Study In Jude
by Sandy Simpson

Lesson 5 – Vs. 16-19


Vs. 16 - These men are grumblers and fault-finders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

Grumblers – False teachers grumble against anyone who does not join with them. They call them all kinds of names, intimidating anyone who disagrees. But they only grumble. They don’t know how to argue from the facts or from the Bible. When you try to help them come back to the truth, they accuse you and persecute you. They even curse you as Benny Hinn, John Kilpatrick, Paul Crouch and many others have done. Those who grumble against the saints are really grumbling against the Lord, just as Israel, in grumbling against Moses, was really grumbling against God.

1 Corinthians 10:10 And do not grumble, as some of them did— and were killed by the destroying angel.
Those who argue for the truth and stand up for what is right are not grumblers.  They are discerning.
2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Grumblers are those who don’t live in the truth, so they grumble against anyone else.

Fault-finders – When false teachers cannot defend what they are teaching from the Bible, they resort to finding fault with people. They cannot find fault with arguments against them, so they attack the person who is trying to admonish them. Steve Hill called ALL Christians who disagreed with what was going on at Brownsville AG "fault-finders" and "devils". Fault-finders cannot argue with sound doctrine and they choose to ignore the truth when it is pointed out to them. They try to tear people down, backstab, make unfounded accusations, and even curse people to death. True believers argue from the facts and from the Word of God. They are able to stand up for what they believe. Later this kind of “fault-finding” will turn to persecution, lawsuits, jail, and finally murder. It has in the past and it will in the future. Cain tried to lay the blame off on someone else, and it ended in murder. True believers have been persecuted and killed by the millions through the ages for simply standing in the truth. But if we are followers of Christ, we cannot do anything else but take up our cross and follow Christ to death. Certainly we are crucified with Christ in a spiritual sense, but we may also have to follow him to physical death for the truth.

Follow their own evil desires – Those caught up in this new signs and wonders Third Wave movement are more concerned with how they feel than how God "feels" about what they are doing. They are more focused on themselves than others. Meanwhile they run after what God has not told them to run after--namely signs, wonders, miracles, experiences, feelings, and new revelation. Instead of following the promptings of the Holy Spirit within to get away from false teaching and practice, they ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit and follow their old man in the flesh and soul. If they keep on doing this, they will surely wander from the faith. Many false teachers today have wandered from the faith for the love of money.

1 Tim. 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Ultimately, the love of money, fame, power, and experiences can lead people to a shipwrecked and destroyed faith.
1 Tim. 1:18-19 Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.
Boasting about themselves – We see this continually on the TV on TBN and 700 Club. Self-anointed, self-proclaimed prophets and apostles make all kinds of boasts. They say, "We have the anointing and can give it to you". "We are greater than the original apostles." "We could have died for your sins, as we are anointed." They constantly talk about themselves, tell stories about themselves, say they are hearing directly from God in visions and dreams, make healing claims they cannot back up with the facts. Whenever you see people who boast and do religious things in public so that people will think they are holy, you know that you are seeing false religion.
Mark 12:38-40 As he taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely."
Anyone who has seen TBN or the TV shows from the Vatican can see the flowing robes, the important seats, and the lavish decorations. The marketplace of today is the TV. In order to adorn themselves this way, they devour widow’s houses just like they did in Jesus’ day. So many people who watch TBN have sent all their money to these swindlers and end up with nothing in return except the hope that they will be able to pay their bills. I have many emails from people who ended up completely broke supporting people like Benny Hinn and thousands of other false teachers. False teachers make a big show of their long prayers. They even pretend that they know what is wrong with people watching the TV then make a big show out of praying for some ailment they divined by "word of knowledge" such as “a headache”. They know that out of the millions of people watching there are many with headaches and they will get better. Then they turn around and read an unsubstantiated testimony on their program from a letter of someone who's headache went away and use that to raise more money.

Flatter others for their own advantage – One of the biggest tricks of false teachers is to flatter people. Today it is especially done through so-called “prophecy”. They lay hands on people and prophesy something over them that makes them sound important, like God is calling them to be a prophet themselves, or an apostle, or something really important. I had a man prophesy over me that I would raise the dead in Micronesia. Now God can raise the dead, but what purpose would it serve to tell me in advance that it would happen? None, except to make me puffed up with pride. This is typical false prophecy. Beware of it and rebuke those who practice it. Another way they flatter is to get together in unity with anyone, regardless of what they believe. Today the Catholics, Oneness Pentecostals who don’t believe in the Trinity, Third Wavers and others are all getting together to flatter one another. Tomorrow it will be the Muslims, Mormons and others cults getting together with Christians. There is already a move in the Third Wave to try to build bridges with the Muslims on the basis that we supposedly all worship one God. But Allah is not YHWH. Allah has no Son, and Jesus did not die for the sins of the world according to the Quran.

Vs. 17-19 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

Scoffers – I have never seen so many false teachers poking fun at Christians, churches and missions as I do today. They are also scoffing at the truth, the Word of God, by the way they treat it. They teach ideas that are not supported in the Bible. They have a very low view of Scripture, saying that it is “dusty old love letters” and that we need to hear directly from God today out of the air. But the Bible is alive and active and sharp.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
I have a video of a man named John Scotland speaking at the Toronto Blessing church in Toronto, Canada who is clucking like a chicken while attempting to read from the Bible while audience laughs. He is obviously demonized. The head pastor, John Arnott, just sat there and laughed.

Following ungodly desires – We’ve already listed some of the demonic and/or fleshly manifestations in the Third Wave revivals. False teachers are in love with the flesh and the soul. They elevate soul power and fleshly experiences above the Word of God and the Gospel. They live like kings while their followers give them more and more money. They have desires for power and fame and make sure to demonstrate that love every time they get on the stage.

Division – False teachers are the ones who cause division rather than unity in the body of Christ. We already have the unity of the Spirit as believers. We are told to strive for the unity of the Faith. That means unity in the teachings of the apostles.

Eph. 4:12-15 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faithand in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
False teachers take people away from unity in the Faith and replace it with ecumenical unity based on friendship rather than the truth. Then they have the gall to say that those who oppose them are the divisive ones. But who left the truth? Those who leave the truth leave the unity of the Faith. I watched as Brownsville people caused division in the church of Yap and churches in Guam. They took Christians out to follow them from good churches, and they are still doing this in Guam, Saipan, Palau, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae and the Marshalls. Beware of those who say they are for unity but are not really promoting unity of the Faith.

Following natural instincts – Those who search for experiences, who follow their feelings instead of the Bible, are like animals. Animals don’t have much brain power, and just enough instinct to help them survive. False teachers and those who follow them have bought into New Age ideas like "Luke, trust your feelings" from Star Wars. They rely on visions, talking to the dead (necromancy), unproven testimonies, and manifestations outside of the Bible for their truth. Because of that they aren’t really following the Holy Spirit, but have given in to their own flesh and soul and demonic influences.

 
ALL OF THIS EQUALS - No Spirit

Notice that Jude ends by saying those he is describing do not have the Holy Spirit.

No fruit (not fruits) = no Spirit

John 15:2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
John 15:5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
No truth = no Spirit
1 John 2:4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
1 John 4:6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
No love = no Spirit
Gal. 5:18-25 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.


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