Study in the Epistle of Jude # 82: Verses 17-18

by Chris McCann

EBible Fellowship (http://www.ebiblefellowship.com)

Welcome to the Electronic Bible Fellowship’s Bible study. We are going through the book of Jude, and we have come to verse 17 in this one-chapter book. Verses 17-18 say:

But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

After we discuss one part of this verse, it will move on and transition into the same theme that we have been seeing throughout the book of Jude—that of the ungodly, the unsaved, who have infiltrated the churches and congregations. Those who have crept in unawares once again are in view. Before we get to that, though, we have to look at verse 17. Verse 17 says:

But, beloved…

When God says “beloved,” He is normally speaking to His people, the elect of God. It continues

…remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;

This presents a problem, because when we began this study in the book of Jude, we read back in verse 1:

Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James…

This was the introduction to the book of Jude. Right away, we began to try to discover, “Who was Jude? Who was this man that God used, that God inspired to write this book?” Our only clue was that he was, of course, a servant of Jesus Christ, but also the brother of James.

It is interesting that there are a few Judas’ or Jude’s mentioned in the New Testament. Actually, two of the Apostles were named Jude or Judas. In Luke 6:16, in a list of the Apostles, it says:

And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.

There were two Judas’ who were Apostles—Iscariot, who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ, and Judas, the brother of James. Earlier, as we began looking at the book of Jude and trying to figure out who God used to write this book, we saw that it was Judas the Apostle, the brother of James. This is just as it began in Jude—that Jude was the brother of James. It seemed to fit; the language seemed to connect to him. He was an Apostle and he had a brother named James.

God identified him in at least two other places in that regard. As we saw that the one Judas was Iscariot, this Judas was the brother of James. It was one of the ways that God used to identify this man in the Bible. We concluded that God was continuing that identification in this Epistle of Jude. When He said that he was the brother of James, we thought that this was conclusive evidence, along with some other information, that it was the Apostle Judas who was the human author, as God moved him to write this particular book of the Bible.

Now there was another possibility, and that is that he was one of the Lord Jesus Christ’s half brothers. Jesus had, I believe, at least four half brothers—one of them was named James, and another was named Judas. It is true that this Judas was also the brother of James, but we did not find any other language in the Bible that would point to this Judas—only that God was saying that he was the brother of James. Since he had other brothers, and for other reasons, we finally concluded that the Jude who wrote this Epistle was the Apostle Jude or Judas.

Now here is the problem. In verse 17, it says:

But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;

The problem is that Judas is not including himself in this statement. He is saying, “Remember the words that were spoken before of the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.” With that statement, it is not definitive or conclusive that he is not included in the Apostles—he could simply be making a general statement regarding the Apostles, even though perhaps he is one of them. But the way that it is worded makes us wonder, “Is this Jude one of the Apostles?” We are especially led to wonder when we turn to 2 Peter 3:2 and read:

That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:

Here we have very similar language to the verse in Jude, yet Peter makes a point of including himself in this statement about the Apostles—he is one of the Apostles. It says, “The words which were spoken before of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior,” but we do not find that emphasis in Jude. We only find that Jude says, “The words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is further evidence that is pointing to the fact that the writer of Jude perhaps may not be Judas the Apostle, and perhaps he is Judas, one of the Lord’s half brothers. Again, this is not conclusive or definite.

Another possibility for this kind of language can be seen when we remember that Peter, along with some of the other Apostles such as James and John and Andrew, would often be called aside by the Lord Jesus and be singled out from the group of the other Apostles. They would spend more time, it seems, with Christ than some of the other Apostles, and we also read much more information about these particular Apostles than the other Apostles. It is possible, therefore, that these words that are discussing the ungodly and mockers in the last time were spoken by Peter or James or John and not some of the other Apostles.

Therefore, it is possible that Peter, being one of those four who spent a good deal of time in the presence of Christ and who was actively involved in many of the details of Jesus’ ministry, was one of those who said this. It is possible that he was one of those whom God moved to speak these words; whereas on the other hand, it could be that Judas, one of the lesser-known Apostles who only shows up in a few of the accounts, did not speak these words. We find Judas involved in a discussion in one place in the Gospel of John, but that is about all we read of Judas. It could be, therefore, that he did not speak these words, so a proper credit is being given when he is saying that other Apostles spoke these words, though he was not one of them.

I am seeing what the problem is. Even though we have some Scripture that supports Judas as being the Apostle, now we also have some other Scripture that seems not to support that conclusion. When we get right down to it, as I know, maybe someone is thinking or has been thinking already, “Why is this important? Why should we spend any time on this at all?” Yet, I wanted to spend the time to correct what was said earlier, because that is extremely important. As we teach anything from the Bible or declare anything as part of the Word of God, since what we read in the Bible is what God is saying, we always have to be open for correction; we have to have the spirit of humility.

Humility, when you get right down to it and sum it up, is simply being in subjection to the Word of God. That is what humility is, and that is the type of humility that is necessary for us or for anyone who is going to study the Bible. Therefore, we study and we do the best that we can; we try to compare Scripture with Scripture and make sure that our conclusions harmonize (1 Corinthians 2:13).

We do reach conclusions. Then later, if another verse rises to the surface that we become aware of and begin to look at and if it does not seem to harmonize with our earlier conclusions, it is testing time. No matter how small the detail might be, whether it is who the author of a book is or whether it is a great doctrine such as election, it is a test. Will we in our pride and stubbornness say, “No, I have another idea. I have come to another conclusion. I do not care what this says; I am just going to go around it. I will avoid it; I will not even mention it, perhaps.” We just hold on to our ideas—”That is what we said, and that is what we are going to continue with”—but that is all wrong. That is pride and stubbornness and rebellion against God. We have to be willing, ready, and open to make correction and to even turn around and go the other way. Whether it is something small or something great, it makes no difference; therefore, it is important that we do correct this.

Now, the correction that I am going to try to make at this time is that earlier I taught and concluded that this Judas was the Apostle Judas, but now, I am going to say that I do not know if he is the Apostle Judas or not. He may not be the Apostle Judas—he could be Judas the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, I am backing down from the statement that this Jude is one of the Apostles. He still could be, but unless further evidence shows up, I am not going to make that kind of a statement any longer. I am just going to leave it at that. I am going to say that I do not know who wrote the book of Jude, and we will move on. Some people do have a point—it is not that important who the human author is. Therefore, we always have to remember what 2 Timothy 3:16 says, which is:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” God is the writer of the Bible. Whether it was Paul or Peter or Moses or David or some other human writer, it really does not matter, except maybe in some cases it helps us to get some insight into what is being said. For example, as we think of David when we read Psalm 51, we know the historical situation of the writing of that Psalm. Yet, for the most part, it is not that important. God wrote the Bible and God wrote the book of Jude. I do not know who the human writer is at this point, but God wrote the book of Jude. We can say that absolutely without question.

We will continue on a little bit longer here and then we will pick up the study again, as we are coming to a conclusion in this book. In verses 17-18, we read:

Let us also go back to 2 Peter 3:2-6 and read that again. It says:

That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

We see the context of what is being said. This is what the Apostles were saying; it is the commandment of the Apostles that we know this: there will come in the last days scoffers or mockers who walk after their own lusts. It is interesting when we remember what Jude16 said regarding these ungodly ones whom God was coming to judge. We read there:

These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.

We have the same kind of context—scoffers, walking after their own lusts. Then we read in verse 18 of Jude:

…mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

What are they mocking? “Where is the promise of His coming”—that is what they are mocking. They go on to deny the flood and say that all things have been in a continual pattern since the beginning, since the creation; which is, of course, a denial of the flood. The flood certainly creates a problem for the idea that this world has continued on in a normal fashion with no major calamity. The flood was a horrific catastrophe that came upon the whole world, and any kind of continuum was destroyed; it was broken by the flood.

Even though they are denying the flood, the focus is really on “His coming”—the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is speaking of those in the last days—those in our day, as a matter of fact. It is speaking of those whom we live among today, and it is a reference, as everything in the book of Jude has been, to the unsaved who have entered into the churches. “Where is the promise of His coming,” they say.

We wonder, “Well, we do not really hear people in the churches say that. We do not find the pastors mocking the idea that Christ is coming. We do not find the elders and deacons disallowing that Bible truth.” They would recognize it and they would say, “Certainly, some day, and it could be any day, Jesus will come.” However, there is far more to believing something than just saying it with your mouth.

It is interesting what happens whenever there is real and honest discussion that is centered on the Bible. Discussion that is not based upon any kind of a dream or vision or tongue, or any outside source—all the information is coming from the Bible. You know that it is a sincere and genuine attempt to search out what the Bible has to say regarding the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet when the churches of our day and the leaders of those churches hear these discussions involving the judgment that begins upon the churches and a possible timeline for the Lord’s return, instantly—perhaps some are a little bit more patient that others, but a great many jump up immediately—they protest and say, “You cannot do that.”

Mockery begins and scoffers begin their scoffing. All kinds of opposition arise and all kinds of doubters begin to raise their concerns, all in an effort to get it to stop. They protest, “Stop discussing this. Stop seriously thinking that the Lord Jesus Christ will come back in a time period very soon. Leave it up in the air,” they say. “Leave it in God’s hands,” even though they really do not believe that. In effect, what they are saying is, “Leave it up in the air, and let us not concern ourselves with it. In other words, let us not think about it. Let us not seriously consider the fact that this world will have an end.”

Why would they not want to seriously consider that? Why would they not want to honestly think about it and look at the Biblical evidence? It is because if the world ends, then comes Judgment Day, and what comes at Judgment Day but the pronouncement of the final judgment and the casting away into Hell.

The problem is that these are ungodly men. They might be in the church, which previously had been a holy institution before the Church Age came to an end. Perhaps in the sense of being associated with the Gospel, they could have even been considered holy; that is, sanctified. They are sanctified in the sense of what we read in 1 Corinthians 7, where the unbelieving husband or wife is sanctified by the believing husband or wife. In that way, we could think of them as being sanctified. However, they were never truly born again, and therefore the wrath of God abides upon them; they are subject to spend an eternity in Hell. The last thing that they want is to think about is Judgment Day.

We see this in the world—mankind does not want to look honestly at what the Bible has to say regarding Judgment Day, but neither do those in the churches who are not saved. Their mockery really does have a purpose—it is designed to silence those who would search these things out, those who are trying to keep the Biblical discussion of an actual return of Christ and the Final Judgment in the forefront, those who are really trying to warn man that the Last Day is not very far away.

This is a serious matter. We have to be prepared; we have to ask ourselves, “Are we ready to meet God? Are we ready to stand for the judgment? Do we have a Savior?” If Christ is not our Savior, then we will be found guilty and spend an eternity in Hell. It is easier for these people to try to dismiss it as much as possible—then they do not have to worry about it. They can go and bury their heads in the sand. However, because they are not looking for it, in all honesty, they are not really looking for the return of Christ and for the new heavens and the new earth (2 Peter 3:13). They say that they are; but really, they are much more caught up in this world than they would like to believe. They are very happy and content with the things of this world, and they are not seeking the Kingdom of God as God would have them to seek. We know that because of what God says in the next verse, verse 19 of Jude. He says:

These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

Next time, Lord willing, we will look more closely at what God is saying here—that some are sensual and they do not have the Spirit. Is not that perhaps the most horrible thing that God, who knows all and who looks upon the heart, could ever say to anyone who professes to be a child of God? “You are sensual, and you do not have the Spirit.” In Romans 8:9, He says, “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” This is a very sad indictment that the Lord is making.