Yet we still see the apostasy running throughout the church as Jude warned us about so many centuries ago. The key verses today are some harsh language from Jude about who these people are. First of all, they are blemishes at our love feasts. The language used here actually refers to them as dangerous reefs which can tear open the bottom of a ship. What perfect imagery. Or faith and beliefs are the ship in which we run this course in life. It protects us from the dangerous waters in the world which seek to drown us. False and heretical teaching is like a reef that rips open the bottom of what we believe in. The water from the world starts to seep into what we believe, contaminating it. If we allow too much of it in, our faith starts to erode. Our thinking becomes distorted. Eventually, we can slip back into the waters of the world and find the waves crashing over our heads.
Jude continues to describe these people as having no qualms about eating with us. They do not feel the conviction they should if they had the spirit of God in them. Instead, they believe they are correct in what they say or have no conscience about it. How many Christian leaders do we see each day that seemingly fall into this category? You can convince yourself God is in anything if you do not bother to check the fruit.
"A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. Luke 6: 43-44 (NLT)
If your undertaking is an effort of God, then the fruit will be plentiful and obvious. If you leave people hurt in your wake, divide the body of Christ, or need to do things in secret then the fruit reveals the tree is rotten. Jude continues to say that these false teachers are shepherds that only feed themselves; a most odious charge. Shepherds are entrusted with a flock. They are expected to care for, nurture, and tend to the flock. That is why Pastors have been called shepherds. But the false leader does not care if there are flock members missing or hurt. The false leader will not leave the 99 to search for the one as Jesus taught. Their concern is only for their own well being according to this verse from Jude.
False teachers are like clouds without rain, in other words they lack true purpose. Another way we can view this is that they are deceptive. When ones sees a cloud, one might reasonably expect rain. Think of rain as the accurate Gospel. What else does rain provide? Rain provides refreshment. It also renews life and enhances growth for living things. One cannot survive without water. Plants cannot survive with rain. The deception is that we come to the cloud of false teaching expecting to be refreshed. Expecting to be renewed and grow. We come expecting to thrive but in the end there is no rain. There is no refreshment. There is no renewal. Like a withering plant we start to starve without the rain and dry up spiritually.
In similar style, Jude continues that they are like twice dead trees bearing no fruit in the autumn and uprooted. Strong word pictures for false teachers and would-be prophets. Autumn is the time of harvest. It is the time when trees, whose purpose is to bear fruit, should be bearing fruit! Again, an unmet reasonable expectation. False teaching does not care about fruit. Its goals and purposes are not to glorify God. Besides being fruitless, the trees are uprooted. They have no solid base from which draw anything good. The roots of a tree convey the nutrients and the life sustaining matters the tree needs. Without the roots firmly in the ground, the tree will of course die. Without a believer's faith firmly rooted in the correct Gospel of Jesus Christ, their faith will die.
The final two admonishments from Jude are that these people who infect our churches are like wild foaming waves and wandering stars. The wild foaming waves are showy and proud. They do not care if people see them they want to be seen. But only by men not God! They seek the accolades of men, not God. They seek reward in this life, not in heaven. Lastly, they are wandering stars. For centuries untold men have used the stars for reference points and guidance. Similarly, the Word of God is meant to be our main reference point and guidance. But if the star is wandering than it provides no direction or a false direction. That is what these false teachers do. They lead people astray and because of their wickedness, God has reserved for them the blackest darkness forever.
False teaching is a subject God takes very seriously. It is a matter of eternal life and death. This is how serious God takes it:
