Wednesday, May 25, 2023 PM

God, we thank you for this evening. We thank you for the many, many blessings that you have given us. We thank you for the people that you have brought here that we get to share our time with. We get to share our lives with, fellowship and good food.

And we get to honor you and go to your word. We get to learn about you. We get to learn about what you've done, what you have to say to us and how we should live, how we are to live in light of eternity and that we get to bring people with us.

We know that as we go through life, we face trials, difficulties, afflictions, but we meet people. You've put us where you've put us in this time and in this place, in this city, in this country. And we ask that you would be always on our minds so that we would be faithful.

We would be faithful to share the gospel, the good news of your kingdom and what you've done and how we have been set free from sin and that you have received a kingdom. And we pray that we would share that with those around us.

Give us boldness to do so. And we pray your word would be clear to us and that we would seek to live in light of your word. In Jesus name we pray, amen. So last week we began in the book of Jude. And so we'll pick up in Jude and I'll give kind of a summary of some of the things we went through.

Jude is a smaller book. It's right before Revelation, but there's a lot in that tiny book. It is very, very interesting. It's been a blessing to me to go through it. And so kind of as a reminder, we went through the opening in Jude.

He talks about writing to those that are called by God, kept by Jesus. And he talks about mercy, peace, and love. So it seems to be a Trinitarian opening. And then he gives a warning. He says, I want to talk to you about our common salvation.

And that shows how important salvation is. That's what he wants to talk about. But there's something happening in the church that he feels he needs to warn them about. Men have crept in teaching destructive heresies, teaching falsehood, living lives of ungodliness and unbelief and rebellion against authority.

And so while we want to be gospel-centered, we know that that entails more than just you can be saved. The glory of God, the honor of God, what he has done is to also be defended. When people speak falsely or claim the title of Christian, but live completely against it and say that that is okay with God, something has to be said.

And so Jude gives us that example. And we see, as we go through the book, he's highlighting certain behaviors. He's not limiting other ones, but he seems to mention these specific groupings of sin, unbelief, rebellion, and fleshly indulgence.

And he brings that out in several different passages. But particularly he gives some examples from the Old Testament. So he says, let's start in verse five, actually verse four. Certain men have crept in unnoticed who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

So we see ungodly men. They turn the grace of God into lewdness, sexual immorality, licentiousness, and then they deny the Lordship of Christ, an authority figure. They deny the Lordship of Christ. So verse five, but I want to remind you though that you once knew this, that the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroy those who did not believe.

That's the first example. 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. That's the second example.

As Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them in particular manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

So he gives the example from the Old Testament. He's trying to set something up about the nature of God. He's trying to encourage these believers in his time. He's saying, there's men here that have crept in and they're doing bad things, right?

They believe bad things. Well, this has happened in the past. He gives this example. So then he says, these men are like those men in the Old Testament. Those three examples, these men are like that. And so in verse eight, likewise, these dreamers defile the flesh.

They reject authority and they speak evil of dignitaries. And so he talks about them being similar. In verse 12, he starts describing them. So he gives an example from the Old Testament. And he says, those examples, what happened to them?

They were destroyed. They're kept in chains of darkness. They serve as an example of eternal punishment with fire. So God knew how to handle them in the past, those three examples. And he's moving to say, likewise, these men, he knows how to handle these men that have crept in.

And so he starts describing what these men are like, and he gives these three examples. And then in verse 14, now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men, also saying, behold, the Lord's comes with 10 ,000 of his saints to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, which they are committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him, against the Lord, okay?

So we have the men of the past, they were judged. And then there's a warning about the men that are in Jude's time. He's saying, God knew that they were coming. God knew that men would creep in, and he says he's going to deal with them.

He is going to judge them. So you can trust God, because he's the same God as in the Old Testament, who judged those three examples. He'll handle the men that are creeping in among us now, is what Jude is talking about, okay?

And so then he continues to talk about what they are like, these men that grumble and they say words, and then he pivots to address the church specifically. So now I want to hit a few points, and then give us an application for today, because we have an example from the Old Testament, and then we have an example of how he talked to the saints in the New Testament, and then what does this mean for us?

How are we to live? What are we to think? Okay, if you will look at the opening, actually look at verse six. I'd like to address this. In verse six, he's talking about the example of the angels in the Old Testament.

It says, 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. All right, so we have this language of chains, of these people being bound, okay?

And then he talks about rebuking or slandering celestial beings. These men slander celestial beings, and he gives this example of Michael arguing with Satan, right, and there's a dispute about Moses's body, and he says, the Lord rebuke you.

That's what Michael says to Satan. He says, the Lord rebuke you. I'm not gonna fight with you. The Lord rebuke you, okay? So with this idea of angels being bound or rebuking, and there's a common thing that I'm sure many of you have seen happen in our day where people want to bind Satan or rebuke Satan.

They'll say, Satan, I rebuke you, or Satan, you are bound, and they pray prayers, or I can remember an example. I was watching a loosely Christian movie, and the concept was there was this family that wasn't living right for God, and then they came back into church, and they started praying, but one of the emphasis of the prayer, which we think of prayer or praying to God, as this woman is praying, she starts talking to Satan in a negative way, and she's rebuking him, and you get out of my house, and you're not welcome here, and all of this, and I rebuke you, but given by this language, we should leave that up to someone higher up on the chain, right?

Not to bring a rebuke, but say, the Lord rebuke you, right? We don't have any business trying to bind or anything like that. Who is it that has the authority in this passage? Look at verse four. It says, the last part of verse four, it says, they deny the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Look at verse five. Here he says, but I want to remind you, though, once you knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, so twice here, he's mentioned the word Lord. Look at verse 17.

But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. So again, he's putting the title Lord with Jesus. He's calling Jesus Lord. Look at verse 21. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lastly, verse 25. To God, our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever, amen. And in some translations, it mentions Lord Jesus Christ. All throughout this text, Jude is coming back to the supreme sovereignty and lordship of Christ.

The person binding the angels in the Old Testament was God. He holds them in everlasting chains. That's God who does that. We don't do that. So that's something that's ascribed to God. And just like he did it in the Old Testament, we can trust that he's going to hold them there.

They're not gonna break loose and then come wreak havoc, and then we have to somehow rebind them. That's something that God does. I'd also like to point out another text. So if you'll turn to Matthew.

Matthew chapter 18. So this is a passage where oftentimes this language, this type of language will come up about binding and things like that. Revelation also talks about Satan being bound for a thousand years, and I think that relates.

We won't go there tonight, but it talks about Satan being bound in chains. It's for a very specific reason. But here, Matthew 18, verse 15. Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, take with you one or two more by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear, tell it to the church.

And if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Verse 18. Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Again, I say to you that if two, excuse me, if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. I'd like to point out in this text, it doesn't say anything about Satan, unless you're calling your brother Satan.

Because here it says, if your brother sins against you, you go to him. If he doesn't listen, you take someone with you. This is talking about how we handle sin within the church. And the binding passages there, it talks about with two or three witnesses establishing the truth of a matter, if something is true or not.

That's not, again, it's not talking about binding of Satan, that's talking about church discipline. If we've established that someone is in sin and unrepentant, and here it says that we are to treat them as a heathen or a tax collector, that's to say, you're not inside the church, we cannot consider you part of the church, but we call to you to repentance.

We love you and call you to repentance. And that's binding, right? The authority of the church to say, I'm sorry, but we cannot recognize you as a brother, because by the establishment of two or three witnesses, you're in sin, you've got to repent.

So this isn't talking about the binding of Satan or things in heaven and angels fighting it out and chains and things like that. This is talking about church discipline. And so Jude talking about these angels that have been bound, he's not calling the church in his time to bind angels, he's talking about what God has done in the past.

And so we can trust what God is doing now, because he's doing the same things. Just like he dealt with false teachers in the past, he dealt with false teachers in Jude's day. So I wanted to point that out.

We already talked about the Lordship of Christ in Jude. We talked about Michael when he's contending with Satan, he says, the Lord rebuke you. But if Michael says, the Lord rebuke you, instead of rebuking Satan, and Jude is condemning these false teachers for rebuking celestial beings, someone might ask the question, then what is Jude doing?

He's rebuking these false teachers, he's warning about these false teachers. So are we supposed to warn about false teachers? Are we supposed to rebuke wolves in sheep clothing? Or are we just supposed to say, the Lord rebuke you and we don't really get into that.

If you would turn to Luke chapter 13, look at verse 31. So Luke 13, starting in verse 31, on that very day, some Pharisees came saying to him, get out and depart from here for Herod wants to kill you.

Talking about Jesus here. And he said to them, go tell that fox, behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow. And the third day I shall be perfected. This is Jesus speaking. And he says, he calls Herod a fox.

It's not an endearing term there. He's calling Herod crafty, he's scheming. They're trying to catch Jesus and kill him. And his response is seemingly mocking. Go tell that fox that I'm doing my father's business.

I'm casting out demons and I'm performing cures today. And tomorrow and the third day I shall be perfected. So this is Jesus. There's other places where he's talking about how the Pharisees pray on the street corner.

And he starts making fun of their clothes because they're being big and grand and they want to be seen. And he makes fun of their prayers. They're on big trumpets and they trumpet their prayers and they're long.

And he talks about how the Pharisees carry themselves and he rebukes them. Another place, he rebukes Satan, right? He's talking to Peter and Peter doesn't want Jesus to be crucified. And he says, get behind me, Satan.

Or when Satan is tempting Jesus and he goes through all of these different scriptures and he's tempted and he says, Satan be gone, to leave. He rebukes him, right? Now we know Jesus can do that because Jesus is the Lord.

But are there other places in scripture where we see maybe the apostles rebuking people? Turn to 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy is written by Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. And in 2 Timothy, there are four chapters.

And we'll kind of flip around here. Look in chapter one, look at verse 15. This you know that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Philegius and Hermogenes. These are people that have turned against Paul.

So he names two people by name and I mean, I would not like to be, have my name written in scripture for everyone to read on how I turned away from the gospel, but there it is. Two people, look in the next chapter, chapter two.

So turn over to chapter two, verse 17. And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort. So the message of Hymenaeus and Philetus are like cancer. All right, we're up to four people that Paul has called out in two chapters.

Look at chapter three, chapter three, verse eight. Now, as Janus and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth. So again, he's naming two more people. Now given these are people that have died and passed on, he's giving an example from the Old Testament, but he says, these men that he's dealing with are like those false teachers, right?

And then lastly, in chapter four, verse 10 and verse 14. So chapter four, starting verse nine, be diligent to come to me quickly for Demas has forsaken me. Having loved this present world has departed for Thessalonica.

And then in verse 14, Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. So in every single chapter of 2 Timothy, Paul calls out two people by name, right? So when we get to Jude and he's rebuking these false teachers of his time, and then he gives an example of Michael not willing to rebuke Satan.

I think there's something more going on here than just rebuking false teachers, right? It says that they speak of things they do not know. I think there's a lot of things that we don't know about the heavenly realm, about angels, about Satan, about all of those types of things.

So for us to speak about such things is not our place. We should say in those instances, the Lord rebuke you, right? And then when it comes to false teachings and people who are teaching false gospels, right?

Humans that are like us in like manner. I think we know that sin is common to man and we can speak out about those things because of our love for the church, just like Jude. He wanted to write to them about salvation, but he found it necessary that he write to them about these false teachers.

So there are times where it is acceptable and necessary to call out false teachers, to protect the flock, okay? And also I'd like to make a distinction here, which we'll get to at the end. The people that Paul is calling out are people that are actively opposed to the gospel.

And seemingly the people that Jude is calling out are teachers, right? Or people that are speaking out against the teaching of Christ, right? When we come across people, you may come across atheists who are militantly against the gospel, or you may talk to someone that doesn't believe, but they're willing to listen.

So there's a difference, right? And there's a heavier judgment for those that claim on themselves the title of teacher, right? There's a stricter judgment. Jude in his book, he calls them false shepherds basically, right?

And so he's rebuking these false teachers. When we get to the end, he talks about people that have the same characteristics as these false teachers, the people who doubt, so unbelieving, people who are caught up in sexual sins, and people who have fallen into rebelliousness, but he doesn't condemn them.

He commends the congregation there to do something for those people. And we'll get to that in a minute, okay? I'd also like to say, Jude is using past prophecies, right? He uses the Old Testament. We look to the Old Testament and to the New Testament because it's all inspired by the Holy Spirit.

It all comes from God. So he uses past prophecies and judgments, right? So we can look at judgments that God has done to evildoers, and that can be an encouragement to us. He's done it in the past. He's done it in the New Testament.

What about now as we're going through evil times, right? And we know that there's always evil in the world, and it waxes and wanes, but when you look around and there's all kinds of things that are happening, it's hard to keep up with the amount of evil in the world.

But we can look to those past judgments and know God still knows how to handle evil. He is still God. He's the same yesterday. He's the same today, and we can trust him in those things. And so he gave those examples.

Jude then cites Enoch saying that God will deal with these people. That's a prophecy. It's yet to come. He'll come with his holy ones, his holy angels, and he will judge evil as he has in the past. Peter, in 2 Peter, he says, beware there will be scoffers in the last days that are mocking the promise of his return.

So he's warning there will be scoffers, and there were. People scoffed, and then Jesus came in judgment on the temple in 70 AD. So they were scoffing, but the church knew about it, right? Peter had warned them because Jesus had warned them.

And now today, there are people now that scoff at the second coming, at Christ coming, at him judging evil. Where is your God? There's so much evil in the world. Then where is God? He's in the same place, and he's doing the same thing.

He's merciful. He's long-suffering. The reason why he doesn't judge everyone immediately is because we wouldn't make it. We were all sinners. All of us had fallen short, right? He's patient, not willing that any should perish, but they should come, right?

They should come to God. He's calling his people. So he's in the same place, so we can trust him. I would like to point this out. If you'll look in 2 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 3, and this is an encouragement.

During any time of tribulation, it can seem like evil is winning. And then I would point to you guys here, right? In your lives, God has won, right? He has conquered sin. So you all are here because of the victory of God.

So obviously God is working and he's moving. In 2 Timothy 3, yeah, 2 Timothy 3, look at one through nine. But know this, that in the last days, perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanders, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God.

Having a form of godliness, but denying its power. And from such people turn away. Verse six, and if that doesn't describe what we see around us, I mean, yeah. Verse six, for of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women, loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Now watch this in verse eight. Now as Janice and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith. Verse nine, but they will progress no further.

For the folly will be manifest to all as theirs also was. Janice and Jambres only got so far with Moses, and they did not progress any further. Paul is saying to Timothy, there are evil men that are creeping into the church, doing all of these evil things, but they will progress no further.

It says, for their folly will be manifest to all, right? That's the same in our day. They can only progress so far, right? Because it's not sustainable. The evil that they do is self-destructive. It doesn't promote life.

It ends itself. It ends in judgment. They cannot destroy completely. They cannot progress, but they will progress no further. So then I'd like to say this. What do we do in times of suffering, like times we're going through?

I think of the abortion genocide. I think of the war in Ukraine, both Russians and Ukrainians losing their lives. I think of the homosexual agenda, the transgender agenda, all of the things that we see that are contrary to what God would have for his world that he created.

They're against life. It's a culture of death, right? God established in Genesis, he gave life to the man, he gives life to the woman. They're to take dominion and multiply and give life, and everything in our culture wants to do the opposite.

Man and woman, no. You can't have babies. Not only will you can't have babies, they're killing children. It's a culture of death, right? But they cannot progress. So we have this hope that God will deal with evil in his time and in his way.

But then we also know people, and I can think of people personally in my life, that if judgment were to come now, they would be a part of that, right? Judgment is a harsh thing, right? To some, they can say, I can't wrap my head around that, about people dying in their sin and going to hell.

But the Bible talks about it. And so I'd like to point this out. In Revelation 10, look at verse eight. When a sinner repents and is saved by God, is God glorified in that? When someone is saved out of their sin, they're born into new life, is God glorified by that?

I think we say, yes, God is glorified. He's done a great work. He's done a wonderful thing. If a sinner remains in their sin, in rebellion against God and all of their sin, and God punishes that wickedness by judging it because he's just, is God glorified in that?

And we would say, yes, he is glorified in that as well. That shows his justice. On one side, we rejoice because God has saved someone. He has shown mercy and grace. And then when you look around at the injustices happening here, when God judges, we can also say yes and amen because God is just.

And that one's a little bit harder. So in Revelation 10, in verse eight, it says this. This is John, and there's a lot happening here, but he's given a scroll that contains a lot of judgment. Judgment is coming.

The Jews have rejected their Messiah. They've done many atrocities against Christians, and now the Jews are turning on themselves, and it's a bad scene. And so God is bringing judgment. He's warning about judgment, and he gives John this scroll.

And he says this. Then the voice, which I heard from heaven, spoke to me again and said, go take the little book, which is open in the hand of the angel, who stands on the sea and on the earth. So I went to the angel and said to him, give me the little book.

And he said to me, take and eat it, and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be sweet as honey in your mouth. Then I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter.

There's a parallel of this happening with Ezekiel. The same thing happens. He's given a scroll, and he's commanded to eat it. And it says it's sweet in his mouth, and God says, I'm gonna send you to judge these people.

And then it says he's taken in his spirit, and he says that he was bitter on the inside. Nevertheless, the spirit of the Lord was upon him. So God is giving judgment to Ezekiel. He has him eat a scroll.

It's sweet in his mouth, but it's bitter to his stomach. And he does the same thing for John. Here's judgment that's coming upon the land of Israel to your people, and he eats it, and it's sweet in his mouth, but it's bitter in his stomach.

And that's what judgment is like. It's sweet because these people are being vindicated. All of the martyrs that were killed, and they say, how long, O Lord, will you wait? How long before we're avenged?

That moment has come, and so it's sweet. Wickedness has stopped because God has put an end to evil. There's no more slaying of the innocents, so it's sweet. But it's also bitter because it didn't have to be that way.

They could have repented, right? And it's because it's his own people. It's Jews that were being destroyed, and so there's a bitterness to it. And I think that way when we think about judgment, and we're like, Lord, come and put an end to it.

Come and put a stop. There's that aspect, but there's also the aspect of, please, Lord, save people. Save people out of it. If that means you tarry, tarry until you save your people, because there will be a bitterness, and a weeping, and a gnashing of teeth, and a great rejoicing when that happens.

And so what are we called to do? What are we to do with this? He turns it at the last part of Jude. There's a call to action. The Jews were limited, and I find this interesting, that the disciples ask Jesus, will there be few that will be saved?

Because we look at evil, and it's everywhere. It seems overwhelming. It's all around us. And the news cycle and social media doesn't help, because it's all we see. But God is much bigger than that, and he asks, the disciples ask him, will there be few that will be saved?

And they say, Jesus says, the gate is narrow. Few there are that find it. But then he says this to the disciples, Matthew 9. This is a couple of chapters later. Then he said to the disciples, the harvest is plentiful.

I thought you just said that few find it. Few find the road. Now you're saying the harvest is plentiful. In Luke, he clarifies this. When the disciples asked him, will few be saved? Jesus starts talking about the Jews.

He starts saying, I walked on your streets. I walked among you. You said, you have taught me. And then Jesus goes and he closes the door, and they're on the outside. The door is shut, and he says, the way is narrow.

Few find it. The way is broad to destruction, and many are that find it. And then he switches from talking about the Jews, and then he says, but many will come from north and south, east and west, and will come and sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

So the question about few being saved, he's talking about the Jews there. The Jews rejected their Messiah. But when he talks about the harvest being bountiful, being plentiful, he says, many will come.

Pray for laborers. The harvest is ready, but there are few workers. So there's a call to action in that, and Jude goes through this. He talks about them being dear friends. He brings up the Trinity as something for us to believers to focus on.

He says this starting in verse 20. Let me get back to Jude. Jude verse 20. You, beloved, building up yourselves in 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 salvation.

So that's for us, right? We're to build up our faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. We're to keep ourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. So Jude is concerned about his people.

This is what you should do. And then he says, what should we do for others? He says this. Unto some, have compassion, making a distinction. In other translations, it says, show compassion to those who doubt, right?

Well, the false teachers were unbelieving and he condemns them. But here he's saying, on the ones that doubt, show compassion, show compassion to them. Verse 23, but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

So compassion on those who doubt, snatch others out of the fire to save them and show mercy mixed with fear. It talks about the garment stained here. During that time, people that were sick with leprosy would get sores and things like that.

And they would be required to wear clothing. Their clothing would get stained and they would have to wear a mask. They'd have to call out unclean. And so they appeared to be sickly. And so here he's saying, if something appears to be evil, even to avoid that, if someone is spreading something that's not good, but it says to show them mercy mixed with fear, right?

To prevent ourselves from falling into the same types of sin that they would fall into. But I'm reminded of Jesus who went to the lepers and who healed them. And in one occasion, touched one of the lepers, which was a big no-no, because that's how you would get leprosy.

But he said, be clean. And so we're to go into the world. We're to show compassion. We're to save, snatch people out of the fire. And we're to show mercy to them, right? But yet we're different. We're called out from the world.

And so I'll leave it with this. 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. It's a joy for God to present us to the father.

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. Amen. And now Brian, would you come up and lead us in prayer?