Woe on False Worship
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Intro:
Intro:
There were two doctors with the same name who lived a few doors apart.
One was a Christian and a lay preacher, the other made no profession of faith.
One night a rather sick person, who was also a Christian, and wanting help from a fellow believer, knocked mistakenly at the door of the non-Christian doctor.
When the door opened, he asked, “Are you the doctor who preaches?”
“No”, the medic replied, “I am the doctor who practices”.
“Oh”, said the sick person, “I’ve always understood the two things were inseparable”.
Good doctrine should lead to good practice;
If your creed is corrupted, your conduct will soon follow.
Because what you believe affects how you behave;
Behavior is an extension of theology,
And there is a direct correlation between what we think and how we act.
Jude now focuses on the character of these false teachers;
A person's life shows a person's heart.
And so, Jude makes the point that false teachers can be identified by their character, their attitudes, their actions.
Jude declares the ultimate spiritual judgment on the apostates. He followed the example of prophets and Christ.
Mt 23:13,15
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
They are judged for their vile actions:
They follow the same path as Cain, Balaam, and Korah.
All of them rebelled against God.
False Worship: The Way of Cain
False Worship: The Way of Cain
By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.
We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.
Cain disobeyed God and made up his own worship.
He offered a sacrifice of produce rather than animal.
God rejected it, as He does all man made religion and worship
Cain followed up by being so into his own worship, that he murdered Abel.
He attacked the righteous one instead of repenting.
Perhaps he would reasoned that with his brother gone, then God would have to accept his version of worship.
He clearly blamed Abel when all of the fault was his.
AP: We must guard against the way of Cain
We must approach God on HIS terms, not ours
God calls on us to repent
God calls on us to live righteously
God calls on us to worship in Spirit and in Truth
We must guard against elevating our preferences above GOD’s instructions
We must live by Word and submit to it.
Put Wealth ahead of Worship: Error of Balaam
Put Wealth ahead of Worship: Error of Balaam
For a large financial reward, Balaam devised a plan for Balak, King of Moab, to entice Israel into idolatry and immorality and thus bring God’s judgment.
Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.
But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.
Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing,
Balak wanted to stop Israel in its tracks.
He hired Balaam to curse and lead them astray.
Balaam put acquiring wealth ahead of all else.
He tried to curse Israel 3 times!
Once was not enough
God’s intervention turned the curse into a blessing.
He sent and angel to block the way and the donkey solved his life!
So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab.
But God’s anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was riding on the donkey, and his two servants were with him.
And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road.
Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on either side.
And when the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pushed against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So he struck her again.
Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left.
When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff.
Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”
And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.”
And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.”
Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face.
And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me.
The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.”
Then Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.”
And the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you.” So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.
Balaam went on and ended up blessing rather than cursing
AP: We must never put wealth ahead of God
It would be easier in today’s world to compromise the faith and gain a bigger crowd
It would be easier to do what is popular and reject the teaching of the word of GOD.
But we must NEVER put anything ahead of God
not fame, not fortune, not power, not wealth
All we do is to glorify God
Wealth gained for our glory would ultimately be worthless anyway.
Rejected God’s Authority: Rebellion of Korah
Rejected God’s Authority: Rebellion of Korah
Korah and 250 Jewish leaders rejected the God anointed leadership of Moses and Aaron and attempted to impose his will upon God and the people.
They wanted the power and challenged Moses and Aaron.
They were jealous of God’s blessings and wanted it for themselves.
Korah was a descendant of Levi through Kohath. As a son of Kohath, he had significant duties at the tabernacle.
The problem: He was jealous of the title of priest
He wanted to be the leader
He was angered over the failure to deliver the promised land.
God judged them:
But if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.”
God did that very thing
AP: We must submit to the authority of GOD
When God grants authority to someone, they are to lead us.
We are not all the leaders all the time.
HE is the head of the church
He raises up people to lead during seasons
Perhaps over a ministry
Perhaps over a time of the church’s history
He puts them into place, and we are to follow
King David- anointed while a shepherd. pursued by Saul, but refused to touch God’s anointed.
Until GOD removed Saul, David would take no action to remove him.
Caution:
we need discernment
We need to follow God given leaders and teachers
We must not blindly follow a “leader” if they are going against God’s word.
What Korah teaches us is to not allow jealousy and a desire for power to cause us to rebel.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
0 Reject false worship
Cain- man made path
Balaam- money above worship
Korah- rejecting God’s ordained authority
