But *ye*, beloved, remember the words spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Jude has just described men who crept in among God's people, and now he turns to the believers themselves. His first instruction to them is not something new: he tells them to remember what the apostles had already said.
Jude now speaks to the saints, who had kept clear of the evils he described.
Jude next turns his attention to the saints themselves, to those who were walking apart from the evils he had pointed out. He strengthens their souls with the words of wisdom and guidance they needed. He also shows them how they may be kept safe from the tricks and seductions of the enemy. And what a relief it must have been to turn from his solemn condemnation of these men who had abandoned the faith to the encouragement of the beloved saints!
The name Jude gives them carries more than his own affection:
Jude addresses the saints here, and in verse 20, as "beloved." In this he expresses his own love in the Spirit, and he is also in communion with the heart of God the Father concerning His people.
Jude tells them to remember words. Older translations read here "the words spoken beforehand by the apostles."
If we are to contend for the faith, how important it is that we "remember" the very words in which the truth came to us through the apostles. Critics may question the apostles' words, and theologians may belittle them. But the Word itself states that if a man is spiritual, he will acknowledge that the things written by the apostles are "the commandments of the Lord" (1 Cor. 14:37). What is more, submitting to apostolic teaching is the great test that shows by what spirit a man speaks (1 John 4:6).
These readers had heard the apostles with their own ears.
So Jude points out the antidote: "the words spoken beforehand by the apostles." Notice, not traditions, but words spoken in their own hearing. "They told you" — the apostles' own words. What those words were to the people who heard them, their writings are to us.
Jude does not name the apostles he means. We can still read their warnings.
Well, we have at least two of these apostles. Surely that is quite enough. Very likely the other apostles taught the very same things by word of mouth. But we have this warning about these characters, written down by two besides Jude: one the apostle Paul, the other Peter in both his letters.
One writer points to the place where such a warning stands written:
Jude also tells us to remember the things the apostles of the Lord had said before he wrote this letter. In 2 Peter 3:3 we read about mockers coming in the last time, following their own lusts. But clearly the other apostles had testified to the same effect.
God warns His people ahead of time, and that changes how they meet the evil when it comes.
First and foremost, he would have them recall the warnings the apostles had given... The Lord never leaves His people without advance warning about the dangers and enemies they will meet. If they store His warnings in their minds, they are neither surprised nor discouraged when there are fears inside as well as fights outside. They are ready for conflict with every form of Satan's hostility. The Lord Himself said to His disciples, "For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand" (Matt. 24:24-25).
Corruption in the church can then be met without shock, and even with strengthened confidence:
So while we cannot help grieving over the corruption, there is no reason for surprise and no need to be disheartened; rather our faith should be confirmed as we see the apostles' words fulfilled.
Jude gives the beloved several things to do, and this one comes first.
"But you, beloved" (verses 17, 20) — how refreshing to see how Jude marks out the loyal-hearted and holy brothers of Christ... And the first thing he asks is this: "remember" the spoken words of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. This points us first of all to the supreme authority of Scripture, the sure foundation and unfailing resource for faith in this day of evil.
- Beloved — Jude turns from the men who abandoned the faith to the saints he loves. What he hands them first is a memory, not new teaching.
- Remember — the call is to the very words the truth came in through the apostles. Scripture calls those words the commandments of the Lord.
- Not tradition — the readers had heard the apostles speak. What those spoken words were to them, the apostles' writings are to us.
- Forewarned — Paul and Peter wrote the warnings down. So evil in the church brings no surprise and no discouragement.
- Resource — remembering comes first in what Jude asks. Scripture is the sure foundation and unfailing resource for faith in an evil day.
that they said to you, that at [the] end of the time there should be mockers, walking after their own lusts of ungodlinesses.
The apostles had already warned that scoffers would come, and Jude tells his readers to remember it. Nothing about them should shake believers, because that warning named both the time they would appear and the desires driving them.
Jude does not claim a fresh revelation; he points back to what the apostles had said. One writer counts at least two of them who left the warning in writing. Jude, he says, describes a worse stage of the same evil.
We have at least two of these apostles. Surely that is quite enough. Very likely the other apostles taught the very same things by word of mouth. But two others besides Jude wrote this warning down about these characters — the apostle Paul, and Peter in both his letters... And I think that Jude goes still further, and that his letter came after Second Peter, for this reason: there is an advance of evil. Peter speaks of unrighteous men; Jude speaks of men that once seemed to have the truth, and through their bad life, bad ways, pride, vanity, or whatever it was, they lost it.
A mocker treats sacred things as a joke while wearing the Christian name.
He tells the saints that they have been well warned of these things. "There will be mockers, walking after their own worldly, ungodly lusts." You will not only find men of God — they are always there. You will find mockers and scoffers, who profess the name of Christ and scoff at everything that is divine.
Kelly ranks mockery among the worst features of evil, and traces it to men who set themselves up as thinkers.
Not merely unrighteous men, or lawless men, but one of the worst features of evil — "mockers"... Here we find that it is not little children in their folly, but the case of men who claimed wisdom; and the way they showed it was by "mocking"!
The phrase is tighter than it first sounds. It is not simply that these men have strong desires and happen to be ungodly; ungodliness is the thing they want.
"Mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts" — their own lusts of ungodly things. The wording is stronger than that. Their lust was after ungodliness. This is what characterised their lust. It is not a vague term; it is a very exact term — "lusts of ungodliness."
Jude's mockers are not outsiders throwing stones at the church from a distance.
These mockers once looked respectable. They once spoke well. They were received, they were baptised; they remembered the Lord Jesus, taking part in the assembly, no doubt. Very likely they had been preachers. But here it was clear that they were given up to their own lusts of ungodliness, and that they were mockers. So they turned with the greatest spite and hatred against the truth that once separated them from the world. They claimed to be believers, but in reality they were clearly Satan's agents.
One reference work ties the phrase to a mark rather than a date, and separates it from the "last days" spoken of elsewhere:
The apostle John spoke of this as already present. There were many antichrists, and this showed that the last time (literally, hour) had begun. 1 John 2:18. Turning away from apostolic doctrine was a sign of the last time (it was not exactly the "last days," as in 2 Timothy). No further revelation was to come, and if people refused this doctrine, nothing but judgement could follow.
Kelly presses the point home for today: "The last time was therefore to be an especially evil time, and it is a very solemn thing that we are in that time most fully now."
The point of remembering the warning is not gloom. Seeing the prediction come true should have the opposite effect.
What a comfort that we have not been left unwarned of the terrible evil. Enoch prophesied of the evil; the apostles warned us of it. So we cannot help grieving over the corruption. But there is no ground for surprise, and no need to be discouraged. Instead, seeing the apostles' words come true should confirm our faith.
- Foretold — Jude adds nothing new. Paul and Peter had already written the warning down. Jude records a later, worse stage of the same evil.
- Mockers — the mark is not lawlessness alone but scorn. These men profess the name of Christ and scoff at everything divine.
- Lusts — "ungodly passions" is exact language. Ungodliness itself is what these men want, not just what they fall into.
- Insiders — they were once received, baptised, and part of the assembly, perhaps even preaching. Then they turned on the truth that had separated them from the world.
- Steadying — the warning came in advance. Seeing it come true is no reason for surprise or discouragement. It confirms that the apostles' words are true.