Jude 1:6 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.
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, 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.
8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
Jude was directed by God to warn of apostasy. Falling away from the truth is never a good thing. God gave man the ability to think. Prior to the fall of man, man was capable of thinking good things. After the fall, his mind was corrupted. Now man had the capacity to think good things but also bad things.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
When we approach the Bible, we need to ask God to guide our hearts and minds, that we not corrupt His pure Word.
In our text Jude was directed to remind us that the angels, created beings, were not immune to sin. The problem is that the angels that sinned, could never be redeemed. God did not give them the capacity to repent. Thus the angels that fell with Satan, can never be redeemed. They are kept in everlasting chains and condemned to end up in the lake of fire one day.
Sodom and Gomorrha, places that defied God, are also mentioned here. The sodomite crowd does not like to deal with this issue. They want to justify their wickedness and even suggest that God made them that way and He is content with them being such. Sodom and Gomorrha were not judged by God due to their inhospitable nature. They were judged by God because they were going after strange flesh.
It is against God’s design for a man to have relations with a man or for a woman to have relations with a woman. We see the further corruption of human nature in that there is also pedophilia and beastiality. God gave clear warnings against this in the Old Testament. Those who would get involved in that wicked behaviour were not allowed to live in Israel.
God showed Abraham and his family that He hated sodomy. He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha. Even Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt because she could not let go of that wicked place.
God has not told New Testament saints to destroy sodomites. The lost would like nothing better than to be able to accuse God’s people of killing sodomites. Sodomites kill each other. Their lifestyle is destructive. There is no love among sodomites. There is only a corrupted lust. God warns that those who follow the philosophy of Sodom and Gomorrha will end up in the lake of fire.
In verse 8 Jude described those who crept in unawares as filthy dreamers. They defile the flesh. Lost people do not only have a spiritual problem. Their primary issue is a spiritual deadness. That deadness causes them to defile their flesh. There was an article recently about the “Rolling Stones”. They are a wicked rock group. In the headline to the article it talked of the immorality within that group. One of the group kept a record for years of the number of women he had slept with. He should be ashamed of himself, but he is not. Incidentally, the term “rock and roll” comes from immoral practices.
These filthy dreamers despise dominions. They have no fear of God. They are not concerned about Truth. They will use foul language and under certain circumstances may apologize for it, but they continue to use it. Lost humanity has standards. The problem is that they set their own standards and they are very subjective.
Rather than showing respect for those in authority, they speak evil of them. This is not talking of politics. This is talking of those who have been called to proclaim the Truth. This would be speaking of the Scriptures, and of evangelists, pastors and teachers.
Evangelists, pastors and teachers are just human beings. However, they are supposed to be saved human beings who have been called of God for those positions. They are not gods. They will sin, but they certainly cannot live in sin. They need to set a godly standard. They need to be able to lead other saints to greater holiness. They cannot do that if they wallow in sin with them. No true child of God can live in sin. Those whom God chooses to put into leadership positions, need to surrender to the will of God and have moved beyond the milk stage and be able to digest the “meat” of God’s Word.
True spiritual leaders are called of God to exalt Him and to encourage others to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is foolish to want a pastor who indulges in sin.
Jude warned of the wickedness of the past and God’s response to that. God has not changed. He still hates sin. When we stop to meditate upon Jesus’ coming to this earth to save sinners, and what that entailed, we get a greater sense of God’s hatred for sin. If you are a true child of God, you will also hate sin, first of all in your own life, and then you will want to help others to turn to God and know His peace as well.
Pastor Bartel