Our scripture reading this afternoon comes from a parallel account of some of the challenges that the New Testament believers face, and so do we. And so that takes us to 2 Peter 2, 2 Peter 2, verses 1 through 3. But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you. who privilege shall bring indamnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you, whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not and their damnation slumbereth not. Let's pray together, please. Our Father, we thank you for this time. Again, we can be exposed to the power, the truth of your word. And Lord, I thank you for Pastor Boyd, his preparation. And Lord, I ask that your spirit would work through us to accomplish the encouragement, the challenge, to walk in a way, again, which will please you and will bring us into conformity to the image of your son. I ask in Jesus' name, amen. Turn with me to the book of Jude. Today we're going to be looking at verses 8 and 9 as we continue to progress through this short little book. Jude is writing to the saints of God. He is reminding them of a serious threat that can creep into the church. There are certain men, Jude warns, that will sneak into the church to lead others astray. And Jesus, as well as many of the other apostles and writers of the New Testament, repeatedly warn us throughout the New Testament about these types of men. But Jude pretty much makes it the focus of his entire book. Now he actually intended to write about the common salvation that we as saints of God have, but the Holy Spirit obviously led him to address the dangers of the false teachers. So in the verses we looked at last week, we actually learned about three examples that Jude was showing us that resemble the characteristics of these false teachers. And those three examples were the children of Israel, the fallen angels, which we now call demons, and Sodom and Gomorrah. Those were the three examples that Jude gave to say these are the characteristics that you see in these three examples is the same as you would see in false teachers. And we looked at each one in depth from the pages of the Old Testament because the desire of the false prophet is to create a turning away from the faith. That is the desire of these false prophets that sneak into the church to make apostates their disciples. People who go from believing the truth of scriptures and believing in Christ to actually turning away from His grace and turning towards sin. That is the goal of these false teachers, to get the sheep to do that. And so the charge that Jude gives us is that we not only need to be aware of what these men, or in some cases these women, are like, but we need to stand up against them. We need to contend for the faith. That's the battle cry, if you will, of this whole letter that Jude has written. Contend for the faith. Fight for the truth. Because as we saw last week, the outcome, the judgment of those who become apostates, the judgment of those people is not heaven. It's hell. Total separation. They do not enter into heaven. They have turned away. And so, after giving us these three examples last week, today Jude goes a little further and we're going to look at some more characteristics of these people that Jude calls certain men. Now before the three examples, Jude also gave us another verse that has some descriptive examples or characteristics of these men. Look at verse 4. He said, for there are certain men crept in unawares, they have snuck in, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ." Now these men, as Jude said, they are sneaky. They are stealthy, would be a more modern word, I guess, that we might understand. But they are condemned, they are ungodly, they are steeped in sexual sin, and they deny our Lord Jesus Christ. That is a descriptive term or verse there about these false teachers. But in our text today, Jude goes a little further in painting a picture for us about what these men really look like. and not physically obviously, but this is helpful to us today because none of us were alive when Jude wrote this book. So if he were to list names, like don't be like this guy or this guy, that wouldn't have helped us so much because we wouldn't really know what they were like. So he lists characteristics. He lists examples and descriptions of these certain men which help us greatly. It's a great benefit to us to be able to read about them in the Scriptures so that we know this is how they are. This is how they operate. These are the characteristics of these men. So let's look today at verses 8 and 9. These are the two verses we're going to cover today. He says, likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, they despise dominion and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, dares not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. Now, we're going to start with verse 8, and Jude, in this verse, gives us characteristics, three characteristics of these false prophets. He says, But first of all, what does he mean? You notice he calls them a name. He calls them filthy dreamers. Now, this Greek word is only used twice in the New Testament. And actually, the word filthy is not in the original manuscripts. It was added later for clarity, as we'll see why. But the Greek word dreamers is used twice there in the scriptures. It's found here in Jude. It's also found in Acts Acts 2.17 where it reads, And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And so the same Greek word there is used in dreams in Acts chapter 2, but they're completely opposite in application. Now the word there in Acts implies a divine dream. But that's not what Jude is implying here. He's calling it a filthy dream, and he's calling them filthy dreamers. In fact, looking a little further into this word dreamer, it can even mean, metaphorically speaking, to be charmed with sensual images and carried away to an immoral course of conduct. Now this is what Jude is talking about here. That is the definition that he is using for these men because of the context of how it's written. These guys live in a filthy dream world of their own. They are characterized by this. These false teachers are living a dream and it's a bad one. And all they want to do is indulge in their sin, they have no fear of judgment, they lead a sensual, wicked life, they answer to no one, and their whole desire is to lead a bunch of people astray within the church. So in their sin and even in their influence, they're trying to take as many within the body of Christ with them down this path of turning away completely from the Lord. That's their dream world. And so Jude calls them their filthy dreamers. But there is also a word that in our verse here seems to be maybe insignificant, but it's really not. And I don't want us to miss it. It's the very first word there in verse eight. It says likewise. Now by definition, and where the word is placed there in the sentence, it refers to a previous reference. Jude has just finished in verses five through seven giving us three examples of these certain men. And so after he gives us these three examples, he begins verse eight and says, likewise, so the understanding here is that the children of Israel, just like the fallen angels and just like Sodom and Gomorrah, likewise these men are also filthy dreamers. And so like the examples that we looked at last week in Jude five through seven, the children of Israel, in their dream world thought that they knew better than God, and in unbelief they rebelled. And then the fallen angels in their dream world thought that they could overthrow God. And Sodom and Gomorrah in their dream world thought that they could escape judgment. So likewise, Jude says, these filthy dreamers that he's referring to are acting just like them. They're cut from the same cloth. And from there, Jude gives us the three characteristics of these filthy dreamers, which we're going to look at today. And the first one is that they defile the flesh. Now this characteristic goes hand-in-hand with verse 4, which we've already read, where Jude said that they turned the grace of God into lasciviousness. And again, that is a term for lust or sexual sin. To many of the sheep, though, these dreamers seem to be believers. They seem to be Christians. They're in the church. But they're sneaky, and they cover their tracks very well. They're wolves in sheep's clothing. And what lies under the sheep's clothing is a very wicked life, a life of sin, a life of sensuality. They live a defiled life. Now the definition there for the word defiled in the Greek kind of caught my attention a little bit. Generally, when we say something like defiled, We know what it means. We know it means to pollute or to contaminate something. And the Greek definitions, one of those definitions is the same. It means to pollute or to contaminate, to defile with sins. But it was the second definition that was listed that kind of caught my attention. And I put this one there in your outline. The first one, or it's the first one actually, I was reading you the second one the first time. But the first definition means to die, and that's D-Y-E. Not die like you get killed, but D-Y-E. To die with another color. Or to stain. And I find that interesting. It means to change the color of something. To stain it. Which is exactly what these filthy dreamers are trying to do. They want to stain the sheep. They want to stain the purity of God's Church. They want to change it. In Titus. Titus chapter 1. In fact, go ahead and turn there for a second. Titus chapter 1. In verses 15 and 16, Paul's addressing the same issue here. In verses 15 and 16, he says, unto the pure all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure. But even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. Now in verse 15 we see Paul using the same exact Greek word that Jude uses. Paul actually uses it twice. He says, "...unto the pure all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled, those that are stained, those that are polluted, those that have been dyed another color, and unbelieving is nothing pure." And the word pure there is the exact opposite. It means clean and free from sin. So then Paul finishes out the verse, but even their mind and conscience is defiled. Again, using the same word that means to be stained or polluted or to be changed to a different color. This is the heart and soul of these filthy dreamers. They defile the flesh. And if you look at our church culture today, especially here in America, We often hear of church leaders or pastors publicly embracing sexual sin, claiming it's their lifestyle, and often their church will accept it. Now, how did these people become church leaders? Well, they snuck in. They joined the church. They worked their way into the church culture. They kept their sin and life hidden for a while, and they went over people, and they deceived people, and before you know it, there's a following. And they're even so now as bold to proclaim their immorality and their sexual behavior as being acceptable to God. Well, those are apostates, people who have turned away. They're doing with their flesh what the scripture clearly says we are to not do. God forbids us to live our life where we follow the flesh. We are not to be immoral and have sensual sins in our lives. That type of living is never endorsed and is never excused by God. It always brings judgment. But that's exactly what Sodom and Gomorrah were doing right up until the day they were judged. But we are not to sin by going after fleshly desires. Listen to the words of Peter in 1 Peter 2. He said, which war against the soul." And then the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 7 said, "...having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all the filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." So these men, these are men that Jude is warning us about that live their life trying to please their flesh. As the saying goes, if it feels good, do it. That's kind of their motto. And in their fleshly desires, all they want to do is influence and take as many believers with them as they can. That's why they have infiltrated the church. The wolves are going after the sheep. Now, here's what I find ironic, is that these fleshly and filthy dreamers, as Jude calls them, that are so wrapped up in their sexual sins, why do they want to come into the church? I mean, there's a whole world out there that accepts them and their lifestyle and their sin, that embraces it and participates with them. I mean, why not just take that life, instead of coming into the church where we preach against it, instead of coming into the church where it is not something that we participate in, why do those people come in here instead of just going out into the world and doing what the world says, hey, this is okay, You think, well, your friends are there. They like that. Why don't you go out there? Why do you come in here to do this? Why do you sneak into the church? Well, the body of Christ is where the enemy wants to go for the kill. The saints of God are now the enemy, and the devil wants to stain, change the color of, in a sense, the church of God, to make the bride of Christ impure and polluted and stained. So he targets the church, and he does so by sending in false teachers, not to attack the church or petition against the church on the outside of these walls, but to come in to, as I said last week or so, to sort of be a sleeper cell. and just slowly and deceitfully work their way into the fabric of the church and deceive others. And they are known for being defilers of the flesh. Now, there's a second characteristic that Jude lists. In addition to defiling the flesh, they also despise dominion. Now at first glance you may say well that means they hate authority. Well I believe that is true about these certain men. The truth is the statement is really a lot stronger than the fact that they just hate authority. We need to understand despise in the English language It does mean to hate or to loathe something. But the Greek word for the word that's being used there kind of goes a little further than that. It goes beyond hate. It means to do away with, to make void, or to reject. Now, do you see the desires of these men? When it comes to power and dominion and the Lordship of Christ, these men just, it's not that they just hate it. They want it done away with. They want to avoid it out. They totally reject it. Peter says this regarding false prophets in 2 Peter 2.10, but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise government. That's the same characteristic there when he says despise government. They do not want there to be an authority over them, period. They want authority done away with. Why? They don't want to be held accountable for their actions. They want to be king and judge and lord over their own life with no authority to answer to. So it goes beyond just a hatred for authority. They don't want the authority to exist. And that is why they deny the Lord Jesus. That's why they reject His Lordship. They want nothing to do with the commands of Christ. They reject also the truths and the authority of Scripture. They do not want the Scriptures condemning their sin. The Holy Scriptures call out their lawlessness, call it sin. So they hate the authority of the Scriptures as well. I also believe they hate and reject the authority of the local church. They instead want to deceive the masses and sneak in. They want to be kings in their own little kingdom. But church leadership is called to protect the flock and to be on guard against these filthy dreamers. Therefore, they reject the authority of the local church. So they go beyond hate. They reject and want to completely do away with authority on all levels. And if you kind of step back and look at the bigger picture here, you see that these people, they really are dreamers. They're filthy dreamers. They're hoping for a life where there is no authority. And again, this is the dream world that they're living in. And we'll see that unfold a little bit more when we get to verse 11. But these false teachers are being so used by the devil, they want to lead the sheep astray, and they sneak into the church to do it. Now, I want to shed some light here on a reason that these filthy dreamers, these false teachers, why they hate authority and reject authority and want it completely done away with. Because, here's the thing, they see authority as something that prohibits freedom to do whatever. Turn back to, if you'll turn to 2 Peter chapter 2 for a second. 2 Peter chapter 2. Look at verses 18 and 19. 2 Peter 2. 18 and 19, and again, Peter is addressing the same people. He just doesn't dedicate the whole book to it. Jude pretty much dedicates his whole book to it. But verse 18, for when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lust of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escape from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption. for of whom a man is overcome of the same is he brought in bondage." Now the key here is in verse 19. These dreamers proclaim, they even promise liberty if the sheep will follow them, follow their ways. Because in their dream world, the authority that's over the sheep Christ Jesus, the Scriptures, even church leadership, all that type of authority hinders and keeps sheep from having real freedom. But Peter actually tells the whole truth. He says, yes, they promise liberty and pretty much a license to do whatever they want to do. But the truth is, is these dreamers themselves are actually the ones that are slaves. They're slaves of corruption. That's why he said, "...for of whom a man is overcome of the same as he brought in bondage." These filthy dreamers are proclaiming a life that's free from authority, a license to do anything that you want to do, but really, these dreamers can't even do that because they themselves are so bound to their sin. They are slaves to their lust and they are themselves under bondage. I mean, it's completely ironic what they're saying. They're the ones that are proclaiming freedom and the ones who are wanting to do away with authority, but yet they are the ones who are actually enslaved. And that's the characteristic of someone who's living in a dream world. They're bound and saying, hey, come enjoy the freedom I have. Look at the third characteristic of these dreamers, and it actually comes with its own example. The third characteristic is they speak evil of dignities. Now, what does he mean by dignities? What's Jude referring to? Well, the Greek word for dignities has many definitions. It's kind of loaded. It means the most glorious condition, majesty, as in angels, and things belonging to God. Now, this Greek word, with all the definitions that come with it, most often you see it translated into English in the New Testament, it's used the word glory. But that's not the word that was used here. That's not the definition that would fit here either based on the context of the verse. So most often that word in the Greek is used as glory, but not so here. And again, I just read a few of the definitions. There are plenty more. But with so many definitions, how can we be sure that the one Jude is using when he's referring to dignities? Well, the context helps us with that. If we keep reading verse 9, we see that Jude is giving us an example from Scripture about Michael, the archangel, and the devil are having this discussion or this dispute. And we're going to look at that in just a second. But for the sake of, I guess, learning more about verse 8, let's go ahead and just, if you can just, at least, whether you agree with me or not, can you just sort of mentally agree with me that, yes, Jude was speaking in regards to angels here. And I'll support that in just a minute. But I first want to examine what these filthy dreamers do when it comes to angels. Notice what they do. It says they speak evil of angels. You're like, what? They talk bad about them. Now, doesn't that seem weird? One of the characteristics of these filthy dreamers is that they speak evil of angels. And I'm thinking, they personally attack angels. I mean, why don't they speak evil of church leadership or speak evil of children or speak evil of the Old Testament prophets? But, I mean, angels? It just seems odd that that would be a characteristic of these people. But perhaps this is the reason why they speak evil and blaspheme angels. Because angels are a representation of God's authority, of God's power. Angels have a position in the spiritual realm. Unlike the fallen angels, the angels that are there now, the angels of heaven, did not leave their place of authority, they did not leave their dominion, they did not abandon their habitation. Today they're in a place of authority and dominion. things that we know that filthy dreamers hate and reject, all forms of authority. Now, let's go back to how we know that Jude is referring to angels. where he says they speak evil of dignities. Because angels is one of the definitions, as well as a whole lot of others. So how do we know he's talking about angels? Well, in verse 9, he refers to an angel. He says, Yet Michael, the archangel, while contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. Now, what's Jew talking about here? You see, in the book of Numbers, chapter 20, we read about God telling Moses that Moses will not enter into the Promised Land. He said in verse 12 in Numbers 20, he says, because you believe me not to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. This meant that Moses would die before the children of Israel entered into the Promised Land. And so, that's the promise. Now, fast forward, it comes time for Moses to die. In fact, turn to Deuteronomy chapter 34, last book of Deuteronomy. Sorry, last chapter. This is, what we're gonna read, it's actually one of the saddest portions of Scripture when you look at the life of Moses. Here it is, Moses has been told, after all that he's been through, there was still unbelief. And the scripture speaks about that time. And so, God says, you're not going into the promised land. And here we see the last days of Moses. And Moses went up, in verse 1, And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is, over against Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan." You've got to remember, he's showing him all this, he's seeing it. and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zohar. And the Lord said to him, this is the land which I swear unto Abraham, and to Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy sea. I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shall not go over thither. So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord. And he, referring to God, buried him in a valley in the land of Moab over against Beth Peor. But no man knoweth of his sepulcher, or his tomb, unto this day. And Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was not dimmed, nor his natural force abated. He was a healthy man, 120 years old, His eyesight wasn't going bad, he wasn't struggling physically, but he was not going into the promised land. And the Lord showed him all that was going to be there, but he was not going to go. And then the Lord does something, he says, I'm burying Moses. Now it tells us that God buried him, and the children of Israel did not bury Moses. God did. And Jude, in verse 9, mentions that Michael, the archangel, and the devil, they had this dispute about the body of Moses. Now a couple of things here about what Jude's talking about. First of all, we know that from Luke chapter 16, that angels, one of their roles is to minister to believers in time of death. In some way, and I certainly don't understand it, they minister in transporting their souls to eternity. There is a ministry that the angels have in that way. And apparently here, Michael, the archangel, was, I guess, dispatched, if you will, in regards to the body of Moses. Now, I don't know if that means that he was the one who took his soul from his body and carried it to heaven. I don't know if he was directed by God to do the burying for him, or if he was guarding his body after the burial. I don't know. We don't know any of that. But what we do know is that there was a dispute about Moses' body between Michael and Satan. And Jude is using this to illustrate something here. You see, in their dispute, Michael, the archangel, he did not bring an accusation against Satan. He only said, the Lord rebuked thee. And however the conversation went, and we don't know what was said, but you would think, well, if anyone deserves a good talking to, if anyone deserves to be verbally attacked, you would think certainly the devil is fair game. But even Michael, the archangel, did not do that. So Jude is saying that these filthy dreamers that he's talking about, the sneaking to the churches, they blaspheme angels. And Jude says, yet, you've got to think about this, even Michael didn't do that with the devil. He's showing you, this is how bad off these guys are. This is the dream world they're living in. Of all the nerve, these filthy dreamers, they're unbelievable. A mortal man, a false teacher, a filthy dreamer, speaking evil of majestic angels, and yet the glorious angels of heaven don't even do that with the devil. I mean, these guys really are living in a dream world, a filthy dream world. Now, turn to 2 Peter 2. Look back at 2 Peter 2. I want you to see this. Again, Peter addresses, he's talking about false prophets, and I just want you to see how he addresses pretty much the same thing. Look at verse 10, "...but chiefly them that walk after the flesh," which Jude's already said, they defile the flesh, "...and the lust of uncleanness, and despise government, presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities." There's that phrase again that Jude says, they're not afraid to speak evil of dignities or angels. How do we know that Peter's talking about angels? The next verse. He's comparing the two. "...whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord." Now, the them is not Satan or demons. The them is referring to the false prophets, the filthy dreamers that Jude is talking about that have snuck into the church. But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption." Now, Peter, he's using pretty much the same wording about these dreamers. He says they speak evil of dignities, which is angels in this case. He says they're talking about angels. It goes in verse 11, he says, whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. He's saying this does not make sense about these false prophets. These false prophets speak evil about angels, but the angels, which are far greater and far more powerful and mightier, they don't even bring accusations about the false prophets before the Lord. And that's amazing. False prophets, these filthy dreamers, they speak evil of angels, but the angels don't even turn around and speak evil of the false prophets. Just like Michael did not speak evil of the devil. All he said was, the Lord rebuke you. The angels obviously have all the evidence in the world to say, look at these false prophets. Peter says a little further, but these, in verse 12, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption. These men, he says, and I'm kind of paraphrasing, who were born to be taken and destroyed, talk about things they don't understand, and what's the result? They die in their own corruption. Using a word that he used in verse 10, Peter did, he says, they're presumptuous. They're arrogant. So Jude and Peter, as we saw today, are giving the church a strong warning here. And we've covered these two verses here, verses eight and nine, about these certain men, these false teachers, these filthy dreamers who creep into the church. And we'll continue to see them as this unfolds as we go through the book of Jude. But here's our challenge today. I mean, I realize that Today's message may not be one that you walk out of here, you know. under personal conviction or even greatly encouraged. I admit that this may not be a message you feel, wow, that was so encouraging. But here's what I want us to remember, and this is especially important for us to understand, because we're a church that goes through a book of the Bible verse by verse by verse. We don't just sort of pick and choose the ones we like, in a sense. We need to hear all of God's Word, and it's not going to return a void. And looking at today's text, we need to to thank God for the warnings that men like Jude has given us, who, alive in 2015, to still be on guard against these filthy dreamers that sneak into the church. Now, I don't know about you, maybe you have, but I'm pretty much born and raised in church. It's always been a part of my life. I don't have a memory where I was not in a church, even as a young child. But I've never met someone that always spoke evil of angels in the church. I mean, I've never met someone that's done that. But I do know that after reading what Jude has said and reading what 2 Peter says, that if I do, I better be ready to contend for the faith. That's a characteristic of these filthy dreamers. And that's just one of them. Today is a day, I hope, that we have, in some sense, learned and prepared ourselves as believers in being better to contend for the faith, to know what to look for, to know the characteristics of these type of people who creep into the church, to be able to stand up against the false teachers, to guard the flock, to protect our own families from the sneaky influence of these false teachers. And it's also a chance for us to personally thank Jesus for being so patient with us, for extending His grace towards us, and for giving us His life. And because Jesus has given His life for us, how obvious it seems that we should be more than ready to contend for the faith that we have in Him. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for the teaching and the warnings of Jude and Peter, and Lord, the fact that we come together today as a body, and Lord, there may be someone out here that we don't know of that fits this category. Lord, I pray that you would protect us as a church body, as a local fellowship. May everyone in here, as the saints of God, be prepared and ready to contend for the faith. Oh Lord, even if it's those that we meet that proclaim to be Christians, that we meet at work or in our neighborhood, and we see these characteristics in them, may we be on guard. Lord, the enemy desires to change the color of the sheep, to stain us. Lord, I pray that you would protect us, may we be diligent, may we be faithful, may we be grounded in the Word and ready to contend for the faith. And Father, we thank you so much for Jesus, for Him giving His life, laying it down for us. May our response in contending for the faith just be a response of our great love for Him and a love for the Word of God. Make us a people like that, in Jesus' name, amen.