Sermon Tone Analysis

Dear Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, called, beloved, and kept for Jesus Christ,

In a recent podcast Al Mohler cited the fact that the generation now entering college has no living memory of 9-11 attacks and cannot really undertand what the past decade has meant as The War Against Terror.

Mostof us here can.

Many here also have a lving memory of the Cold War - I remember my own brother coming back fromhighschool with a Cruise On Button on his burgandy windert bomber jacket.

And we ought to be thqankful for the realtive civil peace that this gnereation experiences here in Canda, first tim ein Western hemipshere no civili war.

But young people we celebrate Remembrance Day with the motto Lest We Forget - can’t forget what the threat was, what the battles were about, nor the sacrfices in contending.

From my own hometown I hear the voice of John McCrae yougn medical doctor in Flanders.

“Take up our quarrel with the foe, to you from failing hands we throw the torch be yours to hold it high, for if ye break faith with we who die, we wil not sleep though poppies grow on Flanders.

field.”

Jude is saying in this scond round of his letter, like a second sermon, these false teachers snuck into the congregation, you wouldn’t knwon they were false teachers, thought there was no danger, the foe isn’t with us, there is no war.

Kind of like Engalnd before WWII Peace in our Times, Chamberlain, refuse to see the Nzi threat.

And Jude standing on the record of the OT describes how the foe is ever with us to the end, and those God has rescued from darkness and unbelief and rebellin, ought ever to be vigilant against sneak attacks of the enemy when things seem to be at peace.

Last week we saw how Jude sounded the alarma and like an amber alert gave a biblcal description of one terrible sin that is the root of turnign away from God apostasy.

Do you remember the train he illustrates from the OT events.

Unbelief like Israel in the desert, leads to what Rebellino, like the angels not keeping their God appointed palce of service, seek own pleasures by breaking the boundaries God established and bring darkness and chaos where ever they go, kept for what?

Not for Christ Jesus, not for glory.

But what is the third part of the train.

Unbelief leads to rebellion, which leads to eternal judgment.

But perhaps to these who had been lulled to thinking in the church all must be good, no problem here, Jude wants to awaken them with more powerful illustration not of events this time, but more personally with three real life character, three people who fell into this train.

This is classic Jewish Midrash of the day, and it would have been tantelizing stuff for his Jewish readers especially.

But with the midrash in place, he next illustrates in some of the omost powerful cllustration sfrom nature tha have ever been written what these false teachers are like - so that we will be able to detect and avoid them,.

Then lastly just like last week Jude takes a current application from a popular pi3ce of literature, kind of like usiong an illustration from our cutlures movies, rom the lifeo f Enoch.

Fascinataing that he concludes with Enoch after beginning with Cain, he use the life of Enoch to deliver the vital concluding application:

Key Truth: God judges the ungodly, so be like Enoch not them.

Now I got to tell you that this is hard to preach on, one person bringing first time attenders to our evening service, said,but we’re going through Jude so be prepared for a little fire and brimstone.

And I was praying hard before beginning the sermon that the grace of Jesus, the gospel the good news wouldjump out to all of us, even thoguh and maybe especially as it is set on the dark but realistic backdrop of God’s judgment.

There is no good news if we don’t first understand the bad news.

And I am not alone, in preaching these truths.

Jesus who came full of grace and truth, when telling us what we need to be saved from, when seeing that epitomized inthe scribes and Harisees - lived self-righteousness,s, self-salvation that was all the more evil because it makes falsely feel we’re OK, we’re going to be saved inthe nd, we’re better than others, God’s got to be pelased with me.

But do you remember what Jude’s borther, JESUS CHRIST had to say to them.

Do you remember what Jude probably later remembered adn even thought had my brother who is Messiah meant that for me when I still lived in self-righteousness?

Jesus from the begining of ministry to the end.

From up in Galilee by Chorazin and Bethsaida , down to jeruseaem by the whitewashed tombs of the prophets, as he walked down the mount Olives to die in Jersuealem to accompish righteosunes sand salvation for us, he is declaring WOE!

And remember this is Jude who just said, the arch angel Miachel didn’t presume to judge Satan but said the Lord rebuke you.

NOw Jude in the face of this false teachin gin the church, he dares to take the wordso f Jesus the Messiah and declare WOE.

It isnot like he isdmaing them, but he is givng the most sombre warning to us all - hell and judgment is a real thing from a God who has wrath in resopnding to evil.

I. Understand the Biblical Teaching on False Teachers

He announes this arning first by drawing the

A. Don’t Walk in The Way of Cain’s Blatant Refusal of God’s Word

There is a reflexive sense to someone walking a way.

they aren’t just walking - doing stuff in life.

They chose a path to walk down, they give themselves to a path.

Like a pttern of life in a gang - or follwoing a rabbi.

What would it mean to follow Cain’s path.

Actually in Genesis Cain, like the other two cahracters becomes a symbol.

Here is one who is ungrateful, who perverts his worship with a wicked heart, given opportunity to repent - confronted by God, still persists will not master his heart turning to God, but forfeits his birthright as the first born, the promises of grace of Eden the place of joy restored, of the son of Eve conquering the serpent and dath and hell.

but he in unbelief , loves the lies of Staan more than the very words of God.

Jude uses Cain as a symobl of a teacher who rejects God’s Word.

When God came to him and taught him by His word, listen to how the Jews commentate on Cain’s response to divine teaching:

“the Targum of Jonathan, put what was going on in the mind of Cain this way: There is no judgment, no judge, no reward to come; no reward will be given to the righteous, and no destruction for the wicked.

Do you get that when we make life and even church about our own ideas, our own activeities, and push God’s Wrod to the side, as if his judgments and teaching and direction and proimses and warning don’t matter!

We have a real problem.

Cain was effectively saying God’s Word doesn’t matter, God doesn’t mean here what he says.

He kills Abel and follows Satana’s lie, because he didnt believe God’s Word when it crossed his will, and his evil desire!

And what happens to him, he becomes a symbol of a wnderer Exiled to the land of NOd, if Adam had thorns to contentd with Cain even worse curse nothing grows.

Ts Elliot the Wastland has cpatured how our world has become more like Cain’s world, Hermaan Dooeywaard, civiliation in search of home… followed cain, and we’l;l ave to ait to see how Enoch stands ass the one great alternative tothis life of woe.

Need to apply when desire is crouching at the door, the devil’s lies, and we choose for those desires rather than God and Gods’ ways.

The when we must pray like Augustine: Command what you will, but Lord will what you command in my life!

But hardened into a pattern that forms a way and its the way of Cain and false joys of the devils, turn into the gllomy darkness with no joy!

But what is the worst of it, is that Cain had followers, he rufused to stay a wanderer and built the first city.

And so too when we sin so often others ready to follow our example and justify our excuse for ignoring and defying God’s Word!

But Jude quickly Jude moves on to the

B. Don’t Be Deceived by the Error of Balaam’s Self-Indulgence

2 Peter deals so much more with the whole story with the donkey and god’s interveention, but Jude quickly highlights the one thing about Balaam that underscores what we must avoid that these false teachers in the church don’t.

They abandon themselves for what?

Do you remember Balaam was determined to curse God’s people on the border of the promised land, hired to do so, lucrative wortk, prepared to do it, but God literally changes the mind of this foreign prophet.

Gets him to declare blessing.

And you’d think he’d stop at that.

But he for filthy lucre, for getting ahead in this life with finances and favour of people, he is prepared to sell his soul and defy the living God who just revealed his word and will and blessing to Him.

The foregin king pays him hadsomely and he figures he’s got it made inthe shade.

But even after God reversed his curses, he goes on to advice God’s people that engaging in orgies and sensuality with the foregin women of Midian was comletely acceptable

Do you realize there are co-called Christain that teach that living poly amorous relationshi perfectly fine, that sex is an individal preference and not for the securre covenant of exclusive and lifelong and relaiabel love of one man and one woman.

Well is there a message for us in this for the NT church?

What does the book fo Revelation dscribe the false teacher in the church, Jezebel doing?

That sexual purity , that covenat with our eyes not look, let alone to engage that lust in adultery or fornication is a stuggle for god’s peole wihtout false teachers is apparent all through the Bible, but this is a special type of deception we are to be alert of and abvoid like the plague, that such sin is OK and we can live in it.

Well how did things end for Jezebel, the first, and in the book of revelation?

How do things end for Balaam:

His sin of leading others to sin finds him out.

But not until first many in Israel stumbled iuntil Phineas raised up to sto pit all.

But Jude records this to decribe the false teaching and the warning that judgment will come from both Cain’s way of refusing God’s Word and Balaam error of self-indulgence.

But how about the third personal example of how this false teaching works and what it will bring?

C. Don’t Be Party to those Who Contradict Authority like Korah’s Rebellion

We have already seen how these people not only defile the flesh, but also reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.

Who were those glorious ones - angels?

Actually God’s Word and those God appointed to oversee the minstry of his glorious Word are called glrious ones in the NT.

And these false teachers not only are ignroing , ctonradicting and disboeying God’s word, and teaching others doesn’t mean what it says, but these false teachers are against the spiritual authority that God has given to the elders.

And Jude uses the perosnal example of Korah in the wilderness, the symbolic sin of mutiny, of presupmtous rebellion against just authority (R. Alter).

And even totday in Christ’s church, which does include an element of input and suport of the congregation, there are those who who have a democratic levelling of any authroity, or divine order, so that it is wthe will of the people theat determines both truth and prctice in Christ’s church.

And while it is true that both OT and NT speak of a prie3sthood of all belivers:

Just as we saw last week inthe houehold codes this equality in Christ and in service and image bearering, in no way implies that there is no order with leaders and follwers, that the order of creation has been done away with.

The bottom line is that Korah couldn’t stand living under the authroity of another.

He said to Moses and Aaron God’s appointed spokesperson and minister:

Moss and Aaron were not to Lord it over the oeple but God had an order for his Word to be declared and the misntiry to be enacted.

But like Satan and A & E’s sin.

That spirit of anti-authority - autonomy of self rule lives in all of us too.

KOrah was against the fact that God put the Levites in a place of authroity for preaching and for worship over God’s people.

And Jude is declaring that is not cool - Well how did things end up for Korah and the many that followed him who would not heed the warnig to separate themselves from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram?

Make no mistake says Jude, whether it is Cain’s error, or Balaam’s carrot of illicit sex and lots of money, or Korah’s spirit of the age of independence.

God’s Word teaches us clearly that if any pastor or teacher puts love of freedom, or moeny or sex or power above fidelity to God’s Word judgment will fall!

This is why Jesus brother says the very teachers righ tnow in the church who are teaching this stuff, you can have Jesus and sensuality, don’t have to abide by any church authority don’t need elders to feed and guard and ogvern the flock - look waht he says about them: