Remember When…
Text: Jude 1 – 16; Revelation 2:5
By: Ken McKinley
(Read Text)
Well as you can see by our text, we are still looking at verses 1-16. We began by looking at Jude’s thesis for this letter, how he was warning Christians to “STAY ALERT” and then last time we looked at why, we looked at the “Enemy Within;” tonight we are going to Jude’s command to “Remember.”
We’ve had similar calls to remembrance in our own histories. I’ll say a few of them and we’ll see if you know the event, “Remember the Maine” (Call to arms for the Spanish – American War), “Remember the Alamo!” (The war for Texas Independence), “A Day that will live in Infamy” (after the attack on Pearl Harbor), “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” (man walking on the moon).
And we remember these things because of the events that took place on those dates, and the events that were set in motion because of them. In our text Jude asks his readers to remember. In the Bible there are other things we are told to remember, we have communion because Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” We have church on Sundays because the Acts 20:7 tells us this became the tradition of the Apostles, and we continue the tradition. So look at verses 5, 6, and 7 (read).
Edmond Burke once said, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing.” It’s easy for us today to say, “Let’s not rock the boat,” and for us to look at what Jude is saying and think, “Well; it really doesn’t matter, I’m a Christian, I’m saved, I’ve got my fire insurance, so I don’t have to worry about it.”
Folks, it is the job of the Church to teach Christians to know and understand the Gospel. And once it is known and understood, it is our job to exhort you over and over again, to remember what it is, to fight for it, and not budge an inch from it. The Gospel is not speaking things into existence and name it and claim it garbage. The Gospel is not “I’m ok, you’re ok.” The Gospel is not, “do enough good things, and God might let you into heaven.” No! The Gospel isn’t these man made, humanistic teachings that have crept into the Church, and influenced people.
That’s what Jude is saying, he’s saying that these people have strayed in error. They’ve come to believe a different gospel, which is no gospel at all. And we have churches, and entire denominations that teach error, and false doctrine, and they lead people astray because their teachings are seductive and pleasing to human nature, and we the Church when we are made aware of these things, are supposed to confront them, and say, “You’re wrong!”
But what happens is that we don’t remember. The Bible tells us that there is nothing new under the sun. The attacks against Christianity aren’t new, they are re-packaged, but Christians forget, and so when an attack comes out, many people who are on the edge, maybe considering the faith, instead they are lured away by the deception. The false teachers we have today aren’t any different than the false teachers of 2000 years ago. They are getting their information from the same source, the father of lies. And the lies they tell aren’t new, they are dressed up in new ways, but they are the same old lies.
That’s what Jude is trying to show his readers.
There was around 1200 to 1300 years between Moses and Jude, but Jude says that the false teachers that were in the Church during Jude’s day are the same as they were during Moses’ day.
Now if you’re into numerology – the study of numbers then you’ll notice that Jude groups these things into 3’s. In verses 5-7 he mentions 3 types of false teachers or apostates. In verse 11 he mentions 3 individuals who were false teachers.
So let’s look at the groups first: In vs. 5 he mentions the Israelites that came out of Egypt but did not believe. The Israelites had been delivered from Egypt, we read about that in Exodus but the they had to wander around for 40 years, all because of unbelief. An entire generation never got to where God was taking them because of unbelief. Sure they believed there was a God, they had seen His miracles, they had seen Him do wondrous things, but when it came time to claim the land, they faltered when it came to true faith. They did not believe unto salvation. Turn with me to Hebrews 10:39 (read), now to Matthew 13:20-21 (read). A person can believe to a point short of the saving of their soul. They can heard the word and receive it with joy, but if they have no root then they will fall away.
You see; it’s one thing to have an intellectual conception of God’s truth, it’s another to have a personal, heart acquaintance with it. Its one thing to believe that sin is awful, it’s another have a holy hatred of it in your soul. Its one thing to know that God’s Word teaches that true Christians will struggle against sin, and strive towards repentance, it’s another to do those things. It’s one thing to know that the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ alone is the only hope for lost sinners, it’s another thing to actually trust Him for that salvation. The Bible tells us that the man who has trusted Christ alone has ceased from his labor. We have entered into His rest.
The 2nd group that Jude looks at are “the angels which kept not their first estate…” Now there’s a lot of debate about this passage and the passage we read in Genesis 6:1-8 lets turn there are read it, but keep your place in Jude because we’re going to be coming back to it (read Genesis 6:1-8).
Let me read to you Jude vss. 6 & 7 from the NKJV and then from the original Greek (Read NKJV); Greek = “And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, He has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day; just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”
Now some people claim that angels could not marry and have sexual relations with human women based on what Jesus says in Matthew 22:29-30 so let’s turn there and read that (read). I think the reality is though is that the idea bothers a lot of people, including pastors, and so they take the easy way out and don’t look thoroughly at what the Bible teaches. Every time we see the term “Sons of God” used (we see it in Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7, Psalms 89:6, and in Daniel 3:25) So why wouldn’t the usage of the term in Genesis be the same? But of course how do we reconcile that with what Jesus said in Matthew 22? Well it’s easy actually, Jesus never says the angels are sexless, in-fact all Scripture describes angels as appearing masculine… as males, and what Jesus actually says in Matthew 22 is that men and women are like the angels in heaven – they don’t get married. Not that they become sexless. He doesn’t say that the angels who have fallen however never marry, or never engaged in intercourse.
Lets go back to Jude and look at it one more time (read vss. 6-7). Verse 7 begins with the word “as” or “just as” depending on your translation, the Greek word is “hos” it’s an adverb of comparison, and it’s comparing a likeness between the angels mentioned in vs. 6 and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in vs. 7. Now I’ve written an article on this titled Who Were the Sons of God and I’ll let anyone that wants to read it do so after the service, but we need to go on before we get too bogged down.
Whether you agree with that or not, the general idea is rebellion against God’s ways, against God’s ordained pattern. It has to do with sin. Jude is saying that these false teachers are full of sin, and they are perverse, they despise authority and reject God’s dominion over them.
The 3rd group is Sodom and Gomorrah we see what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah described more clearly in Romans 1, Paul gives us a pretty good explanation of what led to the downfall of Sodom and Gomorrah.
So what Jude is saying is that there are people, and groups of people just like these groups and they are in churches.
Why does it matter? Well remember last week I touched on what Cain, Balaam and Korah did? Cain held back from God and murdered his brother, Balaam was a false prophet who tried to curse the Israelites and bring God’s wrath down on them, and Korah led the people to rebel against Moses and in turn against God. But if we go beyond that, Cain also started his own people, a people who were pagan, godless people. When Balaam was unable to curse the Israelites, he instead led them to intermarry which brought paganism and godlessness into Israel, and again Korah led thousands away from the truth and ended up not only dying because of that, but also leading those thousands to their deaths as well.
So it’s important, even if you’re a Christian, even though you’re secure in Christ, kept by the Holy Spirit… it’s important because there are others who instead of being led to Christ, they are being led straight to hell.
I’m going to close with this; Charles Spurgeon the great London Baptist preacher from the 1800’s once said this, “The new views are not old truths in a better dress, but are deadly errors with which we can have no fellowship. I cannot endure false doctrine, however neatly it may be put before me. Would you have me eat poisoned meat because the dish is of the choicest wear?” Charles Spurgeon knew that false doctrine was poison to the soul.
If you’re a Christian, yes you’re saved, yes you’re secure in Christ, and yes false doctrine cannot remove you from your place in Him, but why in the world would you want to listen to the words of Satan? Why would you want to give place to the devil?
Jesus said it like this, “Beware the leaven of the Pharisees.” And Paul writing to the Corinthians in 1st Cor. Chapter 5 teaches about the false teachers and he says, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” He gave the Galatians in Gal. chapter 5 the same warning, and remember the Galatians had been led astray.
Out text in Revelation said, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand, unless you repent.” That church did die out. It’s lampstand was removed. Let us not follow its example.
Prayer and Closing.
