Midweek Bible Study | The Book of Jude | Gary Hamrick

we're here in the book of Jude tonight if you need a Bible our Usher's are making their way up and down the aisles so if you need one just raise a hand they'll be glad to give you one and then if you have a church Bible is page 1201 in those Bibles the book of Jude page 1201 in the church Bibles well let's pray first father it's good to be in your house and it's good in the middle of the week just to settle our hearts before you and to just kind of recalibrate things just to get our hearts right and Lord to just regain a perspective of of what is right according to your word and we live in very difficult days in terms of just how culture has become so relative and people don't really understand truth as it is and and so we thank you that we hold in our hands that we have on our laps your word of truth and we pray that it would guide us and direct us and give us wisdom and change us Lord shape us to be more like Jesus our Savior and we thank you for the book of Jude as we go through it Lord just guide us by your Holy Spirit give us understanding and we just love Him we praise you for the chance to be together in your house tonight we thank you in Jesus name and everybody said amen all right as always a little background this is obviously a tiny book only 25 verses so we'll get through the whole book this evening Lord willing but here's a little background on the book of Jude the writer is Jude but that's actually a contracted form of his proper name which is Judas and he is the half-brother of Jesus and he is the brother of James if you notice in chapter 1 verse 1 it says Jude a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James now the reason that he's making this distinction is because Judas his real name is obviously another well-known name and Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve of the original apostles that Jesus selected and so this Judas otherwise known as Jude it's kind of like Robert is known as Bob okay so this Judas wants you to know I'm not that Judas I'm not Judas Iscariot I am a bond servant of Jesus and it's interesting he doesn't use the family card you know he doesn't say you know Jesus is my half-brother he said he calls himself a bondservant it's the Greek word Doulos in he is a an indentured servant he has decided willfully to be a slave to Jesus Christ and he doesn't used he doesn't play the family card here for any kind of privilege or status but he does let us know that he is the brother of James and Jesus had four brothers they were all half-brothers obviously they all share the same mother not the same father Jesus's father is God and the father of his brothers was Joseph but in Mark chapter 6 verse 3 it tells us the name the names of Jesus's four half-brothers they are Judas this guy here Jude Joseph Simon and James and it tells us in mark 6:3 that Jesus also had sisters plural but they're not mentioned by name so we know he had at least two sisters and he had the four brothers who were mentioned by name so he had six siblings himself being the seventh child Mary and Joseph making nine in the family and you have to remember that back in those days homes were really really tiny and so to happen to have nine people in the same home in those days was was crowded space to say the least but this is the brother the half-brother of Jesus now Jude was not chosen as one of Jesus's original apostles and and so and neither was James his other half brother but this James here this brother of Jude is the same James who wrote the Epistle of James the Epistle of James and the Bible says that the all of Jesus family at first I guess with the exception of Mary and we don't really know much about what Joseph believed or thought concerning Jesus except during the time of his birth but Joseph fades off the pages of the Bible after Jesus is at the age of 12 in the temple area and we don't hear of Joseph again it is believed that he passes away he's probably much older than Mary was but the Bible does say that his siblings did not believe in him as the Messiah not at first they will later believe in him as you will see here Jude obviously does and James does who wrote the Epistle of James the one who wrote the Epistle of James James becomes a leader in in the New Testament church in Acts chapter 15 James is consulted as one of the leaders of the early church and so his siblings will eventually come around and this is one of them his half-brother Judas here or better known as as Jude the date of this writing is unknown because there's nothing specific that ties it to any particular event so scholars give it a time period of somewhere between 65 and 80 AD there are two main themes in the book of Jude and here they are number one he writes to expose false teachers and number two he writes to encourage believers to contend for the faith and to finish strong now he's going to tell us in the first couple of verses that was not his original intent he's going to tell us that his original intent was just to write to fellow believers about their common salvation to just kind of write about how good it is to know Jesus as Savior and and to experience salvation and to beat Christians and to share camaraderie as believers but he's going to change he says I found it more necessary to exhort you because he saw something dangerous in the early church and so he addresses first false teachers and he exposes them and he's going to expose them heavily and then and then he's going to also encourage believers to contend for the faith and finish strong so I'm going to point out to you just a few of the different terms not all of them but a few of the different terms in just 25 verses that Jude you to describe these false teachers and you can you'll see it as we go through but I just wanted to kind of pull them out so so we can see what he thinks of these false teachers let there be no mistake he didn't like him and so he calls them ungodly in verse for dreamers in verse eight in other words they're not in touch with reality he calls them spots or blemishes in verse 12 he calls them waterless clouds just just big puffy things that don't ever produce any any rain he calls them fruitless trees also in verse 12 because you know you will know people by their fruit and he says these these false teachers you can spot him as false because they have no fruit not nothing legitimate and he calls some raging waves in verse 13 and he calls them wandering stars also so he uses different terms to just describe them but probably the worst of the language concerning these false teachers is at the end of verse 13 if he just glanced ahead in your Bibles at the end of verse 13 he says for whom is reserved the blackness of Darkness forever now that is a very nice way of saying they're going to help because Jesus said three times in the Gospel of Matthew matthew 8:12 Matthew 22 13 Matthew 2530 that one of the things that describes hell is outer darkness outer darkness it's interesting you know the Bible also speaks about unquenchable flames but yet the unquenchable flames up must not put off light because at the same time that the Bible describes hell is having unquenchable flames it also says that it is a place of outer darkness outer darkness you know the thing about darkness is it leaves someone feeling completely isolated completely isolated it is it is a terrible thing to to be in the dark and and so Jude says about these guys their ungodly dreamer spots waterless quads fruitless trees raging waves wandering stars and blackness of darkness has been reserved for them for ever so he he pronounces you know judgment upon these guys because they're not true to doctrine they're misleading people they are distorting the truth of God's Word they are not representing Jesus and and again Jew doesn't play the family card but he knows Jesus bride he grew up with Jesus now that would be wonderful on the one hand and tough on the other hand wouldn't it you know because it would there would probably be the tendency I don't know this obviously son of the Bible but you know so Mary and Joseph let's let's give him the benefit of the doubt but but in a lot of families I could just hear you know the parents like you know why can't you clean up your room like Jesus I mean seriously why can't you ever you know can't you do your schoolwork and let Jesus get straight A's what's wrong with you you know so it was probably a delight and probably suck which might be the reason why his black brothers and sisters didn't first believe in him a guy we grew up with him yet we could never live up to Jesus you know and so but eventually they got over that and and they love them and receive him as and accept him as Messiah and so Jew doesn't have anything good here to say about these false teachers saying he's going to expose them all through this letter and he's also going to particularly at the end encourage believers to contend for the faith and to finish strong you know it does not really matter what kind of a start you got what matters is how well you finish some of you came to know Christ at a very young age and some of you came to know Christ later in your life and I hear people from time to time talk about how I wish I'd come to know Christ earlier in life because I regret some of the things before I knew Jesus and okay you know what you got out of the blocks a little bit late on the start but it doesn't matter what matters is how you finish and God is the redeemer of lives and God can take broken people and make them whole and God can give us a hope and a future and an obviously salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and so Judas gonna say here finish well finish strong you may not have gotten the best start but finish well and finish strong so let's take a look here in chapter 1 here verse 1 and where he says Jude a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James I'm gonna put back the main themes again so we can keep focused on that to those who are called sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ now circle those three words called sanctified preserved called sanctified some of your Bibles some translations say beloved instead of sanctified I'll take either one and I love the love of the Lord and I need to be sanctified by the Lord called sanctified and preserved that word preserved he's going to begin his letter and end his letter in the same way he says that we are preserved in Jesus Christ some of your Bibles say we are kept in Jesus Christ I want you to notice the way the Epistle ends in verse 24 where he gives thanks to the Lord he says now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy he speaks there in verse 24 about God being able to keep us he begins the letter here in verse 1 saying to God the foot by God the Father and preserved or kept in Jesus Christ and it's an encouraging word for us to remember God is he keeping God God is he keeping God the Bible says in different places like Philippians 1:6 this is what Paul meant when he said he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus because God is a keeping God Paul would also say in first Corinthians 1:8 that God will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ God is in keeping God Paul would write to Timothy in 2nd Timothy 1:12 I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day God is he keeping God and even in the Old Testament the great Priestly Blessing of Numbers chapter 6 says the Lord bless you and keep you and the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you and the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace God is in keeping God God is actively at work helping us to severe and so Jude begins his letter by saying God is a keeping God in verse 1 God is a keeping God in verse 24 these are like bookends to his epistle but a good reminder to us that God will help us to finish this race he will help us to finish strong and then in verse 2 the common salutation of of the New Testament writers mercy peace and love be multiplied to you be multiplied to you he says beloved while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation so here here's where he's going to tell us say this my intent was to write you just a charming letter rejoicing about our common salvation now it doesn't mean common as in cheap like it's everyday common he means common in its mutual he says I had intended to write to you about our mutual salvation or common faith but he says I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the Saints now in your Bibles there contend earnestly is one word in the Greek and it is the only time this particular Greek word is used in all of the New Testament and the word is upon that so may e upon Gounod's Oh may II and in them you try that three times and in the middle of that word appoggio mids oh may II is where we get our English word agonize a pogrom it so may II and so the idea is to fight to agonize to labor contend earnestly for the faith now it isn't in the sense like you have to earn it you know work for salvation salvation has already been gained for you okay we receive it through faith it's a gift from God it's by grace that we save but it's the idea that now that we are saved we're in this for the long haul so fight for your faith stay strong in the Lord don't grow weary don't get weak don't check out we talked about on Sunday don't become complacent don't become apathetic in your faith fight agonize labor because why it's important you fight for what's important you fight for the things that are valuable your faith is valuable it's supremely valuable so he's challenging us fight fight for your faith don't allow the influence of evil to overcome you but fight for the faith and he's gonna tell us that a few verses here examples of people who lost people who gave in to the evil influence of their day so we challenges us here exhort says he said I wanted to write this wonderful letter about our common salvation but instead I find myself overwhelmed here I have to exhort you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once we're all delivered to the Saints verse 4 for certain men here's this idea about the false teachers for certain men have crept in unnoticed please please note that and NIV says they've come they've secretly slipped in among you you know false teachers are not gonna say hi my name is so-and-so I'm a false teacher they sneak in secretively so you know it's always I throw this question out every every once in a while it's important you don't take my word for it you search what scripture says you don't take some TV evangelist word for it you search scriptures to see what the Bible says you don't read a Christian book and just take it at face value you pass it through the grid of God's Word we have to make sure that we're testing things because false teachers don't announce themselves they come in secretly they come in they crept in unnoticed who verse 4 who long ago were marked out for this condemnation ungodly men who turned the grace of our God into lewdness and it you know a lot of times lewdness we think in terms of sexuality but it just basically means a brazen practice that the the corruption of doctrine is a brazen practice he that's what he means by lewdness he says who turned the grace of our God into lewdness and denied the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ verse 5 but I want to remind you I was going to give us examples here I want to remind you though you once knew this that the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt afterward destroyed those who did not believe so he's going to give us three examples here now now he's talking here about encouraging believers to contend for the faith and to finish strong and he's going to give three examples of people who didn't finish well of people who didn't fight for the faith now he's gonna draw on Old Testament examples because that's what he has the Jewish Scriptures I mean in the first century you didn't have the completion of the New Testament you're still relying on the scripture of the Old Testament and so the the Tanakh the whole God's Word from Genesis to Malachi and so he's gonna draw on three examples from the Old Testament of those who allowed evil to influence them and they didn't stand strong in the faith they didn't stand strong in the Lord and so the first one that he points out here in verse 5 reminding us though you once knew this the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt afterward destroyed those who did not believe so the first example he gives is the Israelites in the wilderness and this this account of course is all through the book of Exodus and recounted again in the Book of Numbers and and it's this whole wilderness wandering thing for forty years when when God had delivered the Jewish slaves out of slavery in Egypt taking and that by itself was a series of miracles to eventually get Pharaoh reluctantly to let the Hebrew slaves go and God takes them to the promised land and there they are on the border of the promised land and Moses sends in twelve spies and to come back with a good report the other said a bad report and the two that had a good report where Caleb and Joshua and all the others had a bad report oh wait there's giants in the land we can't go in there they're gonna consume us I don't know you know we've come this far but you know we I don't think that we're gonna be victorious and maybe maybe we made a big stakin and they spread fear throughout the whole camp of the Israelites and before you know it all along the way the instruments have been grumbling and complaining about this and that and now this is just like the straw that broke the camel's back because now they're like well if they're giants in the land and if this doesn't look like some place that we can take and occupy then what are we doing out here in the wilderness and they start complaining to God like we can't go in there and it would have been better if we've gone back to Egypt we would be better off back in Egypt and so God's like okay you want Egypt okay here right here in the Sinai Peninsula want you just hang out here for 40 more years and for 40 years that entire generation would wander in the Sinai Peninsula until they would eventually die off and only their children would go into the Promised Land plus Joshua and Caleb the two spies who had the favorable report because they believed God besides Joshua and Caleb an entire generation of the Israelites would die in the wilderness why because they did not believe God and they did not stand for what was right and true and they allowed evil influence to take over their hearts and their minds and they ended up dying in the wilderness and God gave them what they really wanted we don't want to go in there okay fine then you can die out here and I'll take your children into the Promised Land and that's exactly what he did and so Jude draws on that example he says hey remember the Jewish people they came out of the land of Egypt they they started well but they didn't finish well and so they died in the wilderness verse 6 this is example number 2 and the angels who did not keep their proper domain but left their own abode he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day so number two the second example that Jude gives here is about the angels who rebelled with Satan again they got off to a great start but they didn't finish well because they allowed the influence of Satan to steal their hearts away from God and what the Bible tells us in Revelation chapter 12 actually because the Bible is not necessarily in chronological order and and some of what we read in the book of relation actually predates things and goes back historically and revelation 12 talks about how Satan rebelled against God and that day that he rebelled against God he led a third of what the Bible's calls stars but it's a euphemism for angels he led a third of the angels in rebellion with him in this great coup against God now how many is the third of the angels we don't know because we don't know how many angels there actually are but but you're talking a lot and these third the third of the angels who rebelled with Satan were expelled with him from heaven otherwise known today as demons Satan inspired them to rebel against God with him and thus they were expelled but what Jude is telling us here and there's another story in Luke chapter 8 that backs all this up as well when you compare Scripture with Scripture what Jude is telling us is that some of the worst of the worst of these demons have been capped in this chains reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day now in Revelation chapter 12 that speaks about when they rebelled but Revelation also tells us that there's going to come a time when God will open the lid of this abyss and these demons will be allowed during the period of the Great Tribulation to come out and to torment people it is actually by His grace that he has kept the worst of the worst of the demons presently under chains in the abyss that isn't to say all the deep all demons are there because there are plenty of demons who roam in the spirit realm but the worst of the worst have been capped in the abyss in Chains until that day of judgment when God will use them in that period of the tribulation now in Luke chapter 8 there's a story that many of you are familiar with when Jesus goes to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to the region of the gadarenes to cast out demons from this guy who had been possessed and when Jesus confronts that the demons in this man he asks their name and the demon says legion for we are many now a Roman legion was six thousand soldiers were there six thousand demons in this guy I don't know one is too many right one is one demon in somebody is one too many but the reason you can't necessarily trust a demon is because demons lie so it could have been one demons are yeah we're six thousand yeah I got I got a legion we have six thousand do you know you don't know because they're liars so Jesus then before he cast the demons out of this guy they begged Jesus the demons please this is in Luke chapter 8 it's in verse 31 the demons begged Jesus please send us into the herd of swine but don't cast us into the abyss because they know the worst of the worst are held in the abyss we don't want to go where they are even the demons don't want some of the bad demons they're worse demons we don't want to beat with that we don't hang out with them so don't cast us please in the abyss it's interesting Jesus like in his mercy even for demons did not cast them into the abyss cast them into the herd of swine which was a very strategic move on Jesus part because the Jews should not have had pigs anyway they should not have these were Hellenistic Jews these were Jews who were influenced by the Greek culture they should have been kosher they should have been you know no pork at that time now praise God Jesus has declared all foods clean so eat eat spare rib pork barbecue ribs pour pulled pork barbecue bacon praise God bacon makes everything good friends I don't care what cut if you're having a bad day eat some bacon it will make you feel you say pastor gear it will kill you it'll just make you go to heaven quicker it's fine but in these days you couldn't have pork you could not pigs what were the Jews having picked so Jesus like I'm gonna kill two birds one stone I'm gonna deliver this guy from demons and I'm gonna kill the livelihood of these juices shouldn't even have pigs but the abode that they abandoned was heaven these angels left their abode they left their proper domain and they were influenced by Satan and the Lord put these particular demons the worst of the worst in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day they started so well but they didn't finish well the third example he gives us verse seven as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them in a similar manner to these having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh and IV uses the word perversion are set forth as an example suffering the Vengeance of eternal fire and so the third example he gives from the book of Genesis Genesis 18 and 19 is the account of Sodom and Gomorrah now most of you are familiar with what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah and you know today now as I talk about this subject it is counter to what our culture is saying because our culture has now embraced homosexuality as a quote normal lifestyle as just an alternative lifestyle but the Bible has never seen it that way in fact in the book of Romans God calls it unnatural again NIV use of the word perversion New King James here says it's going after strange flesh this is not the way that God designed relationships to be he designed a relationship between a man and a woman in a heterosexual relationship and so Sodom and Gomorrah God destroys and he destroys them on the basis of their sexual sin these were people who started out well but they didn't finish well and it was offensive to God and so again on a subject like this where our country has legalized same-sex marriage and where our culture has for the most part embraced it as simply an alternative lifestyle I have to be able to give grace and truth and the grace is we we love people who are in same-sex relationships or have same-sex attraction the church is welcome to people of all kinds because we all are sinners in need of grace and forgiveness but we also will not shy away from telling the truth because somebody said this to me one time and it always has stuck with me they said to me Gary one of the highest forms of respect is to tell you the truth and so I respect you enough to tell you the truth and that God's Word has been unwavering on this subject that homosexuality is a sin and but praise God he can forgive us deliver us transform us and he in Jude here he uses this as an example of those who allowed the evil influence of their day to take their hearts captive all these three examples again to say this Jude is saying fight for the faith earnestly contend for the faith finish well do not allow the evil of your day to influence you this is what happened with the Israelites this is what happened with the Angels this is what happened with the people of sodom and gomorrah they allowed the evil of their day to influence them and to turn them away from god so he gives us those examples then in verse eight he says likewise also these dreamers here he is talking about these false prophets again these false teachers they defile the flesh reject Authority and speak evil of dignitaries yet verse nine Michael the Archangel in contending with the devil when he disputed about the body of Moses dared not bring against him a reviling accusation but said the Lord rebuke you now there in verse 9 Michael was mentioned here as the Archangel the word Archangel has never met mentioned in the plural there's there's not another Archangel mention in the Bible this is the only Archangel some people think Gabriel was in Archangel Gabriel was not an archangel he was a messenger angel but Michael is the only archangel mentioned in the Bible he's mentioned four times twice in the book of Daniel Daniel 10 Daniel 12 he's also mentioned in Revelation chapter 12 and then here in Jude 9 so he gets four mentions in all of the Bible and this is this is a peculiar verse I will tell you it's a whole idea of what what does it mean that Michael the Archangel was contending fighting with the devil over the body of Moses so this is the little that we know the Bible says in Deuteronomy chapter 34 that Moses was not allowed to go into the promised land don't feel sorry for Moses because it's a beautiful picture actually where Moses represents the law Joshua his protege is the one who will lead the people into the Promised Land Joshua in Hebrew it's a contracted form of the name yahushua it's the same name that jesus was given it is a picture of how the law can never take you into the Promised Land it is only through Jesus that you will get there okay it's a beautiful picture but God took care of the of Moses in Deuteronomy thirty four five and six it says that Moses died and God buried him so what Jude is telling us a little bit of insight into what happened there during the time of Moses his death that apparently Satan wanted to somehow take the body of Moses before God would bury it and mutilate it or disfigure it in some way to to just you know show contempt for Moses and to show contempt for God's people and for and for God's prophet and and so Michael the Archangel steps in so this is a scene that is not recorded anywhere else Jude is giving us a little insight here that Michael the Archangel steps in and fights with Satan over the body of Moses but it's interesting here that it that Jude says even though Michael is this Archangel he doesn't go around you know sticking out his chest and thinking I'm gonna take the devil down he actually defers and stands behind the name of the Lord and says the Lord rebuke you but I can remember before my Pastor Chuck Smith died several years ago that he would always caution us as pastors don't go around just rebuking Satan rebuking state rebuking Satan he said look at how even Michael the Archangel dared not rebuke Satan to his face but said the Lord rebuke you we have to be careful sometimes and some people say well wait a minute you know Michael doesn't walk in in the same you know Grace and power as a redeemed believer okay I understand in terms of relationship with Christ but I'm never gonna mess with an archangel I can tell you that much and if an archangel if d Archangel dared not dispute with Moses but instead he said the Lord rebuke you and and he invoked the name of the Lord we we ought to be careful don't don't go around rebuking demons under every bush just just stand in who Jesus is and if you need to rebuke in the name of the Lord say the Lord rebuke you but we better know our place behind the name of the Lord verse 10 but these speak evil of whatever they do not know and whatever they know naturally like brute beasts in these things they corrupt themselves talking again about these false teachers woe to them for they have gone in the way of Cain have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit and perished in the rebellion of Korah so now what he's going to do is he's going to give three examples to indict these false teachers and he's going to compare them in the Old Testament to Old Testament examples and the first one he says here's like they've taken the way of Cain now Cain was the firstborn of Adam and Eve his story is recorded in Genesis chapter 4 the Bible says that Cain tilled the ground he was a man of the soil it says that Abel his younger brother was a man of the flocks and when it came time to offer to present offering to the Lord Abel brought an offering from the flocks came brought an offering from the produce of the land and God accepted Abel's sacrifice and rejected Cain's now there's there's some debate you know why did he accept one and reject the other probably because Abel is presenting a blood sacrifice it is an inference to us that God had already prescribed that the way that you get to me following sin because they've been already expelled out of the Garden of Eden man has already sinned the human race has already been tainted by sin that the way you approach me through the sacrifice of an animal is a blood sacrifice and that's what Abel presented and Cain did not Cain did not follow God's prescriptive way to get to God there's no other way to get to God accept God's prescribed way and in the Old Testament God made up a way possible through the sacrifice of animals but then in the New Testament Jesus comes dies on the cross that's why John the Baptist when he saw Jesus coming to be baptized said behold the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the earth of the world because Jesus came as the perfect lamb to offer his life as a sacrifice replacing and fulfilling all the Old Testament sacrificial system by his blood are we saved by His stripes are we healed you see and so God had prescribed a method in the Old Testament until such time that Jesus could be revealed in the New Testament and thus Jesus is the only way to be saved now but that prescribed method was already active in Genesis chapter 4 and Cain did not bring the blood sacrifice he brought I'm just gonna give him what I want to give him I'm gonna give him the fruit of my own labor never know that's works Cain you can't come to God by work she have to come to God by the sacrifice but in addition in Hebrews chapter 11 Abel is mentioned as a man of faith which in first to us that Abel presented his sacrifice by faith and Cain had unbelief you didn't believe that this is a proper way to connect and commune with God so Abel is commended for his faith even though in the end of course tragically Cain kills Abel we know this but that's one of the things that these false teachers are compared compared to Cain exhibited self righteousness I can come in my own righteousness I'm gonna do it my way I'm gonna present my own offering here I don't have to come God's prescribed way that's self righteousness and so Jude is comparing these false teachers to the way of Cain saying they're self-righteous then he compared there in verse 11 also to the error of Balaam now this stories in numbers chapters 22 to 24 and it's when Balak the king of Moab was fighting with the Israelites and knew he was outmaneuvered because the Israelites had God on their side and so Balak hires this kind of wacky prophet by the name of Balaam you come and you curse God's people I will pay you and in numbers between chapters 22 and 24 one of those chapters it says that they paid him the fee of divination it was all about the money so Balaam came for the money and in fact two words indicating money is found there in verse 11 you look back at your Bibles they have run greedily greed in the error of Balaam for profit so he's saying these false teachers were not in it with right motives they were in it for the money they would get money from people to do what they did and then and perish the third example perished in rebellion of Korah so the third example he draws from numbers chapter 16 Cora was a leader among the Israelites and Korah went to Moses one day and basically I'm paraphrasing number 16 but basically said Moses you know I I know you I know you're selected by God but you know you're not all that you know we can hear from God too and you know even your sister Miriam your brother Moses you know the three of you listen you just you're a little too full of yourselves we need to have a share in leadership here and you know God overhears this and long story short God says to Moses tell Korah Dathan and abiram these are other cohorts in in crime tell him to come near to the temp to the tabernacle and and I'm gonna speak to him and so they all gather together and when they're there the next day God says to Moses now Moses I just want you to step aside step aside Moses and those like why do step aside step aside because I'm about to smoke these people and the Bible says God opened up the earth and swallowed them okay not a good way to go not a good way to go but they were rebellious and so Jude is saying these teachers here they're self-righteous they're greedy they are rebellious verse 12 these are spots in your love feasts they would have these agape feasts where they would break bread together they would share communion he says these guys they're blemishes in your love feasts while they feast with you without fear serving only themselves they are clouds without water carried about by the winds late autumn trees without fruit twice dead pulled up by the roots raging waves of the sea foaming up their own shame wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of Darkness forever I mean you you this and you just want to stop and say hey Jude don't make it bad you know anyway so but he's taking a sad song he's gonna make it better here get just hang hang with me because he's gonna make it better it gets better here but verse 14 he says now Enoch the seventh from Adam prophesied about these men also saying behold the Lord comes with ten thousands of his Saints this is speaking about the return of the Lord revelation 19 to execute judgment on all to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him so Jude refers to Enoch here as a prophet which is unusual because we know we don't think of it necessarily as a prophet like that but but Enoch was a righteous man and Enoch is mentioned also in Hebrews chapter 11 he walked with God and God God just took him God just snatched him up bodily up to heaven but Enoch spoke about judgment coming for false teachers verse verse 16 these are grumblers complainers you know you get the idea what jude thinks here right about all these people walking according to their own lusts and they mouth great swelling words flattering people to gain advantage but you beloved remember the words which were spoken before the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts these are sensual persons now does it mean we think of sensual as sexual it doesn't mean it that way in the context he means these are people who rely on their senses they're they're physically minded not spiritually minded who caused divisions not having the spirit so he's even saying these people aren't even saved and he says in verse 20 but you beloved now now look here verses verses 22 22 23 verses 2223 he's going to talk here's our responsibility and then he's going to tell us what God's gonna do what what God's responsibility is what what God says he will do but here's our part verse 20 but you beloved building yourselves up on your most holy faith praying in the Holy Spirit keep yourselves in the love of God looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life and on some have compassion making a distinction but others save with fear pulling them out of the fire hating even the garment defiled by the flesh so basically what he's saying to us here is listen we have a responsibility to build ourselves up in our most holy faith it's important read your Bibles pray commune with God connect with him worship you know guard your hearts guard your minds guard your lives build yourselves up in your most holy faith praying in the Holy Spirit now I there's different interpretations what exactly does that mean praying in the Holy Spirit I believe that this particular passage is a little bit different Romans 8:26 talks about how the the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered Romans 8:26 is speaking about how there are times and I think most about all of us can relate to this there are times when you will be so distraught anxious fearful whatever it might be grieving you don't even have words you ever been like that were you just like your face planted in the carpet weeping and you don't even have work you don't even know how to pray that's Romans 8:26 the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered the Holy Spirit will translate our thoughts and tensions of motion and heart translate it to the heart of God and we don't even have to speak that's Romans 8:26 this here praying in the Holy Spirit I do believe is connected to the gift of the Holy Spirit and the particulars to the Holy Spirit mentioned in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 having to do with the gift of tongues now not everybody has to receive the gift of tongues God distributes the gifts liberally as he wills the gift of tongues is not the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit it is an evidence the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is first Corinthians 13 which is love that is the real evidence that somebody is filled with the Spirit of God when you have the love of Jesus that just drips out of your out of your out of your life because it's evidence that you've been baptized with the Holy Spirit but if God has given you that gift and it can still be exercised today I don't believe that the gifts petered out with Peter okay but that they are still operational today that if you have that particular gift the gift of tongues is a language that is always unknown to the ones speaking but it is a known language somewhere and may even be a known language in heaven but God knows all languages and so as he gives that particular that individuals able to pray in a language not familiar to that individual but it bypasses the the limitation of language to connect with the heart of God what do I mean words are wonderful thing and words are important but words are also limited have you ever gotten into Alice a disagreement just a friendly interaction with your spouse and and in the course of trying to have a conversation it escalates because you're you're not connecting with the words that's not what I meant that's what I meant was this know that is what you said no that is what I said what I said wasn't and have you ever had one of those come on make me feel better friends come on and so what happens is you realize the limitation of language if only if only my words meant exactly what I believed them to mean and you could receive so words are wonderful but they also have limitation and so this particular gift bypasses the limitation of language because it's never known to the individual and it communes and connects with God I don't have time to go into that particular gift more than that but I believe that that's what he's referring to here in this passage of praying in the Holy Spirit keep yourselves there verse 21 in the love of God and then in verse 22 and 23 he talks about looking out for others he says have compassion verse 22 on some making a distinction now the NIV says be merciful to those who doubt the idea of making a distinction are those who are trying to distinguish between should I really follow God or shouldn't die I I believe him some days and other days I don't is he really real I think he is but then other days I know and so he says to those of us who are believers have compassion on those people pray for them walk with them encourage them help them disciple them mentor them and he says but but others save with fear pulling them out of the fire hating even the garment defiled by the fleshies that there are other people that there they got they got the smell of smoke on their clothes because they're playing with fire and they're more than just I'm not sure as God really real they're like they're like indulging the flesh and they're living in the world and he says and he says go after them as if snatching them from the fire go after them snatching them from the fire and then here's what God says this is what he will do and and and Jude ends with like this benediction here verse 24 now to him that's the Lord who is able to keep you to keep you from stumbling aren't you glad that God is able to help us not stumble to keep you from stumbling and to pick us up by the way when we do stumble and to present you faultless follow us not because we're sinless but because of what Christ has done for us our record of sin has been expunged as far as God is concerned we can stand faultless before him because we come in the name of Jesus present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to God our Savior who alone is wise be glory and Majesty Dominion and power both now and forever and everybody said amen and amen let's pray Lord we do worship you and honor you as our Savior you alone are wise to you be glory and Majesty Dominion and power both now and forever thank you for the words of Jude to remind us that we need to be discerning about false teachers the distortion of doctrine the error of liberal theology these days and we must earnestly contend for the faith Lord that we must fight the good fight of the faith as Paul would write to Timothy and his closing words I have fought the good fight I have finished the race I have kept the faith Lord it doesn't really matter how well we started what matters is that we might finish well so help us Lord to persevere and thank you that you are at keeping God who will hold us and help us you will keep us from stumbling you will present us faultless in your presence how grateful we are Lord for your work to help us to persevere when things get difficult it's a good reminder to us that you're there Lord because you're a keeping god that we might stand before you one day and hear those wonderful words well done good and faithful servant help us to fight the good fight of the faith for your glory and for your honor and for our ultimate reward we love you and we thank you in Jesus name and everybody said amen amen god bless y'all

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

Views: 463,767

Rating: 4.7021136 out of 5

Keywords: Cornerstone Chapel, Calvary Chapel, Gary Hamrick, cornerstone chapel leesburg virginia, great sermons by great preachers, an indepth study of the book of jude, whats the book of jude all about, overview: jude, a summary of the book of jude, judas the brother of jesus, how do i finish strong in my faith, finish strong motivational video, finish the spiritual race, bible study of the book of jude, the epistle of jude, indepth bible study, jude, in depth new testament study

Id: NzAafjhKvug

Length: 51min 6sec (3066 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 13 2020