An Ancient Word of Judgment for Modern Times

Scripture Reading

Jude 14–16 (NIV84) — 14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

Introduction

Jude continues to speak out and warn about these false teachers.

Various parallels with the OT - demonstrates link to false teachers

Now another link - this time to Enoch

Concerning judgment - good news for us; bad news for apostates and false teachers

1. The Prophet of Judgment (v.14a)

v.14a - "Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men:..."

A Note on Enoch

Same Enoch as previously considered.

Had a great influence on Jude's writing

Had a great influence on Jewish thinking

Jewish Christians would have been familiar

Seventh from Adam... (Gen.5:18:23)

Here you see his father - his birth

Also see his children born to him

We find the number of his days in this world.

Significant - A man who walked with God

Genesis 5:24 (NIV84) — 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

Walk with... Enoch had a close relationship with God

There was a joy in that relationship

There was a fellowship between God and Enoch, because Enoch feared Him.

Psalm 25:14 (NIV84) — 14 The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.

Further - another significant matter...

Significant - all the others within genealogy - died!!

Enoch didn't die - he walked with God, and then God took Him

He was thus esteemed by Jews

Hebrews 11:5–6 (NIV84) — 5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Enoch was clearly a man who pleased God, sought God.

Psalm 36:9 (NIV84) — 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

Do you see light in each day, because you walk in the light of God day by day?

THUS - well respected by Jewish people

1 Enoch not Scripture

Jude simply uses what was highly regarded in the day and culture

Acts 17:28 (NIV84) — 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

Titus 1:12 (NIV84) — 12 Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”

So in Jude - referencing what was known

The fact was: the words recorded in Enoch were prophetic!

God confirmed this through Jude's use of the quote

He Prophesied... Meaning??!!

What Jude refers to is not oral tradition

He was quoting 1 Enoch 1:9

9 And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy all the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.

No doubt that this is the reference!!!

Prophesied: "words were prophetic..."

But we must also understand that Enoch was a man who preached to his generation

But fact is: he spoke of heretics coming

He spoke also of the second coming of Christ... although he may not have realised it.

The Spirit that inspired Enoch, inspired Jude to write these words.

2. The Agent of Judgment (v.14b)

v.14b - "“See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones..."

This delves into what Enoch had prophesied about these men

Recall - these men = false teachers

Key Agent - The Lord...

It is ultimately the Lord that will come in judgment

We must note here: original prophecy said "God"

Jude correctly notes that Jesus Christ, the Lord, is the agent of Judgment

John 5:22 (NIV84) — 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,

John 5:27 (NIV84) — 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

Acts 17:31 (NIV84) — 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”

Why delegated to the Son?

Because he is the Son of Man

Judge will be divine, but also human

As God, Christ knows everything - will judge righteously

As man, he is like us - understands us, can relate perfectly to us

Being a man qualified Christ to save us

Qualifies him to judge us

Subtopic 7

Fact is, the perfections of Christ will make Him to be the judge of all.

He Himself will indeed come to judge.

In Romans 2:16 - Paul speaks about God judging men's secret thoughts through Christ

In 2 Timothy 4:1, Paul charges Timothy in the presence of God and Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead.

But the Lord will not return alone

Christ is the one through whom judgment will be brought

But what a great day of judgment it will be!!

Christ will return with myriads of angels, holy ones, as he brings this judgment

This is typical language that is used in Scripture for days of judgment

Zechariah 14:5 (NIV84) — 5 You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

Matthew 25:31–33 (NIV84) — 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Matthew 24:30–31 (NIV84) — 30 “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

This is judgment

The idea of judgment is not popular in our day

One of the first things that the church stops preaching about

But it really is an important aspect

God's character - nature...

Righteous...

Hates sin

Demands justice (we do too!!!)

Judgment will come

John 5:28–29 (NIV84) — 28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

3. The Subjects of Judgment (v.15a)

v.15... "to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way...”"

Who will be judged?

Everyone!

He comes "...to judge everyone..."

One dimension - Those in Christ will be judged according to what they have done...

Romans 14:9–12 (NIV84) — 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’ ” 12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

2 Corinthians 5:9–10 (NIV84) — 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

BUT - those in Christ judged as those that are Righteous!!!

Not frightening!

Matthew 10:32 (NASB95) — 32 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.

No condemnation to those in Christ!

Romans 8:34 (NIV84) — 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

False Teachers

He comes, however, "...to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way..."

Judgment because of leading many souls away from Christ

1 Timothy 1:18–19 (NIV84) — 18 Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, 19 holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.

When a false teacher enters, leads astray, will lead to shipwreck

Biblical reality is that people who shipwreck - judgment comes upon them

Judgment will come because these teachers have elevated themselves, and have forsaken the pure and true Gospel

Judgement will come, in summary, due to ungodliness

Titus 2:12 (NIV84) — 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

These men have turned against God - acted in an ungodly way

Note that "all their ungodly acts" will be judged

Nothing escapes the records of God in terms of ungodliness (unless covered by Christ)

But in this case, their condemnation will be great.

4. The Reasons for Judgment (v.16)

v.15b-16 - "...and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage."

Words spoken against God...

This demonstrates a rebellion against God

What false teachers do is directly opposed to God.

Grumblers

These men are as the Israelites were in the wilderness

Numbers 11:1 (NIV84) — 1 Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.

1 Corinthians 10:9–11 (NIV84) — 9 We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

Whenever a man gets out of touch with God he is likely to begin complaining about something. To grumble and moan is one of the distinguishing marks of man without God (cf. Phil. 2:14). Green, M. (1987). 2 Peter and Jude: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 18, p. 206). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Philippians 2:14 (NIV84) — 14 Do everything without complaining or arguing,

These men argued no doubt as a result of restrictions in their conduct brought by the law of God...

Faultfinders

This word is linked to "grumblers"

Essentially, the word used means "complaining about your lot"

It refers to being discontent with what you have

It refers with being discontent with your lot in life.

These false teachers are not content with the ways of God, and how He runs the created order

These men were not content with how God calls people to live, and how Christ has called not only to be saved, but to be sanctified, growing in holiness.

They found fault with God's ways, and thus went their own ways!

Lloyd Jones: "How do you know whether a man is a Christian? The answer is that his mouth is “shut”. I like this forthrightness of the Gospel. People need to have their mouths shut, “stopped”. They are forever talking about God, and criticizing God, and pontificating about what God should or should not do, and asking, “Why does God allow this and that?” You do not begin to be a Christian until your mouth is shut, is stopped, and you are speechless and have nothing to say."

The mempsimoiros was a standard Greek character, like Andy Capp in the Daily Mirror. ‘You’re satisfied by nothing that befalls you; you complain at everything. You don’t want what you’ve got, you long for what you haven’t got. In winter you wish it were summer, and in summer that it were winter. You are like the sick folk, hard to please, and mempsimoiros!’ (Lucian, Cynic xvii). Unfortunately those words fit many a Christian. This whole spirit of grumbling is condemned roundly in James 1:13. It is to insult the God who gives us all things; it is to forget that whatever befalls us, nothing can separate us from his love, nor deprive us of that most priceless of all treasures, the Lord’s presence in our lives (Rom. 8:34–39; Heb. 13:5–6). Green, M. (1987). 2 Peter and Jude: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 18, p. 206). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

To grumble at ones lot is rebellion against God

It is out of place.

These false teachers - these apostates - were to receive the just condemnation of God due to their discontentment.

Boastful

In this, we begin to see the true nature of these men

They follow their own desires.

They live a self-centered life - a life of their own wants and desires

What God desires, what God requires, was not sufficient

Instead, they follow their own evil desires...

Following your own evil desires doesn't only refer to overt sin.

Rather - refers to selfishness.

When we want what we want, instead of what God wants - our own evil desires!

This ties in with "faultfinders"

2 Peter 2:18–19 (NIV84) — 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

Self-centered

"...they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage."

Lives lived to self

They think about themselves, and seek to please themselves

This is the reason that they grumble and find fault and are discontent in life - because their life is about them... not God!!

They are self-centered

They follow own evil desires

They are driven by their own lives.

They are driven by their own desires

What drives them is what they want

They boast about themselves (NIV)

Literally: Their mouth speaks arrogantly.

They say things that are arrogant and proud

Again, this speaks of the speaking against God, and rather promoting their own ideas, their own imaginations.

They think highly of themselves, and thus are arrogant in their thinking.

They flatter for own advantage

Again, speaks of selfishness

While they claim to serve God, while they claim to be spirit-filled, they are in fact merely using God for their own gain and advantage.

Selfishness is rife - people seeking to make a name for themselves.

Interesting - Satanism - focus on self...

Leader speaks of "the force that you Christians call the sinful nature. As Satanists, we embrace that, and we completely accept those parts of ourselves without any self-deceipt... that is the force that we consider to be Satan."

Application / Conclusion

Don't follow the path of apostates

Don't grumble

Don't follow after the desires of self

Die to Christ

Die to His ways...

Let Him fill you with a great desire to lives for His praise and honour!

Colossians 3:7–8 (NIV84) — 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

James 1:21 (NIV84) — 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Judgment is coming!!!

Bad News for the Unbeliever

Good News for the Believer