WEBVTT 00:00:00.270 --> 00:00:04.370 Thank you. And thank you for being here tonight. 00:00:04.509 --> 00:00:06.950 Let's open our Bibles together for our study 00:00:06.950 --> 00:00:11.789 to the book of Jude. The book of Jude in the 00:00:11.789 --> 00:00:19.190 New Testament. I came across a copy of a memo 00:00:19.190 --> 00:00:23.370 when we were in the Holy Land. It's an ancient 00:00:23.370 --> 00:00:26.309 document and thought I would read it to you here 00:00:26.309 --> 00:00:30.980 tonight. You didn't think they had memos 2 ,000 00:00:30.980 --> 00:00:37.159 years ago, did you? Well, it is a memo, an ancient 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:40.679 memo to Jesus, son of Joseph, from the Jordan 00:00:40.679 --> 00:00:46.960 management consultant. And you can appreciate, 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:51.420 I think, what this is going to say. From the 00:00:51.420 --> 00:00:55.560 management consultant that Jesus must have consulted. 00:00:56.429 --> 00:00:58.770 It says, thank you for submitting the resumes 00:00:58.770 --> 00:01:01.450 of the 12 men you have picked for management 00:01:01.450 --> 00:01:05.469 positions in your new organization. All of them 00:01:05.469 --> 00:01:08.590 have taken our battery of tests, and we have 00:01:08.590 --> 00:01:10.549 not only run the results through our computer, 00:01:10.650 --> 00:01:14.129 but also arranged personal interviews for each 00:01:14.129 --> 00:01:17.590 of them with our psychologist and vocational 00:01:17.590 --> 00:01:22.650 aptitude consultant. The profiles of all tests 00:01:22.650 --> 00:01:24.969 are included, and you will want to study them 00:01:24.969 --> 00:01:28.299 carefully. As part of our service, we will make 00:01:28.299 --> 00:01:33.859 some general comments. These are given as a result 00:01:33.859 --> 00:01:37.180 of staff consultation and come without any additional 00:01:37.180 --> 00:01:40.159 fee. Now I'm reading here from the original Greek, 00:01:40.219 --> 00:01:44.239 you understand, so if I stumble every now and 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:49.230 then you'll get it. You'll understand why. It 00:01:49.230 --> 00:01:52.049 is the staff opinion that most of your nominees 00:01:52.049 --> 00:01:56.109 are lacking in background, education, and vocational 00:01:56.109 --> 00:01:59.349 aptitude for the type of enterprise you're undertaking. 00:02:00.469 --> 00:02:04.170 They do not have the team concept. We recommend 00:02:04.170 --> 00:02:07.870 you continue with your search. Simon Peter is 00:02:07.870 --> 00:02:10.289 emotionally unstable and given the fits of temper. 00:02:11.770 --> 00:02:14.430 Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:18.860 The brothers, James and John, place personal 00:02:18.860 --> 00:02:23.020 interest above company loyalty. Thomas has a 00:02:23.020 --> 00:02:26.759 skeptical attitude that would tend to undermine 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:29.960 morale. It is our duty to tell you that Matthew 00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:33.280 has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:38.979 Better Business Bureau. James, the son of Alphaeus 00:02:38.979 --> 00:02:41.460 and Thaddeus, have radical leanings and show 00:02:41.460 --> 00:02:44.219 a high score on the manic -depressive scale. 00:02:45.090 --> 00:02:49.389 Only one shows great potential, ability, resourcefulness, 00:02:49.650 --> 00:02:53.069 a business mind, meets people well, ambitious, 00:02:53.409 --> 00:02:56.770 highly motivated. We recommend Judas Iscariot 00:02:56.770 --> 00:03:00.469 as your controller and right -hand man. Till 00:03:00.469 --> 00:03:04.250 next time. Well, you didn't know that that was 00:03:04.250 --> 00:03:06.189 available. I don't think that was part of the 00:03:06.189 --> 00:03:12.729 Dead Sea Scrolls, but it gives us the name of 00:03:12.729 --> 00:03:19.120 Judas. who is an example of an apostate, Judas 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:22.979 Iscariot. The Judas who wrote this book was the 00:03:22.979 --> 00:03:28.460 half -brother of Jesus and redeemed the name 00:03:28.460 --> 00:03:32.860 of Jude or Judas because of his obedience to 00:03:32.860 --> 00:03:38.060 Christ. Beginning in verse 5, we continue our 00:03:38.060 --> 00:03:45.400 study where it says, though you know all things 00:03:45.400 --> 00:03:49.879 once for all, that the Lord after saving a people 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:53.099 out of the land of Egypt subsequently destroyed 00:03:53.099 --> 00:03:57.340 those who did not believe. And angels who did 00:03:57.340 --> 00:04:00.080 not keep their own domain but abandoned their 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:03.340 proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under 00:04:03.340 --> 00:04:07.599 darkness for the judgment of the great day. Just 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:10.780 as Sodom and Gomorrah in the cities around them. 00:04:11.310 --> 00:04:16.189 since they, in the same way as these, indulged 00:04:16.189 --> 00:04:19.970 in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, 00:04:21.089 --> 00:04:25.189 are exhibited as an example in undergoing the 00:04:25.189 --> 00:04:30.750 punishment of eternal fire." Jude is writing 00:04:30.750 --> 00:04:35.129 to warn the church about apostasy. There's a 00:04:35.129 --> 00:04:37.629 lot of similarity, as I suggested last week, 00:04:37.709 --> 00:04:40.860 between what Jude writes and what Peter wrote 00:04:40.860 --> 00:04:44.240 in his second epistle. In fact, the description 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:49.540 that Jude gives of apostates very closely aligns 00:04:49.540 --> 00:04:52.000 and corresponds to the description that Peter 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:58.800 gave in chapter 2 of 2 Peter. It seems more than 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:02.420 coincidence. There are those who say that the 00:05:02.420 --> 00:05:04.899 two of them had the same source that they drew 00:05:04.899 --> 00:05:08.449 upon in writing their letter. But more likely 00:05:08.449 --> 00:05:12.810 the one followed the other and was stimulated 00:05:12.810 --> 00:05:15.910 by the language, by the warning that was given 00:05:15.910 --> 00:05:18.569 and wrote his own letter along the same theme. 00:05:19.829 --> 00:05:23.189 Assuming that to be the case, it is probable 00:05:23.189 --> 00:05:31.509 that Peter wrote his epistle first and that Jude 00:05:31.509 --> 00:05:34.709 intending to write about the common salvation 00:05:35.180 --> 00:05:38.980 that he enjoyed with other believers must have 00:05:38.980 --> 00:05:44.459 read that epistle. He was so stirred and so deeply 00:05:44.459 --> 00:05:47.920 moved by the warning that Peter gave regarding 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:52.319 apostasy and seeing it coming to pass in his 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:55.180 own day just a few years after Peter's martyrdom 00:05:55.180 --> 00:05:59.300 probably. He picked up the same theme and he 00:05:59.300 --> 00:06:01.079 says, now I must write to you about something 00:06:01.079 --> 00:06:04.730 else that you contend for the faith. Because 00:06:04.730 --> 00:06:07.589 there are people, there are apostates who have 00:06:07.589 --> 00:06:09.750 crept into the church and they're corrupting 00:06:09.750 --> 00:06:14.170 the church. And he uses a lot of Peter's language 00:06:14.170 --> 00:06:18.910 in describing these same people. What he tells 00:06:18.910 --> 00:06:21.129 us in the verses that we read tonight is how 00:06:21.129 --> 00:06:28.170 God responds to apostasy. Now remember that an 00:06:28.170 --> 00:06:31.350 apostate is one who falls away. Literally that's 00:06:31.350 --> 00:06:35.310 what the word means. falls away from the faith. 00:06:35.990 --> 00:06:38.730 It is one who is a defector. That is why I began 00:06:38.730 --> 00:06:41.910 tonight with this rather humorous memo regarding 00:06:41.910 --> 00:06:45.870 Judas Iscariot. Because in many ways what that 00:06:45.870 --> 00:06:48.370 management company came up with was true. Judas 00:06:48.370 --> 00:06:53.029 was a very talented individual. And yet he became 00:06:53.029 --> 00:06:58.810 the apostate among the apostles. He was the one 00:06:58.810 --> 00:07:03.589 of the twelve who fell away. from Jesus and from 00:07:03.589 --> 00:07:08.670 the faith and had a tragic end. So one who is 00:07:08.670 --> 00:07:11.550 an apostate is one who professes as Judas did 00:07:11.550 --> 00:07:16.009 to go along with Christ, but then who departs 00:07:16.009 --> 00:07:21.910 from the faith in basic fundamental ways. Here 00:07:21.910 --> 00:07:25.829 in Jude and in 2 Peter 2 it suggests that those 00:07:25.829 --> 00:07:29.189 fundamental ways of departure include what they 00:07:29.189 --> 00:07:32.720 believe about the person. of Jesus Christ, whether 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:39.160 He is God, come in the flesh. And also the work 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:43.319 of Jesus Christ, whether His cross work, His 00:07:43.319 --> 00:07:47.500 blood atonement was sufficient as the only payment 00:07:47.500 --> 00:07:52.579 for human sin. Inevitably, apostates will fail 00:07:52.579 --> 00:07:56.300 on one or both, often both of those accounts. 00:07:57.659 --> 00:08:01.319 An apostate is somewhat in contrast to a heretic, 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:05.439 which is also a New Testament word. A heretic 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:08.600 is one whose teaching is not inconsistent necessarily 00:08:08.600 --> 00:08:13.519 with the fundamentals of the faith, but who is 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:17.259 teaching aside from the Bible in secondary manners 00:08:17.259 --> 00:08:23.019 of lifestyle or doctrine. He is one who harbors 00:08:23.019 --> 00:08:26.139 on a particular truth and is out of balance because 00:08:26.139 --> 00:08:30.430 of that. As his name implies, heretic, he is 00:08:30.430 --> 00:08:33.629 one who forces others to make a choice. Are you 00:08:33.629 --> 00:08:36.190 going to follow me or are you going to go with 00:08:36.190 --> 00:08:41.169 them? So that's the pressure of a heretic. One 00:08:41.169 --> 00:08:44.549 can be saved and be a heretic. One cannot be 00:08:44.549 --> 00:08:49.549 saved and be an apostate. In fact, an apostate 00:08:49.549 --> 00:08:54.490 has never truly been saved. He may like to retain 00:08:54.490 --> 00:08:57.990 the identity of being a Christian in quotes, 00:08:59.269 --> 00:09:02.250 but he does not believe the Bible's basic teachings. 00:09:03.649 --> 00:09:05.950 And the result of that is that although he may 00:09:05.950 --> 00:09:10.450 for a time appear to be a Christian, inevitably 00:09:10.450 --> 00:09:12.990 there comes a point when he will return to the 00:09:12.990 --> 00:09:16.429 world and to his former manner of living as Peter 00:09:16.429 --> 00:09:18.450 says at the end of the second chapter of his 00:09:18.450 --> 00:09:23.269 epistle, 2 Peter. A genuine Christian who gets 00:09:23.269 --> 00:09:26.580 involved in false teaching will be brought back 00:09:26.580 --> 00:09:30.980 to the truth through the word of God, or be brought 00:09:30.980 --> 00:09:35.440 to truth through the chastisement of God, or 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:39.860 if those fail will be taken to heaven in an untimely 00:09:39.860 --> 00:09:47.059 death by a loving Lord. Regarding apostates, 00:09:47.179 --> 00:09:49.860 we're going to see tonight that God always judges 00:09:49.860 --> 00:09:53.799 apostasy. It is a good reminder to all of us 00:09:53.799 --> 00:09:58.419 of whether men or angels, those who are apostate, 00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:02.379 will ultimately face the wrath of God because 00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:08.899 of their falseness. Now Jude seems to enjoy triads. 00:10:09.740 --> 00:10:11.720 We have seen several of them even in the first 00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:14.899 four verses. He identifies himself with a triad. 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:19.769 He talks about believers. in terms of a triad 00:10:19.769 --> 00:10:25.110 that is three truths. He appraised a triad. May 00:10:25.110 --> 00:10:27.970 mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 00:10:27.970 --> 00:10:31.769 Now as we come to verses 5 -7, we see another 00:10:31.769 --> 00:10:35.990 triad. He has three examples here of God's wrath 00:10:35.990 --> 00:10:41.730 on apostasy. Each of these three examples was 00:10:41.730 --> 00:10:45.870 noted for rebellion against God and turning to 00:10:45.870 --> 00:10:52.120 their own desires. as we shall see. The first 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:55.480 example, the first tragic example of apostasy 00:10:55.480 --> 00:11:03.860 is Israel itself in verse 5. He says, I desire 00:11:03.860 --> 00:11:07.159 to remind you. That's good for all of us to be 00:11:07.159 --> 00:11:10.019 reminded of things, isn't it? The older I get, 00:11:10.039 --> 00:11:13.019 the more I need it. And the more my wife does 00:11:13.019 --> 00:11:18.299 it. I desire to remind you. He writes, though 00:11:18.299 --> 00:11:22.039 you know all things once for all. A better understanding 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:24.840 of that phrase is probably, though you once knew 00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:28.240 this. In other words, He's not going to tell 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:32.360 them something they should know that they've 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:34.360 never heard before. He's going to tell them something 00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:37.960 they've already learned. He's going to emphasize 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:41.740 it and remind them of it. And it is simply this, 00:11:41.740 --> 00:11:45.120 that the Lord saved a people out of the land 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:48.360 of Egypt. And of course that was the nation of 00:11:48.360 --> 00:11:52.259 Israel. They were in slavery in Egypt after many 00:11:52.259 --> 00:11:56.320 long years of bondage. And they cried out for 00:11:56.320 --> 00:12:00.740 a deliverer and God raised up Moses. And after 00:12:00.740 --> 00:12:03.460 Moses finally graduated from the university of 00:12:03.460 --> 00:12:05.720 learning how to do these things at 80 years of 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:10.879 age, God sent him back to Egypt and there caused 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:13.440 him to be the redeemer, the deliverer of the 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:18.559 people. Israel out of that land of bondage. They 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:21.340 were redeemed by the blood of the Passover lamb 00:12:21.340 --> 00:12:25.299 on that great night of the last plague. When 00:12:25.299 --> 00:12:28.059 the firstborn in Egypt died, but God spared the 00:12:28.059 --> 00:12:30.220 firstborn of his people who were under the blood. 00:12:31.980 --> 00:12:35.220 And the people were delivered. They were redeemed 00:12:35.220 --> 00:12:38.460 by the blood out of their bondage. And then God 00:12:38.460 --> 00:12:41.299 brought them through the Red Sea by his great 00:12:41.299 --> 00:12:45.190 power. causing the waters to part. They went 00:12:45.190 --> 00:12:49.129 into the waters as it were as dead people and 00:12:49.129 --> 00:12:53.549 came up on the other side by His grace and goodness 00:12:53.549 --> 00:12:58.070 as resurrected people, so to speak. And Paul 00:12:58.070 --> 00:13:01.110 says in doing that they were baptized into Moses. 00:13:01.210 --> 00:13:04.809 That is, they were identified with Moses as their 00:13:04.809 --> 00:13:08.490 great leader. 1 Corinthians 10 talks about that. 00:13:09.750 --> 00:13:14.059 And then he led them to the mountain for the 00:13:14.059 --> 00:13:17.259 receiving of the law. And after receiving the 00:13:17.259 --> 00:13:22.279 law they went to Kedish Barnea where there was 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:24.919 the final rebellion against the Lord. Now they 00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:28.000 had been complaining at various points up to 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:31.159 this. Had even entered into false worship there 00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:34.919 at Mount Sinai. But Moses was gone too long and 00:13:34.919 --> 00:13:38.899 they constrained Aaron to build them an idol 00:13:38.899 --> 00:13:43.080 out of gold. a gold from Egypt. And it was a 00:13:43.080 --> 00:13:45.240 calf. And they worshiped that calf. These are 00:13:45.240 --> 00:13:47.919 the people now who've been redeemed. Who've been 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:50.519 led out of Egypt by God's great power. And yet 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:53.600 they are now bowing down to the calf. And God 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:56.000 brings judgment on them. But He brings them finally 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:00.059 to Kadesh Barnea. Where comes the great test 00:14:00.059 --> 00:14:02.299 of their faith. And they send spies into the 00:14:02.299 --> 00:14:04.480 land. You know the story. The spies came back. 00:14:04.519 --> 00:14:07.600 Ten of them said, we can never do this. The people 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:10.889 are too big. We need to go back to Egypt. It's 00:14:10.889 --> 00:14:14.210 too great a task. We can't accomplish this. Two 00:14:14.210 --> 00:14:17.169 people, the Minority Report said, we can do it 00:14:17.169 --> 00:14:19.990 by God's help, by God's power. We can do this. 00:14:20.509 --> 00:14:25.669 But the nation took the majority report and disobeyed 00:14:25.669 --> 00:14:29.029 God. And therefore God judged them to be in the 00:14:29.029 --> 00:14:33.929 wilderness for a time of testing. And that whole 00:14:33.929 --> 00:14:38.220 generation. died in the wilderness under God's 00:14:38.220 --> 00:14:40.379 judgment. That's what he's talking about here. 00:14:40.980 --> 00:14:43.720 He says, God saved a people out of the land of 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:47.980 Egypt, but subsequently destroyed those who did 00:14:47.980 --> 00:14:53.759 not believe. Who was it that did not believe? 00:14:53.799 --> 00:14:56.799 Who were the people that died in the wilderness? 00:14:58.259 --> 00:15:01.039 Well, we understand that not everyone who came 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:04.019 out of Egypt by the blood of the Passover lamb 00:15:04.269 --> 00:15:09.070 was personally saved. There were those, undoubtedly, 00:15:09.230 --> 00:15:13.830 who believed the Lord, such as Moses, and who 00:15:13.830 --> 00:15:16.169 had come into a relationship with the God of 00:15:16.169 --> 00:15:20.309 their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But 00:15:20.309 --> 00:15:22.549 many of those people had never had a personal 00:15:22.549 --> 00:15:27.350 relationship with God at that time. And when 00:15:27.350 --> 00:15:29.309 it came to the point of the great test, they 00:15:29.309 --> 00:15:33.960 did not believe God. They believed not. And they 00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:38.659 fell away. They had been going along with some 00:15:38.659 --> 00:15:41.539 grumbling and complaining on the side. But when 00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:44.779 it came to the test, they failed because they 00:15:44.779 --> 00:15:49.639 were not genuine believers at all. And they fell 00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:53.059 into the judgment of God. Now the writer of Hebrews 00:15:53.059 --> 00:15:57.980 uses the same example as a warning to us. Turn 00:15:57.980 --> 00:16:00.299 back there with me to the third chapter of Hebrews. 00:16:03.920 --> 00:16:06.379 You know from what I said last week and what 00:16:06.379 --> 00:16:08.460 I've said through the years that I believe strongly 00:16:08.460 --> 00:16:13.720 in the security of the believer But even one 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:16.399 who believes as as strongly as I do and that 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:19.899 doctrine reads these verses with some trembling 00:16:19.899 --> 00:16:25.460 as we all ought to It says in verse 6 of Hebrews 00:16:25.460 --> 00:16:29.740 3, but Christ was faithful as a son over his 00:16:29.740 --> 00:16:39.070 house Whose house we are it says if We hold fast 00:16:39.070 --> 00:16:43.090 our confidence and the boast of our hope firm 00:16:43.090 --> 00:16:49.889 until the end Now in casual reading that seems 00:16:49.889 --> 00:16:53.629 to say that we belong to the Lord, but we've 00:16:53.629 --> 00:16:58.779 got to hang on And if in our own strength, as 00:16:58.779 --> 00:17:03.179 it were, we hang on until the end and don't fail, 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:07.500 then we'll get saved in the end. That is not 00:17:07.500 --> 00:17:13.799 what it means. It is a conditional sentence or 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:16.720 clause at the end of that whole sentence, conditional 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:20.259 clause, but it's what's called a first -class 00:17:20.259 --> 00:17:22.339 condition, which means that there is an assumption, 00:17:22.539 --> 00:17:25.660 a presumption that the condition will be met. 00:17:28.099 --> 00:17:30.680 So it really could be translated this way, whose 00:17:30.680 --> 00:17:35.880 house we are since we hold fast our confidence. 00:17:36.539 --> 00:17:39.619 That captures a better idea of what the writer 00:17:39.619 --> 00:17:43.799 was saying here. Since we hold fast our confidence 00:17:43.799 --> 00:17:47.339 and the boast of our hope firm until the end. 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:51.680 But even putting it that way, there is a warning 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:54.039 here and the warning is this that there may be 00:17:54.039 --> 00:17:58.089 those who will go along with Christ. to some 00:17:58.089 --> 00:18:01.849 degree, but who will never step over that line 00:18:01.849 --> 00:18:05.130 of genuinely trusting Him and establishing a 00:18:05.130 --> 00:18:08.730 relationship with God. And the result of that 00:18:08.730 --> 00:18:11.970 will be that they will not hold fast their confidence 00:18:11.970 --> 00:18:15.589 or boast of their hope until the end. They will 00:18:15.589 --> 00:18:20.230 give out somewhere along the way. Now we're not 00:18:20.230 --> 00:18:24.250 talking here about a believer who may experience 00:18:24.250 --> 00:18:28.759 a period of carnality in his life. That is a 00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:33.980 very sad possibility for any of us that we should 00:18:33.980 --> 00:18:37.460 choose to live out of the lordship of Jesus Christ 00:18:37.460 --> 00:18:42.940 for a period of time and experience the chastisement 00:18:42.940 --> 00:18:46.640 of God because of that and waste our time. That's 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:49.359 a sad possibility for any of us who know Christ. 00:18:50.119 --> 00:18:53.319 That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking 00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:57.630 about someone who so departs from his former 00:18:57.630 --> 00:19:01.289 profession, that he no longer believes at all. 00:19:02.910 --> 00:19:05.269 There is no longer any faith in Jesus Christ, 00:19:05.450 --> 00:19:07.990 no longer an acceptance of Him as being God. 00:19:09.250 --> 00:19:12.009 No longer any evidence of trust in the shed blood 00:19:12.009 --> 00:19:16.069 of Jesus Christ for his sins. Such a person, 00:19:16.269 --> 00:19:20.529 the Bible calls an apostate. Such a person was 00:19:20.529 --> 00:19:22.509 never saved to begin with though. He may have 00:19:22.509 --> 00:19:24.589 been within the church He may have called himself 00:19:24.589 --> 00:19:26.690 a Christian may have gone along with certain 00:19:26.690 --> 00:19:29.309 doctrines or all of the doctrines for a period 00:19:29.309 --> 00:19:39.549 of time And all of us Never say all It's too 00:19:39.549 --> 00:19:43.609 universal many of us know people who would fall 00:19:43.609 --> 00:19:49.509 into that category People who had a brilliant 00:19:49.509 --> 00:19:55.289 testimony. Who could even cause you to weep at 00:19:55.289 --> 00:19:58.609 the story they could tell. And move you with 00:19:58.609 --> 00:20:02.890 what they said at their baptism perhaps. And 00:20:02.890 --> 00:20:07.230 yet in the end, fell away. No longer believe. 00:20:09.529 --> 00:20:14.269 Tragic. Tragic. Now you say, well are they apostate 00:20:14.269 --> 00:20:17.069 or are they carnal? Well, that's pretty tough 00:20:17.069 --> 00:20:20.930 for us to tell sometimes. It's not our business 00:20:20.930 --> 00:20:24.210 necessarily to tell, to judge individuals that 00:20:24.210 --> 00:20:30.589 way, but God knows, and that's what counts. Now 00:20:30.589 --> 00:20:34.089 the writer goes on to say, Therefore, just as 00:20:34.089 --> 00:20:36.589 the Holy Spirit says, I'm still in Hebrews 3, 00:20:36.829 --> 00:20:40.589 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, notice 00:20:40.589 --> 00:20:42.809 by the way that although he's quoting from Psalm 00:20:42.809 --> 00:20:47.319 95, It's the Holy Spirit who's talking. We have 00:20:47.319 --> 00:20:50.920 here an evidence of inspiration. But even though 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:53.400 human writers wrote the words, it's the Holy 00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:57.519 Spirit who's speaking through them. Today, if 00:20:57.519 --> 00:21:00.359 you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. 00:21:01.720 --> 00:21:06.400 As when they, that's Israel, provoked me, as 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:11.099 in the day of trial in the wilderness, where 00:21:11.099 --> 00:21:14.690 your fathers tried me by testing me. And saw 00:21:14.690 --> 00:21:17.650 my works for forty years. Therefore I was angry 00:21:17.650 --> 00:21:20.690 with this generation and said, They always go 00:21:20.690 --> 00:21:23.970 astray in their heart, and they did not know 00:21:23.970 --> 00:21:28.410 my ways. As I swore in my wrath, they shall not 00:21:28.410 --> 00:21:33.650 enter my rest. Now the writer of Hebrews applies 00:21:33.650 --> 00:21:37.730 this. He says, Take heed, take care, beware brethren, 00:21:39.029 --> 00:21:42.410 lest there should be in any one of you an evil. 00:21:42.779 --> 00:21:48.180 That is, a deliberately disobedient, unbelieving 00:21:48.180 --> 00:21:54.839 heart in falling away from the living God. Falling 00:21:54.839 --> 00:21:57.039 away here is not the word apostasize, though 00:21:57.039 --> 00:21:59.720 it's a very similar idea, but it means to step 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:04.420 aside from God. Beware of that. But encourage 00:22:04.420 --> 00:22:07.299 one another day after day as long as it's still 00:22:07.299 --> 00:22:11.880 called today. Lest any one of you be hardened. 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:18.700 by the deceitfulness of sin. The picture in the 00:22:18.700 --> 00:22:22.599 word hardened is of clay that is made dry by 00:22:22.599 --> 00:22:27.720 the sun. It is possible for our hearts to become 00:22:27.720 --> 00:22:34.859 hardened by sin's ability to deceive us, to cheat 00:22:34.859 --> 00:22:39.220 us, to give us a false impression so as to take 00:22:39.220 --> 00:22:43.559 advantage of us. Be careful, he says, lest your 00:22:43.559 --> 00:22:47.619 hearts be tricked and hardened by sin. For we 00:22:47.619 --> 00:22:52.339 have become partakers of Christ, if, there's 00:22:52.339 --> 00:22:57.039 the same word and the same idea, since we hold 00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:00.539 fast the beginning of our assurance firm until 00:23:00.539 --> 00:23:07.220 the end. You see, the real proof that a man or 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:10.599 woman has come to faith in Jesus Christ is found 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:16.799 Not in how brilliant the testimony may be, but 00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:20.819 in whether there is continuance in the faith 00:23:20.819 --> 00:23:27.140 in the long run. That's the test. Sadly, there 00:23:27.140 --> 00:23:30.539 have been some shooting stars, I call them in 00:23:30.539 --> 00:23:33.000 Christianity, who were just brilliant flashes 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:36.750 in the night. And everybody looked up at their 00:23:36.750 --> 00:23:38.769 conversion and some of them have been well -known 00:23:38.769 --> 00:23:43.150 people and went, ah! And blip, they were gone. 00:23:43.430 --> 00:23:48.910 Just that fast. The evidence of genuineness is 00:23:48.910 --> 00:23:51.710 continuance. You see, that's what the writer 00:23:51.710 --> 00:23:56.690 here is saying. And the sad fact is that there 00:23:56.690 --> 00:23:58.789 were many in the land of Israel who came out 00:23:58.789 --> 00:24:04.369 of Egypt who did not continue in belief. And 00:24:04.369 --> 00:24:06.609 they were found out, and their apostasy, their 00:24:06.609 --> 00:24:09.529 falling away from God, brought judgment upon 00:24:09.529 --> 00:24:12.470 them. That's example number one that Jude points 00:24:12.470 --> 00:24:19.609 out. And now we need to look at verse six, where 00:24:19.609 --> 00:24:22.650 we have a second example. It is that of angels. 00:24:24.789 --> 00:24:28.549 We have an earthly example of apostasy in Israel. 00:24:28.609 --> 00:24:31.809 Now we have a heavenly example, so to speak. 00:24:32.140 --> 00:24:37.259 of angels who apostatize, who did not keep their 00:24:37.259 --> 00:24:40.039 own domain, it says. That's what they did. They 00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:43.940 did not keep their own domain. They did not keep 00:24:43.940 --> 00:24:48.579 their first estate, as one translation puts it. 00:24:49.460 --> 00:24:53.380 Their domain refers to their position or to their 00:24:53.380 --> 00:25:02.319 office. Their sphere of rule. the assigned place 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:07.660 that God gave to them as angels. They did not 00:25:07.660 --> 00:25:14.160 keep that. But it says they abandoned, they deserted, 00:25:14.859 --> 00:25:20.480 once and for all, their proper abode. That means 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:26.940 their dwelling place, their assigned duty. And 00:25:26.940 --> 00:25:30.380 it says, regarding them, he, God, has kept them 00:25:30.380 --> 00:25:34.640 in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:39.039 of the great day. Question, who are these angels 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:42.759 that did not keep or maintain their original 00:25:42.759 --> 00:25:47.259 state or position? Who abandoned their assigned 00:25:47.259 --> 00:25:51.839 realm? Who left once and for all in an act of 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:56.410 leaving behind what they were assigned to? and 00:25:56.410 --> 00:26:04.289 who entered in, it says, into what God had not 00:26:04.289 --> 00:26:07.410 assigned to them. They abandoned their proper 00:26:07.410 --> 00:26:12.069 abode. What are these angels? What did they do? 00:26:12.910 --> 00:26:15.470 Well, there are those who believe that these 00:26:15.470 --> 00:26:18.130 are the angels who fell with Satan, and that 00:26:18.130 --> 00:26:21.769 certainly is a possibility. He is talking here 00:26:21.769 --> 00:26:25.299 about angels that... joined him in his rebellion, 00:26:25.420 --> 00:26:30.480 his proudful rebellion against God. Now a question 00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:33.460 that would come to mind regarding that interpretation 00:26:33.460 --> 00:26:37.940 is, where do the demons come from today? Where 00:26:37.940 --> 00:26:40.420 do the fallen angels come from today that are 00:26:40.420 --> 00:26:44.599 with Satan? If these are the angels that fell 00:26:44.599 --> 00:26:49.619 with him, why were only some of the angels then 00:26:49.960 --> 00:26:52.640 If that was the occasion of their abandonment, 00:26:52.680 --> 00:26:55.900 why did only some of the angels receive this 00:26:55.900 --> 00:26:59.960 immediate judgment from God? There are those 00:26:59.960 --> 00:27:05.319 who believe that, on the other hand, these are 00:27:05.319 --> 00:27:09.380 the angels who sinned in Noah's day. In Genesis 00:27:09.380 --> 00:27:14.779 chapter 6, we read the words regarding the sons 00:27:14.779 --> 00:27:18.079 of God, which seems to be a title used of angels, 00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:28.480 of unfallen angels. It says in Genesis chapter 00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:34.240 6, it came about when men began to multiply in 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:36.259 the face of the land and daughters were born 00:27:36.259 --> 00:27:38.960 to them that the sons of God saw that the daughters 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:42.599 of men were beautiful and they took wives for 00:27:42.599 --> 00:27:46.339 themselves whomever they chose. Then the Lord 00:27:46.339 --> 00:27:49.140 said, My spirit shall not strive with man forever, 00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:52.460 because he also was flesh. Nevertheless, his 00:27:52.460 --> 00:27:55.779 days shall be one hundred and twenty years. The 00:27:55.779 --> 00:27:58.680 Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and 00:27:58.680 --> 00:28:02.279 also afterward, when the sons of God came into 00:28:02.279 --> 00:28:05.279 the daughters of men, and they bore children 00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:08.839 to them. Those were the mighty men who were of 00:28:08.839 --> 00:28:13.619 old, men of renown. These are mysterious verses 00:28:13.619 --> 00:28:17.160 and they're understood a variety of ways. My 00:28:17.160 --> 00:28:20.519 study of scriptures, I believe, at least where 00:28:20.519 --> 00:28:25.960 I'm at tonight, my belief is that the best understanding 00:28:25.960 --> 00:28:30.740 of Jude's words is that these angels that he 00:28:30.740 --> 00:28:36.579 mentions are those in Genesis chapter 6. I believe 00:28:36.579 --> 00:28:39.700 we see that suggested in verse 7, where we will 00:28:39.700 --> 00:28:43.089 be in a moment. where it suggests that these 00:28:43.089 --> 00:28:46.809 angels committed some sort of sexual offense. 00:28:48.430 --> 00:28:50.769 Now I know that there are those who believe that 00:28:50.769 --> 00:28:54.529 this is impossible because they say angels are 00:28:54.529 --> 00:28:58.369 sexless. Jesus said that angels neither marry 00:28:58.369 --> 00:29:02.470 nor are given in marriage in the Gospel of Matthew. 00:29:03.789 --> 00:29:06.410 However, it doesn't say there that they're without 00:29:06.410 --> 00:29:08.910 sex. It simply says that they don't marry. They're 00:29:08.910 --> 00:29:13.200 not given in marriage. which is different than 00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:17.960 saying that they are sexless. There's of course 00:29:17.960 --> 00:29:21.660 the problem, how can a creature in the angelic 00:29:21.660 --> 00:29:26.220 realm enter into sexual sin with a person in 00:29:26.220 --> 00:29:29.579 the human realm? I don't have an easy answer 00:29:29.579 --> 00:29:33.440 for that one. Angels of course are spiritual 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:38.880 beings, they may assume human form. They have 00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:43.980 done that. and perhaps they do have that capacity 00:29:43.980 --> 00:29:48.079 to do what these angels are said to have done. 00:29:49.299 --> 00:29:55.059 It is possible that these angels possessed men 00:29:55.059 --> 00:30:00.259 and so dominated and controlled them that these 00:30:00.259 --> 00:30:04.660 demonically controlled men were their agents 00:30:04.660 --> 00:30:15.019 in impregnating women. It is a sordid and perverted 00:30:15.019 --> 00:30:19.319 story there in Genesis chapter 6. By the way, 00:30:19.420 --> 00:30:21.359 the language there does not particularly say 00:30:21.359 --> 00:30:24.559 that this race of Nephilim, these giants, were 00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:27.099 produced by that. It says that they were present 00:30:27.099 --> 00:30:31.960 at that time. And they were there afterward as 00:30:31.960 --> 00:30:38.400 well. But it does tie it together. Now I have 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:40.980 given you what I believe to be the correct answer 00:30:40.980 --> 00:30:46.240 as to what these angels did in Jude 6 I can't 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:48.400 I won't give my life for that interpretation 00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:52.220 But I've given you what I believe is the best 00:30:52.220 --> 00:30:57.920 answer But let's not get lost in trying to figure 00:30:57.920 --> 00:31:00.900 out what the Bible is not exactly clear about 00:31:00.900 --> 00:31:03.779 Let's come back and just notice what Jude is 00:31:03.779 --> 00:31:06.180 trying to tell us and that is that even angels 00:31:06.430 --> 00:31:11.069 have apostasized. They did not maintain what 00:31:11.069 --> 00:31:15.529 God ordered them to maintain. They fell away 00:31:15.529 --> 00:31:19.549 from God's assignment, God's lot to them, and 00:31:19.549 --> 00:31:22.950 therefore God kept these angels who did this 00:31:22.950 --> 00:31:30.089 in eternal bonds, it says, in darkness. He has, 00:31:30.150 --> 00:31:41.279 so gross, was their apostasy. So unnatural, so 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:46.920 strange was what they did that God has kept them 00:31:46.920 --> 00:31:51.680 in special guard in darkness. Peter tells us 00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:57.440 it's in Tartarus, which is translated hell in 00:31:57.440 --> 00:32:01.440 some Bibles. It's not the Gehenna hell. It is 00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:04.339 a separate place of confinement in darkness where 00:32:04.339 --> 00:32:07.549 these angels are kept. awaiting the final judgment, 00:32:08.950 --> 00:32:11.230 when they will be brought before God for the 00:32:11.230 --> 00:32:16.490 heinous apostasy of which they are guilty. So 00:32:16.490 --> 00:32:20.549 that is Jude's second example that God judges 00:32:20.549 --> 00:32:27.890 apostasy, be it men or angels. Now his third 00:32:27.890 --> 00:32:31.710 one is found in the next verse in Jude. It says, 00:32:32.109 --> 00:32:36.259 just as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around 00:32:36.259 --> 00:32:39.720 them. So we have the example of Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:32:40.220 --> 00:32:43.000 Notice the language. It says just as or even 00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:47.400 as Sodom and Gomorrah and these cities, since 00:32:47.400 --> 00:32:53.539 they in the same way as these, as who? As the 00:32:53.539 --> 00:32:58.200 angels. This is the connection that I see between 00:32:58.200 --> 00:33:01.079 the two verses that suggests to me that it is 00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:05.029 these angels who committed sexual sin. in Genesis 00:33:05.029 --> 00:33:08.470 chapter 6 that he's talking about. Because he 00:33:08.470 --> 00:33:11.910 says the Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around 00:33:11.910 --> 00:33:18.109 them as these, these angels, indulged in gross 00:33:18.109 --> 00:33:23.210 immorality. The word gross here means excessive 00:33:23.210 --> 00:33:28.710 or perverted immorality. Very intense, strong 00:33:28.710 --> 00:33:33.750 word. And went after strange flesh, different 00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:38.940 flesh that is different in the sense it's out 00:33:38.940 --> 00:33:44.819 of their order and you can understand that if 00:33:44.819 --> 00:33:48.220 in fact my understanding of Genesis 6 is correct 00:33:48.220 --> 00:33:50.480 and these are the angels in view that what they 00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:56.579 did was completely out of their order that they 00:33:56.579 --> 00:34:02.559 would cohabitate with women in the realm of humanity. 00:34:04.809 --> 00:34:07.410 Well, let's get back to Sodom and Gomorrah because 00:34:07.410 --> 00:34:10.909 that is the example here, and it says that those 00:34:10.909 --> 00:34:16.530 cities also were judged because of gross immorality. 00:34:18.469 --> 00:34:21.389 And we understand exactly what is spoken of here. 00:34:21.389 --> 00:34:26.110 He is talking about homosexual behavior, which 00:34:26.110 --> 00:34:28.710 characterized the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah 00:34:28.710 --> 00:34:35.949 and those cities in the plains around them. Now 00:34:35.949 --> 00:34:40.670 there is a great effort on the part of some in 00:34:40.670 --> 00:34:43.969 the gay community today to reinterpret the Bible 00:34:43.969 --> 00:34:49.909 as to what it says about homosexuality. They 00:34:49.909 --> 00:34:55.570 go to great and twisted lengths to try to show 00:34:55.570 --> 00:34:58.010 that what the Bible says is not what the Bible 00:34:58.010 --> 00:35:03.110 means. And that God does not condemn homosexuality, 00:35:03.130 --> 00:35:07.960 but what He condemns is being unfaithful or immoral 00:35:07.960 --> 00:35:13.719 in one's sexuality. And I have read articles 00:35:13.719 --> 00:35:16.579 and papers in which they state that the sin of 00:35:16.579 --> 00:35:21.300 Sodom and Gomorrah was not homosexuality, but 00:35:21.300 --> 00:35:24.739 it was their lack of welcoming the angels. They 00:35:24.739 --> 00:35:30.760 were inhospitable. They were not kind people, 00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:37.289 and therefore God judged them. But it had nothing 00:35:37.289 --> 00:35:42.389 to do with their sexual practices. But that is 00:35:42.389 --> 00:35:48.090 exactly what Jude says was the problem. He says 00:35:48.090 --> 00:35:53.050 that in the same way as these angels, Sodom and 00:35:53.050 --> 00:35:58.110 Gomorrah indulged in gross immorality and went 00:35:58.110 --> 00:36:02.949 after strange flesh. They sought to satisfy their 00:36:02.949 --> 00:36:06.050 sexual desires out of the natural order that 00:36:06.050 --> 00:36:11.530 God has ordained. And so Sodom and Gomorrah and 00:36:11.530 --> 00:36:14.309 the cities of the plain apostatized. They fell 00:36:14.309 --> 00:36:18.230 away from the order that God has established 00:36:18.230 --> 00:36:24.650 for sexual fulfillment and satisfaction. So here 00:36:24.650 --> 00:36:28.949 was the apostasy that they committed. Now I want 00:36:28.949 --> 00:36:31.670 to to go on to say just something more about 00:36:31.670 --> 00:36:40.489 this because I think that we need to To use the 00:36:40.489 --> 00:36:44.730 Bible to prove that God hates homosexuality as 00:36:44.730 --> 00:36:48.789 it's practiced But it doesn't mean that God hates 00:36:48.789 --> 00:36:55.849 homosexuals God loves sinners Be they heterosexual 00:36:56.710 --> 00:37:00.389 or homosexual sinners. God loves sinners and 00:37:00.389 --> 00:37:05.909 seeks to save them. Furthermore, I want to say, 00:37:08.110 --> 00:37:09.809 well let me just say this in addition to what 00:37:09.809 --> 00:37:12.989 I was saying a moment ago, that we ought not 00:37:12.989 --> 00:37:15.849 to use the Bible and verses like this as a club 00:37:15.849 --> 00:37:19.769 to beat these people over the head. Now we can 00:37:19.769 --> 00:37:23.050 use it to prove them to be mistaken as they attempt 00:37:23.050 --> 00:37:27.690 to twist the Bible to fit their lifestyle. But 00:37:27.690 --> 00:37:29.849 let's not use it as a club to beat them up. They 00:37:29.849 --> 00:37:36.230 have been beaten up enough in the world. Now 00:37:36.230 --> 00:37:38.449 the next thing I want to say is that there are 00:37:38.449 --> 00:37:45.230 Christians who struggle with gay feelings. God 00:37:45.230 --> 00:37:48.329 does not judge gay feelings. Why do people have 00:37:48.329 --> 00:37:51.269 these inclinations and tendencies? It's a very 00:37:51.269 --> 00:37:57.599 complex subject. Is it nurture? Or is it nature? 00:37:58.800 --> 00:38:01.280 I mean the debate rages back and forth as to 00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:04.260 which it is. Is there a genetic reason for it? 00:38:04.800 --> 00:38:06.800 There are those trying to prove that to be the 00:38:06.800 --> 00:38:09.579 case and of course they have a certain political 00:38:09.579 --> 00:38:14.159 end in view in using that argument which we would 00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:18.300 disagree with. It may be that there is a genetic 00:38:18.300 --> 00:38:23.110 component to it. As a matter of fact, it may 00:38:23.110 --> 00:38:25.909 be that there is a genetic component to any kind 00:38:25.909 --> 00:38:30.050 of sin and proclivity toward a certain sort of 00:38:30.050 --> 00:38:35.369 behavior. That does not excuse human responsibility. 00:38:36.269 --> 00:38:39.409 All it says is that we are broken people in sin. 00:38:41.829 --> 00:38:44.329 That sin has been passed down to us from Adam 00:38:44.329 --> 00:38:47.809 and we are all broken in a variety of ways because 00:38:47.809 --> 00:38:54.869 of sin. Undoubtedly, in a congregation of this 00:38:54.869 --> 00:38:57.690 size tonight, there are those who struggle with 00:38:57.690 --> 00:39:00.710 homosexual feelings. We're talking about it very 00:39:00.710 --> 00:39:03.269 bluntly in God's judgment upon that kind of behavior, 00:39:03.329 --> 00:39:05.329 but I want you to know that God doesn't judge 00:39:05.329 --> 00:39:07.630 you for having those inclinations, if that's 00:39:07.630 --> 00:39:13.190 your case. What He judges is your fulfilling 00:39:13.190 --> 00:39:17.070 them, acting them out, behaving in that way. 00:39:20.759 --> 00:39:23.820 And if you want to talk further about that with 00:39:23.820 --> 00:39:26.199 myself or one of the pastors on the staff, we'll 00:39:26.199 --> 00:39:30.519 be happy to counsel with you about it. But I'm 00:39:30.519 --> 00:39:32.960 talking about God's judgment on apostasy. I don't 00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:35.199 want someone who's a believer here struggling 00:39:35.199 --> 00:39:37.619 with these tendencies to go away tonight and 00:39:37.619 --> 00:39:43.519 say, I'm judged. God says, I'm an apostate. I'm 00:39:43.519 --> 00:39:48.420 not saying that about you. But what Jude is pointing 00:39:48.420 --> 00:39:51.960 out here is a society there in the cities of 00:39:51.960 --> 00:39:56.300 the plains that was given over to this kind of 00:39:56.300 --> 00:40:01.800 behavior. It's the direction that I'm afraid 00:40:01.800 --> 00:40:08.019 our own society is heading. I'm afraid that we 00:40:08.019 --> 00:40:10.539 are on a long, I hope a long, but maybe not even 00:40:10.539 --> 00:40:13.780 a long, but certainly a slippery slope. toward 00:40:13.780 --> 00:40:16.300 its society very much like Sodom and Gomorrah's 00:40:16.300 --> 00:40:21.480 where anything goes. And God brought judgment 00:40:21.480 --> 00:40:27.199 to those cities. And it says that He did this 00:40:27.199 --> 00:40:31.199 by their undergoing the punishment of eternal 00:40:31.199 --> 00:40:35.940 fire. What He may mean there is that the fire 00:40:35.940 --> 00:40:38.900 that destroyed them is an example of the kind 00:40:38.900 --> 00:40:43.000 of punishment that awaits sinners. We know the 00:40:43.000 --> 00:40:46.539 end of Sodom and Gomorrah was was a tragic and 00:40:46.539 --> 00:40:52.639 sudden cataclysmic end We some of us were a few 00:40:52.639 --> 00:40:58.099 weeks ago in the Dead Sea Valley That whole valley 00:40:58.099 --> 00:41:00.619 that begins up at Mount Hermon and then comes 00:41:00.619 --> 00:41:03.179 south through Israel the border between Israel 00:41:03.179 --> 00:41:08.480 and Jordan And then continues out into the Red 00:41:08.480 --> 00:41:12.019 Sea and over into Africa is all part of what's 00:41:12.019 --> 00:41:18.579 called the Great Rift Valley. It is a huge valley, 00:41:18.679 --> 00:41:23.119 a very active volcanic area historically in the 00:41:23.119 --> 00:41:28.019 world. And what seems to have happened was that 00:41:28.019 --> 00:41:33.599 God caused that volcanic potential in that valley 00:41:33.599 --> 00:41:37.619 at that time to erupt. And the cities were completely 00:41:37.619 --> 00:41:41.820 destroyed as a result of it. And I believe personally 00:41:41.820 --> 00:41:44.559 that if archaeologists were to begin digging 00:41:44.559 --> 00:41:46.559 in the area of the Dead Sea, that they would 00:41:46.559 --> 00:41:50.920 find these cities buried there. It may be that 00:41:50.920 --> 00:41:52.780 they have been underwater for a long time, but 00:41:52.780 --> 00:41:56.960 the Dead Sea is drying up. And they may start 00:41:56.960 --> 00:41:59.619 digging one of these days. In fact, it was interesting. 00:41:59.659 --> 00:42:04.380 I think it was on the Jordanian side. No, it 00:42:04.380 --> 00:42:07.639 was on the Israeli side of the the border that 00:42:07.639 --> 00:42:10.179 there was a sign to the city of Sodom So apparently 00:42:10.179 --> 00:42:13.380 there is some community there that still has 00:42:13.380 --> 00:42:15.219 that name today. It's not exactly where I would 00:42:15.219 --> 00:42:19.360 want to live but Apparently there is still today 00:42:19.360 --> 00:42:22.559 in that Dead Sea area a city that bears this 00:42:22.559 --> 00:42:27.159 name And he says this was all set forth as an 00:42:27.159 --> 00:42:30.880 example. They are exhibited as an example a warning 00:42:30.880 --> 00:42:36.920 to apostates Those who fall away from God's order 00:42:36.920 --> 00:42:42.380 The word exhibited means to lay out in state 00:42:42.380 --> 00:42:49.460 like a corpse They are exhibited this whole incident 00:42:49.460 --> 00:42:54.260 is laid out as an example to apostates warning 00:42:54.260 --> 00:42:58.340 them of The direction that they are heading and 00:42:58.340 --> 00:43:02.699 that is the direction of God's judgment Years 00:43:02.699 --> 00:43:05.159 ago on the island of Martinique there was a prominent 00:43:05.159 --> 00:43:12.079 citizen who blasphemously crucified a pig and 00:43:12.079 --> 00:43:14.500 carried it through the streets of Saint Pierre 00:43:14.500 --> 00:43:21.159 in a religious festival. He put a title on the 00:43:21.159 --> 00:43:27.559 cross and the title was The Holy Jesus. This 00:43:27.559 --> 00:43:30.699 citizen who was an editor of the newspaper ridiculed 00:43:30.699 --> 00:43:35.230 Christ and dared God to show himself that he 00:43:35.230 --> 00:43:39.550 was alive and real. The public laughed at what 00:43:39.550 --> 00:43:42.969 he did and no one seemed to object to it. But 00:43:42.969 --> 00:43:46.210 only a few days later Mount Pele erupted and 00:43:46.210 --> 00:43:49.050 completely destroyed the city of Saint Pierre. 00:43:51.849 --> 00:43:56.550 How do we avoid apostasy in the church? Because 00:43:56.550 --> 00:44:00.289 that's what Jude's concerned about. He sees false 00:44:00.289 --> 00:44:02.829 teachers coming into the church. How do we avoid 00:44:02.829 --> 00:44:06.590 apostasy in the church? Let me just suggest two 00:44:06.590 --> 00:44:08.869 or three things. First of all, all of us need 00:44:08.869 --> 00:44:11.869 to be students of the Bible. We need to study 00:44:11.869 --> 00:44:15.750 the Word of God and show ourselves approved as 00:44:15.750 --> 00:44:18.269 good students of the Word of God that we may 00:44:18.269 --> 00:44:22.550 not be ashamed. Secondly, we need to guard the 00:44:22.550 --> 00:44:27.360 leadership offices of the church. We protect 00:44:27.360 --> 00:44:30.579 the church by protecting the leadership offices. 00:44:34.159 --> 00:44:36.880 Paul warned that among the elders of Ephesus 00:44:36.880 --> 00:44:41.219 there would be wolves who would come in to destroy 00:44:41.219 --> 00:44:47.440 the flock. We have to guard against that. Third, 00:44:47.539 --> 00:44:49.860 we have to be alert to people who might creep 00:44:49.860 --> 00:44:55.670 in for the purpose of bringing apostasy. Jude 00:44:55.670 --> 00:44:57.789 says that there were those who purposely were 00:44:57.789 --> 00:45:00.750 doing that in his day. I mean, these were not 00:45:00.750 --> 00:45:04.789 people who happened to come in. He says they 00:45:04.789 --> 00:45:08.050 purposely, intentionally crept in secretly in 00:45:08.050 --> 00:45:11.789 order to bring this false teaching into the church. 00:45:12.170 --> 00:45:15.849 And that still happens today. We need to be on 00:45:15.849 --> 00:45:21.010 guard against that. And when apostasy is found, 00:45:21.150 --> 00:45:24.289 we need to expose it and to separate from it. 00:45:25.210 --> 00:45:31.570 Romans chapter 16 talks a little about that. 00:45:31.969 --> 00:45:37.989 Romans chapter 16, I urge you brethren, verse 00:45:37.989 --> 00:45:40.869 17, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions 00:45:40.869 --> 00:45:43.730 and hindrances contrary to the teaching which 00:45:43.730 --> 00:45:48.369 you learned, and turn away from them. Verse 18, 00:45:49.070 --> 00:45:52.869 for such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ. 00:45:53.289 --> 00:45:58.289 but of their own appetites. And by their smooth 00:45:58.289 --> 00:46:00.909 and flattering speech they deceive the hearts 00:46:00.909 --> 00:46:05.110 of the unsuspecting. For the report of your obedience 00:46:05.110 --> 00:46:07.969 has reached to all therefore I am rejoicing over 00:46:07.969 --> 00:46:11.090 you but I want you to be wise in what is good 00:46:11.090 --> 00:46:14.210 and innocent and what is evil. And the God of 00:46:14.210 --> 00:46:17.329 peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. 00:46:18.469 --> 00:46:20.949 And so this is but one of the texts in the Bible 00:46:20.949 --> 00:46:23.809 that warns us that we are not to cooperate with 00:46:23.809 --> 00:46:27.510 apostasy. That the position of the Christian 00:46:27.510 --> 00:46:31.150 is to expose it and to stand away from it, to 00:46:31.150 --> 00:46:34.690 separate from it. Because we have no fellowship, 00:46:34.789 --> 00:46:38.969 nothing in agreement with darkness, with those 00:46:38.969 --> 00:46:41.949 who are false. And therefore it says, come out 00:46:41.949 --> 00:46:45.130 from among them and be separate, says the Lord. 00:46:46.130 --> 00:46:49.469 And so that is biblical separation. And it's 00:46:49.469 --> 00:46:54.429 one of the reasons that we as a church do not 00:46:54.429 --> 00:46:56.730 cooperate with the World Council of Churches, 00:46:56.730 --> 00:46:59.929 for example, or the National Council of Churches. 00:47:00.150 --> 00:47:04.250 Because those are apostate organizations. Now, 00:47:04.250 --> 00:47:06.909 I'm not saying that every person who's in a church 00:47:06.909 --> 00:47:09.389 that belongs to those organizations is lost, 00:47:09.929 --> 00:47:12.690 but I'm saying as organizations, they're apostate. 00:47:13.469 --> 00:47:15.849 They do not love our Lord Jesus Christ. They 00:47:15.849 --> 00:47:19.679 do not honor His Word. even though they are called 00:47:19.679 --> 00:47:23.519 churches and even Christian, they're apostate. 00:47:23.900 --> 00:47:28.099 So we want to be separate from those, those things. 00:47:28.139 --> 00:47:30.840 That's how we protect ourselves against apostasy. 00:47:31.179 --> 00:47:33.059 Now, Jude is going to go on to say some more 00:47:33.059 --> 00:47:35.360 things to us and describe to us what apostates 00:47:35.360 --> 00:47:37.739 are like. And I hope you'll be with us for those 00:47:37.739 --> 00:47:43.699 studies. Thank you for coming tonight. I doubt 00:47:43.699 --> 00:47:45.619 that anything I've said has caused any questions 00:47:45.619 --> 00:47:50.260 to come to your mind. But if that's the case, 00:47:50.400 --> 00:47:53.260 we'll have to delay them because we have a drop 00:47:53.260 --> 00:47:56.039 -in at our house for new members who've come 00:47:56.039 --> 00:47:58.860 into our church in the last little while. So 00:47:58.860 --> 00:48:01.420 I hope that you will excuse me for slipping out 00:48:01.420 --> 00:48:04.139 quickly tonight. I do thank you for coming. Let's 00:48:04.139 --> 00:48:08.219 bow together in prayer. Father, we thank you 00:48:08.219 --> 00:48:11.880 for the clear and strong words that Jude gives 00:48:11.880 --> 00:48:15.869 us, warning us of the day in which we live. As 00:48:15.869 --> 00:48:20.550 His day, when apostasy was rampant, may we as 00:48:20.550 --> 00:48:24.190 a Church be alert against false teaching that 00:48:24.190 --> 00:48:28.269 denies Jesus Christ, denies the sufficiency of 00:48:28.269 --> 00:48:32.789 His work on the cross for us. Help us to love 00:48:32.789 --> 00:48:37.389 sinners, while at the same time avoiding the 00:48:37.389 --> 00:48:43.110 sin. We pray, Father, that we may be people committed 00:48:43.110 --> 00:48:47.920 to the Book. that you would teach us the truth, 00:48:47.980 --> 00:48:50.300 not that we may become self -righteous in it, 00:48:50.300 --> 00:48:54.119 but that we may become sharers of the truth humbly 00:48:54.119 --> 00:48:57.619 and eagerly, seeking that others may come to 00:48:57.619 --> 00:49:03.039 know our Lord Jesus and be saved from the judgment 00:49:03.039 --> 00:49:08.719 of God that is coming upon all sin and all unbelief. 00:49:09.079 --> 00:49:11.239 As we pray in Christ's name, amen.