"But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively...waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever." Jude 10-13
This is the way that Jude describes those who are upsetting the Church he is writing to. Sound harsh to you: the gloom of utter darkness? But these people are distorting the truth about Jesus- the most heinous of crimes.
What I want you to see right now isn't the seriousness of false teaching but something far more worrying.
Look again at how Jude describes these people:
"For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." Jude 3-4
What surprises me is that Jude could speak so harshly about false teachers so subtle that the Church didn't even notice that is what they were!
Certain people, had 'crept in unnoticed'. Just think about it... they went totally unrecognized. They weren't wearing 'heretics r us' baseball caps. They were normal church members, home groups leaders, even preachers.
They are present in the Church just like a lethal virus which has yet gone undetected. Only when it has been diagnosed can it be dealt with.
This is scary. A whole church full of Christians did not realize that these people were rogue. And if they didn't notice, why should we think that we are any more discerning?
Could it be that 'certain men' may have crept unnoticed into our churches? Maybe into the pews, maybe into our home groups? Maybe, just maybe, they could be leading our home groups, preaching in our pulpits, even leading our churches!?
So, what were these people doing? And have similar people crept in on us- people to whom we are oblivious?
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