Jude 1:14-16

The book of Jude, I want to read verses 14 to 16 for our text and study this evening. Book of Jude, verses 14 through 16. In Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, behold, the Lord cometh with ten 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 murmurs, complainers, walking after their own lust, and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration. because of advantage. May God bless to us the reading of His holy and sacred word this evening. The American humorist James Thurber told of a childhood experience that took place in his boyhood town. He said there was a thin, lanky man who lived in his town, who they all classified as a prophet. The man would periodically walk the streets crying out, get ready, the world’s coming to an end. He soon became known as the get ready man. Few people taunted him, but most people just thought him a little mad and really didn’t pay much attention to him. Thurber concluded no one really took him seriously. In a sense, In the sense, Enoch made the same kind of announcement as Thurber’s character. His cry was, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon all. No doubt many considered him to be a lunatic as well. Yet Enoch was a spokesman for God, and his message was true. Enoch was a get-ready man. Now, Jude has been providing a description of the apostates of his day, those who depart from the faith. And it’s related their hatred of the people of God. They’re like Kane, who hated his brother, and killed him. Their love of money, like Balam, their apostasy, like those. of Cora, who rebelled against church leaders. He has called them disgraceful blemishes, spots, spiritually dead, or, excuse me, spiritually barren, clouds without water, spiritually dead, like autumn trees, proud and shameful, like the rest of the rest of waves that are always casting up debris and doomed like wandering stars. All that in verses 12 and 13. Now Jude uses the prediction of Enoch to show that these religious frauds are certainly deserving of God’s judgment. Let me begin tonight by saying this. You should consider the man Enoch and be like him. Verse 14, in Enoch, also the seventh from Adam prophesied of these. You find that Enoch here was a godly man. He is the seventh from Adam. Now, Enoch was not the seventh man born in the world, for there were perhaps thousands of people that were born before Enoch was born. But he is the seventh generation from Adam. You got Adam, Seth, Enos, Canaan, Mehele, Leal, Jared, and then Enoch, according to Genesis chapter 5. Why is this description necessary? Well, if you read carefully the line of Cain, you’ll find there was an Enoch in the line of Cain. In the line of Cain. and he was the third from Adam in Kane’s line, and he was an apostate. Kane went out from the presence of the Lord in Genesis 416, and all his offspring followed his example. They didn’t worship the true and living God. Jude also wishes to demonstrate that apostasy and God’s judgment of it are nothing new. spend that way from the very beginning. Now Enoch, the son of Jared, was a very unusual man. He certainly was a godly man because the Bible tells us in Genesis 5, verses 22, and also in verse 24, that he walked with God. He walked with God. He lived in fellowship with God. He was the only person and in Genesis 5 of which you read the words, do not read the words, and he died. Everybody else dies except for Enoch. Instead, you have this cryptic phrase, and he was not for God took him. Now, we understand this to mean, according to the New Testament in the Book of Hebrews Chapter 11, by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see him. death and was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God. So he was a man who lived a life of holiness. He was a man who fellowship with God, who worshiped the true and living God. He pleased God by his faith and by his life. And God snatched him away to heaven. Now, you’re either like Enoch, and you walk with God, or you are among the ungodly who know nothing of fellowship with God. We see with Enoch’s case here that we must be faithful even in the most unfaithful times. We should stand out from the rest of those in our own society as being different from the world. It was a godly man, and we should stand out from the rest of those in our own society as being different as being different from the world. should be like that. You find that Enoch was also a prophet of God. Enoch prophesied according to this text of Scripture. It’s interesting that Noah is also said to have walked with God in Genesis 6.9, and the New Testament classifies him as a preacher of righteousness in 2.5. In like manner Enoch, walk with God, but he said to be a God’s special spokesman. He prophesians. size. He’s a prophet of the Lord. He declared God’s message. That Enoch possessed the gift of prophecy can be deduced from the name that he gave his son. His son was Methuselah, you recall. Methuselah was the one that lived 969 years of age. He was the oldest man who ever lived. You know the riddle. who is the oldest man ever lived? Let’s see. Who is the oldest man? Let’s see, how does that go again? Who is the oldest man who ever lived and yet died before his father did? It’s Methuselah’s the answer that because his father didn’t die. So Methuselah means when he dies is the omission. And so his son’s name is, basically a prophecy that the flood was going to come when he died. And in the year that Bethuselah died, the flood came. Notice, Jude says, Enoch prophesied. It doesn’t say it is written. As if it were a quotation. It’s not a quotation. And that’s important that we recognize that. Let it be clearly understood that this is not a quote from the apostate. book, the book of Enoch, that’s found in the Catholic Bible. There’s no evidence that Enoch’s prophecy was ever written down and left behind. We don’t have any evidence of that. The Reverend John Owen, the translator and editor of John Calvin’s commentaries, had this footnote on the topic. There is no evidence of such a book being known. for some time after this epistle was written. And the book so called, meaning in the Catholic Bible, was probably a forgery occasioned by this reference of Enoch’s prophecy. I think that’s an interesting observation. So Jude received knowledge of this prophecy by divine inspiration. We know that Paul mentions the magicians, two magicians of Egypt by name. Janice and Jambres in 2 Peter 3.8. But we’re not told that he somehow knew this from Jewish writings or something of this nature that weren’t scripture. And so we assume that these were given by inspiration of God alone. Now like Enoch, you as a believer are called to declare God’s message in your own generation. It will not mean that you will be popular. you may be hated and despised. But your prophecy that you would give, of course, was the one that’s revealed in Scripture, whatever God has said. And in particular, what the ungodly need to hear is what’s going to happen to them. Unless they repent. and that’s what he prophesied. So you should consider the man Enoch. He was a godly man. It was a prophet of God. Secondly, you should understand the far-reaching implications of Enoch’s prophecy. Let’s look at the verses 14B and verse 15. As we read here, behold, the Lord cometh with 10,000. 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 it. You should ponder the pre-flood world. You find here a world that is filled with ungodliness. You read the book of Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5. God saw the wickedness of man was great on the earth. Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now, it’s interesting that the people who lived prior to the flood lived a lot longer than those who came after the flood. For instance, some of them live 600 years. Some of them lived 700 years. Some of them lived 800 years. And a few of them lived over 900 years. Of 8 hundred years. age. Now the Bible indicates to us that people grow in wickedness. You can grow in holiness or you can grow in wickedness. Now think about this. A sinful nature doesn’t always remain in the same state. It can progress. It become more… If you had 800 years to live, you can imagine how wicked people become in 60 or 70 years on this earth. Imagine if you had 800 years. You know, the wicked people. we see may be more like childhood wickedness compared to those who got really mature in their wickedness in these days. So you can imagine this was really bad. Their ungodly deeds are spoken of here. The scripture teaches that God looked upon the earth and it was filled with violence. All kinds of murder, harm, done to people, robberies, perhaps, things of this nature. Depression, cruelty, rapes, murders were common. If you read your newspaper today, you won’t see much difference. Perhaps we see the same kind of things. Remember Lamek? Lamek was one of the line of the line of Kane, and he brags about murdering two men. Gang members that brag about killing and sometimes like MS-13 I think you have to kill someone to be a member. You have to have a little notch on your your gun. So you can see a you can imagine how wicked this was. Now religiously the line of Cain followed in their footsteps of their father who went out from the presence of the Lord. The line of Seth were known as the sons of God. The God people came from the line of Seth. It’s that line which is said to have called upon the name of the Lord. They worshipped the true and the living God. Noah is said to be a preacher of righteousness, but the ungodly world around him didn’t pay much attention to his call to repent. The Bible indicates that there was inner marriage between the godly line of Seth, the sons of God, and the wicked line of Cain, the Daughters of Men in Genesis chapter 6. This sinful step caused greater apostasy because the supposedly godly line is now mingled with the ungodly people and therefore they became greatly corrupted. And it was great apostasy. In fact, and we get to Noah’s Day, only eight people are going to be saved and enter into the ark and be spared by God. They spoke hard speeches against the Lord. Ungodly sinners were blasphemous, irreverent. God was cursed. His ways were ridiculed. There are only a few hints in the Genesis account of why this may have occurred. It would appear that one of the bases on which they were murmuring against God was the fact of the curse that God put upon the ground. When Noah was born, he was given the name Noah, which means rest. And his parents said, this same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord have cursed. It’s hard. It’s to grow food. It’s, you know, it was difficult. The thorns and the thistles had come up and the elements and the insects and everything else. It was extremely hard work and they were bemoaning the fact. And you can imagine people cursing God for bringing a curse upon the ground and saying hard things against him. Also, you have the account of Lamek descendant of Kane who makes an impertinent speech in Genesis chapter 4. There’s an interesting account of this. In verses 23 and 24. And Lamek said unto his wise, Ada and Zilla, hear my voice, ye wise of Lamek, hearken under my speech, for I have slain a man to my wounding and a young man to my hurt. If Cain be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamek 70 and sevenfold. If God promised Kane, that he would avenge him seven times if someone slew him, well, I expect to be avenged 77 times because I kill two men. He confesses how he is a fierce man who kills people who stand opposed to him. Some think that he was comparing himself to Kane. Kane murdered Abel who was a believer, a faithful one, and perhaps he’s looking at this and maybe he murdered some of the line of Seth and thought, you know, if God’s going to protect Kanewall, he’ll have to protect even more. He presumes here that God is going to do nothing to him. He brags that God’s going to have to protect him. Can you see a sarcastic approach here? maybe he’s poking fun at God’s justice and his truth about judgment. So you find a world here filled with ungodliness. You find here a divine visitation predicted. Now, Jude, if you look at it carefully here, the way it’s worded, that was verse 14, I’m going to skip that phrase the seventh from Adam. And Enoch also prophesied of these. Now the word also is interesting here because there’s a sense in which I think we would say that indeed he prophesied regarding the wicked of his own day, but Jude is indicating he also prophesied of these apostates of Jude’s day. So the both are included. Many who interpret this passage of scripture apply it only to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I think we should apply it to both the pre-flood world and to the second coming of Christ for the indication is God’s going to judge all these wicked people. Behold the Lord cometh in scripture the coming of the Lord doesn’t always mean a visible appearance. it often speaks of God’s judgment here upon the wicked. I could go to a lot of different passages of scripture. We went through some of this when we went through the book of Revelation when we were looking at the word coming there. Isn’t it interesting when God decides to deal with Babel he says, let us go down and see what’s going on. And then he judges them, he confounds their speech. He comes. He visits. You read that in Genesis 11 verses 5 to 9. When it came to Sodom, in Genesis 18, you remember that the Lord appeared unto Abraham and he had two angels with him and the Lord says, am I going to hide this? from my friend, Abraham. So he tells Abraham. He’s coming down to sea. He’s heard of the cry with regard to the wickedness of Sodomus come up to his ears and he’s going to deal with him. How does he deal with him? Well, you know, Abraham figured that out real quick. Are you going to destroy the righteous with the wicked? He’s thinking about Lot. He’s thinking about you’re going to destroy this city. He’s going to bring fire brimstone. He visits with regard to the golden calf. We find that in the wilderness journey, they’ve built the they made the calf and you know, Moses had to rebuke the people. He was up on the mountain and he is, you know, God sends them down. And he, you know, says, they’ve already gone astray. He’s, I mean, he hasn’t got the, he hasn’t even got the ten commandments ready to, you know, he’s given to them. And he, he’s coming down the mountain with the tablets. Yeah. them and have them yet. He’s already breaking them. And what do we read there? Moses is interceding with the Lord. We read how he pleads with the God that God would spare them and so forth. He says here, go ahead, proceed. The angel of the Lord will go before you, proceed toward Canaan and so forth. The promise Lingan, but he says, when I visit you, I will bring judgment. And the passage indicates to us he plagued the people because they had made the golden calf. I’m going to visit you. That’s found in Exodus 32 verses 35. We looked at, you look at Egypt in Isaiah 19, 1 to 4, God is said to come down, to come, to visit on the cloud, to bring judgment. Psalm 18, when David cries out for judgment against those who persecute him. Versus 6 to 18 there, God rides on a cloud and brings judgment. And also, you remember the judgment of the churches, and I won’t dwell on this, but in Revelation 2, 5, 16, and so forth, you know, the Lord says, if you don’t repent to the church at Ephis, I’m going to come, and I’m going to take away your lampstand. And so forth. And so you have that phrase used repeatedly. This was a local coming. It was not a local judgment coming. It wasn’t the second coming of Christ. So in particular, we know that the Lord visits in the judgment of the flood. Behold, God is going to come suddenly. He’s going to come unexpectedly. And he’s going to judge the people. Ten thousand. Ten thousand. of his saints or his holy ones will be with him. There are an innumerable number for a multitude of angels that often accompany God when he visits. For example, when he came down on Mount Sinai, we read he came with 10,000s of his saints in Deuteronomy 322. Saints are holy ones, I think, should be understood as angels who attended God when he delivered the law. It is true that the word saints is sometimes used of the people of God. But here I think it’s certainly referring to the angels. In the New Testament, we read that Israel received the law by the disposition of angels, Acts 753, and the law is said to be the word spoken by angels in Hebrews 2.2. And he can He comes to execute judgment on all. This speaks of the universality of God’s judgment. That all flesh is going to be judged. We know that the pre-flood world, the whole world, was flooded. God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said to Noah, the end of all flesh has come before me. So God is going to destroy all flesh. In particular, he’s going to judge this ungodly world. Only eight, as I said, are going to be spared in all his family. So the pre-floodd world was filled with ungodliness and divine visitation is predicted. But you should also realize the implication, it seems, of Enoch’s prophecy for the present day. Because he goes on to say, verse 16 that these are murmurs, I complainers, walking after their own lust, and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage. You see, a similar state of the world. As I mentioned to you, verse 14, Enoch also, in addition, to prophesying with regard to the pre-flood world, also prophesying side of these people, of which I am speaking. And then he defines them here a little bit further in verse 16. So Enoch did not seem to prophesy directly and particularly about these false teachers of apostates of Jude’s Day, but his message, it seems, was to the pre-flood world, and yet the Bible indicates that it does apply to our day, so forth. Enoch’s prediction of divine visitation upon the ungodly certainly has a reference to all generations, and it’s interesting that Jude has already argued that these religious frauds have gone in the way of Cain, and what do we’ve already studied? That’s the ungodly line. That’s the line that was apostate. And so he’s saying it these apostate people, and the Lord is going to judge them. They’re just like the line of Cain. And what does the Bible teach about the days right before the second coming of Christ in Matthew 24. What shall they be like? But as the days of Noah were, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered in the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away. So also so shall also the coming of the son of man be. Just like that. Just like that. So the President Day apostates are guilty of the same types of sins. And will receive the same type of punishment. These false teachers grumbled and complained against God and man. They despise God’s message. They deny his sovereignty. They deny the deity of Christ, as we saw in verse 4. They despise dominion. Civil authorities. They despise glories or speak evil of dignity, of dignities, excuse me. Church leaders, verse 8. They walk after their own lust. Enoch walked after God. They walked after their own lust. These use flattery to win people over. They carefully study people and how they can win them over to their cause. Take advantage. So you see, God promises a visitation of divine judgment. The second coming of Christ applies to this situation. Jude is using, I think, Enoch’s prophecy to demonstrate that history is repeating itself. The present day can expect a divine judgment as well. Jesus Christ is going to return. And with him will be the holy angels. to render judgment upon the ungodly. As Matthew 2531 says, The son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him. He shall sit upon a throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations for the judgment. Jesus Christ is ordained to be the judge of the living and the dead. And he’s going to convince the ungodly with clear proof with unmistakable evidence of their wickedness. For on the great white throne judgment, the books will be open. An audit of their lives will occur, and the ungodly will then be cast into the lake of fire. Man refuses to heed God’s warning of judgment. Divine visitations, however, come suddenly, unexpectedly. People do not believe that God’s going to judge them. Maybe like Lamek. You know, God’s not going to do anything. And what happens is they get caught off guard. It’s interesting, 2. Peter 3 says, the first time when God set a universal judgment, he did it by fire. And the second time, excuse me, the first time he did it by water. And the second time, with the second coming of Christ, he’s going to do it by fire. So you should understand the far-reaching implications of Enoch’s prophecy. There’s something, I think, to be said for what applies to the pre-flood world, and there’s something that can be said with implications for the present day, and that’s why Jude brings it up. Let me close tonight by saying this. You’re to be an Enoch in the midst of an ungodly generation. In addition. naturalist butterflies of the Kalamaugh family are able to pull off a unique disappearing act. They’re known as the dead leaf butterflies. Now, these insects have brilliant colors on the upper side of their wings. But underneath, they have a very drab. It looks like dead leaves. leaves on the underneath of their wings. So when they’re flying, you can see this flash of color. But when they land and they close their wings up, it looks like just a leaf hanging on the tree. So that no predators can easily find them. In fact, when the wind blows, they sway back and forth to just like a leaf. Believers in Christ sometimes take on the appearance of the world in order to avoid detection. They don’t want to show them. their true colors. They want to avoid confrontation. But yet the Lord would have us be a testimony. Enoch was prominent at a time when great wickedness was sweeping across the world. A time when the earth was going to be totally corrupt in a short period. And God’s judgment fell. He lived in a day of mockers. He lived in a day of mockers. He lived in a day of day of despisers. He lived when few people love God. And even those who profess to do so were compromising by marrying in the line of Cain, the daughters of men. And yet Enoch bore witness of God. He prophesied. He wasn’t silent. Do not complain, therefore, that your times are very bad, that your neighbors are evil. Look at Enoch. He speaks for God. We tell others of the message of God from the Bible and how the ungodly will be judged and how God’s wrath will be judged and how God’s wrath will fall and that Christ is coming. That to repeat the same sins of the past is to bring down the same type of judgment and expose them to a similar fate. So in a sense, you and I are get-ready men as well. Let’s close with a word of prayer tonight.