Jude 1:12-13, “These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.”

We continue where we left off in verse 12.

On top of the description about raging waves, Jude then piles on yet another, they are “late autumn trees without fruit,” and what are trees without fruit good for? Firewood. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” – Matthew 7:19-20. Notice the severity of this statement from Jesus Himself. This is from one of the most controversial chapters in the church today. Why? Because it is known as the “thou shalt not judge,” chapter although hardly anyone goes beyond the first few verses. Yet here we see judgment, or rather so as not to confuse with semantics, DISCERNMENT, a gift of the Holy Spirit put to practical use.

Trees that don’t produce or produce bad fruit are only worth the firewood you can salvage from them. Jude was not holding back on his rhetoric with his writing concerning these people of falsehood. He states they are “twice dead, pulled up by the roots.” Now there is a lot of controversy over what constitutes apostasy, but the Bible and the Holy Spirit Who inspired it made it very plain to follow along.

Jude is being very specific with this statement. You can be once dead and yet be redeemed by your spirit going through a rebirth. Jesus told Nicodemus this is what being “born-again” was about. Now I am going to once again use a Scripture from Hebrews I have been relying on to make a point that confirms this statement of Jude’s.

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” – Hebrews 6:4-6.

This signifies being dead once again! You were dead once, then enlightened and renewed, yet through choice and choice alone fall away to suffer a second death. Christ was crucified ONCE for all. He cannot be crucified again when you BY CHOICE, repent of your repentance!!

But look at the reference with that; they are like trees “pulled up by the roots.” Now how do we reference that? Speaking of those who walk in godliness, “He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.” – Psalm 1:3 and then, “For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.” – Jeremiah 17:8.

But what Jude is saying is that these who are twice dead, have been “pulled up by the roots.” They are no longer getting nourishment from the Living Water, therefore all the promises that Psalms and Jeremiah state about that tree, no longer apply to these apostates! The Bible just does NOT contradict itself, but will continually confirm its truths.

But Jude, who wanted to write about more pleasant things continues on. These people are “raging waves of the sea.” In other words, just like the sea when its waves crash and tumble, these people are disorderly, furious, full of wrath and boisterous! Have you ever seen or witnessed raging seas? For all of their noise and commotion they have nothing to display except their shame. It is nothing more than froth and foam lapping upon the shore. Just bluster with no substance.

And I love this last description he uses. They are like “wandering stars.” What ARE wandering stars? Think about it and especially in relation to when this was written. Today, we might think of the asteroids, colliding and bumping into one another. They’re celestial bodies that don’t move in necessarily regular or orderly patterns. Here’s the thing I love; mariners and others who travel, can’t use them as navigational aids. Think about that for a moment.

Here Jude is using analogies for us to picture the character and nature of these false teachers and apostates. You can’t get reliable spiritual direction from these “religious” celestial bodies either. They collide with others and some like bright comets might shine momentarily but then fizzle out without any tangible substance. The only thing they have going for them is “the blackness of darkness forever.”

Now I want you to contemplate that statement. Jesus is the Light of the world. The Apostle John in his Gospel writes in the first chapter that He IS the Light that came into the world. The darkness does not comprehend it; in other words, the darkness rejects the Light. It tries to deny it but it can’t, it can only reject it. These apostates and false teachers only have reservations in that “blackness of darkness.” Where they are headed and all like them, there will be NO light whatsoever because in this life they rejected it and wanted nothing to do with it. They will be given in eternity what they wanted here. They chose darkness and that is what is in store for them.

If you have ever been in a position to go cave exploring, you can imagine then total blackness. You go into the depths of the cave with your light and when the light of the entrance is no longer able to penetrate you turn off your light and you are immersed in total blackness. The thing is, even then, there is a hint of light. Imagine however, utter and absolute darkness. Not even a little hint of light available. THAT is what awaits the wicked and those who reject the Light. It’s a scary thought if you seriously think about it for any amount of time.

To choose to reject the Lord, once you have tasted His Light and the blessings and joy that accompany walking in Him and with Him is a scary thought indeed. The choice to walk daily with Him is just that, it is a choice. Now understand, I am not talking about falling into temptation, sinning and then repenting of that sin. I am talking about outright rejecting the Light of His love. It is beyond imagining, and yet this is what Jude is warning against and illustrating the type of person who demonstrates that character. It is a warning that more than Jude wrote about for a reason. This is why it is so important to pray for one another and to shoulder one another’s burdens, as the Word describes.

Next post we will begin with Jude verse 14.

*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Jude 1:12, “These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;”

Now in verse 12, Jude uses illustrations from nature to describe the emptiness and worthlessness of these apostates and false teachers. He starts out by criticizing a celebration that was common in the early church leading up to communion, the breaking of bread and drinking and sharing of the wine associated with and in remembrance of the Lord’s Supper.

When celebrated in the early church, believers would actually partake of complete meals before taking part in Communion. In most cases it was described as a “fellowship meal” where the brothers and sisters could gather together. It was a time of reminiscing as well as teachers and what Jude is pointing out is that allowing these false teachers to take part was causing blemishes on the whole celebration. It was allowing some to criticizing and make claims of hypocrisy.

These false teachers, these apostates who truly knew better but had ulterior motives were becoming a danger to the not just the sacredness of the celebrations, but used these times as opportunities to steer others away from the truth. In some of the churches, this sharing of meals turned into times of wanton gluttony and drunken revelry and partying. In some of the churches, there were those who hoarded the food quickly while others who were taking part actually went without.

It shouldn’t have to be stated that no church function, no matter how special OR routine, should become an opportunity for selfishness or self-centeredness, disorder, greed, gluttony or any other sins that would destroy the unity and purpose of why brothers and sisters are gathering together. It truly does open the door to division and dissension when there should be a time of joy within the Body of Christ.

I don’t want you to think for one minute this was just isolated to the time of Jude’s writing either. Even today there are examples of this type of self-centeredness and self-righteous behavior.

My wife and I were involved many years ago in an independent, Charismatic-styled church that had actually broken off from an Assembly of God church in the area. Unbeknownst to us at first, the “Pastor” and his wife used to be Sunday School teachers that had a following out with the leadership of the Assemblies congregation and decided to take some of the membership and start their own church. We came in at a time when they were needing help with teaching and such and of course we dug right in. It didn’t take long for “red flags” to start popping up here and there, yet as we prayed for the Lord’s direction, the Holy Spirit prompted us to stay and work as well as teach.

Well, one of the monthly functions was to hand out food that was donated from organizations who collected food specifically for churches to distribute. We were all excited and the first Saturday that we were involved, as others in the congregation were gathering boxes and bags of food for themselves, my wife and I started putting together a couple of boxes for a couple of families we knew that were on again, off again members, but who were desperately in need of help like this.

When the “Pastor” asked us what we were doing, we of course told him and named the two families we were preparing the boxes for. His attitude and statement? These people knew when the food was going to be distributed and if they cared enough to come regular to church, then provisions could be made, but no one was going to “deliver” free food to them.

Do you think we were floored? That doesn’t even begin to describe how we felt! Here was an opportunity to be a blessing and yes, I know there are those who DO take advantage of church generosity, but love for others is an action and the Lord doesn’t tell us to just show love to those who can reciprocate in kind. Rather, we are demonstrate God’s love to ALL! It was a real eye-opener for us and we soon realized why the Lord sent us there.

The Lord led us there for a reason and we were there for quite a while teaching and serving, but it was not easy. I truly believe was giving them a chance to become something really special in that community, but the seed of self-centeredness and the lust for authority was a hard thing to combat. When it was all said and done, the Lord finally released Sue and I to go on to another work. But there are things about that “church” that I will have a hard time forgetting.

So when you look at it, you can certainly see the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Jude’s writing that is meant to span the generations and the many years before the time of the Lord to return. His Word, God’s Word is just as relevant today as it was then. Human nature just does not change without the help and influence of the Holy Spirit within.

The sad fact is that these people who come in like wolves, dressed as sheep, are there to destroy and besmirch the faith. Jude continues with illustrations and analogies so easy and common to comprehend. These people “are clouds without water, carried about by the winds.”

In other words, they promise with their lips refreshment to the dry and weary but in their wake all they leave behind is disappointment and disillusionment. As soon as they are done with their dirty work in one area, like the wind, they vanish and go to another area.

Next post we will continue with Jude verse 12.

*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.