(Jude 5-105I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. 6And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 7Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 8Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. 9Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. 10But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. (Jude 5‑10))
Having thus indicated the commencement of the evil, Jude proceeds to set forth the character of the evil that had come in. We have seen that the men who brought in the corruption were in fact “ungodly,” however fair outwardly. The character of their ungodliness is twofold.
First they turned the grace of God into lasciviousness. In the Epistle to Titus we learn that grace is the principle on which God is saving men, and by which He teaches the believer to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world (Titus 2:11,1211For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; (Titus 2:11‑12)). The great principle by which God is saving men from sin, and teaching them to live soberly, is made the occasion by these ungodly men to gratify the flesh and indulge their lust, at the same time keeping up a fair profession and moving in the Christian circle.
Secondly, they deny “our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ” (vs. 4) (R.V. and N.T.). This is the refusal of all authority. They do not deny the name of Christ, but they will not submit to His authority. They deny “our only Master” (vs. 4). This is lawlessness, and lawlessness is the determination to do one’s own will.
Here, then, we have the two great characteristics of this corrupting evil— lust and lawlessness. Of necessity lust leads to lawlessness, for the man who is determined to gratify his lust will be impatient of every kind of restraint. Who can deny today that that which bears the name of Christ upon earth is marked by lust and lawlessness? Truly the evil may take many different forms and show itself in very varied degrees, but on every hand there is increasingly manifest a spirit of self-will and self-indulgence combined with a spirit of rebellion that rises up against all authority.
Moreover, Jude not only portrays the character of the evil, but he also shows what it involves and whither it leads. It involves the hopelessness of apostasy and leads to overwhelming judgment. To prove this beyond all question, Jude recalls three terrible examples in the history of the world. First he reminds us of those who were saved out of the land of Egypt but afterward were destroyed in the wilderness. What was the secret of their downfall? Lust and lawlessness. They lusted after the things of Egypt, and they rebelled against God (Jude 55I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. (Jude 5)).
Secondly, Jude brings forward the angels, which kept not their first estate. The reference is not to the fall of Satan and his angels, for, as we well know, they are not at present in chains but are allowed to wander to and fro on this earth. This is a second fall of angels, presumably referred to in Gen. 6. The secret of Satan’s fall was pride, by which he sought to exalt himself to the throne of God. The secret of this second fall of angels was lust, by which they left their own habitation and kept not their first estate (Jude 66And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. (Jude 6)).
In connection with these three examples there are several facts we do well to remember: Firstly, the underlying evil in every case was lust in some form.
Secondly, the effort to gratify lust led to rebellion against the authority of God.
Thirdly, rebellion against God involved the abandonment of the position in which God had placed them. This is apostasy.
Fourthly, in every case apostasy brought about overwhelming judgment. There is no hope for the apostate.
Israel fell to lusting, rebelled against God, and thus abandoned their position of outward relationship with God in which they had been placed. This was apostasy and led to their judgment— they were destroyed. The angels lusted and abandoned the angelic position in which God had set them.
This, too, was apostasy and in consequence they are abandoned to judgment—“reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (vs. 6). Sodom and Gomorrha lusted and abandoned the natural order which God had ordained. This again was apostasy, exposing them to the judgment of “eternal fire.”
How intensely solemn the warnings of these terrible examples! How loudly they proclaim that the corruption and rebellion that marks the great Christian profession of today is leading to the hopeless horror of apostasy— the total abandonment of the Christian position. For apostasy there is neither recovery nor remedy. There is nothing in front of corrupt Christendom but the judgment, long-foretold, at the coming of the Lord with ten thousands of His saints.
However, Jude does not leave us to make the application of these examples, for the facts adduced he himself applies to the corrupters of Christendom (Jude 8-108Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. 9Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. 10But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. (Jude 8‑10)). They, too, are marked by the lusts of the flesh. Not governed by the revelation of God, they become infatuated with their own filthy dreams which defile the flesh. They, too, are marked by lawlessness. In the eager pursuit of their dreams they revolt against all authority; as it is said, they “despise lordship and speak railingly against dignities” (vs. 8) (N.T.). Mere natural men, they can know nothing of the things of God, for “the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:1111For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:11)). Of these things that they know not, they speak evil, and in the things which they know naturally they corrupt themselves, for, as one has truly said, “Man cannot become as a beast without debasing himself far below the beast; and that which only testifies in the beast to the absence of a moral element, in man will testify to the presence of an immoral one.”
Here then we have all the elements that mark corrupt Christendom. Filthy dreams instead of the revelation of God; the body defiled rather than being used for the glory of God; lordship despised in place of submission to the authority of Christ; dignities railed against in place of due recognition; evil spoken of spiritual things and natural things corrupted. Such is the solemn picture, not of degraded heathendom but, of civilized Christendom. To this condition there can be only one end.