The Slippery Slope of False Belief

INTRODUCTION (Series Slide) Morning everybody. My name is David Sorn. I’m the Lead Pastor here. As a church last week, we started a new teaching series on the Letter of Jude in the Bible. And we said that Jude has been called the most neglected book in the New Testament. In part because it’s in the back 😊, in part because it’s so short, and in part because it’s incredibly fiery. And you’re going to see that again in today’s passage. So much so, that I can almost guarantee that you’ve never heard a message before on today’s Bible passage. But this is important to hear. If we’re going to understand who God truly is, we have to read the ENTIRE Bible… …not just the inspirational parts people like to share on Instagram If our American churches continue to skip these hard books and hard passages, we won’t be showing people who God really is. It would be like me telling you about Michael Jordan, and telling you that’s he’s funny, and intense, and competitive, but never telling you that he played basketball. We need to get the full picture of who God is. All right, everybody grab a Bible Jude 5 11 Page 836 Last week we read verses 1 through 4 where Jude told his Christian readers to “Contend for the Faith!” And specifically to contend for the truth of our Christian faith against false believers within our churches who would pervert God’s grace into a license for immorality (for sin) And now Jude is going to remind his readers what happens to these false believers who live that way. Let’s read (Jude 5 11) – NIV 5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. 8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”[b] 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them. 11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion. (Series Slide) Whoa. Welcome to church! 😊 Now, this is a difficult passage because it challenges our Western, modern culture, but it’s also challenging because Jude lists, not 1, but 7 references to Old Testament times in just 7 verses! Here are the 7 references: 7 References to Old Testament Times in Jude 5 11 Verse 5: Israel in the Desert (Numbers 14) Verse 6: Angels Rebel (Genesis 6 or Isaiah 14). Verse 7: Sodom & Gomorrah (Genesis 19) Verse 9: Michael and Devil (??) Verse 11: Cain (Genesis 4) Verse 11: Balaam (Numbers 22 25, 31) Verse 11: Korah (Numbers 16) I highly encourage you to take a picture of this, or write this down, or both in case the screen changes before you get it all down. Many of these references are not well known to the average Christian. Truthfully, I would probably need 3 to 4 hours to really teach you all that is in this passage and then explain, in depth, each of the Old Testament references But thankfully, I’m not the only person who can help you with this! There are tools out there to help you go deeper. Use your study Bible. Go online to a good commentary like Enduring Word or others…and start diving in. This will give you something to read in the Bible this week if you’ve been out of the habit! But the point that Jude is making with all of these examples is that what starts out in false belief ends up being a slippery slope all the way down to judgment. That’s serious! So let’s talk about the stages of that slippery slope so we can avoid being on it. FALSE BELIEF The Slippery Slope of False Belief #1: The slippery slope starts with false belief People are putting their belief in something else, usually themselves. Jude’s first example of this is verse 5…take a look at the middle of the first: the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe So in the Old Testament books of Exodus and Numbers, we read that God miraculously brought his people, Israel, out of slavery in Egypt and then through the Red Sea. And yet, many of them still grumbled and didn’t put their faith in God. Which is crazy, right? But it happens. There are people today who grow up in amazing Christian families, and growing up they saw God do great things, and yet they now personally live a life of false belief.. And there is no fruit, no evidence of God’s Salvation & Leadership in their life. Some of you personally have family members like this. And yet you say, “They accepted Jesus into their heart when they were 6,” they’re saved… But they haven’t followed Jesus a day in their life since. I know this is hard, but stop saying they’re saved. They almost certainly are not. And you’re hurting their chances of being saved by treating them like they are. It is only true belief that will save a person, not just saying special words. Verse 5 says that God later destroyed those who did not truly BELIEVE. This is a hard word, but a few of you in this room need to hear: Just sitting in these seats here today will not save you. Just as being amongst the Israelites who were delivered from Egypt, didn’t save every person. Each of them had to truly and personally believe in God to be saved. (Title Slide) And this sort of false belief is all over the Bible. Even Cain, the firstborn of Adam & Eve lacked true faith and trust in God… …Jude references him in verse 11. And Jude gives us another example of false belief in verses 8 and 9 where the false believers of his day heaped verbal abuse even on angels. And to make his point here, Jude tells the story of the archangel (lead angel) Michael, not even slandering the devil. Which is a story that isn’t actually in the Old Testament, and so we are going to do a DEEP dive on this fascinating verse in our house group video this week. So don’t miss that. And so the slippery slope starts at False Belief, but then leads to a further decline, stage 2 The Slippery Slope of False Belief #1: The slippery slope starts with false belief #2: False belief leads to a rejection of God’s authority Jude gets at this connection from a couple of different examples again. He sees this in the false believers of his day. He says in Verse 8, These ungodly people reject authority, and He’s talking about God’s Authority over their lives. In fact, this is one of the easiest ways to tell a true Christian believer between a false one. A true believer takes marching orders from their good King Jesus in every area of their lives A true believer believes that authority on what is right, and true, and how to live rests on God’s throne. But the false believer in the church, rejects God’s authority, and instead believes that authority for how to live rests inside of them. And our current culture has been transitioning to this sort of morality as we speak because it sounds really good. Who doesn’t want the right to be able to live however they so choose? It sounds really good, but it gets messy really fast. This is the slippery slope! Do you think that our culture (without Christianity) has sufficient moral reasoning to stop the pedophile who says, “I identify as someone who loves children…and in order for me to live out my truth, and be my authentic self, I need to act on that.” “In fact, if you don’t let me live that out, you’re risking my mental health and my life.” Tell me, how our secular (non religious) culture will refute that sort of thinking? What possibly do they have left to stand on? Some secularists are still trying to keep the “Harm Principle” on life support, and they say, “Everything’s fine as long as you don’t harm anyone.” I would say to them, “Well, why can’t you harm anyone?” I want you to notice how hard these questions are to answer if a secular person can’t steal from Christian thinking to answer them. Most people would probably answer, “Well you can’t harm another person because we must respect their autonomy and protect and honor their human rights.” And I would say, “That’s very Christian of you. Those are not secular ideas.” Author Rebecca McLaughlin explains the contradiction this way: “(people now believe that) things like universal human rights, racial justice, and care for the poor are self evident truths but…if there is no God that created us in His image, then human equality is a myth. Then human beings have no natural rights, just as spiders, hyenas, and chimpanzees have no natural rights.” Rebecca McLaughlin If life on earth was accidentally created, and you’re nothing but an evolved animal, then you have no “right” to not be harmed. Can a spider say, “You can’t harm me! I have rights!” (Title Slide) See, I want you to see the slope! When we don’t believe in God for who He truly is, and therefore, reject His authority and His Truth, that doesn’t lead to a better world. It leads to a slippery slope. It leads to pain. That is Korah’s rebellion that Jude warns about in verse 11 Korah was a man who rebelled against Moses and rejected God’s authority, because…guess what…Korah wanted to be in charge! And Korah and his followers were swallowed up when God caused the ground to open up Do you remember this fall in John 5 when we talked about the crushing crown? My friend, you do not want to reject God’s authority and put His crown on your head…you can’t bear the weight of it! Look at the warning in verse 6. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. Scholars are a bit divided on what Jude is pointing to here. Some feel he is referring to the tricky chapter of Genesis 6 where it appears like angels came down to earth to sinfully marry women. Others feel that Jude is referring to some of the fallen angels that rebelled with the Satan when he left heaven. But the main point here is that angels, like Israel, were living under the blessing of God’s goodness (in heaven!), but they rebelled against His authority And Jude wants you to fear the consequences of rebellion (and I mean that word fear, because the Bible tells us to fear…to logically fear the repercussions of rebellion. That may sound weird, but that’s no different than you telling your kids to fear the repercussions of running out in the street or touching a hot stove. We are to fear rejecting God’s authority because when we do so, while we might at first think we are experiencing freedom, it’s just a marriage that ends up in bondage…to sin…and pain. And we see that in the next stage of the slippery slope of false belief: The Slippery Slope of False Belief #1: The slippery slope starts with false belief #2: False belief leads to a rejection of God’s authority #3: Rejection of God’s authority emboldens sensuality That is living to please your senses, your flesh. Most of the time this word refers to a life that is centered around pleasing sexual desires above all things. Although it doesn’t have to be that as Jude even references Balaam, was a bad prophet who tried to curse Israel all so he could make a ton of money Jude’s main example of this 3rd stage of the slippery slope is in verse 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. Sodom and Gomorrah are a microcosm, an example of a society, a city where people don’t believe in the true God, they’ve rejected God’s authority… …and now (at stage 3 of the slippery slope), they have fully given in to every sensual desire they have… There is a sexuality piece to this passage which we are going to treat in great detail in our sexuality series about this, but for now, without going 20 minutes in a different direction, let me just summarize the story So, 2 angels, looking like men, come to Sodom, and a man named Lot (whose not all that great himself) at least brings them into his house to keep them safe. And then this happens: (Genesis 19:4 5) – NIV 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” This city is so far gone, so driven by living out every sensual desire, that all of the men of the town want to rape the angels that have come to their city. But the angels find a way to lead Lot and his family safely out of the city before God rains down burning sulfur on the city in holy judgment. (Title Slide) This is serious. And this is why Jude says in verse 3, “Contend for the Faith” Contend for a real version of grace…one that says God sets you free from sin, not free to sin. One that says that God has a much better way for you than just living out every desire you have. Because history tells us that when societies live for sensual pleasure and let go of moral guardrails, there is nothing to stop a society from driving off a cliff (the Roman empire is a good example of this). Think logically with me on this: Freedom is not the absence of guardrails or constraints. Timothy Keller says it this way: …If you “free” a fish from the lake and put it on grass to explore… …that fish is not more free because you now removed its constraints of water. The fish is less free if it can’t honor the reality of how it was made. And we as human beings are “less free” if our guiding principle of life is to remove all guardrails and follow all of our inward desires. True freedom is found in living under the constraints that God put in place for us…because He loves us…just like I love my kids and put constraints on their lives. This is what I long for people to understand. When a person denies God, and throws off his authority, it doesn’t lead to a better living, or a freer living, or even a higher living…but a lower one. This is verse 10 of our passage. 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them. Jude is essentially saying this: “These false believers don’t understand spiritual things, and the only thing they think they do understand, the thing they’re most passionate about, is doing what their instincts tell them.” It’s following their heart and doing whatever their flesh wants. And then Jude says, “Like irrational animals…this will destroy them.” And the great irony is, although false believers and non Christians are proclaiming that they have reached new freedom in morality, and intellectual superiority, and that they are leaving the antiquated and barbaric ways of living behind… Jude says, ironically, they’re now living lower than ever… They’re now living like the animals. …like beings who only make decisions based on natural, and sensual instinct, rather than living by the higher law God placed in their hearts and given them in his Word. And Jude warns, when you fall this low on the slippery slope, the only thing left is destruction. #4: JUDGEMENT And that is the fourth and final stage of the slippery slope of false belief The Slippery Slope of False Belief #1: The slippery slope starts with false belief #2: False belief leads to a rejection of God’s authority #3: Rejection of God’s authority emboldens sensuality #4: Sensuality and sin leads to judgment These writings are warnings. They are warnings to those of us who would believe in the wrong things and then fall into the repercussions of those beliefs. The most serious of which is judgment for our sins. And let me just say…I do worry that some of you are perhaps beginning to interact this series and this letter incorrectly. I worry that in the polarized world in which we live, that some of us will hear Jude and then wrongly prop ourselves up on a pedestal. And we’ll say, “See! We're not like that! Look at those sinners over there! Those false believers and their sensuality! Shame on them!” My friends, if that’s what’s in your heart, that's not of Christ. That's really no different than the legalism of the Pharisees who said, “You’ve done this; we haven’t, so we’re better!.” That’s not the teaching of Christ. No, the Gospel says that we too struggle with false belief and rejection of God’s authority and sensuality Have you never had moments of doubt and unbelief? Have you never rejected the authority of God? And said, “I know you God that you say this…but I don’t care, I’m doing this.” Have you never let your rejection of God’s authority lead to sensuality? Is there anyone completely pure in this room? One who’s never lusted? Jesus says to even lust is to commit adultery in your heart. Come down from the pedestal… My friends, you and I have sinned against God. And that sin was taking us too on a slippery slope that led to nothing but pain and God’s rightful judgment for our sin. And as Christians, the only thing we have to stand on, is not our moral superiority, or anything we did, the only thing we have to stand on is the fact that Jesus Christ, in his mercy, saw us sliding down that slippery slope…and He reached his hand out to us! Jesus Christ came to this earth and lived the life that we couldn’t. And He died the death that we deserved. And the Bible says that it’s through our faith in Him, and His death, that we can be saved. It’s by grabbing his hand in faith, that we can be pulled off the slippery slope, and rescued. Rescued into a new way of life Rescued into walking with God and knowing Him personally. Rescued from judgement, so that we wouldn’t spend eternity in hell for our sins, but could spend eternity in heaven with God. And boy we don’t deserve that. But God is so good that He offers that to us. And He offers to change your life now. Copyright: David Sorn Renovation Church in Blaine, MN You may use this material all you like! We only ask that you do not charge a fee and that you quote the source and not say it is your own. DAVID SORN APRIL 23, 2023