Continuing to Keep your Eyes on God

In the very first verses of Jude we are introduced to the enemies of truth. In fact verse 4 tells us the intent of their work.

Jude 4 KJV 1900

For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Ungodly men Their sin is described

1. Turning grace into Lasciviousness

2. Denying the God

3. Denying Jesus Christ

What they are using is called a Bolo Punch: 

Typically used to distract an opponent, it is a punch that is thrown in a circular motion and is a hook combined with an uppercut. “Bolo” means machete in the Filipino language. Macario Flores was the first fighter to have reportedly use the punch, but it became more popular and is more commonly associated with Kid Gavilan and Sugar Ray Leonard.

The enemy is really good at distractions they are attempting to get your eyes of what really matters and keep you swinging and swinging wasting all your energy through the fight. This describes a lot of Christians today. We are in the ring but we are distracted with needless things and swinging at the wrong targets only to wear ourselves out.

He wants us to see the enemy for who or what they are. In fact he will liken our enemy in three metaphors. Each of them will highlight these three sins. Each of them will be lascivious (sexual sin), denying the authority of God, denying the grace of Jesus Christ.

Metaphors:

Reminder from the past. (5)

This is not the first time we have seen God operate this way against sinful people before.

I. Contending for the Faith means to continue to believe God.

God brought a whole nation out of Egypt, and all but two were killed in the wilderness. (5)

Think of what God did for the people of Israel in this situation, and then how they responded to Him. They experienced God’s miraculous deliverance at the Red Sea. They heard the very voice of God at Mount Sinai. They received His daily care and provision of manna in the wilderness. Yet they still lapsed into unbelief, and never entered into the place of blessing and rest God had for them.

Faithlessness (Believed Not)

Those who doubted and rejected God at Kadesh Barnea paid a bigger price than just not entering the Promised Land. They also received the judgment of God. (Psalm 95:10-11).

Psalm 95:10 KJV 1900

Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, And said, It is a people that do err in their heart, And they have not known my ways:

Psalm 95:11 KJV 1900

Unto whom I sware in my wrath That they should not enter into my rest.

Point - Sinners will certainly be judged, even though they may have started out well in their walk with God.

Jude 5 KJV 1900

I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

We must follow Jesus to the end, and never be among those who did not believe. The final test of our Christianity is endurance. Some start the race but never finish it.

Jude warned that one of the sins that the people of Israel were judged for was their unbelief, or denying God. Denying God could, or would keep his promises. Denying that God cared about the promises he made or the people to whom he made these promises.

II. Contending for the faith means to continue to Fear God.

There is much controversy over the meaning of verse 6… I have no interest in investing my conjecture or guesses as to who the angels here are, except to the clear indicators of this passage.

Jude 6 KJV 1900

And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

We know that these angels left Heaven (original estate)

Revelation 12:4 KJV 1900

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

Scripture tells us of the third of the angels that left heaven.

For whatever their sin is they are bound in darkness till the judgement day.

Sinners will be judged, no matter what their spiritual status had been.

I can’t tell you how many former pastors and deacons I meet all of whom at one time had a church, had a walk with God, had a godly home. But somewhere along the way left it so that they could pursue whatever distraction became more important.

These angels at one time stood in the immediate, glorious presence of God – and now they are in everlasting chains. If God judged the angels who sinned, He will judge these certain men. If the past spiritual experience of these angels didn’t guarantee their future spiritual state, then neither does ours. We must keep walking and be on guard.

Contending for the faith means trusting God not our Possessions.

Consider Sodom and Gomorrah

Jude 7 KJV 1900

Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them, in like manner giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Sodom is not known for having a previous walk with God or a spiritual life at all. And this is true in Scripture we do not find anything to support that notion. But we do know they were a blessed people. They had wealth and Scripture tells us that one of their sins was that they were idle and a second sin was that they did not care about the poor. But they had “fulness of bread”.

Ezekiel 16:49 KJV 1900

Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

Sinners will be judged, no matter how much they had been blessed. If God’s blessings don’t indicate God’s happiness then we shouldn’t trust that as a measure.

Exposit: You would say this morning you are right preacher and I hope that I will keep right with God and not ever go down the path of these sinners. But verse 8 tells us how they ended up on this path in the first place.

Jude 8 KJV 1900

Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

You see these filthy dreamers chose this path. They didn’t fall on this path they started trusting their success, their spirituality, their possessions. And the more they trusted those things the less they trusted the Lord.

See Satan doesn’t have to make Christians run into the arms of sin. He just wants us to take the things the things that God thinks are serious less seriously. We minor on subjects like

Exercising our faith.

We give less than we have available.

We are less generous to the needy

Giving the Gospel

There is no greater message than the Redemption of Sinners by the Grace of our Risen Saviour. Yet we discuss recessions, hobbies, and politics.

They thought lightly of the Sin God hates.

They thought lightly of the authorities God established.

They thought lightly of the servants God uses.

We are convinced that his was focused on one reality they thought lightly about God himself.

Consider all their similarities...

All three instances they were judged,

All three instances they had something they could claim as a benefit.

All three instances were close to God and lost sight of him. All three enjoyed his blessings, his kindnesses, his leadership. But somewhere along the line God wasn’t enough. SO they despised him, they walked awayso they could instead have their way.