JUDGMENT REMINDERS (PART 9)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of His holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Jude 1:14-15

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Over the past eight messages, we have found Jude, the writer of this letter that bears his name, warning the Christian church against ungodly people who were in their midst. We have covered the character traits of the ungodly and how they are destined for God’s judgment and punishment, the latter the highlight of today’s passage and the final message in this series, Judgment Reminders. Here’s what we read in verses 14 and 15:

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of His holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Of interest here is that the quote used by Job is from a writing that isn’t in the Bible.

The First Book of Enoch was written around first century B.C. and is included in a series of writings referred to as the Apocrypha. Some bibles you may see on the market might include this as an appendix to the established 66 books of the Old and New Testaments.

But here’s the thing. Not all of what one finds in the Apocrypha is accurate or trustworthy. If it was, God would have included it within the Word He created and inspired. In fact, most Bible scholars believe that much of the letter wasn’t written by Enoch at all.

With this, then the question is, why would a quote from the First Book of Enoch find its way into the perfectly true scriptures, words that are God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17)?

The answer to the question is that although the Apocrypha which includes this First Book of Enoch are inaccurate as a whole, there was at least one statement that was valid and that’s the prophecy we find in these two verses in the Book of Jude regarding the judgment of the ungodly. If it weren’t true, God would not have permitted it in His Word.

Okay, so who was Enoch?

We definitely know he is in the scriptures and the Old Testament Book of Genesis. For in our passage today, we read where he was the seventh from Adam, a statement confirmed in Genesis, chapter 5.

There we find the genealogy line from Adam which progressed from him to Seth, then Enosh, then Kenan, Mahalalel, and Jared before we get to Enoch. Seven men in the line of Adam so we affirm and validate that Enoch is who Jude states he is.

So this brings us to the prophecy, one grounded in the sure judgment of God on those who rejected and, as a result, disrespected the Sovereign Maker and Master of all creation. Speaking on behalf of the Lord, Enoch said this:

“See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of His holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Of course, the Lord in this prophecy is none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God who sits in power at His right hand after having been given “all authority in Heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). The scriptures are clear that while He came to earth the first time to be its Savior, His second coming will be as Judge and we see this highlighted clearly in this prophecy from God through Enoch.

The imagery here is both awe-inspiring and terrifying at the same time. For picture for a moment, Jesus descending from Heaven along with “thousands upon thousands” of “His holy” angels, a divine force coming to “judge everyone” and “convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness” as well as every defiant word an ungodly sinner may have “spoken against Him”.

Friends, no mere human can withstand such an onslaught and all the ungodly who have not believed in Jesus as Savior should tremble in fear over what’s to come. For after the judgment and condemnation will be a sentence of eternal darkness, torment, and damnation in Hell. That’s the future of anyone who is not in Christ at His second coming.

Now, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The saved sinner still has a past record of wrongs that more likely than not may have included ungodliness and defiant words against God.

So do they get a pass?

Not if they have failed to repent of the sins they have committed. In those instances, judgment can come but that judgment will not remove the Christian’s future destiny in Heaven. For as we are reminded in the first chapter of Romans, chapter 8, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. They are justified by the redeeming work of Jesus on the cross, a redeeming work that bore the sins of all mankind and allowed the punishment that every sinner deserved to fall on Him.

The Gospel truth is that anyone who has believed in Christ Jesus will be pardoned and gain their part of the blessed inheritance of Heaven, the very Kingdom of the God Most High.

So what is your destiny today? Where would you end up if Jesus was to return with His thousands upon thousands of holy angels to bring judgment on the ungodly?

If you’re not a Jesus believer, please do yourself a favor and surrender your life to Him today. You’ll never regret that decision, now or forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

JUDGMENT REMINDERS (PART 8)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

Jude 1:17-19

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Over the past seven messages, we have found Jude, the half brother of Jesus, warning the first century Christian church about those who were ungodly in their midst, those who may be hanging out within the congregation but had no intent of surrendering their will to the way of the Lord. And as we have seen, Jude has called out many character traits of these ungodly people to make them easily identifiable to someone in Christ. He has also made it clear that the ungodly would face God’s judgment and punishment for rejecting and disrespecting Him.

Today, in the penultimate message of this series, we see that the plight of the ungodly would not stop in the early years of the Christian church but rather range all the way to the “last times”, those times preceding Jesus’ promised return to judge all creation, sending unbelievers to Hell while ushering His followers into the new Heaven and earth where they would abide with Him and His Father in the glory of a New Jerusalem. Let’s look again at these words found in verses 17 through 19:

But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

Here, we find Jude reminding his “dear friends, his brothers and sisters in Christ about words spoken by Jesus’ apostles. They warned about future “scoffers” who would “follow their own ungodly desires” which is a sinful quality we have already read earlier in this letter. For the ungodly have no interest in carrying out the desires of God. This is because their wants are more important to them as well as more important to Satan who breeds this mindset within their hearts and minds.

Given this, I think we can see how the ungodly can divide a church because their self centered motivations run completely counter to the self sacrificing ways of Jesus, the ways that Christians adopt and model in their own lives.

Further, while the behavior of the ungodly is driven by their “mere natural instincts”, the Christian believer is led by the power of the Holy Spirit who conveys the way and will of God to them. This Spirit is obviously absent in the lives of the ungodly because to obtain it, one must believe in Jesus and that’s something that an unbeliever has refused to do.

In saying this, we do see a glimmer of hope found in this passage. For anyone who is ungodly sits on the brink of experiencing God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love. They are right on the edge of a sure everlasting salvation that rescues them from the eternal damnation of Hell.

All they need to do is believe in Jesus as their Savior.

That’s it. The ungodly can become godly just like that.

If you’ve been reading this series and realized where you are in relation to your eternal destiny, holding a ticket to Hell by stonewalling God so you can satisfy your own whims (which are really the whims of the devil), then I urge you to change your future now because once you die, it’s too late and no one knows when their last day on earth will be.

Believe in Jesus, change your identity from being ungodly to being a Christian and child of God, and experience the peace and hope that comes in knowing you are saved and assured a place in Heaven.

This is my prayer for every single unbelieving person in our world today and I ask my brothers and sisters in Christ to join me in this prayer, not just today but every day after.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

JUDGMENT REMINDERS (PART 7)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

Jude 1:16

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

What do the ungodly look like?

If we don’t know after studying the Epistle of Jude, we never will because this letter spends a lot of time warning Christian believers about being effected by those within their church who were dead in their faith and actually rejected God within their hearts.

Today, we still see this problem happening in churches around our world and this makes the words of the Lord found in Jude just as applicable now as they were when they were first written.

Over the past six days, we have closely examined this important part of the Word of God and we still have three messages remaining, beginning with today’s that centers on five other character traits found in those who willingly choose to close God out of their lives. Let’s look at each of them now.

1. Ungodly people love to complain.

These people are grumblers...

Now, we all have been guilty of complaining. There are plenty of things that we can find disfavor with.

Some of these instances are justified and right. They are protests against things that run counter to the Word of God and His expectations for living.

For example, we should be speaking out against the willful killing of unborn children through abortion. God said there is to be no murder, no exceptions despite the efforts of ungodly people to try and make you think otherwise, people who would convince you that a person has a right to do what they want to do with their body, despite God being the Maker and Master of all. That there is any debate on this at all will show you how Satan has gotten a grip on the people of God’s creation and turned them from His ways, bringing them into the ranks of the ungodly.

These God rejecting people fail to complain about what they should and instead complain about anything that disrespects and dishonors the Lord who reigns sovereign over them, the Lord who can bring judgment and destruction in a moment’s notice. They will be the first ones to not be satisfied with anything, never truly appreciating what God has done for them. Rather, they allow Satan to use dissatisfaction as a weapon to keep them away from the God they need to be faithful to, a God who always ready to forgive and welcome back the repentant sinner, restoring them to His favor and blessings.

The true children of God praise Him and live lives marked by thanksgiving. The ungodly will be the exact opposite, consistent grumblers who allow us to recognize them easily.

2. Ungodly people always can find fault in someone.

These people are...faultfinders.

We all draw up opinions on others. I don’t think anyone can truly say they haven’t.

But here’s the thing.

Who are we to judge anyone?

That right belongs to God and God alone, and we saw this punctuated earlier in this letter when God’s archangel, Michael, refused to rebuke Satan and condemn him for slander, instead proclaiming:

“The Lord rebuke you!” v.9

God, the only One who is to judge, sent His only Son Jesus to save mankind from their sins and that Son will be sent back a second time to judge all creation. Here’s what Jesus had to say about those who might decide to find fault in another:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:1-5

The ungodly wouldn’t know about this teaching of Christ and even if they knew it, their unfaithful hearts would refuse to embrace it. For they are people who love to find fault in other people for it is easier than having to look in the mirror and see the faults in themselves.

The truth of the matter is that all are sinners who have fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). We are all inherently flawed and helpless to become the kind of people we need to be without believing in God and allowing Him to lead us, something the ungodly refuse to do. This is a perfect lead in to number 3.

3. Ungodly people follow their own evil desires.

...they follow their own evil desires.

When a person chooses to deny God in their lives, they invite Satan in and he wants nothing more than to convince someone that their desires matter more than God’s.

The devil would make someone feel it’s completely appropriate to live in whatever way they want as long as it feels good to them.

Sexual immorality?

Go for it. No limits there.

Intentionally doing things to harm others?

Do something unto them before they do something unto you.

Engaging in drunkenness or illicit drug use?

If it helps you deal with life, no problem.

Saying whatever you want whether slander, gossip, lying, or swearing?

Loosen that tongue and say whatever you want. You have total freedom of speech.

I could go on and on but you get the point. The ungodly see no restraints on what they do, fully accepting and carrying out Satan’s “anything goes” agenda.

4. Ungodly people boast about themselves.

...they boast about themselves.

This makes sense because anyone who refuses God does so in order to make their life all about themselves. And with this, anything they accomplish is followed with self glorification.

I gained a promotion. I got a new car or a new home or anything else. I won an award or some other major accomplishment like a sports championship or other competition.

I. I. I.

This is what you find with the ungodly. It’s all about me.

Conversely, the Christian believer is to boast on the Lord and on Him alone. You may recall these wonderful words spoken by the psalmist in the 48th Psalm:

In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise Your name forever. v.8

This is followed by this passage on the same matter found later in Psalm 52, words directed toward Saul, the first king of Israel who turned ungodly in the latter part of his reign:

Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?

You who practice deceit, your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor.

You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth.

You love every harmful word, you deceitful tongue!

Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin. Vv. 1-5a

Two spiritual attitudes. One, an attitude centered on God which brings His favor, and the other, a sinfully self centered one which is a disgrace that leads to ruin.

5. Ungodly people are deceitful in the way they deal with others.

...they...flatter others for their own advantage.

Satan is the master of deception (John 8:44) and since the ungodly are under his direction, it only goes to figure that they will model his fraudulent nature in their dealings with others.

In this final character flaw exposure found in this passage, we learn about the insincerity of praise coming from those who don’t allow God to be a part of their way of living. For any compliment from someone ungodly comes with an underlying motive, one that will always be self serving.

A good example would be in people looking for intimacy in a relationship with someone else.

Let’s say a woman is out in a social setting and is approached by a man who spends a lot of time heaping compliment after compliment on her. She begins to feel like he truly sees her as someone of value to him, someone she is really looking for in her life. But unfortunately, she is falling prey to a man who has become a master manipulator. He has no interest in the woman beyond making her his latest sexual conquest, someone he can use for his own satisfaction and gain before dumping her and moving onto someone else.

Sound familiar?

It’s happening every single day somewhere and unfortunately, it’s been happening since biblical times.

The call here is to exercise caution when someone is flattering you in some way. We should always be wary of whether or not the commending is legitimate or counterfeit and really self serving in disguise.

In today’s message, we find the Word of God adding five more ways to identify the ungodly when they are in our midst. But they also serve as a reminder to Christian believers as to ways we shouldn’t be adopting in our own lives. For no follower of Jesus should allow themselves to live in any other way that is counter to the way He lived, ways that Satan is trying to draw us to through the work of the ungodly who are under his control, ways that ultimately will lead to God's judgment and punishment.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

JUDGMENT REMINDERS (PART 6)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots. They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.

Jude 1:12-13 NLT

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we have seen over the past five messages, a large part of the Epistle of Jude is focused on warning his readers, fellow Christian believers, about the infiltration of the ungodly into their ranks. This warning goes into great detail regarding the character traits of these people who dishonor God by not considering His will for their lives, always placing their own desires first. And given that Jude, the half brother of Jesus, uses a lot of references to events and figures in the Old Testament, it is believed that his audience was largely Jewish converts to Christianity.

As we come to today’s passage in what is the sixth message in this series titled “Judgment Reminders”, we find Jude continuing to call out the ungodly with a list of comparisons, much like we saw in yesterday’s message. The difference here is that the associations are with things and not people. Look again at his words found in verses 12 and 13.

When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots. They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.

How can one get an understanding of what the ungodly are like?

Let’s break down these words into the separate comparisons found within.

1. The ungodly are like reefs that can shipwreck.

When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you.

When ships get closer to the coastline, they need to always be wary of dangers that can lurk under the water’s surface and one of those dangers is reefs. These days, nautical charts used for navigation have reefs marked out and identified but no such resource was available in biblical times. And so unfortunately, more than a few ships found themselves striking reefs and destroying their vessels.

Here, Jude is making the point that the ungodly can often disguise themselves within a Christian body, lurking under the surface undetected while entering into fellowship with true believers. Ultimately, once a relationship is formed through fellowship, a Christian’s reputation can be damaged once the ungodly person’s sinfulness is exposed. Call it a spiritual shipwreck caused by assumed guilt through association.

2. The ungodly are like shameless shepherds who only care for themselves.

They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain.

A shepherd is solely responsible to care for the sheep in their flock. That’s it.

True shepherds are selfless, dedicating themselves to ensuring their sheep are nurtured and protected, even willing to put themselves in harm’s way in the process. And as we find Jesus sharing in one of his parables, legitimate shepherds see everyone of the sheep within the flock as important, so much so that they would be willing to leave 99 sheep behind to seek one that has gone astray (Matthew 18:12-14).

The ungodly share no qualities of these real shepherds. They shamelessly care only for themselves and their own gain so no one should ever expect that they will go out of their way to do anything of benefit for another, much like a cloud would just blow over the land and not provide the needed gift of rain.

3. At their core, the ungodly are dead in their faith.  

They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots.

At the heart of the harvest season, trees bear wonderful fruit that nourishes and sustains the health of those who enjoy its tasty gifts. But the ungodly can’t be compared to these trees because the last thing they do is produce anything of spiritual value. Rather, they “bear no fruit” because they aren’t rooted in God and as a result are dead in their faith and disconnected from His Spirit, the Spirit that produces the fruit He desires (Galatians 5:22-23).

4. The ungodly are skilled at carrying out shameful deeds.

They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds.

Not rooted in the Lord and dead in their faith, the ungodly are guided by Satan. They carry out his will and way which always leads one down the road of sin where the accumulation of “shameful deeds” builds to a place where they are clearly evident much like the foam produced by the churning “wild waves of the sea”.

5. The ungodly essentially live a doomed existence.

They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.

Think about what we know about space and the universe beyond planet earth.

There, we find shooting stars, stars that don’t remain fixed in one place, shining brightly so to be easily located and identified. These are the “wandering stars” we read about at the end of this passage, stars that illuminate for a brief moment as they “shoot” across space, only to be “doomed forever to blackest darkness”.

Like these shooting stars, the ungodly only exist for a short time before God commits them to their destiny, the doom found in the eternal darkness and damnation of Hell.

Why did Jude spend so much time focusing on the ungodly?

I believe there are two reasons.

First, the intent is to warn Christian believers to avoid association with those who choose to partner with Satan and be dead in their faith through loving sin and wickedness more than God and His righteousness.

But the other reason this letter is important is that it exposes the judgment God will bring on the ungodly and it would be my hope and prayer that if this letter was read by someone who had previously rejected God, that they would repent of their sin and change the course of their life, not just for the present but forever.

As we’ll see in tomorrow’s message, Jude still isn’t finished on this subject and I hope you’ll come back to read the next message in the series.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

JUDGMENT REMINDERS (PART 5)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.

Jude 1:11

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We use comparisons all the time when we are trying to describe something or someone to another. These comparisons can be in real time, like explaining a food or a product by associating it with something the other person can relate to.

This tastes like that. This works in a similar way to that. This is really just a different version as that.

You get the point.

We can also do comparisons using historical perspectives, especially in regard to the actions or philosophies that people might have. These behaviors or thought processes can be both good and bad. We can also use an example of someone who was bad in the past to illuminate the goodness in someone else and vice versa.

In regard to this historical perspective, we can model it with a simple formula. X is related to Y with X being someone in the here and now while Y represents someone from the past. We see this hypothetical methodology present in today’s scripture verse as we continue to study from a letter written by Jude, Jesus’ half brother. In verse 11, we read this:

Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.

Inserting the previously mentioned formula into the framework of today’s scripture verse, we find that the ungodly are the X and they are likened to three negative figures from the Old Testament, each a Y. Let’s look at each of them and see what the Word of God is telling us about those who choose to reject Him.

1. The ungodly associated with Cain.

They have taken the way of Cain.

You may remember that Cain was one of the first two siblings in the Bible, a son of Adam and Eve and the brother of Abel. Unfortunately, the sin that the first parents brought into the world infected their children and we see the tragic impact immediately in Cain.

First, he chose to deliberately bring less than his best as an offering to God and then when he was rebuked while Abel was praised, he led his brother out into a field and murdered him there. Then afterwards, when God asked Cain where his brother was, Cain doubled down on his transgression by pretending he didn’t know, soon discovering that God knew what had happened for Abel’s blood was crying out from the ground (Genesis 4:1-12). After this confrontation with Cain, God imposed His judgment upon him.

How are the ungodly like Cain?

Well like him, they don’t see it important to dedicate their best to God because they don’t honor Him with anything in their life. And because they hold no regard for Him, then they, like Cain, will allow sin to always crouch at their door, falling prey to its temptations and satisfying the desires of the devil.

Indeed, the ungodly take the way of Cain. We also read where they are linked with “Balaam’s error”.

2. The ungodly associated with Balaam.

...they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error.

What was Balaam’s error?

Going back to the story of Balaam in the Old Testament Book of Numbers (chapters 22 through 25), you find that the King of Moab recruited the prophet to place a curse on the Israelite people with the promise of a hefty financial reward if he did. Balaam knew that he didn’t have the power to impose such a curse but he knew God could and if He would, then Balaam could collect the riches from Balak. The scriptures tell is that God commands Balaam not to curse the Israelites because they were blessed. And so Balaam turned down Balak’s offer.

Unfortunately, Balak wouldn’t give up. He continued to send groups of his distinguished officials to try and convince Balaam to change his mind. After multiple pleas, God finally tells Balaam to go to Moab but only to say what He wanted.

And so Balaam started journeying to Moab and it was on this journey that the renowned encounters with an angel of God happened, encounters that at first were only seen by Balaam’s donkey who bore the brunt of his owner’s abuse even though he was only trying to protect him. Finally, God opened Balaam’s eyes to see the threat before him and the angel reinforced God’s order to Balaam to only speak what his Lord wanted.

Once in Moab, King Balak took Balaam to a high place called Bamoth Baal where there was a good vantage point to see the Israelite encampment. After offering sacrifices, Balaam spoke words of blessing on the Israelites, an act that angered Balak who then took the prophet to the top of Pisgah. Again, Balaam offered up sacrifices and just as he did at Bamoth Baal, he pronounced another blessing on the Israelites.

Even more upset than the first time, Balak wouldn’t give up and so he took Balaam to the top of Peor where still more sacrifices were offered followed by the announcement of yet another blessing on the Israelite people. Infuriated, Balak sent Balaam home and refused to give him any reward.

Now, this account would leave someone thinking about how any of this might have been viewed as an error on Balaam’s account. It wasn’t but what happened afterwards was. For as we continue to follow Balaam’s story, we find out that he advised Balak and the Moabites to create an environment where they could cause the Israelites to sin against God. The plan involved enticing the Israelite people with prostitutes and the prospect of idol worshiping. In other words, Balaam created a plan where the Israelite people would bring a curse upon themselves through their sinful behavior.

Well, Balaam’s plan was a success as the Israelites began to worship Baal and committed sexual sin with the Moabite women. Punishing His people, God sent a plague upon them, killing 24,000. Meanwhile, Balaam collected his reward from Balak.

In Jude’s letter, we find him comparing the ungodly to Balaam’s error, seeking ways to profit off of encouraging sinful behavior while opposing the righteousness God desires.

And then, there was Korah.

3. The ungodly associated with Korah.  

...they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.

During the wilderness journey of the Israelites, trouble brewed when Korah, a Levite, led a rebellion of 250 men who the scriptures tell us were community leaders who had been appointed to the council. The brought their opposition to Moses and his brother Aaron and refused to follow their authority, which was really another way of saying they refused to follow God’s authority since it was God who appointed Moses to lead His people. Further, Korah decided to insert himself in a place similar to Aaron, the high priest, even though he wasn’t appointed as such by God.

We read in God’s Word that Moses ordered Korah and his rebellious force to appear before God the next day and when the group appeared at the entrance of the tent of meeting, God commanded Moses and Aaron to separate from them before sending judgment as the ground opened up and swallowed every one of them. Fire also rained down from Heaven and consumed Korah’s followers who were offering up incense (Numbers 16). Indeed, God sent His judgment on those rebelling against Him in a bog way.

The ungodly in Jude’s time (and in ours) were as insolent as Korah and those who foolishly aligned themselves with him. They openly rebel and disrespect God’s ultimate authority over all things. And like Korah and his followers discovered, God can and will send His judgment on anyone who blatantly opposes Him.

No regard for giving God their best and allowing sin to be their master like Cain.

Ever seeking to win personal gain through encouraging the sinfulness of others like Balaam.

Willing to rebel against God’s sovereignty and treat Him with dishonor like Korah and his rebellious band of Israelites.

Through this message, we indeed find the scriptures showing us how the ungodly (X) are directly comparable to the sinful acts of others in the Old Testament (Y). And in those Y circumstances, we know that God’s judgment will come as a result.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

JUDGMENT REMINDERS (PART 4)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.

Jude 1:8-10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I know it probably needs to go without saying but I’m going to say it anyways because sometimes the things that are seemingly most obvious are the things that are most easily overlooked. So here it goes...

The reason people are ungodly is because they completely reject God.

There, I said it.

It’s so unbelievably simple but one doesn’t need a PHD in Theology to see the main issue at hand with those we have seen condemned and subject to God’s judgment and punishment here in the epistle of Jude, Jesus’ half-brother.

Now, this rejection of God does nothing less than open the door for Satan to step in and run things. I say this because a person is always under the spiritual control of either God or the devil. There’s no middle road.

With this, we turn to our scripture verses for today, verses 8 through 10 in Jude, chapter 10. There we read the following:

In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.

Here we find the consequences of snubbing God and allowing Satan to dictate behavior, behavior that will always result in sinfulness.

First, ungodly people live by way of “the strength of their dreams”. In other words, they live to fulfill and satisfy their own desires. They live to carry out their will instead of the will of God.

As a result of this pursuing of personal wants over God wants, the ungodly commit the following transgressions:

1. They pollute their own bodies.

This pollution could come in many forms.

Since biblical times to present, we see ungodly people engaging in all kinds of sexual immorality. In yesterday’s message, we saw this as a prime reason why God completely obliterated two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah.

Ungodly people, not seeing their bodies as temples as God’s Word explains, may eat excessively, embracing gluttony, or choose to eat foods that are unhealthy and damaging to the body God intended to be cared for.

Finally, those who choose to not partner with God in life may find themselves surrender to the alluring nature of alcohol, drinking excessively to where drunkenness becomes the norm. Worse yet, there are those who will take things one step further and engage in illicit drug use which more times than not, leads to addiction

2. They reject authority.

Here, the issue is obvious. There is no greater authority over mankind than God, the Maker and Master of all things. And yet the ungodly willingly opt to disrespect Him and rebel against His reign over them. Ultimately, His punishment for such behavior is often intended to bring the sinner to submission and the subsequent repentance He expects.

3.  They heap abuse on celestial beings.

Here, we can substitute the word “slander” for “heap abuse” to gain an understanding about what the scriptures are trying to convey here and with that in hand, we can see where the rest of this passage is centered on this matter.

To make the point that no one has the latitude to slander anyone except God Himself, we read in our scripture passage how Michael, one of God’s holiest, superior angels, refused to condemn Satan over slander but rather reserved the rebuking to God Himself.

Unfortunately, the ungodly have no regard for the power and absolute Lordship of God. They slander what “they do not understand”, celestial beings or otherwise, but note that even the things they “do understand by instinct”, the sinful things that seem so natural to an ungodly person will lead to their destruction.

The bottom line here is that one should never want to be counted among the number of the ungodly and if you are reading this today and feel you’re reading about yourself, then make this day the one you decide to change everything, repenting of your sin and committing yourself to believe in Jesus, the Savior of the world and the only One who can rescue you from Hell and bring you to God the Father who you will join one day in the Kingdom of Heaven.

My prayer is that no one will ever trade in that everlasting future glory for an eternity of darkness and damnation because that’s what the ungodly are doing every day they remain opposed to God.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

JUDGMENT REMINDERS (PART 3)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

Jude 1:7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When people blatantly live in sin and disrespect the God who made them, they do so under the risk of being an object of His judgment because while He is a God of love and mercy and grace, He is also a God of judgment.

A good part of this letter we have been studying, a letter written by Jesus’ half-brother Jude, spends time reminding its readers about how God does send punishment on the ungodly, drawing from Old Testament history to validate the point.

In the first message, we were drawn back to God’s blessed deliverance of the Israelites from the clutches and oppression of their Egyptian captivity. He did so with the promise of leading them to a land that would be their very own, a land where they would settle and become a great nation. You would have thought the Israelites would have trusted God with faith after seeing His power on full display during their rescue but during their forty day journey to the Promised Land, they not only engaged in complaining about their circumstances but also pagan worship. Within those circumstances, we saw where the Lord sent punishment on His people but they had saved their worst for last. For after God had brought them to the moment of entering Canaan, they chose not to, afraid after receiving harrowing news from ten of the twelve scouts who were sent in to assess the way ahead. Their sinful disbelief led to God’s condemnation and being sent away to wander in the wilderness for forty years, enough time for the faithless generation to die off so their offspring could be given the opportunity to cross the Jordan and inherit the land God promised.

Then in yesterday’s message, the second in this series, we saw how even angelic beings were subject to the judgment of God with some shackled in darkness with eternal chains and imprisoned until the “judgment on the great Day (v.6). These fallen angels, also called demons, had “abandoned their proper dwelling”, sinning against God and therefore removed from their holy stature.

And this brings us to today’s message as we see that even entire cities can be obliterated over their wickedness by the all powerful, mighty God of all creation. Let’s look at verse 7 of Jude, chapter 1.

In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.  

We first get a hint of the fallen state of one of these cities as Abram and Lot established themselves in Canaan and the “whole plain of the Jordan” respectively (Genesis 13:10-12). Within these verses, we also learn that Lot put down roots near a city named Sodom which was described this way in verse 13:

Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.

Not good.

Later, God would come to Abraham and say this about Sodom and its sister city Gomorrah:

“The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will know.” Genesis 18:20-21

And with that, God dispatched the angels who had appeared as men to Abraham, sending them to Sodom. There, they found transgression as the norm with sexual immorality, especially homosexuality, running rampant. In fact, after the angels accepted Lot’s offer of hospitality, a mob of men gathered outside of his residence, demanding that he send the two men (angels) out so they could have sex with them (Genesis 19:1-5). In the Book of Ezekiel, we find more evidence regarding the sin of Sodom. In the sixteenth chapter, we find the Lord saying this:

“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before Me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.” Vv.49-50

What did that doing away with them look like?

We read this after Lot and his family fled the city:

...the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. Genesis 19:24-25

And with that, two major cities were wiped out, destroyed with fire from Heaven sent by a God who judges blatant, unrepentant sinfulness.

Think about this a minute in today’s context.

How many wicked cities exist in the world today, cities that carry themselves in sinful, ungodly ways, despite the evidence that God can and will annihilate and eradicate entire municipalities and do so with ease?

Indeed, we need this judgment reminder from the scriptures but the question is, how will the world respond to it, and specifically, the cities of that world?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.