Jude 5-16

Good morning, Saylorville! If you have a copy of God’s Word, you can find the tiny book of Jude near the back of your bibles, and we’re gonna start off this morning in verse five. That being said, I’m just gonna go there and tell you, Happy Spring! (congregation laughing) I can say that, right? I mean, I know that we’re Iowans so it’s kinda always just topsy-turvy, but I mean, it’s almost April, okay? So I think we’re on the mend here.

My family loves April! So my wife and I call April “birthday month” because both of us were born in April. We love the month of April! It’s the Spring’s coming up, the flowers are rising, not to mention we’re leading up to celebrating Easter! — That is, the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

But did you know that April actually has some historical significance? (Former history teacher here) April is associated with the most famous ship of all time, which is… yeah, the Titanic! My heart will go on. Okay, love that song! In April 15th, 1912, the Titanic, which at the time was a cutting-edge ship crashed into an iceberg off the North Atlantic and sank, and 1500 souls perished that night. It’s an extremely famous story. It’s got a movie, it’s got all kinds of fan fiction, and all those things.

But have you ever heard of the Titanic of the Pacific? Six years after the Titanic crashed, on October 23rd, 1918, the Princess Sophia left Skagway Alaska in route to Vancouver, Canada. And her departure was much like the Titanic. It started off pretty good. However, four hours after departure, the Princess Sophia crashed into a hidden reef. It was the Vanderbilt reef off the coast of Alaska. You want to know what happens next? Well, stay in the auditorium and I’ll tell you.

That being said, we’re started… we have already started, our sermon series, Fighting for the Faith, a study of the Book of Jude. Pastor opened it up, we’re going to continue on this morning. And here’s the thing. Jude knows a little bit about hidden reefs, because it’s a metaphor the he uses to identify false teachers and pretenders who have crept into the church and indeed who are creeping into our churches today. I’ve titled this sermon Spotting Hidden Reefs, and our question today is, how do we identify as the church, how do we identify false teachers and pretenders? — And Jude as we’re going to see, he’s a master preacher, okay? — As he’s kind of explaining how we identify these teachers, he uses no less than eight illustrations. Most of them are from the Old Testament, but some of them, if you’ve studied Jude, are from extra-biblical sources like the Book of Enoch. The Holy Spirit in his wisdom used even extra-biblical sources for Jude to prove his point. That being said, why don’t we go ahead and dive into scripture, the book of Jude, verse five. Jude writes this,

Jude 5-16

5 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.

6 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—

7 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.

Verse 8 Yet in like manner these people (he’s talking about the false teachers that have crept in, in like manner these people) also, relying on their dreams, (we’re gonna come back to that) defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.

9 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.”

10 But these people (again, false teachers) blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.   

11 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.

12 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;

13 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.

Verse 14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones,

15 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.”

16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.”

This is the word of the Lord. That being said, you can very clearly tell by Jude’s tone that Jude, and the Lord, God, who inspired him to write this, he’s serious about these hidden reefs, these pretenders in the church — and we should be too.

So how do we identify them? Well, first of all, or first of all, these pretenders, they dare to trade doctrine for dreams. And you see that directly in the text. Now, before we talk about that, Pastor last week, he talked about it, and it’s spot on! Jude is really not concerned about the church’s doctrine here, okay? He’s more concerned about their lifestyle. How does being a Christian, how’s it changing them? Because if you’re a Christian friend, it should change you. But here’s the deal, our doctrine, what we believe about God and His word and ourselves, our doctrine is intimately related to our lifestyle. In fact, your doctrine will, no matter what the case, it will influence your lifestyle. That being said, look at verse eight. Verse 8 says that these pretenders, these false teachers, they rely on their dreams. And then because they rely on their dreams, they reject authority.

[Jude 8, “Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.”]

Now again, this isn’t super shocking. There’s other instances in scripture where people get direct revelation from God through their dreams, okay? I think of Peter and the sheet coming down if you remember that in the book of Acts. But here’s the difference… these pretenders, these hidden reefs, they’re trading out the scripture for their dreams. See, they’re rejecting the established authority that God’s already given. Thus, the first mark of a hidden reef, a pretender, is that the authority of God, that is the scriptures, is either not trusted or not enough. And again, he outlines this. If you look at verses five through seven, Jude gives us three old testament illustrations.

[Jude 5-7

5 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.

6 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—

7 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.”]

And if you look at these illustrations, every single one of them bucked God’s authority.

Wandering Israel in the wilderness… you remember that back in Exodus and Numbers? God promises to the people of Israel, I’ve ripped you out of Egypt by My strong hand, and I have a place for you, a Promised Land that’s full of milk and honey and life. But the Israelites, following their bellies, they wanna go back to Egypt.

And then the angels… this is a wild story. Look at Genesis 6, although the book of Enoch talks about this as well, which is what Jude’s pulling from. If you look at Genesis 6 though, it talks about how these angels that were with God forever, face to face with God, okay? They gave up that position of authority in order to go down to earth because they lusted after the daughters of men. Straight out of Genesis 6.

And then Sodom and Gomorrah, that’s an extremely famous story, right? God has a regulated plan for sexual intimacy, and they’ve just lost it. Jude says as much. He says that they’re trading their unnatural desire.

All three are bucking God’s authority. They’re going up against what he said and actually going beyond it. They’re trusting in their own authority. And friends, listen. Whenever we buck against God’s authority, whenever we think that we have a higher view of things, we have a better opinion, we have a better doctrine in our culture and our society, and we just completely throw out this word, that’s sin. And the wages of sin is death, [Romans 3:23]  which is exactly what we saw in Jude.

And notice what happens. I mean, Jude outlines that verse eight. It says that these pretenders, these false teachers, through their dreams, through rejecting authority, they defile the flesh. That word “defile” means they pollute the flesh. They’re “polluted.”

But then verse eight says something really weird. Verse eight says,

[Jude 8, “Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.”]

… that these pretenders, these false teachers, they blaspheme the glorious ones. Who’s that? This is a pretty controversial verse. There’s all kinds of different opinions. And if you ask commentators, if you dig into it, some people think God is being blasphemed. Some people think angels as in “good” angels. And some people think demons fallen, evil angels. That seems kind of weird, right? — to blaspheme angels. We don’t usually put those two things together. But the word “blaspheme” literally in the Greek means “hurt the fame of” something, which means you’re just, you’re just, when you blaspheme, you’re just downplaying the truthful telling of something. You know who I think Jude’s talking about here? I think he’s talking about demons. I think that these pretenders are blaspheming, they’re speaking wrongly, about the demons. Now why do I say that? Check out the next verse, check out verse nine.

[Jude 9, “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.”]

This is a crazy story! This is again an extra biblical thing that the Holy Spirit decides to use through Jude. But it talks about Michael, the archangel Michael, the highest level of angelic authority. And he’s fighting with Satan over the body of Moses. But notice what Jude’s highlighting. Michael, even though he’s fighting the enemy of God, the enemy of His Church, Michael does not presume to judge Satan. Instead, he says, “The Lord rebukes you.” He leaves judgment to God. So even, friends, Michael the archangel submits to God’s authority.

So what’s Jude’s argument? Remember what these people are doing? Verse four says that these pretenders were perverting the grace of Jesus Christ into sensuality.

[Jude 4, “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.“]

What’s the point? These pretenders, these false teachers, by their dreams, were teaching their flocks and many pretenders do it the same to us today. They were teaching their flocks, teaching Christians that Christians, we are so covered in grace, so covered by the blood of Jesus, that the host of Satan no longer a threat at all. And Satan shouts, “Amen!”

Satan loves when false teachers downplay his authority, downplay his power, downplay when they convince believers that he has no power. Now listen, I know maybe some of you are thinking, is that partly true? Sure! But partly true is not the whole truth. Is your sin, if you’re a believer, if you are truly a born-again Christian, if you’ve put your faith in the Lord Jesus, is your sin covered by the blood of the Lamb? Yes! Hallelujah! — But does that give you freedom to continue to sin? No, it doesn’t. Friends, when you put your faith in Jesus, He allows you not only to get to heaven, but He allows you to live for Him right now. He rips you out of the slavery of sin, puts you in a high place in just a passionate relationship with Him, a life of righteousness.

Is Satan defeated by the cross? Yes! — but is Satan dead, yet? No! In fact, Scripture is replete with all kinds of warnings regarding Satan and his demonic host. If you remember, Peter talks about how Satan prowls around like like a lion looking for those whom he can devour.

[1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.“]

And Paul writes the Ephesians in Ephesians chapter 6. He tells the church to put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the attacks of your enemy, Satan.

[Ephesians 6:11-12

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.“]

Look at verse 11. Speaking of these angels this way, focusing so much on the grace and not the fight, These pretenders blaspheme what they do not understand. Friends, I love this book! I love the bible, because it has such a beautiful balance to the Christian life… beautiful balance. And listen, friends, when we downplay sin and Satan, and we focus exclusively on grace and love, though true, we’re actually missing Jude’s main point, the main point of the whole book. Friends, the beautiful, amazing grace of Christ, the victory of the cross, it doesn’t diminish the reality that you, Christian, are in a fight! Faith in Christ is a fight. Authentic Christianity, true Christianity, is hard! It’s going to cost you something. It’s going to have you lose something, because just as our Savior died on a cross so we must also die to self. But we know if we’re born again Christians, Christ is worth it! When we deny the balance in scripture, we’re trading real Christianity for coffee cup Christianity, cheap Christianity.

So how do we get here? How did the pretenders get here and how do pretenders get here today? How do they get to a point where there’s no life change? — they’re just dancing with the devil. They get there by just ever increasing clicks away from God’s Word. Every time.

In preparation for this message, I was looking at some doctrinal statements of local churches in this area, in the Des Moines Metro. And I found one doctrinal statement that gave me real pause. And here it is.

“God speaks in many ways, not only in scripture and tradition, but also through science and art and history and reason. We embrace what is sacred wherever we discover it.”

Doctrinal statement of a local Des Moines church

Listen, that sounds really good at first, but here’s the problem. Who determines what is sacred? The leaders of the church determine it. Friends, statements like that, that is the start of every cult. That is the start of the foundation of every false teacher. When a leader says, ‘I’m going to go beyond the authority that God has given us,’ that is extremely dangerous! Whenever we add to the scripture, we err.

But listen, I think there’s another error that is probably more prominent in this church and other churches today and probably more insidious. You ever been to the Barnes and Noble religion section? You ever been there? That’s the section’s hilarious because you walk in there, it’s a spectrum of “truth.” It really is. On one side you’ve got the ultra-literal Bibles. You’ve got like the inner linear for all of you who can read fluent Greek. Okay? You have the Legacy Standard. You have all these things, and then in the middle you’ve kind of got more paraphrased bibles, which is fine, but then in the far one, you have the self-help, faith-based books. Faith-based. Faith based. What does that mean? What does “faith based” mean? — because if I’d based something on something else, it could mean that I take just a little bit and I just kind of do my own thing. Friends, I find that often “faith-based” means that you’re just taking the wisdom of the world, the wisdom of man, and you’re sprinkling Jesus over it, just a little bit. Most of those books have maybe three or four scriptures. We hear marketers say in our culture today that “sex sells,” and it does. But Christian, you’ve got to hear this. You know what else sells? Faith and spirituality. There are all kinds of faith-based things out there. There are faith-based diets. There are faith-based workouts. There are faith-based clothing brands. I wish I would have got… We’ve got some of those, some new threads.

My wife Rachel and I, we just recently… we’re using this. Okay? So there’s nothing wrong… we’re using it… but it’s a little scary. We started using a faith-based budget app. And when I logged in, I noticed the opening logo. The opening motto, and here it is.

“Tell your money, whose boss, you?” Logo of an online faith-based budget app

Am I the boss of my money? Sounds really good, but it’s devoid of scripture. Here’s the point. We err when we add to scripture, but friends listen. We also err when we go all in on something that’s absent of scripture, even if it’s just a little bit.

So the question has to be this morning, and be honest, how many clicks away from the bible are you? Faith-based stuff is okay. It’s okay, but we’ve gotta live in this Word. And when those faith-based things hit this Word and it doesn’t work, throw ’em out… because they’re not truth!

But that’s not all. Secondly, false teachers divide and then devour. Remember the Princess Sophia, the ship on the reef? Right? This is crazy. When it first hit the reef, the reef didn’t penetrate the hall. There was no water coming in. The crazy thing about this story is within hours, a bunch of rescue ships showed up to rescue the passengers off the Princess Sophia. And the plan was as they would wait for the tide to go down and then they’d go and grab all the people off the boat. But then they had a problem. When the tide lowered, the reef acted as a natural barrier between the rescue ships and the Princess Sophia. Why do I tell you that? Because friends, that’s exactly what false teachers do. Pretenders and false teachers, since they’re afraid of the truth of this book, they will build up all kinds of walls of division between the flock, their flock, and truth tellers. Like a reef that keeps out the ships that are meant to rescue the passengers, they divide people so they can’t hear truth.

Notice verse 11, check out verse 11.

[Jude 11, “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.“]

Again, Jude gives us three different examples to kind of prove his point. All of these examples are divisive people. Cain… remember, Cain and Abel, as Adam and Eve’s children? Abel gives a sacrifice to God that’s acceptable. Cain doesn’t, so what does Cain do? He kills him! Balaam from the book of Numbers, he’s trying to curse the nation of Israel. God won’t let him do it. He’ll only let him bless them, praise the Lord, but he comes up with another plan. Balaam takes some Moabite women, sprinkles them into Israel, and they go after other gods. He divides them. And Korah, Korah’s in Numbers, as well. Korah wanted to be Moses. Moses was leading the Israelites towards the Promised Land, and Korah says, ‘Why don’t I get to be the leader?’ — So he rallies up all the other Israelites to rebel against Moses. And if you remember the story, God forces the very earth to rise up and eat alive, Korah’s followers. The point is each Old Testament type is someone who divided God’s people.

And why do false teachers divide the flock? Check out verse 12.

[Jude 12, “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;“]

It says that these false teachers are shepherds who feed themselves. And what are these shepherds feeding on? The flock. You! You ever watch Planet Earth or one of those animal documentaries? You’ve probably seen these, right? You’ve got the cheetah, you’ve got the lion, you’ve got these huge herds of antelope. You ever notice that the lions, they never attack the herd head on because that’s suicide! That’s not going to work. They pick out one person that’s weak, they separate that person from the herd, and they devour them. Here’s the point. Truth and godliness does not grow in an echo chamber. [Romans 1:18] says that

[Romans 1:18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.“]

… one of the defining marks of an ungodly person is that “they suppress the truth.” One commentator said,

“False teaching always divides, it never unites.” un-named commentator

Why? Because unity is often deadly to false teaching. The scriptures say in Proverbs, verse 18, chapter 18, verse 17,

Proverbs 18:17, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”

So, dear friend, the question must be, what happens if no one’s examining you? Or, what happens if you don’t examine the people teaching you? —And, yes, that includes me! Take everything I say and put it through this.

The Princess Sophia couldn’t… the passengers couldn’t be rescued, because the reef they were caught on kept the rescuers out. Are you caught on any reefs right now? Are there any opinions? — or philosophies? — or politics? —Is there anyone in your life that’s pouring stuff into you that’s causing you to hate your brothers and sisters in Christ? — that’s causing unnecessary division? I would challenge you friends, stay with the flock. And if you’re a divider, if you’re divisive, repent, and ask for forgiveness, because listen, we are better together. False teachers divide so they can devour.

But next up, this is a big one, false teachers don’t cause ripples because they don’t throw rocks. You remember verse four? Pastor Pat talked about it last week. The word “crept in,” these pretenders “crept in” to the church…

[Jude 1:4, “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.“]

The word there, he used this image of a crocodile slithering into a body of water. It doesn’t cause any ripples.

One of my favorite pastimes… (which is kind of pathetic, but whatever) My wife and I will go to Big Creek, so we live in Polk City, and when we’re on the beach, I don’t know if it’s a guy thing, I don’t know, but, something just demands I pick up a huge rock and just toss that thing in the lake. Big old splash! The fisherman are like, ‘Get that guy out of here!’ (congregation laughing) False teachers do not make splashes, because a pretender, a false teacher, they’re only gonna tell you what you want to hear, not what you need to hear. Verse 10, check out verse 10.

[Jude 10, “But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.”]

It says that these pretenders are “like unreasoning animals.” They’re destroyed by what they do instinctively. Listen, if you come up to me and say, ‘Hey, I taught my fish to swim,’ I’m not gonna be very impressed, because that’s what fish do. If a false teacher says, ‘Well, we’re just enjoying God’s grace. Everybody’s sinning, but it’s fine.’ I won’t be impressed.” Because fallen man instinctively sins. But when someone chases after Jesus, when someone loves the Word of God, when someone kills their sin, that’s a change. Listen, if you are following a teacher, or if you’re going to a church and all it ever does is make you feel good, but you never leave changed, run! Get out of there!

Look at verse 12. He says this in the pretenders.

[Jude 12, “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;]

These pretenders are “waterless clouds.” They are “fruitless trees.” What is, what’s he saying? He’s saying they’re not producing anything, because they’re not willing to throw rocks.

Remember the Princess Sophia again? When the Princess Sophia hit the reef, eventually, because of the waves and all the tumultuous storms and everything, eventually it did penetrate the hull. But we have a record of a passenger aboard the Princess Sophia, and she wrote in her diary while this was happening. Her name was Auris McQueen. This is what she says.

“Our only inconvenience is, so far, lack of water. We are still getting heat and lights, and we still have lump sugar.” Auris McQueen, a passenger aboard the Princess Sophia

That‘s good! Friends… the boat is sinking. It’s sinking! And for her, it’s just an inconvenience! After being stuck on the reef for two whole days, the rescue ships tried to save them. All 354 people aboard the Princess Sophia perished in the waters. Verse 16 says,

[Jude 16, “These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.”]

… that these pretenders “show favoritism to gain advantage.” The word “favoritism” literally means “they wonder at.” So a false teacher, they don’t just condone sin. They celebrate sin! Pretenders lull the Church to sleep. They lull you to sleep by telling you what you wanna hear. They say that your sin is just an inconvenience, when really it’s a death sentence. How do you see it? Is it a inconvenience or is it a death sentence?

Pretenders don’t make any ripples, because they don’t throw rocks. I’ve thrown some rocks. I’m throwing rocks right now. A couple of months ago, a new guy came to Saylorville Church, and he’s a super cool guy! He’s a good friend of mine now, and when we first met up, we did what I usually do, we did a Bible study. And so my wife and him and his wife got together. And I asked a very simple question at the very beginning. “Well, what’s up, man? What’s your testimony? Tell me your testimony.” And he would admit that he was just all over the place. So what I did is I asked him some hard questions. I put a little doubt on him. I threw rocks at him. He didn’t like that very much! His wife and him got in the truck and, they laugh about it now, but all the way home… silence! It’s a good sign, right? Two weeks later, this guy said, “I wanna do Bible studies again.” His testimony is secure, and you know what? He can spot a pretender now. The scriptures say,

[Proverbs 27:6 CSB] “The wounds of a friend are trustworthy, but the kisses of an enemy are excessive.“

Saylorville Church, let’s be a church that’s willing to throw rocks. Now listen, we’re not throwing rocks to hurt people. We’re not throwing rocks to judge people or condemn people. We’re throwing rocks to help people not hurt themselves by pushing them back to this stable, secure, and true Word. Let’s throw rocks. So the question is, who’s throwing rocks at you? Who’s throwing rocks at you? — And how do you respond to that?

Very last thing. These false teachers… and you see it clearly in Jude… These false teachers must defect or die. Notice the very end of our passage today. Jude assures us that King Jesus, when He returns, because He loves His church, because He loves those of you who truly know Him, He will purify the perverse out of it. Notice verse 15, again…

[Jude 15, “… 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.”]

… this is from the book of Enoch, but notice Jude’s point here. in this verse, verse 15, he uses “ungodly” as an adjective, as a verb and as a noun. It’s like, ‘Okay, Jude, we get it!’ What’s his point? He’s saying that these people are ungodly! These people are not allied with Jesus. They’re double agents. They’re Satan’s spies, and they look like soldiers of Christ, but they’re just spies.

Three weeks ago on March 4th, a very significant historical figure named Oleg Gordievsky passed away at the age of 86. You guys know Oleg, right? You’ve heard this name before? You haven’t… because Oleg was a spy. Oleg Gordievsky was the highest ranking KGB agent that defected to MI6. (which, by the way, is the same branch that James Bond is a part of, so it shows just how cool it was!) But here’s the point. Oleg Gordievsky, when he worked for the Soviets, he stole secrets from the West and gave them to the Communist. But in the late 60s, he looked at what the Communists were doing; their oppression, their brutality — and he realized that he was pouring into a broken system. He defected. He switched sides to MI6. It was so intense that actually MI6 had to drive into Russia, throw him in the back of a trunk of a car and smuggle him out. True story! Check it out. But here’s the point. Oleg Gordievsky was a pretender. He was helping the West, but really, he was betraying them to the communist. But then he had a change of heart! He saw the brokenness of what he was doing and he defected!

Listen, are you a pretender? Are you in the church, but your heart is working against it? Do you confess Christ, but your life doesn’t show any change at all? Are you ungodly? Romans chapter 3, verse 23 says, that…

Romans 3:23, “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.“

Friends, I was a pretender! I was once separate from God. I called myself a Christian, but I didn’t know Christ! My life wasn’t changed. I just followed my natural instincts. I was ungodly. But friend, I defected… and you can too! And only because of what Jesus Christ has done. Romans chapter five, six and eight… it’s so beautiful! It’s perfect for this passage! Paul writes:

Romans 5:6 and 8

6  “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

8 but God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Friends, the beauty of the Gospel is that God loves you even though you’re a pretender! — and He loved you so much that He sent His son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to earth, He lived a perfectly consistent life of truth which I could never live, which you could never live. He died a sacrificial death in your place. He took the punishment that you deserve, but then He rose again in victory! And if you defect, if you put your faith in Him alone for your salvation, He’ll raise you up too, not just to life in eternity, but life right now, right now! — an abundant life! Christ came so that spies against Him could become soldiers for Him. How about you? Are you a pretender? I’m begging with you. Defect! Repent! Change your mind about Jesus in yourself!

Just two weeks ago I was working with a guy I’ve been doing bible studies with, and we first got together because he wanted to get baptized. But I threw some rocks. I asked him some hard questions, and I realized that he wasn’t a Christian. He never put his faith in Jesus. So we continued to do some studies, and he very humbly said to me, “I’ve been pretending. I’m ungodly.” He sat in the 8:00 service. This man a week ago went to Ledges State Park. He confessed his sins to God. He asked the Lord Jesus Christ to save him, and he defected! Jesus ripped him out of the kingdom of darkness and put him in the kingdom of God! Some of you need to defect. Remember, Christ died for the ungodly. He’s waiting. Come to him.

Let’s pray.

Almighty God, Lord, I praise You that Your truth cuts both ways, Lord, that You show us a beautiful grace, You show us unending love in the Gospel, Lord, but You also call us to a changed life because, Lord, you’ve ripped us out of the slavery of sin! So Lord, I pray for all the believers in this room. I pray for those of them that they’re starting to go clicks away from Your Word now. Lord, will You call them back? May You bring them back to the safety of Your scriptures to the steadfastness of it, to all the promises within. And Lord, I pray for those among us who have been divisive. I pray, Lord, that they would repent, Lord, they would return to the flock, because we’re better together, Lord. You came so that we can have unity. And I pray for the pretender. Lord Jesus, it’s amazing! You died for the pretender. You died for your enemy! So God, May You help people defect… right now… believe in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, and be saved. Thank you for Your love. In Jesus’ name. Amen. [Music]