---

Another triplet, answering to the triplet of Sodom, the evil angels, the unbelieving Israelites. In both triplets there was an outrage against nature, a contempt for Divine sovereignty, a revolt against dignities.

I. A DENUNCIATION OF JUDGMENT. "Woe unto them!"

1. Wickedness has its end in woes. The end of it is "death."

2. The most fearful woes are those which are spiritual in their nature. No outward calamity is so terrible as the wrath of God, no worldly misfortune so great as a seared conscience.

3. The woe does not come without warning. God foretells the ruin that it may be averted, as in the notable case of the Ninevites.

4. Ministers ought to exhibit the terrors of the Law as well as the sweet promises of the gospel.

II. THE GROUNDS OF THIS DENUNCIATION OF JUDGMENT. There is a threefold variety in godless transgression.

1. There is an outrage against the laws of nature. "For they went in the way of Cain."

(1) That was a way of hypocrisy. Cain offered a sacrifice, but in a faithless spirit.

(2) It was a way of envy. "The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy." In the case of Cain it was "the inlet to murder." Who is able to stand before envy? It is its own punishment.

(3) It was a way of selfishness and hatred. Hatred led to the murder of Abel, and selfishness was stamped upon the interrogative answer to God's question: "Am I my brother's keeper?"

(4) It was a way of violence and cruelty. "He who cared not how he served God regarded not how he used his brother. Cain begins with sacrifice and ends with murder." Those who plead for most liberty are apt to be most selfish and cruel.

2. There is a religious opposition to God from interested motives. "And ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire."

(1) Their guide - Balsam.

(a) He was a false prophet; he is called both a prophet (2 Peter 2:16) and a soothsayer (Joshua 13:22).

(b) The devil uses the ablest instruments to serve his ends.

(c) God often endows wicked persons with high gifts. Great, accordingly, is their responsibility.

(2) The error of Balsam.

(a) This does not refer to his being deceived in the expectation of reward for his wicked work.

(b) It refers rather to his deviation from God's will and commandment in the whole history of his relations with Balak. "His way was perverse before the Lord." He made the Israelites to err from the way of righteousness by teaching Balak to cast a stumbling-block before them - to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication (Revelation 2:14).

(c) It was a deviation in doctrine that led to a deviation from holiness. Thus false teachers are usually evil-workers (Philippians 3:2). Their "minds are defiled, they are reprobate to every good work." "Truth reforms as well as informs."

(3) The motive of Balaam's conduct. "For hire."

(a) There was profanity in such conduct. Covetousness is idolatry; but it is something like blasphemy in a religious guide. The guide to heaven ought to be above the base love of lucre.

(b) There was hypocrisy in such conduct. There was an apparent concern for God's honour and the good of man; but under all was the eager lust for reward.

(4) The impetuous and eager pace of seducers. "They ran riotously."

(a) They are not checked by God's judgments.

(b) The desire for gain hurries men forward to many an act of wickedness and sin. He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent" (Proverbs 28:20).

(c) Sinners pursuing a downward course know not where they may stop.

(d) There is a Divine hand to punish the greatest sinners.

(e) How sad that the saints of God should not run as eagerly in the way of God as sinners in the way of wickedness and folly! They ought, surely, to "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God."

3. There is a contempt for sacred ordinances which brings its own retribution. "And perished in the gainsaying of Korah."

(1) The history of Korah. He was a Levite of the tribe of Levi, and cousin-german of Moses. He was, therefore, employed in an honourable department of the ecclesiastical service - " to wait upon the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the Lord."

(2) His insurrection. "The gainsaying of Korah." He opposed the exclusive privileges of Moses and Aaron, saying that they "took too much upon them," and he claimed the privileges of the priesthood for himself and others. "And seek ye the priesthood also?" says Moses. The conduct of Korah finds its counterpart in the seducers of Jude's day, who despised ecclesiastical ordinances, and set at naught the order of the Church. Their conduct showed

(a) contempt for Divine order and appointment;

(b) discontent with their existing privileges;

(c) envy at the rulers of the Church;

(d) ingratitude to God for his privileges.

(3) His punishment. "Perished in the gainsaying of Korah." The facts of Korah's destruction are familiar to all. They suggest:

(a) That seducers ordinarily involve others in their own destruction. So it was with Korah. Two hundred and fifty - "famous in the congregation, and men of renown" - were drawn into the conspiracy. "He would neither be alone in woe nor in wickedness."

(b) God opposes those who oppose his ordinances. "An evil man seeketh only rebellion, therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him" (Proverbs 24:22).

(c) We are bound to accept thankfully the privileges which God has provided for us. - T.C.

---

---

KJV: Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

WEB: Woe to them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in Korah's rebellion.