Hey Jude: Identifying False Teachers
September 22, 2024
Pastor Ricky Smith
Sermon Notes
I. Cling to God’s Mercy
Jude 5-7
Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
II. Crushed by His Justice
Jude 8-13
Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
Rather than seeking a fresh word, learn to rely on the ancient Word of God.
III. Condemned by Greed
Jude 14-16
It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
The good news is that God saves sinners.
Next Steps
- I confess my sin and turn to Jesus as King for the first time.
- I commit to being a student of the Word to better understand the truth and rely on its authority.
- I confess I have not been guarded against false teaching.
Deep Dive
- How does our ability to study the Bible strengthen the likelihood of rejecting false teachings?
- What does your personal Bible study look like? Describe a way you could grow in that area.
- Read 2 Timothy 2:15. What does “rightly divide the word” mean? How can we apply this?
Springboards
- What are some characteristics that describe scoffers (mockers) in the Church today?
- How do you build yourself up in the faith?
- Read Jude 17-23 and discuss what our response should be to scoffers (mockers) in the church.
