Doxology (Jude 24-25)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We are finishing up the book of Jude. It is near the back of your Bible. If you start at the end, run through Revelation, you'll run into Jude.
If you have one of these blue Bibles, it's on page 594. If you don't own a Bible, take one of these with you. That's our gift to you, but we want you to own a Bible. I don't need that, so I'm going to just kick it over here. All right.
My parents go on vacation to the beach in September, and they always want their children and grandchildren to come, and so I just got to go to the beach for a couple of days. And one of the things that happens if you spend time around little children is that everybody, adults and children, point out everything that they think is even remotely interesting. The children are going, hey, look at this, look at this, look at this rock, look at this. I had multiple children constantly running up to me going, hey, is this a shark's tooth? It never was. It was always just some sort of black thing.
And I'd be like, no, but it's cool. I handed one back to my nephew, and he was all excited. I was like, ah. Part of me wanted to be like, yeah, it's a shark's tooth, but that was not true. So I said, no, but it's a cool rock.
And he went, ah, and threw it on the ground and ran off. That was all he wanted was a shark's tooth. But you just point out everything. Look at that cloud. Look at this shell. Well, we were at the gas station on the way up, and I'm in line at the gas station.
And my youngest son, who's four, busts the door open. His older brother's behind him, and they go, daddy, daddy, daddy, there's a leaf bug out here. And they just turn around and run back out. The door closes behind them. Everybody looks at them. I'm in line.
And then four or five seconds later, they bust back in like, did you not hear us? Why are you still in line? They bust the door back open. A leaf bug. You come with me. Like just incredulous that I would not have already dropped what I was doing or run outside.
And I'm excited this morning because we're looking at Jude verses 24 and 25, and I get to do that. I get to say, hey, look at this. Look at how wonderful this is. Take this in. Don't miss this with something infinitely more exciting than a leaf bug, which consequently turned out to be a grasshopper. This is wonderful, wonderful news.
It is joyous and hope-filled. And so for the believers in the room, I think this will be encouraging, worshipful, the way Jude ends this letter. And for anybody in the room who is not a Christian, that you're trying to figure this out. I've got people that hang out with our community group, and that's kind of where they are. It's like just trying to figure this out, trying to see what I believe, trying to see what the Bible says. If that's the zone you're in, we're excited that you're here this morning, as we would be any Sunday.
But I think this Sunday is a good morning for you to see what we believe. And so for the Christians in the room, I hope this is some encouragement. And for anyone who's not a Christian, I want you to see this as an invitation. This is an invitation for you to today decide, no, I'm going to follow Jesus because of how wonderful he is. So let's read the text and then pray together, and then we'll start walking through it.
We've already read this once this morning. Jude, verses 24 and 25. Let's pray. God, as we draw our attention to this text this morning, help us to realize it. Help us to grasp the beauty of this. Help us to take this in and to respond in faith and worship at you, our God, our Savior, our Lord, who is glorious, majestic, and rules forever.
We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. So the way this passage breaks down is that he says now, he's turning and he's saying, to him who is able, to the only God, be. To him, to the only God, be. That's kind of how this breaks up. So it's to, and he's describing.
He's just kind of pausing and saying things about Jesus, about God. And then he says to, and he's describing and pausing and saying things about God. And then he's saying be, belong, be given to. And so that's kind of how we're going to walk through it. We're going to walk through those two phrases and then the B sentence. So the first thing he says is, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.
The first thing we're going to look at is that him who is able to keep you from stumbling. It's the first thing we want to look at. To him who is able to keep you from stumbling. Honestly, him who is able is a good way to describe God. He's able. He's capable.
But it says to him who is able to keep you from stumbling. Praise the Lord. Isn't that good? That he keeps us from stumbling. The TV show The Office is one of my favorite TV shows. And I've probably since college just kind of watched it at all times.
It's off and off. And if there's ever anything, like we just don't have anything to watch, we'll just watch The Office and be thoroughly entertained. Even though we know it's coming. It's still hilarious. But one of the main premises of The Office is that the boss is an idiot.
And there's a scene in The Office where he's got to go negotiate something. And he's in a good position to negotiate except for there's one thing that he can't say. If he says this, it'll ruin everything. And he's got a couple people with him and they're getting on an elevator and they're looking at him. Because they know he's an idiot and they're going, just don't say it. Just don't bring it up.
Just don't. We're not going to mention this one thing. He's like, no, we're not going to mention it. We're not going to mention it. Elevator closes. They go up like two levels.
And it shows the elevator door open and he's like this. I'm just really afraid I'm going to mention it. I just, I think I'm going to say it. Like he just knows himself and he's like, there's a real good chance that it'll just come out. And I'll ruin everything. And I feel that way with following Jesus.
That there are times where I'm like, I got this. I got this. I got this. And then a month later, a week later, a moment later, I'm going, I really feel like I might mess this up. I really feel like I might just ruin this. Like there are those moments when you just see there's something wrong with me.
There's something deep inside of me that is broken. And I really just feel like there's a chance that I'm going to derail this. That if you fast forward five years from now, there's something in me that might just choose sin. And it's terrifying. Oh, praise Jesus that he's able to keep us from stumbling. That that's the hope we have in him.
Not that he saves you and he takes you and he cleans you and he says, okay, here's your life. Your sins are forgiven. You're cleaned up. Now I'll meet you at the finish line. Keep your record clean. I've cleaned everything off.
I'll meet you at the finish line, but you've got to finish it out. No, he's the one who keeps us from stumbling. Like a father holding hands with a child. That at any moment that child can just pitch forward about to lose it and immediately be brought back to safety. That he keeps us from stumbling. And that's wonderful news that our hope is in him.
Not in ourselves. I want you to see this. This is in John six. I'm going to show you two passages where Jesus is talking about this idea. John six, 37 through 39. He says, all that the father gives me will come to me.
And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. So if you come to Jesus, if you trust in him, if you place your faith in him, he will never cast you out. This idea that maybe I'll send so much, maybe I'll fail so much. Maybe he says, no, I'm, I'm going to keep you for I've come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. The idea that I might fail at this is the idea that Jesus might lose me.
But he says he's not going to lose anything. The father's given him. That he is able to keep us from stumbling. John 10, a few chapters later, Jesus is talking again. He says, I give them eternal life and they will never perish. And no one will snatch them out of my hand.
My father who has given them to me is greater than I, and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. If we have trusted in Jesus, he keeps us. The father keeps us and he is able to keep us from stumbling. So Christian, brother, sister, that right now is seeing your sin, can feel it, can know it, and is fearful. Cling to this promise that he will keep you and run back to him. Use his hand to steady yourself and trust in the fact that he is the one who is good, who keeps you, who redeems you, who brings you to the finish line.
That's wonderful news. On my sabbatical, I started listening to some audio books and it was a three book long trilogy and it was, each of these books was very long. But they were like sword fights and magic and time travel and people who could see the future. It was very nerdy stuff. I thoroughly enjoyed it. But one of the things, one of the main storyline plot things of the story was that one of the characters you meet when they're like 17, you're kind of following through and then you learn that they had traveled back in time and died.
But people know this because it already happened. So you meet them here, you're following them through time, but you know that they're going to travel back in time and die. So what happened in the story was that this character would get into a lot of really bad situations and be like, this might go poorly for me, but I don't die here. Because I know where I die. It's already happened in time, but not for me. It's kind of confusing.
But he would just know, like I'm getting in this situation, it's difficult, but I don't die here. This isn't the end for me. And so he would just lean into, he still had to fight, he still had to show courage, he still had to do everything he could to get out of the situation, but he knew this isn't how it ends. And I find that that's what we get to do with Jesus. I don't lose to this. Jesus is going to keep me.
I know how this ends for me. And so I can cling to that promise to give me hope as I trust in Jesus to see me through. So for Christians, this is wildly encouraging that our hope is that Jesus is the one who gets us to the finish line. And if you're not a Christian and you think, I can't be a Christian, I'd mess it all up. No. Because if you trust Jesus, he takes you and he keeps you and he brings you to the end.
He is able to keep you from stumbling. But then it says this, to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. He's able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. So we're going to walk through and just look at these different words that are here and just try to unpack them a little bit. So let's start with blameless.
Blameless means without blame. Without accusation. With nothing that anybody could say bad about you. Now, if you are self-aware at all, that is a poor description of you. And if you are not self-aware but have friends, which is difficult to do if you have no self-awareness, ask them. They will tell you.
This is a bad description of you. Have you ever been in the situation where you were the one to blame? Just give you some examples. But you had blame. A teacher starts to take up homework and you don't have it. Or something that happened to me all throughout my school career.
Someone would look at you at lunch and say, man, are you ready for that test? Or were you able to finish your project? And you would respond, what project? And they would look at you like, oh, buddy, life's going to be hard for you. That amount of fear. Or somebody's looking for the person who stole something and it's in your pocket.
You know that type of blame that you have? Your dad's coming home and you're the one who broke the thing and you understand how this is going to go? So, the idea that we would stand before the God of the universe in the presence of his glory, the glory of the one who tests hearts, who knows minds, who can see through us and be blameless, is shocking. And it's wonderful. Because the blamelessness does not come from us, but it comes from the one who is presenting us. Do you see that?
That he would present us blameless. 2 Corinthians 5.21, I want you to see this in another place where it talks about this idea. It says, for our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin. Okay, so, for our sake, he, that's God the Father, made him, that's Jesus, to be sin. So, Jesus became sin. Jesus, who knew no sin.
He was sinless, but he becomes sinful. He takes on our sin. He doesn't actually sin, but he takes our sin and he puts it on himself, so that in him we might become, what? The righteousness of God. That through Jesus, we are righteous because he took our sin and he gives us his righteousness, so that he might present us blameless. And that picture of him presenting us, him bringing us into the glory of the Father, that's what he says, before the presence of his glory.
In the Old Testament, you don't get to enter the presence of his glory. Everybody who even comes into, brushes into contact with the presence of his glory, he shows up just in a burning bush and he says, take your shoes off. This is holy ground. You're not welcome here as you are. If there was only, was the high priest able to go once a year into the holy of holies, into the presence of his glory, and even that with sacrifices made on his behalf before he went. That Moses, who was the closest to God, asked, can I see your glory?
And God says, no, it would kill you. But you can see the back of it. That Isaiah gets brought into the presence of the Lord and he falls down and he says, I'm sinful, I don't belong here. You ever been in a situation where you felt dirty? You felt shameful? You felt like, I should not be here.
There's something wrong with me. I'm the one who's ruining everything. Peter meets Jesus. Jesus performs a miracle and Peter falls down and says, get off my boat. I shouldn't be in your presence. You're holy and there's something wrong with me.
The idea that we get to be presented blameless is wonderful and it points to the glory of Christ who took our sin and gave us his righteousness. And he joyously presents us. Picture this. He comes into the glory of his father, into the glory of the Holy Spirit, into the glory of the Trinity. And he says, look. Look at them.
Aren't they beautiful? Look at how clean they are. Look at how blameless. Look at these sons and daughters, these brothers and sisters who belong here. And it's all to the praise of his glory. Some of you go, I'm too dirty.
I wouldn't be able to be there. But that does not degrade you. It degrades him. That he is incapable of cleaning you. Oh, to the praise of his glorious grace will we be presented blameless before the father. Will we be presented blameless in the presence of his glory.
And we will stand there awestruck to be welcomed into a place that we should have no business being. But because of the blood of Christ. Because of this exchange that took place. That he took our sinfulness. That he gave us his righteousness. That we have the righteousness of God.
That we are now able to be there. That's wonderful. And he says, present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. Whose joy? Well, ours certainly. Can you imagine the freedom, the delight to be in the presence of God.
To be in the presence of his glory and belong. I think we can kind of wrap our head around being in the presence of his glory and not belonging. Like a moment of just this is amazing and now I'm going to die. But to be there and that to be our home. That to be where we're supposed to be. And that to be where we're supposed to enjoy being.
Because it brings glory to Jesus who's the one who redeemed us. Who's the one who presents us joyously. That we are overwhelmed. By joy. That every little bit. Every time you've laughed and laughed until your face and stomach hurt.
Every time you've been in a place where you were so at peace. That you just kind of could feel yourself just relax. That you felt safe. That you felt at home. Every time you've been around the people. Where you just have this moment of this is how life is supposed to be.
Every single one of those was just like a sniff of the meal that we're going to get to partake in. That's here and gone. Every one of those is like a drop of water on a parched tongue. Of what the joy will be like in the presence of his glory. That he cleans sinners like us. That he brings us to him.
And do you know how else's joy it is? It's his joy. That great joy is not just ours. It's his. He delights to do this. I love we were studying through Psalm and it says our God reigns in the heaven.
He does whatever he pleases. Which means that it pleases him to redeem sinners like us. That's what Jesus says in Luke 15. He says just so I tell you. There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. I was reading that book Gentle and Lowly.
While I was on my sabbatical. And a lot of you were like didn't we read that way earlier? Y'all did. I didn't. But it was good.
So I caught up. And if you'll remember. So those of y'all who walked through it. There's this illustration that he gives. It's written by a guy named Dane Ortlund. There's this illustration that he gives.
He says imagine if you will. A doctor. Who's independently wealthy. He's able to go on this. And he decides he's going to go. Halfway across the globe.
To reach out to some tribal people. And to offer vaccinations. Help them. You know things like polio. Help them with things. That would absolutely destroy them.
But there's a vaccination for it. They cannot have smallpox. If they'll just kind of go through this. They can get past pertussis. If they'll just take this vaccination. He's going to go and help save.
He says imagine that he goes. But they don't trust him. They don't know what he's talking about. It takes a long time to build trust. He says but imagine. The day.
That finally. One brave. Person. Steps forward. And receives the vaccination. He says.
What does that doctor feel? Joy. He said it's the whole reason he came. He feels joy. And that made so much sense to me. I remember sitting in my office.
Thinking. Yeah. Of course he does. Of course he delights to do that. Of course he's ecstatic that day. And how dare I.
Fail to see. The great delight. Of the God of the universe. Who since eternity past. Purposed. To redeem a people for himself.
And then came. To live. And to die. And to rescue. So that he might one day.
Present a people. To belong to him forever. That he might rescue a people for himself. To belong to him. And how I fail to miss. How joyous that is for him.
If you're in here. And you're not a believer. And you think. I can't come to him. I'm too broken. I'm too dirty.
I'm too messed up. Oh. Hear. Hear how happy he will be. To save you. Hear how much joy there is.
For you to walk forward. And say I'm a sinner. In need of cleansing. I need somebody to rescue. Can you see the smile crack. Across his face.
And he says. That's why I came. That's what this was all about. So that people. Who could not rescue themselves. Might be rescued.
And redeemed. Come. I sing to my boys. In the evenings. And one of my favorite songs. Is softly and tenderly.
And it says. Softly and tenderly. Jesus is calling. Calling. Oh sinner. Come home.
That's what he came to do. There's delight. That's what Hebrews 12. 2 says. Look. To Jesus.
That we ought to be looking to Jesus. The founder and perfecter. Of our faith. Who for the joy. That was set before him. Endured the cross.
Despising the shame. And is seated at the right hand. Of the throne of God. It is his delight. To redeem. Sinners.
So that one day. If you placed your faith in Jesus. He's going to keep you from stumbling. He's not going to lose you. And then there's going to be a day. When he brings you into the presence of his glory.
And we celebrate. A day of overwhelming joy. That Jesus can save sinners like us. A day where he receives so much glory. That he can redeem someone as broken and as busted as you. Someone whose thoughts.
Even when you're trying. Are so twisted and mangled. There are times where I think. I'm so messed up. And I'm trying. This is the Holy Spirit at work in me version.
That is trying. And I'm still like this. And to be able to stand. And know that he's going to keep me. And to be ushered into his glory. And that that day will be joyous.
Don't miss this. That's the first thing he says. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling. And to present you blameless. Before the presence of his glory with great joy. To the only God.
Our Savior. Through Jesus Christ. Our Lord. That's his next statement. To the only God. Our Savior.
Through Jesus Christ. Our Lord. Okay. People argue. That all religions are the same. We all believe the same thing.
And I just want you to know. Christianity makes exclusive claims. That there's. He's the only God. There is no other God. And he's the only God.
Who saves us. Through Jesus Christ. Our Lord. That there is no other Savior. There's no other way to the Father. But through Christ.
So if you want to argue. That Christianity is wrong. Well the Bible. Logically will fit with that. You can say it's wrong. But it won't fit with.
It's kind of right. It's right. They're all right. It won't do that. Because it says no. There's only one God.
And there's only one Savior. But I want you to see this. To the only God. Our Savior. Through Jesus Christ. Our Lord.
That through Jesus Christ. We receive salvation. And it's just so encouraging. You need a Savior. And if you become a Christian. You don't cease to need a Savior.
There's not going to be a time. Where you think. I've graduated. I'm no longer a sinner. I'm no longer in need of a Savior. High five Jesus.
I don't need you anymore. That's not how it works. He delights to redeem sinners. Now. He's also our Lord. So we repent.
We obey. We follow. We follow. But we follow. Because he's our Savior. Who's rescued us out of sin.
And given us hope. And if you're not. A Christian. You need a Savior. One of the things that. That Spencer pointed out.
When we first started Jude. Is that Jude. He highlights for us. That there is great judgment. And great joy. There's judgment for sin.
There's a. He calls it the great day. There's a day of wrath. There's a day of judgment. And that everyone. Will either receive judgment.
Or they'll receive joy. But you'll get one or the other. Either Jesus will receive your judgment. For your sin. On your behalf. And then you'll be a recipient of joy.
Through Jesus. Or you will receive judgment. And if you say. I don't need Jesus. What you are saying is. I'll stand on my own.
In that day. And be held accountable. For my sin. But the invitation. Is that you would come to him. Who delights to save.
Delights to keep. And delights to rejoice with. Eternally. Through the work of Jesus. That you would trust him. To save.
You. So he's our only God. Our savior. Through Jesus Christ. Our Lord. Be.
So now he's saying. Be. This belongs to him. Give it to him. That's kind of what it means. It's his.
So we ought to respond. By giving it to him. We ought to respond. By. So he's.
Praising him. By both saying. It's his. And also. We. We acknowledge that.
We give it to him. Says. Be glory. Majesty. Dominion. And authority.
Authority. Before all time. And now. And forever. Amen. So these things belong to him.
Before all time. If we ever say the phrase. Eternity past. That's what we're talking about. That there was a time. Before time.
God invented time. There was. Something before that. It messes up. Because you have to use the word. Before.
Before. But I guess that's time. So then it was before. But then you can't use before anymore. Because there's no time. So we just say eternity past.
Before all time. He was in charge. He creates time. So now. He's in charge. And then.
Forever. Which is. We don't say. Eternity. Future. Sometimes you can say that.
You just say. Eternity. Forever works. What happens after time. Be glory. Meaning that all praise and honor.
Belongs to him. There is no boasting. For us. That when we're presented. Blameless. Before him.
We don't go. I know you're glad I'm here. Feel free to clap. If you would like. We don't do that. We're joyous.
But we're joyous. Based off of his work. Not ours. There is no boasting. There's no swagger. There's delight.
Certainly. There's tears. Certainly. There's a feeling of. Welcome. And belonging.
Certainly. But there is no boasting. The glory is his. And this. This has helped my brain so much. When I sin.
To help me know. That I turn to him. And I ask for forgiveness. And I delight in the fact. That he receives glory. From saving sinners.
Like me. I don't pursue sin. Because of that. I pursue him. Because of that. Majesty.
I looked that up. One of the definitions. Was. Regal impressiveness. He's impressive. Not us.
He has dignity. And honor. He's a king. That it belongs to him. That's his. And he's had it.
Forever. Dominion. Meaning he is. Over all things. He rules. Over all things.
That he is in charge. Over all things. That he works out. Everything. According to his. Will.
That there is not. A square. Millimeter. Of existence. In the ocean. On the earth.
In the sky. In outer space. In some sort of. Spiritual realm. We don't understand. There's not a square.
Inch. That doesn't belong to him. That isn't under his rule. That isn't under his care. That it is under his domain. When we look out.
Into the sky. And we see. Infinite stars. Like we just. We're baffled by it. That does not.
Declare to us. Our place in the universe. It declares his. Majesty. And goodness. And his.
Greatness. Authority. He's a king. And he does. As he pleases. But praise be to his name.
That it pleases him. To redeem sinners. To forgive. And to welcome. Before all time. And now.
And forever. Amen. Brothers and sisters. In the room. Cling to this. Remember this.
Believe this. That he'll keep you. That he'll guard you. That he'll. Make you reach the end. And that that day.
Will be. Joyous. And if you have not placed your faith in Jesus. Don't say no to this. But come to him and say.
Please. Save me. And he will. That all who come to him. He will not lose. One of them.
But trust in him. The band's going to come back up. We're going to join. Jude. Jude ends this by saying. Look at how wonderful.
Jesus is. Look at how wonderful. God is. To him be glory. And majesty. And dominion.
And authority. Before all time. And now. And forever. And for a moment. We're just going to let our voices.
Join an eternal chorus. Of those who understand this infinitely more than we do. We're going to join Jude in saying. Isn't he wonderful. Isn't he good. To him be the praise.
It's not about me. It's about him. And he's so good to redeem. A sinner. Like me. Let's pray.
And then let's sing. God we thank you. That it is your delight. To save sinners. We thank you. That you are able.
To keep us. From stumbling. And for those in the room. Who feel like they're stumbling. That they're going to. Fall.
That they're going to lose this. They're going to fall into sin. Lord. That you're going to. Lose them to sin. That it's going to engulf them.
Lord. May you hold them. And draw them back. In forgiveness. And redemption. That you rescue sinners.
That that does not mean. That we will never sin. It just means. That we'll never lose to it. And so Lord. May we cling tightly.
To you. Who keep us. May we hold firmly. To that promise. And Lord. May we look forward.
To the day. When we are presented. Into the presence. Of your glory. Made blameless. By the work.
Of Jesus. And may there not. Be a soul. In this room. Who enters that day. On their own account.
Lord. May there not be someone. In this room. Who stands before you. On that day. In their sin.
But may we stand. In the righteousness. Of Christ. Through the blood. Of his sacrifice. And so Lord.
I ask that through your Holy Spirit. You would help. Anyone who has not trusted in you. To believe. To run to you. And to say.
Forgive me. And to receive that forgiveness. And to receive this promise. As they might stand. With your people. On that day.
Made blameless. Through your son. To the praise. Of his glory. And his wonder. And his name.
In Jesus name. Amen.
Remember, Remain, & Rescue (Jude 17-23)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
My name is Spencer and I am one of the pastors here. We are in Jude verses 17 through 23 today. We got this week and next week in Jude and then we will move into the book of Exodus. If you want to follow along in your blue Bible, it's in the seat or around you. It's on page 594 and the text will also be up on the screen, which is bigger now, which I'm excited about, which you can read more clearly. So in sports, one of the big moments in the offseason is when you get the schedule.
You get the schedule, you look at your opponents, and what happens with most teams is that they see one or two opponents and they circle them. Literally or in their minds like this, they get really excited about facing off against those teams and there's more energy that goes into that week of prep. There's more energy that shows up in that game. And what happens with immature teams is when they show up to play that game, well, they do immature things. They get all angsty, a little chatty, extra combative, and they lack the discipline to actually compete like they're supposed to. So I'm a Gamecock fan and for five years I watched the Will Muschamp era of Gamecock football and it was this.
You could tell a couple times a year they would get all worked up for Clemson, who's a rival, or for Kentucky, which has recently become a rivalry, which is really sad for the state of our program. And they get all worked up for these games and they would just get, I mean, there'd be late hits, be mouthing off the whole time, you know. And Kentucky and Clemson are well coached and they were well disciplined and we were not. And it was very abundantly clear and it was painful to watch because we'd be all angsty with all this extra energy, but we couldn't do the basics. We couldn't do, like we couldn't break down and make tackles.
We couldn't complete blocking assignments. We couldn't do the things it takes to actually play the game like you're supposed to. I think everyone can admit that there's a few games a year that you get really excited for and you have a little extra zeal for, but you've got to come back and do the basics. You can't forget that. And I believe that Christians are very much like this. That Christians can get overly angsty about subject matters like false teaching and the corruption of morality, which we've seen in the book of Jude.
That when Christians see this kind of opposition, some of them lose their minds. They go crazy and they start to really focus on the opposition and they get online and they become keyboard warriors and they get on YouTube channels and watch discernment ministries, which for the record is not a thing in the Bible, but there's all over YouTube. You'll see email chains or Facebook posts. It's like, you got to, the Hollywood is out to get our kids and these false teachers are out doing this and we got to, and they get all worked up, become heresy hunters, but they neglect to do the basics. They get so focused on the opposition, they don't read their Bibles, they don't pray, they don't do the things that are good for their souls.
And oftentimes they look more like undisciplined fools than they actually do look like followers of Christ. Now we are certainly called to, as Christians, and as we've clearly seen in Jude, we're called to take this seriously, take sin seriously, take false teaching seriously, but we don't act like undisciplined fools. Now we're at the point in the book of Jude where he spent a lot of time hammering hard after this type of false teaching, after the grace of God that has been perverted in essentiality as we saw in verse 3. Spent a lot of time in this, but now he's going to be real practical in coaching us.
Now what? Now what do you do with that? Now that you know that, what's up? And there's three things that we'll see in this passage today. One of them is a thing we need to know, and two of them are things that we need to do, okay? The first thing we need to know is we need to remember.
And that's what we're going to see. We're called to remember, we're going to walk through what he says. And there's two things that we need to do. We need to remain and to rescue. Now, I don't know if you just saw that, but that was ultra-Baptist, y'all. Three R's.
Three points. Yes. Real practical. Jude's going to coach us up on this. So we're going to see those three things.
All right. Let me jump into the text. We'll pray, and then we'll walk through this piece by piece. Verse 17. But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I said to you, in the last time there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions. It is these who cause divisions, worldly people devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt. Save others by snatching them out of the fire. To others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
So let me pray, and then we'll walk through this together. Father, I pray that you would help us be present right now. I pray that you would help us listen to the Word of God. That it would pierce our hearts. That it would expose what's beneath that needs exposing. And that you would give us the gospel as you give us really good coaching on what to do in a time where there's all types of things that are seeking to tear us apart and tear us down and tear us from you.
May we listen and respond in faith and repentance and obedience and worship. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, so he starts out with the thing that you need to know, and that is you need to remember. You need to remember. So, he says, verse 17, but you must remember beloved.
So he says beloved. We were in, our group was meeting a few weeks ago, and we read all of Jude at once, and someone in our group said, hey, he says beloved like multiple times, over and over and over again. And I was like, that's a great observation. In the midst of a very, very corrective letter, he calls them beloved. It reminds them of who they are in Christ, that you are beloved. You are deeply loved by Jesus.
You are brothers and sisters. Yes, there's all kinds of things in opposition that you are facing. There's false teaching amongst you, but you still are the church of Christ. You are the beloved. But he says, remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He says, remember what the apostles said and what they predicted, and then he quotes it. He says, in the last time there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions. So, we don't have that saying anywhere in the New Testament. That must have been something the apostles had taught over and over again. Remember, remember this, that there will be, in the last time, scoffers following their own ungodly passions. Very reminiscent of what we saw in verse 3, perverting the grace of our God into sensuality.
That you need to remember this. Now, it's not, we don't see that verbatim in the New Testament. We see that other warnings show up like this in the New Testament. You go to Acts 20, when Paul is encouraging the Ephesian elders. He says, I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them.
So, this is a consistent warning that shows up in the New Testament and the New Testament church. There will be people from the outside that come in to take you away from Jesus. There will be people that rise up from within the church that will seek to lead you away. And so, Jude echoes this with this known teaching. That in the last time, there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions. And these type of false teachers will cause divisions.
Worldly people devoid of the Spirit. These people will be causing divisions. And you can picture this in these New Testament churches. These New Testament churches that he's writing to. That they come together in their homes. And they're reading the Bible.
And breaking bread together. And having fellowship. And all the good things that the people of God do together. Then all of a sudden, you've got some people who are starting to say different things. Starting to say, I think it's okay. I think God's grace covers us.
I think we actually can explore these types of things. I think we can indulge in these types of things. And all of a sudden, you've got division. You've got other Christians that are saying, no, that's not what the Scriptures teach. That's not what the apostles are teaching. No, we're called to faith and obedience to Christ.
It does not indulge the flesh. You can even see the division happening as people are starting to get influenced by some of these false teachers. And being led away from the faith. Now, that's not hard for us to picture at all 2,000 years later. Because that's very much happening now in the American church. It is very easy for us to picture this type of stuff that is happening.
And if you walk with Jesus long enough, you're going to see this. You're going to see people that claim the name of Christ. Like, I've walked with people that, man, they read their Bibles. They led Bible studies. They led people to Christ. I have people that helped lead me to Christ.
They claimed the name of Jesus. They did all these great things in His name. Then all of a sudden, they fell in love with this present world. And they started to question the Bible in different areas. And they started to push back on things. And then, eventually, they started to cause division.
And I've seen it where churches were divided. If you follow Jesus long enough, you're going to see this. You're going to see ministry leaders that do horrible things. That leave their spouses for younger women in the church. And then try to justify it with the scriptures. You'll see people in your own group that slowly start to fade away.
You press in and say, what's going on? And you realize they moved in with their boyfriend and their girlfriend. And they're sleeping with them. And you're trying to engage them with the scriptures. And they're like, no, I just, and they start justifying their actions. You're going to see this over and over again.
I see this in my former beloved denomination, the United Methodist Church. Which is, I love the UMC. It's where I came to faith. And over the next two years, that entire denomination is going to split in two. Because the power brokers that be in that denomination have very much been doing some of the things that Jude is talking about. You will see this over and over and over again.
And it is hurtful and painful every time you see it. Every time you see someone that you so deeply love walk away from Jesus, it hurts. But what I've seen and noticed is that for some people, it's not just hurt. It crushes their faith. It shakes them to the very foundations of what they believe. I mean, how many people do you know that when you talk to them, they're like, you know, no, I haven't been to church in years.
I mean, I was part of a church back in the day. And the pastor ran off with so-and-so. And there's all this division that happened. And I'm done with that. I don't need that anymore in my life. You hear that over and over and over again.
And I just want to say very clearly, please do not walk away from Jesus because people who were devoid of the Spirit did evil things. Don't ever walk away from Jesus because of that. And more than that, we shouldn't be shocked. That's why he says, remember, remember, this was always going to happen. Remember the predictions of the apostles. This was always going to take place.
There were always going to be people who stirred up division. There were always going to be people that said, false teachers that say horribly evil things that are contrary to the Scriptures. There's always going to be ministry leaders that blow up their lives and blow up their ministries. Just don't be shocked. So, church family, remember this. Remember this.
Like, I mean, listen, I think as elders, the four of us, we have earned your trust. But you don't put faith in us like you put faith in Jesus. I fight with everything in us on this elder team to make sure that we are all following Jesus, that we're all correcting one another in sin, that we're all pressing into the gospel, that we're all putting sin to death. But don't for a second put your full faith in people. We keep our full faith in Christ. Because he's the one that never fails, even though the people might.
Remember the predictions of the apostles. That's the thing you need to know. That's how he sets this up. Know this. Remember the predictions of the apostles. And then he's got two things for us to do.
The first is remain. We need to remain. And then he picks it up in verse 20. He says, So he says, If you want to, with this knowledge now, knowing there will be false teachers that come into the church, that try to steal the flame of faith from you. He says, With this knowledge now you must remain. You must keep yourselves in the love of God.
Now this part is actually really fun to look at in the Greek, in the original language. It's a lot of fun. Especially if you're a nerd. Because there's one main imperative. There's one main commanding statement in this. And that's keep yourselves in the love of God.
That's the main part of this passage. Keep yourselves in the love of God. To remain in the love of God. And the really nerdy fun part is there's three what are called instrumental participles. That's just three phrases that surround it. Okay?
And those three phrases help explain keep yourselves in the love of God. So the command is to keep yourselves in the love of God. And he's like, alright. Now here are three ways to do it. Building, praying, waiting. So let's look at that first one.
Building yourselves up in the most holy, in your most holy faith. If you want to remain in the love of God, you must build yourself up in this most holy faith. Now, that word build is a very specific word choice. It's very clearly pulled from house building, structure building. That's where that word comes from. And the picture here is that if Christ is our firm foundation, okay?
If he is our cornerstone, if he is the solid rock upon which the church of Jesus Christ is built, then we are to build up our most holy faith on that foundation. So what does he mean by build? Well, Jesus explained himself when he taught the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7. In Matthew 7, he said, Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. So that's what it means to build up your faith.
It's to hear the word of God and to do the word of God. As James says, not hears only, but doers. It means that we have to encounter Christ and his word and then be obedient to what his word calls us to. The reality is there's no substitute for them. There isn't. No substitute for regularly encountering God and his word.
Many of you, you know this. I was bivocational as a pastor for years. I did real estate and I was also pastoring here. And a couple years ago I came on full time here. And when I was doing real estate, you know, you go into these new build neighborhoods. You go to new construction.
There's an agent on site. I walk into this neighborhood. There's an agent on site. Start asking them questions about their build. This is like an entry level under $200,000 build, which almost doesn't exist anymore. But, you know, years ago it did.
Four years ago it did. So walking and he's kind of, you know, selling the product. And I said, yeah, well, how does this compare to the neighborhood right down the street? And he said, oh, that neighborhood? He said, I mean, if you want houses that are built with popsicle sticks and glue, sure. You can go check out that neighborhood.
And what was kind of funny was he's kind of right. That builder, I'm not going to mention the builder, but they're kind of known in this area for being the cheapest of the builders. But his whole point was if you want something that ain't solid, if you want something that doesn't have a lot of structure, if you want something that you're not going to really trust, then absolutely go down the road and you can find that. And what happens for Christians is that we hear that we're supposed to read the Bible and we're just like, no, I don't want to prioritize this in my life. And whatever you try to build your faith upon, I mean, build your faith with, it's popsicle sticks and glue.
We fill your days with entertainment. We'll fill our days with sports and Netflix and social media and distractions and all kinds of things. And then we wonder why we're not growing in our faith. I mean, there's good things that you could want to substitute for. I remember people say, like, I don't really, I'm not really big into reading the Bible, but I do really love listening to worship music. And that's how I really encounter God.
And it's like, listen, I love worship music as well. It is good for my soul. But that's not a substitute for the Word of God. It's not a substitute for regularly tasting and seeing that the Lord is good. No podcast, no sermons, no community group discussions. Or a substitute for regularly encountering Christ and His Word.
If we want to grow in our faith, we need to build and build with material that is structurally sound and good. I mean, we say this is kind of a broken record, but I'll keep playing that. Is that we talk to people in our church all the time who just say, listen, I'm, for years I was following Jesus. And then all of a sudden recently I started reading the Bible more regularly and it's changed everything. It's like, yes, you're building with the right tools now. You're building on this, you're building this structure.
You're being wise, not wasting the gift of faith that God has given us. So the first thing he says is building. Building yourselves up in your most holy faith. If you want to remain in the love of God, you're going to be building. And the second thing he says is praying in the Holy Spirit. He says if you want to remain in the love of God, prayer, and specifically praying in the Holy Spirit, needs to be a part of your walk with Christ.
Now what he's teaching there is regular prayer, acknowledging the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Praying in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is at live and at work within us. He empowers us to pray and to pray boldly. When we are too weak, Romans 8 teaches that the Holy Spirit prays on behalf of this. How amazing is that?
That God is praying for us. I mean, the Holy Spirit empowers us to regular prayer, the kind of unceasing, unending prayer that we're called to as Christians. Christians, prayer is vital. If you want to remain in the love of God, you need to be a man or woman who prays. I heard an anecdote years ago. Somebody was reading a bunch of biographies of missionaries and famous pastors.
He just said, look, one common thread you can see through each of their stories is that these men and women prayed. Normative, regular prayer. I mean, prayer is this humbling before the Lord. You cannot see humbling before Him and saying, I want you to handle my life. I want you to give me wisdom. I want you to hear my request.
Oh, Lord, we need that in our life. Regularly praying in the Holy Spirit. Now, real quick, let me address something before we move on. There are some people that look at that and go, wait a second. I heard that praying in the Holy Spirit is praying in tongues. Let me address that very quickly.
And if you want to have a longer conversation about that. Chet Phillips is on vacation. But when he gets back on Tuesday, he would love to talk to you more about this. Some people say, what if this isn't this praying in tongues? So listen, if you have the category in your theology for praying in tongues, then you have to admit that 1 Corinthians 12 says that not everyone has that gift.
And if right here he's saying, if all of you want to remain in the love of God, you need to pray in the Holy Spirit that He can't possibly be telling you to do something that not everyone has the gift. No, he's not talking about that. And if you have more questions about that, chat at millcitycasey.com. Listen, I'll talk to you about it. There are different things. We have a plurality of elders here.
We have multiple elders. We have different things that we're passionate about. That's just not something. He'd love to talk to you. Other things in theology you want to talk about? Let's go for it.
So, praying in the Holy Spirit. Third, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. If you want to remain in the love of God, we need to have a posture that is waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternity. Which means that the posture and the orientation of our soul is future looking. That your hope and your vision is on the mercy that awaits us into eternity. That your eye is on the prize.
Right? That's what it means to be forward looking as a Christian. Is that you're looking and awaiting for the day when one day Jesus will make all things new and judgment day will happen. And on that day when every record of wrong and every sin that we have in our lives has been read, that we as Christians point to the Lamb who was slain on our behalf. Point to Jesus who died for us on the cross. Point to the resurrection that gave us a new life in Christ.
Point to the mercy of our Lord that was poured out on us. We as Christians look forward to that day when we will point to the mercy of our God that leads into eternity. That we will be spared from the judgment that is to come because of what Christ has done. What Christ has done alone. The reason why that posture is so deeply important in the present is because if you have your, if your faith is so centered on that reality, on that day, on that eternity that awaits us, you will look at the present and the things that seek to destroy you. The sin and dwelling sin that's happening within and all of the things that seem appealing to your flesh.
You'd say, no, I don't want that. That pales in comparison to what awaits me. I will wait for the mercy of my Lord and Savior Christ. It leads me to eternity. My posture will be waiting for that. I don't want this.
No, I will wait. So he says, you want to remain in the love of God? Build. Pray. Wait. If we have that posture, those three things, that will enable us to do this last major calling that he calls us to, which is rescue.
We're called to rescue. Verse 22. And have mercy on those who doubt. Save others by snatching them out of the fire. To others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. So Jude has been going.
If you've been here the last few weeks, it's heavy. He's been going hard after these false teachers. He's been going hard after this false teaching that will corrupt the church. But he's not doing this so that he can be the one who's right. So that he can be the one who's vindicated.
So he can be the one that wins the debate. And if you think that's the posture of Jude, and if that's the posture of your own life, that you want to be the one who is right, you've completely misunderstood Jude and the Bible. That this warning that he gives us to remember, that this calling to remain in the love of God, is so that we can be a people that rescues. So that we can be a people where he says, have mercy on those who doubt. So that we can be merciful to those who are doubting.
Listen, following Jesus is hard. It is hard. And there are people who struggle. And there are people who go through seasons of darkness. There are people who, brothers and sisters, who doubt. And if you've ever been with someone who is struggling, mercy is sitting before them and pleading with them, please don't do this.
Please don't choose this path. Please don't go down that path. Don't do it. I'm telling you, Jesus is better. Please believe this. Don't choose sin.
And the picture that he gives here is so vivid. He says the picture is snatching them out of the fire. Snatching them out of the fire. I mean, that's someone who is looking over the cliff, looking over the cliff, indulging in their sin, starting to believe things that aren't true. And they don't see clearly the flames that are underneath that. And the self-destruction that's underneath that.
And you as a Christian are grabbing them by the shirt, saying, No. Don't do it. Please don't do it. I'm telling you, that doesn't lead to life. That leads to death. And you've got one hand that's clinging to Christ as you are snatching them out of the flame, saying, Please don't do this.
That's mercy. That's what we're called to and commanded to as Christians. Is to have that type of mercy that has one hand on them and one hand on Christ, saying, I will not let you go. That's what we're called to as Christians. That's the posture that we should have towards those who are doubting. Now, I love that he gives some additional coaching attached to that.
Because it goes on to say, To others, show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. So the coaching that he gives is you've got one hand on them and one hand on Christ. He says, Listen, do this with fear. And what he means is with reverence. Understanding that we should not think of ourselves too highly in our faith to know that we can't be pulled into. That we should actually see the garment stained by the flesh and hate that.
We should hate the sin in others in a way that actually helps us see that we actually too are capable of falling into that as well. When I became a Christian years ago, I had two close friends. I don't know if I did the right thing, but I just, I had to, we had to stop hanging out. Because all we did together is we got high together. got high and did stupid things. I became a Christian and I was like, I, I, I thoroughly enjoyed that. I, and then my flesh is, is too strong and I am too weak.
And I had to remove myself. Because I was worried, I was concerned, I was fearfully, reverently trying to examine my own soul and realize how weak I was. And I think that's a little bit of what's happening here. We're called to show mercy, but with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh, hating the sin and realizing that it's capable of pulling us into. Some of y'all are merciful people. Some of y'all are loving people.
And it's incredible to see how patient you are with people. It's incredible to see how much you love the lost and how much you build your life around being missional. But one of the things I would say is to do it wisely. Because we should not be, think so highly of our own faith. That we can be in the world, be in the world, be in the world, be in the world. That we can run with people who are engaging sin without realizing it too can pull us in.
That is why you keep one hand on them, but you keep that hand firmly on Christ. And you make sure that everything that we do flows out of obedience to Him and you understand what is at stake. So, remember, remain, rescue. After verses and verses of just absolutely pounding on the dangers that is false teaching, pounding on the dangers that is the perverting of the grace into sensuality. After hammering that over and over again, He gives us this practical coaching that I think is so helpful for us at this moment in the American church. church. Because it is so easy to forget this.
There's some of you that get bitter. Some of you are worried and angsty about what's happening. About churches that are falling apart. About culture that's affecting Christians. And we're certainly called to take this seriously. But we get to do so from a non-anxious presence realizing this was always how it was going to be.
That's how it's been for 2,000 years. There's great movements of Christ and then there's opposition. And we're not thrown off by the opposition for a moment if we understand and remember what was so clearly taught in the New Testament. Some of you get so focused on those dangers. Some of you get so focused on what's out there that you don't do the things that are good for your soul. You're not regularly encountering Christ in this world.
You're not being men and women of prayer. You're not evaluating all of this waiting for the mercy of our God that is to come. Some of you devour podcasts and YouTube channels and Facebook posts and all kinds of things that just keep you worked up and keep you worked up and keep you worked up and keep you worked up. And if you could account for the hours that you spend doing that a week versus the hours that we spend doing the things that are good for our souls, you'd realize this command that needs to be obeyed and repentance needs to happen in our own lives. I was reading an article last week.
It was an article recounting Pastor Martin Lloyd-Jones which, by the way, if you want to know more about the Welsh pastor Martin Lloyd-Jones, mid-20th century pastor in the UK, Chet spent his whole sabbatical reading it, like reading his biography. He's like, I mean, I've heard about Martin Lloyd-Jones 15 times in the last 10 days. He's so excited. And Martin Lloyd-Jones, he's awesome. So I think if you want to learn more about him, go talk to Chet.
But I was reading, apart from that, I stumbled upon this article and I was like, okay, I was reading it and Martin Lloyd-Jones is recounting this time where he was getting coffee with another pastor. And this other pastor was the kind of pastor that, I mean, if he was here today, he would be the kind of guy who had like a YouTube channel that was calling out all the false teachers all the time and was talking about how the government's coming for us and Hollywood's coming for us. They'd be that kind of guy. So he's talking to this other pastor and they're getting coffee and this pastor says, hey, are you a great reader of Joseph Parker who was a 19th century pastor who also today would have a YouTube channel?
Are you a great reader of Joseph Parker? And Martin Lloyd-Jones said, no, I'm not. And the other pastor was like, why? Why are you not reading Joseph Parker? And Jones says, I don't get anything from him. Well, that other pastor was incredulous.
He's like, why? Why don't you get anything from him? And Jones just said, well, I mean, it's all very well to make these criticisms of the liberals. Now, pause for a second. When he says liberals, don't think our context liberals. He's talking about in the mid-20th century, this is, and the Anglican and the British churches, this would be the people that denied the word of God, said it wasn't true, and now those churches don't even exist.
So he just said, it's all very well to make these criticisms of the liberals, which is a big hundred-year fight in the British churches, but he doesn't help me spiritually. Jones says, he doesn't help me spiritually. And then that guy fired back and said, surely you are helped by the way he makes mince meat of the liberals. And I love how Jones responds. He says, no, I am not. You can make mince meat of the liberals and still be in trouble in your own soul.
You can be so focused on being the right one. You can have all the fights on Facebook. You can do all the things that make you more angsty, make you more worried, or you can obey what Jude commands here. You can remember that this is always going to happen and we will not be shocked. We will not be shocked. You can remain in the love of God by doing the things that are good for our souls, like regularly encountering him in his word and praying and being so fixated on the glory that awaits us that everything we do is in light of that reality.
And we can be merciful. Merciful Christians that engage, that plead, that snatch people out of the path that leads to destruction. And here's the thing. I don't know if the American church can grow in this. I have my doubts for a lot of different reasons, but I think we can. I've been so deeply encouraged the last few years of pastoring and seeing the people of this church who encounter God and his word that are growing and that are hungry and I just want to keep fan the flames of that.
Keep reading your Bibles and keep staying off the internet. I want to see us grow in praying. As an elder team, we're trying to work on this and being men who pray. I want to be a church that is regularly praying. I see a people that have perspective that do believe that Jesus is better than everything else and that's grounded in an eternal reality. And I see some believers who are merciful, who do plead with those who are struggling, who do care about the lost and I just want to keep fan of those flames.
Jude gives the playbook. We just got to be obedient to it.
Symptoms of Ungodliness (Jude 6-18)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Chet. I am one of the pastors here. We are in the book of Jude. It's a very short letter written by Jude, the brother, and he says servant of Jesus. It is on page 594 in one of the blue Bibles that's in the row in front of you.
I would encourage you to grab a Bible, have it open with you this morning. The scriptures will be on the screen, but there's a lot to this passage we're looking at this morning. We're going to jump right in and then I'm going to kind of set the tone for what we're going to do, but we need to start off in verse 8. We're going to look in verse 8 through 16 today. We're going to jump right into 8, explain kind of what we're going to do this morning as we walk through this, and then get to work. So verse 8 starts like this.
Yet in like manner manner, these people also. Yet in like manner, these people also. Every single word in that phrase means that you need some context. Yet means that he's referring to something he just talked about. In like manner means that he's referring to something he just talked about. These people means that he's talking about some people that he just talked about.
And also, so let's just set the context and then we'll see what we're going to do this morning. What he, what has happened so far in this letter is he has said that there are people who have crept in unnoticed. So he's writing to the church, but he says there's some people who've crept in unnoticed and they are perverting the grace of God into sensuality. So they're saying God's so loving, God's so kind, God's so gracious that we can have license to sin, that we can pursue these things because of his grace, because of his kindness, because of his forgiveness. And then he says denying our only master and Lord Jesus Christ.
Those are the two things that they're doing. And then we looked at verses five through seven. He gives historical examples of the ways that we've tried this before. So he talks through the rebellious Israelites after they were brought through the Exodus of Egypt, they rebelled against Jesus and Jesus destroyed them. Then he talks about angels who left their proper place.
Is he, is that he's going to give us some clarifying information as we go through this? There's a, there's a phrase that has become a part of my life, a question that, um, if a couple of years ago you had told me you will both ask this question and answer this question on a semi regular basis, I would have had no clue as to why that would happen. I'd have been very confused. If you said, here's a question that's going to become a part of your life. I would have just been like, why? I think it's actually a part of your life too.
Here's the question. Can you still taste food or could you still taste food? Now, under what circumstances prior to 2020, would you have needed that phrase, that question? Head injury, severe hot sauce, tongue burn, like what? But in 2020, we all became infectious disease experts and we learned a series of symptoms that we needed to know about in order for us to continue in life.
And I don't know about y'all, but I learned that the one that seems to only go along with COVID was the inability to taste food. Everything else was like, well, I don't know. That could be allergies. That could be something that you ate other than like completely having no energy. But if like someone's trying to hang out with you and they're like, hey, I will come, but I got to run down my symptoms with you real quick.
My throat's hurting. Okay. Have you been coughing? Not really. But we all learned how not to cough in 2020.
That's not the best test. But then you finally say, can you still taste food? Yeah, you can come hang out. If they're like, not really. It's like, stay home. That was actually how I learned when I was hanging.
I was with my family on vacation. It was like our extended family, my brothers, their families. And I realized I could not tell the difference between peanut butter and sour cream other than texture. I was like, oh no. But what we learned was a series of symptoms that helped us understand what illness we had.
If you, if you call up, you go to the doctor or whatever, they're going to ask for symptoms. Now the symptoms aren't the disease. They're how it shows up. And what we're going to see in Jude is he's giving us symptoms of ungodliness. Symptoms of someone who does not have the spirit. He calls them devoid of the spirit.
So these are symptoms that show up in our lives and in the lives of others that indicate ungodliness or a lack of the work of the spirit. And I think this will be primarily helpful in two ways for us this morning. One, so that we can diagnose ourselves. So that you can look at Jude's version of ungodliness, WebMD, and run down the list and go, oh, okay. That's actually an area where there's some lack of work of spirit in me. That's an area where there's some lack of the work of the spirit in me.
That's an area where I'm not following the Lord. If you go through the whole list and you're like, ah, this just is characterizing my life. Well, we have good news that Jesus Christ dies for sinners, but you're not a Christian, so you need to place faith in him. It's a diagnosis for ourselves that we might repent. Secondarily, it's a diagnosis for Christian leadership. Some of y'all have just moved to the area.
Some of y'all at some point will move to a different place and you will be tasked as a Christian with trying to find a church. Good luck. It's one of the most unfun things to ever try to do. It's really hard to do because you want to try to figure out what's best, but then you get in this weird consumer situation and it really messes you up. And this, I think, gives us a healthy diagnosis for trying to figure out where there's godly Christian leadership because he's talking about these leaders and how it shows up in their lives that they have ungodliness. It also helps us for, Lord willing, we stay, we grow together, we multiply groups, we continue to pursue this area with the gospel.
But also, some of you are reading books, you're listening to podcasts, you're listening to sermons, and this is a helpful framework to understand, are these people that I'm listening to, learning from, are they actually believers or do they have symptoms of ungodliness? So, that's it. We're trying to diagnose our own hearts, which is most important. Secondarily, trying to build a bit of a radar framework for understanding Christian leadership. And he says a lot of things. You ever had someone that, hold stuff in and then finally they like let one thing out, so then they say everything?
That's what this feels like. We got a lot of work to go through to just like, after he says it all, you're like, okay, let's start sorting this out. So, we're going to try to work our way through quickly as we can, but he says a lot of stuff. Let's pray for the Lord's help and the active work of the Spirit. Lord, we ask for wisdom. We ask for your help.
We ask for the Spirit to be at work in us so that we might understand your Word here. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, verse 8. Yet in like manner, these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. Okay. Relying on their dreams kind of works as like the gear that turns these other ones, or it's the fulcrum that moves these other ones.
So, we're going to talk about it first and a little bit longer, then we're going to work on the other three. But he says relying on their dreams, meaning these leaders, we're announcing, I've had a dream. I've had a vision. God has spoken to me. Now, that kind of thing does happen in the Scriptures, but what they do is they say, God's spoken to me, and then it leads them away from what we know from the Scriptures is God's will. They start defiling the flesh.
They start running into sin, running into sensuality. They start rejecting authority, and so they're using this as somehow, I've had a dream, and therefore, I'm an authority. Some of you might come out of a church background where that's a thing, where somebody speaks prophetically into your life, or declares they've had a dream. I know I've been in sermons before where someone said, I was reading this passage, and I was praying about it, and I felt like the Lord just told me something. And then they just leave the Bible. At that point, it's almost like they could have just folded it up and set it down, and they just start talking about things.
And after a while, I'm like, no, that's not what, that's not, we're untethered to the Scriptures, but that's what's happening. And that's a thing that happens in Christian leadership. But here's how it might show up in your life. Maybe you actually had a dream or a vision or something, and the way that you ought to weigh that out is to understand what the text says, have church family help weigh in that, try to walk in the Spirit with people under the authority of Scriptures. But here's how it usually seems to show up.
I just don't feel like this is wrong. I've prayed about it, and this just doesn't seem wrong to me. Or, studying the Scriptures, and you're going, I just, I don't know how God could say that's bad, so I just, it doesn't feel right. And what you're doing is the same thing they're doing, which is this sort of mysticism that says, my experience trumps God's Word. My experience trumps God's Word. I understand it says I probably shouldn't be, like, sleeping with my boyfriend.
I understand it says that I shouldn't necessarily be smoking weed. I get that. But also, I prayed about it, and I just, I don't feel like the Lord's telling me that personally. Which is a real misunderstanding of how this is meant to work. Your assumption in that is that your experience trumps the Word of God, or that everything that you disagree with the Bible on is an indication of the Bible being wrong rather than you being wrong. But if we actually believe that there is a God who came to save sinners, we should assume, we should expect to come to the Bible and it say some things we don't like.
You should expect that. You should read the Bible and go, ooh, don't like that. And it doesn't mean he's wrong, it means you're wrong. And if you pray about it and still don't feel wrong, it just means you're double extra wrong. When anybody ever says, I prayed about it and I don't feel bad, it's like, yeah, because you don't know how to listen to the voice of the Spirit right now. You're so far away from the Lord.
Like, repent, obey. Stuff that we would not let our children say. My seven-year-old can't go, I know that you said I shouldn't do that, but I've thought about it, and it just feels like something I should do. I'd say, you're very confused about how this house works. But that's what's happening here, and that's what can happen to us, and it's a symptom of ungodliness.
It's an area where it indicates that the Holy Spirit is not at work. It says they defile the flesh, meaning they pursue indulgence in sins that work for the flesh. They pursue sexual sins specifically, but it also would be pursuing any kind of indulgence of the flesh. We're going to see later that it's like they're driven by their bellies, that their passions and desires is what leads them in life. That's an indication of a lack of the work of the Spirit, because the Spirit gives us self-control. The Spirit works in us towards obedience, not just pursuing every desire we have.
It's a symptom of ungodliness. It says they reject authority. Boy, Americans love rejecting authority. It's our favorite. It's how we got started. I get to run a firework store twice a year.
If you were wondering how classy I am, super classy. I get to run a firework store twice a year, and I tell people sometimes, we became a country by blowing stuff up, so we celebrate by blowing stuff up. But there's this idea in us that it's like we're all cowboys, and ain't nobody going to tell us what to do. Those are the movies we watch. The authority tells you to turn in your gun and your badge. Well, guess what?
You got a gun at home because you're an American, and you're still going to solve this crime. That's what we celebrate. That's what we live in, but actually, the Bible is not anti-authority. God is not anti-authority. He's just pro-good authority. He's anti-biscuitary.
Bad authority. But if your life is marked by a rejection of all authority that you never got along with your parents, never got along with your teachers, hadn't met a cop you like, don't really, you know, be in a part of a church as long as they don't tell you stuff you got to do. We're like, you should join a group. And you're like, maybe. You ain't the boss of me. It's like, okay.
But if that's your whole life is marked by a rejection of any kind of leadership, any kind of authority, that's an indication of ungodliness. The Bible teaches a king who's good that we submit to. It teaches headship and leadership that are good that we submit to. An anti-authority, a rejection of all authority is a symptom of ungodliness. All right.
And blaspheme the glorious ones. That phrase, glorious ones, is just the word doxas in Greek, but glorious ones is a good, it'd be glories would be another way to say it, but it seems like since it's on its own, it's a glorious ones. And honestly, if that was all we had, we really would not know what he was talking about. He clarifies for us some. And so let's look at verse 9. Also, 2 Peter chapter 2 says a very similar thing that helps us understand this as well to give us some context.
But let's look at verse 9. So he says, they blaspheme the glorious ones. And then verse 9, he's going to give us something that fills that in a little bit for us. But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, the Lord rebuke you. Verse 10, then we'll come back to verse 9. But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand.
And they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. All right. Look back at verse 9. They blaspheme the glorious ones. Now, blaspheme means to denigrate something holy, something glorious, so that we can blaspheme God. We speak about his name in an unholy way.
That's actually why they killed Jesus, because he was saying he was God, and they charged him with blasphemy, meaning he's not God, but he says he's God, and we've got to kill him. He was God, so he wasn't actually blaspheming. But it's interesting for him to give an explanation of blasphemy, but show us the archangel Michael and the devil. If there was one creature that I thought you kind of couldn't blaspheme, the devil seemed like a good guess, that you could say whatever mean thing you wanted to about the devil, and it would be true and fine to say. But he's saying that that's actually, they're ignorant in their approach to this.
And he gives us the example of the archangel Michael. Now, Michael is one of the only named angels. It's Gabriel and Michael. Michael shows up in Daniel, Jude, and the book of Revelation. A very powerful angel. And Jude is referencing a story that the only place we know anything about this story is in Jude.
It's not in any other historical writing. It's not in any of the other histories of the Jewish people outside of this. In a minute, he's going to reference 1 Enoch, but that's not in the Bible, but it's in their histories. We don't know where this came from at all. But it seems like he believed his readers or his hearers did.
And it's probably some sort of oral tradition that was passed along, but he's just giving them an example. So what he says is, the archangel Michael is disputing with the devil, and the archangel Michael does not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment. Meaning that it would be presumptive for the archangel Michael to speak in a certain way to Satan. But the archangel Michael doesn't do that. He says, let the Lord rebuke you. The Lord rebuke you.
He defers the rebuke to the Lord. Meaning that Michael shows humility. Michael does not exalt himself, but he leaves the rebuke to the Lord. He says, may the Lord rebuke you. So in some ways, what Jude is saying, it'd be like if I looked at my son and said, boy, I don't even talk to your mama like that.
Meaning I don't have to call her ma'am. We're on the same level. Like we discuss things differently. There's a different level of respect in the way we show each other, but you've lost your mind. That's kind of what Jude's saying. He's saying these people speak about evil angels in a way that angels don't even do this.
That's an odd concept for us to understand, but I think that word presume helps. The leaders that he's talking about have over-exalted themselves so that they are speaking in a way that indicates their ignorance about the actual power of the enemy and over-exalts their own understanding of their authority. So I'm going to give you a leadership example. I'm going to give you a personal life example, and then hopefully we'll wrap our heads around this a little bit. This is a bit confusing as to what he's talking about, and there's only a few places that reference it, this and 2 Peter. But 2 Peter basically says the same thing.
He says, bold and willful do they not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious one, whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them. So I've heard preachers preach and say things like, and we're going to storm the gates of hell and we're going to punch Satan in the mouth and we're going to bind that rat up and we're going to throw him in a hole. And it's like, uh, the problem with that, I think, in understanding what Jude is saying, is that we don't punch Satan in the mouth. We don't bind him up. We don't throw him in a hole. Jesus does.
And we, in humility, walk behind Jesus. We don't stand running our mouth behind Jesus. We defer to Jesus's glory and we, we walk behind him in humility. We don't presume to speak in such a way about things that we're ignorant about. The only, the personal example that I think is that you just need to watch how you think about, speak about Satan and demons, potentially some of the shows we watch, uh, lighten it, lighten that idea, lighten demonic things, lighten it as if it's somehow not something to take seriously. Uh, I saw this recently had never thought, never thought about it until I was reading Jude, but I know I've seen it in our church family and it's, I'm not saying it's wrong, but I'm saying this is the type of thing I think we need to consider, but there I've seen mugs and t-shirts and stuff that say not today, Satan.
When I first saw that, I thought, okay, but after reading this, I thought, maybe that's not, maybe, maybe that's a step too far and we just need to step back in a little more humility and, and actually let Jesus go before us in that, trusting in his rebuke, trusting in his leadership, trusting in his kingship and not in fearfulness of the enemy, but in fearfulness of the Lord, which is what Archangel Michael has. May the Lord rebuke you. And so that we get to walk in some authority that's in Christ, but it's in Christ. And we, I'll give you an example where this shows up in the book of Luke. Jesus sends out the 72.
It says the 72 returned. This is Luke 10 verses 17 through 20. The 72 returned with joy saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. So they're subject to us, but it's in Jesus's name. And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall hurt you.
Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. He says, that's not the point. They are subject. There is some amount of authority in Christ, but that's not the thing to be excited about. That's not the thing to walk around being bold in. That's not the thing to be excited about the salvation and the wonder of the Lord, giving him credit, not yourself.
If you want to talk more about that, we can. I think some of what we would be caught on is just some humility and some understanding. Are we pointing to Jesus? Are we pointing to ourselves? Verse 10, but these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, meaning speaking about spiritual things in a way that, that their ignorance shows their ignorance and they are destroyed by all that they like unreasoning animals understand instinctively. So like unreasoning animals, meaning they're driven by their passions, their desires, their instincts, that that's, that's ultimately what's destroying them.
They're not led by the spirit. They're led by the flesh. They're like an animal. And he's going to give three examples. Now he's going to give three old Testament pictures, and then he's going to give six pictures from, uh, just kind of creation.
And y'all, it's artful. I played football in high school and college, and there were just some guys who knew how to say mean things to somebody and they were friends, but they would get into it and they would just know exactly where to like, like you're just wordsmiths. And there's a bunch of stuff that as I was trying to think about examples, I thought of some, I'm not allowed to say them here. Um, and some of them are way worse because I'm white, but I've remembered some of the things that have been said that when I was growing through high school and college. And honestly, when I read Jude, I kind of feel that it's like he masterful pictures to try to help wrap around this idea of what these people are like and what's going to happen.
And so we're going to walk through those. He gives three from the old Testament. He says, woe to them for they have walked in the way of Cain, abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion. They've walked in the way of Cain, meaning that it's this symptom of ungodliness that he's saying this, this identifying marker of them is that, uh, Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel, and they presented the sacrifice to God. And, uh, Cain's sacrifice was not accepted. And God tells him sin is coming for you.
You need to have dominion over it. And Cain chooses sin led by his, uh, uh, his jealousy over his brother. And he kills his brother. He just heads in that direction. And what he's saying is they've chosen that path led by their passions, led by their desires, led by their anger, led by their jealousies. They followed Cain.
And then he says they have, uh, and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error. Balaam was a prophet who God spoke to, but who was not a part of the people of Israel. And in Numbers, when the people of Israel are coming through, a king goes to Balaam and says, I'll pay you money. Come curse the people of Israel. And Balaam says, I'll only say what God wants me to say. He says, all right, cool.
Come sit over here and see if he'll let you curse them. Balaam shows up and he blesses them because that's what God wants to do. Balaam does this three times. The king keeps being like, well, maybe come over to this side, see if you can curse this half of their army. Come over here and see him from here. Maybe you can curse him here.
And Balaam just keeps being like, okay. And it's almost as if Balaam's like, I really want this money. So I'm hoping God will change his mind. That's kind of what he's abandoning himself for the sake of gain. He's giving up this relationship he had with the Lord where he was the Lord's prophet. He's just trying to get gain out of it.
And we eventually see that he helps the Midianites trick the Israelites into sin. That ultimately he does turn. That he was, they'd be like somebody offered you a job and you were like, no, I'm supposed to stay here. I'm supposed to whatever. And they say, okay. They call you back up and they go, we've raised the, the offering amount.
You know, like, no, I've prayed about it. I feel like the Lord really wants me here. And they call you back up and say, we've raised the offering amount. Like we will pay you this. And you go, I think maybe the Lord's telling me I'm supposed to go to Memphis. I just feel like now that, you know, you said that much, it feels like, and it's, that's kind of what he's saying.
He's like, they sold themselves out for money. He sold, and that's what they've done. They're driven along by their passions. And one of the things they understand is money. It says they perished in Korah's rebellion. Korah was a priest who said in the, with Abraham, with Moses and his brother Aaron, he said, we're priests, but how do y'all get to be the ones who talk to God?
How are y'all in this special spot? How did only the sons of Aaron get to be high priests? And they rebelled against them and Korah was swallowed up by the earth. So he had a position of authority, but he didn't want to stay in it. He wanted a higher one. He wanted to rebel against God's authority.
And so what he says is they're driven along like animals and they understand three things. They understand their own desires, their own passions. They understand their pocketbooks and they understand power. Now what's scary is, if you looked at many of our lives, we've charted them out along our desires, our wallets, and power. And when you picture future you, it's future me, but I get to sit on a beach and drink mojitos. It's future me, but I'm getting to, my house is bigger, more comfortable.
It's nicer. It's future me, but I have more money. It's, it's future me, but I'm, I'm, I've moved up in my office. I've moved up in authority. I've moved up and I'm more well-respected. And all you've got is this.
And he says, that's, that's instinct. That's what animals do. And if that's all you've got, that's an indication of a lack of the work of the spirit. All right. Now he gives six, starting at verse 12, six, um, pictures from, from creation.
I'm going to read them all at once and then we'll walk back through them. But he says, these are hidden reefs at your love feasts as they feast with you without fear. Now the picture is hidden reefs. We'll explain that in a second. First, we've got to talk about love feasts. Spencer was supposed to preach today, but we rearranged the schedule.
Um, if you're new, Spencer and I preach rotating around. Um, and, uh, he was going to acknowledge that when he mentioned love feasts kind of offhandedly in his first sermon in Jude, he mentioned it in a purely negative context, but love, love feasts are not by design negative. They're mentioned kind of negatively here, but love feasts are like a fellowship dinner. So in biblical terms, we have love feasts in our fellowship hall or in our gym where we eat a meal together because we're church family. They would often do that. And then they would have communion.
Love feast sounds negative to us. Like if you came to me and said, Hey, you want to come to my house on Saturday? We're going to have a love feast. I would say, no, I'm a, I can't, I don't, I don't, I don't want to. And also I don't want, I don't want to know what that is, but I feel like I'm not into it. So it sounds negative.
It's just a fellowship dinner. And that's why we call them fellowship dinners. Because if we put on here, Hey, love feasts coming up. Some of y'all be like, not the church for me. I was just swinging by, but that's what it was. But he says they're hidden reefs.
Now a hidden reef is the water looks good. There's something underneath it. That's going to shipwreck you. So if these other things have been symptoms, he's now giving us a prognosis. He's telling us where this disease goes. He's saying, if you follow this leadership, if you follow this path, here's what will happen to you.
Here's what this type of leadership does. Seems good, destroys you from under the surface. Shepherds feeding themselves. Shepherds exist for the sake of the flock. The flock does not exist for the sake of the shepherd. The shepherd is there to defend, to guide, to protect, to care.
And he says, that's not what these, that's not what they're doing. You exist for their good. They're shepherds who feed themselves. Waterless clouds swept along by winds. In a agricultural society, clouds are a beautiful, beautiful thing. Even here sometimes it rains and you're just like, oh, we need, this is great.
We needed some rain. He's saying these clouds, they come along and they promise life and they just keep on going. Looks like it's going to do something. Doesn't do anything. Brings no life, no health. They're waterless clouds.
Fruitless trees in late autumn. Meaning it's already past the season for fruit. They should have already borne fruit. They haven't borne fruit. They're fruitless. And then he doubles down and says, not only were they fruitless, now they've been uprooted.
They're twice dead, uprooted. Dead on their own, dug up dead, twice dead. I mean, he's straight up, he's, you know, he's getting after them. He calls them double dead here. 13. Wild waves of the sea casting up the foam of their own shame.
Meaning that all their activity, all their, when they get stirred up, all it ends up doing is showing their wickedness. Cast up their shame. Wandering stars for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. Use the stars to guide you. Use stars to help you navigate. And some of, and I only recently learned this.
I probably should have learned it a long time ago. Some of the brightest stars aren't stars, they're planets. And they move. And I'm always like, hey look, you can see that star. Where are the other stars? And it's not a star, it's a planet.
But the problem is they don't track with the rest of the sky. And so if you set your course by them, they get you off course. That's what he's saying. That they're a star that doesn't stay in its place, so it'll get you off course. They will lead you astray. Now I know, for many in our church family, and for some of you who I don't know, I know that some of the greatest harm that has happened to you is by following Christian leaders like this.
Christian leaders that were devoid of the Spirit, led you astray, harmed you, seemed like things were going to be good, but it was lurking under the surface. They were shepherds who were feeding themselves. And they caused great destruction. That's why Jude is saying what he says. Verse 14. It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, so Adam was one, Enoch was seven.
It's just in his genealogy, in the genealogy of Adam. The seventh from Adam prophesied saying, so he's about to quote a prophecy from Enoch. He's going to quote it from first Enoch, which is not in the Bible, which immediately causes us a bunch of problems. So we want to time out and say, wait a second, should Enoch be in the Bible? Does he, does Jude say that Enoch should be in the Bible? And the answer is no.
And then we go, oh, well then should Jude be out of the Bible? These are all discussions that have been had a long time ago. First Enoch was never a part of the Hebrew scriptures. They understood some to be divinely authored, other ones not. What, what Jude is doing here is he is saying, hey, when Enoch said this, he was talking about these people. Paul does that with, um, epimenides.
And that's how you pronounce it. Don't question that. Epimenides. Um, he does this in Titus. He says, one of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gullettins. This testimony is true.
Which is a mean thing to say about the Cretans. Maybe that's why he quotes somebody else. I'm not saying it, but he said it and he was right. That's what he does. But what he's not saying is go find everything epimenides said and put that in the scriptures.
He's just saying he said this and that's accurate. And that's what he's doing. He's saying first Enoch, Enoch said this and this is who he's talking about. This comes true in them. They fulfilled this prophecy. That's what he's saying.
So here's what he says. Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way. And of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against. He says ungodly four times. That's why I said these are symptoms of ungodliness. He's saying that's about them.
This is ungodly. It's anti-godly. They're devoid of the spirit. In verse 16, we're going to look at a few more and then I want to point out two things about Jesus. He says these are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires. They are loud mouth boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
Some of us are very skillful in grumbling. Grumbling. You know, you know all the things you don't like. You can point them out. You can show up anywhere. It's like if there was a super team.
You'd be like, and everybody was yelling out their powers. You'd be like, grumbling! And put your ring in the middle. Like that's what you're good at. You can tell everything you don't like. You always know why everybody around you is an idiot.
And you don't mind telling other people. That's grumbling. Grumbling. And he says it's an indication that the spirit's not at work here. Malcontent. This constant discontent specifically with authority.
Every boss you've ever had, an idiot, all of your teachers, morons. Is life only always better in the future? Are you constantly discontent? If I can just get here. If I can just get this done. If I just get to this stage.
If we can finally fix this problem. Then I'll be happy. And if you actually trace your life back. That's never actually happened. Some of those things have happened. But you've never reached contentment.
Following their own sinful desires. We've talked about that a good bit. Led along by their stomachs. They are loud mouthed boasters. They tell you how wonderful they are. How smart they are.
How capable they are. Showing favoritism to gain advantage. That's a sneaky one. And it's more malicious than some of these other ones. I mean it can be malicious. But this idea of treating someone well.
For the sake of just using them. Coming to someone and saying. Hey I would tell our group this. But they don't understand. But you do.
Hey I would. You know you're the only person I can talk to about this. Giving gifts. Those kind of things. Just to kind of turn someone into your advantage. And some of you know that.
If you've been in a situation with really unhealthy leadership. They treated you really really well. And then hurt you very very badly. Because it was just to gain advantage. Alright I got.
Two pieces. Of good news. Look back at verse 14. The band's going to come back up here. And I want to highlight for us two things. As we close out our time.
Verse 14. He says this. Behold. Behold. The Lord. Comes.
With ten thousands of his holy ones. There is judgment coming. For those who lead in the name of the Lord. To the destruction of others. There is judgment coming. Some of you have deep wounds.
Because of what people have done in the name of Christ. And I want you to know. There is judgment coming. They will not get away with it. That he comes to bring judgment. On ungodliness.
That's wonderful news. Because every time something is ungodly or unfair. We say. Isn't somebody going to fix this? Isn't somebody going to show up? It's in us.
To see something unfair. And to want justice. We learned that with my. My. When my. Young.
My youngest son was like two. If he came running down the hall. Crying. And he ran to his mom. If we were both sitting in the room. If he ran to his mom.
He had hurt himself. He needed comfort. If he ran to me. His brother had hurt him. He needed justice. There's something in us.
That when these things happen. We go. I need someone to show up. And judge. And there's good news. A judge comes.
With ten thousand of his holy ones. But this is also fearful news. Because if we are ungodly. Unrepentant. Not redeemed in Christ. Judgment comes.
We will stand accountable for our sin. But here's the. Thing I want you to see. He says this is ungodly. Meaning that godliness is the opposite. Meaning that Jesus is the opposite.
Jesus didn't choose the way of Cain. He chose righteousness. On our behalf. Jesus didn't sell himself out for gain. He actually gave up riches. So that he could become poor.
So that he could humble himself to a cross. Jesus didn't reject authority. He actually submitted himself to the will of the father. To rescue and redeem a people for himself. Jesus is not a hidden reef. That will destroy us.
He is actually good. Calm. Glorious waters. That we can sail along. To a future. And a hope.
He's not a shepherd who feeds himself. He's the good shepherd who lays down his life. For the sheep. To rescue and redeem a people. That have hope in his name. He's not a cloud that promises water.
But doesn't bring life. He is the giver of life to all who will call on him. He's not a tree without fruit. But he brings substance. Joy. Filling.
Fills us with goodness. Patience. Kindness. Self-control. He's at work in us. That Jesus is good.
And he's a star that you can set your life on. That will guide you home. That will guide you forever. Forever. So the hope is that there is judgment against the ungodly.
And the hope is that there is forgiveness for the ungodly who will call out to Jesus. And we need both. So I'd ask you to diagnose yourself a little bit this morning. And to walk to Jesus in repentance. And hope for a future where he sets all things right. Including us.
Let's pray. Lord we thank you that you come with 10,000 of your holy ones. To bring about judgment on all of those who have sullied your name. All those who have rebelled against you and pursued ungodliness. And we thank you Lord that you already came. To pay for the sin of those who will call on you.
For forgiveness in life. And we ask Lord that on that day of judgment. That there would not be a soul in this room. Who stands before you in condemnation. But that we would stand in Christ.
In salvation. As we ask Lord that you would through your spirit lead us into repentance and faith. In Jesus name. Amen.
Examples of Judgment (Jude 5-7)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Grab your Bibles, go to the book of Jude. It is second to last book in the Bible. So if you go to the back of your Bible, run past Revelation, you'll find Jude. It's a very short book. It's on page 594. If you have one of the blue Bibles that's tucked down in front of you.
If you don't own a Bible, take that Bible home with you. It's our gift to you. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. I have been on a seven-week sabbatical. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to have been able to go on a sabbatical.
We started this church about 10 years ago, and it was nice to get to take a break this summer and rest and read and hang out with my family and travel a little bit. And I am thankful to be back. And so we are in the book of Jude. Excited to be back this morning. So it's that person over there.
And we're looking at Jude. Jude is one of the brothers of Jesus, and he is Jewish. And that's not surprising because all the authors of the Bible are Jewish except for maybe Luke. And we still think he probably was Jewish. But Jude is very Jewish in the way he writes.
And he seems to be writing to a Jewish audience, but it's a very Jewish book. Kind of like eating matzo ball soup at a bar mitzvah. It's just very Jewish. Which is fine. It just throws us a little bit. We have to do a little more work to understand what he's doing because he makes some references.
We're actually going to look at three stories he references today in verses 5 through 7 that, for his Jewish audience, auto-populated a lot of information. Brought, carried with it a lot of stories that they had told over and over again. They're in our Old Testament, but they're also, these stories are referenced often in other Jewish literature, in other Jewish historical books. So the three he brings together are often paired together either in two or three in the Midrash of the Sanhedrin. It's in Jubilees. It's in Maccabees.
It's in the Sirach. Like, it's all over their other historical books, and he brings them together. And so for his hearers, these examples he gives would have just been boom, boom, boom, and brought in all this information. But for us, it kind of makes us pause a little bit to make sure we understand what the illustration is doing, what the example is doing, so that we can move forward. I was talking to Raz Bradley, one of our other pastors, about a week ago, and I made the comment that we'd leave his John Hancock on something. And then I paused, because he's Australian.
I said, do you know what that is? Do you know what John Hancock is? He said, it's a financial institution. And I was like, maybe. I don't know that, but that's not what I was talking about. John Hancock is one of our founding fathers.
He signed his name as big as he possibly could on the Declaration of Independence so that the king could see it from far off. So we refer to your signature as your John Hancock. Australians have a queen. We have a Declaration of Independence, so they don't know about John Hancock. And so what meant to add information and move the conversation along completely stalled the conversation out. So I was even asking him, is there like an Australian equivalent?
Did they say, like, put your Billy Beru on this or something? He was like, no. And I was like, oh, it's sad. So there's an opening, though, for him to make some Australian slang if he wants to. They have slang words for everything. But it was meant to help.
It slowed us down, and that's kind of what's going to happen this morning. These three examples, let's read them real quick, verses 5 through 7. Jude says, Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. That's his first quick example. And the angels, who did not stay within their own position of authority but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day. Second example.
Third one. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued a natural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. Third one. Now, for his Jewish hearers, that brings so much information, they understand exactly what he's talking about. And for some of us, maybe we do, but maybe not. So we're going to walk through this a little bit slower than I think Jude intended.
We're going to study each one of these to make sure we understand what this information should have brought to mind. But then we're going to have to zoom out so that we don't miss what he meant. Because each one of these was supposed to carry information and be helpful. Like if, I remember one time describing to somebody they asked what Moe's was, and I said it's like Subway for burritos. Which is true. Most people have been to a Subway that maybe hadn't been to a Moe's.
So if I asked you what Blaze was, you might say it's a Moe's for pizza. Or like Chipotle, it's like a Moe's for people who hate chips. Or Chipotle's a Moe's for people who have too much money. Chipotle's a Moe's for people who think they're better than me. Stuff like that. Just something that, you know, helps them quickly wrap their head around what you're talking about.
But that doesn't work for us. So we're going to pause. We're going to walk through it. And then we're going to have to zoom out. So let's pray for our time.
And let's get in. Lord, we ask that you would help us to understand the point that Jude is making. And Lord, we pray that you would help us to, as we study this, to see you more clearly. To see your greatness. Your exaltation. Your sovereign kingship over all creation.
Help us to see our sin in light of your holiness. So that we might respond accordingly. We ask for the help of your spirit. As we study your word. In Jesus' name. Amen.
We're going to start in verse 3 so that we have some context. This is what we looked at last week. Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation. So that means he's writing to those who he sees as believers. These are other Christians. They have salvation as well as he does.
I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. So he says, I'm writing to Christians, but there's some contention over the faith. Meaning that there's some people pulling in a wrong direction. So I need y'all to hold fast. I need you to hold to what is true. That's the point of this letter.
And he's going to tell us why. For certain people have crept in unnoticed. Okay. So what he's saying now is, I'm writing this to all of you. Like I'm writing into a group of people. I specifically want the genuine Christians to hear what I'm talking about.
And I want you to be aware that there are those among you who are not genuine Christians. So this just got way more suspicious group of people. For all those who truly love our nation, let it be known there are spies in this room. That's kind of what he's doing. So immediately you go, start cutting your eyes at people.
And if you're a spy, you do it enough to look like their face. Anyway, that's what he's doing. So he says they've crept in unnoticed. And now I want you to see three things that he's going to say about them. Because they pertain to the illustrations, the examples he's about to give us. Who long ago, this is the first one, were designated for this condemnation.
So he says they were designated for this condemnation. Then he tells what they've been doing. Ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality. It's the first thing they're doing. And deny our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. So, pervert the grace of our God into sensuality.
Grace is that Jesus Christ has paid the debt of all those who believe in him. And he offers forgiveness for sin. Meaning that the sin is real, heinous, has to be paid for. But he willingly, graciously pays our debt so that if we trust in him, we can be saved. That's the grace. That's the gospel.
What he's saying is they're taking that grace and they're twisting it. They're perverting it to somehow say, well, that means sin must not be that big a deal. If he's so forgiving, if he's so kind, they're either saying that sin's not that big a deal. Like if someone gave you a Rolls Royce and I said they gave it to you for free and you said yes. I said, well, that must mean Rolls Royce are cheap. That's what they're doing.
They're twisting this. Say it must not be that big a deal. Or they're saying, don't we just highlight how good he is by getting to, if we pursue these things, if we go this direction. It just shows how wonderful and how gracious he is. They're somehow perverting his grace into sensuality. Sensuality is a devotion to their senses.
It's an indulgence in fleshly desires. Take what you want and get it. Which I think you need to see that's applicable to us. Because if there's one thing we're told as Americans is figure out what you want and go get it. Don't hold back. Indulge.
We celebrate words like decadence. We put it on our chocolate. We pursue these things that it's going to be an experience. It's going to be something to delight in, something to enjoy. And sensuality specifically often, because of how humanity works and how sin works, works its way towards sexual sin or shows up a lot in sexual sin. And we're going to see that as we go through these examples.
So that's the first thing is that they receive condemnation. The first thing that they're doing is they're perverting grace into sensuality. And second thing they're doing is denying our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. So they're rejecting the authority of Christ. Being their own authority. Making their own decisions.
Choosing what's right and wrong on their own. It goes right back to the garden. That's what Adam and Eve did. They're going to be the ones who are the arbiters over right and wrong. They're going to be their own authority. They're going to choose.
She says that's what they're doing. The reason that's applicable to the verses we're looking at today is that each one of these examples is going to touch on those three things. It's going to highlight those three things. It's an example of those three things. It's an example of a rejection of the authority of God. Pursuit of sensuality, specifically sexual sin.
And condemnation or clear examples of judgment. Each one of the examples he gives that he says, I want to remind you those three things. Rejection of the authority of God. Pursuit of sexual sin. Condemnation. So what he's saying is, we've done this before.
This isn't our first time that this has been what we were supposed to pursue. What people have come in and said is okay. It's not the first time we've headed this track. So, we're going to walk through the examples. We're going to highlight those things to make sure we understand them. And then we're going to try to catch his main point here.
So, wilderness generation. He says, now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. Now, for us, we might stumble over the fact that he says, Jesus did that. Because if you were in Sunday school, as a little kid, or in Kid City, and they said, who led the Israelites out of Egypt? And you raised your sticky little hand. Because you're a child and they're always sticky for some reason.
The two answers that would be most acceptable would be Moses, God. You can get away with Jesus. Maybe. Your teacher would go, well, I mean, kind of. And you would say, have you not read Jude? You see, the New Testament understanding, as it looks at the Old Testament, is not that the God in the Old Testament is somehow different.
That somehow the God of the Old Testament is different from the New Testament God. That's not how this works. So we're told that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. And so we often can say things like, this shows us, in the person of Christ, what God the Father is like. How kind He is. How merciful He is.
How He would respond to you in your sin. But the New Testament authors go, yes. And it also shows us what Jesus was like as He dealt with the people in Exodus. That they are not somehow different. That this is the same God who's ruled since eternity past. So, He says, I want to remind you that Jesus, after the Exodus, destroyed a generation.
And for the Jewish people, they know exactly what He's talking about. So we're going to show another place in the New Testament, where Paul refers to this generation, but he gives a little more detail. So it's in 1 Corinthians 10. You can turn there, or it'll be on the screens. Paul's doing the same thing. He says, now, these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.
So one of the things that both Paul and Jude agree on, is you should look at this example, and see how it worked out for them. I'm the middle of three brothers. My oldest brother was a senior in high school when I was a freshman in high school. So through middle school and high school, I watched him as an example of how to interact with my parents. More accurately, as an example of how not to interact with my parents. So there were often times where I watched him, and I thought, oh, don't say that in a conversation.
That's not the way to argue. You actually learned there was no arguing with my father. It just wasted everybody's time. So this is my role in arguments with my father going through high school. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Yes, sir. To the point that at one point he said, are you just saying, yes, sir, sir, I'll quit talking and you can leave? No, sir. He stared me down after that. It's hard to fuss at somebody who's being respectful. That's what Paul is saying.
That's what Jude is saying. It's, hey, look at this generation. They've lived this out in front of us. See how it worked out for them. That's what he's saying. So he says, verse 7, do not be idolaters as some of them were.
As it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Now that's a quote from Exodus 32. We're going to study through the book of Exodus later this year. But the Israelite people were captives. They were slaves in the land of Egypt. Moses goes.
He sings a really catchy song. God, that's not true, but anyway. God, through plagues, drives the Israelites out. He puts condemnation on the Egyptians. He brings the Israelites out. And he's going to take them to the promised land.
They hit the wilderness. And they're supposed to go from Egypt. And they cross the Red Sea. They're going to go to the wilderness. And they're going to go to the promised land. The problem is, they march over there.
It doesn't take that long. And they get to the edge of the promised land. And they say, nope, not going to work. God brought us here to die. So then they just do circles in the wilderness until an entire generation is gone.
And then just a handful that saw Egypt get to go into the promised land. An entire generation rejects God. But there's little story after little story of how they do that as they wander the wilderness. This first one is Moses has just gone to go get the Ten Commandments. While he's gone, the elders go to his brother and say, we don't know what happened to Moses. So let's make an idol.
They make a golden calf. Make it with their hands. And then Aaron says, this is the God who brought you out of the land of Egypt. And nobody goes, didn't we just make this one? Moses comes down. They're having, I mean, it's become a debaucherous party at this point.
And he says, whoever's with me, let's go. The Levites get swords, kill 3,000 people. They regain order. Moses grinds the golden calf up, pours it in the water and makes him drink it. 3,000 died that day because of idolatry. Verse 8, we must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did.
And 23,000 fell in a single day. This is the most that die at one time. Because they got close to the land of Midian. They start worshiping Baal. They start bringing Midianite women into now a big debaucherous party again, sleeping with them. The way that this plague is staved off is Phineas, who's the son of one of the high priests, goes into a tent, throws a spear through a man and a woman.
One throw gets both of them because they were indulging in sexual sin. And that stops the plague. But 23,000 already fell as they're rebelling against God. He keeps going. He says, we must not put Christ to the test again. Paul knows the same thing Jude knows, which is that's Jesus partaking in all of this, overseeing all of this, even in the Old Testament.
We must put Christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents. They began to grumble and argue against God and venomous snakes come into the camp. Nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer. I think that is referring to Korah's rebellion, where actually the ground opens up. He lines them up. Moses says, if y'all are right, we'll go with you.
But if I'm right, let something different happen that nobody's ever seen before. May the ground swallow you. And it splits open and swallows them. Verse 11. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come.
That's what Jude's saying. Jude's talking to a Jewish group of believers. He says, you know the wilderness generation, right? They thought they could reject the authority of Jesus. They thought they could pursue sexual sin. And they were wrong.
That's his first example. Second example. If you were like, well, that was a lot to take in. Welcome to the second example. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling. He has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.
Now, it's understood in Christian theology, as we understand our Bibles, that there were angels that rejected the authority of God. And that is where we have demonic spiritual forces. It does not seem that here he would be talking about all of the angels that rejected the authority of God, but a specific group. And the reason why it would be a specific group, the evidence is really threefold in the text before I explain the story. One is he specifically is talking about sexual sin, even to the point that his next thing he says, they likewise indulged in sexual sin. So it seems like this is involving sexual sin as well.
Well, not all demonic forces are under chains of gloomy darkness awaiting the punishment of the great day. Jesus interacts with demonic forces in the New Testament, so they can't all be bound waiting for punishment. So it seems like it's a specific thing that it's referring to. He also, in this letter, refers to First Enoch. First Enoch is a historical Jewish book. He refers to some prophecy out of it.
It was not held as being divinely authored the way the Old Testament was. They had separate books that they understood to be divinely authored. Then they had ones that were like history books that they respected, but they did not treat at the same authority level. Enoch's over there. But Enoch specifically focuses on this story that's in Genesis chapter 6 in our Bibles.
So let's read it. Genesis 6, verses 1 through 4. Now, when man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. Okay. Sons of God here would be referring to angelic beings, spiritual beings. It's used this way in the book of Job several times, and it's specifically compared to daughters of men, sons of God.
So it's a separate thing. Also, you'll see that they have children, and it's not normal children. So it says, They saw they were attractive, and they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, My spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh. His days shall be 120 years. Meaning that the sons of God would be living forever, but their children can't because they're paired with flesh.
Then it says, The Nephilim, which is a word that was written in Hebrew, translated to Latin, and then just brought over to English, but it just means the giants. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. It immediately goes into the story of Noah and the judgment of the earth and the wickedness. Enoch, first Enoch, takes that section of Genesis, expounds on it. Again, it's not scriptural, so if you want to go read it, read it as not scripture.
It's not authoritative the same way the scriptures are, and the Jewish people understand that, but it's a historical book. And it highlights more the spiritual aspect of the judgment that the angels received. So, angels reject their position of authority. If you go back to verse 6 on the slides, the angels who do not stay in their own position of authority, they had a position, they had a place, they had a right spot, they were supposed to relate to the Lord. They reject it. They jump out of it, and then they pursue sexual sin, and they're judged.
It says they're bound in chains, kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day. 2 Peter refers to this as well, the same thing that took place. So, he's highlighting the same things. Angelic beings. First, it was the people of Israel, the people who were supposed to be the ones God saved, then it's angelic beings that are smarter, more powerful, more capable than us. They tried the same thing.
It also did not work out for them. Now, quick pause. For some of us, you're like, oh yeah, I kind of remember that story. For others, you're saying, do what now? We do believe this is true. We believe this is reality.
I'll give you a couple of things to help you if you're trying to think through this, and I'm also willing to have more conversations, follow-up conversations. I also know, without even talking to him, that Spencer would love to talk to you about this also. We have a spiritual faith. So sometimes, we wrap our head around things like, Jesus is the Son of God. He was born of a virgin. He died in the place for our sins.
He died at substituciary sacrificial atonement for us. He swapped places with us. That he rose from the dead. That he ascended into heaven. That he'll return. We wrap our head around that, and then we go, wait, angels made children with women?
Nah. And it's like, well, actually, we have a whole spiritual faith. We believe in things that we can't see. Also, it's not a major point of doctrine. It's not like everything's built off of this one thing. That's the amount of, everything I read is everything that Genesis really says about it.
There's some mention of the Nephilim later, in some of the, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, we're in there, but there's not, it's not a main thing. Also, those stories are all over the place. The idea that some sort of gods slept with women, and had super children. And so, some people will look at that and say, see, the Bible's just saying the same thing, as if that means the Bible's made up. But I would argue, that it actually means, the reason why there's rumors of that kind of a story all over the place, is because that actually happened.
That's why it shows up in history, and other mythologies, and those sort of things, is because that idea actually did take place. The vast majority of humans on earth, and throughout history, believe in a spiritual world. It's really just a brand new, Western idea, that only the things we can see and touch are real. So if that helps, it's just an argument from the majority. But if that helps you know, that if you think, the only things that are real, is what you can see and touch and feel, you're the vast majority, minority of all humans.
So, I don't know if that helps or not, but those are a few things, to help you wrap your head around it. But the reason Jude brought it up, was because his hearers knew the story, and they understood what he was talking about. They had rejected authority, they had pursued sexual sin, and they had met condemnation. Third story. Third example. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah, this is verse 7, and the surrounding cities, it was five cities in total, it was in kind of a lower area, and it would have been cities.
So there would have been a whole city, and then some space, and some farmland, and then another city, and then some space, and some farmland. It was a lot of people. Just as Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding cities, which likewise, meaning that's one of the points he's making in all of these, is indulged in sexual immorality, and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example, by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. So the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, is that God comes to Abraham, this is in Genesis 19, comes to Abraham with two angels, he says, we're going to go check out the city, of Sodom and Gomorrah, we're going to go walk around, because the cry of their wickedness, has risen up to us.
Their harm that they're doing to people, has come to heaven. So we're going to go investigate. These angels go down to the city, Lot sees them, Lot is Abraham's nephew, and Lot says, come stay with me, don't spend the night in the square. Lot thinks, that these angels are in danger. He doesn't know that they're angels, otherwise he would know, that everyone else is in danger, not them. But he says, don't stay out here, come in with me.
He talks them into it, they come into his home. It says, the men of the city surround his house, and say, we want the two men that showed up, we want you to give them to us, so that we may lie with them. And what is the, one of the craziest parts of the story to me, is Lot says, do not do this wickedness, I have two daughters, take them. These men have come under the protection of my household, take my daughters. And they say, no. The angels, strike these men with blindness, and they don't go home.
They stay, still trying to get into the house. And so God says, Sodom and Gomorrah are going to be destroyed. And Sodom and Gomorrah is held up as an example, throughout Jewish history, and the Old Testament, as an example, Ezekiel mentions, they have pride, they have a lack of concern for the poor. Sirach and Maccabees mention arrogance, Maccabees mentions injustice, but the primary example is of sexual sin, specifically homosexuality. So where we saw heterosexual sexual sin, in the wilderness generation, we see in Sodom and Gomorrah, pursuit of homosexuality.
That's actually why he highlights it here. He says, verse 7, indulged in sexual immorality, and pursued unnatural desire. Not just rejecting God's authority, and pursuing sexual sin, but they actually, contrary to nature, that unnatural desire means like strange flesh, that they pursue same-sex pursuits. Now, we believe, that the Bible says, that homosexuality is a sin. And that's good news, because Jesus died for sin. He died to save sinners.
There's actually a reference, in the New Testament, to New Testament believers, who had been practicing homosexuality, but had repented, and are now Christians. It's in 1 Corinthians 6. That this was a thing, that we repent of, just like you would repent of anything else. So, don't hear, this is somehow, the only sin you can't be saved from. We're going to spend some time, talking about this later next year, talking about this idea, but do hear, that it is sin, that we need to be saved from. And so he holds up another example.
God rains down fire, on this entire area. It says that Abraham, walked up and saw, the smoke rising like a furnace, over that whole area of the world. Sodom and Gomorrah, and the surrounding cities, were destroyed. Lot and his two daughters escaped. They rejected God's authority, pursued sexual sin, and were met with condemnation. Now, let's not, because we had to slow down a bit, and our brains didn't automatically give us that information, miss what he's saying.
This is what he says. They serve as an example, by undergoing a punishment, of eternal fire. Jude wants you to see, that they serve as an example, by undergoing a punishment, of eternal fire. That Sodom and Gomorrah, are a picture, of eternally, being destroyed. And that actually, is the reality, for unrepentant sin. Eternal fire. what Jude is saying, he's writing, and he's saying, church family, some people have showed up, who are starting, to deny Jesus, indulge their flesh, and we've, done this, before.
We've, seen this, before. We saw it, in the people of Israel, the ones that God, had just rescued. They rebelled against Jesus, and he destroyed them. We saw this in angels, who, rejected the position, that they had, and God has bound them, in chains of gloomy darkness, until their destruction. We saw this, in pagan cities. It's not like, you can be a part, of a certain group, and this works out for you.
It's not for unbelievers, or it's for believers, or even for angelic beings. This, does not, work. And church family. We live at a time, where these same things, are being promoted, and celebrated. The Bible, where it's not a joke, where it's not derided, is still not held, in esteem, or authority. Not held up, as we should honor God, or submit to him.
The idea, that there's a, a creator, that you are beholden to, is at, minimum backwards, or at most abhorrent. There are people, who are standing, in a similar spot, to where I'm standing, with this open, in front of them, this very morning, who are teaching, that we can only, kind of believe this. I watched, eight minutes, of a 16 minute sermon, and sermon, I'm being fast and loose, with that word, from Greenville, First Baptist Church, that used to be, Southern Baptist, they're not, anymore. And his, his sermon was, the dark side of doctrine. And he said, that people had, religious experiences, spiritual experiences, and that was great.
But then unfortunately, people started writing things down. And as soon as people, wrote stuff down, we had problems, because then some people, thought they were right, and other people were wrong. So there are people, people, who are saying, we don't really have, the authority of God, in any sort of, authoritative way, that we have to, submit to, or beholden to. Right now, culturally, you are told, find your desire, pursue it. To the point, that we are told, find your desire, and if it's your sexual desire, it actually gives you, your identity. humanity. That's who you are.
And for anyone to tell you, not to pursue that, is harmful for you. And there are people, who have snuck in unnoticed, who hold a Bible, and say the same thing. And Jude says, it's not the first time, that's happened. We've played this song before. We've walked this road before. And it leads to condemnation.
Now, part of us, hears the echo of the world around us, and says, it's so unkind, to say this. It's so hurtful to say this. It's so mean to say this, that this is somehow, akin to assault on somebody. How dare we, say this. And I'll agree, this is unkind, and harmful, if, and only if, Jude is wrong. But if there is condemnation, if there is judgment for sin, if Jesus really isn't, to be trifled with, like the wilderness generation, thought he might be, then how dare we not, talk about this.
It is a great kindness, to tell someone, that they are headed, towards destruction. Some of you in this room, because of the onslaught, of the cultural pressure, because of the onslaught, of the clapping chorus, around us. Tim Keller says, that sometimes like, if, if it's raining hard enough, even if you put on a rain jacket, and you have an umbrella, even when you take all that off, you're somehow still wet. And right now, our culture is pouring down, rain in these two categories. Some of you, have started to question, whether or not, you really have to, submit to God everywhere. Some of you have even, started to, twist, and pervert, his grace, to somehow say, well it's good that he's, I'm so thankful he's forgiving, he's gracious, it's okay.
Rather than to hate sin, some of you are, sleeping with your boyfriend, or your girlfriend, you are confessing to your group, that you struggle with pornography, but struggle is not the right word, indulge us. Because there is no fight. You're saying, yeah, my girlfriend and I, we keep, you know, we fall into sin, and it's like, yeah, but you haven't done any of the things, to actually take it seriously, like it might lead you to destruction. Some of you are, pursuing, same sex attraction, or, supporting those that do. Some of us are, acting as if, the authority of God, isn't to be worried about.
And Jude says, I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, we've tried this before. Romans 2, Paul says this, do you suppose, oh man, that you will escape, the judgment of God? He looks at those, he's writing to, and he says, do you think, that you are exempt, from the judgment of God? That you will escape it? And he says, or, do you presume, on the riches, of his kindness, and forbearance, and patience, not knowing, that God's kindness, is meant to lead you, to repentance. Don't miss that.
He's kind. He's patient. He's loving. So much so, that Jesus went to the cross, to pay for our sin, to absorb wrath, not, to tell us, that there was no wrath. Not to declare, that there was no judgment. We needed shed blood, on our behalf, so that we could withstand, in the great day, hiding behind Christ.
That in the great day, we might proclaim, his glory, and his name, and his grace, not our own. But do not presume, upon that kindness, as if you will somehow, escape judgment. And do not think, for a moment, that because he was willing, to pay for sin, that there was nothing, to be paid for. We do not empty the cross, by indulging in sin. As if it cost nothing, of the son of God, to die on our behalf. But we worship, and we praise.
His kindness, has meant that we would run to him, not away from him. He says, but, because of your hard, and impenitent heart, meaning you don't see your sin, you do not repent, you do not run towards him, in his kindness, you are storing up, wrath for yourself, on the day, of wrath, when God's, righteous judgment, will be revealed. You are storing up, wrath for yourself, on the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment, will be revealed. There is a day of wrath, there is a day of righteous judgment, and that is why, the gospel is good news. Because you do not have to, stand in your sin, and be condemned, but you can stand, in the cross, of Christ, covered by his blood, paid for, blameless.
And what Jude says, at the end of this, that he's able to keep you, from stumbling, and to present you, blameless, before the presence of his glory, with great joy. That that's able to happen, because of the work, of the cross. That is our hope. But some of us, need to see what Jude just said, you need to see this. People have tried, to belittle, and trifle with Jesus, before. There was a whole generation, that were destroyed.
You need to see, venomous snakes, entering a camp. You need to see, the ground opening up. You need to wrap your head, around that. You need to see, plague pouring through, and killing 23,000 people, in one day, as God's righteous judgment. Some of us need to see, that angels, who are, have longer lives, more power, more intelligence. They tried this, and they are at, this moment, bound in chains, of gloomy darkness, awaiting that day.
They have not been released, their sentence, has not changed, and they will, face wrath. And we stand, in between that moment, and the great day, with a hope, that's held out for us, in Christ. Some of us need to see, the smoke rising like a furnace, from Sodom and Gomorrah. Because it stands, as an example, of eternal punishment. And some of us, need to see that, so we never see, eternal punishment. Do not, undo the cross, or pervert the grace of God, to act as if God, does not have wrath, and judgment.
He does. But he is kind, and merciful, and patient, so that, we might have life, in him, to his praise, and to his glory. Let's pray. God, we ask, that right now, through the power of your spirit, that you would bring conviction, that you would help us, to see, sin, and all of its heinousness, that for those of us, who are, rejecting your authority, or pursuing sexual sin, or have not, repent, we have a hard, and unrepentant heart, that Lord, you'd help us, to see your riches, of kindness, and you'd help us, to see your wrath, and judgment. Lord, we ask for your Holy Spirit, to work, and to have people, to call out, to you for salvation, and to celebrate, the goodness of the gospel.
We ask this, in Jesus name. Amen. The band's, going to come back up, and in a moment, as a church family, we're going to celebrate, that Jesus Christ, died to save sinners. That there is hope, for us in our sin. We're going to, partake in communion, which Jesus, on his, night before he died, he took bread, and he broke it, and he said, this is my body, broken for you. He says, this is my blood, of a new covenant, poured out for you, for the forgiveness, of sins, and so we, when we gather, we remind ourselves, that we need a savior, we need someone, to stand in our place, we need someone, to rescue us, from a coming wrath, and judgment, and we have, someone who has done so, who has gone before us.
We have those, who have gone before us, to destruction, and we have Jesus, who leads the way, he's gone before us, to life. And so as a church, take a moment, to see judgment, to see the cross, to confess your sin, and then, partake, reminding yourself, that you need the gospel, you need Jesus' work, on your behalf, but you have Jesus' work, on your behalf. If you are not a Christian, this is not for you, but Jesus is. But we don't ask you, to partake in communion, until you are really celebrating, that he has rescued you, out of sin, but you can right now, tell him, Jesus I need you, to save me from my sin, and all that call on his name, will be saved.
There will not be one, who is put to shame, there will not be one, who stands before the king, on that great day, and says, I have trusted in Jesus, and he says, it didn't work. There will not be one, that will, that will, bring disgrace, to the name of Christ, by somehow escaping his salvation, if we call on him. And I would tell you, to call on him this morning.
Judgment and Joy (Jude 1-4)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer and I am one of the pastors here. We are starting a new brief book this morning. We're in the book of Jude. So if you have a Bible, you can go ahead and turn there now.
It will be near the back, just before Revelation. So one of the final books of the Bible. It's on page 594 in the blue Bibles that are around you. You can follow along in one of those Bibles. You can also follow on the screen. If you don't have a Bible at home and you see a blue Bible, take that.
We want you to have a Bible that you can read. That is our gift to you. But we're going to be in Jude the next few weeks. So Jude is one of the smaller letters in the New Testament. It is small, but it packs a punch. It is an aggressive, corrective letter written to Christians who were being led astray.
So one of the things we're going to see in this letter is that it upholds both judgment and joy. It's going to be very blunt about the judgment that is for those that do not trust God and His word. Do not abide by His word. While also upholding joy that is set before us. The joy that we have in Christ. The joy that resounds into eternity.
It's going to uphold both of those together. But with the gospel comes both of those. And He's going to be delivering that in this letter. That's something that I did not understand until I became a believer. I became a believer when I was 17. And in the years leading up to that, I didn't understand the idea of God's judgment.
Nor that the joy that He offered was better. Like I grew up in and around the church. And, you know, it has a general understanding. I think I would have at the time said, yes, I do believe that the Bible teaches about hell. And I do think that's real. But I think I basically understood that that was reserved for the worst.
That was for the worst of people. And that basically I could live my life on my terms. And that God would just kind of wink and nod at my life. So much of my high school years was doing what a lot of high schooler kids fall into. Which is partying and drugs and all the things that I thought was going to bring me joy. I didn't think that it was a big deal that I could pursue those things.
That God was just going to wink at it. And that would be fine. As long as I called myself a Christian, that would be okay. But I also missed out on the fact that God offers something that is better. And by his grace, at the height of getting drunk, at the height of drug use, realizing at 17 that, oh, no, this doesn't satisfy. That what I'm pursuing, the pleasures of this world, doesn't actually bring joy.
And I finally stumbled upon a church where I finally heard the gospel and then believed. And then started to believe this message and see it as beautiful and good. And Jude is going to a very brief, you know, 25 verses uphold both of those. Understanding that there is judgment. But there also is great joy that is offered in Christ.
That's what we're going to see as we walk through this the next few weeks. So what we're going to do today is we're going to walk through the first four verses. And then we're just going to introduce the book as a whole. And then we're going to have the next few weeks to see this theme play out. So let me pray for us and then we'll jump in.
Heavenly Father, I pray that you would help us. Jude is a book that is difficult to hear, but you can prepare our hearts for it. God, there's undoubtedly a lot of thoughts, a lot of goodness. There's just sometimes the weeks are hard. And coming into a Sunday morning where we're going to hear your word, it's hard to hear. But I pray that you would help us receive it.
And that we walk this out in faith and repentance and belief and in worship. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. All right, starting off in verse 1.
It starts off, Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. Okay, so let me pause there. There's a long time historical consensus that Jude is the brother of James. The James who wrote the book of James. The James who was a leader in the early New Testament church. James who was the literal brother of Christ.
Which means that Jude is also the literal brother of Christ. Now, if you have any Catholic background, you might say, wait, no, that didn't happen because Mary was always a virgin. That's the doctrine of perpetual virginity of Mary. Now, that doctrine goes back to the 5th century. But it's actually not rooted in its world.
When you look at the New Testament, it's very clear that Mary and Joseph went on to have other children. These are the siblings of Jesus. In Matthew 13 is one of the places where we see this. In Matthew 13, 55, it says, Is not this the carpenter's son? They're questioning Jesus. Is not his mother called Mary?
And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? Which is the author of this letter. But you might go, wait a second. That's not Jude. And yes, you accurately figured that out. He had a name change.
And I think for very obvious reasons, he had a name change. Right? Right? If Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples, betrays Jesus, you change your name. Like if you're a kid, you're born in 1930, and your mother says, You know what? I'm going to name you Adolf.
By the time 442 comes around, you're like, I don't know. I think I'm going to go by Aaron. I think I'm taking one for the team here. I'm going to change my name. That's what's happening here. They refer to these verses as Jude historically, and this is what we know him as.
So, we don't know much about Jude. Okay? We don't know much about him from church history. We know generally, we don't know a lot from the scriptures. We know generally that he was a leader in the church. He had authority.
We knew he wrote this letter. We don't know if this letter was written to a specific church or multiple churches. We don't know if it was written to a specific region like Galatia, which was the letter of Galatians, or Corinth, like the letter that was written to the Corinthians. We don't know that either. The one thing we can tell from the letter is that, and most scholars agree, that the audience that he's writing to is predominantly Jewish Christian. Okay?
Because there is a ton of very specific Jewish references, more so than many other books in the New Testament. There's references to the Old Testament in this, but there's also references to Jewish historical books that aren't in the Old Testament, like the book of Enoch that we're going to see later on. So it's abundantly, or I should say it's evidently clear that the audience is probably Jewish Christian. So we at least can tell that from it. It's a brief letter. It's only 25 verses, which means when we say go to Jude, we don't say go to Jude chapter 1, verses 1 through 4.
We just say go to Jude, verses 1 through 4. Also, and this is anecdotal evidence, but I don't think it's preached very often. There's not a lot out there on Jude. In fact, I was talking to a friend of mine a few weeks ago, and he's not a part of our church, and I'm just talking. I said, yeah, we're going to be in the book of Jude, then we're going to be in Exodus. And he said, Jude?
Nobody preaches Jude. I said, well, not anymore. Here we stand. We will take them. But it's true.
There's not a lot of people that preach Jude. So why are we walking through Jude? Three reasons. First, all of Scripture is profitable for teaching, for training in righteousness. Okay? So we can pull up any book of the Bible, and it is going to be profitable for us to grow into the likeness of Christ and seeing the gospel displayed.
Second, I think this letter is very helpful for our moment in the American church. As we're going to see, I think it's very helpful for this moment. A failure to not heed the warnings, to not heed the judgment and the joy that is displayed in this letter is to our detriment in the American church. And the third reason, and it's very practical, we just came out of the book of Psalms. Okay? We're going to be in the book of Exodus.
All right? And Exodus, I don't know if you know this, is long. So those of you that love long books, boy, oh, boy, it's coming. And as Chet and I were talking, we said, no, let's do something in the New Testament. Let's do something that's brief.
We were looking through this and said, oh, no, we think Jude is appropriate. We think this is a good, got a New Testament break before we jump back into the Old Testament. So we are going to spend the next few weeks learning from the brother of Jesus. So let's continue to walk through these verses. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. I'll pause.
I'll also note he doesn't say, he doesn't flex and say the brother of Christ. He could have. That would have been accurate. That's not what he says. The humility of saying, and they knew this, they knew who Jude was. But the humility of introducing himself as, I'm a servant of Jesus.
He's going, he's going to, in a few verses, he's going to say his master. To have that type of humility to say, I'm a servant of Christ, I think is telling. He says, to those who were called beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. Those phrases who were called beloved in God the Father, kept for Jesus Christ. Each one of those, you could write a theological work on those phrases alone. Like the drop down menu on just those phrases is powerful.
And that's what you see in a lot of New Testament letters. They don't write letters like we do. Where it's like, dear John, body. It's like, no, we're going to pack in as much theological encouragement as possible. So when he says, to those who were called.
What's packed into that is the doctrine of election. That God has chosen us in faith. When he goes on to say, beloved in God. That's an incredible encouragement that you are, that beloved is deeply affectionate, sacrificial love. That's the kind of love that God the Father has for his adopted children. That we get to be called sons and daughters of God the Father.
That's the language of Jesus Christ and his bride, the church, the beloved, whom he loves deeply. So much so that he left heaven and came and sought us by his blood. This deeply sacrificial, joyous language being called his beloved. He says, kept for Jesus Christ. That's Philippians. He who began a good work in us will carry it through to completion.
That's 1 Peter, who by God's power being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. That is the idea that when God regenerates us, when he brings us to faith in Christ, the secure promise is that he absolutely will carry us to completion. He will carry us home. We are kept for Jesus Christ. If you have a study Bible, and I would encourage you to absolutely study this. In the next few weeks, spend some time.
It's only 25 verses. Reading this over and over again. Get a study Bible. If you don't have one, come talk to us. If you don't know how to use a study Bible, definitely come talk to us. We'd love to be able to sit down and show you how to use one.
But if you look at a study Bible, you're going to see each one of those phrases. There's a tiny little letter called a footnote that's at the front of it. And it corresponds to some cross-references, which is probably in the middle. And those cross-references are just Bible verses that show. I mean, this is connected to this in Ephesians and this in Philippians. It's incredible how much is packed in just this introduction.
He gives this encouragement. And then he goes on to verse 2. May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. This is a phrasing that shows up in other New Testament letters. May the mercy of God that we don't deserve, but He graciously bestows upon us.
May the peace of God, the peace that surpasses all understanding. The peace that calms and quiets our soul. And the love of God, the love that was perfectly displayed in Christ on our behalf. May all of this be multiplied to you. Very clear that the audience that He's writing to, He's writing to genuine Christians. He wants these blessings, these beautiful truths to be multiplied to them.
So if you are a Christian, you get to receive this letter also to you to hear its beautiful truths that He's going to walk us through. So, that's the introduction. Now we're into the body. Verse 3. Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. He said, And they're starting to lead people astray.
And the tone is going to be completely different because of this. It'd be like if you, if your boss said, listen, we're going to celebrate. Y'all have crushed this quota with your sales. And everyone's excited. It's like, is it going to be, you know, ice cream cake? Is it going to be lunch?
Is it going to be an open tab at Chili's? What is he doing? And then all of a sudden, Gary from accounting sends an inappropriate meme to the office. And now, there is no celebration. The mood has changed. You have to sit through a training now about how that's inappropriate humor.
That makes people uncomfortable. Tina from accounting went home and she's not coming back. Now we've got to talk about this. The mood has completely changed. And now he's got to talk about something different. So, it's becoming increasingly clear that the common salvation that he wanted to celebrate is not so common for everyone who's a part of the church or churches that he is writing to.
And that he's going to have to address what is happening in this. He's going to have to make a different appeal. And the appeal is this. Contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. Contend. If you came to our spring training weekend, that word should sound familiar.
You might even have a coffee mug that says Mill City Church. On the back it says, contend. And if you're like, word, y'all got coffee mugs? Yes. That's why you should come to training weekends. We've got a fall one coming up.
Sign up. Because there's all kinds of cool swag we give out. Listen, we talked about this word at training weekend. This idea of contending. The word for contending, the Greek, it has the idea of athletic or military aggressive language in it. It's that type of contending.
Contending. It is intense exertion. That type of contending. Contending with everything that you have within you to fight for something. And not just to contend. Contend for the faith that was once in all delivered for the saints.
He says, the faith that Jesus commissioned to us, go therefore and make disciples of all nations. When the church began and started planting churches in North Africa and in the Middle East and in Asia Minor and across Europe. The faith that was delivered to you. Contend for this. Fight for this. With everything in you.
The hope that you have before you fight for this. There's a movie called Children of Men. It's a good movie. And the story is that in the future, there's no more, no one's able to have children anymore. There's 20 years. There's no babies that are born.
And the idea that they're playing on is, is in that type of world, there's no hope. And that civilizations are falling apart. That countries are destroying one another because there's no hope. And then finally, the main character stumbles upon a pregnant woman. And he gives up everything. Because what's inside her is hope.
And there's multiple factions trying to get a hold of her because she represents power. But with everything that he has within him, he lays down his life to fight for that child. Because that child represents hope. And the hope that we have in Christ is eternal. We're called to fight with everything within us to contend for that faith that was delivered to us. So we're called to contend is what he's calling us to.
Contending for faith in the midst of what we have against us is what he's going to highlight in verse 4. 4. Let's break that down phrase by phrase. He says, certain people have crept in unnoticed. There are people who have infiltrated the church of the churches that he is writing to. Now, we don't know if this is false teachers.
Which that would fit the rest of the New Testament. There are multiple letters that are talking about these false teachers who have crept in. And they're promoting a false gospel. We don't know if it's that or if it's just some people who are in love with this present world that are amongst them. That are leading people astray. We don't know exactly what is happening.
But these people have crept in unnoticed. This is deceptively. They have come in. They are leading people astray. We need to receive that. Because there is deception that creeps in and tries to lead us away.
I don't argue. I don't see this as prevalent in our own church family. So you might get comfortable and think, oh, we're okay. But listen, it's not very hard to go very far in your Facebook feed or Instagram feed before you find someone who's promoting a false gospel. Find someone who's rocking $1,000 sneakers and gripping the mic like it's a rap battle. Spitting out all kinds of just ridiculous nonsense that will lead you astray.
They've crept in unnoticed, he says, who long ago were designated for this condemnation. He says they're not of us. They're not Christians. You don't understand. They're designated for condemnation. They aren't Christians.
You need to understand this very clearly. And he goes on to say ungodly people. He says ungodly people that they don't resemble the character of Christ, the values of Christ, the love of Christ. They don't resemble or reflect the character of the goodness of God. They're un, they're not godly. And then he uses a phrase that is used nowhere else in the Bible.
He says, who pervert the grace of our God. That is a strong statement. Now we don't know if what he means there is he's saying that there are people that are abusing the free grace that God has given us. We see that in the New Testament. We see that in the letter to Romans. They are presuming upon the grace of God to sin all the more.
That grace may abound. They don't understand that grace. We see that in the book of James. Where James is writing to Christians who are presuming upon the grace of God to sin all the more. We don't know if it's people that are abusing grace or just living a hedonistic life where they're indulging in the senses and fleshly desires without any fear of God at all. But the picture here is just very generally.
It is people who presume upon the kindness of God who completely ignore that he has wrath towards sin. And do not care what the word of God says. Do not care how the word of God, how the counsel of God, how the scriptures instruct us towards joy. And that is evident. There's a lot of folks in our own culture that embody that type of sentiment. They presume upon the kindness of God, presume upon the grace of God.
Maybe claim to call themselves Christians but are going to live their life on their terms and how they want to. And Jude says that is perverting the grace of our God. Very strong language. And then he goes on to say into sensuality. Into sensuality. Sensuality is self-abandonment to follow the fleshly senses wherever they desire to indulge without constraint.
Let me say that again. Sensuality is self-abandonment to follow the fleshly senses wherever they desire and to indulge without constraint. Sensuality is self-abandonment to follow the fleshly senses wherever they desire to follow the fleshly senses. He says, and deny, that's the next phrase, our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. Meaning, they reject Jesus as Lord. There's a lordship of their lives.
They don't care what he has to say. They don't see him as master. They don't see him as Lord. They don't see him as king. They have rejected him. Peter, when you look at 2 Peter, 2 Peter has very common language to Jude.
It seems like they're maybe writing to a very similar context. But Peter in 2 Peter says, chapter 2, verse 1. Verse 1. Not asleep. I think it's the same, similar things. False teachers or people who have rejected the word of God outright will come in and lead you astray.
Why? Because they are not tethered to the authority of God. They're not bound by it. They do not fear the judgment of God. They do not fear the correction. They don't desire the correction of God.
And some of them just use the word of God to justify whatever they would like. Appealing to the basest, most fleshly desires within humanity. So, spending some time on this subject and this letter, okay? Against the backdrop of our current cultural moment. A culture that indulges in anything from exploring sexuality to gender exploration. To a culture that celebrates a wide spectrum of substance use and abuse.
To a widely celebrated freedom to satisfy the senses. Well, reading Jude in the face of that is widely unpopular. But it is unbelievably necessary. It's unbelievably necessary. Because the burning question of Jude. And the burning question of the scriptures.
Is what if Jude is right? What if the scriptures and what they teach are correct? And that satisfying the senses wherever it takes you is not good. And does bring judgment. That is where Jude is going. As he calls Christians to contend for the faith.
In the midst of a false gospel. That plays upon satisfying the senses. And when you hear that. I understand it is nearly impossible to divorce your thought process. From this current cultural counter argument. That the cultural push to enjoy as much sex.
As your senses desire to experiment with who you want to love. To drink as much as you would deem necessary. To dabble in edibles and hallucinogenics. And all the things that our flesh might desire. The cultural push for that is very much against the message of Jude. And reading that with the backdrop of our culture.
It is difficult. And in the coming weeks. We're going to wade more into the arguments that Jude and the rest of the scriptures are making. Before we do that. I just want to plead with you. Don't be too quick to dismiss this.
Don't be too quick to reject the ideas without weighing them. Without investigating them. Without questioning them. Without testing them. Without asking the question. What if Jude is right?
What if the Bible is right on this? An author that I appreciate very deeply. Her name is Vizaria Butterfield. She was a professor at Syracuse. She taught English with a focus on queer studies. As we're going to read in this quote in a moment.
And she lived a life that she thought she was happy. She had a partner. She had a great tenureship at Syracuse. And then all of a sudden some things changed. Let me just give some background. Just in her own words.
Who she was. She said, My historical field in English studies was 19th century literature and culture. My historical interest in 19th century literature were grounded in the philosophical and political worldviews of Freud, Marx, and Darwin. My primary field was critical theory, also known as postmodernism. My specialty was queer theory, a postmodern form of gay and lesbian studies. She goes on to say, As a lesbian activist, I was involved in my gay community.
I had drafted and lobbied for the university's first successful domestic partnership policy, which gives spousal benefits to gay couples. I had to put up with a lot of flack from the conservative Christian community for this. My life was busy and full. And I thought, moral. So, she published this article. I think it was defending, this is in her memoir, which is Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert.
She posted this article in the local newspaper defending the policy that she fought for and got established at Syracuse in the late 90s. And then, she got a letter. It was from a Presbyterian pastor. And it was of a small Presbyterian church in the area. And he just said, I'd love to meet you. And I'd love to just hear you out.
I'd love to hear your background, your story. And she was very nervous and didn't like the idea of this at all. But she just felt compelled to hear him out. And what happened was, over the next two years, that family invited her into their home over and over again. They had weekly dinners. And they would talk, and they would get to know each other, but they also would debate.
And she was skilled in the arguments of postmodernism. And they'd go back and forth, and he would read the scriptures. And they would go back and forth and back and forth for over two years. Until finally, she's like, okay, I'm going to read the Bible. And I'm going to see what you're talking about. And as she kept talking and walking with this couple, and as she kept reading the Bible, well, she started to change.
And her partner noticed it. Her friends noticed it. Until finally one night at a house party, one of her friends got in front of her and confronted her on this. She said, she told me point blank that all this Bible reading was changing me. And she wanted to know, before any more pasta could be served or wine glasses filled, what was going on in my life? At first I denied it, but she pressed.
Finally I said, what would you say if I told you that I'm beginning to believe that Jesus is real, is a real and risen and loving and judging Lord and that I am in big trouble? And what eventually happened is she placed her faith in Jesus. It cost her her relationship, eventually cost her her tenureship and her position at Syracuse. She left that all behind. But as you read her memoir, and I encourage you to read it, first of all, she's a great writer and it's a powerful story.
But the thing that she posts up in is not necessarily that her life was miserable. It wasn't. She liked her life. She enjoyed her life. She enjoyed being a professor. She enjoyed being a partner.
She enjoyed being an activist. It was that what if this is true? And if this is true, well then everything has to change. And when she finally submitted to the scriptures and said this is true, this is real, Jesus is real, well then everything has to change. And she gave up her life and she's been following Christ ever since. What if the wisdom of the scriptures that has endured for thousands of years is better than the moral whiplash of the last few decades?
What if Jesus is real and he is a risen and loving and judging God? If that is true, it changes everything. It means that falling in line with the current majority position of the culture, the postmodern pursuit of fulfillment through the senses, well it not only leads to less joy, it ultimately leads to self-destruction. And the next few weeks we're going to wade into this difficult truth to absorb all of this in light of the cultural moment that we are in. But this was also true at their time.
You can look at history, and there definitely has been hundreds and hundreds of years where this wasn't happening. But if you go back to the first century, there's actually a lot of parallels between the first century context of who this is being written to and our moment right now. In fact, Greco-Roman culture, that many of the sensual pursuits that we have in our cultural moment were very true in that time as well. Almost everything you can point to now was happening then. It was a cultural norm in Greco-Roman culture. There is nothing new under the sun.
And my plea is this. As we walk through difficult truths, stick around. Please, engage. Hear the wisdom and the warning in this. The judgment and the joy that you will be reminding us of that is unbelievably important for this moment. And that is difficult.
It is difficult because we're still in a moment where the majority cultural position rages at what the Scriptures teach as backward, archaic, not progressing in the direction it needs to go. You have this while also a very small minority of loud Christians that actually just harp on judgment and never look at actual joy. They just lob grenades but actually don't ever point to the joy that is found in following Christ. That's how Jude ends his letter with this beautiful doxology. He's pleading with them, don't go down this road. Don't pursue the sensual desires.
You've got to see where this is heading but he ends with, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. There's unbelievable joy in pursuing Christ. There's unbelievable joy that resounds into eternity. He says, with great joy to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. There is a God who can present us blameless.
Who does if you're in Christ present you blameless. No matter what is swirling in your soul, no matter what are fleshly pursuits that your sensual desires won't, he says, I will present you blameless before his glory with great joy. There's a God who can keep us from stumbling that if we continuously look to him no matter what is raging in our flesh that he will continue to grow us and keep us from stumbling. There is a God who we can enjoy in all of his glory and his majesty and his dominion and his authority from this time into eternity that is offered to us in Christ but we have to contend for it and that is not easy and it especially is not easy in this moment.
So that is the call as we walk through Jude stick around hear the call to contend no matter how hard it is no matter how much is swirling around us we must contend with everything within us because hope is on the line a hope that is real that resounds into eternity there is far too much at stake not to take this seriously.