WOE TO THEM!
JUDE 11-13

―The Way of Cain―

GENESIS 4:2–7
3 In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

The way of Cain: Faithless, dead religion done man’s way

A better sacrifice, offered a better way;
HEBREWS 11:4
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts…
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ROMANS 1:5
5 …to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name…

1 JOHN 3:12
12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.
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2 TIMOTHY 3:5
5 …having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Dead and faithless true religion represents a greater spiritual danger than atheism, secularism, or false religions

HEBREWS 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
―The Error of Balaam―

NUMBERS 22:1–7
2 And Balak…saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many. Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel…So Balak…5 sent messengers to Balaam…to call him, saying… 6 Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me…for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.” 7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and gave him Balak’s message…12 God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
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NUMBERS 25:1–3
1 …the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods…
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REVELATION 2:14
14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.





The error of Balaam: Practicing ‘religion’ for personal gain and causing others to stumble into sin

2 PETER 2:15
15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing…
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1 TIMOTHY 6:6
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain…
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1 TIMOTHY 3:3
3 …[an elder must not be a] not a lover of money.
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ACTS 8:18–19
18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money…

1 PETER 5:2
2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;
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MATTHEW 18:6–7
6 …but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!
For many Christians, the temptation of personal gain is greater than the temptation of personal threat

1 TIMOTHY 6:10
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith…

―Korah’s Rebellion―

NUMBERS 16:1–5
1 Now Korah…and Dathan and Abiram…and On…took men. 2 And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation… 3 They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” 4 …Moses…said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the LORD will show who is his, and who is holy…
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NUMBERS 16:17–33
17 And let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring before the LORD his censer…And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation. 20 And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment”…31 And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. 32 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.
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The rebellion of Korah: Rejecting the authority of the church and its Mediator

1 TIMOTHY 2:5
5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…
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1 JOHN 4:2
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God…

Saving faith is more than a mere acknowledgement of the biblical facts regarding Jesus. It is also an abiding and ongoing confession of need, and an expression of trust in the Mediator’s promise of meeting of that need

EPHESIANS 1:13–14
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit…


―Pictures of False Teachers from the Creation―

Hidden reefs at your love feasts;
1 CORINTHIANS 11:20–21
When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk.

1 TIMOTHY 1:19
19 …holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith…

Shepherds feeding themselves;
EZEKIEL 34:2–6
2 “…Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?…
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Waterless clouds;
PROVERBS 25:14
Like clouds…without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.

Fruitless trees;
MARK 11:13–14
13 …When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves…14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”

Swept along by winds;
HEBREWS 13:9
9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings…

EPHESIANS 4:14
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

JAMES 1:6
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

Uprooted;
MATTHEW 15:13
13 …“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.”

Wild waves;
ISAIAH 57:20
20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea…its waters toss up mire and dirt.

Foam of their own shame;
PHILIPPIANS 3:19
19 Their end is destruction… they glory in their shame…

Wandering stars;
MATTHEW 15:14
14 Let them alone; they are blind guides…



5/4/2025