Jude 17-19 Recovering from Spiritual Abuse—Remember the Word!
17 But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.
In verses 17-25 Jude concludes this letter with some practical direction on how to recover from the abuse suffered by Christians when false teachers find a home in the church. We are to remember what has been written about already—in that sense, the presence of false teachers in the church should never really take a Christian by surprise. I’ve been quite surprised by the number of Christians with whom I’ve spoken over the years who seem a bit surprised that I would think that there were really such types of leaders in the church of today. Good grief, what a wonderful strategy of our Enemy, to convince us that such wolves have long since become extinct, or are somehow limited to the more far-out extremes in ministry, such as in Waco, Texas, or Jonestown, Guyana!
First, we are to remember that the apostles have addressed the issue already, as found in our Bibles. There will certainly be a continued presence of false teachers in the final days—the last historical period before the return of the Lord. Apostles were men who had been selected by the Lord Jesus to represent Him and His teachings to the world. Also, those individuals whom the (original) apostles chose to represent them—as delegates, are considered apostolic. Paul claimed his apostleship on the basis that Christ had appeared to him and commissioned him as an apostle. Therefore, there are no apostles alive today, since the original apostles, and those whom they recognized as writing with apostolic authority, such as James and Jude, have all died. I know of at least one pastor who has taken the title “Apostle.” How ironic! Jude says that these men are mockers. To mock means to make play or ridicule of something. Apostate teachers have a knack for ridiculing the traditional, biblical values and ethics that their followers have grown up with. They rarely attack the Bible itself, but focus their mockery on fellow Christians whom they deem less committed/educated/serious, etc. then they themselves are. This not only caters to the desire in the followers to be seen as elite in their faith, but also facilitates the false teacher’s desire to create divisions (see verse 19) between their followers and the families, friends, and former churches of their followers.
Second, Jude instructs us to remember that the Bible teaches us that such false teachers will never be the source or instigators of true, spiritual community and witness. Instead, they are devoid (empty) of the spirit.
Application: The first response that Christians are to have to apostate teachers in their midst is to go back to the Bible for our information about these teachers.
