Unmasking False Teachers: A Study in the Book of Jude
Pastor Josh Massaro leads a deep exploration of the Book of Jude, emphasizing the crucial theme of contending for the faith amidst the presence of false teachings. He warns that false teachers can infiltrate the church, promoting heresies and leading believers astray, much like the historical examples of the Israelites in the wilderness, fallen angels, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Throughout the discussion, Pastor Josh encourages listeners to remain vigilant, discerning, and grounded in Scripture while recognizing the eternal consequences of rejecting God’s truth. He also highlights the importance of humility and reliance on God's authority, as illustrated by Michael the Archangel’s response to Satan. This thought-provoking message calls for a commitment to uphold the integrity of the Gospel and challenges the congregation to actively engage in defending their faith against misleading ideologies.
The recent Wednesday evening service at Middletown Baptist Church, led by Pastor Josh Massaro, provides a thorough examination of the Book of Jude, placing emphasis on the critical theme of contending for the faith. Pastor Josh opens the discussion by addressing the pressing issue of false teachers who infiltrate the church, often without notice. He outlines how these individuals manipulate the concept of grace, encouraging a lifestyle of sin under the pretense of freedom. Through a careful analysis of Jude's warnings, he articulates the importance of discernment and vigilance among believers to protect their faith.
As the sermon progresses, Pastor Josh draws parallels between biblical accounts that illustrate the consequences of straying from God's truth. He references the Israelites’ rebellion during their exodus from Egypt, the judgment of the fallen angels, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, each serving as sobering reminders of the dangers of disbelief and immorality. By using these historical examples, he urges the congregation to reflect on their own faith journey and the need for gratitude towards God's grace, which empowers them to resist temptation and false teachings.
In a thought-provoking twist, Pastor Josh also discusses the spiritual implications of engaging in conflict against falsehood, exemplified through the dispute between Michael the Archangel and Satan. He emphasizes that the battle against deception is not fought with personal strength or authority but rather through the power of God. By concluding with a call to action, Pastor Josh encourages the congregation to remain grounded in Scripture and to actively defend their beliefs against misleading ideologies. This rich and insightful sermon not only educates but also motivates listeners to take a proactive stance in their spiritual lives, fostering a community committed to upholding the truth of the Gospel.
Takeaways:
- The Book of Jude emphasizes the importance of contending for the faith against false teachings.
- False teachers often come into the church unnoticed, twisting the truth of God.
- Michael the Archangel shows us that we should rely on God's power in spiritual battles.
- The examples of Israel, angels, and Sodom and Gomorrah illustrate God's judgment on rebellion.
- We must not forget the blessings of God in our lives to avoid false teachings.
- Contending for the faith requires discernment and understanding of Scripture to protect against heresy.
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This podcast is produced by Ralph Estep, Jr., host of the Ask Ralph Podcast, a daily podcast on Christian Finance you can find it at https://www.askralphpodcast.com/
00:00 - None
00:23 - Introduction to the Bible Study
04:21 - The Judgment of False Teachers
09:54 - The Judgment of the Fallen Angels
16:34 - The Consequences of Rebellion: Lessons from Sodom and Gomorrah
22:02 - The Nature of False Teachers
29:20 - The Power Dynamics in Spiritual Warfare
34:21 - Contending for the Faith: Lessons from Michael the Archangel
41:11 - Contending for the Faith
Pastor Josh
Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.
Pastor Josh
My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to this podcast.
Pastor Josh
I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen you in the word of God.
Pastor Josh
Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today.
Pastor Josh
Let's go ahead and get into our Bible study here this evening.
Pastor Josh
We are going to be in the Book of Jude.
Pastor Josh
If you have your Bibles, turn there with me to the Book of Jude.
Pastor Josh
You have a hard time finding the Book of Jude.
Pastor Josh
Go to the end at Revelation and go back one and you will find the Book of Jude.
Pastor Josh
And encourage you to follow along with me as we go through this study.
Pastor Josh
Don't want you to take it for granted what I'm reading.
Pastor Josh
I want you to follow along with me if you can.
Pastor Josh
And we started last week looking at what the theme of Jude is.
Pastor Josh
The Book of Jude is all about contending for the faith, fighting for the faith.
Pastor Josh
What does that mean?
Pastor Josh
That means to fight for the truth, fight for the gospel.
Pastor Josh
And the.
Pastor Josh
The challenge here from Jude and ultimately from the Lord, is that we as individuals and as a church should contend for the truth.
Pastor Josh
Why?
Pastor Josh
In this specific case, we see verse number four tells us that certain men crept in unawares.
Pastor Josh
And so we have some false teachers.
Pastor Josh
We have false teachers, false teaching, false truths, if you will.
Pastor Josh
I guess that's an oxymoron, false truth.
Pastor Josh
But what we can see here is that they were coming in and.
Pastor Josh
And claiming to be truthful, claiming to be preaching the word of God, but yet they were abusing grace.
Pastor Josh
And it tells us in verse four specifically what they were teaching in heresy.
Pastor Josh
And that was they were turning the grace of our Lord God into lasciviousness.
Pastor Josh
They were.
Pastor Josh
They were turning what we know in the Bible to be true grace.
Pastor Josh
And grace is a wonderful thing.
Pastor Josh
Grace gives us that freedom to live for Christ.
Pastor Josh
Grace gives us that understanding that we are saved by that grace and not our works.
Pastor Josh
But sometimes the Bible says that we can use grace as a veil for our sin.
Pastor Josh
We can misunderstand grace.
Pastor Josh
We can impose our human nature upon grace and live in a sensual fashion, basically fulfilling the lust of our flesh in the name of grace.
Pastor Josh
And so in so doing, it says at the end of verse four that these false teachers were denying Jesus.
Pastor Josh
Now, it doesn't claim specifically that they were out now denying Jesus.
Pastor Josh
They could have been, and they might have.
Pastor Josh
But what we can see here is that just by the way that they were teaching, they were denying Jesus.
Pastor Josh
And so by the way that the message of the Gospel is preached is an indication on where someone stands in Jesus, what they preach about Jesus and his identity and his character in his, in his deity.
Pastor Josh
All of those things is, is, is a deciding factor on whether or not someone is a false teacher or a true Bible preacher.
Pastor Josh
And so in this case, these individuals were twisting the truth of God and misleading people.
Pastor Josh
And so he says, you need to go back, you need to go back to the truth.
Pastor Josh
You need to contend for the faith, you need to protect the truth.
Pastor Josh
And I think as a church that's something that we should stand upon.
Pastor Josh
It's very easy for us to assume that everything that's being preached to us is true, especially if people use religious terms, especially if people will, you know, open up a Bible when they begin to preach.
Pastor Josh
Especially people maybe look the part sound apart.
Pastor Josh
But the Bible says that these people came in unawares, meaning it was unknown to the people, they weren't wearing on their chest, hey, I'm a false teacher and I'm just going to let you know what I'm about to teach you is false teaching.
Pastor Josh
They didn't do that.
Pastor Josh
And so we need to be discerning.
Pastor Josh
We need to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in truth.
Pastor Josh
And so what we talked about last week was what is the test of a false teacher?
Pastor Josh
How do we know that someone is preaching heresy?
Pastor Josh
Well, it's in accordance to Scripture.
Pastor Josh
What does scripture say about what they are saying?
Pastor Josh
Check them in Scripture.
Pastor Josh
And so we can cross reference that passage to what we talked about on Sunday night.
Pastor Josh
If some of you are here, we were in Acts, chapter 17.
Pastor Josh
What did the Bereans do?
Pastor Josh
They, they, they checked it.
Pastor Josh
They, they received the Word, but then they checked what was being preached to them from the Scriptures.
Pastor Josh
And so I would encourage you to do so.
Pastor Josh
That's one way that we can defend the faith.
Pastor Josh
Later on in Jude, he's going to explain a little bit more about how to contend for the faith.
Pastor Josh
But in verse 5 he begins to go into some explanation about what's going to happen to people that reject Jesus, what's going to happen to these false prophets.
Pastor Josh
And, and he's actually going to talk about three different groups of, of people and angelic beings that went a certain route and what happened to them in their judgment.
Pastor Josh
And so this is a very interesting passage of Scripture.
Pastor Josh
It essentially shows the certainty of God's judgment against certain people that reject the truth of God.
Pastor Josh
And so that's what's going to happen here.
Pastor Josh
So he's going to reference the Old Testament.
Pastor Josh
And one of the things I really appreciate about Jude is he, he deeply references the Old Testament and actually other Hebrew literature.
Pastor Josh
And the reason why he would do this is because the people that he was writing to, they would have had a grip on this.
Pastor Josh
They would have understood what he was referencing.
Pastor Josh
So he's basically calling back to something that they know and tying that together with what they're dealing with in that moment.
Pastor Josh
So he says, you see how there's people teaching these heresies within the church.
Pastor Josh
This is what's going to happen to them.
Pastor Josh
Just like these people that you know, that you are familiar with.
Pastor Josh
And so let's look at that here this evening.
Pastor Josh
This is talking about the judgment of God upon those that reject the truth of God.
Pastor Josh
So verse five, he says, I will therefore put you in remembrance.
Pastor Josh
And so he says, remember, remember this, though ye once knew this how that the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believe not.
Pastor Josh
So.
Pastor Josh
So what is he referencing here?
Pastor Josh
He's.
Pastor Josh
He's talking about the story that you are all familiar with.
Pastor Josh
And they would have been familiar with that God saves his people out of the bondage in Egypt.
Pastor Josh
And as they are out wandering in the wilderness, they.
Pastor Josh
They lack belief, they question God and they deny God.
Pastor Josh
And so in that denial, in.
Pastor Josh
In that lack of belief, as it says, they were destroyed.
Pastor Josh
And so Jew knew he wasn't telling anybody something new.
Pastor Josh
They.
Pastor Josh
They had already been taught this example, but he needed to bring it back up again to remind them of their present situation.
Pastor Josh
And so I think it's important for us to go back to Scripture to see, hey, these are given to us for examples.
Pastor Josh
These, these stories are not just entertaining stories.
Pastor Josh
These are not just stories for us to tell our children so that they can learn moral lessons, even though that might be the case.
Pastor Josh
But these are true stories that we can learn from in our lives and apply to our daily decisions.
Pastor Josh
And so that's what he's doing here.
Pastor Josh
He's referring back to something that they would have known as scripture.
Pastor Josh
And he's saying, look, just as the people were saved from the land of Egypt and rejected, so if you continue on in this path, you will reject God as well.
Pastor Josh
So Jude reminds us of what happened in Numbers, chapter 14.
Pastor Josh
God delivered the people out of Israel out of slavery, and then they went out into Egypt or they went out from Egypt, I should say.
Pastor Josh
And what happens?
Pastor Josh
They're tempted to doubt.
Pastor Josh
They're tempted to question they're tempted to think that God doesn't care about them.
Pastor Josh
And then every time God does something for them, there's that immediate joy.
Pastor Josh
And then what happens?
Pastor Josh
They go back to default.
Pastor Josh
They go back to saying, well, you know what sent Mana to us?
Pastor Josh
Now we're tired of that, right?
Pastor Josh
You're doing this for us, but now what are you going to do next?
Pastor Josh
And so think of what God did for the people of Israel in that situation.
Pastor Josh
And then think about how they responded to Him.
Pastor Josh
Think about the Israelites in the wilderness's response to what God had done for them, save them completely.
Pastor Josh
He had taken them across the Red Sea, split the Red Sea.
Pastor Josh
They were there at the foot of Mount Sinai.
Pastor Josh
They had received daily care in the wilderness as you are familiar with.
Pastor Josh
Yet they still go back into unbelief.
Pastor Josh
And because of that, they were rejected.
Pastor Josh
At least everyone except a few were rejected into going into the Promised Land.
Pastor Josh
And so this speaks of God's judgment to those that don't believe.
Pastor Josh
And so the warning I believe here to from Jude is clear that the people of Israel started out from Egypt well enough.
Pastor Josh
They started out from Egypt in a good place.
Pastor Josh
But even though they had many blessings, they regressed and they went back to their default mode.
Pastor Josh
And that was humanism, that was selfishness, that was rebellion.
Pastor Josh
And so they failed to believe in God's promises and his power.
Pastor Josh
And so we can see for our own lives one of the ways that we can fall into false teaching is when we deny the promises and the power of God in our own life, when we reject those blessings that he has given us in our life, or at least forget about those blessings and lose the gratitude that God calls us to have.
Pastor Josh
And without gratitude, it's impossible to have humility.
Pastor Josh
And without humility, it's impossible to experience God's grace.
Pastor Josh
And so I think a lot of times within the church, one way that heresy can be spread, one way that false teaching can be received, is when we forget about what God has done in our life, when we forget about his blessings, and when we take the focus off of him and what he has done, and we put the focus on ourselves.
Pastor Josh
And we miss really the deeper message that God has showed us throughout all of our lives.
Pastor Josh
And that is his love and his power and his promises.
Pastor Josh
And so I would be very cautious here as a church to get to a point in our lives where we forget about the promises of God.
Pastor Josh
When we go back into the promises of God, we're able to tap into the truth that we can find in Scripture.
Pastor Josh
So that is one example, and that is the example of the people that were freed from Egypt and the judgment that came with their rebellion.
Pastor Josh
So we're going to get to verse number six and this is where things get a little bit interesting.
Pastor Josh
You heard me before say groups of people and angelic beings or supernatural beings.
Pastor Josh
And we're going to see an instance here where Jude references the judgment of angels and which many people would call befallen angels.
Pastor Josh
And, and so verse six is, and the angel which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Pastor Josh
So what is he talking about here?
Pastor Josh
Well, and Jude is bringing up a very interesting concept that was given to us in Genesis chapter six, and it's a controversial passage.
Pastor Josh
I believe that he's talking about that second reference in Genesis 6.
Pastor Josh
I don't believe personally you could reference that.
Pastor Josh
This is talking about the original fall of the third of the angels that followed Satan.
Pastor Josh
But we do see that in verse 6 it says that they were an everlasting chains.
Pastor Josh
Well, we know that not all of the original angels that fell with Satan are in everlasting chains.
Pastor Josh
We know that some of them are moving about freely.
Pastor Josh
But we do know that there in Genesis 6 that God chained up those specific ones that rebelled against this, this mandate to not.
Pastor Josh
If you read Genesis 6, it's a very interesting story.
Pastor Josh
This is the story we get the Nephilim from.
Pastor Josh
So basically what the Bible says is the sons of God came and have relations with the, the women of the earth.
Pastor Josh
And there's a lot of debate on what that actually is.
Pastor Josh
We're not going to get into that this evening.
Pastor Josh
But all we know is that these, these fallen angels, so to speak, committed sensual acts.
Pastor Josh
They, they committed sexual sin and therefore they were judged for this deviation from God's righteousness.
Pastor Josh
And so this offense was connected to some kind of sensual sin, the union between the sons of God in Genesis 6 and the human being or the daughters of men in Genesis 6.
Pastor Josh
And so we do know that there was some element of, of sin when it comes to the, the sexual union there in Genesis 6.
Pastor Josh
And we know that because there's a tie together to verse seven, to Sodom and Gomorrah, which we know that their sin as well was tied to that fornication that we're going to talk about here in a moment.
Pastor Josh
So we can, we can add another piece into the puzzle.
Pastor Josh
I, I believe too, because when it talks about the unique imprisonment of them in verse six.
Pastor Josh
And so I believe this is referencing the angels that committed that sin there in Genesis 6.
Pastor Josh
And therefore they were judged, eternally judged.
Pastor Josh
And so what can we take with that element of judgment?
Pastor Josh
What we can see is this.
Pastor Josh
Their, their rebellion caused God to judge them.
Pastor Josh
And that judgment in their unbelief and that judgment in their sin cause eternal punishment.
Pastor Josh
And I think that's important for us to see that in our unbelief and in our rebellion, we would face as well, without Christ, without faith in him, without his grace, eternal judgment as well, we would be eternally punished.
Pastor Josh
And again, we don't want to only preach judgment.
Pastor Josh
I know a lot of times people get uncomfortable talking about judgment and hell and, and, and fire and brimstone.
Pastor Josh
And you know, sometimes we can err on the side of only preaching that, but we also can err on the side of not preaching it at all.
Pastor Josh
And I think what the, the warning here is that there are eternal implications to what we believe in our life.
Pastor Josh
Right?
Pastor Josh
So, so what I believe about God is not just going to be for the here and now.
Pastor Josh
I think a lot of times people think, well, I've got maybe 80, 90, 100, you know, if I'm blessed 120 years here on this planet, right?
Pastor Josh
And then it's over.
Pastor Josh
But the Bible speaks very clearly that there is, we are individuals, souls that are going to last for eternity.
Pastor Josh
It's whether or not we are going to last for eternity with God in His presence, given everlasting life and faith, or we're going to be on the side of punishment and separation for God for eternity.
Pastor Josh
And so I think the importance that we can take from this passage of Scripture is that just as those angels were judged eternally and imprisoned, as it says they're in everlasting chains, we as well as human beings in rebellion against God will face eternal judgment as well.
Pastor Josh
And, and so you say, well, how does that tie into fighting against false teaching?
Pastor Josh
Well, I would say it's this, the emphasis on the here and now immaterial would be a character trait of false teaching.
Pastor Josh
Talking only about the here and now, talking only about your, your morals today, which should we preach.
Pastor Josh
Morals.
Pastor Josh
Yes.
Pastor Josh
But to really, I would say emphasize the eternal nature of our lives and that it's not just, hey, I don't want to sin because this is going to hurt me today, I don't want to sin because this is rebellion against God, that this is rejecting the Lord.
Pastor Josh
And so belief means that I have everlasting life.
Pastor Josh
Disbelief, rejection of God means that I am going to face eternal judgment.
Pastor Josh
So I believe that that's what this passage is talking about here.
Pastor Josh
God judged these wicked angels, setting them up in everlasting chains.
Pastor Josh
And by not keeping their proper place and not, not keeping themselves in a place of righteousness, they left thinking that they were going to find freedom.
Pastor Josh
Right?
Pastor Josh
Because most of the time when people sin, when most of the time people pick their own sensual desires, it's because of, I want freedom, I want to do what I want to do.
Pastor Josh
But what we can see here is that they went for freedom, but they found what they found, bondage.
Pastor Josh
And so it's the actual opposite react, the, the opposite reaction that they expected.
Pastor Josh
They expected, if I do this sin, I will have more freedom.
Pastor Josh
And that's what the world teaches.
Pastor Josh
The more you have pleasure, the more you fulfill your own desires, the more you will have freedom away from God.
Pastor Josh
But it's the complete opposite.
Pastor Josh
The more you reject God and, and the more you seek after those pleasurable things in this world alone, that's going to cause bondage, that's going to cause us to be tied up into that and we can't get out.
Pastor Josh
And so if, if angels cannot break the chains of sin brought upon them on their own, we're, we're foolish to think that we as human beings can break those chains of sin without the power of God in our life.
Pastor Josh
And, and I think that that's important to see.
Pastor Josh
And you know, you know, a lot of times people will say, you know, I, I found the right path, I cleaned myself up, and I know what we mean by that.
Pastor Josh
But really, truly complete transformation does not come from our hard work.
Pastor Josh
It does not come from, from effort, from any place in our own stead.
Pastor Josh
It's, it's ultimately God's power working through us.
Pastor Josh
And so this, this reminds us of the eternal judgment of God and God's hatred for this type of sin.
Pastor Josh
Speaking of that type of sin, we get to verse number seven.
Pastor Josh
Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and most of you are probably familiar with that story, obviously Sodom and Gomorrah is referenced in the Old Testament.
Pastor Josh
And these, they're actually two cities, and the surrounding areas stand as an example for, for many, as a place of God's judgment.
Pastor Josh
Their sin was a sexual sin.
Pastor Josh
The Bible speaks of that in the Old Testament as specifically the sin of fornication and the sin of homosexuality.
Pastor Josh
And, and there were many sins involved with Sodom and Gomorrah.
Pastor Josh
The Bible also references in, in Ezekiel, the sin of pride and and, and abundance of idleness.
Pastor Josh
And they, they weren't generous.
Pastor Josh
They were the opposite of that.
Pastor Josh
And a lot of people will actually use that as a proof text that God wasn't upset with their sexual sin there and Sodom and Gomorrah, they were only just upset with their pride and their lack of generosity.
Pastor Josh
But ultimately what we can see is they have multiple issues.
Pastor Josh
And, and so you, you know that story.
Pastor Josh
I don't need to go into all the details, but essentially I will say this.
Pastor Josh
There were angels there in Sodom.
Pastor Josh
The men of Sodom wanted to forcibly have relations with these men.
Pastor Josh
And obviously God judged them and there was none righteous there in that area.
Pastor Josh
And obviously Lot and his daughters are the only ones that, that got out.
Pastor Josh
And so what does this say here?
Pastor Josh
It goes in to talk a little bit more about their sin.
Pastor Josh
It says so even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner.
Pastor Josh
So it's not just Sodom and Gomorrah giving themselves over to fornication.
Pastor Josh
Now, what is fornication?
Pastor Josh
Essentially, biblically speaking, fornication is any sexual activity outside of the bonds of marriage.
Pastor Josh
And I know that sometimes we get a little comfortable talking about that within church, but it's in the scripture, so we got to talk about it.
Pastor Josh
Right?
Pastor Josh
And a lot of people don't understand, well, you know, if there's love involved or, you know, if it's, if it's this or it's that.
Pastor Josh
No, the Bible very clearly says outside the bonds of marriage, that's.
Pastor Josh
That's fornication, that's sin.
Pastor Josh
That's a sin of the flesh.
Pastor Josh
And then it says even further, so they were practicing fornication, so all different types of sexual sins.
Pastor Josh
And then it says, and going after strange flesh.
Pastor Josh
And so that's a reference to the inordinate affections of man with man.
Pastor Josh
And so it says because of that, they are set forth as an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Pastor Josh
And so, so Jude is referring to the account of Genesis 19.
Pastor Josh
You could read through that story for yourself at some other time.
Pastor Josh
But the lesson being taught here is that in their rejection of God, in their chasing of fornication, in their chasing of strange flesh, they were used as an example of suffering the vengeance of eternal fire, that God made things right.
Pastor Josh
So first, first it assures us that these certain men that were.
Pastor Josh
And so what we can take with this, and I would say this, what we can infer from this example and many examples that are here, that most likely what was happening with whoever Jude was writing to.
Pastor Josh
We don't know specifically what church it was, but whatever group of people that it was, the false teachers, were probably giving over to sexual sins within the church.
Pastor Josh
And you know that within First Corinthians, there's.
Pastor Josh
There's talks of that, how they were intermingling with the.
Pastor Josh
The culture and allowing themselves to actually blend in together these types of sins with worship.
Pastor Josh
And so no doubt what was happening here was that these false teachers were telling people, hey, you have God's grace, so do whatever you want.
Pastor Josh
There's no repercussions.
Pastor Josh
Live freely.
Pastor Josh
And so what's happening here is that Jude is warning them, no, there are repercussions for these types of sins.
Pastor Josh
Ultimately, the vengeance of eternal fire from God.
Pastor Josh
And so what we can see here is that it warns us that we must continue walking with Jesus or we will find danger and we will find, ultimately destruction if we take that path.
Pastor Josh
And so I think that that's important for us to.
Pastor Josh
To see there.
Pastor Josh
And then he takes those three elements.
Pastor Josh
So he takes the.
Pastor Josh
The.
Pastor Josh
The Israelites wandering in the wilderness and their rebellion and their judgment.
Pastor Josh
He then takes this story of the angels falling from heaven and going and sinning and therefore being judged as an eternal implication of our sin and our rejection.
Pastor Josh
And then he talks about Sodom and Gomorrah and the danger of falling into fornication and chasing after these sensual desires.
Pastor Josh
So then he goes back to the teachers.
Pastor Josh
He says, likewise.
Pastor Josh
Likewise, meaning this is how these false teachers are living.
Pastor Josh
So he doesn't just attack their.
Pastor Josh
He doesn't just attack their teaching, which is that normally what we would do, we would say, okay, this false teacher is wrong because he's teaching these wrong things.
Pastor Josh
And so, yeah, that would be a mark of a false teacher, but he actually goes a little bit further and says, that's how these people are living.
Pastor Josh
And so another test to a false teacher is, look at their life.
Pastor Josh
So what are they saying and what are they doing?
Pastor Josh
What's their testimony?
Pastor Josh
What's their.
Pastor Josh
What's their life like outside of the pulpit?
Pastor Josh
And, and, you know, that's a.
Pastor Josh
That's a hard thing, because a lot of people say, well, you know, don't all pastors and religious leaders live in a glass house?
Pastor Josh
Yes, if you look at a pastor long enough, you will find faults in him.
Pastor Josh
But there.
Pastor Josh
There are issues that certainly cannot characterize a teacher or a preacher of the gospel.
Pastor Josh
And so what he's saying here is, like, you see these people in Saddam Gomorrah, you see these fallen angels uh, you see the Egyptians that were wandering the wilderness, that's how these people are acting in their lives.
Pastor Josh
And so he says, likewise.
Pastor Josh
Also, these filthy dreamers, and it's an interesting use of words.
Pastor Josh
He calls them filthy dreamers.
Pastor Josh
And so I, I, I looked that up because I wanted to see what was he talking about?
Pastor Josh
Why did he call them dreamers?
Pastor Josh
And there's, there's a couple theories about that.
Pastor Josh
When it comes to this idea of, of calling them filthy dreamers, it's possible that Jude meant that these certain men were out of touch with reality.
Pastor Josh
Like, because, you know, you ever meet someone and they've got, they've got their own reality maybe, and it's not the reality that we're all living in.
Pastor Josh
And we go, yeah, they're just, they're out there in dream world, right?
Pastor Josh
That could be a reference of what he's saying.
Pastor Josh
They're just not based in reality.
Pastor Josh
They're based in their own reality.
Pastor Josh
Or it possibly could be that it was that they were claiming to have prophetic visions in their dreams and saying, I had a dream yesterday, and this is why we should do this.
Pastor Josh
And they weren't based in truth.
Pastor Josh
They were based in manipulating people and saying that they had dreams.
Pastor Josh
So either way you look at it, it's wrong, right?
Pastor Josh
One way you could look at it is they're, they were just delusional, thinking that this way was going to be a success.
Pastor Josh
Or you could say that they were utilizing dreams as an excuse to give the false teachings.
Pastor Josh
So it'd be like me getting up here tonight and going, I had a dream last night and we should all start doing this, and it's contrary to scripture.
Pastor Josh
Well, I might have had that dream, but we all shouldn't do that, right?
Pastor Josh
So the idea is, is that we can base ourselves in our whims and our thoughts when it comes to these fleshly things.
Pastor Josh
Now, can God give us things and dreams?
Pastor Josh
That's a highly debated topic.
Pastor Josh
I'm not saying that he can't, but what I'm saying is, is that we have to always match it with Scripture, right?
Pastor Josh
So, for example, let's say, Let me say, for example, I had a dream last night.
Pastor Josh
And my dream last night was that all married couples in the church should stay faithful to each other.
Pastor Josh
And I got up and I said, I had a dream last night.
Pastor Josh
And I was really encouraged to say that all married couples in this church should stay faithful.
Pastor Josh
I don't think that's a false teaching.
Pastor Josh
I'm just thinking, hey, that's just an emphasis of a biblical truth.
Pastor Josh
Now, whether or not I, I want to say that or not with I'm preaching, it doesn't matter.
Pastor Josh
But what I'm saying is, is if I get up and say that I have a dream or a vision or a thought or a word and it's contrary to Scripture, that's where we throw up the red flag and say that's a danger, that's, that's an issue.
Pastor Josh
And, and you'll hear that, you'll hear that within different circles.
Pastor Josh
You'll hear, you know, I, I have a thought or a word or I saw something.
Pastor Josh
And that's okay until, was the test, until we get to Scripture.
Pastor Josh
And, and, and so I would, I would be cautious with that.
Pastor Josh
And, and again, there's that idea there that he calls them filthy dreamers.
Pastor Josh
And so it's not just that he's saying, hey, they're talking about dreams, but there's filthiness in it.
Pastor Josh
And it's, it's, it's sensual, it's, it's dirty.
Pastor Josh
And that's what he's referencing here.
Pastor Josh
And so he goes on to say more about them.
Pastor Josh
He says they defile the flesh, which we know that the Bible says that there are certain sins that defile the flesh, their sins against our body.
Pastor Josh
And so again, that's tied to that sensual fornication that they would have probably been tied up in.
Pastor Josh
So, and I don't want to take this too far, but you know, we do see in our culture today, especially in the news, a lot of times religious leaders can abuse their positions for these types of sins.
Pastor Josh
Not, not saying that, that everyone that has fallen into a sin is a false teacher.
Pastor Josh
But we do know that people have used their position of leadership to, to prey upon people within the church.
Pastor Josh
And so there is that danger as well that he says here, that they defile the flesh.
Pastor Josh
Filthy dreamers.
Pastor Josh
They despise dominion, which is, which is interesting thing here to say.
Pastor Josh
They, they, they basically, they reject authority is what it's saying here.
Pastor Josh
So many words, they reject authority.
Pastor Josh
Now what type of authority are we talking about?
Pastor Josh
Most likely it would be biblical authority, the authority that they, that they would have within the confines of the church.
Pastor Josh
And they would, they would disrespect authority.
Pastor Josh
They would disrespect the apostles, most likely the, the people that were passing down the truths of God to them.
Pastor Josh
They would disrespect that.
Pastor Josh
So basically, I guess you could say it this way.
Pastor Josh
Like I would get up and say, well, so and so across town said this, but let's forget about that.
Pastor Josh
We're going to do our own thing.
Pastor Josh
Well, if so.
Pastor Josh
And so across town had some sort of biblical authority over us, or, or maybe there was some kind of accountability amongst them.
Pastor Josh
The mix it would be basically, they're questioning other people's teaching, they were despising the authority, and then it says they're tied together with that they would speak evil of dignities or dignitaries.
Pastor Josh
And like I said, most likely it would have been leaders in the church sowing seeds of discord.
Pastor Josh
Oh, you know, Pastor so and so says this, but really he just doesn't know.
Pastor Josh
And, and so there was that idea of speaking.
Pastor Josh
And it's more than that.
Pastor Josh
It seems like they were actually speaking evil, false things about leaders in the church.
Pastor Josh
And so it.
Pastor Josh
Not only did they reject authority, but they spoke evil of these leaders, of dignitaries.
Pastor Josh
And so their rejection of authority was connected to their speaking evil about people.
Pastor Josh
And in so doing, we know that that can cause division within the church, that can cause pain, hardship, lies, gossip, deceit.
Pastor Josh
It can go across the board.
Pastor Josh
And so what was happening was that these people, if you could summarize it in so many words, they were sinning publicly, they were misleading people, they were rejecting biblical direction, and they were speaking evil of other people that were speaking the truth.
Pastor Josh
And so, so we have to be careful with, when it comes to this is, remember, they, they slipped in unawares, they slipped in silently.
Pastor Josh
And within the church, I think a lot of times our perception is that false teaching is going to come from there, the pulpit.
Pastor Josh
And it could come from there very, very easily.
Pastor Josh
Could, you know, someone could get up and be preaching false.
Pastor Josh
But then we think maybe the classroom, maybe a small group, okay, teacher.
Pastor Josh
But what we can see here is that by this example, it could happen in the pews.
Pastor Josh
The false teaching could start with, hey, two people are talking about another person.
Pastor Josh
And then, hey, you know what, we can go a little bit further and start, you know, disrespecting them.
Pastor Josh
And it starts out kind of minuscule, but then it grows and it begins to snowball.
Pastor Josh
And then now we've allowed ourselves to get into a bunch of other stuff that continues to be sin.
Pastor Josh
It continues to grow worse and gets deeper, deeply rooted, and there's bitterness.
Pastor Josh
And so what can happen is, is that false teaching could come from any direction.
Pastor Josh
That's really the message that Jude is telling us.
Pastor Josh
False teaching can come from any direction.
Pastor Josh
It can come from the audience, it can nowadays, culturally speaking, it can come from our phones, it can come from our TVs it can come from the radio, it can come from podcasts.
Pastor Josh
We have to be on guard on every front.
Pastor Josh
We have to be prepared.
Pastor Josh
And we don't take things for granted just because this person comes from this college or this person preaches in this type of clothing, or this person uses this type of Bible, or this person comes from this camp.
Pastor Josh
We.
Pastor Josh
We have to be cautious on the message as well, not just the character traits that come along with that person.
Pastor Josh
And so this is a warning.
Pastor Josh
This is a warning.
Pastor Josh
And he says, be careful of these filthy dreamers who defile the flesh, who despise dominion or authority, and they speak evil of that authority.
Pastor Josh
That's a warning sign.
Pastor Josh
So, so if you want to be cautious and you want to separate yourself from people that are going to lead you to a false way of living, stay away from people that reject authority.
Pastor Josh
Stay away from people that despise and speak evil of authority as well.
Pastor Josh
And so that's, that's the test that he says, watch out for that.
Pastor Josh
And then, and then I, I love verse nine.
Pastor Josh
And it's kind of an interesting insert here.
Pastor Josh
And I don't know about you, but this is not something that is.
Pastor Josh
Is commonly talked about in Christian circles because the, the reference here is actually over a fight that Michael the Archangel and Satan have over the body of Moses.
Pastor Josh
And some people, I've talked to people about this and they're like, I've never heard of this story.
Pastor Josh
It's actually interesting story.
Pastor Josh
And we wouldn't know about it from Scripture, because if you go back to the story of Moses, the last we hear of of Moses is that, you know, he goes off into the wilderness and dies.
Pastor Josh
And, and that's Deuteronomy chapter 34.
Pastor Josh
So Moses, the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab.
Pastor Josh
And, and at the very end it says, but nobody knows where his grave is.
Pastor Josh
That was the end of Deuteronomy 34, verses 5 and 6.
Pastor Josh
And then we see here that there's this, there's this fight over Moses's body.
Pastor Josh
And there's a lot of debate about the why.
Pastor Josh
And Jude doesn't really get into the why there was a fight over Moses's body.
Pastor Josh
There's some speculation that Satan had a plan to use Moses's body as an idol for the Israelite people.
Pastor Josh
Right?
Pastor Josh
Who else would they want to worship then?
Pastor Josh
Hey, Moses's bones.
Pastor Josh
And they like some sort of idol.
Pastor Josh
I don't know for sure.
Pastor Josh
We can't say that that's scriptural.
Pastor Josh
Other people argue that Moses, you Know, obviously, Moses was there at the mount of Transfiguration, his body.
Pastor Josh
And then some people believe that Moses is one of the witnesses at the end times.
Pastor Josh
And so some people think that it was Satan's plan to kind of thwart Jesus and his redemptive story and his second coming.
Pastor Josh
But either way you look at it, there's this.
Pastor Josh
There's this body that the angels are fighting over.
Pastor Josh
Now, I do like this verse because this verse gives us some theology, because some people think that Satan and God are equals, right?
Pastor Josh
You have God who is the good, and Satan who is bad.
Pastor Josh
And it's like this yin and yang, equal and opposite forces.
Pastor Josh
No.
Pastor Josh
Okay.
Pastor Josh
Satan is no match for God.
Pastor Josh
Satan is a created being.
Pastor Josh
Satan is limited, though.
Pastor Josh
He's more powerful than we are.
Pastor Josh
He is not on the same level as God.
Pastor Josh
And so our theology is that God is omnipotent, that God is.
Pastor Josh
That means he's all powerful, he's all present.
Pastor Josh
He's, um, he's all knowing.
Pastor Josh
Satan is not.
Pastor Josh
So if you did have an equal to Satan, because remember, Satan's an angel, a created being of God, it would be Michael the Archangel.
Pastor Josh
I, I would say that they're more in line with being equals, so to speak, when it comes to their power.
Pastor Josh
And so we see Michael the Archangel.
Pastor Josh
And Archangel just means he's the, the top.
Pastor Josh
He's the, the.
Pastor Josh
The highest angel.
Pastor Josh
When contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, you say, why is that there?
Pastor Josh
We could get bogged down in the weeds here, but what I would say is the next phrase is the reason why this verse is here.
Pastor Josh
And that is to say that even Michael the Archangel didn't use his own power when fighting against the enemy.
Pastor Josh
What did he say here?
Pastor Josh
It says in verse nine, he says he durst not bring any against him.
Pastor Josh
A railing accusation which he could have but said, the Lord rebuke thee.
Pastor Josh
And there's a lesson to be learned here that when we're dealing with evil and when we're dealing with false teaching, and when we're dealing with Satan himself, we deal with the power of God and not our own power.
Pastor Josh
We refer to the power of the truth of God and not our own power.
Pastor Josh
And so Michael the Archangel, he's mentioned by name in different passages.
Pastor Josh
Two of them in the book of Daniel, one in the book of Revelation, I believe, and then here in Judea.
Pastor Josh
And usually when Michael is mentioned, it's in the context of battle fighting.
Pastor Josh
And so he's an example for us and how we can contend for the faith.
Pastor Josh
And so we see that if anybody could have pulled any power from his arsenal, it could have been Michael the Archangel.
Pastor Josh
But no, he refers to the Lord.
Pastor Josh
He says, the Lord rebuke thee.
Pastor Josh
And so we don't know all the details about this fight, so to speak, but we do know how Michael the Archangel fought, and that was in the power of God.
Pastor Josh
And so, so the manner of Michael's fight is a model, I believe, for spiritual warfare.
Pastor Josh
We, we see that Michael was in a battle with the enemy, but we see that he appealed to the Lord's authority and not his own wisdom, his own strength.
Pastor Josh
And so I think that that's an example for us as we fight these spiritual battles in contending for the faith, protecting the truth, discerning whether something's false or true when it comes to teaching is a spiritual battle.
Pastor Josh
It's spiritual warfare.
Pastor Josh
And Ephesians tells us all about that idea of spiritual warfare.
Pastor Josh
And so if Michael the Angel, the Archangel did this, so we should as well when it comes to fighting against the enemy.
Pastor Josh
Now you say, how did that turn out?
Pastor Josh
I don't know.
Pastor Josh
I mean, you can read some, it actually comes from some, some Hebrew literature they reference that you could read the rest of that story.
Pastor Josh
But I don't believe that's canon.
Pastor Josh
And by the way, let me just get something out of the way here because you may or may not catch this.
Pastor Josh
As we study the Book of Jude, if you read any cross references, you might catch this.
Pastor Josh
Jude does quote Hebrew literature that is not part of the canon of Scripture.
Pastor Josh
Jude references the Book of Enoch here in this passage of Scripture.
Pastor Josh
Now some people say, well, if Jude references these historical books and uses those stories, does that mean that those are the Bible as well?
Pastor Josh
And I would say no, the moment it becomes Bible is when it's here in the canon and we believe that God preserved his word here.
Pastor Josh
So just because, I mean, Paul, we're going to see that Paul references in the Book of Acts, he references the, the, the, their own people there from Athens and, and their own philosophers.
Pastor Josh
And so when.
Pastor Josh
Just because something is referenced in scripture does not mean that everything that they pulled that reference from is biblical.
Pastor Josh
It just means now that that is canon and it's in the storyline.
Pastor Josh
And so that's what we're talking about here because you, you may or may not find some confusion.
Pastor Josh
If you look the Book of Jude up, you might see people going, well, the Book of Jude references the Book of Enoch.
Pastor Josh
So we all need to follow the Book of Enoch.
Pastor Josh
Now that's, that's that's a, that's a misnomer.
Pastor Josh
That's a misunderstanding of how the canon of Scripture was organized.
Pastor Josh
And so we take the book of Jude as the word of God.
Pastor Josh
And if it's here, it's the word of God.
Pastor Josh
And so it's like you're throwing the baby out with the bathwater in, in a sense.
Pastor Josh
And so I, I would say be very careful when it comes to, you know, commentaries that you read and books that you read.
Pastor Josh
But we'll stop there this evening.
Pastor Josh
I, I could talk about the book of Jude a lot because it's very, very interesting.
Pastor Josh
And if I had more time, I would like to go into to more details about the Hebrew literature that he's referring to.
Pastor Josh
And just a little quick side note, I don't think it's wrong for us to correlate certain things that people in our society understand to Scripture, right?
Pastor Josh
So if someone understands something in our society today, we don't need to shy away from it as long as we can tie that back to Scripture.
Pastor Josh
And so using cultural references, I don't think is a wrong thing to do.
Pastor Josh
So, for example, if you're talking about a king in the Bible, you say, well, you see how this person in our country has this much power.
Pastor Josh
It's similar to that.
Pastor Josh
Or, you know, you saw this.
Pastor Josh
You know, if someone understands someone to be a certain way in culture, you know, they're known for this.
Pastor Josh
Well, that could be that person.
Pastor Josh
That, that doesn't mean that we're saying that person's biblical or that person's teaching us a lesson.
Pastor Josh
It's just a reference to a culture and way that people understand.
Pastor Josh
So I think that that done correctly is an example of good teaching.
Pastor Josh
So, so we're going to come back next week and we're going to start in verse number 10 and we're going to see more of bad character from certain men.
Pastor Josh
So we, we already talked about groups of individuals.
Pastor Josh
So Israelites.
Pastor Josh
You had Sodom and Gomorrah and you had the fallen angels.
Pastor Josh
We're going to talk about more of the specifics of people and that's, that's going to be more on the personal side of things.
Pastor Josh
So you're going to see folks like Cain.
Pastor Josh
You ever heard of, heard of Cain?
Pastor Josh
I'm sure the way of Cain.
Pastor Josh
What's the way of Cain?
Pastor Josh
We're going to talk about that next week.
Pastor Josh
The era of Balaam and the gainsaying of Core or Korah.
Pastor Josh
So we're going to talk about those three individuals next week.
Pastor Josh
Cain Balaam and Korah, and.
Pastor Josh
And we will continue on.
Pastor Josh
And then I love how Jude does it.
Pastor Josh
Jude then references certain things that you see in nature to these false teachers.
Pastor Josh
And so he appeals to all these different areas.
Pastor Josh
He appeals to history, he appeals to individuals.
Pastor Josh
He appeals to what they see in creation.
Pastor Josh
And he starts trying to pull that in.
Pastor Josh
I think it's a really, really helpful book for us.
Pastor Josh
And then he goes back in verse 17, and then he.
Pastor Josh
He's like, that was a little bit of a parentheses there about what false teachers are like now going back to contending for the faith.
Pastor Josh
And so I think that it's something more and more that we need to focus on is like, how do we as Christians engage our society?
Pastor Josh
How do we contend for the faith?
Pastor Josh
What.
Pastor Josh
At least in my ex.
Pastor Josh
My existence and what I've experienced, a lot of Christians tend to, you know the phrase put our heads in the sand or turn a blind eye.
Pastor Josh
When someone starts getting intellectual, we go, well, they sound a little bit too smart for us to talk about.
Pastor Josh
They might just talk.
Pastor Josh
You know, we have to be very careful about that because we have been given all the tools that we need to defend our faith.
Pastor Josh
God has gifted everyone in different ways.
Pastor Josh
Not everyone's going to be someone who's going to read volumes and volumes of commentaries and history books, but all of us have been given the truths of the gospel to stand upon.
Pastor Josh
And that means there's power in that.
Pastor Josh
Okay, when you're quoting scripture to people, the power is not in you.
Pastor Josh
The power is in which you're speaking.
Pastor Josh
And it's, it's the word of God is what's coming out of your mouth.
Pastor Josh
It's not.
Pastor Josh
It's not, hey, my opinions.
Pastor Josh
When that's.
Pastor Josh
When we start to fail, when we start to waver in our contention of.
Pastor Josh
For the faith is when we start to give opinions.
Pastor Josh
And, and, well, maybe, I don't know, we just say.
Pastor Josh
And this is a phrase I like to, to, to think about when I'm preaching.
Pastor Josh
And it's this.
Pastor Josh
Thus saith the Lord, right?
Pastor Josh
Thus saith the Lord.
Pastor Josh
That's not my.
Pastor Josh
It's not my gospel.
Pastor Josh
It's not my message.
Pastor Josh
It's.
Pastor Josh
It's the message of God.
Pastor Josh
And I'm ultimately the messenger.
Pastor Josh
And, and I think that that's.
Pastor Josh
That takes a lot of the pressure off of us when it comes to contending for the faith.
Pastor Josh
All we are is just like, willing to say it, willing to do it.
Pastor Josh
Now, some of you might say, oh, I'm not a.
Pastor Josh
I'm not a Contentious person, some of you might say.
Pastor Josh
I am a contentious person.
Pastor Josh
I love conflict.
Pastor Josh
Okay, I understand that.
Pastor Josh
I wrestle with that all the time.
Pastor Josh
I.
Pastor Josh
I do not like a conflict.
Pastor Josh
I will do possibly anything that I can do to get out of conflict.
Pastor Josh
But there are times and places where conflict does matter, and it's the way you do it, and it's how you do it.
Pastor Josh
And.
Pastor Josh
And I would say that there is a time and a place for conflict.
Pastor Josh
Now, we don't need to stir up conflict.
Pastor Josh
All we do, and I think Peter mentions it this way, don't suffer for wrong, suffer for good.
Pastor Josh
You're going to suffer for good.
Pastor Josh
So.
Pastor Josh
So don't do wrong to suffer.
Pastor Josh
Like, don't.
Pastor Josh
Don't treat someone unfairly to cause conflict and then say, look, Lord, I'm suffering for you.
Pastor Josh
He's like, no, you're going to suffer for doing what's right.
Pastor Josh
And so just stand above reproach.
Pastor Josh
Stand in the word of God, stand in the truth of God, and contend for the faith.
Pastor Josh
And we talked a little bit about this last week as well.
Pastor Josh
And I'll end with this.
Pastor Josh
When we say contend for the faith, we need to be very careful what we mean by that.
Pastor Josh
It doesn't mean contend for your opinions or your preferences.
Pastor Josh
There is a time and a place to stand in your truth, and there isn't a time and a place to actually exhort and confront others.
Pastor Josh
And there's a time and a place where, you know, you can say, that's not the faith.
Pastor Josh
That's not the essentials.
Pastor Josh
And so I would say, you know, really?
Pastor Josh
And this is something that I've had to do in my own life.
Pastor Josh
I've had to sit down and I had to say what matters to me, what is my essentials?
Pastor Josh
That I would say, you know, Lord, Lord willing, I don't have to, but what would I die for?
Pastor Josh
What would I stand for and die for?
Pastor Josh
And what would I say?
Pastor Josh
You know what?
Pastor Josh
I've got some strong opinions, but I don't know if I would die for that.
Pastor Josh
That might be your indication of what it means to contend for the faith in a certain area.
Pastor Josh
And so maybe something to think about.
Pastor Josh
Maybe you never thought about that before, but interesting thought.
Pastor Josh
All right, well, we're gonna go ahead and stop there.
Pastor Josh
Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast.
Pastor Josh
I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you.
Pastor Josh
You.
Pastor Josh
You would like to find out more information about our church or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org or find us on Facebook.
Pastor Josh
Or YouTube.
Pastor Josh
You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro Middletown BaptistChurch.com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow along for future podcast and updates.
Pastor Josh
Thank you so much.
Pastor Josh
God Bless.
Pastor Josh
Have a wonderful day.
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