Jude warns us clearly:
I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. (Jude 1:5)
It is said today that once we "accept Christ" our salvation never can be placed in jeopardy. But consider the preceding verse!
Deliverance from Egypt is the strongest of the types of Scripture relating to the Christian salvation. Jude states that God brought the people out under the protection of the blood of the Passover lamb and then destroyed them in the wilderness. How, then, can we state that our salvation never can be placed in jeopardy?
What did the people do that brought destruction upon them? They revealed their unbelief, their lack of trust in God, by turning back in their hearts to Egypt. God’s wrath fell on them as a result.
How many members of the Christian churches of our day still love the world? They never have come out of the world in their heart. They look, act, think, and speak like worldly people. They with their children sit for hours before the ungodly television. Yet they are members of Christian churches.
How could they possibly be termed disciples of the Lord Jesus? They are tares. They are not Christians. A Christian is a disciple of the Lord. They are not wheat. They shall be removed from the wheat in the near future.
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (II Corinthians 13:5)
Unless we are serving the Lord faithfully and diligently, rejoicing with trembling in the holy fear of the Lord, growing in righteousness every day, continually washing our robes and making them sparkling white in the blood of the Lamb, we are not of God.
It does not matter how long we have been in our church or what denomination we belong to or what doctrine we subscribe to or what we have accomplished "for God" or whom we know or how we feel. Judgment has fallen on the Christian churches. Those who are not serving the Lord with all their strength will stumble and fall because they are not practicing the righteous ways of the Holy One of Israel.
There is a danger that multitudes of Christians in America, as well as in other places, will never believe the warnings coming forth today from the Lord’s servants. The believers are too confident of their position. They are smug in their belief that they are safe in their churches. They are of the church of Laodicea, having "need of nothing."
They (the "believers" in the Lord Jesus) soon will be crying to God for mercy as Divine judgment falls on every nation under the heavens. There will be no pre-tribulation "rapture." The believers are unprepared for what is coming on the earth and unprepared to meet the Lord Jesus.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:22,23)
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (II Thessalonians 2:11,12)
The issue with God is not our doctrinal stance but our behavior—our thoughts, words, and deeds. God is concerned with what kind of person we are. No amount of "accepting Christ" and no amount of "successful ministry" can possibly make up for a sinful life—a life where there is no repentance.
The purpose of God always has been and always will be to bring forth sons who practice justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. The religion of Judaism neglected these virtues and strained over the tithing of herbs. The religion of Christianity is neglecting these virtues and stressing an unscriptural "grace."
The false teachings of grace and the pre-tribulation "rapture" have lured the churches into a false sense of security. The Christian people will not escape. God’s wrath is ready to fall on all unrighteousness and on all who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Only His love and mercy are holding back the sword from falling. But the sword soon shall fall because Christians are not repenting!
In several instances the Jews of Europe were warned of the coming destruction. The prophet and scholar Jabotinsky over a period of several years went from town to town warning the Jews that destruction was at hand. Sometimes Christian people offered hiding places. The Jews who took heed were saved. Those who believed their families should stay together in their familiar homes, decided to wait. They were destroyed.
Remember Lot’s wife!
Now the Gentile holocaust is at the doors. The Spirit of the Lord is warning us to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Yet many are teaching we should wait for an unscriptural "rapture." Those who delay, playing silly church games, are facing affliction, torture, and death on a scale without precedent in world history. The Gentile holocaust will be more severe than that of the Jews.
Jude reminds us of God’s punishment on the disobedient angels and of the eternal fire that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah.
Then Jude speaks of the flesh-defiling, filthy dreamers who are in our assemblies and who call themselves believers. They reject authority. They have "accepted" Jesus as Savior but they have no intention of receiving Him as Lord. They will not obey the Lord or anyone else.
They speak evil of angelic majesties. They are proud, haughty, presumptuous, ready to do whatever they desire. They are in our churches. Soon the fire of God’s judgment will remove them from the churches.
They are "brute beasts," Peter and Jude declare. They live and behave in their soul and their fleshly appetites rather that in the Spirit of God. They corrupt themselves with the flesh. They eat, sleep, play, work, and reproduce and believe that this is eternal life. They do not know of the true saint’s life of prayer and consecration.
In many instances ungodly people rule and attempt to guide the saints, who often are not wise in their behavior. But God knows and loves the true saints. The sensual, although they boast themselves in the things and activities of the churches, will never stand in the Presence of the Lord.
They "have gone in the way of Cain" (Jude 1:11). This means their hearts are not pleasing to God when they offer their sacrifices of worship. They stand side by side with the true believers and "give thanks" to God. Yet there is spiritual envy, anger, and murder in their hearts as there was in the heart of Cain. God does not accept their sacrifices.
They "ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward." They are lovers of money. They are prominent in the aspects of the churches that have to do with raising and spending money. To them, the Kingdom of God proceeds according to how much money is available. They react with cynicism and unbelief toward anyone who suggests it is the Spirit of God who performs the work of the Kingdom of God rather than money.
They are ready to plead for money in order to accomplish their programs—all in the name of the Lord. But the Lord has never known them. They will discover this fact to their terror when they meet the Lord Jesus.
They perish "in the gainsaying of Core [Korah]." Because of their spiritual envy they are not willing to submit themselves to God-given leadership. Rather, they always are seeking preeminence among the saints. They gain a following and then strive to displace those whom the Lord has chosen. But they will be removed in the end.
These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. (Jude 1:12,13)
They murmur and complain. They walk in their passions. They seek to impress people with their arrogant, boastful words. They are mockers, scoffing at the righteous. They live according to their natural mind, not having the Spirit of God.
They will be separated from us during the period of tribulation that is ahead. When the Lord returns with His saints they will receive their judgment:
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these [the tares: the false Christians, the sensual who are among us], saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all [the lustful in the Christian assemblies], and to convince [convict] all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard [harsh] speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jude 1:14,15)