Don't Kid Yourself, Jesus is Lord! – A Talk Based on Jude 5 – 16: Oct. 27, 2019 Good morning! How is everyone today? I want to personally thank each of you for making the choice to be here today – making the choice to surrender this time to Christ and let Him be in control for a change --- Isn’t that the reality though – it is a choice – it doesn’t come naturally to us --- we would like to think it is easy for us to give Jesus control of our lives – but it is way easier said then done and more often than not – we are the roadblock. Show Video – The Stool Does that look familiar to any of us – does that look like any of us? I know it does me You know the first Sunday of every month we celebrate communion and in doing so we remember the sacrifice Christ gave on our behalf, thanking Him for becoming sin so that our sins may be forgiven – the act of partaking in communion is our way of connecting with Christ – becoming one in remembrance with Him and proclaiming Him as Lord and Savior. But do our actions match our words? We proclaim Him as Lord – with celebrate His atoning gift and give thanks with our lips, but do we give obedience with our hearts and with our deeds? We have been studying the Book of Jude and that is the question Jude asks – that is the warning he shouts at full voice as he gives us example after of example and warning after warning. We have broken the book down into a few smaller bits the last few Sundays I have taught and today I want to dig deeper into verses 5 – 16 and look at the thread Jude has been weaving that shouts out loud and clear this warning to each of us – Don't Kid Yourself, Jesus is Lord! Don’t be fooled by others and don’t be fooled by ourselves. And don’t think we can fool Christ – He ain’t fooled – we may have everyone else fooled; we may even have ourselves fooled, but trust me – Jesus ain’t fooled in the least☺ Open you Bibles if you would please and turn to the book of Jude and follow along with me as I read aloud verse 5 – 16: Jude 1:5-16 (NIV) Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 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. In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them. 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. These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. Okay – a big chunk – but I want us to focus on a few key points and we will see a theme that is woven through those points. First I want to look at verses 5 & 7: In verses 5 through 7 we find an historical record of God judging apostasy: Jude 1:5-7 (NIV) Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 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. God delivered Israel from the land of Egypt by a series of miracles, freeing them from Pharaoh's hand. The young nation entered into the wilderness, having passed through the midst of the Red Sea; its waters had rolled back and then closed upon Pharaoh's army. On the way to the Promised Land, they were granted the law of God at the foot of Mt. Sinai. However, in the process of their journey, Israel turned their backs on God, becoming apostates. Therefore, God let them wander in the wilderness for forty years until the older generation had died off so that they would not enter the Promised Land. - They had seen the mighty hand and power of God – yet the turned their back on Him when they thought He wasn’t looking – they wanted the things that fit their own hearts and desires and even though God saved them out of the bondage of Eden – even though God called them His chosen people – God was not fooled by their apostasy and God did not let them enter into the promised land. --- The same is true for the angels that turned to their own desires and for the example set before us of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is a timeless yet effective tactic of Satan’s – God loves you – God is a forgiving God – when you sin His Grace abounds – go ahead and Sin – God wants to give you the desires of your heart --- and we fall for it time and time again – but don’t Kid Yourself – God’s not fooled – the more we think we can play with Satan’s fire, the more we are going to get burned. Hebrews 3:7-9 (NLT) That is why the Holy Spirit says, “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness. There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years. Don’t be fooled – Don’t Kid Yourself!!! Satan will try all he can to pervert God’s Word – to twist it just as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden. Know this – God will not lead us astray - all false teaching – all doctrinal error is has Satan as its source! And so, it is a rather amazing irony that these false teachers – these mystics – these perpetrators of apostasy proclaim to have a special revelation from God – that they speak to the Angels – when the reality is the Angels they are speaking to are the fallen angels of Satan’s demonic realm. Because the point is so unusual, Jude gives a further consideration by way of contrast into the seriousness of this sin. In verse 9 Jude is helping us to get a sort of a consummate perspective on the horror of apostasy. It defiles the flesh. It is corrupt morally. It denies authority. It therefore denies the Lordship of Christ! Let’s look at verse 9 again: Jude 1:9 (NIV) But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" The point that Jude makes here is very powerful because he says Michael who is himself a Holy Angel would not even revile Satan who is a fallen angel. Michael was God’s particularly powerful angel for the purpose of protecting Israel and defeating Satan’s purposes against Israel, against the people of God. That’s why he’s called Michael, your prince, the prince of Israel, the protector of Israel. He is also mentioned in Revelation chapter 12 verses 7 through 9. He is seen with very important responsibility as a protector. In Revelation 12:7 Michael and his angels are waging war with Satan and his angels. And, of course, Michael and his angels defeat Satan and his angels and throw them out of heaven and throw them down to earth. He is indeed a powerful heavenly holy angel and yet there are limits to his power and there are limits to his knowledge. He is not omniscient, or is he omnipotent. His power as a Holy Angel is delegated and his function is to do whatever God tells him to do and not act independently on his own.