The Shape, Activity, and Judgement of Blasphemy

We pray that you would bless us with an understanding of your word.

Help us to not just hear words, but to consider them.

And not just to consider them, but Lord, we ask that they would go deep into our souls

and that we would live by your word, trusting that your word is a light to lighten our path.

Lord, that it is food for our souls, that it is a blessing from you.

Lord, as we consider these words, we pray that your Holy Spirit will be at work.

We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.

In January 2015, two French-born Algerian brothers, Saeed and Sharif Kouachi,

opened fire on the staff of Charlie Hebdo in France, a satirical cartoon magazine.

They killed a dozen people and they injured 11.

And they were acting on behalf of an Al-Qaeda cell

because Charlie Hebdo published pictures of the Muslim prophet Muhammad.

In Islam, this is blasphemy.

And blasphemy is a capital crime in the Quran.

They were carrying out, in a sense, the wishes of their God.

Christianity, likewise, has categories for blasphemy.

Blasphemy.

Like, I mean, not completely the same, but similar to Islam.

Blasphemy is not taken lightly in God's word, in the Christian faith.

So it's hard, in a sense, for us moderns to grasp the idea of blasphemy

because we live in a tolerant age,

an age where people can choose which God to follow,

which things to believe in,

who to have relationships with.

There's the ideals of freedom and free speech.

Mind you, that, in a sense, is not always the case,

especially in a time where people are getting cancelled,

which, for moderns and for people that live in 2024 Ottawa

and in the West in 2024,

it's a form of blasphemy that is dealt with,

but on a secular level.

But the question is, what is real blasphemy?

Is it what we saw in 2015 in Paris with the Charlie Hebdo murders?

Is it something in the Bible where there's similar blasphemy laws?

So on one hand, we can look down our nose at Islam,

but we kind of have that junk in our own faith.

Or is it just offending somebody and their sensibilities?

What is real blasphemy?

And why does this matter to us today?

This morning, we continue on in Jude.

Jude, verses 8 to 16.

Jude will talk about blasphemy in the Christian faith.

What a wonderful thing to talk about on a Sunday morning.

Blasphemy.

But Jude's going to draw our attention

to the importance of understanding what it is.

He will tell us what it is,

what it does, and how it will ultimately be dealt with,

and why we ought to be aware of it

and fight against it.

But do we fight against it like the Kuwachi brothers?

Jude's going to draw our attention

to three aspects of blasphemy this morning.

The shape of blasphemy.

The second thing is the activity of blasphemy.

What blasphemy does.

How it plays out.

And then finally, the end of blasphemy.

How blasphemy will ultimately be dealt with.

So let's first look at the shape of blasphemy.

We'll be in verses 8 to 10.

But we'll look at just verse 8 this morning.

By the way, if you want to grab a Bible,

there's still a couple Bibles there.

Feel free at any time to get up and grab it.

You won't interrupt me whatsoever.

But if you can, follow along.

Verse 8.

Yet in like manner, these people,

also relying on their dreams,

defile the flesh,

reject authority,

and blaspheme the glorious ones.

If you remember last week,

verse 8,

I briefly touched on it,

but verse 8 is an interesting verse.

There's verses in the Bible

that act as a summary of everything

that has gone before,

while at the same time point to

what will be talked about

in the verses that will come.

Verse 8 is one of those.

It looks back,

but it also simultaneously looks ahead.

And we'll see here that blasphemers

will indeed prove to be false prophets.

If this is the first time in the Jude series,

you missed the first couple weeks,

Jude was planning to write a letter

to the church.

We're not sure exactly which church it is.

It was supposed to be,

at least we kind of gather

an encouragement to them.

But it became very clear

that there were some false teachers

in the church,

and he had to address the issue

because they were causing a lot of harm

and disrupting the life of God's people.

So when he says,

yet in like manner,

these people,

he's referring to these false teachers.

These false teachers are blasphemers

who make up their own type of religion.

It's like a curated religion.

And in the case here,

it is all freedom, no law.

It is all liberty,

but no rules.

God has freed us to be whoever we want to be.

We don't have to obey him,

or at least not the laws that we don't like.

They've created and curated their own religion.

And as a result,

they are benefiting.

The purpose of what they have done

is to engage in their own selfish

and self-serving sensuality.

It does not see pleasure as a gift from God,

but rather an ultimate end in itself.

They're greedy.

They are corrupt.

They see people as a means to an end.

They're not serving the congregation.

They're abusing the congregation.

They are constantly rejecting divine authority.

And this is blasphemy against God and his word.

Look with me at verse 9.

But when the archangel Michael,

contending with the devil,

was disputing about the body of Moses,

he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment,

but said to Satan,

the Lord rebuke you.

This is a bit of a bizarre story.

Jude here is quoting a book

that is not in the Bible.

Most likely it's called

The Assumption of Moses.

And he is,

Jude quotes a number of different books

that aren't in the Bible.

So if you remember last week,

he almost certainly touched on

this book called Sirach.

Now it's The Assumption of Moses,

later on in our text,

he will quote,

First Enoch,

all not in our Bible.

Jude isn't trying to make a case

that these books need to be in the Bible.

But what he is doing is quoting,

most likely he is quoting books of the Bible,

or sorry,

books that aren't in the Bible

that are well known to his readers.

They were likely in common circulation at the time,

and they would have wisdom.

They would have lessons.

They would refer to the Bible

in some bits and pieces,

but they weren't the Bible,

a part of the canon itself.

It would be like if I quoted to you,

say, C.S. Lewis,

to make a point,

or drew on a story

from, say,

Lord of the Rings,

something that,

maybe not all of you guys know this stuff,

but at least the majority of you

would be familiar with

certain stories

that would contain truth,

biblical truth,

that would emphasize a point.

In a way,

Jude is speaking the vernacular

to his people,

and this is

kind of the vernacular story

of first century

people in the Church of God,

interestingly enough.

So we don't have this full manuscript

of the assumption of Moses,

and what's interesting

is that scholars say

we actually don't have this portion

that Jude quotes

in this extra-biblical book

called the assumption of Moses,

but scholars have kind of

pieced together

hypothetically

what it might have said,

and it would go something like this,

or at least the narrative

would go something like this.

Satan comes to accuse Moses

of being a slanderer.

He is not fit for heaven,

Satan says.

He belongs in hell.

On one hand,

Satan is right.

I mean,

Moses was not squeaky clean.

Moses,

he struggled with obedience,

he struggled with faith.

In the desert,

he struck a rock

rather than looking for water,

feeling pressure from the people

who were grumbling

rather than looking to God.

Moses,

actually,

because of his sin,

did not see

the promised land.

Moses,

in a sense,

does not belong in heaven.

Satan is right.

But the archangel Michael

did not leave

his God-ordained

place of authority

as one of God's

key angels,

unlike the fallen angels

that Jude mentions,

again,

if you remember,

in verse 6 last week.

refusing,

he refuses

to put himself

in the judgment seat

of God.

Michael

is not

blaspheming God

by

presuming

to be God himself.

This is what

is

referring to,

this is what Jude

is referring to

when he says that

Michael did not

presume to pronounce

a blasphemous judgment,

and that is

upon Moses,

but said,

the Lord rebuke you.

He simply

pushes back

against Satan.

He is faithful

to God,

and Jude is drawing

our attention

to this

to convey

the truth

of the matter,

of what blasphemy

really is,

and how,

at its core,

blasphemy

is downstream

from idolatry.

That is,

idolatry

puts ourselves

in the place

of God.

It looks to

uproot God

from his throne,

of his authority,

of who he is

as creator

over all things.

And it says,

actually,

we know what's best.

I mean,

we can put our

faith in

other things,

so it's not just

putting ourselves

in God's place,

but it certainly

does include that.

And what blasphemy

ultimately does

is it speaks

slander against God.

It speaks an ill word

against who God is.

It denies God's claims

of who he is

and what he has done

and who we are

in relationship to him.

It says

that his decrees

are not final

and his judgment

is not just

or universal.

It calls

blasphemy

BS

on God's word.

And yet,

it's only God

who is the ultimate judge.

Only God

who has

the ultimate authority.

Only God

who has

the power

to decree

all things.

And in this story,

Michael,

the archangel,

refuses to sit

in the judgment

seat of God

and as a result,

Jude says

that he did not

pronounce a blasphemous

judgment.

It's a good thing.

He did not

engage in blasphemy.

But Jude is saying this

because there are

false teachers,

remember,

that are blasphemous.

They're doing the opposite

of this.

They are claiming

divine authority,

divine judgment.

They are the ones

who are saying,

listen,

God's word

isn't to be followed.

At least not this part.

This part,

excellent.

liberty,

pleasure,

sensuality,

live and let live,

do your own thing.

In fact,

we know how to

really live

our lives

according to God's word.

Follow us.

Pay us.

Do the things

that we say.

And we see this

in verse 10.

Look with me here.

But these people,

that is the

false teachers,

but these people

blaspheme

all that they

do not understand

and they are destroyed

by all that they,

like unreasoning

animals,

understand

instinctively.

The blasphemous

false teachers

do not seek truth.

Their agenda

is greed

and selfish ambition

and it takes

predominance

over any

biblical doctrine

of God.

It's only

the parts

of the Bible

that fit

into their agenda

that are,

those parts

of the Bible

that are green-lighted,

that are deemed okay.

Earlier,

in verses 3 and 4,

Jude says

that they pervert

God's grace

by neglecting

obedience

to God's word.

Instead,

they embrace

illicit sensuality.

They embrace

a cheap grace

that neglects

obedience.

They are

ignorant

of the variety

that stays

in the dark

and does not

seek out the light.

They do not

care for truth.

So how do we

combat such

false teachers?

As Jude says

in verse 3,

how do we contend

for the faith

against such teaching?

we must be

like Bereans

and the Athenians

from Acts 17.

If you remember

that story,

these are people

that,

they didn't take

Paul's,

the Apostle Paul's

word

on face value,

but they wanted

to search

the scriptures.

They wanted

to make sure

that they understood

truth,

that they submitted

to God's word

and wanted

to ensure

that there were

aspects of God's word

that they were

a bit loose on.

They were

diligent

truth seekers.

The false teachers,

they bank

on their people

not knowing

God's word.

I mean,

in some ways,

because I've

developed

some trust

with the congregation,

I could slowly

slip in certain things,

certain parts

of the Bible

or certain parts

of my own agenda

that aren't

biblical

or I could get

fuzzy on aspects

of scripture.

And this isn't

like an issue

of, you know,

I've just made

a mistake,

but this is

like a willful

attempt at

trying to subvert

your gaze

from God

to something

that I want,

some kind

of reputation

or extra

dollars in my

pocket or

whatever it may be.

I could slowly,

slowly introduce

something like

that.

If you guys

weren't diligent

in searching

the scriptures,

if you didn't

read God's word,

if you weren't

students of

the Bible,

if you didn't

dig deep.

And for us,

it is a challenge

that we need

to be people

of God's word.

One of the reasons,

and I've said this

in the past,

one of the reasons

why we recite

the creed,

whether it be

the Apostles' Creed

or the Nicene

Creed,

isn't just to

affirm our faith

together,

which is very

important,

but it's to

act as a

check against

me,

that I won't

preach from

God's word

something that

is contrary

to the faith

that is handed

down.

I don't have

the liberty,

no teacher

has the liberty

to be new

with the Bible.

originality

isn't something

that I

am trained

for.

I'm,

in a sense,

trained to

pass on the

faith that I've

received to you,

you pass on the

faith to the next

generation,

and so on,

and so forth.

Now,

there's aspects to

it where it's

very contextual,

or maybe how

does the Bible

apply to this?

Yeah,

but by and large,

it's still the

same scriptures.

We need to be

people of God's

word.

We need to

make sure that

false teaching

doesn't come in

and take root in

our lives because

there are false

motives from

false teachers

that really is

a form of

blasphemy.

But these

false teachers,

they don't just

blaspheme the

parts of the

Bible that they

do not understand

or they have

no desire to

pursue,

but they also

get wrong the

things they do

understand,

understand,

which is,

in a way,

to say that

they also

don't understand

the things that

they do

understand.

What do I

mean?

The false

teachers,

verse 10,

tells us that

they understand

things at an

instinctive level,

a base level,

which implies

that they view

life through

their stomach,

through their

appetites and

passions and

feelings.

things.

That's their

hermeneutic.

That's the

lens by which

they read the

Bible,

they proclaim

the truth.

That's their

whole reason

for being.

Reason and

wisdom are

discarded for a

subjective way of

living and reading

God's word.

Their consciences

are seared,

so lies

seem like truth

to them.

You tell a

lie enough

times, it

seems awfully

truthful.

Proper moral

discernment is

impossible for

these false

teachers.

They think

that what

they're

proclaiming

is life

to our

souls, but

what it is

is decay

setting in

and rot

setting in.

It is a

gangrene

that seeps

deeper and

deeper in

and deeper

into the

hearers.

It needs

to be cut

out, it

needs to be

dealt with.

An easy

way to

understand these

false teachers

is that

they're

antinomian.

What does

that mean?

Anti,

against,

nomos is

law, it's a

way of saying

that they're

against God's

law.

They're

antinomian,

they're

anti-law.

They're all

grace.

The Bible

very clearly

in a

way to

be

in a

simpler

reductionistic

way, but

I think it

still stands.

The Bible

preaches

law and

grace.

That law

leads us

to grace,

but also

grace helps

us to

follow God's

law.

This beautiful

back and

forth between

life.

God's

love and

love and

love and

love and

love and

love.

We're all

in a

freedom.

We are

motivated,

not out of

fear of

damnation,

but out of

gratitude for

salvation.

We obey

God.

It's back and

forth between

law and

gospel.

These guys

are all

gospel,

which really

is no

gospel at

all.

We must

remember,

God's

good design

for life

includes

limits and

boundaries,

not to

destroy or

frustrate us

into servitude

and slavery,

but to save

us from

servitude and

slavery.

To be all

about your

appetites,

all about

pleasure,

all the

time,

is a

life that

is shackled.

It's not

free.

It is a

life that

lacks self

control,

that's

enslaved by

the things

that are

easily met

with food

or screens

or relationships

with pleasure.

Pleasure

becomes an

end in

and of

itself.

God's

law leads

to life.

It leads

to grace.

And he

provides us

with limits

and boundaries

and, in a

sense, laws

to obey for

our benefit,

for our

flourishing.

But don't

we know this

to an extent,

whether we're

Christians or

non-Christians?

We know

right from

wrong, deep

in our

consciences.

Is this not

proof that

there is a

God and that

he is a

good and

real, but

also very

fierce

judge?

God has

done it.

Where does

this moral

imperative come

from?

Why is it

that we

deep down

know

right from

wrong and

that wrong

will be

punished?

The Bible

would say

it's an

aspect of

what it

means to be

made in

God's image,

as image

bearers.

Ecclesiastes 3

says that

God has

put eternity

on the

hearts of

men.

That we

know

instinctively,

deep down

in our

souls,

that there

must be

something

greater than

the here

and the

now,

and that

here and

now,

or that

something

greater than

here and

now,

it must

be good,

whatever it

is.

But also,

the Bible

says that

God has

given us

revelation

through his

created order,

that God

has made

himself known

through the

world.

So,

in a sense,

to deny

this reality

is to push

back against

God's truth

and claim

something,

anything,

other than

his good

and beautiful

and true

reality.

And it

says that

this is

blasphemy.

So,

we see

that blasphemy

isn't saying

Jesus is

not the

Son of

God,

or the

Holy Spirit

is not

a part of

the Godhead,

or,

you know,

you say

something that

is against

maybe an

aspect of

what we

read about

in the

Creed,

or something

contrary to

God's

Word,

which is

blasphemy,

but blasphemy

runs deeper

than that.

It always

pushes God

to the

margins,

and diminishes

God,

and saying

that we

are

greater

than God.

And this

is what

Jude is

warning us

about.

This is

the shape

of blasphemy.

So,

is God

indifferent

to this?

Look with

me at the

beginning of

verse 11,

just the

first three

words of

verse 11.

It says,

woe to

them.

apart from

Jude,

the only

person

that says

woe

to,

pronounces

woe to

anybody in

the New

Testament is

Jesus

himself.

And this

woe that

he is

pronouncing

Jude,

that Jesus

pronounces in

the Gospels,

and also in

St. John's

Revelation,

is a woe that

is pointing to

an everlasting

and eternal

judgment of

God.

It's heavy.

You say woe to

them, it's like

saying they're

damned to

hell.

I mean,

there is no,

there is nothing

that can be said

in the Bible that

carries more

weight.

Jude says to

these false

teachers,

woe to

you.

This is the

shape of

blasphemy.

This is,

we'll begin to

see the end

of blasphemy

after our next

point, which is

the activity of

blasphemy.

So what does

blasphemy look

like even more

than what we've

seen already?

Look with me

verses 11,

look at with

me at verses

11 to 13.

Once again,

Jude employs

a triplet.

Jude, he

likes doing

things in

threes.

So he has

another triplet

of examples

to highlight

what this

kind of

blasphemy

looks like.

We'll actually

just look at

verse 11

first.

Woe to

them, for

they walked

in the way

of Cain

and abandoned

themselves for

the sake of

gain to

Balaam's

error and

perished in

Korah's

rebellion.

Cain,

Balaam,

Korah.

We don't

have the time

to recount

each story,

but in

all three

cases we

see biblical

characters who

willfully rebel

against God's

word, and in

all three

cases the

rebellion pollutes

not just

themselves but

others all

around them.

All act as a

prototype of

how blasphemy

works out

amongst

individuals and

spreads amongst

God's people

and how

these false

teachers are

in line with

these Cain,

Balaam, and

Korah, these

blasphemers.

In fact,

Jude uses an

increasingly

strong series

of words to

describe each

successive story.

So if you

look with me

again at

verse 11,

Jude says

this, for

they walked

in the

way of

Cain, and

then they

abandoned

themselves for

the sake of

gain to

Balaam's

heir, and

then finally

they perished

in Korah's

rebellion.

It is a

gradual

growing towards

rebellion that

ultimately leads

to perishing.

If you're

familiar with

Psalm 1,

we see that

progression as

well in

Psalm 1,

how the

wicked people,

they first

stand, or

first they

sit, they

stand, they

walk.

It's this

progression into

greater and

greater amounts

of blasphemy,

greater and

greater amounts

of rebellion

towards the

Lord.

In all such

cases,

Cain,

Balaam,

Korah, this

rebellion is

the activity

of blasphemy,

and in

every case,

the rebels,

they knew

God's will,

yet they

denied God's

power and

God's judgment

as if God

was some

neutered,

powerless,

weak force,

as if God

couldn't see

their scheming

that somehow

God was not

who God

claimed he

was.

Unbelief

replaced faith,

generosity is

replaced with

greed,

God's vision

for goodness,

truth,

and beauty

is replaced

with a

distorted,

perverted,

and bent

goodness that

becomes a

type of

hellscape.

There is no

neutrality

apart from

God.

Either we

are enjoying

and following

and obeying

truth,

beauty,

and goodness

according to

God,

or we are

going in the

opposite direction

of that.

These rebels,

they are acting

in such a

way,

and these

false teachers

are following

suit.

Like I

mentioned before,

such rebellion

never affects

an individual

alone.

In all three

cases,

ending in

Korah,

many people

die as a

result in the

biblical stories.

False teachers

do not care for

the souls of

those they

serve.

they don't.

They see them

as fodder,

and a means

to achieve

their distorted

and sinister

ends.

What does Jude

say to them

at the beginning

of verse 11?

Woe to them.

In his

commentary on

Jude,

Thomas Manton,

he was a

Westminster

divine,

and he was a

chaplain to

Oliver Cromwell.

He compares

Christ and the

false teachers

like this.

For Christ

souls are a

precious commodity,

Christ thought

worthy of

his own

blood.

But seducers

count them

cheap wear.

For their

own gain and

worldly interests,

they care not

how they betray

souls.

The difference

is unmistakable.

True teachers

and leaders

in Christ's

church mimic

Christ.

How?

By laying

down their

lives for

his people,

for the sake

of their souls,

giving of

themselves,

emptying

themselves,

blessing

themselves,

being patient

with,

or not

blessing

themselves,

blessing

other people,

being patient

with people,

walking with

and guiding

people that

are put in

their care,

having a

desire to

equip God's

people to

do the

things that

God has

called them

to do.

They are

under-shepherds

to the one

true shepherd

who is

Christ.

And how

do they

do this?

By sticking

to God's

most holy

word.

They cannot

be rebels,

for rebellion

is blasphemy,

and such a

blasphemous

activity never

produces what

it promises.

We can see

that in the

next two

verses.

Look at

verses 12

and 13

with me.

These are

hidden reefs.

Another

translation talks

about them

being stains.

They pollute.

These are

hidden reefs

at your

love feasts

as they

feast with

you without

fear.

Shepherds

feeding

themselves,

waterless

clouds swept

along by

winds,

fruitless

trees in

late autumn

twice dead

uprooted,

wild waves

of the sea

casting up

the foam

of their

own shame,

wandering

stars for

whom the

gloom of

utter darkness

has been

reserved forever.

these examples

hit home

the point

that the

activity of

blasphemy

is not a

source of

blessing,

for it

unplugs from

the source

of light

itself.

Instead,

it plugs

into

power

death.

Fruitless

trees in

late autumn

twice dead

uprooted,

the image

of stars

leading people

astray,

stars were

the source

of navigation

in the

ancient world.

stars

moving directions.

How do

they lead

people to

the right

ports?

They can't.

The number

of pictures

that Jude

paints here

are people

that purport

to bless,

but ultimately

they curse.

Jude reminds

us that such

blasphemous

activity will

not go

unpunished.

but will

have a

total and

final end.

But what

will that

punishment

look like?

Will it

look like

the two

brothers

opening fire

on a dozen

journalists

in 2015?

Let's take a

look,

verses 14 to

16,

and we'll

see the

end of

blasphemy.

once again,

Jude uses

an example

from a

non-biblical

source,

this time

first Enoch.

And we'll

begin in

verse 14.

It was

also about

these,

that is,

the false

teachers,

that Enoch,

the seventh

from Adam,

prophesied,

saying,

Behold,

the Lord

comes with

ten thousand

of his

holy ones.

We'll

continue,

sorry.

to execute

judgment on

all and

to convict

all the

ungodly of

all their

deeds of

ungodliness

that they

have committed

in such

an ungodly

way,

and of

all the

harsh things

that ungodly

sinners have

spoken against

them.

These are

grumblers,

malcontents,

following their

sinful desires.

They are

loudmouthed

boasters,

showing favoritism

to gain

advantage.

Jude is

connecting

first Enoch

with

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 32:2

32,

verses 2

and 4,

which is

very similar

in content

and speaks

to God's

judgment in

a comprehensive

way.

It says

that God

is the

all-powerful

judge and

that he

misses not

one aspect

of human

experience

that he

will not

judge.

We will

all stand

before the

just judge.

notice how

Jude here

emphasizes

ungodliness.

Verse 15,

he mentions

four times

ungodliness

in verse 15

is understood

as the

total moral

and spiritual

breakdown,

an unrepentant

impiety

in thought,

word,

and deed.

It blasphemes

God as

creator,

sustainer,

savior,

and judge.

It denies

his word,

it leads

others astray,

it is the

antithesis of

who God

is.

Literally,

it is

ungodliness,

it is the

opposite of

who God

is.

We

ought to

expect

ungodliness

in the

world to

those that

have not

embraced the

Christian faith,

that have

not had

their sins

forgiven and

strived by

the Holy Spirit

has helped

to live a

godly life.

We ought

to expect

it.

And I

don't mean

that in a

we are

better than

them type

of way,

but the

church is

the group

of people

that God

has saved,

called out

of darkness

into light,

and he

expects us

and we

ought to

expect of

ourselves

that we

would live

godly

lives.

Not

perfect

lives,

but godly

lives.

Lives that

when we

fail,

we are

honest about

our failure

and our

sin before

God asking

for his

forgiveness

and receiving

that and

knowing that

we have been

forgiven on

the cross

once and

for all.

But when

ungodliness

takes root in

the congregation,

it's a

problem.

When

unrepentance

takes root in

the congregation,

it is

a problem.

When

baptized

members of

the visible

church

have grown

very cold

towards the

Lord and

the things

of his

word,

it's a

problem.

And it

doesn't mean

woe to

you,

but it

does mean

today is

the day

to get

back to

it by

God's help,

by God's

strength.

God's

love.

But

especially

woe to

them if

they are

teaching

something

that is

ungodly.

Our

section

concludes

with verse

16 and

describes a

people that

are utterly

selfish and

deeply worldly.

They are not

doing battle

with the

flesh.

They do not

feel the

pressure to

resist the

cultural and

societal temptations

that are always

against God's

people.

They have

embraced such

realities.

In this case

of false

teachers,

they have

baptized them

into the

church.

They are not

contending for

the faith.

They are

living for

their own

type of

faith.

Friends,

either God

will pardon

because we

are clothed

in the

righteousness

of Christ

and we

have embraced

that by

faith,

or punishment

awaits those

who are

ungodly.

There is no

in between.

It is an

old-fashioned

type of

message of

talking about

judgment,

but Jude

is reminding

us that

there is

the righteous

who are

clothed in

Christ,

and then

there is the

ungodly

who push

away God's

salvation.

God will

not stand

by idly.

So if we

look at

verse 16,

if we are

honest with

ourselves,

have we

not all

committed

some kind

of

blasphemy

against

the

Lord?

Have you

gone through

a season

of your

Christian life

where you're

just not

trying to

repent,

you're making

excuses,

you're making

allowances,

you're finding

nuance where

there is none,

you are acting

in an ungodly

way?

Have you been

blaspheming?

And if

so,

what hope

do you

have?

What hope

do I

have?

I'll end

with this.

Matthew 26,

59,

and following,

Jesus stands

arrested,

beaten,

before the

high priest,

the entire

Sanhedrin,

that was the

ruling party,

the ruling

religious party

in the temple

in the first

century,

and they

are looking

to find a

lawful reason

to execute

Jesus.

Finally,

they get out

of him what

they wanted.

He would be

accused of

blasphemy.

I'll read

verses 59

and following.

Now the

chief priests

and the

whole council