It
was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold,
the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all
their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and
of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
THE STUDY:
We are
looking at the first of two prophecies and seeing how Jude felt concerning
these false teachers. Yesterday we read how Jude reminded them of the
punishment to come. Today, we want to look at the phrase “the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
This phrase is noteworthy because it is not in 1 En. 1:9.
This reference to the sins of
speech was probably not in the original text. Jude’s quote suggests that the
idea was an important one for him. Presumably he added it because the false
teachers were behaving badly in this way (see vv 8 and 10).[1]
Jude is
reminding the false teachers that the Lord will have the record of their “ungodly
deeds.” He will recall the “harsh things” (Jude 15) that they uttered against
the Lord. The word harsh carries the
idea of “rough, hard, stern, uncivil.” After all, these people were “murmurers”
and “complainers” (Jude 16) and spoke harsh things against God. They were not “afraid to speak evil of dignities” (2
Peter 2:10), but at the judgment their words will testify against them and will
bring great wrath.[2]
WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY
WITH ….
- We walk away this morning with the understanding that what is spoken from our mouths, positive or negative, will be the testimony presented at our judgment.
CONCLUSION:
As a child we
use to say, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”
What a lie! If you don’t believe me ask a counselor. Many hours of therapy has
been logged because of words that have been said to their clients. There was a
gentleman, from one of the church’s I pastored, who had a saying that has stuck
with me over the years. He would say, “Once you shoot that bullet, you can’t
take it back.”
It’s hard to
imagine how God can and will remember everything we will have said (good and
bad). The beauty of his love and grace is that He will choose which one to
remember, the good or the bad. Taking those words we have spoken in haste and
asking for forgiveness gives God the opportunity to cast them into the sea of forgetfulness.
For that we should be very thankful.
Today, let us
remember that God not only see’s everything but he hears everything as well.
Just because we whisper so that no human can hear doesn’t’ mean God can’t hear.
Our words can be used to uplift and encourage or tear down and destroy. The
choice is ours! Don’t forget though, once those words are out there, we will be
accountable for them.
Blessings my friends
Pastor Rod
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