Jude has told us in the weeks before that we've been studying that there have been these characters, these certain persons that have crept into the church, but they've crept in unnoticed. And so he took great pains, last week we saw verses 8 through 13, to lambast, to give a full broadside to these characters, sketching out a very vivid portrait, a forensic sketch of what these individuals look like so that we could best identify them and we could be best warned about them. And you told us that they are characters operating under evil delusions. They resemble their predecessors, but they don't always They aren't always what they first appear. They come as Mr. Nice Guy. They come as somebody who's to help you, but they're not what they appear. And so he calls the church to identify them. And he wants us to be warned. He wants us to be warned. And now Jude is going to stress that these individuals, these certain persons are in for it with God. They are in for it with God, and he's going to deal with God's coming judgment. So let's stand together. If you're able, out of respect for the reading of God's Word, let's read our text, Jude 14 through 16. It was also about these men that Enoch in the seventh generation from Adam prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment upon all and to convict all the ungodly of their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners has spoken against them. These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts. They speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. That's the reading of God's Word. You may be seated. Let's pray. Our Father, we are hungry this morning for a word from you. Your son told us that we cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And so it was that you told your people in the wilderness long time ago, we must live by your words. I understand, Lord, as I look at this text and I think about it, Lord, as I'm about to preach this, Lord, I need your power, Lord, I need your ability. Because, Lord, I am weak, I am unable. But you have promised to send your Holy Spirit to convict us of sin, righteousness and judgment. And I pray that your spirit would do exactly that for us this morning. And as as you know, this is not a popular message in our world. And as you know, that this is not something that we may want to hear. Father, you know we need it. And that is why you have included it in your word. So I pray that you would give us to understand and to and to accept. With humble hearts, what it is you have to say to us this morning, And this I ask in Jesus' name, Amen. The last words of King Charles IX of France are said to have been recorded. They are recorded for us and they are grim words. This is the same King Charles that ordered the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, a day that would live in infamy, a day when men, women and children, because of their faith in Jesus Christ, were slaughtered in their homes, in the streets. Thousands upon thousands. And here would be the last words of this king with this blood on his hands, he said, What blood? What murders? I know not where I am. How will all this end? What shall I do? I am lost forever. I know it. Those are sobering words, not something you want to feel and think about on your deathbed. And it's amazing how people can so suddenly and solemnly change when facing death. You see that all the time with people. And it's not because we dread death so much itself as we dread what comes after. We fear the unknown. We fear what comes after death. The Bible says it is appointed for men to die once. And after this comes judgment. Hebrews 9.27. That's not popular. Jesus said though, John 5.28, do not marvel at this for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear my voice and will come forth those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life and those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. And there in the context he's talking about those who will believe on him, who will do the will of God by believing on him as Savior and those who will reject him. There is a resurrection to life and a resurrection to judgment. I know we don't like to think of God as our judge. That's not very popular. That doesn't bring people in. That doesn't make money. And that's why you're not going to hear it in a lot of churches. We like to think of God as our creator, perhaps. We like to think of God as our father, as our savior, so long as he's not our judge. Because we don't want to have to give an account to God for the way we lived. And yet, I'm just going to have to break it to you that the Bible clearly teaches God is a judge. I believe it's at least nearly 80 times in the Bible God is referred to as one who judges. Imagine that. This is a great emphasis in the Bible. God is a judge in Genesis 18, 25. He identifies himself to Abraham as the judge of all the earth. And he tells Abraham, I'll do what's right. I'm going to judge in righteousness. That might be encouraging to us, until we realize we aren't right. We're sinners. We got problems. And this judge of all the earth is coming. And like King Charles IX had to grapple with, we might tend to put God's judgment off. We put it out of our minds until we are on our deathbed and we feel, oh, I'm not ready. I'm not ready to face God. Well, our text, verses 14 and 15 in Jude, are given to us. as a preview of the Lord's coming judgment. That we might be prepared, that we might take seriously the judgment of God. I know this is going to be a message, it's simple to understand, it's more difficult to receive. It's not popular. But the Lord is coming. The Bible teaches, the point of our text is that the Lord is coming as judge of all the earth. And Jude gives us two reasons to take seriously the Lord's coming as judge of all the earth. The first reason you should take seriously the Lord's coming is that the Lord told us that he would come as judge. The Lord told us that he would come as judge. We're going to see one place that is here in this prophecy that Jude cites. Verse 14 begins, it was also about these men. Now notice by using the word also, he's connecting These men that he's mentioning right here with everything he's just described in verses 8 through 13. These apostates. These who've prepped into the church and they're not just living wickedly. What are they trying to do? They're trying to draw others after them. They are wolves among God's flock. And Jude says, I'm not done yet. I have something else to add to this. I want you to know that God is going to judge these. Look at what he says in verse 14. He says, it was also about these men that Enoch in the seventh generation from Adam prophesied. And here's the prophecy. Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment upon all and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds. Now, we'll look more at that prophecy in a moment, but I want us to see a couple of things here. First, we're going to take a moment to look at the context of the prophecy because I want you to appreciate it. I think it'll give us a greater appreciation. You might feel it's a digression. I think it's worth it. And then we're going to look at the contents of the prophecy. So notice first the context. If you hold your place in Jude and you go all the way to the beginning of your Bible in Genesis, we're going to go to Genesis chapter 5. Jude mentions this one, Enoch. Jude is citing the words of a prophet he identifies as Enoch. Enoch who lived in the seventh generation from Adam. He's saying this guy was only seven generations removed from the first man who ever lived, Adam. Well, he also says that Enoch was a prophet. Enoch in the seventh generation from Adam prophesied. When we think of the prophets we tend to think of Isaiah, maybe Jeremiah, maybe even Moses, Malachi, but we don't tend to think of Enoch. And yet Jude says Enoch was a prophet. He prophesied. This would make Enoch the first prophet in all of recorded history. I think that's interesting. But Enoch in the Bible is best remembered Not for being a prophet, but for what? His walk with God. Look at Genesis 5, verse 22. Verse 22 begins, Then Enoch walked with God. Verse 24 reiterates, Enoch walked with God. What does it mean to walk with God? This is not referring to what Adam would have experienced in the Garden of Edom. Adam, prior to falling into sin, had a side-by-side, face-to-face sort of relationship with God. There was no sin to inhibit man's fellowship with his Creator. But Enoch was a sinner. I don't want to take anything away from this. I don't want to minimize his relationship with God. But I have to tell you, Enoch was a sinner just like anybody in this room, just like anybody who's ever walked on the earth. So how is it then, Enoch, that you could walk with a holy God? That's a great question. Well, like Enoch, we must come to know God. As sinners, we must come to know God, even as we would come to know our very best friend. We must seek to love God. You know, we can't walk with God by being absolutely perfect. That's done, okay? That ship has sailed. We're sinners. We're born in sin. We have a sin nature. But you can walk with God by seeking to love the Lord God with everything. With all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength. It is seeking to please God above and beyond all else. To say, I love Jesus Christ more than anyone. I will love the Lord more than anything. This is a relationship that Enoch had with God. He loved God. He was a friend to God. He desired God more than anything. That means, brothers and sisters, wherever you go, in all of your thoughts, in all things you're doing, whether it's a weekday or a weekend, whether it's your free time, your entertainment choices, or it's on the job, it means you are seeking to please God. walked with God. And I know that sounds incredibly demanding, maybe that's intimidating, but there's nothing greater that could be said of your life than that you walked with God. There's three considerations I just want to leave you with here from this fact that Enoch, the one that's giving us this prophecy in our text, that he walked with God. The first thing is this, is simply that Enoch's life shows us it's not too late to begin walking with God. It's not too late to begin walking with God. Verse 21 says Enoch lived 65 years and became the father of Methuselah. Then, then Enoch walked with God. Anybody here 65 or older? OK, it's not too late. It's not too late. In fact, the older you are, the more you ought to consider, you ought to pursue this walk with God in earnest. But it's not too late to walk with God. A second consideration is that your environment is not an excuse for why you can't walk with God. Enoch walked with God despite. his environment in spite of the wickedness of his time. The world was very wicked at this time. Just read Genesis chapter 4. You see the line of Cain, how wicked it was. Men like Lamech, they were far greater sinners than even Cain was. The world was growing wicked so that when we get to Genesis 6, we see the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually. It was a reprobate society given to sin. And yet Enoch wouldn't let that excuse his walk with God. We don't have excuses. We can walk with God even in this world right now. A third consideration is that as impressed as we might be with the fact that Enoch walked with God, we might tend to think, wow, what a spectacular thing. The point of this text is not that we would be so impressed with Enoch. It's that we would be impressed with the fact that God would walk with a man. God would desire a relationship with a man like Enoch. And by extension, with somebody like us. Genesis 4 concludes by telling us, then men began to call upon the name of the Lord. That is, people began to seek after God. And that's a great thing. But Enoch didn't just seek God by calling upon his name, seeking salvation. He wanted a day in, day out relationship with God. That was Enoch. That's the one who gave us this prophecy. And I hope by application, we realize God desires a relationship with us. You can turn back to Jude. You can turn back to the book of Jude. That's the prophet behind this prophecy we're looking at here. God desires a relationship with you, desires to walk with you. Do you desire that with him? That's the question from Enoch's life. But while we look at the life Enoch mentioned in Genesis 5, we don't see anywhere the words that Jude ascribes to him here in our text. Nowhere, in fact, nowhere in the Bible do we see the prophecy, word for word, that Jude is citing from here. So where does this prophecy come from? How is it that Jude ascribes it to Enoch? Well, I want you to consider, along with the context here, this book that is in relation to this prophecy. This prophecy first appears in a book written a couple hundred years prior to Jesus' birth. It is during what we call an inter-testamental period between the Old and New Testaments. It is called the Book of Enoch. More technically, First Enoch. And it wasn't written by Enoch, but it bears his name. So I want to think about this then. This is a non-biblical book that Jude is citing from. And some will say, well, how is it that Jude, by inspiration of the Spirit of God, could cite from a book that is not inspired? That's a good question. I've heard comments from time to time by even some Christians that have claimed the Book of Enoch belongs in your Bible. It was just mistakenly left out. Mormons will tell you that, you know, oh, your Bible is incomplete. You don't have the Book of Enoch in your Bible. Well, see, you're missing something. You've got to come to us to get the full Word of God. This is an important issue. And so Let's just consider this for a moment. When we speak of the biblical canon, you ever heard of that? The biblical canon, the canon of scripture? The word canon there means measuring stick. It's talking about a system of measurement, a standard by which books had to measure up to, to be recognized as inspired by God. So the church, early church, for the first three centuries is testing these books, is examining these books, there were debates over these books, and the point was not to determine the canon, but the church was to discover what God had already inspired. And when it came to this book of Enoch, it failed the test of canonicity. It was left out of the canon because it failed to measure up to the Bible, to the rest of the Bible. How is that? just briefly here. First, Enoch was excluded from the Bible because of its late origin and pseudo-authorship. Why would anyone trust a book written over 3,000 years after the events it alleges to describe? That's a long time removed, right? That's a long time removed, and this letter was written between the Old and New Testaments, about 200 years before Jesus' birth, and yet it's trying to, it's alleging to describe what happened in Enoch's time. So, That's why this book is part of what's called the Pseudepigrapha. The Jews recognized it was never written by Enoch. It was written by a pseudo author. And so that's one of the reasons they rejected it. And so another reason Enoch was excluded from the biblical canon is that the Jews excluded it. from their canon, from the Hebrew scriptures. Why is that significant? God gave us the Old Testament through the Jewish people. They were his medium. Starting with Moses, he gives us the scriptures for the Jewish people. And you know what? The Jewish people did not include Enoch. They recognized this is not part of God's inspired word. They rejected it for a number of reasons. And why should we Years later, as a church, 2,000 years since the church started, why should we think, well, the Jews rejected it, the church rejected it, but we should accept it. In fact, I could make a case, too, that from the days of Malachi onward, the Old Testament canon was actually closed. So this book didn't make it in time. But finally, I just want to say this lastly. Enoch was excluded from your Bible because it is full of contradictions and absurdities. Contradictions and absurdities. I came up with a list of several of these as I was reading through it. And you can see me about more of those. But just for instance, one of these Enoch 40 verse 9 claims that an angel named Phanuel actually presides over repentance and the hope of those who will inherit eternal life. This is clearly what the Bible teaches about God's Messiah, Jesus Christ, who would come and who would be the only mediator between God and man. But I'm just saying, it's no wonder the early church rejected this book and did not include it in the canon. It's full of errors. There are other things I could share with you, but for sake of time. No, the book of Enoch is not inspired. It doesn't belong in your Bible. Jude never refers to Enoch as scripture. He never says it is written. He doesn't use that formula for it. But he does cite this prophecy. And maybe you find that disturbing. Maybe you say, but he's citing from this non-inspired book. So some Christians in the early church were skeptical of Jude for this very reason. How is that not a problem, Pastor? Well, Jude's not the only author in the Bible who cites from a non-biblical source. You even see in the Old Testament, the Old Testament books of Joshua, 2 Samuel mention this book of Joshua. What's that? We don't have it. But apparently the authors of those books were mentioning events also cited in the book of Joshua. They were true events. They happened. And all truth is God's truth, as we say. Paul, in the New Testament, will cite from Eratos. He was a Greek poet. In his preaching on Mars Hill, Paul cites Eratos. Just to make a point to his audience, his Greek audience, in Acts 17. Later, when he's talking to Titus, in Titus chapter 1, Paul cites from a Greek philosopher named Epimenides. So what's the point? Is Paul, in these cases, is he's putting a stamp of approval on everything those men, Eretus and Epimenides, said? Absolutely not. It is simply showing us God, all truth is God's truth, and God led his people to say no more, no less than what he wanted. And here, likewise, Jude's citation of Enoch isn't his stamp of approval on everything in the book of Enoch, but simply he's saying this prophecy is legitimate. This prophecy was authentic. There were things in the book of Enoch that were preserved from thousands of years of oral tradition and this is one of those things that the Jews understood. That Enoch was a prophet and that he did give indeed this prophecy. So That's the context of the prophecy, all right? I think that just gives us a greater appreciation for the man Enoch and for this prophecy without getting confused about the Book of Enoch or any of that, all right? But we need to examine the contents. Let's just look at the contents of this prophecy itself. The only difference between what Jude cites here, and if you open the Book of Enoch and see written there, is this. Enoch, the Book of Enoch says, behold, he comes. Jude says here, behold, The Lord comes. Using the title kurios. And here's why that's important. Because Jude uses this title kurios, Lord, four other times. And every single time it's referring to Jesus Christ. Verse four, he says, the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 17, the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 21, the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 25, Jesus Christ, our Lord. In each one of those cases, he's using the same title kurios to talk about Jesus Christ. So when he talks about the Lord came, he's talking about the same Koriath, the same Lord, Jesus Christ. This is a prophecy about the return of Jesus Christ. All right, well, three aspects here in this prophecy of Jesus coming. First, the certainty of Jesus coming. Jude begins, behold, this is a word that singles, here comes a prophecy, better listen up, here's something. And usually a prophet would say behold, and then he would tell you something that's going to happen in the future. That's not happening here. This prophecy says, behold, the Lord came. That's past tense. It doesn't say, behold, the Lord will come. He says, behold, the Lord came. Why would he do that? Well, Enoch was apparently seeing this in a vision, just like John in Revelation, who when he gives us the book of Revelation, you read that he's describing events in the future as though they are presently transpiring or as though they already happened, because he's describing what he sees in this vision. Makes sense? Enoch also saw this vision. He says, the Lord came. This is what Greek scholars call a proleptic or futuristic heiress. It's using a past tense verb to describe a future event. And the whole point of it is to stress the certainty of the event that's going to happen. It's like saying this. He's saying, it's as good as done. What happened in the past, we don't doubt that, right? I mean, or if you saw it, right? You experienced it, you say, I know it happened. I don't doubt it. Yeah, you don't have to wait for it. It's as good as done. Yes, in the mind of God, this is done. The Lord came. It's certain. Now, some of us know that several years ago, there was a man on Christian radio, a Christian radio station by the name of Harold Camping, and he made predictions about the Lord coming back. He said the Lord is going to return May 21st, 2011. So pack your bags and get ready. Many people did. Actually, Mr. Camping had made a prediction in 1994 that didn't come to pass. And when that didn't come to pass, instead of saying, oh, I was wrong. Oh, Jesus said, no man knows the day or the hour. I would be a fool to go against Jesus Christ. He said, no, actually, I miscalculated. It's not 1994. It's actually 2011. And don't ask me how he came up with those numbers, but it's outrageous. Terrible, terrible hermeneutics, not hermeneutics at all. 2011, along with May 21st, along with Mr. Hell Camping, came and went. And you know what the real tragedy is? That because somebody like Camping and many others have predicted the Lord's coming and said, that's what the Bible teaches us. He's coming on this day. And they're wrong. The world mocks and the world says, look, we were right. And they laugh and they say, where is the sign of his coming? All things continue from now as they were from the beginning, 2 Peter 3 tells us. But Peter would go on to say in 2 Peter 3, 7, that by his word, the present heavens, the present earth are being kept. They are reserved for fire. God has reserved this earth for judgment. He has appointed a time for judgment. And camping or nobody on this earth knows when that day or hour is, not even the angels of heaven. But Peter will go on to tell us that God's delay of judgment doesn't make his judgment any less certain. He says that with a, from God's perspective, a delay of a thousand years, it's like one day. Two thousand years since Jesus Christ coming? That's not a nanosecond to the God of eternity. From God's perspective, this is no delay at all. But why would God delay his judgment at all from our perspective? Well, Peter tells us. He says, verse 9, 2 Peter 3, 9, God is long-suffering. He doesn't want any to perish. He is prolonging his judgment. But, verse 10, he says, the day of the Lord will come like a thief. That is when least expected. So forget false predictions. Jude is saying the Lord came. It's as good as done. In the mind of God, this is determined. And it's certain, as certain as though it already happened. The second aspect of this prophecy to point out is the image of Jesus coming, the image. He says, Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of his holy ones. What an image. He's saying when the Lord comes, his coming will not be secret or subtle. Now, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, otherwise known as the Jehovah's Witnesses, they had predicted that in 1914 Christ would return and they were predicting it was a visible return. Well, 1914 came and went, right? And where was Jesus? Well, they said, oh, well, he did come. We weren't wrong. It was just an invisible return. It was invisible. That's why you couldn't see it. How convenient, how convenient rather than admitting they were wrong, trying to save face. But you know what the problem with that is? The Bible tells us in Revelation 117 plainly, behold, he is coming with the clouds. Every eye will see him. How can you say he came invisibly in 1914? You see, that is lies. Those are lies. Those are the apostates Jude is warning us about here. But he says the Lord is coming with his thousands, many thousands. And so while this prophecy, I know our prophecy here in Jude doesn't explicitly say it's going to be a visible appearing, how can you read he's coming with his many thousands and think that Jude is communicating anything other than a visible return? That's the whole point of these many thousands. This is Not a secret or subtle coming. It is not a humble and lowly coming. When Jesus came on his first advent, born of the womb of Mary, he was born to this poor peasant woman in the lowliest, most humble of fashion, born in a feeding trough there or laid there in a feeding trough, in a manger, a stable in the obscure village of Bethlehem. And yet when he returns, He's coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He's coming as the Lord of all glory. And he will come with his many thousands, we read. This is what military tacticians call a show of force. It is an act of intimidation. What's the point of the many thousands? To intimidate his enemies, to show, to magnify his power visibly, immediately. And the Greek word translated many thousands is murias, in apocalyptic settings used to describe a innumerable host. There is no number to this angelic host, and I believe the holy ones here are angels, even though saints will also accompany Christ at his return. But the image here is emphasizing the majesty and power of our Lord Jesus Christ, such as we find in 2 Thessalonians 1. The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retributions Retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder every eye is going to see him. No wonder every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, because he's coming with power and in all his glory. So we've seen the certainty and the image of Jesus coming in this prophecy, but there's a third aspect, and that is the purpose of his coming. Look at that, verse 15. He's coming. He came with as many thousands to execute judgment upon all and to convict all the ungodly. Now stop right there. There's two purposes to execute judgment upon all the ungodly. That's the first one here. And he says all to execute his judgment on all that is referring to all non believers, all without the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. They've not repented of their sins, they've not been covered by the blood of Jesus, like Jesus himself would say, they are under the wrath of God because they have not yet believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. Very serious. And Judas saying that when the Lord comes, he's going to ensure that none escape his judgment. That's plain. Is anything more unpopular than that in the church today? I mean, Nobody wants to hear that. We want to be entertained. We want comedians. We want the social gathering. We want the worship team. We want amusement. That's what people want. They want inspirational speakers who will boost their egos, make them feel good about themselves. And yet the Bible teaches us that the church was established to be the pillar and the ground of the truth. My friend, if we don't preach the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth of God, we're not the pillar and ground of truth. We have ceased to be the church and we are something else. We are something less. We are something certainly worse. But the point here is, he says, God is coming, the Lord is coming to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly. The word convict means to expose, to bring to light. So that Jude is telling us when Christ comes, No one's going to escape judgment, and nothing that deserves judgment is going to pass his notice. That's scary. He's going to bring everything to light. And that's scary because we know we're sinners. And there's two things that he's convicting these ungodly of, specifically. He says, of all their ungodly deeds, which they have done in an ungodly way, and of their ungodly words, he says, and of all the harsh things which the ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Did you catch a word that just kept being repeated there. Do you see what he's stressing there? Almost clumsily, like, like, hey, you don't have to use the word ungodly so much. But we need to understand what God's really concerned about, what he's coming to judge is ungodliness. That is the essence of sin. That's what sin is. It is any deviation from God's character, from what God is, who he is, his purpose, his pleasure, his will for our lives. That's why it's a big deal, because God cannot cohabit with sin. And so he's coming to judge these who have rebelled against him. And he says they're speaking harsh, that is strong or hard words against him, against God of all people, what audacity here. But the Lord told us that he would come as judge. Many places in the Bible we see that, but very clearly here, the Lord Jesus is coming as judge. That's the first reason to take seriously God's judgment, because God said that he would come as judge. But a second reason to take seriously God's judgment just briefly here is that the Lord told us who he would come to judge. That's verse 16. These are grumblers, finding following after their own lusts. They speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. The these that Jude is referring to again in verse 16 is yes, it's tying these... it's his way of tying these apostates to the objects or the targets of God's judgment. He's once again wanting to let us know that these apostates are not going to get away from their sin. He says, These apostates are to be described in five negative traits. That's verse 16. Five negative traits we have here. They're all like a bull's eye, each one of them, on these sinners and it's saying, you know, hit me to God. This is the judgment of God coming. We could say these are five targets. The Lord is coming to judge target number one, grumblers. That is those expressing disapproval with something or someone. Not grumbling about just anything, I believe, but it's what Paul had in mind when he spoke of those Israelites, 1 Corinthians 10, who were grumbling in the wilderness. They'd seen the miracles of God, they'd received the goodness of God, but they were grumbling. I don't care, God. I disapprove of your love, your works, all that you've done. It's how the Pharisees reacted to Jesus after witnessing his genuine love for sinners. Jesus sits down with tax collectors, prostitutes, sinners. He's trying to win these people with mercy and grace and truth. And yet the Pharisees, they saw that and they grumbled. They disapproved of Jesus' love. God's going to judge that. It's how the Galileans reacted to Jesus. They heard him say, I'm the bread of life. If you don't eat of me, you have no life. I'm the bread of life that came down from heaven. You know what? When they heard that, they said, that's too narrow. Who can receive this? And they grumbled. They grumbled against the truth of God. You must beware not to grumble, not to disappreciate or disapprove the works of God, his love, his message of truth, however narrow or hard it is to receive. But the Lord's also coming to judge target number two. Fault finders. You see that? Those finding fault. This is like, this is a similar expression to that which is used like in Matthew or Mark, Mark 7. We went through this in Mark's Gospel. Jesus is doing all these miracles that people are saying, He's done all things well. And the Pharisees over there grumbling aren't just grumbling. They are looking to find fault with Jesus Christ. And what do they do? They see the disciples eating their bread with unwashed hands. And they say, who cares that he heals people? Who cares that he's the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy? We don't care about that. We don't want to look at that. Look at what this guy is doing. He's allowing his disciples to break this rule that's important to us. And so they raise a riot when they see this. And it's like Jesus would say in Matthew 7, you guys are like those people. You see a you see a little speck in somebody's eye and you think they got a problem and you want to issue a judgment against them. You got a two by four sticking out of your eye. He said you're so blind to your own faults because you are so obsessed with seeing faults in other people. Fault finders. The Lord's coming to judge. He's coming to judge target number three, those following after their own lusts. We've already seen the fact that these Apostates were characterized by unrestrained immorality, they were enslaved to sensuality, and they were enslaved to greed. That's what they were about. And they were so enslaved, as Judas is telling us, he's saying they're following these lusts to destruction. They're following these lusts to hell, as it were. And now, we all have wrong desires. No one of us is exempt from greed in some sense, from being drawn to the temptations of sin. We all have wrong desires. Some religions of this world will tell you that desire is wrong. Desire in and of itself. The Bible doesn't teach that. The Bible teaches we need the right kind of desire. And we need to flee wrong desires. We need to flee, as Paul said to Timothy, youthful lusts, sinful passions, and pursue rather love, faith, righteousness. So what rules your life? Ungodly desire or godly desires? The Lord is coming fourthly, target number four, to judge those who speak arrogantly. In Theodosian's version of the Septuagint, he uses the very same language here in Daniel 11, 36 of Antiochus IV, Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus, who gave himself the title Epiphanes, he called himself God Manifest. Talk about a guy who was arrogant. Talk about a guy with an ego problem. He spoke monstrous things against the one true God, boasted himself against God. And if you know the story, the guy slays a pig. in the very precincts of the temple. The abomination of desolation. He hated God. He hated God's people, the Jews. And Judah's saying, these apostates are like that. They're running their mouths against God. Who do they think they are? God's going to put them in their place. That's all they have. Just words. Just talk. Just speak arrogantly. God is going to judge you, he says. The Lord's coming, fifthly, to judge, target number five, those flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. And the literal translation is those that are astonishing to the face. These guys, they put on an act. They're astonishing. I mean, there's something to watch. They're good at what they do, but they're doing it all for a purpose. They want to get something. They want to gain a profit. It's like a guy who wants to sweet talk a girl, because he knows what he wants. And she thinks, oh, he loves me. He's flattered. Second Peter 3, Peter warned. He said, in their greed, they will exploit you with false words. exploit you. They're using you. They're manipulating you. They know what you want to hear. They know what you want. And they're telling you it. Why? Because they know how to get something from you. It's greed motivating them. We see that in so many churches around this world, people don't want to preach the truth of God. That's the point of a church, by the way. That's the point of the Bible, is to preach the Bible. But they don't want to do that because they want something from the people that they won't get if they preach the truth. I'll just say this, brothers, if we are not convicted from God's Word. I'm not saying necessarily week to week, you gotta, you know, oh, God showed me a sin, but I'm saying if you're coming week by week by week, and God is not showing you something in your life, you need to change. One of two things has to be true. Either A, it is, it's something wrong with me, it's something wrong with the preaching here, that the Word of God is not being preached. Because that's why God gave us this Word, to change us. Or B, the other possibility could be that you're not receiving his word. You're not hearing it. The word is being preached, but you're not listening. We are all sinners. We all need to make changes. And God has given us his word for that very purpose. That's the truth. Contrary to these apostates, the way they were operating. So the Lord is coming. as judge of all the earth. That's the point of this text. And Jude is focusing here, I know, on how God is going to judge the apostates. But I hope you realize this is a message for all of us, because there's not a person in this room that doesn't need to be ready when the Lord comes. Christian, somebody who's trusting in Jesus Christ as your only savior and your Lord, you've submitted to him. Are you longing for the day of Jesus coming? You know, there's a great thermometer you can use to kind of measure your maybe your relationship. It's not infallible. But a great thermometer to examine your spiritual temperature could be, how do I feel right now about meeting God? Would I be ashamed? Are there some changes? Before I stand before his presence, would I need to make some calls? Would I need to get on my knees and confess some things? Would I be ready right now? That's a thoughtful question. And maybe you're here, and like most of us, you're a procrastinator. You tend to put off things that are important. You tend to think maybe at another moment, later, tomorrow, at a more convenient hour, maybe that's you. If that's you, don't procrastinate about the judgment of God. Nothing is more important. Nothing demands your immediate action and response like what we're looking at here. The good news of the gospel is that God did not send his son into this world to condemn this world. Jesus came. as that lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world to save you, not to condemn you, but to save you from your sin. So if Jesus is ready to be your savior, why would you reject him? Why reject him as your savior? If you do, if you reject Christ as the lamb of God slain for your sin, you must face him as your judge. That is the only other alternative. But let's pray.