in the Spirit when the Bible says to be filled with the Spirit. They are spending their time inebriated when the Bible calls for sobriety.
Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
Romans 13:13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
(3) They reject authority. The main way in which wolves reject authority is to reject the authority of Scripture. They use the Bible when it suits them and use new revelation the rest of the time. Their teachings are not in line with a correct interpretation of the Word of God in context. They do not accept from the Bible what it is teaching, which is exegesis. Instead they make up their doctrines then find Bible verses to support what they want to teach. That is called eisegesis. Along with that, they will not take rebuke or correction from others in the Church. They refuse to repent of their sins. They then call everyone else "heresy hunters", and other names. The final step they take is to curse their enemies to death, the very people who have tried to help them see the truth.
(4) They slander celestial beings. I have seen this so many times in almost every meeting of Third Wave wolves. They speak directly to demons, they yell at them and make fun of them, even laugh at Satan himself. They say they are binding demons. They jump up and down and claim that Satan has been bound. They fill drums full of "holy anointing oil" and spray it all over their cities. They push stakes in the ground around towns. They blow shofars from high places. They finger paint signs of the cross on church furniture. They do these things claiming they will rid the place of demons. But all this binding, prayer walking, and pragmatic spiritual warfare introduced into the churches by people like John Dawson of YWAM, John Wimber, Chuck Kraft and C. Peter Wagner and many others is unbiblical. The Bible teaches we are to pray for protection from the evil one. We are to pray for salvation of people from darkness. We can even cast demons out of individuals. But there is nowhere in the Bible that states we should be praying against territorial spirits, binding them, speaking to them or using occult techniques to rid our land of them. Those who make fun of celestial beings, which according to the Bible includes Satan and his fallen angels, are in grave danger. Only the Lord can rebuke Satan. We are only protected because of our relationship to Jesus Christ who gained the victory on the cross. We must put on the armor and stand against the devil and his schemes. But those who laugh and taunt Satan and demons are wolves and they will end up destroyed.
Vs. 9-10 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals--these are the very things that destroy them.
(1) Wolves speak abusively. Wolves speak abusively of celestial beings, as we have talked about above. But I have also seen a lot of abusive language against those they disagree with instead of using apologetics to prove what they are teaching. We name names on our site as Paul named names in his time, but we do so on the basis of the facts. We present the case, including what wolves have taught and done, and compare those teachings and actions to the Bible. We carefully footnote everything so anyone can look up what has been said and done and will be able to draw their own conclusions. But wolves speak abusively. They don’t deal with the facts because they can’t. So they resort to abusive language. Jacob Prasch says about wolves, “They can’t kill the message so the try to kill the messenger.” Isn’t that always the case? There have been whole books written with this abusive kind of language by Third Wavers like Michael Brown and Steve Hill of Brownsville AG.
(2) Wolves do not understand. They refuse to understand the truth. They have no interest in understanding biblical realities. This is why very few wolves, who are leaders in what is called Christendom today, are able to come out of deception because they have no interest in teaching or living in obedience to the truth.
(3) Wolves try to understand by instinct. Their emphasis is not on what they think but on feelings, which are inherantly subjective and relativistic. They think that it is more important to "feel" the truth instead of understand it and meditate on it. I have told the story before about the UPC man who I overheard witnessing in a restaurant. I was impressed by his boldness in witnessing until I heard what he said. He claimed, “The disciples all learned a lot from Jesus while they sat around the table, but since John laid on His breast he became the one who Jesus loved and he got more of the truth.” This is Gnosticism. Gnostics claim that the material world is entirely evil and the spiritual world is entirely good. They claim that you can get to the secret deep things of the spiritual only by leaving your mind at the door and allowing yourself to feel the truth. Because of this type of teaching, by people like Rodney Howard-Brown, Brownsville, the Toronto Blessing and many others in the Third Wave, they make people into unreasoning animals instead of lifting them up to the image of Christ. We are to come to know God with our whole person.
Luke 10:27 He answered: "‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’"
Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is— his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Those who teach that we need to get rid of the mind are going to destruction. Feeling without knowing is destructive. There is nothing wrong with feelings but if they take over or become the primary source we use to discern truth from error, we are lost. Feelings need to be tested with the Word of God. Don’t base what you believe on feelings.
Study In Jude
Lesson 3 – Vs. 11
Vs. 11 - Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.
Jude presents us with a very clear picture of false teachers by using an illustration from the lives of three men: Cain, Balaam & Korah.
THE WAY OF CAIN
Gen. 4:1 Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man."
Notice that Eve recognizes that babies come with the help of the Lord, not just from the biological union of a male and female.
Gen. 4:2-7 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."
Why would Go not look with favor on Cain’s offering? Because Abel brought the right sacrifice, and he brought the best part of that offering. We'll look at that in a moment. But how did Cain and Abel even know they were to bring an offering to God in the first place? What was this offering for? It was for the forgiveness of sin! God was the first to show that a blood offering was necessary for the forgiveness of sins.
Genesis 3:21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Where would you get garments made from animal skins? Not from a live animal, but from a dead one. God made the first sacrifice of blood for the sins of Adam and Eve. Jesus Christ is also the first and only perfect blood sacrifice for sin. This first blood sacrifice prefigures the ultimate sacrifice God made of His only Son. God is the only One who can atone for sins, from beginning to end. So Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel knew that a blood sacrifice, an animal offering, must be brought to the Lord for the forgiveness of sins. When Cain was upset over God not accepting his offering, he was acting like a rebellious child. God warned him that he was giving himself over to sin with his rebellious attitude. But Cain again didn't listen to God.
Gen. 4:8-9 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let’s go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don’t know," he replied. "Am I my brother’s keeper?"
Now Cain takes his rebellion a step further and lies to God.
Gen. 4:10 The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.
Sin demands a blood sacrifice. Only blood can cover over sins like murder. God knew what had happened to Abel.
Gen. 4:11-16 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth." Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." But the LORD said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
God orders Cain to leave the ground he polluted with his sin and the blood of Abel. God must judge those who sin. Anyone who lives in unrepentant sin and does not obey the Lord will be driven from His presence in eternity. God will send sinners away from His presence to a “land of Nod” in eternity called Hell.
It is interesting that Cain is punished by being given a mark and sent to the land of Nod. Some commentators think that the mark was trembling. Nod means “agitation, commotion, quaking, trembling.” Whenever we see trembling in the Bible it is usually associated with fear of God or fear of judgment from God. That puts us in mind of those in the Third Wave who do slain in the spirit and claim the trembling, shaking and crazy behavior that comes from it are a blessing from God. The Shakers and Quakers, who were instrumental in influencing the Third Wave historically, also did the same thing. But trembling is usually not a blessing from God. It means judgment is coming.
Some false teachers say that the mark of Cain was dark skin. This is false doctrine. There is no support for this in the Bible. It is also silly because the only family left after the flood was Noah’s family. He was likely medium brown skin because it has been proven that all skin colors can be produced from the genes of those who have medium brown skin. This doctrine is still used by the KKK, Arnold Murray and other false teachers.
So how does the story of Cain help us understand false teachers?
(1) False teachers bring a false gospel. Cain brought fruits instead of a blood sacrifice. Cain worked the fields and the fruit of his work was the fruit he brought as an offering. But we cannot be saved by our work. We must bring the kind of offering God wants. Today God requires us to believe in His Only Son, who shed His blood on the cross as the perfect blood sacrifice for our sins. Jesus Christ’s perfect sacrifice is pictured in all the imperfect animal blood sacrifices that God required before Christ. Today there is only one way to be saved, and that is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Third Wave, Catholics and many others add works to salvation. Third Wavers say you must have a second experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, adding this to salvation. Catholics add the sacraments. They are bringing other sacrifices when only Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross will do. They do this in rebellion just like Cain brought an offering against the will of God. On judgment day many people will bring their fruits before God hoping that will buy them salvation. But they will be rejected if they do not claim the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for salvation.
(2) False teachers try to worship God in a way He has not ordained. We cannot worship God in unbiblical ways. Cain brought an offering and thought that bringing an offering was all that was needed. Worship other than God's way is no worship at all--in fact it displeases God. Uzzah reached out and touched the Ark on a manmade new cart he helped to build when God had commanded only Kohathites to carry the Ark on poles and for no one to touch it. Third Wavers, Benny Hinn, Brownsville, and Toronto do not follow Biblical teachings, yet they have their hands all over Gods people. God will surely judge them for their actions. They need to stop getting people to worship God in ways He does not want.
(3) False teachers do not give their best to God. Notice that Cain simply brought some of the fruit of the soil. Abel brought the fat portions. The fat portions, in most cultures, are the most prized portions of the meat. God wants our best, not our leftovers. Ananias and Saphira promised God the money from the sale of their land, yet when it came time to give it they withheld some of what they promised God. False teachers today live lavish lifestyles, spending money sent in to them by poor people for ministry. They are a bad example to people everywhere, showing them that you can worship God the way you want, reserving the best for yourself.
Rebellion leads to separation from God and judgment.
BALAAM'S ERROR
Num. 22:4-35 The Moabites said to the elders of Midian, "This horde is going to lick up everything around us, as an ox licks up the grass of the field." So Balak son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time, sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, who was at Pethor, near the River, in his native land. Balak said: "A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed." The elders of Moab and Midian left, taking with them the fee for divination. When they came to Balaam, they told him what Balak had said. "Spend the night here," Balaam said to them, "and I will bring you back the answer the LORD gives me." So the Moabite princes stayed with him. God came to Balaam and asked, "Who are these men with you?" Balaam said to God, "Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message: ‘A people that has come out of Egypt covers the face of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. Perhaps then I will be able to fight them and drive them away.’" But God said to Balaam, "Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed." The next morning Balaam got up and said to Balak’s princes, "Go back to your own country, for the LORD has refused to let me go with you." So the Moabite princes returned to Balak and said, "Balaam refused to come with us." Then Balak sent other princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first. They came to Balaam and said: "This is what Balak son of Zippor says: Do not let anything keep you from coming to me, because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me." But Balaam answered them, "Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the LORD my God. Now stay here tonight as the others did, and I will find out what else the LORD will tell me." That night God came to Balaam and said, "Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you." Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road. Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat her again. Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?" Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now." The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" "No," he said. Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. The angel of the LORD asked him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her." Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back. The angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you." So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
Balaam then proceeded to try to curse Israel three times. Instead God only let him bless Israel. Notice that even though God had told Balaam he was not to go with the men from Balak, he said he would ask the Lord again. This is because he really wanted the money being offered him. This is why God was angry with him. God knew that Balaam wanted to be able to curse Israel so that Balak would give him money. We can also see that Balaam was a prideful person, thinking he was important and the incident with the donkey left him shamed faced. Later, Balaam found a way for Balak to get back at Israel.
Numbers 31:16 "They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD’s people.
Balaam advised Balak to get the people of Israel to marry other peoples, to commit adultery, etc. This made the Lord angry at Israel and God sent a plague as a judgment on Israel. But don’t think that Balaam got off the hook for his evil plot.
Numbers 31:8 Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba— the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
Peter says later that Israel had wandered away from God to follow the ways of Balaam, who loved the wages of wickedness.
2 Peter 2:15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
In our Jude text we see that Balaam “ran greedily” for profit. To run greedily is a picture of a river overflowing its banks. Balaam was so greedy he beat his donkey because he was in a hurry to run to Balak so that he could curse Israel and get paid.
(1) False teachers practice sorcery like Balaam. Sorcery is trying to conjure up spirits or even God Himself. God cannot be conjured up or summoned. He is completely sovereign and does things by His will, not the will of men. Balaam was trying to get God to say what he wanted Him to say so that he could be paid. If God was not going to say what he wanted, then he was going to make up something. Word-Faith teachers like Kenneth Copeland teach that Christians can speak whatever they want into existence, using the power of faith just like God used that same power to create the world. That is sorcery and witchcraft. The false prophets of the Third Wave prophesy things that they know please people rather than God, and they make a handsome living doing so. Trying to control God or work around the will of God like Balaam did will only bring you to judgment.
(2) False teachers do what they do for profit - the love of money. But the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. TBN is full of televangelists who spend a high percentage of their time asking for money. They use sorcery to do slain in the spirit tricks so they can make a name for themselves and lots of money. They sell things like “holy” anointing oils, and cloths that have been touched by televangelists with the “anointing”. They claim these things will heal. They then turn around and spend a lot of the money they raise with these tactics on themselves, living lives like millionaires.
(3) False teachers lead people into immorality. Balaam was responsible for leading the people of Israel into immorality. The followers of Balaam and the Nicolaitans did the same thing in the time of the early church. We have the same type of people in the churches today. The claim we have freedom in Christ and can do anything we want and God will just forgive us. But repentance from sin is more than just throwing up a quick prayer “Scusi. Mini regretti.” It is turning from wicked ways. We do not have a license to do whatever we want to do. We are not to commit adultery as Christians with the idea that later we will just tell God we are sorry. False teachers today in the Third Wave create events where people are allowed to go wild. The music is wild, the preaching is wild, the manifestations are wild. This stirs up the flesh. Once you get people wild, they naturally want more. This leads to other sins like adultery, drug use, alcoholism, and immoral behaviors.
The rush to riches is a highway to deceit, covetousness and seduction.
KORAH'S REBELLION
Num. 16:1-35 Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites— Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth— became insolent and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD’s assembly?" When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. Then he said to Korah and all his followers: "In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers and tomorrow put fire and incense in them before the LORD. The man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!" Moses also said to Korah, "Now listen, you Levites! Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the LORD’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. It is against the LORD that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?" Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab. But they said, "We will not come! Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the desert? And now you also want to lord it over us? Moreover, you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? No, we will not come!" Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, "Do not accept their offering. I have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them." Moses said to Korah, "You and all your followers are to appear before the LORD tomorrow— you and they and Aaron. Each man is to take his censer and put incense in it— 250 censers in all— and present it before the LORD. You and Aaron are to present your censers also." So each man took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire assembly. The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Separate yourselves from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and cried out, "O God, God of the spirits of all mankind, will you be angry with the entire assembly when only one man sins?" Then the LORD said to Moses, "Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’" Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. He warned the assembly, "Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins." So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents. Then Moses said, "This is how you will know that the LORD has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and experience only what usually happens to men, then the LORD has not sent me. But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt." As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah’s men and all their possessions. They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, "The earth is going to swallow us too!" And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
Korah and his followers questioned the Lord’s will. The Lord had given them special places of authority. Korah he was a Kohathite who was also in charge of the Holy of Holies and the Ark. But he and his followers became prideful and thought they could dictate the will of God. They rebelled against God’s instituted authority in Moses and Aaron.
(1) False teachers claim an anointing and authority God has not given them. Saying you are anointed when you are not is dangerous. It is a quick way to be judged. The false teachers today go even further by saying they have such a powerful anointing they can pass it on by their will to others by laying on of hands. This is heresy. There is only one anointing and that is the anointing of the Anointed One, Jesus Christ.
2 Cor. 1:21-22 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come
1 John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
We share in His anointing through the Holy Spirit when we believe that He is God and died and rose from the dead.
Tit. 3:4-7 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
But false teachers often tell people they may be Christians but they don’t have the Holy Spirit. Claiming to be more holy than other Christians, the body of Christ, is a great sin. Many in the Third Wave even claim to be equal with God. They claim to be gods themselves, or little messiahs.
Isaiah 44:6 "This is what the LORD says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.
They claim to be foundational apostles when that is impossible by biblical definition.
Ephesians 2:20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
You cannot lay another foundation than that of the apostles, prophets and Jesus Christ. They claim to be getting new revelation apart from Scripture, though Paul taught us not to go beyond what is written.
1 Corinthians 4:6 Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.
(2) False teachers claim they can create reality with their words and force God to act. This is the false teaching of Word-Faith. God is sovereign and we cannot dictate what God’s will might be. Moses and Aaron waited upon the Lord for His will. But Korah and his followers had decided to set policy themselves, and in doing so made themselves enemies of God. It would do well for Third Wave people to understand they have made themselves enemies of God by what they are doing and will suffer judgment if they don’t repent of their blasphemies.
Pride and not following the will of God is an avenue that leads to destruction, faction and sedition against leaders and ministry.
Study In Jude
Lesson 4 – Vs. 12-15
Vs. 12 - These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm--shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted--twice dead.
Blemishes - Today we see the same leaven of the Pharasees as in Biblical times. They pretend to be in unity and even act like they are the ones promoting unity in the body of Christ. But if you look at what they teach, prophesy and do you discover they really have their own agenda. Their agenda is to degrade the core doctrines of the Church and to teach people a new way of thinking, new doctrines, and new revelation beyond what is written. They try to make friends so that those new friends will be embarrassed to say anything against them. This is the ploy of the world in the New World Order, and it is a ploy today in the Church. Those who want to gain control of the Church are trying to make friends, have dinners, get people together to pray and plan. But they are really only feeding themselves at those feasts. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing who are eating sheep while they dine with you
Clouds without rain – They are big talkers but their words are empty of wisdom and truth. They can sound very convincing and authoritative, but the biblical basis for what they say is very thin, if nonexistent. Third Wave truth is empty of real life. It is made up of the doctrines of men and demons.
Mark 7:7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’
1 Timothy 4:1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Clouds without rain do not help crops grow. In fact, crops without sunshine or rain wither and die. The same thing is true of false teachers. They do not bring the sunshine or rain of truth, but the clouds of doubt and error.
Blown by the wind – False teachers are blown about by every wind of doctrine. They love to adopt the latest trends of thinking and techniques. They love methods and ideas that do not come from the Bible. But as true believers we are not to be blown about but to hold fast to sound doctrine as taught to us by the apostles.
Eph 4:14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
Autumn trees – These false teachers, though they claim fruit, have no leaves, no fruit. They are like autumn trees whose leaves are falling off, instead of spring trees whose leaves are green and whose branches are blooming, producing fruit in the summer. Why are their leaves falling off and they have no fruit? Because they have no root in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. Fruit of the Third Wave is no fruit at all. They love to brag about how many people come forward in their meetings, but it is often the same people over and over again. They don’t come forward to be saved, but for a touch from their latest Christian "guru". They love to post signs about how many have been saved like Brownsville did. Their signs looked just like the "one billion served" signs at MacDonalds. Reinhard Bonnke loves to brag about the millions of people he has saved. But in reality there is no real gospel preached, therefore there can be no fruit. Where people are preaching that all a person has to do is “decide for Jesus, come forward and get slain in the spirit” you will find no one getting saved. They have left out the saving details. Many churches no longer preach about the cross, sin and judgment because that offends people. But if people are not offended by the cross, they cannot be saved.
Galatians 5:11 Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.
Those who preach legalism or anything other than the gospel have gotten rid of the offense of the cross. They are fruitless, leafless trees.
Vs. 13 - They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved for ever.
Wild – They are rebellious. They love to have wild meetings where there is chaos. They touch people on the foreheads and then they fall down backwards laughing, shaking and yelling. Listen to this compiled list of manifestations resulting from the transferable impartation or "anointing" seen at Third Wave meetings:
Laughing, crying, shaking, running around the building, fast dancing, running followed by collapse; barking, howling, trances, drunkenness, falling out, oinking, being "hot", fanning self or blowing, walking like chickens, high pitched whine reminiscent of a lively horse, mooing, crowing, swimming in the spirit-on the back and also breast stroke style, women going through imaginary birth pangs, loss of consciousness, trying to soar like eagles, hissing and moving like a snake, inability to speak, involuntary body spasms, kung fu-like stances, vomiting in the spirit, holy head-banging, and stripping.
Yet the Bible tells us to do everything decently and in order.
1 Corinthians 14:40 But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.
Colossians 2:5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints,
Waves – They are tossed about by every wind of doctrine. They are always changing what they teach and believe to fit in with the latest techniques or prophecy. But they do not teach sound doctrine. They mix truth with error and by doing so they mislead people. The sea and waves are also often a picture of the world in the Bible. Peter took his eyes off of Christ when he was walking on the water and turned them to the wind (spirits) and the waves (the world). False teachers are worldly. They use worldly wisdom and methods instead of biblical ones.
Foaming – Just like foam on the waves they are an endless sources of heretical teachings. In their preacing they send forth a steady barrage of "stream of consciousness" religious cliches they have learned instead of carefully reasoned wisdom from digging deep into the Word of God. Some of the women like Cindy Jacobs and Juanita Bynam have almost lost their voices because they shout the whole time they are on stage. But even though they "foam at the mouth", they are all show but little substance. In fact, they prophesy lies in the name of the Lord. Their judgment is coming.
Shame – They are a shame on Christianity in the face of the world.
"A Gallup Poll reveals that 78 percent of the public believes televangelists are untrustworthy with money, 71 percent say they are dishonest, 67 percent say they are insincere, and 61 percent say they don't care about people." - Quoted in Moody Monthly, December, 1989, p. 72.
They promote shameful manifestations, holy vomiting, and all kinds of other sickening things in the name of Jesus Christ. They have brought shame on what is called Christianity today, just as the Roman Catholic Church brought shame in their killing of many true believers and the Crusades. Ultimately they bring shame on themselves.
Wandering stars – Stars, in the Bible, often refer to angels. In this case it is fallen angels. Do you mean Jude is likening these people to fallen angles (demons) who followed Satan and were cast out of heaven?
Re 12:4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born.
If you don’t serve the Lord Jesus Christ, you are either a witting or unwitting servant of the devil.
1 John 3:8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
1 John 3:10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
This may sound harsh but Jude knows whom false teachers serve. They are really dangerous servants of the devil. They are fallen stars.
Blackness, darkness reserved – The same fate for demons and the unregenerate is also reserved for false teachers, false prophets, false Christs, and false apostles. They may say “Lord, Lord” but the Lord will say “I never knew you. Get away from Me you evildoers.”
Vs 14 & 15 - Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him."
Judgment is coming for those who set themselves up against God by their ungodly acts and words. Enoch was the first prophet, in a sense. He saw the return of Jesus Christ with His saints back at the beginning of the world. We are the ones who will judge the false teachers, the fallen stars. We will be able to see clearly all the people they misled who are going to hell instead of heaven. Their schemes and love of money will be brought into the open for all to see. This is why it is so important for us to try to reach as many as possible today before the judgment comes. We need to try to help people avoid false teachers. We need to try to reason with the false teachers in the hope that a few of them will repent. We certainly need to pray for them. In the last lesson we will see the good practical advice Jude gives us on how we should be reaching out to the lost.
Accredited, Unparalleled Quality, Unmatched Faculty, Tuition-free, Home-study Trinity School Of Apologetics & Theology
Study In Jude
Lesson 5 – Vs. 16-19
Vs. 16 - These men are grumblers and fault-finders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
Grumblers – False teachers grumble against anyone who does not join with them. They call them all kinds of names, intimidating anyone who disagrees. But they only grumble. They don’t know how to argue from the facts or from the Bible. When you try to help them come back to the truth, they accuse you and persecute you. They even curse you as Benny Hinn, John Kilpatrick, Paul Crouch and many others have done. Those who grumble against the saints are really grumbling against the Lord, just as Israel, in grumbling against Moses, was really grumbling against God.
1 Corinthians 10:10 And do not grumble, as some of them did— and were killed by the destroying angel.
Those who argue for the truth and stand up for what is right are not grumblers. They are discerning.
2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Grumblers are those who don’t live in the truth, so they grumble against anyone else.
Fault-finders – When false teachers cannot defend what they are teaching from the Bible, they resort to finding fault with people. They cannot find fault with arguments against them, so they attack the person who is trying to admonish them. Steve Hill called ALL Christians who disagreed with what was going on at Brownsville AG "fault-finders" and "devils". Fault-finders cannot argue with sound doctrine and they choose to ignore the truth when it is pointed out to them. They try to tear people down, backstab, make unfounded accusations, and even curse people to death. True believers argue from the facts and from the Word of God. They are able to stand up for what they believe. Later this kind of “fault-finding” will turn to persecution, lawsuits, jail, and finally murder. It has in the past and it will in the future. Cain tried to lay the blame off on someone else, and it ended in murder. True believers have been persecuted and killed by the millions through the ages for simply standing in the truth. But if we are followers of Christ, we cannot do anything else but take up our cross and follow Christ to death. Certainly we are crucified with Christ in a spiritual sense, but we may also have to follow him to physical death for the truth.
Follow their own evil desires – Those caught up in this new signs and wonders Third Wave movement are more concerned with how they feel than how God "feels" about what they are doing. They are more focused on themselves than others. Meanwhile they run after what God has not told them to run after--namely signs, wonders, miracles, experiences, feelings, and new revelation. Instead of following the promptings of the Holy Spirit within to get away from false teaching and practice, they ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit and follow their old man in the flesh and soul. If they keep on doing this, they will surely wander from the faith. Many false teachers today have wandered from the faith for the love of money.
1 Tim. 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Ultimately, the love of money, fame, power, and experiences can lead people to a shipwrecked and destroyed faith.
1 Tim. 1:18-19 Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.
Boasting about themselves – We see this continually on the TV on TBN and 700 Club. Self-anointed, self-proclaimed prophets and apostles make all kinds of boasts. They say, "We have the anointing and can give it to you". "We are greater than the original apostles." "We could have died for your sins, as we are anointed." They constantly talk about themselves, tell stories about themselves, say they are hearing directly from God in visions and dreams, make healing claims they cannot back up with the facts. Whenever you see people who boast and do religious things in public so that people will think they are holy, you know that you are seeing false religion.
Mark 12:38-40 As he taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely."
Anyone who has seen TBN or the TV shows from the Vatican can see the flowing robes, the important seats, and the lavish decorations. The marketplace of today is the TV. In order to adorn themselves this way, they devour widow’s houses just like they did in Jesus’ day. So many people who watch TBN have sent all their money to these swindlers and end up with nothing in return except the hope that they will be able to pay their bills. I have many emails from people who ended up completely broke supporting people like Benny Hinn and thousands of other false teachers. False teachers make a big show of their long prayers. They even pretend that they know what is wrong with people watching the TV then make a big show out of praying for some ailment they divined by "word of knowledge" such as “a headache”. They know that out of the millions of people watching there are many with headaches and they will get better. Then they turn around and read an unsubstantiated testimony on their program from a letter of someone who's headache went away and use that to raise more money.
Flatter others for their own advantage – One of the biggest tricks of false teachers is to flatter people. Today it is especially done through so-called “prophecy”. They lay hands on people and prophesy something over them that makes them sound important, like God is calling them to be a prophet themselves, or an apostle, or something really important. I had a man prophesy over me that I would raise the dead in Micronesia. Now God can raise the dead, but what purpose would it serve to tell me in advance that it would happen? None, except to make me puffed up with pride. This is typical false prophecy. Beware of it and rebuke those who practice it. Another way they flatter is to get together in unity with anyone, regardless of what they believe. Today the Catholics, Oneness Pentecostals who don’t believe in the Trinity, Third Wavers and others are all getting together to flatter one another. Tomorrow it will be the Muslims, Mormons and others cults getting together with Christians. There is already a move in the Third Wave to try to build bridges with the Muslims on the basis that we supposedly all worship one God. But Allah is not YHWH. Allah has no Son, and Jesus did not die for the sins of the world according to the Quran.
Vs. 17-19 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
Scoffers – I have never seen so many false teachers poking fun at Christians, churches and missions as I do today. They are also scoffing at the truth, the Word of God, by the way they treat it. They teach ideas that are not supported in the Bible. They have a very low view of Scripture, saying that it is “dusty old love letters” and that we need to hear directly from God today out of the air. But the Bible is alive and active and sharp.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
I have a video of a man named John Scotland speaking at the Toronto Blessing church in Toronto, Canada who is clucking like a chicken while attempting to read from the Bible while audience laughs. He is obviously demonized. The head pastor, John Arnott, just sat there and laughed.
Following ungodly desires – We’ve already listed some of the demonic and/or fleshly manifestations in the Third Wave revivals. False teachers are in love with the flesh and the soul. They elevate soul power and fleshly experiences above the Word of God and the Gospel. They live like kings while their followers give them more and more money. They have desires for power and fame and make sure to demonstrate that love every time they get on the stage.
Division – False teachers are the ones who cause division rather than unity in the body of Christ. We already have the unity of the Spirit as believers. We are told to strive for the unity of the Faith. That means unity in the teachings of the apostles.
Eph. 4:12-15 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faithand in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
False teachers take people away from unity in the Faith and replace it with ecumenical unity based on friendship rather than the truth. Then they have the gall to say that those who oppose them are the divisive ones. But who left the truth? Those who leave the truth leave the unity of the Faith. I watched as Brownsville people caused division in the church of Yap and churches in Guam. They took Christians out to follow them from good churches, and they are still doing this in Guam, Saipan, Palau, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae and the Marshalls. Beware of those who say they are for unity but are not really promoting unity of the Faith.
Following natural instincts – Those who search for experiences, who follow their feelings instead of the Bible, are like animals. Animals don’t have much brain power, and just enough instinct to help them survive. False teachers and those who follow them have bought into New Age ideas like "Luke, trust your feelings" from Star Wars. They rely on visions, talking to the dead (necromancy), unproven testimonies, and manifestations outside of the Bible for their truth. Because of that they aren’t really following the Holy Spirit, but have given in to their own flesh and soul and demonic influences.
ALL OF THIS EQUALS - No Spirit
Notice that Jude ends by saying those he is describing do not have the Holy Spirit.
No fruit (not fruits) = no Spirit
John 15:2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
John 15:5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
No truth = no Spirit
1 John 2:4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
1 John 4:6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
No love = no Spirit
Gal. 5:18-25 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Study In Jude
Lesson 6 – Vs. 20-25
Vs. 20 - 23 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
OUR TASK
Build ourselves up in the faith – God will help us build our faith.
Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
He is the author, the One on Whom our faith is built, the Object of our faith. He is our chief example of faith because of His obedience to the Father. He will also perfect our faith as we submit to Him. But we also have a duty to hold on to our faith,
Hebrews 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
We must keep the faith.
1 Timothy 3:9 They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience.
2 Timothy 1:13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
We must persevere in sound doctrine.
1 Timothy 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
We must overcome by faith.
1 John 5:4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
We are to add to our faith.
2 Peter 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge …
We must strengthen our faith by continuing to meet together to study the Word.
Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another— and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
We must be prepared to defend the "faith once for all delivered to the saints".
Philippians 1:16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.
2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Pray in the Spirit – God guides our prayers by the Holy Spirit. We must pray for people who are falling into deception as the Holy Spirit directs, through His Word. We cannot know the hearts of people, but the Holy Spirit knows them all.
Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
It is amazing how, sometimes in prayer, the Lord brings things to our minds to pray about. We then become a partner with God in His work for that individual or situation. We must always continue to pray.
Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
1 John 5:16 If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life.
Keep in God's love - Don't start to hate people who hate you or persecute you.
Luke 6:28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Remember how God rescued you through Jesus Christ when you were deceived and living in sin. Though it is harder to forgive someone who claims to be a Christian and says that you are judging them and persecutes you, still you must learn how to keep in God’s love for them. Remember that we are to reconcile people to God, as Jesus Christ reconciled us to the Father.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
Remember you will "have this conversation again" someday and you will be accountable for the way you handled people who are deceived or who have wandered away from the Faith.
Matthew 12:36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
Wait on the Lord - God has been merciful to you and still may be to them. God is not willing that any should perish. Neither should you be.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Be merciful to those in doubt – This is talking about those in-between. Those who are just being deceived or who are just realizing they have been deceived. The Holy Spirit may be convicting them of their sins. Many people are in-between these days. We must help them to see the truth in love.
Ephesians 4:15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
Snatch others from the fire – Some are almost in the fire, but some are in the fires already. But we still must try to rescue them. They must be taken from fire or they will be burned. They must be told to avoid meetings of false teachers and false prophets.
Mark 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect— if that were possible.
They must be advised to not allow strangers to pray over them. If they have been in the fire for a long time, they may need prayer for deliverance from another spirit. They must be willing to renounce what they have believed and are doing in order to be rescued.
Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
Show mercy mixed with fear – Be careful not to fall into the fire when you are trying to rescue others. Don’t go to their meetings with them just to be friends, even if they beg you. Stay away and get the facts without going to hear false teachers because they are dangerous and can deceive you too. We must still show mercy to those who are in the fire—but mercy mixed with fear, always being aware of the deception, apostasy, and demonism with which they may be involved. Touch not the unclean thing!
2 Corinthians 6:17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you."
This does not mean we fear men or demons if we are in Christ. We are to fear the One who can damn souls to hell. We are to fear God’s judgment if we fall into the fire with them. We must not participate with them in their false teaching, false worship, false anointings. Be aware that there is little hope for false teachers, leaders of the Third Wave. Very few have repented as far as I know. I don’t expect many more will. More are diving into apostasy everyday. Few leaders will come out but the followers still have hope of being saved. So we must not give up in doing what the Lord wants.
Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Psalms 82:4 Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Vs. 24-25 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Jesus Christ is able to keep us from falling into the traps of false doctrine and practice. He is able to bring us to Himself in the Rapture and to give us new clothes of righteousness that will last forever. Only God can do this. Because God is able to rescue us from our own self-deception and the deception of false teachers, we owe Him praise because He deserves all the glory, majesty, power and authority. Remember that God holds all the power and authority over all creation, including death, Hades, the devil and hell. If we hold on to Jesus Christ, He will see us through. Jesus Christ is Almighty God from eternity past to eternity future. We can depend on Him because He is faithful and everlasting.
Tests
A Study Of The Epistle Of Jude
Choose the correct answer
Q1. What is the subject matter of the Epistle
Q2. Why was Jude motivated to abandon the subject in his mind and write on this topic
Q3. Is Jude relevant today. Explain your stand
Q4. What are some general trends today that are identical to the ones addressed by Jude
Q5. Have you had to face any situation that needed the instructions found here
Q6. Give an outline using which you would present a six-hour Bible-study of this epistle
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
We encourage you to use these courses for self-study. However, if you wish to know how we answer these questions, send your answers to Answers@ApologeticsCourses.Com
You must include the following information: Your Name, Course Name, Your Email Address. We will send you the correct answers as soon as we hear from you.
We expect to provide certificates: Certificate In Theology to those who complete 10 courses together, and Diploma In Theology to those who complete 20 courses together. For more information contact us via email.
If Answers@ApologeticsCourses.Com does not work due to any reason, send all mail to calvin@satyam.net.in
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Worldwide Copyright Held By: Sandy Simpson, DeceptionInTheChurch.Com
www.ApologeticsCourses.Com
BiblicalArcheology.Com
IndusTheology.Com
CalvinSchool.Info
Biblical Archeology
Visit The Most Comprehensive FREE Site Tuition-FREE
Online Theology Courses
We offer free apologetics courses, bible course free, online school, bible correspondence, free online Bible school, degrees over the Internet, apologetics ministry, christian resources, christian Faith, creationism, creation science, evangelism, distance education, theoloigical seminary, evangelism, Graduate Degree, bible software, Downloads, study home course, bible correspondence, personality development, will of god, masters thru doctoral degrees, online institute, college without tuition charges, accredited courses, recognized degrees, international council for accrediting alternate and theological studies, international theological university
Brethren Assembly, Exhaustive, Researched Information
Free Online Distance Education Theology Degrees
Free Masters and Doctoral Programs in Theology ![[Kiss]](graemlins/Kiss.gif)
Posts: 771 | From: Belvidere, IL | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged | 
|
Printer-friendly view of this topic
