Jude 4
For certain persons
These are specific people.
have crept in unnoticed,
These specific people have quietly infiltrated the congregation and insinuated their ideas subtly into the life of the church.
those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation,
These are people who it has been written out before ages past that they would be judged and condemned for their crimes.
ungodly persons
They are impious, the word is often used for notorious sinners.
who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness
They demean the graciousness of God into a loose morality that makes light of moral depravity.
and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Their attitudes and lifestyles run counter to the commands of Christ, denying His sovereignty and lordship over them.
This is very strong language against these interlopers, which explains Jude's urgency to write about them.
Even today there are still people who go to churches in order to disrupt the congregation, to slip errors into the doctrines of the church, and promote acceptance of ungodly lifestyles.
There are whole denominations that have "gone off the rails" in their teachings.
This is one of the signs of the last days, and it has been going on now for centuries.
O my Father, thank You for Your Word, telling us all that we are to look out for, and what to expect as the days and years and centuries pass. Each moment brings closer the time of the Lord's return.
Please open our eyes to see what is going on around us, to recognize the signs of the last days, and the imminent return of our sovereign King. Help us to number our days, so that we might apply our hearts to Your wisdom, Father, in dealing with the times we face. We need to discern how to use our days, that our work will promote Your Kingdom and not let any moments slip away useless.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
