1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,640 My name is Kimberly. Today's scripture reading is from Jude 1 verses 1 through 11. 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:11,400 It is page 1055 in the Bibles in the back of the pews. 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:20,180 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to those who are the called, 4 00:00:20,780 --> 00:00:24,700 loved by God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ. 5 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:29,260 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 6 00:00:29,260 --> 00:00:34,940 Dear friends, although I was eager to write to you about the salvation we share, 7 00:00:34,940 --> 00:00:41,900 I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the 8 00:00:41,900 --> 00:00:49,740 saints once for all. For some people who were designated for this judgment long ago have come 9 00:00:49,740 --> 00:00:58,300 in by stealth. They are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying Jesus 10 00:00:58,300 --> 00:01:06,700 Christ, our only master and Lord. Now, I want to remind you, although you came to know all these 11 00:01:06,700 --> 00:01:14,060 things once and for all, that Jesus saved a people out of Egypt and later destroyed those who did not 12 00:01:14,060 --> 00:01:20,940 believe. And the angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their proper dwelling, 13 00:01:21,500 --> 00:01:27,020 he has kept an eternal chains in deep darkness for the judgment on the great day. 14 00:01:27,020 --> 00:01:35,180 Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns committed sexual immorality and perversions 15 00:01:35,740 --> 00:01:42,940 and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. In the same way, 16 00:01:43,580 --> 00:01:52,380 these people relying on their dreams, defile their flesh, reject authority, and slander glorious ones. 17 00:01:52,380 --> 00:01:58,220 Yet when Michael the Archangel was disputing with the devil in an argument about Moses's body, 18 00:01:58,940 --> 00:02:05,900 he did not dare utter a slanderous condemnation against him, but said, the Lord rebuke you, 19 00:02:06,620 --> 00:02:14,060 but these people blaspheme anything they do not understand. And what they do understand by 20 00:02:14,060 --> 00:02:22,620 instinct, like irrational animals, by these things they are destroyed. Woe to them, for they have 21 00:02:22,620 --> 00:02:30,460 gone the way of Cain, have plunged into Balaam's error for profit, and have perished in Korah's 22 00:02:30,460 --> 00:02:37,740 rebellion. This is God's word. Amen. If you have your Bibles, feel free to turn on over to the 23 00:02:37,740 --> 00:02:42,780 book of Jude, if you're not already there. We'll be spending our time there. We won't get 24 00:02:42,780 --> 00:02:46,780 all the way through. We won't. We're only going to get probably through verse seven today, 25 00:02:47,740 --> 00:02:52,300 but we'll come back to verse eight, nine, and 10 in a future week. 26 00:02:54,700 --> 00:03:02,220 So I want to start by with this saying from brother Bible scholar, Tim Mackey. How you live 27 00:03:02,780 --> 00:03:10,940 is the most reliable indicator of what you believe. How you live is the most reliable 28 00:03:10,940 --> 00:03:18,860 is the most reliable indicator of what you believe. We know that we're saved by grace alone 29 00:03:18,860 --> 00:03:25,660 through faith alone, but that faith in which we are saved is always accompanied by good works 30 00:03:27,500 --> 00:03:34,460 or works of righteousness. And good works aren't just jobs to do, things to keep us busy while we 31 00:03:34,460 --> 00:03:41,660 wait for Jesus to come back, but good works are a way of life. Another word for that is holiness. 32 00:03:43,500 --> 00:03:49,980 Holiness is a part of our good works. It's the holiness that is lived out through a million 33 00:03:49,980 --> 00:03:55,020 different actions, decisions, and works in the believer's life on a day-to-day basis. 34 00:03:56,380 --> 00:04:03,820 These make up the good works that God has prepared for us. Another quote from an author, 35 00:04:03,820 --> 00:04:11,740 Jeff or Jerry Bridges, not Jeff Bridges, he's an actor. Jerry Bridges, holiness is not a condition 36 00:04:11,740 --> 00:04:20,540 for salvation, but is always part of salvation. Holiness always accompanies salvation saved by 37 00:04:20,540 --> 00:04:28,140 grace alone, saved through faith alone, in Christ alone, to good works, to do good works, to have 38 00:04:28,140 --> 00:04:36,540 holiness throughout in every micro decision of our day and life, the millions upon millions 39 00:04:36,540 --> 00:04:42,220 of thoughts and actions we take. So yes, how you live matters, but more importantly, 40 00:04:42,220 --> 00:04:47,500 how you live tells you and the rest of us what you actually believe at the deepest level. 41 00:04:49,100 --> 00:04:55,100 We love to talk. We love to say all kinds of things and make lofty claims about our lives 42 00:04:55,100 --> 00:05:03,900 and what we believe. The proof is in how we live. We can see this already in everyday life. 43 00:05:04,780 --> 00:05:11,500 If you believe that it will be a cool 55 degrees outside, what I call ideal weather, 44 00:05:11,500 --> 00:05:15,900 perfect weather. In fact, if I get the bedroom 55 degrees every night, I'm happy. 45 00:05:16,700 --> 00:05:19,580 And she's completely under the covers, barricaded. 46 00:05:19,580 --> 00:05:26,380 55 degrees outside and you check the forecast and it's going to be raining all day long. 47 00:05:27,020 --> 00:05:32,780 If you believe the forecast, if you believe the temperature gauge on your phone that says it's 48 00:05:32,780 --> 00:05:40,540 55 degrees outside, it will affect how you dress, whether you check the traffic if you're on your 49 00:05:40,540 --> 00:05:48,300 way to work, whether you grab an umbrella, it will modify your life to the extent that you 50 00:05:48,300 --> 00:05:53,740 want it to be. It will modify your life to accommodate your beliefs. Your life will change. 51 00:05:54,460 --> 00:06:00,060 Whatever it is you intended beforehand, before you knew that and believed it will be different. 52 00:06:00,700 --> 00:06:08,300 It'll change. But what if something even deepers that work in us? What if us who are in Christ, 53 00:06:09,180 --> 00:06:14,540 what if you've experienced a new birth altogether, not just a change in behavior? 54 00:06:14,540 --> 00:06:20,700 We sometimes call it a conversion. Someone has been converted. What conversion means, 55 00:06:20,700 --> 00:06:27,660 a change from one form to another, completely different, reborn, a new creation. These are the 56 00:06:27,660 --> 00:06:33,020 words that the Bible loves to use about what we as believers have undergone. It says that we will 57 00:06:33,020 --> 00:06:39,740 have new desires and a new heart and our new heart will be inclined to obey, inclined to love God, 58 00:06:39,740 --> 00:06:46,540 inclined to follow him and inclined to turn away from sin. This is that new life in Christ. 59 00:06:48,540 --> 00:06:56,540 Well, how might that change someone? How might that modify someone's life and actions? 60 00:06:58,300 --> 00:07:02,300 How might their life and choices reflect this new reality? 61 00:07:02,300 --> 00:07:10,140 A.W. Tozer says, if your Christian conversion did not reverse the direction of your life, 62 00:07:10,780 --> 00:07:17,340 if it did not transform it, then you are not converted at all. You are simply a victim of the 63 00:07:17,340 --> 00:07:25,420 accept Jesus heresy. What does he mean by the accept Jesus? There is a big difference between 64 00:07:25,420 --> 00:07:33,820 I accept him and I believe everything he said. Belief results in action. Accept can be easily 65 00:07:33,820 --> 00:07:41,420 be added to my life. I'll take Jesus along for the ride, sure. And if he supplies me good therapy 66 00:07:41,980 --> 00:07:46,300 to make me feel better throughout the day, if he supplies me all the things that I want, 67 00:07:46,860 --> 00:07:50,300 in addition to the things that I need, and he can give me a happy and healthy life, 68 00:07:50,300 --> 00:07:55,580 and he's a star. But if he's not, well, I can put him back in my pocket and I can live the way that 69 00:07:55,580 --> 00:08:04,300 I want. And Tozer says, no, what happens at a fundamental level within us at conversion, 70 00:08:04,300 --> 00:08:09,900 at the new birth is we change. We become something different. 71 00:08:13,740 --> 00:08:16,940 The book of Jude, which we're studying right now in the month of June, 72 00:08:16,940 --> 00:08:24,300 is a call for believers to hold the line, to hold the line of truth, to contend for the faith 73 00:08:24,300 --> 00:08:31,820 that was delivered to the saints once and for all. But to contend is not simply to know the truth 74 00:08:31,820 --> 00:08:38,700 or even academically be able to defend the truth. To hold the line or contend for it 75 00:08:38,700 --> 00:08:44,940 begins first with self-examination, to look here and to see the truth. And then to look 76 00:08:44,940 --> 00:08:53,340 here and to see, am I committed to see the faith at work within my life in each of those millions 77 00:08:53,340 --> 00:09:01,740 of decisions and each of those millions of thoughts? Is that truth at work within me? 78 00:09:01,740 --> 00:09:05,900 Am I holding the line even here before I ever get out here? 79 00:09:08,860 --> 00:09:13,580 We talked last week that Jude is the younger brother of Jesus, a half brother, and 80 00:09:13,580 --> 00:09:19,980 he didn't believe that Jesus was who Jesus claimed he was in the beginning, 81 00:09:20,860 --> 00:09:25,980 but something happened in him and he underwent a transition, a transformation. We see that the 82 00:09:25,980 --> 00:09:30,460 narrative says that his brothers didn't believe him before, his brothers didn't believe him, 83 00:09:30,460 --> 00:09:35,580 his brothers didn't believe him, and then we see his brothers believing him after his death and 84 00:09:35,580 --> 00:09:44,700 resurrection. Now it's no easy thing to convince your brother that you're God. If you've ever tried 85 00:09:44,700 --> 00:09:52,060 it, I tried to convince my brother many times that I was in charge and he never believed it ever. 86 00:09:54,940 --> 00:10:00,700 Imagine trying to convince your brother that you are God. It's not an easy feat. It might 87 00:10:00,700 --> 00:10:07,660 actually take a death and resurrection to make it possible, and we see that both James and Jude, 88 00:10:07,660 --> 00:10:15,900 or Judah, as it's listed in the gospels, James and Jude, they both came to believe in Jesus 89 00:10:15,900 --> 00:10:23,660 and his work, and they both committed their entire lives unto death to see this work advance 90 00:10:23,660 --> 00:10:33,900 in the world. We see that their life underwent a big change. Jude, even in this letter, calls Jesus, 91 00:10:34,700 --> 00:10:39,980 says that he is a servant of Jesus, that he is kept for Jesus. These aren't words a brother says 92 00:10:39,980 --> 00:10:47,980 to a brother, naturally. Servant of Jesus, kept for Jesus, and in verse four, he calls Jesus 93 00:10:47,980 --> 00:10:57,260 master and Lord. Something happened in his life. Jude is writing to a people, it's likely a messianic 94 00:10:57,260 --> 00:11:04,460 Jewish community who are in the region of Judea, and begins the book by saying that while he wanted 95 00:11:04,460 --> 00:11:10,220 to write about the shared salvation that they had, he had to snatch up his pen out of urgency 96 00:11:10,220 --> 00:11:14,140 because there was something else he needed to write about. He needed to write to them to urge 97 00:11:14,140 --> 00:11:19,420 them to contend for the faith. That was verse one through three, and we're going to pick it up in 98 00:11:19,420 --> 00:11:27,420 verse four. Verse four says, for some people who were designated for this judgment long ago 99 00:11:27,420 --> 00:11:34,780 have come in by stealth, they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into sensuality 100 00:11:34,780 --> 00:11:44,460 and denying Jesus Christ our only master and Lord. So now we're going to talk about these some people, 101 00:11:44,460 --> 00:11:51,500 who are these some people? Well, they've come in by stealth, he says. What did they come into? 102 00:11:51,500 --> 00:11:58,700 What did they enter into? Well, they came into the church, the called out, gathered up ones, 103 00:11:58,700 --> 00:12:06,140 the called out, gathered up ones, the people of God. The church is ground zero always for contending 104 00:12:06,140 --> 00:12:12,700 for the gospel. The church is always the place that Satan, the evil one, has consistently brought the 105 00:12:12,700 --> 00:12:18,700 fight to. It's in here. A lot of times we think it's out there. A lot of times we think it's with 106 00:12:18,700 --> 00:12:24,300 that political party or those people or that group. The contending for the faith begins right here 107 00:12:24,300 --> 00:12:35,260 among us. Some people have come in by stealth. The church is to be the visible presence of Jesus 108 00:12:35,260 --> 00:12:40,780 on the earth and if Satan can make her indistinguishable from the world by corrupting her 109 00:12:40,780 --> 00:12:45,260 and causing her to fall out of holiness, he accomplishes his purpose to destroy the work of 110 00:12:45,260 --> 00:12:54,620 God. It will be in here among us that we have the fiercest battle contending for the faith. 111 00:12:54,620 --> 00:12:59,980 It says come in by stealth. Well, this is actually a Greek phrase that means to worm your way in 112 00:13:00,700 --> 00:13:07,180 or slither in. And I don't know about you, but the moment I hear slither, I immediately think of snake. 113 00:13:07,180 --> 00:13:15,180 And when I think of snake, I think of that one snake at the beginning, Satan the deceiver. And 114 00:13:15,180 --> 00:13:25,180 now his people, like snakes, are slithering in among us in our churches. And when they're ungodly, 115 00:13:25,180 --> 00:13:29,420 he says, well, what does it mean to be ungodly? Well, this is a word that means irreverence. 116 00:13:29,420 --> 00:13:34,380 And what that means is they live their lives without any acknowledgement of God. They live 117 00:13:34,380 --> 00:13:39,180 their lives without acknowledging him in every single step and decision, acknowledging that 118 00:13:39,180 --> 00:13:46,300 there is a creator from which we are all derived, we all come from. And that that creator has also 119 00:13:46,300 --> 00:13:52,860 established a divine order of things, that things are to be the way the creator intended them to be. 120 00:13:52,860 --> 00:13:58,300 And this includes what we use and what we believe and how we operate. It gets down to the very 121 00:13:58,300 --> 00:14:05,660 fabric of who we are, our identity as men and women, who God designed us to be. 122 00:14:07,660 --> 00:14:12,620 And to be ungodly is to live without acknowledgement of God and his design. 123 00:14:13,900 --> 00:14:18,780 Instead, it says that they please themselves or that they live to please themselves. They are like 124 00:14:18,780 --> 00:14:26,940 those people who do what is right in their own eyes, even when God has made clear that they 125 00:14:26,940 --> 00:14:32,460 are ungodly. And God has made clear what he wants. 126 00:14:34,460 --> 00:14:39,180 Well, what of these people that are have slithered in like a snake and they're ungodly, 127 00:14:39,180 --> 00:14:43,740 they don't acknowledge their creator? Well, it says that they were designated for this judgment 128 00:14:44,300 --> 00:14:49,580 long ago. These kind of people have been written about. 129 00:14:49,580 --> 00:14:55,580 These people of God have been warned that they will come since the very beginning of the Old Testament. 130 00:14:57,580 --> 00:15:00,780 And since the very beginning of the Old Testament as well, their condemnation 131 00:15:01,660 --> 00:15:09,420 was also outlined time and time again. They were designated for this judgment because 132 00:15:09,420 --> 00:15:13,900 they were life. They're the kind of people that judgment has been pronounced on. 133 00:15:13,900 --> 00:15:19,740 We as the church were warned about them and their judgment by Moses, by Jeremiah, by Ezekiel, 134 00:15:19,740 --> 00:15:26,300 by Micah. We were warned about them by Jesus himself in Matthew chapter seven, beginning in 135 00:15:26,300 --> 00:15:34,540 verse 15. Jesus said, be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, 136 00:15:35,340 --> 00:15:42,060 but inwardly are ravaging wolves. You'll recognize them by their fruit, 137 00:15:42,060 --> 00:15:47,580 our grapes gathered from thorn bushes or fakes from thistles. In the same way, every good tree 138 00:15:47,580 --> 00:15:55,660 produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit. 139 00:15:55,660 --> 00:16:00,380 Neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn't produce good fruit 140 00:16:00,380 --> 00:16:06,780 is cut down and thrown into the fire. There's the judgment part. So you'll recognize them 141 00:16:06,780 --> 00:16:13,660 by their fruit. Who are the ungodly who were designated for this judgment long ago? 142 00:16:13,660 --> 00:16:17,340 It's the ones that were written about throughout the Old Testament. Jesus himself included, 143 00:16:17,340 --> 00:16:22,780 and then the apostles too in their writing said, yes, these people will arise and their judgment is 144 00:16:22,780 --> 00:16:28,060 secure. These people arise and they'll cause all kinds of trouble and they'll do all kinds of 145 00:16:28,060 --> 00:16:32,860 things to the church and the people of God, but their judgment is already prescribed for them. 146 00:16:32,860 --> 00:16:38,700 They are like the tree that produces bad fruit. It will be cut down and it will be thrown into the 147 00:16:38,700 --> 00:16:47,260 fire. This type of person is the type of person we are to be on the lookout for. 148 00:16:47,900 --> 00:16:53,500 And that's what it means, a part of what it means to contend for the faith within the body. 149 00:16:53,500 --> 00:16:58,060 You might call them false teachers or false prophets and a false prophet is simply someone 150 00:16:58,060 --> 00:17:03,740 who claims to speak for God. And you may go, well, we don't hear too many people bust through the 151 00:17:03,740 --> 00:17:09,100 door and say, thus sayeth the Lord, do we? No, but we do hear a lot of folks around us, 152 00:17:09,100 --> 00:17:14,060 even friends who say, you know, I think God's okay with this. 153 00:17:15,660 --> 00:17:19,980 Or they say, I think God's okay with this. And you might say, well, 154 00:17:19,980 --> 00:17:26,540 I think God's okay with this. Or they might say something like, I claim Christ as my Lord 155 00:17:26,540 --> 00:17:35,340 and savior and I live this way. And from their life, they preach and they teach one another 156 00:17:36,380 --> 00:17:44,220 to go down a certain way. They have influence on others. God's okay with this. God's okay with us 157 00:17:44,220 --> 00:17:49,660 doing that. What's interesting in the book of Jude is Jude is not interested in laying out their 158 00:17:49,660 --> 00:17:56,140 teaching. He's more interested in laying out their way of life. Their way of life tells us 159 00:17:56,140 --> 00:18:01,900 everything we need to know about what they believe and who they are. You can know them by their 160 00:18:01,900 --> 00:18:07,660 actions. Your life preaches, your life preaches loudly. It is the loudest messenger you have and 161 00:18:07,660 --> 00:18:14,940 how you live preaches what you actually believe. Is Jesus master and Lord of your life? 162 00:18:14,940 --> 00:18:21,740 Well, let me look at how you live. I can tell you if he's master and Lord by how you live your life. 163 00:18:23,020 --> 00:18:28,060 Let me look at how you spend your time and energy. Let me listen to how you talk. Let me see how you 164 00:18:28,060 --> 00:18:32,860 respond to Christ's words. Let me see how you treat your husband or your wife. Let me see how you 165 00:18:32,860 --> 00:18:40,540 treat your sexual life. Let me see these things and they'll tell me whether your profession 166 00:18:40,540 --> 00:18:52,140 of Christ is credible. In a true believer, this grace that we have received, 167 00:18:54,780 --> 00:18:59,980 it produces something in us because Jude says these people that we're looking out for these, 168 00:18:59,980 --> 00:19:06,380 some people among us that have slithered in like snakes into the church, these people turn the 169 00:19:06,380 --> 00:19:12,380 grace of God into sensuality. They turn the grace of God into sensuality and they deny Jesus Christ 170 00:19:12,380 --> 00:19:21,740 our only master and Lord. God gives grace to undeserved sinners. Yes. In Christ, we get from 171 00:19:21,740 --> 00:19:30,460 God what we do not deserve. It is our sin that causes us to fall short of God's great glory and 172 00:19:30,460 --> 00:19:37,820 it is our sin that God has graciously dealt with in Christ Jesus. Now in a true believer, 173 00:19:39,020 --> 00:19:45,740 this produces unending gratitude. It doesn't lessen the weight of our sin. No, the more we 174 00:19:45,740 --> 00:19:51,820 see God's goodness on display through his grace, the more we feel broken and grieved over our sin, 175 00:19:52,860 --> 00:19:58,780 the more we glory in God for his forgiveness, the more we feel broken and grieved over our sin, 176 00:19:58,780 --> 00:20:04,940 the more we feel broken and desperate in our sin to only look to him again and receive his 177 00:20:04,940 --> 00:20:10,860 glory and goodness in waves and waves and waves throughout our life. It doesn't lessen our sin. 178 00:20:10,860 --> 00:20:15,500 It doesn't say God's got it. It says, Oh my goodness, in light of such grace, 179 00:20:16,140 --> 00:20:24,940 how could I keep on going in my sin? But some people turn God's grace into a license 180 00:20:24,940 --> 00:20:37,580 to sin. They say things like, Oh, well, no one's perfect. We all sin or worse because God is so 181 00:20:37,580 --> 00:20:43,340 gracious. What if we keep on sinning so that we can experience more of God's grace? 182 00:20:43,340 --> 00:20:51,340 Verse four says that in living this way, they deny Jesus Christ, our only Lord and master. 183 00:20:52,460 --> 00:20:59,660 In living this way, in turning God's grace, the fact that he forgives and pardons sinners by 184 00:20:59,660 --> 00:21:04,780 turning that into a license to sin, they deny Jesus Christ as Lord and master. 185 00:21:04,780 --> 00:21:10,140 You can't serve Jesus in yourself. There is only one master and Lord and you are not him. 186 00:21:12,060 --> 00:21:17,020 We think that the only way to deny Jesus is to say we no longer believe in him and renounce 187 00:21:17,020 --> 00:21:19,580 our faith. That's one way, but there are others. 188 00:21:21,580 --> 00:21:25,820 List three, one is to leave, to renounce your faith, to say, I'm done with you, Jesus. I don't 189 00:21:25,820 --> 00:21:30,620 believe in you anymore. You're not real. You're not real. You're not real. You're not real. 190 00:21:30,620 --> 00:21:36,620 I'll leave the faith behind to leave. The second one is license. Well, I'm going to take this faith 191 00:21:36,620 --> 00:21:39,980 and this grace that I've received and I'm going to use it as a license to sin. 192 00:21:41,500 --> 00:21:47,980 I'm going to say Jesus loves imperfect people. Jesus makes broken people beautiful. How about 193 00:21:47,980 --> 00:21:52,620 I be more broken? I'll be more beautiful. Then I'll be more broken and I can make me more beautiful 194 00:21:54,060 --> 00:21:57,660 on in the name of Jesus Christ. I'm going to leave the faith behind. 195 00:21:57,660 --> 00:22:06,220 I can make me more beautiful on in on and on as sin corrupts and drags him down. You got license. 196 00:22:06,220 --> 00:22:11,100 You got leave. And then the final one is legalism. We can take the faith and make it into a legalistic 197 00:22:11,100 --> 00:22:17,500 rule where we say the faith, all the work that God does by grace alone through faith alone, 198 00:22:17,500 --> 00:22:23,740 right? All the work that God does in our life by bringing the gospel to us, the saving grace. 199 00:22:23,740 --> 00:22:29,820 Well, we need that plus grace plus something else. Faith plus something else. 200 00:22:31,500 --> 00:22:37,980 God's work in us plus something else. The Judy Eyers just tried to do this in the book of Galatians. 201 00:22:37,980 --> 00:22:44,140 Paul pushed back against them and said, no, the gospel that you preach is no gospel at all. 202 00:22:44,140 --> 00:22:50,460 It's no good news because you're binding people up under a law that they've been set free from 203 00:22:50,460 --> 00:22:58,380 in Christ. It's not Jesus plus anything. It's Jesus alone. And if you drift into legalism, 204 00:22:58,380 --> 00:23:08,380 you very well could deny Christ as master and Lord. God's grace must be received with gratitude. 205 00:23:08,380 --> 00:23:20,060 But to presume upon the kindness of God is a great sin. To presume upon the kindness of God is a great 206 00:23:20,060 --> 00:23:27,260 sin. It reflects an ungodly heart that believes God's judgment will never come. 207 00:23:27,260 --> 00:23:33,740 Jude, being a great Bible teacher that he is, he reminds us of three events that serve as a warning 208 00:23:33,740 --> 00:23:40,540 to those who believe God's judgment will never come. Or to those who believe that they are beyond 209 00:23:40,540 --> 00:23:47,340 the reach of God's judgment. The first warning that he gives in verse five is the people of Israel. 210 00:23:47,340 --> 00:23:55,580 Now I want to remind you, although you came to know all these things once and for all, that Jesus 211 00:23:55,580 --> 00:24:02,620 saved the people out of Egypt and later destroyed those who did not believe. It's interesting for 212 00:24:02,620 --> 00:24:11,020 those Bible nerds that Jude uses the word Jesus there, right? He says Jesus brings the people out 213 00:24:11,020 --> 00:24:18,140 of Egypt. It's like, was Jesus there? Jesus was there bringing the people out of Egypt? I only 214 00:24:18,140 --> 00:24:25,660 remember saying God in the Bible or the Lord. Jesus was there. And it's way too much to go into 215 00:24:25,660 --> 00:24:29,980 right now, but it'd be a fun thing for us to dive into at some point in time and hopefully it perks 216 00:24:29,980 --> 00:24:34,620 your curiosity and you want to chase that down a little bit. But it says that Jesus saved the 217 00:24:34,620 --> 00:24:42,220 people out of Egypt. He just assumes that Jesus being God saved the people for himself. He saved 218 00:24:42,220 --> 00:24:48,540 the people for himself out of the slavery to the Egyptians, if you remember the story. He brought 219 00:24:48,540 --> 00:24:55,500 them out by miracles. The first being this set of plagues, right? Plagues against the Egyptians. 220 00:24:56,220 --> 00:25:02,780 And the deliverance through the waters of the Red Sea, the 221 00:25:02,780 --> 00:25:08,140 deliverance through the waters of the Red Sea. He sustained them in the wilderness with manna from 222 00:25:08,140 --> 00:25:14,780 heaven and water from a rock. And he was like a cloud over them by day to shield them. And he was 223 00:25:14,780 --> 00:25:21,180 a fire at night to protect them. He did all of these things for this people that he saved out 224 00:25:21,180 --> 00:25:27,980 of slavery, out of Egypt. And he did all this so that he could lead his people whom he rescued for 225 00:25:27,980 --> 00:25:35,980 himself to a land that he prepared for him, a paradise, a place of blessing, so that he can 226 00:25:35,980 --> 00:25:43,100 have a people in a place with him as God over them. This was God's plan for the people of Israel. 227 00:25:44,940 --> 00:25:47,900 Now, how did the people respond to God's provision in the wilderness? 228 00:25:49,500 --> 00:25:56,220 Did they respond positively? Did they gush with everlasting thanksgiving and praise to their God? 229 00:25:56,220 --> 00:26:05,660 No, they complained. They complained like some of you complain when God has given you such good 230 00:26:05,660 --> 00:26:12,700 things in this life. They complain when God has given you himself the greatest thing. They 231 00:26:12,700 --> 00:26:20,220 complained. They said, why this? We're tired of that. We're sick of this. They even said, 232 00:26:20,220 --> 00:26:29,180 why don't you send us back to slavery? Why don't you send the slaves freed saying, send us back? 233 00:26:29,980 --> 00:26:34,220 We don't like you. We don't like our new master. Send us back into slavery. 234 00:26:34,220 --> 00:26:48,860 At one point they said, just let us die in this wilderness. Death would be better than you. 235 00:26:50,860 --> 00:26:53,740 That's how the people responded. Well, how did God respond? 236 00:26:55,180 --> 00:27:01,260 So what did he do? He brought judgment on them. He offered them an opportunity to be his people 237 00:27:01,260 --> 00:27:07,820 and to be let out and to take a land and to be his people in a place under their God's rulership. 238 00:27:08,060 --> 00:27:15,420 And they rejected him through unbelief. And not a single adult 20 years or older, 239 00:27:15,740 --> 00:27:24,380 other than two men who went in as spies and came back in faith, not a single adult over 20 entered 240 00:27:24,380 --> 00:27:31,660 into the land. Not a single one saw the fulfillment of the promise because of their unbelief. 241 00:27:32,940 --> 00:27:41,260 They fell under judgment. God didn't spare his own people who refused to believe in him. 242 00:27:42,860 --> 00:27:50,860 That's the first example Jude gives of Israel. The second one is of angels. Verse six. 243 00:27:50,860 --> 00:27:56,780 Now in the backstory behind this Genesis chapter six, there's a story of angelic beings called 244 00:27:56,780 --> 00:28:03,820 the sons of God who desired sexually the human women. And so instead of keeping in line with 245 00:28:03,820 --> 00:28:08,780 their proper place in God's divine order of things, they abandoned the spiritual dwelling 246 00:28:08,780 --> 00:28:13,420 that they were assigned to. And instead they came to the earth and had sexual relations with the 247 00:28:13,420 --> 00:28:19,020 women. And from this union, you get the stories of this race of giants called the Nephilim. 248 00:28:19,020 --> 00:28:23,580 Who ultimately have to be killed and rid from the land because they're an abomination, 249 00:28:23,580 --> 00:28:31,180 a result of this sin of angelic beings. Well Jude draws their punishment, their judgment from 250 00:28:31,180 --> 00:28:36,300 a religious text that was well known among his times. A book called the Book of Enoch. 251 00:28:37,500 --> 00:28:43,260 In which it says that these angels are kept in chains of judgment until they meet their final 252 00:28:43,260 --> 00:28:52,380 and absolute judge. We're told that lust and pride lead these angels to abandon their proper role 253 00:28:52,380 --> 00:28:59,500 and their position within God's order. How often has lust and pride done the same in us? 254 00:29:01,180 --> 00:29:06,700 Lust and pride causing us to abandon the place or station that God has given us. Be it in our 255 00:29:06,700 --> 00:29:13,500 marriage, be it in our relationships with others, be it in the church, wherever it's at. How long, 256 00:29:13,500 --> 00:29:22,540 how many times has lust and pride crept in and caused us to forsake God's divine place? 257 00:29:24,460 --> 00:29:30,140 The final example is Sodom and Gomorrah, verse seven. Likewise Sodom and Gomorrah and the 258 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:37,820 The final example is Sodom and Gomorrah, verse seven. Likewise Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns committed sexual immorality and perversion 259 00:29:37,820 --> 00:29:43,820 and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. 260 00:29:46,300 --> 00:29:50,780 These places were known for their wickedness and Lot who was Abraham's nephew 261 00:29:50,780 --> 00:29:55,820 lived there in Sodom among these people and he was there with his wife and two daughters. 262 00:29:55,820 --> 00:29:58,060 lived there in Sodom among these people and he was there with his wife and two daughters. 263 00:29:59,020 --> 00:30:01,580 You can read about it in Genesis chapter 19. 264 00:30:03,820 --> 00:30:10,860 Two angels in bodily form were sent by God to go to the city of Sodom to witness first hand 265 00:30:11,740 --> 00:30:18,940 the wickedness that was there and they met up with Abraham's nephew Lot when they came to the city of 266 00:30:18,940 --> 00:30:27,180 Sodom at the gate. They were going to stay in the town square but Lot said no no no come stay with me at my house. 267 00:30:27,180 --> 00:30:32,780 Come come be my guest at my house and that evening men from the town came to Lot's house 268 00:30:33,980 --> 00:30:37,820 pounded on the door and yelled and demanded that they turn the two men over 269 00:30:37,820 --> 00:30:45,580 to them so that they may have sexual relations with them. Lot refused and and insisted that 270 00:30:45,580 --> 00:30:54,060 they not engage in such wickedness but instead they broke through the door and says the two angels 271 00:30:54,060 --> 00:30:59,260 struck them with blindness so they couldn't tell where the entrance was and what to do and as they 272 00:30:59,260 --> 00:31:04,620 went their way blind the angels turned to Lot and said you have to get your family and you have to 273 00:31:04,620 --> 00:31:08,620 get out of here. We've witnessed the wickedness. God's judgment is coming. 274 00:31:08,620 --> 00:31:13,580 And so Lot begins to get his family but he goes to his two sons-in-law the ones that were betrothed 275 00:31:13,580 --> 00:31:18,620 to marry his daughters and he says God's judgment is coming. The wickedness has reached its fullness 276 00:31:18,620 --> 00:31:21,980 and God's judgment is coming and it says that they thought he was joking. 277 00:31:24,220 --> 00:31:28,380 And so Lot takes his wife and his two girls and they head out of town. 278 00:31:30,700 --> 00:31:34,460 Sodom, Gomorrah and all the surrounding towns on the plains. 279 00:31:34,460 --> 00:31:42,620 Are struck with a great fire. Eternal fire awaits them but they are struck with a great fire there 280 00:31:42,620 --> 00:31:49,900 on the plain to serve as an example it says. That struck me when I was reading that it's like 281 00:31:50,940 --> 00:31:57,900 Sodom and Gomorrah and the people of the plain. God gave them a ministry. He gave them a ministry. 282 00:31:57,900 --> 00:32:05,100 God gave them a ministry. He gave them a ministry. You will serve 283 00:32:07,660 --> 00:32:14,620 as an example of my eternal judgment. You will serve. We still talk about it today. 284 00:32:15,900 --> 00:32:21,420 We talk about the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah. It's still on our hearts. It's still on our tongues. 285 00:32:21,420 --> 00:32:26,460 We talk about it as society. We talked about it in the church throughout all the decades. They 286 00:32:26,460 --> 00:32:31,260 served as a reminder. Their ministry is to remind us. It's not a good ministry. It's not something 287 00:32:31,260 --> 00:32:36,220 you want. You don't want that assignment. Their ministry is to remind us that God's judgment does 288 00:32:36,220 --> 00:32:46,780 ultimately come. How often have we lived as if God's judgment will never come? 289 00:32:46,780 --> 00:32:56,380 Like the angels who fell before in the example before the men of Sodom rejected God's divine 290 00:32:56,380 --> 00:33:02,140 order of things and instead of reserving sex for a covenant relationship between a man and a woman 291 00:33:02,140 --> 00:33:08,860 as God designed it they attempted to engage in sexual behavior that is out of bounds. 292 00:33:10,060 --> 00:33:14,380 Homosexual desires and behaviors are not honoring to God's design. 293 00:33:14,380 --> 00:33:18,060 Sex outside of marriage is not honoring to God's design. 294 00:33:19,660 --> 00:33:24,140 And because of their perversion, God gives them this ministry to serve as an example of God's 295 00:33:24,140 --> 00:33:30,860 eternal judgment. How often do we live as if God's judgment will never come? 296 00:33:32,860 --> 00:33:39,260 How often do we exchange our proper position as created ones and try to assume the position of 297 00:33:39,260 --> 00:33:46,620 creator? I'll remind you that to hold the line as we're being taught here through the book of Jude 298 00:33:46,620 --> 00:33:54,460 to contend for the faith begins right here with what we believe leading to how we act or how we 299 00:33:54,460 --> 00:34:01,500 conduct ourselves, how we live. How you live is the most reliable indicator of what you believe. 300 00:34:02,220 --> 00:34:08,380 And I believe this this text challenges us today even. Ask the question, how do we live? 301 00:34:08,380 --> 00:34:17,420 Ask the question, am I the snake? Am I the snake that slithered into God's church? 302 00:34:19,260 --> 00:34:21,420 Am I the one living the double life? 303 00:34:24,140 --> 00:34:29,660 Is my life preaching a message other than Jesus is master and Lord? 304 00:34:29,660 --> 00:34:36,620 It always challenges us to be able to see and discern and others to look at their life and 305 00:34:36,620 --> 00:34:42,780 and their fruit and their choices, but to look at ourselves and say, where do I stand to test my 306 00:34:42,780 --> 00:35:00,060 faith and see if I'm in? We also are challenged though to put a guard at the door of the church, 307 00:35:01,180 --> 00:35:06,940 not physically, but among all of us to look and see and examine fruit in the lives of those who 308 00:35:06,940 --> 00:35:14,940 come in and claim Christ as Lord and to see if their life plays it out. Why? Because this is for 309 00:35:14,940 --> 00:35:21,100 the glory of God and the glory of his visible presence here on this earth, the church. 310 00:35:21,100 --> 00:35:37,100 Will you hold the line by examining yourself?