Ecclesiastical Corruption: Remarks on the Epistle of Jude
John Thorne
Table of Contents
Ecclesiastical Corruption
REMARKS ON THE
EPISTLE OF JUDE
An address delivered at Plymouth, England
by John Thorne
1878
The subject of this lecture—ecclesiastical corruption, its origin, progress, and issue—is a large one. There are, of course, different kinds of corruption, as moral and political, as well as ecclesiastical; but the worst of all corruptions is ecclesiastical. Moral corruption is against society, political corruption is against the state or government, but ecclesiastical corruption is against God, therefore it is the worst. Now this is the subject before us, and in considering it we might look at various Scriptures, for it is a wide subject. We might take the Acts of the Apostles, the first Epistle to the Corinthians, the second Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians, the second Epistle of Peter, or the Epistles to the seven churches in the Apocalypse. In all these Scriptures, more or less, the subject may be found in one or another of its particular phases. But I know no Scripture so unique, concise, and comprehensive as this little Epistle; presenting to us, as it does, the subject in all its different phases; and in addition to this, giving us, before the subject of the corruption comes out, the calling, standing, and security of the believer; and then, after the corruption has developed itself in all its proportions, and the end of it is seen—the final result with regard to the redeemed. So that this one little Scripture, the general Epistle of Jude, presents to us the subject in this concise and comprehensive way, with the additional things I have mentioned, and which I wish to look at first—viz. the calling, standing, and security of the believer. For I doubt not the Holy Ghost has put it in this way, prefacing the corruption that has come in, that we might first see, and get a firm grasp of, what the calling, standing, and security of the believer is.
Now in the first verse we read, “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.” You will notice three words in this verse, — first sanctified, second preserved, and third called. In actual experience the order is reversed. The last mentioned, called, is the first we participate in, and so of the others. Next you will observe the persons addressed in the verse are all included in one word — “them.” “To them that are sanctified, preserved, and called.” Who are they? Does it include everybody in this room at this moment? If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and your sins are washed away in His precious blood; if you are quickened by the Holy Ghost; if you are born from above, without doubt that little word “them” includes you. But if you are not included in it, then what a solemn place is yours! But there is grace to meet you, as there was grace to meet us, who were once in the place of distance, far off from God. And when we were there what was it that met us? God, by His Spirit, through His gospel, “called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.” What a place was that we were in! And all of us have been there, “dead in trespasses and sins, children of wrath even as others.” And in order to bring us out of this horrible place, oh, wondrous truth! God in love to us sent down His beloved Son, who came and took the form of a servant, humbled Himself and went down even to the dust of death, where sin had brought us—where we lay dead in trespasses and sins, grace brought Him— “For He by the grace of God tasted death for us.” Oh! think of it, beloved friends, that Jesus Himself descended, that Jesus Himself went down into the place where we were dead in trespasses and sins, and dies under sin, “was made sin for us, though He knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” We are quickened together with Him. — What a union! “Quickened together with Him.” Life with Christ—yea, “He is our life”—quickened out of His death—out of His grave, as it were, and raised up together and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. This is what the grace of God has done for us.
But in calling us—and mark, that is the first thing—I believe, though the Spirit of God is not mentioned as the power here, yet doubtless it is by Him the calling takes place. For when at Pentecost they were told to wait until they were endued with power from on high, no sermon was preached, and no souls were converted, so far as we have any record, after the Lord Jesus ascended, until the Holy Ghost came down. Then He took up these disciples as His servants, or instruments, and uses. Peter as the first instrument, to call souls out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Well, have you been called? Would to God I could think that every one in this room had been called. I would not stop to say another word of the gospel, if I believed that every precious soul in this room had been “called out of darkness, into His marvelous light,” and was included in this little word— “them that are sanctified, preserved, and called.” But if you are still outside, God in His mercy bring you in, and manifest you as one of His called ones by His Holy Spirit.
Now when the Holy Ghost has called them, where does He put them? Into Jesus Christ. I say that is a new place, but what a wondrous place! Put in the same place as Christ—in Him! And do you tell me that we may be in Jesus Christ today and out of Jesus Christ tomorrow? Some people may tell us so, but this verse does not. It says, “preserved in Jesus Christ.” Was Noah in the Ark one day and out of it the next? When he went in the omnipotent arm of God’s grace shut him in, and he could not come out. There was a place of security, a place of safety, a place of blessing; and if God the Holy Ghost has put you into Christ, He will take care to keep you there.
Ah! you say that is dangerous doctrine, and would lead people into all sorts of evil, for they would say, “If I am safe in Christ, then I can do what I please.” Can you? Are you at liberty to do what you please? Did Christ do what He pleased? No, He did not come to please Himself. He did not come to do His own will, though that will was perfect, but the will of Him that sent Him. You are not at liberty to do your own will. If you are in Christ, it is the will of God that is to be your rule. That was the case with Him. There is no fear, beloved friends, if one is in Christ, and walking in the Spirit, that there will be a “turning of the grace of God into lasciviousness.” If a man tells me, “I know I am saved, and now I can do what I please,” I say, “By your lips you profess that you know God, but in works deny Him.” The test of Holy Scripture is, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” It is no use for me to say I am saved, and go on living in sin. The very life would contradict the profession. My works should be an evidence to you that I am a believer. Not an evidence to me, nor to God. He knows whether my faith is genuine or not without my works. But works are to be an evidence to others that the profession is real. I do not fear about the doctrine. It is there. It is “in Christ Jesus,” and it is “preserved” in Him. Called first, preserved next, and then sanctified, or set apart, as I believe the word sanctified means here, as well as in some other parts of Scripture. Who sets apart or sanctifies? God the Father. Thus we have the Trinity in this one verse engaged for the blessing of those included in that one little word “them.” The Holy Ghost calls, Jesus Christ saves, and God the Father sanctifies. But when did He do this? Before the foundation of the world: “Chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.” Here we have His counsel—His eternal purpose; — God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost conjointly acting to make the believer a saint, and eternally so.
Well, all that comes out before the corruption is looked at, and most blessed it is—most important that we should be able to get a firm grasp of that first, before looking at the evil that has crept in. I say then, let us look at the standing and security of the believer—what grace has done for us, in picking us up out of the lowest place of degradation, and putting us in Christ in heaven. “Complete in Him.” “Accepted in the Beloved,” and blessed with all spiritual blessings. A wondrous place it is! Do you occupy it? Are you living in the enjoyment of it? That is the privilege of every believer.
The next verse gives us the salutation to these. That is important too, and characteristic of this little Epistle.
It is “Mercy unto you,”—the same class— “and peace, and love, be multiplied.” Now, if you have noticed the salutations in the Epistles addressed to particular churches, such as Rome, Corinth, Thessalonica, and so on, it differs from this. The salutation there is “Grace and peace,” but when the salutation is to an individual, as Timothy or Titus, it is “Grace, mercy, and peace.” And so you have mercy introduced here. It is not the church addressed corporately, but a general epistle addressed to the whole as individuals; hence you have mercy put first, a prominence being given to it, I believe, in face of the corruption that comes afterward. And let me say, mercy is not exactly the same as grace. Mercy, it seems to me, is a larger term than grace. Let me explain to you in a familiar way what I mean. Let me illustrate law, grace, and mercy. I hire a man for a day to work in my garden. He has finished his day’s work, and has a claim upon me for his wages. I pay him what I agreed. That is not grace; it is what is due to him, what he has toiled for. It is righteous for me to pay him on the principle of law. The man works and gets paid for it; that is what he merits. But suppose for some reason he does not work for me, yet at the close of the day I pay him as if he had worked, that would be favor on my part — it would be grace. But suppose that, in addition to his not working, he insults me, he offends me, says something evil about me which is untrue, still I pay him, besides which, I forgive him the injury he has done me. Now it seems to me in this last act we have the thought of mercy. There is the offense, and it is pardoned, and the day’s wages gratuitously given him when he had done nothing to merit it. Truly we are debtors to mercy, for we were not only bankrupt— “had nothing to pay,”—but were offenders likewise, but God in His mercy pardoned us, and in His grace enriched us, putting us in Christ and blessing us with all spiritual blessings in Him. There is a fullness in the salutation which is remarkable. It is mercy, peace, and love multiplied. What an abundance! And we need it all in view of the corruption which has come in, and which we will now look at.
In the third verse the apostle says, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you, that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Let me say, in a word, that ecclesiastical corruption may be classed under three heads, all of which are found in the eleventh verse—
First, “The way of Cain.”
Second, “The error of Balsam.”
Third, “The gainsaying of Core.”
Here we have the subject in its different stages, all of which originate and are shadowed forth in the Old Testament. I will refer to the portions proving it presently. But let me point out how the enemy seeks to oppose God in these three ways. First, by attacking the “common salvation,” or faith; next ministry or service; and lastly, the priesthood or worship.
The first of these is “The way of Cain.” It would indeed have been joy to the heart of Jude, in taking up his pen, to have written to them of the “common salvation”; and who does not Iike to preach the gospel—to tell the glad tidings of salvation? much more pleasant than to speak of evil and corruption. But it was needful to write unto them, and exhort them “earnestly to contend for the faith,” because it had been attacked by the way of Cain, which was the old device of the enemy. If he can succeed in striking a death-blow at faith, away go ministry and worship. All must go, if faith goes, because it is the first link in the chain; hence the necessity of earnestly contending for it. But what is the way of Cain? In the 4th chapter of Genesis we have the answer. There we have the way of Cain, and the way of Abel likewise. The way of Cain was doing the best he could, and God the rest. There are many still on the same track— “doing the best they can, and God the rest.” What did Cain do? Went out into his garden or field, and “brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.” The best, very likely, he could get, and set it down before God, as much as to say— “O God, accept me upon the ground of this.” God looks at it, but could He have any respect to him because of his offering? It is a bloodless offering, and without shedding of blood is no remission. It is the fruit of the ground that is cursed. Could Gad accept that? It would not have been for His glory, nor the good of the offerer, had He accepted it; and Cain goes down to his house, sin lying at his door, because the sacrifice he presented was not adequate to meet God’s holy requirements, nor his own deep necessities, and he remained a guilty man. The way of Cain, then, was to go upon the principle of works—of doing the best he could; this was not faith, which is God’s way.
Now look at the way of Abel. What was that? He goes out unto his flock, and brings in the firstling, an innocent victim before God. Can God look upon that? Mark, that innocent victim’s blood was shed—the knife is plunged into it—its blood flows—and God sees there, in that innocent victim, the type of His own Son as a substitute for the guilty man. It was not that Cain and Abel differed as to their birth. They were both alike children of wrath, as born into this world— “by nature children of wrath, even as others.” It was not that Cain was a worse man than Abel, nor that Abel was a better man than Cain, looked at from that point of view. The whole difference between them was this — one brought what was acceptable to God, and the other brought what was not acceptable. And according to his offering, God deals with the offerer. Observe, the way of Cain was his own way, not God’s way. It was not the way of faith, but of unbelief. The way of Abel was God’s way, the way of faith; and thus has it been ever since. God’s way is the way of faith. It is coming by the blood—by the blood of an innocent victim. There typical of God’s Son, or of Him when He came, and His blood was shed—that is the way now—faith in His precious blood.
Have you entered by that door, or by Cain’s door? If you have entered by Cain’s door, remember it is the wrong one, and it is written in the fourth verse, “There are certain men crept in unawares.” They crept in—they got inside. Now there was a responsibility resting on those who let them in; but there they are inside, and they entered by Cain’s door. They never entered by faith, but when inside they take a place—they make progress —they do mischief. If the first step is wrong, every succeeding step is wrong; and if a man enters by Cain’s door, whatever progress he makes, it is all in a wrong direction, because he entered by the wrong door. It is important, therefore, to enter by the right door, and that is through faith in the blood; not now of Abel’s sacrifice, but of God’s Lamb — His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Whoso enters by that enters in the right way, and there is but that one way; for He says, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” If that little word “them” includes you, you have entered by Abel’s door—by faith in the blood, and not by Cain’s door of unbelief—upon the principle of works. But in the professing church there are those who have entered by Cain’s door, and the corruption or evil within is much more to be dreaded than that which is without. The enemy outside acts as a roaring lion, or the violent man in persecution, but within as the subtle serpent—the strange woman—the seducing spirit. When the door is left open, and there is carelessness or unwatchfulness, he avails himself of it, and gets in. It is through those people who “crept in unawares” he gets a footing there, and when he has his foot in, he takes good care to keep it in as long as he can. The first thing he attacks is faith; and if you look at the history of the professing church you will find it so.
In the 4th of Genesis we have the principle as to its origin. In the 15th of the Acts we read: “And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.” What did that mean? That faith in Jesus was not enough. If these men had been allowed to have their way and enforce their doctrine, it would have destroyed salvation, speaking after the manner of men. If faith in Jesus is not enough—faith in His precious blood, in His death and resurrection — is not enough to save, then He has died in vain. If I must add to that circumcision or anything else, then the death of Christ is not adequate; but how dishonoring to God!
Well, that was the first attack, and here Jude writes to the saints to “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to them.” No matter what it is, whether circumcision or anything else you like to add to that, you destroy the thing — you say Christ’s death is not sufficient, and faith in it is not adequate. You see that was the first device of the devil, and it was vigorously met at the threshold at Antioch — by Paul and Barnabas, who went up to Jerusalem about the question, and there it was settled in conference; and “the apostles, and elders, and brethren” wrote to those at Antioch, saying, “Forasmuch as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law, to whom we gave no such commandment.” They were not sent by the apostles, they went of themselves, or were sent by Satan to make this attack at the very onset.
We will pass on now to the second stage. I will not trace the first any farther, though I might do so. Let a man enter by Cain’s door and get inside, and probably the next step will be acting in ministry or service. He is inside, “crept in,” it may be, but there he is, and has a recognized place officially. Now the second phase of ecclesiastical evil is an attack upon ministry or service, as the first was on faith. I do not speak of ministry here in the widest sense, including every act of service, even to the giving a cup of cold water, though that may be done from a wrong motive, but more especially as regards teaching and preaching, and here called “the error of Balaam.” What was the error of Balaam? Truly, he was a prophet, but he had a “heart exercised with covetous practices,”—he performed his office for the sake of gain, or reward. Peter, in his second Epistle and second chapter, speaks of his followers, as cursed children (2 Peter 2: 1-16). Let there be no misunderstanding when I speak of ministry in this way. What is the object which some have in taking it up, or entering upon it? Is it not as a profession for the sake of a living? As other men take up theirs, whether medical, or legal, or anything else, with a view of getting a livelihood? Ara not livings bought and sold in the markets, and publicly advertised like shares or anything else? Can you deny it? Is it not a notorious fact? Is that God’s way, or the way of Balaam? Answer.
Ah, you say, now you are striking a blow at paid ministry. In that style I am. Ah, but is it not said, “that they that preach the gospel should live of the gospel?” I fully grant it; but then, that is a very different thing from a man taking it up for the sake of a living. And you know many unconverted, unsaved men do that. They enter by the wrong door, and get into office for the sake of its emoluments. They get paid for their work. I will not say that all who take up ministry in this way are like Balaam, “having hearts exercised by covetous practices.” But there the fact is, and you must judge as to what it is before God. The error of Balaam is the second step in ecclesiastical corruption, and it is ministry made a matter of merchandise for the sake of gain.
There are those who are called of God to preach the gospel, and as such, going out in faith looking to Him—I have no sympathy with any man going out looking to the saints, or to the church, to get his need supplied. I believe, if he does that, be will come short, because he is looking to the wrong source. But if he has faith enough — and he needs it when he goes out thus — and looks to God only—depend upon it, God will take care to meet all his need. But if he goes out looking to the saints, he will come short, and so he ought, because he is looking to the wrong source.
But if I take up the work as a profession, for the sake of reward, with a heart exercised with covetous practices —how solemn it must be in the sight of God!
You will find the history of Balaam in the 22d, 23d, and 24th chapters of Numbers. We will not turn to them now, but I recommend them for perusal at your leisure.
Well, here you see the subject is brought into the New Testament. For Balaam’s practices are mentioned not only by Jude, but by Peter in his second Epistle (as I have before noticed) more largely than in Jude: John also, in the Epistles to the seven churches, mentions it. Thus we find it in the bosom of the professing church, and it is the same thing which had its origin in the Old Testament. There is the way of Cain, the error of Balsam, and then the gainsaying of Core. This last is found in Numbers 16.
Now, if you look at Korah (here Core), you will see he was a Levite, and had a service to perform. In this respect he was not a false man; he was appointed to his office as a Levite, but he did not stick to it. He wanted to be a priest, and he was not that; and he associated with himself, for the accomplishment of his object, others who were neither Levites nor priests, who did not belong to that tribe, but to the tribe of Reuben. Those associated with him—Dathan and Abiram—were not Levites at all. They belonged to a tribe to whom the service of the Levites did not appertain, nor the priesthood either. Levitical service properly was the portion of Korah, because he was one of the sons of Levi, but the priesthood was not his, because he was not of the sons of Aaron, who alone had that privilege.
In that respect, the priesthood under the law differed from the priesthood under grace. In Christianity every believer is a priest; it was not so in Judaism. Here nobody could be a priest but the sons of Aaron, and the priesthood was hereditary. But in professing Christendom we find certain persons are chosen and made priests of, while others, though believers, are excluded. This is man’s doing, not God’s, and man has no authority for making his fellow man a priest—it is in short the work of the enemy and opposed to God. Under Judaism it was perfectly correct for the sons of Aaron to be priests, and nobody else. For any one else to have assumed to be a priest would have been a violation of God’s commandment, who had appointed them exclusively to the office. But in Christianity every believer is a priest according to the testimony of the Holy Ghost through Peter and John (see 1 Peter 2:5, 9, and Rev. 1:6; 5:10), and this is the characteristic difference between Christianity and Judaism.
But you will observe the sin of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, was this—aspiring after what God had not given them—in short it was rebellion against God. Korah, not satisfied with the place allotted him, aspires to the priesthood, and to accomplish his object, stirs up the whole congregation against Moses and Aaron. The 16th of Numbers goes into the history of the case. But Moses says, It is not against me and my brother you are rising up; it is against God. That is just what I said at the beginning; ecclesiastical corruption is against God. It may be against His people, and no doubt it is, but it is really against God. If the “common salvation,” or faith is attacked, it is against God and Christ, if ministry is corrupted, it is against God and Christ, and if priesthood is attacked in this way, it is against God and Christ. In the case of Korah and his party, they charged Moses and Aaron with having assumed their office, for they said, “You have taken too much upon yourselves.” “All the congregation is holy, and the Lord is in the midst of it.” Well, they were put to the test; because when it comes to this— “the way of Cain, the error of Balaam, and the gainsaying of Core”—it has reached its climax, and then it is God comes in, and deals with it. The moment ecclesiastical evil has reached its climax, God says, Now it is time to put a stop to it, I have let it go on so long, but now I will put a stop to it. So Moses said, If the Lord should do “a new thing,” and these men do not die the common death of all men, then ye shall know that He has spoken by me. There were Dathan and Abiram standing in their tent doors braving God; and as they stand there, the earth suddenly opens her mouth, and they go down alive into the pit. They do not die the common death of all men. The earth closes her mouth upon them and all that appertained to them. There is God putting a stop to the ecclesiastical evil in the Old Testament, and He is going to put a stop to the apostasy in the New, as suddenly as He did in the Old; and soon, I doubt not, He will do it, for it is fast ripening. Shall we look at a few Scriptures in proof of this?
First turn to 2 Thess. 2:3, 4. “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” There is a man coming upon the scene—I do not know if he is in existence now —we have never yet seen one exactly answering to it. He may be a babe in arms, or a boy at school, or a man fully matured, or he may be yet unborn—I know not, but there is such a man coming as here spoken of, not a system merely; it is a man at the head of it. “The man of sin” is a real man, as much as Korah was a real man, or as Dathan and Abiram were real men. There is a man coming upon the scene, and he will be the head of the apostasy. This man is coming in company with another man, and with Satan at their back. Then you will find that that ecclesiastical corruption which began with the way of Cain, and followed in the footsteps of Balaam, will rise to its climax in that which Korah, Dathan, and Abiram typify—and this is going on in the day in which we are living. These principles are at work, and developing fast, and they will soon come to a point, and be as suddenly interrupted as were Dathan and Abiram in their course in the days of Korah; and very solemn it is. Again I point you to the man, and I ask have we had a man doing such a thing as putting himself up as God, and commanding worship to be paid to himself? Certainly we have had what is only next door to it. A little white ago, as you know, the Pope of Rome declared himself infallible, and still retains his assumption. Now, who could declare himself infallible but God? Is there any being upon earth infallible? Then, if a man has declared himself infallible, he must assume to be divine. But he has not yet set himself up as an object of worship; but a man will go a step further than the Pope. Mind I am not saying for a moment that the Pope is the man of sin; though I have no hesitation in saying he is a sinful man, and especially so in having declared himself infallible, but there is a man going a step further. Do we get any further notice in Scripture of such an one? Turn to Rev. 13; there I can show you the two men. In the second verse you have the beast, who is evidently a man, at the head of a system—the head of the Roman Empire revived. “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”
Now you know what Satan’s device was in the garden. When he tempted Adam and Eve, what did he say? If you take of that fruit you will be as gods—you will better your position. They believed his lie, but instead of becoming as gods, and bettering their position, they lowered it, and became more like the devil himself than as gods—they degraded themselves in believing his lie. Now Satan has been holding out this bait ever since. When he came to the Lord Jesus Christ in the wilderness, he wanted Him to fall down and worship him, and he would give him everything— “all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.” But Jesus said, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” He defeats him. But here he finds a man all ready for his purpose, one that will accept his offer, and Satan gives him “his power, his seat, and great authority.” And this is the man, I think, that is spoken of in 2 Thess. 2:1-8—[I am aware that it is a question with some whether this man is identical with the first beast in Rev. 13, or the second beast mentioned in the eleventh verse. In 2 Thess. 2 we have both beasts as in Rev. 13. In verses 1-8 the first beast, and in verses 9, 10 the second. Ed.] The first beast is worshipped, and the second commands worship to be paid to him. The two men are not very far apart. They are linked together, as you will see if you read from the eleventh verse of Revelation 13: “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on earth in the sight of men.” These two men, represented here under the figure of two beasts, are coming in concert with Satan. They have Satan at their back, and this is the devil’s trinity. If there is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, acting together for the salvation of men—and it is to better their position too, by bringing them up out of the horrible pit, where sin and Satan had plunged them, and putting them in the glory—if God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, are acting together to accomplish their eternal purpose in the salvation of men, here is Satan with his two men. What for? To save men and better their position? To elevate them? To make them as gods? Alas! to destroy them—to plunge them into misery with himself. He is effecting their eternal destruction in this their elevation to which he is raising them, by this ecclesiastical corruption which they are working out.
And if you want to see the truth of this further, turn to Rev. 19:20. There you get the same two men spoken of as the beast and the false prophet— “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” One, I doubt not, “the false prophet”—the other “the man of sin,” the head of the Roman Empire revived. One at the head of civil affairs, and the other at the head of ecclesiastical—they shall be there together in company with Satan.
If you ask me, Are there any two men that resemble them now? I should point you to Victor Emmanuel as one, and to the Pope of Rome as the other, and they are pretty near together in the eternal city, though not acting in concert as yet, as these will by and by. I do not say they are the two men, but they are perhaps the two that most resemble those who will yet come upon the scene. There are two men coming—one of whom will head up the apostasy. They will have Satan’s power and authority, and he will be at their back, but when they have come to this point, they will have reached the climax—in rebellion against God and Christ, and immediately, as in the case of Dathan and Abiram, God puts a stop to it. This is what He does in the 20th verse. “The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet”; and mark now a new thing is done. They do not die the common death of all men; they are cast alive into the lake of fire.
What a mighty contrast to that of the saints who are alive and upon earth when the Lord comes for them! They will not die the common death of all men either, but will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air — “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye!” But these are taken and cast alive into the lake of fire! And there they are to spend eternity, never again to come out of the place of torment.
Satan does not go with them now; they have to part company for a time. Satan is laid hold of and bound, and shut up in the bottomless pit for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3). And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison — not a bit reformed, but as bad as ever, for when he comes out at the close of the millennium, he stirs up the nations, and fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them; and the devil that deceiveth them is cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are (Rev. 20:7-10).
There are some people who believe in the non-eternity of punishment. But they do not all agree in the same way of looking at it. Some of them say when an unconverted man dies, there is an end of him, like a beast that perisheth. Some say that he will have a certain amount of punishment, according to the evil done, and when that is sufficient, he will be saved. So that in this way he would become his own savior, and make his own atonement; whilst others believe that the wicked will consume like a stick in the fire—become extinct—annihilated.
Now look at that in the face of this Scripture. How long would it take for a man to burn out, or become extinct? Here are these two men, who did not die the common death of all men, cast alive into the lake of fire before the millennium, and when the thousand years have expired they are there still. Now Satan joins company with them, and they spend eternity together in that awful! awful!! lake of fire! and it adds emphatically, “and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
Well, beloved friends, this is a solemn picture. Ecclesiastical evil originates with the way of Cain, progresses in the error of Balaam, and reaches its climax in the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. This is shadowed forth in the Old Testament, but finds its full development in the New, as we have seen from the book of Revelation.
Let us now turn back again to our Epistle. You will observe I have not gone particularly into every verse from the fourth to the end of the sixteenth. You can go over them at your leisure. I cannot, however, help calling your attention especially to the terms the Spirit of God uses in expressing His horror and disgust of those occupying such a place, and who are described in the fourth verse as having “crept in unawares.” He says, “These are spots in your feasts of charity,” — “clouds without water,”— “trees whose fruit withereth,” – “without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots,” — “raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame,”— “wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” The Holy Ghost seems to look everywhere for figures to express His sense of horror and disgust. He uses terms the most forcible, and turns them, as it were, over and over, to show what He thinks of those who have crept in in this way. And then He adds, “Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints.” What for? “To execute judgment,” as we have before seen in Rev. 19, where He comes out of heaven followed by the armies of heaven—the risen and glorified saints, and deals with Satan and the heads of the apostasy, disposing of them and consuming the others with the breath of His mouth, taking vengeance in flaming fire. That is just as it was in the days of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. The two last go down alive into the pit, while Korah and his company with the 250 censers are burnt up. They are reduced to ashes by the solemn judgment of God.
Is that what we are looking for? No, but that is what will take place. We are looking for Christ. We are looking for the Lord—for the bright and morning Star. We are looking for Him to come and take us out of the scene, before this apostasy which is now fast ripening all around us rises to its climax. Before that arrives we shall be up there; and come back with Him to the earth when these heads of the apostasy are to be dealt with.
We will now look at the 17th verse: “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. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.” That is what characterizes them — “sensual, having not the Spirit,” and it is a solemn thought. Remember the foolish virgins had no oil in their vessels. The oil, I doubt not, typifies the Holy Ghost, and they had no oil. They were weighed in the balances, but found wanting. They had not entered by the right door — by faith in Christ, and they had not the Spirit; and “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (Rom. 8:9). But, beloved brethren, “know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you?” Think of that. Is there a divine link between you and Christ? The same Spirit that is in Him dwells in your body at this moment. What a link! How ought we to carry ourselves? Having the same Spirit that dwells in the Head in heaven, dwelling also in the members upon earth; “for by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body”—united to Him by the Holy Ghost. But those who enter by Cain’s door, and follow in Balaam’s footsteps, rising up finally to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram’s sin, have not the Spirit; they are sensual, and we are warned against them, “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.” Now the last part of the Epistle from this twentieth verse is far more agreeable to speak of than what precedes it. But it is necessary to go into the disagreeables sometimes to know what there is in existence, that we may be on our guard against it, and that we may not be found mixing with it, or supporting in any way a position that is grieving to the Spirit of God and dishonoring to His holy name.
Now in the twentieth verse when Jude says, “But ye, beloved,” he is not addressing all believers, it is clear, for there are others named, as we shall see shortly, and distinguished from these by the position they occupy. These are exhorted to build themselves up in their most holy faith. Observe faith is a holy thing; it never turns the grace of God into lasciviousness. If you see a man doing that, he has not faith. In this verse, it is said to be “most holy.” “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.” They have the Spirit: no man can pray in the Holy Ghost, who has not the Spirit; that is clear. Praying in the Holy Ghost is not saying prayers. I might say prayers all my life, and find my place at last in the lake of fire. Further, they are exhorted to keep themselves in the love of God. “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.” Oh, think of that! What a place for a soul to dwell—in God! and God in him! “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking” —looking for what? “For the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” The prominence given to mercy is striking, not only in the salutation at the beginning before the corruption is spoken of, but here, after it has been developed in all its varieties and proportions (and disposed of — so far as the Epistle is concerned), the saints are exhorted to be looking for “the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” In various ways in the New Testament, “the coming of the Lord” is presented, but here it has a peculiar character—it is looking for the mercy—and this in spite of the corruption that has come in—to take the saints up out of this world before the righteous judgment of God falls upon it. We marvel at the forbearance of God—that after man has rejected His Son, stoned His messenger Stephen, a man full of the Holy Ghost, sending him after Him, as it were, with a message— “We will not have this man to reign over us”—though nearly two thousand years have elapsed since this took place it still lingers (because “His long-suffering is salvation),” and will linger till “the transgressors are come to the full” — till man has set himself up as God in the temple of God with Satan’s authority and power, and commands worship to be paid to himself, then judgment will suddenly overtake them, but mercy is what the saints are set to look for.
In the twenty-second and twenty-third verses there are others who are believers, not included in the “ye” of the twentieth verse. In the twenty-second verse we read — “And of some have compassion, making a difference.” Who are they to have compassion on? Surely they are believers; some doubtless still mixed up with the corruptions; they have not seen the separate path; they have not gone forth without the camp and taken the place of rejection— “calling on the Lord out of a pure heart” in company with those who do so. Have we seen this separate path, and are we walking in it, “calling upon the Lord out of a pure heart”? Then let us lend a helping hand to those who have not, and are still mixed up with the corruptions which are ripening all around; if God has led us into a separate—a clean place, let us think of those in the defilement, mixed up with unjudged evil. But let us not go into the ditch ourselves to help any out of it, for we shall not succeed that way; both will sink deeper into the mire. Having taken our stand on terra firma, we are in a position to be helpful to any who are in the ditch.
In the next verse it is, — “Others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” If God has brought any of us into this place of separateness, apart from the corruptions around, it is not to say — “Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou.” This surely would be a Pharisaical spirit and very offensive to God. But if the Spirit has led us to separate from the corruptions, and we see others not upon this ground of separation, don’t let us despise them — don’t let us push them deeper into the mire, nor suffer them to remain in the fire without an effort to extricate them. Do you say, “I do not know how to do it?” Then, ask God, and He will soon show you how to do it. It may be by a word spoken in season, or by your own consistent walk in this path of separation, that you may help them; for these have their eye upon us, and observe how we carry ourselves. But if we profess to have taken a separate place, and still go on carelessly, we hinder instead of help such. Let us go to God about it, if we do not know how to help people out of the mire, or how to pull them out of the fire, and He will give us wisdom. It is evident we have three classes of believers referred to here, and distinguished by the words, “ye,” “some,” and “others,” and that the last two have not got clear of the ecclesiastical corruptions around us on every side, in the day in which we live.
But to conclude, the two last verses are the crowning part of the Epistle. It has a beautiful opening, and a blessed ending, with a fearful middle—the greater part being taken up with the evil. But the close is beautiful. “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.”
If there were but a single spot on you, not bigger than a pin’s head, that glory would discover it; but He will present you faultless... “with exceeding joy.” No regret, no tear, no pang there— “before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” Who is able to do that? “Now unto Him who is able.” The last verse tells us who it is— “the only wise God our Savior, to whom be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever, Amen.” Can you from your very heart respond, Amen, and ascribe all the praise to Him to whom it is due? It was mercy to take us up out of the ditch into which sin had plunged us; it is mercy that is conducting us safely through such a defiling scene; and it will be mercy “to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” Can we not say, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy Name give glory, for Thy mercy and Thy truth’s sake?” No credit to us, but all the praise to Him! And one cannot tell how long it will be before we shall really be there perhaps before the morning. Are you ready? Are you waiting? But if He still tarry, let us occupy till He come.
I feel I have only just touched, as it were, upon the edge of this great subject, which is presented to us in this Epistle, in so concise and comprehensive a way, but it may stimulate some to further inquiry in other parts of God’s Holy Word, and may He grant His blessing to souls in the exercise.
An address delivered at Plymouth, England by John Thorne, 1878.