Preserved in the Worst Case Scenarios
Jude gives us some of the worse case scenarios. Yet, we also see that even in some of the worst case scenarios, God preserved some. This is also a viable theme in the book; the preserved. In fact, one of the last statements in the book is that, "God who is able to keep you..."God always kept some – in every circumstance. Probably the worst case scenario of them all is found in Jude verse 6: It says, "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."Of course, not all of the angels are chained. We are talking about the fallen angels. Some angels still have ministries on earth that they must fulfill before they are taken away.

Here is Lucifer in heaven. How many angels are mention be name in Scripture? Only three of them are mentioned by named: Lucifer, Michael and Gabriel. One-third defected – one-third of the stars. Remember, they defected with Lucifer. Two-thirds made it, and they are represented by the two angels on the mercy seat, falling down for mercy. We are kept by the mercy of God. In fact, it says that in Jude in the latter part of verse 21: "Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."

In every one of these rebellious scenes, God did spare some. Even in Sodom and Gomorrah, we see that God did spare some. So we want to be those that find mercy, Amen. We want to be those that fall down and find mercy – as the two-thirds in heaven that fell down and found mercy. Not all of the angels were in agreement with Lucifer’s rebellion. There is no redemption promised to angels. In John 3:5 it says: "…Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Only human beings are born of water, angels are certainly not born of water and there is no salvation offered to them. They are created beings. There is a doctrine called, ultimate reconciliation; that says God is going to restore everything in the end; even Lucifer and the fallen angels. (This doctrine originated with Origen.)

In verse 7 of Jude, we have Sodom and Gomorrah: "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." Here is a wicked place, full of perversion and homosexuality that is set forth as an example. Today we have various ministers that try to justify and condone alternative lifestyles (or whatever they want to call it). However, here is an example – a precedent that says; this is how God views such conduct. He gave them over to the eternal flame.

Eternal Fire
Some interpret the eternal fire to mean "momentary" and they also interpret hell to be momentary. Just a momentary flame and then it is all over. However, this is not what Jesus taught. He taught about a place where the worm dieth not – the human worm. We are given a scene in hell where the devil and his followers are in eternal flame and the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever. There is no end to eternity. There is no end in hell. As I have said before, it is more the fear of hell that got me into the kingdom, than my desire to go to heaven.

However, God did rescue some out of Sodom. We will bring that out later on because there is another verse that kind of relates to this. But do you see that God sets a precedent by what was done in Sodom. What was the sin of Sodom? We are told in Ezekiel 16:49: "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." Actually, most of these sins are the sins of America today: It is far more dangerous to prosper than it is to be in want; far more dangerous spiritually to have much free time and a lot of spending money…they just didn’t know what to do with themselves, so they invented evil things to do. America today is on the road to perdition and there is not going to be an immediate recovery for what is happening until this country repents.

Sodom and Gomorrah are figures of the end. They are figures of the wicked cities that God is going to judge. The Seventh Day Adventists interpret eternal fire as momentary and they use Sodom as a point of reference. Yes, they were destroyed with hell fire, but the inhabitants of Sodom are still in hell and will rise in judgment against those who have had the greater light.
There is a network of radio stations - "Family Radio" and there founder Harold Camping, has some very strange doctrines. He asserts that the end of the world is coming on May 21st of 2011. He also asserts that there is no millennium; and that the earth is going to be burned from May 21st until October 21st (five months). Then it is all over…that is it and eternity begins. So, he reckons that the inhabitants of the world are going to be on fire 5 months. *Individuals like H. Camping give Christianity a black eye – another excuse to reject Christianity when it does not happen.

Many verses reference the unquenchable fire. It is not going to be anything that can be put out. There are people in hell now who have been there for centuries. We have a little picture of this in Luke 16: Before the cross everybody went down into the lower parts of the earth; everybody - the good and the bad. The good people went into paradise because heaven was not opened at that time. Man was still waiting for his redemption to come (Christ). They were not redeemed completely yet. The good went down and the evil, only they were divided by a wide chasm. We see this in the dialogue between Abraham and the rich man (as he was in the lower parts of the earth). The evil occupants of hell were not just burned up – they have been there since Cain. There are other torments in hell besides burning.

But just so we get our doctrine correct; in the final resurrection everyone will be bodily resurrected – the good and the bad. And, it is an immortal body that we stay in forever, whether it is in hell or whether it is in heaven. Those who are in hell now are in their soul/spirit. The same is true of those in heaven. However, in the great resurrection everybody gets a body and they spend eternity in that body.

God did preserve a few even in Sodom: 2 Peter 2:6: "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly." God made them a prototype to learn from. This is what is going to happen to those that live as the ungodly Sodomites. Continuing in verses 7-8: "And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.)"

God is able to deliver the godly. It says of Lot that he was righteous, however, he was not holy. That was the problem with Lot. He was a righteous man, but he was not holy. He vexed his righteous soul from day to day, hearing their evil conversations. Does it vex you when watch the news or flip through the channels on TV? You cannot watch something for ten seconds without a line of smut and filth. It makes me want to reach through the screen and grab somebody. Maybe that is my problem. I hate evil. I cannot help it. So, God is able to deliver and Lot also is a figure. But to the others; this is their end. There are preachers who try to say that sodomy is a life style, but God says it is perversion and their end is in hell.

Easy-Living and the Welfare Mentality
Continuing in Jude 1:8: "Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities." Evil imaginations…they did not have anything else to do but sit around and meditate upon evil things. Our country is adapting to a welfare mentality. Why don’t "they" do this or that…? "They" is the contributing part of the country – the part of the country that supports everything. When I was young, we were very poor and when we did not have money to buy, we did not buy. Today, people think that the government has an endless supply of resources. Well, why don’t "they"… They are broke, they are in debt. And in all truthfulness, this nation needs to humbled. If the younger generation in this nation had to spend the day toiling and sweating just to have enough to eat, there would not be time to meditate upon evil.

I am taking a little detour here; but when we think of some of these big unions, like the auto makers, who procure these hefty packages for the laborer. For example: the average laborer (auto industry) in Detroit receives about $75 an hour. The package includes medical and other benefits. Could you live with $75 an hour? I could. We are talking about thousands a week. Yet, their mentality is: no, we are not going to compromise one dime. This is why our country is going down.

In Hershey, PA there is a chocolate factory where they are getting a nice wage. The owners say to the people: "We cannot afford to give you any more and make a profit." Now, if you are getting $20 an hour; that is a decent wage for a small town. Hershey told their workers they had reached the saturation point and they were going to have to be content with their wages. The workers told them: "No way, we want more." The owners told them, if they did not concede on this they would lose their jobs. The workers response was: "No concessions!" So, they are no longer making chocolate bars in Hershey PA. They have now moved their operations to the fair land of Mexico. That is the kind of mentality that has ruined our country.

Years ago, when I grew up, we did not have credit cards. If you did not have the money, you did not buy. What happened to that mentality? I am getting off the subject, however I was thinking about what a lady told me once; a Singaporean lady. She was talking about the nation of Brunei. Here is a rich little island, wealthy beyond measure. Seven star hotel – and there are only a couple of those on the face of the earth. Forty years ago, the sultan generously started to make everything available – no charge: Free education, free everything. And, this is what the lady said about the people in Brunei: "They are a nation full of good-for-nothings." Today they are having a big problem; they have produced a generation of do-nothings, and good-for-nothings. All they want to do is receive.

This is what unmerited welfare does to people. This is not what America is about, not what made this country great, but it is the way we are going. By the time this administration is through with us we are going to be a welfare state. (That is if we continue on present course.)

This was Sodom; fullness of bread, idleness of time, nothing to do except invent wickedness. "Filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion." Do not tell us what to do! "Speak evil of dignities." No respect for authority. God puts authorities over us and they are to be respected. We are to respect our parents, the police and the school teacher and the pastor. Today it is a different story. Today if a teacher corrects a student, the teacher gets fired. It is one of the signs of the time. Anarchy is lawlessness.

Sins of the Mouth 
"Speak evil of dignities" – do you realize all of the sins that relate to the mouth in this little epistle: In verse 9: "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 rebuke thee." Even the archangel did not bring a railing accusation against Satan. Even angels respect rank.

Verse 10 – 11: "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 (Contradiction) of Core." .

Verse 15: "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."

Verse 16: "These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage." Their mouths speaking great swelling words – flattery.

Verse 18: "How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts." Many sins of the mouth mentioned in this little book.

Did you ever murmur? What is murmur anyway? Have you ever gone camping and sat next to a murmuring stream? You hear the little brook in the background just murmuring; very low key – minor key. Now imagine Moses walking through the camp and he is listening to that low key murmur. The whole camp is alive with murmur - grumbling. "These are lousy accommodations, when are we are getting out here; we are tired of this manna, when are we going to get out of here." That is why they never got out of the desert.

Sins of the mouth: The antichrist is called a flatterer – we will consider this more fully when we come to verse 16. The Scripture says that many shall cleave to those with flatteries. Some Christians always want to hear something good about themselves. They always want to feel good about themselves; and there are ministers who are tailor made for the job. They make their congregation feel good about themselves even when they should be feeling conviction.

They bless them, favor them, please them, but never tell them the truth because that might hurt. David said: "Let the righteous smite me, and it will be a healing oil that will not break my head." Let the righteous give me a good whack when I need it. Remember this; the kisses of the enemy are deceit. Would you rather have somebody kiss you with their deceitful little words, or would you rather have somebody give you a good smack and say: "Look you need to get your life straightened out!" Did you ever have anybody do that to you? Give you a holy slap.

We want to have a sanctified tongue. The tongue is a little member of our body that causes a lot of trouble. As James said, if we can control this little monster in our mouth, then we are living victoriously and the same is a perfect man. "He that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God" (Psa 50:23).

Authority Structure 
Let us consider the thought of speaking evil of dignities because it can start so very subtle. Some years ago, somebody gave me a book on the Nicolaitanes. The Nicolaitanes are mentioned in Revelation a few times. The word in Greek: "nico" means lording over: and "laitanes" means laity. So, it means "lording over the laity." The book was about ministers with the discipleship mentality. Ministers who tell their people every move to make – they control every aspect of their congregant; tell them when to take a vacation, etc. This book that was given to me was almost a backlash to the authority that God has given to the minister. (The other extreme to the Nicolaitanes.)

The protestant church in their backlash from the Catholicism kind of turned the church into a democracy. As the reformation continued it gradually brought democratization to the church. We vote in the pastor; we vote in the elders and Sunday school teachers, etc. This is not Scriptural either. In fact, you are to obey the person God puts over you. However, he is to lead by example, he is not to lord over you. We must understand that the minister is not one of the boys. In fact, the minister gives account for his flock. If he has not led them in the right way, he has to answer for it and (as the song writer said): "A strict account to give…"

The minister is accountable for the blood of his people. God appoints the leader and all who are in charge. Even the boss at work is appointed from heaven – the good the bad and the ugly. So there has to be a certain respect for the office or position. Even dictators fulfill a purpose, and if you don’t believe that, study the kings of the North. They were there as instruments of judgment. If God allows a dictator then there is good reason. However, I certainly would not honor someone like that.

When Paul is writing Romans 13, Nero was the emperor and he was very evil. Paul is talking about respecting authorities. In fact, Paul had to stand before Nero himself. Bottom line – you have to respect the office; if not the person, you have to respect the office.

In Hebrews 13:17; we are looking at the minister: "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you." It is God who appoints the minister over the flock. God appoints them and we must respect that appointment. The pastor must give an account for his flock. God has set him apart for this responsibility.

We could go into a long exposition on this, but to contrast the minister from the congregation…looking at Leviticus: When a minister sinned; his sin offering was equivalent to that of the whole congregation together when they sinned. There are congregational sins, but the minister’s sin is equivalent to that of the whole congregation put together. God judges the minister on a much higher scale.

Jude 9: "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 rebuke thee." Here is an interesting little scenario; Moses was being resurrected before the time because God had a purpose for Moses. Moses is a type of the man-child (being resurrected before the resurrection). Of course, Satan had claims to the body because the penalty had not yet been paid on the cross. However, God said: I want to resurrect Moses before the time. He was to be one of the encouragers to Christ upon the Mt of Transfiguration.

God allowed Moses to die, but He took Elijah up alive and He took Enoch up alive. However, Moses had to fulfill a certain pattern. Moses and Elijah had to appear on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt 17). God had a purpose for Moses to be resurrected; he was a type of the man-child – those who are taken up before the general resurrection (Rev 12:5-6). Moses had to fulfill a type. However, Satan tried to contend for Moses’ body and resist Michael’s interference. Bear in mind that the price of redemption had not yet been paid, but God is God and He can do whatever fits His purpose. The Lord can break His own rules.

Yet even Michael, when he came for the body of Moses did not bring against Satan a railing accusation, but said: "The Lord rebuke thee… I am sent here by the Lord, you must stand aside." Michael had a mandate from the Lord and he had the authority to rebuke Satan in the name of the Lord. There is an authority structure in the kingdom and Lucifer was given certain power too. In fact, that is what he is here for. He is here to test the church. He has his ministry too.

We have some interesting scenarios in this little book of Jude. This account (Vs 9) gives us an insight into Revelation 12; where the man-child is being taken up. The woman – (the church) brings forth the man-child. Included in this man-child are those from previous centuries. There are those who are presently living, but also those (like Moses) who have died, but are being resurrected before the resurrection at the second coming. There are a few resurrections mentioned in Scripture, however, the great resurrection is at the end of the millennium.

*The man-child speaks of those who will govern the nations with Christ in the Millennium. They are men who have been faithful in their generation – like Enoch, who walked with God.

There was a little firstfruits resurrection at the time of Christ as well. When Christ was resurrected, there was a hand full of saints that were resurrected with Christ when He arose from the grave – not all of them, just a firstfruits (sample) resurrection. These went into the city and appeared unto many. If you want a reference on this incident, it is found in Matthew 27:52-53.

Continuing on in Jude 10: "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." Referring to the ungodly from verse 8, who have turned unto lasciviousness. These are governed by the baser instincts (sensual). They speak evil of things that they know nothing about. There is a proverb (20:25) that speaks of the folly of devouring something holy, and then later inquiring to see if it is true or not: "It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry." When you touch the holy things you want to be very careful about what you are saying. It says here (Jude 10): that they speak evil of things they know nothing about. We give an account for all of our idle words.

Balaam, Cain and Core
In Jude 11: "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 Core." Let’s take Balaam first: Balaam gives us a picture of the prosperity preacher. He prostitutes the gift for a reward – that is Balaam. The error of Balaam…he could be bought. Here is a man that could be bought for a price. Genuine gifts; make no mistake about it, he was a prophet of God. He had tremendous visions of the latter end of Israel. However, he is somebody who could be bought. Many ministers who have had gifts fall into the Balaam category. Prostituting their anointing – their gifts; and that is the temptation of a gift. When a minister really has something in the spirit, and he knows it; then there is the temptation to use that gift to enrich self.

Then we have Cain: "…The way of Cain." Now what can be said about Cain? Here is the offspring of Adam and Eve, the firstborn son. This is what the apostle says about Cain: (1 John 3:10-12): "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous."

It is interesting how that even in the church-world there are those who despise others because they are righteous. And why is that…because their own works are evil or suspect. They put down the standard of righteousness – that is the generation we live in. They have gone in the way of Cain. The apostle also says (1 John 4:20): "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" Cain did not love God because he did not love his brother.

Even after Cain was confronted with the murder of his brother he was unrepentant. Cain never accepted his sentence. He said that God was not fair. He said that the judgment God had given him was far greater than what he deserved. Cain would not acknowledge his sin nor was he repentant. Thus Cain was marked. God put a mark on him so that all could see his guilt and thus identify him with the evil-one. How would you like to have a mark put on you that said: "murderer?" Cain had to wander around with that mark for the rest of your life – and nobody dared to touch Cain. That was part of his judgment.

Let us move on to the "gainsaying of Core:" Gainsaying means to contradict: "the contradiction of Core." God does not like his word or his messenger contradicted. Remember the story of Core in Numbers 16: Core contradicted Moses; he withstood Moses and the eldership. He said (in essence) we are priests as well as you, who do you think you are taking authority over us; we have what you have, etc.

*Believe me, during the course of your ministry you will have the little Core companies that rise up in your church. Yes, they will do you damage but in reality they collect the rebels from out of your group – (the ones that will give you trouble later on). It is good that they manifest themselves before revival comes so that God can remove them and they do not spread their leaven amongst the new converts.

The Lord was so infuriated about this confrontation that He told Moses stand aside and that He would wipe the whole congregation off the map. Once again, Moses and Aaron fall down and plead for Israel. The Lord then concedes and tells Moses to have Core and company present themselves before the Lord with their censors and that He would prove who was who. Moses then told the congregation to separate from Core and company for the Lord was going to do a new thing. Moses tells the audience (in essence) that if God had spoken by him (Moses), that God would bear witness by doing a new thing – He would open up the earth and take this company alive into hell… which came to pass!

It is interesting that even some of the sons of Core separated themselves from their fathers. If you go through the Psalms you will find many different Psalms ascribed to the Sons of Core. They were Levite musicians – the sons of Core. God makes a difference. Those who did not rally with Core and separated were later used of God. So, once again God preserved some during a time of blatant apostasy.

Spots in the Church
Moving on to Jude 12: "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." Jude is speaking about their love feasts and communion. The early church often had a love-meal followed by communion. It was often a daily thing. The church world today does not give a lot of attention to the ordinance of communion – at least in this country. Jude is talking about those within the church who were spots. "…They feast with you, feeding themselves without fear…" They did not have the fear of the Lord upon them. Members that were stained – morally- blotched. Morally blotched but feeling "no condemnation."

"Clouds without water…" We are talking about people that boasted of a false gift. The Proverbs talk about false gifts as being clouds without water. There is also the thought of a false anointing: Gifts that are propelled by the dark side.

"Carried about of winds…" Ephesians 4:14, speaks of being carried about by every wind of doctrine. "That we be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine" The early church had many doctrinal winds blowing through it. In our early experience, we too are unsure of where we stand. Before we have learned to sort things out, this may sound good, so we go with this. Then, this sounds better, so we go with that. Thus, we can be here and there, tossed around a little bit until we become stabilized. Finally, God brings us into the right place and says; now, I want you to be established in this place. Many of you are younger, so you are still growing into some of these experiences.

…Trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots." No life in them, plucked up by the roots; bringing no fruit to perfection. Jude is giving a description of the tares in the group. Jesus said: "By their fruits ye shall know them." Those being described here are those who are no longer abiding in the vine!

"Twice dead…" We are born twice, and we can die twice. If we are not born twice then we are going to die twice. Did you ever hear about the second death…Or the second birth? There is the natural birth, there is a spiritual birth – the second birth. We die a natural death – the first death. The second death is at the judgment, when one dies spiritually. So, if we are not born twice we are going to surely die twice.

Let’s talk about the spots that have mingled themselves into the fellowship: In Acts 2:46, we are told about the intimate fellowship of the saints – they had their love feasts everyday. "And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart."

We have to get into Leviticus to appreciate what these spots and blemishes are all about. Leviticus tells us about the lepers and the garments that are spotted by the flesh – spotted by issues of the flesh. Leviticus is teaching us about human defilement in our garments. However, we need to translate this into spiritual terms. We are talking about moral – fleshly blemishes.
The church that the Lord is coming for is a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or blemish. Thus, our spiritual garments, our undergarments (so to speak) must be pure and clean. Somebody once was sharing a vision they had about a minister. This minister had on an outer-garment; suddenly a wind blew (this was in the Spirit) and the outer garment blew aside and revealed the undergarment that was all spotted and blemished. The vision was a revelation of the spiritual life – full of spots and blemishes.

Peter says things that are very similar. In 2 Peter 2:13-14: "And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness." These are all signs of the times. There is a sift coming to the church. May we find mercy and grace so that we are not a statistic.

Descriptive Adjectives – The Positives and the Negatives
Jude uses many descriptive words and phrases that carry a very negative message. However most of these descriptive adjectives can be turned around to portray the true church. For example, a phrase such as: "Clouds without water…" can be reversed to mean something very positive. Clouds full of rain: It says of Job that when he spoke his words were like the latter rain.
*Psalms 1 tells us that we can be like trees whose roots go down and are planted by the rivers of living waters that brings forth fruits in there season.

*Isaiah 48:18 speaks about waves of righteousness. To see the contrast you could connect the next verse in Jude, verse 13: "Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever." I am just showing us that the true church is just the counter of what we see here. May we be waves of righteousness rather than waves of wickedness.

*Daniel 12 speaks about the true stars who lead many to righteousness. So there is a positive and negative to everything isn’t there? You see both sides. Even nature has its lessons, it has its flukes and negatives. For example, there are stars that serve as a warning to us… stars that get off course and they end up in the black hole. We are living in a generation that is out of touch with nature because we have such high tech instruments today. We do not need to use the stars for guidance; we do not to see which way the sun came up or the color of the sky. We have our GPS and all those little gadgets that alienate us from creation.

Enoch – Type of the Man-Child 
Jude 14: "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints." Enoch – his name means teacher. He was a prophet and a teacher. He is a type of the man-child who goes up prior to the time. The Scripture says of Enoch that he walked with God. He lived at the end of the first millennium, (which was very wicked) and the Lord took him. He was translated, he walked right into heaven. Enoch pleased God and his testimony is found in the faith chapter.

If you look at some of the metaphors in Revelation chapter 12, you will find three groups: One group is taken up before the flood; one is preserved during the flood and the other is persecuted. Enoch was taken up before the flood. Noah was preserved during the flood. The remnant perished in flood. So you have the three groups which equate with the Holy of Holies, Holy Place, and Outer Court. Consider what Jude says of Enoch: He prophesied of the Lord’s coming with ten thousands of his saints. Enoch saw this and he was living at the time of Adam. Adam lived for 930 years and so Enoch and Adam overlapped for about 300 years. Enoch was 365 years old when he was taken up. So, these two lives overlapped for about 300 years. Thus, I would suggest from this; that Adam actually heard the message of the second coming from Enoch.

Enoch the seventh from Adam… Thus, the first man that ever lived upon earth heard the message of the second coming from one of his great, great, grandsons. This is interesting because the argument is: "Well, people have said this forever" – well, that is true. The first man that ever lived heard the message of the "Second Coming:" The Lord is coming back with ten thousands of His saints. However, no other generation has lived at the end of the sixth day as we. We are at the end of the six thousand years given to the Adam creation and then will come the one-thousand year Sabbath or the millennium (the thousand year rest).

So, Enoch is a type of the man-child, he is a prophet/teacher and he is translated before the flood. He was a man that walked with God. There are some very interesting little scenarios in this little book. To me, Enoch is the central figure of this book because he was preserved in the midst of a very wicked generation. The year 1000 (From Adam) was very wicked. It is funny because every time the millennium changes, men think that the end of the world has come as well. Even the last turn of the millennium (1999/2000) people were prophesying that this is the end of the world. Going back to the year AD 1000, everyone thought that this would be the end of the world. Things were so dark and so evil by the year AD 999 that men were all looking for the end of the world at the conclusion of the year.

Here is the key to being preserved in Genesis 5:24; it says that Enoch walked with God. We walk with God by keeping his commandments. Hebrews 11:5: "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." Sounds rather vain, doesn’t it? If somebody told the church: "My life has pleased God," we might tend to think, this man needs to be humbled. However, his translation absolved all doubts concerning his testimony. Wouldn’t you agree?

He comes with ten thousands of His saints… to do what? Jude 15 "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." So, what is the millennial reign all about? It is all about ruling the nations with a rod of iron... to execute the judgments written. I would love to be a part of that company (by God’s grace). Especially, when I see how evil things are and how things are so mismanaged and how black is called white and bitter is called sweet. Even the ordinary saint today has more common sense than most of those who are leading us.

You will notice the word ungodly is used quite a few times – six times in Jude; which holds the record for any New Testament book. The word ungodly, in conjunction with some of the words it is used with means contravention. In the text, it means to oppose or to fight against God. It means anti-Christ. As it says of Nimrod; that he was a mighty hunter against the Lord. He was in opposition to the Lord. He was the one who orchestrated the Tower of Babel. He was a type of the antichrist. However, in the millennium the Lord comes with His saints, and they will get things straightened out. Do you want to be here? It is a privilege that is given to the meek. The meek shall inherit the earth.

*Note down Psalm 2, because it is a picture of the Lord ruling the nations with a rod of iron.

You can imagine that Enoch must have experienced an anti-Christ society – judging by what Jude is saying. You can also imagine that Enoch had experienced the message – living with the evildoers, with the ungodly deeds and the hard speeches of those who were totally opposed to the truth. When Enoch returns with the Lord and the saints, they will be dealing with the same kinds of people that existed 5000 years ago.

*At the end, the harvest will be totally ripe. That means that the evil man will be at his zenith and so will the righteous.

The Last Days
Jude 16: "These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage." Murmuring and complaining are sins that kept Israel out of the Promised Land. That was the big sin, and the warning is passed down to the church as well (1 Cor 10). The thing about this type of sin is that it reveals a deeper problem. Ingratitude and un-thankfulness are the beginning of a darkened heart, which eventually becomes incapable of making a sound judgment (Rom 1:21-). When Israel complained against circumstances, they were really complaining against the One who led them there. These are not candidates for the promised land.

"…Their mouth speaketh great swelling words… Then we have the flatterers who are out to take advantage of the simple. Many of these flatterers fall into the category of ministers. They are seeking their own fleshly/worldly desires at the expense of their congregation… Telling them what they want to hear; making them feel good with the promise of temporal blessings.

Jude 17-18: "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." We have been warned from the beginning concerning things to come. The last days have been compared to the days of Noah. Noah preached against an onslaught of contradiction and mockery. I remember once having a park service. We had to contend with mockers in the background trying to drown us out.

We don’t want to waste our time fighting against these types of people; it is just something to be expected. The mockers are saying: "They have been saying this from the beginning." Or, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep all things continue…" Well, the day comes when the ark is shut and the rains begin. Our job is to preach truth and righteousness. Their job is to contradict us, as Solomon said: "There is nothing new under the sun."

Jude 19: "These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit." In short, they are disconnected from the vine. Often times it is a pride thing – they think they know something or have something that others do not. And often, it turns out to be a cult. Timothy gives us a number of cult signs in (1 Tim 4:1-3). However, we want to get our perspective right on this; God is going to remove the tares from the church - not the church from the tares. I would like to site one current example from the ministry of Family Radio with Harold Camping. Mr.Camping is saying that the church age is over and that God is no longer saving people in the church. He is urging people to remove themselves from the church. He is also predicting the Lord’s coming in May of 2011.

Camping’s following falls more into the category of being mislead. However, there are going to be a lot of offended people on May 22nd 2011. Nevertheless, it is the sensual pride of this individual that is calling for separation. He thinks he has an edge on truth; he thinks that he has had a revelation that no one else has had. Incidentally, his last prediction was wrong too.
*Remember: the tare are removed from the true church, the church is not removed from the tares.

Praying in the Spirit
Jude 20: "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost." How do we do build up ourselves praying in the Holy Ghost? Well, the Apostle Paul makes this quite clear in 1 Corinthians 14:4 – praying in tongues: "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself…" The word edifies, means to build up – praying on your most holy faith. Paul is talking about praying in tongues. Many times we do not know how to pray the way we should. Praying in the Spirit helps us to intercede for the things that we really need. We are not speaking to men but to God and we are speaking things inspired by the Holy Spirit. As Paul said in another place: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Rom 8:26).

Often times we pray for the wrong things because we are praying with our human intellect. In fact, we are actually countermanding what God really wants to do. For example, we had an evangelist friend who got his RV stuck in the sand (down in Florida). He looks up and he sees storm clouds gathering and he is afraid it is going to rain. So he begins to pray: "O God, please do not let it rain, I will never get out of here if it rains." Just then, the neighbor from across the driveway sees him stuck in the sand. He then runs over and says: "No problem, I’ll have you out in a minute." He grabs a garden hose and fills up the ruts around the tires with water. The sand firms up and he drives out. Do you see…he was praying for the wrong thing. What he really needed was water to firm up the sand.

We often do this in prayer don’t we? "Lord, do this…or do that…" And, we never touch the real issue. Praying in tongues builds you up –strengthens you. It is also interceding for the right thing…praying on your most holy faith.

*We are almost through with this class, but I would like to come back to the thought of heresy from previous discussion: There is usually a bit of truth in every heresy – a certain element of truth. But this is often the way that it goes. It is a truth that is taken to some kind of extreme. For example; Calvinism or Arminianism: The one extreme says that God does it all, the other says that we do it all. Heresies are often truths that have been taken to an extreme. There is an element of truth in the prosperity message. However, it is when people take it to the extreme that makes it error.

Mr. Camping is always jangling on this line: "We are all under the wrath of God. Even we Christians are under the wrath of God." So he continually hammers on this line. Well, I left the city of destruction a long time ago – that is why I left. Like the pilgrim, I packed up and said I’m out of here. The Scripture says that He has delivered us from the wrath to come. But do you see, when people always jangle on certain points it usually indicates that what they are jangling on is wrong. It is a tell-tale sign.

Keep Yourselves
Jude 21: "Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." How do we keep ourselves in the love of God? Keeping the commandments: John 15:10, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." We play a part in our election. "Keep yourselves in the love of God." We play a part in our election by obeying.

My mother was seventeen years old and she was struggling with the world. This was back in the 1930’s. Even back in those days they struggled with the world – believe it or not. One day the Lord spoke very clearly into her heart: "Make your calling and election sure." That word changed her life. Interestingly, she died on Election Day. Of course, she was in her 80’s when she died, but she died on Election Day. "Make your calling and election sure." The house that stands in the end is comprised of those who hear and do. The house that falls is the one that hears and does not do.

Jude 22-23: "And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." Of some have compassion… Some people are doomed because of their impenitent hearts, yet there are others that God wants us to reach out to, or intercede for. Lot is a good example here isn’t he? God was going to completely destroy this city, but because of Abraham’s intervention, Lot and his family were given opportunity to be saved. Lot was literally pulled out of the fire.

Some of the hyper-Calvinist mentality is that if we are really saved we would never be associated with certain sins. But of course that doesn’t allow for the backslider, does it? Was the backslider saved to begin with or not? Of course he was saved – then he went back. God wants us to reach out to the backslider. However, not all backsliders get back. I want to make that very plain. There are some that God wants to redeem; there are some that are not granted repentance.

He is Able to Keep You – True Grace
Jude 1:24: "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." He is able to keep you from falling. That is why we want to find grace and mercy. We want to keep ourselves in the love of Jesus by keeping His commandments. He is able to do His part. However, there is a certain responsibility that falls upon us as well. In the book of Hebrews 12:15, it says: "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God…" What does this mean? It means that if we fail, it is because we did not find grace. Grace is available and offered freely to all who appeal to the throne of mercy (Heb 4:16).

Also notice that there can be a complete victory at the end: "…To present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." The Gospel promises complete salvation to those who obey Him. There are many that will lose their reward or their crown because of some compromise. I was once shown the end of my life…standing before the throne; it was truly joy unspeakable and full of glory – "With exceeding Joy." The promise is to the faithful!
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Jude 25: "To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." The book of Jude ends on a note of praise. In fact, that is what Jude means: praise. We have every reason to praise Him: He is Omniscient, He is Omnipotent and he is Omnipresent and He is all Glorious. He gives us all that we need to be a part of His glorious kingdom. We can abide in Him as we keep His commands. The Lord said to Abraham: "Walk before me and be thou perfect." We can be perfect as we keep his commandments.

To Him be glory!
Amen!