“Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing”
A Sermon Series in Jude
“Contend For the Faith”
Jude vv. 1-4
Introduction
One of my favorite movies of all time is the 1982 classic Thing.[1] “It tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter the eponymous “Thing”, an extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates, other organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other and that any of them could be the Thing.”
The most dangerous threats to the church is not from the outside. Persecution and attacks toward the church have shown generation after generation to only make the church stronger. Without those attacks, the church grows complacent, lazy, and selfish – but even worse than that, is the threat of false teachers from within. 1&2 Peter deal with very similar content (false teachers), and are written in future tense (they will come), but Jude is written in the present tense (they are here).
He is not focused on the exact teachings of the false doctrine, but he is focused on what the false doctrine is producing withing the church. They are exhibiting a “godless lifestyle” and in this short book, he refers to their ungodly lifestyle six times (vv. 4, 15, 18). So, the teachers he is referring to is not so much their words, but as Jesus says, “you will know them by their fruits” (Matt. 7:16, 20).
It is their character that gives them authority in the congregation. So Jude is stripping away their authority by showing their ungodly behavior. They should have no influence on the church, because their actions betray them.
Jesus warned the church that these false teachers would come, Matthew 7:15-20 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
Paul warned the church that these false teachers would come, Acts 20:29-31 “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.”
If we fast forward to the book of revelation, in the opening chapters seven churches are discussed and only two remained completely faithful. The others had fallen into doctrinal error which led to moral consequences.
False teaching leads to moral compromise.
Correct doctrine leads toward righteous living.
Prayer
A Confrontation is Coming – Fear Not (vv. 1-2)
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Jude, the author was one of four of Jesus’ brothers. None of the brothers believed in Jesus as the Messiah until after the resurrection, in which all four became followers[2]. So even though he is the brother of Jesus, he refers to himself as “a servant of Jesus, and brother of James.” He went from being an unbeliever to being a bondservant of Christ. Jude, according to 1 Corinthians 9:5 was married and had an itinerant ministry as an evangelist. He is writing to a Jewish Christian audience, who we will see, have a deep understanding and background in OT writings and teachings.
He is about get into how we should contend and fight for our faith, but before he gets into the fight and jump into the struggle Jude reminds them of three reasons not to fear this coming battle: They are 1. called, 2. loved, 3. kept and they are 4. blessed with mercy, peace, and love.
Four Reasons Not to Fear the Coming Confrontation
- (v. 1b) “To those who are called,” – This is a personal selection, set apart and chosen. While we were “dead in our trespasses and sin” Jesus called us to salvation, 2 Timothy 1:8-9 “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,” Believers can rest in the security of that calling to salvation because it is not based on what we have done, but what Christ has done on our behalf.
2. (v. 1c) “beloved in God the Father,” – love is a choice and God chose to love us, Romans 5:8 says, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” There is nothing we can do to make God love us more than He loves us right now. There is nothing we can do to make Him love us any less, either. He does not love us because we are valuable or worthy. We are valuable and worthy because God loves us.
God has proven His love for those who have placed their faith in Jesus. It is a love that is eternal, infinite, and completely secure. Romans 8:38-39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
- (v. 1d) “kept[3] for Jesus Christ,” – the word used here means “to observe, pay attention to, keep under guard, maintain,” so a better translation would be, “kept by” Jesus Christ. Jesus stands guard over our salvation. John 10:27-30 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
Jesus secured our salvation by His death on the cross, and the Father approved this sacrifice by raising Him from the dead, and He currently sits at the right hand of the Father ruling and reining over all of creation – no one can take salvation from you because it is kept by Jesus.
Can a person lose their salvation? Although the apostate knows the truth, he or she has never acted upon it. Jude wants the believer to feel the security and peace the promise of God provides. Jude begins the book by saying, “who have been called, who are loved, by the Father, and kept by Jesus Christ.” He also concludes the book by reminding us that the Lord “is able to keep you from falling, and to present you before His glorious presence without fault with great joy (v. 24). Apostates are not saved; they have not lost their salvation; they never had it.[4]
- (v. 2) “May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.” – “Jude’s prayer is that his audience would continually enjoy the Lord’s blessing, no matter how difficult the spiritual battle might become.”[5] God gives mercy continually, and the result of knowing our sin is forgiven brings us peace. But this is not a rest from fighting, but instead is peace in the midst of conflict. The Holy Spirit pours God’s love into the believer’s heart – so Jude prays that the love of God be multiplied upon the church.
A Confrontation is Coming – Fight For the Truth (vv. 3-4)
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in[6] unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
“Jude had originally planned to write a positive letter, celebrating the great truths of the “common salvation” that he shared with his readers (v. 3). But the alarming news that false teachers had invaded the congregations to which he wrote, threatening that salvation truth (v. 4), compelled him to change his plans.”[7] When Jude says, “I found it necessary to write,” he means that there was a heavy burden upon his heart to address the false teachers within the church. This is how it is in church sometimes, we want to focus on one thing, but certain realities force us to focus on other things.
For Jude, he felt a heavy burden on his heart to warn the church of what are called apostates. Apostacy is a “turning away from the truth, . . “one who has received light but not life.” Apostates claim to be Christians but they are not. Nor are they simply unbelievers, they know the truth but do not act upon it.” They perform an inside job and are tools of the enemy to destroy the foundation of the church even though they themselves may be blind to this reality.
Judas is a perfect example of an apostate – He had light, but he did not have life. He claimed to be a believer. For three-and-half years he was one of the twelve disciples. Jesus knew he was an apostate, but the disciples surely did not. But eventually fell away – and he sat at Jesus’ feet. Jude was written to expose apostates and show us that we must, “contend for the faith.”[8]
(v. 3b) “contend for the faith” – the faith that Jude is referring to is, “that was once for all delivered to the saints.” Through the Holy Spirit, God revealed the Christian faith to the apostles and their New Testament writings and the Old Testament Scriptures make up the “true knowledge” of Jesus Christ. The Bible is all believers need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). We don’t stumble upon God’s Word – He specifically and with finality inspired, through revelation gave the apostles the Word of God. This revelation is complete (Rev. 22:18-19).
The attack on truth began as early as the Garden of Eden, where Satan tries to get Eve to doubt God’s Word by saying, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” and on through the generations, the father of lies attacks the truth of God’s Word. One strategy for the Enemy to attack the foundations of our faith, and to cause churches to crumble from within, is to send in apostates to churches.
(v. 4) “For certain people have crept in unnoticed,” – 2 Peter 2:1 puts it like this, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies,” The purpose of these false teachers is to sneak in destructive false teachings that will lead the sheep away from the Good Shepherd. Everyone can probably name a dangerous false teacher outside the church, but those within the church are much harder to identify (because they are creeping, doing it secretly, unnoticed).
“Satan always sows in tares among the wheat (Matt. 13:24-30), raising up false brethren whom he disguises as messengers of truth (2 Cor. 11:14).”[9]
So How Do We Identify These False Teachers?
Jude references two groups found within the church, the “Beloved” and “the ungodly” which he later calls “those people” (vv. 8, 10, 12, 16, & 19). “They are a group of people who are a secret part of the Beloved. This secret group are characterized as being ungodly people who reject authority, do what they please, and speak in a manner which leads to arguments, division, murmuring, and speaking against God. This group takes advantage of God’s grace and forgiveness as well as they position themselves within the Christian community to lead others to live a life that is lacking in godliness, purity, and self-control.”[10]
(v. 4) They are “. . . ungodly people,”— These are people who play at being religious but have no genuine fear of God, or love for Him.[11] They claim to be teachers but they betray those that follow them by their shockingly immoral and unethical ways. Their sinful character undermines their authority. There is an irreverence about them.
“. . . who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality . . .” – “The verb pervert has the sense of changing something from one thing to another, alerting its very nature.”[12] They turn grace into sensuality, unrestrained vice, indecency. They are using grace as a license to sin.
“. . . and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” – Jude uses several titles in reference to Jesus; Master, Lord, and Christ – They all deal with sovereignty and submission. The ungodly, perverters of grace, deny Jesus because they do not submit to His authority, or God’s Word, in their lives. They are in control, they do what they want (specifically into sensuality). Titus 1:6 puts it like this, “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works.” Apostates know God’s Word, they may even teach it, but they do not do what it says, they do not submit to it.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ Is Jesus the Lord of your life: Is He your Master (Jude refers to himself as a slave of Christ)?” The people in this passage think they are doing God’s work (look what we did for you), but when God sees the work they are doing he calls them, “workers of lawlessness.” The apostate thinks they are doing God’s work, but they have been deceived by the enemy, because the whole time they went to church, taught a class, served on committees, etc, they never knew God – and Jude shows us that they are used by the enemy to corrode the church from within.
Are you growing to become more like Christ? Is holiness, purity, and spiritual growth something you see in your life?
Do you use God’s grace as an excuse to continue in sin?
Do you submit yourself to God’s authority, specifically His Word, in your life? God’s Word says it, do you do it?
________________
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thing_(1982_film)
[2] John 7:5; Acts 1:14
[3] “continually kept,” it is in the present tense, which indicates past completed action that has continuing results.
[4] Hawkins, 12.
[5] MacArthur, 154.
[6] Inveiglers “a word that dates from the 16th century, refers to the act of using clever talk, trickery, or flattery either to persuade somebody to do something or to obtain something, but etymologically the word is linked to eyesight—or the lack thereof. Inveigle came to English from the Anglo-French verb enveegler, meaning “to blind or hoodwink someone,” from the adjective enveugle, meaning “blind.” Enveugle derives from the Medieval Latin ab oculis, a phrase which literally translates to “lacking eyes.”
[7] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, 2 Peter & Jude (Chicago, Illinois; Moody Publishing, 2005) 144.
[8] O. S. Hawkins, In Sheep’s Clothing, Jude’s Urgent Warning about Apostacy in the Church (Neptune, New Jersey; Loizeaux Publishing, 1994) 11.
[9] MacArthur, 159.
[10] Ruth Anne Reese, The Two Horizons New Testament Commentary, 2 Peter & Jude (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007) 24.
[11] See Matt. 23:25; 1 Tim. 6:5; 2 Tim. 3:5; Titus 1:6.
[12] Matthew S. Harmon, ESV Expository Commentary, Volume XII (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2018) 509.
