Woe to
them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s
error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion. Jude 11
People who
attack the faith have been around for a long time. Jude, the second to the last book of the
Bible, refers all the way back to the first five books of the Bible to give
examples of rebels and sinners who grumbled, killed, rebelled and gave false
testimony (Cain, Balaam, Korah)
…They are
clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and
uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their
shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
Jude 12-13
First, Jude
tells us to understand that these rebels are spiritually dead and
shameful. Be sad for them first.
Enoch, the
seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with
thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 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.” Jude 14-15
Second, know
they will face judgment by God so it’s not your job to force them to face
judgment.
These
people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they
boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage…They said to
you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own
ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere
natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
Jude 16,18-19
Third, know
that they don’t know what they are doing.
They operate off selfish instinct because they don’t really know God.
Be merciful
to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to
others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by
corrupted flesh. Jude 22-23
Finally, be
merciful and work hard to save them from eternal separation from God. Hate the sin (the outward clothing that’s
corrupted by flesh) but love the sinner (the inward person who is lost and far
from God).