Clocked!
Study Text: Jude 11 – 13
Memory Verse: 2 Corinthians 12:9 – And he said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may
rest upon me.
55…. You see it. 55….. You see it again. 55…. You see it again. What
does it mean? When you’re driving it could me a lot of things. It could mean:
you’re going to fast… drive slower… or somebody’s expecting you drive 55
and if you don’t you could run into some serious problems. Well driving to work
about two weeks ago I was saw the signs but something happened. I was driving
55 then I sped up to pass a car. By the time I got back into my lane I was
doing 68. Unfortunately by that time I "GOT CLOCKED" by a Florida Highway
Patrolman immediately after I passed him sitting along the roadside. He pulled
out in all of this glory (with lights on and siren blasting). I thought for a
minute, if I could make it to a side road…… but I knew all of you didn’t
want to see me on Fox’s "Scariest Police Chases III." Instead, I
slowed down and made his pursuit much easier. After he passed the car behind me
and got directly behind me, I pulled over. No camera, no fanfare – just busted!
This week’s study text, like those road signs starts by giving us a warning
"Woe unto them!" (11th) which is followed by three examples of sin
& godlessness:
(1) Cain – who killed his brother Abel because Abel’s blessings from God
were much better than his own. (Even though Abel gave his finest to get those
richer blessing and Cain did not.) The result of Cain’s action was a curse from
God. (Gen 4:11)
(2) Balaam – He was a prophet that was actually blessed to hear the voice of
God but his desire to make money was greater than his desire to stay holy. He
eventually was slain by sword. (Num. 31)
(3) Core (in some KJ bibles) or Korah – He led a rebelled against Moses and
Aaron and questioned whether or not Moses was holy. God caused the earth to
"swallow up" Core and his followers due to their rebellion. (Num. 25)
In short, these are examples we should NOT follow because if we do the outcome
can not be a good one.
The 12th goes on to tell three things about these men which are interesting:
(1) They are spots at feasts of charity. In other words, they "taint"
love feast celebrations. During which, they are only concerned with feeding
themselves and hold no regard to the holiness of the feast.
(2) They are clouds without water. Clouds serve the purpose of replenishing
the earth with rain and this is due only to the grace of God. ("When he
uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he
causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings
with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. – Jeremiah 10:13)
Yet these men attempt to come as if they were sent from God (just like the
clouds) and they were not. Instead, these men serve only as a FALSE HOPE and
that’s why this analogy was made.
Note: The bible also shows us that rain comes to those who have not offended
God. In Ezekiel 2:17-24, the Lord tells Israel that because of it’s offenses,
it shall not see rain on the day of indignation.(24th) Also in Isaiah 5:1-7,
the prophet Isaiah is given a word from the Lord to Israel. The Lord reminded
Israel how he prepared the land for them. "Yes, He hooked them up!"
But they turned their back on Him so now He does likewise and tells them in the
6th verse regarding their land "And I will lay it waste: it shall not be
pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also
command the clouds that they RAIN no RAIN upon it. (See Jeremiah 3:1-3. )
[Whenever it rains we need to share these scriptures with others especially
children. Remember that song… Rain rain go away , come again another day..
That’s wrong! Don’t teach our children that because by doing so we are teaching
them that their agenda comes before God’s agenda. We are letting them say,
"God is unwisely replenishing the earth." And for you adults, don’t
go around saying, "It’s really ugly out there today." If God is
merciful enough to wake you up on HIS DAY then how dare you call HIS DAY ugly!
"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in
it.- Psalms 118:24" Let’s End These Generational Curses!]
(3) They are trees twice dead plucked up from the root, whose fruit whither
without fruit. (The bible states, "Be fruitful and multiply" on many
occasions in the bible. This means that we should be productive for the
heavenly cause and make others(our fruit) fruitful(multiply). [The Divine
Pyramid] This continually builds the heavenly kingdom. However, here we see in
these men the example of not being fruitful. These men bear no fruitful
children and their children do the same – in short they are a cursed generation.
The 13th verse tells us that these Apostates are wild waves of the sea,
foaming up their shame. (During storms, many smaller and weaker ships are
sunken due to their inability to make it through the storm. Therefore, Jude
sees these men as destroyers of those with little or no faith and the shameful
behavior is right there for all to see but instead they glorify it –
"Foaming Up." Be sure your have the faith to weather the storm and
your anchor is Christ – the solid rock.)
Jude also tells us that these men are wandering stars for whom the blackest
darkness has been reserved forever. If you ever get lost, most navigators will
tell you, "Find the North Star." That’s because it is fixed within
the constellations, however if you tried to use a wandering star it would
easily make you more lost than you originally were. This same text tells us
that the blackest darkness is reserved for the Apostates. Now it doesn’t take a
rocket scientist to figure out that if the bible tells us that there is No
darkness in God then we know where these people are headed.
Well to end my story, the officer pulled me over and I didn’t try to explain
or lie – I just handed my driver’s license and insurance over to him. He wrote
me up and told me, "Next time I’m going to get into your wallet." I
smiled and said, "I promise you there won’t be a next time." I was
blessed to get a warning even though I was dead wrong. God continually gives us
warnings but the question is are we going to heed them or are we going to hope
for more warnings? Remember the consequences are heaven or hell, prosperity or
poverty – it’s up to you!