Rev. Rob Jones
August 23, 2026
Jude 1:5–16
Now I desire to remind you, though you are fully informed, once and for all, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their own position but deserted their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deepest darkness for the judgment of the great day. 7 Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
8 Yet in the same way these dreamers also defile the flesh, reject authority, and slander the glorious ones. 9 But when the archangel Michael disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, he did not dare to bring a condemnation of slander against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these people slander whatever they do not understand, and they are destroyed by those things that, like irrational animals, they know by instinct. 11 Woe to them! For they go the way of Cain and abandon themselves to Balaam’s error for the sake of gain and perish in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These are blots on your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, feeding themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved forever.
14 It was also about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “See, the Lord is coming with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers and malcontents; they indulge their lusts; their mouths utter bombastic nonsense, flattering people to their own advantage.
Jude writes this letter to those who are “called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ” (Jude 1). He does not name a city or region, but he clearly writes to professing believers who are familiar with the 2nd Temple scriptures beyond what we understand to be the Old Testament. His intended audience understood the wilderness generation, the angels who rebelled, Sodom and Gomorrah, Cain, Balaam, Korah, Michael, Moses, and Enoch. These are not outsiders receiving a first lesson in religion; these are covenant people whom Jude is warning of the danger already creeping into their fellowship. He writes like a watchman standing on the wall at midnight. He is not entertaining curiosity; he is sounding an alarm. He had wanted to write about “our common salvation,” but the Spirit constrained him to urge the church to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Jude understands that God delivers faith, and the saints receive it. So, Jude writes not to frighten true believers away from Christ, but to awaken them to cling more tightly to Christ, to contend for the once-for-all faith, and to refuse the lying voices of those who turn grace into permission for sin.
Jude’s letter reminds us that prophets and apostles are servants of scripture, not masters of it. This letter warns that whenever spiritual leaders claim new revelations that function as additions to the Bible, the church must remember the warning at the end of Revelation: “If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book” (Rev 22:18). Revelation’s final thunder echoes Jude’s shorter trumpet blast: false teachers do not simply make mistakes; they endanger souls by replacing Christ’s lordship with their own authority.
False Teaching Is Old, but God’s Judgment Is Older
Jude says, “I want to remind you” (Jude 5). The church’s first defense against deception is holy memory. He points us to Israel in the wilderness, angels who did not keep their proper domain, and Sodom and Gomorrah. These are not random examples. They show that privilege without faith does not save; it opens the door into judgment.
History gives us a sobering illustration in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The city had the temple, the sacrifices, the priesthood, the Scriptures, and the memory of God’s mighty acts. If any people could have appealed to religious privilege, it was Jerusalem. Yet privilege without repentance could not shield them from judgment. When Roman forces under Titus surrounded the city and the Second Temple was destroyed, the church was reminded that sacred places, sacred history, and sacred language cannot save a people who reject the Lord. Jude’s warning works the same way. The wilderness generation had seen the Red Sea open, eaten manna from heaven, and followed the pillar of cloud and fire; yet unbelief still brought judgment. Holy memory is not meant to make us proud. It is meant to make us tremble, repent, and cling to Christ.
This is why Jude sounds so much like Revelation. Revelation unveils the Lamb who conquers, the beast who deceives, Babylon who seduces, and the final judgment that cannot be escaped. Jude gives the same pattern in miniature: deception enters, desire corrupts, arrogance boasts, and the Lord comes with his holy ones to execute judgment (Jude 14–15; Rev 19:11–16).
False Teachers Claim Light but Bring Darkness
Jude calls the false teachers “dreamers” who defile the flesh, reject authority (Jude 8). Oh, they speak with spiritual vocabulary and promise freedom. They claim visions, power, and direct access to God. But Jude says their fruit reveals their root. Matthew Henry observed that such teachers are not ruined merely by weak understanding but by “depraved wills” and “disordered appetites.”
Jude’s says certain people “pervert the grace of our God into debauchery and deny Jesus Christ.” That is the method of that old serpent from the garden. He rarely begins by saying, “Reject God.” He says, “Did God really say?” Then he says, “You will not surely die.” That serpent offers a crown, freedom, forgiveness, and a new spirituality, but never shows us the necessity of a cross, obedience, repentance, or submission.
No matter what, we cannot separate justification from sanctification. We are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone; yet the faith that justifies is never alone. Christ saves us from the guilt and dominion of sin. Therefore, those “dreamers” who uses grace to excuse rebellion are not magnifying grace; they are mocking it. Grace trains us to recognize and “to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions” (Titus 2:12).
Jude gives three names in verse 11 as historical examples: Cain[1], Balaam[2], and Korah[3]. Cain shows worship without faith and anger at God’s accepted sacrifice. Balaam shows religious speech sold for profit. Korah shows rebellion dressed up as equality and spiritual confidence. Each reference is a warning to the church. Beware of worship that refuses the blood of Christ. Beware of ministry that loves gain more than truth. Beware of democratic-sounding rebellion that despises God’s appointed order.
False Teachers Are Impressive but Empty
Jude piles up images: hidden reefs, shepherds feeding themselves, waterless clouds, fruitless trees, wild waves, wandering stars (Jude 12–13). Every picture says the same thing: promise without provision. A hidden reef looks harmless until the ship is torn open. A cloud without rain looks hopeful until the field remains dry. A wandering star may catch the eye, but it cannot guide the traveler home.
We must not measure a ministry by charisma, novelty, emotion, or crowds. The question is not, “Does he sound powerful?” but “Does he preach Christ according to Scripture?” Not, “Does she claim authority?” but “Does she submit to the authority of Christ’s Word?” Not, “Are people amazed?” but “Are sinners brought to the foot of the cross?”
The echoes of Revelation sharpen the point. Revelation condemns Babylon because she dazzles the nations while making them drunk with her immorality (Rev 17–18). Jude condemns false teachers because they feast with the church while serving only themselves. Babylon wears jewels; Jude’s teachers wear religious language. But both are brought bare by the Lamb of God. The church must learn to look past spectacle and ask whether the teaching leads to the love and grace of God’s throne. The question is simple, “does the message bring you to the foot of the cross?”
The Lord Comes to Judge and to Keep
Jude quotes the prophecy of Enoch: “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all” (Jude 14–15). Revelation says the same Lord appears as Faithful and True, judging and making war in righteousness (Rev 19:11). His eyes are like flame. His robe is dipped in blood. His name is the Word of God. That is not a decorative Christ. That is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
This is firm, but it is also pastoral. Christ’s judgment is terrible news for wolves, but good news for sheep. The shepherd who will not strike the wolf does not love the flock. The Lord Jesus guards his bride, purifies his church, and will not allow deceivers to have the last word.
So, what shall we do? First, cling to Scripture. Cling to preaching, confession, and serious study of Scripture. Second, test teachers by Christ: his person, his finished work, his lordship, his holiness, and his gospel. Third, pursue holiness without self-righteousness. This is hard, but we do not contend for the faith by becoming harsh people; we contend by becoming faithful people. Fourth, this is even harder: show mercy to the wavering. Jude’s letter ends not with suspicion but with rescue: “Have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire” (Jude 22–23). One does not “snatch” something from a fire without the possibility of getting burned.
Friends, the old faith is not fragile because Christ is not fragile. The church is kept, not by our cleverness, but by the preserving grace of God. Jude begins by telling believers they are “called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ” (Jude 1). He ends by praising the One “who is able to keep you from stumbling” (Jude 24). Between those two promises stands the warning. The warning is one of the means by which God keeps his people.
Therefore, do not follow the voice that adds to Christ, subtracts from Scripture, excuses sin, flatters the flesh, or makes a servant into a savior. Follow the Lamb. Hear his Word. Trust his blood. Submit to his reign. And when false lights flicker in the night, remember that the morning star belongs to Jesus Christ alone.
I will leave you to ponder and test it by Scripture and the Spirit this morning. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
[1] Cain appears in Genesis 4 as the first murderer, but Jude’s reference likely emphasizes more than violence. Cain represents worship without faith, anger at God’s accepted sacrifice, and resentment toward the righteous. His “way” is the path of self-justifying religion that refuses God’s mercy and turns hostility outward against the faithful.
[2] Balaam, the pagan diviner in Numbers 22–24, represents religious speech and spiritual influence corrupted by greed; later biblical texts associate him with leading Israel into compromise and judgment.
[3] Korah refers to the man from Numbers 16 who led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron. Korah was a Levite, but he was not content with the role God had assigned him. He gathered others and challenged the authority of Moses and Aaron, saying in effect, “All the congregation is holy, every one of them, so why do you exalt yourselves?” On the surface, that sounded like a plea for equality. But spiritually, it was rebellion against God’s appointed order.
Works Cited
- Adeyemo, Tokunboh, ed. Africa Bible Commentary. Nairobi: WordAlive Publishers, 2006, 2010, 2022.
- Bauckham, Richard J. Jude, 2 Peter. Word Biblical Commentary 50. Waco, TX: Word Books, 1983.
- Beale, G. K. The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text. New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.
- Calvin, John. Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles. Translated by John Owen. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1855.
- Henry, Matthew. Commentary on the Whole Bible. 1706–1721. Accessed via BiblePlus.
- Nestle-Aland. Novum Testamentum Graece. 28th rev. ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.
- The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016.
- Westminster Assembly. The Westminster Confession of Faith. 1647.
