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Him", but it further says, "Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from
iniquity", which is parallel with the words of verse 12, "If we patiently endure, we shall
also reign with Him". The words which are engraven upon this seal are found originally
in a most solemn context.
There are three men whose sins are so characteristic of the last days that they are
mentioned together by Jude, and separately in the first epistle of John and in the
Revelation, viz., Cain, Balaam and Korah. Cain was of that wicked one and slew his
brother, and is a type of the world, for the passage immediately adds, "marvel not if the
world hate you" (I John 3: 12, 13). Balaam is linked with Jezebel and the profanities of
the Apocalypse Beast. Jude connects three different items with these three men. "The
WAY of Cain, the ERROR of Balaam, the GAINSAYING of Korah" (Jude 11). This
element of opposition which attaches to the name of Korah is seen in II Tim. 2: 24, 25:--
"The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach,
patiently bearing up under evil, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves."
That is one kind of opposition. It is not hopeless for the verse concludes:--
"If God peradventures will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth."
There is another more fatal kind of opposition indicated in the next chapter and
associated with the perilous times of the last days. These are "ever learning and never
able to come to a knowledge of the truth". These are likened to the Egyptian Magicians
who withstood Moses. These resist the truth. These are connected with "a form of
godliness", and there is nothing left for us to do but "from such turn away".
The reader may wonder what all this has to do with the seal set upon God's
foundation. In Num. 16: we have the record of Korah's rebellion. When Moses heard
Korah's words he fell upon his face, and in his reply gives the first words of the seal:--
"And he spake unto Korah, and unto all his company, saying, Even to-morrow the
Lord will shew who are His" (5).
When the morrow came, and the dreadful decision was to be made, Moses gives the
second part of the seal:--
"Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men" (26).
This principle of departure not only applies to those like Korah, and those who have
merely the form of godliness, it also applies in modified form to believers. This we find
in the words that immediately follow in II Tim. 2: 20:--
"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood
and of earthenware; and some on the one hand for honour, and some on the other hand
for no honour."
First let us be clear on this point. All the vessels are in the one great house. They are
all the property of the One Master. In doctrinal words they are all saved, and are found in
verse 11. Some however are unto honour, while others are unto no honour. The word