Transcript for:
Jude 3:1,6 -Earnestly Contend- Guest Speaker Mark Dinsmore 2023-07-23

At this time, I'd like to introduce Mark Dinsmore. He's our guest speaker. We've had him before and it's always been a great pleasure, so we'll just welcome him. Good morning, church. It is always good to be here, and it's not because I'm paid to say that. It feels like coming home to family. We are the family of God, right? All right, this morning we're starting a two-part message, earnestly contend, or contending for the faith. Part one, and we're going to turn to the book of Jude. That's right before the book of Revelation, so you can begin to do that. It's at the back of the book, toward the back of the book. So let's stand together and read from God's holy word, the book of Jude. And this morning, Lord willing, we're going to try to get halfway. We'll see what happens and we'll finish up next week. Beginning with verse one, the book of Jude. Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ. Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of God into lasciviousness, that is, lewdness, and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day. As Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke you. But these speak evil of whatever they do not know, and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, they have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are spots on your feasts, on your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds, late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots, raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame, wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Father, we thank you for your precious word this morning. We thank you, God, that every word is true, it is inspired, it is inerrant, it is the word of God, it is sufficient. So, Father, may you minister to us by your spirit this morning with instruction, God, protect our homes and families, give us wisdom in these darkening days, these increasingly perilous times, or that we might faithfully uphold your word, that we would earnestly contend for the faith that you have given to us and paid for with the precious blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ. In whose name we pray, amen. You may be seated. So the good news for the majority of the planet is that God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. The bad news for believers is that God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. In other words, for those who are looking for the promise of our blessed hope, the rapture of the church, and the rescue of the bride of Christ prior to the great tribulation, which I hope you all are, that is truly going to be a glorious day. It stands to get a whole lot worse before it gets a whole lot better. So here in the book of Jude, as J. Vernon McGee notes, he says, Jude was intending to write an epistle regarding our common salvation when the Spirit detoured him to write concerning the apostasy. J. Vernon says, Here's the quote I wanted to share. It is a question now of how much worse it can become before genuine believers are taken out in the rapture. And if that was true when dear brother McGee wrote it and spoke it, and I believe it was, how much more true is it today? It's immense. It is enormous. It can't be long. So in verse 1 we read, Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, the brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Christ and called. What a beautiful introduction and salutation. So many of you know that Jude is the anglicized form of Judas. How many kids are named Judas today? Not very many. His name was kind of eclipsed by a very famous Judas. So he's distinguished here as Jude probably to separate himself from the other Judes. It was a very common name of his day. There are six people named Jude in the New Testament. But of course this epistle was penned by Jude, the half-brother of Jesus. We see that in Mark 13 and Mark chapter 6. The Apostle John notes that none of the half-brothers of Jesus, including James and Jude, believed in the Lord as Messiah. As the promised Messiah until after his resurrection. The book of John records that. And also we see that they were all saved by the book of Acts. They were testifying to the Lord's deity. But here Jude identifies himself as the servant of Jesus Christ. Servant, of course, means bond slave. It's one who's voluntarily chosen to submit to a master for life. Because in ancient Israel, slaves were set free every seven years. And some people know that some of her laws are based in these old principles and old laws of Israel. For debt to be set free every seven years. Wouldn't that be lovely if that were the case today? But sometimes they would have such a mutually beneficial and strong attachment that this was a servant desired to stay on for life. And he would become a bond servant. Kind of like if you were an apprentice in a trade and you would kind of join yourself with your apprentice. So today it's still important that we regard ourselves as bond servants in Christ. As Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. Jesus expounded on this in John 15, 12 through 15, and he elevates it. The Lord said, this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. Praise God for that. It's an incredibly high honor, isn't it? To not only be made joint heirs with Jesus, but to be called friends with our Savior. Sadly, that's a relationship that many take for granted today. This level of intimacy was extended to believers through Calvary, when Jesus became the only mediator between God and man. But it's fascinating to consider that even in the Old Testament, Abraham was called a friend of God. James 2.23 says, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. And he was called a friend of God. Pastor Dave Dusik offers a valuable insight into the heart and mind of Jude. He writes, Jude was a blood relative of Jesus, but he considered himself only as a bondservant of Jesus Christ. The fact that he wanted himself to be known this way instead of introducing himself as Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, tells us something of the humility of Jude and the relative unimportance of being connected to Jesus by human relationships. To Jude, the blood of the cross that saved him was more important than the family blood in his veins that related him to Jesus. Jude could say with Paul, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him, thus no longer. In one of these days, we're going to see him face to face and see him as he is. Amen. So I appreciate these remarks. I find them instructive for us today because historically, it's been very common in our culture, even as believers, to emphasize and spend considerable time cultivating relationships and placing emphasis on immediate family and blood relatives, which is normal and natural. It's a good and right thing to do. But what of family members who leave or spurn the faith or turn into rebels? Jesus makes clear that our faith will divide and that we should be careful of where we place our first love. Matthew 10, 37, the Lord said, He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And in Luke 12, 53, the Lord said, Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. How many of you this morning have divided families as a result of your faith? I imagine there's a fair number represented. Others are blessed to have a common bond, a common salvation with all of their children and family members. That is such a blessing. So here's the brother of James. James, of course, was an important leader in the Church of Jerusalem and the author of the book by his name. And they were both half-brothers of Jesus. Jude writes, To them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. So Jude wrote to believers and followers of Christ. So this is not an evangelistic tract. It deals with things that believers need to hear but often don't want to, said one pastor. Indeed, it is rare to hear pastors today preach and teach about biblical discernment and biblical division. The vast majority of pulpits preach love, acceptance, and unity. Because that's what people want to hear, along with assurance and affirmation that Jesus gets us. Because a pat on the back is what keeps them coming back. Tragically, this manner of teaching is not after the Apostle Paul, who told Timothy to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. But I'm jumping ahead. Notice that in his salutation here in verse 1, Jude is writing, To them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. So his audience is the Church, the body of Christ. And the third way he identifies his audience is really the first, because a believer must first be called. Both Paul and Peter repeatedly use this phrase. For example, in 1 Corinthians 1.9, Paul writes, God is faithful by whom you were called into this fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. And in Ephesians 4, which we were studying the last time we visited, there's one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling. So a person is a Christian because God has called him or her, but then we have to answer the call, don't we? We won't get into a study of Calvinism this morning. Next, notice that Jude's readers were sanctified by God the Father. To be sanctified means to be doubly set apart. First, we're set apart from the world, right? And then we are set apart unto God. So it's important to have both of those pieces as we are daily sanctified. It's not a moment in time, it's a process. We are being sanctified as we set our hearts and minds and lives apart for the Lord. As the Apostle Paul exhorts in Romans 12, 1 and 2, you're familiar with this passage, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present in your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, right? That's just something that should be natural. It's not natural, but we should daily set our eyes, take up our cross, and follow Him. And we do that by not being conformed to this world, but rather be transformed by the renewing of our mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So we should all examine ourselves daily, shouldn't we? What priorities do we set? What are we set apart for? Is it hunting and fishing? Is it sports and entertainment? Is it movies and music? Is it hobbies? Is it travel? These are not bad things in and of themselves, but we need to be, first of all, set apart and do all things to the glory of God. Finally, in verse 1, we see that Jews' readers were preserved in Jesus Christ. As Paul declared to Timothy, For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him until that day. Praise God. In verse 2, Jude continues his salutation, Mercy unto you, and peace and love be multiplied. Not just added, but multiplied. And we speak often of mercy without defining it. We've all heard the phrase that grace is getting what we don't deserve, and mercy is not getting what we do deserve. And that's true, but it's helpful to look at this word a little bit deeper. Strong's defines Elias, mercy, as compassion, human or divine, especially that which is active. Definition 1, mercy is kindness or goodwill towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them. God is merciful, isn't he? He's merciful toward us. It's God's kindness, his mercy, that leads us to repentance. It's also the mercy of Christ, whereby at his return to judgment, he'll bless the true Christians with eternal life. So note that Jude desires these benefits of Christ to be multiplied, just as the Lord promised that his gifts in us, his character, would be pressed down, shaken together, and running over. So these three words, mercy, peace, and love, are used together in just one other verse in the New Testament, 2 John 1, 3, Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. Truth and love, amazing words. The word of God is both of these, isn't it? And so we hopefully strive to exemplify both of these attributes, speaking the truth in love. For if we fail to speak the truth, do we actually have true love? And if we speak the truth without love, is that the whole truth? Moving on to Jude, verse 3, we read, and come to the central theme and purpose of this epistle. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints. As one Christian leader wrote, U.S. Protestantism, once famous for its diversity, is homogenizing into what is almost a new faith. And if it continues in its present direction, it will be stone-cold dead in a couple of dozen years. Stone-cold dead. These were the quotes from Gibson Winter in his book The Suburban Captivity of the Church, written in 1961. So fast forward 63 years. Sixty-three years ago he wrote that, that the church would be stone-cold dead, and we're getting close. A recent Barnett Poll reports, while 51% of the 1,000 American adults surveyed said they hold to a biblical worldview, the new study determined that only 6% actually embrace a biblical belief system. Six percent. For example, of the 51%, less than half believe that when they die they will go to heaven, only because they have confessed their sins and have accepted Christ as their Savior. In other words, it's Jesus and for them. Jesus and good works. Jesus and fill-in-the-blank. Not because of Christ's atonement only. 49% accept reincarnation as a possibility after they die. Isn't that sad? What a grievous reality. Barnett continues, he says, Our studies show that Americans are neither deep nor sophisticated thinkers. Barnett said, Most people seem more interested in living a life of comfort and convenience than one of logical consistency and wisdom. Our children will continue to suffer the consequences of following in the unfortunate footsteps of their parents and elders. Truly, we're in the latest in age, aren't we? Barnett said further, However, people who are willing to fight, that is, earnestly contend, for a more reasonable way of thinking and acting can make a difference, but it will be slow progress. But sadly, earnestly contending for the faith is not a popular topic today, and it's a costly and burdensome pursuit. My wife and I have lost church fellowship, we've lost friends, and we've lost family members in this process. No wonder so few are willing to pay the price. It's truly the way of suffering, but as Jesus exhorted us all, take up your cross and follow him. So it's not a pretty picture, is it? The parents once worried that their children would lose faith in God while attending college. But 14 years ago now, a book called Already Gone demonstrated that if children were not already able to defend their faith scientifically by junior high, their departure was almost certain. And today, tragically, our children are already gone at even an earlier age as anti-Christian indoctrination begins in preschool. So truly, we can see the day fast approaching when the words of our Lord in Luke 18 are fulfilled. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? So this morning we're going to be examining a number of real-world examples of this in our time together. Returning to verse 3, we see that Jude gave all diligence. Diligence here means careful and persistent work or effort. Jude's intention was an earnest effort. He purposed, he prepared, he practiced. In other words, he put into practice what he was preaching. So in English, this is an interesting, I love etymology, word study, finding out roots and where things have come from. So I looked this up, and it conveys the impression of importance or haste to earnestly contend. And it comes from a late 17th century France where a stagecoach was called a carrosse de diligence or a coach of speed. So, you know, it was a new technology of the day, a wheeled coach pulled by a fast team of horses. So it was a coach of speed, and we get a word diligence from that. I gave all diligence. As another author and pastor observes, the letter of Jude is essentially a sermon. In it, Jude preached against the dangerous practices and doctrines that put the gospel of Jesus Christ in peril. These serious issues, these were serious issues, and Jude dealt with them seriously. But what does Jude mean by the phrase, our common salvation? Well, our common, our salvation isn't common in the sense that it's cheap or that everyone has it. It's common in the sense that we are saved in common or in community. God doesn't have one way for the rich and another way for the poor or one way for the good and one for the bad. There is only one mediator, Christ Jesus, who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by me. So we all come to God the same way. That's our common salvation. Jesus is the only way. So we spoke of this unity in Christ last time in the book of Ephesians, and we quoted the psalmist who wrote, behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. But as one Bible commentator writes, we should be happy that Jude was sensitive to the Holy Spirit here. What might have only been a letter from a Christian leader to a particular church instead became a precious instrument inspired by the Holy Spirit and valuable as a warning in these last days. That's very, very true, isn't it? Because Jude, as we'll see, is a book written for our time. Even as long as the Lord tarries, even for the next generation, perhaps even the last generation that we'll see before Christ's return. And in like manner as Jude, we need to be constantly aware of God's will and the still small voice of the Holy Spirit that may redirect our steps or redirect our hearts and our minds and mouths. A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. So next notice that Jude said it was needful. It was needful. It was important. Jude had originally purposed to bring a message applicable to all believers everywhere, observing and celebrating Christian unity. But there's no lack of such messages, is there? Tragically, most pastors come from the Beatles' school of theology. All we need is love. Love is all we need. So Jude here declares it was needful. Other translations read, I found it necessary. So Jude received a fresh assignment from the Holy Spirit, and he followed it. There are two aspects to the Greek word here. Enage, it means necessity, imposed either by the circumstances or by law of duty regarding the one's advantage, custom, argument. So we see that Jude was compelled by the Holy Spirit. He was required of the Lord to communicate something different than what he initially set out to do. And much like the prophets of old, he did so not only out of obedience, but out of his own distress of heart for the church. I'm reminded of the distress of the Old Testament prophet Daniel when he was grieved in the spirit at the visions in his head. Through the whole process, Daniel was faint and sick, and he mourned. Oh, that we would have greater distress of heart today, not only for the lost souls, but also for the lost church. This is why Jude wrote, to exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith. The word for exhort here is pericleo. It's translated as beseech three times, comfort 23 times, and exhort 21 times. So it's used in both a pleading sense to beg and treat, beseech, as well as to console, to strengthen, and to encourage. So in this passage, we can clearly see that Jude was earnestly pleading with the church. When's the last time? I know Rick pleads every Sunday, and there are faithful pastors who do that, praise God. But by and large, there aren't a tremendous number of ministers today who are pleading with the church, exhorting the church to contend for the faith. One commentator reminds us that the ancient Greek word translated contend comes from the athletic world. Of course, this was a theme of the Apostle Paul. And it comes from the wrestling mat. It is a strengthened form of the word, meaning to agonize, to agonize. Remember the old television show from decades past, ABC's Wide World of Sports? I remember watching that growing up as a kid, and we had a black-and-white console TV. Yeah, I guess that I'm officially old. But I remember we did get a color TV shortly thereafter. It was about the weight of a boat anchor, and it was a whopping 19 inches. Amazing. But the show always began with a montage of sports clips, you know, spectacular moments in sports. And the thing that struck me as a young man was watching a skier go down the ramp, just as the voiceover announcer was saying, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, right? And the guy spins off and wrecks and crashes dramatically. So I don't know that it's that kind of agony that we're talking about. We're talking about a wrestle, a struggle. And sometimes that agony, that agony of defeat lasts for a moment. We're talking about an agony here in the Scriptures that is in the present infinitive. It shows that the Christian struggle is continuous. So do you ever wake up and think, here we go again? You know, put on your spiritual armor. It's another day. There's another battle. There's another challenge. Lord, please strengthen me. I need you today. So we're in a constant battle for the faith, aren't we? Because we're under constant assault. The Scripture says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness and high places. So we're also wrestling against enemies, foreign and domestic, aren't we, that are unseen. So increasingly, from every side, we're feeling this battle 24-7, 365. But aren't you so glad that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life? It's too bad the Apostle Paul didn't have that tool at his disposal. It would have made his whole life a lot easier. It's a little tongue-in-cheek. I'm referring to a tract that was popular in the 70s and 80s, put out by Bill Bright, Campus Crusade for Christ. And I used that tool to witness as a young college student. And God, I just remember the phrase, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. But what about, try telling that to the saints in Hebrews, right, who were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with a sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented. And the Apostle Paul also cites a litany of distresses that he endured, all for the gospel. So the statement, the phrase, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, sounds more like Joel Osteen's gospel of having your best life now. So unfortunately, some of these, the Campus Crusade is now called Cru, and they did a lot of good work in their day, but they've sadly gone apostate. They're totally woke, totally emergent. And we'll see some examples this week and next. But the point is that the Apostle Paul said, I die daily, right, not once, but daily. But it's funny, isn't it, and tragic, in a tragic, ironic way, so many ministries are attempting to win people to Christ with the false health and wealth prosperity gospel, which basically says that the Christian life is like a Willy Wonka golden ticket. No wonder the church is in such a mess. No wonder so many people fall away from the faith or reject the gospel when they realize that these promises can't be fulfilled. These are false and empty promises. That's why we need the book of Jude more than ever today. Notice that Jude's not writing to exhort pastors. He's not writing to exhort, you know, seminary leaders or professors. He's writing to exhort the church. That's you. That's me. So the question this morning is, are you ready? Are you able? Are you equipped? We could preach all week on these topics. Have you got anywhere else to go? I told Rick yesterday, and I said, we've got a two-parter in the book of Jude. He says, that's wonderful. I said, the only trouble is I think we need four Sundays. He said, preach it. All right, so most of the church sadly is not prepared. Not this church. You've got a great pastor who prepares you every week. I'm speaking of the greater body of Christ. Here's a sad statistic. Study finds that 37% of pastors, only 37% of pastors have a biblical worldview. All right, what that means is that the majority of pastors do not hold to a biblical worldview. The majority, 62%, possess a hybrid view known as syncretism. Syncretism. So this study shows that the lowest level of biblical worldview was among executive pastors. The research included 54 worldview-related questions and found that only 47% of pastors value a biblical worldview concerning issues related to God, creation, and history. So what a sad, sad commentary. No wonder the church is in such disarray. And we can begin to understand why, again, the Lord said, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? So what are some ways in which we can earnestly contend for the faith today? It's not a job just up for pastors, right? They're equipping. They are training. And then we go out into the mission field every day in our works, in our communities, in our neighborhoods, in our families. We can also contend for the faith in a positive sense. When we witness, we distribute tracts. We make possible the training of faithful ambassadors through our tithes, offerings, donations. And we contend for the faith in a negative way when we withhold support and encouragement from false teachers or even actually expose them, as we're exhorted in Scripture, to have nothing to do with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather expose them. And so each one of us should contend for the gospel wherever the Lord puts us. But how do we do this without being contentious? We need to earnestly contend without being contentious, right? As one evangelist that we love, Mark Cahill, says, the gospel is not a presentation, it's a conversation. So in stark contrast to the love-is-all-we-need crowd, the Scriptures actually exhort us to rebuke and reprove false teachers, to examine and identify those who teach falsely, and to confront heretics, invite them to repent, and expose the unfruitful works of darkness. We've studied a few of these verses in the past. A favorite one that I like to share is Romans 16, 17, and 18. It's easy to remember because the chapter and then the verse references are all together. 16, 17, through 18. Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you've learned, and avoid them. For they are such that serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. We're going to see an example of that this morning. And in Titus 3, verse 10 and 11, we read, A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject. So in other words, talk to him in love, speak the truth in love, give him an opportunity to repent. If he does not, then reject him, knowing that he is subverted and sins and is condemning himself. And the reason we do this, Paul exhorted Timothy in 2 Timothy 4, 1 through 4, let's skip to verse 3. He says, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers who will tickle their ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and be turned unto fables. Do you know that many pastors, Christian organizations, they're teaching fables, and people are following after these fables. So it's not that the enemy is outside the church trying to come in. He's already in the church, right? So we are to exhort, we're exhorted to contend for the faith. The faith, the only faith, the true faith. It's been once delivered. In other words, as Jude says, once delivered unto the saints. It can't be reimagined, reinvented, or repainted like Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis. This is old news now, but he once was a New York Times bestselling author who went totally emergent, totally off the road, gay-supporting author. Rob Bell. And his teachings were used in our youth group in a former church we went to in Central Oregon. And I told the pastor, I said, don't trust him. He's not reliable. He's teaching falsely. And the youth pastor at the time went to Rob Bell's website and said, well, his statement of faith looks good. So you can't trust statements of faith. You know, you have to evaluate the fruit. You will know them by their fruit. And, of course, in subsequent years, he totally departed from the faith, and he drew millions of people away. He's a blasphemer, along with Brian McLaren, another bestselling heretical author who wrote a book called Generous Orthodoxy. And Brian McLaren was writing this to explain how he was, quote, why I am the missional, evangelical, post-Protestant, liberal, conservative, mystical poet, biblical, charismatic, contemplative, fundamentalist, Calvinist, Anabaptist, Anglican Methodist, Catholic, green, incarnational, depressed, yet hopeful, emergent, unfinished Christian. So we're not going to take time this morning to delve into all of his gobbledygook. Just know that it's gobbledygook, right? But he's one of the reasons that Jude wrote his epistle for us today. And so, as I've repeatedly said through the years, I think Dave Hunt echoed this as well, the Christian bookstore, there aren't too many bookstores now. That's another sign of the times. But the bestselling rack in the Christian bookstore is one of the most dangerous places a Christian can go. So just be very aware. And if it's the bestseller, that's red flag number one. And Jude explains, for in verse 4, let's look at verse 4 of Jude. For there are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and our only Lord Jesus Christ. There's a lot in this verse. We'll try to unpack a little bit of it. But they've crept in unawares. And there are certain men. So in those days, only men were permitted to speak and teach on spiritual matters, especially in formal settings. Today, however, we would say certain speakers or certain bloggers or certain YouTubers, right? Because people are getting their spiritual content from all kinds of sources. It includes a myriad of women who have become either the beloved bestselling authors or self-appointed authorities on spiritual matters. Another sign of our times. But they've crept in unawares. Jude was writing to the first century church more than 2,000 years ago. But the apostle Paul issued a similar prophetic warning to the church, which is being fulfilled in our lifetime. We're living in the days of fulfilled prophecy. 2 Timothy 3, 1 through 7. So what does this passage bring to mind? They creep into houses. Well, thieves creep into houses, don't they? Or perhaps a lurker, an imposter, one who sneaks in. As J. Vernon McGee says, In other words, these men are a bunch of creeps. They've crept in. And Charles Spurgeon put it this way. He said, Isn't that true? So these men have given the appearance that they are believers, but they've come in another way. They've crept in. They don't belong there, but they've come in undetected. Well, the implication is that these men have not come in by the usual means, like through the front door of the sheepfold, but they've come up another way. They've come in by the side door. They've professed to be one thing, but they had another purpose. Or as a criminal investigator would say, they had an ulterior motive. How does this happen? Well, for one thing, wolves have learned that sheep are good eating. And unless they're carefully guarded, they're easy prey. So it is with the church. It's easy prey, unfortunately, for wolves, spiritual wolves, to come in and steal, kill, and destroy. That's why the Apostle Paul declared in Acts 20, 26 through 31, For I know this, that after my departure shall come savage wolves, will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among your own selves, men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to do what? To draw away disciples after themselves. Therefore watch and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone, night and day, with tears. Wow. So these ministers are everywhere, and they're transformed as ministers of righteousness. Paul says that even Satan appears as an angel of light, therefore don't be surprised when his ministers appear as ministers of righteousness. But they're not. They are imposters. They are Christian con men. A con man, the word comes from confidence man. In other words, they play the long game. They're in it for the long haul. They're not in for a quick steal. They're in to deceive and to take everything from you. And, of course, that's like Satan who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He's got his agents literally everywhere. Every nation, every government, every seminary, every Christian school, every Christian denomination, even in every local church. Wolves can creep in if we're not careful, if shepherds don't guard the door. So we see the fruit of this everywhere we look, don't we? Apostasy, ecumenism, liberalism, corruption. Consider this quote. The society of our day is like the earth in which we live, a thin crust over a great volcanic-seeding revolutionary heart of liquid fire. More and more clearly are shown the signs of the movement, the aim of which is to destroy the entire social order of the state, the church, and the family. So we've had lots of movements through the years, movements in the church. The latest great thing, it seems like every three to five years there's got to be a really, really big movement. It usually revolves around a best-selling book or a personality on the radio, a personality on the TV, and they draw a very large following and build a great big empire. J. Vernon McGee noted that several movements. He spoke of the women's Bible study movement, the youth movement, and the radio ministry movement. Of course, we would add after that the television ministry movement, all of which have produced subsequent waves of false teaching. And one of these is the fruit of the feminist movement. Feminist propaganda has helped break down both the home and the church. Much of this has been achieved through the media and through entertainment, which has often portrayed men as inept, bumbling fools who must be rescued by their wives who constantly need to take over the reins. You know, I need to say, first, the women are a gift from God, and I don't know where I'd be without my wonderful wife. She keeps me organized and keeps me running. I trust in her, and I rely on her, and I appreciate everything she does for me and for our household. But as J. Vernon McGee notes, he says, it is a tragic thing when the wife attends a Bible study class and then becomes the spiritual head of the household. Sometimes women do this out of necessity. They beg and they plead with their husbands to take the reins and to be a spiritual leader, or if they're married to an unsaved man, they try to minister to them and bring them into the fold. It's even the scriptures indicate. But sadly today, there's a growing movement. It's a great controversy in the Southern Baptist Convention, which was once the largest and most conservative evangelical denomination. I was a Southern Baptist many, many years ago. But women have empowered themselves through the church, and right now the leadership is divided. Before his retirement, Rick Warren held a service to ordain three women as pastors through his church, Saddleback Church. And then the SBC church members brought a resolution, which passed, that churches should be disfellowshipped that have female lead pastors. And so there's a great big controversy in that denomination. Beth Moore was once a Southern Baptist. She's now Anglican, so has departed from the faith, once delivered from the saints. We've got a number of best-selling Christian women and YouTubers who should be avoided. Beth Moore, Priscilla Shire, Christine Kane, Lisa Biverg, Jill Briscoe, Lauren Daigle, Rachel Held-Evans, Jen Hatmaker, even the beloved Amy Grant, who made a very public pronouncement of support for same-sex marriage with the wedding of her niece, which she hosted on their ranch. So truly, these are signs of the times. Even Charles Stanley, the great pastor who recently died, his son Andy Stanley heads up North Point Church, which is a great big mega-church. Unfortunately, Charles Stanley was like Eli. Eli refused to rebuke and correct his sons who were profaning the name of the Lord. And so Charles Stanley failed to biblically rebuke and correct his son because they are not only ordaining homosexuals or baptizing homosexuals, they are ordaining them to be leaders in the church. So Andy Stanley of North Point Church, apostasy, apostasy everywhere. So we could cite many more examples, but we've got to move on. In verse 4, Jude indicates that these men were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men. So the phrase before of old, we think of ancient times. It's used in various places throughout Scripture, but one of the first mentions is Genesis 6, verse 4, possibly relevant here. There were giants in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bare children unto them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. So the word ordained simply means to be marked out. Calvinist love to cite this passage then implies that a sovereign God determines in advance who gets saved and who goes to eternal damnation. But as Dave Hunt wrote in a big, thick book that I was privileged to design and help publish called What Love Is This? What love is it if a God could save billions but instead condemns them, billions to hell? So that is not the meaning of this passage. These are ungodly men. They're wicked. They're worthless. They're good for nothing. They're unprofitable. They're base. 2 Peter 3, 7 is a parallel passage. It says, So these ungodly men have turned the grace of our God into lasciviousness, lewdness. Boy, we're living in that hour, aren't we? It means extreme lust, offensive sexual desire, as evidenced in Sodom and Gomorrah. We're going to come to that. Can there be any greater perversion of God's grace than declaring that LGBTQ plus men and women can be saved and even attained to Christian leadership while maintaining their unholy lifestyle? Is it any wonder why our nation and world is coming under judgment? So these men have denied the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, I used to puzzle at that. How can a Christian leader, speaker, author, teacher, pastor, deny the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, it's the same reason why many Christians stumble over Paul's statement about another Jesus. He said, For if some come preach another gospel, another Jesus, another spirit, you might well put up with him, you might endure him, you might receive his teachings. How true is that? So if they are teaching, preaching, believing in another Jesus that is not Jesus, another gospel that is not the gospel, another spirit that is not the Holy Spirit, well then they've denied the Lord, haven't they? And we'll come to some very plain examples. Of course, Freemasons do this, Unitarian Universalists do this, Mormons do this. And so, unfortunately, do some best-selling authors, Christian musicians, and ministry leaders, when they question the exclusive deity claims of our Lord Jesus. Here's one. Tim Mackey. Anybody heard of Tim Mackey? The Bible Project, very popular, got a start on YouTube, creates very enticing and sometimes very impactful cartoon sketches explaining the books of the Bible. He's very popular now. His videos and his books are published everywhere. They're used by many, many pastors. We have a church in our island where the pastor is using his videos every Sunday to introduce a book of the Bible. But this is a false teacher, Tim Mackey. His organization is called the Bible Project. He denies the biblical doctrine of hell as a place of torment, where the eternal wrath of God is poured out among those who reject him. Mackey portrays hell as a creation of man, a view that clearly is contradictory to the teachings of Scripture. He recently participated in a conversation with the hosts of Almost Heretical Podcast to discuss his views on homosexuality, inerrancy, and other topics. One of the main points that Mackey emphasized is his belief that the Bible should not be used as a weapon to harm or discriminate against LGBTQ individuals. He stated, quote, If you have a view that is causing harm to people, you have a responsibility to change your view. If you have a view that is causing people to be suicidal, you have a responsibility to change your view. So unfortunately, rather than taking a stance against homosexuality and transgenderism based on a biblical perspective, Mackey urges others to consider the Bible's claims about sexual morality in the context of contemporary scientific knowledge about biology and gender. He says, quote, Because what usually happens is the Bible is a divine rulebook dropped from heaven. Here is a verse taken out of context, and then, whether intentionally or not, I end up using it as a weapon to reaffirm some kind of cultural or socioeconomic boundary line between me and them. That's usually how the Bible plays in these conversations, and I think Jesus would be really disappointed in his followers about that. So for me, there's a key. It's about how does the narrative work. What are the claims of the narrative, and how does that engage the best of what we know about gender and biology today? So notice that he just created God to suit his own image, right? Number two, a point Mackey says, rather than affirming the authority of the Bible, Mackey attempted to address the issues of inerrancy, but he argued that the term inerrancy is not useful for understanding it. He says, quote, Inerrancy is a more modern word connected to that thing we talked about earlier, about painting of the pipe. So he's referring to a painting that is a picture of what is real, but it's not real, kind of like Rob Bell did in his book Painting the Velvet Elvis. So Mackey said, quote, Does the painting refer to the real thing in a way which there were no errors in that reference process? I'd rather join the ranks of those who find the word inerrancy to be setting up the conversation in not just in an unhelpful way, but in a really odd way. And point number three, this is the clincher. His views on the Atonement are even more problematic. In one sermon, he made at least two outlandish statements ridiculing the conservative biblical doctrine about the Atonement and penal substitution. Mackey states, quote, And then we bring Jesus into it, and what we end up with is a story that God's perfect, he's holy, and he's perfect. You're not, so God has to kill you. He's going to kill you. He needs his pound of flesh. He goes on to say, quote, In the name of his justice. And so he's going to kill you because he's angry at you, but instead he's going to kill Jesus. And he takes out his anger on Jesus, and then he allows you, after you die, to go to the good place and not the bad place so you can sing forever the praises of the God who didn't kill you. Wow, such mockery, such sarcasm. And this is the Bible Project guy. His videos are everywhere. Very, very sad. Mackey's portrayal of the Atonement as a transaction in which God takes out his anger on Jesus and then allows people to go to a good place is a mockery of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. It does not accurately reflect the biblical doctrine of the Atonement. As Romans 5, 8 says, God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. It was voluntary. But this is a common theme among these heretics, among these apostates, as they portray God as an angry, vengeful, spiteful God who is a child abuser, a cosmic child abuser, he's been called by these men and women, best-selling authors. So where did all this come from? Well, fallen angels. Lucifer, Satan, right? It's been going on a very long time, but it's infiltrated the Church. Very fascinating historical points could be made about men like Julian Huxley. He was a humanist philosopher and author, 1894 to 1963. Excuse me, Aldous Huxley. But he had a brother named Julian who later was one of the founders of the United Nations organizations. Aldous Huxley, of course, wrote Brave New World. But he says here, quote, The belief in God is like the fading smile of a Cheshire cat. It is disappearing in this scientific age. So Huxley got involved in metaphysics and philosophical mysticism. He got into really occult teachings, Eastern mysticism teachings, and he mixed drugs with it. So this was back in the 1930s, and this all spilled over into popular culture. It spilled over even into the Church. So many, many people have brought these teachings into the Church. Psychology, humanism. We've covered some of these things before. His younger brother Julian was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. And he was secretary of the... He was the first director of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. So these men have crept in unawares. They're not believers, but then believers have taken these philosophies of men and doctrines of demons and brought them into the Church. So these are all seducing spirits. They've deceived and seduced the world, and now they're deceiving and seducing the Church. During the quote-unquote scientific age, in 1830, we had Charles Darwin and another field of science, falsely so-called the field of psychology, which, along with evolution, now infects nearly every seminary, every Christian college, and every pulpit in the world. The vast majority uphold these doctrines of demons. And these have come straight from the spirit world. Quoting from Carl Jung, he had a spirit guide called Philemon. Philemon was simply a superior knowledge, and he taught me psychological objectivity and the actuality of the soul. He formulated and expressed everything which I had never thought. Another article by Tim Mackey, but we could be here all day talking about false teachers and leaders. Richard Foster and the whole Renovare organization, which involves many, many denominations, many, many Christian speakers, teachers, musicians, are involved in that organization. But they embrace mysticism. They teach Catholic contemplative prayer, which comes from the Eastern realm. This is why Paul said in 1 John, excuse me, the Apostle John warned in 1 John 4, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. So these spirits have been and are communicating with mankind for one purpose only, and that is that Satan may come to steal, to kill, and destroy. Jude says in verse 5, I will put you therefore in remembrance that though you once knew this, how the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. So Jude is putting us in remembrance. It seems like Christians are kind of like herd animals. We've got a short memory. He's politely saying, if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. Or as the author of Hebrews reprimanded, for when the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat. In verse 6, Jude says, And the angels, which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, under the judgment of the great day. So this begins one of the most fascinating passages in all of scripture. It's frequently overlooked and avoided. It's often spiritualized. It's a subject of much debate and conjecture. The Blue Letter Bible commentary notes, Jude's letter is famous for bringing up obscure or controversial points, and this is one of them. Jude speaks of the angels who sinned, who are now imprisoned and awaiting a future day of judgment. And the Salmon Pulpit commentary on Jude from 1889 observes this, It's not too much to say that the New Testament nowhere else presents so many strange phenomenon or raises so many curious questions in so narrow a space. And that's true. But as Henry Morris said years ago, he said the book of Revelation, paraphrasing, it's not that it's difficult to believe, excuse me, it's not that it's difficult to understand, it's just that it's difficult for most to believe. And so here we have this unusual phrase, the angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation. The word here for habitation is oiketerion. It refers to the body, the dwelling place of the spirit. It's used only twice in the Bible, here in Jude, from which the angels had disrobed. In other words, they took off the garment they had been given. And it's also used in 2 Corinthians 5, too, which alludes to the heavenly body with which we long to be clothed. We're going to get a new clothing. Paul describes the body as a tent, right? It's a temporary dwelling. I can't wait either, brother. So I want to point out that I believe what we're seeing is a clear and present parallel between the rebellion of angels and the rebellion of society today. What is that parallel? Well, there are two aspects to it, transgenderism and, secondly, transhumanism. In their sinful desire, having been given over to their extreme lust, people are deceived into believing that they can change their sex. And in the name of science, humans are also seeking to change, to direct their own evolution. Both of these are examples of not keeping their first estate. People in their rebellion against God are rejecting the creator, the author and giver of life, but they're also essentially declaring themselves to be God, aren't they? In Psalm 2, we're very familiar with this passage. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. Man wants freedom and autonomy from God. So there's a couple of places in the Bible where it speaks of angels sinning. Let's take a quick look at a couple of them. There's the original rebellion, of course, of angels against God in Isaiah 14, 12-14 and Revelation 12-4. In Isaiah 14, 12-14, we read, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into the heavens. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell in the sides of the pit. Wow. So it's frequently taught and believed that Satan's already cast out of heaven, right? And that his falling is described as a past event. However, we see here that there's a prophecy of his future imprisonment, his yet future. So a lot of pastors in church and believers, unfortunately, teach that Satan's imprisonment and loss of power occurred at the cross of Calvary, and that we can all now dance on Satan's head. But the scriptures are clear that Satan is still the god of this world, isn't he? The prince of the power of the air, the accuser of the brethren, he still has access to the throne room of God. He freely roams the earth like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. So we see the body count increasing every day, don't we? But note that this passage in Isaiah actually looks forward to and prophesies of Satan's imprisonment in the pit during the millennial reign of Christ, and even his eventual destiny in the lake of fire. Notice the tense here, it says, how thou art cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations. In other words, they've been deceived. Boy, do we see that today, don't we? The nations, the world is deceived. But here it's in the past tense. But right now this deception's in full swing. You know, we've never seen all the nations of the world deceived as they are being deceived right now to form a global government, which, of course, falls right into what the Bible prophesies. As another watchman loves to say, the more things fall apart, the more things fall into place. Okay, so the other place where we see these angels sinning is in Genesis 6, 1 through 2. And it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose. So this is a controversial passage. It's difficult for us to conceive of a human-angel hybrid offspring. Many good ministers point out that angels don't marry and therefore are unable to reproduce. Well, it's true that there aren't any female angels. Keep that in mind the next time you open your box of Christmas decorations, all right? I hate to break that to you, but there are no female angels in the Scriptures. They always manifest in male form. In any event, the phrase sons of God is ben ha Elohim, so that refers to an angelic race, not the human race. And so this controversial union may not have been conventional in the sense of human marriage, but they were able, whether through technology or some means we don't know, they were able to produce a hybrid offspring called the Nephilim. These were the giants of old, the men of renown. And so these became the heroes of Greek and Roman mythology, and these are the inspiration, of course, for Marvel movies, which is an endless parade. It seems like Satan is gearing us up for something, isn't he? All right, the earth had a supernatural origin. It's going to have a supernatural conclusion. Quickly, returning to our text in verse 6, we read that God has reserved and everlasting chains under darkness under the judgment of that great day. So he did, there's a division between these angels and these demons, all right? Some are in bondage while others are unbound and they're active among mankind. Chuck Missler draws a hard line of distinction between demons and fallen angels. This is one possibility. He says angels can manifest in the flesh, both holy and unholy, while demons are disembodied spirits that seek to take possession of a host body. And so that is interesting to consider. So some of these are kept in chains. Their sinful pursuit of freedom put them into bondage. So there's an application today. The more people struggle to be free from God's laws and God's created order, the more they enslave themselves into bondage. Secondly, if angels can't break the chains of sin that their sin brought upon them, we're foolish to think that we can break the chains of sin on us. We can't set ourselves free, but we can only be set free by the Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen. So we're going to pause there. We've got a quarter of the way through. And we'll pick this story up next week with verse 7 as we talk about Sodom and Gomorrah and strange flesh. Thank you, church. Wonderful to fellowship with you. And God bless you. Have a great week and we'll see you next week if you're able to come. God bless.