So far in this study we have looked at some very real and concerning attributes of false teachers. We pointed out that Jude did not take the time to call out these false teachers either because of not knowing who they are or simply because that is not the point he is trying to convey in this letter. What he wants to get across to his audience is that false teachings are very real but also very subtle. The false teacher may be fully engulfed into what they are teaching but they bring in these heretical teachings in a very behind the scenes and subtle fashion. We need to remember that Jude said in Jude vs 4a For certain persons have crept in unnoticed.
The danger is that these false doctrines will be taught without anyone noticing. Most people will have a hard time noticing some of the false doctrines that are in the church simply because they have not searched the Scriptures, they are not in the Bible daily and they are not looking into the Bible any more than a 5th grade Sunday school student will. So with this we have seen Jude expose the defiling and evil nature of these false teachers along with their rebellion against God.
In this study we will continue to see this type of behavior but now we will begin to see the motivation that drives these false teachers to teach these heresies. We have seen a little bit in this concerning doing this for pay but there is more to it than just that. This brings us to look now at our first point for this study.
1.The FEARLESS actions of false teachers.
Look with me at Jude vs.12a that says These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves.
We live in a society not much different than these first century Christians. The worldly viewpoint of being fearless would have been looked at as courageous and something to strive for. They had games much like the Olympics where they would compete for a prize. It wasn’t the weak that would compete in these games but the strong and the fearless. So for many people to think of being fearless this would bring some type of honor.
But the fearlessness we see in our text is not a good type of fearless action. In fact I believe this exposes the seared conscience of the false teacher. If someone robs a bank or kills someone then they live in fear of getting caught. Maybe someone that has seemed to got away with it for sometime might lose a little bit of that fear but the thing is that the fear is still there.
Jude says that these false teachers are those that do not have this type of fear. Look again with me at Jude 12a that says These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear.
To set up a better understanding of the significance of what Jude says we need to know what this love feasts he speaks of here. These were fellowship meals where the Christians would gather together simply for fellowship and socializing. This would be equivalent to a fellowship meal we may have in our time as well that is simply set up just for gathering together as a church to eat and socialize.
With that understanding we see that these false teachers did not hesitate to gather with these Christians. In fact these were people that could be easily liked by others and even a part of the hierarchy of the church. Jude says they are hidden reefs in your love feasts.
This again is not speaking of their physical absence but rather that their doctrine and the way they live is like a hidden reef. A hidden reef would be just under the surface of the water, unseen but setting up a ship to be damaged and destroyed. These false teachers are in the congregation, they are in the church ready and waiting for unsuspecting Christians to come along and be shipwrecked because of their teachings. They are dangerous but Jude also says that they do this without fear.
As I already mentioned this shows the true status of their conscience. 1 Timothy 4:1-3 says But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by the hypocrisy of liars, who have been seared in their own conscience, 3 who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God created to be shared in with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
These false teachers have seared their own conscience because their motivation is selfish. Jude continues to say that they do all of this caring for themselves. They do not hope to help others, they do not care if they harm you in some way because their motivation is selfish by nature. Their lack of fear shows to us that they have no fear of God.
This again shows to us that these false teacher are not just in error but they are not even Christians. Psalm 36:1 says Transgression declares to the ungodly within his heart; There is no dread of God before his eyes.
Romans 3:18 says There is no fear of God before their eyes.
These false teachers clearly have no fear of God and no fear of man. They will live to follow their own path and take others with them if they can. But we must be warned of their deception and we must recognize that what they have to offer is empty. This leads us to look at that very idea in our next point.
2.The FRUITLESSNESS actions of false teachers.
Look with me at Jude vs.12a with our focus on the second part of the verse. It says These are the men who are 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.
Now we see clearly some analogies that points directly to the fact that the false teachers are empty and fruitless. In other words what they say may sound good to the ears but in reality it offers nothing good. Could you imagine being in a drought, needing rain and seeing a cloud. This would bring hope and promise of rain. But then that cloud comes and never produces anything. It was empty and deceptive. I know that there has been times when we were in drought in the summer and the forecast called for rain but we never saw any. The false teacher looks good, sounds good but their words are empty of anything good.
Remember the false teacher may not produce good but they are producing something that is not good. 2 Peter 2:17-19 says it like this, These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been kept. 18 For speaking out arrogant words of vanity, they entice by sensual lusts of the flesh, those who barely escape from the ones who conducted themselves in error, 19 promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.
These false teachers not only are driven by their own desires but they are driving themselves and others into a life that is lived out in the flesh. They do not help spiritual growth but they hinder people from being able to live for God.
Jude continues by saying that they are like autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted. This description shows us that these false teachers are not connected to the life giving root. They are fruitless, useless and therefore uprooted. Jesus says in John 15:2a Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; then also Jesus says in John 15:6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned; these words from our Lord connect to our text showing the reality of these false teachers once again. They are not of God and they do not produce fruit that is of God.
Jude speaks of them as trees that are doubly dead. I think this is a clear connection to the judgement that will come on them. They not only will suffer physical death but they will suffer for eternity. This takes us back to what Jude said in Jude vs 7 where he says they are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
We continue to expose these false teachers by showing their evil and rebellious action and now we will look at one last negative attribute of these false teachers in our last point for this study.
3.The FIERCE actions of false teachers.
Look with me at Jude vs.13 it says (These are the men who are) wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.
These analogies both go deep into the lack of morality that these false teachers really have. They may play the hypocrite and look good outwardly but in reality they have no moral compass. They will do anything to spread their agenda which shows the fierce nature of these false teachers. It isn’t that they are fierce in an act of rage but fierce in the sense of untamed in their morality. They do not want to play by the rules. There are entire movements in our time that has set out to deconstruct the church. They want the church to bow to social agendas, they want the church to go against everything the Bible says to meet their wants and they want to throw the Bible out completely so they can rewrite the rules.
With this in mind we must also remember that this will still be subtle. I think when we place the word fierce or untamed as someone’s actions then we look at these people as bold, brash and in your face type of people. But this untamed attitude is still done subtly. They bend the rules, they do things behind the scenes and they pull people into their immorality. Jude describes these people as wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam.
The Thayer Greek Lexicon records that the Greek word for casting up like foam is epaphrizó (ep-af-rid’-zo) that describes a person that is impelled by their restless passions, they unblushingly exhibit, in word and deed, their base and abandoned spirit.
The fact is they are not scared for people to know what they are doing because they are getting what they want. They want fame, they chase after it, they want money, they chase it, anything they want they chase it and it becomes visible to those that pay attention to it.
Jude also says they are wandering stars. This could be a reference to meteors which are sometimes called running stars. The analogy is that they are inconsistent, dim and constantly moving. The false teacher’s doctrines are ever changing to the culture and are built on inconsistencies. Remember what Jude said back in verse 3b, he said, I felt the necessity to write to you exhorting that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.
The faith we have in the true Gospel does not change. We are all sinners in need of a Savior. If we do not have a Savior then we will spend our eternity in eternal damnation but as we know from Galatians 4:4-7 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
These false teachers look to turn the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ as Jude says in verse 4b so we must be aware of their deceptive ways. The fact is that these false teachers and any false teacher will see the destruction of their own life for eternity. They may win popularity, they may seem to have a personality that is likeable and they may have all the worldly wealth but in reality Jude says in Jude vs.13b that they are those for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.
Jesus says in the Parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22:13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The result of their disobedience, the result of their rebellion, the result of their pride and arrogance, the result of their blasphemy against God, the result of their selfish actions will be utter darkness. There will be no light of the glory of God in Hell. There will be no goodness, no good feelings or happiness. This darkness is associated with the feeling of despair. There is no hope for the sinner in Hell and these false teachers will not be seen as someone that just made a mistake in their theology but rather people that defied God and lived for self instead of the Savior. James 3:1 says Do not, many of you, become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment.
A person that places themselves as a teacher places themselves as a person that is able to teach because of the knowledge they have. If they see error then they correct it. Sadly many false teachers never do that. They remain in their error because of their inability to remove their pride to accept their error.
Sadly many people have fallen into the trap of following false teachers or believing unbiblical principles because a preacher taught them that way. I hope that these studies are helping us to understand that we need to look carefully at who we are listening to or sitting under weekly. It isn’t that we are looking for interpretation differences or difference in how people do ministry but we need to look at the people that we are following and see if they are committed to the Bible no matter if they are slandered, persecuted or canceled by the culture. Beware of false teachers and look to lead people to God and not those that turn away for Biblical principles.
Disciple's Direction 