“To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen!” (Jude 24-25)

 

Lesson 6 – Jude (NIV)

Vs 5-7 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home – these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

     Now to conclude 5-7… What Jude does in these verses is deliberately choose familiar examples of evil that has taken place on an incredible scale. 1) The unbelieving Israelites die wandering in the wilderness, 2) The unfaithful angels are bound in hellish darkness, and 3) The immoral cities were burned with fire.

You see sin really is a BIG deal, it represents a complete disruption in the order of the world. When we read a story about a particularly grim and senseless crime, brutal attacks on children or on the elderly it fills us with a sense of horror. To the people Jude was writing to, these examples would have evoked the same response.  Sin is ugly, it is evil, it is consuming, it hurts others and as well as us, whether it was in Jude’s day or ours. When we allow sin in our lives we will always reap the consequences of it, unfortunately, they can be life long and horrible. If we fail to confess and repent, they can be eternal.  Lord, open my eyes to sin, may I see it as You see it.

Vs 8 (NIV)

In the same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings.

Vs 8 (The Message)

This is exactly the same program of these latest infiltrators: dirty sex, rule and rulers thrown out, glory dragged in the mud.

     Despite knowing about the past and the consequences those in the past had suffered, these people who were corrupting the church continue in their unbelief, rebellion and lusts. When Jude calls them dreamers, they may have been claiming to have received a “divine inspiration” for what they were doing. This is an evil ploy that many people, from 1^st century to today, have used while calling themselves Christian. Jim Jones and that whole terrible story that ended in suicide and murder immediately comes to my mind. If you ever hear someone say they have “heard” from God or that God is “directing them to do so and so” LET RED FLAGS GO UP.

     We are to test the spirits (1 John 4: 1). People who are really following the Lord will live the life, walk the walk of the Spirit and will NEVER do anything contrary to scripture! No Exceptions!!! God does speak, He does guide, He does direct people, but their lives with show it long before they say it. Have I ever met someone who claimed to be on a “mission from God” or “hear God’s voice” and I knew it was a lie? What made me think that? Was it just an inner feeling (which can be misleading) or did they say/do something contrary to scripture? With my knowledge of scripture could I have proved them wrong? Now that question should be some real food for thought.

Information gathered from “Interpretation Commentary Jude by Pheme Perkins; “Beacon Bible Commentary – Jude” by Delbert Rose; and “The Letters of John and Jude” by William Barclay