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So we left off last week in part nine with this seemingly unreconcilable conundrum in 1 John, chapter three, verse eight, which says that he that committeth sin is of the devil. Then we looked at verse six, which said, whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. And not only that, but verse nine said, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. So how can we reconcile these verses with the fact that we know that members of the little flock have sinned? Well, as we attempt to reconcile this conundrum which verse 8 seems to have presented, I want to start off by looking into the underlying Greek text for these words committeth in verse eight.

And we also see that in verse four and committeth in verse nine, they all have the same Strong's number, if you want to look into this, and that's 4160. And when you look into how this particular Greek word is translated, you find that this word, which is translated committeth, would be more accurately translated as practices as a sin or sins that someone is committing as a continuous habitual practice. In fact, the new King James Version, at least some of the older versions like I have, I think they've changed it over the years, does translate verse 8 as he that practices sin is of the devil.

Here's something interesting. I just thought I'd look up on the Internet about this and see what I could find. And what I did was I searched this question, what is the tense of the Greek word Translated committeth in 1 John3.8? And of course, I got an answer from AI, which told me, as in 1 John3.8, the Greek word translated as committeth is in the present active participle tense. This tense indicates a habitual or ongoing action. Essentially, the verse describes someone who is continually practicing sin. I never knew that AI could help us out in our studies this way, but that's kind of good to know.

So that sheds a whole new light on this issue of the sins referred to in 1 John chapter three. There's a big difference between someone who commits a sin and someone who is continuously habitually practicing sin. Members who are of the little flock who are of God will not be practicing or doing continuous habitual things, which the imposters who are of the devil will be continually habitually practicing. And the point is that verse eight, here in chapter three of 1 John, has a very specific context. The issue here is sins that are of the devil.

The issue is not who is a sinner and who is not a sinner. But the issue is the nature of the sin, and the issue is whose side the sinner is on. A true member of the little flock might sin. Well, we know that from chapter two, verse one and chapter one, verse eight, chapter one, verse ten, which we already reviewed in part nine. But the real issue is, is your father the devil or is your father God?

Are you of your father the devil, or are you born of God? Are you doing the things which these imposters are doing, or are you living righteously the way members of the little flock are supposed to be living? That is the question. That's the issue. Let's look at verse 10 again in chapter three.

In this, the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. Well, this is kind of a restatement of the second test that we saw back in chapter two, verse nine. Are you loving your brother? If any man is of God, and if that man is a true member of the little flock, there is no way that that man would be doing or saying the things that these imposters are continuously habitually practicing and saying.

The things which these imposters are doing and saying are sins which the members of the little flock would never be doing. And apparently it is going to be very difficult for those imposters to demonstrate the kind of love for the brethren that a true brother is supposed to be demonstrating. And once again, this is a situation exactly like you see back in John's Gospel account, when Christ was interacting with certain Jews in John 8. So let's turn back into the Gospel of John in chapter eight and see what happened there. And we're going to begin in verse 30.

And as Jesus spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him. If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. Well, this sounds pretty much like all the things that we've been reading about in 1 John all along, doesn't it? Continue in my word. Abide in my word. If you do that, you are my disciples indeed. Verse 32. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. So in 1 John we saw how that the little flock had no need for anyone to teach them the truth.

They had the truth. They just needed to abide in the truth. Verse 33, they answered him. We be Abraham's seed and were never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou? Ye shall be made free. Well, here come the lies. Already they were in bondage in Egypt for 400 years. The northern kingdom of Samaria came under Assyrian captivity long before the southern kingdom of Judah was in Babylon captivity for 70 years. And right now they're nothing other than vassals under the rule of Rome.

As Christ is speaking these words to them, how can they say that they have never been in bondage to any man. Verse 37. Christ says, I know that ye are Abraham's seed, but ye seek to kill me because my word hath no place in you. So here is another very important dividing line, just as it will be when 1 John plays out who has the word, who has the truth, and who is speaking a lie. Whose camp are you a member of?

Are you of God, or are you of the devil? Verse 39. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, if ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. So the works that these unbelieving Jews are revealing who they really are, they are revealing whose camp they are members of.

Now do you see how Christ is drawing this distinction here again, a distinction in the characteristics of the behavior and actions of those who are of God and those who are not of God. Now, verse 40. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth which I have heard of God. This did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father, then said they to him, we be not born of fornication. The implication, of course, is that Christ was born of fornication. We have one father, even God. Jesus said unto them, if God were your father, ye would love me, for I proceeded forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning. And abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. You see how this is exactly what was going on in 1 John between the tares, the imposters, and the genuine members of the little flock.

This is exactly what John said about the devil and the devil's operation in 1 John 3:8. He that committeth sin, he that is continuously habitually saying and doing the things that you are continuously saying and doing, is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning, I think you know you got to think that these parallels between 1 John and the Gospel of John are absolutely marvelous. How would you ever be able to figure out what's going on in 1 John without John's Gospel account?

Like this conversation which Jesus had with these Jews. Now, the text in John 8 doesn't clearly indicate this, but my guess would be that this condemnation by Christ was directed primarily towards the Pharisees. So in 1 John chapter three, the issue is not that the believers within the little flock are perfectly sinless, any more than their father Abraham was sinlessly perfect, and we know that he wasn't, but that the things which will characterize the words and the actions of little flock will be so much different than what these children of the devil will be saying and doing. The things which the children of the devil will be saying and doing will not be characteristic of the things which the true members of the little flock will be saying and doing, because the true believers in the little flock will be of God.

So the sins referred to here in 1 John chapter three are very specific, very unique nature types of sins. And we could look at this as test number six. Is a man continuously and habitually practicing sins which members of the little flock would never practice.

And test six? Well now of course is the demonstration of very specific sins which will reveal who their real father is. Is it God or is it Satan, the devil? Are they in God's camp or are they in Satan's camp? And as we just noted a moment ago and in last session as well, it is apparently going to be very difficult for these impostors, who are of the devil, to demonstrate the kind of love for the brethren that a true brother is supposed to be demonstrating.

Now, before we continue looking into the remaining tests which the little flock will use to identify the imposters in their midst, I want to address that verse in 1 John which I haven't said anything at all about so far. I've skipped right over the verse several times. And I would suggest that the verse that I'm referring to is the most controversial and misunderstood verse in the book of 1 John for sure, and possibly one of the most controversial and misunderstood verses in all of the Bible, and that it is a verse that has potential devastating eternal consequences. I'm sure that many of you here today know what verse I'm talking about.

What verse am I talking about? You got it. That's right. 1 John 1:9, which speaks of the issue of confession of sins.

And what are some of the things that we've learned up to this point? Well, before we even got to chapter three, we already knew that the true believers in the little flock who will be of God will still be capable of sinning and in fact have sinned because they have not yet received the implementation of the new covenant which would enable them to be incapable of sinning. Members of Little flock who are of God will be just as capable of sinning as we know Abraham was capable of sinning from Christ's discussion with the Pharisees back in the Gospel of John. In 1 John 3 we establish that the little flock of true believers who are of God might still commit a sin, but that the issue pertaining to sins, in the context of chapter three, was to be able to identify the false brethren and imposters by acknowledging that these are going to be people who are continuously and habitually practicing sin and that they will not be loving their brothers. That will be characteristic of the way that they will be behaving because they are of the devil.

Furthermore, well, and also, true believers in the little flock who are of God will not be continuously and habitually sinning. And I want to take a look at one more verse here in 1 John before we get back to 1 John 1:9, and that would be 1 John 16:5. It says, if any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death, there is a sin unto death. I do not say that he shall pray for it. So here again we see the issue of a brother who sins.

And the verse implies that prayer is capable of resulting in a good outcome. Now, the verses which follow verse 16 are interesting, and we'll take a look at those later. But the point is that throughout the book of 1 John, there is a context for the sins referred to in chapter three and in chapter one. Now let's go back to 1 John 1 and look at a few things. Again, look at verse 8, it says, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Look at verse 10. It says if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. So aren't these verses consistent with everything we've looked at pertaining to sins that the little flock might commit? We know that these members of the little flock might commit sin. In fact, verses 8 and 10 here, that we just looked at, ensure us that members of little flock have sinned.

And in chapter two, verse one, John informs members of the little flock that if and when they do sin, they have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. So wouldn't it be perfectly fitting that John would also write to them what he wrote in verse nine, which says if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Do you see how this has everything to do with the little flock of the future because of all the things that they will be dealing with at the time? The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, all those things of the world, their constant battling against the escalating Satanic policy of evil which the imposters will be constantly subjecting them to. It's all about the little flock of the future.

Can you see how this has nothing to do with us in this current dispensation of Grace, except for one caveat which actually applies to any age and any dispensation. What would that be? Well, in order to become saved in this dispensation of Grace, you obviously have to acknowledge and believe that you have sinned and are in need of a Savior. But you only need to do that once in a moment of time, and then believe and trust that Jesus Christ is the Savior who you need, the only Savior there could ever be, and trust in his substitutionary death on the cross for your sins. And that's it, over and done.

It's done. When you sin, you might experience the godly sorrow which leads to repentance. Repentance, which would be a change in thinking about why you did what you did, as Paul writes in Second Corinthians 7:9-11. But you haven't lost your salvation, and you certainly don't have to confess that sin or sins in order to get it back. If you did have to do that in reality, it would be an endless task that you could never do anyway.

So I hope that makes it clear about who 1 John is written to and what it's all about, and that we're not in there anywhere. So let's go back to 1 John again, and we'll continue on in chapter three where we left off. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one one another. So we've covered this already.

This is basically a restating again of the second test in chapter two, verses nine through eleven. Now drop down to verse sixteen. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

So here we have test number seven. The exhortations here remind you a lot of what James said in James 2, don't they? Let's turn back there for a moment. James, chapter two. And what did James say there? Beginning in verse 14, he says, what doth it profit my brethren? Though a man say he hath faith and have not works, can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled. Notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body, but what doth it profit? Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

So here in James, faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. And in 1 John 3: 17-18, which we just looked at, John wrote, how can a brother profess to love, to profess to have love, and yet fail to have compassion on another brother who is in need? How can we simply profess love for our brother with our mouths, but fail to demonstrate that love through our works? So here is another test which will distinguish between who is a true believer and who is not. Another manifestation of loving your brother.

Okay, back to 1 John 3 again, and continuing on in verse 20 it says, for if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemneth not, then we have confidence towards God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. So this is going to be test number eight. Here those true members of the little flock will be able to ask whatsoever they will, and they will receive it.

But is this a flat out unconditional prayer promise? No, not at all. Because look at verse 21 again. It says, beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God. What does John mean by this?

What is it that will give these members of the little flock confidence to ask God to do something for them? Well, verse 22 says once again that they need to be keeping Christ's commandments and doing the things which are pleasing to God. But that's not all. Verse 21 says that they need to have confidence that God will respond to their prayer. What will give them this confidence?

Look in chapter 5 verse 14, and this is the confidence that we have in him if we ask anything, according to his will, he heareth us. The prayer request has to be according to God's will. But remember, these believers will know God's will. They will have the truth.

They will understand what the will of God is, because they will be abiding in the words of Christ, and they will be abiding in the commandments of Christ. And once again, that takes us right back into John's Gospel account to facilitate our understanding of these prayer passages. So let's go back to the Gospel of John again in chapter 15.

Look at what it says in verse 7. If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. They need to be continually abiding in Christ and in Christ's words to them. Now, the converse of this would be just as James stated it in James 4:3 and what he said there is, ye ask and receive not. Why? Because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

So receiving the prayer request will be totally contingent upon their asking for things according to the will of God at that time. That will of God which they will or should all know. Go back to 1 John 3 again, and let's continue on. In verse 23 says, and this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby know we that he abideth in us by the Spirit which He hath given us. All right, so verse 23 is saying that if these members of the little flock are believing what they're supposed to be believing and loving one another as Christ commanded, then verse 24 will be the result. And what will be the result? That they will be dwelling in Christ and that Christ will be dwelling in them.

And verse 24 here is exactly what Christ said to them back in another passage in John, chapter 14 in the gospel account. So go to chapter 14 and look at what he began teaching in verse 15, or continued teaching I should say, if ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever. Even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him. For he dwelleth in you and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you yet a little while. And the world seeth me no more. But ye see me because I live, ye shall live also.

And verse 20. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. Okay, so here are two compatible passages in the Gospel of John and in 1 John that indicate that even though the little flock will not be empowered by the implementation of the new covenant, that they will still be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Back to 1 John again. And so he says to them, and he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which He hath given us.

So these believers need to be continually abiding in all the words and the commandments which Christ had given them. And as they do that, they will know that they are in Christ and that Christ is in them, and that they can be guided by the Holy Spirit which Christ has given them. Now we come to another one of those clincher tests. In 1 John 4, beginning in verse 1, Beloved, believe not every Spirit, but try the Spirit, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every Spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that Spirit of Antichrist whereof ye have heard that it should come. And even now already is it in the world. So here is test number nine.

It's a lot like test number five, which was back in chapter two, verse 22, where there will be those who will be denying that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ. But here they're claiming that Jesus Christ never came in the flesh at all. And this is really the clincher. Jesus Christ is the one who has provided all these doctrines and commandments for the little flock. If he hadn't come at all, then John would never have even written these epistles.

And those who will be insisting that Jesus Christ has not come in the flesh are the Spirit of Antichrist, because they are functioning through the spirit of the Satanic policy of evil. Now let's continue on. In verse 4. Ye are of God little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Well, what would you make of this verse?

I would say that since the little flock has been empowered by the holy Spirit, they have the capacity to overcome all of the evil tactics of the imposters and of the Satanic policy of evil which is in their midst if they steadfastly abide in the words of Christ. The verse says, greater is he that is in you than he that is of the world. Who is the greater he that is in them? Well, as we saw, that would be Christ. Of course, we just looked at John 14:20 where Jesus told them that at that day they would know that they would be in him and that he would be in them.

And that's exactly what John is writing here. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Drop down to verse six. Says we are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth us not. Hereby we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. So here is the 10th test. Most of those imposters who have infiltrated the little flock, those tares of the devil, will be incapable of understanding the doctrines which the little flock will be attempting to influence them with.

The little flock will know the truth, the little flock will be teaching the truth, and they will be demonstrating the truth. And as we learned earlier, part of the commission of the little flock is to convert the imposters over to the truth just as much as the imposters are attempting to undermine everything that the little flock is trying to accomplish. But most of the imposters will not be responding to the truth because as verse 5 says, they are of the world. And v6 says, he that is not of God heareth us not. Well, that takes us right back into chapter eight in John's gospel account again, and to Christ's words to those Jews whose father was the devil.

What did Christ say there? Chapter 8 of the Gospel of John again, and look at verse 47. He says, he that is of God heareth God's words. Ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. So for the most part, those tares of the devil will not be able to understand the reasonings and the exhortations which are coming from the little flock.

So back to 1 John, and we've identified 10 tests. Now which the little flock will be able to use to help them identify the terrors of the devil who will be infiltrating their midst and who are bent on destroying the little flock according to the Satanic policy of evil. Now we're going to finish up in 1 John here with a verse that we touched on just a moment ago, because there are some interesting things associated with that verse. And that was chapter 5, verse 16, which says, if any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask and he shall give him life. I suppose that's from John 1:9 there for them that sin not unto death, there is a sin unto death. I do not say that he shall pray for it. So the verse says, if any man see his brother sin a sin. So here is another verse which demonstrates that the little flock is not sinlessly perfect at this point. They are not functioning under the empowerment of the new covenant. But notice that John warns them that there is a sin unto death.

He says it twice in the verse. And this sin unto death is serious enough that the brothers are not even supposed to pray for the man who commits this sin. So what is this sin? Well, John doesn't specifically tell us what it is, but I think there are only two possibilities here. The first one might be blaspheming the Holy Ghost, just as Christ had warned them not to do back in Matthew 12:31-32. Now in part nine, we looked into how that so called unpardonable sin applies in 1 John as well. It might be that, but I favor this second possibility, and that is that they took the mark of the beast which is recorded in Revelation chapter 13. And that's about all we can definitively say about this sin unto death. So everything we've looked at in 1 John should give you a pretty good understanding of what is going on in 1 John and why this book is found where it is for instructions to the little flock future.

Now, there isn't really anything in these short little epistles of 2 and 3 John, which we haven't touched on in some way already in 1 John. And we'll review here a little bit. We've seen a steady progression of the Satanic policy of evil against the little flock in the book of Hebrews through 1 John. And we've seen a steady progression of the doctrinal information that the little flock will need in order to deal with that Satanic policy of evil. We've seen those interesting verses which provide the connecting links from one writer to the next. So from here, we'll now go on to John's transitional connecting verse for the doctrines which Jude will be focusing on.

And the connecting verse which will transition the little flock into the book of Jude is in 1 John, chapter 5, verse 19, which says, and we know that we are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness. The whole world lieth in wickedness. Jude is now going to pick up on this issue of the escalating wickedness which will be going on in the whole world at this time in the future. Now, we've clearly seen how this wickedness has been escalating against the members of little flock. And of course, the Satanic policy of evil against little flock is why this wickedness is escalating.

And as we move into the book of Jude, this might be a good time to briefly review what we've seen from the book of Hebrews up to this point. In Hebrews 12:4, the writer of Hebrews writes that God's little flock had not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin, but the implication was that they soon will be. In Hebrews, members of little flock are being persecuted because of their doctrinal stance, but they were not yet being killed. At that point they were experiencing only phase one persecution of the Satanic policy of evil against them. Tribulation or persecution arising because of the Word.

That's how Christ stated it in the parable of the sower. In Matthew 13:21, when we got into the book of James, phase two of the Satanic policy of evil against little flock had become more of an issue. That would be the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, which would be making it more and more difficult for members of little flock to stand fast and endure to the end. Christ described that in Matthew 13:22 in that parable and in the book of James in chapter five, verse six. Phase three of the Satanic policy of evil was just beginning. Members of the little flock were now being killed by some of those around them who were, as the verse says, condemning and killing the just.

And the escalation just keeps on increasing. In 1 Peter, chapter 5, verse 8, Peter was warning the little flock that the adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, is walking about seeking whom he may devour. And that persecution just continued to increase. In 2 Peter, that persecution was being inflicted upon the little flock through the false teachers, the imposters, those tares who had been sown out into the world by the devil. That's Matthew 13:38.

In 1 John, the little flock is being given all the information we looked at to enable them to know who among them are the imposters, who are those tares sown out among the wheat? And now we come to the book of Jude, where this issue of escalating wickedness and ungodliness is going to be seen throughout the entire world. There is a way in which Jude will remind us of some of the things which Peter said in his Epistles. Peter made this very interesting statement to the little flock back in 1 Peter chapter 4, and in verse 12 he said to them, beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing is happening to you.

So by the time you get to Jude's letter, it's just a given that the little flock should know that evil will be escalating to its zenith all around them. And it's important to remember that the evil which will be coming to its zenith at that time will be manifesting itself on two major fronts. The first would be Israel's vain apostate religious system and the Satanic policy of evil which will be working their wickedness against the little flock in particular. Remember, it's only the little flock of true believers who will have the truth and who will have the commission to contradict everything that Israel's vain apostate religious system and the Satanic policy of evil will be doing. At least initially.

They'll be the only ones later on as the seven year tribulation continues. You'll also have the 144,000 sealed servants of the Lord from Revelation chapter seven. And you'll have the two witnesses in Revelation 11 who will also be preaching the truth. And the second front will be that there will be evil and ungodliness which will be spreading throughout the world in general. Obviously again a product of the Satanic policy of evil directed towards the whole earth.

So Satan will be in his heyday, so to speak. Remember that those days will be as the days of Noah, as Christ said, where every imagination and the thoughts of the hearts of men will be only evil continuously. Now just stop and think for a moment. The way in which things have deteriorated just in our own country today, just in the last 50 to 75 years, as misguided as the political right of our day may be, what do you think things would be like in this country if there were absolutely no voices at all putting the brakes on issues like abortion, marriage, what marriage is, what it should be, the family borders and everything else pertaining to the undermining of the four divine institutions which God established for the successful functioning of human society in Genesis chapters two through nine.

What do you think things would be like if there were no voices proclaiming at least a modicum of absolute truth from the word of God? So the state of the world in general is not going to be good once the Body of Christ has been raptured out of this world. And that was John's transitional connecting verse into the book of Jude, that the whole world lieth in wickedness. And then don't forget about what Christ said about the evil that was going to be directed towards the little flock in that day. In Matthew chapter 24.

Let's take a look at that. Matthew 24:21, he said, for then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be great tribulation like this. That's what's coming. But read verse 22. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

The verse says, there shall no flesh be saved. Do you understand what Christ is saying there? If the Satanic policy of evil were allowed to continue escalating indefinitely against the little flock the way it is going to be escalating, there would not be a single member of the little flock who would be able to steadfastly endure to the end, because there would be no way that they could make it all the way to the end of the tribulation without being killed. But the verse says that for the sake of the little flock those days are going to be shortened. Now what does he mean by that?

Well, the little flock is going to know from Scripture, just like we know from Scripture, that from the time they see that abomination of desolation in the temple in the middle of the 70th week, there will not be more than three and a half years to go. So just hang in there. Well, when you read things like this, you begin to understand why those members of little flock who do endure to the end will be held in such high esteem in the kingdom by the Lord. So that is the state of things as we move on into the book of Jude. So let's go there now.

The book of Jude, beginning in verse one, Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and the 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 ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. All right, so Jude starts off by exhorting the little flock to earnestly contend for the faith, to earnestly continue standing fast in the doctrines which they know to be true.

Verse 4. 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. Well, this confirms what we've been reading about all along, that certain men have crept in among the little flock, just as Peter had warned the little flock back in II Peter chapter two, warning them about these false teachers and these false apostles who would be infiltrating the little flock, the tares. We saw these tares repeatedly in the book of 1 John, which is why John gave the little flock those 10 tests to be able to identify who those tares were who had crept in among them. Now the verse says that these imposters were ordained of old. Well, this is Satan's lie program coming to its zenith.

This is Satan's lie program which has been around since Genesis chapter three and actually even before Genesis chapter three, when Satan as Lucifer rebelled against God and instituted that lie program and his objectives for that program, which you can read because they're stated in Isaiah chapter 14, verses 13 through 14, those I will statements that Satan thinks he's going to be able to do. And now that lie program is reaching its zenith. The verse says, denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, that was one of the major issues in 1 John, wasn't it? Denying that the Lord Jesus Christ was the Messiah, or insisting that the Christ never came at all, setting everything up for Satan to step right in, indwelt in the person of the Antichrist, that son of perdition, as Paul refers to him, as in 2nd Thessalonians 2, 3, 4.

And to be able to declare himself as God. So knowing all these things, Jude is going to encourage little flock to remember some things. And what things are they supposed to remember? Verse 5. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this how, that the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not so.

Here is an introduction to the first of three examples that Jude is now going to give the little flock to remind them of how that God had previously judged evil to reassure the little flock that judgment is just around the corner, so that they should just hang in there. And verse five introduces those previous judgments as Jude brings to the remembrance of the little flock how that God judged Pharaoh, he judged Egypt, and he judged the false gods who had held Israel in Satanic captivity for 400 years. Now verse 6. 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. So here is the second example.

And Jude reminds them how that God had incarcerated those fallen angels who had come down to the earth in Genesis chapter six to intermingle and corrupt the seed of the woman, and in fact to corrupt the whole human race except for righteous Noah and his family, and that God sent that judgment by the way of the flood. Well, Peter also wrote about this very same judgment in his second epistle in chapter two, verse four, as an encouragement to the little flock. Now verse seven. 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. So here is Jude's third example.

Jude reminds the little flock about the judgment which came upon Sodom and Gomorrah as a result of the level of ungodliness which had escalated in those cities. Peter wrote about that judgment as well in II Peter 2: 6-9. Peter cited righteous Lot as someone who had been trying to live amidst that ungodliness in Sodom. And the situation will be essentially the same just like that in the future as Jude is writing to members of little flock who are trying to live righteous lives in the midst of the escalating godliness which is going on throughout the world. So the point is that righteous judgment is coming and the little flock is encouraged to just hang in there.

Just hang in there. Now, verse 8. 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. So verse 8 speaks of these filthy dreamers.

Well, this refers back to those certain men who are creeping in amongst the little flock in verse four, the imposters and the tares. Then this information about Michael the Archangel not bringing railing accusation against the devil is interesting. All Michael did was to say the Lord rebuke thee. Now, why would the little flock be given this information? It's just another example of the attitude which the little flock has been instructed to maintain throughout this whole ordeal with the imposters that are in their midst.

And again, this is the parable of the wheat and the tares. The little flock has been instructed to let those tares remain in their midst until the harvest, when the Lord Jesus Christ will return and will separate the little flock from the imposters and burn away the tares. Now, verse 10. But these speak evil of those things which they know not. But what they know naturally, as brute in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them. For they have gone the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the heir of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah. These are spots in your feet, feasts 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. So these imposters, these spots, are even partaking in what we learn here are going to be feasts of charity observed by the little flock. Loving their brothers, loving one another, they're having feasts on this.

Feasts of charity are demonstrating that love for the brethren that they're supposed to have, and the imposters and the tares will actually be infiltrating these feasts. Jude calls these ungodly imposters brutes and spots. Peter called them the same thing. Let's go back and see what Peter had to say about them back in II Peter chapter two.

And we'll begin there in verse nine. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the ungodly out of temptations, and of course that he will do if they can hang on to the end, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of the uncleanness, and despise governments, presumptuous are they self willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignities, as Jude wrote, whereas angels, which are greater in power, and might bring not railing accusation against them, because before the Lord, but these as natural brute beasts, they are the brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption, and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to do riot in the daytime. Spots, there are the spots Jude spoke of, they are. And blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you.

There's those charity feasts having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin. Beguiling unstable souls and heart they have exercised with covetous practices. Cursed children which have forsaken the right way and are gone astray, following the ways of Balaam the son of Bosar, who love the wages of unrighteousness. So ungodly brute beasts, wicked spots, destined to be destroyed by the baptism of fire at Christ's first coming. Now back to the book of Jude.

We'll pick up there in verse 12. These are spots in your feast of charity when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear, cleansing clouds they are without water, carried about with winds, trees whose fruit withereth without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots. Raging waves of the sea, foaming out of their shame, wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. And Enoch, also the seventh from Adam, prophesied these things, saying, behold, the Lord cometh with test and 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.

What do we have in verse 14 there ungodly among them, ungodly deeds, ungodly committed, ungodly sinners. Folks who are supposed to come away with an understanding. This is going to be a particularly ungodly time. Everything is reaching its zenith here. Every ungodly thing that there is.

But there is the impending judgment in verse 14. When the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, the judgment is coming. And verses 14 and 15, here, by the way, are the transitional connecting verses which will transition the reader into the book of Revelation, along with one other verse that we'll see in a minute. Continue on in verse 17.

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 lusts. So here are the mockers which Peter spoke of in II Peter, chapter three. And now verse 19. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the spirit but ye.

Let me just stop there. Those are the brute beasts and the spots who don't have the spirit. These are the impostors. These are the tares.

And then these tares are now going to be contrasted with the little flock in the verses which follow and which I think are some of the most mind blowing verses you could ever hope to read in light of everything that is going on. If they mean what I'm going to tell you, I think they mean. Verse 20. 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 of some have compassion making a difference.

Well, verse 22 says of some have compassion making a difference. Who are the some that Jude is referring to here? Well, Jude is referring to some of these ungodly wicked tares who the little flock have identified as impostors. And the little flock is still supposed to be attempting to influence them with sound positive doctrine, even at this point in the Tribulation. Now we do know that their mission is to gain converts.

When they're sown out into the world, their mission is to produce fruit. Some will produce a hundredfold, some 60, some 30. That's the parable of the sower again. And look at verse 23. And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

The verse appears to be telling the little flock that they should be trying to convert some of these impostors even moments before the baptism of fire, pulling them out of the fire, as the verse says, when Christ is going to return to burn them up. These impostors with garments spotted by the flesh even at this late date, could essentially be pulled out of the fire by the little flock if the little flock could persuade them to embrace the truth. You talk about a last minute conversion or a deathbed conversion. Neither could be more dramatic than this. So is that what we're looking at here?

Well, if it is, that would sure be a classic example of the last being first in the kingdom. Someone who becomes a converted believer, someone who becomes a believing member of the little flock during the 11th hour and is still paid the same wages as those who had been laboring in the vineyard from the start. In the Mystery Kingdom parable series, which I referred to many times, that was the parable of laborers in the vineyard which Christ gave his disciples in Matthew chapter 20. Of course, those laborers from the 11th hour would not be esteemed and honored to the same degree as those who labored diligently throughout the entire Tribulation and who suffered such great persecution, but they would at least receive admittance into the kingdom. They would make it into the kingdom before those who had believed from the beginning, but who would be cast out into utter darkness because they didn't endure to the end, to the end of the tribulation.

Well, this is all something to ponder because it does all fit the Matthew 13 Mystery Kingdom parables, and the parable in Matthew chapter 20 fits that perfectly. And then, as I said a few minutes ago, we can look at several connecting verses here in Jude which will provide the connecting transitional link into the book of the Revelation. And that's verse 14 again, which says, and Enoch also the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these things, saying, behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon all. And you could add to those verses verse 21 Again, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And then Jude ends his epistle with sort of a doxology which aptly describes what the result of the book of the Revelation will bring in.

And he says, to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. And that then would transition us into the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.