A Daily Walk

Announcer: Pastor John Randall observes what's taking place right now and who's really behind it.

John Randall: The spiritual battle right now in this world is more intense, I believe, than it's ever been. I don't know that—I've lived a little while and I've never seen anything like what we're seeing right now. I believe it: the deception, all of the division, all of the destruction, that's exactly what the devil does. It's a social issue? Actually, it's a demonic issue. Satan's behind it.

And you see it happening. There is an all-out battle that's taking place right now and for some reason we're alive, we're here for this moment. Church history is being written right now. What's it going to look like? What are we going to look like? What's it going to appear like? I don't know. I just know I'm in the thick of it. It is a battle and the only way to fight it like we sang tonight is on our knees with our hands raised saying, "God, you're the victor."

Announcer: We all need reminders from time to time as we tend to be forgetful people. Today on A Daily Walk, we're going to receive a good one. It's contained in the book of Jude. We're about to receive an example of what happens to those that reject the faith and God's heart for the lost comes shining through.

Maybe you've wondered as you look at all the division and destruction going on right now, what if anything can we do about it? Well, Jude would exhort us to contend for the faith and that's the emphasis of Pastor John Randall's message.

John Randall: I don't think that there's an incident in the history of the Old Testament that made a stronger impression on the Jewish people than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Because as you study the Old Testament, you will find that it is brought up over and over and over again. It's in Deuteronomy, it's in Amos, it's referred to in Isaiah, in Jeremiah, in Zephaniah, in Lamentations, in Ezekiel.

Then it's brought up again in the New Testament: in the book of Matthew, in Luke, in Romans, in Peter, in Revelation, and here in Jude. What happened there made a profound impression to where it is constantly referenced, and not in a good light, but in something to be avoided. It brought the judgment of God when this sexual immorality of unnatural pursuit got to a point where God judged that city.

I remember hearing once Billy Graham say if God judged Sodom and Gomorrah—if that happened—what's going to happen to America? We're there, we're embracing it, we're pushing it forward. And if God doesn't judge America, then he owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology. Because that's where we're headed, that's where we're going.

Two angelic visitors came to rescue Abraham's nephew Lot and his family out of the city of Sodom. And when those two angels went down to rescue Lot, do you remember that the men of the city banged on the door of Lot's house saying, "Let those men come out to us so that we can have relations with them"? And remember they put their hands out and blinded their eyes and Lot escaped with his life—barely escaped.

In fact, they were told to leave the city and the city could not be destroyed until they were removed. And they were told not to look back. And as they left the city, Lot's wife looked back and she was turned into a pillar of salt. Many archaeologists believe that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are buried underneath the southern end of the Dead Sea.

Is it true or not? I don't know. I've been to the Dead Sea and you can't drown there because you just float. Even if you can't swim, you float there at the Dead Sea. Everything's dead there, but you can float because there's so much salt in it. But there are those that suggest that that's the area of which Sodom and Gomorrah was.

Here's what we know for sure: it was destroyed because of what it was involved with. And again, the example is this, and how Jude is connecting these things is he's pointing out that in the end of verse seven that these things took place in Sodom, they're an example of what happens to those who reject the faith and pursue unnatural immorality like the false teachers were teaching and like Sodom and Gomorrah pursued, like the fallen angels. The same outcome, guys, the same outcome: judgment of God.

And that is why Jude is saying we have to contend for the faith because people are going in that way and if they don't turn, they're going to experience the judgment of God, the vengeance of God, the justice of God. And so he says here, as you go on, he describes these fires that destroyed the city and these fires of Sodom and Gomorrah really are a picture of the fire of eternal punishment as the Bible refers to in Revelation 16 and Revelation chapter 20.

But it's only a preview of that fire that the Bible says will be in hell which will never be quenched. Did you know—I don't know if you're aware of this or not, many people aren't—that Jesus Christ talked more about hell than he did about heaven? Read it for yourself. Read through the New Testament and you will find that it is so.

And sometimes people think, "Jesus loves people." He does love people 100%, but he also talked a lot about hell. And the reason why he loves people so much he died so they'd never have to go there. But the fact is, if you read through the New Testament, he referred to it repeatedly. It's interesting also that a much higher percentage of people believe in the existence of heaven than they do in the existence of hell.

The Bible refers to the second death, a place where the worm never dies, where the fire is never quenched and all those who choose to reject Jesus, that's what they will experience for eternity. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 25 verse 41, then he will come and say to those on his left—these are the words of Jesus, these were the words spoken by Jesus, will be spoken by Jesus to those who reject his salvation—"Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

In Second Thessalonians chapter one it says, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, they will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. This is what the Bible says. You don't hear a lot of preaching about this, but this is the warning that the world needs.

This is real and notice the word everlasting. That's a very significant word. That means forever. That's what awaits the person that rejects salvation. That's what awaits the person who pursues that life, who goes that direction. That's what they're going to experience. Guys, that's why it's so important that we contend for the faith because nobody wants anybody to experience that.

Even Jesus himself didn't want people to experience that and that's why he died. But the fact is we have to be ready to contend for the faith. I wonder if anybody's wanting to contend for the faith as it relates to preaching the gospel to people who are on their way to hell. This is something that the church needs to wake up and realize how important the gospel is.

This is like life-saving information. I wonder if there's any passion in my heart, any desire that gets outside of what they're going to think about me, get over myself and think about where they're going to be for eternity. And this is why I believe Jude is so emphatic and so impassioned about contending for the faith.

Because the true gospel message was being altered. The essential doctrines of the Christian faith were being twisted. The deity of Jesus Christ was denied. Believers, one-time believers, were being deceived and drawn away after a false gospel with heretical doctrines and these false teachers were leading people to hell because they were denying the faith that brings salvation.

And people were believing a lie, they were perishing and all the while pursuing strange, unnatural desires of the flesh and living with a false sense of security. Like you can pursue these unnatural things and still, "I'm good, I'm a Christian." Not according to the Bible. Not according to scripture.

And so Jude says here, we have the example of Israel and their unbelief, the apostate angels in their rebellion, Sodom and Gomorrah and their pursuit of unnatural flesh. All of these clear examples took place apart from repentance and turning to God. But this is the great news. The good news is that's why Jesus came and died for my sins, for yours.

That he went to the cross at Calvary and he paid the price. He died the death we should have died and then he rose again the third day so that we could be forgiven and made clean and righteous, that we could be saved. The wonderful news is tonight we don't have to experience the wrath of God because Jesus took the wrath upon himself.

He paid it for me and for you. He took all of the wrath that I deserved. I can choose to accept and receive the payment that he made for me and not experience the wrath of God or I can say, "I don't believe that, I don't agree with that, I'll take the wrath myself if there is such a thing." And that's what people experience. But Jesus died so we'd never have to experience that.

Jude continues to expose and reveal the deceptive character of these false teachers as we wrap this up here. And he says likewise also these dreamers, talking about the false teachers, defile the flesh, they reject authority, they speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel in contending with the devil when he disputed about the body of Moses dared not bring against him a reviling accusation but said, "The Lord rebuke you."

Another passage that there is some question about and people go back and forth on. Jude says likewise, he's connecting the men in verse eight with the people of Sodom and Gomorrah in verse seven in their sensuality and their rejection of authority and he calls them dreamers. Probably referring to them claiming to have prophetic dreams. "I have a word from God. I have a dream, I had a dream and I'm going to share it with you."

They would come up with these dreams to try to influence people or it may refer to the mentality of the false teachers: they live in a dream world. It's not reality. They say these things to you but that's not reality based upon what God says. It's like a dream. It's not real and it will become a nightmare, and that is real.

They believe Satan's lie, they've turned away from God's truth, they feed their minds with false doctrine, it infiltrates their egos, it encourages their rebellion. They defile the flesh. He's talking about these guys and then he talks about them speaking or rejecting dignitaries, leaders, etc. And it's interesting because one of the words that Jude uses, because the word used for dignitaries is looked at in two different ways.

Some believe he's referring to the apostles and leaders in the church. They reject those who preach the word. They completely deny what they say and fight against them. They're being used to speak the truth and they reject it. They speak evil of them, they attack them because they speak the truth. There's some of that going on today.

You can speak the truth in love and you will be attacked. It just happens. If you have any kind of social media platform, it happens more than you like. Some suggest because of the context where he speaks about the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and what they tried to do with angelic beings that perhaps he's referring to something else. But needless to say, here's what you know for sure: they reject authority, they speak evil of those who speak the truth. That's their MO, that's how they operate.

They reject authority and in contrast to these false teachers that don't think twice about reviling dignitaries, Jude says he goes back to a situation that we don't have any record of other than right here. This is the only place we read about this: Michael the archangel contending with the devil when he disputed about the body of Moses and he didn't bring a reviling accusation, said, "The Lord rebuke you."

And then he says but these false teachers, they speak evil of everybody. But not even Michael spoke—he let Jesus deal with the devil. When this happened, again, you can't go back in the Old Testament and find where was that dispute over the body of Moses. We do know this: we do know that the Lord buried Moses.

There was a burial, but the Lord buried him. But apparently at some point Jude mentions it here that Michael—by the way, two angels mentioned in the Bible, good angels: Michael and Gabriel. Two good guys, two good angels. Those are the good ones. Those are the two names. I'm sure there's more. There's definitely more. I don't know what their names are, but those are the ones the Bible mentions.

And then there's the devil: Lucifer, Satan, he's also mentioned. Apollyon, he's mentioned in the book of Revelation. He's got a lot of names. But Michael the archangel as he's referred to, he's the protector of the nation of Israel the Bible talks about (Daniel chapter 10, Daniel chapter 12, Revelation chapter 12).

And he's the archangel and when he and the devil disputed apparently over the body of Moses, he said the Lord rebuke you. Why would they dispute over the body of Moses? Again, Deuteronomy chapter 34 tells us that Moses died in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord and was buried in the valley of the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor but no one knows the grave to this day. Nobody knows where he was buried, but they know he was buried.

Why would there be a dispute? Perhaps—this is a suggestion—perhaps the devil wanted the body of Moses to somehow use it in some way to lead the people astray, to get them to worship it. We don't know. Others said that he wanted to desecrate the body of Moses and claim the right to it because Moses had murdered an Egyptian.

Others suggest that the devil knew that God one day had another purpose for the body of Moses, and so he wanted to destroy it. You say what other purpose would he have for Moses other than what he fulfilled? You know that Moses shows up in the New Testament, don't you? When Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, they were there and Elijah and Moses show up.

And Peter wanted to build three tents and just hang out up there and camp out forever. The Father said, "Shh, listen to my son." And you remember that story, you read it, it's in the New Testament. But the body of Moses. The Bible also indicates that in the last days there's going to be two witnesses. And two of the witnesses, although not named, their works are described and some of the miracles and works that the two witnesses do are the same things that Moses and Elijah did.

Personally, again, this is me, I believe that the two witnesses will be Moses and Elijah. They showed up in the Mount of Transfiguration, they both had unique relationships with the Lord. Personally, that's what I believe based upon what the scripture reveals in the book of Revelation.

But what's the main point? The main point is this and I love this, that when the devil opposed Michael the archangel, he just said, "The Lord rebuke you. The Lord rebuke you." The most powerful angel that we know of said, "The Lord rebuke you." He doesn't say, "I rebuke you, Satan. I bind you, Satan." He said, "Lord, you rebuke him."

I don't come to the Lord in my own name. I tell you Satan, I—you know, some people do that. Please brace yourself. Some people, they want to rebuke, they want to take on Satan themselves. Stop talking to him. Talk to Jesus. Jesus, could you deal with the devil? He's way better at it than you. I don't know why people pray to him. Let Jesus handle it. That's what I want you to get.

So here you have these false teachers, Jude is pointing out. They revile dignitaries, they reject authority, they live for the flesh and carnality and sin, and they're leading people astray. Jude is warning the church to stay away from them. And next time he describes even more identifiable characteristics of these false teachers and why the church must contend for the faith as they were seeking to undermine it.

Folks, I do believe today—and I know that you can see it, you're discerning people—that there is an all-out battle between good and evil. And I'm not talking politics right now. I'm talking in a spiritual context. Behind all of it, behind all of it, there is a real battle that is taking place.

The spiritual battle right now in this world is more intense, I believe, than it's ever been. I don't know that—I've lived a little while and I've never seen anything like what we're seeing right now. I believe the deception, all of the division, all of the destruction, that's exactly what the devil does. Actually, it's a demonic issue. Satan's behind it.

And you see it happening. There is an all-out battle that's taking place right now and for some reason we're alive, we're here for this moment. Church history is being written right now. And what's it going to look like? What are we going to look like? What's it going to appear like? I don't know. I just know I'm in the thick of it. It is a battle and the only way to fight it like we sang tonight is on our knees with our hands raised saying, "God, you're the victor."

And the great news is we know how it ends. We know the end. And so in the midst, we just keep fighting. And listen, I want to encourage you and I encourage myself with this: try to remember—I'm saying this to you, I'm saying it to myself because I was tested on this this week and you might have been too. But you're probably more spiritual than me.

But here's what happened: I have to remember I'm not fighting against people. I'm not fighting against them. There's something bigger than them, whoever they are. It could be the person at Walmart that wants you to wear a mask when you don't want to. It could be somebody else. The battle isn't against flesh and blood ultimately. It's against principalities and powers.

And we have to learn to fight with the weapons of warfare that aren't carnal, but they're mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. We have to learn to use those. And I'll tell you, God is forming an army to learn to fight with those kind of weapons.

I really see it. I see it. I was sharing this with the staff the other day and again, I promise this is the last story, but it's a biblical one. Remember Gideon? Remember Gideon? That little guy who wasn't very brave and the Lord said, "Hey there, mighty man of valor." He's like, "What? Who you talking to? You? Oh, I'm hiding in a cave. I didn't know you were talking to me."

But anyway, Gideon, the whole story, fast forward. He says, "I'm going to put together an army and you're going to fight against the enemy. You ready for this?" Gideon's like, "Okay." And so he gets—it's like 30,000, it's like tons of people with him, thousands upon thousands. Lord said, "Alright, here's what I want you to say, Gideon: tell everybody who's here, whoever's afraid, just go on home."

And like 30,000 people left. I'm sure Gideon thought there's probably a few that are going to go, but most people are probably brave. I mean, I'm here and I hid in a cave, so probably got a good shot at this. 30,000 people leave because they were afraid. Those people—why would they not be here? 30,000 just they're fearful? Okay, they're gone.

Lord says you still got too many because if I give you the victory, they're going to think that it was them. So take them down to the brook there and have them scoop up the water and whoever laps like a dog, those are the ones I want you to set aside. We're going to use them. That's the unlikely crew right there. That is the unlikely of the unlikely.

And you can picture it in your mind. Those guys, that's the ones, those ones right there. No one would believe that they would be the ones. So those are the ones. And I look around tonight—no, I'm kidding. Actually, I look at myself and I realize that God is—he's doing something, he's up to something and he's assembling an army.

This is just one battalion. They're all over. Just people who are going to fight with the weapons of warfare that are not carnal and they're ready for the battle and they're on their knees and they're prayerful and they're pressing in in spite of everything else that is coming down. Guys, that's us. And we've got to be fit for this fight. We need to be prepared to contend for the faith.

And the only way to be able to contend for the faith is you need to know how to handle the sword of the spirit, friend. You need to know how to handle your armor or you're going to get wiped out. Prayerfully, this is the instruction manual. So we're in it and we're in it to win it. It's actually already been won, but here we are.

So guys, let's fight the good fight of faith in a way that honors God but isn't fearful. We have to keep pressing forward. The course has been set, we keep going. And listen, I don't really know what's going to happen. I don't know what's next. I don't know what's around the corner. I just know that when I get there, he's there already. He's there. He's all around me. I don't have to fear. So may God help us to contend for the faith.

Announcer: Well, we hope you've seen just how important it is that we contend for the faith and that you'll take the challenge and run with it. Today on A Daily Walk, we've been in the book of Jude with Pastor John Randall. His message is called A Good Reminder. You can hear this program again when you visit adailywalk.org, oneplace.com, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Pastor John's teachings are also accessible through our app too. Just search for Calvary South OC in the App Store or Google Play. Well, since Mother's Day falls within this month of May, we've picked out a special book for your moms. It's A Mom After God's Own Heart. Written by Elizabeth George, you'll learn 10 powerful ways to love your children.

It contains easy-to-implement principles for enjoyable and effective parenting, specific tools for teaching your kids about God's love for them, and biblical insight to encourage you along the way. The cost is just $12. Order it today at adailywalk.org or call us at 877-242-0828. And thank you for helping us get the word out on stations like this one all across the country.

People today desperately need the hope and encouragement that God's word provides and your support helps to make that possible. To donate to the ministry, please go to adailywalk.org or call 877-242-0828. By the way, I also want to mention Pastor John is on X and Instagram. If you are too, start following him on X @pjrandall7, on Instagram @johnprandall. We'll catch you back here next time when Pastor John Randall again exhorts us to contend for the faith through a study in Jude. We'll hear a strong warning tomorrow.