Wandering Stars

Recap

Jude uses some examples of nature to describe those determined on destroying the church

Those that crept in unaware

Unregenerate, not born again believers posing and acting like believers

Trying to infiltrate the church to destroy it from within.

Likened unto clouds - Show the promise of rain, but disappoint

Likened unto twice dead trees

Started to produce some fruit, but the fruit withered to nothing

Again, fell short, no fruit, did not meet expectations, leaving disappointment

Likened onto raging waves of the sea and their unpredictability and tendency to leave a mess and or destruction. Path littered with disgrace and dishonor.

New for tonight

Likened unto wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

Stars been around for a while

Genesis 1:16 - “And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.”

He knows all of them - Psalms 147:4 - He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.

Astronomy long history here on the islands

Top observatories on the planet on this island

See extremely clear

There nature

Fixed

Stability reliability

Historical significance

Navigation and direction

Stars were used heavily in Pacific exploration by the Polynesians

Hawaii specifically settled by Marquesas voyagers about 300-400 AD

2,336 miles

They used the stars to navigate those return trips over the next 800 years until the Tahitians came and killed them and claimed the islands for themselves in about 1200 AD

No way either of those groups would have made it a second trip had it not been for the fixed nature of the stars and their reliability of being in their place

Unnatural

Wandering all over the place

Not fixed, not stable, not reliable

Shooting star, all bright but then fizzles away to nothing

Blackness and darkness

Lived their life apart from the Lord

Embrace darkness rather than light

End up in darkness

Forever

Eternally separated from the love of God

Lesson

Jude’s message to the believer is as valid today as it was then

Don’t get your Bible from false teachers

Don’t look to false teachers for direction in life

Don’t look to false teachers for stability

It doesn’t matter how nice they are, how well they speak, how charismatic a personality they have; they end of the road is the blackness of darkness forever.

If it is not grounded in the Truth of God’s Word stay away from it.

Keep the church pure of these wandering stars

Where do we get direction?

We get our direction from one fixed and reliable source… the Word of God

Is 33:6 - “And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.”

2 Timothy 3:16 - All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

John 8:12 - Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Matthew 24:35 - Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Psalm 119:105- Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

As long as the Bible is a lamp unto your feet you will always know where your stand and where you are going.