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THE CHARACTER OF APOSTASY (IX)
SATURDAY, APRIL 18
Jude 12
John 4:6-14
 
“… whosoever drinketh of the
water that I shall give him
shall never thirst …”
 
THE CHARACTER OF APOSTASY (IX)
 
Clouds. We may picture a weary traveller wandering in a desert waste, parched and thirsty. He has wandered long in the dryness and heat, and is close to despair and death. Finally, looking up, he sees a cloud on the horizon. He is filled with hope, that perhaps he might have at last the water he so desperately seeks. But he will be disappointed, for this is a cloud “without water” (Jude 12).
 
This is the picture of the apostates that Jude presents with this metaphor. Countless people around the world are spiritually parched, seeking meaning and purpose, relief from the guilt of sin, and assurance of life and eternity. False teachers appear like clouds on the horizon, offering hope to these thirsty millions, but they do not satisfy. They provide no life-giving water; nothing to quench the deep spiritual need of humanity. Jesus said, “whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst” (John 4:14). Those whom Jude describes here can make no such claim. They are themselves lost, “carried about of winds,” and those who follow them will be led here, there, and everywhere, with not a drop in return for their loyalty.
 
Trees. Why are these apostates unable to provide any spiritual nourishment or refreshment for others? Because they themselves are utterly destitute of any spiritual life whatsoever. They are trees “whose fruit withereth,” or trees in autumn, bereft of leaves and fruit, bare and skeletal. And what they appear on the outside, they are inside: completely “without fruit” at all, “twice dead,” totally dead ‒ and without any prospect of life whatsoever, since they are “plucked up by the roots.”
 
Dear reader, take heed. There are many today claiming to show men the way to life, who themselves have never found life, and likely never will. Yet there are millions who need life, and are looking for life. If this perishing multitude cannot find “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) from these false teachers, will they at least be able to find the Lord Jesus through you?
 
THOUGHT: Why is religious hypocrisy such an abomination to God?
PRAYER: Father, help me truly to walk in the Spirit.

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