Resisting the Pull: Jude's Call to Stand Firm (1:5-8)

In verses 1-4 Jude encourages the church to contend for the faith. In other words, remember the gospel! This message is given in response to all kinds of bad things happening in this church he loves. These things are happening because “certain people” have crept in and are living ungoldly lives and encouraging other to do the same.

So Jude writes:

5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 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—

7 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.

When I was a kid, one of my favorite movies was “Hook.” If your not familiar, the movie stared Robin Williams. In the movie Williams character goes by the name Peter Banning, and he is a very successful lawyer, but he’s a workaholic who neglects family and is very unhappy. The reason for his unhappiness, is that he has forgotten who he is, for the man known as Peter Banning, is actually Peter Pan! As the years have gone by, he has forgotten his identify and tinker bell comes, taking him to Neverland, and he begins to remember and his power returns.

As Christian, we are all a little bit like Peter Banning. We get distracted by life and consumed by our obligations, and in doing so we forget who we are! As Tinker Bell did for Peter, so the Holy Spirit does for us, He takes us back to the place we’re from, through the word of God. Scripture is intended to constantly remind you of who you are, and where your power comes from.

This is Jude’s desire in this text, and it’s the point of all biblical teaching.

Jude says, I want to remind you of that which you once fully knew!

So he takes them back, telling them of when:

Jesus saved and destroyed a people:

In the desert, the Israelites marveled at the miraculous signs of God. From the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-22) to the heavenly manna of (Exodus 16:14-15). But amid these miraculous blessings, whispers of discontent and defiance crept into the camp.

As they approached the promised land of Canaan, scouts were dispatched to scout the territory (Numbers 13:1-2). Among them were esteemed leaders of the tribes, figures of great renown and influence.

Upon their return, the scouts delivered a mixed report (Numbers 13:25-33). While the land indeed flowed with abundance, they also spoke of formidable adversaries and fortified cities, and in doing so they sewed seeds of doubt and fear among the people. This became a critical moment, would the people trust God?

In response, some, swayed by fear and pessimism, opposed Moses and Aaron (Numbers 14:1-4). They questioned the wisdom of advancing into Canaan, doubted God's promises, and even entertained thoughts of returning to the bondage of Egypt.

Amidst this discord, however, arose voices of unwavering faith. Joshua and Caleb, resolute in their trust in God, stood firm against the movement of rebellion (Numbers 14:5-9). They encouraged the people to rely on the Lord's provision and anticipate victory over their adversaries.

But despite their pleas, the murmurs of rebellion grew louder, fueled by fear and disbelief. Some even advocated for stoning Moses and appointing a new leader to lead them back to Egypt (Numbers 14:10). It marked a grievous moment of defiance, and God would stand for it no longer.

In the midst of this turmoil, the glory of the Lord descended upon the tabernacle (Numbers 14:10). His voice thundered through the camp, pronouncing judgment upon the faithless and rebellious generation. He decreed that none who had witnessed His wonders and yet doubted His power would enter the promised land (Numbers 14:20-23). Their bodies would lie in the wilderness, their descendants inheriting the land after forty years of wandering (Numbers 14:28-34).

As time unfolded, the rebellious generation met their fate in the desert, their lack of faith sealing their destiny. Only Joshua and Caleb, alongside the new generation born in the wilderness, crossed into the land of promise.

The connection Jude is trying to make, is that like this church, the people started their journey trusting God. However, also like this church, certain people spread doubt and caused fear and ultimately rebellion amongst the people. As a result, the people stopped trusting in God and His ways, and they didn’t endure to the end.

Then Jude speaks of the:

Angels did not stay within their authority

This is the first of a few unique references by Jude (bit of a character)

While there is some debate in regards to this verse, it seems clear to me that he is referencing Genesis 6:1–2 which tells us that:

Genesis 6:1–2 ESV

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.

Genesis 6 is a wild chapter. The term “sons of God” in this instance is referring to angels, and it seems that these angels had been tasked with some specific, God-given responsibility on the earth, but they were not satisfied with the role God had given them, and so some of them stepped away from their God given duty and began to cohabitate with women on earth.

This then lead to a race of giant, warrior type beings, who appear during the pre-flood era. And this unnatural union corrupted God’s design to such a degree, that it leads to Him flooding the earth, and starting over with Noah and His family.

Now, this is where I have to be careful, because I would love to spend the next 15 minutes talking about the Nephilim and Enoch, and Noah, and all kinds of awesome fire pit talk.

However, for the sake of this sermon I need to reign it in, because these details are not what’s most important, the point is that these angels left their domain and thus, God has set them aside as those being “reserved” for the day of judgment.

The reason Jude references this account, is because the sin of these fallen angels is sin really no different than the sin of so many men and women who have walked the earth, which is why Jude compares their sin to that of:

Sodom and Gomorrah

Now, the bible describes the land of Sodom and Gomorrah as a blessed place:

Genesis 13:10 ESV

And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

This land was beautiful and abounding with natural resources.

But Ezekiel 16:49 tell us:

Ezekiel 16:49 ESV

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.

Sodom was a land with plenty, and this led the people to feel powerful apart from God. They had excess food and resources, but hoarded it for themselves, they disregarded the needs around them.

And, in their pride, they rejected God’s design and His law, engaging in all kinds of sexual sin, including homosexuality.

Based on these stories, let’s consider what Jude is saying to the church.

1. Remember who your God is.

God is perfectly gracious, but He is also perfectly just.

His love and mercy are seen in the story of Him rescuing His people from the bondage Pharoah. And His justness, is seen in His condemnation of those who refused to trust Him and submit to His leaders and His word.

Jude is telling the church, don’t forget who Christ is, the One who rescued you, and the One who will make war against all that is evil.

Like the serpent in the garden, and the murmurers amongst the israelites, so are these “certain people” who are trying to cause division in the church while living unholy lives.

They will judged by God for not submitting to Him, and if you follow them, you will be also.

Rather than follow them:

2. Remember who you are.

Perhaps the greatest lie the enemy has ever told, is the lie that you are entitled to anything.

Ephesians 2:1–10 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

You were dead, a dead person has no rights. But God, being rich in mercy, made you alive together with Christ. You have life, and a future, and an identify, only through the blood of Jesus.

You don’t need more than that, you’ve been given everything, you need only to trust Him, and to wait patiently for the day He completes what He has started. In the meantime, the enemy and all who follow Him, are going to continually try to convince you to stop waiting, and to go ahead and get for yourself what you deserve.

This is what led those angels to step out of their domain…

It’s what led my friend, and hero, to walk away from his church, his marriage, and his faith at 75 years old..for a woman he met on FB…

It’s what beckons you to have just one more drink…

It’s what tells you that you’d be better off without him…

And it what was compelling these “certain people” who were trying to sell it to others.

The church owes you nothing, the world owes you nothing, and God certainly owes you nothing, yet....JESUS CHRIST OFFERS YOU EVERYTHING!

So accept His merciful offer, bask in the glory of His grace, and:

3. Live as one blessed.

In Sodom, the people believed the lie. God had shown them mercy by placing them in this land of blessing, and they felt they were entitled to more. They believed themselves to be their own God, and thus they could redefine creation and God’s gifts to their liking.

The hard reality about sin is that it reflects our broken nature. The greatest struggle I face as a parent is deciphering between poor choices, and broken nature.

What I mean is:

If I believe my child was born inherently good, then I need only to stop them from making bad choices, I simply need to modify their behavior.

But, if my child is born dead in their sins, as Ephesians says, then I can’t fix them with behavior modification. Their need isn’t for better judgement…it’s for a savior.

This is the reality of every son and daughter of Adam. We are born broken by sin, and the lie of the enemy is that we should “be who we are!” This is the mantra of our society today.

Do what you feel. There is no law, you are the God of your own universe.

Love who you want. Attraction trumps holiness. Whatever desire you have you should act on, because you define the bounds of creation.

Be what you want. Are you a man that desires to be a woman? Well then, as the God of your own universe, you can simply declare it so (Michael Scott) .

Listen friends, there is truly nothing new under the son. The nonsensical ideology of our culture in 2024, was the same mantra that brought down rome, and the same thing that was invading the church Jude writes to.

Whether the legalist who feels entitled and seeks to divide the church for their own benefit, or the one who feels license to put their desires above God’s word, neither live in accordance with the gospel of Christ.

Jude wants to the church to see in Sodom the devastation that comes when man rejects God’s authority for their own. He is calling God’s people to stand against those who discredit the teaching of Jesus for their own gain.

For in verse 8, he says of them:

8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.

they rely on dreams,

In other words, they see their own thoughts and feelings as being superior to God’s word. This posture leads to death. Your thoughts, and your feelings are not perfect. You’re biased, your knowledge is limited, and your feelings are not always holy, even when well intentioned.

In this case, what makes their “dreaming” even more vile, is that they are presenting it as God’s word.

Listen, if you choose to reject God’s authority in order to pursue sin, at least be bold enough to say that. Do not try to make your words God’s. The worst thing you can do is say “well, I have prayed about it and God’s told me it’s ok.” That sounds crazy, but it happens all the time. One does exactly what scripture says not to do, and then explains why God is ok with it, this is the “dreamer” described here, a virus in the community of Christ.

As christians, we submit our feelings, our ideas, at the feet of Jesus, saying “not my will, but yours be done.”

Otherwise, we:

defile the flesh,

To live our way might gain us the approval of man, but it beckons the judgement of God.

This the curse of the rebellious, or the one who:

rejects authority,

Jude says that a false follower of Christ, is one who “rejects authority.”

Now, there are a lot of ways that one can reject authority in the church. However, in this instance, Jude is talking specifically about rejecting the authority of Jesus Christ.

The denial of Christ's daily rule over our lives creates a dire separation between seeing Him as our Savior and acknowledging Him as our Lord. He can only be both!

Many choose to place themselves as the ultimate authority, refusing to let anyone, not even God, dictate their actions or lifestyle. Jude strongly opposes this rebellious mindset, and we should too.

The resurrection of Jesus establishes His authority over all creation. Those who follow Him willingly submit to His rule, understanding that it's for their benefit and His glory.

Conclusion:

As we close this morning, lets consider the final description of these “certain people” in verse 8. Jude says, they:

blaspheme the glorious ones

The literal translation is that they “blaspheme glories” and there seem to be multiple ways to interpret that statement, however, most agree that this seems to be in reference to faithful angels. It seems that amongst those who reject the teaching and authority of Christ, are some who mock His angels.

Now, this seems peculiar to us, because culturally even in the church we tend to think very little about angels. However, in this day, people often did the opposite, they thought far too much of the angels.

In Hebrews 1:13-14 that very matter is addressed:

Hebrews 1:13–14 (ESV)

And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

The author of Hebrews is correcting the church who who errs in worshipping angels more than Jesus, and now Jude is condemning “certain people” who seem to be going to the opposite extreme.

So, given this reality and the fact that angels are an important subject throughout Jude, I think it’s worth concluding this sermon by addressing what the bible teaches us about angels and man, and this text in Hebrews is a good place to do that.

This text reminds us that Jesus sits at the Right Hand of God

The Reign of the Son is superior to both the angel and the man who thinks himself god, because Christ’s is an:

Appointed Reign,

Just Reign,

Eternal Reign,

Jesus reigns in glory and He will step down from His throne once again to fight the final battle against all who oppose Him, man and angel alike, and Revelation tells us that an army of angels will follow Him into this final battle.

Because this is what Angels do, they make much of Jesus.

In the time this was written, the church needed to take their view of angels down several pegs. They lived in an age and in a culture where humans tended to elevate the supernatural to worship.

In some ways, we live in an age that is more like those Jude addresses, we tend to disregard spiritual realities, if there is not an app for it we are reluctant to think much of it.

So its important for us to be reminded that Angels are real, and they serve a glorious purpose which the author of Hebrews defines:

[14] Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

Angels were created by God and exist to fulfill His purposes. They are seen in scripture as witnesses to major events surrounding the redemption of God’s people (e.g., the birth of Christ). The Old Testament also gives us multiple examples of them carrying out God’s justice. One angel is given a sword and tasked with guarding the entrance to the garden, and another two were tasked with destroying Sodom and Gomorrah (not chubby babies).

And here, in this text, we see that angels are now tasked with working for the good of the church. Preserving and working on behalf of those who have received salvation in Christ and are awaiting His glorious return.

And 1 Peter 1:10-12 reveals something of their perspective on this task:

1 Peter 1:10–12 ESV

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

The angels who dwell in the heavenly tabernacle are blown away by the gospel and all it has accomplished for His beloved children.

The angels have long witnessed the works of God, and the radiance of His glory, but they couldn’t have imagined what it would be like to dwell in constant communion with Him, to literally have His Spirit within.

Yet, this is what He did through Jesus, and the angels look in wonder and awe, and so should we.

Our feelings, our dreams, our works…they pale in comparison to the glory upon which the angels long to look, the glory of the gospel.

When we read texts such as Jude, it is easy to be taken aback by the various accounts of God’s judgment towards those who oppose Him, whether angel or man.

However, it’s my prayer you would be far more taken aback by the absolute love God has for His people.

Every word of scripture testifies to the reality that:

He loves you.

You are not too broken,

Your sin is not to great,

You have not slipped out of His grasp.

Let us pray,

Communion - Sistine Chapel (Michaelangelo)

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