All right, we is in the epistle of Jude, where I'll be doing eight through ten today. So let's go ahead and read it. Let's start in verse five, though. So 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 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. Verse 8. Yet in the same manner these men also by dreaming defile the flesh and reject authority and revile angelic majesties. But Michael, the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, the Lord rebuke you. But these men revile the things which they do not understand, and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. This is the word of the Lord. Heavenly Father, thank you again for bringing us here this week, and thank you for the providence that you have given to each one of us. Lord, we know that you do all things, and that you do all things well, and that you do all things for the good of those who love you. So Lord, let us just rest in that and have this time of peace while we worship you in spirit and in truth. And Lord, while we're here, please open our ears to hear, open our hearts to receive your truth, and open my mouth to speak it. In Jesus' name, amen. So as a reminder of where we are in all of this, Jude is talking about infiltrators who have come into the church by secret, bringing strange doctrines and, well, blasphemies, really, and that the church that Jude is writing to is just letting them hang around. And so he says to them that they need to contend for the faith once for all, deliberately. These are the sort of people who deny the master of Jesus, who live in licentious living, which means doing whatever the heck they want, and that they use this grace of God to cut, to allow themselves to do any sort of sinning that they would like to sin. So we are here reading what Jude has to say about them. And I believe that we have covered quite a bit. Now you realize that Jude has not been very kind. In fact, some might even accuse Jude of not proceeding with these people with the proper amount of Christian love, which is funny because this is the Bible. So Christian love includes this, whatever your definition of it may be. But some of the things that he talks about here are kind of weird too. We're talking about, um, you know, like angels and demons and Michael and all of these other things. And so I want to take a second here before we get into that to remind everyone, uh, well, maybe not remind, but at least put it to you in this way or, uh, that Christianity itself is a myth. It is a myth that happened and is true, but it is a myth nonetheless. It has all of the characteristics of what you would normally find in these kinds of stories, in which you've got higher powers, you've got battles in heaven, you've got a man in his sin, you've got a redeemer, you've got all the hallmarks of a really great story. If you think about all the myths, that have happened throughout time, you can kind of see how these things go. Now again, the difference is that Christianity is true and it happened. And we know that it is true because even if it were not true, everything that it teaches about life, about us, about humans, is true. The Bible is that kind of true. In addition, the Bible describes ourselves When you read the Bible, you find that you're not reading a book at which you can understand. You find yourself, or at least I do anyway, reading a book that understands you. And the more you read it, the more you kind of come to realize that this book was written for me. And the amazing thing is that it was written for each one of us. And the more we study it, the more we see ourselves in it, the more we realize this book is talking directly to us. This is a book that has so much truth within it. that it accurately describes everyone who reads it. And this is why we know that this book is unlike any other book. It has to be written by the person who made man and knows him for who he is. In fact, the Bible is one of those weird books in that it was written over a period of 1500 years, 15 centuries. The Roman Empire was still going 15 centuries ago. That's how long the Bible was written over. It had 44 different authors in three different languages. And yet we find that the later books are basically finishing each other's sentences. Not only does it harmonize into a whole, but they're all teaching the same story. all telling the same story. To give you an example, Jeremiah 23, 16. Thus says the Lord of hosts, do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility. They speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the Lord. They keep saying to those who despise me, the Lord has said you will have peace. And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of their own heart, they say calamity will not come upon you. But who has stood in the counsel of the Lord that he should see and hear his word? Who has given heed to his word and listened? Behold, the storm of the Lord has gone forth in wrath. Even a whirling tempest, it will swirl down on the head of the wicked and the angler of the Lord. will not turn back until he has performed and carry out the purposes of his heart, and in the last days you will clearly understand it. I did not send these prophets, but they ran. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied. And if they had stood in my counsel, they would have announced my words to my people and would have turned them back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds. Jeremiah was written fully a thousand years, well, maybe not a thousand years, 600 years before the book of Jude was written. And yet we see the same problem with God's people has occurred. People are coming forth, speaking in the name of the Lord, who have neither talked to God beforehand, nor do they particularly care about his coming wrath. And that's who we find here the book of Jude is talking about. So what are these guys doing? When we see verse 8, Yet in the same manner these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. I do like how the King James Version puts this, because it kind of nails it, really. It says, Also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Right? That's pretty clear, right? We can kind of get a little confused. This is by dreaming. What are we talking about? No, these are dreamers and they're coming along and they're despising authority, rejecting that which has been given to them. But why are we talking about this? Like, why does he suddenly talk like shift into they, well, they're rejecting authorities and angelic visitors, dignities, glories. Well, it always starts off that way, doesn't it? In my life, every time I run into these kind of people. all the time. They'll start telling you that maybe they'll even call themselves Christians, but at the very least they'll call themselves godly or spiritual, and they'll start talking to you about how the Bible is not really the authority that the Bible claims it is. They say that it is a good book. Yes, it has great teachings in it, sure, but it is written by men and besides, you're interpreting it wrong anyway. I can't say every time because some people I haven't known very long who have said this to me, but almost every time what you find out is that these individuals are always using these words to justify some sin in their life that they know is wrong, And so they turn the Bible to mean what they want it to mean. Or if they cannot accomplish that, they'll just throw the Bible out entirely. They'll say, well, this book is really more, you know, it's more a good suggestion, but it's certainly not a command for us. And besides, it was written all so many years ago. And, you know, Just recently, one of the YouTubers I watch demonstrated this well. He's recently fallen from grace horrendously. It turns out the things that were going on just keep getting worse and worse and worse as more information comes out. And while many, many people were surprised about this, I wasn't. Because I had seen for years this man had been talking about how upset he was about these churches, about how horrible that they're being, about how he doesn't accept their authority. He says how they're misinterpreting the Bible and how he'll go ahead and tell you what it really means. And I heard all of that and I went, eh, he's hiding something. Because it happens every time. And that's where we are here. Now they say that they're dreamers. Sure. Well, and that, you can understand that. People say that they have a vision from the Lord, or they dreamed and the Lord said to them. And so that gives them permission to do whatever fool thing that they're talking about. But you know, We, as not superstitious and level-headed people, well, we're too sophisticated for that, aren't we? We would never claim to have a vision from the Lord. Oh, no. But now, in our sophisticated language, we've just substituted new things. We've said, well, you have the history wrong. We've said, well, the early church fathers all said. Well, the Bible is really a literary work, and so we need to interpret it as a work of literature, not as a direct command to us. And of course, the standard, well, the Bible was written by men. I had a dollar for every time somebody told me that. Well, a dollar isn't worth anything anymore, but I'd have several hundred dollars. And we know who, so, and what we're describing here in the book of Jude is probably best summed up by the phrase, those people, right? We're not talking about any particular group of people. We're talking about a generalized group of people. And you know these people, you know them, they're everywhere. You run into them all the time. You'll tell them you're a Christian and they'll, then proceed to educate you on your faith." And it was very nice of them. And while they're telling you all about what the Bible really is, you'll notice that they have absolutely no idea what they're talking about. Every time. They know you're wrong, but they don't know what is actually in scripture. They'll tell you all about how the history of the church is awful, but then when you press them on any particular detail of them, suddenly they have no idea what they're talking about. They claim to have some sort of insider knowledge, right? They'll tell you, oh, well, I know the church teaches this, but what it really means, which is just another way of saying I'm right, you're wrong, and you should definitely listen to me. And you'll find these teachers all over the internet too. It's easier to find them now because we have the internet, but they've always been here, as Jude points out, and Jeremiah points out. They're always the people who says, thus sayeth the Lord, and yet it's nothing to do with scripture. They'll tell you what you really need to do is listen to me. I'm the one who has the truth. which is why you need to ignore them and listen to me. I'm the one who has the truth. Anyway, this is all usually in some effort to wiggle out of some sort of sin. The sin varies. But generally speaking, these are not people who are doing this in order to be more strict. Although that does happen. Generally, they're doing this kind of a thing to allow themselves all license to do all manner of things that they know are wrong. And apparently, This sort of a thing was common even back then. I mean, all throughout the New Testament, you read this. It's like, okay, so 2 Timothy 3, Paul is warning Timothy, but realize this, that in the last days, difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents. Now, one thing to kind of look out for while you're doing this, how many of these things that Paul is saying, watch out for these guys, do we not even consider that bad anymore? I'll start again. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious, gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power, and avoid such men as these." So, Jude was worrying about it, Paul was warning Timothy about it, even Peter. was having some trouble with these types of men in 2 Peter chapter 2. But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly induce destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words." And so we hear the words of Jeremiah echoing throughout the ages. And now we hear the words of Jude, Peter, and Paul echoing throughout our ages. So what Specifically, here, are they rejecting? Sure, it's easy to say authorities, but Jude actually lays it out. He says they reject authority, true, and revile angelic majesties. The word here in Greek is glories. Two in the King James, as we read, it was the, oh, what did it say? It was lovely. It says, speak evil of dignities. Dignities, glories, angelic majesties. These, they are reviling these. But why? Why would they do that? It doesn't make, I mean, to me, it doesn't make a lot of sense. It's like angels. What we're going to do is just revile some angels? I mean, what are we talking about here? Yeah. I believe this is what he was talking about. If you'll remember from Hebrew, from the book of Hebrews chapter one, verse, I believe two, it says in the past, God spoke through angels to speak the words. And you realize that throughout the Old Testament as you're reading it, that the angel of the Lord will come up and give the word to them all the time. You also see in 2 Peter, which we were just reading, that in chapter 2, verse 10, that And especially those who indulge the flesh and its corrupt desires and despise authority, daring self-will, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord." So they are rejecting these angelic majesties. by doing evil, and then he didn't care. And we see too that, you know, in the book of Acts, when Stephen, the first martyr of the church, was speaking a word against the Pharisees, his very last words were this, Acts 7, 53, you who received the law as ordained by angels and yet did not keep it. Galatians also will talk about how the word of the law was given to us by angels. You're starting to see the point. That this word of the law, of holiness, of righteousness, this was delivered to us by angels. And these people who were following after their own desires, going after strange flesh, like and rejecting the promises and the laws like we saw in verses 5 through 7, the Israelites rejecting authority, the angels going after strange flesh and being put into the abyss, Sodom and Gomorrah doing what they did and being held for eternal fire. They're rejecting the authorities who are bringing us this righteousness. And we see too in verse 10 here where But these men revile the things which they do not understand, and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. So they revile the things they don't understand, and they reveal what they're talking about as they're talking to you. They clearly don't understand what Christianity is about. They clearly do not understand what the Bible is talking about. They clearly do not understand the message of Jesus. They clearly know nothing about history, about our culture, about our traditions, and these things they revile. And they tend to look down on the people who do understand these things. But their instincts, their wants, their desires, these they know, and these they hold above all other things. They prefer their instincts, their gut feelings, their intuitions. They'll talk about how they are, you know, that this is just the way that God made me. That's a very popular excuse nowadays. And that's what we're talking about, right? It says, and these things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. These things they know by instincts. In other words, the way God made animals is their instincts and the way they act. And they claim that, well, God made me this way. So by my instincts, I'm okay to do this. And so they put themselves in a position where they will tell God what they will do in these situations. Or they will tell the authorities of the age, I will tell you what to do. And to see here what Jude does to contrast that, he uses the example of the archangel Michael. First time, but Michael, The archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, the Lord rebuke you." Alright, so I'm sure most of you know who Michael is, but here's a quick rundown of where we actually find out about him from scripture. The place we really see him here is Daniel 10 in verse 12 through 13. Daniel was praying in the window to save his people in Babylon, although I guess it was Persia at the time, that they would be saved and allowed to worship the way that they would because he had been told not to. So he's praying at the window every single night, and then, but no answer came. Eventually an answer came through the form of an angel, the angel Gabriel, and he had this to say. to him, verse 12. Then he said to me, do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard. And I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing me for 21 days. Then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the king of Persia. So Gabriel was having a war with this other prince, although this is prince of the power of the air kind of a thing. So this was the demon of Persia that he was fighting against and couldn't overcome it. 21 days he tried to get to Daniel and couldn't. Finally, after 21 days, Michael steps in. and clears out the Prince of Persia, and Gabriel is able to move on. Later in verse 20, it would said, then he said, do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to the fight against the Prince of Persia. So I am going forth and behold, the Prince of Greece is about to come. However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces, except Michael, your prince. So Jewish folklore had it that Michael was the angel of Israel. The way that they kind of had these laid out is that there were angelic beings who were in charge of each country in general. And so there was the Prince of Persia, the Prince of Tyre, the Prince of wherever, it doesn't matter, right? Each area had their own angel and that the other angels had rebelled against God, but the Prince of Israel was Michael. So he was God's own champion. And this can be seen too. Let's see here, 12, one. Now, at that time, Michael, the great prince who stands guards over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress which has never occurred since there was a nation until that time. So Michael, who stands guard over your people, over the sons of your people, so the people of Israel, he's their great prince. So Revelation chapter seven describes what Daniel was just talking about. And there was a war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the servant of old, who was called the devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, he was thrown down to earth and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of God and the authority of his Christ has come for the accuser and our brothers and it goes on and on and on. But there was war in heaven and Michael and his angels. So the great prince Michael is apparently a general of angels. So when Jesus said to Peter, don't you know I can call down 10 legions of angels to defend me? The leader of those legions, the general of those legions would have been Michael. That's who we're talking about here. The one who threw Satan himself from heaven, When he was speaking with the devil and they were having a bit of a dispute over the body of Moses, he did not revile this angelic being. He said, the Lord rebuke you. So what, now this is an interesting place in scripture. Jude is full of these little things. You may be wondering what incidents this is actually talking about when they're arguing over the body of Moses. The answer is, No one's really sure. The best we can tell is there was a book, we do know that there was a book back then called the Assumption of Moses. The book doesn't, we don't know what it is. It's not around anymore, but by the time Origen was around, so that would have been 280 AD, he was speaking of it as though he still had that book in his possession and that people knew about it. And when he was doing a commentary on this section of scripture, he said, yes, this comes from the book, The Assumption of Moses. And we don't really exactly know what's in it, but we can conjecture that there was this area, this question as to where the body of Moses was actually buried. And we see that in Deuteronomy 34. Now Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebu, to the plain of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. The Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan. So the Lord shows him the promised land and everything that he had been working for up to that point. He, of course, told Moses, again, that he was forbidden to go in there because reasons, but he wasn't allowed to go in, but he was allowed to see it before he did. or before he died. And so we have this here. Now, Joshua, oh, let's see. I don't know. So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in the valley of the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no man knows his burial place to this day. Although Moses was 120 years old when he died, his eyes were not dim, nor his vigor abated. So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab 30 days. And then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end." Now that's an interesting phrase. Moses died. Moses was taken up by the Lord and shown all of the promised land. And then he was taken out past Moab, where he died. No one knows where he was buried. And people thought it was strange because, yeah, he was old, but he wasn't sick. His sight was still there, he still had a bunch of energy, and he just died. And no one knows where he's buried. And so this question kind of plagued people throughout the years. Where's the body of Moses? Where is he buried? Where's the graveyard of Moses? And that's kind of weird too, if you think about it. When Jesus came along, one of the guys who was there With Jesus was Elijah and Moses. Now Elijah had been taken up into heaven with a fire and chariot, and he never actually died, and Moses was also there. To me that's a little weird, but that's a story for another time. So people were wondering what the heck was going on with this. So they would write little, not fan fictions exactly, but they would write little stories about what had happened in these things, and they'd kind of fill in the details if you will. There's a book that you would all enjoy reading immensely called the Book of Enoch, where it talks about the actual war in heaven. Right? It takes all of the stuff from the Bible and kind of pieces it together in a story. It's almost like John Milton's Paradise Lost, where it takes what the Bible teaches about the spiritual realm and then kind of tells a story based on that. The Book of Enoch is like that as well. And people thought that that book was a very good book even way back when. So this book called The Assumption of Moses had the story within it of what happened to Moses's body. And you can kind of see here, there's echoes of it at this point. It's in Zachariah, Zachariah, not Zachariah. It's two different things. Zachariah 3.1. Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord." Remember, the angel of the Lord was Michael. before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you, Satan. Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is this not a brand plucked from the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. And he spoke and said to those who were standing before him saying, remove the filthy garments from him. You can see this story where Joshua, who was Moses's replacement, standing there before Michael and Satan with the Lord above them all saying, Satan, I rebuke you. And so you can kind of see that story. And so this is kind of the idea of what the assumption of Moses had in it. Somehow in all of this, where they were arguing over the body of Moses. Michael was trying to presumptively grab the body of Moses and bring it up into heaven or something, and the devil was trying to prevent him from doing so. They had a bit of a tussle, and instead of saying, no, no, no, Satan, He said, Satan, the Lord rebukes you. I don't come here on my own authority. I come here on his. And see, this is kind of the interesting thing. This is obviously something that Jude expected his readers to understand. Like, he didn't have to fill in any of the details on it. He didn't have to tell the story. He just says, you know, like when Michael was arguing with Satan and everyone went, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, right. Sort of like if I were just to go along and say, you know, like when Jesus was in the river with John the Baptist, Right? And the dove came down. And then I didn't have to explain anything else because you'd know the story. At least, I hope you would. And so they move on. And so we have this thing from the past that we don't have now. And it's talking about this weird incident. So, I don't know. To me, that brings up an interesting question. Does this mean now that whatever happened in the book of the Assumption of Moses is now canon? Like is God revealing that this was a real thing and it really did happen? Maybe, I don't know, possibly. We know that Paul used to quote Greek poets all the time. In fact, when he was on Mars Hill and he said to them, says, as one of your own poets said, right, he quoted a poem from a Greek poet that presumably everyone in attendance would have known that poem and would have understood the reference. That poem is gone. Like, we don't know who wrote it. We don't know what it was. We don't have the rest of the poem. It's gone. Right. Like, it's just one of those things lost to history. Does that mean that that poem was true? No, he was just quoting it. And you see that too in a lot of different places where stuff gets quoted. We're going to see too in the book of Enoch was quoted here soon. Does that mean that Enoch is the truth? It's like, well, no, it could just be a sermon illustration. People make these kinds of things all the time. And besides, it doesn't actually matter. If you remove that from the story, it doesn't change his argument. This was just another preacher using another illustration to make his point. The point is, Big Bad Michael, Archangel, the one who defeated Satan, God's general himself, he didn't claim authority for himself. And yet these people that Jude is talking about were all saying, well, I mean, sure God said, but did he really say? And besides that, I can tell you, I know these scriptures better than you do. I, as my own authority, do proclaim that you're wrong and I am right. And that is where we can often get in trouble. Now as a quick aside, today we have learned our lessons and we don't say, I rebuke you. Because, well, that's not very Christian, is it? We have here in the book of Jude that these people were really, really bad because they were rebuking the devil all by themselves. So we don't do that. Nowadays, people will go around, Jesus rebuke you. But really, do they have that kind of authority? No, it's the exact same thing. We've just replaced one phrasing for another. It's just taking authority upon themselves. They proclaim to do whatever it is that they want. And for every person, that they want is different. So what does this have to do with us? So in verse three, it says that we are to contend for the faith, once for all forgiven, or once for all delivered. And if you don't think that these sort of things can happen to you, where you start going off the rails and start justifying your own sins through some thing that you claim the Bible teaches you, or some philosophy that you pick up somewhere that teaches you, well, the grace of God covers all things, then you're a fool. Because there are warnings throughout all of scripture that this can happen to you. We read in Hebrews 6 where these people who thought they were the chosen of God, who thought they were saved, well, they went apostate. They heard the grace of God and yet they turned away from it. And now they're outside of grace and cannot be brought back. We see these warnings continually throughout the New Testament that you need to be on guard, lest some strange doctrine come along and lead you astray. And the kind of astray that it's talking about is always either towards stricture of the law, of the Old Testament law, or porn. And it's always those two extremes. But yeah, it's either one of those two things. And it's always the same thing. It's always reviling authority. It's always, it's always, I know what I'm talking about and you don't. And it's always, it's either, well, God has forgiven us. I've made this way. So clearly this is how God wants me to be. These people that Jude are talking about are here today. They're here now, which shouldn't surprise you because they always did here. The people reject authority. They don't become pure reasoning beings. When they reject a god, they don't suddenly have no god. They have themselves for a god. Voltaire was wrong. He would say that by his education and his system, he would create a society run by pure reason. But it never appeared. because it never can appear. Even Voltaire himself in the end realized his mistake. You cannot make people use pure reason. We are creatures with instincts and outside of a guiding force, we do whatever we want. And so we need to make sure that we're not like that. We find ourselves right now in a land of superstition. And you say, no, we don't have any superstitions. We don't believe in the boogeyman, or we don't believe in this, that, or the other thing, which here they do, but I'm talking about, like, in general. It says, well, if you don't believe that, then think about this. Red dye number five causes ADHD. Think about that. A color causes young boys to become distracted and not disciplined. The Chinese have been saying that forever. But no, we're scientific. We say, no, no, no, it's a chemical within the thing. But there's no proof of it. And it doesn't matter how many times you tell people that there is no evidence of this. They don't believe you. This is superstition. We believe that these foods cause bad behaviors. Avoid this or this will happen to you. Don't, you know, and so it's this land of superstition that we live in as we go further and further away from God and reject authorities. Now that everyone is rejecting authorities, all of a sudden these morons who were talking about, well, not morons, that's not fair, these flat earth guys, are becoming more and more popular. Why? Because, admittedly, our authorities have not been covering themselves in glory as of late. However, we still reject these traditions. We reject these authorities. And so it's easy to get that ball rolling to where you're like, well, if these guys are wrong, well, then everyone's wrong. which is not what you're supposed to be doing. And we live in a land of, we just do what feels right. As long as there is consent, everything is fine. Well, the Bible doesn't teach that. In fact, the Bible says that people who do teach these such things are destroying themselves by their own instincts And animal-like behaviors, these people are destroyed. That's what verse 10 says. And the problem with that is, as we said before, the Bible is a book that understands you. And it's something that is a warning for us as well. Remember that what Solomon said in the book of Proverbs, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And that word fear in Hebrew means fear. It doesn't mean reverential awe. It says being afraid of God is the first part of being wise. Because if you're afraid of your daddy coming home and catching you do something wrong, then you will prevent yourself from doing something wrong. The fear of the Lord. And so when Jude here is talking about contending for the faith, may I suggest to you, contend for it with yourself first. Start with you. Before you start going out there and rebuking, These guys who have these bad doctrines, start rebuking yourself. Start telling yourself that, no, what the Bible says, delivered by angels, delivered by the Son of God himself, these things are my authorities, and I should follow them regardless of what other people might say around me. And then once you've done that, you will find yourselves in a place where you can then take the speck out of your brother's eye. So the world around us is confused and disarranged and probably heading down the toilet. And I'm sure there's going to be wars and rumors of war, and I'm sure we're never going to make it through another generation. I'm sure all of these things are true. Is there any hope for the world that we're in? Of course there is. There is always hope. For Jesus saves to the uttermost. Remember the main problem these guys had is that they rejected their only master, Jesus Christ. Which means that if they had accepted that master, they would be fine. And Jesus can save to the uttermost. Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And if he becomes the King of your own heart, then you will be saved of these things. And by preaching this word to the rest of the world, they can be saved as well. It is not too late. It is not too late for individuals. It is not too late for societies. We just need to go and contend for the faith. And as we come to the place where we run into this unlawlessness, we need to find ourselves turning away from it and putting our eyes on Jesus. Thank you, dear Jesus, for the words that you have given us. Thank you, dear Jesus, for the cross that you put in front of us. Lord, we pray that in our own lives we would turn away from our own sin and we would reject lawlessness in ourselves and contend for the pure faith once for all delivered to the saints in ourselves in our daily lives. That we would then go from there and be able to lead others towards that same righteousness, knowing that by your blood, they too can have holiness. That our sin, as great as it is, can be canceled out just by your love. And that whatever hopelessness we share can be cured by looking to you, our one and only hope. And Lord, I just pray that we would accept your authority and everything that you tell us and not go off on our own, claiming that everything's gonna be okay if we just do it our own way, but knowing that everything will be okay if we just do it your way. And we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. I'm not sure, but I don't feel as though there has been much preparation.