We'll be reading today from Jude chapter 1 verses
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.