INTRO.- Dreaming isn’t bad, depending on what you dream for. And I’m not talking about night dreams because we all have some crazy night dreams.
ILL.- For example, I had a crazy dream that some people were trying to kill me and I defended myself by stabbing my attackers with a set of deer antlers. Now how crazy is that?
The other side of the coin is where people dream about accomplishing something in life.
ILL.- Here’s a good dream that someone had: "American history shall march along that skyline," announced Gutzon Borglum in 1924, gazing at the Black Hills of South Dakota. In 1927 Borglum began sculpting the images of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt on the granite face of 6,000-foot Mount Rushmore. Most of the sculpting was done by experienced miners under Borglum’s direction. Working with jackhammers and dynamite, they removed some 400,000 tons of outer rock, cutting within three inches of the final surface. When Borglum died in March 1941, his dream of the world’s biggest sculpture was near completion. His son Lincoln finished the work that October, some 14 years after it was begun. A DREAM COME TRUE! And many of you have seen that dream in person.
ILL.- T.E. Lawrence (British soldier considered to be the "Lawrence of Arabia") once said, "All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds awake to the day to find it was all vanity. (in other words, night dreamers) But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for the many act out their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible."
Not all day dreamers have their dreams come true but some do. Did you ever dream something that you wished had come true?
It’s ok to dream good dreams and even try to accomplish them in life as long as we include the Lord in those dreams. Remember that text in I Cor. 10:31? "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
There are both good dreamers and bad dreamers in life. When it comes to bad dreamers in life we don’t want them to accomplish anything.
ILL.- Hitler, for example, once dreamed of world domination or so it seemed. Thank God it didn’t happen. The generally accepted cause of the death of Adolf Hitler on Monday, 30 April 1945 was suicide by gunshot and cyanide poisoning.
Hitler was raised by Roman Catholic parents, but after he left home, he never attended Mass or received the sacraments, Hitler often praised Christian heritage, German Christian culture, and professed a belief in Jesus Christ.
Hitler advocated a "Positive Christianity", a belief system purged from what he objected to in traditional Christianity, and which reinvented Jesus as a fighter against the Jews.
Thank the Lord that Hitler’s evil reign didn’t continue. At least, not with him. But there plenty of others today who try to fill his shoes and dream evil things.
PROP.- In our text, Jude speaks specifically about certain godless dreamers. 1- They pollute themselves 2- They reject authority 3- They slander celestial beings
I. GODLESS DREAMERS POLLUTE THEMSELVES
ILL.- A 28-year-old environmentalist from England is planning on traveling some 9,770 miles by land to be a bridesmaid at a wedding in Australia because she does not want to contribute to air pollution by flying.
Barbara Haddrill said the trip would take her six weeks to accomplish at a cost of $3,800. (kind of silly, wouldn’t you say?)
Environmentalists are concerned about earth’s pollution and global warming.
ILL.- Meet the average American: Every year he will leave in his wake his share of the 20 million tons of paper, 48 billion cans and 26 billion bottles that litter the land. He will personally pollute three million gallons of water in a year.
“Measured in terms of destructive effect on the environment, biologist Wayne David estimates that 1 American is equivalent to at least 25 citizens of India."
But there is a worse pollution, however, than mankind (or Americans) polluting our lands, air and water with junk stuff. What’s that? It’s listed in our text.
8In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings.
What’s the meaning of this text? How do godless dreamers pollute their own bodies? We’ve heard of stories about people who have ruined their health through sinful living: drinking, drugs, immoral living, etc. CEV reads: 8The people I am talking about are behaving just like those dreamers who destroyed their own bodies.
ILL.- Bible Commentator Matthew Henry wrote: Sin is filthiness; it renders men odious and vile in the sight of the most holy God, and makes them (sooner or later, as penitent or as punished to extremity and without resource) vile in their own eyes, and in a while they become vile in the eyes of all about them. These filthy dreamers dream themselves into a fool’s paradise on earth, and into a real hell at last." Wow! Matthew Henry’s words are powerful and condemning.
ILL.- Someone wrote about actors in Hollywood: Legends from Ava Gardner to Richard Burton would routinely get drunk with the journalists sent to write about them, and in the process casually pour contempt on their talent, the industry and, most deliciously of all, the whole myth of acting as an art. Richard Burton once claimed that all actors were gay and only went into showbiz so they could wear make-up every day without being beaten up.
The pollution of ones own body can be done in many different ways. People are guilty of both polluting and destroying their own bodies. In this text, however, it’s probably illicit sexual relations such homosexuality. But there are plenty of sexually transmitted diseases than people get.
II. GODLNESS DREAMERS REJECT AUTHORITY
8In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings.
ILL.- A police officer pulls over this guy who had been weaving in and out of the lanes. He goes up to the guy’s window and says "Sir, I need you to blow into this breathalyzer tube." The man says, "Sorry officer I can’t do that. I am an asthmatic. If I do that I’ll have a really bad asthma attack."
"Okay, fine. I need you to come down to the station to give a blood sample."
"I can’t do that either. I am a hemophiliac. If I do that, I’ll bleed to death."
"Well, then we need a urine sample." "I’m sorry officer I can’t do that either. I am also a diabetic. If I do that I’ll get really low blood sugar."
"Alright then I need you to come out here and walk this white line." "I can’t do that, officer." "Why not?" "Because I’m too drunk to do that."
Did you ever get pulled over by the police or state trooper and try to argue your way out of a ticket? Maybe you said, "Now officer, I was only doing 74 mph in this 70 mph zone."
Or did you ever reject authority in any form? School teacher? Boss? Police? How about mom and dad? Didn’t we all do that somewhat? I know I did.
Rebellion never pays, does it? And especially, when it comes to God. The ultimate authority that people reject is God and Christ. How do they do this? By their unbelief. And sometimes by thumbing their nose at God and everything he stands for.
ILL.- Comedian Kathy Griffin joked at the Emmy awards (Sept.2007) and one of her jokes wasn’t very funny. She said, "A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. This award is my God now!"
Kathy Griffin, no doubt, thought she was being funny, but in reality she was rejecting authority. But there have been others and far worse.
ILL.- Comedian George Carlin died June 22, 2008, at the age of 71. And to many he was a very funny man. He did say some very funny stuff but he also said some very bad stuff.
He said, "I want you to know, when it comes to believing in god- I really tried. I really really tried. I tried to believe that there is a god who created each one of us in his own image and likeness, loves us very much and keeps a close eye on things. I really tried to believe that, but I gotta tell you, the longer you live, the more you look around, the more you realize something is messed up (only he said some words far worse). Something is WRONG here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is NOT good work. If this is the best god can do, I am NOT impressed. Results like these do not belong on the resume of a supreme being."
To me, that’s rejecting authority and people of all ages and ranks do it all the time in various ways and they will be sorry. It is a dreadful, fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:31.
III. GODLESS DREAMERS SLANDER CELESTIAL BEINGS
8In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. 9But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" 10Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them.
ILL.- A man was walking in the street when he heard a voice: "Stop! Stand still! If you take one more step, a brick will fall down on your head and kill you." The man stopped and a big brick fell right in front of him. The man was astonished.
He went on, and after awhile he was going to cross the road. Once again the voice shouted: "Stop! Stand still! If you take one more step a car will run over you and you will die." The man did as he was instructed, just as a car came careening around the corner, barely missing him.
"Where are you?" the man asked. "Who are you?" "I am your guardian angel," the voice answered. "Oh yeah?" the man asked. "And where were you when I got married?"
Do you believe in angels? You’d better, because they are real and they are talked about in the scripture in many places.
Hebrews 1:14 "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?"
Our text says that these godless dreamers slander celestial beings. And we assume this refers to angels, etc. And why would anyone slander an angel? And how would they do it? I think when it comes to anything pertaining to God and His angels we need to be careful what we say and what we do.
I don’t know if people specifically slander angels but many people have sure used the Lord’s name in vain ways, saying, "God damn this or that..." without giving these words any serious thought at all. AND THAT’S DANGEROUS TERRITORY!
Heb. 12:28-29 "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."
And we certainly don’t reverence angels over God because this would be wrong but God’s angels certainly deserve a certain amount of respect.
9But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" 10Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them.
Warren Wiersbe said, "We have no information about the conflict between Satan and Michael over the body of Moses. When Moses died, the Lord buried him and no one knew where the grave was located. (Deut. 34:5-6) No doubt the Jewish people would have made a shrine out of it and fallen into idolatry, so God kept this information to Himself.
"The text tells us that Michael did not rebuke Satan, but left that to the Lord.
"It is a dangerous thing God’s people to confront Satan directly and to argue with him, because he is much stronger than we are. If an archangel is careful about the way he deals with the devil, how much more cautious ought we to be!"
Satan is a celestial being, though evil. We need to be careful how we talk about him or deal with him. When it comes to God, Christ or any celestial being all people had better keep their mouths shut if they ever had the thought of saying anything slanderous or evil!
CONCLUSION-----------------------
Who were these godless dreamers? 4For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
These godless dreamers were false prophets! And they are not complimented in this book at all!
They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
There may be many "godless dreamers" in our world. And if you think you heard one speaking then stop listening. And if you think you ever ran into one then turn the other way.
I Pet. 5:8-9 "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings."
