WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.800 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. It is wonderful 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:20.760 that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, either 00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:24.920 by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:31.520 for us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself? 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:37.939 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, we really, 00:00:38.179 --> 00:00:42.579 I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the Bible, 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:48.760 they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will 00:00:48.760 --> 00:00:54.560 do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a 00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:59.340 non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:04.680 hesitate to send us questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the 00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:07.780 types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:13.920 Let's bow our heads in prayer. 00:01:16.140 --> 00:01:22.200 Father, your Word this morning is very un-Canadian, at least un-Canadian Christian, 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:30.180 and it can be a bit hard for us to hear it. But Father, we know that every word that you have 00:01:30.180 --> 00:01:37.379 spoken to us through your Word written is meant for our good, for our blessing and our thriving, 00:01:37.780 --> 00:01:45.400 and to love Jesus more and to honour you more. And so we ask, Father, that not that you silence our 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:51.820 questions, Father, but that as we bring our questions to your Word, that your Word will satisfy 00:01:51.820 --> 00:01:59.260 our mind and heart and soul. That these will be words that we take to heart, that we honour and 00:01:59.260 --> 00:02:05.219 believe and act on. And I ask all of these things, Father, in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Saviour. 00:02:05.219 --> 00:02:07.640 Amen. Please be seated. 00:02:14.180 --> 00:02:20.780 So, maybe, I'm not sure, people online, I don't think you get to hear the Gospel text or 00:02:20.780 --> 00:02:27.520 the Epistle before I start speaking. So just so you know, the text that we're looking at today 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:35.420 is going to talk about Sodom and Gomorrah, the origin of demons, and God's fiery and eternal judgment, 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:44.040 as you can well gather, very easy topics to talk about in Canada in 2024. So, I don't know where 00:02:44.040 --> 00:02:49.300 everybody is who's here, and especially those who are online, either live or downstream. 00:02:49.300 --> 00:02:57.820 But, and I hope that there are some here, or online, who are, consider themselves outside the 00:02:57.820 --> 00:03:04.000 Christian faith. Maybe you're a seeker. Maybe you're just curious. Maybe you're a skeptic. 00:03:04.660 --> 00:03:10.760 Maybe you're going through a period of deconstruction. Maybe you're looking for evidence as to why you 00:03:10.760 --> 00:03:17.920 shouldn't be a Christian. Really, really glad that you're listening in or here. And one of the things 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:22.959 about us is that we preach through books of the Bible, and that means that we don't avoid topics 00:03:22.959 --> 00:03:28.619 which are awkward or difficult. One of the things I want to say, if you consider yourself to be outside 00:03:28.619 --> 00:03:33.299 of the Christian faith, or maybe on the way out, or whatever is going on, or if you're here online, 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:40.319 I want you to know that the text today that we're looking at is not about those outside of the 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:44.759 Christian faith. The text that we're looking at today is for those who are part of the visible 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:49.979 church, those who would claim that they are Christian. And that's what the text is, that's 00:03:49.979 --> 00:03:57.079 who the text is addressing. In a sense, then, what I'm going to be looking at today, and what Ross just 00:03:57.079 --> 00:04:03.199 read earlier, is an in-house discussion. And if you're outside of the Christian faith, you get to 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:09.340 listen in on an in-house discussion. But it's really talking about those who profess Christian faith. 00:04:09.340 --> 00:04:15.039 It's not making any particular appeal to those who would say they're very clearly outside of the 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:20.060 Christian faith and believe something different. But one of the things you're going to notice is 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:27.459 that, well, actually, some of the things that it's the Bible's talking about does, in fact, for 00:04:27.459 --> 00:04:33.399 Christians, or those who claim to be Christians, is it is very directly talking about things that 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:39.000 many people in Canada outside of the Christian faith believe. And so you might say, okay, well, 00:04:39.039 --> 00:04:43.179 George, it's all right for you to say that it's in-house, but, I mean, good grief. They're good 00:04:43.179 --> 00:04:50.620 grief. The Bible's dissing us. It's saying things against the views that we hold dearly. 00:04:50.620 --> 00:05:00.439 And, you know, just to put it sort of, you know, very clearly, I mean, here's the thing. For those 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:05.899 who are outside of the Christian faith, well, you're not a Christian. You think that things that 00:05:05.899 --> 00:05:11.519 Christians believe cannot possibly be true. And yet, I mean, that's what you think, right? And, 00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:16.060 you know, frankly, for a committed Christian, there's things, you know, that for Muslim, or a Buddhist, 00:05:16.060 --> 00:05:22.500 or a Hindu, or, you know, many just garden-variety Canadians, that we don't agree with things that 00:05:22.500 --> 00:05:28.280 you say. I mean, so at one level, that shouldn't be a bit of a shock to you, that, in fact, we don't 00:05:28.280 --> 00:05:35.939 agree on things. And, in fact, you know, I read lots of non-Christian books, and I read the paper, 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:42.439 and on lots of media, and I have constant sources of, there's constant people speaking into my life 00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:45.620 trying to say, George, you're wrong. You're wrong, and you should think like me. So, 00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:49.980 it shouldn't be a bit of a shock to you on one level. You're just actually hearing that, oh, 00:05:50.060 --> 00:05:53.800 okay, these, in fact, are things that, if you are a Christian, you're supposed to believe. 00:05:54.600 --> 00:05:59.399 And it shouldn't, in a sense, be a big surprise to you that it's, we're going to disagree on some 00:05:59.399 --> 00:06:05.660 things. But in an odd way, I think when you hear this text, you'll understand something that I think 00:06:05.660 --> 00:06:11.680 real, true Christians believe. Very early on in my ordained ministry, there was a man, 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:16.000 the denomination that I used to be part of, the Diocese of Ottawa, the Anglican Church of Canada. 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:21.600 I'm not going to, I'm going to out it, not outing it. He came, and in his talk at a big gathering of 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:28.519 the whole diocese, he very persuasively and passionately and emotionally let us all know 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:34.120 that Jesus didn't rise from the grave, that miracles don't happen, that the basic Christian 00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:41.280 moral teachings are outmoded, they're for an agrarian age that don't apply to modern people. 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:47.579 And he got a standing ovation. In fact, I can tell you right now, every single person in the room, 00:06:47.620 --> 00:06:54.079 over 300, except one person stood. I sat there on the seat, not clapping, with a very, very, very red 00:06:54.079 --> 00:07:00.040 face. And afterwards, when I came back to the church that I served at, I said, listen, you know, 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:03.620 people can believe those things, that's fine, it's Canada, it's everybody should believe what 00:07:03.620 --> 00:07:08.500 they're going to, you know, what they think is true. But if I ever came to believe that, 00:07:09.520 --> 00:07:15.000 I would resign as a Christian minister, and I would stop being a Christian. And I definitely, 00:07:15.140 --> 00:07:19.800 the absolute last thing in the world I would do on a Sunday morning is go to church. 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:26.259 Like, good grief, if you believe those things, why bother? There's way better things to do with your 00:07:26.259 --> 00:07:31.219 time. Like, if you're here outside the faith, don't you agree? There's way better things to do with 00:07:31.219 --> 00:07:35.639 your time than come to church, if you don't actually believe anything in the Christian faith 00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:41.459 that's at all important. And so on one level, I mean, this is just to frame it, you get to hear how 00:07:41.459 --> 00:07:47.300 Christians think, and this is a warning to people who claim to be Christians. This man who I'm 00:07:47.300 --> 00:07:53.319 referring to, he's now passed away, but it's referring to people like that, that exist within the 00:07:53.319 --> 00:08:00.620 Christian church, and cause a lot of damage. So let's look. And we're going to begin just by 00:08:00.620 --> 00:08:04.680 looking at the first four verses. If you're, I'm not going to say anything other than to point one 00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:09.699 thing out. And if you're curious about what it means, you can look at my sermon online from last 00:08:09.699 --> 00:08:15.379 week. And so if you turn in your Bibles to the book of Jude, it's, we're going to look today at 00:08:15.379 --> 00:08:23.139 verses 5 to 13, but we'll first read verses 1 to 4 just for the context. And if it's hard to find the 00:08:23.139 --> 00:08:27.000 book of Jude, you go right to the back of your Bible, the book of Revelation, and then you go 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:33.819 move this way, so to speak, towards the beginning. Jude's the short little book just before 00:08:33.819 --> 00:08:39.279 Revelation. And here's how it begins. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:44.720 to those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ, 00:08:45.159 --> 00:08:52.439 mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance. Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:59.820 you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith 00:08:59.820 --> 00:09:06.720 that was once for all entrusted to God's holy people. And contend here means to fight for it, 00:09:06.800 --> 00:09:15.260 to compete for it, to want to win, to have the Christian faith, in a sense, win and be believed 00:09:15.260 --> 00:09:21.140 by many. But especially to have it believed by those who claim to be Christians. That's what it says 00:09:21.139 --> 00:09:27.100 right next, verse 4. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago 00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:34.580 have secretly weaseled their way in among you or slipped in among you. They are ungodly people 00:09:34.580 --> 00:09:42.539 who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Savior 00:09:42.539 --> 00:09:51.099 and Lord. So this letter, once again, it's not referring to Supreme Court justices, the Globe and 00:09:51.099 --> 00:10:00.399 Mail. It's not talking about, you know, Jordan Peterson or LGBTQ plus advocates. It's not referring 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:05.740 to that. It's referring to people who claim to be Christians and that there's an issue. And then 00:10:05.740 --> 00:10:11.719 Jude gives sort of like two 5,000 feet in the air descriptions that are going to categorize them, 00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:17.879 that they're going to pervert grace so that it ends up, in fact, not stopping certain types of 00:10:17.879 --> 00:10:23.360 sins but encouraging them. And it's going to completely deny that Jesus is the Lord, the Messiah, 00:10:23.980 --> 00:10:31.040 the Savior. Those are sort of the 5,000 feet in the air or 10,000 feet in the air understandings of it. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:39.000 And now the rest of the book is going to go on with verse 5. Now, when you're hearing verse 5 and 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:45.440 following, here's how you need to understand what's happening. Now, this church has been blessed for 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:52.600 quite a few years with a very, very, very good church council. I probably don't sing their praises 00:10:52.600 --> 00:10:57.299 enough. And for those who have been on council and those currently are, I apologize that I haven't sung 00:10:57.299 --> 00:11:02.919 your praises. And one of the reasons it's a very good church council is that they don't always agree with 00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:10.779 me. If a church has a council that always agrees with the pastor, it has a crappy council because 00:11:10.779 --> 00:11:18.179 I'm not always right. And I need council members who occasionally say, George, that's, love your 00:11:18.179 --> 00:11:25.699 heart, dumb idea. Maybe you say it a bit kinder than that to me so I don't have to go to therapy for 00:11:25.700 --> 00:11:32.940 months afterwards. But just a bad idea. And it's very rare. I can't think of very many. I can think 00:11:32.940 --> 00:11:37.900 of times in other organizations where I've had to do this. But I've made a suggestion. And it's 00:11:37.900 --> 00:11:45.340 gotten voted down. And as I'm driving home, I realize I made a big mistake. I saw a problem which 00:11:45.340 --> 00:11:55.240 was just like a mountain. I just, to me, the problem was so obvious that when I came to council or came to 00:11:55.240 --> 00:12:00.980 another group that I was leading, I skipped five steps and went right to solving the problem. 00:12:02.299 --> 00:12:08.139 But nobody in the council had recognized that there was a problem. So all of it, they're just 00:12:08.139 --> 00:12:11.200 going like, what? Like, where's this coming from? Like, why do you want to do that? Like, that's a, 00:12:11.259 --> 00:12:15.620 that's not a good idea, George. We're not going to do it. And so as I'm driving home or maybe the next, 00:12:15.860 --> 00:12:19.240 you know, that night or the next morning, I realized that that was the mistake I made. 00:12:19.860 --> 00:12:25.019 So I'll say at the next meeting, you'll see that this agenda item is back on the agenda. And 00:12:25.019 --> 00:12:29.779 you'd know me that I don't revisit issues. I don't say, I'm going to keep pushing this issue 00:12:29.779 --> 00:12:36.319 and pushing this issue until I get my way. That, if that, you know, obviously, I think I'm right all 00:12:36.319 --> 00:12:41.299 the time. But I also know that I'm not right all the time. And I, it's really good to have limits on, 00:12:41.379 --> 00:12:46.840 on me and on everybody needs limits, right? But I will sometimes go and say, here's the reason 00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:53.460 we're revisiting the issue is I realized I did not serve you well. I didn't describe the problem. 00:12:53.460 --> 00:12:58.700 And make the case for the problem. So in today, we're going to look at it. I'm not going to give 00:12:58.700 --> 00:13:03.820 you any suggestions about what to do. I just want to make you understand that there's this problem. 00:13:05.100 --> 00:13:11.080 And the few times that I've had to do that, by the end of it, they go, oh, yes, that's a problem. 00:13:11.080 --> 00:13:17.980 And we need to deal with it. Now, sometimes they might take my idea. Usually, they'd come up with 00:13:17.980 --> 00:13:23.220 a better solution than I did. But you see, so what Jude is doing here from verses nine, 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:32.580 sorry, verse five to verse 19, is he's selling the problem. That's what he's doing. He's selling 00:13:32.580 --> 00:13:39.140 the problem. And we're going to look today at five to 13. And next week, we'll look at 14 to 19. 00:13:39.139 --> 00:13:46.860 And and but he's selling the problem. So that in mind, here's how it goes. Verse five, 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:54.019 though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people 00:13:54.019 --> 00:14:03.419 out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. I'm going to read the next two. One of the 00:14:03.419 --> 00:14:09.740 things about Jude is he writes in triplets. He does example, example, example, all the way through the 00:14:09.740 --> 00:14:14.459 book, triplets, always three examples. So I'll read the three. That's the first one. The second one is 00:14:14.459 --> 00:14:20.620 verse six. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority, but abandoned their proper 00:14:20.620 --> 00:14:28.779 dwelling. These he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting change for judgment on the great day. 00:14:28.779 --> 00:14:37.519 And in a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:46.240 immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:56.000 Now, these are very sobering words. And if you are outside the Christian faith here or watching, 00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:01.720 I want you to know that these for Canadian Christians, by and large, this doesn't make 00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:06.399 them want to jump up and dance and shout hallelujah. It's words that they struggle with. 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:09.860 Because Canadian Christians are often very Canadian. 00:15:09.860 --> 00:15:17.680 And these are very, very hard words. So one of the things which is very brilliant about the book of 00:15:17.680 --> 00:15:23.740 Jude is the book of Jude is almost like a very tightly worded creed where every word matters. 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:33.259 And what Jude has done, which is so brilliant, is he's made something which is very, very tight. 00:15:33.259 --> 00:15:42.240 But to make it cross-cultural and cross-linguistic and cross-temporal, like for all people groups over all 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:52.759 times, rather than giving a long list of abstract words, he gives you a constant list of Bible images, 00:15:53.600 --> 00:16:01.139 of Bible stories. And in that way, he can not only sell the problem, but he can begin, 00:16:01.139 --> 00:16:05.799 especially for those who have good imaginations, and they go back and they read the story about what 00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:13.659 happened in the Exodus and people's rebellion against God, and then God's judgment on them, 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:19.000 or they go back and they read the passages in Isaiah and Ezekiel and in Genesis, and get an 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:25.879 understanding of people, of angels being angels, but rebelling against God. And in the process, 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:30.700 they become demons and God's judgment on them. And the story in the book of Genesis, 00:16:30.700 --> 00:16:37.180 Genesis of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah completely and utterly given themselves over 00:16:37.180 --> 00:16:44.660 to sexual immorality and perversion. And that includes an understanding of gay and lesbian 00:16:44.660 --> 00:16:52.740 sexual relations and God's judgment on them. And they can go and they can read these stories. 00:16:53.780 --> 00:16:56.620 And he just does it, and you're going to see it all the way through later on with Balaam, 00:16:56.620 --> 00:17:02.399 with Korah. He does these very, just little one or two word or short little phrases, 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:08.400 always referring back to some image or something in the Bible, and it's very, very tightly woven. 00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:13.819 And especially for those with really good imaginations, if you go back and you read them 00:17:13.819 --> 00:17:18.000 and you meditate upon them, you'll, you'll, you get not only the selling of the problem, 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:31.039 but the shape and the contour of the problem. And what, what you see in each of these instances is this, 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:39.420 whether it's the people who got out, in every case you see this, 00:17:39.420 --> 00:17:47.140 people knew and had a sense, either had a very, very clear sense of what was right and wrong, 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:52.039 or what God demanded or did not demand, or very clear hearing of what he had said was, 00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:57.720 was, was, was, was right and wrong, or a very, very clear understanding of who God is. 00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:04.680 And in every particular case, even knowing that, they decided that they would disregard who he is, 00:18:05.319 --> 00:18:11.000 and they would believe that their own way was better, and that no judgment would fall on them. 00:18:13.180 --> 00:18:17.740 And that's what they all believed, but the reality is that God judged them. 00:18:19.380 --> 00:18:24.079 He judged those who came out of slavery in Egypt and rebelled, 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:27.259 and they died under God's judgment. 00:18:28.439 --> 00:18:32.139 The angels aren't dead yet. 00:18:32.259 --> 00:18:36.839 That will not happen, in a sense, to the, the lake of fire at the end of all things, 00:18:37.299 --> 00:18:38.779 and the beginning of the new things. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:43.859 But he has severely limited them, 00:18:44.740 --> 00:18:47.759 and they know that they're under God's judgment, 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:49.199 and it causes torment. 00:18:50.460 --> 00:18:53.699 And in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, there's a real judgment by fire. 00:18:54.079 --> 00:19:00.519 You see, one of the things that Paul, that Jude wants to say, 00:19:00.699 --> 00:19:04.879 last week I tried to say that part, one of the big messages of the book of Jude, 00:19:05.819 --> 00:19:09.960 is that Jude, if you look at the very beginning, two verses, 00:19:10.199 --> 00:19:13.259 and at the very end, I think about five verses or four verses, 00:19:14.259 --> 00:19:20.079 Jude wants Christians to be so enchanted and treasured 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:24.919 and in love with Christ and God's word, 00:19:26.519 --> 00:19:31.179 that we will fight for the Christian faith within the visible church, 00:19:31.379 --> 00:19:37.720 and that we will come to understand that these are serious issues that are going on in the church, 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:40.919 and it is unloving not to confront him. 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:44.720 Now, I am not trying to sing my praises. 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:46.200 I really am not. 00:19:46.940 --> 00:19:50.920 You know, one of the things I write at the bottom of my notes of every sermon I work on, 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:52.640 you'll see a group of letters, 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:54.000 and it says, 00:19:54.279 --> 00:19:57.100 all things come of you, and of your own have I given you. 00:19:57.980 --> 00:19:59.400 Like, I really believe that. 00:19:59.500 --> 00:20:01.080 There's nothing that comes from me. 00:20:01.779 --> 00:20:03.940 I am no different than any other Christian. 00:20:03.940 --> 00:20:07.019 I don't have any light within me, so to speak. 00:20:07.299 --> 00:20:08.259 I am a mirror. 00:20:09.700 --> 00:20:11.059 Every Christian is a mirror. 00:20:11.960 --> 00:20:16.539 And in fact, my mirror is cracked and has some warps in it. 00:20:17.180 --> 00:20:20.720 And all I can do is turn who I am, the mirror of who I am, 00:20:20.779 --> 00:20:24.220 to the light of Christ in such a way that the light of Christ 00:20:24.220 --> 00:20:27.940 will hit me, who is a mirror, and shine into this room. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:29.740 That's all I am. 00:20:29.740 --> 00:20:37.700 I did confront that speaker in the early days of my ordination. 00:20:37.900 --> 00:20:39.220 I'd only been ordained eight days. 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:42.859 And I was the only one who got up and confronted him. 00:20:44.740 --> 00:20:46.640 And let me tell you, I wasn't brave. 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:51.480 Rivers of sweat were flowing from my armpits. 00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:57.440 And I was shaking all over, and I was so red, 00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:59.940 probably people outside the building could see me. 00:21:00.059 --> 00:21:01.820 But I confronted him about it. 00:21:02.220 --> 00:21:05.400 And the result was I was never put on a single diocesan committee 00:21:05.400 --> 00:21:08.900 because I outed myself after eight days. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:12.700 Now, the point is not that you should be like George. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:15.259 I hope you're way better than me. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:18.680 I preach in the hope that you'll be vastly more godly, 00:21:19.539 --> 00:21:23.740 vastly more prayerful, vastly better Christians than I am. 00:21:23.740 --> 00:21:27.799 And that would just please my heart as that becomes more and more the case. 00:21:28.779 --> 00:21:30.299 But that we need to hear Jude. 00:21:33.019 --> 00:21:36.980 We need to hear Jude and realize this is not just something we can shrug our shoulders 00:21:36.980 --> 00:21:38.700 and say we go along to get along. 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:40.779 We get along to go along. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:43.120 Like, no, this is a very serious issue. 00:21:44.259 --> 00:21:47.200 Now, some might say, George, those are very judgmental texts, 00:21:47.240 --> 00:21:48.339 and it's just your opinion. 00:21:49.160 --> 00:21:50.880 Well, actually, Jude is very clever. 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:52.800 Look at what he says in verse 8. 00:21:54.700 --> 00:21:59.740 It's as if he anticipates in verse 8 and a few verses afterwards 00:21:59.740 --> 00:22:02.120 that we think it's just our opinion and judgmental. 00:22:02.380 --> 00:22:03.500 First of all, it's not my opinion. 00:22:03.640 --> 00:22:04.880 I just read the text. 00:22:04.980 --> 00:22:05.800 It's not my opinion. 00:22:06.220 --> 00:22:07.220 It's what the text says. 00:22:07.560 --> 00:22:08.480 But look at verse 8. 00:22:09.300 --> 00:22:13.080 In the very same way, so in other words, what's going on with them, 00:22:13.160 --> 00:22:15.820 whether it's the people of Israel who've been delivered from slavery 00:22:15.820 --> 00:22:17.620 but end up rebelling against God, 00:22:17.619 --> 00:22:21.259 whether it's the angels, whether it's the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, 00:22:21.779 --> 00:22:23.359 in the very same way, verse 8, 00:22:23.779 --> 00:22:26.859 on the strength of their dreams, 00:22:28.859 --> 00:22:31.059 on the strength of their dreams, 00:22:31.899 --> 00:22:33.219 these ungodly people, 00:22:34.379 --> 00:22:35.879 and then this is very clever, 00:22:36.119 --> 00:22:40.419 it goes backwards as a summary from the three examples he just gave. 00:22:40.420 --> 00:22:43.560 Pollute their own bodies, referring to Sodom and Gomorrah, 00:22:44.100 --> 00:22:45.259 reject authority, 00:22:45.560 --> 00:22:48.140 and actually literally it says reject lordship. 00:22:49.300 --> 00:22:51.580 Actually even more straightforward, 00:22:51.820 --> 00:22:54.360 reject lordship, godhood, 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:57.060 referring to the angels that have become demons, 00:22:57.620 --> 00:22:59.660 and heap abuse on celestial beings. 00:22:59.800 --> 00:23:01.700 And that goes back to how God has used angels 00:23:01.700 --> 00:23:04.160 to communicate his law to his people. 00:23:04.580 --> 00:23:06.360 But notice that on the very same way, 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:07.900 on the strength of their dreams. 00:23:07.900 --> 00:23:12.940 Now one of the things that you might find maybe tiresome in my sermons 00:23:12.940 --> 00:23:14.960 is that when we go through the book of Acts, 00:23:15.040 --> 00:23:17.740 I'm very regularly making an apologetic 00:23:17.740 --> 00:23:20.320 as to why we should believe the miracles in the book of Acts, 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:22.480 the miracles in the gospels actually happened, 00:23:22.660 --> 00:23:25.460 why Jesus' moral teaching is actually true. 00:23:25.620 --> 00:23:27.340 But I keep belaboring that. 00:23:27.700 --> 00:23:29.120 And the reason I keep belaboring it 00:23:29.120 --> 00:23:32.420 is that Christians are very different than the average Canadian. 00:23:32.560 --> 00:23:35.280 We believe that what we're talking about here is real. 00:23:35.280 --> 00:23:37.420 There really is a triune God. 00:23:37.900 --> 00:23:41.560 Like, Hindus do not describe the real God. 00:23:41.800 --> 00:23:43.519 Buddhists do not describe the real God. 00:23:43.700 --> 00:23:46.820 Muslims, our Muslim friends do not describe the real God. 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:51.200 That Jesus and God's words describe the way God really is. 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:52.360 He really is triune. 00:23:52.900 --> 00:23:55.380 And that there really are demons. 00:23:55.900 --> 00:23:58.780 And Jesus really is the way to be made right with God. 00:23:58.860 --> 00:23:59.880 That these things are real. 00:24:00.980 --> 00:24:03.380 And so one of the things then about this dream thing 00:24:03.380 --> 00:24:05.280 is that first of all, this does not apply to Christians. 00:24:05.340 --> 00:24:06.440 First of all, what's the problem? 00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:07.680 Just here's the problem. 00:24:07.779 --> 00:24:08.960 If you're dealing with real things. 00:24:09.779 --> 00:24:11.740 If you were to, if I was to discover, 00:24:11.820 --> 00:24:15.340 if one of you said, I've programmed a self-driving car, 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:18.320 you just sit in the car and press this button. 00:24:19.320 --> 00:24:21.740 You know, and as an experiment, 00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:24.519 it's going to take you to, I don't know, 00:24:24.580 --> 00:24:26.620 the Glebe Center or something from here. 00:24:27.100 --> 00:24:29.680 And just before I get in, you know, 00:24:29.740 --> 00:24:31.019 he or she who's designed it says, 00:24:31.059 --> 00:24:32.080 oh, by the way, I just want you to know, 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:33.579 I'm like pretty weird. 00:24:34.039 --> 00:24:35.720 I sort of dream in binary. 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:38.500 And I keep a little book beside my bed. 00:24:38.699 --> 00:24:41.439 And every night, like lately for the last like four months, 00:24:41.539 --> 00:24:43.019 like every night I have five or six dreams. 00:24:43.079 --> 00:24:45.139 And when I wake up, I write down the binary code. 00:24:45.140 --> 00:24:47.759 And that's the code that's directing the car. 00:24:48.500 --> 00:24:49.259 Just so you know. 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:51.380 What would you get in the car? 00:24:52.140 --> 00:24:53.020 Absolutely not. 00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:54.040 You say, what? 00:24:54.400 --> 00:24:58.200 You just dreamed these things and made it in the code? 00:24:58.380 --> 00:24:59.560 And you want me to get in the car? 00:25:00.180 --> 00:25:00.540 No. 00:25:01.740 --> 00:25:04.060 Well, you know, and here's the thing. 00:25:04.280 --> 00:25:06.440 And I, you know, we could go into a whole other thing, 00:25:06.440 --> 00:25:10.000 you know, in terms of, but how can you defend, 00:25:10.860 --> 00:25:12.960 whether it's Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu, 00:25:13.100 --> 00:25:15.700 whether it's boutique spirituality, all of these things, 00:25:15.799 --> 00:25:19.299 how do you defend, how do you ground those beliefs of yours? 00:25:19.980 --> 00:25:23.840 Like, is it in fact just coming from some human being's mind? 00:25:24.259 --> 00:25:26.299 But it's not what Christianity is all about. 00:25:26.440 --> 00:25:28.220 Christianity is rooted in, like, 00:25:28.220 --> 00:25:31.960 there really is compelling historical evidence that Jesus existed, 00:25:32.080 --> 00:25:35.880 that he died on a cross in the spring of 30 or the spring of 33, 00:25:35.880 --> 00:25:39.800 there's compelling historical evidence that he was buried in a grave, 00:25:40.060 --> 00:25:41.900 that on the third day the grave was empty, 00:25:42.100 --> 00:25:43.480 and that he appeared alive. 00:25:43.560 --> 00:25:45.500 There's very compelling historical evidence. 00:25:45.800 --> 00:25:47.880 And that evidence doesn't just come there, 00:25:47.960 --> 00:25:49.280 because that would just be sort of weird, 00:25:49.580 --> 00:25:53.660 but it comes in the context of an overarching and beautiful story. 00:25:54.020 --> 00:25:56.920 It comes in the context of an overarching worldview. 00:25:56.920 --> 00:26:01.960 It comes in the context of many beliefs from just natural observation 00:26:01.960 --> 00:26:04.900 as to why a God like the God of the Bible 00:26:04.900 --> 00:26:06.620 has to be the God that exists, 00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:08.360 that that's a reasonable conclusion. 00:26:08.900 --> 00:26:11.600 It comes in the context of a series of literature 00:26:11.600 --> 00:26:14.259 that is unbelievably wise, 00:26:14.320 --> 00:26:16.280 that if you read somebody like Jordan Peterson, 00:26:16.759 --> 00:26:18.519 and I disagree with him, 00:26:18.560 --> 00:26:20.540 I think that when he reads Genesis and Exodus, 00:26:20.980 --> 00:26:22.480 it's actually things that happen, 00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:26.500 but he can show you how it opens up depth psychology 00:26:26.500 --> 00:26:28.640 to understand human consciousness 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:30.400 and what goes on in life. 00:26:30.820 --> 00:26:33.620 And it comes in the context of the literature, 00:26:33.620 --> 00:26:35.520 which gives us human rights, 00:26:35.740 --> 00:26:37.200 the dignity of the human being, 00:26:37.500 --> 00:26:40.120 the reason that women cannot be treated like property, 00:26:40.500 --> 00:26:41.020 science. 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:43.100 It all comes in that context, 00:26:43.380 --> 00:26:47.080 that Jesus lives and dies and rises from the dead, 00:26:47.140 --> 00:26:48.660 and it's historic evidence, 00:26:48.660 --> 00:26:52.180 and we don't base our beliefs on dreams. 00:26:52.180 --> 00:27:00.340 I leave it up to our friends who have other views 00:27:00.340 --> 00:27:04.779 to show me how your belief doesn't just come out of dreams. 00:27:08.539 --> 00:27:11.440 Because the cry of my heart is for those who are here, 00:27:11.560 --> 00:27:13.620 those who are listening or outside of the Christian faith, 00:27:14.259 --> 00:27:17.740 that you will hear Jesus knocking at the door of your heart, 00:27:17.740 --> 00:27:20.200 and that you will say, 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:22.160 Jesus, please come into my heart, 00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:26.620 and that you will find rest for your soul, 00:27:26.980 --> 00:27:30.740 and you will come into truth 00:27:30.740 --> 00:27:33.980 and be a lover of the truth. 00:27:37.019 --> 00:27:39.160 Okay, well, George, it's still a little bit judgmental. 00:27:39.220 --> 00:27:41.240 Well, actually, here's where this very next text 00:27:41.240 --> 00:27:43.220 is actually dealing with the judgmental thing. 00:27:43.579 --> 00:27:44.559 I have to watch my time. 00:27:44.700 --> 00:27:45.480 It's verse 9. 00:27:47.740 --> 00:27:49.079 This is a weird text. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:51.160 Actually, before I read the text, 00:27:51.420 --> 00:27:54.299 so many of you have heard the story. 00:27:54.559 --> 00:27:55.680 I've had about, I don't know, 00:27:55.720 --> 00:27:56.620 a few times in my life, 00:27:56.660 --> 00:27:58.039 five or six or eight or whatever, 00:27:58.160 --> 00:27:59.519 where I've spoken at an audience 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:00.859 where I don't speak their language, 00:28:00.960 --> 00:28:02.000 and I've had to have a translator. 00:28:02.819 --> 00:28:05.120 And when I did that, 00:28:05.160 --> 00:28:06.339 and every time I have to do it again, 00:28:06.420 --> 00:28:08.259 I go back and I do a bit of reading on it, 00:28:08.920 --> 00:28:10.819 and I understand that if I'm going to do that very well, 00:28:11.120 --> 00:28:12.779 I have to have very short little sentences. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:15.859 So I actually work on my sermon 00:28:15.859 --> 00:28:18.079 so that every one of the sentences is sort of like, 00:28:18.359 --> 00:28:19.819 ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da. 00:28:20.419 --> 00:28:21.839 And so I can get up and I can go, 00:28:21.899 --> 00:28:23.139 ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da. 00:28:23.319 --> 00:28:24.399 And I sort of look to them. 00:28:24.479 --> 00:28:24.919 And they go, 00:28:25.299 --> 00:28:26.019 sometimes they go, 00:28:26.159 --> 00:28:27.439 ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da. 00:28:27.500 --> 00:28:28.839 Sometimes they go, ta-da, ta-da. 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:30.059 You know, sometimes they go, 00:28:30.119 --> 00:28:31.159 ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, 00:28:31.159 --> 00:28:32.079 ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da, ta-da. 00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:37.899 right it's it's uh sometimes you can translate it quite shorter sometimes a bit longer and as i was 00:28:37.899 --> 00:28:41.639 sharing with you've all heard it before but i don't know i think it's a great story i had this 00:28:41.639 --> 00:28:48.259 great privilege to speak uh in angola on the uh on the edge of the kalahari desert and uh in the in 00:28:48.259 --> 00:28:54.159 the church uh uh the majority of the people in the room were from a semi-nomadic people's group 00:28:54.159 --> 00:29:00.619 and uh they didn't speak portuguese and definitely didn't speak english and i get to preach so i 00:29:00.619 --> 00:29:05.959 have two translators so i go ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da you know and then the portuguese person goes ta-da 00:29:05.959 --> 00:29:09.539 ta-da ta-da ta-da and then you know whatever i can't remember the name language ta-da ta-da ta-da 00:29:09.539 --> 00:29:15.359 maybe there's different lengths but early on i said something ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da portuguese ta-da 00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:23.899 ta-da ta-da ta-da and the native speaker goes um and then they had a five minute four minute 00:29:23.899 --> 00:29:29.479 conversation amongst people who spoke either portuguese english or that native language about 00:29:29.480 --> 00:29:34.880 what on earth to say and the reason was is that to introduce myself i had said that i come from a 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:39.920 place which is very different than where you are angola is you know close to the equator i said where 00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:46.640 i live it's not unusual to have three meters of snow in the winter fall on us so the portuguese 00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:53.240 person just said ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da there's no word for snow in the language of this kalahari 00:29:53.240 --> 00:29:59.519 semi-nomadic people group they have no word so there's this conversation about what on earth 00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:06.039 they're going to say they finally come up with the word ice and they say that where i live three 00:30:06.039 --> 00:30:13.140 meters of ice falls on us every winter which just made all the i didn't find this out until afterwards 00:30:13.140 --> 00:30:17.859 everybody in the room looked unbelievably puzzled about how you could live somewhere and have 00:30:17.859 --> 00:30:23.519 nine feet a ten feet of ice fall on you every winter and how you can still be alive anyway the 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:28.039 point is verse nine is very verse nine is one of those things that if somebody was here with the 00:30:28.039 --> 00:30:32.719 greek ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da and then they came to the english person they'd have to go ta-da ta-da ta-da 00:30:32.719 --> 00:30:36.179 ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da ta-da 00:30:36.179 --> 00:30:40.379 but you can't do that in the bible translation but here's here i'll read it to you and then i'll explain 00:30:40.379 --> 00:30:45.419 it actually has a very simple idea and has to do with being judgmental look at verse nine it goes like this 00:30:45.420 --> 00:30:50.560 but even the archangel michael and by the way what he's doing here is he's referring to a 00:30:50.560 --> 00:30:55.720 non-biblical story that his hearers back then would have been aware of it would be like me making a 00:30:55.720 --> 00:31:00.539 reference you know i go to over to the morides and i i would never attempt this by the way because they 00:31:00.539 --> 00:31:07.259 know way way more about this than i do and i try to make a marvel movie analogy or a star trek analogy 00:31:07.259 --> 00:31:11.580 to andrew and he would just say okay george you got that wrong and that wrong and that wrong and 00:31:11.579 --> 00:31:16.480 and there you go but so it's like something or you know people know the story he's using a story 00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:21.480 that's non-biblical and it goes like this so verse nine but even the archangel michael when he was 00:31:21.480 --> 00:31:30.639 disputing with the devil about the body of moses did not himself dare to condemn him for slander 00:31:30.639 --> 00:31:40.519 now the him is referring to moses not the devil to condemn him for slander but said to the devil 00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:48.619 the lord rebuke you and so what's going on in the text is this that in the story the devil 00:31:48.619 --> 00:31:54.139 says to michael look at all these things that moses has done wrong he's done this wrong he's done this 00:31:54.139 --> 00:32:00.379 wrong he's done this wrong he's done this wrong he's not a good guy he should definitely go to hell 00:32:00.379 --> 00:32:10.460 and michael says in a sense in the story listen making that final judgment is god's alone 00:32:10.460 --> 00:32:19.259 rebuke you you don't get to make that discussion that decision see it's a very opposite so what 00:32:19.259 --> 00:32:23.860 judah's telling us is the very opposite of being judgmental here'd be another type of illustration 00:32:23.860 --> 00:32:29.920 if it turned out if if one of us was brought in to help another church and there were allegations of 00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:36.079 a person being a pedophile within the church that's a very very very very very serious thing and you have 00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:39.899 to deal with it you have to take it very seriously you have to deal with it and you have to make 00:32:39.899 --> 00:32:44.779 they're not hard to say you know that they're not hard decisions that but they're very cut and dry 00:32:44.779 --> 00:32:50.579 decisions that you're going to have to make and you have to say to everybody in the church especially 00:32:50.579 --> 00:32:56.319 those making excuses for them that what this person did to sexually abuse a young boy or a young girl 00:32:56.319 --> 00:33:06.960 that's very very very wrong you add more varies okay now obviously there's you know legal things that 00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:13.359 are the legal things now what you have to say to that person is and here's the christian response to 00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:17.659 that person you have to say to that person what you're doing saying and what you're doing and what 00:33:17.659 --> 00:33:21.480 you're arguing for if you're trying to argue for a while it was all right for you to do it it's all wrong 00:33:21.480 --> 00:33:27.360 but i can't make the judgment about that person whether they will go to heaven or hell 00:33:27.360 --> 00:33:34.019 only god makes that decision and in fact what should be my heart my heart should be that they 00:33:34.019 --> 00:33:38.680 come to faith in christ and that they amend their lives now we're never going to allow them to look 00:33:38.680 --> 00:33:43.819 after children again and they might very well have to go to jail and they should go to jail 00:33:43.819 --> 00:33:50.920 but the heart of every christian is that they come to faith in christ 00:33:50.920 --> 00:33:55.340 and they acknowledge that the thing they've done is very wrong 00:33:55.340 --> 00:34:02.660 and you take appropriate action so judah saying you take action against these ungodly influencers you 00:34:02.660 --> 00:34:07.060 take them from positions of authority you definitely don't get them to invite them to a 00:34:07.060 --> 00:34:11.360 to speak to your synod and you definitely don't give them standing ovations somebody has to get up 00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:16.280 there and say first of all you know in a sense the bishop should have been fired for having that guy right 00:34:16.280 --> 00:34:22.160 if i brought somebody like that to this church i would hope that you're the council is on the phone 00:34:22.160 --> 00:34:27.000 with the bishop that george needs to be fired right that's the right way to handle it but at the same 00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:31.160 time you want that guy to come to a saving faith in christ that's you see this is what this is what 00:34:31.160 --> 00:34:38.280 the story says the opposite opposite opposite of being judgmental now i'm just going to read um 00:34:38.280 --> 00:34:44.820 the the rest of the text um very very quickly and i i i see i'm already almost out of the time but i 00:34:44.820 --> 00:34:50.900 want to bring three big ideas to you just very very briefly that should be there from all of this and 00:34:50.900 --> 00:34:56.720 so verse 10 yet these people slander whatever they do not understand and the very things they do 00:34:56.720 --> 00:35:03.040 understand by instinct as irrational irrational animals do they will just will destroy them just 00:35:03.039 --> 00:35:08.539 let you know if you've ever had any dealings like if i use that example of that fellow who spoke at 00:35:08.539 --> 00:35:13.219 that synod all those years ago he might not know certain christian ideas but if i was to share with 00:35:13.219 --> 00:35:23.279 him a christian idea his instinct would be to not like it this is just empirically true and then verse 11 00:35:23.279 --> 00:35:32.199 very hard word woe to them it's god's eternal woe they have taken the way of cain cain knew what god 00:35:32.199 --> 00:35:38.359 wanted cain knew that god offered him repentance and cain choose chose murder rather than that 00:35:38.359 --> 00:35:44.719 they have rushed for profit into balaam's error in that particular case balaam knew what god wanted 00:35:44.719 --> 00:35:50.879 but once the the presence of god wasn't there he'd rather have money and he figured out a way to to 00:35:50.879 --> 00:35:57.659 get what the the pagans wanted even though he knew that god was opposed to it they have been destroyed in 00:35:57.659 --> 00:36:01.719 cora's rebellion it's another story from the old testament but once again cora knew 00:36:01.719 --> 00:36:09.500 what god wanted and he chose his own way and in all of these cases cain and balaam and air and 00:36:09.500 --> 00:36:12.799 and cora they did not think that god's judgment would happen to them 00:36:12.799 --> 00:36:21.500 and verses 12 to 13 these people are blemishes another translation is they're the hidden reefs at 00:36:21.500 --> 00:36:26.799 your love feast eating with you without the slightest qualm they are shepherds who feed only themselves 00:36:26.800 --> 00:36:31.760 they are clouds without rain they blown along by the wind they are autumn trees without fruit and 00:36:31.760 --> 00:36:37.519 uprooted twice dead they are wild waves of the sea foaming up their shame wandering stars for whom 00:36:37.519 --> 00:36:46.039 blackest darkness has been reserved forever in other words the ungodly influencers within churches are 00:36:46.039 --> 00:36:52.960 completely fruitless and will not give you good direction in life the stars were used for direction in 00:36:52.960 --> 00:36:59.119 the night so here's just to bring it to a close you put up the first point claire that would be very 00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:05.619 helpful the grace what's the message which is going on here the grace of our lord jesus christ forms the 00:37:05.619 --> 00:37:15.240 christian's heart to want to hear god's word written and understand believe trust and obey it that's how god's 00:37:15.239 --> 00:37:27.239 grace forms you do you understand all these things no is this a bit shocking if you're a brand new christian to hear this yes but at the end of the 00:37:27.239 --> 00:37:35.239 day within your heart you have a desire to know it and to understand it and to believe it and trust it even if it's it it's it's 00:37:35.239 --> 00:37:43.399 really quite shocking to you but that's god's grace forms you to want to know and understand it the next point 00:37:43.399 --> 00:37:54.759 the ungodly influencer teaches you to stand in judgment on god's word reject it and delight in your own way 00:37:54.760 --> 00:38:00.040 that's what that early speaker was teaching everybody in the room 00:38:00.040 --> 00:38:08.140 listen don't believe these old-fashioned moral commandments don't think there's going to be 00:38:08.140 --> 00:38:12.820 anything like miracles don't believe there's anything like demons don't think that jesus really 00:38:12.820 --> 00:38:18.560 rose from the dead you need to walk your own way that's how you're going to experience blessing 00:38:18.560 --> 00:38:23.400 get in charge of your own destiny be the captain of your own soul and get a standing ovation 00:38:23.400 --> 00:38:32.599 the next point the grace of our lord jesus christ forms the christian heart the christian's heart 00:38:32.599 --> 00:38:41.400 to humbly remember that the triune god's judgment of the living and the dead is unavoidably real 00:38:44.680 --> 00:38:49.000 by the way that's one of the motives for evangelism that's why you need to pray for those who are 00:38:49.000 --> 00:38:53.800 outside of the christian's heart outside of the christian's heart outside of the christian 00:38:53.800 --> 00:39:03.000 the grace of god our lord jesus christ forms the christian's heart to humbly remember that the 00:39:03.000 --> 00:39:09.159 triune god's judgment of the living and the dead is unavoidably real if you could put up the next point 00:39:09.159 --> 00:39:17.799 the ungodly the ungodly the ungodly influencer teaches you to believe that your that your will 00:39:18.440 --> 00:39:24.279 that you sorry you will be blessed and you will never fall under if you do your way you i can't 00:39:24.279 --> 00:39:30.359 read my writing the ungodly influencer teaches you to believe that your will your way will be blessed 00:39:30.360 --> 00:39:32.360 and you will never fall under god's judgment 00:39:35.480 --> 00:39:39.640 there's lots of churches that tell you that there is no hell that everybody goes to heaven 00:39:39.640 --> 00:39:42.360 those are ungodly influencers brothers and sisters 00:39:44.200 --> 00:39:49.800 now why on earth some of you might say okay george there's no gospel in this actually this all helps 00:39:49.800 --> 00:39:51.320 us to understand the gospel 00:39:53.559 --> 00:39:58.920 this all helps us to understand just how great the gospel is and why it is that the gospel of grace 00:39:58.920 --> 00:40:05.159 should form your hearts and that you should give your life to christ because this book is the 00:40:05.159 --> 00:40:10.920 opposite of triumphalistic it's the opposite of pride it's profoundly humbling if you could put up the 00:40:10.920 --> 00:40:20.360 next point claire you and i deserve god's judgment but in the mercy of god the judgment that you deserve 00:40:20.360 --> 00:40:24.519 the judgment that i deserve fell on the lord jesus messiah 00:40:24.519 --> 00:40:33.079 you can never be too hard on yourself on one level 00:40:35.320 --> 00:40:39.960 god knows your sin way better than you do he knows my sin way better than i do 00:40:41.559 --> 00:40:48.599 but on the other hand you can never fully understand the extravagance of god's love for you and the depth of 00:40:48.599 --> 00:40:57.480 god's love for you that god the son of god out of love for you and a desire for you to spend eternity with 00:40:57.480 --> 00:41:05.880 the triune god in the new heaven and the new earth that he bore the judgment that you and i properly deserve 00:41:05.880 --> 00:41:16.119 and he took it for you out of love for you no motivational speaker who wants to pump you up with how great you are 00:41:16.119 --> 00:41:17.079 can top that 00:41:17.079 --> 00:41:18.279 that 00:41:20.360 --> 00:41:23.799 they offer thin gruel at best 00:41:26.440 --> 00:41:33.319 so the why if you could put up the final point the wise biblical question is not will god judge me 00:41:34.920 --> 00:41:43.000 the wise biblical question is will the judgment that you deserve fall on you or fall on the lord jesus christ 00:41:43.000 --> 00:41:48.679 that is the wise 00:41:50.440 --> 00:41:51.320 and this is real 00:41:52.599 --> 00:41:54.920 there is no greater news 00:41:55.559 --> 00:41:59.400 if the church no longer believes that the lord jesus christ 00:42:01.000 --> 00:42:04.440 took on human flesh and walked amongst us and 00:42:04.440 --> 00:42:09.480 suffered trials and temptations and died for us and rose for us that we might there if 00:42:09.480 --> 00:42:15.400 if we're the only ones in the world that can tell every people group on the planet who can 00:42:15.400 --> 00:42:22.360 go to semi-nomadic tribal groups you want to know what that missionary group did in angola to reach 00:42:22.360 --> 00:42:28.360 that semi-nomadic tribal group nobody could reach them so they provided a place for them to get water 00:42:31.320 --> 00:42:36.119 and then they met them and they said we like cattle and you like cattle let's work together to teach 00:42:36.119 --> 00:42:41.799 each other how to look after cattle and then while they were doing it they learned their language and shared the gospel with them 00:42:43.880 --> 00:42:46.119 you go to the ends of the earth with this news 00:42:49.079 --> 00:42:54.519 you go to the end of the earth with this news and you go to the people groups in ottawa with this news 00:42:55.880 --> 00:42:56.519 please stand 00:42:56.519 --> 00:43:11.239 just before i pray that you know as they started as these missionaries began to befriend this semi-nomadic people group they 00:43:11.800 --> 00:43:15.239 they also made a school for them so their kids could learn 00:43:16.360 --> 00:43:21.960 and they created language classes so their they could their kids could learn portuguese and they wouldn't be so isolated 00:43:21.960 --> 00:43:27.880 and they uh they had veterinarians to help them to keep their cattle healthy 00:43:29.880 --> 00:43:35.960 and they had a medical clinic to help them and they preached the gospel to them that's the gospel 00:43:36.679 --> 00:43:44.519 let's pray a father i i just we i've mentioned the sim in angola and this missionary that amongst many 00:43:44.519 --> 00:43:49.400 many things that those missionaries do there and norm and audrey are part of that group that we support and 00:43:49.400 --> 00:43:55.880 father ask your great blessing on them and their church planting their cares for the poor their care for the sick 00:43:55.880 --> 00:44:02.599 their their heart for semi-nomadic people group father we are so grateful that we can be part of that by 00:44:02.599 --> 00:44:08.840 prayer and by our financial gifts and we ask your great blessing on them and we ask father that you would grip 00:44:08.840 --> 00:44:16.200 us with the glory of the gospel and who jesus is and father make us so treasure christ and treasure grace 00:44:16.199 --> 00:44:24.519 that we will understand that it is unloving to allow churches and christian influencers who deny 00:44:24.519 --> 00:44:30.759 the gospel and deny god's word that is in fact unloving to not confront to not confront them 00:44:32.759 --> 00:44:36.679 and father we ask that you uh just fill our hearts anew with love 00:44:37.559 --> 00:44:44.199 of what jesus did to make us right with you you did not weigh my merits you pardoned my offenses 00:44:44.199 --> 00:44:52.759 grant us grant me grant all of us very grateful humble prayerful hearts we ask all these things in 00:44:52.759 --> 00:45:00.119 the name of jesus your son and our savior and all god's people said amen 00:45:14.199 --> 00:45:18.839 witnesses 00:45:19.799 --> 00:45:25.079 Oh 00:45:31.159 --> 00:45:33.159 you 00:45:35.159 --> 00:45:37.159 you