Thank you. And thank you for being here tonight.
Let's open our Bibles together for our study
to the book of Jude. The book of Jude in the
New Testament. I came across a copy of a memo
when we were in the Holy Land. It's an ancient
document and thought I would read it to you here
tonight. You didn't think they had memos 2 ,000
years ago, did you? Well, it is a memo, an ancient
memo to Jesus, son of Joseph, from the Jordan
management consultant. And you can appreciate,
I think, what this is going to say. From the
management consultant that Jesus must have consulted.
It says, thank you for submitting the resumes
of the 12 men you have picked for management
positions in your new organization. All of them
have taken our battery of tests, and we have
not only run the results through our computer,
but also arranged personal interviews for each
of them with our psychologist and vocational
aptitude consultant. The profiles of all tests
are included, and you will want to study them
carefully. As part of our service, we will make
some general comments. These are given as a result
of staff consultation and come without any additional
fee. Now I'm reading here from the original Greek,
you understand, so if I stumble every now and
then you'll get it. You'll understand why. It
is the staff opinion that most of your nominees
are lacking in background, education, and vocational
aptitude for the type of enterprise you're undertaking.
They do not have the team concept. We recommend
you continue with your search. Simon Peter is
emotionally unstable and given the fits of temper.
Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership.
The brothers, James and John, place personal
interest above company loyalty. Thomas has a
skeptical attitude that would tend to undermine
morale. It is our duty to tell you that Matthew
has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem
Better Business Bureau. James, the son of Alphaeus
and Thaddeus, have radical leanings and show
a high score on the manic -depressive scale.
Only one shows great potential, ability, resourcefulness,
a business mind, meets people well, ambitious,
highly motivated. We recommend Judas Iscariot
as your controller and right -hand man. Till
next time. Well, you didn't know that that was
available. I don't think that was part of the
Dead Sea Scrolls, but it gives us the name of
Judas. who is an example of an apostate, Judas
Iscariot. The Judas who wrote this book was the
half -brother of Jesus and redeemed the name
of Jude or Judas because of his obedience to
Christ. Beginning in verse 5, we continue our
study where it says, though you know all things
once for all, that the Lord after saving a people
out of the land of Egypt subsequently destroyed
those who did not believe. And angels who did
not keep their own domain but abandoned their
proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under
darkness for the judgment of the great day. Just
as Sodom and Gomorrah in the cities around them.
since they, in the same way as these, indulged
in gross immorality and went after strange flesh,
are exhibited as an example in undergoing the
punishment of eternal fire." Jude is writing
to warn the church about apostasy. There's a
lot of similarity, as I suggested last week,
between what Jude writes and what Peter wrote
in his second epistle. In fact, the description
that Jude gives of apostates very closely aligns
and corresponds to the description that Peter
gave in chapter 2 of 2 Peter. It seems more than
coincidence. There are those who say that the
two of them had the same source that they drew
upon in writing their letter. But more likely
the one followed the other and was stimulated
by the language, by the warning that was given
and wrote his own letter along the same theme.
Assuming that to be the case, it is probable
that Peter wrote his epistle first and that Jude
intending to write about the common salvation
that he enjoyed with other believers must have
read that epistle. He was so stirred and so deeply
moved by the warning that Peter gave regarding
apostasy and seeing it coming to pass in his
own day just a few years after Peter's martyrdom
probably. He picked up the same theme and he
says, now I must write to you about something
else that you contend for the faith. Because
there are people, there are apostates who have
crept into the church and they're corrupting
the church. And he uses a lot of Peter's language
in describing these same people. What he tells
us in the verses that we read tonight is how
God responds to apostasy. Now remember that an
apostate is one who falls away. Literally that's
what the word means. falls away from the faith.
It is one who is a defector. That is why I began
tonight with this rather humorous memo regarding
Judas Iscariot. Because in many ways what that
management company came up with was true. Judas
was a very talented individual. And yet he became
the apostate among the apostles. He was the one
of the twelve who fell away. from Jesus and from
the faith and had a tragic end. So one who is
an apostate is one who professes as Judas did
to go along with Christ, but then who departs
from the faith in basic fundamental ways. Here
in Jude and in 2 Peter 2 it suggests that those
fundamental ways of departure include what they
believe about the person. of Jesus Christ, whether
He is God, come in the flesh. And also the work
of Jesus Christ, whether His cross work, His
blood atonement was sufficient as the only payment
for human sin. Inevitably, apostates will fail
on one or both, often both of those accounts.
An apostate is somewhat in contrast to a heretic,
which is also a New Testament word. A heretic
is one whose teaching is not inconsistent necessarily
with the fundamentals of the faith, but who is
teaching aside from the Bible in secondary manners
of lifestyle or doctrine. He is one who harbors
on a particular truth and is out of balance because
of that. As his name implies, heretic, he is
one who forces others to make a choice. Are you
going to follow me or are you going to go with
them? So that's the pressure of a heretic. One
can be saved and be a heretic. One cannot be
saved and be an apostate. In fact, an apostate
has never truly been saved. He may like to retain
the identity of being a Christian in quotes,
but he does not believe the Bible's basic teachings.
And the result of that is that although he may
for a time appear to be a Christian, inevitably
there comes a point when he will return to the
world and to his former manner of living as Peter
says at the end of the second chapter of his
epistle, 2 Peter. A genuine Christian who gets
involved in false teaching will be brought back
to the truth through the word of God, or be brought
to truth through the chastisement of God, or
if those fail will be taken to heaven in an untimely
death by a loving Lord. Regarding apostates,
we're going to see tonight that God always judges
apostasy. It is a good reminder to all of us
of whether men or angels, those who are apostate,
will ultimately face the wrath of God because
of their falseness. Now Jude seems to enjoy triads.
We have seen several of them even in the first
four verses. He identifies himself with a triad.
He talks about believers. in terms of a triad
that is three truths. He appraised a triad. May
mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Now as we come to verses 5 -7, we see another
triad. He has three examples here of God's wrath
on apostasy. Each of these three examples was
noted for rebellion against God and turning to
their own desires. as we shall see. The first
example, the first tragic example of apostasy
is Israel itself in verse 5. He says, I desire
to remind you. That's good for all of us to be
reminded of things, isn't it? The older I get,
the more I need it. And the more my wife does
it. I desire to remind you. He writes, though
you know all things once for all. A better understanding
of that phrase is probably, though you once knew
this. In other words, He's not going to tell
them something they should know that they've
never heard before. He's going to tell them something
they've already learned. He's going to emphasize
it and remind them of it. And it is simply this,
that the Lord saved a people out of the land
of Egypt. And of course that was the nation of
Israel. They were in slavery in Egypt after many
long years of bondage. And they cried out for
a deliverer and God raised up Moses. And after
Moses finally graduated from the university of
learning how to do these things at 80 years of
age, God sent him back to Egypt and there caused
him to be the redeemer, the deliverer of the
people. Israel out of that land of bondage. They
were redeemed by the blood of the Passover lamb
on that great night of the last plague. When
the firstborn in Egypt died, but God spared the
firstborn of his people who were under the blood.
And the people were delivered. They were redeemed
by the blood out of their bondage. And then God
brought them through the Red Sea by his great
power. causing the waters to part. They went
into the waters as it were as dead people and
came up on the other side by His grace and goodness
as resurrected people, so to speak. And Paul
says in doing that they were baptized into Moses.
That is, they were identified with Moses as their
great leader. 1 Corinthians 10 talks about that.
And then he led them to the mountain for the
receiving of the law. And after receiving the
law they went to Kedish Barnea where there was
the final rebellion against the Lord. Now they
had been complaining at various points up to
this. Had even entered into false worship there
at Mount Sinai. But Moses was gone too long and
they constrained Aaron to build them an idol
out of gold. a gold from Egypt. And it was a
calf. And they worshiped that calf. These are
the people now who've been redeemed. Who've been
led out of Egypt by God's great power. And yet
they are now bowing down to the calf. And God
brings judgment on them. But He brings them finally
to Kadesh Barnea. Where comes the great test
of their faith. And they send spies into the
land. You know the story. The spies came back.
Ten of them said, we can never do this. The people
are too big. We need to go back to Egypt. It's
too great a task. We can't accomplish this. Two
people, the Minority Report said, we can do it
by God's help, by God's power. We can do this.
But the nation took the majority report and disobeyed
God. And therefore God judged them to be in the
wilderness for a time of testing. And that whole
generation. died in the wilderness under God's
judgment. That's what he's talking about here.
He says, God saved a people out of the land of
Egypt, but subsequently destroyed those who did
not believe. Who was it that did not believe?
Who were the people that died in the wilderness?
Well, we understand that not everyone who came
out of Egypt by the blood of the Passover lamb
was personally saved. There were those, undoubtedly,
who believed the Lord, such as Moses, and who
had come into a relationship with the God of
their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But
many of those people had never had a personal
relationship with God at that time. And when
it came to the point of the great test, they
did not believe God. They believed not. And they
fell away. They had been going along with some
grumbling and complaining on the side. But when
it came to the test, they failed because they
were not genuine believers at all. And they fell
into the judgment of God. Now the writer of Hebrews
uses the same example as a warning to us. Turn
back there with me to the third chapter of Hebrews.
You know from what I said last week and what
I've said through the years that I believe strongly
in the security of the believer But even one
who believes as as strongly as I do and that
doctrine reads these verses with some trembling
as we all ought to It says in verse 6 of Hebrews
3, but Christ was faithful as a son over his
house Whose house we are it says if We hold fast
our confidence and the boast of our hope firm
until the end Now in casual reading that seems
to say that we belong to the Lord, but we've
got to hang on And if in our own strength, as
it were, we hang on until the end and don't fail,
then we'll get saved in the end. That is not
what it means. It is a conditional sentence or
clause at the end of that whole sentence, conditional
clause, but it's what's called a first -class
condition, which means that there is an assumption,
a presumption that the condition will be met.
So it really could be translated this way, whose
house we are since we hold fast our confidence.
That captures a better idea of what the writer
was saying here. Since we hold fast our confidence
and the boast of our hope firm until the end.
But even putting it that way, there is a warning
here and the warning is this that there may be
those who will go along with Christ. to some
degree, but who will never step over that line
of genuinely trusting Him and establishing a
relationship with God. And the result of that
will be that they will not hold fast their confidence
or boast of their hope until the end. They will
give out somewhere along the way. Now we're not
talking here about a believer who may experience
a period of carnality in his life. That is a
very sad possibility for any of us that we should
choose to live out of the lordship of Jesus Christ
for a period of time and experience the chastisement
of God because of that and waste our time. That's
a sad possibility for any of us who know Christ.
That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking
about someone who so departs from his former
profession, that he no longer believes at all.
There is no longer any faith in Jesus Christ,
no longer an acceptance of Him as being God.
No longer any evidence of trust in the shed blood
of Jesus Christ for his sins. Such a person,
the Bible calls an apostate. Such a person was
never saved to begin with though. He may have
been within the church He may have called himself
a Christian may have gone along with certain
doctrines or all of the doctrines for a period
of time And all of us Never say all It's too
universal many of us know people who would fall
into that category People who had a brilliant
testimony. Who could even cause you to weep at
the story they could tell. And move you with
what they said at their baptism perhaps. And
yet in the end, fell away. No longer believe.
Tragic. Tragic. Now you say, well are they apostate
or are they carnal? Well, that's pretty tough
for us to tell sometimes. It's not our business
necessarily to tell, to judge individuals that
way, but God knows, and that's what counts. Now
the writer goes on to say, Therefore, just as
the Holy Spirit says, I'm still in Hebrews 3,
Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, notice
by the way that although he's quoting from Psalm
95, It's the Holy Spirit who's talking. We have
here an evidence of inspiration. But even though
human writers wrote the words, it's the Holy
Spirit who's speaking through them. Today, if
you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.
As when they, that's Israel, provoked me, as
in the day of trial in the wilderness, where
your fathers tried me by testing me. And saw
my works for forty years. Therefore I was angry
with this generation and said, They always go
astray in their heart, and they did not know
my ways. As I swore in my wrath, they shall not
enter my rest. Now the writer of Hebrews applies
this. He says, Take heed, take care, beware brethren,
lest there should be in any one of you an evil.
That is, a deliberately disobedient, unbelieving
heart in falling away from the living God. Falling
away here is not the word apostasize, though
it's a very similar idea, but it means to step
aside from God. Beware of that. But encourage
one another day after day as long as it's still
called today. Lest any one of you be hardened.
by the deceitfulness of sin. The picture in the
word hardened is of clay that is made dry by
the sun. It is possible for our hearts to become
hardened by sin's ability to deceive us, to cheat
us, to give us a false impression so as to take
advantage of us. Be careful, he says, lest your
hearts be tricked and hardened by sin. For we
have become partakers of Christ, if, there's
the same word and the same idea, since we hold
fast the beginning of our assurance firm until
the end. You see, the real proof that a man or
woman has come to faith in Jesus Christ is found
Not in how brilliant the testimony may be, but
in whether there is continuance in the faith
in the long run. That's the test. Sadly, there
have been some shooting stars, I call them in
Christianity, who were just brilliant flashes
in the night. And everybody looked up at their
conversion and some of them have been well -known
people and went, ah! And blip, they were gone.
Just that fast. The evidence of genuineness is
continuance. You see, that's what the writer
here is saying. And the sad fact is that there
were many in the land of Israel who came out
of Egypt who did not continue in belief. And
they were found out, and their apostasy, their
falling away from God, brought judgment upon
them. That's example number one that Jude points
out. And now we need to look at verse six, where
we have a second example. It is that of angels.
We have an earthly example of apostasy in Israel.
Now we have a heavenly example, so to speak.
of angels who apostatize, who did not keep their
own domain, it says. That's what they did. They
did not keep their own domain. They did not keep
their first estate, as one translation puts it.
Their domain refers to their position or to their
office. Their sphere of rule. the assigned place
that God gave to them as angels. They did not
keep that. But it says they abandoned, they deserted,
once and for all, their proper abode. That means
their dwelling place, their assigned duty. And
it says, regarding them, he, God, has kept them
in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment
of the great day. Question, who are these angels
that did not keep or maintain their original
state or position? Who abandoned their assigned
realm? Who left once and for all in an act of
leaving behind what they were assigned to? and
who entered in, it says, into what God had not
assigned to them. They abandoned their proper
abode. What are these angels? What did they do?
Well, there are those who believe that these
are the angels who fell with Satan, and that
certainly is a possibility. He is talking here
about angels that... joined him in his rebellion,
his proudful rebellion against God. Now a question
that would come to mind regarding that interpretation
is, where do the demons come from today? Where
do the fallen angels come from today that are
with Satan? If these are the angels that fell
with him, why were only some of the angels then
If that was the occasion of their abandonment,
why did only some of the angels receive this
immediate judgment from God? There are those
who believe that, on the other hand, these are
the angels who sinned in Noah's day. In Genesis
chapter 6, we read the words regarding the sons
of God, which seems to be a title used of angels,
of unfallen angels. It says in Genesis chapter
6, it came about when men began to multiply in
the face of the land and daughters were born
to them that the sons of God saw that the daughters
of men were beautiful and they took wives for
themselves whomever they chose. Then the Lord
said, My spirit shall not strive with man forever,
because he also was flesh. Nevertheless, his
days shall be one hundred and twenty years. The
Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and
also afterward, when the sons of God came into
the daughters of men, and they bore children
to them. Those were the mighty men who were of
old, men of renown. These are mysterious verses
and they're understood a variety of ways. My
study of scriptures, I believe, at least where
I'm at tonight, my belief is that the best understanding
of Jude's words is that these angels that he
mentions are those in Genesis chapter 6. I believe
we see that suggested in verse 7, where we will
be in a moment. where it suggests that these
angels committed some sort of sexual offense.
Now I know that there are those who believe that
this is impossible because they say angels are
sexless. Jesus said that angels neither marry
nor are given in marriage in the Gospel of Matthew.
However, it doesn't say there that they're without
sex. It simply says that they don't marry. They're
not given in marriage. which is different than
saying that they are sexless. There's of course
the problem, how can a creature in the angelic
realm enter into sexual sin with a person in
the human realm? I don't have an easy answer
for that one. Angels of course are spiritual
beings, they may assume human form. They have
done that. and perhaps they do have that capacity
to do what these angels are said to have done.
It is possible that these angels possessed men
and so dominated and controlled them that these
demonically controlled men were their agents
in impregnating women. It is a sordid and perverted
story there in Genesis chapter 6. By the way,
the language there does not particularly say
that this race of Nephilim, these giants, were
produced by that. It says that they were present
at that time. And they were there afterward as
well. But it does tie it together. Now I have
given you what I believe to be the correct answer
as to what these angels did in Jude 6 I can't
I won't give my life for that interpretation
But I've given you what I believe is the best
answer But let's not get lost in trying to figure
out what the Bible is not exactly clear about
Let's come back and just notice what Jude is
trying to tell us and that is that even angels
have apostasized. They did not maintain what
God ordered them to maintain. They fell away
from God's assignment, God's lot to them, and
therefore God kept these angels who did this
in eternal bonds, it says, in darkness. He has,
so gross, was their apostasy. So unnatural, so
strange was what they did that God has kept them
in special guard in darkness. Peter tells us
it's in Tartarus, which is translated hell in
some Bibles. It's not the Gehenna hell. It is
a separate place of confinement in darkness where
these angels are kept. awaiting the final judgment,
when they will be brought before God for the
heinous apostasy of which they are guilty. So
that is Jude's second example that God judges
apostasy, be it men or angels. Now his third
one is found in the next verse in Jude. It says,
just as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around
them. So we have the example of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Notice the language. It says just as or even
as Sodom and Gomorrah and these cities, since
they in the same way as these, as who? As the
angels. This is the connection that I see between
the two verses that suggests to me that it is
these angels who committed sexual sin. in Genesis
chapter 6 that he's talking about. Because he
says the Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around
them as these, these angels, indulged in gross
immorality. The word gross here means excessive
or perverted immorality. Very intense, strong
word. And went after strange flesh, different
flesh that is different in the sense it's out
of their order and you can understand that if
in fact my understanding of Genesis 6 is correct
and these are the angels in view that what they
did was completely out of their order that they
would cohabitate with women in the realm of humanity.
Well, let's get back to Sodom and Gomorrah because
that is the example here, and it says that those
cities also were judged because of gross immorality.
And we understand exactly what is spoken of here.
He is talking about homosexual behavior, which
characterized the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
and those cities in the plains around them. Now
there is a great effort on the part of some in
the gay community today to reinterpret the Bible
as to what it says about homosexuality. They
go to great and twisted lengths to try to show
that what the Bible says is not what the Bible
means. And that God does not condemn homosexuality,
but what He condemns is being unfaithful or immoral
in one's sexuality. And I have read articles
and papers in which they state that the sin of
Sodom and Gomorrah was not homosexuality, but
it was their lack of welcoming the angels. They
were inhospitable. They were not kind people,
and therefore God judged them. But it had nothing
to do with their sexual practices. But that is
exactly what Jude says was the problem. He says
that in the same way as these angels, Sodom and
Gomorrah indulged in gross immorality and went
after strange flesh. They sought to satisfy their
sexual desires out of the natural order that
God has ordained. And so Sodom and Gomorrah and
the cities of the plain apostatized. They fell
away from the order that God has established
for sexual fulfillment and satisfaction. So here
was the apostasy that they committed. Now I want
to to go on to say just something more about
this because I think that we need to To use the
Bible to prove that God hates homosexuality as
it's practiced But it doesn't mean that God hates
homosexuals God loves sinners Be they heterosexual
or homosexual sinners. God loves sinners and
seeks to save them. Furthermore, I want to say,
well let me just say this in addition to what
I was saying a moment ago, that we ought not
to use the Bible and verses like this as a club
to beat these people over the head. Now we can
use it to prove them to be mistaken as they attempt
to twist the Bible to fit their lifestyle. But
let's not use it as a club to beat them up. They
have been beaten up enough in the world. Now
the next thing I want to say is that there are
Christians who struggle with gay feelings. God
does not judge gay feelings. Why do people have
these inclinations and tendencies? It's a very
complex subject. Is it nurture? Or is it nature?
I mean the debate rages back and forth as to
which it is. Is there a genetic reason for it?
There are those trying to prove that to be the
case and of course they have a certain political
end in view in using that argument which we would
disagree with. It may be that there is a genetic
component to it. As a matter of fact, it may
be that there is a genetic component to any kind
of sin and proclivity toward a certain sort of
behavior. That does not excuse human responsibility.
All it says is that we are broken people in sin.
That sin has been passed down to us from Adam
and we are all broken in a variety of ways because
of sin. Undoubtedly, in a congregation of this
size tonight, there are those who struggle with
homosexual feelings. We're talking about it very
bluntly in God's judgment upon that kind of behavior,
but I want you to know that God doesn't judge
you for having those inclinations, if that's
your case. What He judges is your fulfilling
them, acting them out, behaving in that way.
And if you want to talk further about that with
myself or one of the pastors on the staff, we'll
be happy to counsel with you about it. But I'm
talking about God's judgment on apostasy. I don't
want someone who's a believer here struggling
with these tendencies to go away tonight and
say, I'm judged. God says, I'm an apostate. I'm
not saying that about you. But what Jude is pointing
out here is a society there in the cities of
the plains that was given over to this kind of
behavior. It's the direction that I'm afraid
our own society is heading. I'm afraid that we
are on a long, I hope a long, but maybe not even
a long, but certainly a slippery slope. toward
its society very much like Sodom and Gomorrah's
where anything goes. And God brought judgment
to those cities. And it says that He did this
by their undergoing the punishment of eternal
fire. What He may mean there is that the fire
that destroyed them is an example of the kind
of punishment that awaits sinners. We know the
end of Sodom and Gomorrah was was a tragic and
sudden cataclysmic end We some of us were a few
weeks ago in the Dead Sea Valley That whole valley
that begins up at Mount Hermon and then comes
south through Israel the border between Israel
and Jordan And then continues out into the Red
Sea and over into Africa is all part of what's
called the Great Rift Valley. It is a huge valley,
a very active volcanic area historically in the
world. And what seems to have happened was that
God caused that volcanic potential in that valley
at that time to erupt. And the cities were completely
destroyed as a result of it. And I believe personally
that if archaeologists were to begin digging
in the area of the Dead Sea, that they would
find these cities buried there. It may be that
they have been underwater for a long time, but
the Dead Sea is drying up. And they may start
digging one of these days. In fact, it was interesting.
I think it was on the Jordanian side. No, it
was on the Israeli side of the the border that
there was a sign to the city of Sodom So apparently
there is some community there that still has
that name today. It's not exactly where I would
want to live but Apparently there is still today
in that Dead Sea area a city that bears this
name And he says this was all set forth as an
example. They are exhibited as an example a warning
to apostates Those who fall away from God's order
The word exhibited means to lay out in state
like a corpse They are exhibited this whole incident
is laid out as an example to apostates warning
them of The direction that they are heading and
that is the direction of God's judgment Years
ago on the island of Martinique there was a prominent
citizen who blasphemously crucified a pig and
carried it through the streets of Saint Pierre
in a religious festival. He put a title on the
cross and the title was The Holy Jesus. This
citizen who was an editor of the newspaper ridiculed
Christ and dared God to show himself that he
was alive and real. The public laughed at what
he did and no one seemed to object to it. But
only a few days later Mount Pele erupted and
completely destroyed the city of Saint Pierre.
How do we avoid apostasy in the church? Because
that's what Jude's concerned about. He sees false
teachers coming into the church. How do we avoid
apostasy in the church? Let me just suggest two
or three things. First of all, all of us need
to be students of the Bible. We need to study
the Word of God and show ourselves approved as
good students of the Word of God that we may
not be ashamed. Secondly, we need to guard the
leadership offices of the church. We protect
the church by protecting the leadership offices.
Paul warned that among the elders of Ephesus
there would be wolves who would come in to destroy
the flock. We have to guard against that. Third,
we have to be alert to people who might creep
in for the purpose of bringing apostasy. Jude
says that there were those who purposely were
doing that in his day. I mean, these were not
people who happened to come in. He says they
purposely, intentionally crept in secretly in
order to bring this false teaching into the church.
And that still happens today. We need to be on
guard against that. And when apostasy is found,
we need to expose it and to separate from it.
Romans chapter 16 talks a little about that.
Romans chapter 16, I urge you brethren, verse
17, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions
and hindrances contrary to the teaching which
you learned, and turn away from them. Verse 18,
for such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ.
but of their own appetites. And by their smooth
and flattering speech they deceive the hearts
of the unsuspecting. For the report of your obedience
has reached to all therefore I am rejoicing over
you but I want you to be wise in what is good
and innocent and what is evil. And the God of
peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
And so this is but one of the texts in the Bible
that warns us that we are not to cooperate with
apostasy. That the position of the Christian
is to expose it and to stand away from it, to
separate from it. Because we have no fellowship,
nothing in agreement with darkness, with those
who are false. And therefore it says, come out
from among them and be separate, says the Lord.
And so that is biblical separation. And it's
one of the reasons that we as a church do not
cooperate with the World Council of Churches,
for example, or the National Council of Churches.
Because those are apostate organizations. Now,
I'm not saying that every person who's in a church
that belongs to those organizations is lost,
but I'm saying as organizations, they're apostate.
They do not love our Lord Jesus Christ. They
do not honor His Word. even though they are called
churches and even Christian, they're apostate.
So we want to be separate from those, those things.
That's how we protect ourselves against apostasy.
Now, Jude is going to go on to say some more
things to us and describe to us what apostates
are like. And I hope you'll be with us for those
studies. Thank you for coming tonight. I doubt
that anything I've said has caused any questions
to come to your mind. But if that's the case,
we'll have to delay them because we have a drop
-in at our house for new members who've come
into our church in the last little while. So
I hope that you will excuse me for slipping out
quickly tonight. I do thank you for coming. Let's
bow together in prayer. Father, we thank you
for the clear and strong words that Jude gives
us, warning us of the day in which we live. As
His day, when apostasy was rampant, may we as
a Church be alert against false teaching that
denies Jesus Christ, denies the sufficiency of
His work on the cross for us. Help us to love
sinners, while at the same time avoiding the
sin. We pray, Father, that we may be people committed
to the Book. that you would teach us the truth,
not that we may become self -righteous in it,
but that we may become sharers of the truth humbly
and eagerly, seeking that others may come to
know our Lord Jesus and be saved from the judgment
of God that is coming upon all sin and all unbelief.
As we pray in Christ's name, amen.