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.