One of the greatest threats to the church’s influence in the world is the world’s influence in the church. That happens to be the perspective of a biblical author who wrote a little letter—an epistle—to warn us and remind us of spiritual dangers that surround the church today.

This letter was written by a man named Jude. And his epistle begins with his signature, here in verse 1: “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.”

Jude is another form of the name Judas, which, in turn, is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Judah. No doubt our Bibles translate the name Jude here to distance the author from the memory of Judas Iscariot.

Jude tells us he’s the brother of James. According to the New Testament, James and Jude were half brothers of Jesus. Matthew 13:55 gives us their names along with two other half brothers.

Unlike James, Jude is relatively unknown. Perhaps that Is why he introduces himself as the brother of James, the well-known pastor of the church in Jerusalem.

Rather than mentioning James, Jude could have just said, “I am the half brother of Jesus, the Messiah.” Instead of focusing on his physical relationship to Jesus, however, he humbly mentions his spiritual relationship to Jesus. He is a servant, a slave, of Jesus Christ.

Now here is Jude’s purpose in writing this letter:

I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. (verse 3)

This word “contend” is a compound word that includes the Greek word agōnizomai, which gives us the verb agonize. Jude is not talking about picking fights with unbelievers. He is talking about making every agonizing effort to defend the faith. He explains why in verse 4:

Certain people have crept in unnoticed . . . ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Jude is not concerned about people on the outside. He is talking here about people on the inside. These people are not obviously trying to destroy the church; they are actually trying to join the church. But they will eventually twist the truth so that it supports their lifestyles, which deny the mastery and authority of Jesus.

Theologians call these people apostates. Apostates are those who appear to follow Christ for a time but eventually abandon the faith to pursue sensuality. They want their sinful lives instead of Jesus.

Jude highlights three kinds of temptation that led people in the past to abandon the faith. And these temptations still very much exist today.

First is temptation that comes from special privileges. Jude mentions the Israelites who were delivered out of Egypt but, as verse 5 says, were later “destroyed” because they “did not believe.”

Notice that Jude writes, “Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.” This is a powerful statement of the preexistence of Jesus as God the Son. While He became a human through Mary’s miraculous conception, Jesus is the eternally existent, second member of the Godhead. Jude says He, specifically, was the sovereign power delivering Israel from Egypt.

But Israel wasted their amazing privileges through unbelief.

Not only can temptation come from special privileges, but it can also come from special authority. In verse 6, Jude refers to the sin of angels “who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling.” The angels enjoyed a glorious position in the very presence of God. But for some of them, that was not enough. They rebelled against God and became what we call fallen angels, or demons.

And according to Jude 6, some of the demons are being “kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment.” I personally believe Jude is referring to that passage back in Genesis 6:1-8, where some of these fallen angels possessed sinful men, and their offspring thoroughly corrupted the human race and led to the judgment of the global flood.

Jude’s point is that positions of superior authority can lead to pride. And in this context, he is warning that people in authority in the church can become so proud they think they know better than God and the Bible, and that can lead them to defying God.

Jude’s third warning is about temptation that comes from sexual desires. He rehearses here the sexual immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah:

Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example. (verse 7)

That is, they serve as an example of God’s fiery judgment.

Genesis 19 records how God sent down fire and sulfur, destroying Sodom, Gomorrah, and several nearby cities in this valley region. Those cities’ locations have been identified by archaeologists—the ash and burn layers still evident. The only city in this region that shows no signs of fire and sulfur is Zoar, to which Lot and his family initially fled.

I have in my study a little ball of sulfur about the size of a golf ball. It, along with many others, was uncovered in this region by an archaeologist, a faculty member at Shepherds Theological Seminary.

This little ball of sulfur is still flammable. I can hold it up to my nose and smell the sulfur even though it fell from the sky 4,000 years ago. Now, if you think it was not fair for God to judge them so severely, Jude is simply using them as a reminder that one day, all who reject God’s word are going to be cast by God into an eternal fire in hell (Revelation 20:15).

Following that history lesson, Jude describes what apostates look like in any generation. He writes, “These people . . . defile the flesh [violating God’s original design], reject authority [God’s Word], and blaspheme the glorious ones” (verse 8).

Jude explains that last phrase by telling us in verse 9 about an event not recorded anywhere else in Scripture:

When the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”

So even the great archangel did not attempt to insult the devil. This is a reminder that when we contend for the faith, our weapon is not delivering insults but declaring God’s inspired Word.

Jude describes apostate teachers in verse 11 as having “walked in the way of Cain,” as described in Genesis 4. Likewise, apostates do religious deeds their own way, and they do not care who gets hurt.

They also commit “Balaam’s error,” verse 11 says, “for the sake of gain.” Just like Balaam back in Numbers 22, apostates want to put money into their own pockets.

Finally, Jude mentions Korah, who defied the authority of Moses (Numbers 16). Likewise, apostates rebel against God’s chosen leaders in the church.

Jude then describes these apostates as “hidden reefs” (verse 12). They bring a local church to shipwreck. They are like “waterless clouds” that promise a rain shower but offer nothing more than hot air.

Furthermore, they are like “wandering stars” (verse 13). Stars were critical for navigation, but these false teachers do not follow a consistent pattern. They just wander around, leading people to wander along with them.

Jude adds a unique prophecy from Enoch, the Old Testament patriarch, in verses 14-15:

“Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness.”

This prophecy speaks of Christ’s judgment when He returns to earth. He is not going to pick on one sinner or any one sin; all who rejected His Word will be judged.

Beloved, God does not give us this description of apostates so we can pat ourselves on the back, but to remind us to defend the faith. And that means making sure we are walking in obedience to the Word of God today.