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Mr. Archer is going to try his best to stretch the book of Jude into a condemnation of false teachers. However, Jude does not mention false teachers. Jude tells us about "certain men," and it's quite a list. But there's nothing in the list about false teachers. These men
- have secretly slipped in
- are godless
- are immoral
- deny Jesus as Lord
- are dreamers who pollute their own bodies
- reject authority
- slander celestial beings
- speak abusively
- are unreasoning
- have taken the way of Cain
- have rushed for profit into Balaam's error
- have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion
- are blemishes at love feasts
- are shepherds who feed only themselves
- are clouds without rain
- are trees without fruit, and uprooted
- are wild waves foaming up shame
- are wandering stars
- are boasters and flatterers
- are scoffers who follow ungodly desires
- are divisive
- follow natural instincts
- do not have the Holy Spirit
The closest Jude comes is to describe these infiltrators as teachers is when he describes them as shepherds who feed only themselves. However, a shepherd is a tender of the flock, an elder or overseer:
1Pe. 5:1-3 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow-elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
Teachers are not shepherds are not prophets:
Ep. 4:11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers...
Mr. Archer really wants this to be about false teachers. Badly. Though it is possible these men may have been teaching, Jude does not tell us this. It was not what Jude was condemning.
As an aside, we wonder if Mr. Archer is reading the same material as we are reading. He makes many assertions about what Jude writes, but very few of them are true.
(...)
In the spiritual world, Jesus called false teachers wolves in sheep’s clothing. (After a largely irrelevant introduction [which we redacted], the author finally moves to biblical matters. His first claim is undocumented, and in fact it is false. The verse to which he refers, but does not manage to quote until much later, is Mt. 7:15:
Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
We should just let the reader see for himself why Mr. Archer is wrong and move on. However, because of our exacting nature, we cannot resist pointing out that this verse refers to false prophets, not false teachers.
Mr. Archer will make this error repeatedly.)
3 MORE WAYS TO IDENTIFY WOLVES DRESSED AS SHEPHERDS
1. PICTURES OF FAILED PROMISES
Jude 12-13 These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
This is the quintessence of false teachers:
1. Hidden reefs at your love feast: A love feast is a meal believers share with other believers, like communion. A hidden reef is dangerous because it is invisible. You expect clear sailing until suddenly you hit the reef, spring a leak and are in peril of sinking. These false teachers give you a false sense of security, that leads to spiritual shipwreck.
2. Shepherds feeding themselves: The sheep feel safe because they think they have a shepherd to feed them. But these shepherds aren’t feeding the flock, they are fleecing the flock. Jude has made the point before that they are in ministry for what they can get out of it.
3. Waterless clouds: In a parched land when you see clouds coming you hope for rain. If there is no rain you’re disappointed by the false promise. False teachers promise you financial blessing and health, wealth, and prosperity. And it seems to be working for them, but you never quite get your slice of the pie.
4. Fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted: In the very time a tree should be producing its fruit, it comes up empty and fruitless, doubly dead, and uprooted, unable to make fruit now or ever. Another huge disappointment.
5. Wild waves making foam: Like when the waitress pours you a large glass of Coke and then walks away. As the foam settles you are left with half a glass of Coke. False teachers people talk up a storm, but there is no substance to their promises.
6. Wandering stars: When a sailor navigates at night, he may pick a star in the direction he is heading. But what if the star he happened to pick was actually a comet that was slowly wandering across the sky. The sailor would end up somewhere completely unexpected.
So, why do people follow false teachers? Because of the promises the make:
Health, wealth, prosperity.
No one you love will end up in hell.
Come as you are, God doesn’t expect you to give up your sin.
Worship God in the way you want, like Cain, and God will accept it.
Don’t trust preachers who claim God talks to them, they are making promises that will result in devastating disappointment.
2. PROPHECIES OF FIERCE PUNISHMENT
Jude 14- 15 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 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.”
This Enoch is a fascinating character that we read about in Genesis 5. God took him to heaven before he died. Here Jude quotes from a book which supposedly recorded the things Enoch had said, this book is not in the Bible but apparently was widely known– so Jude is saying – everyone knows that judgment is coming – even non-inspired writings foresee this eventuality.
It’s like saying “Ecclesiastes teaches that you can never feel fulfilled in this life, and even the Rolling Stones knew that when Mick Jagger confessed, ‘I can’t get no satisfaction.’”
As a footnote, I believe though that this quote was actually a prophecy made by Enoch. The Holy Spirit wanted it in the Bible, which is why he led Jude to include it.
3. PERSONALITIES OF FALSE PREACHERS
Jude 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
Don’t feel sorry for these people. They are not clumsy Labrador puppies that chew your slippers, they are wolves that are eyeing your jugular.
In case you get confused between who the wolves and the sheep are, who the slightly off-the-mark pastor is and who the deliberately deceptive false teacher is … you can tell them by their behavior and attitudes.
Matthew 7: 15-20 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits… A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit… Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
We can spot false teachers by their ungodliness. And when you see this behavior in a spiritual leader, don’t excuse it or ignore it.
There is an important corollary to the identification of wolves: that you don’t mistakenly label someone a wolf just because they disagree with you. I’m not warning you against people who worship differently, or have different beliefs about end times, or election, or creation, or who describe their experiences with God in more mystical terms
I am warning you against people who present you with information contrary to the Scripture that effects salvation.
I am warning you against those who say that your baptism or your good works will save you, that there is no hell or that God will save anyone who is sincere, even if they reject Jesus on earth. These people are hidden reefs, clouds without water, fruitless trees, and wandering stars. If you follow them you will be devastatingly disappointed on judgment day.
The teachings of false teachers may be popular and palatable, but they undermine the very nature of the gospel.
Next time we learn how to stay safe from prowling wolves.
Jude wants to warn you that if you consider false teachers to be harmless you might let your guard down. (Jude never discusses this. Rather, He tells us to contend for the faith once delivered, which means his purpose is to caution his readers to stay true even in the face of false believers infiltrating.)
Jude warns that it is a deadly mistake for a Christian to be one who dances with wolves.
Last week Jude warned us against the wonky worship of false teachers, (It is not our desire to critique two articles at once. However, we do need to point out some things to the reader.
Last week Jude warned us against the wonky worship of false teachers, (It is not our desire to critique two articles at once. However, we do need to point out some things to the reader.
Mr. Archer mystifies us with this claim. Jude is a short book, only 25 verses. We can read it easily in less than a minute. Worship is simply not a concept presented. The closest Jude comes is the brief mention of Cain in Jude 11: They have taken the way of Cain...
Apparently Cain's offering was rejected worship, according to Mr. Archer. But in actual fact, sacrifice in the OT was not particularly for worship, it was for the atonement of sin.
But the worst assertion is "the worship of false teachers." Mr. Archer makes this up out of thin air.
So, Mr. Archer does not set up his presentation very well.)
today we see
3 MORE WAYS TO IDENTIFY WOLVES DRESSED AS SHEPHERDS
1. PICTURES OF FAILED PROMISES
Jude 12-13 These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
This is the quintessence of false teachers:
they make confident assertions about what they say God revealed to them, but those promises are completely hit-and-miss because God didn’t reveal it to them. In these two verses Jude walks us through a gallery of six pictures of failed promises.
1. Hidden reefs at your love feast: A love feast is a meal believers share with other believers, like communion. A hidden reef is dangerous because it is invisible. You expect clear sailing until suddenly you hit the reef, spring a leak and are in peril of sinking. These false teachers give you a false sense of security, that leads to spiritual shipwreck.
2. Shepherds feeding themselves: The sheep feel safe because they think they have a shepherd to feed them. But these shepherds aren’t feeding the flock, they are fleecing the flock. Jude has made the point before that they are in ministry for what they can get out of it.
3. Waterless clouds: In a parched land when you see clouds coming you hope for rain. If there is no rain you’re disappointed by the false promise. False teachers promise you financial blessing and health, wealth, and prosperity. And it seems to be working for them, but you never quite get your slice of the pie.
4. Fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted: In the very time a tree should be producing its fruit, it comes up empty and fruitless, doubly dead, and uprooted, unable to make fruit now or ever. Another huge disappointment.
5. Wild waves making foam: Like when the waitress pours you a large glass of Coke and then walks away. As the foam settles you are left with half a glass of Coke. False teachers people talk up a storm, but there is no substance to their promises.
6. Wandering stars: When a sailor navigates at night, he may pick a star in the direction he is heading. But what if the star he happened to pick was actually a comet that was slowly wandering across the sky. The sailor would end up somewhere completely unexpected.
So, why do people follow false teachers? Because of the promises the make:
Health, wealth, prosperity.
No one you love will end up in hell.
Come as you are, God doesn’t expect you to give up your sin.
Worship God in the way you want, like Cain, and God will accept it.
Don’t trust preachers who claim God talks to them, they are making promises that will result in devastating disappointment.
2. PROPHECIES OF FIERCE PUNISHMENT
Jude 14- 15 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 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.”
This Enoch is a fascinating character that we read about in Genesis 5. God took him to heaven before he died. Here Jude quotes from a book which supposedly recorded the things Enoch had said, this book is not in the Bible but apparently was widely known– so Jude is saying – everyone knows that judgment is coming – even non-inspired writings foresee this eventuality.
It’s like saying “Ecclesiastes teaches that you can never feel fulfilled in this life, and even the Rolling Stones knew that when Mick Jagger confessed, ‘I can’t get no satisfaction.’”
As a footnote, I believe though that this quote was actually a prophecy made by Enoch. The Holy Spirit wanted it in the Bible, which is why he led Jude to include it.
3. PERSONALITIES OF FALSE PREACHERS
Jude 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
Don’t feel sorry for these people. They are not clumsy Labrador puppies that chew your slippers, they are wolves that are eyeing your jugular.
In case you get confused between who the wolves and the sheep are, who the slightly off-the-mark pastor is and who the deliberately deceptive false teacher is … you can tell them by their behavior and attitudes.
Matthew 7: 15-20 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits… A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit… Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
We can spot false teachers by their ungodliness. And when you see this behavior in a spiritual leader, don’t excuse it or ignore it.
There is an important corollary to the identification of wolves: that you don’t mistakenly label someone a wolf just because they disagree with you. I’m not warning you against people who worship differently, or have different beliefs about end times, or election, or creation, or who describe their experiences with God in more mystical terms
I am warning you against people who present you with information contrary to the Scripture that effects salvation.
I am warning you against those who say that your baptism or your good works will save you, that there is no hell or that God will save anyone who is sincere, even if they reject Jesus on earth. These people are hidden reefs, clouds without water, fruitless trees, and wandering stars. If you follow them you will be devastatingly disappointed on judgment day.
The teachings of false teachers may be popular and palatable, but they undermine the very nature of the gospel.
Next time we learn how to stay safe from prowling wolves.
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