This study of Jude vs 6-7 was given by pastor Barry Forder on 14th February 2021 as part of Calvary Chapel Portsmouth’s online family service.
Jude wanted to write a letter of encouragement, but found himself compelled by the Holy Spirit to write a letter of warning. As Jesus had foretold in Matthew 13, ‘tares’ had grown up in the early Christian church and there was a very real danger the true wheat would become entangled and, as a result, fail to produce the harvest they were called to. Jude writes to warn that God does not just sit idly by when people turn from walking in His statutes.
Sadly, this was not a one-time only event, and as Paul warned in 1 Timothy 4:1, ‘in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils’. Jude’s message is as much for today as it was for the early church.
In verses 5, 6 and 7, Jude gives three examples to ‘put us in remembrance’ that we can remove ourselves from God’s blessing, and just as with the Prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), we can forfeit our inheritance. Being ‘saved’ is not the cue to sit on our laurels and not care about how we live, although our salvation is secure in Christ, there is still much at stake.
Just as in Jude’s first example of the Children of Israel, they were saved from the bondage of Egypt (analogous to our live in bondage to sin before we came to Christ), but then the entire generation that left Egypt failed to receive the inheritance God had promised on account of their unbelief. They were all destroyed by God in the wilderness over the next 38 years.
Chuck Missler, in his book, The Kingdom, Power & Glory states: “What we do ‘after we have been born again’ affects our role, position, place & authority in the coming Millennial Kingdom. This kingdom is not heaven, but a literal, physical kingdom on earth where Jesus will reign for 1000 years. We acknowledge this kingdom, but don’t know the criteria required to inherit it. The truth “that not only our “rewards,” but our place of responsibility in that kingdom is being determined now; thus, there is an urgent need for a renewed recognition of our personal accountability. We must learn to be “partakers of Christ’s Life”– these are called “overcomers” or “faithful ones”. Overcoming means “victory over hostile powers.” Jesus is the real Overcomer. The only way we become an overcomer is by yielding ourselves to Him. Overcomers are not ‘perfect;’ they are just ones who make the right choices to go God’s way. David is an example: All believers will enter the kingdom; but only overcomers will inherit that kingdom (Heb.3:14; Rom.8:17; Matt.24:43, 47). Overcomers” (the faithful ones) will rule and reign there; the “overtaken” will simply dwell there (Rev.21:7; Matt.7:21). The deciding factor is how we live our lives here.”
In verse 6, Jude then gives the example of a specific group of fallen angles who removed themselves from their rightful place of privilege and blessing and gave themselves over to ‘the lust of the flesh’. In this study we explore who these angels were, why they fell, and what they did to provoke such divine wrath that it resulted in them being ‘chained in hell’ for thousands of years. However the point Jude is making is clear: even angels who had seen the majesty and glory of God, who had been with Him in Heaven, could lose their inheritance on account of giving in to carnal desires.
Jude’s final example is that of Sodom and Gomorrah. In just the same way as the angels he mentions, they also gave themselves over to unnatural affections, and the beautiful plain of Jordan, which was once as the Garden of Eden (Genesis 13:10), became a torched and arid wasteland on account of God’s judgment of their sin.
God is not mocked. What you do, how you think, what you allow into your life does matter. It will matter in eternity; it will matter in the Millennial kingdom; it matters now.
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
May you be challenged, blessed and encouraged by this study.
