Characteristics of the Apostates
Jude 8
Introduction
We have done our lesson about Apostasy last week. Three groups of people were presented, the Exodus Generation, the Fallen Angels, and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Today we are going to see Jude’s description of these ungodly men in their rebellion against God.
I. They are dreamers
A. Dreamers in the sense that they live in a world that is not real.
1. They are deceived, having their mind filled with false doctrine, false hope, false assurance, half-truth and lies from Satan himself who is the father of lies and from his followers which includes false prophets, false teachers, false preachers who has a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.
2. They vainly dream that they can safely pursue their unholy way and refused to be warned.
3. They fantasize wicked perversions being blind and deaf of the truth of God’s Word.
4. By being a dreamer and living in the world of make-believe, pride, and arrogance have closed their hearts and minds that they cannot accept the truth.
Illustration: Titanic
The captain of the Titanic refused to believe the ship was in trouble till water was ankle deep in the mail room. Only then was it apparent the multi-layered hull had been pierced and the unsinkable ship was going to sink. Ships that could have arrived before the great ocean liner went down weren’t summoned until it was too late. Like the rich man in Luke 16, when he realized his mistake, it was too late
II. They “ defile the flesh”
A. They are living to satisfy their fleshly lust
1. Which means defiling the body in physical sense that is homosexuality, bestiality, promiscuity.
2. Like the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah they have no moral restraints and have no control of their pervert sexual appetites.
3. Despite of the examples God has made of the angels and the Sodomites, these dreamers who have heard and knows about God’s grace, continues and persists in turning God’s grace into lasciviousness.
4. Our present and modern day sexual promiscuity is surely the fulfilment of this prophetic event. That’s the reason why the Holy Spirit prompted Jude to write this Epistle.
5. Sexual sins have their own punishment now. AIDS, syphilis, and other forms of venereal diseases are now very common.
Illustration: AIDS & Homosexuality
The average age of a homosexual man dying with AIDS is 39. The average age of gays dying of all other causes is 41. (The average heterosexual married man lives 75 years.) Only one percent of men who practice homosexual sex lives to be 65 or older. Gay men are three times more likely to have
alcohol or drug abuse problems. Homosexuals are 14 times more likely to have had syphilis, and 23 times more likely to contract venereal diseases.
B. They despise dominion.
A. Evidenced by the way they speak and live.
1. They are disobedient to the law which includes God’s law which is spiritual and the law of the land, which is civil law.
2. They reject authority thus rejecting the Scriptures and denying Christ.
3. They rejected God’s authority to set up their own authority.
4. We see it in the home, where the wife rejects the man’s authority; we see it in the home, where the child rejects the parent’s authority;
5. We see it in the state, where oppositions reject the government’s authority – doesn’t mean you have to agree with them, but they reject the authority;
6. We see it in the church, where members reject the Pastor’s authority – and the word of God teaches that that is a sign of apostasy.
7. That is a sign of the age, and the spirit of the age, and this thing that the devil has dreamed up from all times, and we can see it in our text that he calls them, literally, ‘filthy dreamers’. They’ve been dreaming about themselves, to take away all God’s ordained authorities and to set on the throne of their life. Isn’t that it? It’s the old lie of the devil right from the beginning – then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Illustration:
God’s Word is our final authority in all matters of faith. The Word of God lists parental authority over children, Eph. 6:1, Col. 3:20; business laws and practices, Col. 3:22 and Eph. 6:5; and the authority of pastors in the church, Hebrews 13:7,17, I Thess. 5:12, and I Cor. 16:15,16. And Mark 1:27, and I Peter 3:22 assert that God has authority over angelic beings.
C. Speak evil of dignities:
1. The Greek for “dignities” is “doxa”, which is translated in English as “glory” which would be the glory and pre-eminence of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
2. Blasphemeo is the term used for “slander.” These apostates, blaspheme God the Father and God the Holy Spirit by denying the Person and work of Christ on the Cross.
3. Blasphemy involves much more than taking God’s name in vain though that is at the heart of it. A person blasphemes God when he takes God’s Word lightly or when he deliberately defies God to Judge him.
III. Conclusion:
We will continue this next week, the Lord willing. As you see the characteristics of the apostates, I trust that you will be more careful and obedient in following the Word of God.
