Jude's Warning to the Church

Well, brethren, you and I live in a world today that is quite diverse when it comes to religion. There's many churches that identify with being followers of Jesus Christ. If we look around many denominations as well that would label themselves as Christian, yet there is such a diversity of teachings, such a diversity of even explanations or understandings among various groups in terms of who God the Father is, who Jesus Christ is, what is the gospel message, what is the truth of God. There's so many messages, frankly, that are out there. When someone walks into the door of the church of God, someone knew they have often spent a period of time, if I can borrow a line from a country music song and change it a little bit, looking for truth in all the wrong places. They've been looking, they've been exploring perhaps, looking as well into their Bible, but when they come in and sit down in the church of God and hear what's taught, study what we have written in our literature, compare these things against the standard of God's Word, oftentimes they will breathe a sigh of relief because they've found now what they've been looking for. And sometimes that takes a process of time. Maybe they didn't even fully realize that it was what they were looking for. In some cases, they literally spent years slogging through the various Christian denominations of the world until they came to a place where God's Word finally made sense. And again, that's because so many different things are taught in so many different places. And I appreciate Mr. Finnegan's message about the fact that we ought not hold that as a sense of pride, but just an understanding that it is indeed a blessing to be called of God today. One day the whole world will be. But this is a story I've heard time and time again. This makes sense now. And they rejoice in being here. We live in a very confusing world when it comes to so-called Christianity. And you and I have to be careful ourselves. As those who have been called out of the world, we have to be careful that we don't actually, for example, say pick up some of the ideas common, the concepts from the world around us that are not biblical. And we also have to be careful as well that the impact of the modern Christianity of this world does not really seep into our midst. I mean, it can happen very easily, and sometimes it's subtle. But we need to be on the lookout for these things. I want to begin today in the book of Jude, and I want to notice a warning that Jude gives to the Church of God at large in his day, because I think it applies very much to us today. Because think about what we would say, quote unquote, Christian community. When we look around the world today, again, all these churches, these denominations, I think of it as sort of like a funnel. You have a wide mouth of the funnel, and it's very narrow at the bottom. But think about this in reverse. The New Testament church in the time of the apostles was the foundation, and what has come out of that has sort of funneled out in reverse very broad. So we're coming to Jude in the foundational point where this was the Christian church. Jude – there's no chapters except one. So Jude, verse 1, says, Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ, mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. I want you to imagine, if you will, when there were not, again, all these churches that called themselves Christian, that when you walked into Rome or to Ephesus or to Corinth or to Jerusalem and you said, where are the followers of the way? It was like, oh, they're meeting over there. Not. They're over there and over there and over there and over there, pick your flavor.

Okay, so again, this is coming down to the foundational time. Carrying on then in verse 2, again, he said, mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. So this is who he is writing to. He's writing to the church, the church of God, and he has a warning he wants to pass on to them because things are about to change. Now, to follow the message today is Jude's warning to the church. It was important in their day and it is important to us in our day as well. Let's consider his warning. Jude verse 3, he says, beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints.

In other words, he's saying, you know what, I changed my focus and what I was going to write to you because this is urgent. This is important. And he urges the church to defend the faith that was entrusted to them and highlights the importance of holding fast and fighting for that which was delivered. You know, the true gospel, the true message that came through Jesus Christ to the apostles. And notice why verse 4, he says, for certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men who turned the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. So a new form of Christianity is trying to infiltrate the church, Jude says. And these folks have come in among us and peaceably so. They even, maybe for a time, appear to be as if they're a part of the church. And they profess the name of Jesus Christ. They themselves considered to be followers of the way, but upon examination and with a passage of time, you'll notice there's actually a different standard that is starting to form up. These people, Jude says, distort God's grace. Okay, so as they take God's unmerited pardon, God's favor towards us, which comes through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and they turn it into license, license to go do all kinds of things. You know, the argument is, we're under grace, therefore, you know, law is done away. Therefore, I can do this, I can do that, you know, God's mercy applies. And they turned it into license for all kinds of immoral and sinful behavior. Ludeness, I believe, was a word that was used here in verse four. You know, there was drunkenness, there was sexual immorality. There were so many things actually that were starting to spring up within the church under the guise of, it's okay, we're under the grace of God, under the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And Jude says, be careful, this is new brand of Christianity that is trying to take hold. The grace and mercy of God being turned into doing whatever you want. And the danger especially was it was teaching others to do so as well. James at the end of verse four said, in doing this, they deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, they're distancing themselves truly from who they are and what they taught God's people ought to do. So Jude's instructions to the church was to push back, to push back against those individuals and their mentality to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints to fight for the true message and the true gospel and the true grace that comes through Jesus Christ.

Now if we go down to verse 11, it goes on to contain a warning about those who have deviated from the faith and it compares them to three biblical figures of the past. So Jude verse 11, it says, woe to them for they have gone in the way of Cain. They've run greedily in the era of Balaam for prophet and perished in the rebellion of Korah. Jude declares a woe.

A woe is a strong term of judgment. Judgment is coming. A woe is used throughout the Bible in that way in a number of places and he declares a woe on these individuals because they've chosen a path of destruction and he likens them to Cain, to Balaam and to Korah in their actions. Again, this is the church. These are people with different ideas coming forth in the church, but if you bring the funnel back down to the narrow sense, this is from where things that we see today eventually, you know, first sprung from. First sprung from. It was the church. That was the church. But then things became fractured. Things became separated out from there. There was still always the church, but then there were varying variations of denominations that called themselves the church, but weren't quite so. So what is it about Cain and Balaam and Korah that earned them the relatability to these false brethren and their practices? And furthermore, brethren, for us, how might it pertain to our day today and the deviation from true Christianity that we have been called to live? And indeed, as it will go all the way up to the end of the age, what does that have to do with Cain and Balaam and Korah? We're going to consider these three individuals through the rest of the message today and see how it applies and frankly, even the mindsets and the attitudes that we have to watch for in the church of God, even among ourselves. So first, I've broken it into three points with these three individuals. So the first point, the first warning from Jude in verse 11 is, woe to those who have gone the way of Cain. What is the way of Cain? Let's go to Genesis chapter 4. Genesis chapter 4 and verse 1, of course we know who Cain is. Cain committed the first murder in the Bible, rose up and slew his brother Abel, but there is actually a way of Cain, a mindset that then led into those actions. Genesis chapter 4 beginning in verse 1, it says, now Adam knew his wife and she conceived and bore Cain and said, I have acquired a man from the Lord. Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. And it leads to, I would say speculation at best, but plausible that Cain and Abel were twins because it doesn't say she conceived again and bore, it says she bore. But either way, now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. So we have these two brothers, one's a farmer and one's a sheep herder, two very different lifestyles. Verse 3 says, in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. It says, and the Lord respected Abel in his offering, but he did not respect Cain in his offering and Cain was very angry and his countenance fell. The issue here, at least the one I want to focus on, is in how one worships God. God has standards about how we will worship him and as God he is the one who dictates how we will worship him.

What day are you going to assemble before him? What practices are you going to keep that glorify him or do not glorify him? So this has to do with one's worship of God and God must have given them instructions for worshiping him and offering sacrifices. That's an assumption on my part, but after all they clearly knew they were to do it. But more than just doing it, the manner in which they were to do it and what they were to offer is clearly relevant to God as well. So they brought these two very different offerings. Abel brought the firstborn of the sheep and their fat while Cain brought vegetables. And it's not necessarily my intent to go down that path, but I've heard it over time. Okay, well one's a blood sin sacrifice pointing towards Jesus Christ and one is not. Perhaps that is a difference there, but I think ultimately it comes down to God's instructions for how he is to be worshipped. Abel's form of worship pleased God. Cain's did not. Cain in that sense chose his own way. If we go on to verse 6 it says, so the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry and why then has your countenance fallen? He says, if you do well, will you not be accepted? So there is a standard and to carry that standard is to do well. And to deviate from that then, you know, he wasn't accepted and his offering wasn't. If you do well, will you not be accepted? Verse 7, and if you do not do well, sin lies at the door and its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. So God told Cain, you know, making up your own rules instead of what I gave you to do, that does not lead to a good place. Choosing when you'll worship God, where, how, taking these things into your own hands. But understand Cain wanted to worship God. I believe he did. He wanted to offer, he gave with his heart what felt good to him, this offering to God, but only according to what seemed best to him. And on his terms, as opposed to the terms that God had prescribed. And that's where we see this problem creeping into the church in Jude's day. Okay, let's go forward a few thousand years, 65 to 70 AD as a major problem. And it's a major problem in the world of Christianity today with all these different denominations doing their own thing their own way. It's people worshiping God according to what feels good to them, what seems right to them. And I would just say, I don't judge somebody's heart felt sincerity. But again, so many places in the Bible, God says, when you will worship me. And Christ said, the Father wants to be worshipped in spirit and in truth. It has to come down to how does God say, I desire to be worshipped. And we need to then bring that forward. So that was the challenge of Jude's day was the challenge here now as well in our day. If we turn on the TV, we see the advertisements, we see the season that we're in. But again, it is a form of worship towards God that the Christmas package, the tree in the house and the lights and the star, it's sincere people by and large, I believe, sincerely expressing a worship to God and Jesus Christ, but not in the prescribed manner.

Not in the manner in which God says is acceptable to Him. They say, I'm a Christian. I love God. I love Christ. And again, I don't doubt the sincerity of heart, but we're coming back to God's desire to be worshipped in a way that is appropriate in his sight.

Cain thought God should have accepted his offering because it's what felt good to him. And when God rejected him, Cain became angry. He extended jealousy towards his brother and as a result, murder welled up in his heart. God says, if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And that's the progression then Cain was going down. Verse eight, it says, now Cain talked with Abel, his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel's brother and killed him. And the Lord said to Cain, where's your brother Abel?

And he said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? He said, what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. He says, when you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond, you shall be on the earth. And Cain said to the Lord, my punishment is greater than I can bear.

Jude says, woe to those who go in the way of Cain. Because you see, they've taken this relationship with God, which he has offered them, and they've turned it around to suit their own desires. They've made it fit in a way that makes them feel good. It's like, I like to worship God in the way that I want to worship God. They believed in God. They had faith in God to this degree. But again, when you do that, sin lies at the door, and destruction is ultimately the result. Cain did not acknowledge his sin, and he would not repent. He took his anger out on his brother.

He rose up against him. He slew him, and he killed him. As a result, God cast him away from that place and from his family. Today, brethren, going on down through the way of Cain is synonymous of defying God's will and a rejection of true worship. God of spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

And Jesus said, the Father is seeking such to worship him according to his commandments, according to his instructions. And it's used in Jude to warn against those who follow a path of self-righteousness and disregard the commandments of God. Again, I will do it my own way. Thank you very much. I will worship God in the way that feels right and good and makes me feel good. And you know, our religion should be feel-good religion. That's not just all it is, but I do hope we feel good about having this calling, about being under the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and relieved of the burden of death through sin.

But it's not all about just doing what feels good. And this is part of the package that was being presented in the church in Jude's day, and it's part of the package you can find in at least a portion of the denominations, Christian denominations in the world around us today. So the way of Cain, beware. Secondly, point number two, the second warning from Jude 11 is woe to those who run greedily in the error of Balaam.

In the error of Balaam, what was the error of Balaam? You recall that Balaam was a prophet of the true God, but he wasn't an Israelite. And sometimes that gets a little confusing. He was from Mesopotamia. God appeared to him, gave him vision, spoke to him. Okay, I say God spoke to him, and he declared prophecies which God had given to him, but he was not an Israelite. Israel was on the move towards the Promised Land at the time. They were coming up on the region of Moab and the Midianites and the Moabites, the Midianites, they were afraid because they had seen what Israel had done to the Amorites.

So now this massive, you know, millions of people are coming up into their land. Somehow we need to weaken them. Somehow we have to do something to preserve ourselves from these people. They're afraid. So the king of Moab, Balak, as you'll recall the story, calls upon Balaam and offers him a great reward in exchange for cursing Israel. You know, if you just curse Israel for us, you prophet of God, you can save us, you know, a lot of concern, at least from our perspective.

And it was in Balaam's heart to respond favorably actually to Balak's request, but he could knew nothing he knew without God's permission. Let's go to Numbers 22. Numbers 22, again, the error of Balaam. You know, sadly, Balaam really wanted to curse Israel, you know, for the reward, but he knew he could do nothing unless God gave it to him to do. Numbers chapter 22 and verse 16, it says, and they came to Balaam. This was the company of those that Balak sent to bring Balaam to him. They came to Balaam, said to him, thus says Balaam, Gisana Zephyr, please let nothing hinder you from coming to me, for I will certainly honor you greatly and I will do whatever you say to me.

Therefore please come and curse this people for me. Verse 18, then Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God to do less or more. Well, at least he truthfully acknowledged that point. Verse 19, now therefore please you stay here for tonight that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.

And God came to Balaam at night and he said to him, if the men come to call you rise and go with them, but only the word which I speak to you that you shall do. So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. And so we know the story.

As he's on his donkey, he's heading then to meet Balak, the angel of the Lord opposes Balaam on the way. The Malak stands in the path. The donkey can see him, but Balaam can't see him. He's standing there with a sword drawn in his hand and now Balaam's trying to force the animal down this path and the angel of the Lord stands in the narrow place where it can't go by and he's beating his animal and eventually the donkey just lays down and Balaam gets off and beats his donkey in the point of anger. Verse 28, verse 22, verse 28, 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 abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand. For now I would kill you. So the donkey said to Balaam, am I not your donkey and would you have ridden ever since I became yours? I try not to read this with your voice in my head. You know, I don't think this was an eeyore kind of donkey. Faithful servant, right? Ridden ever since I became yours to this day, was I ever disposed to do this to you? And he said no. Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand and he bowed his head 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 stand against you because your way is perverse before me.

Understand, this was a wicked prophet. Though he was a prophet of God, God had spoken to him and he had declared various prophecies from God. But Balaam's heart was such that he was more than willing to sell out Israel for a reward. You know, his gifts, his talents could be sold at a price and it wasn't necessarily to serve God. It was again for his own gain. If only God would let him. Verse 33, the donkey saw me and turned aside for me these three times. If she had not turned aside for me, surely I would also have killed you by now and let her live. And Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, I have sinned for I did not know you stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it pleases you, I will turn back. Then the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you that you shall speak. So Balaam went with the princes of Baloch. So as the story continues, Balaam could not curse the Israelites despite request after request after request from Baloch. And he tried to up the ante each time. He's invited him to a region and put on big sacrifices and said, now will you not curse Israel? And Balaam said, I cannot curse Israel. In fact, God gave him the instruction to bless. So he opened his mouth and he would bless Israel. And Balaam says, I'm not paying you for this because indeed the blessings and the prophecies actually ended up being in the end, essentially a curse upon the enemies of God. And Balaam looks like, I'm not paying you for this. Just zip it. Don't speak anymore, Balaam. Because God's prophecies through him came down to the Messiah and the end of the age and the victory of the nation of Israel. So just go home. Forget the reward. But Balaam didn't want to give up that easy again, his desire and his greed for this money. If there was any way he could sell out Israel and bring a curse on them, he could receive it. So he hatches a scheme to get his reward anyway. All they have to do is get Israel to sin so that God himself will punish them. This was actually a pretty easy proposition, unfortunately. So Balaam advises Moab and Midian on how to entice Israel to sin with harlotry and idolatry. Numbers chapter 25 in verse 1 says, Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. It was a big party. You know, let's send all the beautiful women into the camp of Israel. Let's entice the men. Let's have food. Let's have alcohol. Let's have some worship to our God. And by the way, Israel, the worship to our God is a lot more fun than the way you worship your God. And what's the result? What's the result? Verse 3, So Israel was joined to Baal-Pior and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.

Okay, God's judgment now comes upon the people of Israel. 24,000 men die as a result of this rebellion of the people of God in this way. Very, very sad story. Sad story because of the prophet, but a very sad story as well because of the nation that was willing to turn so easily away from God. The era of Balaam was simple. Here you had a prophet who God was willing to use in his service, but this prophet had gifts, he had talents, and he was willing to use his God-given gifts to profit himself if he had the opportunity, if he had a chance to do so. In fact, he didn't feel badly it would seem to even sell out the covenant people of God, use his gift to profit, to merchandise, if we could say, the people of God for his own personal gain. The doctrine of Balaam is the false concept that one can cooperate with the ways of the world and still serve God and actually teaches at its core compromise. Compromise, take what God has given you and compromise with the world and use it for your own personal gain. It's one in Christians who forget they are called to be separate from the world and holy to God. Okay, this is the doctrine of Balaam. This is the error of Balaam. All the way down to the book of Revelation, the doctrine of Balaam is listed as a defilement of God's people. Notice Revelation chapter 2, verse 14. It actually comes up in the letters to the churches. Revelation chapter 2 and verse 14, read letter words of Jesus Christ. He's speaking here or writing, I guess, to the church at Pergamos, or at least it's written down and sent out. Revelation chapter 2 and verse 14, Jesus says, but I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balaam to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things, sacrifice to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. It's false brethren who will entice God's people into lewdness. And isn't that what Jude 4 said this all went to? Isn't it where he said it pulled these people to? It comes back so often to lewdness. Go back to Jude, verse 4, just a few pages back. Jude verse 4, for certain men have crept in unnoticed who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men who turned the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. The warning to watch out for it among those who call themselves Christians is in their day within the church of God. It says, watch out for those who would say, I'm His. You know, I'm under the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is Lord, and yet they would entice people into lewdness under the concept of grace. Isn't that what they were contending with them? And Jude says, watch out for it. Watch out in the church of God in this day. And the warning as it comes down to us today is watch out for it in the church now. And watch out for it, I would say, in the community that would call themselves followers of Jesus Christ, because it's a doctrine that will seem enticing to some, but its end is the way of destruction. Its end is the way of destruction.

So, reading number three, third warning from Jude in verse 11 is, woe to those who perish in the rebellion of Korah. Rebellion of Korah. Again, aspects of all these individuals is what Jude is saying is wrapped up in the attitude of rebellion and the attitude of false teachings, false Christianity that's trying to rise up in the church. And he says, remember these people. So what was the rebellion of Korah? Numbers chapter 16. Number 16 verse 1. Again, Israel's out on their journey to the Promised Land. Numbers chapter 16 in verse 1, now Korah the son of Ishar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi. Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab and on the son of Pilaf, sons of Reuben, all of these took men. Verse 2, and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown. And it says, and they gathered together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, you take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them. And the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord? Understand what's happening here. The accusation is that you Moses and you Aaron have taken this authority to yourself, that you have set yourselves up above us. But isn't the whole congregation holy? Aren't we all brethren? Who put you there? That's the accusation. Really they appointed themselves to this role. And you know, this is no small accusation. Verse 4, it says, when Moses heard it, he fell on his face and he spoke to Korah and to all his companies saying, tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His and who is holy and will cleanse Him, or excuse me, will cause Him to come near to Him, the one whom He chooses will cause to come near to Him. Do this, take censors, Korah, you and all your company, put fire in them, put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow and it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi. And that was the real problem here. Self-willed men seeking to take to themselves something that was not theirs, something that God had not given unto them. Okay, they sought a position that was not theirs to take. And besides their contention for judging the nation, they were also disputing Aaron's position as priest in the priesthood. So Moses is like, fine, okay, so understand the story here. You 250 men, you bring the censors full of fire with the incense tomorrow and God will make His choice. The censors with the fire and the incense were for the priesthood only. And that was not them.

So if you're so bold as to try to usurp the authority that God has established, let's let God decide. And indeed is what is being called out here by Moses, you take too much on yourselves. These were not priests. The fire, the incense, those things were priestly duties. Verse 8, and then Moses said to Korah, here now you sons of Levi, he says, it is a small thing to you, is it? A small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the Lord and to stand before the congregation to serve them. You know, God had given them a level of authority in terms of, you know, they were gatekeepers for the tabernacle. They did certain elements of service, but certainly not what they were now grasping for. Moses is like, isn't, is that no big deal to you? That God has given you this responsibility. It's like they were belittling it saying, you know, we want it all. We want it all. Verse 10, and that He has brought you near to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi with you, and are you now seeking the priesthood also?

Again, it's an issue of authority within the congregation and not authority that men had taken to themselves, authority God established, and those who would rise up against that and seek to grab hold of it for themselves. You seek the priesthood also. Verse 11, therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord, and what is Aaron that you complain against him? This wasn't just the challenge against Moses' authority or Aaron's. Again, they were actually gathering against God and against what He had established. Verse 12, and Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, we will not come up.

Is it a small thing that you have brought us out of the land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness, you know, calling Egypt now? This land, that you should keep acting like a prince over us. Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.

And Moses was very angry, and he said to the Lord, do not respect their offering. He says, I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I heard one of them. And Moses said to Korah, tomorrow, you and all your company be present before the Lord, you and they, as well as Aaron.

Let each one take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord. Two hundred and fifty censers, both you and Aaron, each with a censer. Verse 18, so every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the tabernacle, the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron. And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. It says they fell on their faces, and they said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and you be angry with all the congregation. Time and time and time again, it just amazes me as much pushing at them that Moses had from the congregation. And literally even the times that God says, just step back, Moses, I'll wipe them out, and I'll start them over, start it over with you.

And Moses could have said, well, that sounds pretty good to me. It fell on his face and pleaded, these are your people, extend to them mercy. Verse 23, so the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the congregation, saying, get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Then Moses rose, went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. And he spoke to the congregation, saying, depart now from the tents of these wicked men, touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins. So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents with their wives, their sons, their little children.

And Moses said, by this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. Verse 29, if these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord creates a new thing and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up, with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.

Now it came to pass, verse 31, as he finished speaking, all these words, that the ground split apart under them, the earth opened up its mouth and swallowed them up with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods, so that all those with them went down alive into the pit, the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.

Verse 34, then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, lest the earth swallow us up also. And there came a fire out from the Lord and consumed at the 250 men who were offering incense. God made his choice clear, and he showed who he was working through, whom he had set up. And it was a lesson indeed for the entirety of the congregation. The rebellion of Korah demonstrates the dire consequences of rejecting the authority of God and those he appoints to be leaders of his people.

And understand when, sometime when sinners make proclamations about the injustice against them, not every time, but at times, their sin is according to the same thing that they make accusation of. Moses, you take too much upon yourself. And obviously, the opposite was true. The characteristics of false teachers within the church include pride, selfishness, greed, and a disregard for the will of God. Just like Korah, they disregard God's plan, and they are insubordinate to God's appointed authorities.

This is the way of Korah, the rebellion of Korah. It is the message that Jude gave as part of what the church is to watch out for themselves, even in their midst. The disregard for God's plan and the insubordination against his appointed authorities.

They might even be proud about it, maybe even claim that insubordination is their spiritual gift.

Dismantling of the authority is their practice. All they seek to set themselves up as the authority instead. And Jude said, woe to those individuals, and he warned the church against following after their lead, those whose end, once again, was destruction.

So this is, again, the, we say the focal point that the New Testament church in the beginning, the Christian community was the church.

It was the church of God, but from there it sprang out into such a broad spectrum of what we have in the world around us today. How many churches exist in the world today because someone wanted to take the role of authority to themselves? You know, I'll just go out on my own, and people will listen to me. And it's happened time and time and time again in the world around us. It's happened time and time again, even within the church of God. The warning of Jude is to beware and to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

The apostle Peter wrote his epistle during the same general timeframe as Jude, and he too warned the church of similar dangers rising up in their midst. Second Peter chapter 2 and verse 1. Of course, Peter had been with Christ, and actually Jude, the brother of James, would have been the half-brother of Jesus Christ. And they both wrote in the, say, mid-60s to 70 AD, and their focus was very similar. Second Peter 2 and verse 1 says, But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even dying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. Again, very similar wording as to what we have in the message from Jude. Verse 2, it says, And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words. For a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. Going down to verse 12, Peter says, But these, like natural brute beasts, made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption. Jude said woe to those who would go down this path of these individuals. You take people from the very beginning of the Bible, and up through the history, and say the spirit of this, or the attitude of this, even applies in the church today. And he says woe. Verse 13, And will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime, their spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions, while they feast with you. Peter says they are here, they're rising up in the midst of the church. Again it was the beginning focal point of the early New Testament church in that day and place. There weren't other churches you went to if you had a different perspective, but they were trying to bring it up in the church of God. And Peter says they're in your midst, and watch out.

And again the church of that day was the only following of Jesus Christ, but over frankly the centuries, many false teachers that would come out of the church then would go out from there and begin their own denominations of teaching, spawning many brands of Christianity as it has come down to us today. But again we have to remember there is one truth by which we're to worship God. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. The Father is seeking such to worship Him, Jesus Christ said. Verse 14, having eyes full of adultery that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, they have a heart trained in covetous practices in our cursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. But he was rebuked for his iniquity, a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice, restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Again the same writing as you would read if you take time to read throughout the whole chapter of Jude.

He's saying that it's the ones... Well let me go through verse 18 first. Verse 18, for they speak great swelling words of emptiness, and they lure through the lust of the flesh through lewdness. Again it keeps coming back to lewdness. The ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. Okay, so he's saying the danger is, and actually the huge offense, is the ones that are dragged back into the darkness are the ones that have been illuminated by the light of Christ already. The ones that have come out of that, those are the ones who are being pulled back in. And indeed that's why it is taken so seriously, and why the judgment comes down so seriously. Verse 19 it says, while they promise them liberty, liberty, freedom, under the grace of Jesus Christ you are free. Yes we are free. We're free to live as God has called us to live and worship Him as He's called us to worship Him, and we're free from death. We're not free to just do as we please. But while they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption, for by whom a person is overcome by Him also He is brought into bondage. And so freedom and liberty are part of the enticement. The law is done away with, is a part of the enticement. You know I can vividly remember, and most of you can as well in 1995, the liberty that was being taught by doing away with the Sabbath and the holy days. And that old law that suddenly people said was bondage, and to throw that off was suddenly liberating. And we couldn't wait to have pork at the next potluck and leavened bread during what, the days of unleavened bread. liberty was the cause, but frankly spiritual lewdness was the result. Back into bondage he says, verse 20, for if after they escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they were again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. There's a law, there's a standard, and the commandment is not a burden, it is a blessing. The term from the holy commandment delivered to them, but it has happened to them as according to the true proverb, a dog returns to its own vomit, and a sow having washed to the wallowing in the mire. Jude said to beware of those who would use grace as the rallying cry to return to lewdness and to bondage again. And brethren we live in age where there's every flavor of Christianity on display in the world around us, and it has in some cases embraced things which God's word describes as abominations in his sight, and in the end it's not true Christianity at all. Okay, that's what we understand, and that's what we frankly we've heard about in the sermon that as well. These people do not have their eyes opened, and we're blessed to have our eyes open, but let us not immerse ourselves in the ways of those who are blind. Okay, God's calling is specific. In the end it's not true Christianity, but rather a twisted up mess of men's desires with a Christian label slapped upon it. It's men saying I will worship God in a way that seems best to me. Eat drink and be merry.

It's men saying I know there's money to be had, and I'll use my gift, I'll use my position, I'll use my congregation to enrich myself. We surely have seen that as well in the world around us. It's men saying I'm the one, follow me. And it was the warning in the day of Jude, in the day of Peter, and it is warning to the church in our day as well. Jude and Peter warned the church in their time that a new brand of Christianity was coming that would draw many after it. And so we fast forward 2,000 years and here we are again at the broad end of the funnel with what has welled up from a specific focal point from the only option for Christianity to begin with, the church of God. And it is broadened out to where now the church of God today, the true church of God is just a very small percentage of the quote unquote Christian world in which we live. The warning to the church is beware. As we approach the end of the age, beware the mindset rising up on the inside of the church if it indeed is here. We always have to be on guard against it, but also beware of it creeping in from the outside and taking what this world holds to as grace and liberty and considering it to somehow be our own as well. The warning is beware. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 7, the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. It was threatening the church in his day and it is a real risk to the church in our day as well. Indeed, the Bible tells us there is a major religious revival that is on the scene at the end of the age where we are moving, I believe, ever closer to it, a religious revival, one that will seem very good to many because the world will be in turmoil and it will be desperate and it will search for an answer and on the scene will come a strong political and religious power that would seem to have the answers and people will gravitate towards it and it will seem good to the people of the world and it will even seem good to some in the church of God if the elect indeed would allow themselves to be taken in but understand its path will be one of destruction because that beast will have an appearance like a lamb and speak like a dragon. So you have to be able to hear. You have to be able to discern. That's Revelation 13, 11. It will have two horns like a lamb but will speak like a dragon. That system will look religious and holy. It will promise grace and liberty and it might even proclaim the name of Jesus Christ but in the end its way will be the way of death. Jude's warning to the church is to beware. Beware those who deviate from the true message of the gospel while proclaiming and promising liberty and his instruction is what you and I must take to heart today is to never ever stop contending earnestly for the true faith, for the faith of God through Jesus Christ to the church that was once for all delivered to the saints. Brethren, this is the foundation we must stand on even if it means our life one day. God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.