E.A. Johnston warns that in a godless world mocking the living God, believers must remain vigilant against false teachers and apostasy as judgment approaches.
In this powerful sermon, E.A. Johnston explores the epistle of Jude to confront the alarming rise of apostasy and moral decay in contemporary society. He highlights how the world mocks the living God and rejects biblical truth, drawing parallels between Jude's warnings and today's cultural challenges. Johnston calls believers to vigilance, faithfulness, and prayer as they face the reality of coming judgment. This message serves as a sobering reminder of the spiritual battles in the last days.
Full Transcript
We are in the epistle of Jude today, friends. You can turn in your Bibles there now. I believe few books in the New Testament have more to say to our generation than the epistle of Jude.
Jude's words speak as clearly and forcefully today as they did 2,000 years ago. Jude challenges us to defend the faith in an age of false prophets and apostasy. I've lived a long time and I've never seen a time like this, where a sin-loving society is falling apart at the seams.
As the church is sound asleep on pillows of conformity and compromise, we live in a day of false teachers and apostate denominations. Many pulpits across our land are occupied by devils, dressed in sheep's clothing, and it seems that the majority in our churches today are there by way of an empty religious profession and are complete strangers to work grace upon their heart. They are religious, but they are lost.
In our nation, sin has been legalized and God has been legislated right out of society. Our government has kicked God out of the schoolhouse, locked him out of the courthouse. An intolerant populace forbids anybody to speak up against them with the word of God.
Jesus Christ is nothing more than a curse word in a world gone mad. In verse 18 of Jude, we see the times we are living in. How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
Our pagan society today shakes its angry fists in the face of a righteous God and dares him to do anything about it. The title of my message today, friends, is A Godless World, Mocking the Living God. America is morally bankrupt and on the verge of economic collapse because of the spreading pandemic.
Instead of this crisis bringing this nation to its knees and heartfelt repentance, it simply mocks God and all things holy. Our text says there should be mockers in the last time, who walk after their own ungodly lusts. Let me ask you two questions, friends.
Question number one, do you believe we are living in the last times? I believe the signs are all around us, but many cannot read them. I got angry one time at a pickup truck that was ahead of me in traffic. The truck had a bumper sticker that greatly offended me.
It read, God cheated you. The more I read it, the madder I got. I thought to myself, what kind of monster would put that message on a bumper sticker that God cheated you.
I had convinced myself that an atheist was driving that truck and I sped up to get a good look at him and give him a piece of my mind. Imagine telling folks that God cheated you. Well, the closer I got to that truck, the easier the bumper sticker was to read.
And I realized it didn't say God cheated you, but it actually said God created you. And there are a lot of folks like me with poor eyesight that cannot read the signs around us today that all point to the fact that we are living in the end times. Now let me ask you question number two, friend.
Our text says they walk after their own ungodly lusts. We live in a sex-crazed society where fornication and adultery are accepted and commanded. Have you ever seen a time, friend, where pornography was so prevalent and accepted in our society? The most popular shows on Netflix are filled with graphic sex scenes and nobody seems to care.
We have become desensitized to sin in our society today. Sin no longer shocks us. Sin no longer shames us.
A godless world clamors to mock the God of the Bible. But what these godmockers fail to realize is that the devil's crowd will soon be drinking the wine of the wrath of God. Jude talks about old and new apostates who are depraved and doomed as he warns about judgment that has come on the ungodly and will yet come.
Look at verses five through eight. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not, 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, even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh, or set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
I will stop there, friends. The serious apostasy that was so similar to the one in Jude's day is similar to our day where a godless world is mocking the living God. But Jude also tells us that judgment upon the wicked is on the way.
Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly. Let us pray.
Sermon Outline
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I. The Reality of Our Times
- Apostasy and false teachers abound
- Society is morally corrupt and desensitized to sin
- God is legislated out of public life
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II. The Mocking of the Living God
- Ungodly lusts dominate culture
- Jesus Christ is ridiculed and rejected
- The world challenges God's authority
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III. The Warning from Jude
- Examples of judgment from history
- The certainty of coming divine judgment
- The need to defend the faith
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IV. The Call to Vigilance and Prayer
- Recognize the signs of the last times
- Stand firm against falsehood
- Pray for strength and repentance
Key Quotes
“Jude challenges us to defend the faith in an age of false prophets and apostasy.” — E.A. Johnston
“Our pagan society today shakes its angry fists in the face of a righteous God and dares him to do anything about it.” — E.A. Johnston
“The devil's crowd will soon be drinking the wine of the wrath of God.” — E.A. Johnston
Application Points
- Stay alert to false teachings and apostasy within the church and society.
- Maintain a strong personal faith and commitment to biblical truth despite cultural opposition.
- Engage in prayer and intercession for repentance and spiritual revival in the nation.
