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Jude 1:5-7

Monday of this past week marked the 102nd anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. People are always interested and seem caught up in what happened in the darkness and icy waters when the ship labeled “unsinkable” slipped below the waters of the North Atlantic. Three (3) captains figured significantly in that story.

The first is the captain of the Titanic itself. She was captained by Capt. Edward Smith, who was one of the most decorated mariners of his day. As he took to the helm of the Titanic in Southhampton, England, on April 10, 1912, he had plans of retiring when he reached New York City port. To some degree, he believed what the press had written – that the ship was so great it couldn’t be sunk, even by God Himself.

The Titanic was luxurious. No ship like it had ever been built. It was immense. It was opulent in every way. The first-class accommodation was designed to be the pinnacle of comfort and luxury. It included a gymnasium, swimming pool, smoking rooms, fine restaurants and cafes, a Victorian-style Turkish bath, and hundreds of opulent cabins. To book passage on the Titanic was akin to booking a space flight today. First-class tickets were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. To be onboard the Titanic was the single greatest experience of the day.

But it went down, in part because of the pride and arrogance of Capt. Smith who ignored warning after warning of icebergs in the north Atlantic. In fact, a German ship going in the opposite direction radioed and warned the Titanic that icebergs were seen just ahead and that she needed to change her course. But Capt. Edward Smith ignored the warnings. When the Titanic hit the iceberg, somewhere around the middle of the night, those who were eating and drinking and dancing in the ballrooms heard the most awful and ungodly scrapping they could ever imagine. And then, suddenly, the ship came to a stop. They ran out of the ballroom and onto the decks and there, from the iceberg, were pieces of ice that had fallen onto the deck. People picked up the ice and began to play with it, not realizing that it was already sinking the ship and in fact they were playing with the very thing that was going to take them to their deaths.

That’s the book of Jude. That’s a picture of the church. In many churches, and perhaps even this one, there are people who are dabbling with and playing with things that will be the spiritual undoing of their lives or the lives of those in the congregation. You say, “But the Bible says the church will prevail” (Matthew 16:18). Yes, the church of Jesus Christ will prevail, but what about this particular church? That’s what Jude is concerned about.

Let me take you back to the north Atlantic – to 17 miles away from the Titanic. As crew members began to fire the distress flares, the SS Californian, whose captain was Capt. Lord (believe it or not), was relatively close by and yet made very little effort to communicate with the Titanic or follow any radio transmissions in the area. In fact, due to a long shift, Capt. Lord went below deck to the chart room to sleep. And the SS Californian decided to maintain the status quo – we’ll just sail on.

There was a third captain there that night – Captain Arthur Rostron. He captained the RMS Carpathia, which was also a cruise liner and, after being alerted to the distress of the Titanic, ordered that his ship be turned in the direction of the tragedy and sailed 58 miles to assist in recovery efforts. Although they arrived at the sight of the Titanic’s sinking two (2) hours after she had disappeared below the waves, Captain Rostron and the crew of the Carpathia were still able to rescue 705 survivors.

Three captains. Three ships. Almost symbolic of the church. What will we do in these days? Like Titanic, will we live in arrogant pride that says, “We’ve heard it all; we’ve seen it all; we’re unsinkable.” Or, like the Californian, will we say, “Come weal or come woe, the only status we know is quo? Don’t upset. Don’t preach hard. Don’t talk to us about judgment or things that would cause us to be uncomfortable and unhappy.” Or will we be like the Carpathian, which turned into the direction of the disaster and went full steam ahead because our mission and our call is to rescue the perishing, to save the dying, to snatch in pity any of those headed to hell and the grave? That’s what God has called us to do.

Well, if you’re not already there, let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to the tiny letter of Jude. If you’re visiting with us, we began a couple of weeks ago to look at this letter, and we’ve finally reached verses 5, 6, and 7. At this rate, I figure that we’ll reach verse 25 in the year 2025. If you need help finding Jude, it’s immediately in front of the book of Revelation. Let me read these three verses for us:

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.

“Father, as we turn to Your Word, I pray that You would grant me clarity of thought, to the congregation a mind that is tuned to what You would say, and for all of us a heart that would be receptive. Oh Lord, there are times when it’s difficult to preach Your Word. Yet, I have no ordination nor authority to do anything other than that. So, I pray, in these moments, Lord, that You would use me like a coin of the realm and that You might spend me as the King sees fit. In the economy of Your kingdom, do something today, dear Lord, that would bring You honor, for we ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Jude isn’t concerned, the way many contemporary pastors in our day are concerned, to find out “What am I going to tell people that’s new? What am I going to say that’s novel? What strategy can we come up with in order to try and force back the tides of secularism in our world?” (By the way, that’s a real temptation and struggle for pastors like me.) It’s interesting that none of the apostles, none of the Gospel writers have anything to say about that. Is that because we shouldn’t be thinking imaginatively and creatively? No, not at all. But Jude isn’t writing to introduce his readers to something that they ‘ve never known. He’s writing to remind them of something that they must never forget. And in short order, he’s saying to them, “You will never escape the judgment of God. God will always have the last word.” And he says, “And I’m going to show you that as we go through the letter.”

Incidentally, when the Bible calls us to remember it’s not suggesting that we should try our best not to forget certain things – which, of course, we should. Rather it’s a call to our wills. It’s a call to duty. It’s a call to do something: to remember. Let me see if I can give you an illustration of what I’m talking about. As a pastor or as a concerned family member or friend, you might say to a couple who’s struggling with their marriage, “Remember your vows.” When we say that we don’t mean go in the bathroom and see if you can remember all the things you said. No, we mean “Live in light of those vows. Now is the time to live what you said.” That’s what Jude is doing here.

In verses 1-4, he says, “What’s going on here and the reason that I’m writing to you, appealing to you to contend for the faith, is because what you’re facing is nothing new. This has been written about long before. The condemnation that attaches to this and the judgment of God, is written about through the entire Bible.” And then he says, “I’m going to give you a number of illustrations to prove my point.” And here in verses 5, 6, and 7, he provides three Old Testament warnings showing that rebellion against God is always met by judgment – a judgment that is entirely righteous and is entirely necessary.

As you were following along just a moment ago, you likely said to yourself, “Oh boy, this is a bit difficult.” Yes. Yes it is. I think I said to some friends this week, “You know, verses 1–4 were okay, but now it falls off a cliff here at verse 5.” (No pun intended.) Well, here we are. We’re going to look at these three verses under the simple headings: “The Exodus,” “The Angels,” and “The Cities.”

The Exodus

The first illustration, the first reminder, and the first story of recollection that Jude offers is from the family tree of his listeners. He goes back into the Old Testament and says, “I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus saved a people out of the land of Egypt, and afterward destroyed those who did not believe.” You remember the story, don’t you? Of course, you do. Last year, we spent the better part of eight months going through the book of Exodus. And you’ll notice that Jude says Jesus is the One who brought them out. You say, “But Jesus? We don’t have Jesus. We must wait for the New Testament before Jesus comes onto the scene. We have to wait on Christmas for Jesus.” Well, I’ll leave you to work through that, but the second person of the Trinity is in many places in the Old Testament, from the beginning in a pre-incarnate form, sometimes mysteriously, sometimes referred to as the angel, whatever it might be. But you can see this: who could bring them out? Only the Savior. Who’s the only Savior? Jesus. Who can execute the judgment? Only one person: Jesus. So, Jude says, out they came, and out they all arrived. And they were all excited about it, for a while.

Then, when the time came for them to go into Canaan, they started to grumble and complain. We didn’t study that last year, but those of you who grew up in Sunday School or have read your Bibles know there were 12 spies sent into the land of Canaan. Ten came back with bad news and two came back with good news. The ten said, “No, you can’t possibly go in there. It’s full of giants. It’s a bad spot. It’s not the kind of thing that we would like.” And they began to spill the beans amongst the congregation, murmuring to one another: “Oh, we should never have come out. What a bad idea this was.” And so the word is as follows: “None of [those] who have seen my glory . . . and yet have put me to the test . . . shall [enter] the land” (Numbers 14:22-23).

But it’s not just Jude that refers to the Exodus. Listen to Paul in 1 Corinthians 10, “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness” (1-5).

Or how about one more reference to illustrate how important this event was supposed to be in the life of the Jews. Hebrews 3:12-19, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, ‘Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’ For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.”

Unbelief will keep you from Christ. Unbelief will keep you from heaven. That’s the point that Jude is making. Church attendance is no guarantee of eternal salvation unless it’s combined with a living, personal faith in the Lord Jesus. Jude tells his audience, that these people were in the crowd. They had come out of Egypt. Yes, they were circumcised on the outside but they weren’t circumcised in their hearts. Their hearts were full of unbelief. They were rebels. They rebelled against God’s rule. They doubted God’s promises. They were reluctant to believe His promises.

How we continue and keep ourselves in the love of God is that we heed the warnings, and we trust the promises. And you must allow the warnings to be warnings. Whenever you encounter a warning, don’t say, “Well, that couldn’t possibly be me.” Of course, it could! The warnings are there, and the promises are there, and when we neglect them we neglect the means that God has appointed to keep us to the end of the journey, so we’re not like those who perished in the wilderness.

Well, that’s the first one. It gets worse from there. Now we go to the angels who didn’t stay in their place – the angels who jumped out of their angelic box, as it were.

The Angels

Verse 6, “And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling” – the place of God’s appointing; they came out of their place, came out of the plan of God for them – He’s “kept” them now “in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.”

You see what he’s saying here? He’s saying, “Look, certain people have crept in unnoticed: flattering people, attractive people, undermining people, sneaky people. And if the angels ended in this way, don’t you think you ought to pay attention?” That’s what he’s saying.

Jude’s initial readers would be immediately okay with this. We find this particularly difficult – or at least, I found it difficult. But Jude’s readers would get the point immediately. Not only did they know the Old Testament, but they were also aware of Jewish tradition. And it seems, then, that what Jude is referring to is what took place in Genesis 6. Now, not many of us remember Genesis 6, but here’s what we read:

“The sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the LORD said, ‘My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.’ [And] the Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown” (Genesis 6:2-4).

And if that’s the first time you’ve ever heard Genesis 6, then you’re really scratching your head. So let me see if I can unravel all of this for us. The “sons of God” are identified as either angels or it’s a reference to the sons of Seth, another child born to Adam and Eve. I tend to believe that the “sons of God” is a reference to fallen angels. The reason I take that position is because every time that the phrase “sons of God” is used in the Bible (three times in Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7), it’s a clear reference to angels or fallen angels.

So how do we square the idea that fallen angels had sex with human females? Well, several times in the Bible, when angels visit earth they come in human form. One of those times is in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, which, incidentally, is the next illustration that Jude uses. I don’t think that’s a mistake. In the Sodom and Gomorrah story you have angels coming to warn Lot and his family about the impending fate of the city, and they show up as human men. So, if it’s possible for regular angels to present a human men, then it may be possible for fallen angels to do the same. We also read in Hebrews 13:2, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

It’s plausible – although mind-blowing – that angels are capable of taking on human form, even to the point of replicating human sexuality and possibly even reproduction. Why, then, do the fallen angels not do this more often? It seems that God imprisoned the fallen angels who committed this evil sin, so that the other fallen angels would not do the same. And that imprisonment doesn’t necessarily need to be viewed literally as some cave or dungeon somewhere. It could be a reference to imprisonment of spiritual blindness and chains of unbelief.

That’s exactly what Jude seems to be suggesting in this illustration. Remember verse 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.” Think about the dreadful stuff that happens in local churches, where men (usually men) in God-given positions of authority use their position of authority, by a means of manipulation, to engage in that which runs entirely contrary to everything God has ordained. Catholic Churches and Protestant Churches and Evangelical Churches, all of them have had headlines in recent years about sexual abuse.

Now don’t misunderstand me, I’m not suggesting that priests and pastors and ministers that have been charged with sexual abuse are somehow fallen angels. Fallen – yes. Angels – not quite. I’m simply trying to help us see that whatever happened in Genesis 6 and however that might be connected to Jude’s letter, God’s judgment is inescapable. Of course, this raises all kinds of questions, doesn’t it, about “spiritual wickedness in [the heavenly] places,” (Ephesians 6:12) about the nature of angelic visitation and demonic realities? But that’s not for this morning. His point, again, is straightforward. Judgment is inescapable, and God’s patience is not unlimited. “God’s Spirit will not always strive with man” (Genesis 6:3).

The Cities

Finally, we get to Jude’s last illustration (verse 7), and as I mentioned a minute ago, I think verse 6 and verse 7 go together. What I mean is that I think there’s a linkage between those angels that didn’t maintain their proper place and the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, which is verse 7. “[J]ust 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.”

Again, if you want to be students of the Bible, you’re going to have to do your own homework on this. In Genesis 19 we read the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and in that story there are two angels that look like men and they come to Lot’s house to warn him of the impending judgment. And as you continue reading that story you learn that “before [the angels] had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom – both young and old – surrounded the house. 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’” (Genesis 19:4-5, NIV). And Lot refuses but offers his daughters instead. Thankfully, the angels (remember they look like men) save Lot’s daughters and his entire family and set them outside the city before “the Lord rained [down] on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire” (Genesis 19:24).

And you’re left looking at a city – the place that Lot thought would be a fabulous setting for him. It’s now a smoldering ruin. And if you look carefully in your imagination, you can see Lot’s wife, captured in a single frame, a reminder of the fate of those who turn back, those who, according to Hebrews 10:38, “shrink back and are destroyed.” The writer of the Hebrews urges us again and again: “We are not those who shrink back and are destroyed, but we are those who continue and are saved.”

And perhaps there were some in Jude’s congregation – some who have come unnoticed and they’re saying, “You know, we’re free to do just about anything you want. We don’t have to live within the confines that God has ordained.” And it may well be that the perverting of God’s grace is so close to this incident that it would have sent shockwaves through Jude’s congregation. And what Jude is doing is he’s simply saying to his readers, “These things were a foretaste of a day that is yet to come.”

So what’s the word to us this morning? Well, it’s a word of warning, for sure, but it ought to be at the same time a word of encouragement. We’re going to get to the point where Jude says, “Keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 1:21). It’s the same thing that Paul says to Timothy when he says, “Timothy, evil men and imposters will go on from bad to worse. But as for you, continue in what you have believed and have become convinced of, knowing those from whom you learned it and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 3:13-15, paraphrased). How do you keep yourself in the love of God? Heed the warnings and trust the promises.

Titanic’s radio operators received six messages of drifting ice. The first came at 9:00 AM from RMS Caronia reporting “bergs, growlers and field ice.” At 1:42 PM, RMS Baltic relayed a report that she had been “passing icebergs and large quantities of field ice.” At 1:45 PM, the German ship SS Amerika, reported she had “passed two large icebergs.” The SS Californian reported “three large bergs” at 7:30 PM, and at 9:40 PM, the steamer Mesaba reported: “Saw much heavy pack ice and great number large icebergs. Also field ice.” A final warning was received at 10:30 PM but was ignored. Two governmental investigations were launched (one in the US and one in the UK) and part of their findings reads: “Although the crew was aware of ice in the vicinity, they did not reduce the ship’s speed, and continued to steam at 22 knots, only 2 knots short of her maximum speed. Titanic’s high speed in waters where ice had been reported was later criticized as reckless.”

“Father, how we bow down before You. We come as beggars to the food of Your Word. We come as scratching the surface of the immensity of what You have left to us in the Bible. And we pray that You will help us to get the big story here – the warning that sounds out, the appeal that is made to “contend for the faith,” the reminder that the ground of our salvation is in the work of Christ. And the evidence that we are in Christ is that we continue to heed the warnings, continue to trust the promises – the very means that You have chosen to use in order to bring us safely to glory. So accomplish Your purposes in us and through us, we pray. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.”