Today, Thursday November 4
They Reject God’s Authority
Jude 1:8-10 “Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.”
In the three previous verses Jude has reminded his readers and us that judgement will always come upon those who reject God and live in an ungodly way, by giving three Old Testament examples. Now in these three verses Jude appears to repeat this same warning and describes what the false teachers were like and what they would do to the church. The Spirit of God led Jude to describe the characteristics of the apostates, reinforcing Peter's words and, at the same time, adding information. Jude 8-16 and 2 Peter 2 parallel and supplement each other.
All that Jude wrote about the apostates in rest of this letter may be summarized in three statements.
They Reject Divine Authority (Jude 1:8-11).
They Resort to Deliberate Hypocrisy (Jude 1:12-13, 16)
They Receive Their Due Penalty (Jude 1:14-15)
All authority comes from the throne of God, whether it is authority in the home, the church, or the state. Those who exercise authority must first be under authority, accountable to God. But the false teachers reject divine authority and set themselves up as their own authority.
The cause of their rebellion is found in the word dreamers (Jude 8). These people live in a dream world of unreality and delusion. They believe Satan's lie, "Ye shall be as gods" (Genesis 3:5). Having turned away from God's truth, they feed their minds on false doctrine that inflates their egos and encourages their rebellion. This sounds so familiar today with what is going on in our country. So many of our nation’s leaders, politicians, educators and media are not living in reality! They have even lost their common sense! And the same thing is happening in many of our churches with the false teachers who have “creeped” in.
Jude 10 informs us that the apostates are ignorant people who do not know what they are talking about! When they talk about anything they don’t make any sense! They can’t think logically. Amazingly they think themselves to be the most intelligent so they blaspheme what they can’t understand or refuse to acknowledge.
Jude echoed Peter's description of these men as "brute beasts" (2 Peter 2:12, 22). Animals live by natural instinct, and so do the apostates. When men rebel against God, they sink to the level of beasts. The course of their rebellion was clearly described by Jude. As a result of their rebellion and pride, they "defile the flesh," living to satisfy their animal lusts.
When a person despises God's authority, he feels free to disobey God's Laws and live as he pleases. What he forgets is that those laws have penalties attached to them so that he cannot disobey and escape the consequences. They don’t want you to even bring up the name of God or Jesus in your conversation with them!
It’s time for us to wake up! We are experiencing the results of a nation who has forgotten that there is a God in heaven Who created us and will hold us accountable!
God bless!
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