Monday 26 September 2016

Jude#10 But, Beloved... v17-19

What we find repeated in Jude's epistle is that these false teachers are driven by natural instincts, not by the Spirit.  How can we be sure we are not deceived and are actually a false believer / teacher?  A while ago I did some writing on evidence you are saved  and this can be helpful.  The KJV is better with this:

17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

Jude used the words 'beloved' as the true children of God.  The recognition here is that a believer has been called out of this world and been made to 'love God back.'  This is a reality for all who believe and something we can enjoy through our lives.  Isn't it amazing that right now other are also called and chosen to walk as God's children!  The challenge to me is to address my self as this and then others.  As in Jude#1, It was observed that Jude writes to those called and loved by the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.  This is intent from God!  He wants to call you, love you and keep you!  This is also true of other believers.  Selah.

Homework time !

It is my observation that Jude knew he was writing to saints through the ages.  In verse 17 he addresses 'beloved' but in verse 20 he seems to be pointed towards 'you, beloved' meaning his actual readership at the time.  Jude wants us, who are in the last days, to remember what the apostles taught. That invitation is reiterated by most of the epistles.  Happy reading...

Rank and Defile...

 Verse 19 is of interest because the idea here is that these people divide the flock.  In the first 10 years of walking with Jesus and denominations, I heard the idea of division being where people in unity eventually split apart.  This does happen but the main reason for this is a different kind of division.  The division that occurs when rank appears among the brothers and sisters devastates God's people.  If we examine church splits and factions it usually has some brothers or sisters who don't feel they have been treated well.  If we pick that apart isn't it the case that the causes are around lack of recognition, importance, significance, resource, all things that the western psyche calls valuable? It is indeed natural instinct that settles to rank and file, not the Spirit who chases us down until we die the deaths we need to.  

It's what we can see today!

It is here Jude ends the slamming of false teachers and begins to encourage the believers.  This is something the Church has not fully grasped.  So what we see is the array of pseudo Churches whose doctrines are modern day versions of all that has gone before in Jude's time.  Western Christianity follows its natural instinct, choosing sensuality and inch-deep-revivals instead of ditching ease for the sake of Christ.  Jude, under the inspiration of the Lord, was fervently jealous for the beloved.  

'Lord give me the balance and grace to contend for the faith.'

Gary Ward









Monday 19 September 2016

Jude#9 Who is your Preacher?

Verses 17, 18 and 19 is Jude telling us that the Apostles have spoken:

17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

It is not popular today, but the Apostles are our 'ground zero' for God's truth.  In Acts the people devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching and the Lord added to their number (Acts 42-47).  Yet today we look to the one on the platform to deliver 'God's word.'  It is my observation that God's word has been spoken and authenticated and it is that word we must deliver.

Jude repeats several times in his epistle that the false brethren / teachers follow their own natural desires.  They are divisive and don't have the Spirit of God.  When a person has really come to the Lord in contrition and genuinely given themselves over to his hand, they are led by the Spirit.  Of course everyone falls, trips and stumbles along the way but if a person has a continual intent to serve their flesh and follow their own instincts I would question their true position in Christ.

Its happening now!

To me the vital component of these verses is the phrase 'in the last days.'  Jude, like Jesus and the other contributors of the New Testament cite 'the last days' as being a concentrated time of this phenomena.   The lighter application is usually cited followed by 'but in the last days...'  a 'heavier' application.  This way of speaking or writing was a Rabbinical component first recorded by Rabbi Hillel, the grandfather of Rabbi Gamaliel, Paul's tutor.  To unpack 'Kal Vachomer' would take us from this subject but even for a novice in Hebrew like myself it is useful to identify repeated devices used in the Bible.  What we do find is that there is a phenomena where the Apostles all has a sense of the last days being full of false teachers and the like.

'Follow my leader...'

We all have some Bible teachers that we admire and feel their ministry is of use. One additional phenomena in the last days is chasing after preachers who only speak what you want to hear.  2 Tim 4:3 is clear that people will desire to be facilitated by the false teachers.  So the onus is not just on the false teachers but also those who swallow and follow their doctrine.   The hearers are also predisposed towards entertainment, novelty, words that make them feel good instead of the Gospel that challenges to the core.

'It's ok... their hearts are right!'

Jude tells us in no uncertain terms that false teachers hearts are NOT right.  God does look at the heart but sometimes He finds a heart not right.  If we speak out of the abundance of the heart and it is not scriptural then ipso facto, their hearts are not right.  Beware compromising over false teachers because 'some' of what they say is right.  Jude has absolutely slammed the preachers you may be hooked into.

Who is your Preacher?



Gary Ward



Thursday 15 September 2016

Jude#8 Enoch said WHAT? v 15-16

As we push on through the epistle of Jude we come to a reference to 'Enoch.'

 14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

Jude wants us to know that the Enoch he is referring to was the actual one who was taken by God.  This was the first 'harpazo,' 'snatching away' we find in scripture.  It is a type of Elijah's removal, Jesus ascension and the removal of the true ekklesia at the resurrection.  So we don't get confused about where this prophesy comes from, it is not from what is referred to as today's 'Book of Enoch.'  Just to confuse matters the Dead Sea Scrolls do have similar writings probably recorded by the Essenes at Qumran.  Today's book of Enoch may provide some interesting reading, as do most pseudepigraphical writings but are not inspired Holy Scripture.   

The Lord comes to Judge

Still, the real Enoch prophesied this!  The holy ones are either believers or angels.  It is the Lord who judges and this is Jude's point as he continues to slam the false brethren.  I sway towards Jesus accompaniment to be resurrected saints.  This is consistent with the return of Christ with the believers who have their resurrection bodies.  The first thing to happen is the tribulation survivors are judged as 'sheep' and 'goats.'  The sheep go on to live in the Millennial reign and the saints govern them with Jesus as King of the world.

The emphasis on 'ungodly'

I am comforted that Enoch specifies that the sinning, speeches, acts, are all ungodly in nature.  This is not applicable to the believers who still may have times when they don't walk well.   Judgement is not coming to the repentant believer who comes to the Lord in contrition.  Godly people get it wrong. Jude quotes Enoch who is specifically earmarking the ungodly who are unrepentant and defiant.  

What do you long for?

Verse 16 offers further descriptions of what to expect from these false teachers / brethren.  They bear the marks of the unregenerate, wilfully self-orientated heart.  An interesting Greek word for 'lusts' here is 'epithumea' which is better phrased 'longings.'  Their longings are to be at an advantage over others, in a better position and will flatter others while marketing self.  To me this speaks of today's false teachers whose message is to tell people they are alright (flattery) instead of delivering the Gospel, which is a sword to the heart.  They also market self presenting as an example of God's prosperity- supposed 'blessing.'   Don't forget all this was spoken about in the first century.  It is not a new thing.  What is a new thing is believers who are impressed by the fake and inspired by the counterfeit.  Jude says 'contend' while the majority of Christendom seeks to be 'content.'

Gary Ward









Wednesday 14 September 2016

Jude#7 Biblically describing false teachers v12

Jude describes the false teachers that have slipped in among believers in verse 12.  In doing so he is using characteristics of other scriptural examples and applying them to his description.  Anyone studying the Jewish ways of thinking /writing would call it 'Midrash.'  Simply put, well known themes in the Old Testament are extracted to make a point.  Jude is a prime example of using phrases that explode into a mind map so we see his point. Let's look at verse 12

 12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea,foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

Jude begins by affirming the practice of ekklesia ('church') as eating a meal together.  If the 'love feast' was not ekklesia but 'any old meal' then we could say, 'so what! False teachers eat things. What's the crime?'  Jude is saying that the false teachers take part in the covenant meal, unashamedly.  The covenant meal was the 'this do...' Jesus commanded and is for believers.  It is eaten together as a remembrance of Jesus' completed work and his return.  That they eat with believers is identifying with them...  Jude has already pointed out the anathema (4-7) of them even being alongside the true children of God.  Then the descriptions begin:

'Shepherds who only feed themselves'
God appoints shepherds to feed the 'flock.' These are the genuine God-equipped facilitators who have been sent to spiritually feed believers.  The false teachers may have an element of data to share among the believers but the true motive is to relish in the position and the benefits of status.  Jude confirms this later in verse 16.   The ekklesia love feast was seen as a physical action of a spiritual principle.  We partake of the shared food as we all partake of the shared bread of life... Jesus Christ (John 6:35). False teachers are all about their marketing of self.

'Clouds without rain, blown along by the wind'

Jude wants us to recall Proverbs 25:14 - 'Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of his gifts falsely.'  The idea here is that a cloud can be seen yet not deliver what one would expect from a cloud.  So is the false teacher:  You can physically see the 'teacher' but what is delivered is not the expected sound Biblical teaching.  To further explore the scriptural meanings some have used 'rain' to mean the outpouring of God's grace  and 'wind's' to mean 'spirits.'  It is also the case that clouds used in scripture are directed by God i.e. the cloud like a fist in Elijah's day.  False teachers appear to be legitimate but fail to deliver God's agenda.

'Autumn trees, without fruit, uprooted and twice dead'

Trees in scripture often reference people, and people- trees.  The Cedars of Lebanon is an example and the blind man healed saw people like 'trees.'  But these trees are like the Autumn trees that have no fruit.  Fruit is the marks of God's life issuing forth into the world.  The false teachers have none, but not only that!  We must turn to Psalm 1 to find a tree planted by streams of water.  Its root would be in the stream and feeding from it.  Jude tells us the false teachers are uprooted, not feeding from their source and twice dead.  Twice dead refers to the first and second death unbelievers experience.  believers may die once but escape the second death because of the completed work of Calvary.   False teachers do not show Godly fruit, their only use, like a dead tree, is for firewood!  

'Wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame'

When we come across wild waves we can go to several places.  Immediately  reference the storm that squalled while Jesus was asleep in the boat.  I also think of Psalm 77 when Asaph likens his inner turbulence to the raging seas.  I'm also thinking of the flood waters.  All these involve raging waves and the false teachers are intent on capsizing the faith of others.  Psalm 23 states that the Lord leads us beside still waters and a leader would be seeking the fellow brother or sister to be sourced in Jesus, the prince of peace.  Peter reminds us that in the last days many will follow their sensual desires.  Jude agrees and hints that their own shameful fleshly motives cause the turbulent waters.  False teachers bring storms instead of calming them because the flesh loves drama.

'Wandering stars, for whom the blackest darkness has been reserved forever'

With this I am drawn to two places.  Firstly the stars in Genesis mark the times and seasons.  So they have order even though the detail of how this works is not clear.  Secondly I go to Abraham and how each star represented a believer.  Such is the promise to a believer their entire life is in Christ and led by Him.  So the idea of wandering doesn't last long for a believer.  We are brought into line quickly by our Lord who cares for us.  The false teachers are not in Christ, are not represented by the celestial array but do their own thing masquerading as the genuine article.  False teachers are self perpetuated wanderers who look like they are children of the promise yet are actually doomed. 

The ways of a false teacher as told by Jude:

  • They do not prioritise the Lord or His people over self
  • They do not issue forth the Lord's agenda 
  • They do not demonstrate a fruitful journey
  • They do not promote peace, unity and love
  • They do not bear the marks of the believers journey.


Jude has us again search around the scriptures because he wants us to see that his observations are scripture, not just an opinion.  We see the order of things when God has his way and then the disorder of the false teachers.  In our modern Christian interpretation of the Bible we may feel Jude is being over dramatic.  Jude valued and rejoiced in the beloved children of God.  Somehow we are less celebratory about our brothers and sisters.  A by-product of this is we are less concerned about false teachers.  It is my observation (and I want to be wrong about this) that the element of false teaching is much more prevalent in today's church than we think.    Like I don't see demons behind every lamp post, I don't see a false teacher in everyone who disagrees with me.  What I do see is leaders chasing profile, importance, status, significance,  prosperity, offerings, opulence and reputation.  I hope there is a repentance because according to Jude, God is not taking prisoners.

Gary Ward


Tuesday 13 September 2016

Jude#6 Korah's Rebellion v11

Jude verse 11 has been split up into three sections, each highlighting the individuals Jude cites as being like false teachers.  Numbers 16 tells of the story where Korah raised up a group of supporters to come against Moses' leadership.  This didn't go well for Korah and his followers who were swallowed up by the ground!  Such was the Lord's disdain for this rebellion, even those who grumbled about the incident were threatened with plague and many died for just grumbling!  Our God is a God of self control so why do we see this seemingly knee jerk reaction from the Lord?  The answer lies in what was going on both at surface level, and if you will allow the pun... also beneath the surface.

Self appointed leadership

The telling phrase from Korah was that the leaders had 'gone too far' in supposedly raising themselves up among the people.  Korah and company thought they could do a better job that Moses!  One of the issues at hand is the heart of Korah and the other rebels.  They completely miss the appointment of Moses by God and make leadership a matter of human ability, skill, ingenuity and genius.  It was not known to Korah or most of the people that Moses had those ego issues laid to rest over 40 years of tending Jethro's flocks in Midian.   God is white-hot jealous of the masterpiece Moses was after the process of deconstruction.  Korah was truly rebelling because he was vying for leadership yet had not been in the fires of preparation for God's sending.  As a Levite he was part of the core significance of the nation but it wasn't enough for Korah and the gang!

A picture of the faithless

When we apply Moses as a type of Christ (Col Ch 2 / Hebrews generally) we see a vital issue occurring in all this.  Unbelievers are people who do not see the way God has initiated a rescue plan.  They choose to ignore the Creator whilst engaging the Creation (Rom 1).  Korah is a picture of someone who sees the God-orientated world then relies on self to negotiate it all.  "Jesus wilfully stood in my place to pay the price for my own sin?" 'Korah' says he can do a better job of saving himself and rejects Jesus!  The drama of the ground opening up and swallowing the rebels is the picture of the destiny of the unbeliever.

God acts on behalf of the sent ones

Does this passage apply to leaders today? Is everyone who questions church leadership a type of 'Korah?'  What we have to do is be precise in what is and what isn't rebellion.  If someone has the bible in one hand and a 'leader's' words and/or actions the other, the believer is being biblical in discerning what issues forth from the 'leader.'  It is Jude, among others, that challenge us to contend for the faith and that places cross hairs on everyone walking as if they are a leader.  If, like Korah, it is someone who has opposed a leader in order to usurp the position then that person or group must be challenged.  But notice something about Moses.  He immediately falls before the Lord and seeks His council.  Moses didn't have a denominational fraternity to pat him on the back when the going gets tough.  There were no titles or platforms to sustain a perception of 'special.'  Missing were the purpose driven sermons delivered with the aim to find approval.  All Moses had was God's accompaniment through a biblical sending which will have a component of authority.  Seeing an opportunity, Korah trampled on holy things and stirred up the wrath of God.

The legacy of Korah...

Jude is likening false teachers who have crept in among believers as Cain / Balaam / Korah.  In these last days this is seen everywhere in Christendom.  In Jude's day there were two kinds of leader.  One was God-appointed like Moses.  The other was self appointed like Korah.  We can tell who the 'Korah' leaders are by exploring Jude verse 12, the next writing of this series.

Gary Ward


Sunday 4 September 2016

Jude#5 Balaam$ error

Balaam was a man whom God had gifted with prophecy.  He was well known because when King Balak wanted a 'voice of God' to the Hebrews, he consulted Balaam.  We are in Numbers 22-24 for this story which is so important in the scriptures that it appears in a warning to the churches in Revelation in Jesus' letters to the seven churches. To find out what the issue is with Balaam we have to tell the story.  Here is an overview but I'd recommend diving into this and watching the drama unfold.  Balak was concerned that the nation were to travel through and camp in his lands.  Balak summoned Balaam for a reward to dure God's people but Balaam was adamant that God would have to be consulted and curse the people in order to weaken them for battle.  Balak sent a second party of more distinguished people and thus greater reward.

This promise of more reward and probably prestige stirred Balaam's interest so he took his donkey and set off for Moab to consult with Balak.  On the journey an angel stood before them to stop Balaam.  The donkey could see the angel but God's Prophet (!) could not.  Selah.  Ballam beat the donkey leading to the donkey speaking to Balaam.  As this story unfolds It's good to see the Lord reminding men who are in his service that even a donkey can be made to speak God's word so let's be sober about our graces.  Balaam was made able to see the angel and was told the donkey saved his life. He was also told to only say what God was saying about the Hebrews regarding King Balak.

Balaam told Balak that he would only tell him what god was saying.  Every time Balak took Balaam to view the Hebrew nation camping Balaam made sacrifices and relayed God's blessing to His people.  Balak was furious and took him to a hand full of different places.  Each time Balak was told God's word - a general blessing on His people!  Balak finally told Balaam that he wasn't going to reward Balaam aven after Balaam reminded him that he did what he said he was going to do- relay God's word in the situation. Up to now we find Balaam can be seen as impressively obedient to the Lord.  But this is not the whole story.

In Numbers 25 we find the men of the chosen nation fornicating with the Moabite women and as a result a great judgement falls upon the Israelite (Deut 23:3-6).  It is not until Numbers 31:16 and then Revelation 2:14 do we find that this fornication was a result of Balaam teaching Balak how the people of God could curse themselves.  This was by breaking the Law of God, as stated Deut 23:3-6.  2 Pet 2:15 and of course, Jude, also identify Balaam as an outstanding example of false teaching.  So what exactly do we find with Balaam that speaks of today's false teachers?

Within the initial story we find that Balaam saw his God given gift as a means for earthly reward, namely money.  It is a strange thing we see occurring but I see it all the time in today's ministry.  Good men who have clearly been gifted use the graces of God for excessive personal gain.  Like Balaam they are unmoved by a small job, it has to include big platforms and big offerings.  In order to get the booty they are willing to sacrifice the people of God.  Maybe they aren't enticing the believers with sexual immorality and lawbreaking but certainly twisting the word of God to make it fit their perverse positions.

As we observe the Laodicean church we see the acceptance of  false teachers and their teaching.  It is mostly accepted among the prosperity preachers that money, 'things' and 'gain' are the objectives of the kingdom.  Balaam stands as the biblical example of someone who can talk the talk... yet behind the words and sound-byte declarations is a heart that will readily throw believers under the bus as long as the dollar is promised.

Judgement is coming.

Gary Ward




Thursday 1 September 2016

Jude #4 'Taking the Way of Cain'

All the contributors to the New Testament epistles describe some aspect of the false believer.  The warning against false teachers is a core theme from the Prophets to Jesus and onto the Apostles.  A theme that runs across all the descriptions is the motivation by lust.  This is not just exclusively lust of a sexual nature, but all that which the flesh desires. Jude v 10

10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.

The idea is that these lusts become a motivating factor in the comings and goings of the (false) believer.  My understanding is that through the New Testament, and certainly Peter, these behaviours are not unbelievers but also believers who are in the 'falling away' process.  A Jewish linguistic property occurs several times to say this happens in the days of the writers but will be a heavier application in the last days (v18), these days we live in.  Let's examine the first of Jude's warnings in verse 11

11a  Woe to them!  They have traversed in the road of Cain,

The first example includes Cain who in Genesis 4 brought fruit as an offering to God.  Abel, his brother brought from the first fruits of the flock with the fat.  There are many discussions about why Cain's offering was not pleasing to God and one of them is because the sacrifice for the atonement for sin had been made.  That atonement involved an animal's skin as a covering for their nakedness.  This was the way it was done.  If we substitute Cain for 'Israel' and Abel for 'Jesus' we find interesting reading in Chapter 4 as Cain kills Abel and is banished from the garden.  Israel killed Jesus then rejected Him, causing Israel to be rejected in favour of the Gentiles.  It is uncanny how this mirrors Israel but not surprising as the Bible is full of types and 'Prophetic Theatre.'

Abel did the thing what God had instituted as an offering.  Cain did what he thought was pleasing from his own works.  This principle is central to Jesus' teaching and the focus of the epistles:  NOT BY WORKS!  The false believers will ply their own trade and try to pass it off as 'God.'  Anyone wanting to do things God's way, thus in direct refutation of their own works will be 'killed.'  In History we have seen this where those wanting to walk well outside the institutions were literally killed!  Today we have a social martyrdom where the questioning believer is ignored, made a mockery of and slandered. 

Offerings in the New Covenant? 

Today's good offering is to give our mangled carcasses, ideas, ingenuity, creativity,  genius, degrees,  methodologies, formulas and purpose-driven hubris to God.   Of course we are not the offering, Jesus was.  Our giving ourselves to God is because we recognise we couldn't provide a good offering, that's why Jesus came to give himself.  The bad offering is when we think we were placed on earth to do our own thing and present that to God.  So many leaders knock together a vision statement that for all intents and purposes looks amazing.  It sounds brilliant, hitting all the right mission fields, equipping and sending etc.  How do I know this isn't a vision statement from God?  

Here's an illustration:  My daughter and I go shopping for groceries.  As we do this we may chat over what we want having done a brief itinerary.  I'm the Father with the money and she is there to take part in the shopping.  She is there by permission and it is my delight, the one with all the resource, power and ability, to involve her.  At no stage do I pass the mission (to buy food) over to her.  She can't do it, she has no resource!  Or a car... she doesn't know what we need!  Imagine if my daughter one day asks for the car keys.  No.  You can't drive.  She then embarks on a long walk for groceries she has no idea of what is needed.  After several hours she comes back exhausted and shows me her efforts.  She has bought all the wrong foods and doubled up on non-essentials.  This is what happens when we try to make our own ministries and callings.  It cannot possibly be a pleasing offering to God because we cannot possibly know how the individual called 'me' fits in the specific circumstance of my 'calling.'  

A Biblical principle

From the start of Genesis this principle is laid out for us.  It is constantly underlined throughout the Bible that we are just vessels through which the Lord's initiatives and momentum flow.  The people Jude is talking about are those who present to the Lord works that have not originated from the Lord.  They have a 'ballpark' of Jesus and some real ingenuity but it is not an issuing forth of God's sending.  They have come about by man's creation, something that anyone who has truly encountered the cross knows is futile.  'Cain' is a major theme as is 'Israel.'  The rejection of Messiah by Israel was precisely because their own works, the religion they had brought about, the resultant positions they found themselves in were much too precious to handball to Messiah.   Works - 'my offering' won the day for Israel but got them kicked out in the Diaspora.  Cain wandered, Israel wandered.   It is my understanding that Cain came to the Lord with repentance in chapter 4 of Genesis and the Lord marked Cain and protected Him as with Israel. 

Lighter into 'Heavier' last days...

The way / road / traverse of Cain has a two sided nature.  One is a 'works' orientated walk with God, the other is the attitude to those who are in proximity to the Lord so he can issue forth through them.  'Cain' always tries to do away with 'Abel.'  The Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches killed those who would not follow their institutions.  Today many local city Pastors kill the future of any they detect are issuing forth the Lord's will and purpose over their schemes to run a business.  Read the Prophets, look at the life of Jesus and watch the remnant come out of the man-orientated religious dimension into life following the Son.  


Gary Ward