1 Jude called himself a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. The James named here was surely the well-known leader of the Jerusalem church (Ac 15:13-21; Gl 2:9; see Introduction). This James was the brother of Jesus (Mk 6:3). Jude humbly designated himself as Christ’s servant rather than mention that he was related to Jesus. The called are those who respond in faith to God’s initiative in salvation. Loved by God the Father is a result of being called. The expression kept for Jesus Christ means that believers are kept safe or preserved for Jesus until their salvation is consummated at his return.
2 Mercy is God’s kindness and compassion toward his people. Peace is the well-being that results from this relationship. Love has the best interests of other persons in mind whether or not they love in return. The word may refer to God’s love for humankind and to their love for God and other people.
3-4 Jude originally meant to write a letter about salvation to his friends, but he changed his plans when he learned about false teachers who had secretly made their way into the church. Because of the influence of false teachers he urged his readers to contend for the faith entrusted to them once for all. Contending for the faith is not just a vigorous defense of the Christian faith but an advancement of the gospel as well. These actions must be accompanied by an obedient lifestyle (cp. vv. 20-23). The faith . . . delivered once for all refers to the Christian revelation, or the body of fixed, authoritative, orthodox apostolic teaching that has been handed down to believers.
5-7 Jude pointed out that the false teachers deserved divine judgment and would receive it in the future. He wanted to remind his readers that God had acted decisively in the past against those who opposed him. He mentioned three examples of God’s judgment: (1) the judgment of unbelieving Israel in the wilderness after being delivered out of Egypt (Nm 32:10-12), (2) the angels who fell (cp. 2Pt 2:4; 1 Enoch 6:19), and (3) the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah for sexual immorality (Gn 19:24-29; 2Pt 2:6-7).
Greek pronunciation
[dehs PAH tays]
CSB translation
master
Uses in Jude
1
Uses in the NT
10
Focus passage
Jude 4
DespotÄ“s (master) refers to one who holds authority and power over the life and affairs of another person. Most frequently, despotÄ“s appears as a title for God or Christ. The term emphasizes God’s sovereignty, variously highlighting his right to create, judge, or save. Three times the saints use despotÄ“s when prayerfully entreating their Sovereign (Lk 2:29; Ac 4:24; Rv 6:10). Paul emphasizes God’s sovereign right as Master to use his people as he chooses (2Tm 2:21). Likewise, Christ is Sovereign and Lord over salvation, worthy of the saints’ obedience (Jd 4), and he is the Master who purchased men with his own blood (2Pt 2:1). Elsewhere, despotÄ“s may refer to an earthly master with a household slave. In Christian ethic, slaves are exhorted to respect their masters (1Tm 6:1-2) and to submit to them in everything (Ti 2:9; 1Pt 2:18).
8 The false teachers’ sins were like those mentioned in vv. 5-7. They pursued empty dreams and arrogantly committed sexual immorality, rebelled against authority, and blasphemed glorious ones. The latter term frequently refers to angels.
9 Jude contrasted the heretics’ blasphemy of angels with the restraint that Michael the archangel showed when disputing with the devil in an argument about Moses’s body. Scholars generally agree that this story was taken from the Assumption of Moses, an apocryphal book. In the story, Michael sought to bury Moses’s body. The devil opposed the burial with the claim that he was lord over matter and Moses was a murderer. Rather than assuming the right to condemn Satan for his slander, Michael called on the Lord to judge.
10 Jude described the false teachers as slandering what they did not understand. He compared them to irrational animals that are destroyed by the things they instinctively pursued.
11 Jude also compared the heretics to Cain (Gn 4:4-5,8-9), Balaam (Nm 22:1-24:25; 31:16), and Korah (Nm 16:1-35). These men deceived others and were known for their hatred, greed, and rebellion.
12-13 To demonstrate further that the false teachers were like those mentioned earlier (v. 11), Jude portrayed them with several metaphors. He described them as dangerous reefs at your love feasts. This means the false teachers were like submerged rocks, unseen by sailors, that could wreck a ship. “Love feasts” were fellowship meals at which the Lord’s Supper was observed. These heretics were shepherds who only look after themselves without any concern for others. They were useless and full of empty promises like waterless clouds carried along by winds. Jude portrayed them as barren fruit trees and wild waves of the sea that deposited their refuse of shameful deeds on the shore of people’s lives. The heretics were also like wandering stars for whom the blackness of darkness was reserved forever. Some scholars hold that Jude was influenced here by 1 Enoch 18:13-16. In this text the rebellion of heavenly beings caused the planets to wander. Or, Jude was possibly thinking of the angels who fell earlier (Jd 6). Angels falling from heaven were sometimes pictured as falling stars (cp. Is 14:12-15; Rv 9:1). Like disobedient angels destined for eternal punishment, heretics are heading for eternal darkness.
14-15 Jude emphasized that the heretics would suffer divine retribution. He pictured this judgment by quoting a prophecy from 1 Enoch 1:9. Their punishment would take place when the Lord returns to judge the wicked.
16 In the previous verse, Jude warned that the heretics would be judged for their deeds and words. In this verse he focused more on their words. The false teachers were self-indulgent, discontented complainers. They uttered arrogant words, flattering people in order to take what they wanted from them.
17-19 Jude urged his readers to remember that these false teachers were nothing new because the apostles had foretold of such people who scoffed at those who refused to follow them. Jude may have referred to warnings like those in Ac 20:29-30 and 1Tm 4:1-3. The heretics created divisions and followed their ungodly desires. As people who were worldly, they did not have the Spirit.
20-23 After primarily describing the false teachers up to this point, Jude now exhorted his readers on how to contend for the faith (cp. v. 3). They were to show mercy to those who were wavering, reach out to those who had already been taken in and needed to be snatched from the fire (cp. Am 4:11; Zch 3:2), and show concern for the wayward heretics, all at the same time. But believers were to be careful lest they also became defiled.
24-25 Jude ended his letter with a doxology that served as a reminder of the divine power available to believers as they contend against heretics. He praised God because he was able to protect believers from falling into the sinful practices of the false teachers and grant them entrance into his glorious presence.
1. Jude the servant of Jesus Christ. He calls himself the servant of Christ, not as the name applies to all the godly, but with respect to his apostleship; for they were deemed peculiarly the servants of Christ, who had some public office committed to them. And we know why the apostles were wont to give themselves this honorable name. Whosoever is not called, arrogates to himself presumptuously the right and authority of teaching. Then their calling was an evidence to the apostles, that they did not thrust themselves into their office through their own will. It was not, however, of itself sufficient to be appointed to their office, except they faithfully discharged it. And, no doubt, he who declares himself to be the servant of God, includes both these things, that is, that God is the bestower of the office which he exercises, and that he faithfully performs what has been committed to him. Many act falsely, and falsely boast to be what they are very far from being: we ought always to examine whether the reality corresponds with the profession.
And brother of James. He mentions a name more celebrated than his own, and more known to the churches. For though faithfulness of doctrine and authority do not depend on the names of mortal men, yet it is a confirmation to the faith, when the integrity of the man who undertakes the office of a teacher is made certain to us. Besides, the authority of James is not here brought forward as that of a private individual, but because he was counted by all the Church as one of the chief apostles of Christ. He was the son of Alpheus, as I have said elsewhere. Nay, this very passage is a sufficient proof to me against Eusebius and others, who say, that he was a disciple, named Oblias, [James,] mentioned by Luke, in Act 15:13; Act 21:18, who was more eminent than the apostles in the Church. (187) But there is no doubt but that Jude mentions here his own brother, because he was eminent among the apostles. It is, then, probable, that he was the person to whom the chief honor was conceded by the rest, according to what Luke relates.
To them that are sanctified by God the Father, or, to the called who are sanctified, etc. (188) By this expression, “the called,” he denotes all the faithful, because the Lord has separated them for himself. But as calling is nothing else but the effect of eternal election, it is sometimes taken for it. In this place it makes but little difference in which way you take it; for he, no doubt, commends the grace of God, by which he has been pleased to choose them as his peculiar treasure. And he intimates that men do not anticipate God, and that they never come to him until he draws them.
Of the same he says that they were sanctified in God the Father, which may be rendered, “by God the Father.” I have, however, retained the very form of the expression, that readers may exercise their own judgment. For it may be, that this is the sense, — that being profane in themselves, they had their holiness in God. But the way in which God sanctifies is, by regenerating us by his Spirit.
Another reading, which the Vulgate has followed, is somewhat harsh, “To the beloved (ἠγαπημένοις) in God the Father.” I therefore regard it as corrupt; and it is, indeed, found but in a few copies.
He further adds, that they were preserved in Jesus Christ. For we should be always in danger of death through Satan, and he might take us at any moment as an easy prey, were we not safe under the protection of Christ, whom the Father has given to be our guardian, so that none of those whom he has received under his care and shelter should perish.
Jude then mentions here a threefold blessing, or favor of God, with regard to all the godly, — that he has made them by his calling partakers of the gospel; that he has regenerated them, by his Spirit, unto newness of life; and that he has preserved them by the hand of Christ, so that they might not fall away from salvation.
(187) Some have held, that James, mentioned in the forecited places in Acts, was not James the apostle, but another James, a disciple, and one of the seventy, who was also called Oblias: but this is not correct. — Ed.
(188) So Beza renders the words, “To the called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved by Jesus Christ:” that is, to the effectually called, (as the word commonly means,) set apart and separated by God from the ungodly world, and kept by Christ, having been committed to his care and protection. — Ed.
2. Mercy to you. Mercy means nearly the same as grace in the salutations of Paul. Were any one to wish for a refined distinction, it may be said that grace is properly the effect of mercy; for there is no other reason why God has embraced us in love, but that he pitied our miseries. Love may be understood as that of God towards men, as well as that of men towards one another. (189) If it be referred to God, the meaning is, that it might increase towards them, and that the assurance of divine love might be daily more confirmed in their hearts. The other meaning is, however, not unsuitable, that God would kindle and confirm in them mutual love.
(189) As mercy is that of God, so it is more consistent to consider “peace” and “love’’ to be those of God: “may the mercy” of God, “and the peace” of God, “and the love” of God, “be increased (or multiplied) to you” — Ed.
3. When I gave diligence. I have rendered the words σπουδὴν ποιούμενος, “Applying care:” literally they are, “Making diligence.” But many interpreters explain the sentence in this sense, that a strong desire constrained Jude to write, as we usually say of those under the influence of some strong feeling, that they cannot govern or restrain themselves. Then, according to these expounders, Jude was under a sort of necessity, because a desire to write suffered him not to rest. But I rather think that the two clauses are separate, that though he was inclined and solicitous to write, yet a necessity compelled him. He then intimates, that he was indeed glad and anxious to write to them, but yet necessity urged him to do so, even because they were assailed (according to what follows) by the ungodly, and stood in need of being prepared to fight with them. (190)
Then, in the first place, Jude testifies that he felt so much concern for their salvation, that he wished himself, and was indeed anxious to write to them; and, secondly, in order to rouse their attention, he says that the state of things required him to do so. For necessity adds strong stimulants. Had they not been forewarned how necessary his exhortation was, they might have been slothful and negligent; but when he makes this preface, that he wrote on account of the necessity of their case, it was the same as though he had blown a trumpet to awake them from their torpor.
Of the common salvation. Some copies add “your,” but without reason, as I think; for he makes salvation common to them and to himself. And it adds not a little weight to the doctrine that is announced, when any one speaks according to his own feelings and experience; for vain is what we say, if we speak of salvation to others, when we ourselves have no real knowledge of it. Then, Jude professed himself to be (so to speak) an experimental teacher, when he associated himself with the godly in the participation of the same salvation.
And exhort you. Literally, “exhorting you;” but as he points out the end of his counsel, the sentence ought to be thus expressed. What I have rendered, “to help the faith by contending,” means the same as to strive in retaining the faith, and courageously to sustain the contrary assaults of Satan. (191) For he reminds them that in order to persevere in the faith, various contests must be encountered and continual warfare maintained. He says that faith had been once delivered, that they might know that they had obtained it for this end, that they might never fail or fall away.
(190) Then the rendering would be, “Beloved, when I was applying all care to write to you of the common salvation, I deemed (or found) it necessary to write to you, in order to exhort you to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints.” Macknight and some others give another meaning to the first clause, and one more literal: “Beloved, making all haste to write to you, concerning the common salvation, I have thought it necessary,” etc. For this haste the Apostle gives a reason in the following verse, “For some men have stealthily crept in,” etc. This is the most obvious meaning of the passage. — Ed.
(191) The meaning of the verb is, to combat for, to strive, fight or contend for. It is a word derived from the games, and expresses a strenuous effort. Our version conveys well its meaning, “earnestly contend for the faith;” or, the words may be rendered, “strenuously combat for the faith;” not with the sword, says Beza, but with sound doctrine and the example of a holy life. — Ed
4. For there are certain men crept in unawares. Though Satan is ever an enemy to the godly, and never ceases to harass them, yet Jude reminds those to whom he was writing of the state of things at that time. Satan now, he says, attacks and harasses you in a peculiar manner; it is therefore necessary to take up arms to resist him. We hence learn that a good and faithful pastor ought wisely to consider what the present state of the Church requires, so as to accommodate his doctrine to its wants.
The word παρεισέδυσαν, which he uses, denotes an indirect and stealthy insinuation, by which the ministers of Satan deceive the unwary; for Satan sows his tares in the night, and while husbandmen are asleep, in order that he may corrupt the seed of God. And at the same time he teaches us that it is an intestine evil; for Satan in this respect also is crafty, as he raises up those who are of the flock to do mischief, in order that they may more easily creep in.
Before of old ordained. He calls that judgment, or condemnation, or a reprobate mind, by which they were led astray to pervert the doctrine of godliness; for no one can do such a thing except to his own ruin. But the metaphor is taken from this circumstance, because the eternal counsel of God, by which the faithful are ordained unto salvation, is called a book: and when the faithful heard that these were given up to eternal death, it behooved them to take heed lest they should involve themselves in the same destruction. It was at the same time the object of Jude to obviate danger, lest the novelty of the thing should disturb and distress any of them; for if these were already long ago ordained, it follows that the Church is not tried or exercised but according to the infallible counsel of God. (192)
The grace of our God. He now expresses more clearly what the evil was; for he says that they abused the grace of God, so as to lead themselves and others to take an impure and profane liberty in sinning. But the grace of God has appeared for a far different purpose, even that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we may live soberly, righteously, and godly in this world. Let us, then, know that nothing is more pestilential than men of this kind, who from the grace of Christ take a cloak to indulge in lasciviousness. (193)
Because we teach that salvation is obtained through God’s mercy alone, the Papists accuse us of this crime. But why should we use words to refute their effrontery, since we everywhere urge repentance, the fear of God, and newness of life, and since they themselves not only corrupt the whole world with the worst examples, but also by their ungodly teaching take away from the world true holiness and the pure worship of God? Though I rather think, that those of whom Jude speaks, were like the libertines of our time, as it will be more evident from what follows.
The only Lord God, or, God who alone is Lord. Some old copies have, “Christ, who alone is God and Lord.” And, indeed, in the Second Epistle of Peter, Christ alone is mentioned, and there he is called Lord. (194) But He means that Christ is denied, when they who had been redeemed by his blood, become again the vassals of the Devil, and thus render void as far as they can that incomparable price. That Christ, then, may retain us as his peculiar treasure, we must remember that he died and rose again for us, that he might have dominion over our life and death.
(192) The words literally are, “Who have been long ago (or, some time past) forewritten of for (or, as to) this judgment.” The reference is to prophecy; such creepers in for the purpose of corrupting the truth had been foretold; and this creeping in for such a purpose was a judgment for yielding up themselves to the delusions of Satan. The word πάλαι refers indefinitely to what is past, either long ago, or some time past. See Mat 11:21, and Mar 15:44. The reference may be to ancient prophecies, or to those of our Savior and his Apostles. — Ed
(193) “The grace of God” here is evidently the gospel. They transformed, says Grotius, the gospel to a libidinous doctrine. — Ed.
(194) Griesbach excludes Θεὸν, “God,” from the text: then the passage would correspond in sense, with 2. e 2:1; literally, “denying the only sovereign and Lord of us, Jesus Christ.” The word δεσπότην, sovereign, or master, is used by Jude as well as by Peter. It was not the grace, but the ruling power of Christ that was denied; they boasted of his grace, but did not submit to him as a king. Hence the word δεσπότης is used — one exercising absolute power. We may render the words, “denying our only sovereign and Lord, Jesus Christ.” — Ed
5. I will therefore put you in remembrance, or, remind you. He either modestly excuses himself, lest he should seem to teach as it were the ignorant things unknown to them; or, indeed, he openly declares in an emphatical manner, (which I approve more of,) that he adduced nothing new or unheard of before, in order that what he was going to say might gain more credit and authority. I only recall, he says, to your mind what you have already learnt. As he ascribes knowledge to them, so he says that they stood in need of warnings, lest they should think that the labor he undertook towards them was superfluous; for the use of God’s word is not only to teach what we could not have otherwise known, but also to rouse us to a serious meditation of those things which we already understand, and not to suffer us to grow torpid in a cold knowledge.
Now, the meaning is, that after having been called by God, we ought not to glory carelessly in his grace, but on the contrary, to walk watchfully in his fear; for if any trifles thus with God, the contempt of his grace will not be unpunished. And this he proves by three examples. He first refers to the vengeance which God executed on those unbelievers, whom he had chosen as his people, and delivered by his power. Nearly the same reference is made by Paul in 1. o 10:1. The import of what he says is, that those whom God had honored with the greatest blessings, whom he had extolled to the same degree of honor as we enjoy at this day, he afterwards severely punished. Then in vain were all they proud of God’s grace, who did not live in a manner suitable to their calling.
The word people is by way of honor taken for the holy and chosen nation, as though he had said that it availed them nothing, that they by a singular favor had been taken into covenant. By calling them unbelieving, he denotes the fountain of all evils; for all their sins, mentioned by Moses, were owing to this, because they refused to be ruled by God’s word. For where there is the subjection of faith, there obedience towards God necessarily appears in all the duties of life.
6. And the angels. This is an argument from the greater to the less; for the state of angels is higher than ours; and yet God punished their defection in a dreadful manner. He will not then forgive our perfidy, if we depart from the grace unto which he has called us. This punishment, inflicted on the inhabitants of heaven, and on such superior ministers of God, ought surely to be constantly before our eyes, so that we may at no time be led to despise God’s grace, and thus rush headlong into destruction.
The word ἀρχὴ in this place, may be aptly taken for beginning as well as for principality or dominion. For Jude intimates that they suffered punishment, because they had despised the goodness of God and deserted their first vocation. And there follows immediately an explanation, for he says that they had left their own habitation; for, like military deserters, they left the station in which they had been placed.
We must also notice the atrocity of the punishment which the Apostle mentions. They are not only free spirits but celestial powers; they are now held bound by perpetual chains. They not only enjoyed the glorious light of God, but his brightness shone forth in them, so that from them, as by rays, it spread over all parts of the universe; now they are sunk in darkness. But we are not to imagine a certain place in which the devils are shut up, for the Apostle simply intended to teach us how miserable their condition is, since the time they apostatized and lost their dignity. For wherever they go, they drag with them their own chains, and remain involved in darkness. Their extreme punishment is in the meantime, deferred until the great day comes.
7. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha. This example is more general, for he testifies that God, excepting none of mankind, punishes without any difference all the ungodly. And Jude also mentions in what follows, that the fire through which the five cities perished was a type of the eternal fire. Then God at that time exhibited a remarkable example, in order to keep men in fear till the end of the world. Hence it is that it is so often mentioned in Scripture; nay, whenever the prophets wished to designate some memorable and dreadful judgment of God, they painted it under the figure of sulfurous fire, and alluded to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha. It is not, therefore, without reason that Jude strikes all ages with terror, by exhibiting the same view.
When he says, the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, I do not apply these words to the Israelites and the angels, but to Sodom and Gomorrha. It is no objection that the pronoun τούτοις is masculine, for Jude refers to the inhabitants and not to the places. To go after strange flesh, is the same as to be given up to monstrous lusts; for we know that the Sodomites, not content with the common manner of committing fornication, polluted themselves in a way the most filthy and detestable. We ought to observe, that he devotes them to eternal fire; for we hence learn, that the dreadful spectacle which Moses describes, was only an image of a much heavier punishment.
8. Likewise also these. This comparison is not to be pressed too strictly, as though he compared these whom he mentions in all things to be Sodomites, or to the fallen angels, or to the unbelieving people. He only shews that they were vessels of wrath appointed to destruction, and that they could not escape the hand of God, but that he would some time or another make them examples of his vengeance. For his design was to terrify the godly to whom he was writing, lest they should entangle themselves in their society.
But he begins here more clearly to describe these impostors. And he says first, that they polluted their flesh as it were by dreaming, by which words he denotes their stupid effrontery, as though he had said that they abandoned themselves to all kinds of filth, which the most wicked abhor, except sleep took away shame and also consciousness. It is then a metaphorical mode of speaking, by which he intimates that they were so dull and stupid as to give up themselves without any shame to every kind of baseness. (195)
There is a contrast to be noticed, when he says that they defiled or polluted the flesh, that is, that they degraded what was less excellent, and that yet they despised as disgraceful what is deemed especially excellent among mankind.
It appears from the second clause that they were seditious men, who sought anarchy, that, being loosed from the fear of the laws, they might sin more freely. But these two things are nearly always connected, that they who abandon themselves to iniquity, do also wish to abolish all order. Though, indeed, their chief object is to be free from every yoke, it yet appears from the words of Jude that they were wont to speak insolently and reproachfully of magistrates, like the fanatics of the present day, who not only grumble because they are restrained by the authority of magistrates, but furiously declaim against all government, and say that the power of the sword is profane and opposed to godliness; in short, they superciliously reject from the Church of God all kings and all magistrates. Dignities or glories are orders or ranks eminent in power or honor.
(195) The “dreaming” is connected with the three things which follow, defiling the flesh, despising government and slandering dignities. Hence the idea conveyed by our version, in which filthy is introduced, is by no means correct. Allusion seems to be made to the pretensions of false prophets in former times. See Jer 23:25. The false prophets taught what they pretended to see in dreams, as dreams as well as visions were vouchsafed to true prophets. See Joe 2:28. It is not improbable that those referred to here pretended that they had received what they taught., by supernatural dreams; for how otherwise could they deceive others, especially respecting errors so gross and palpable as are here mentioned? The eighth verse is, as to its construction, connected with the seventh. The ὡς and the ὁμοίως are corresponding terms; “as Sodom and Gomorrha, etc., are set forth for an example, in like manner also these would be.” This is the drift of the passage; —
8.“In like manner, indeed, shall also these dreamers be that is,
an example of divine vengeance,
who defile the flesh, despise dominion, and revile dignities.”
Peter threatened them with “swift destruction,” 2. e 2:1. There are here three things mentioned which apply to the three instances previously adduced: like the Sodomites they defiled the flesh; like the fallen angels they despised dominion; and like the Israelites in the wilderness, they reviled dignities; for it was especially by opposing the power given to Moses that the Israelites manifested their unbelief. — Ed.
9. Yet Michael the archangel. Peter gives this argument shorter, and states generally, that angels, far more excellent than men, dare not bring forward a railing judgment. [2. e 2:11.]
But as this history is thought to have been taken from an apocryphal book, it has hence happened that less weight has been attached to this Epistle. But since the Jews at that time had many things from the traditions of the fathers, I see nothing unreasonable in saying that Jude referred to what had already been handed down for many ages. I know indeed that many puerilities had obtained the name of tradition, as at this day the Papists relate as traditions many of the silly dotages of the monks; but this is no reason why they should not have had some historical facts not committed to writing.
It is beyond controversy that Moses was buried by the Lord, that is, that his grave was concealed according to the known purpose of God. And the reason for concealing his grave is evident to all, that is, that the Jews might not bring forth his body to promote superstition. What wonder then is it, when the body of the prophet was hidden by God, Satan should attempt to make it known; and that angels, who are ever ready to serve God, should on the other hand resist him? And doubtless we see that Satan almost in all ages has been endeavoring to make the bodies of God’s saints idols to foolish men. Therefore this Epistle ought not to be suspected on account of this testimony, though it is not found in Scripture.
That Michael is introduced alone as disputing against Satan is not new. We know that myriads of angels are ever ready to render service to God; but he chooses this or that to do his business as he pleases. What Jude relates as having been said by Michael, is found also in the book of Zechariah,
“Let God chide (or check) thee, Satan.”
(Zec 3:2.)
And it is a comparison, as they say, between the greater and the less. Michael dared not to speak more severely against Satan (though a reprobate and condemned) than to deliver him to God to be restrained; but those men hesitated not to load with extreme reproaches the powers which God had adorned with peculiar honors.
10. But these speak evil of those things which they know not. He means that they had no taste for anything but what was gross, and as it were beastly, and therefore did not perceive what was worthy of honor; and that yet they added audacity to madness, so that they feared not to condemn things above their comprehension; and that they also labored under another evil — for when like beasts they were carried away to those things which gratified the senses of the body, they observed no moderation, but gorged themselves excessively like the swine which roll themselves in stinking mud. The adverb naturally is set in opposition to reason and judgment for the instinct of nature alone rules in brute animals; but reason ought to govern men and to bridle their appetites.
11. Woe unto them. It is a wonder that he inveighs against them so severely, when he had just said that it was not permitted to an angel to bring a railing accusation against Satan. But it was not his purpose to lay down a general rule. He only shewed briefly, by the example of Michael, how intolerable was their madness when they insolently reproached what God honored. It was certainly lawful for Michael to fulminate against Satan his final curse; and we see how vehemently the prophets threatened the ungodly; but when Michael forbore extreme severity (otherwise lawful), what madness was it to observe no moderation towards those excelling in glory? But when he pronounced woe on them, he did not so much imprecate evil on them, but rather reminded them what sort of end awaited them; and he did so, lest they should carry others with them to perdition.
He says that they were the imitators of Cain, who being ungrateful to God and perverting his worship through an ungodly and wicked heart, forfeited his birthright. He says that they were deceived like Balaam by a reward, because they adulterated the doctrine of true religion for the sake of filthy lucre. But the metaphor he uses, expresses something more; for he says that they overflowed, even because their excess was like overflowing water. He says in the third place, that they imitated the contradiction of Core, because they disturbed the order and quietness of the church.
12. These are spots in your feasts of charity. They who read, “among your charities,” do not, as I think, sufficiently explain the true meaning. For he calls those feasts charities, (ἀγάπαις,) which the faithful had among themselves for the sake of testifying their brotherly unity. Such feasts, he says, were disgraced by impure men, who afterwards fed themselves to an excess; for in these there was the greatest frugality and moderation. It was then not right that these gorgers should be admitted, who afterwards indulged themselves to an excess elsewhere.
Some copies have, “Feasting with you,” which reading, if approved, has this meaning, that they were not only a disgrace, but that they were also troublesome and expensive, as they crammed themselves without fear, at the public expense of the church. Peter speaks somewhat different, [2. e 2:13,] who says that they took delight in errors, and feasted together with the faithful, as though he had said that they acted inconsiderately who cherished such noxious serpents, and that they were very foolish who encouraged their excessive luxury. And at this day I wish there were more judgment in some good men, who, by seeking to be extremely kind to wicked men, bring great damage to the whole church.
Clouds they are without water. The two similitudes found in Peter are here given in one, but to the same purpose, for both condemn vain ostentation: these unprincipled men, though promising much, were yet barren within and empty, like clouds driven by stormy winds, which give hope of rain, but soon vanish into nothing. Peter adds the similitude of a dry and empty fountain; but Jude employs other metaphors for the same end, that they were trees fading, as the vigor of trees in autumn disappears. He then calls them trees unfruitful, rooted up, and twice dead; (196) as though he had said, that there was no sap within, though leaves might appear.
(196) “Twice dead” is deemed by some a proverbial expression to signify what is altogether dead; or, as by Macknight, it means that they were dead when professing Judaism, and dead after having made a profession of the gospel. — Ed.
13. Raging waves of the sea. Why this was added, we may learn more fully from the words of Peter: [2. e 2:17 ] it was to shew, that being inflated with pride, they breathed out, or rather cast out the scum of high-flown stuff of words in grandiloquent style. At the same time they brought forth nothing spiritual, their object being on the contrary to make men as stupid as brute animals. Such, as it has been before stated, are the fanatics of our day, who call themselves Libertines. You may justly say that they make only rumbling sounds; for, despising common language, they form for themselves an exotic idiom, I know not what. They seem at one time to carry their disciples above heaven, then they suddenly fall down to beastly errors, for they imagine a state of innocency in which there is no difference between baseness and honesty; they imagine a spiritual life, when fear is extinguished, and when every one heedlessly indulges himself; they imagine that we become gods, because God absorbs the spirits when they quit their bodies. With the more care and reverence ought the simplicity of Scripture to be studied, lest, by reasoning more refinedly than is right, we should not draw men to heaven, but on the contrary be involved in manifold labyrinths. He therefore calls them wandering stars, because they dazzled the eyes by a sort of evanescent light.
14. And Enoch also. I rather think that this prophecy was unwritten, than that it was taken from an apocryphal book; for it may have been delivered down by memory to posterity by the ancients. (197) Were any one to ask, that since similar sentences occur in many parts of Scripture, why did he not quote a testimony written by one of the prophets? the answer is obvious, that he wished to repeat from the oldest antiquity what the Spirit had pronounced respecting them: and this is what the words intimate; for he says expressly that he was the seventh from Adam, in order to commend the antiquity of the prophecy, because it existed in the world before the flood.
But I have said that this prophecy was known to the Jews by being reported; but if any one thinks otherwise, I will not contend with him, nor, indeed, respecting the epistle itself, whether it be that of Jude or of some other. In things doubtful, I only follow what seems probable.
Behold, the Lord cometh, or came. The past tense, after the manner of the prophets, is used for the future. He says, that the Lord would come with ten thousand of his saints; (198) and by saints he means the faithful as well as angels; for both will adorn the tribunal of Christ, when he shall descend to judge the world. He says, ten thousand, as Daniel also mentions myriads of angels, (Dan 7:10;) in order that, the multitude of the ungodly may not, like a violent sea, overwhelm the children of God; but that they may think of this, that the Lord will sometime collect his own people, a part of whom are dwelling in heaven, unseen by us, and a part are hid under a great mass of chaff.
(197) This is the most common opinion. There is no evidence of such a book being known for some time after this epistle was written; and the book so called was probably a forgery, occasioned by this reference to Enoch’s prophecy. See Macknight ’s Preface to this Epistle. Until of late, it was supposed to be lost; but in 1821, the late Archbishop Laurence, having found an Ethiopia version of it, published it with a translation. — Ed.
(198) Literally, “with his holy myriads.” — Ed
But the vengeance suspended over the wicked ought to keep the elect in fear and watchfulness. He speaks of deeds and words, Because their corrupters did much evil, not only by their wicked life, but also by their impure and false speech. And their words were hard, on account of the refractory audacity, by which, being elated, they acted insolently. (199)
(199) There seems to be a want of due order in the 15th verse; the execution of judgment is mentioned first, and then the conviction of the ungodly; but it is an order which exactly corresponds with numberless passages in Scripture: the final action first, and then that which lends to it. — Ed.
16. These are murmurers. They who indulge their depraved lusts, are hard to please, and morose, so that they are never satisfied. Hence it is, that they always murmur and complain, however kindly good men may treat them. (200) He condemns their proud language, because they haughtily made a boast of themselves; but at the same time he shews that they were mean in their disposition, for they were servilely submissive for the sake of gain. And, commonly, this sort of inconsistency is seen in unprincipled men of this kind. When there is no one to check their insolence, or when there is nothing that stands in their way, their pride is intolerable, so that they imperiously arrogate everything to themselves; but they meanly flatter those whom they fear, and from whom they expect some advantage. He takes persons as signifying eternal greatness and power.
(200) We may render the words “Grumblers and fault-finders,” that is, as the word means, with their own lot: they grumbled or murmured against others, and were discontented with their own condition; and yet walked in such a way (that is, in indulging their lusts,) as made their lot worse and occasioned still more grumbling. — Ed.
17. But, beloved. To a most ancient prophecy he now adds the admonitions of the apostles, the memory of whom was recent. As to the verb μνήσθητε, it makes no great difference, whether you read it as declarative or as an exhortation; for the meaning remains the same, that being fortified by the prediction he quotes, they ought to be terrified.
By the last time he means that in which the renewed condition of the Church received a fixed form till the end of the world; and it began at the first coming of Christ.
After the usual manner of Scripture, he calls them scoffers who, being inebriated with a profane and impious contempt of God, rush headlong into a brutal contempt of the Divine Being, so that no fear nor reverence keeps them any longer within the limits of duty: as no dread of a future judgment exists in their hearts, so no hope of eternal life. So at this day the world is full of Epicurean despisers of God, who having cast off every fear, madly scoff at the whole doctrine of true religion, regarding it as fabulous.
19. These be they who separate themselves. Some Greek copies have the participle by itself, other copies add ἑαυτοὺς, “themselves;” but the meaning is nearly the same. He means that they separated from the Church, because they would not bear the yoke of discipline, as they who indulge the flesh dislike spiritual life. (201) The word sensual, or animal, stands opposed to spiritual, or to the renovation of grace; and hence it means the vicious or corrupt, such as men are when not regenerated. For in that degenerated nature which we derive from Adam, there is nothing but what is gross and earthly; so that no part of us aspires to God, until we are renewed by his Spirit.
(201) This is the common interpretation, and yet it seems inconsistent with what is previously said of these men, that they crept in stealthily, and “feasted” with the members of the Church. The ἑαυτοὺς, though retained by Griesbach, is excluded by Wetstein and others, being absent from most of the MSS. The verb ἀποδιορίζω, means to separate by a boundary two portions from one another, and hence metaphorically to separate or cause divisions: “These be they who cause divisions.” They were doing the same thing as those mentioned by Paul in Rom 16:17. They were producing discordsin the Church, and not separationsfrom it; and by continuing in it, they became “spots and stains” to its members. — Ed
20. But ye, beloved. He shews the manner in which they could overcome all the devices of Satan, that is, by having love connected with faith, and by standing on their guard as it were in their watch-tower, until the coming of Christ. But as he uses often and thickly his metaphors, so he has here a way of speaking peculiar to himself, which must be briefly noticed.
He bids them first to build themselves on faith; by which he means, that the foundation of faith ought to be retained, but that the first instruction is not sufficient, except they who have been already grounded on true faith, went on continually towards perfection. He calls their faith most holy, in order that they might wholly rely on it, and that, leaning on its firmness, they might never vacillate.
But since the whole perfection of man consists in faith, it may seem strange that he bids them to build upon it another building, as though faith were only a commencement to man. This difficulty is removed by the Apostle in the words which follow, when he adds, that men build on faith when love is added; except, perhaps, some one may prefer to take this meaning, that men build on faith, as far as they make proficiency in it, and doubtless the daily progress of faith is such, that itself rises up as a building. (202) Thus the Apostle teaches us, that in order to increase in faith, we must be instant in prayer and maintain our calling by love.
Praying in the Holy Ghost. The way of persevering is, when we are endued with the power of God. Hence whenever the question is respecting the constancy of faith, we must flee to prayer. And as we commonly pray in a formal manner, he adds, In the Spirit; as though he had said, that such is our sloth, and that such is the coldness of our flesh, that no one can pray aright except he be roused by the Spirit of God; and that we are also so inclined to diffidence and trembling, that no one dares to call God his Father, except through the teaching of the same Spirit; for from him is solicitude, from him is ardor and vehemence, from him is alacrity, from him is confidence in obtaining what we ask; in short, from him are those unutterable groanings mentioned by Paul (Rom 8:26.) It is not, then, without reason that Jude teaches us, that no one can pray as he ought without having the Spirit as his guide.
(202) It is better to take “faith” here metonymically for the word or doctrine of faith, the gospel; and the sense would be more evident, were we to render ἑαυτοὺς, “one another,” as it means in 1. h 5:13
20.“But ye, beloved, building one another on your most holy faith,
(on the most holy doctrine which you believe,) praying by the
21. Holy Spirit, keep one another in love to God,
waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
And on some, indeed, have compassion, making a difference;
but others save with fear,” etc.
The whole passage would read thus better, when their duty towards one another is specifically pointed out. — Ed.
21. Keep yourselves in the love of God. He has made love as it were the guardian and the ruler of our life; not that he might set it in opposition to the grace of God, but that it is the right course of our calling, when we make progress in love. But as many things entice us to apostasy, so that it is difficult to keep us faithful to God to the end, he calls the attention of the faithful to the last day. For the hope of that alone ought to sustain us, so that we may at no time despond; otherwise we must necessarily fail every moment.
But it ought to be noticed that he would not have us to hope for eternal life, except through the mercy of Christ: for he will in such a manner be our judge, as to have no other rule in judging us than that gratuitous benefit of redemption obtained by himself.
22. And of some have compassion. He adds another exhortation, shewing how the faithful ought to act in reproving their brethren, in order to restore them to the Lord. He reminds them that such ought to be treated in different ways, every one according to his disposition: for to the meek and teachable we ought to use kindness; but others, who are hard and perverse, must be subdued by terror. (203) This is the difference which he mentions.
The participle διακρινόμενοι, I know not why this is rendered in a passive sense by Erasmus. It may, indeed, be rendered in either way, but its active meaning is more suitable to the context. The meaning then is, that if we wish to consult the well-being of such as go astray, we must consider the character and disposition of every one; so that they who are meek and tractable may in a kind manner be restored to the right way, as being objects of pity; but if any be perverse, he is to be corrected with more severity. And as asperity is almost hateful, he excuses it on the ground of necessity; for otherwise, they who do not willingly follow good counsels, cannot he saved.
Moreover, he employs a striking metaphor. When there is a danger of fire, we hesitate not to snatch away violently whom we desire to save; for it would not be enough to beckon with the finger, or kindly to stretch forth the hand. So also the salvation of some ought to be cared for, because they will not come to God, except when rudely drawn. Very different is the old translation, which reading is however found in many of the Greek copies; the Vulgate is, “Rebuke the judged,” (Arguite dijudicatos .) But the first meaning is more suitable, and is, I think, according to the old and genuine reading. The word to save, is transferred to men, not that they are the authors, but the ministers of salvation.
(203) Though most agree that by “fear” here is meant terror, that is, that the persons referred to are to be terrified by the judgment which awaited them; yet what follows seems favorable to another view, that fear means the care and caution with which they were to be treated; for the act of saving them is compared to that of a man snatching anything from the fire, in doing which he must be careful lest he himself should be burnt; and then the other comparison, that of a man shunning an infected garment lest he should catch the contagion, favors the same view. Hence our version seems right — “with fear.” — Ed.
23. Hating even the garment. This passage, which otherwise would appear obscure, will have no difficulty in it, when the metaphor is rightly explained. He would have the faithful not only to beware of contact with vices, but that no contagion might reach them, he reminds them that everything that borders on vices and is near to them ought to be avoided: as, when we speak of lasciviousness, we say that all excitements to lusts ought to be removed. The passage will also become clearer, when the whole sentence is filled up, that is, that we should hate not only the flesh, but also the garment, which, by a contact with it, is infected. The particle καὶ even serves to give greater emphasis. He, then, does not allow evil be cherished by indulgence, so that he bids all preparations and all accessories, as they say, to be cut off.
24Now unto him that is able to keep you. He closes the Epistle with praise to God; by which he shews that our exhortations and labors can do nothing except through the power of God accompanying them. (204)
Some copies have “them” instead of “you.” If we receive this reading, the sense will be, “It is, indeed, your duty to endeavor to save them; but it is God alone who can do this” However, the other reading is what I prefer; in which there is an allusion to the preceding verse; for after having exhorted the faithful to save what was perishing, that they might understand that all their efforts would be vain except God worked with them, he testifies that they could not be otherwise saved than through the power of God. In the latter clause there is indeed a different verb, φυλάξαι, which means to guard; so the allusion is to a remoter clause, when he said, Keep yourselves
END OF THE EPISTLE OF JUDE
(204) The doxology is as follows, —
“To the only wise God (or, to the wise God alone) our Savior, be glory and greatness, might and dominion, both now and through all ages.”
“Dominion” (ἐξουσία) is the right to govern, imperial authority or power; “might” (κράτος) is strength to effect his purpose, omnipotence; “greatness” (μεγαλωσύνη) comprises knowledge, wisdom, holiness, and everything that constitutes what is really great and magnificent; and (δόξα) is the result of all these things which belong to God; all terminate in his glory. The ultimate issue is first mentioned, then the things which lead to it. It is by acknowledging his sovereign power, his capacity to exercise that power — his omnipotence, and his greatness in everything that constitutes greatness, that we give him the glory, the honor, and the praise due to his name. — Ed.
Jud 1:1. And brother of James,- He might also have called himself the brother of our Lord, for he was nearly related to the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the flesh; but though the evangelists have given them that title, yet neither Jude, nor his brother James, have ever taken it to themselves: perhaps they avoided it out of their great humility, or to intimate that, though they had known Christ after the flesh, or valued themselves for being related to him, yet now henceforth they knew him so no more, nor valued themselves so much upon that account, as in their being his faithful servants. Preserved in Jesus Christ, means, "preserved in that hour of temptation, when so many false teachers had corrupted the gospel, and such numbers of Christians had fallen from the purity of it." As they retained their integrity, they would be preserved from the judgments which were coming upon those who had fallen away; and they might depend upon it, that, if faithful unto death, they should in due time receive their reward.
Jud 1:3. Beloved, when I gave all diligence, &c.- This verse, about the sense of which commentators have strangely disagreed, maybe thus paraphrased: "Beloved, when I was studiously thoughtful about, and earnestly applied to the work of sending an epistle to you, concerning that spiritual salvation, which is common to you and me, and all true believers, whether Jews or Gentiles, and is proposed and recommended in the gospel to the acceptance of all sinners, to whom it is preached with this assurance, that whoever cometh to Christ, he will in no wise cast him out, (Joh 6:37.)-I saw this to be a point of such vast importance, and so vehemently struck at in this day of sad defection and of intriguing, as well as of violent methods to overthrow it, that I thought it necessary, under divine suggestion, to write to you about it, and stir you up by every consideration relating to your own safety and comfort and the glory of Christ and of God in him, to exert yourselves, in a humble dependance on divine grace, with the utmost vigour, even, as it were, to an agony of labour and concern (επαγωνιζεσθαι ), in maintaining, defending, and practising the pure and uncorrupted doctrine of faith in its full extent, with respect to the person, offices, grace, and government of the Lord Christ, which was once delivered by him to his holyapostles, and, by them to the church, consisting of believers that are holy in heart and life; and which was committed as a trust and treasure to them, that they might keep it faithfully, and transmit it to posterity, and not suffer it to be altered, or wrested out of their hands, by any means whatever. I say there is great need that I should write to you about this."
Jud 1:4. For there are certain men crept in, &c.- The creeping in unawares, in St. Jude, has a plain resemblance and reference to the privily bringing in mentioned by St. Peter, 2Pe 2:1. Both the words in the original are formed upon the same sentiment, and are meant to describe the craft and subtle insinuation of the new false teachers. The turning the grace of God into lasciviousness in St. Jude, answers to the damnable heretics in St. Peter. Instead of ordained, the word,
προγεγραμμενοι rather signifies described, or set forth of old. Doddridge observes well upon this verse, that προγεγραμμενοι may well signifydescribed, or put upon record; that is, "whose character and condemnation may be considered as described in the punishment of other notorious sinners, who were a kind of representatives of them:" which interpretation, says he, I prefer to any other, as it tends to clear God of that heavy imputation which it must bring upon his moral attributes, to suppose that he appoints men to sin against him, and then condemns them for doing what they could not but do, and what they were, independent on their own freedom of choice, fated to: a doctrine so pregnant with gloom, and, as I should fear, with fatal consequences, that I think it part of the duty I owe to the word of God, to rescue it from the imputation of containing such a tenet. Dr. Benson very justly observes, that the word κριμα does not denote their sin, but the condemnation of them because of their sin; and that παλαι, of old, does not signify "from all eternity," but "from a former time, or a time long since past:" and I would propose it as a query, says he, whether they have not, in later ages, turned the grace of God into licentiousness, who have held that men are decreed unto salvation, absolutely and unconditionally, or without any regard to their virtue and piety; that God sees no sin in believers; that good works are in no sense necessary to salvation; that God loves men never the better because of their holiness, nor ever the worse because of their unholiness. I do not suppose that all who have professed these, and the like opinions, have held the consequences, or even perceived them; but the query is, Whether the opinions do not tend to licentiousness? The last clause of this verse affords a strong proof of the Divinity of our Saviour.
Jud 1:5. Though ye once knew this,- Though ye fully, or perfectly. See Jud 1:3. The Christians to whom St. Jude writes, had formerly been of the Jewish religion, and were therefore well acquainted with the Old Testament, from their hearing it read in the synagogue every Sabbath-day. It is intimated in the latter clause, that the grand corrupters of the gospel referred to, were guilty of unbelief or disobedience to God; in which if they persisted, all their Christian privileges would not prevent their destruction.
Jud 1:6. And the angels which kept not, &c.- St. Peter, 2nd Epistle, 2Pe 2:4 speaks of the angels that sinned; St. Jude gives it as an account of their sin, that they kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation. This account of the angels' sin is recorded only in this passage of sacred writ. The very same difference may be observed in setting forth the example of Sodom and Gomorrha; which is common to both epistles. St. Peter speaks only of their judgment, and of their being made an example to sinners: St. Jude adds an account of their crime, and, though the images and ideas are the same, yet the turn of expression is very different. Instead of their first estate (αρχην ), Dr. Heylin, after Cudworth, renders it their principality. Instead of their own habitation, some would understand the word οικητηριον in the same sense wherein it is used 2Co 5:2 for the vestment of glory wherewith the saints are clothed in the future state. Hence it was, very probably, that Dr. Cudworth was led to interpret it of the celestial body of the angels, which they changed when they fell, for an airy and obscure one. However, be this as it may, St. Jude might design to intimate, either that they left the peculiar Presence, which was their proper habitation; orthat they lost their glory with their innocence, as all of them did. OEcumenius says, "They left the honour of the angelic dignity." By this instance St. Jude designed to condemn the pride and apostacy of those false teachers and corrupt Christians.
Jud 1:7. And the cities about them in like manner, &c.- That is, "In like manner with their neighbours in Sodom and Gomorrha." Dr. Heylin gives the passage a very just turn: and the adjacent cities who were guilty of the same prostitution, in following unnatural lusts. The whole verse may be thus paraphrased: "Utter destruction shall certainly and suddenly come from the Lord upon all such: even as it did on the infamously wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of the neighbouring cities of Adma and Zeboim, in storms of fire and brimstone, rained down from heaven upon them for the flagitious crimes which they greedily committed. The perpetual desolation of that wicked people, and of their cities, the evident marks of which remain to this day, is exhibited in the sacred history, and in providence, to open view, as an example of God's tremendous vengeance, which carries a lively emblem of the everlasting destruction of all the wicked and ungodly in hell-fire."
Jud 1:8. Likewise also- Nevertheless these dreamers also, &c.] The connection is, "Though there are so many examples upon record of God's just displeasure against the wicked; nevertheless, these dreamers also, in like manner with the ancient inhabitants of Sodom, defile the flesh with their lewd practices, despise government, and rail against the persons who are exalted to power and dignity." Vicious persons are represented in scripture as being asleep, Rom 13:11. 1Co 15:34. 1Th 5:6 and here, as dreaming idle dreams; turning the grace of God into licentiousness, and promising themselves and their disciples security and lasting happiness in those courses which the gospel condemned. St. Jude had given three instances of God's inflicting punishment upon his rational creatures for their sin; namely, those of the Israelites, wicked angels, and Sodomites: the crimes were different; ingratitude and reproachful complaints against their supreme Governor, in the Israelites; pride in the fallen angels; and sensuality in the Sodomites. Here he seems to charge all those crimes upon these corrupt Christians; first, sensuality, then pride, and lastly, reproachful insults and reflections upon the higher powers. Instead of these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, Heylin has it, These men, indulging their filthy imaginations, pollute themselves.
Jud 1:9. Michael the archangel,- St. Peter, 2 Eph 2:11 in reproof of the presumptuous and self-willed, who speak evil of dignities, says, that angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord; but here St. Jude has given us the history to which this belongs. See on Jud 1:6. What the ground of the controversy between the devil and Michael was, may, in the opinion of Archbishop Tillotson and others, be explained by Deu 34:6 where it is said that God took particular care concerning the burying of Moses in a certain valley; and it is added, But no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. Had the devil been able to discover to the Jews the place where Moses was interred, they would afterwards most probably have paid an idolatrous honour to his remains; and it would have gratified his malice to have made him an occasion of idolatry after his death, who had been so great an enemy to it during his life. To prevent this, Michael buried his body secretly; and this was the thing about which he contended with the devil. Some have supposed that the contention was not about the body of Moses after his death, but when it was exposed upon the water. Instead of durst not bring against him, the Greek might be rendered, did not allow himself to bring against him. There is no reason to think that Michael was afraid of the devil, when he himself was so much superior in power and dignity. "But his duty restrained himfromit,(saysArchbishopTillotson,)and probably his discretion too. As he would not offend God, in doing a thing so much beneath the dignity and perfection of his nature; so he could not but think that the devil would be too hard for him at railing; a thing, to which as the angels have no disposition, so I believe they have no talent, no faculty at it; the cool consideration whereof should make all men, especially those who call themselves divines, and more particularly in controversies about religion, ashamed and afraid of this manner of disputing."
Jud 1:10. But these speak evil, &c.- Whereas these men rail against things which they do not indeed understand; but what things they understand naturally, like animals destitute of reason, in these things they are corrupted. See 2Pe 2:11-12; 2Pe 2:22.
Jud 1:11. And ran greedily after the error- And have been poured out in the error; εξεχυθησαν : which seems to have much the same sense as the Latin word palari, to ramble, or keep no certain path; as liquor when poured out of a vessel, spreads itself, and keeps no direct course. And the proper sense of πλανη, error, is a wandering out of the right way. St. Jude speaks of their havingalready perished, which affords us a genuine trait of the prophetic spirit, speaking of things certainly future, as if they were past. There is a manifest gradation in the three members of this verse: first, the crime, and then the punishment. See Psa 22:14. Instead of gainsaying, Doddridge reads contradiction; and others opposition.
Jud 1:12. These are spots in your feasts of charity,- The first writer who describes these love-feasts is Tertullian, in his Apologies, ch. 39. Having given an account of the public worship and discipline of the Christians, their great charity and holy lives, and having taken notice of some luxurious suppers among the Heathens, he adds, "The nature of our supper may be known by its name; it is called by a Greek word which signifies love; whatever we spend therein, we look upon it as so much gain, seeing we thereby refresh all our poor: nothing vile or immodest isthere admitted; we do not sit down before we have prayed to God; every one eats what is sufficient, and drinks with sobriety, as remembering that in the night he must engage in the adoration of God. They converse together, as they who know that the Lord heareth them. After washing their hands, and lighting candles, they sing divine songs, either taken out of the scriptures, or of their own composing, as every one is able. The feast is concluded with prayer." The reader will find more on this subject in Cave's or Fleury's account of the primitive Christians, or in Hallett's Notes, vol. 3: p. 235. Respecting the word σπιλαδες, spots, see Parkhurst and Wetstein. The meaning of the next clause, Feeding themselves without fear, which Heylin renders well, indulging their appetites without restraint, seems to be, that they fed themselves in a voluptuous manner, without the fear of God, or of any scandal or disgrace which they might bring upon the Christian name. In St. Peter it is εντρυφωντες, they lived luxuriously, 2 Eph 2:13. They indulged to excess both in eating and drinking, and so were spots and blemishes, or a scandal to the Christian name. Instead of whose fruit withereth, some render the Greek word by in the decline of autumn: the word φθινοπωρινον properly signifies, "the latter end of autumn," when it verges towards the winter. St. Jude therefore says, that those corrupt Christians were like trees in the decline of autumn, when they have shed their leaves, and are in a withering condition. Dr. Heylin renders it withered trees. Some fig-trees had fruits upon them when they had no leaves: but to shew that these differed from good trees, St. Jude adds, without fruit. Here is a remarkable gradation; first, they are trees in the decline of autumn, stripped of their leaves and withering; secondly, they are without fruit, as well as without leaves; successive summers and winters have passed over them, and they have been continually, growing more and more fit for fuel: thirdly, they are twice dead, or, they are spiritually dead a second time by making shipwreck of their faith: therefore, fourthly, they are plucked up by the roots, as hopeless and irrecoverable. See Parkhurst on the word φθινοπωρινος .
Jud 1:13. Raging waves of the sea,- The word Αγρια, raging or wild, is applied to such herbs or trees as grow up of themselves in the desarts or mountains, by way of opposition to those which are in gardens, or cultivated by the care and industry of man. So several animals are called αγρια, wild, to distinguish them from those which are tame, or manageable by man: and because wild fruits are more bitter and less mild; and wild animals commonly less gentle than others, hence the word, by a metaphor, is used for any thing that is intractable, fierce or raging; accordingly here, and Wis 14:1 the word is used for the intractable and enraged waves of a stormy sea; and the corrupt Christians are compared to those troubled unmanageable waves, to intimate their restless, turbulent temper and behaviour among their brethren. See Eph 4:14.-foaming out their own shame, that is, "as the raging waves of a tempestuous sea cast out foam, and mire, and dirt; so they, out of their wicked hearts, cast forth wicked words and actions, proclaiming aloud their vices, and glorying in those filthy deeds of darkness, of which they ought to have been ashamed." The apostle seems to have had his eye upon the words of Isa 57:20. See also Rom 6:21. Php 3:19. He adds, Stars that are planets, or that wander. The Jews used to call those who took upon them to be teachers, by the name of stars; and the same word is applied to teachers in the Christian church, Rev 1:20. But those false teachers were only planets or wandering stars. There are several interpretations of this phrase: some, by wandering stars, understand those vapours which run along the surface of the earth, called ignes fatui, or false and delusive lights: this would have well suited the delusive light of those false teachers, as it is described by Milton, in his Paradise Lost, b. 9: 50: 634, &c. But the grand objection to this interpretation is, that those delusive vapours are never called stars. Some understand by wandering stars, the comets; which may be so called, though that is not the most usual sense of the phrase; for by αστερες πλανηται, stars that are planets, the Greeks most commonly meant those five wandering stars which we call planets, (they knew of no more,) all which are dark bodies in themselves, and are perpetually in motion from place to place; in both which things they probably differ from the fixed stars: and the false teachers might be compared to them as they were dark in themselves, and as unsteady and wandering from truth and holiness. "As the planets (says Doddridge,) seem to have a very irregular motion, being sometimes stationary, and sometimes retrograde, they are proper emblems of persons so unsettled in their principles, and so irregular in their behaviour as these men were." See Cic. De Nat. Deor. lib. 2: 100: 20 and Parkhurst on the word Πλανητης .
Jud 1:14. And Enoch-the seventh from Adam, &c.- Enoch is called the seventh from Adam, to distinguish him from another of the same name, who was the son of Cain, Gen 4:17. A remarkable fragment of antediluvian history is here preserved to us. Our translation has it, Enoch-prophesied of these. In the old English version it is, Enoch-prophesied before of such. Blackwell takes notice that the words may be translated, He prophesied against them; but the word προφετευω, with a dative case after it, signifies to prophesy to: so that the Syriac and others have well translated the words, but Enoch prophesied also unto these men. He prophesied immediately unto the men of his own age, who were abandoned to violence and lust; and foretold, that if they did not repent, God would bring on the flood, and overtake them with his righteous judgments, both temporal and eternal. But there was no occasion for confining the benefit of his prophesy to his own age. The και, even or also, here, is emphatical; he prophesied ALSO unto these Christians, so called, or said what they might improve to their own advantage, if they pleased. See Rom 15:4. Here we may see in what sense they were said to have been described beforehand, Jud 1:4 as persons who would fall under condemnation; for in the punishment of sinners of former times, they might have read their own doom.
Jud 1:15. To execute judgment, &c.- God will come to execute judgment upon all men, but he will punish none but the ungodly; and then every mouth shall be stopped, not by might, but by evidence and conviction. Enoch prophesied that God would come, and, with a flood, punish that impious race among whom he lived, as well as punish the impenitent with everlasting destruction. By a parity of reason, St. Jude intimates, that the wicked of his and of all ages may also expect to meet with the due reward of their deeds. This prophesy of Enoch is a remarkable testimony to a future state, given previous to the Mosaic oeconomy.
Jud 1:16. These are murmurers, complainers, &c.- Having in the former verse finished the prophesy of Enoch, St. Jude now goes on in other phrases to describe those corrupt Christians. Some think that the two words, murmurers and complainers are synonymous terms, to express the same thought with more strength and vehemence. If there be any differencein their signification, the former may imply theirmurmuring in general, the other the subject of their murmuring; they complained of their lot and condition in the world, and of the course of Providence. St. Jude, in writing to such Christians as had been Jews, seems to have had his eye upon the murmurings and complainings of that nation in former ages, which were highly displeasing to God. See 1Co 10:10. The complaining temper of the Jews about this time, appears abundantly from Josephus; and the Judaizing Christians very much resembled them. A sufficient reason for their murmuring is added in the next clause; since it is no wonder that they should murmur and complain, who walked after their own lusts; for the plan of divine government is in favour of holiness and virtue; and vice cannot always prosper, or even hope to end well, in such a constitution of things. But further, they were not content to be wicked themselves, they were zealous and active in making proselytes: one of the arts which they made use of for this purpose, was speaking in magnificent phrases, υπερογκα, which had no good meaning, if any meaning at all: however, it served to amuse unthinking people, and make them imagine, that those false teachers were let into the mysteries of the gospel, and were acquainted with the deep things of God. See 2Pe 2:18. Further, they had persons in admiration, through the hope of gain: they soothed rich men in their prejudices, and flattered them in their vices, that they might make a prey of them; for they sought not them but theirs. See 2Pe 3:14. 1Ti 6:5. Instead of swelling words, Dr. Doddridge reads extravagant things.
Jud 1:17. The words which were spoken before of the apostles, &c.- Many eminent writers believe that the apostles hada meeting upon the great case of the new false teachers, and that they gave jointly, by common consent and deliberation, precepts proper to the occasion, to be communicated to all churches. No single apostle would or could, in this case, call the common injunction his commandment; but would certainly call it, in the language of St. Peter, the commandment of the apostles of our Lord. St. Paul was an apostle, yet was it no disparagement to him to carry the decree of the council of Jerusalem to the churches of his plantation; and, in writing or speaking, he could not but have called it the decree of the apostles. The case might be the same here. We have some evidence to shew that this was the case. That there was a tradition at least in the church, is evident from the Apostolical Constitutions; in which there is mention made of a meeting of the apostles upon the very account of these false teachers, so particularly described by St. Peter and St. Jude. In Book 6: ch. 13 these false teachers are described to be such as fight against Christ and Moses, pretending at the same time to value both: and thus the false teachers, as described both in St. Peter's and St. Jude's Epistles, communicated with the church, while they corrupted its faith. They were spots in the church's feasts, Jud 1:12. They are ordered to be expelled in the Apostolical Constitutions, that the lambs might be preserved sound and without spot. They are represented in the Apostolical Constitutions as the false Christians, and false prophets foretold in the gospel, blaspheming God, and trampling his Son under foot; which agrees exactly with St. Jude's account, that they had been foretold of by the apostles,-that they denied the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ, Jud 1:4 and 2Pe 2:1. At this meeting, it is said, instructions were given, to be communicated to all churches by their respective apostles and bishops. There were probably then many circular letters sent upon this occasion: the second Epistle of St. Peter, and St. Jude's Epistle, may have been of this sort; and being drawn up on the same occasion, and upon the same instructions, it is no wonder that they are so similar in their expressions. There are in the epistles themselves some marks which seem to confirm the foregoing account. The veryword commandment used by St. Peter, when he makes mention of the apostles' authority, points out some particular and distinguished precept: for he does not seem to refer to the general preaching or doctrines of the apostles; but to some special command, or form of doctrine, relating to the false teachers. But to come nearer our point, the agreement of the two epistles in the description of the false teachers,-it is to be observed, that both St. Peter and St. Jude profess to write as reminding their churches of things with which they had before been acquainted (Jud 1:5 and 2Pe 3:2.). St. Jude says expressly, that the very subject of this letter had once already been known unto them; "I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this," &c. The Greek word used here, is the same we met with before, "the faith once delivered;" and the words, "though ye once knew this," are relative to the same matter; and it appears that the warning against the false teachers, and the prophetic description of them, were sent to the churches, together with the commandment. It appears likewise, that both St. Peter and St. Jude wrote their epistles after this commandment had been delivered to the several churches; for they write to them reminding them of what they had before received. This being the case, it is most probable that both St. Jude and St.Peter wrote from the common plan communicated to the churches, anddrew their description of the false teachers from the same source, but still under the infallible direction of the Holy Spirit of God.
Jud 1:18. After their own ungodly lusts.- Ungodly lusts may denote such a life of sensuality, as argues that a man has not the fear of God.
Jud 1:19. These be they who separate themselves, &c.- "These are the very men, of whom our blessed Lord and his apostles warned you; men that make factions and divisions in the church, alienating themselves from the true apostles, servants, disciples, and doctrines of Christ, and forming separate parties of their own sortment; whilethey are mere sensualists, governed by animal appetites, lusts, and passions, and are entirely destitute of the enlightening, purifying, and sanctifying gifts of the Holy Spirit."
Jud 1:20. But ye, beloved, &c.- The false teachers corrupted the faith, turned the grace of God into lasciviousness, and would have made parties, tearing in pieces the church of God. The Christians, therefore, both here and Jud 1:3; Jud 1:17 are exhorted to preserve one another through divine grace in that true, pure, unmixed faith, as it was taught them by the apostles of our Lord. Their faith was called most holy, as it did not lead to licentiousness, like the corrupt doctrine of the false teachers, but promoted the most holy tempers and conversation. See 2Pe 2:21. The Christian faith, which makes Christ the All in All, is here considered as the foundation of a building, and they were to build up each other on that foundation, the architect style is often made use of in the New Testament. They were to pray in the Holy Ghost, and, by his influences vouchsafed in answer to their prayers, were to make swifter advances in the divine life. The false teachers were sensual, and had not the Spirit: most probably they had once had the Spirit, but by departing from the true faith, and falling into vice, they had quenched the Spirit, and it was withdrawn from them. But the true Christians, building up one another upon their most holy faith; that is, not having quenched the Spirit by departing from the truth, or falling into vice, were to assemble together frequently, and make use of their spiritual gifts.
Jud 1:21. Keep yourselves in the love of God,- The word 'Εαυτους is put for αλληλου, one another, both here and in Jud 1:20. See 1Th 5:11; 1Th 5:13. The meaningand connection is, that bybuilding up one another upon their most holy faith, and praying by the aid or inspiration of the Spirit, they should preserve one another in a sincere love to God and goodness, and in that way they might expect the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Jud 1:22. And of some have compassion, &c.- "Moreover, you are not to deal alike with all who are seduced by the false teachers; for some are weak, and easily imposed upon. Towards them you are to shew great lenity and tenderness; making a difference between them and others." There were two sorts of Christians led aside by the false teachers: the one through mere weakness and imprudence: they being meek and tractable, might easily be reclaimed; they therefore were to be treated with mildness and tenderness, and a difference was to be made between them, and the more vicious and stubborn, mentioned in the next verse; which see.
Jud 1:23. And others save with fear,- Those who were more deeply immersed in the errors of the false teachers, and more corrupted with their vices, were to be saved, or reformed by fear; especially if they were also stubborn and intractable. The Christians were to set before them the terrors of the Lord: to denounce against them the judgments of God, which were over their heads, just ready to fall upon them if they did not repent, and that speedily. They were to make this difference between them and the meek and tractable. Pulling, or snatching them out of the fire, is a proverbial expression made use of, Amo 4:11. Zec 3:2 and alluded to 1Co 3:15. Just as one would hastily take a brand out of the burning, or snatch one's most valuable treasure or dearest friend out of a house on fire; in like manner must notorious sinners be treated to prevent their perishing. Not that men are to punish the incorrigible by legal penalties, unless they disturb the peace of civil society; but they are to be threatened with the divine displeasure. This method of saving men denotes, first, That they were to be speedy in attempting to reform them, for fear of losing the opportunity. Secondly, They were to use some more rough and disagreeable methods, rather than suffer them to perish. Fear may be of service to deter men from vice, and make them look for pardon, and attend to holiness and piety. But, when the love of God is shed abroad in men's hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto them, they will act from the nobler principle of love to God and goodness. Some have taken pains to shew, that by the word garment, in the next clause, we are to understand the human body; which is often called a garment, or compared to a garment: others have given different interpretations of this passage; but whoever reads Leviticus, Leviticus 13-15; Isa 30:22; Isa 64:6 and considers that they were Jewish Christians to whom St. Jude primarily wrote, will easily discern, that this is a fine allusion to the garments which were polluted by touching the body of a person who is unclean. The meaning is, that the Jews of old were carefully to avoid every legal pollution, or ceremonial impurity, which rendered them odious to, and avoided by their neighbours; so Christians were most carefully to avoid every moral impurity (1Th 5:22. Rev 3:4.). While they endeavoured under grace to save some by gentle methods, and others by fear, they were to take care, lest they themselves should be polluted by their bad example, or infected by coming near them. Heb 12:15. Jam 1:27. A physician who attempts to cure the plague, should take care, lest he himself be infected by the persons whom he endeavours to cure.
Jud 1:24-25. Now unto him, &c.- "Now, to conclude with a solemn doxology, which belongs, as to all the Persons in the adorable Godhead, so particularly to our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we have been speaking of under such characters as are peculiarly suitable to your encouragement and relief under all your present troubles (Jud 1:14-15; Jud 1:21); I would express it in the following lofty and endearing strain:-To Him who has almighty power originally in himself as God, and all office authority and qualifications as Mediator; and, having graciously undertaken, is as willing as he is able,to preserve all that perseveringly trust in him from apostacy, from stumbling, and from falling into and by the errors of the wicked; and, after their state of warfare is accomplished, to present them to himself, and to his Father, a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy, and without blemish (Eph 5:27.), and should stand with complete acceptance in his immediate presence, when he shall appear in all his glory, and they shall appear with him in glory (Col 3:4.), and with triumphant and extatic joy; and all the glorified saints and holy angels shall exceedingly rejoice to all eternity.-To this God our Saviour, who, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is infinitely, originally, essentially and communicatively the only wise God: to him, as well as to those other adorable Persons, be ascribed, as is equally due, all the glory of his divine nature and attributes as God, and of all his love and grace, designs, undertakings, and performances, as likewise all the grandeur of heavenly Majesty as God-man Mediator, together with universal rule and government, might and authority, over all persons and things, in the kingdom of providence and of grace, now, henceforth, and for evermore. In this ascription of glory, may we and all the saints and angels join, as with one heart and voice! Amen." It seems to me, that the divine Person here most immediately intended, is our Lord Jesus Christ, who is principally spoken of all along in the preceding context, and is often styled, by way of eminence, The Saviour, and God our Saviour, as in Eph 5:23. Php 3:20. Tit 2:13. 2Pe 1:1; 2Pe 1:21 and is here called the only wise God (Jud 1:25.), not to the exclusion of the Father and the Holy Spirit, but only of all idols. And as his presenting his saints faultless before the presence of his glory, manifestly relates to the time of his glorious appearing to judgment, for executinga dreadful sentence on the ungodly, and shewing mercy to his faithful saints unto eternal life; so this exactly agrees with the work which is peculiarly ascribed to him, as the Saviour of the body and Head of the church (Eph 5:23-27.). But I do not find that the presentation of the church at the last day is ever ascribed to God the Father. Mr. Jones, in his "Catholic Doctrine of a Trinity," chap. 1: art. 41 reasons on this text as follows: "That is, the only wise God who is able to present us before the presence of his glory; but Christ is to present us, as members of the church in glory, to himself (Eph 5:27.); therefore He is the only wise God, to whom also appertains the presence of glory; for that is no other than his own presence; himself. This is another express instance, that μονος Θεος, the only God, is not 'God in one person,' but the Unity of the Trinity: for, if you confine this phrase (with the Arians) to the single person of the Father, then of course you exclude the person of Christ; and then, it is manifest, you contradict the scripture: for, though it be affirmed in this place, that the only wise God is to present us before his own presence, yet the same is elsewhere expressed by Christ's presenting us to himself; which is no way to be accounted for, unless you believe Christ to be a partaker in the being, attributes, and offices of the one, undivided, only wise God, our Saviour:-and then there is no further difficulty."
Inferences.-Let those, who have the honour of being numbered among the disciples of Christ, stand at the remotest distance from the evils with which the unhappy creatures described in this epistle are branded by the apostle. And may divine grace preserve all his churches from such spots in their feasts of charity! May our horizon be secured from those dark and gloomy clouds without water; the plantations of God among us be free from the incumbrance and disgrace of those withered and fruitless trees, twice dead, and plucked up by the roots! How illustrious was the prophesy, with which Enoch, the seventh from Adam, was inspired; and how precious is that fragment of antediluvian history, which is here preserved, and which shall surely be accomplished in its season! The day is now much nearer, when the Lord will come with ten thousands of his saints: may the ungodly remember it, and suppress in time the speeches which will then assuredly be reproved, and repent of the deeds, which, if unrepented of, however forgotten now, will be brought into open view, and draw down upon their heads the destruction which at present seems to linger. That we may have confidence before him at his coming, let us remember the words of the apostle, and implore the influences of the divine Spirit, which sensualists, who walk after their own lusts, quench and stifle, and which they mock and deride. Let us, however, be concerned to edify ourselves in our most holy faith, and to pray in the Holy Ghost, under his influence, direction, and assistance. The security of the heart amid so many temptations, and its richest cordial in all its afflictions, is the love of God: but how soon does the celestial flame languish and die, if it be not constantly fed with new fuel! Let it then be our care in humble dependance upon divine grace, to keep ourselves in the love of God; which will be cherished in proportion to that degree of faith and hope, with which we look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life: for what can so powerfully excite our love to God as such a consideration?
If we do expect it, let us express our regard to the salvation of others, as well as to our own; and apply ourselves to those who seem to be in danger, with such different addresses of awe or tenderness, as their different circumstances and tempers may require. But some way or another let us exert ourselves to pluck them out of the fire, who are in danger of falling into it, and perishing for ever.
A care to preserve our own characters and conscience unspotted, will be necessary to our courage, and hope of success, in such efforts as these. Let us therefore be more frequently looking up to him who is able to keep us from falling, and to improve, as well as maintain, the work he has wrought in us, till we shall be presented blameless before the presence of his glory. Then shall our hearts know a joy beyond what earth can afford, beyond what heaven itself shall have given us in the separate state: then shall God also rejoice over us, and the joy of our compassionate Saviour be completed in the seeing the full accomplishment of the travail of his soul. To him who has so wisely formed the scheme, and will faithfully and perfectly accomplish it for every faithful soul, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen.
REFLECTIONS.-1st, The apostle opens with,
1. An account of the sacred penman. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, whose highest honour is to minister in the gospel; and brother of James, the son of Alpheus.
2. The persons to whom it is addressed. To them that are sanctified by God the Father, entirely devoted to his service through the influence of his grace; and preserved in Jesus Christ, brought into the fellowship of his religion, and guarded by his grace in the midst of a thousand snares; and called to the participation of those gospel privileges which Jesus hath purchased, and God the Father promised to bestow on the faithful followers of his Son. Note; Hope towards God, without holiness, is but delusion.
3. The apostolical benediction. Mercy unto you from a pardoning God, and peace flowing from a sense of his reconciliation, and love both to him and towards each other, be multiplied.
4. He exhorts them to hold fast the truth which they had received both in doctrine and practice. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, which all believers enjoy through our adored Redeemer and Saviour; it was become needful for me to write unto you, because of the multitude of deceivers, and exhort you, that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints, firmly holding fast the unadulterated doctrines of truth, and zealously maintaining them against all heretical opposers. Note; (1.) The salvation of the gospel is a common salvation for Jews and Gentiles, and sinners of every kind without exception. (2.) They who have received the truth, in the light and love of it, need be exhorted still to stand fast against all the wiles of deceivers. (3.) That faith which God, by his inspired servants, once delivered to his saints, for the use of his church to the latest ages, we must contend for, not with anger, or carnal weapons, but with holy zeal, tempered with meekness, and arguments drawn from the sacred treasury of the scriptures.
5. He describes the false teachers against whom they need be on their guard. For there are certain men crept in unawares, by craft and subtilty into the church and the ministry, who were before of old ordained or registered to this condemnation, by God's righteous sentence denounced against crimes like theirs, long before they appeared in the world; (see the Annotations;) ungodly men, whose spirit, temper, and conduct, are directly opposite to the divine will and word; turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, perverting the richest doctrines of grace to the vilest purposes of impurity, and abusing them to encourage men in all immorality with the hopes of impunity; denying the only Lord God, in works, if not in words; practical, if not speculative atheists; and rejecting also the gospel testimony concerning the person, character, and offices of our Lord Jesus Christ. Note; (1.) Deceivers were rife in every age; we need not wonder therefore if such ungodly men are found in our own, perverting the glorious grace of the gospel. (2.) They who are vile upon principle, and plead God's word to countenance their impurities, are of all men most desperately wicked. (3.) When ungodly men meet their appointed condemnation, they receive but the just reward of their deeds.
2nd, The apostle, to enforce his warnings, reminds them of the judgment which God formerly executed on such ungodly men. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, the perpetual memory of which needs to be preserved; and it is good to be often reminded of these things, that they may be present before our minds, and the impression of them more deep and lively.
Three awful instances of divine vengeance are enumerated, to warn and deter others from the like crimes. Remember,
1. How that the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterwards destroyed them that believed not, though he had done great things for them; and if he spared not these, let not the perverters of the gospel, whose crime is so much more aggravated, expect a less fearful doom. And remember also,
2. That the angels (though creatures of such superior excellence and dignity, according to original creation,) which kept not their first estate, who were not content with the station allotted them, but left their own habitation, affecting to be as the Most High, and were therefore hurled from those bright regions which were before their blest abode;-these he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, like criminals fast bound in prison, and kept in custody, in spiritual darkness, misery, and black despair, unto the judgment of the great day, when sentence will finally be executed upon them, and their torment be as complete as eternal. And if God thus punished rebel angels, what severity shall not they meet with, who fight against the word of his truth, and the honour of his Son! Apostates in heaven or earth must perish together.
3. Another instance of God's wrath is produced. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, Admah and Zeboim, in like manner abandoned to impurity, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, guilty of the most shocking acts of uncleanness, and the most unnatural crimes, are set forth for an example of God's tremendous wrath, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire; the liveliest image of what the damned must endure in the lake which burneth with tire and brimstone for ever and ever. Woe to those who are partakers of their sins! the same fearful vengeance awaits them.
3rdly, The apostle describes these seducers as guilty of the same crimes which had brought down wrath both on sinning angels and ungodly men.
1. Their impurities were great. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh; sleeping and waking, their minds are ever running after impure objects, dishonouring their bodies by their lewd practices, and drawing in others to gratify their lawless appetites.
2. They cast off all respect for lawful authority. They despise dominion, treating the civil government with insolence and contempt; and speak evil of dignities, reviling the persons of magistrates, and those who are high in office. Yet even Michael the archangel, eminent as his rank and station is, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, wicked as he was, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. And therefore if the devil himself, wicked as he is, was not rebuked with railing, much less ought any magistrates or rulers whom God hath ordained, to be treated with insolence and indignity. But these seducers speak evil of those things which they know not, ignorant of the excellence and importance of religion and of the scriptures, and of the usefulness of that ministry and magistracy against which they rail: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, governed merely by their sensitive appetites,-in those things they corrupt themselves, giving a loose to all their brutish passions, without fear or shame, till they bring upon themselves swift destruction. Note; When men live like beasts, they must expect to perish like devils.
3. They copied the vilest examples. Wo unto them! the most fearful vengeance hangs over them; for they have gone in the way of Cain, filled with his malignant spirit and envy, hatred, and murder toward the righteous, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, ambitious, proud, covetous, and, like that wicked prophet, insatiate after gain; and they have perished in the gainsaying of Core, like those rebels who rose up against Moses and Aaron, and ready with them to be swallowed up in the yawning pit of hell. Note; Companions with sinners must expect to share their plagues.
4. He describes these deluders under a variety of images. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear; whether in a way of civil intercourse, or religious communion, they let loose their luxurious appetites, without any fear of that judgment which awaits them: clouds they are without water, that seem to promise rain, but prove like noxious vapours, or noisome fogs, carried about with winds, variable, and tossed about with every blast of error; trees whose fruit withereth, deceiving our expectations and bringing nothing to maturity; without fruit, their specious appearances, like blasted fruit, drop off, and the hypocrite and apostate are detected; twice dead, by nature and grace, plucked up by the roots, and thus irrecoverably ruined; all hope respecting them is become desperate, and they are now only fit fuel for the flames; raging waves of the sea, turbulent, ungovernable, foaming out their own shame, belching forth their blasphemies against Christ, or their reproaches against his cause and people; wandering stars, resembling fiery meteors that kindle in the atmosphere, and, after a momentary blaze, are extinguished; or, like the comets, wandering wide from the system of truth and holiness; or, like opaque planets, being spiritually dark, possessing no real light in themselves; to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever, in that place where total despair completes the misery of the damned, whose worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched.
4thly, We have,
1. A prophesy of Enoch's, recorded, concerning these men. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, in the line of descent, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, in glorious majesty, swift to avenge the wrongs of his people, and the blasphemies against himself; to execute judgment upon all, who must stand at his bar, and receive from his lips their decisive sentence; and to convince all that are ungodly among them, by the vengeance he will inflict, of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, in defiance of his authority; and of all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Note; (1.) There is a dreadful day of judgment at hand, when vengeance shall overtake the ungodly. (2.) However impious and stout-hearted sinners may now be, every impenitent heart in that day will tremble, and every hardened face gather blackness. (3.) Though mockers now make light of ridiculing the word, and the ways, and people of God, they will find a fearful reckoning for their hard speeches in the day of recompence.
2. A farther description of these wicked men. These are murmurers, against God and his providences; complainers, discontented with their condition in life; finding fault with the doctrines and dispensations of the Lord; walking after their own lusts, gratifying every vile and sensual appetite without restraint: and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, making a pretended ostentation of their knowledge and piety, while they are in the very depth of error, and in the gall of bitterness; having men's persons in admiration because of advantage; caressing and flattering those, however vile, who are rich, in order to make gain of them. Note; (1.) Discontent with our lot is, in God's sight, rebellion against his providence. (2.) Men-pleasers, and smooth-tongued flatterers of the great, have the sure brand upon them of ministers of Satan.
5thly, The apostle concludes,
1. With his kind admonitions. But, beloved, be deaf to the arts of these seducers, and remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, which now have received their fulfilment, and should confirm the doctrines which they taught: how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts; scoffing at the genuine religion of Jesus, that without restraint they may give a loose to every lawless passion. And these be they, of whom the apostle spake, who separate themselves; fomenting factions, and, from base and interested motives, forming new sects and parties, while they are utterly sensual, and slaves of worldly-mindedness and fleshly lusts; having not the Spirit, and strangers to his grace and influence. Note; (1.) The only way to be preserved from the wiles of deceivers, is to cleave to our Bibles. (2.) We must not be ashamed of mocking; remember who will mock last. See Pro 1:26.
2. With warm exhortations. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, on the glorious foundation of it, Jesus Christ, continue steadfast in your holy profession, seeking to establish each other in the truth: and, praying in the Holy Ghost, under his gracious teaching and influences, who helpeth our infirmities, keep yourselves in the love of God; use all appointed means to preserve and increase the heavenly fire, and to approve yourselves in all holy obedience and humble resignation; looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life, and that complete felicity, both in body and soul, for which, if you obtain it, you must own yourselves wholly indebted to the riches of his grace. And of some have compassion, making a difference between those who err wilfully, and those who are misled through weakness and the wiles of deceivers, whom with all kindness and tenderness labour to recover from the snare: and others save with fear; using that sharpness, severity, and terror with them, which their more dangerous case requires; pulling them, if possible, out of the fire, which is ready to consume them; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh; detesting all impure conversation, and testifying an unremitting displeasure against sin, and whatever would lead thereto; as the Jews were under the law obliged to shun every touch that communicated defilement, and to burn the garment that had the spot of leprosy, Note; (1.) Faith in lively exercise, is the great preservative from all delusion. (2.) Prayer must be our daily employment,-spiritual prayer, not the mere task of the lip and the knee, but the warm effusions of the heart, where the Holy Ghost abides. (3.) They who would keep themselves in the love of God, must carefully shun whatever they know must offend him. (4.) We should shew a holy jealousy over our brethren, tenderly desirous to snatch them from the dangers to which they are exposed; kindly warning them; and, where sharpness is needful, faithfully declaring those terrors of the Lord, which may rouse the lethargic conscience.
3. He closes with a solemn doxology. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, that blessed Jesus who alone can preserve you from all evil and apostacy through faith in him; and to present you faultless, perfect and without blame before the presence of his glory, in the great day of his appearing, with exceeding joy, when every tear shall be wiped from the eyes of his faithful people, and eternal triumphs fill their happy souls; to the only wise God our Saviour, in whom dwell all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Note; The service of eternity will begin even here below; and every faithful soul will delight to proclaim the Saviour's praise.
*.* The Reader is referred to the different Authors mentioned often already.
