Let's start in Jude 5. Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, he has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since They, in the same way as these, indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. Yet in the same manner these men also by dreaming defile the flesh and reject authority and revile angelic majesties. This is the word of the Lord. Praise be to God that we are here again today. We thank you, Lord, that you are in our midst. We ask that this would just, or we hope that this would just be a blessing to you, that you would be pleased by this assembly, and that you would bless us while we are here. Furthermore, Lord, we pray that you would open our ears to hear, open our hearts to receive, and open my mouth to speak your truth. In Jesus' name. So recap, here we are talking about the epistle of Jude, another one of our one chapter wonders. This was of course written to the people, we don't know exactly to whom it was written to, some church somewhere. Jude was the brother of James, so we're assuming this is somewhere near Jerusalem, but who knows. And it was a warning about certain persons sneaking into the church with false teachings. And how it was important for us as Christians to contend for the faith. Right? And so, We continue on with who these people are and a couple of very spicy metaphors as to what kind of people that we're dealing with. Now I'm going through this, it's like five through 16 is kind of describing all of these characteristics of these people. And, you know, it has been my want to make sure that we're going through these books quickly, kind of at a very high level view so that we aren't stalled in any particulars. But then I hit this stuff and I go, all right, so here we have here, just in what I read, right? We're talking about three verses and it covers the angels from Genesis who created half-breed men called the Nephilim. We've got Sodom and Gomorrah, which is one of the central confusions of our day. People insist that Sodom and Gomorrah is a more nuanced position than the Bible is the Bible is very clear as to what happened during that time. We've got people who were rebuking demons. Next we've got Michael, uh, striving against the devil. We've got, uh, we talk about the way of Cain. Talk about Balaam. We've got, so we've got angels. We've got demons. We've got talking donkeys. We've got giants. We've got all of these things and how often you get to talk about all that stuff and so what's a poor Bible nerd like me to do? Well the answer for this week is I had a long week and was not able to actually research anything so I'm going to go with a broad overview of these sections and maybe I'll figure out whether or not I want to do the fun stuff next week. You guys can let me know if you want to get into that. But in the meantime, let's just look at what's going on here. And a reminder, remember that verse four through 16 are referring to the people in verse four, right? For certain persons have crept in unnoticed. Those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, right? So, beloved, while I wanted to talk to you about our common salvation, I noticed that y'all had some people sneaking into the church And I wanted to let you know about them. What, who are these people? Well, we got four through 16 to talk about them. And you know what? These are not nice descriptions of these people, right? When you start comparing what's going to happen to them with what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah and angels who are trapped in the abyss, being chained in the pit, Well, you're not talking about someone who is being very complimentary. You're also not talking about someone who is, well, I don't want to be mean or harsh. And yet we find that the Bible is being incredibly harsh. See, today we run into these people. As you can see in verse eight, yet in the same manner, these men also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties." Right? We run into these people all the time. You'll run into them here if you talk to any Christians in this town. You will eventually run into the people who will talk about these. prophecies about the war in heaven. I cannot tell you the number of times that people have come up to me completely at random to let me know that the world is going to end probably tomorrow and that they know this because some angel told them and then they insist on telling me all about the war in heaven and I'm sitting there listening to them go going in my mind this guy is nuts. And you know what? Some of them really are nuts, which is funny, but that's a different story entirely. But we call them kooks, which is a word for crazy, right? We call them the fringe of Christianity, right? But Jude, on the other hand, condemns them. Now, we don't condemn them. We just are kind of embarrassed about them. We don't really want to associate ourselves with them. But Jude says they were set apart for this condemnation. which means that God had already had a plan for them, that they were coming and that this condemnation was similar to them being lost in the desert, them being thrown into the pits. And today we don't use that kind of language because we like to hide behind the phrase, I don't judge. And we talk about, like, excusing some behavior, or we'll talk, we'll just, you know, say, you know, well, they're Christians, I'm sure they're brothers, I'm sure, all these things. But obviously judging is something we're supposed to do. Right? For instance, In Matthew 7-15, Jesus said, Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So, even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire, so then you will know them by their faults. And then, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of the Father." So, Jesus says, beware, there are kinds of people who say they are Christians who are not. Now, the kind of Judging, in one sense, is the idea that we can tell these people by their fruits, by their actions, by the things that they do, right? That they can say anything they want, but we can see what they do, and we are to judge their actions to determine whether or not they are in the faith, or whether or not they are wolves in sheep's clothing. Jesus said this, right? Also, Jesus said in Mark 13, 22, Now, I like going to the red verses, so to speak, in these things, because everyone says, well, Jesus would never condemn these people. And yet, here is Jesus talking all the time about how he is condemning these people. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show signs and wonders in order, if possible, to lead the elect astray. But take ye, behold, I have told you everything in advance. False prophets, false Christs, they will make signs, right? And the concept of signs here, Jesus uses, continually are miracles. Like you might even see some guy pull off something that you cannot explain. And Jesus says, even those guys can be false prophets. You know, and in 2 Corinthians, Paul warns about false apostles coming. He even says at 11.13, For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. whose end shall be according to their deeds. And in Galatians, he talks about false brothers who come along, preaching a gospel that is not the gospel. Galatians 2, 4, but it was because of the false brethren who sneaked in to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage. Again, the idea is persistent. There will be people among Christians who will try to slide in the back door without creating a fuss who will be false prophets and who will deceive even the elect if such things were even possible. They walk among us. They're in our midst, as it were. And this shouldn't really surprise any of us because we just read about the, well, just, relatively speaking, in the book of Hebrews, all the way back in chapter three, which was just, you know, six months ago. The, you know, Hebrews chapter three, verse 11, or well, seven through 11. Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me as in the day of trial in the wilderness, where the fathers tried me by testing me and saw my works for 40 years. Therefore, I was angry with this generation and said, they always go astray in their hearts. And they did not know my ways as I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. right? This is the same illustration that Jude uses. Now, verse 5, now I desire to remind you Though you know all things once and for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. So he's using the same illustration of the people in the wilderness who turned away from them. And we even have a description of them. Back in Hebrews, starting in 12, take care, brethren, lest there should be any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart. We've fallen away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called day, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast to the beginning of our insurance, firm until the end." Right? This is the same sort of thing that Judah is saying. Do you see how consistently these things are applied through the New Testament? Jesus warned about them. He said, be careful of them. And yet, and then we have his apostles and his prophets saying, well, they're here. Be careful of them. And this is how you can recognize them. So we see these kind of people who come in and start talking this nonsense, usually about prophecy, usually about, but not always, but usually it's about some sort of alternate interpretation of scripture, shall we say. And we're just embarrassed about them, right? They'll walk around town and they'll spout out, you know, about how angels need to be rebuked. And they'll start talking about how they've been led by the spirits, how they are prophets of God. And we just sort of turn our head and go, I'm not with that guy. Jude condemns them. And he tells us to contend for the faith against them, right? And he even condemns the people of this church. Check this out in verse 12, we'll get there maybe, I don't know, never. These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear. Here these guys are that he's comparing to demons trapped in the abyss, chained until the final judgment day where they can be thrown into the lake of fire, and he's saying, and yet they walk among you with nothing to fear. And this happens actually a lot. And so, too, does Paul condemn these people? Jesus condemns these people. He says that their condemnation will be just. He says that these, not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. I mean, that's a threat. That is just a threat. It's also the truth. But Jesus is warning us that these people are not going. These people are not getting into heaven. You shouldn't be associated with them. See, Here's the problem that is being laid out in front of us. People can hear them. Now, we're embarrassed and we don't want to be associated with them, generally speaking, because we don't want the world to associate us with those people. So we just don't talk about them. Or when they start spouting off nonsense, we just sort of sit in the corner and go, that's not really us. But the thing is, like I said, people can hear them. We, again, think about people who will hear this, who will reject the message of the gospel because of all of these weird guys. But that's not who Jude is concerned with here. Jude is worried about the converts of these people. They're not worried about the people who will reject the gospel because they hear these ridiculous people spouting nonsense. Jude, and I would argue most of the Bible, is primarily concerned with the people who hear it and convert to it. As it says, and we can see that in verse five, now I desire to remind you, although you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. He's talking to the people who are in their midst. He's like, look, guys, I wanted to talk to you about salvation, but I gotta remind you, remember, you were taught a thing and these people are here among you. It says, I know you guys know better, like you know the truth, you know what the Bible teaches, you know what the apostles told you, you guys should know better, but yet here they are in your midst without fear. And he also reminds the people, the beloved people of the church, that this is not a laughing matter. This is not a matter of embarrassment. This is a very serious thing. I mean, he's comparing these guys to what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. This is not small fry stuff. We are being told to contend for the faith because we need to keep these people out. And if you don't, and he shows this in verse 22, where he says, and have mercy on some who are doubting, save others, snatching them out of the fire, and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. So the idea here is that we need to contend for the people who will believe them. And again, it comes down to this whole flesh thing, right? The prevailing attitude nowadays in this world is that the righteous, like the overly righteous ones, are the ones with something to hide. Right? We hear that a lot. One of the guys that I watch says, he who preaches the loudest has the most to hide. Now there is some truth to that. I'm not saying that there isn't. There are plenty of people who masquerade as being completely righteous Christians who do have some demons hiding in their closet. And sometimes these things come to light. But in my experience, That's not the norm. What I've seen in my life, which admittedly is a biased sample set, I'll grant you, but what I have seen is more of the more of the fall from grace types, the ones where these giant sexual scandals come out from, are more of the types that Jude here are talking about in which they, excuse me, back in verse four, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. Several examples. Mike told me the story of his pastor, of his church. It was a very, very large church. He had amassed a huge crowd of people around him, and he was preaching love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, Jesus is love. And what's that? And they said that he loved his secretary. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. And then he had an affair with his secretary, got kicked out of the church and started another church. I can only assume how that's going there. Even in Myrtle beach, we had that story. There was a giant church where the pastor was again, one of those kinds. God wants you to be happy. He doesn't want to condemn you. You can just be who you are. The grace of God covers all things, including his affair with several of the people in the church. in which he got ousted from the pastorate and then started another church and that grew too. These sort of things are very, very popular. People love to hear that their sin is okay. But it's not just them. There was a huge group of churches. They're called the Hillsong churches. They were very prominent Christians who were teaching, again, about grace covering all things, how we are not condemned, how we should be doing whatever we want, how we should just be loving everyone who is out there, the grace of God covering up much licentiousness in their life because those guys got, once again, thrown out of their churches for sexual immorality against their wives. Then you've got the Billy Graham's grandson, uh, I forget his first name, Stavichian. I actually saw him one time. He's a great speaker. But yeah, he was again preaching the same gospel. The same gospel of you do not have to be righteous. You can just be whomever you want and God will love you no matter who you are. Again, turns out he was sleeping with lots of women. behind the scenes. Then you've got Mark Driscoll, who was thrown out of his church for the same reasons, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The list goes on and on and on. The news will report these people as holier than thou, have some sort of marital or have some sort of sexual problem. But the fact is that when you look into them, they weren't preaching holier than thou. They were preaching, do whatever the heck you want. And that's what Jude is warning about here. So when you find someone who is coming along, they'll tell you about, well, there's lots of nuance within scripture. There's lots of, they'll say, you know, they're, they'll talk about how the deeper meanings of the word. They'll even talk about how the church was corrupted, right? Or how these teachings have slipped in. If you ever heard, hear anybody talking about that, instantly put up your garbage. As I just read a tweet from one of the guys I follow this week, he says, how come every time you run into someone who is talking about the deeper meanings of scripture, they always end up contradicting scripture? because they're always trying to justify their own actions. And this is what I saw just this week with another YouTuber who I had been following, who was constantly coming out about how the church had corrupted the message of the gospel, had corrupted the message about how righteousness was not something that we were supposed to be forming. And he hated the church. In other words, how did he put this here? Now, they reject authority and revile angelic majesties. He even denied the fact that there was only one Lord and Savior. And then it turned out that he was a giant reprobate to absolutely nobody's surprise. And it's always the same thing. I see it time and time again. People come along and tell you that the church is wrong. We've been misinterpreting this Bible the entire time. There's actually much deeper nuance and meaning than the church will even accept. Maybe they'll throw in some archeology or, well, in the past, this word means meant that. But it's always the same thing, at least in my experience. It's always the same thing. It's always some excuse to do something against scripture. And June... And it's easy to see these things after it all blows up. after the scandal, after the affair, after the arrest. But Jude warns us that eventually they're going to do that and we're supposed to catch them beforehand. So again, we need to contend against these people in order to save Because that's what Jude is talking about. They're in your midst. The text here compares what will happen to them to what has happened to the angels. thrown and chained in darkness before they are picked up and thrown into the lake of fire. It says that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, that they were consumed by an eternal fire. He says that this is what's going to happen to those people. This is a very, very serious thing. And these people that he's talking about will will try as hard as they can to bring as many people into the fire with them. And again, in 22, he says, and have mercy on some who are doubting, save others, snatching them out of the fire. So I would suggest we need to break the habit of avoiding friendly fire. So, if we see another Christian, maybe it's okay to call them out in front of other people. Now, I'll get to that in a second. Maybe if we see another Christian in the midst of the church who is talking another gospel, it's important that we maybe call that out. We contend for the faith. Again, that doesn't mean start a Twitter war with people online. It means it is true. Jesus said, do not judge lest you be judged. for the measure that you measure will be measured to you. He did say that. We're not their judge. We are not ultimately going to sit on the throne of judgment and pronounce guilt or innocence to these people. That is not our place. That is God's place. However, they will be judged. And they will take as many people as they can with them. And we have been told the truth, the gospel delivered once and for all, the faith. And though we are not their judge, we know what the judge is going to do. Or at least what he said he would do. Outside of the grace of Christ, these people are condemned. And by saying that, We are not sinning. We are not going against Jesus's teaching. We are, in fact, doing what Jude here is telling us that we need to do. But, and this is a reminder for myself, and that one over there, What Jude says after he describes these horrible people, he says to you, but you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, the last time there shall be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts. These are the ones who cause divisions worldly. minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ to return alive. And have mercy on some who are in doubt. Save others, snatching them out of the fire, and on some have mercy with fear. hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. So yeah, we're supposed to contend for the faith. We're supposed to call these people out because again, people are listening and they're going to hell. Fellow Christians, so-called, those who say Lord, Lord, are leading others into the fire, but we are to have mercy. Now, you can't have mercy if you're yelling at them and calling them mean names. Now, and I'm talking about mean names that you think are mean. If they think what you're calling them is mean, that's their problem. You need to be merciful. And believe me, they'll think you're mean because Well, how dare you call them out? But... We are called to try to save people from the fire of these false Christians. We are told to get them out of our midst, to get them out of the church, to make sure that our house is clean. And we are to have mercy on those people whom they are leading. And that is why, or that is what Jude is talking about when he says contending for the faith. As I said on the board, contending is caring. Because people are listening. So Heavenly Father, we pray that you would make us into the kind of people who are bold enough to call out our supposed brothers and sisters so that the people who are listening to them would not share in their condemnation. But Lord, I pray for myself that you would make it so that we weren't doing that out of an attitude of I'm right, you're wrong, that we're not doing it out of an attitude of I just want to look good in front of other people. And furthermore, to not do it in an attitude of these people, or in an attitude of I hope these people go to hell, because I don't want them to go to hell. I want you to save them, just as you saved me. And so, Lord, I pray that you would just make it so that while we are out there contending for the faith, you will remind us that we are to have mercy on them, that we are to be merciful towards them, and that this mercy does involve calling out their blasphemies, but also trying to do our best to pull them out of the fire. Lord, we pray this in Jesus' name, amen.