Jud 1:4 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.
I was reading from Thomas Manton’s (a Puritan pastor in the 1600’s) commentary on the Epistle of Jude, and came across these insights:
Wicked men may creep into the best church. God permits it not only for their own hardening, but for our troubles and trial. Paul complains of ‘false brethren privately brought in to spy out their liberty (Galatians 2:4); and the enemies of Jerusalem said, (Ezra 4:1), ‘Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do;’ but it was with an intent to hinder their work….Learn from this to be more watchful in admissions to the church; no perils so great as those occasioned by false brethren. We think to fill the church; but we do but fill the house with thieves.
The church never fares better, it loses in strength what it gets in breadth, just as a river does, and true zeal is lessened the more the number is increased; yes wicked men usually prove a trouble and we come to wish afterward that we had been more strict. As the masses of people did not dare to join company with the apostles after the striking down of Ananias and Sapphira, and just as the hypocrites were terrified but sound believers only were added, just so when the church keeps a strait (ie, careful) hand, hypocrites dare not join, but sound believers will the sooner join and though the church be a smaller body, it is more sound, healthy, and active. It is good to be strict, lest by promiscuous admissions we bring in such a mischief to the church as we cannot easily get rid of.
Wisdom indeed – a wisdom that is quite rare in today’s visible churches. This is a large part of the reason why so many have been persecuted in our day by people who make a great show of being eminently “holy.” The large mass of professing Christians and their churches and church leaders are intoxicated with the desire to be “great.” To demonstrate the power and glory of this world – large numbers, popularity, massive buildings…and those who fail to achieve such ends are regarded as failures.
How many of you have experienced the rotten fruit of such a spirit? Most of you, I am sure. A cancer, once permitted to plant its seed, is not easily excised. The removal operation inevitably is a painful one in which damage is often done to surrounding tissues. Manton speaks truth when he says…”we bring in such a mischief to the church as we cannot easily get rid of.” Especially since that mischief will most typically grow for quite a long time before we recognize what it really is.
Jud 1:4 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.
Were the apostles criticized because after the Lord struck down Ananias and Sapphira not many dared to associate with them? No doubt. The devil plays his same plays over and over again. As it was then, so it is today. Where the Spirit of Christ is truly present, not many will dare draw near. Where He is absent, the crowds with throng in to join the show. As Manton warns us – we must be more “strait.” That word means, narrow, careful, not quick to admit. But in so many cases today, those who claim to be serving Christ are not characterized by the “strait gate, the narrow way.”
And the result? Creeps easily creep in among us. They are given membership privileges. They are permitted to teach and hold office, to join us in the Lord’s ordinances, and the saints are even given in marriage to them. Wolves in wool, you see.
And, I say once more, this is very much the reason why the local church of our day is not a safe place in so many instances. Critics can accuse us of not being a true church because we encourage Christ’s people who have been scattered by wolves to come and join us online. But they should turn their sights upon themselves and examine themselves. Why is it that such a need exists? Why is it that a safe, true church which is not characterized by the spirit of the age is so very, very hard to find today? The church never fares better when it broadens itself…true zeal is lessened when the numbers increase. And evil will take root and flourish while the real sheep are scattered.