Threats Inside The Church - Jude 12-13

We'll be reading today from Jude chapter 1 verses

Jude 1:12

12 and 13, verses 12 and 13. These are the men

who are the hidden reefs in your love feasts,

when they feast with you without fear, caring

for themselves. Clouds without water carried

along by winds. autumn trees without fruit, doubly

dead uprooted, wild waves of the sea, casting

up their own shame like foam, wandering stars

for whom the black darkness has been reserved

forever. Let's pray. Father, I come before you.

Lord, I ask for help this morning. Lord, I ask

that your Holy Spirit would fill me and humble

me that I am able to speak these words. Lord,

I ask that your Holy Spirit would guide me as

I preach this text. Lord, we know that your word

is living, that it is powerful, that it does

not return void. Lord, we know that your word,

that is your word. Lord, today I ask that you

would open the hearts and the minds. of the men,

women, and children that hear that living and

powerful word. Open their hearts to hear the

truth of your word and what it is you have to

say to them this morning. Father, I ask that

you would be glorified today in all that is said

and all that is done and all that is thought

today. I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

So we are going to pick back up in the epistle

of Jude. I've preached three sermons prior to

this in the book of Jude. And so leading up to

verse... 12, where we will start picking up today,

I just want to do a brief review of the book

and what we've seen in this book so far up to

this point so that there's some continuity in

thought here. So in verses 1 through 2 of the

book of Jude, we see the author and we see the

recipients of this book. We see that he is writing

to those who are the called, the beloved of,

in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ.

In verses 3 through 4, we see the purpose of

this small book. We see the call for these believers

of this church to contend earnestly for the faith

which was once for all. delivered to the saints,

we see that Jude really wanted to write about

the common salvation that he shares with these

believers. He wanted to write a good and a strong

and encouraging and supportive letter, but he

felt the necessity because there was something

so grave taking place in this church. He felt

compelled to write them a different kind of letter

calling them to contend. to fight, to stand up

for the faith, for the gospel of our Lord Jesus

Christ. We also see the danger presented in verses

3 -4. We see, for certain persons have crept

in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand

marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons.

who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness

and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

So this is the danger. The danger is these men

who have crept into the church. They're the ones

that are threatening. This is why he felt so

compelled and the necessity to write to them

in such a strong manner. In verses 5 -7, he uses

examples. We see that he uses unbelieving Israel.

He uses rebellious angels. He uses Sodom and

Gomorrah. And then at the end of verse 7, he

says, they are exhibited as an example in undergoing

the punishment of eternal fire. Then he connects

verses 8 -10 to verses 5 -7. And he shows that

the man in this church, The men of the character

which he describes so in depth, they will suffer

the same fate as unbelieving Israel and as the

rebellious angels and as Sodom and Gomorrah.

Destruction and judgment will come upon them.

Then we see in verse 11, he calls down a curse

from a heaven essentially. He says, woe to them.

And then he says they've gone the way of Cain.

They have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam.

They've perished in the rebellion of Korah. So

leading up to our text today, we can see that

Jude has spent a great majority of his time and

his effort in this book describing who these

men are. describing what they are like, their

character, describing them. He has shown us their

depravity and their sinfulness, their corruption,

the state and the condition of their hearts.

He has shown us their destruction and their judgment.

He has shown us their character. Think about

what he has shown us so far in verses 4 through

11. He has shown us this picture of these men

who are wicked. This picture of these men who

love their sin. These men who defile themselves.

And he's presented this picture of these men

to us. But we cannot forget that these men that

he's talking about, that he's shown us this picture

of, they are not these men that are far removed.

and distant from the church of Jesus Christ.

He shows us in verse 4, he says that they have

crept in unnoticed. In. Where is the in? It is

in the church. These men, they're not out there.

He says they're in here. They're not outside

the church threatening the church. They're inside

the church threatening the church. So we can't

forget that. That is the whole point of our text

today. This text today in verses 12 through 13,

it shows us and Jude is telling us what it looks

like, what it looks like to have unrepentant,

sinful, professing, Christians among the fellowship

of the Christian body of Christ. That's what

he's showing us today in verses 12 -13. He is

saying, those who twist the grace of God, they're

inside. Those who deny our only Master and Lord,

Jesus Christ, they're among you. They are with

you. That's why in verse 12 he says, in your

love feasts. And that's why he says, when they

feast with you, they are among the fellowship.

They are in the fellowship. So when I worked

out... a Christian trade school for many years,

occasionally we would have students that would

have drug relapses or different things. They'd

have issues they'd have to deal with. And so

my office and the offices of the school were

located about three blocks north of Cox North

Hospital in Springfield. Now, Cox North, it was

a nice location. It was right off the Drury property,

Drury University. On the third floor of that

property, there was a mental section of the hospital.

And so there were always cases of people breaking

out. And so I had dozens of students that had

mental disorders and struggles. And so occasionally

our students would relapse, or in order to prevent

themselves from relapsing, they would check themselves

into the psychiatric ward of Cox North Hospital.

So near the end of my time there, I had to go

up and visit one of my students who was in the

psychiatric ward of Cox North Hospital. Leading

up to that, you know, I'd had dozens of conversations

with students about these things. We talked about

issues they dealt with and they faced. I had

conversations with co -workers and other people

in that field about these issues that people

face. But it was a whole other thing. When I

went on the third floor and they unlocked the

door and I walked through, And I was there. There

were people in their room with the door open

in a straitjacket. People screaming. It was a

whole other thing. Rather than just talking about

it, being there and being among them, it was

different. The hair on my neck raised. I wasn't

used to this. I wasn't comfortable. I wasn't

a normal thing for me. And so when Jude says

that these men, which he has talked about and

he's presented and he has portrayed, when he

says these men are with you, they are in your

midst and you are among them, they are among

you, they are in your fellowship, that should

make our eyes open real wide, shouldn't it? This

church, they should be thinking they're with

us. It changes the whole atmosphere of that.

It changes the whole setting, knowing that those

individuals are with them, eating with them in

their love feasts. So as I examine this text

in verses 12 through 13, I'm going to approach

it in four different points. The first is the

danger to the fellowship. The fellowship of the

believers. Second is the occasion of the fellowship.

Thirdly is the pretenders in the fellowship.

And fourthly, the caution for the fellowship.

The caution for the fellowship. So first, the

danger to the fellowship. When Jude says these

men are among the fellowship and they are with

them in their love feast, he calls them hidden

reefs. Hidden reefs. Now, mariners are people

who are out on ships and they were on the ocean.

They knew very well what hidden reefs were. And

they knew what could come about as a result of

striking or coming into contact with these reefs.

They were hard to see, especially at night. The

waves were going up and the waves were going

down. You didn't know where they were at. I think

they probably had a general idea at times for

well -worn paths and routes. But the danger was

there, but they were hard to pinpoint. They were

hard to see. But if a ship came into contact

with a reef, a hidden reef, then the potential

for the entire ship to crash, to wreck, to be

destroyed, to be injured was there. It could

potentially do some serious harm to that ship.

And so he says, these men that are in your fellowship,

they are hidden reefs. They are dangerous to

your church. They are dangerous to your fellowship

in your church. So what kind of danger? Well,

it's subtle. It's hidden. You don't see it. It's

not blatant. It's not open on the surface. They're

hiding it to an extent. In verse 4 it says they

crept in what? Unnoticed. So in the context,

one of the wonderful things about a small book

like Jude is that the entire book plays a major

part, more than normal, in the context of what

your verse is saying because they're so close

to what everything else in the book is saying.

So in verse 4, we see that there's a danger that

they twist grace. You can sin. It's okay. God

is gracious. They twist grace. That's a danger

for a church. In verse 16, we see that they are...

They're speaking arrogantly and flattering people

for the sake of gaining an advantage. They're

seeking to gain an advantage within this church.

Now, many people believe that these were leaders

and teachers in the church. I'm not totally convinced

of that. I don't think that they were in leadership

just yet, but I think they were trying to get

into leadership at this church. So they were

seeking to take advantage of the people of God.

to gain an advantage for themselves. We see in

verse 19 that these are the ones who cause divisions.

We see in verse 23 that there is the potential

for pollution of believers, meaning sin polluting

their purity. So these men are presenting the

danger of polluting the purity of Christians

in this church. We see in verse 24, nearing the

benediction, now to him who is able to keep you

from stumbling. Why would he say that God is

able to keep you from stumbling if there was

not the danger of stumbling? So there's the danger

that these men are causing Christians in the

fellowship to stumble in their walk with the

Lord Jesus Christ. Disharmony in their fellowship.

These men, they're real, and they are dangerous

in this church. They present a very real danger

to this church. They are a threat. They could

harm Christ's bride severely. So number two,

not just the danger to the fellowship, but what

was the occasion of this specific fellowship?

Why were they gathering? Why were they together?

We could refer to the whole church as a whole

and talk about that as the fellowship of God's

people and Christian unity and Christian fellowship,

but there's something even more specific in this

text. It's talking about something unique. And

he says love feasts. Love feasts. Or a love festival

or a love gathering. So what this was, there's

a couple different lines of thought on what the

love feast was. Through church history, we see

writings referring to these. They're referred

to as different things. Most people into the

second century thought this was a meal. or a

fellowship meal, very much like the meal we're

going to have after church today. But they would

open it and close it with prayer and singing

songs. And then during that time, they would

be in a very prayerful state because directly

following that meal, they would take the Lord's

Supper. They would go to the Lord's table. And

so many people think that the, not that many

people, but some people think that the love feasts

were directly correlated with the Lord's Supper.

But most likely, and I think that church history

testifies to this reality, it was just a fellowship

meal where the church intentionally and proactively

expressed brotherly and Christian love to one

another, where they fellowshiped and they centered

around the love of Christ and what Christ has

done. So this fellowship, this love feast, that's

what we're going to approach it as in this text,

a fellowship meal. where Christians get together

and they love and they encourage and they challenge

and they convict and they spur along one another

in their faith, loving one another because of

what Christ has done. After all, Jude does use

the term beloved so often in this book. You are

the called, the beloved in God the Father. So

the occasion is the love feast. Now a lot of

times in these love feasts, they would also,

the richer members of the church would bring

more food to ensure that the poorer members of

the church had plenty and had an occasional nice

meal that they could expect with their church

body. So they were not there. particularly to

eat. The emphasis of the love feast was not on

the feasting aspect, but it was on the loving

aspect of the fellowship. The feast, the meal,

in and of itself, it was a means. to gather God's

people into a time of encouragement and loving

fellowship. It wasn't that they were calling

God's people together and to feast and to gorge

themselves and to feed themselves. That was not

the purpose. The purpose was the people. The

purpose was the fellowship, the unity, the brotherly

love. That was the purpose of the love feast.

And that is what Jude is. Touching on here when

he says, these are the men who are hidden reefs

in your love feasts. When they feast with you

without fear. So we see the danger to the fellowship.

We see the occasion for the fellowship. Now we

see the pretenders, these men, which this book

touches on so often. We see the pretenders in

the fellowship. First we see their emphasized

activity. And I chose those words very particularly.

There's one activity in particular that this

text emphasizes that these pretenders, that these

men were doing at this fellowship gathering.

What does it say? Hidden reefs in your love feast

when they what? When they feast. That is a different

word than he just used in that sentence. He changes

the word completely. So when he refers to feast

the second time as to what these pretenders are

doing, their activity among the fellowship, He

is saying that they are there and they are feasting

on the food in a very haughty and a reviling

way. It's in a sort, think of Herod, the great

we see in the Gospels. We know from history he

was an extravagant man. He liked his food. He

had his food brought to him on large silver platters.

He was fancy. He reveled and he always had entertainment

when he had food. That's what this is talking

about. Entertainment and indulging in pleasure

and seeking the food for the pleasure that it

gave them. Being satisfied in the food alone.

So that was what they were emphasizing. It's

interesting, it doesn't say that they were loving.

It says that they were feasting. They were feasting,

and that is the activity which the text presents.

It wants to shine the light brightly on so that

we can see that is what they were doing. Next

we see their... irreverent and at ease attitude

while they're in the fellowship. We see the way

they were feasting, the way they were in the

fellowship. What was it? It was without fear.

Without fear. These men were among the people

of God. They were feasting. They were there.

They were not fearful for their souls. They were

not fearful for the condition or the state of

their salvation. They were not there with a reverent

awe of who God is and what He has done and the

fact that they are beloved in God the Father.

They are at ease among the people of God without

fear. They have no respect for the work of what

Christ Jesus has done to bring that fellowship

together. They have no respect for the fact that

God killed his own son on the cross. They are

taking advantage. of the church of Christ. They're

using the church. They're at ease. They're simply

there to fill their bellies and have a good time

and to enjoy themselves. They are not there with

an intentional and meaningful and purposeful

walk intending to edify and to build up and to

encourage and to support God's people. They are

there without fear. Finally, we see their selfish

motivation of these pretenders. Why were they

doing what they were doing? Why were these people

Why were they doing it without fear? Why were

they even in the midst of this fellowship? Why

were they doing it? What was their goal? What

was their motivation? What was driving them forward

in life as they were deceiving the people of

God? They were there caring for themselves. Some

translations say they were shepherding themselves.

They were ministering, they were caring, they

were nourishing themselves. What drove them to

do what they did among God's people was not God's

people. It was themselves. The motivating factor

in their life for their behavior, for their attitude,

for their desires, for their wishes in life,

It was not to encourage and support and lift

up and edify God's people, to glorify God and

to magnify His Son. Their goal was to care and

take care of themselves. Their purpose, their

motivation was themselves. It was inward facing.

So we see their selfish motivation. Finally,

we see a caution for the fellowship that these

men are in. Now this is a really difficult text.

In verses 12 -13, whenever he starts using this

metaphorical language, metaphors are really hard

when you're interpreting a passage because you

want to be sure that you do not over -spiritualize

what they're saying. You want to take them for

face value and the most simple meaning, don't

put too much into it. And so it's really hard

to determine the exact purpose that Jude had

in using these four metaphors. One author said

that he ransacked land, sea, sky, and ocean to

show the spiritual emptiness of these men. And

so we see... that he uses land, sea, sky, and

water in these. So looking at these metaphors

first, we see they are clouds without water carried

along by winds. Now, I know there are people

in this room who love rain. There are people

in this room who absolutely adore rain. And when

they see those clouds rolling in, They are very

hopeful. They are very hopeful that water is

going to pour out of them onto their fields.

But the point of this metaphor is this. Though

those clouds should rain and give refreshing

showers, they don't. They don't do what they're

supposed to. They're empty. They're void of rain.

They're empty. It's a cloud, but it's a useless

cloud. Second, we see autumn trees. Autumn trees

without fruit. That's strange. Autumn trees,

that's when it's supposed to have this bountiful

harvest. Autumn is supposed to be the time when

you get the most fruit. Why are they unfruitful

in autumn? There's no fruit. There's something

wrong. So we see autumn trees without fruit,

doubly dead, uprooted. So now that the trees

do not bear fruit when they are supposed to bear

fruit, the owner of the tree, rips them out of

the ground and burns them because they're useless.

They're of no use. So we have a tree that doesn't

bear fruit and a tree that's ripped up and burned

because there's no use for it. It's no good.

It feeds nobody. It gives nourishment to no one.

Then we see wild waves of the sea. casting up

their own shame like foam. Now this metaphor

is a little tricky because he mixes in a moral

quality, shame, with the physical usage of this

metaphor. So it's tricky. The emphasis is on

the foam, the shame coming to the surface. So

have you guys ever seen foam in an ocean? on

the beach, I was looking at this. It's crazy.

I mean, it's like, it's crazy. It's this thick,

it's almost like really dense bubbles. But if

the ocean is clean in this area and the foam

washes up on the shore, then the foam is going

to be fairly clean. If the ocean is nasty, dirty,

or muddy, or there's debris and there's junk

everywhere, then the foam on the shores, it's

going to be filthy. And everybody's going to

be able to see it. If you walk on that beach,

you'll get it on you. If you want to go swim

in that ocean, you are bound to get that dirty,

yucky foam on you. So we have... Not clean foam

washing up as a result of these crashing waves,

but we have dirty foam that's filled with these

men's shame. Their shame because of their sinfulness.

And then finally, we see wandering stars for

whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.

The emphasis is on the wondering. The wondering.

Now, when we see a star in the night sky, we

look up. I'm sure there's some kids in here that

can answer this. When we look up and we see a

star in the night sky, is it bouncing around

all over the place and going over there and coming

back? No, it's right. That's exactly right. It

is fixed in one place, isn't it? It's not moving.

And it's bright and it's shining. So if I wanted

to go out into the woods and get lost and I saw

a star and I knew that was the right star, I

could find my way home. I can navigate based

on that star. But if a star is wandering and

it is never still, it's never in its fixed position,

I could not navigate. I could not make a single

decision based off that because it's always moving.

It's unreliable. It's unreliable. So in all of

these four metaphors, we see that there is the

appearance of the object, but it's not doing

what it's supposed to be doing. We see a star,

but it's wandering. We see waves that should

have clean foam, but they have dirty, yucky foam.

We see trees that should have fruit, but they

don't have fruit. We see clouds that should have

refreshing rain pouring out of them, but they

don't. They're barren. They're empty. There's

nothing in them. They're dry. They're barren.

And that's exactly what these men in this church,

in this fellowship are like. They have the appearance

of the Christian faith. They have the form of

godliness. But there's no substance. There's

no content within them. There's no power. There's

no life within them. They are deader than a doornail,

and they're saying they're Christians. That's

what's taking place in this text. So what can

you and I... Today, in 2018, what can we learn

from this text? How do we apply this to our life?

First, I think it's very important that every

single one of us, myself included, we constantly

examine our own life. To make sure there's not

just the appearance of Christianity and that

there is always the substance and the reality

of Christianity in our own soul. We're not just

walking the walk and talking the talk, but is

there life and passion in your soul? Is there

conviction within you? Do you fight sin? Do you

grow? Do you have struggles? But the grace of

God holds you up. So for each of us to examine

ourselves, to make sure we don't have the appearance

or an outer shell, but there's no life or content

or substance within us. I think that when Jude

gives us four metaphors, And in looking at this,

if we go to verse 19, there's a reason that they're

empty shells because they're devoid of the Spirit.

The Spirit of God is not in them. Is the Spirit

of God at work in your soul, sanctifying you,

growing you, challenging you, changing you, transforming

you from one degree of glory to the next degree

of glory? Is the Spirit of God at work? And do

you know that you have the Spirit of God? Does

your spirit testify with the Spirit of God that

you are a child of God? Every single one of us

need to examine ourselves on a regular basis

to see as to whether we are in the faith or not.

That's a biblical instruction. Let us look at

our souls and see if we are healthy. I think

the second way that we can apply this to our

lives is to realize that there's always been,

within God's people and God's church, there's

always been Christians and there's always been

professing Christians. There's a difference.

There are those who are regenerate and born again

and there are those who say they are regenerate

and born again and have made a confession. but

they're empty shells. That won't change until

the Lord Jesus returns. So let us preach the

gospel. Let us look to ourselves. Let us realize

that there have always been true, genuine, sincere,

born -again, blood -blot Christians, and then

there's always been those who have been professing

Christians. It shows us the absolute necessity

for... purity within the church, within church

membership and within a church body to be regenerate,

to show fruit in our life. So thirdly, there

is a proper attitude for Christian fellowship.

If these men were condemned, and criticized for

feasting and for being among the people of God

without fear, then that means that they should

have been doing it with fear. So there is an

appropriate and there is a proper attitude for

every single one of us to fellowship with other

Christian believers. Every single one of us needs

to realize the... that Christ did on behalf of

that person that you are fellowshipping with.

That we should do it in a joyful yet sober manner.

Enjoying the company of the other person but

not letting it become pointless. Making it meaningful.

And I'll talk a little bit more about that in

a second. And fourthly, fellowship is not about

the food. It's about the people. No joke, I have

fallen into that. You know, I go... We've got

our Thanksgiving fellowship this coming Sunday

night or this coming Saturday night. I'm so pumped.

There's so much good food. I'm so excited to

get that pie and to get that dessert. But that's

not what it's really about. Fellowshiping with

the people of God is about the people of God

and glorifying Christ in our relationships with

them. That's what it's about. Finally, the goal

of Christian fellowship is to care for others.

These men were criticized and condemned because

they cared for themselves. They cared for themselves.

So I don't think that it's an accident that we

have a fellowship meal directly following this.

My challenge for all of us today as Christians

in a fellowship is to fellowship more concerned

with the other person you're talking about and

to make it meaningful and impactful. Ask yourself,

what's going on in their life? What's taking

place in their soul? How can I encourage them?

How can I lift them up? How can I spur them along

in their Christian walk? You know, so many times

I will leave a fellowship meal after talking

with godly men and godly women. And I will leave

there and I will feel convicted in my soul. I

will feel inadequate and insufficient. because

I've been so challenged by what they have said

and what they have told me at that fellowship

mill. I've been challenged in areas where I'm

weak. I've been challenged in areas where I struggle

because of fellowshipping with other Christians.

That's what fellowship is designed for. Growth.

It's designed for us circling around and centering

upon the Lord Jesus Christ. My plea for us today

and for every believer, born -again Christian

believer, is that when you fellowship with other

Christian believers, that it wouldn't just be

the reality that you are in the same building

as them and there is a certain proximity between

you and them. but that it would be a relationship

between you and them where you seek to edify

them and they seek to edify you. You realize

that this person is somebody that Jesus died

on the cross for. That you would encourage them

and support them and help them to grow.