This is living. Waters of Grace, the teaching
ministry of Lewis Harold, assistant pastor of Calvary
Chapel of Westmoreland County in Greensburg, PA.
Now here's Pastor Lewis as he continues teaching through God's
Word. We're not exempt in any way.
Sometimes we can be spots in a love piece.
Sometimes we can cause people to stumble with our behavior.
Sometimes we can be like clouds without water.
Sometimes we can not have fruit or not show fruit in our lives.
But again, God is warning us and saying in the later times these
things are going to be so. Have you ever attended a church
service and felt as though the pastor's message was speaking
directly to you? That is the conviction of the
Holy Spirit at work in your life, guiding you to hear what
you were meant to embrace. Today, Pastor Lewis wants to
remind you that even with the teachings of the Bible are
challenging to digest, it is God's way of inviting you to
reflect on your own life and realign yourself with him.
So take the time to listen, examine your heart, and trust
that God is always there ready to guide you back to Him.
Now here's Pastor Lewis in the book of Jude chapter 1 as he
continues his message apostates describe.
They have motives that are ungodly.
They're looking at the opposite sex in ways that they should not
because it's not their wives. They're looking at ways to take
advantage, to be able to get more for themselves.
And so when he says here that they're only serving, they do it
without fear. They do it without reverence of
God. They come among us without
reverence of God, without respecting who God is, without
having to all of God, not even fearful of the consequences of
their of their behavior, of their hearts and conditions of
their hearts. And they're serving only
themselves. The Bible says that a pastor is
supposed to feed the flock, but they serve themselves.
They're not really looking to give you the truth of God's
Word. They're looking to give you what
will deceive you into giving more to them, get you to follow
a doctrine that is Antichrist, to lead you away from the truth,
to lead us away from the truth. And then I'm going to go to the
next one. It says that they are clouds
without water, carried about by the winds, The clouds without
water, meaning that they are they, you know, they give the
threat of rain. We don't have these kind of
clouds until lately. We've been getting a lot of
water here. Greensburg.
But he's saying here that there are clouds without water.
So it's like they, it's like a farmer, a farmer.
One of the worst things for them is like when they're desperate
for rain for their crops, one of the worst thing for them is look
up in the sky and see a cloud that looks like it could bring
rain, looks like it could promise rain, but then it blows
away and nothing ever happens. They don't have their crops
watered. It's the worst thing that can
happen. It's the worst thing that can
happen for a church to have someone teaching or preaching
that gives the promise that they're going to give an A
nourishing word, a word that's going to refresh, a word that's
going to really speak to our spirit.
And then it doesn't. It speaks to the flesh instead.
We don't leave refreshed. We leave even more heavy because
he just talked about all the things that he has that we don't
talk about how to get things that we can attain all things of
the flesh, not really speaking to our spirit.
We need the water. We need the water to refresh us.
You know, Jesus told Jesus told the the woman at the the well.
He told her, he said, you know, if you knew the kind of person
that was here, you knew who was here in front of you, you would
be asking me for water because I would give you water that leads
to everlasting life. But if you have someone that
doesn't bring, that doesn't have substance in what it is that
they're teaching because it's not coming from the word of God,
then we're thirsty. We're left thirsty.
We're left leaving wanting to be refreshed and not.
And Jude is saying be careful of men who act like they're going
to bring refreshing, A refreshing word and don't be
careful of that. And then he goes on here and he
and he talks about the autumn trees.
He says they're like late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead,
pulled up by the roots, laid autumn trees.
And just as false teachers or clouds that fail to produce
water, likewise they also fail to produce fruit in their own
lives. They can't give us the word of
God that will cause us to produce fruit.
And we're supposed to be trees that produce fruit as
Christians, as believers in Isaiah 61 and three, he said
that we are trees of righteousness, the planting of
the Lord, that he might be glorified.
God is glorified by the fruit of our lives.
And if I'm, if we are a, a, a Christian or believer that
doesn't have fruit, then God is not glorified.
And John 15, Jesus also spoke when he talked about himself
being a true vine. He says if you abide in me and I
in you, you will have much fruit, much fruit.
But without me you can do nothing.
And that's true. Without Him we can do nothing,
and without His word we can do nothing.
We can do nothing. We need the word of God.
We need it. Men do not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
That is the true manner that comes from heaven that nurtures
us and feeds us. And he is the water he brings us
the water that comes from heaven.
And and, and Isaiah, he said, you know, just as the water
comes down from the heavens and it doesn't return back there,
but that it nourishes the ground where it it, it, it waters the
ground and it brings forth the bud and that bud becomes seed
and bread it produces. He said, so as my word, that
comes forth out of my life, my word.
So that is what brings the refreshing.
That's what brings the fruit. That's what brings production is
his word, his word, not mine. I could stand up here all day
long and give you a bunch of stories that sounds interesting,
but then you leave and somebody said, OK, but what did he
preach? I don't know, but man, was he
something. He was funny.
OK, good. But what did he think?
I don't know. That doesn't do us any good.
That's not why we gather. We gather to hear the word of
God. We gather to be refreshed by the
word of God. We gather to be transformed by
the word of God. We don't gather for stories.
And then he said they were trees without fruit.
Twice dead, twice dead. That means not only are they
dead spiritually, but they're also going to be dead
physically. They're twice dead and there's
no connection, he said. It's pulled up by the roots.
That means that these trees can never be connected.
They're not connected to anything to ever have life.
They're not connected to the vine, and because they're not
connected to the vine, they die. Then he says they're raging
waves of the sea, raging waves of the sea.
It's a beautiful thing to be before the ocean.
I think Clark right now is down there at the ocean.
And I know that he loves looking out at the sea and, and we lied,
you know, we, we love being at the ocean and looking at the
water. I love looking at, at water
anywhere. I like anybody of water, to be
honest with you looking at it. I'm not so crazy about getting
in it, but I do like to look at bodies of water.
But the ocean is a very, it's a majestic thing to look at, you
know, with the waves and the, and, and the way that it comes
right up to the shore and it's a very majestic thing to look.
It's very powerful thing to look at.
But when you see a, but when you see the, the, the ocean, when
you see the ocean when it's in a storm could be a very scary
thing. The waves are obviously a lot
higher, does a lot more damage. It's more dangerous, you know,
for those who are out in boats in it.
Obviously it is. But the thing that Jude is
talking about here is when he said if foaming up, he says
foaming up their own shame. When you walk on the beach after
a storm, if you've ever walked on the beach after the storm,
what you see is not pretty because the ocean brings up in
that storm. It brings up all that dirt, all
that, all the garbage that was in the ocean, it now washes up
on the shore and it's so dirty. In fact, you can't even go in
the water. They tell you don't even go in
the water for a while after a storm because it's so dirty.
It's, it's, it's a bunch of mire and, and, and, and filth.
And a lot of that comes up on the shore.
Well, this is what Jude is saying about false teachers.
They said they rant and they wave and they and they give all
this, all this, you know, this message.
And it's just like ways because it, it looks good.
It sounds good, but the only thing they're doing is bringing
up their own shame. They're talking about their own
life and their flesh and, and the things that they're
interested in. And none of those things are
spiritual. It's just bringing up their own
shame. In fact, another quote that I
found that I really, really enjoyed and this comes from
Warren Wheresby, he says the true teachers of the word bring
up treasures from the deep. False teachers only produce
refuse. That means waste, garbage, trash
and boast about what they should be ashamed of.
Do you remember time in your life when you boast about things
that we pop that would now we are ashamed of them?
I can remember that talking about things and boasting about
things that I should have been ashamed of.
If you think back in your life, maybe some of you can relate
boasting about those things. Or sometimes false teachers do
the exact same thing. They boast about things that
they should be ashamed of, foaming up their own shame.
Isaiah 57 and 20 says, But the wicked are like the troubled sea
when it it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt,
the false teachers, they're like raging waves of the sea.
And then he says here they're like wandering stars, for whom
is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
Wandering stars for who is reserved the blackness of
darkness forever. 1 is to fix stars is a shipments or a
mariner. You know, it's their dream to
see the stars. They can navigate by the stars
because they're fixed. They're there.
They give you direction, they give you guidance.
But wandering stars like shooting stars and different
things that you see in the heavens that shoot and they,
they fizz up and then they fizzle out.
You don't see them anymore. They call falling stars or
whatever. You, you know, they, they, they
call them when you see them and then they fizzle out.
They're saying that's the same thing as a false teacher.
They come in with a lot of romp and rave and noise, but
eventually they fizzle out and then they go somewhere else.
They go somewhere else, they wander.
They just leave, go to another group of people that haven't
heard them yet. I know this message sometimes
can come across as wow, this is a real condemning message, but
it's the word of God. He's warning us and there's
things in the Bible sometimes going to be really hard to hear,
but what we should do is be looking at ourselves.
Is any of these things in me? We're not exempt in any way.
Sometimes we can be spots in a love feast.
Sometimes we can cause people to stumble with our behavior.
Sometimes we can be like clouds without water.
Sometimes we can not have fruit or not show fruit in our lives,
but again God is warning us and saying in the later times these
things are going to be so. And so we look at verse 14 as we
get ready to come to a close. Here in verse 14 through 15 he
says this. Now Enoch the 7th from Adam
prophesied about these men also, saying, Behold, the Lord comes
with 10 thousands of his Saints to execute judgment on all who
on all, to convict all who ungodly, who are ungodly among
them, of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an
ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly
sinners have spoken against him. And verse 15, the word ungodly
is mentioned 4 * 4 times. But the important thing is the
fact that this book, this particular Scripture, talks
about the coming judgement of those who are ungodly.
Now, first of all, we got to deal with this whole Enoch thing
because Enoch is only mentioned in the Bible back in Genesis,
chapter 5. OK, That's where he's mentioned.
And he's mentioned this interesting story.
Enoch is from the line of Seth, You know, when men begin to call
on the Lord. That line, Enoch was a righteous
man, a very righteous man. In fact, in the Bible, in
Genesis 5, it talks about Enoch walking with God.
And then he was no more. Enoch didn't see death.
He didn't go through the doorway of death the way many have.
Enoch was just taken and it's such a picture of the church, of
the rapture, of the church. One day when we too will be
taken, be taken out of here. I think about Isaiah 57 that
says that the righteous man perish and no one takes it to
heart that the righteous man are taken away from the evil to
come. Enoch was actually taken away
before the great flood. He didn't have to worry about
saying that. And the church one day will be
raptured. And that's a picture of, I
believe that's a foreshadow of the rapture of the church.
But it but Enoch is it. It was a apocryphal book, which
means that it was written outside of the Canon of
Scripture. It's not a part of the
Scripture, the book that he has written or a book that is said
that he has written because often times that these are
prophetical books. The author of these books are
not necessarily authenticated. So we don't really know whether
Enoch was the one that actually wrote this book or not, but it
does have. But there was a book that had
prophecies called the Apocryphal book of Enoch and it did have
this particular quote in it. There's this non biblical
prophetic source, but that's not different.
Paul himself also quoted non biblical poets and writers and
his scriptures. He quoted it.
In fact, one of the scriptures that we probably know very well
was actually a quote from someone who was non biblical,
and that's in Titus. I'm sorry that in First
Corinthians chapter 15, Paul quotes a a poet by the name of
Menander and this was the quote. You guys will recognize it.
Evil company corrupts good habits.
That was actually taken from a a, a a Greek writer, a Greek
poet, even in the Acts 17 that when he was at Mars Hill, when
he was beginning to talk with the minute Mars Hill about
Christ, he he, he gave a quote where he says we are the
offspring of God. He said even one of your own
poets said that we are the offspring of God.
That was a Athenian prophet or Athenian poet who said that.
So there's been other times in the New Testament or other times
in the Bible where non biblical sources were quoted.
However, God has purpose in putting these things in
Scripture. None of these things that have
not been contrary to Scripture and they've only proven what
Scripture was already saying. So it wasn't like it was saying
anything. It's no new truth.
You know, they're not giving a new truth.
They're not giving a new prophecy or anything like that.
These things are already said. But here in this book, it says
that, you know, he talks about these, you know, it is going to
be coming. He's already prophesied in
talking about how these men, these ungodly men, these, these
false prophets and false teachers, how they are going to
be judged. This is basically what this is
saying, and it's the same thing that's been said all throughout
the Scripture. And Judes thought it was
necessary or helpful to put it in, but he's talking about him
being ungodly and he mentions it four times, you know, convicted
who? All who are ungodly among them
of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an
ungodly way, of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners
have spoken against him, none of those things go against
Scripture. But it wasn't part of the
original Canon of the Word of God.
But yet we have it. We have it and you know.
The truth of the matter is, is that we were all ungodly at one
time. All of us were ungodly.
In fact, the Bible says over in the book of Romans chapter 5, he
says that, you know, while we were still without strength,
Jesus came and died for the ungodly.
He justifies the ungodly. So it was, you know, in fact, he
came, He came to, He came to earth for the ungodly.
He didn't come for those who are righteous.
Bible says he came to bring sinners to repentance.
The ungodly. Ungodly simply means without
God, without God in our speech, without God in our thoughts,
without God in our actions. We were all at one time ungodly,
but because of Jesus Christ, because of His love, because of
His mercy, and because of His grace, He justified the ungodly.
He justified us, and all we have to do is believe on Him and He
begins to change us from the inside out.
And the fruit that we were talking about earlier, that
fruit comes because we are connected with Jesus Christ and
He brings fruit in our lives. It's the washing of the water,
the washing of the water. We are cleansed by the Word of
God. We are sanctified by the Word of
God. We're washed through the Word of
God. So I thank God today that we can
come to him in prayer. Even those of us who may still
be without strength, we can still come to Him and we can
repent of anything that we do or are doing.
And we know that the Word of God is there for us, His grace is
there for us, His forgiveness, His love is there for us to
cleanse us and wash us from all our ungodliness and all of our
uncleanness. I'm so happy about that.
So I pray that if there's
anybody here today who may feel in their own hearts, they look,
I'm ungodly and I'm not. I'm not good enough and my life
is a mess. You don't know the kind of life
that I live. You don't know the kind of sins
that I commit. I just want to tell you, it
really doesn't matter. It doesn't matter.
He is here to cleanse you. He's here to save you.
He's here to redeem you. He came for the ungodly, the
unrighteous. And if you feel that my life has
just been a mess because I've tried to do it all on my own,
but I want forgiveness of sins. I want to be forgiven.
I want this Christian life. I want fruit in my life.
I don't want to be controlled by sin anymore in my life.
I don't want my life to be controlled by the enemy anymore.
I want to give my heart to Jesus Christ.
He's not asking you to do anything outside of trust him,
believe in. There's no list of do's and
don'ts that He's going to give you.
We're not going to give you a list of do's and don'ts because
you get saved. The Holy Spirit comes into you
when you the moment you believe, the Holy Spirit comes into your
heart, and He is the one who changes us, not men.
You've been listening to Living Waters of Grace with Pastor
Lewis Harrell at Calvary Chapel Westmoreland in Greensburg, PA.
As Pastor Lewis continues to preach through the book of Jude,
he wants you to realize that you can't be a part time Christian
if you're going to follow Jesus. He is going to ask for your
undivided loyalty. If you try to serve your own
interests while following Jesus, you find that you can't do
either one successfully. But if you run after Jesus with
everything you have, you'll be amazed at how He provides for
you and sustains you on the journey, even when you have no
idea of where your provision will come from.
If today's message has encouraged you, we'd love to
hear your feedback. You can visit
ourwebsite@calvarychapelonline.com where you'll find our contact
information as well as links to our social media pages.
And while you're there, we ask you to consider giving to
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