Reminding You Of These Things - Jude 5-10

Today we will be reading from Jude, and we'll

be reading verses 5 through 10, verses 5 through

10 of the book of Jude. Now I desire to remind

you, though you know all things once for all,

that the Lord, after saving a people out of the

land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who

did not believe and angels who did not keep their

own domain but abandoned their proper abode he

has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for

the judgment of the great day Just as Sodom and

Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they

in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality

and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as

an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal

fire. Yet in the same way these men also by dreaming

defile the flesh. and reject authority, and revile

angelic majesties. But Michael, the archangel,

when he disputed with the devil and argued about

the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against

him a railing judgment, but said, The Lord rebuke

you. But these men, Revile the things which they

do not understand. And the things which they

know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by

these things they are destroyed. Let's pray.

Father, I come before you. Lord, I humbly ask

for your help this morning. Lord, I ask that

your spirit would take your truth. and apply

it to the hearts and the minds of the people

here today. Father, I ask that you would be honored,

that you would be glorified. Lord, bring a reminder

to our souls of how staunchly you oppose wickedness

and evil and sin. Let us tremble in your presence,

Father, at your holiness, in your righteousness.

and your greatness. Lord, we thank you that we

can confidently come to your throne because of

Christ Jesus. We thank you for his work. Lord,

I ask and I pray your blessing upon this time.

In Jesus' name I pray, amen. So, continuing in

the book of Jude, continuing in the book of Jude,

We're going to pick up in verse 5 this morning,

but before I get there, just a brief reminder

of what we touched on and what we looked at last

week in regards to this little 25 -verse book.

So last week we saw this great call, this great

appeal of Jude to this congregation, to this

church, to contend for the faith. He's appealing

to them. to fight for the faith which was once

for all handed down to the saints. And then he

says in verse 4, he gives the reason why they

need to fight. There's danger presenting itself.

We read in verse 4, For certain persons have

crept in, unnoticed, those who were long beforehand

marked out, For this condemnation, ungodly persons

who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness

and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

So why do they need to fight? Why do they need

to contend for the gospel of Christ, for the

faith which was once for all handed down? Because

of certain men who have crept in and are attacking

and twisting and changing the gospel of the Lord

Jesus Christ. This is why they need to fight.

They need to oppose. They need to be against

their ungodliness, their wickedness. And so Jude

proceeds in verse 5 and he says, to remind you,

though you know all things once for all. He's

giving them a reminder of something which they

already know. When he says this, you know this

once for all, he's saying this, you have the

gospel, you have the faith which has been handed

down once for all. You know these things. You

know the truth. You've been given the gospel.

It's called you. God has called you. You are

beloved in God the Father. You will be kept until

the day of Christ Jesus. You know these things.

But I want to remind you of how much God hates

sin. I want to remind you of how God's judgment

is against not just sin, but it is against sinful

men, women, and children. I want to remind you

of these truths which our minds don't just naturally

go to. We don't just naturally dwell on the judgment

of God. Sometimes we just need to be pushed into

thinking about God's holy, righteous wrath and

judgment against sin. And so Jude says, I want

to remind you of these things. In verses 5 through

16, Jude is using verses 5 through 16 as an illustration

to heap condemnation upon the men in verse 4.

He's using verses 5 -16 to illustrate the reality

of the lives of the men in verse 4. He's using

it to show that God's judgment is against these

men. That God has always opposed men like these.

That God has always been against men such as

these. And so Jude says this in two ways in verses

5 -10. The first way he does this, he gives us

a history. He gives us a history of God's judgment.

He gives us a historical overview, you could

say, of God's judgment. And he shows us how God

has always been opposed to wickedness and evil

and sin. And he will judge and he will punish

that. And it shows us how he deals with such

men and such... But secondly, in verses 8 through

10, he gives us the grounds or the basis or the

foundation for this judgment upon these men.

He gives us the grounds for God's judgment against

wickedness and sin and sinful men. So in verses

5 through 7, we have three examples. that we

are given. First is unbelieving Israel. We read

in verse 5 that the Lord, after saving a people

out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed

those who did not believe. So God's... chosen

people, his covenant people, and the Old Testament.

Those people whom God rescued out of bondage

and slavery. Think about all the mighty wonders

that they saw God accomplish and God do throughout

time. They saw God split the sea open and they

walked across on dry land. They saw the plagues

of Egypt. Think about the grace that the Israelites

had at their disposal which God had revealed

to them through all these mighty things. They

were led in the desert to the Red Sea. They were

given this man Moses to guide them and to direct

them and to shepherd them as a type of one that

would come. All these amazing things, yet some

did not believe. With everything they'd been

given, with everything they'd been showed, with

everything they had experienced, some did not

believe. Some had been delivered from bondage

and from Israel. Some of those did not believe

in the God that... Saved them and rescued them.

They were brought out. They were rescued. They

were delivered. They were saved. And yet some

of them were destroyed. Now here's the amazing

thing about this text and about this example

that he gives to us in this text. God's judgment.

And he brought destruction on unbelieving Israelites.

who were amongst his people. He separated the

Israelites out. God's judgment came upon them.

Secondly, he gives us an example of angels. We

see this in verse 6. And angels who did not keep

their own domain, but abandoned their proper

abode. He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness

for the judgment of the great day. So this text,

and I just have to make a comment on this. So

Jude, in this book, he quotes two pseudepigraphic,

non -canonical books. First Enoch and the Assumption

of Moses. But the fact that they are in... Our

canon, and they are referenced by a biblical

author, means that there is inspiration in these

words, and we can reference these words, and

we can preach on these texts. But I just need

to make a note of that so that we are aware,

and you can do your own digging on that. He references

the rebellion or the fall of the angels. Now

why is this significant? Think about angels.

They are not given, they are not made in the

image of God. They are not given an immortal

soul that cannot die. They are not given the

law of God. Many of them possibly have been so

close to the throne of God and many of them have

basked in the glory of God himself. They long

to look into The things of salvation, as 1 Peter

tells us. These are angelic beings who have seen

what God has done throughout time and history.

Who know that God loves people, that he loves

his elect. They've seen this plan. They've seen

this come about. They've seen the work that he

has accomplished. Yet. Some rebelled. Some were

unfaithful. Some were disobedient. There's different

references throughout the scriptures about that.

And so we know that some disobeyed and they left

that which was proper to them. That place, that

post, that office, that position which God had

assigned to them, they deserted it and they left

and they disobeyed. They were unfaithful to Almighty

Creator God. What is the consequence? What is

the result for disobedient angelic beings? He

says in verse 6, He has kept in eternal bonds

under darkness for the judgment of the great

day. Even for angelic beings, there are consequences

to disobedience and rebellion against God Almighty.

As unbelieving Israel was destroyed, so disobedient

angels are kept in eternal bonds for punishment

on the great day. Finally, we are given a third

example, Sodom and Gomorrah. Now this is probably

the greatest and the most well -known example

in this text that he lists for us. We all know

the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, the grave sin.

which that city embraced. We all know the transgressions

that came into the nostrils of God like a stench

from Sodom and Gomorrah. The book of Genesis

tells us that the outcry of the city was so great

that God had to do something about it. Their

sin was so grievous. that he had to do something

about it. He was so offended by their sin that

he destroyed the city. What is the consequence

of their immorality, of their sinfulness? We

read in verse 7, they are exhibited. as an example

in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

So not only is unbelieving Israel destroyed,

not only are angelic beings who disobeyed, not

only are they kept in eternal bonds and will

they be punished on the great day of judgment,

but Sodom and Gomorrah and all the inhabitants

almost of that city are destroyed. And they are

used as an example, a warning. This means to

be made public. To be made public. So they are

used as an example of undergoing the punishment

of eternal fire. God's judgment is against unbelief.

God's judgment. is against disobedience. God's

judgment is against immorality. It doesn't matter

if you're a part of a city. It doesn't matter

if you're an angelic being. It doesn't matter

if you're mixed in amongst His people, but you're

not really His child. His judgment is against

you. We see in this text that God has always

been opposed to sinfulness, to sin, to transgression.

What is sin? An older catechism says any transgression

of the law of God. What is meant by transgression?

Doing what God forbids. These examples, they

transgressed the law of God. They transgressed

God's holiness and his righteousness and they

did what he forbid. And God has always opposed

that. He opposes that to this day and he will

always oppose that. He will always be against

that. So we are given these examples. So what

do we learn? What do we learn about God's judgment

and his dealing with wicked men from this historical

overview of God's judgment with these three examples?

First, we learn that God's judgment is certain

and sure. It's certain and it is sure. Some of

these were destroyed and judged immediately and

physically. Some were destroyed. We'll read a

little bit later about the rebellion of Korah

and how the ground opened up and swallowed a

massive amount of people. That was God's judgment

against sinful people. Some people are judged

immediately in this life now. Others, others

are kept in eternal bonds for the great day of

judgment. Some will not be judged until the Lord

Jesus returns. For some, it will be a glorious

day, a wonderful... and even a little bit later

in the book of Jude, we read, keep yourselves

in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the

mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. How can it be

so different for some where you are waiting anxiously

for the mercy and then for others? Every moment

of the day, every second, every minute, every

day, is moving towards judgment. How can it be

so different? Judgment and mercy. How can those

two things be so different? Second, we learn

that God's judgment deals out punishment. We

see this. We see this. in verse 7 when he says,

regarding Sodom and Gomorrah, an example in undergoing

the punishment of eternal fire. What is punishment?

Punishment is something that is equal to an offense

or a consequence of an offense. Think of a lawbreaker.

Someone who breaks the law. An equal and fair

punishment would be something that is equal to

the offense of the law. So God, as the righteous

and holy and perfect judge of the universe, in

his judgment, will punish evildoers. I think

it's important that we recognize that it's not

the punishment of some immaterial idea like sin,

but he punishes sinful men. He doesn't throw,

as I was talking with my father -in -law, he

doesn't throw sin into hell to be under his wrath

for eternity. He throws sinners into hell. God's

judgment, God's wrath, God is against, God is

opposed, not just sin and transgression and breaking

of his law, but he is opposed. to men and women

and children who are breaking God's law, who

are sinning willfully. And we will see that a

little later in this text. So thirdly, we learn

from this history of God's judgment. Not only

is it that it is certain and it is sure and it

will come, but it is also, It is also punishment,

which is dealt out. But thirdly, it is eternal.

It is eternal. God's judgment, His punishment

is eternal. God is infinite. He is eternal. He

has always existed needing nothing from anyone

or anything. He is perfectly and completely self

-sustaining. And he has always existed that way.

So when you transgress an eternal God, the punishment

of that transgression must be eternal. So as

we see in verse 7, an example in undergoing the

punishment of eternal fire, God's judgment, his

punishment against sinful people who have broken

his law repeatedly is an eternal punishment,

is an eternal punishment. judgment against them.

So what is God's grounds for this judgment? What's

the basis for him judging people like this? Many

hear this and they think, is that really fair?

Is it really okay for God to punish people eternally

and to hold them in bonds? Is it really fair

of him to do that? Just because they've broken

his law? What grounds does God have for judging

sinful, law -breaking people? We read in verses

8 through 10, the grounds. He gives this great

example or illustration. of Michael the archangel.

And it's kind of wrapped up in these descriptions

of these men, which reference verse 4, these

men who have crept in. He gives this great illustration.

Have you ever read this and thought, why did

he put that in there? What is the purpose of

this illustration of Michael the archangel? Well,

Michael is the highest of angelic beings, the

mightiest, the strongest. Yet, Michael himself

did not dare pronounce against him, the devil,

a railing judgment, but said, the Lord rebuke

you. So Michael... And his stature and his position

and his power knows his place in regards to God's

power and God's authority to judge. Yet these

men, these men also by dreaming defile the flesh.

They reject. They reject it. And they revile

angelic majesties. This word revile, it literally

means to blaspheme, to speak evil of. They revile

angelic majesties. And then we read in verse

10. But these men revile, they blaspheme the

things which they do not understand and the things

which they know by instinct like unreasoning

animals. By these things they are destroyed.

So what grounds does God have for punishing and

judging wicked individuals? Well, first, and

especially these men, from verse 4, who have

crept into this church that Jude is writing to.

First, they are the source of their own iniquity.

They are the fountain which their transgression

and iniquity flow from. We read in verse 8, also

by dreaming defile the flesh. They defile themselves

through their own dreams. Commentators aren't

quite sure whether this is referencing them prophetically

dreaming in visions or them passively and subconsciously

dreaming. There's not unity on that translation,

but either way, the transgression comes. from

their own mind, from their own thoughts. And

where do our thoughts and our mind, where do

our words come from? Our hearts. So their transgression,

their iniquity, it comes from within themselves.

And what do they do? They defile themselves even

more. This word defile, it means to die. Anybody

ever done a tie -dye shirt? Oh my goodness. Nobody

in here has ever tie -dyed a shirt? Okay, I'm

not going to get hands, I guess. So if you tie

-dye a shirt, what you do is you put it in dye

and it turns colors and you put rubber bands

around it and stuff like that and there's a bunch

of different lines and it's really nifty looking,

it's really creative. And so you do that, but

what this text is talking about So imagine a

bucket. It's black like tar. You take a perfectly

white shirt and you take that shirt and you plunge

it into that bucket with that black tar -like

liquid. And you pull that shirt out. What color

is it? Yes, I got a response. It's black. It's

black, completely and totally black. It's dark.

These men, their iniquity, their sin, it comes

from black, wicked, evil, depraved, sinful hearts.

It flows from that. And it only corrupts and

defiles themselves that much more. It is from

their rebellion, their disobedience, their unbelief,

which this comes. Their sinfulness, because they

are in Adam. So they are the source of their

own iniquity. And then finally, we see that they

dwell in their natural state. They dwell in their

natural state. In verse 10, But these men revile

the things which they do not understand, and

the things which they know by instinct like unreasoning

animals. By these things they are destroyed.

They dwell in their natural sinful state. Their

passions and their delights in life, their desires,

their longings. are black. This is their natural

form. This is who they are. A little later, Jude

says that these men are devoid of the Spirit.

They live completely and totally in themselves

and everything they do and everything they say

comes from They're natural man. Like an animal

who naturally fights back when attacked or naturally

goes out to find food because that's... That's

what they are. They're animals. It's their instinct.

They don't reason. They don't rationalize. They

don't logically think these things through. They

simply act and respond out of instinctual practice

because that's their natural state. And so Jude

says, these men, they live in that state. They

act on their passions which are wicked. They

act on their desires instinctively because that's

what they know. That's who they are. And it is

by these things, he says, that they are destroyed.

So through the hardness and the wickedness of

their own heart, They bring destruction upon

themselves. So God has always been opposed to

wickedness and evildoers and sinfulness. God

has always been opposed to rebellion and disobedience

and transgression of his law. We see that clearly.

God is a judge and he will judge. wickedness

and evil, and when Christ comes, he will deal

out judgment. But we know from this text that

these men are justly punished. They are reaching

out through their desires and through their longings

and through their wants and through their behaviors.

in their sinful state, in the blackness of their

heart, they are reaching out for the judgment

of God. They are reaching out for the wrath of

God with their own hand because this is how they

bring destruction on themselves. This is their

natural state. And this is what the men, in verse

4, those who have crept in, those who have been

marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons

who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness

and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

This is what is coming for them. When I think

of this text, and I think of the judgment of

God, and I think God's wrath, His holy and His

righteous wrath, and I think of God's... Perfect

punishment. How does a person escape that? How

does a person get out of the way of God Almighty's

judgment? How does a person find a safe haven

in the wrath of God? How does a person survive

something like this? How does a person avoid?

God Almighty, your maker. How is it that some,

as they progress through life, are going towards

judgment? And how is it that others are looking

forward to the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ

on that day? My plea today is that you would

run to the one, run to the person, run to Christ

Jesus. This is my plea for my children. We just

had this talk the other day. Run to Christ to

be saved from the wrath of God. You flee to the

one who drank down the cup of God's wrath for

his people. Repent of your sins and believe on

the Lord Jesus and you will be saved from the

wrath of God. I saw an illustration. A couple

of years ago, and it has stuck with me to this

day. Right now, Christ has got one hand out saying,

come to me. And on the other hand, he is holding

back the wrath of God. He's still inviting people

through the preaching of the gospel and the call

to repentance and faith. But one day, both hands

will drop. He will no longer invite people to

repent of their sins. And he will no longer hold

back the almighty and the powerful and the crushing

blow of God's wrath which will come upon you

if you have not repented of your sins and believed

on Christ. This is a question for so many to

consider. Are you safe from the coming Judgment.

Through this text, there were disobedient angels,

but there were faithful angels. There were unbelieving

Israelites, but there were believing Israelites.

Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities,

they were destroyed, but righteous Lot was rescued

and saved. There's always a remnant of people,

and God will rescue and save them from his wrath,

but you must. Repent and believe. You must repent

and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.