Jude 1:5-7

Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.  And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Rebellion against God and unbelief has consequences.  There is a sense that people have that God ignores sin.  People wrongly mistake His graciousness and patience for indifference.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  God hates and judges sin.  It might not take place instantaneously, but it will take place eventually.  God has demonstrated His ability and severity in judging sin in the past.  These instances should inform our expectations for the future.

GOD JUDGED ISRAEL: The children of Israel were miraculously liberated from the land of Egypt.  They saw the plagues, and they walked through the Red Sea on dry ground.  If there was any group of people who could attest to the ability of God to judge; the Israelites had seen that first-hand.  However, even with that knowledge they rebelled against God and ended up facing the judgment of God themselves.  Those who did not believe God and complained against Him and rebelled ended up being destroyed.  Israel as a nation experienced deliverance but those within the nation who were rebellious unbelievers ended up being destroyed.  Members of the church who decide to rebel against God will find themselves facing God’s judgment too.

GOD JUDGED ANGLES: The angels who rebelled with Lucifer were judged by God.  They were created by God as ministering spirits who were also given authority within their realm.  They had positions of service and responsibilities to fulfill for the glory of God.  However, they were not satisfied with the authority that was conferred upon them by God.  Instead, they grabbed for authority beyond their designation and joined Satan in his attempt to usurp the authority of God.  This resulted in judgment where they were cast out of heaven and have been relegated to chains until the final judgment when they will be eternally judged.  If God judged the angels in this way; false prophets should be warned.

GOD JUDGE SODOM: Sodom and Gomorrah as well as the surrounding cities under their influence of immorality and disobedience are further examples of God’s ability and willingness to judge those who live in disobedience to Him.  These cities were consumed by the wrath of God and all of their inhabitants perished except for Lot and his daughters who were warned by God to flee for their lives.  False teaching almost always goes hand in hand with false practices.  Those who deny Christ and seek to infiltrate the church for their own power-hungry purposes will almost always seek to satisfy their own sexual appetites in the process.  They will be identified, and they will be judged.

APPLICATIONS: We cannot thing that because we are members of a group like the church that we will be spared from judgment if we practice unbelief.  We must be thankful for and faithful with the authority that God has entrusted to us.  Keep our sexual desire in check and live in obedience to the standard of God’s Word.