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Introduction
You have been called by God the Father. He loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love.
I am eager to preach about the salvation we all share. But I must preach about something else today. I am here to urge you to fight boldly for the faith God entrusted to us.
I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into American churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives.
The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have turned against our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
So I want to remind you, though you already know these things.
Remember when the Lord rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later, He destroyed those who did not remain faithful.
And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment.
And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion, much like our cities today.
Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the coming eternal fire of God’s judgment.
These people who have wormed their way into our churches live in some kind of dream, thinking God will not punish them. They corrupt and pollute the flesh while rejecting the Lordship of Jesus Christ. They even dare to slander heavenly beings.
Even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil over the body of Moses, dared not insult or slander him, but simply said, “The Lord Yahweh rebuke you!”
These people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, bringing about their own destruction.
What sorrow awaits them!
For they follow in the footsteps of Cain, who killed his brother. Yet, today, they are doing something much worse. They deceive people towards eternal damnation!
They are like Balaam (buh-lahm), who was a true prophet of God. He only prophesied what God told him to say. Yet, behind closed doors, he gave evil counsel to Israel’s enemies.
Do you know what he did? He advised the Moabites to entice the people of Israel with prostitutes and idolatry. Do you know why he did it? For financial gain.
These people are also like Korah (ko-rah), who rebelled against Moses because he considered himself more suited for leadership. He even led others astray by convincing them that all had an equal right to Moses’ position.
In reality, Korah (ko-rah) was not against Moses but against God. He did not like God’s leadership structure. And because of his rebellion, the earth opened up and swallowed him and his followers.
The same fate awaits those who cause people to despise the authority God has placed in the home and in the church.
When these hypocrites gather with us in our church services, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shepherds who only care for themselves.
They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like dead trees that bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots.
They are like waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.
Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, “Listen! The Lord is coming with countless thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment on the people of the world. He will convict every person of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
These people are grumblers and complainers, living only to satisfy their desires. They brag loudly about themselves, and they flatter others to get what they want.
But you are not like these people.
You must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ warned us of. They told us that in the last days there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires.
These people are the ones who create divisions among us. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.
We’re talking about pastors and self-proclaimed Christians who make room for homosexuality, abortion, sex outside of marriage, greed, pornography, idolatry, selfish ambition, envy, drunkenness, and other sins like these.
Pastors and church leaders who stay silent on these matters are leading people astray by making room for sin. They will be held accountable to God almighty.
But you must continually build upon your most holy faith.
You must continually pray in the power of the Holy Spirit.
You must keep yourself in the love of God.
You must continually remember the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ and wait expectantly for the eternal life He has promised.
You should know that these false leaders have already charted their path of destruction. They have denied our Lord Jesus Christ and will perish in their willful rebellion.
How to Rescue Those Deceived
But for those who have been contaminated by their teaching, we must discern how to rescue them from the flames of judgment.
Some need compassion and mercy. Others need a full dose of the fear of God. You must be willing to do either, as the Holy Spirit leads.
These two rescue strategies are not in opposition to each other. They are both God-breathed solutions. We must stop arguing with each other about which one is right. They are both right.
We must step into the wisdom of God by realizing some people need compassion and mercy while others need a full dose of the fear of God.
However the Spirit leads, we must do so with great caution. We must be careful to hate, or should I say loathe the sin that contaminates their lives. We must never make room for sin.
You are sitting under a true teacher of the Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve been accused of many things, but going light on sin is not one of them. I do not qualify as a false teacher.
I will forever proclaim the truth that Jesus didn’t just forgive you of your sin; He freed you from your sin. He broke the power of sin over your life.
For every temptation, He provides a way out. God is working in you right now, giving you the power and the desire to do what pleases Him.
The same power that enabled Jesus to live free from sin lives in you. The same Holy Spirit is working in you, giving you a divine hatred for sin and the power to overcome.
Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into His glorious presence without a single fault.
All glory to Him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are His before all time, and in the present, and forever.
Does this feel unbiblical to you?
If you feel that I am being unbiblical in this message today, you’ve been brainwashed. I just read you the book of Jude with very little commentary.
If we don’t develop a strong disdain for sin, we risk our own salvation. If we choose sin over Jesus Christ, it’s over.
And much worse is the risk of joining ranks with the false teachers, leading others astray by making them believe that God’s marvelous grace makes room for sin.
The book of Jude is not isolated in its rebuke of Christians who continue to sin. You might think that all the other New Testament books have the non-convicting messages we’ve become used to, but that’s not true.
Every New Testament book rebukes those who continue to sin. And you can’t write it off a message to the world either. These books were written to the church.
It does no good to rebuke a sinner for sin. That’s all they know to do! Trying to get them to stop sinning without Jesus is a lost cause. They need to know about Jesus Christ, who frees them from sin.
But the church has already tasted the Good News. They’ve already been freed from sin. So, if they continue to sin, they need to be rebuked for trampling on the Son of God!
When people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.
It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life.
It’s not an automatic game over for a Christian who goes back to a life of sin. Repentance is always an option. If that’s you, disown your sin and return to Jesus Christ.
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