Gloom and Doom! - Part A

Ensor versus Jude reminds us of the danger that apostates are to the church. That's the gloom.

They bring the glue and then after that he speaks about the future judgment that those false teachers will incur that the do. Teachers have long corrupted the church and that's why Jude Jesus brother wrote his letter of warning to believers connect with Skip Heitzigs into that as he shares how you can be on guard against false teaching. But before we begin reading the stories of the Bible is a very good thing. Walking where the stories took place is at a whole another level. Skip Heitzigs is planning his next two can be on the invitation from Skip urine for an incredible time as we travel throughout Israel and experience a culture that's so unique to that country. Now I've been to Israel in the number of times over the years that I can honestly say that visiting the places where the events of the Scriptures unfolded before Jesus lived taught and healed. It just never gets old will start on the Mediterranean Sea and head north.

Seeing places like Caesarea and Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River will spend several days in and around Jerusalem and see the temple mount Calvary, the garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of olives and much more. This remarkable itinerary is made richer with times of worship, Bible study, and lots of fellowship. The Bible will come alive to you in a way ever has before. I hope you'll join Lenny and me on what is always an unforgettable trip. I can't wait to see you in is with this dream can come true for you. Start planning and sinking now to tour Israel with Skip Heitzigs, information and inspiration. Cruises.com/CAB Q that's inspiration cruises.com/CAB Q we were in the book of Jude is Skip Heitzigs. It gets into today's message when people talk about doom and gloom preachers.

Are they usually roll their eyes very very negative.

Yeah, those guys you know and it's always seen as a putdown. I guess my question is where are such preachers today. I haven't heard lately of many preachers who will speak about judgment. Speak about a final hell that the Bible talks about. Rarely do I hear that talked about. There's not much gloom preaching that I hear.

Not that I'm advocating that but what I do here. Whether it's on regular TV. A lot of is how to be successful hear sermons on Matt how to be the best version of yourself, how to make your dreams come true. How to be a prosperous type of a person that don't get me wrong, I don't like preaching on the subjects that are in front of us all the time, and Jude is a short book.

So where I could be doing this long, but when it's plainly presented in the biblical text. I am not gonna Skip over what if it's uncomfortable for me.

So be it. If it's uncomfortable for you, so be it.

It's in the biblical text, and here's what I discovered about this week's passage. Those two words gloom and doom perfectly describe the subject matter in the little paragraph beginning in verse 12, down to verse 15 in four versus Jude reminds us of the danger that apostates are to the church. That's the gloom. They bring the gloom and then after that he speaks about the future judgment that those false teachers will incur.

That's the doom so false teachers bring the gloom. God's gonna bring to them the doom. So let's look at that. I think you'll readily see that as we go through these verses, verse 12.

These speaking of these apostates. These are spots in your love feasts while they feast with you without fear serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots, ranging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame wandering stars, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. That's pretty gloomy. That's the gloom. Now the doom now eating at the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, behold, the Lord comes with 10,000s of his saints to execute judgment on all to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Can you see how it usually falls into two parts.

He brings he talks first of all, at the gloom that these people bring and he describes them using natural phenomena and then the doom of the future so it's divided into present and future are as I put it in the outline the current jeopardy. That's the gloom and then the coming judgment. That's the doom. But here's the thing. Neither one of these subjects gloom or doom are even acknowledged by the unbelieving world by the modern mind the modern mindset does not even acknowledge this as being valid or true hell is not politically correct. Never has been. This is the age of tolerance is the age of acceptance and for some people, hell is a theological embarrassment even to some evangelicals and there are no false teachers because we live in a postmodern world where no one can be absolutely sure of anything.

So for somebody to stand and say this is right that is wrong. This is true, that is false is to the modern mind, and illusion because truth is not objective it is purely subject that's the modern mindset. In such an environment, discernment is not welcome to have discernment and say actually, I hear what you all saying in our culture, but this is right and that is wrong. This is true, and that is felt that kind of discernment is not welcome and yet Jude provides that discernment in spades. We've seen that support is a very hard hitting book now what we uncover here beginning in verse 12 are some word pictures Jude is giving us many parables to illustrate spiritual truths.

It's like he scours the sky and the land and the sea and compares false teachers to five natural phenomena.

Why does he do that he wants to show his readers just how dangerous these people are these people who have still embedded themselves within the church body. These are like a cancer to the body of Christ. Now, as we are getting into this. I'm just imagining that for some of you this the first time you been back to church for like a year so your thinking and yam to go back to church.

I really need to come back to church either be encouraged top strengthened and then this sermon right.

It's like oh great gloom and doom. I want you to look at it differently if that is what you come in with. I want you to think about it this way, God loves you so much that he wants to warn you of the six God loves you and cares for you so much that he is willing to tell you truth. One of the most loving things you can ever do is tell people the truth.

And he does that. So Morgan began with the current jeopardy and and what I want to show you in these verses are five reasons that these people the Jude is talking about five reasons they are so dangerous and and look at how their describe their worrisome spots. Their waterless clouds, worthless trees, wild waves wandering stars.

Let's let's begin with the first.

Their worrisome spots for he says in verse 12 these are spots in your love feasts while they feast with you without fear serving only themselves the speaks of their defiling nature ever get a spot under shirt or blouse or your dress. You say you numbed up on the plot. The white shirt this week and honey him and I've been waiting for a special occasion with his white shirt, then you have a cup of coffee or you eat spaghetti and you get a spot on it and and then you say we say when that happens every time I work the shirt that have right Regina were some white it seems attractive this wire were black. When you get a spot on a piece of fabric like a white blouse or shirt, the rest of it is cleaned it all looks good but you will go on public thinking they are well the rest of it looks good. It is one spot because when you're on a public what do they look at the spot right even though there's so much other material is still intact around nobody.

It's everywhere all the focus all the attention is on the spot. I think that's partly here the idea is that these people embedded in the church. The Jude is writing about our drawing attention away from the main thing and onto themselves like the spot.

Verse 12 says there are spots in your feasts while they feast with you without fear serving only themselves making it all about them now.

A note about the love feast. The love feast was an early church way of doing church. It was a very common church service.

2000 years ago. Early Christians would get together and basically the order of service was a time of worship instruction in the word. Then we take the elements together of the Lord's supper then we have a potluck, people would bring food because many people in the community were poor and those who had food or were wealthy and could cook even more would bring food to these love feasts and everybody could eat of them.

The problem is these things started getting abused so you can on your own, read first Corinthians 11 sometime were Paul says you know your love feasts are like out-of-control one person comes drunk. Another person comes in gobbles the food before anybody else can get it and so eventually what happened. History tells us, is the love feast as a church service when out of form when it was out of vogue just got wash off the scene because of the abuse that happened within them.

Now the second mark here after worrisome spots are waterless clouds. He says in the next sentence. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds. I think the speaks of their false promise. They promise you stuff but they don't produce anything you clouds promised rain. When you see a cloud bank command. It portends refreshment and arraignments good for the crops good for the grass.

One of the great things I love about New Mexico. Summers are the clouds roll through the big puffy cumulus clouds and and and and you're hoping that it just can have this rain versus dry.

We love that. I love that. What I don't love is when the clouds come carried by the wind, and it blows in all the dust and then there's no water there promising me something but they're not making good or not delivering on the promise in Proverbs 25, 14 were told whoever falsely boasts of giving is like clouds and wind without rain. False teachers are like big puffy clouds all vapor, no water, all bluster, no benefit. I've always loved the story of the church service the country church service for the though the preacher came to church ill prepared for his sermon didn't study that we very much and that he tried to make up for his lack of preparation by pounding the pulpit yelling moving around a lot hold is by globs of people you like a pep rally but not really much substance.

So after the service, to the sum of people really excited about the added and that they would get together in groups and talk about it and some even said the preacher really preached up a storm.

Well, they asked one of the older church members and elderly Native American man what he thought of the sermon and he gave six words. He said hi when big thunder. No rain. It's all bluster, but no benefit saw cloud is no rain, that's the idea. They are waterless clouds. Third is the description of worthless trees. No get this late autumn trees verse 12 late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots.

You can't get any more fruitless than that the speaks of their barren profession. Now the autumn time is the last opportunity for harvest is before the winter comes before the hard freeze so you you really want to have a good autumn harvest because if not, you might face starvation in the coming months. But it's interesting that the text describes him as being that is dead but what, twice dead, and how does that work so like Princess bride is not bad. He's mostly that not all dead but mostly dead dead dead.

What is it mean to be twice dead. How can you be twice dead, I think what he means is, these are trees that are fruitless entries that are rootless because they're not connected to the ground. There's no life-giving coming into them. Therefore, there is nothing going out of them. They don't produce any fruit because the root system pulled up by the roots. Now this happens to be the opposite of the description of the godly man or woman spoke about in Psalm one right there planted by the rivers of water who has fruit given in its season, and whatever he does shall prosper. This is the opposite of that from a distance. I suppose these trees look like any other trees you kinda coming up to a grubby all that there's a tree and then you get closer and was there's no fruit on it and then you looking to well it's because it's been pulled up by the roots, but is still still sitting here so people can be like that they can kind of look the part sound spiritual sound very sincere.

You know about their belief system and yet be dead. Jesus at every plant, which my heavenly father has not planted will be up rooted. Do you know how many people sit in lifeless dead religious systems so many and and let's narrow it down you normally people sit in lifeless dead churches of the church building in a singsong as they get together and they do stop the meanwhile, the very sincere. That was the life found a website. This is the center for contemplative spirituality and that they say quote we come from a variety of secular and religious backgrounds and we each seek to enrich our journey through spiritual practice and study of the world's great spiritual tradition, though it sounds so noble, so positive we desire to draw closer to the loving spirit so generic the loving spirit which pervades all creation which inspires our compassion for all beings know the words were taking what we like. From that religion and what we like from that system, but we like them there putting it all together, even though they all contradict each other, which is kinda like that they feel good and you're okay and I'm okay. Problem is there dead there's no life there is no life changed. There's no capacity for transformation so there worrisome spots, waterless clouds, worthless trees.

He goes on their wild waves verse 13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame. The speaks of their destructive nature. If you spend any time on an ocean at all. You learn to respect what you love it you you enjoy that the sound you enjoy the smell, the sites, but if you spend much time on the ocean you learn to respect because of the power that can be there on I love the ocean I grew up going a lot to the ocean. I grew up surfing. I love waves but II love I love I love formed waves. I love ways we see them build in the Biltmore and then they come to a crest and then they break and then they form a line on one side of the other and you know that's a right breaker left break and it great for surfing formed waves are great storm waves are not so great now I can't be sure, but I am guessing that when Jude wrote this is a description he had in his mind a passage from the book of Isaiah 57 verse 20 says, but the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up Meyer and dirt. There is no peace says my God for the wicked.

If you go to the beach after a storm. The health department in the state of California tells you don't go in the water for about two days and that's because the storm has has churned up human pollution you go to the beach of fine hypodermic needles being washed ashore. You'll find trash or find float some jetsam. All that stuff that is out there and the water is toxic so the idea these people stir stuff up, they stir up the mud, they stir up the filthy stir up the debris formed waves are productive.

Storm waves are destructive so there worrisome spots, waterless clouds, worthless trees, wild waves, there's a final fifth description in verse 13 there wandering stars.

He says this wandering stars, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Here's the interesting thing about this description.

Stars don't wander stars are in a fixed orbit so fixed are the orbits of stars that the ancients would navigate by them. You could look at a winter sky or summer sky you newer constellations were and you could go in different directions on land or sea. Based upon your reading of the stars, but there is a phenomenon that we call a shooting star is not actually stars, much as it's up piece of debris or space.store or even a meteor and when it gets close to our atmosphere. It burns up and it shows as a bright spot a streak across the sky and whenever somebody sees a shooting star where they say helping out what I say not what it where you see it you and what you say who write my writers. I have this wrong, so I'd this what I do on or about you but I see shooting cycle. While Casey while or who are are awesome. But how long does it last. It's over now. It just it just happens over so and you have to have your eyes to even see it. And then after that nothing because it's there reserved for them that blackness of darkness forever. Now I think you know is going with this many teacher there's been many a bright star that is coming to a pulpit that is ended up a burn out like fireworks and people all hello who did you hear that I've never heard that before will maybe never heard it is actually not in the Bible. Some dude just made it up and you got to lose and the odds going but so if you try to navigate by a falling star to be dead or lost. Compare that to Daniel 12 Daniel 12 of those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever have. Those are fixed stars. That's what you want to be like not a shooting star firework blue stain shining people navigate my your life that Skip message from his series fight for the house to let you know about a resource that helps you dive even deeper into God's truths that Norm Geisler said about the tactics, there is no better block to include Christians to think clearly on the need to engage in spiritual warfare. You'll never fight God's battles for myself, you'll never contend what really matters. Just cruise and interlacing boiled. You have to decide to get out as part of the house and join the fight become a contender for the treatment message series through the computer skip. I think these teaching theories on the ring and guard against teaching to connect more people to the truth of conflict payment $35 and more today will often send the text by Gregory couple to speak the truth about Christianity with confidence increase, and hundred and 92 report.com did you know that Skip has important updates and biblical encouragement on social media. Just follow him on Facebook, twitter and Instagram to get the latest from him in this ministry that at Skip Heitzig at Skip HPI to CIG next week. Skip Heitzigs of looks to a future judgment that false teachers will face. Also, when Jesus will come back and Skip presentation of connection communication, never changing to ever-changing time