Gloom and Doom! - Part B

So here's the point Jude is making. You can have all these false teachers and apostates spouting this off and embedding themselves in the congregation and leading people astray, but what I want you to know, Jude would say, is God will always have the last word. The enemy uses false teachers to deceive and devastate the church.

But today on Connect with Skip Heitzig, Skip looks to a future judgment that false teachers will face. It's also when Jesus will come back for you and his church. Before we begin, we want to let you know about an amazing opportunity you have to visit the sites where the prophets and kings in the Bible heard from God.

Nothing tops studying the scriptures in the real life locations where it all took place. That's why I'm eager to announce our upcoming trip to Israel in 2022. And if you register by November 30th using promo code ConnectIsrael, you'll receive $150 off the tour price.

Find out more about the tour at inspirationcruises.com slash C-A-B-Q. Thanks Skip. Now here's a resource that will nourish your soul with God's amazing truths. Listen to what Sean McDowell said about the book Tactics. This is the book I've been waiting for.

I enthusiastically recommend Tactics. Here's Skip Heitzig to comment on how Jesus spoke out for truth. We might think that Jesus never raised his voice, that he would never call anybody out. However, there was a side of Jesus that was contentious. The Jesus that took tables in the temple and overturned them and took out a whip and drove people out of the temple.

Yeah, that Jesus. Get equipped to defend the gospel and guard against false teachings with Fight for the House, a six message series through the book of Jude with Skip Heitzig. This teaching series on CD is our thanks when you give to keep this Bible teaching ministry on the air. And when you give $35 or more today, we'll also send you a book by Gregory Kochel called Tactics, your game plan for communicating the truth about Christianity with confidence and grace.

To give, visit connecttheskip.com or call 800-922-1888. Okay, let's dive into today's teaching. We'll be in the book of Jude as Skip Heitzig begins the study. Did you know that Paul the Apostle actually had a minister, a colleague who apostatized, who walked away, who detracted, who fell away? His name was Demas. And when Paul writes about Demas, 2 Timothy chapter 4, one sentence, he says, Demas has forsaken me having loved this present world.

How would you like to have your name in the Bible like that forever? Demas has forsaken me having loved this present world. Some are just so earthbound.

They're just after this momentary comfort. There's no real draw to Jesus and spirituality and discipleship. So persecution, mixed devotions. Another reason it can happen is because it's hard. It's just plain hard to follow Jesus for some, probably for all of us at one point. Jesus' teaching is hard.

Am I accurate about this? You ever read something I do where I go, that's hard. I got to teach that?

I got to live that? That's hard. You know that when people heard Jesus in John chapter 6, He gave a sermon and it wasn't how to have your best life now or how to be prosperous. It was a pretty hard message and they said in John chapter 6, this is a hard saying.

Who can hear it? And then we are told from that day forward, many of His disciples turned back and followed Him no more. The demands were too hard. They were too hard for the rich young ruler.

They were too hard for Judas Iscariot, though because it's hard. Another reason that people, people apostatize is because, you might not like this when I say it, but I'll explain it, because they're not paying attention. I know I sound like your teacher, right? Class, you're not paying attention. But you can fall away because you're not really grabbing a hold of the truth. You're not paying attention.

The approach is a superficial approach. Hebrews chapter 2, Paul, the Apostle, whoever wrote Hebrews said, therefore give the more earnest heed to the things you have heard, listen, lest at any time we drift away from them. Another reason it can happen is laziness.

Hebrews chapter 10, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but do it all the more as you see the day approaching. You know, some people just aren't interested in coming to church. They want to distance themselves from it.

They don't want the influence of people around them and accountability kind of a influence in their lives. And that's just a few reasons. There's any number of reasons the Bible has many more.

I'll give you a quick rundown. Satan's devices, an unbelieving heart, a hardened heart, rebellion, bitterness, immorality, disrespect of leadership, not mixing God's promises with faith. That's just a sampling of about those 30 or so reasons the Bible gives.

In fact, let me make this statement because I believe it to be true in summing this point up. The majority of those people who are exposed to the gospel will turn away from it. The majority of those exposed to the gospel will turn away from it. If you think of the parable of the sower and the seed, have you ever looked at that just in terms of percentages, mathematics? Of all the people that heard the truth in that parable, only 25% bore any kind of fruit, and a very small percentage of that bore what Jesus called a hundredfold fruit. No wonder that Jesus said, wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. Narrow is the gate that leads to eternal life, and very few enter therein.

Very few, not most, not a lot, few. No wonder Jesus said, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, and He will say, depart from me. You will not enter the kingdom. So, great subject matter, that's the gloom. Now, let's move on to the doom. Verse 14.

Don't worry, it's going to end encouraging. Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men, also saying, behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of the saints to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, which they've committed in an ungodly way. As we noted on our first message in Jude, he likes this word a lot, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Okay, we got to get something out of the way.

We got to address this. Jude mentions Enoch. Enoch, you remember from Genesis chapter 5, he was a good guy. He's a godly guy. It says Enoch walked with God. If you want something on your tombstone, that's a good thing.

He walked with God. But scholars note that Jude is quoting from a source that is not a biblical source. They're quoting from 1 Enoch, a non-biblical book, an apocryphal book.

Some even believe a pseudo-pographical book, meaning it was a book with somebody's name on it but written by somebody else. But he's quoting from it, and that bothers some people. How can you quote something that's not from the Bible?

Well, I do it all the time. I will say, I read a Gallup poll this week, and the Gallup poll said this. Here's an article from the Albuquerque Journal, and I'll quote it. Believe me, I'm not saying the Albuquerque Journal is the inspired word of God.

Far from it. Or I'll quote a website or what a preacher said. And what I'm doing is quoting a secular source or a believing source, but not a biblical source, to simply buttress a point.

And so probably that is what Jude is doing. And by the way, Paul the Apostle did this. When Paul the Apostle stood before Athens and preached in Acts 17, did you know that he quoted secular sources? Did you know that Paul the Apostle quoted from pagan poets to the men of Athens? He pulls this out.

Listen to this and see if you remember this. He said, for in him we live and move and have our being. You ever read that in Acts 17? Paul is quoting a sixth-century beast in the Old Testament. Sixth-century BC Cretan poet by the name of Epimeneids who wrote that. And then Paul said to the men of Athens, for we also are his offspring.

That is a quote directly from a third-century BC poet named Aretas of Soli, and when Aretas said we also are his offspring, he was referring to Zeus. So Paul pulls that for the men of Athens because he is making a point about the sovereign God, about Yahweh. So I think Jude is doing that here. And so that's a side.

Let's get back to the point. Jude said, and here's the quote, behold the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment on all. Perhaps when Enoch said this, he was referring to the coming judgment of the flood because he lived right before the flood.

And the judgment that God poured out on the earth in his day was the flood. But what Jude is saying is the final application of this prophecy will be in the end times when Jesus returns. So here's the point Jude is making. You can have all these false teachers and apostates spouting this off and embedding themselves in the congregation and leading people astray, but what I want you to know Jude would say is God will always have the last word. God always has the final word. He gets as God the right to make the decisive choice about their future. And in their case, this case, it is judgment. Now you can see what a crafty preacher I am because I said that we have two points to this sermon when if you look at your outline there's actually 10.

Right? So I kind of divided it into five reasons why these people are dangerous. That's the the gloom and then five features of the coming judgment.

That's the doom. But I'm going to go through these very quickly. Something about this judgment. First of all, it will be personal. The coming judgment is personal.

Notice it says, behold the Lord comes. God himself will judge the world. He won't delegate this to the judgment committee. It won't be judgment by proxy.

He'll do it. It'll be personal. Now do you mind if I gave you a quick thumbnail rundown? Maybe a one minute summation of the future judgment in a nutshell.

Can I do that really quick? Okay so here's how it's going to roll down. This is how it's going to come down. First of all, it's going to begin. The future judgment is going to begin on earth with a seven-year tribulation period called by biblical authors the worst period of time in human history. Described in the book of Revelation chapter 6 through 16 as judgments that are seals, trumpets, and bowls.

Cataclysms that happen on the earth. That will culminate in a battle called the battle of Armageddon, Revelation 16 and Revelation 19 when Jesus comes back. When Jesus comes back at the end of that he's going to set up his kingdom that will be a thousand year reign of Christ on the earth. During which time Satan will be bound. At the end of that thousand years Satan gets released.

There will be one final rebellion that for some reason God allows. And then Satan and his minions, his followers will be cast into the lake of fire forever. After that will come what's called the great white throne judgment where all unbelievers stand before God to get the final sentence. So the first phase of the judgment is earthly. The second phase of the judgment is heavenly. That's the that's the nutshell theology of future judgment. So it's going to be personal.

A second thing to note, it's going to be coalitional. Let me do this for you. Notice it says the Lord comes with 10,000 of his saints. So yeah he's the one that's going to do it but he's going to allow others to be witnesses and even help him carry it out because he's coming with 10,000 of the saints. I have a question for you. Who are the saints he's coming with? Who are they? Okay I hear the church.

I hear us. Any other guesses? Angels. Did I hear angels? So here's the answer. I don't know. It's either us or it's angels or both.

Right? So he's coming back with us. Revelation 19.

He's coming back with us. Also Colossians chapter 3 verse 4 says when Christ who is our life shall appear we will appear with him in glory. So it could be us but it could also be angels because when Jesus spoke about the future judgment he said and the angels are going to be there to help administer that. That's Matthew 24, Matthew 25 and this in Matthew 13. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire so it will be at the end of the age the son of man will send out his angels and they will gather out of the kingdom all things that offend and those who practice lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire. So that sort of fits with this text. So it's either us or the angels or both.

So I said I don't know. But it will be coalitional. The third thing to notice it will be universal because notice it says to execute judgment on all. Nobody gets a pass. No unbeliever escapes.

Every unbeliever. Everyone who has said no to God will face this. Another important facet, and this is important, it will be equitable. It'll be fair. It'll be fair because we are told this to execute judgment on all to convict all who are ungodly.

A better translation, a better word than convict is convince. He will come and convince those that he is about to judge of the fairness of it. There'll be none of this. That's not fair. There'll be none of that.

Not going to work on judgment day. God will convince them this is right. This is fair. You know it's an interesting court scene that is described for us the last judgment because it's going to be not like an earthly court. There's no debate about guilt.

It's not like, wait a minute, I object. None of that. There'll be a prosecution but no defense. There will be a judge. There will not be a jury. There'll be a sentence but no appeal. There will be punishment but no parole and the entire procedure will be absolutely fair and right because the Bible says when God judges the anthems of heaven will be this just and true are your judgments or righteous and true are your judgments.

Like that's right. And they'll be fair because God is presiding over them. See God has a couple of attributes that no human judge has. God is omnipresent. He's everywhere at the same time in all places. So that means God is the best eyewitness of every sin ever committed by every person. He's also omniscient. He knows everything so He just didn't know what happened. He knows motive. So it will be fair and you should know this in Revelation when God judges at the great white throne it says the books are opened.

The books are opened. In other words God has a very complete replete detailed inventory of a person's life. The books are opened and I can't prove this but maybe in those books is a record of every time that person had an opportunity to give their lives to Christ.

They every time they heard the gospel said nah nah I'll pass. It's like that's brought up and that's brought up. It will be equitable and finally and we close with this is the hardest one. It will be eternal. The end of verse 13.

For whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for a week. I'm sorry for a decade. No I hate to tell you that but the word there is forever. See well I have problems with that.

Join the crowd. It's not easy to hear this forever but I got to tell you this if hell is not forever then heaven is not forever. If hell is not eternal then heaven is not eternal. If hell is not everlasting then heaven is not everlasting because when Jesus described in one sentence in the gospel of Matthew chapter 25 when he discussed hell and heaven punishment and glory he used the same word everlasting everlasting eternal eternal.

So if hell is not eternal then neither is heaven. Okay so gloom and doom. I want you to walk away with two things.

Number one just two little thoughts as we close. We don't judge you here. That's not you you can no matter who you are we welcome you here. We want you to hear truth. We want you to be exposed to the gospel. We want you to hear what the bible says. We don't judge you.

That's not our role. God will judge you and God will judge me. No I'm not going to stand before you at judgment. I'll stand before God. You will not stand before me. You will stand before God. So God will be the judge. We don't judge you here.

We welcome you. Number two I want you to know this hear this judgment is not God's happy place. I don't want you to think of the great white throne judgment and God's kind of waiting for that. It's like the day comes like hot dog.

I've been waiting to judge people for a long time. He hates it. He will do it but he doesn't want to do it.

You know how I know that? It says he is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. That's the heart of God.

He didn't want that. God said I have no, this is Ezekiel 33, I have no pleasure says the Lord in the death of the wicked. And then he says to his people turn turn for why will you die. Did you know that hell was not prepared for people? When Jesus spoke about hell he said it is everlasting fire.

That's eternal. Everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Hell was not made for people. God didn't want to do it.

You know I know you're thinking well then why does he do it? Because God is pro-choice when it comes to eternal matters. God will honor a person's choice. I don't want God in my life. I don't want God controlling me. I don't want to have to hang out with God forever.

You don't have to. He won't make you. G.K. Chesterton said hell is God's great complement to the reality of human freedom and the dignity of human choice. God lets people choose. He will honor your choice.

So the gloom that brings the doom is something you don't have to be a part of. I love what James said mercy triumphs over judgment. God loves to show mercy. God loves to pour favor and loves to forgive. When somebody says God forgive me.

He goes yes. I get to let that person go to heaven forever and escape damnation forever. Escape damnation forever. I love that.

That's what he wants. Now remember I said that some people turned away from Jesus because they said this is too hard. This is too hard. And many that day followed him no more. Jesus after that happened turned to his 12 disciples and said will you also leave? And Peter said where else would we go? You alone have the words of eternal life.

I want to ask you that question. If you're thinking about like I'm done now. I'm done with church now. I'm done with God.

I'm done with Jesus. Where are you going to go? Where else are you going to go for forgiveness? Where else are you going to go for hope and peace and meaning in life and heaven? Well I'm just going to quit. Where else are you going to go? Don't go.

Hang in there. Let him protect you. Let him preserve you. Let him work with you.

Lean hard into him and if you are teetering come back to him. That wraps up Skip Heitzig's message from the series Fight For The House. Now we want to tell you about a special opportunity you have to take your knowledge of the Bible to a deeper level. If you're ready to study God's Word beyond going to church and personal Bible study, you're ready for Calvary College.

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Classes start January 10th. Apply today at CalvaryChurchCollege.com. That's CalvaryChurchCollege.com. Do you want to see people come into a relationship with a living God? The way to know Him is by knowing His Word. That's why we've made these life-changing Bible teachings available all around the world. And you can help take this broadcast further with a generous gift today.

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800-922-1888. Thank you. Tomorrow, Skip Heitzig shares about some red flags you can watch for in false teachers, delivering a vital lesson on how we use our words. Jude gives us an x-ray of the heart by telling us the verbal activity of these apostate people. He calls them in verse 16 grumblers. It's a good word. Listen to the Greek word. Gungustai. It sounds like I'm grumbling just saying the word, right? Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.