Study in the Epistle of Jude # 22: Verse 5
by Chris McCann
EBible Fellowship (http://www.ebiblefellowship.com)
Welcome to the Electronic Bible Fellowship’s Bible study. We are currently going through the book of Jude. We have taken a small detour to look at how God has warned the New Testament churches and congregations of the real possibility that they might suffer the same fate as Old Testament national Israel and be cut off. We saw in Acts 15 that God had given four commands for the New Testament church. There were only four as compared to the numerous laws that He had given Israel. Yet, for the New Testament church, God gave very few commandments. He gave four basic laws that they were to follow and obey. They were to abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from fornication, from things strangled, and from blood.
We have been looking at 1 Corinthians 8. That chapter begins “touching (concerning) things offered unto idols,” and then immediately God begins to speak about knowledge. That verse reads:
Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
God here begins to talk about knowledge in relationship to things offered unto idols. Normally, the language is “meats that are offered unto idols” (Acts 15:29). There was a real historical problem where there would be certain meats that were sold in the shambles (1 Corinthians 10:25), and 1 Corinthians 8 goes on to speak about that problem. It also goes on to speak of how these meats could have been offensive to some weak-minded brethren. The Apostle Paul is speaking about that historical situation, but God is utilizing that problem of the early church in order to teach a spiritual truth. That truth is that “meat” typifies doctrine.
In several places in the Bible, God does relate meat to doctrine. In 1 Corinthians 3:1‑ญญ2 we read:
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
Paul is writing under the inspiration of God, and indicating (actually, God is indicating) that he must take it easy with the Corinthians. He has to stay with the basic principles of the Gospel. He cannot delve too deeply into some of the more “meaty” doctrines of the Bible or go into deeper spiritual meanings to any degree. They are behaving themselves as babes, which is akin to being carnal, to having a fleshly mind. Therefore, they are not understanding spiritual truths. They just do not see it. They do not have ears to hear or eyes to see (Deuteronomy 29:4, Romans 11:8).
God, in Hebrews 5 and 6, is establishing the case against the New Testament church, especially the church that will come into being during the days of the Great Tribulation. That is when God is going to open up these Scriptures so that we can properly understand them. He says in Hebrews 5:11:
Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
They do not have the spiritual ear. When God wants to get into all sorts of understandings related to the Gospel, and when He wants to speak about whom historical characters typify, He has to begin developing spiritual pictures. When He wants to speak about whom Melchisedec represents and how He just appears on the scene in the days of Abraham (Hebrews 7:1-3), He has to begin developing spiritual types and figures. Melchisedec, a priest who appeared on the scene having no father or mother, having neither beginning nor end of days, typifies the Lord Jesus Christ.
God wants to get into that kind of discussion. He is saying that He has many things to say regarding that, but they are “hard to be uttered” since those whom He is speaking to, many in the churches, are dull of hearing. God is letting us know that He is talking to many who are not saved, who have not received their new hearing. Christ has not given them the ability to hear His Word on such a level. Therefore, God has to stick with the basics and keep going over the first principles. That is what He is going to point out in Hebrews 5:12-14:
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Here again, we see that “milk” and “meat” are related to the Word of God itself. When someone is a babe—that is, they are carnal—they are staying in the infant stage and not growing or developing spiritually. They are not having their senses exercised to discern more and more. They are not able to distinguish good from evil as far as truth and lies are concerned when it comes to the Word of God. They cannot see the truth of the Word of God. Since Satan has many of his emissaries in positions of authority and in roles of teaching in the churches, these people are easily deceived by the lie that he brings. Therefore, they need the “milk” of the Word that brings salvation. They need to hear the basic Gospel message that they are sinners in need of a Savior. They cannot yet move on to “strong meat,” which is associated with the doctrines of the Bible.
God speaks about meat that is offered unto idols in 1 Corinthians 8:10-13, which says:
For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.
The idol’s temple—where would that be? We know that in the early first century AD, there were idol’s temples. We even have some today. We have false religions in various places of the world. If it is a false religion, it is an idol; that is, the true God is not being worshipped there. Those religions are worshipping a god of their own making. It could be a Buddhist temple or some other type of religion, but any teaching that they have going on in there, any instruction in that religion, would be compared to “meat” being offered “in the idol’s temple.”
A true child of God would never want to go into an “idol’s temple.” We would never want to be seen entering into a Buddhist temple. Perhaps if we had a handful of tracts, and there were some people standing at the gate, we could walk in and give everyone a tract and then quickly leave, because any passersby would know that we were bringing the true Gospel. However, a true child of God ought not to visit an “idol’s temple” out of curiosity and sit down simply to check out how they do things. He would not know if a weak brother might be passing by who could be emboldened to “eat those things which are offered to idols”—that is, who might become curious himself.
Let us say that brother John is visiting that temple. “Maybe there is something important there that I need to find out,” he thinks, and so he ends up going in. That is one situation. But what else would qualify as being an “idol’s temple” in our day?
What is an idol? It is the worship of another god. Because churches have the name “Christian” affixed to them, we do not normally associate that with idolatry or with the worship of another god. However, many so-called Christian churches in the world today show very little resemblance to true worship as it is outlined in the Bible. They have all kinds of their own teachings. Many churches of various denominations have added to the Bible or subtracted from it. They have added whole other books. They have added dreams and visions that they think they are receiving from God. They have added through the means of tongues or some other way. These churches have become another gospel, and are, therefore, not worshipping the true God of the Bible. They are worshipping another god.
Who is it that receives the worship in an idol’s temple? Satan is finally behind all false worship. He is the one who is the father of lies (John 8:44). If anyone thinks that they are worshipping a god, but it is some other religion offering some other way to become right with God other than the Lord Jesus Christ, then that is a lie. They are thereby offering worship to Satan himself. If there is a church that has gone so far astray that they do not have the true Gospel any longer, then Satan is the one who who is behind that. He is the one who is receiving the worship, because they are worshipping with their own doctrines.
Doctrine is extremely important when it comes to worship. God says that He requires individuals to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). When we hold on to the truth of the Bible, that is worshipping God. Believers recognize the end of the Church Age as God gives them grace to do so. They see the fact that God is finished using the churches and congregations of the world as God gives them eyes to see this. When they then act upon these truths, they are worshipping God. I am not just saying this, but this is what the Bible teaches.
In the book of Acts, the Jews had accused the Apostle Paul of many things to the point where he was arrested and a trial was going to take place. We read in Acts 24:1:
And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul.
And then they begin to accuse Paul of being a “mover of sedition.” Verses 5-6 read:
For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes: Who also hath gone about to profane the temple: whom we took, and would have judged according to our law.
(By the way, the word “sect” is the same word as “heresy.”)
Then the Apostle Paul has his opportunity to speak, and he says in verses 10-14:
Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself: Because that thou mayest understand, that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship. And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city: Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:
We can understand truth from the Bible and obey it only as God moves within us to keep His commandments and “to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). As God is working this out in us and we are obeying the truth, then we are worshipping God. Believers who are coming out of the churches and congregations at the end of the Church Age are worshipping God.
We can say the very same thing that the Apostle Paul spoke before his accusers and judges. We can say “after the way which they (the church) call heresy” (and they truly do call the doctrine of the end of the Church Age heresy), the believers of our day who are obeying the Word of God “worship the God of our fathers.” God is worshipped in spirit and in truth. When there is a falsehood, an error, or a wrong doctrine, then we could say that this is the “worship of devils,” a “sacrifice made unto an idol.” This is “meat” that is “offered unto idols.”
Satan is ultimately behind that. He is the one who receives that worship. If Satan has taken his seat in the temple (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4), which during the Great Tribulation would be every church and congregation, this means that the “idol’s temple” is now the whole church world. Wherever there is a church, the Holy Spirit has left (2 Thessalonians 2:7), and God is not receiving the worship of the people who meet together there on Sundays. God has left, the Holy Spirit has come out of the midst, yet they are still teaching and preaching and developing their doctrines. The only one left to receive that worship is Satan. This is what God says in the book of Revelation (Revelation 18:2).
We can see how this pertains to us today when we read in 1 Corinthians 8:10:
For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple…
Sometimes people ask, “Why can I not go back to church to witness to the people there? I do know that these things are true. I know that God is finished using the churches and that judgment is upon them. But why can I not go back to church and warn them? Why can I not witness to them or speak to the pastor, trying to explain this to them from the Bible?” The problem is that we would be in violation of what God commands. He tells us in Matthew 24:17, for one example, “Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house.” If we enter into the temple or the church and a weak brother sees us, they would be emboldened to eat those things that are “offered to idols.”
We never want to give any kind of indication that it is okay to return to the church. It is not okay. God is finished with the church. We only want to obey God, and we do not look back at all (Luke 17:32). We set our hands to the plow (Luke 9:62). That is the direction in which we are heading. In getting the Gospel out, we do not look back. We do not try to witness to those in the churches that way. We can witness to them over the phone, we can send emails, or we can meet with them for coffee during the week if we are truly concerned about them, but we do not go back into the church any longer.
This is what God is saying as He speaks through this church council in Acts 15. The first thing He says is to “abstain from pollutions of idols.” They are not to be involved with any kind of doctrine, any kind of teaching, which could be offered “unto an idol.”
Immediately, we see that every church has broken this law. There is not a church out there that does not have one wrong doctrine, one “meat” that is being “offered” to an idol. Any error or wrong teaching would be a violation of this command to the early church to abstain from meat “offered to idols.” Immediately, as soon as God gave the law while the churches were being formed, God saw violations of His Law. He could have brought the church into judgment right away, but God for His own purposes permitted them to continue on with their high places throughout the New Testament era.
In our next study, Lord willing, we will look a little bit further at meat offered to idols. We will then go on to look at fornication and things strangled and blood.