Jude 1:7

The book of Jude, verses 5 through 7, our focus tonight on verse 7. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels, which kept not their first estate, that left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, under 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. May God bless to us the reading of His Sacred and Holy Word this evening. The woman explained the rules to the tempter. She and her husband could eat the fruit of any tree of the garden, except for that special one in the midst of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Just touching it, she said. would bring instant death. Now, you can imagine Satan, mockingly replying, you shall not surely die. That’s not going to happen. And then he suggested that God was really holding back on Adam and Eve and was keeping good things from them. And he was being restrictive for no real good reason. For thousands of years, the enemy has used this same strategy. It’s like a broken record, and it’s been very effective down through the years. Satan attempts to deceive you about sin and about the consequences of sin. You shall not surely die, you are told. It’s the theme of many modern non-suitary, novels. The hero and heroine live in disobedience to God with regard to sexual purity and regard to marriage, but they suffer no consequences. No fire falls from heaven upon them. No ground opens up to swallow them. They are living in sin, but no wrath falls upon them. Often novels and TV movies and movies in general provide a view of the world which is basically blatant in its biasedness and its untruthfulness. A world which in which fallen man would like to exist, but it’s fiction. It is not the truth. Jude refers in our text here to the cities of soft. and Gomorrah as an example of the righteous judgment of God upon those who live wickedly. It is a divine lesson that needs to be taken to heart. This thriving, large gay community did not live happily ever after. There were terrible consequences to the perverse lifestyle and which they engaged. Satan’s words, he shall not surely die, will found to be a big, fat lie. And the topic we want to talk about here is the sin of sexual immorality. Now, tonight’s message is not going to be a PC message. While the church today, and many of them have compromised the truth and now are allowing homosexuals to be members and good standing. and so forth. The Bible says things that are very clear and very straightforward about this great sin. The church should never take its cue from society around it and decide that whatever society says is okay is okay for the church. It is what God says is okay for the church. And what God says is okay that’s okay for the church. And what God says is evil. perverse is evil and perverse for the church. Now let me begin tonight by saying you may experience severe punishment after enjoying great privileges. You find that sinners often enjoy great privileges here. When we read about Sodom Gimorra, we often think about the judgment, and sometimes we don’t realize some of the benefits that these two. cities and really the other cities about them enjoy the smaller cities of Adma and Zoboam and so forth. Now these cities were obviously wicked. The Genesis record is very clear about this. And yet the Bible indicates that the cities of the plain were known for their wealth, for their fertileness. They were prosperous. They were productive. Sodom was situated in an area that was classified as being like the Garden of Eden, well watered, as the Bible tells us. When Lot Abraham’s nephew was supposed to pick part of the land in which he would dwell so that there wasn’t such a conflict between his herdsman and Abraham’s herdsman. He looked and saw the area around Sodom’s. Gamer and said this is great and he decided to pick this luxurious and a place of wealth and it looked like everything was going to be a great place to live. It was beautiful. It was paradise on earth. It’s not unusual for God to give the unconverted their portion in this life. As someone has said, the only heaven they know will be what they enjoy in this life, because in the life they only have suffering to endure. Men of the world, which have their portion of this life and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasures, Psalm 1714. That’s their portion. That’s all they get. is the benefits of this life. The wicked rich man received the good things in this life. The righteous Lazarus did not. He suffered great poverty and ate the crumbs that fell off the rich man’s table. Daniel tells us that God often gives the kingdoms of this world to the basest of men, the Nebuchadnezzar’s, the Belchazers, the Belchazers, the Belchazers, the Alexanders, the Exeisers, power, those that have luxury and power and fame and wealth are often the basest of men. The unbelieving Israelites that we read about in verse 5 and studied previously enjoyed being freed from slavery. They escaped this terrible situation they were in. They were also given enormous. religious privileges. The fallen angels, at least for a time, enjoyed heaven, and were in the presence of the Lord God before they fell. And the people of Sodom Gamor enjoy great material privileges, fertility of the land, and wealth that came with it. So don’t be surprised by this. Psalm 73, 12, says, behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in this world, they increase in riches. So you find sinners often enjoy great privileges, but you find great privileges often lead to immorality. Because it says here, they gave themselves over to fornication. How did the cities of the plain act when they enjoy these great privileges? Did it move them to worship God? Were they thankful to God? Did they thankful to God? Did believe it would be a good thing to follow in God’s ways to serve the Lord. Sadly, Sodom, Gomorrah, even though they were well watered and so forth, and made fat with prosperity, became a greeting ground for great iniquity. Genesis 1313 says, the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. The northern kingdom of Israel is likened unto Sodom by God in the book of Ezekiel. The same types of sins were being committed, and here’s what we read in Ezekiel 16 verse 49. Pride, fullness of bread, over indulgence of carnal pleasures, an abundance of idleness, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and the needy. They were unmerciful, unkind, if you would. Of course, the great sin of Sodom Gomorra is that they were sexually immoral, which we’ll get to in a moment. The prosperity of Sodom only led to perverse and evil activities. Any privilege that you enjoy in this life that goes unsanctified, in other words, it’s not enjoyed with the idea of serving God and for his honor and glory ends up fanning the flames of lust. Wealth and great external privileges often prove to be very dangerous to your soul. A man may gain the whole world and lose his own soul. So you find great privileges often lead to immorality. You find prior warnings go unheeded. Go unheeded. often as well. Isn’t it interesting that sinners commonly remained, remain unreformed, notwithstanding the bitter foretaste of judgment that God sometimes gives them. Earlier, God had sent a rebuke to Sodom Gimor. You remember what that was? These wicked cities never took that rebuke to heart. You’ll recall, how there were a coalition of kings headed up by Chedora Lamor, successfully, that attacked the cities of the plain and defeated them. They were plundered of their immense wealth. The people from the least of the greatest were taken into slavery. And if it were not for lot being in the midst of this city, they would have been in the midst of this city, have remained in that state and lost all their prosperity and everything else. But we find here that God delivered this great coalition of kings in the hand of Abraham and a few hundred of his servants who went after them the spare lot. And God gives him a great victory. And he overcomes this great coalition of five kings. And the people of Solomon Gamor are spared. And the people of Solomon Gamor are spared. And the king. king is replaced on the throne again. And the people could enjoy their lands and their prosperity again. It was like a new beginning, an opportunity to rethink their ways. The ponder would have just happened to them. If these wicked cities have been warned by the sword and turned away from their iniquity, they would never have perished under the fire and brimstone of God. But did this scare produce any holy fear within them? Did it cost them to turn from their wicked ways? No, there were not even ten righteous people living in the city, as the scripture reveals to us. There is no greater indication of a final overthrow that when people don’t take to heart, the lesser judgments of God, that only means there’s going to be a greater judgment to come. And our nation itself, needs to heed this lesson as well. When your sins bring a divine reproof, it’s best to take it to heart. It is best to repent and change your ways. Else, a greater thing is going to happen to you. So you may experience severe punishment after enjoying great privileges, and that’s what we see with Sodom Gimorra. Now, secondly, God will severely punish your secondly. immorality. You must avoid sexual sin. We read here, even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh. Fornication in scripture is a broad term that takes in all kinds of sexual evils. For example, not only does it take in the idea of premarital sex, adultery, incest, beastiality, and homosexuality, all these things are included in the broad term here of fornication. Marriage is honorable and all, and the bed undefiled, but horamongers and adulterers, God will judge according to Hebrews 13 and verse 4. the national and international religion report. Before the majority of American marriages take place, the man and the woman have been already living together. The report goes on to point out that this practice often has devastating results or repercussions. Marriages that are preceded by living together have 50% higher disruption. He means divorce here in separation rates than marriages without pre-marital cohabitation. Sexual immorality is overrunning our own country. And it’s not a good sign when we see this. Sin defiles not only the soul, this sin files not only the soul, but the body as well, Scripture tells us. This sin destroys your heart. It destroys and leaves a disgraceful stain. in your life. It brings down God’s judgment. Now, when he mentions strange flesh, he’s taking a little bit further. He’s taking him one more step here. While he uses the broad term fornication, he’s being more specific when he uses strange flesh. This is the unnatural sin of homosexualout. If you would hold your place here, look with me at Romans chapter 1 in verses 24 to 27. As Paul writes about this sin, I want you to notice what he has to say about this. Romans chapter 1, verses 24 to 27, Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed forever. For this cause God gave them up to under vile affections. For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving, in themselves that recompense of their error which was meat or suitable to them. And so we see this is unnatural for them to get involved. It’s strange flesh. This is not the way God had created man and women and the purpose for a marriage between a man and a woman. This is unnatural. Not content with simple sexual sexual. sin, they proceed to this more detestable sin. You know, when the holy angels that walked with the Lord and appeared before Abraham, when they went down to Sodom, and they arrived there, they were taken up to Lot’s house. And you recall how he was providing for them and caring for them, and they told Lot, you’re going to have to get out of here. Well, the men of the city surrounded the dwelling. The old and the young alike from various quarters of the city. And this is what they said in Genesis 195. Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally or sexually. When Lot offered these men, his own virgin daughters, they were not satisfied with that. They pressed against the door. They refused. They wanted to pursue a homosexual relationship. Interestingly enough, when the angels smoked them with blindness, we read that they grope for the door in their persistence to pursue this evil sin. Therefore, they were certainly ripe for judgment. They had been abandoned by God over to a reprobate mind. The madness of the lust knew no bounds. Prominent homosexuality is always a sign that a people are ripe for judgment. Again, your own nation is following the perverse example of Sodom and Gomorrah. We’re told that this is an alternative lifestyle. Our young people are being taught in the schools, the public schools, that it’s always a okay, you’re born this way. No, you’re not born this way. It’s unnatural, according to scripture. Not long ago, Reader’s Digest article issued this, addressed this issue. They had a lesbian and gay film festival last, that was officially sponsored by the New York State Museum in Albany, New York. The festival featured movies with such perverse. titles as homo-promo, framed youth or revolt of the teenage pervert, sleeping around, 17 rooms or what do lesbians do in bed. It was all designed to celebrate the national coming out day. This is blatantly being promoted in our society. We got gay pride parades and things of this nature. You must avoid sexual sin. And this, you must avoid sexual sin. And this This sin is at one of the top levels of sexual sin, because it refers to being abandoned by God and given over to a reprobate mind. You see the depraved nature of man revealed in this particular sin. You know, you roll a stone downhill and it bounces all the way to the bottom. Vow, human beings are no different. People grow in sinful. Once you start on a downward spiral, you continue down. First, the people of Sodom Gmongar gave them over to themselves over to simple sexual sin, and then to something more perverse, the strange flesh. It’s the same thing that’s happening in America. The sexual revolution of the 60s, the permissiveness there, gave way to a more prominent homosexuality in the 90s, and we saw. what it is today. It’s blatant. It’s in your face. Hellishly black is the depraved nature of man. Within the human heart is such corruption that the most vile and debasing activities are possible. Your society is attempting to persuade you that we have an alternative lifestyle that these people are good, honest, hardworking people, just like you. The truth is that homosexuality is a sign of God having abandoned this person to their own natural depravity, giving themselves over to this. When all the perversity spills out, you wallow in your lusts, you are simply being ripened for destruction, as Romans 1 indicates to us. venereal disease and AIDS ought to be deterrence to this depraved sin. But people were so captivated by their vile lust that nothing stops them. So God will severely punish your sexual immorality. The third thing we see here is you must realize that past severe judgments are examples. He says in this text, you are given a moral. monument here of divine wrath in this example of Sodom Gimorra. They are set forth for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. We know that God rained fire and brimstone down upon these cities of the plain, destroyed them utterly, and this displays the divine wrath of God and all its fury. And the writer here Jew tells us this is a fitting symbol or example of hellfire, where God will punish men eternally for their sins. The manner of punishment is the same its judgment by fire. The judge is the same. It’s God himself. The instruments of judgment are the same angels for at the end of the world, the angels will gather the wicked in bundles to burn. as the scripture indicates to us. The suddenness of the destruction is the same. Because men were caught unawares and unprepared in Sodom. And the Bible says when Christ returns, sudden destruction shall come upon them. And the nature of the judgment is the same. Total destruction. Body and soul suffering eternal punishment in the lake of fire. Thus the destruction of the cities of the plain sort of were a tiny prefigurement of hellfire, where the smoke of the sinners’ torment will send up forever and ever. You recall we compared Genesis 1928 in the smoke of Sodom and Gomorrah with that passage in Revelation, chapter 14, verses 9 and 10, where Babylon is judged, and the torment is forever, and the smoke. goes up forever and ever there, where the fire is never quenched, when God’s vengeance is never stopped, never ceases. This example is very well to fit in Jude’s purpose and theme, because the air of these spiritual frauds, you recall, one of them was lasciviousness. Do you remember in verse four? we read this, we talked about these corrupt teachers and so forth, where there are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained of this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and and our Lord Jesus Christ. This is sexual perversity. And thus Jude here, threatens these counterfeit Christians, false teachers with a destruction, like unto Sodom, you’re going to end up in eternal fire. These men, having been enlightened by the gospel message, will suffer a greater punishment than Sodom. Because when you ignore the message, you know, of God in the Bible, when God sends a warning, as we have an example, and you ignore it, you are more culpable than those who did not have such a previous example. I want you to look with me at the book of Matthew, if you would, chapter 10, verses 7 to 15. Hear what our Lord says about this. Matthew chapter 10 and verses 7 to 15. Jesus is sending out his disciples to 15. to preach. And as you go preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses, nor script for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves, for the workman is worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever a city or town you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide till you go thence. And when you come into a house saluted, if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it’s not worthy, let your peace return to you. For whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words when you depart out of that house or city, shake the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom Gamora in the day of judgment than for that city. Think about that. They did have a witness somewhat of lot being in the city in Sodom Gamora, but think of the greater witness of the gospel that people have today. So you are given a witness. a monument of divine wrath. You have a warning to all who commit the same sin. It’s an example, he says. You know, the warnings that God gives us in Scripture are meant to be taken to heart that we might turn. Men might turn from their wickedness. All these examples have happened that we might benefit from them. When you blow the dust off of these Old Testament examples, you find that we find that we might benefit from them. example after example of how God deals with sinners throughout all the ages. God’s justice is the same as it ever was. His power is not diminished. His readiness to pour out his wrath has not wavered. Surely these biblical examples should promote a holy fear in men. The flood of Noah. The destruction of social. Gommora are plain testimonies to those who live sinfully that there is going to be a terrible judgment that’s going to fall upon them. The seriousness of lying is portrayed in the fact that Ananias and Sapphire were struck dead by God for lying. Lot’s wife, you recall, was turned into a pillar of salt because her heart was still back in Sodom when God said, don’t look back. But her heart was still there. She still longed for that place. And God struck her dead. People don’t really believe today that God will deal with them as severely as he did in ancient times, according to the word of God. And that is a serious mistake. We often hear that God has mellowed, that he’s more lenient in now in the New Testament, than he was in the Old Testament. Well, I got news for you. If you read this passage here in Jude, verse 7, it seems obvious to me that Jude is saying, this is the same God, who never changes, and his wrath is going to be poured out just as it was in the past. Be forewarned by the example of Sodom and Gomorrah that God deals severely with those who break his commandments. He is the same God. There is not even a shadow of changing within this God. It’s wishful thinking to think, well, God’s more merciful, he’s more lenient. He’s the same God. He’s the same God. When wicked people flourish and seem to prosper, do not become discouraged. You read in Scripture how God has dealt with these people in the past, and remember, this is the same God, sitting on the throne. I’m reminded of Asaph in the book of Psalms, Psalm 73, when he was really envious of the wicked and their prosperity until he went to the house of God. And then his eyes were open and all of a sudden he realized, whoa, God has set their feet in slippery places. Judgment’s coming. is when we hear what God says in his word, when we’re reminded of the righteous judgment of God throughout the scriptures, then we are prepared to see what God is going to do in our own day with regard to those who follow in these same sins. Biblical examples prove that we should pay attention to these things because God is going to meet out the same sins. kind of judgments. Satan would like you to think that God lies. You shall not surely die. And so he has tricked many down through the ages to believing his lie about God. But the Lord doesn’t lie. He is the Lord God of truth. Sin is always punished and sexual immorality is not exempt from devoid. vengeance. Homosexuality pollutes. It defiles a city and a nation and a people. It has terrible consequences not only in this life, but in the life to come. And this is the message really the church needs to hear today so that we are aware of what the scripture said. I wish that people would be more inclined to follow the scriptures and less inclined to follow society because society is believing the lie of Satan and scripture is delivering the truth of God. Let us close with prayer tonight.