Reserved In Everlasting Chains
Our Bible passage, introduction to Sunday 14th July service and hymns are below.
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Our principal verse is:
Jud 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Jud 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Jud 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Jud 1:8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
Reserved In Everlasting Chains
Jude supplies three examples of God’s judgment against sin. The illustrations are drawn from the Old Testament and support Jude’s warning of condemnation on the ungodly men spoken of in verse 4. He assumes his readers will be familiar with these passages but wisely reminds them again of their message. Jude uses past precedent to anticipate God’s future dealings with sinners.
Destroyed for not believing
Jude’s chosen examples are both pertinent and powerful. He reminds his readers how the people of Israel were at first saved out of Egypt only to die in the wilderness over a period of forty years because of their unbelief. Only Joshua and Caleb from the original exodus were permitted to enter Canaan. These people did not simply die. Jude’s language is emphatic. God destroyed them for their unbelief.
Angels who fell
The second illustration is also striking. Referring to the angels who fell Jude again emphasises the unbending verdict of God against sin. These previously holy creatures, once blessed with high honours in their first estate, are now reserved in everlasting chains under darkness; irreversibly doomed and waiting for judgment. There is no grace, no mercy, no release and no hope for these fallen angels. They do not have ‘the hope of righteousness by faith’.
The legacy of Sodom
The cities of Sodom, Gomorrha, and a few others beside, were destroyed by God with fire and brimstone for their wickedness. This provides Jude with his final example. These cities were successful and desirable places to live. Lot purposely made his home here and the inhabitants enjoyed God’s blessing and even benefitted from Abraham’s intercession. However, prosperity and riches led to indulgence and spawned immorality of the basest sort, which the Lord described as ‘very grievous’.
Unbelief is the original sin
Each illustration reveals God’s hatred of sin and His determination to punish the ungodly who transgress His will. Sin is primarily unbelief as witnessed among the children of Israel in the wilderness. It manifests as pride and rebellion as with the angels who fell. It culminates in fleshy, sensual and unnatural practices which reject and distort God’s patterns for man’s life. Adam’s sin brought all men and women into a state of condemnation. Unbelief, rebellion and self-indulgence reveal our fallen human nature. Sin is ungodliness and it will be judged.
Jude’s purpose
In verse 8 Jude says ‘likewise’ and applies his three Old Testament examples to the ungodly men who had crept into the church. Their condemnation will be as certain and unmistakeable as the former examples for being equally full of unbelief, rebellion and self-promotion. Note, we are speaking here of false teachers, lying preachers and dishonest members of professing churches. It is a terrible thing to be a deceiver amongst the people of God.
A lesson to learn
As fearsome as these examples are they nevertheless set off the brightness of grace and mercy. They reveal our need for an able deliverer to reconcile us to our holy and offended God. They prove our need of a saviour. The Lord Jesus Christ is that Saviour and His atoning work is the unique and exclusive way of escape for sinners as blameworthy as any Old Testament transgressor. Let every sinner ask, ‘If God so judged the Jews of the Exodus, the angels who fell, the cities of the plain, “how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?”’
‘Filthy’ false doctrine
Jude calls these ungodly men, ‘filthy dreamers who defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities’. Whatever the exact crimes the apostle had in mind we can readily apply them to preachers of false doctrine. They are filthy dreamers because their ministry is a corrupt sham. They defile the flesh by promoting self-righteousness. They despise dominion by usurping Christ, rejecting scripture and misapplying the pure word of God. They speak evil of dignities by maligning faithful preachers as liars.
Preaching truth
Jude is a faithful preacher. He directs God’s people to embrace the truth and uphold it when it is misrepresented by false teachers. He warns the church of Christ that our doctrine will be challenged and our peace disturbed by enemies within the body of true believers. He assures us of the ultimate condemnation of these ungodly men and declares the wonderful salvation and deliverance found in Jesus Christ. Godly preachers still warn of judgment to come and lift up Christ as the only Saviour of sinners.
Amen
Our hymns are below.
Hymn 1
Gadsby selection 220
“If there arise among you a prophet.” Deut. 13. 1
J. Hart 8s
1
No prophet, or dreamer of dreams,
No master of plausible speech,
To live like an angel who seems,
Or like an apostle to preach;
No tempter, without or within,
No spirit, though ever so bright,
That comes crying out against sin,
And looks like an angel of light;
2
Though reason, though fitness he urge,
Or plead with the words of a friend,
Or wonders of argument forge,
Or deep revelations pretend;
Should meet with a moment’s regard,
But rather be boldly withstood,
If anything, easy or hard,
He teach, save the Lamb and his blood.
3
Remember, O Christian, with heed,
When sunk under sentence of death,
How first thou from bondage wast freed –
Say, was it by works, or by faith?
On Christ thy affections then fixed,
What conjugal truth didst thou vow?
With him was there anything mixed?
Then what wouldst thou mix with him now?
4
If close to thy Lord thou wouldst cleave,
Depend on his promise alone;
His righteousness wouldst thou receive?
Then learn to renounce all thy own.
The faith of a Christian, indeed,
Is more than mere notion or whim;
United to Jesus, his Head,
He draws life and virtue from him.
5
Deceived by the father of lies,
Blind guides cry, Lo, here! and, Lo, there!
By these our Redeemer us tries,
And warns us of such to beware.
Poor comfort to mourners they give
Who set us to labour in vain;
And strive, with a “Do this and live,”
To drive us to Egypt again.
6
But what says our Shepherd divine?
(For his blessed word we should keep)
“This flock has my Father made mine;
I lay down my life for my sheep;
’Tis life everlasting I give;
My blood was the price my sheep cost;
Not one that on me shall believe
Shall ever be finally lost.”
7
This God is the God we adore
Our faithful, unchangeable Friend;
Whose love is as large as his power,
And neither knows measure nor end.
’Tis Jesus, the First and the Last,
Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home:
We’ll praise him for all that is past,
And trust him for all that’s to come.
Hymn 2
Gadsby selection 332
“God is faithful.” 1 Cor. 10. 13
P. Doddridge L.M.
1
Now let the feeble all be strong,
And make Jehovah’s arm their song;
His shield is spread o’er every saint,
And thus supported, who shall faint?
2
What though the hosts of hell engage
With mingled cruelty and rage?
A faithful God restrains their hands,
And chains them down in iron bands.
3
Bound by his word, he will display
A strength proportioned to our day;
And when united trials meet,
Will show a path of safe retreat.
4
Thus far we prove that promise good,
Which Jesus ratified with blood;
Still is he gracious, wise, and just,
And still in him let Israel trust.
Jude provides three examples of past judgments inflicted by the holy Lord God so the Lord's people may know how serious is false doctrine and how condemnable those who preach it within the assemblies of God's people.
14th July 2024