again to the letter of Jude. We're looking tonight at verses
14 and 15, but I believe we'll read the entire letter, very
short epistle. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ
and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the
Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. Mercy unto
you and peace and love be multiplied. Beloved, when I gave all diligence
to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for
me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
For there are certain men crept in unawares, 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. I will therefore put you in remembrance,
though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved his
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, are set forth
for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers
defile the flesh despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael, the archangel, when
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. But these speak evil of those
things which they know not. But what they know naturally,
as brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe
unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily
after the era of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying
of Cor. These are spots in your feast
of charity when they feast with you, feeding themselves without
fear. Clouds they are without water,
carried about of winds, trees whose fruit withereth without
fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, raging waves of
the sea, foaming out their own shame, wandering stars to whom
is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. And Enoch also,
the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, behold, the
Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment
upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of
all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed and
of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against
him. These are murmurers, complainers,
walking after their own lust, and their mouth speaketh great
swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because
of advantage. But, beloved, remember ye the
words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus
Christ, How that they told you there should be mockers in the
last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lust. These
be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the spirit.
But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy
faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. Keep yourselves in the love of
God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal
life. And if some have compassion,
making a difference, and others save with fear, pulling them
out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise
God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and ever. Amen. Tonight, we're looking
at verses 14 and 15. And Enoch, also the seventh from
Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with
ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon all. and
to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly
deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard
speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. I have
three points to the message this evening. First, both Testaments,
both the Old Testament and the New Testament, both Testaments
of the Bible, teach the second coming of Christ, both the Old
Testament and the New Testament. We sang that hymn just a few
minutes ago. Behold, he cometh. And we know
that both in the Old Testament part of our Bible and in the
New Testament, this truth is proclaimed. First, the Lord's
second coming is taught in the Old Testament. Now we emphasize
his first coming. We emphasize his first coming,
which was taught in the Old Testament. How many times have I said, and
how many times have you heard that the message of the Old Testament
is simply, someone is coming. Someone is coming. Then we're
thinking about his first coming. Someone is coming who is the
seed of the woman. Someone is coming who is Abraham's
seed in whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.
Someone is coming who is of the tribe of Judah. His name is Shiloh,
and to him shall the gathering of the people be. Someone is
coming who is the son of David and shall sit upon David's throne
and reign forever and ever. Someone is coming who is a son
given and a child born. Someone is coming who is going
to make an end of sins and bring in an everlasting righteousness. That is the message of the Old
Testament, isn't it? Someone is coming, and the great
question is, has he come? Has he come? And we know that
he has, absolutely. As the apostle Paul writes in
Galatians, when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth his son, made of a woman. made under the law to redeem
them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. And all men were under the law,
not just the Jews. They were under the law of Mount
Sinai, no doubt about that. But all of God's creatures, all
of the descendants for Adam were under his law that was written
upon the heart of Adam. And though it's marred, though
it's marred, no matter where a person is born in this world,
there are certain truths that all individuals recognize, that
it's wrong to murder. It's wrong to lie. These are
just fundamental truths. that all men recognize. All men,
what I'm pointing out is that God sent forth his son made of
a woman, made under the law, God's holy law, which requires
absolute perfection, absolute holiness. That he, that is the
one that God sent made of a woman, that he might redeem us. and that he might receive us
as his sons, the adoption of sons. But this text here in Jude
reminds us that Christ's second coming, his first coming, we
know that his first coming is taught all the way from Genesis
to Malachi, his first coming. But we recognize also our Lord's
second coming is also taught in the Old Testament. This verse
tells us Enoch, the seventh from Adam. Adam was the first generation,
then Seth would have been the second generation, and so on
down to the seventh generation, which was Enoch. The eighth generation
would be Methuselah. And we know that Enoch was a
prophet. The Word of God tells us that
he prophesied, even when he named his son Methuselah, he prophesied
of the flood, of the coming of the flood. When Methuselah died,
we know that's when the flood began to come upon the earth,
to destroy all peoples outside of the ark. was a prophet. And I see no reason that we should
not believe that Enoch was like his grandson, Noah. Noah was
a preacher of righteousness, and Enoch was a prophet. He prophesied,
and there's no reason we shouldn't believe that he also was a preacher
of righteousness, of righteousness. That's the only way anyone has
ever been saved. From the foundation of the world,
the only way any person is accepted of God is to have the righteousness
of Christ counted to be his or her righteousness. By faith,
the scripture says, that garment of salvation is the righteousness
of Christ. Noah preached that. And as I
said, I'm sure Enoch preached the same message, preached the
same message, a preacher of righteousness. But Jude here in our text says
that he prophesied of his second coming. Since he prophesied of
his second coming, I'm sure he prophesied of his first coming.
There could not be a second coming unless there was a first coming. The Lord Jesus Christ in his
first coming, he came, he said, I am come. Why did he come? I am come to seek and to save
that which is lost. But notice his second coming
will not be to seek and to save, but it will be to judge. Enoch, also the seventh from
Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with
ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon all. So the Lord's second coming was
taught in the Old Testament, as well as His first coming.
And the Lord's second coming is taught in the New Testament.
The Lord Jesus Christ, he himself taught that he would come again. Let's look at a few of these
places with me, if you will, in Matthew chapter 16. Let's
turn back to Matthew chapter 16. Now, every person here in this
building tonight, we know he came the first time. We know
that, don't we? We don't doubt that. We don't
question that. We shouldn't question the fact
that He's going to come a second time. The prophets of old spoke of
His first coming, and the prophets of old spoke of His second coming,
and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself spoke of His second coming. Let's
look at one of these passages here in Matthew chapter 16. And
verse 23, well, I'll make sure I've got that right. Verse 27,
for the son of man shall come in the glory of his father with
his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to
his works. The Lord Jesus Christ. He came
the first time, as was prophesied, and He will come the second time,
as was prophesied, even by Himself. As this verse tells us, the Son
of Man shall come in the glory of His Father. Then, if you will,
look in John chapter 14, and we're all familiar with this
verse of Scripture, this passage of Scripture. that is such a
comfort to God's people. In John chapter 14, let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you,
and if I go, and prepare a place for you. Did he do that? Did he do that? Did he go? Did he go to the cross that he
might redeem us with his blood? Did he go to the tomb that he
might walk out of that tomb on the third day, showing himself
victorious over death? If I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's his word. I will come again. He came the
first time. I will come again. His second
coming. I will come again and receive
you unto myself, that where I am there you may be also. The Apostle Paul wrote of our
Lord's second coming in several of the letters, New Testament
letters that he wrote. If you would look in First Thessalonians. First Thessalonians chapter four. We read this scripture at the
beginning of the service there in Titus. The grace of God which
bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that
denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live righteously,
soberly, godly in this present world, looking for what? The blessed hope. That is the
coming, his second coming. For the children of God, it's
a blessed hope. He's begotten us again unto a
living hope, the Apostle Peter says. Here in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4 and verse 13. But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. Now he's
talking about believers who have passed away. The New Testament
speaks of the death of a believer as sleep, doesn't it? It certainly
is not teaching that the soul sleeps, the body sleeps in the
grave. He said concerning Lazarus, our
friend Lazarus sleepeth. Now Paul's writing to this church
who were concerned about some who had believed in the Lord
Jesus Christ and had passed away before he came again, and Paul
is writing them that they would not be ignorant concerning them
which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have
no hope. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent or precede them which
are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
And we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. and so shall
we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. And then look in the next letter,
2 Thessalonians chapter one, beginning with verse seven, the
apostle writes to believers at Thessalonica, and to you who
are troubled, rest with us, rest with us. When the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming
fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of his power. When he shall come to be glorified
in his saints and to be admired in all them that believe, because
our testimony among you was believed in that day. The Apostle Peter
wrote of our Lord's second coming also. He said, but the day of
the Lord will come as a thief in the night. It's interesting
that almost, not all, but almost All of the passages which speak
of our Lord's second coming remind us he's going to come as a thief
in the night. He said it will be like it was
in the days of Noah, when men were eating and drinking and
marrying and giving in marriage until Noah entered into the ark
and the door was shut. A lot of people, a lot of Christians,
are caught up in looking for signs. But our Lord said, there
shall no sign be given. There's no signs. We're looking
for Christ. We're not looking for the signs.
We're looking for Him. He's going to come again. And
this truth was proclaimed in the Old Testament, and it is,
of course, proclaimed in the New Testament. There are two
things that are going to take place when the Lord comes again,
His second coming. Number one, if you still have
your Bible open here to II Thessalonians, two things will take place. First, the wicked, the ungodly,
that's the ones that Enoch prophesied about, the ungodly, the wicked,
those who are lost, those who've never been saved by the grace
of God. The wicked will be punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. In flaming fire, taking vengeance
on them that know not God, verse 8, and obey not the gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction and from the presence of the Lord and from the glory
of his power. One of the arguments that is sometimes given to show
the inspiration of the scriptures is the scriptures teach that
the lost will be punished forever and ever. Now think about it. Do you think any man apart from
the inspiration of the Spirit of God, would write a book that
proclaims that the lost shall be punished in everlasting destruction
throughout all eternity. The cults, the Book of Mormon
that they've written, and I'm sure the key to the scriptures
by the Mary Baker Healy, They've done away with eternal punishment. And listen, even men who are
preachers in many of the liberal churches, they deny this truth. They deny that the wicked are
going to be punished forever and ever. This is a truth that
the natural man doesn't like, and there's no way A man apart
from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit would write what this
book declares is going to happen to the lost. They're going to
be punished forever and ever. That's what the scripture says.
We don't deny that, do we? So that's the first thing that's
going to take place. The wicked will be punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. The
Lord Jesus, we're told in Matthew's Gospel, will say to those on
his left hand, depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. The second thing
that's going to take place, this verse here tells us in verse
10, 2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 10, when he shall come to be
glorified in his saints. When he says to them, come, you
blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. So those two things are going
to happen at our Lord's second coming. The wicked shall be punished
with everlasting destruction, and the righteous, they shall
be received into the presence of the Lord. As he said, that
where I am, there you may be also. Now the second thing that
I wanted to point out, Jude prophesied that the Lord will come with
10,000 of his saints. You see that here in our text,
here in Jude, verse 14 or 15, let me get back here. And Enoch also, the seventh from
Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with
ten thousands of his saints. Now, ten thousands is a definite
number, and this is not unusual. A definite number is given for
an indefinite number. For instance, In the book of
Revelation, you remember John saw first 144,000, but then it was just a few verses
after that when he says, no, no, it's a great multitude which
no man can number of all nations and kindreds and people and languages. Now, this word, saints, Behold,
the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints. We use this word,
of course, referring to believers, to those who are saved. The letter
of Romans, the letter of 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul begins by addressing
those letters to the saints, to those who are set apart, to
the saints. But it refers to men who are
holy. That is, men who are holy, or
individuals, I should say, who are holy, having been set apart. And so when Jude prophesies of
10,000 of the saints, it can very well be speaking of the
holy angels as well as all of those who've been born again
by the Spirit of God. I believe that this passage here
refers to both. That when he comes again with
10,000 of his saints, because there's too many verses there
in the Gospels where the Lord Jesus Christ points out that
when he comes, he will come in the presence of the holy angels. So this word saints here I believe
refers to both. Angels, holy angels. You say,
well, are they, were they set apart? Absolutely. They're called
the elect angels. They were set apart and Christ
was constituted their head so that they did not fall when the
other angels rebelled and fail. The holy angels did not fall. They were chosen of God. And of course, the saints, also
the believers who've been born of the Spirit of God, were chosen. How many and how great this number
will be? We must wait to see. We must wait to see, right? When he says 10,000, a definite
number for an indefinite number. How great will this multitude
be? We're just gonna have to wait to find out. But I do believe
it's going to be a lot more than most people are prone to think. I do believe that. Now the third
point I want to make, this will be the final judgment. When the
Lord comes again, this will be the final judgment. In John chapter
5, verses 22 and 23, the Lord Jesus said, for the Father judgeth
no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son. That all
should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that
honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father that sent him.
All judgment has been committed unto the God-Man, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we know that He is omniscient. He is. He knows all things. He's
God-Man, and He's capable and qualified to judge. To know all things. John Gill, and I'll close with
this comment by him, but John Gill said upon this word all. All. To execute judgment upon
all. To convince all. that are ungodly
among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly
committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners
have spoken against him. John Gill's comment was, upon
thee all, the quick and the dead. The quick and the dead. In other
words, those who are living when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again. As we read there in 1 Thessalonians,
we will be changed. The believers will be changed.
But judgment upon all, all who are living when the Lord comes
again, and the dead, all who have died and have gone on. Small and great, rich and poor,
high and low, good and bad, righteous and wicked, sheep and goats,
now listen, to pass the definitive sentence upon each, the definitive
sentence upon each, that of absolution, life and happiness on his own
people, that of condemnation, death and misery on the wicked,
which will be done in the most strict and righteous manner. Behold, the Lord cometh." I know
that that is the blessed hope that all of God's children have,
that He will come as He has promised. And just like He promised in
the Old Testament He would come and He came, so He's promised
He will come again and He will come again. May the Lord bless
this word to all of us here tonight. Ivan, if you will come and lead