1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,528 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, 2 00:00:03,624 --> 00:00:06,552 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,656 --> 00:00:09,672 My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,696 --> 00:00:10,728 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,904 --> 00:00:14,616 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,648 --> 00:00:16,300 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:20,072 Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,096 --> 00:00:21,700 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:26,424 Let's go ahead and get into our Bible study here this evening. 10 00:00:26,472 --> 00:00:28,446 We are going to be in the Book of Jude. 11 00:00:28,608 --> 00:00:31,830 If you have your Bibles, turn there with me to the Book of Jude. 12 00:00:32,330 --> 00:00:34,114 You have a hard time finding the Book of Jude. 13 00:00:34,162 --> 00:00:37,330 Go to the end at Revelation and go back one and you will find 14 00:00:37,370 --> 00:00:38,034 the Book of Jude. 15 00:00:38,082 --> 00:00:41,810 And encourage you to follow along with me as we go through this 16 00:00:41,850 --> 00:00:42,430 study. 17 00:00:43,050 --> 00:00:45,554 Don't want you to take it for granted what I'm reading. 18 00:00:45,602 --> 00:00:47,826 I want you to follow along with me if you can. 19 00:00:47,978 --> 00:00:52,594 And we started last week looking at what the theme of Jude 20 00:00:52,642 --> 00:00:52,850 is. 21 00:00:52,890 --> 00:00:57,466 The Book of Jude is all about contending for the faith, fighting 22 00:00:57,498 --> 00:00:58,026 for the faith. 23 00:00:58,058 --> 00:00:58,698 What does that mean? 24 00:00:58,754 --> 00:01:03,178 That means to fight for the truth, fight for the gospel. 25 00:01:03,354 --> 00:01:03,978 And the. 26 00:01:04,034 --> 00:01:07,450 The challenge here from Jude and ultimately from the Lord, is 27 00:01:07,490 --> 00:01:12,922 that we as individuals and as a church should contend for the truth. 28 00:01:13,066 --> 00:01:13,750 Why? 29 00:01:14,290 --> 00:01:19,994 In this specific case, we see verse number four tells us that certain 30 00:01:20,082 --> 00:01:21,674 men crept in unawares. 31 00:01:21,722 --> 00:01:23,308 And so we have some false teachers. 32 00:01:23,474 --> 00:01:29,192 We have false teachers, false teaching, false truths, if you will. 33 00:01:29,296 --> 00:01:31,016 I guess that's an oxymoron, false truth. 34 00:01:31,048 --> 00:01:33,224 But what we can see here is that they were coming in and. 35 00:01:33,312 --> 00:01:36,408 And claiming to be truthful, claiming to be preaching the word 36 00:01:36,424 --> 00:01:40,072 of God, but yet they were abusing grace. 37 00:01:40,216 --> 00:01:43,960 And it tells us in verse four specifically what they were teaching 38 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:44,936 in heresy. 39 00:01:44,968 --> 00:01:49,784 And that was they were turning the grace of our Lord God into lasciviousness. 40 00:01:49,832 --> 00:01:50,152 They were. 41 00:01:50,176 --> 00:01:54,250 They were turning what we know in the Bible to be true grace. 42 00:01:54,330 --> 00:01:55,994 And grace is a wonderful thing. 43 00:01:56,162 --> 00:01:58,746 Grace gives us that freedom to live for Christ. 44 00:01:58,818 --> 00:02:03,258 Grace gives us that understanding that we are saved by 45 00:02:03,314 --> 00:02:05,098 that grace and not our works. 46 00:02:05,194 --> 00:02:11,498 But sometimes the Bible says that we can use grace as a veil for 47 00:02:11,554 --> 00:02:12,074 our sin. 48 00:02:12,122 --> 00:02:13,898 We can misunderstand grace. 49 00:02:14,074 --> 00:02:18,292 We can impose our human nature upon grace and live in a sensual 50 00:02:18,356 --> 00:02:21,572 fashion, basically fulfilling the lust of our flesh in the name 51 00:02:21,596 --> 00:02:22,052 of grace. 52 00:02:22,116 --> 00:02:25,300 And so in so doing, it says at the end of verse four that these 53 00:02:25,340 --> 00:02:28,360 false teachers were denying Jesus. 54 00:02:28,780 --> 00:02:32,468 Now, it doesn't claim specifically that they were out now 55 00:02:32,524 --> 00:02:33,380 denying Jesus. 56 00:02:33,460 --> 00:02:36,436 They could have been, and they might have. 57 00:02:36,508 --> 00:02:39,412 But what we can see here is that just by the way that they were 58 00:02:39,436 --> 00:02:40,852 teaching, they were denying Jesus. 59 00:02:40,916 --> 00:02:44,498 And so by the way that the message of the Gospel is preached 60 00:02:44,604 --> 00:02:47,942 is an indication on where someone stands in Jesus, what they 61 00:02:47,966 --> 00:02:51,286 preach about Jesus and his identity and his character in his, 62 00:02:51,358 --> 00:02:52,262 in his deity. 63 00:02:52,406 --> 00:02:55,734 All of those things is, is, is a deciding factor on whether or not 64 00:02:55,742 --> 00:02:59,526 someone is a false teacher or a true Bible preacher. 65 00:02:59,638 --> 00:03:02,726 And so in this case, these individuals were twisting the truth 66 00:03:02,758 --> 00:03:04,374 of God and misleading people. 67 00:03:04,542 --> 00:03:07,622 And so he says, you need to go back, you need to go back to the 68 00:03:07,646 --> 00:03:07,846 truth. 69 00:03:07,878 --> 00:03:11,008 You need to contend for the faith, you need to protect the truth. 70 00:03:11,104 --> 00:03:14,240 And I think as a church that's something that we should stand upon. 71 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,128 It's very easy for us to assume that everything that's being 72 00:03:18,184 --> 00:03:22,016 preached to us is true, especially if people use religious 73 00:03:22,048 --> 00:03:25,632 terms, especially if people will, you know, open up a Bible when 74 00:03:25,656 --> 00:03:26,560 they begin to preach. 75 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:29,984 Especially people maybe look the part sound apart. 76 00:03:30,112 --> 00:03:32,992 But the Bible says that these people came in unawares, meaning 77 00:03:33,056 --> 00:03:35,664 it was unknown to the people, they weren't wearing on their chest, 78 00:03:35,712 --> 00:03:38,444 hey, I'm a false teacher and I'm just going to let you know what 79 00:03:38,452 --> 00:03:39,676 I'm about to teach you is false teaching. 80 00:03:39,708 --> 00:03:40,620 They didn't do that. 81 00:03:40,740 --> 00:03:41,996 And so we need to be discerning. 82 00:03:42,028 --> 00:03:44,940 We need to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in truth. 83 00:03:45,100 --> 00:03:48,172 And so what we talked about last week was what is the test of 84 00:03:48,196 --> 00:03:49,052 a false teacher? 85 00:03:49,116 --> 00:03:52,092 How do we know that someone is preaching heresy? 86 00:03:52,156 --> 00:03:53,964 Well, it's in accordance to Scripture. 87 00:03:54,012 --> 00:03:55,788 What does scripture say about what they are saying? 88 00:03:55,844 --> 00:03:56,716 Check them in Scripture. 89 00:03:56,748 --> 00:04:00,108 And so we can cross reference that passage to what we talked about 90 00:04:00,164 --> 00:04:00,732 on Sunday night. 91 00:04:00,756 --> 00:04:03,496 If some of you are here, we were in Acts, chapter 17. 92 00:04:03,648 --> 00:04:04,968 What did the Bereans do? 93 00:04:05,024 --> 00:04:06,344 They, they, they checked it. 94 00:04:06,432 --> 00:04:09,928 They, they received the Word, but then they checked what was being 95 00:04:09,984 --> 00:04:11,528 preached to them from the Scriptures. 96 00:04:11,624 --> 00:04:13,272 And so I would encourage you to do so. 97 00:04:13,376 --> 00:04:15,512 That's one way that we can defend the faith. 98 00:04:15,576 --> 00:04:18,840 Later on in Jude, he's going to explain a little bit more about 99 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,496 how to contend for the faith. 100 00:04:21,688 --> 00:04:26,408 But in verse 5 he begins to go into some explanation about what's 101 00:04:26,424 --> 00:04:31,276 going to happen to people that reject Jesus, what's going to happen 102 00:04:31,348 --> 00:04:33,692 to these false prophets. 103 00:04:33,836 --> 00:04:38,220 And, and he's actually going to talk about three different groups 104 00:04:38,300 --> 00:04:43,724 of, of people and angelic beings that went a certain route 105 00:04:43,852 --> 00:04:46,364 and what happened to them in their judgment. 106 00:04:46,492 --> 00:04:48,652 And so this is a very interesting passage of Scripture. 107 00:04:48,716 --> 00:04:53,058 It essentially shows the certainty of God's judgment against 108 00:04:53,244 --> 00:04:55,814 certain people that reject the truth of God. 109 00:04:55,942 --> 00:04:57,222 And so that's what's going to happen here. 110 00:04:57,246 --> 00:04:59,542 So he's going to reference the Old Testament. 111 00:04:59,686 --> 00:05:04,102 And one of the things I really appreciate about Jude is he, he deeply 112 00:05:04,166 --> 00:05:07,990 references the Old Testament and actually other Hebrew literature. 113 00:05:08,150 --> 00:05:11,254 And the reason why he would do this is because the people that he 114 00:05:11,262 --> 00:05:14,342 was writing to, they would have had a grip on this. 115 00:05:14,366 --> 00:05:16,022 They would have understood what he was referencing. 116 00:05:16,086 --> 00:05:19,612 So he's basically calling back to something that they know and tying 117 00:05:19,676 --> 00:05:21,868 that together with what they're dealing with in that moment. 118 00:05:21,964 --> 00:05:25,916 So he says, you see how there's people teaching these heresies 119 00:05:25,948 --> 00:05:26,960 within the church. 120 00:05:27,700 --> 00:05:29,180 This is what's going to happen to them. 121 00:05:29,220 --> 00:05:31,900 Just like these people that you know, that you are familiar with. 122 00:05:31,940 --> 00:05:34,924 And so let's look at that here this evening. 123 00:05:35,052 --> 00:05:38,332 This is talking about the judgment of God upon those that reject 124 00:05:38,396 --> 00:05:39,212 the truth of God. 125 00:05:39,276 --> 00:05:43,212 So verse five, he says, I will therefore put you in remembrance. 126 00:05:43,276 --> 00:05:47,478 And so he says, remember, remember this, though ye once knew 127 00:05:47,494 --> 00:05:50,902 this how that the Lord having saved the people out of the land 128 00:05:50,926 --> 00:05:55,090 of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believe not. 129 00:05:55,710 --> 00:05:56,070 So. 130 00:05:56,110 --> 00:05:57,190 So what is he referencing here? 131 00:05:57,230 --> 00:05:57,494 He's. 132 00:05:57,542 --> 00:06:00,534 He's talking about the story that you are all familiar with. 133 00:06:00,622 --> 00:06:03,142 And they would have been familiar with that God saves his 134 00:06:03,166 --> 00:06:04,806 people out of the bondage in Egypt. 135 00:06:04,838 --> 00:06:07,430 And as they are out wandering in the wilderness, they. 136 00:06:07,470 --> 00:06:12,514 They lack belief, they question God and they deny God. 137 00:06:12,642 --> 00:06:15,458 And so in that denial, in. 138 00:06:15,514 --> 00:06:19,698 In that lack of belief, as it says, they were destroyed. 139 00:06:19,874 --> 00:06:24,670 And so Jew knew he wasn't telling anybody something new. 140 00:06:25,370 --> 00:06:25,730 They. 141 00:06:25,770 --> 00:06:28,962 They had already been taught this example, but he needed to bring 142 00:06:28,986 --> 00:06:32,230 it back up again to remind them of their present situation. 143 00:06:32,650 --> 00:06:35,362 And so I think it's important for us to go back to Scripture to 144 00:06:35,386 --> 00:06:37,788 see, hey, these are given to us for examples. 145 00:06:37,914 --> 00:06:40,808 These, these stories are not just entertaining stories. 146 00:06:40,904 --> 00:06:43,592 These are not just stories for us to tell our children so that they 147 00:06:43,616 --> 00:06:46,936 can learn moral lessons, even though that might be the case. 148 00:06:47,088 --> 00:06:49,880 But these are true stories that we can learn from in our lives 149 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,328 and apply to our daily decisions. 150 00:06:52,424 --> 00:06:53,960 And so that's what he's doing here. 151 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:56,024 He's referring back to something that they would have known 152 00:06:56,112 --> 00:06:56,968 as scripture. 153 00:06:57,064 --> 00:06:59,992 And he's saying, look, just as the people were saved from the land 154 00:07:00,016 --> 00:07:04,072 of Egypt and rejected, so if you continue on in this path, you 155 00:07:04,096 --> 00:07:05,448 will reject God as well. 156 00:07:05,504 --> 00:07:09,520 So Jude reminds us of what happened in Numbers, chapter 14. 157 00:07:09,980 --> 00:07:14,260 God delivered the people out of Israel out of slavery, and then 158 00:07:14,300 --> 00:07:17,300 they went out into Egypt or they went out from Egypt, I should 159 00:07:17,340 --> 00:07:17,732 say. 160 00:07:17,836 --> 00:07:19,556 And what happens? 161 00:07:19,588 --> 00:07:20,804 They're tempted to doubt. 162 00:07:20,852 --> 00:07:24,436 They're tempted to question they're tempted to think that God 163 00:07:24,468 --> 00:07:25,332 doesn't care about them. 164 00:07:25,356 --> 00:07:27,972 And then every time God does something for them, there's that 165 00:07:27,996 --> 00:07:28,868 immediate joy. 166 00:07:28,964 --> 00:07:29,796 And then what happens? 167 00:07:29,828 --> 00:07:30,996 They go back to default. 168 00:07:31,028 --> 00:07:34,220 They go back to saying, well, you know what sent Mana to us? 169 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:36,688 Now we're tired of that, right? 170 00:07:36,824 --> 00:07:39,328 You're doing this for us, but now what are you going to do next? 171 00:07:39,384 --> 00:07:43,440 And so think of what God did for the people of Israel in that 172 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:44,240 situation. 173 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,260 And then think about how they responded to Him. 174 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,352 Think about the Israelites in the wilderness's response to what 175 00:07:50,376 --> 00:07:52,912 God had done for them, save them completely. 176 00:07:53,056 --> 00:07:57,488 He had taken them across the Red Sea, split the Red Sea. 177 00:07:57,664 --> 00:08:00,344 They were there at the foot of Mount Sinai. 178 00:08:00,512 --> 00:08:03,656 They had received daily care in the wilderness as you are familiar 179 00:08:03,688 --> 00:08:04,072 with. 180 00:08:04,176 --> 00:08:07,336 Yet they still go back into unbelief. 181 00:08:07,528 --> 00:08:10,376 And because of that, they were rejected. 182 00:08:10,488 --> 00:08:14,072 At least everyone except a few were rejected into going into the 183 00:08:14,096 --> 00:08:14,968 Promised Land. 184 00:08:15,104 --> 00:08:19,416 And so this speaks of God's judgment to those that don't believe. 185 00:08:19,568 --> 00:08:23,672 And so the warning I believe here to from Jude is clear that the 186 00:08:23,696 --> 00:08:26,200 people of Israel started out from Egypt well enough. 187 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:28,430 They started out from Egypt in a good place. 188 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:32,082 But even though they had many blessings, they regressed and they 189 00:08:32,106 --> 00:08:34,386 went back to their default mode. 190 00:08:34,418 --> 00:08:38,642 And that was humanism, that was selfishness, that was rebellion. 191 00:08:38,786 --> 00:08:43,230 And so they failed to believe in God's promises and his power. 192 00:08:43,610 --> 00:08:47,170 And so we can see for our own lives one of the ways that we can 193 00:08:47,210 --> 00:08:51,170 fall into false teaching is when we deny the promises and the 194 00:08:51,210 --> 00:08:55,042 power of God in our own life, when we reject those blessings that 195 00:08:55,066 --> 00:08:57,916 he has given us in our life, or at least forget about those blessings 196 00:08:57,948 --> 00:09:01,388 and lose the gratitude that God calls us to have. 197 00:09:01,524 --> 00:09:04,492 And without gratitude, it's impossible to have humility. 198 00:09:04,556 --> 00:09:08,044 And without humility, it's impossible to experience God's grace. 199 00:09:08,172 --> 00:09:12,156 And so I think a lot of times within the church, one way that heresy 200 00:09:12,188 --> 00:09:15,820 can be spread, one way that false teaching can be received, is 201 00:09:15,860 --> 00:09:19,036 when we forget about what God has done in our life, when we forget 202 00:09:19,068 --> 00:09:21,852 about his blessings, and when we take the focus off of him and 203 00:09:21,876 --> 00:09:24,548 what he has done, and we put the focus on ourselves. 204 00:09:24,644 --> 00:09:28,132 And we miss really the deeper message that God has showed us throughout 205 00:09:28,196 --> 00:09:28,900 all of our lives. 206 00:09:28,940 --> 00:09:31,812 And that is his love and his power and his promises. 207 00:09:31,876 --> 00:09:36,132 And so I would be very cautious here as a church to get 208 00:09:36,156 --> 00:09:40,180 to a point in our lives where we forget about the promises of God. 209 00:09:40,340 --> 00:09:43,044 When we go back into the promises of God, we're able to tap 210 00:09:43,092 --> 00:09:45,780 into the truth that we can find in Scripture. 211 00:09:45,860 --> 00:09:50,000 So that is one example, and that is the example of the people 212 00:09:50,140 --> 00:09:53,384 that were freed from Egypt and the judgment that came with their 213 00:09:53,472 --> 00:09:54,380 rebellion. 214 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:56,872 So we're going to get to verse number six and this is where things 215 00:09:56,896 --> 00:09:58,024 get a little bit interesting. 216 00:09:58,152 --> 00:10:02,184 You heard me before say groups of people and angelic beings or supernatural 217 00:10:02,232 --> 00:10:02,536 beings. 218 00:10:02,568 --> 00:10:07,416 And we're going to see an instance here where Jude references 219 00:10:07,528 --> 00:10:12,424 the judgment of angels and which many people would call befallen 220 00:10:12,472 --> 00:10:13,112 angels. 221 00:10:13,256 --> 00:10:16,440 And, and so verse six is, and the angel which kept not their first 222 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:21,764 estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting 223 00:10:21,812 --> 00:10:26,068 chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 224 00:10:26,204 --> 00:10:27,460 So what is he talking about here? 225 00:10:27,500 --> 00:10:33,268 Well, and Jude is bringing up a very interesting concept that was 226 00:10:33,324 --> 00:10:37,876 given to us in Genesis chapter six, and it's a controversial passage. 227 00:10:37,988 --> 00:10:40,596 I believe that he's talking about that second reference in Genesis 228 00:10:40,628 --> 00:10:40,820 6. 229 00:10:40,860 --> 00:10:43,652 I don't believe personally you could reference that. 230 00:10:43,676 --> 00:10:46,708 This is talking about the original fall of the third of the 231 00:10:46,764 --> 00:10:49,046 angels that followed Satan. 232 00:10:49,078 --> 00:10:53,622 But we do see that in verse 6 it says that they were an everlasting 233 00:10:53,686 --> 00:10:53,974 chains. 234 00:10:54,022 --> 00:10:59,702 Well, we know that not all of the original angels that fell with 235 00:10:59,806 --> 00:11:01,654 Satan are in everlasting chains. 236 00:11:01,702 --> 00:11:03,542 We know that some of them are moving about freely. 237 00:11:03,606 --> 00:11:08,438 But we do know that there in Genesis 6 that God chained up those 238 00:11:08,494 --> 00:11:12,918 specific ones that rebelled against this, this mandate to not. 239 00:11:13,054 --> 00:11:14,870 If you read Genesis 6, it's a very interesting story. 240 00:11:14,910 --> 00:11:16,770 This is the story we get the Nephilim from. 241 00:11:16,910 --> 00:11:19,850 So basically what the Bible says is the sons of God came and 242 00:11:19,890 --> 00:11:23,034 have relations with the, the women of the earth. 243 00:11:23,082 --> 00:11:25,194 And there's a lot of debate on what that actually is. 244 00:11:25,282 --> 00:11:27,050 We're not going to get into that this evening. 245 00:11:27,130 --> 00:11:31,514 But all we know is that these, these fallen angels, so to speak, 246 00:11:31,642 --> 00:11:32,826 committed sensual acts. 247 00:11:32,858 --> 00:11:37,050 They, they committed sexual sin and therefore they were judged 248 00:11:37,130 --> 00:11:40,234 for this deviation from God's righteousness. 249 00:11:40,282 --> 00:11:43,242 And so this offense was connected to some kind of sensual 250 00:11:43,306 --> 00:11:47,144 sin, the union between the sons of God in Genesis 6 and the 251 00:11:47,232 --> 00:11:50,216 human being or the daughters of men in Genesis 6. 252 00:11:50,368 --> 00:11:55,272 And so we do know that there was some element of, of sin when 253 00:11:55,296 --> 00:11:58,200 it comes to the, the sexual union there in Genesis 6. 254 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:01,448 And we know that because there's a tie together to verse seven, 255 00:12:01,584 --> 00:12:04,920 to Sodom and Gomorrah, which we know that their sin as well was 256 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:09,944 tied to that fornication that we're going to talk about here in 257 00:12:09,952 --> 00:12:10,620 a moment. 258 00:12:10,950 --> 00:12:14,526 So we can, we can add another piece into the puzzle. 259 00:12:14,638 --> 00:12:18,046 I, I believe too, because when it talks about the unique imprisonment 260 00:12:18,078 --> 00:12:19,150 of them in verse six. 261 00:12:19,190 --> 00:12:23,646 And so I believe this is referencing the angels that committed 262 00:12:23,678 --> 00:12:25,326 that sin there in Genesis 6. 263 00:12:25,398 --> 00:12:27,934 And therefore they were judged, eternally judged. 264 00:12:27,982 --> 00:12:30,766 And so what can we take with that element of judgment? 265 00:12:30,798 --> 00:12:31,758 What we can see is this. 266 00:12:31,814 --> 00:12:35,070 Their, their rebellion caused God to judge them. 267 00:12:35,110 --> 00:12:37,742 And that judgment in their unbelief and that judgment in their 268 00:12:37,766 --> 00:12:39,966 sin cause eternal punishment. 269 00:12:40,078 --> 00:12:42,894 And I think that's important for us to see that in our unbelief 270 00:12:42,942 --> 00:12:47,758 and in our rebellion, we would face as well, without Christ, without 271 00:12:47,814 --> 00:12:50,830 faith in him, without his grace, eternal judgment as well, 272 00:12:50,870 --> 00:12:52,766 we would be eternally punished. 273 00:12:52,798 --> 00:12:56,206 And again, we don't want to only preach judgment. 274 00:12:56,318 --> 00:12:59,934 I know a lot of times people get uncomfortable talking about judgment 275 00:12:59,982 --> 00:13:02,734 and hell and, and, and fire and brimstone. 276 00:13:02,862 --> 00:13:05,966 And you know, sometimes we can err on the side of only preaching 277 00:13:05,998 --> 00:13:09,924 that, but we also can err on the side of not preaching it at all. 278 00:13:10,012 --> 00:13:13,320 And I think what the, the warning here is that there are eternal 279 00:13:13,820 --> 00:13:16,708 implications to what we believe in our life. 280 00:13:16,844 --> 00:13:17,572 Right? 281 00:13:17,756 --> 00:13:21,204 So, so what I believe about God is not just going to be for the 282 00:13:21,212 --> 00:13:22,080 here and now. 283 00:13:22,540 --> 00:13:25,799 I think a lot of times people think, well, I've got maybe 80, 90, 284 00:13:25,894 --> 00:13:30,160 100, you know, if I'm blessed 120 years here on this planet, right? 285 00:13:30,620 --> 00:13:32,010 And then it's over. 286 00:13:32,180 --> 00:13:36,782 But the Bible speaks very clearly that there is, we are individuals, 287 00:13:36,926 --> 00:13:39,374 souls that are going to last for eternity. 288 00:13:39,422 --> 00:13:42,574 It's whether or not we are going to last for eternity with God 289 00:13:42,622 --> 00:13:45,966 in His presence, given everlasting life and faith, or we're 290 00:13:45,998 --> 00:13:48,878 going to be on the side of punishment and separation for God 291 00:13:48,894 --> 00:13:49,774 for eternity. 292 00:13:49,902 --> 00:13:52,526 And so I think the importance that we can take from this passage 293 00:13:52,558 --> 00:13:55,470 of Scripture is that just as those angels were judged eternally 294 00:13:55,550 --> 00:13:59,366 and imprisoned, as it says they're in everlasting chains, we 295 00:13:59,438 --> 00:14:03,158 as well as human beings in rebellion against God will face eternal 296 00:14:03,174 --> 00:14:04,290 judgment as well. 297 00:14:04,670 --> 00:14:09,830 And, and so you say, well, how does that tie into fighting against 298 00:14:09,870 --> 00:14:10,454 false teaching? 299 00:14:10,502 --> 00:14:16,278 Well, I would say it's this, the emphasis on the here and now 300 00:14:16,334 --> 00:14:19,446 immaterial would be a character trait of false teaching. 301 00:14:19,558 --> 00:14:22,726 Talking only about the here and now, talking only about your, 302 00:14:22,798 --> 00:14:24,926 your morals today, which should we preach. 303 00:14:24,958 --> 00:14:25,342 Morals. 304 00:14:25,406 --> 00:14:26,050 Yes. 305 00:14:26,550 --> 00:14:31,710 But to really, I would say emphasize the eternal nature of our 306 00:14:31,750 --> 00:14:34,782 lives and that it's not just, hey, I don't want to sin because 307 00:14:34,806 --> 00:14:37,102 this is going to hurt me today, I don't want to sin because 308 00:14:37,126 --> 00:14:40,382 this is rebellion against God, that this is rejecting the Lord. 309 00:14:40,446 --> 00:14:43,150 And so belief means that I have everlasting life. 310 00:14:43,270 --> 00:14:47,374 Disbelief, rejection of God means that I am going to face eternal 311 00:14:47,422 --> 00:14:47,950 judgment. 312 00:14:48,030 --> 00:14:51,850 So I believe that that's what this passage is talking about here. 313 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:56,232 God judged these wicked angels, setting them up in everlasting 314 00:14:56,296 --> 00:14:57,096 chains. 315 00:14:57,288 --> 00:15:02,280 And by not keeping their proper place and not, not keeping 316 00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:07,016 themselves in a place of righteousness, they left thinking 317 00:15:07,048 --> 00:15:08,860 that they were going to find freedom. 318 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:09,800 Right? 319 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,072 Because most of the time when people sin, when most of the time 320 00:15:12,096 --> 00:15:15,848 people pick their own sensual desires, it's because of, I want 321 00:15:15,904 --> 00:15:17,758 freedom, I want to do what I want to do. 322 00:15:17,864 --> 00:15:20,610 But what we can see here is that they went for freedom, but they 323 00:15:20,650 --> 00:15:22,310 found what they found, bondage. 324 00:15:22,650 --> 00:15:26,146 And so it's the actual opposite react, the, the opposite 325 00:15:26,178 --> 00:15:28,082 reaction that they expected. 326 00:15:28,266 --> 00:15:31,490 They expected, if I do this sin, I will have more freedom. 327 00:15:31,570 --> 00:15:32,706 And that's what the world teaches. 328 00:15:32,738 --> 00:15:37,506 The more you have pleasure, the more you fulfill your own desires, 329 00:15:37,618 --> 00:15:40,050 the more you will have freedom away from God. 330 00:15:40,130 --> 00:15:41,426 But it's the complete opposite. 331 00:15:41,458 --> 00:15:45,260 The more you reject God and, and the more you seek after those 332 00:15:45,300 --> 00:15:48,268 pleasurable things in this world alone, that's going to cause 333 00:15:48,364 --> 00:15:51,932 bondage, that's going to cause us to be tied up into that and we 334 00:15:51,956 --> 00:15:52,684 can't get out. 335 00:15:52,772 --> 00:15:56,636 And so if, if angels cannot break the chains of sin brought upon 336 00:15:56,668 --> 00:16:01,116 them on their own, we're, we're foolish to think that we as 337 00:16:01,188 --> 00:16:03,644 human beings can break those chains of sin without the power of 338 00:16:03,652 --> 00:16:04,760 God in our life. 339 00:16:05,060 --> 00:16:07,052 And, and I think that that's important to see. 340 00:16:07,076 --> 00:16:11,182 And you know, you know, a lot of times people will say, you know, 341 00:16:11,206 --> 00:16:15,182 I, I found the right path, I cleaned myself up, and I know what 342 00:16:15,206 --> 00:16:16,190 we mean by that. 343 00:16:16,310 --> 00:16:19,310 But really, truly complete transformation does not come from 344 00:16:19,350 --> 00:16:20,222 our hard work. 345 00:16:20,326 --> 00:16:23,806 It does not come from, from effort, from any place in our own 346 00:16:23,878 --> 00:16:24,350 stead. 347 00:16:24,430 --> 00:16:27,150 It's, it's ultimately God's power working through us. 348 00:16:27,190 --> 00:16:32,286 And so this, this reminds us of the eternal judgment of God and 349 00:16:32,358 --> 00:16:34,526 God's hatred for this type of sin. 350 00:16:34,638 --> 00:16:36,830 Speaking of that type of sin, we get to verse number seven. 351 00:16:36,870 --> 00:16:41,018 Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and most of you are probably familiar 352 00:16:41,034 --> 00:16:45,390 with that story, obviously Sodom and Gomorrah is referenced 353 00:16:45,730 --> 00:16:46,906 in the Old Testament. 354 00:16:46,938 --> 00:16:50,230 And these, they're actually two cities, and the surrounding areas 355 00:16:50,930 --> 00:16:54,634 stand as an example for, for many, as a place of God's judgment. 356 00:16:54,762 --> 00:16:57,610 Their sin was a sexual sin. 357 00:16:57,770 --> 00:17:01,786 The Bible speaks of that in the Old Testament as specifically 358 00:17:01,818 --> 00:17:04,653 the sin of fornication and the sin of homosexuality. 359 00:17:04,841 --> 00:17:09,365 And, and there were many sins involved with Sodom and Gomorrah. 360 00:17:09,557 --> 00:17:15,429 The Bible also references in, in Ezekiel, the sin of pride and 361 00:17:15,469 --> 00:17:18,649 and, and abundance of idleness. 362 00:17:19,389 --> 00:17:21,813 And they, they weren't generous. 363 00:17:21,861 --> 00:17:23,205 They were the opposite of that. 364 00:17:23,277 --> 00:17:25,573 And a lot of people will actually use that as a proof text 365 00:17:25,621 --> 00:17:28,645 that God wasn't upset with their sexual sin there and Sodom 366 00:17:28,677 --> 00:17:31,854 and Gomorrah, they were only just upset with their pride and their 367 00:17:31,942 --> 00:17:32,974 lack of generosity. 368 00:17:33,022 --> 00:17:36,126 But ultimately what we can see is they have multiple issues. 369 00:17:36,278 --> 00:17:38,030 And, and so you, you know that story. 370 00:17:38,070 --> 00:17:40,558 I don't need to go into all the details, but essentially I will 371 00:17:40,614 --> 00:17:41,262 say this. 372 00:17:41,366 --> 00:17:43,790 There were angels there in Sodom. 373 00:17:43,950 --> 00:17:47,230 The men of Sodom wanted to forcibly have relations with these 374 00:17:47,270 --> 00:17:47,518 men. 375 00:17:47,574 --> 00:17:50,990 And obviously God judged them and there was none righteous there 376 00:17:51,030 --> 00:17:51,758 in that area. 377 00:17:51,814 --> 00:17:54,270 And obviously Lot and his daughters are the only ones that, 378 00:17:54,310 --> 00:17:55,450 that got out. 379 00:17:55,750 --> 00:17:57,498 And so what does this say here? 380 00:17:57,554 --> 00:17:59,466 It goes in to talk a little bit more about their sin. 381 00:17:59,498 --> 00:18:02,522 It says so even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them 382 00:18:02,546 --> 00:18:03,354 in like manner. 383 00:18:03,402 --> 00:18:06,394 So it's not just Sodom and Gomorrah giving themselves over to 384 00:18:06,402 --> 00:18:06,906 fornication. 385 00:18:06,938 --> 00:18:08,270 Now, what is fornication? 386 00:18:09,410 --> 00:18:13,210 Essentially, biblically speaking, fornication is any sexual 387 00:18:13,370 --> 00:18:16,202 activity outside of the bonds of marriage. 388 00:18:16,346 --> 00:18:19,338 And I know that sometimes we get a little comfortable talking 389 00:18:19,354 --> 00:18:21,322 about that within church, but it's in the scripture, so we got 390 00:18:21,346 --> 00:18:21,882 to talk about it. 391 00:18:21,906 --> 00:18:22,252 Right? 392 00:18:22,346 --> 00:18:25,256 And a lot of people don't understand, well, you know, if there's 393 00:18:25,288 --> 00:18:28,792 love involved or, you know, if it's, if it's this or it's that. 394 00:18:28,816 --> 00:18:31,256 No, the Bible very clearly says outside the bonds of marriage, 395 00:18:31,288 --> 00:18:31,624 that's. 396 00:18:31,672 --> 00:18:33,064 That's fornication, that's sin. 397 00:18:33,112 --> 00:18:34,392 That's a sin of the flesh. 398 00:18:34,536 --> 00:18:37,832 And then it says even further, so they were practicing fornication, 399 00:18:37,896 --> 00:18:39,800 so all different types of sexual sins. 400 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:41,944 And then it says, and going after strange flesh. 401 00:18:41,992 --> 00:18:45,880 And so that's a reference to the inordinate affections of man 402 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:46,648 with man. 403 00:18:46,784 --> 00:18:50,760 And so it says because of that, they are set forth as an example 404 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:53,460 suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 405 00:18:54,410 --> 00:18:57,250 And so, so Jude is referring to the account of Genesis 19. 406 00:18:57,290 --> 00:19:01,010 You could read through that story for yourself at some other 407 00:19:01,050 --> 00:19:01,586 time. 408 00:19:01,738 --> 00:19:06,370 But the lesson being taught here is that in their rejection of 409 00:19:06,410 --> 00:19:10,242 God, in their chasing of fornication, in their chasing of 410 00:19:10,266 --> 00:19:15,394 strange flesh, they were used as an example of suffering the vengeance 411 00:19:15,442 --> 00:19:18,162 of eternal fire, that God made things right. 412 00:19:18,266 --> 00:19:22,316 So first, first it assures us that these certain men that were. 413 00:19:22,388 --> 00:19:25,052 And so what we can take with this, and I would say this, what 414 00:19:25,076 --> 00:19:29,820 we can infer from this example and many examples that are here, 415 00:19:29,940 --> 00:19:33,628 that most likely what was happening with whoever Jude was writing 416 00:19:33,644 --> 00:19:33,820 to. 417 00:19:33,860 --> 00:19:36,860 We don't know specifically what church it was, but whatever 418 00:19:36,940 --> 00:19:40,080 group of people that it was, the false teachers, were probably 419 00:19:40,660 --> 00:19:43,324 giving over to sexual sins within the church. 420 00:19:43,372 --> 00:19:46,576 And you know that within First Corinthians, there's. 421 00:19:46,608 --> 00:19:50,016 There's talks of that, how they were intermingling with the. 422 00:19:50,088 --> 00:19:54,540 The culture and allowing themselves to actually blend in together 423 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:56,848 these types of sins with worship. 424 00:19:56,944 --> 00:19:59,616 And so no doubt what was happening here was that these false 425 00:19:59,648 --> 00:20:02,304 teachers were telling people, hey, you have God's grace, so do 426 00:20:02,312 --> 00:20:03,024 whatever you want. 427 00:20:03,112 --> 00:20:04,592 There's no repercussions. 428 00:20:04,736 --> 00:20:05,696 Live freely. 429 00:20:05,808 --> 00:20:08,272 And so what's happening here is that Jude is warning them, no, 430 00:20:08,296 --> 00:20:10,368 there are repercussions for these types of sins. 431 00:20:10,464 --> 00:20:13,380 Ultimately, the vengeance of eternal fire from God. 432 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:18,256 And so what we can see here is that it warns us that we must continue 433 00:20:18,328 --> 00:20:24,176 walking with Jesus or we will find danger and we will find, ultimately 434 00:20:24,208 --> 00:20:25,984 destruction if we take that path. 435 00:20:26,032 --> 00:20:28,768 And so I think that that's important for us to. 436 00:20:28,824 --> 00:20:29,696 To see there. 437 00:20:29,768 --> 00:20:31,824 And then he takes those three elements. 438 00:20:31,872 --> 00:20:32,784 So he takes the. 439 00:20:32,872 --> 00:20:33,168 The. 440 00:20:33,224 --> 00:20:36,704 The Israelites wandering in the wilderness and their rebellion 441 00:20:36,752 --> 00:20:37,808 and their judgment. 442 00:20:37,904 --> 00:20:43,654 He then takes this story of the angels falling from heaven and 443 00:20:43,742 --> 00:20:47,238 going and sinning and therefore being judged as an eternal 444 00:20:47,334 --> 00:20:49,974 implication of our sin and our rejection. 445 00:20:50,022 --> 00:20:53,926 And then he talks about Sodom and Gomorrah and the danger of falling 446 00:20:53,958 --> 00:20:57,958 into fornication and chasing after these sensual desires. 447 00:20:58,054 --> 00:20:59,366 So then he goes back to the teachers. 448 00:20:59,398 --> 00:21:00,650 He says, likewise. 449 00:21:01,150 --> 00:21:04,662 Likewise, meaning this is how these false teachers are living. 450 00:21:04,726 --> 00:21:06,400 So he doesn't just attack their. 451 00:21:06,550 --> 00:21:09,596 He doesn't just attack their teaching, which is that normally 452 00:21:09,628 --> 00:21:12,252 what we would do, we would say, okay, this false teacher is 453 00:21:12,276 --> 00:21:14,620 wrong because he's teaching these wrong things. 454 00:21:14,660 --> 00:21:17,740 And so, yeah, that would be a mark of a false teacher, but he actually 455 00:21:17,780 --> 00:21:19,932 goes a little bit further and says, that's how these people are 456 00:21:19,956 --> 00:21:20,560 living. 457 00:21:21,060 --> 00:21:26,040 And so another test to a false teacher is, look at their life. 458 00:21:26,580 --> 00:21:28,680 So what are they saying and what are they doing? 459 00:21:29,860 --> 00:21:31,004 What's their testimony? 460 00:21:31,052 --> 00:21:31,746 What's their. 461 00:21:31,868 --> 00:21:34,630 What's their life like outside of the pulpit? 462 00:21:34,710 --> 00:21:36,038 And, and, you know, that's a. 463 00:21:36,094 --> 00:21:38,502 That's a hard thing, because a lot of people say, well, you know, 464 00:21:38,526 --> 00:21:42,534 don't all pastors and religious leaders live in a glass 465 00:21:42,582 --> 00:21:42,838 house? 466 00:21:42,894 --> 00:21:45,894 Yes, if you look at a pastor long enough, you will find faults 467 00:21:45,942 --> 00:21:46,690 in him. 468 00:21:47,070 --> 00:21:48,038 But there. 469 00:21:48,094 --> 00:21:51,398 There are issues that certainly cannot characterize a teacher 470 00:21:51,414 --> 00:21:52,630 or a preacher of the gospel. 471 00:21:52,710 --> 00:21:54,934 And so what he's saying here is, like, you see these people in 472 00:21:54,942 --> 00:21:59,726 Saddam Gomorrah, you see these fallen angels uh, you see the Egyptians 473 00:21:59,758 --> 00:22:01,470 that were wandering the wilderness, that's how these people 474 00:22:01,510 --> 00:22:02,510 are acting in their lives. 475 00:22:02,550 --> 00:22:03,998 And so he says, likewise. 476 00:22:04,174 --> 00:22:09,966 Also, these filthy dreamers, and it's an interesting use of words. 477 00:22:09,998 --> 00:22:11,326 He calls them filthy dreamers. 478 00:22:11,358 --> 00:22:14,542 And so I, I, I looked that up because I wanted to see what was 479 00:22:14,566 --> 00:22:15,246 he talking about? 480 00:22:15,318 --> 00:22:17,070 Why did he call them dreamers? 481 00:22:17,230 --> 00:22:21,310 And there's, there's a couple theories about that. 482 00:22:21,350 --> 00:22:24,366 When it comes to this idea of, of calling them filthy dreamers, 483 00:22:24,398 --> 00:22:27,654 it's possible that Jude meant that these certain men were out of 484 00:22:27,662 --> 00:22:28,854 touch with reality. 485 00:22:28,982 --> 00:22:32,742 Like, because, you know, you ever meet someone and they've got, 486 00:22:32,846 --> 00:22:35,894 they've got their own reality maybe, and it's not the reality that 487 00:22:35,902 --> 00:22:36,726 we're all living in. 488 00:22:36,798 --> 00:22:39,526 And we go, yeah, they're just, they're out there in dream world, 489 00:22:39,598 --> 00:22:40,118 right? 490 00:22:40,254 --> 00:22:41,910 That could be a reference of what he's saying. 491 00:22:41,950 --> 00:22:43,334 They're just not based in reality. 492 00:22:43,382 --> 00:22:44,742 They're based in their own reality. 493 00:22:44,806 --> 00:22:50,582 Or it possibly could be that it was that they were claiming to 494 00:22:50,606 --> 00:22:53,142 have prophetic visions in their dreams and saying, I had a 495 00:22:53,166 --> 00:22:55,462 dream yesterday, and this is why we should do this. 496 00:22:55,486 --> 00:22:57,024 And they weren't based in truth. 497 00:22:57,072 --> 00:22:59,744 They were based in manipulating people and saying that 498 00:22:59,752 --> 00:23:00,336 they had dreams. 499 00:23:00,368 --> 00:23:02,384 So either way you look at it, it's wrong, right? 500 00:23:02,472 --> 00:23:05,664 One way you could look at it is they're, they were just delusional, 501 00:23:05,792 --> 00:23:08,540 thinking that this way was going to be a success. 502 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:12,736 Or you could say that they were utilizing dreams as an excuse 503 00:23:12,768 --> 00:23:14,096 to give the false teachings. 504 00:23:14,208 --> 00:23:17,376 So it'd be like me getting up here tonight and going, I had a dream 505 00:23:17,408 --> 00:23:21,136 last night and we should all start doing this, and it's contrary 506 00:23:21,168 --> 00:23:22,078 to scripture. 507 00:23:22,264 --> 00:23:25,970 Well, I might have had that dream, but we all shouldn't do that, 508 00:23:26,010 --> 00:23:26,210 right? 509 00:23:26,250 --> 00:23:30,802 So the idea is, is that we can base ourselves in our whims and our 510 00:23:30,906 --> 00:23:33,026 thoughts when it comes to these fleshly things. 511 00:23:33,098 --> 00:23:36,514 Now, can God give us things and dreams? 512 00:23:36,642 --> 00:23:38,066 That's a highly debated topic. 513 00:23:38,098 --> 00:23:40,898 I'm not saying that he can't, but what I'm saying is, is that we 514 00:23:40,954 --> 00:23:44,146 have to always match it with Scripture, right? 515 00:23:44,298 --> 00:23:47,954 So, for example, let's say, Let me say, for example, I had a 516 00:23:47,962 --> 00:23:48,530 dream last night. 517 00:23:48,570 --> 00:23:51,266 And my dream last night was that all married couples in the church 518 00:23:51,298 --> 00:23:52,668 should stay faithful to each other. 519 00:23:52,754 --> 00:23:54,664 And I got up and I said, I had a dream last night. 520 00:23:54,752 --> 00:23:56,744 And I was really encouraged to say that all married couples in this 521 00:23:56,752 --> 00:23:57,896 church should stay faithful. 522 00:23:58,008 --> 00:23:59,256 I don't think that's a false teaching. 523 00:23:59,288 --> 00:24:02,088 I'm just thinking, hey, that's just an emphasis of a biblical truth. 524 00:24:02,184 --> 00:24:05,384 Now, whether or not I, I want to say that or not with I'm preaching, 525 00:24:05,432 --> 00:24:05,960 it doesn't matter. 526 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,224 But what I'm saying is, is if I get up and say that I have a dream 527 00:24:09,272 --> 00:24:13,304 or a vision or a thought or a word and it's contrary to Scripture, 528 00:24:13,432 --> 00:24:15,912 that's where we throw up the red flag and say that's a danger, 529 00:24:15,976 --> 00:24:17,380 that's, that's an issue. 530 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,168 And, and you'll hear that, you'll hear that within different 531 00:24:20,224 --> 00:24:20,536 circles. 532 00:24:20,568 --> 00:24:23,470 You'll hear, you know, I, I have a thought or a word or I saw 533 00:24:23,510 --> 00:24:23,998 something. 534 00:24:24,134 --> 00:24:29,758 And that's okay until, was the test, until we get to Scripture. 535 00:24:29,934 --> 00:24:32,158 And, and, and so I would, I would be cautious with that. 536 00:24:32,214 --> 00:24:36,046 And, and again, there's that idea there that he calls them filthy 537 00:24:36,078 --> 00:24:36,558 dreamers. 538 00:24:36,574 --> 00:24:39,182 And so it's not just that he's saying, hey, they're talking about 539 00:24:39,206 --> 00:24:41,358 dreams, but there's filthiness in it. 540 00:24:41,494 --> 00:24:44,430 And it's, it's, it's sensual, it's, it's dirty. 541 00:24:44,510 --> 00:24:46,548 And that's what he's referencing here. 542 00:24:46,734 --> 00:24:48,616 And so he goes on to say more about them. 543 00:24:48,688 --> 00:24:53,192 He says they defile the flesh, which we know that the Bible says 544 00:24:53,216 --> 00:24:55,736 that there are certain sins that defile the flesh, their sins 545 00:24:55,768 --> 00:24:56,680 against our body. 546 00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:01,352 And so again, that's tied to that sensual fornication that they 547 00:25:01,376 --> 00:25:03,140 would have probably been tied up in. 548 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:10,360 So, and I don't want to take this too far, but you know, we do 549 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:15,842 see in our culture today, especially in the news, a lot of 550 00:25:15,866 --> 00:25:19,506 times religious leaders can abuse their positions for these types 551 00:25:19,538 --> 00:25:20,370 of sins. 552 00:25:20,530 --> 00:25:23,906 Not, not saying that, that everyone that has fallen into a sin 553 00:25:23,938 --> 00:25:25,282 is a false teacher. 554 00:25:25,426 --> 00:25:28,514 But we do know that people have used their position of leadership 555 00:25:28,562 --> 00:25:31,362 to, to prey upon people within the church. 556 00:25:31,426 --> 00:25:34,642 And so there is that danger as well that he says here, that they 557 00:25:34,666 --> 00:25:36,018 defile the flesh. 558 00:25:36,194 --> 00:25:37,426 Filthy dreamers. 559 00:25:37,538 --> 00:25:41,642 They despise dominion, which is, which is interesting thing here 560 00:25:41,666 --> 00:25:41,962 to say. 561 00:25:41,986 --> 00:25:46,938 They, they, they basically, they reject authority is what it's 562 00:25:46,954 --> 00:25:47,610 saying here. 563 00:25:47,730 --> 00:25:49,786 So many words, they reject authority. 564 00:25:49,818 --> 00:25:51,670 Now what type of authority are we talking about? 565 00:25:52,130 --> 00:25:55,306 Most likely it would be biblical authority, the authority 566 00:25:55,498 --> 00:25:58,810 that they, that they would have within the confines of the church. 567 00:25:58,970 --> 00:26:00,906 And they would, they would disrespect authority. 568 00:26:00,938 --> 00:26:04,698 They would disrespect the apostles, most likely the, the people 569 00:26:04,754 --> 00:26:06,842 that were passing down the truths of God to them. 570 00:26:06,866 --> 00:26:07,802 They would disrespect that. 571 00:26:07,826 --> 00:26:10,822 So basically, I guess you could say it this way. 572 00:26:10,846 --> 00:26:14,630 Like I would get up and say, well, so and so across town said 573 00:26:14,670 --> 00:26:15,942 this, but let's forget about that. 574 00:26:15,966 --> 00:26:17,110 We're going to do our own thing. 575 00:26:17,150 --> 00:26:17,622 Well, if so. 576 00:26:17,646 --> 00:26:21,062 And so across town had some sort of biblical authority over us, 577 00:26:21,086 --> 00:26:24,710 or, or maybe there was some kind of accountability amongst them. 578 00:26:24,750 --> 00:26:27,926 The mix it would be basically, they're questioning other people's 579 00:26:27,958 --> 00:26:31,846 teaching, they were despising the authority, and then it says they're 580 00:26:31,878 --> 00:26:34,998 tied together with that they would speak evil of dignities or 581 00:26:35,054 --> 00:26:36,090 dignitaries. 582 00:26:36,550 --> 00:26:40,142 And like I said, most likely it would have been leaders in the 583 00:26:40,166 --> 00:26:43,170 church sowing seeds of discord. 584 00:26:43,510 --> 00:26:48,334 Oh, you know, Pastor so and so says this, but really he just doesn't 585 00:26:48,382 --> 00:26:49,022 know. 586 00:26:49,206 --> 00:26:51,470 And, and so there was that idea of speaking. 587 00:26:51,550 --> 00:26:52,926 And it's more than that. 588 00:26:53,078 --> 00:26:56,910 It seems like they were actually speaking evil, false things 589 00:26:56,950 --> 00:26:58,606 about leaders in the church. 590 00:26:58,638 --> 00:26:59,710 And so it. 591 00:26:59,750 --> 00:27:05,056 Not only did they reject authority, but they spoke evil of 592 00:27:05,128 --> 00:27:07,488 these leaders, of dignitaries. 593 00:27:07,664 --> 00:27:14,480 And so their rejection of authority was connected to their 594 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:16,272 speaking evil about people. 595 00:27:16,456 --> 00:27:19,184 And in so doing, we know that that can cause division within the 596 00:27:19,192 --> 00:27:24,660 church, that can cause pain, hardship, lies, gossip, deceit. 597 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:26,608 It can go across the board. 598 00:27:26,744 --> 00:27:30,036 And so what was happening was that these people, if you could summarize 599 00:27:30,068 --> 00:27:34,516 it in so many words, they were sinning publicly, they were misleading 600 00:27:34,548 --> 00:27:39,332 people, they were rejecting biblical direction, and they were 601 00:27:39,356 --> 00:27:42,932 speaking evil of other people that were speaking the truth. 602 00:27:43,076 --> 00:27:45,620 And so, so we have to be careful with, when it comes to this 603 00:27:45,660 --> 00:27:49,588 is, remember, they, they slipped in unawares, they slipped 604 00:27:49,604 --> 00:27:50,708 in silently. 605 00:27:50,884 --> 00:27:56,236 And within the church, I think a lot of times our perception is 606 00:27:56,308 --> 00:27:59,436 that false teaching is going to come from there, the pulpit. 607 00:27:59,468 --> 00:28:02,604 And it could come from there very, very easily. 608 00:28:02,652 --> 00:28:05,200 Could, you know, someone could get up and be preaching false. 609 00:28:05,780 --> 00:28:09,196 But then we think maybe the classroom, maybe a small group, okay, 610 00:28:09,228 --> 00:28:09,740 teacher. 611 00:28:09,820 --> 00:28:14,012 But what we can see here is that by this example, it could happen 612 00:28:14,196 --> 00:28:15,440 in the pews. 613 00:28:15,940 --> 00:28:19,036 The false teaching could start with, hey, two people are talking 614 00:28:19,068 --> 00:28:19,868 about another person. 615 00:28:19,924 --> 00:28:22,670 And then, hey, you know what, we can go a little bit further and 616 00:28:22,710 --> 00:28:24,942 start, you know, disrespecting them. 617 00:28:25,046 --> 00:28:27,902 And it starts out kind of minuscule, but then it grows and 618 00:28:27,926 --> 00:28:29,230 it begins to snowball. 619 00:28:29,310 --> 00:28:31,902 And then now we've allowed ourselves to get into a bunch of 620 00:28:31,926 --> 00:28:34,046 other stuff that continues to be sin. 621 00:28:34,078 --> 00:28:37,614 It continues to grow worse and gets deeper, deeply rooted, and there's 622 00:28:37,662 --> 00:28:38,110 bitterness. 623 00:28:38,190 --> 00:28:41,342 And so what can happen is, is that false teaching could come from 624 00:28:41,366 --> 00:28:41,934 any direction. 625 00:28:41,982 --> 00:28:44,014 That's really the message that Jude is telling us. 626 00:28:44,102 --> 00:28:46,100 False teaching can come from any direction. 627 00:28:46,230 --> 00:28:50,552 It can come from the audience, it can nowadays, culturally speaking, 628 00:28:50,616 --> 00:28:54,552 it can come from our phones, it can come from our TVs it can come 629 00:28:54,576 --> 00:28:57,176 from the radio, it can come from podcasts. 630 00:28:57,368 --> 00:28:59,768 We have to be on guard on every front. 631 00:28:59,904 --> 00:29:01,512 We have to be prepared. 632 00:29:01,656 --> 00:29:04,648 And we don't take things for granted just because this person 633 00:29:04,704 --> 00:29:08,456 comes from this college or this person preaches in this type 634 00:29:08,488 --> 00:29:12,510 of clothing, or this person uses this type of Bible, or this 635 00:29:12,550 --> 00:29:14,382 person comes from this camp. 636 00:29:14,486 --> 00:29:14,750 We. 637 00:29:14,790 --> 00:29:18,606 We have to be cautious on the message as well, not just the character 638 00:29:18,638 --> 00:29:20,570 traits that come along with that person. 639 00:29:20,950 --> 00:29:22,590 And so this is a warning. 640 00:29:22,670 --> 00:29:23,454 This is a warning. 641 00:29:23,502 --> 00:29:27,134 And he says, be careful of these filthy dreamers who defile 642 00:29:27,182 --> 00:29:30,654 the flesh, who despise dominion or authority, and they speak 643 00:29:30,702 --> 00:29:32,062 evil of that authority. 644 00:29:32,206 --> 00:29:33,694 That's a warning sign. 645 00:29:33,862 --> 00:29:36,606 So, so if you want to be cautious and you want to separate 646 00:29:36,638 --> 00:29:39,752 yourself from people that are going to lead you to a false way 647 00:29:39,776 --> 00:29:43,128 of living, stay away from people that reject authority. 648 00:29:43,224 --> 00:29:47,752 Stay away from people that despise and speak evil of authority 649 00:29:47,816 --> 00:29:48,712 as well. 650 00:29:48,896 --> 00:29:53,176 And so that's, that's the test that he says, watch out for that. 651 00:29:53,328 --> 00:29:55,288 And then, and then I, I love verse nine. 652 00:29:55,344 --> 00:29:59,620 And it's kind of an interesting insert here. 653 00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:05,338 And I don't know about you, but this is not something that is. 654 00:30:05,394 --> 00:30:09,322 Is commonly talked about in Christian circles because the, the 655 00:30:09,346 --> 00:30:14,842 reference here is actually over a fight that Michael the Archangel 656 00:30:14,986 --> 00:30:18,858 and Satan have over the body of Moses. 657 00:30:19,034 --> 00:30:21,018 And some people, I've talked to people about this and they're 658 00:30:21,034 --> 00:30:22,710 like, I've never heard of this story. 659 00:30:23,490 --> 00:30:24,762 It's actually interesting story. 660 00:30:24,786 --> 00:30:28,042 And we wouldn't know about it from Scripture, because if you go 661 00:30:28,066 --> 00:30:31,802 back to the story of Moses, the last we hear of of Moses is that, 662 00:30:31,826 --> 00:30:35,362 you know, he goes off into the wilderness and dies. 663 00:30:35,426 --> 00:30:38,430 And, and that's Deuteronomy chapter 34. 664 00:30:39,290 --> 00:30:42,706 So Moses, the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab. 665 00:30:42,898 --> 00:30:45,682 And, and at the very end it says, but nobody knows where his 666 00:30:45,706 --> 00:30:46,402 grave is. 667 00:30:46,506 --> 00:30:50,610 That was the end of Deuteronomy 34, verses 5 and 6. 668 00:30:50,730 --> 00:30:53,618 And then we see here that there's this, there's this fight 669 00:30:53,674 --> 00:30:54,930 over Moses's body. 670 00:30:54,970 --> 00:30:57,618 And there's a lot of debate about the why. 671 00:30:57,754 --> 00:31:01,550 And Jude doesn't really get into the why there was a fight over 672 00:31:01,590 --> 00:31:02,734 Moses's body. 673 00:31:02,902 --> 00:31:10,830 There's some speculation that Satan had a plan to use Moses's body 674 00:31:10,950 --> 00:31:13,774 as an idol for the Israelite people. 675 00:31:13,862 --> 00:31:14,110 Right? 676 00:31:14,150 --> 00:31:17,214 Who else would they want to worship then? 677 00:31:17,302 --> 00:31:18,574 Hey, Moses's bones. 678 00:31:18,622 --> 00:31:20,718 And they like some sort of idol. 679 00:31:20,894 --> 00:31:22,330 I don't know for sure. 680 00:31:22,630 --> 00:31:24,398 We can't say that that's scriptural. 681 00:31:24,574 --> 00:31:27,662 Other people argue that Moses, you Know, obviously, Moses was there 682 00:31:27,686 --> 00:31:29,566 at the mount of Transfiguration, his body. 683 00:31:29,718 --> 00:31:33,694 And then some people believe that Moses is one of the witnesses 684 00:31:33,742 --> 00:31:34,350 at the end times. 685 00:31:34,390 --> 00:31:37,310 And so some people think that it was Satan's plan to kind of thwart 686 00:31:37,390 --> 00:31:41,182 Jesus and his redemptive story and his second coming. 687 00:31:41,366 --> 00:31:43,150 But either way you look at it, there's this. 688 00:31:43,190 --> 00:31:47,294 There's this body that the angels are fighting over. 689 00:31:47,382 --> 00:31:50,062 Now, I do like this verse because this verse gives us some 690 00:31:50,086 --> 00:31:54,942 theology, because some people think that Satan and God are equals, 691 00:31:55,006 --> 00:31:55,368 right? 692 00:31:55,454 --> 00:31:59,860 You have God who is the good, and Satan who is bad. 693 00:31:59,980 --> 00:32:03,640 And it's like this yin and yang, equal and opposite forces. 694 00:32:04,220 --> 00:32:04,772 No. 695 00:32:04,876 --> 00:32:05,508 Okay. 696 00:32:05,604 --> 00:32:07,732 Satan is no match for God. 697 00:32:07,796 --> 00:32:09,124 Satan is a created being. 698 00:32:09,212 --> 00:32:10,692 Satan is limited, though. 699 00:32:10,716 --> 00:32:12,564 He's more powerful than we are. 700 00:32:12,732 --> 00:32:14,484 He is not on the same level as God. 701 00:32:14,532 --> 00:32:18,372 And so our theology is that God is omnipotent, that God is. 702 00:32:18,556 --> 00:32:21,300 That means he's all powerful, he's all present. 703 00:32:21,420 --> 00:32:22,852 He's, um, he's all knowing. 704 00:32:22,916 --> 00:32:24,068 Satan is not. 705 00:32:24,204 --> 00:32:28,228 So if you did have an equal to Satan, because remember, Satan's 706 00:32:28,244 --> 00:32:32,516 an angel, a created being of God, it would be Michael the Archangel. 707 00:32:32,548 --> 00:32:35,972 I, I would say that they're more in line with being equals, so 708 00:32:35,996 --> 00:32:37,588 to speak, when it comes to their power. 709 00:32:37,724 --> 00:32:39,860 And so we see Michael the Archangel. 710 00:32:39,940 --> 00:32:41,828 And Archangel just means he's the, the top. 711 00:32:41,884 --> 00:32:42,836 He's the, the. 712 00:32:42,908 --> 00:32:44,500 The highest angel. 713 00:32:44,660 --> 00:32:47,460 When contending with the devil, he disputed about the body 714 00:32:47,500 --> 00:32:50,690 of Moses, you say, why is that there? 715 00:32:51,790 --> 00:32:54,342 We could get bogged down in the weeds here, but what I would 716 00:32:54,366 --> 00:32:57,606 say is the next phrase is the reason why this verse is here. 717 00:32:57,758 --> 00:33:01,510 And that is to say that even Michael the Archangel didn't use 718 00:33:01,550 --> 00:33:04,358 his own power when fighting against the enemy. 719 00:33:04,534 --> 00:33:05,622 What did he say here? 720 00:33:05,646 --> 00:33:10,070 It says in verse nine, he says he durst not bring any against him. 721 00:33:10,110 --> 00:33:14,246 A railing accusation which he could have but said, the Lord rebuke 722 00:33:14,278 --> 00:33:14,774 thee. 723 00:33:14,902 --> 00:33:17,126 And there's a lesson to be learned here that when we're dealing 724 00:33:17,158 --> 00:33:19,382 with evil and when we're dealing with false teaching, and 725 00:33:19,406 --> 00:33:23,702 when we're dealing with Satan himself, we deal with the power of 726 00:33:23,726 --> 00:33:25,250 God and not our own power. 727 00:33:25,790 --> 00:33:29,990 We refer to the power of the truth of God and not our own power. 728 00:33:30,030 --> 00:33:34,678 And so Michael the Archangel, he's mentioned by name in different 729 00:33:34,734 --> 00:33:35,558 passages. 730 00:33:35,734 --> 00:33:38,710 Two of them in the book of Daniel, one in the book of Revelation, 731 00:33:38,790 --> 00:33:41,028 I believe, and then here in Judea. 732 00:33:41,154 --> 00:33:44,720 And usually when Michael is mentioned, it's in the context of 733 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:46,580 battle fighting. 734 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:53,220 And so he's an example for us and how we can contend for the faith. 735 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:59,376 And so we see that if anybody could have pulled any power from 736 00:33:59,448 --> 00:34:02,448 his arsenal, it could have been Michael the Archangel. 737 00:34:02,624 --> 00:34:05,584 But no, he refers to the Lord. 738 00:34:05,632 --> 00:34:07,380 He says, the Lord rebuke thee. 739 00:34:07,730 --> 00:34:15,150 And so we don't know all the details about this fight, so to speak, 740 00:34:15,650 --> 00:34:19,402 but we do know how Michael the Archangel fought, and that was in 741 00:34:19,426 --> 00:34:20,890 the power of God. 742 00:34:21,050 --> 00:34:24,298 And so, so the manner of Michael's fight is a model, I believe, 743 00:34:24,354 --> 00:34:25,870 for spiritual warfare. 744 00:34:26,370 --> 00:34:30,922 We, we see that Michael was in a battle with the enemy, but we see 745 00:34:30,946 --> 00:34:33,754 that he appealed to the Lord's authority and not his own wisdom, 746 00:34:33,802 --> 00:34:34,910 his own strength. 747 00:34:35,369 --> 00:34:38,689 And so I think that that's an example for us as we fight these 748 00:34:38,729 --> 00:34:42,145 spiritual battles in contending for the faith, protecting 749 00:34:42,177 --> 00:34:46,113 the truth, discerning whether something's false or true when it 750 00:34:46,121 --> 00:34:48,065 comes to teaching is a spiritual battle. 751 00:34:48,097 --> 00:34:49,745 It's spiritual warfare. 752 00:34:49,937 --> 00:34:54,709 And Ephesians tells us all about that idea of spiritual warfare. 753 00:34:55,049 --> 00:35:01,761 And so if Michael the Angel, the Archangel did this, so we should 754 00:35:01,785 --> 00:35:05,046 as well when it comes to fighting against the enemy. 755 00:35:05,078 --> 00:35:07,910 Now you say, how did that turn out? 756 00:35:07,950 --> 00:35:08,470 I don't know. 757 00:35:08,510 --> 00:35:11,686 I mean, you can read some, it actually comes from some, some Hebrew 758 00:35:11,718 --> 00:35:15,510 literature they reference that you could read the rest of that story. 759 00:35:15,550 --> 00:35:16,566 But I don't believe that's canon. 760 00:35:16,598 --> 00:35:19,510 And by the way, let me just get something out of the way here 761 00:35:19,550 --> 00:35:20,870 because you may or may not catch this. 762 00:35:20,910 --> 00:35:23,302 As we study the Book of Jude, if you read any cross references, 763 00:35:23,366 --> 00:35:24,582 you might catch this. 764 00:35:24,766 --> 00:35:28,614 Jude does quote Hebrew literature that is not part of the 765 00:35:28,622 --> 00:35:29,770 canon of Scripture. 766 00:35:30,100 --> 00:35:36,060 Jude references the Book of Enoch here in this passage of Scripture. 767 00:35:36,140 --> 00:35:41,132 Now some people say, well, if Jude references these historical 768 00:35:41,196 --> 00:35:44,332 books and uses those stories, does that mean that those are the 769 00:35:44,356 --> 00:35:44,892 Bible as well? 770 00:35:44,916 --> 00:35:47,980 And I would say no, the moment it becomes Bible is when it's here 771 00:35:48,020 --> 00:35:50,876 in the canon and we believe that God preserved his word here. 772 00:35:51,028 --> 00:35:54,060 So just because, I mean, Paul, we're going to see that Paul references 773 00:35:54,140 --> 00:35:57,622 in the Book of Acts, he references the, the, the, their own 774 00:35:57,646 --> 00:36:00,918 people there from Athens and, and their own philosophers. 775 00:36:00,934 --> 00:36:01,894 And so when. 776 00:36:01,982 --> 00:36:04,662 Just because something is referenced in scripture does not 777 00:36:04,686 --> 00:36:07,702 mean that everything that they pulled that reference from is biblical. 778 00:36:07,766 --> 00:36:10,806 It just means now that that is canon and it's in the storyline. 779 00:36:10,918 --> 00:36:13,542 And so that's what we're talking about here because you, you 780 00:36:13,566 --> 00:36:15,174 may or may not find some confusion. 781 00:36:15,222 --> 00:36:17,782 If you look the Book of Jude up, you might see people going, well, 782 00:36:17,806 --> 00:36:19,766 the Book of Jude references the Book of Enoch. 783 00:36:19,798 --> 00:36:21,446 So we all need to follow the Book of Enoch. 784 00:36:21,478 --> 00:36:23,736 Now that's, that's that's a, that's a misnomer. 785 00:36:23,768 --> 00:36:27,224 That's a misunderstanding of how the canon of Scripture was organized. 786 00:36:27,272 --> 00:36:30,168 And so we take the book of Jude as the word of God. 787 00:36:30,184 --> 00:36:32,216 And if it's here, it's the word of God. 788 00:36:32,408 --> 00:36:35,400 And so it's like you're throwing the baby out with the bathwater 789 00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:36,136 in, in a sense. 790 00:36:36,168 --> 00:36:39,640 And so I, I would say be very careful when it comes to, you know, 791 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:41,480 commentaries that you read and books that you read. 792 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:43,176 But we'll stop there this evening. 793 00:36:43,208 --> 00:36:46,040 I, I could talk about the book of Jude a lot because it's very, 794 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:46,664 very interesting. 795 00:36:46,712 --> 00:36:49,838 And if I had more time, I would like to go into to more details 796 00:36:49,854 --> 00:36:52,250 about the Hebrew literature that he's referring to. 797 00:36:53,510 --> 00:36:56,622 And just a little quick side note, I don't think it's wrong for 798 00:36:56,646 --> 00:37:00,702 us to correlate certain things that people in our society understand 799 00:37:00,806 --> 00:37:02,190 to Scripture, right? 800 00:37:02,310 --> 00:37:06,222 So if someone understands something in our society today, we 801 00:37:06,246 --> 00:37:09,422 don't need to shy away from it as long as we can tie that back to 802 00:37:09,446 --> 00:37:10,238 Scripture. 803 00:37:10,414 --> 00:37:14,334 And so using cultural references, I don't think is a wrong 804 00:37:14,382 --> 00:37:15,220 thing to do. 805 00:37:15,390 --> 00:37:18,504 So, for example, if you're talking about a king in the Bible, 806 00:37:18,552 --> 00:37:21,272 you say, well, you see how this person in our country has this 807 00:37:21,296 --> 00:37:21,816 much power. 808 00:37:21,888 --> 00:37:23,016 It's similar to that. 809 00:37:23,088 --> 00:37:24,648 Or, you know, you saw this. 810 00:37:24,704 --> 00:37:26,552 You know, if someone understands someone to be a certain 811 00:37:26,576 --> 00:37:28,200 way in culture, you know, they're known for this. 812 00:37:28,240 --> 00:37:29,672 Well, that could be that person. 813 00:37:29,776 --> 00:37:32,008 That, that doesn't mean that we're saying that person's biblical 814 00:37:32,024 --> 00:37:33,640 or that person's teaching us a lesson. 815 00:37:33,720 --> 00:37:36,820 It's just a reference to a culture and way that people understand. 816 00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:41,544 So I think that that done correctly is an example of good teaching. 817 00:37:41,592 --> 00:37:44,054 So, so we're going to come back next week and we're going to 818 00:37:44,062 --> 00:37:48,374 start in verse number 10 and we're going to see more of bad character 819 00:37:48,422 --> 00:37:49,750 from certain men. 820 00:37:49,870 --> 00:37:53,690 So we, we already talked about groups of individuals. 821 00:37:54,190 --> 00:37:56,502 So Israelites. 822 00:37:56,646 --> 00:37:59,110 You had Sodom and Gomorrah and you had the fallen angels. 823 00:37:59,190 --> 00:38:04,646 We're going to talk about more of the specifics of people and that's, 824 00:38:04,758 --> 00:38:07,260 that's going to be more on the personal side of things. 825 00:38:07,430 --> 00:38:10,288 So you're going to see folks like Cain. 826 00:38:10,384 --> 00:38:12,016 You ever heard of, heard of Cain? 827 00:38:12,048 --> 00:38:13,104 I'm sure the way of Cain. 828 00:38:13,152 --> 00:38:13,776 What's the way of Cain? 829 00:38:13,808 --> 00:38:14,752 We're going to talk about that next week. 830 00:38:14,776 --> 00:38:18,288 The era of Balaam and the gainsaying of Core or Korah. 831 00:38:18,384 --> 00:38:20,640 So we're going to talk about those three individuals next week. 832 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:23,680 Cain Balaam and Korah, and. 833 00:38:23,720 --> 00:38:25,200 And we will continue on. 834 00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:27,008 And then I love how Jude does it. 835 00:38:27,064 --> 00:38:31,216 Jude then references certain things that you see in nature to 836 00:38:31,288 --> 00:38:32,384 these false teachers. 837 00:38:32,432 --> 00:38:34,320 And so he appeals to all these different areas. 838 00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:36,464 He appeals to history, he appeals to individuals. 839 00:38:36,512 --> 00:38:38,348 He appeals to what they see in creation. 840 00:38:38,464 --> 00:38:40,180 And he starts trying to pull that in. 841 00:38:40,220 --> 00:38:42,692 I think it's a really, really helpful book for us. 842 00:38:42,876 --> 00:38:45,076 And then he goes back in verse 17, and then he. 843 00:38:45,148 --> 00:38:48,260 He's like, that was a little bit of a parentheses there about 844 00:38:48,300 --> 00:38:50,724 what false teachers are like now going back to contending for 845 00:38:50,732 --> 00:38:51,044 the faith. 846 00:38:51,092 --> 00:38:53,332 And so I think that it's something more and more that we need 847 00:38:53,356 --> 00:38:56,920 to focus on is like, how do we as Christians engage our society? 848 00:38:57,660 --> 00:38:59,540 How do we contend for the faith? 849 00:38:59,700 --> 00:39:00,212 What. 850 00:39:00,316 --> 00:39:01,828 At least in my ex. 851 00:39:01,964 --> 00:39:06,382 My existence and what I've experienced, a lot of Christians 852 00:39:06,446 --> 00:39:10,030 tend to, you know the phrase put our heads in the sand or turn 853 00:39:10,070 --> 00:39:10,958 a blind eye. 854 00:39:11,054 --> 00:39:13,726 When someone starts getting intellectual, we go, well, they sound 855 00:39:13,758 --> 00:39:15,422 a little bit too smart for us to talk about. 856 00:39:15,526 --> 00:39:16,318 They might just talk. 857 00:39:16,374 --> 00:39:19,918 You know, we have to be very careful about that because we have 858 00:39:19,974 --> 00:39:22,770 been given all the tools that we need to defend our faith. 859 00:39:23,430 --> 00:39:25,326 God has gifted everyone in different ways. 860 00:39:25,358 --> 00:39:29,086 Not everyone's going to be someone who's going to read volumes 861 00:39:29,118 --> 00:39:32,074 and volumes of commentaries and history books, but all of us 862 00:39:32,082 --> 00:39:34,522 have been given the truths of the gospel to stand upon. 863 00:39:34,586 --> 00:39:36,202 And that means there's power in that. 864 00:39:36,306 --> 00:39:39,514 Okay, when you're quoting scripture to people, the power is 865 00:39:39,522 --> 00:39:40,186 not in you. 866 00:39:40,258 --> 00:39:41,802 The power is in which you're speaking. 867 00:39:41,946 --> 00:39:44,746 And it's, it's the word of God is what's coming out of your mouth. 868 00:39:44,778 --> 00:39:45,354 It's not. 869 00:39:45,442 --> 00:39:47,066 It's not, hey, my opinions. 870 00:39:47,178 --> 00:39:47,818 When that's. 871 00:39:47,834 --> 00:39:50,986 When we start to fail, when we start to waver in our contention 872 00:39:51,018 --> 00:39:51,162 of. 873 00:39:51,186 --> 00:39:52,954 For the faith is when we start to give opinions. 874 00:39:53,002 --> 00:39:56,880 And, and, well, maybe, I don't know, we just say. 875 00:39:57,050 --> 00:40:00,740 And this is a phrase I like to, to, to think about when I'm preaching. 876 00:40:00,900 --> 00:40:02,004 And it's this. 877 00:40:02,092 --> 00:40:03,652 Thus saith the Lord, right? 878 00:40:03,756 --> 00:40:04,724 Thus saith the Lord. 879 00:40:04,772 --> 00:40:05,748 That's not my. 880 00:40:05,884 --> 00:40:07,172 It's not my gospel. 881 00:40:07,236 --> 00:40:08,724 It's not my message. 882 00:40:08,772 --> 00:40:09,124 It's. 883 00:40:09,172 --> 00:40:10,276 It's the message of God. 884 00:40:10,308 --> 00:40:12,468 And I'm ultimately the messenger. 885 00:40:12,644 --> 00:40:14,116 And, and I think that that's. 886 00:40:14,228 --> 00:40:16,740 That takes a lot of the pressure off of us when it comes 887 00:40:16,780 --> 00:40:18,356 to contending for the faith. 888 00:40:18,548 --> 00:40:20,852 All we are is just like, willing to say it, willing to do 889 00:40:20,876 --> 00:40:21,012 it. 890 00:40:21,036 --> 00:40:23,188 Now, some of you might say, oh, I'm not a. 891 00:40:23,244 --> 00:40:26,532 I'm not a Contentious person, some of you might say. 892 00:40:26,556 --> 00:40:27,460 I am a contentious person. 893 00:40:27,500 --> 00:40:28,276 I love conflict. 894 00:40:28,308 --> 00:40:29,572 Okay, I understand that. 895 00:40:29,596 --> 00:40:30,740 I wrestle with that all the time. 896 00:40:30,780 --> 00:40:30,980 I. 897 00:40:31,020 --> 00:40:32,996 I do not like a conflict. 898 00:40:33,108 --> 00:40:36,660 I will do possibly anything that I can do to get out of conflict. 899 00:40:36,740 --> 00:40:39,348 But there are times and places where conflict does matter, and it's 900 00:40:39,364 --> 00:40:40,996 the way you do it, and it's how you do it. 901 00:40:41,148 --> 00:40:41,508 And. 902 00:40:41,564 --> 00:40:44,196 And I would say that there is a time and a place for conflict. 903 00:40:44,228 --> 00:40:46,120 Now, we don't need to stir up conflict. 904 00:40:46,540 --> 00:40:50,052 All we do, and I think Peter mentions it this way, don't suffer 905 00:40:50,116 --> 00:40:51,952 for wrong, suffer for good. 906 00:40:51,976 --> 00:40:53,152 You're going to suffer for good. 907 00:40:53,256 --> 00:40:53,568 So. 908 00:40:53,624 --> 00:40:55,776 So don't do wrong to suffer. 909 00:40:55,808 --> 00:40:56,176 Like, don't. 910 00:40:56,208 --> 00:40:58,800 Don't treat someone unfairly to cause conflict and then say, look, 911 00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:00,192 Lord, I'm suffering for you. 912 00:41:00,216 --> 00:41:02,272 He's like, no, you're going to suffer for doing what's right. 913 00:41:02,376 --> 00:41:04,480 And so just stand above reproach. 914 00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:08,096 Stand in the word of God, stand in the truth of God, and contend 915 00:41:08,128 --> 00:41:08,576 for the faith. 916 00:41:08,608 --> 00:41:10,432 And we talked a little bit about this last week as well. 917 00:41:10,456 --> 00:41:11,456 And I'll end with this. 918 00:41:11,608 --> 00:41:14,032 When we say contend for the faith, we need to be very careful 919 00:41:14,096 --> 00:41:15,104 what we mean by that. 920 00:41:15,192 --> 00:41:21,178 It doesn't mean contend for your opinions or your preferences. 921 00:41:21,354 --> 00:41:23,978 There is a time and a place to stand in your truth, and there isn't 922 00:41:23,994 --> 00:41:28,202 a time and a place to actually exhort and confront others. 923 00:41:28,306 --> 00:41:30,586 And there's a time and a place where, you know, you can say, that's 924 00:41:30,618 --> 00:41:31,514 not the faith. 925 00:41:31,562 --> 00:41:33,034 That's not the essentials. 926 00:41:33,162 --> 00:41:35,546 And so I would say, you know, really? 927 00:41:35,698 --> 00:41:37,706 And this is something that I've had to do in my own life. 928 00:41:37,778 --> 00:41:41,866 I've had to sit down and I had to say what matters to me, what is 929 00:41:41,938 --> 00:41:43,114 my essentials? 930 00:41:43,162 --> 00:41:47,082 That I would say, you know, Lord, Lord willing, I don't have 931 00:41:47,106 --> 00:41:48,458 to, but what would I die for? 932 00:41:48,514 --> 00:41:50,186 What would I stand for and die for? 933 00:41:50,258 --> 00:41:51,210 And what would I say? 934 00:41:51,250 --> 00:41:51,990 You know what? 935 00:41:52,290 --> 00:41:54,522 I've got some strong opinions, but I don't know if I would die for 936 00:41:54,546 --> 00:41:55,066 that. 937 00:41:55,218 --> 00:41:58,282 That might be your indication of what it means to contend for the 938 00:41:58,306 --> 00:41:59,274 faith in a certain area. 939 00:41:59,362 --> 00:42:01,402 And so maybe something to think about. 940 00:42:01,506 --> 00:42:05,882 Maybe you never thought about that before, but interesting thought. 941 00:42:05,986 --> 00:42:07,990 All right, well, we're gonna go ahead and stop there. 942 00:42:08,610 --> 00:42:11,242 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 943 00:42:11,306 --> 00:42:11,994 podcast. 944 00:42:12,122 --> 00:42:14,220 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 945 00:42:14,250 --> 00:42:14,820 You. 946 00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:17,368 You would like to find out more information about our church 947 00:42:17,384 --> 00:42:21,032 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 948 00:42:21,176 --> 00:42:22,824 or find us on Facebook. 949 00:42:22,912 --> 00:42:23,980 Or YouTube. 950 00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:29,656 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro Middletown BaptistChurch.com 951 00:42:29,808 --> 00:42:33,368 if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 952 00:42:33,424 --> 00:42:36,460 along for future podcast and updates. 953 00:42:36,800 --> 00:42:37,960 Thank you so much. 954 00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:38,904 God Bless. 955 00:42:39,032 --> 00:42:40,080 Have a wonderful day.