Address—C. Hendricks
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One of the smallest.
Of the Epistles.
But full of.
Very important and needed instruction in these dark days in which our lot is cast. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.
To them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called.
Mercy unto you, and peace and love be multiplied.
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the Saints.
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God in our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will therefore put you in remembrance, 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.
And the angels 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, even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, in like manner giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh.
Are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despised dominion and speak evil of dignities.
Yet Michael the Archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses.
Durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, the Lord rebuked thee.
But these speak evil of those things which they know not.
But what they know naturally as brute beasts in those things, they corrupt themselves.
Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Cora.
These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear. Clouds they are without water carried about of winds, trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit twice dead, plucked up by the roots.
Raging waves of the sea forming out their own shame. Wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness.
And Enoch also the 7th from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with 10 thousands of his Saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
These are murmurers, complainers walking after their own lusts.
Then their mouths speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons.
In admiration because of advantage.
But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts? These be they who separate themselves sensual, having not the Spirit.
But she, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith.
Praying in the Holy Ghost.
Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
And if some have compassion making a difference, and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments spotted by the flesh.
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless.
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.
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Amen.
It's interesting that this very short epistle.
Contains several expressions in it, found nowhere else in the New Testament.
We'll point them out as we come to them.
Let's back up to the second chapter of 1 John.
For a few verses.
1 John 2 and 18.
Little children, it is the last time.
And as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time.
They went out from us, but they were not of us, or if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest, that they, they all were not of us. The way it should read.
Now John speaks of apostates that left the profession of Christianity and went out.
They went.
They left it and they attack it from without.
They've given up the profession that they once made.
Jude also speaks of apostates, but in a different sense.
Those in Jude are apostates as far as the fundamentals of the Christian faith are concerned, but they didn't go out.
They're not attacking it from without, they stay inside.
And they're doing their evil work from within.
And they're more dangerous than those that have abandoned Christianity professibly and attack it from outside.
You might say you'd expect to hear the things that they say because they've ceased to profess Christianity. But in in Jude they haven't done that. These men that have crept in unnoticed are are evil men, ungodly men. You've probably noticed as we read that epistle how often the word ungodly occurred.
This Jude, the brother of James. They were both the Lord's brothers.
He had two others, Joseph and Simon.
Judas and James.
And they didn't believe in the Lord when he was here below.
But they came to faith after his resurrection and if you read in Acts 1.
You'll read that Mary was there with his brethren. It says his brothers.
And he also had sisters. They're not named.
But he had four brothers, and two of them wrote epistles. Jude is one of them and James is the other.
And they were his brothers after the flesh. They don't write his apostles. You notice Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.
To them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. This is the darkest epistle we have in the New Testament, and we need that preserving care of the Lord to keep us from the evils that are round about us in the professing Christian.
Company, wherever they are.
Now three times in our King James we have the word beloved. Verse 3, beloved.
And again in verse 17. But beloved.
And again in verse 20. But she beloved.
In the new translation.
We have instead of to them that are sanctified by God the Father. It is beloved in God the Father. Well, whether it's three times or four times, whenever Jude speaks of the beloved.
He's Speaking of those who are real.
Now this epistle is, is like Second Timothy. It's looking at the whole profession of Christendom and it's like unto a great house where there's gold and silver and wood and hay and stubble and vessels to honor and vessels to dishonor. And that's the that's the viewpoint that you have in Jude.
You won't understand Jude if you try to get to fit it in with a with a local assembly.
I certainly hope that it doesn't fit in this local assembly.
Or any of our local assemblers. It's a picture of christened up.
And what has come in to it? We, we are, we, we lead such shielded lives gathered to the Lords name, many of us hardly know what's going on.
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Under the umbrella of Christendom. Under this profession of Christendom.
It's it's, it's really bad.
And Jude addresses that.
To get instruction for a local assembly that's gathered to the Lord's name, you go to 1St Corinthians.
2nd Corinthians. These are epistles that deal with that.
But Jude, that looks at the whole profession of Christendom.
Christ's Kingdom, Kingdom of heaven in its mystery form, where the tares and the wheat grow together. And we've read of many tears in this epistle. Ungodly men.
And then that yet there are the beloved. And I want to make this very clear. Whenever, whenever it says beloved, it's not referring to the gathered Saints only, it's referring to all those who are.
Saved those who have faith, those who are the Lord's.
They are the beloved.
And it's a very precious He was God's beloved Son.
But he has those who he also addresses as beloved.
You get that in other portions, like in Hebrews 3 when he speaks of the apostasy, and that in the wilderness many didn't make it to the promised land because of underneath. But then he says, but we love it. We are persuaded better things of you, though we thus speak.
When he says beloved, he's talking about those who are real and genuine.
So I say that to caution us. Don't apply any of these things that are stated about apostates to real Christians.
They don't apply.
Real Christians. Real Christians from the viewpoint of Jude our beloved.
They're his. They're going to spend eternity with us, and we're all going to be there in that glory scene above. We should be together now, but that's another subject.
But here we're looking at the whole profession of Christianity.
And he?
He speaks to them that are sanctified by God the Father, set apart or beloved in God the Father, if you will, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called beautiful to be to be one of the called ones.
Those that he has called out of darkness into his marvelous light. Paul often speaks of us as the called ones.
Called us to His eternal glory.
Yes, we're called to wonderful things ahead.
And preserved in Jesus Christ. We need to be preserved, especially in this dark day.
Paul usually begins his epistle with grace be unto you, but Jude says mercy unto you, and peace and love be multiplied mercy. He looks at the Lorde coming. You'll notice in verse verse 21. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
And I think it's the only epistle that speaks of his coming as a mercy.
When he, when he takes us out of this scene, it will be a merciful deliverance from it, because things have gotten so, so dark and so bad, things happening under the profession of Christ that you would, you would think, would only happen right out in the secular world.
But no, these things are happening right in the profession and even from the pulpits of the land and so on. You'll see that as we go into this.
Mercy unto you. We need mercy. We need to be kept and delivered from the evil that is round about us, and we need to be made conscious of the fact that we're going through a very wicked scene.
At peace and love be multiplied. Need to have that multiplied to us.
We sometimes say we can't keep ourselves well. There are things that we're told to keep ourselves from. Keep yourselves from in the love of God, it says in this epistle.
Beloved verse 3, when I gave all diligence.
To write unto you of the common salvation. He wanted to write of those things which are ours in Christ, the blessings which we've been brought into and.
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All our portion he wanted to write.
Of how that we are justified by faith.
That we have peace with God.
That we're children of God, That we have eternal life and the forgiveness of all our sins.
That were justified, reconciled, redeemed, and all these precious terms that that describe our portion.
But he says, It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you, that ye should earnestly contend for the faith.
Which was once delivered unto the Saints.
Now, that doesn't mean our personal faith. That means the whole body of revealed truth that we get a hold of by faith is that which we believe.
The faith that was once for all delivered unto the Saints. We don't look for fresh revelations in this 21St century. The whole Word of God, the Canon of Scripture, is closed.
The faith which was once for all delivered to the Saints, that was completed by the end of the 1St century.
And God is not giving fresh and new revelations today.
And those that claim to be doing so are false. And we can test so many things that are out there by principles like this in the Word of God, the faith once for all delivered to the Saints. We don't look for fresh revelations today. He's given us everything that we need. Paul said in Colossians one that he was given the truth of the mystery to complete, to fulfill or complete the word of God.
It's like a pie that has one piece cut out of it, and all the rest of the pie that's there represents all the revelation that God has been pleased to give in the Old and New Testament. But then Paul was given the truth of the mystery, and there's that one piece, and he sets that in the pie, and that fills up. That fills up the revelation of God. We don't expect anything further.
The truth of the mystery to complete to fulfill the Word of God.
So he says, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the Saints. That's the whole body of revealed truth, and it's all been delivered.
And those that say that they have apostles, nowadays, we know they're false.
Because the apostles were given to lay the foundation churches built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.
And that's been done.
And now the gifts that are beyond the apostles and prophets. He gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the Saints. But we don't have apostles today. We have it in the Word.
What they've given us, that's our standard.
That's the truth by which we measure everything, and all the things that are going on in the Christian world around us have to be tested by the Word of God.
You may never have noticed this, but I'll make this observation whenever any company of Christians have the word of Yes, we believe the Bible, we have the word of God, but we also have this.
We have the Book of Mormon or the covenants or whatever it is, the Watchtower, we all, they've got something besides the word of God.
The Pentecostals would say we have prophets that speak today and utter the the mind of God.
As though as though what we have here is not complete. We need something further fresh and new for this present generation.
If it's new, it's not true.
Because God has given it to us as a complete revelation.
We can test things that are out there.
By these principles.
Earnestly contend.
Stand for.
Fight for it.
Uphold it, maintain it.
The faith which was once for all delivered to the Saints.
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation.
Ungodly.
Turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God on our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Is that it has a new translation, the only sovereign ruler?
Two things these these evil men, these ungodly men that have crept in unnoticed are doing is they're they're denying authority, denying that there is an absolute authority to which they must be subject and that's that of the Lord Jesus. And then that gives free reign for the flesh.
Flesh can do as it pleases, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, dissoluteness.
Doing what we want. No one's going to tell me what to do I don't. I don't bow to any authority over me, and I'm going to give free rein to my flesh. That's the philosophy that permeates Christian circles today.
Mess with you and speaking about.
How did these men get in There are certain men crept in unnoticed? Turn back to Acts chapter 8 please.
Acts Chapter 8.
In verse 5.
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. And the people with 1 accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them, and many taken with palsies, and that were lame were healed.
There was great joy in that city.
But there was a certain man called Simon.
Which before time in the same city used sorcery and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one.
To whom they all gave heed from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.
But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God.
And the name of Jesus Christ. They were baptized, both men and women.
Then Simon himself believed.
Also, and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Notice what attracted Simon so much were the miracles and signs which were done.
Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John.
Who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost.
For as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then lay their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
And when Simon saw that through laying out of the apostles hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money.
Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Ghost. Now he had been a sorcerer. Now he sees the power far stronger and mightier than what he had, and he wanted that for earthly gain. There's many men that are in Christian pulpits today that are there just for that reason.
Just for that reason.
Give me also this power, that at whomsoever I may lay hands, He may receive the Holy Ghost.
But Peter said unto him.
He had the gift of discernment, Peter did. He said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
Repent therefore of this thy wickedness. Now let me pause here. This man had never repented. It says Simon believed, and he was baptized, but he never had repented. He never had taken God's side against himself and judged himself. Paul preached repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.
Because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge this world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, and that he hath raised him from the dead.
And a gospel that doesn't bring in repentance is only half a gospel.
And Simon had never repented.
He had never seen himself as a guilty, rotten, hell bound Sinner.
No, he saw the miracles and signs which were done, and that impressed him, and he believed after a fashion.
But it wasn't saving faith at all.
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And that's how some of these men crept in unnoticed. If Peter had not been here to expose the hypocrisy of this man and the unreality of this man, he would have remained amongst the Christians an ungodly man.
Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which thou had ye have spoken come upon me.
Well, I cite that as an example going back now to Jude, how these wicked men, these ungodly men got here and unnoticed, they made a profession. They even submitted to baptism and they became Christians by profession.
There's millions of them in the Christian profession today that are not real. Some of them wear clerical garbage.
Some of them have Reverend behind their names and so on and other titles.
That make them looked up to and respected as men of the cloth.
That they've never been born again.
They've never cast from death to life. They've never had their sins forgiven.
They've never really been saved at all.
There are certain men crept in unawares.
Says.
Who were before of old ordained to this condemnation ungodly men?
Turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God, our Lord Jesus Christ, Using God's grace for profit and gain.
And to go ahead with their carnal evil designs.
To pollute defiled the sanctuary of God, the Saints of God inside.
Now verses 5-6 and seven are three verses that set before us. Apostasy. Jude speaks of apostasy. If you read second Peter 2, you'll see the 2nd chapter is very much like Jude.
I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how let the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt.
Afterward destroyed them that believed not here's a saved people that didn't make it.
We often say once saved, always saved. You can't be lost if you're saved. That's true the way we mean it. But there's such a thing as being in the position of salvation. Simon Magus was like that. He said, says he believed and he was baptized. He was saved. That is, outwardly, but not really.
Never been born again, never had eternal life at all.
And these men that were saved out of Egypt, they came out from under the power of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in Egypt, and he went through the Red Sea Speaking of the death and resurrection of Christ, and they were a saved people positionally.
But not really.
Not really.
And that's what Jude is Speaking of. He's Speaking of apostates who are inside.
It wasn't too long ago.
Two or three years back I was in Canada in the eastern part and the United Church was electing a new president. I don't know what his title is, but and.
He was an apostate.
He doesn't know.
The truth of Christianity at all.
He was I am the Way, the Truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
His response to that is that in the Bible?
I'll have to look that up.
I didn't know that.
President, top man in the United Church of Canada, an apostate body. Been that way for years. But think of those that put him into that position.
That's what Jude's talking about. He's talking about these ungodly men who have got in unnoticed. They've got in under a profession which satisfies so many, but there's no reality to it whatsoever.
And so here was the saved people. All of Israel that left Egypt went through the Red Sea. They were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. You get that in 1St Corinthians 10. They were a safe people. They ate the same spiritual meat and drank the same spiritual drink, but they were not pleasing to God, many of them.
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Because they didn't have faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. You may have been brave raised as a Christian. You may have Christian parents. You may be sitting right here and not be saved. Don't know your hearts.
The Lord does.
You may not even know your own heart.
Talking to a brother just recently and.
A workmate came to him with tears and said I lied to you when I took this job.
I said I was a born again Christian.
And she said, I don't know what I like. I don't know where I am now.
I'm living in sin.
And I don't think I'm saved.
Well.
At least as a measure of honesty, in that these that Jude is talking about are those that are there and they don't apologize for anything.
They're self willed, self appointed.
Men of tremendous pride.
And they're the ones that you'd speak so.
So it's possible to be in a safe position.
Partaker of the Holy Spirit. As the writer Paul of Hebrews says, the partaker of the Holy Spirit, everyone that's in this room is a partaker of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is here. He leads and guides. He indwells all true believers. And you outwardly are a partaker of that blessing outwardly. But you may not be real. You may not be born of the Spirit. Now that's reality or sealed of the Spirit, that's reality.
But you can be an outward partaker of it and all the benefits of Christianity.
Meetings such as this, what a privilege to be here.
And to be around the Lord in his death, remember him, and so on. All the privileges of Christianity.
And yet you can still be lost.
Bust.
Another example of apostasy is the angels and the angels which kept not their first estate. Verse 6.
But left their own habitation he hath reserved in everlasting chains.
Under darkness, under the judgment of the great day, these angels are not free to tempt man. They're chained. They're kept reserved for judgment.
Now in Peter he says the angels that sinned, but here Jude says the angels which kept not their first estate, but abandoned, left their own habitation.
I believe that Genesis chapter 6 that says when the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, they went into them.
And they had children by them.
The angels left their first estate. They left that which they had been put into by creation.
And entered into another order of creation.
And a sin if they apostasy, sometimes they were apostates. And this is what Jude is talking about.
A saved people outwardly that never made it. They were they were apostates.
Hear angels that became apostates. They left their first estate.
Kept not their first estate, left their own habitation. They're reserved for judgment.
And then in verse 7 we have moral apostasy. We see it everywhere, even in pulpits.
Homosexuals.
Even as Sodom and Gomorrah.
And the cities about them in like manner.
Giving themselves over to fornication.
Going after strange flesh men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves a recompense of their error, which was me, Romans. What? But this is Jude. This is the end. This is like Second Timothy, the end of the this is describing Christendom. It's not describing the Pagan world like Romans one did, but it's describing Christen go.
Christianity, the profession of it, not the real. The real ones in this epistle are those whom he delineates as my as my beloved, my beloved. They're real. They're genuine. Don't ever apply anything that's said about an apostate to a real Christian.
Just because they're not with us.
That would be the the epitome of sectarianism.
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And an abomination to God, we would do that.
That's like saying that all the tables of men that are round about us that are not the Lords table are the tables of demons. That's an abomination.
They're not the tables of deals.
Tables of men.
We're not demons tables. That's.
Paganism.
That's idolatry and so on.
Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner.
Giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Now if you read these two verses.
6:00 and 7:00.
Together.
And use Mr. Darby's translation.
What it says is.
Even as Sodom and Gomorrah.
And the cities about them.
He puts that all together.
In my manner with them.
Who's the them?
The antecedent of them is the angels that sinned.
So Jude clearly tells us that the angels left their own habitation in the angelic world and came into our world and.
Had children, they were called the mighty men and that's all. Been destroyed by the flood.
That's interesting because when man, when, when, when this kind of thing happens, which is a.
Totally abnormal.
Homosexuality is apostasy from what is normal. Even as a man and a woman, you go down the street and you see this sign, Unisex. That's an abomination to God. There's not one sex. There are two sexes. There's the male and the female.
And be thankful for what you are.
I never tried to change that or to be or even dress like the other.
God called Sat an abomination.
Woman on a dress as a woman and a man as a man.
But this is all.
Departure from this this is the kind of thing we see around us, and even Christians are defending this abomination.
Verse 8 Now likewise also these dreamers, filthy dreamers that's been added, These dreamers defile the flesh.
Despise Dominion.
Speak evil of dignities. They they don't. They're not subject to anyone.
They're not going to be told what to do and they have free reign for the flesh. These are the two things that characterize these that are.
In the Christian world.
That are not real.
These are leaders.
Leaders.
Yet Michael the Archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuked thee.
But these speak evil of those things which they know not, but what they know naturally as brute beasts. In these those things they corrupt themselves.
Woe to them.
For they have gone in the way of Cain.
And ran greedily after the heir of Balaam for reward.
And perished in the gainsaying of Korah.
The way of Cain.
Is.
The way of works.
Turn back to Genesis 4 quickly.
Genesis chapter 4.
And Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bear Cain and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.
And she again bear his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground and offering unto the Lord. Now both of these men become worshippers. They bring an offering, they approach God on. Cain approaches God on his terms. He brings the best he could. He brings the fruit of the ground what he had labored for. It speaks of his works. He brings his works to God, assuming that God will accept him on that basis.
And Abel, he acknowledges that he was a Sinner. He also brought up the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. Now the difference between Cain and Abel is not that Cain was a bad man, and Abel was a good man and one that you like and had a nice character and was amiable, and you'd like to be in his company. And Cain was, was a mean and hateful man. No, that's not the difference. The difference is the is the.
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Offering that they brought in their approach to God.
Cain brought an offering that spoke of his own.
Accomplished righteousness. His own works.
And God says no.
You can't come into my presence.
On that basis, you're a Sinner and you haven't acknowledged it, Abel. He acknowledged that he was a Sinner. They had both heard about the fall from Adam and Eve, no doubt how they were expelled from the Garden of Delights. They both knew it.
But it didn't have the same effect of Cain as it did on Abel.
Unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. But Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wrath, And why is that countenance fallen, if thou doest well? In other words, if you bring the right offering, Cain?
Shalt thou not be accepted? Yes, he would.
Abel brought the right offering. And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.
That is their sin. That is barring you from me. God says you can't pass that door. You can't pass it because your sin is still upon you. The offering that you've brought does not put your sin away at all.
It ignores the fact that you're a Sinner and you're presenting to me your good works. But I'm sure that when Cain brought, he labored much for that. It was probably the best he could find in his garden. And he put them in a basket and he brought it to the Lord. Surely he'll accept this. He'll be pleased with this. No, he won't.
Sin is at the door. He never had brought anything that would remove the sin that kept him from entering the presence of God.
It says in verse 8 Cain talked with Abel his brother. It came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Now turn to 1 John 3.
First John 3.
Now we know that Cain's slaying Abel, that was evil. We know that he murdered him.
But that's not the original sin that he was guilty of, which kept him from God.
First John, chapter 3.
It was his offering.
It was what he brought.
Verse Verse 12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked 1 and slew his brother.
And wherefore why did he slay him?
Because his own works were evil.
And his brothers righteous, the works were that were evil was not his murdering Cain, that was evil. We're murdering Abel, that was evil, yes, but it was the offering that he brought.
The offering that he brought.
Did not acknowledge that he was a Sinner.
Turn back to Hebrews 11 for one more verse and then we'll pass on.
Hebrews 11.
Verse 4 by faith.
Abel offered unto God.
A more excellent sacrifice than Cain.
By which he obtained witness that he was righteous God testifying of his gifts.
And by it he being dead yet speaking.
The difference between these two men?
Was that Cain brought his own righteousness.
Works.
God said.
You can't come into my presence on that basis. Sin is still at the door, and you're barred from my presence until it's put away.
What Abel offered spoke of the sacrifice of Christ, which would put this in a way and open up access into the presence of God. Well unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain.
Natural religion. This man I was just Speaking of a few moments ago was one who had gone in the way of Cain.
And ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward turned back to numbers 22.
We have 3 chapters, numbers 22, three and four about Balaam.
But I'm only going to read a verse or two.
Numbers 22.
Ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward. There's many men that are occupied pulpits in the land and that's why they're doing it. They're doing it because they're making a lot of money out of it. Religion is a very profitable thing.
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At Christ, but religion.
And they know it, and they're using it for their own gain in numbers 22.
Verse 9 And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee? Balaam was a false prophet.
He was hired by Balak, the king of Moab, to curse Israel.
And God says to Balaam, What men are these with thee?
And Balaam said unto God, Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, had sent unto me, saying, Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt which covers the face of the earth. Come now, curse me them.
Peradventure I shall be able to overcome them and drive them out.
And God said unto Balaam.
Thou shalt not go with them.
Thou shalt not curse the people, for they are blessed.
I say this for the benefit of young people that are here if you ever get into a conversation with someone that is in the occult world.
And they threatened you with a curse if you don't go along with them or agree with them or whatever it might be.
You can answer, you can't curse me.
I am blessed.
God has blessed me.
You can't curse me.
I remember the time when my wife and I went to visit a young lady.
And her brother was there. He was the Church of Christ, man.
And just about everything I said to this young girl that tried to help her, she was interested in the truth, he contradicted.
I discerned where he was and I said to him.
Because they push baptism. They say that you have to be baptized in order to be saved. That's essential. I said, was Paul sent to baptize? Tell me he said yes, he was. That's essential to salvation. And then I read in First Corinthians one where he says God sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.
And I said to the sister.
Who's true? Who's telling the truth? The Apostle Paul, he said he wasn't sent to baptize.
Your brother says he was. Who has the truth?
And he got so furious and angry with me, he said, get out, I'll put a curse on you.
Well, I got out with my wife and if I had known what I know today I would have said you can't curse me.
Now you can't.
Because God has blessed me, and who he whom God blesses is blessed.
Just remember, remember that no witch or anyone that's in the occult world can ever put a curse on you. Don't ever be terrified by that kind of a threat. And those threats are out there and you might have it said to you. Just remember that Satan cannot curse those whom God has blessed.
Woe to them, for they have gone in the way of Cain.
And ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward hired prophets.
Even willing to curse the people of God just to get the reward that Balak was going to give to him.
He tried every vantage point he could, but he had to pronounce blessing upon his reel.
And these have perished in the gainsaying of Korah. Turn back to #16 quickly.
Taking too much time on these points but they're so important #16.
Now Cora.
The son of Izhar.
The son of Kohath.
The son of Levi Cora was a Levite. Note that and Dathan in Abiram the sons of Eliab, and on the son of Pele, sons of Reuben, took men.
So these came from the tribe of Levi and the tribe of Reuben, and they rose up before Moses with certain of the children of Israel. 250 Princess of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown. They had a great following. These were not just the the run-of-the-mill Israelites. These were the the top crust of the the religious Society of the day. And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. What did I speak of to us today? Moses was the.
He was the sent one that we had yesterday, the sent one of God, and Aaron was the high priest representing us before God.
So as the as Moses and Aaron, they were both being opposed by this group.
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What answers to that? Well, we'll see in a minute.
They gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them.
You take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Wherefore thou lift you up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord. And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face, and spake, and he spake unto core, and so on.
I don't want to go into the details of it, it would take too long.
There are there's a movement, it's called the New Age movement in Chrisno. They don't need Christ. They don't need Christ as the the apostle, the sent one or the one that represents us before God. All the people are holy.
They can approach God on their own terms.
That's what Cain did. Approached God in his own term, in their own terms.
The way of Cain, the error of Cain, The way of Cain is Catholicism. Where it works, works.
The error of Balaam for reward Protestantism. Not the real ones, not those that are real, but those that are hired for that position, for gain.
They'll do anything in order for their own profit and gain. Many men like that and then the gainsaying of Korah.
The New Age movement.
This is around us, it's everywhere.
Verse 12.
These are spots in your lofty piece of charity.
When they feast with you, here they are.
I think Lord's there, we're going to have a fellowship time, we'll sit together, we'll eat together. And these men were were amongst the Christians, the believers.
It kept it crept in unnoticed, unawares, feasting with them, feeding themselves without fear.
Clouds without water carried about of winds trees whose fruit withereth.
Without fruit twice dead, plucked up by the roots.
Raging waves of the sea foaming out their own shame. Wandering stars, nothing fixed about them.
To whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Now I say it again, Don't ever apply these verses to a true believer. Never do that. These apply to apostates.
Those that wear the Christian garb and make the Christian profession, but there's no reality about them at all. Evil men.
Now we have a prophecy that Enoch made that's not recorded in the Old Testament. We have it here in Jude.
And Enoch also the 7th from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with 10 thousands of his Saints. This is not the rapture, this is his appearing. He's coming with the Saints back to earth to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
These are murmurers, complainers walking after their own lusts.
And their mouths speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons and admiration because of advantage. Oh yes, they know how to flatter, They know how to manipulate people.
These evil men.
Faith healers. Frauds.
Fakes, that's what they are.
For money.
But beloved verse 17, now he talks to the beloved.
To those who are his belong to the Lord.
But beloved, remember ye the words.
Which were spoken before.
Of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time?
Who should walk after their own ungodly lusts?
I don't know if you've ever read it.
There's a book out. It's in the Collected Writings, Mr. Darby.
His book is called The Irrationalism of Infidelity.
And he's commenting upon.
Francis Newman's Phases of.
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Phases of Unbelief. It should be titled.
There were three men that went to.
To school together.
Mr. Darby was 1.
Francis Newman, who became an agnostic.
He wrote the spaces of Faith, denying the Bible.
And then his brother, Cardinal Newman.
His brother.
They went three different ways, these three men. One went into ritualism, one went into rationalism, and one went to the truth.
For the difference.
Between these three men, but they were all together.
If you want to read something that will send chills up and down your spine, read the preface to.
The irrationalism of infidelity. It's a private letter made public, written by Mr. Darby to Mr. Newman.
Within a school name.
And he'd become an apostate.
Hard to read that without tears as he appeals to.
To something that he saw in the past year, your expressions of joy in the Lord and and how you spoke endearingly of Him. And now you are tearing down everything that you once profess.
Was there nothing real in what you said? Was there no reality at all?
Read it if you get a chance. Most stirring.
These be they verse 19, who separate themselves sensual.
Having not the Spirit.
Apostates within.
Doing their deadly work.
But she beloved.
Building up yourselves on your most holy faith.
Praying in the Holy Ghost.
You may have you may have heard of higher criticism, some of you young people.
Higher criticism, they called it.
They were men that with their intellect attacked the word of God.
Said that the first first five books of Moses were not written by Moses, but by different men.
The Jehovah stick and the E holistic documents.
All this nonsense.
That they came out with.
They were attacking it from within. They were Christians.
And with their intellect.
We're attacking the Word of God.
You see, Satan knows that if he can, if he can get you to question any part of the Word of God.
Just question it and not start to reason upon it and then finally to deny it.
He will have achieved all he wants.
It's like a child that's building this big pyramid and he just pulls one block out the bottom.
That's Genesis.
1St 11 Chapters. The most attacked portion of the whole Word of God.
Creation.
Story of creation in Genesis 1 and 2 is that of God, absolutely.
Absolutely we can trust him.
They speak not according to this word. It is because there's no light in them.
Build trust and evolution is never saying we got here by chance, no.
Well, that's another subject, but Jude is talking about this kind of thing.
Verse 20 but she beloved.
Building up yourselves on your most holy faith.
Remember that your faith is your is a holy faith, holy faith, and it's your most holy faith when you believe it. Build yourselves up the reading meaning ministry meeting such as we have tonight. Build yourselves up on your most holy faith praying in the Holy Ghost. Can you pray still in the Holy Spirit in the midst of all the evil that's come in yesterday?