{"id":23510,"date":"2024-11-17T23:09:48","date_gmt":"2024-11-17T23:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/?p=23510"},"modified":"2024-11-17T23:09:48","modified_gmt":"2024-11-17T23:09:48","slug":"reserved-in-everlasting-chains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/2024\/11\/reserved-in-everlasting-chains\/","title":{"rendered":"Reserved In Everlasting Chains"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jude supplies three examples of God\u2019s judgment against sin. The illustrations are drawn from the Old Testament and support Jude\u2019s 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\u2019s future dealings with sinners.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Destroyed for not believing<\/b><\/p>\n

Jude\u2019s 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\u2019s language is emphatic. God destroyed them for their unbelief.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Angels who fell<\/b><\/p>\n

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 \u2018the hope of righteousness by faith\u2019.<\/p>\n

The legacy of Sodom<\/b><\/p>\n

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\u2019s blessing and even benefitted from Abraham\u2019s intercession. However, prosperity and riches led to indulgence and spawned immorality of the basest sort, which the Lord described as \u2018very grievous\u2019.<\/p>\n

Unbelief is the original sin<\/b><\/p>\n

Each illustration reveals God\u2019s 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\u2019s patterns for man\u2019s life. Adam\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Jude\u2019s purpose<\/b><\/p>\n

In verse 8 Jude says \u2018likewise\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

A lesson to learn<\/b><\/p>\n

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, \u2018If God so judged the Jews of the Exodus, the angels who fell, the cities of the plain, \u201chow shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Filthy\u2019 false doctrine<\/b><\/p>\n

Jude calls these ungodly men, \u2018filthy dreamers who defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities\u2019. 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.<\/p>\n

Preaching truth<\/b><\/p>\n

Jude is a faithful preacher. He directs God\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Amen<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jude supplies three examples of God\u2019s judgment against sin. The illustrations are drawn from the Old Testament and support Jude\u2019s 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\u2019s future dealings with sinners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Destroyed for not believing<\/p>\n

Jude\u2019s 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\u2019s language is emphatic. God destroyed them for their unbelief.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Angels who fell<\/p>\n

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 \u2018the hope of righteousness by faith\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":12757,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1042],"tags":[1239],"class_list":["post-23510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-peter-meneys-scripture-meditations","tag-sovereign-grace"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23510"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23511,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23510\/revisions\/23511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}