ME
Open your bibles to the book of JUDE…if you don’t have a bible with you, the ushers will gladly hand you one.
[Ushers hand out bibles to any who need them]
We’re going to be looking at verses 5-11 today…
Let me start by saying that I like things that feel good…
• Roller coasters
• Warm pecan pie
• Driving too fast
• Telling someone off when they deserve it
• Sleeping
• Dr. Pepper
Let me also say that not everything that feels good is good for me.
Warm pecan pie feels good…but too much of it is unhealthy
Driving fast feels good…but it’s dangerous
Dr. Pepper feels good…but it has a negative impact on your health
Telling someone off may feel good…but it can damage or destroy relationships
Sleeping feels good…but too much of it and you lose your job
But, in spite of the negatives, we naturally tend to do just those things that feel good. We take the path of least resistance. We must MAKE ourselves do those things that are better, nobler, more healthy. And we have to stay alert against those things that just feel good but are damaging.
We have to guard against our natural tendency to do only what feels good. That’s where we’re going today. We’re going talk about staying alert against our tendency to slip into “feel good sin.”
Here’s the deal…there is sin – a lot of sin – that just plain feels good. I’m not going to lie to you…it’s easier to just follow your desires and do what feels good and forget that there are consequences. SIN FEELS GOOD – OTHERWISE IT WOULDN’T BE SO TEMPTING.
SIN FEELS GOOD BECAUSE IT IS OUR NATURAL STATE!!!!!
And so we have a tendency to drift into “feel good sin.” Jude calls us to stay alert against that tendency.
And that’s the one thing…that’s the point I want you to get today… We need to stay alert against our tendency to slip into “feel good sin.”
WE
Last Sunday we examined the first 4 verses of Jude. In the beginning of this letter he gives a wake up call to the church…urging them to be alert and to become defenders of the faith.
The faith…the basic belief system…of those who are followers of Jesus was under attack and in need of defense. It wasn’t under attack from the government. It wasn’t under attack from another religious group. It wasn’t even being directly attacked by the culture in which they lived. Rather, the faith of the church was under attack from THOSE WITHIN THE CHURCH.
There were those who had “slipped in” and were perverting and undermining the faith. They were saying that there was no law to follow. They were saying that the more we sin the more God can show grace. They were saying that we don’t have to submit to any authority. They were abusing the grace of Jesus and denying his sovereignty and his lordship. In other words – they were denying that Jesus was God or that he would do anything about sin except clean it up for us.
Much like what we deal with today. A no consequences, no accountability mindset.
This week, as we look at verses 5 – 11 we’re going to see Jude use some historical examples as well as identify the current reality of the church as he calls them to stay alert because we need to stay alert against our tendency to slip into “feel good sin.”
Our natural tendency is to drift into “feel good sin.” Our natural tendency is to fall asleep. Our natural tendency is to let our guard down. That’ is why we must be diligent. We need to stay alert against our tendency to slip into “feel good sin.”
GOD
Today, I’m going to read through the whole passage in one shot and then come back and pull back the layers that are here so we can gain some meaningful insight for where we are today.
5Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
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.
11Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
Jude begins this section with three historical/cultural examples that the people he’s writing to would understand.
Israel…lacked faith & were left to wander in the desert for 40 years…(those without faith were destroyed)
Angels…rejected authority (were rebellious)…are being kept in a dungeon until judgment day…where they will be destroyed.
Sodom & Gomorrah…chose to sin without restraint…were destroyed by fire
Three “feel good sins” are highlighted in these stories.
Faithlessness…I feel good when I think I can depend upon myself.
Rebellion…I feel good when I’m convinced I don’t have to be accountable to anyone.
Hedonism (sin without restraint…seeking pleasure only)…I feel good when I do things that make me feel good…
And yet every one of these “categories” of feel good sin come with a VERY HIGH PRICE TAG. They will always result in our destruction…that’s why we need to stay alert against our tendency to slip into “feel good sin.”
Jude can use these historical/cultural examples because he knows that the tendency to fall into these “feel good sins” is universal. The people knew these stories and understood these stories and so he drives his point home using these stories…then he takes the lid off of the current reality in the church…
CURRENT REALITY
The current reality is that these same issues were just as present in the churches he was addressing as they had been in history…
In the very same way, these dreamers… He now addresses the people within the church who are in the same boat.
Dreamers: what does this mean? Some translations use the phrase filthy dreamers and the term means “Those who have fantasies.” Or those who are led by their dreams rather than by truth. (Probably a mixture of the two…these people have fantasies…sexual fantasies and fantasies about living without any restraint…and they led those fantasies guide their lives, their decisions and how they choose to obey/follow/submit to the authority of God through the scriptures and through the church)
So these men…the people who have slipped into the church abusing the grace of Jesus and denying his Lordship and Sovereignty…are led – not by the spirit of GOD – but by their own foolish fantasies, dreams and desires…
No matter what idea you may have…no matter how strongly you believe in something…no matter how big your plans and dreams are…if they are not in line with the will of Jesus as revealed through scripture…DON’T FOLLOW THEM…
By the same token…no matter how insane…no matter how dangerous…no matter how risky…no matter how difficult your plans and dreams might be…if they are from JESUS then YOU BETTER FOLLOW THEM TO COMPLETION OR DIE TRYING…!
So what is it that these dreamers…the fantasy chasers do that is so dangerous to the faith and to the Bride of Jesus? They make it even easier for us to slip into “feel good sin.” That’s why we need to stay alert against our tendency to slip into “feel good sin.”
So what are the specifics?
They Pollute their own bodies
Pollute – defile, destroy, ruin, disgrace, dishonor…
They are living lives that are morally reprehensible.
Through their sinful behavior they are dishonoring and ruining their very own bodies. Whether this refers to the Jewish concept of ceremonially “unclean” or whether it refers to actually wrecking their bodies due to hard living…I don’t know…probably a bit of both.
Either way, the behavior that is expressing their messed up logic is hurting them…physically.
They simply followed their natural desires, letting them take control because that is what feels good and the result is that is messes them up…They serve as a warning that we need to stay alert against our tendency to slip into “feel good sin.”
They Reject authority (slander angels?)
They speak abusively against what they don’t understand
The people within the church that Jude was talking about were rejecting any and all authority…including the authority of GOD (as illustrated by the phrase “slander angels”)
The phrase Slander Angels is a tough phrase…most modern translations use the term “to slander angels” but older translations use the phrase “speak evil of dignities”
The true meaning here is most likely that these men were speaking evil against the leaders of the people(spiritual and otherwise)…pastors, apostles and governors, perhaps even the Emperor…
It’s not that these leaders are perfect and sinless and thus above reproach…they are not. But they have been put in places of authority by God and we are called by God to respect and obey the authority that has been put over us and…spiritual, civil, family, etc.
These men were teaching that no one should have ANY authority over anyone else…each person should do as he pleases when he pleases with whomever he pleases because the grace of Jesus will clean up the mess and sin doesn’t matter…
And so…NOT UNDERSTANDING TRUE SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY… these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand!
They don’t like authority…they reject authority…they don’t bother to learn what God – through scripture and through the life of Jesus – teaches about authority and so…not understanding it, they bash it.
-THIS CERTAINLY EXISTS WITHIN OUR CULTURE BUT IT ALSO EXISTS WITHIN THE CHURCH-
We want to the church to serve us and our needs…but we do not want to submit to the spiritual authority that Jesus gave to the church…not an authority that LORD’S over people…but an authority from God to give spiritual leadership, to serve and to teach/motivate/empower/urge the Body of Christ to serve one another and the community’s where we live.
When the church/preacher/board give us what we want, making us happy…we are willing to be involved…but when we are held accountable…to do what we have said we would do…to live as a follower of Jesus…to follow where the leaders of the church (who hopefully are seeking Jesus and his will) would have us go…we rebel.
If we’re called on the carpet or we don’t like the “direction the church is going” we tend to do one of two things (or both)
• We complain to others in the church causing division…
• We leave and go someplace else where we will be made happy and not held accountable.
THIS LEAVES US SHALLOW, POWERLESS, SINFUL, SELFISH PEOPLE WHO DO NOT EXPERIENCE THE BLESSING OF GOD IN OUR LIVES AND WHO DO NOTHING TO FURTHER HIS KINGDOM…
To those in leadership this means that we have an AWESOME responsibility… we are not to just lead by handling the business end of the church or by fixing what’s broken in the building or by telling people what to do…this means that as leaders we have the VERY HEAVY RESPONSIBILITY of being in close contact with JESUS, allowing him to direct our thoughts and decisions and then calling the church to follow what JESUS has called us to do…the concept of spiritual authority and leadership is taken FAR TOO LIGHTLY in the church today. We want to be in positions of leadership (Board, Teacher, Trustee, ETC. but we do not want to do the hard work of taking the time to be with Jesus and hear from him.) LEADERS are more accountable than anyone because they carry the responsibility of their own spiritual life/health but that of the church and other followers of Jesus as well!!!!!
The fact is that almost all of us take the issue of spiritual leadership far too lightly. We do this because it’s easy and it feels good to no be held accountable. But we need to stay alert against our tendency to slip into “feel good sin.”
They live as slaves to their natural desires…if it feels good do it…Don’t deny myself anything I may desire…live so that I avoid pain, experience pleasure and indulge in any and every whim I may have.
This lifestyle was normal for Greco-Roman culture.
• The men had wives but only for the purpose of producing children.
• They spent their days in sexual liaisons with all kinds of women.
• They participated in ritual sexual acts in the temples of their gods.
• They had orgies.
• They ate like pigs at pagan feasts and drank themselves into a stupor on a regular basis
They lived as they wanted to live, doing what felt good whenever they felt like doing it and this was creeping into the church.
-THIS CERTAINLY EXISTS WITHIN OUR CULTURE BUT IT ALSO EXISTS WITHIN THE CHURCH-
On a physical/moral scale
• 50% of “Born again Christians” believe that living together outside of marriage is OK
• 51% believe that sexual fantasies about other people are OK
• 42% Pre/extra marital sex is OK
• 33% porn is OK
• 33% drunkenness is OK
• 17% illicit drugs OK
More than that, we simply do what we feel like doing when we feel like doing it.
• If that means purchasing a new toy we can’t afford, we purchase it anyway because it makes us happy.
• If that means trading one relationship for another so that we’ll FEEL BETTER we do it
• If that means we drown ourselves in alcohol or illicit drugs because it FEELS GOOD, we do it.
That is the culture we live in and that culture is invading the church. We live in a society, even within the church, that denies sacrifice and worships our feelings. We want to FEEL good. We want to FEEL fulfilled. We want to FEEL happy. We want to FEEL…you fill in the blank.
At the end of the day we just want to FEEL GOOD…and that’s a trap. Jesus never promised us we would feel good…but he did promise us he would help us do good.
And our tendency to do slip into “feel good sin” draws us away from Jesus and makes us counter-productive to the building of his kingdom. We need to stay alert against our tendency to slip into “feel good sin.”
Jude’s call to STAY ALERT has never been more relevant.
When we think we can do it better than God and when we don’t believe that our way of doing life has consequences and when we INSIST on calling the shots…we shipwreck our own lives and we risk damaging, if not destroying, the faith of others and the church- the BRIDE OF JESUS.
We have to keep our eyes open against these attitudes and this form of functional atheism…this “feel good sin.” We need to stay alert against our tendency to slip into “feel good sin.”
After taking the lid of off the current reality, Jude wraps up this little section with more historical/cultural examples. He points out that those who just do what feels good fall into a category that we would do well to avoid.
Taken the way of Cain…
Cain was known as one who didn’t trust God and rebelled against God’s plans for man.
One commentator states “To the Hebrew thinkers Cain was the cynical, materialistic unbeliever who believed neither in God nor in the moral order of the world and who, therefore, did exactly as he liked.”
That certainly describes those who were in the church and were teaching that there was no law…sin freely so that God’s grace could be freely poured out.
Jewish tradition has it that Cain was eventually murdered himself. The first man to take a life his life was eventually taken from him. Sin always has a price.
Rushed for profit into Balaam’s error
Because he was greedy Balaam took money in order to entice the Israelites to worship false gods…causing them to sin and him to be put to death.
• Hired by the king of Moab to curse the Israelites
• Unable to curse them because God had blessed them
• Still wanting to get paid…he convinced the Moabite women to seduce the Israelite men…(this involved temple prostitution…worship of pagan gods through sexual rituals, etc.)
Since Balaam was unable to curse Israel, he chose to lead them astray by teaching them/enticing them to sin.
This describes the reality of those within the church that Jude was talking to. They were, either directly through teaching or indirectly through their influence, teaching/enticing those who were followers of Jesus to sin.
Balaam was eventually put to death for his sin. Sin always has a price.
Destroyed in Korah’s rebellion
Korah rebelled against God’s divinely appointed authority and thus against God. Korah and those who followed him were destroyed.
• God told Moses to appoint Aaron and his descendents as priests
• Korah was angry and refused to submit to this authority, instead wanting it for himself
• They challenged Moses and as a result, the ground opened up and swallowed Korah and his family while fire came out of the altar and burned up the 250 men who had joined him.
They refused to accept God given authority and it cost them their lives…this is what Jude is dealing with in the church. There were those in the church who refused to accept God ordained authority – whether spiritual or civic – and it was damaging the church and the faith of those who were true followers of Jesus Christ.
Korah’s sin caused his death and the death of others. Sin always has a price.
When we slip into “feel good sin” we become cynical, rebellious, pleasure seeking consumers who take from the world and the Kingdom of God while sacrificing nothing and in the process we shipwreck our faith and potentially the faith of others. WE NEED TO LISTEN TO JUDE’S WARNING… We need to stay alert against our tendency to slip into “feel good sin.”
SO WHAT
So how do you end a message like this? I mean, at least for me, this has been a pretty heavy message. Not so cheerful or encouraging. More of a shot of cold water to the face of a napping man…
…but then I guess that was the point. The gospel of Jesus – the truth of scripture – has a way of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.
You
• This is not a sermon about sexual immorality…but that could apply.
• This is not a sermon about being disruptive in the church (not the worship service but the life of the church.)…But that could apply as well.
• This is not a sermon about smoking, drinking, gambling, doing drugs or any of a host of other things we might want to make it about…although ANY of those may apply as well.
This IS a sermon about simple submission and obedience to the way of God…to scripture…to the authority God has placed in our lives. This is a sermon about our natural tendency to be lazy in our faith and to slip into “feel good sin.”
More than anything else, today’s message is a call to repentance. A call for the church to repent of being asleep at the wheel. A call for those who are lazy in their faith to repent and to take it seriously. And a call for those who have never walked in the faith to repent of sin and turn to Jesus for the first time.
The truth today is one of TRUSTING and OBEYING GOD…rather than selfishly and arrogantly assuming we can do it better than GOD…
Here’s how this whole thing plays out today…
Our churches…including SPWC…are full of people who reject the authority of Jesus and live religious lives without genuine faith.
• We are more sustained by our stuff (the things we buy and own) than we are by faith in Jesus Christ…this is “feel good sin.”
• We slap a religious/Christian label on our lives but live NO DIFFERENTLY than the world around us
? We still fight for control at church and work just like the nations of the world do…feel good sin
? We still want more money/stuff/freedom when we can’t use all we have…feel good sin
? We don’t deny ourselves anything we desire…feel good sin
? We refuse to submit to civic authority…bad mouthing whoever is currently in office without praying for them…feel good sin
? We refuse to submit to spiritual authority…complaining against the pastor/leaders of the church because they don’t make us comfortable or happy enough while NOT serving those we live next to or with and without being willing to move into areas of leadership within the local church so as to HELP lead…we shout from the stands but won’t take the field…feel good sin
? We are entertained by the same filth as the world…feel good sin
INTERJECT THE NEED TO LEVERAGE CULTURE WITHOUT SUCCUMBING TO IT
? We contribute to the plight of the poor rather than help lift them out of it…feel good sin (maybe helping with first steps would be a first step)
What we need to do is wake up. We need to get serious about living differently than the world lives. We need to get serious about being surrendered and sold out to Jesus. We need to shine out as stars in the darkness of our generation…
…not being different because we’re weird…but being different because we live and love as Jesus loved. Because we stand vigilant against slipping into feel good sin. Because we sacrifice and we do what is right instead of doing what is easy…because we sacrifice our desire to feel good for the GOOD OF THE KINGDOM OF JESUS!!!!
When we repent of making it about us
When we repent of our focus on being made happy
When we decide to live like Jesus lives…that’s when things will start to get exciting.
CLOSE WITH COMMUNION
I want our time of communion to day to be a time of confession…a time of repentance. With communion we commemorate the death of Jesus on the cross. At the cross, Jesus didn’t do what was easy or what felt good. He did what WAS good…and sacrificed himself for us…as we remember that today…let’s repent of our tendency to slip into “feel good sin.” Let’s make a commitment to stay alert against our tendency to slip into “feel good sin.” And to live for others like Jesus died for us.
