We all have heard the song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
In this song we hear lyrics like “In every life we have some trouble, But when you worry you make it double”
And lyrics like, “Now listen to what I said, in your life expect some trouble, When you worry you make it double, But don’t worry, be happy, be happy now.”
There is a lot of truth to this song. When we worry we make ourselves miserable and those around us too.
It is also true in the case of a believer over these false teachers and those who creep in.
Worrying will do us no good. It will only cause us to frustrate ourselves and others. It will make us not be able to reach those who are deceived or being deceived.
Worry will make us frantic and become reactionaries instead of methodical and decisive in what we say.
We will allow the worries of the world overshadow what we are here to do.
We must not worry but remain faithful. We must stay strong in our faith in the Lord and trust Him in every situation regardless what is happening.
This is what we see in this part of this short book of Jude.
In the text we read…
14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. 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. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
Jude 14–21 ESV
We see that we should not be surprised about those who have came in and are deceiving people. We see that the judgment of the ungodly is sure. Those people are wicked and cause grief but knowing their judgment is certain frees us up to not condemn them but allow God to do so. It allows us to share the truth with them and causes us to desire to share the truth with them because we know what awaits them.
When we remember the Lord’s word we know that these people were predicted to be here. This gives us comfort knowing that the word is true and correct.
Because of this we can build up our faith in the Lord because He is true and certain when everything else seems to be falling apart.
Judgment is Sure (14-16)
You may find this comment about Enoch strange. Who was Enoch you may be asking?
Well, Enoch was just who Jude says he was and Jude is quoting a section of a writing attributed to Enoch. He did the same when speaking about Michael and the devil disputing over the body of Moses.
These statements are taking literature that is not biblical to show that the same judgment they speak of is the same one the prophets and apostles speak of.
Simply, everyone who knows God knows that what these people are doing will face judgment.
So this leads to God Judges the Ungodly Because It Is Their Destiny (vs. 14-15).
First we see that these judgments will befall all who are ungodly.
No one who is ungodly will escape judgment. Those who think they are living right will one day be judged by the Lord.
All of them will be convicted of their ungodliness.
This means not one will go without charge. We see the courts failing regularly in America because of loopholes, in this judgment there will be no such thing. Every ungodly work will be convicted.
Every hard and ungodly thing spoken against God will be judged.
This means that all their words and actions will be charged against them.
This is like in courts now. When one is arrested they are told they have the right to remain silent because anything they say can and will be used against them in the court of law. This is what is happening here. Everything they have done and said will be charged against them by the perfect Judge who has perfect records and who cannot be bribed.
So who are those who are ungodly?
We see who the ungodly are in verse 16. They are
Those that complain without shame.
They grumble and complain about everything because nothing is right. These are those who cause strife and bitterness to grow in the church or any group of people. Malcontents are nothing more than those who complain. They are not content with anything. They must change everything in the world to what they see as the right and good. They will delete history and anything else that proves what they believe is wrong. They move in and through fits about everything. Nothing is right to them except to cause division.
They cater to the sensual.
This one is of the utmost important because everything in the world these days seems to be pointed at sexuality. You make up who you are, you decide whether you are a boy, girl, or something else. You decide to kill the baby in the womb because it is your right. This is the lust of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life again. These people will attack all that is sacred and right because they want convenience and what they want.
They charm the simple. (Arrogant and boasting)
These same people make false promises and guarantees that cannot be fulfilled. They take advantage of all who allow them to do so. They move in and swoop in to those who may be struggling. They do not care who the people are as long as they can get their agenda across. They will do whatever it takes and nothing is below them to make it happen.
On December 22, 2008, Bernie Madoff was arrested for operating the biggest Ponzi scheme in history. The former NASDAQ chairman had spent nearly fifty years building his business and his brand, but for much of that time, Madoff had been providing a fake product and promising investors amazing returns. What they didn’t realize was that Madoff only delivered these “returns” by getting new clients to invest with him and using their investment dollars to provide the illusion of amazing returns for his longer-term clients. Prosecutors estimated that Madoff defrauded his 4,800 clients of $64.8 billion dollars. The ripple effects of his arrest and freezing of his assets spread throughout the financial world and forced some businesses and philanthropic organizations to shut their doors. In the same way, the ungodly offer amazing promises—freedom, purpose, meaning, and pleasure. In the end, however, all they deliver is spiritual bankruptcy.
We see these people in the world everyday doing things to deceive people. We also see them in the church and they are causing much division. This is why we must…
Remember God’s Word (17-19)
In doing this we expect these divisive people. We expect to find them in situations. This helps us to be better prepared to defend the faith. To be better at standing up for the truth. Jude affirms by saying that the Lord and apostles have told us that we have many warnings in the Word of these people coming.
The fact that we have them should not surprise us. We should know and we should be able to spot them.
Just like the Secret Service in their training on currency, they spend so much time studying the real thing that when a fake appears they know it instinctively. There is no guess but they know.
We should be able to spot the fakes just like that too. We had ample warning from other Scripture.
Paul spoke of those who would deceive in the latter times in 1 Tim. 4:1-5 and 2 Tim. 3:1-5 and in 2 Tim. 4:3-4.
These are just some of the warnings. We see more in Peter’s writings and John’s. So Jude is just reiterating what has already been said. That…
The presence of false teachers is certain (17-18).
They will be here and they will have influence. They will creep in and cause massive problems. But we must be able to spot them and allow the Lord to rebuke them. He has told us what many will be like above but he gives us more evidence in…
The portrait of false teachers is clear (18-19).
They are scoffers (vs. 18).
These people will mock God and what the Word says. We see this regularly with people who deny the one man and one woman design God created.
Anytime man says what God said is right is wrong, this is mocking God. Anytime man decides to alter what God’s word says because they do not like the hard facts, this is mocking God.
Mocking/scoffing God is not always making fun of or ridiculing, it can be denying what is true and right. They do all of this because they want to follow their ungodly desires and passions.
We are at feelings ruling again. When we allow our feelings to rule we will never be settled on anything.
Like Greg Koukl, a Christian apologist has said, “When I wake up in the morning I am an atheist. After one cup of coffee I am an agnostic. After two cups I am a Christian again.”
Feelings will lead us down the wrong aisle and we will never be certain of anything. Also, when we do this we are worldly people.
That is what these people are. They are of this world and live for this world because they do not believe in another world beyond this one.
This is it to them. This is all there is and since it is then we must be made to live it up and do what we want too, right?
They are sensual and schismatic(vs. 18-19).
Why not fully enjoy what God, or the universe, or cosmic christ, or whatever it is they say, gave us? Let us do what we want and with whoever we want. Nothing will stop us. If so let us just force people to be tolerant of us by being intolerant of them and get laws in effect that allow us to do whatever we want and will punish all who oppose.
If you become pregnant, just abort it. There is nothing wrong with that. It is the inalienable right of all women, they say. Nothing is sacred or good with them. They do not have the Spirit and they live for the spirit of the age. This is their ungodly passions being fulfilled and their desires being put on full display.
They are Spiritless (vs. 19).
These people live for the Spirit of the age. They live for what is right in their own eyes. They have no king just as we read about the time of the Judges in the book of Judges.
They are like Erysichthon, an ancient king. This pride-filled man ordered his servants to cut down a sacred grove devoted to the goddess Demeter. When the servants came to a great oak tree, hung around with wreaths devoted to Demeter, they refused to cut the tree down. Erysichthon took up an axe and did it himself. The goddess, in return, cursed him. Since Erysichthon was so hungry for his own glory, the goddess afflicted Erysichthon with an insatiable hunger for food. In fact, the more he ate, the more hunger he felt. In the end, Erysichthon ate himself. Likewise, pride and rebellion are two attitudes that can never be satisfied and always, in the end, consume themselves.
There is no future for these people and that is sad. Yet, there can be if we will live our faith and live for the Lord more and more. That is why we must…
Build up Our Faith (20-21)
When we do this we will not worry. We will stand strong and live a life that shows truth. We will live in a manner that draws people to the Lord because they see we are loving, kind, generous, and patient.
We can only do this if we
Grow in the Scriptures, Through praying in the Holy Spirit (20).
When we pray in the Spirit and seek His guidance He will guide us through the word and illuminate what it says. He is our guide into truth. Jesus told us that in John 16:13
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
This is how we build up our faith. We go back and we implant the word of God in our hearts. This is how we will also be able to remember what was said and written before about those false teachers and believers. We can be able to detect them like the secret service does counterfeit money. By this we can counter the counterfeits.
Keep ourselves in the love of God the Father (21).
When we seek to grow in the Word we will be working on keeping ourselves in the love of God. The word “keep” means to keep in watchful care. This means we are keeping an eye on ourselves and staying focused on the Lord and not the world.
When we focus on the world and wickedness we will become depressed and grumpy. We will begin to doubt that God loves those people too and we must seek to take Christ to them. They are His creation and made in His image as much as you and I, and when we keep a watchful eye on ourselves that we keep in the fathers love, we will love them and not despise them.
Remember that Michael did not even rebuke the devil but said the Lord rebuke you. That is what we must do. When we decide to rebuke the world with what we say instead of what God has said, we will run them off and not show love and compassion. Remember we win and the ungodly lose. This should drive us to reach them with the truth rather than hate and despise them. We are just waiting on this time. And while we wait we
Watch for the Savior (21).
The wicked and evilness of this world will not go on and on forever. It will end eventually and Jesus will return and he will reign and vanquish all evil and wickedness.
When we know this it will go into you deep and cause you to go and take Christ to many. To share Him and pray they will believe because they have only a limited time before that judgment comes.
We live our lives daily on this hope and knowledge that He is coming again. We have this so do not let the world bring you down and wreck you. Instead go into the world and wreck the world with the love of Jesus Christ and salvation through Him alone.
Conclusion
In Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo. We see early in this story, Jean Valjean has had plenty of encounters with “justice” and “judgment.” In some ways, he seems to be a man who feels his entire life is under the weight of condemnation. Eventually, he becomes like an animal, with no regard for life and no respect for himself or others. It is not a word of judgment or condemnation that turns this hardened criminal into a reformed leader and compassionate benefactor. It is one simple act of extravagant love by a village priest. The man embraces Valjean in the midst of a crime, forgives him for an assault, and, with love, unlocks the prison that Valjean has inhabited inside his own skin. As believers, we need to remember the power of love and grace to break a rebel heart.
The world thinks they know what is love and what is right. If we just go and tell them that it is wrong and they are wrong they will rebel and rebuke us.
We must be full of the love of the Lord and the truth and know the truth if we are ever going to be able to help turn those rebels and help them unlock the prison they have placed themselves in.
