The Coming Judgement Series

“The Coming Judgement”

2 Peter 2:4-10a / Jude 5-7

A sermon for 2/1/26

Pastor John Bright

Laurel Hill GMC

2 Peter 2 “4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— 9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed.”

Jude “5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

Here I go again… I want to remind you of a basic truth of Scripture - the Law of Sowing and Reaping that we read about in Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” I always illustrate this with the same example: if I plant an apple tree, can I expect to harvest oranges? Last week, I mentioned the faulty input and the resulting algorithmic output. This actually happens with social media.

A young man complains that life feels unfair—no real friendships, constant drama, and a restless spirit. But look at what he’s been sowing every day: sarcasm online, outrage in the comments, envy while scrolling, and very little gratitude or praise on positive postings. Then a young woman lives in the same world and uses the same social media. But she sows encouragement instead of criticism, discipline instead of distraction, prayer instead of panic. Over time, her life looks different— marked by peace, meaningful relationships, and spiritual steadiness.

Right now, I spend very little time on Facebook. When I do, I share positive, Biblical posts. I like things that are positive. I give encouraging comments on friends' posts. Over time, the top of my Facebook feed consists entirely of posts from churches and ministries. As Laurel Hill increases its social media presence, I hope many of you will look for those posts and share them.

Jude: WHEN? & WHAT? & WHY?

There are so many similarities between 2 Peter and Jude that they are often dated to the same period. I’m not going to spend any time on the debate about which letter came first. Both address false teachers in the Early Church. There were very early attacks on the free grace of God that Paul addressed. These false teachers wanted Gentile Christians to follow the Law of Moses – especially the requirement for men to be circumcised. Acts 15 records the meeting we call the Jerusalem Council, which is dated to 48-50 AD. It took less than two decades for false teaching to become so widespread that the leaders had to put a stop to it. 2 Peter and Jude sound like they were written for Jewish Christians living in a Gentile culture. Is that like us, are we Jesus Followers living in a culture that has turned away from the Living God?

Both authors now turn to examples of God’s judgment and mercy:

The fall of the angels 1 Peter 2:4 & Jude 6

“4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment.”

“6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.”

We read about a rebellion in heaven in Revelation 12:7-10: “7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” This must have happened before the serpent tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.