In this enlightening episode of ‘Through the Bible’, Dr. J. Vernon McGee guides us through the complex narrative of eight distinct judgments outlined in scripture. Reflecting on his upbringing and the multitude of interpretations surrounding Judgment Day, Dr. McGee delves into theological insights from scholars like Dr. Chafer. Discover the nuances of past, present, and future judgments and understand the distinct circumstances and subjects for each. Join the journey through Jude, exploring how the divine cross laid the foundation for the judgment of sin and the salvation of mankind.
The foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith.
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to Through the Bible. Today, our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, is going to tell us that we’re living in a test tube generation. I’m Steve Schweitz, your host, and we’ll get to what that means in just a minute as we continue our study in the New Testament book of Jude. If you’re new to the Bible Bus, well, thanks for joining us. You know, you’re now a member of Through the Bible’s listening family that literally spans the world with studies of the Word of God in more than 250 languages and people all over the world. Now, together, we’re on a five-year journey through God’s entire Word, and it doesn’t matter where you start. Dr. McGee designed this study so that you can get on or off at any time. He also planned the journey so that we move back and forth between the Old and New Testaments. Along the way, if you ever miss a study and you want to listen again, well, you can find all of our programs in our app or online at ttb.org, and, of course, they’re all free. Or if you prefer, we also have a Bible bus flash drive that’s available for purchase. It includes the entire five-year Bible teaching by Dr. McGee, as well as all of his notes and outlines and over 100 digital booklets. Again, our website is ttb.org or call us 1-800-65-BIBLE to find out more. As we get started, Dr. McGee begins a new series of introductions on the judgments of God. Let’s listen.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now today, I want to begin a brief series of the judgments that are in the Word of God. I don’t know about you, but I was brought up in a church where actually the pastor was not very well trained. In fact, I doubt whether he’d ever been through college. And we were taught, I remember as a boy, that there’s coming a great general judgment day. And it was a very awesome sort of thing. It was confused with the great white throne judgment. And it was a time when the lost were put on one side, the saved on another. And then eternity began. It was just as simple as that. The only thing is that it was very confusing when you come to certain scriptures. Now, we have had more questions on our question and answer program that relate to the Judgment Day, and that’s been especially recently. And we felt that this would certainly be helpful as we are looking at these last books of the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments. Now, there are eight judgments that are specifically mentioned. Dr. Chafer and his theology brings these eight together. And it’s actually a different group in each judgment. The charge is different. The circumstances and times are different. And the subjects of judgment are not the same in these different judgments. And the judgment is conducted for a different purpose in each one of them. Now, these eight judgments, one of them is past, two of them is present, and five of them are still in the future. Now, the first judgment, the one judgment that is in the past, is the divine judgment through the cross. That is, by the cross, why sin was judged. And therefore, we have in that judgment of the sin of the world. Christ, actually, he had a judgment death. Christ died for the sin of the world. and dying for the sin of the world, we need to be very careful here because there are those that say that he only died for just certain ones, when I think scripture makes it very clear that he died for the sin of the whole world, for every person.
SPEAKER 02 :
Let’s pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for the opportunity to study together. We ask that you’d guide your spirit to change and challenge us as we turn our attention to your word. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Turn to Jude 9 as it’s time to make our way through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, friends, we come back to this little epistle of Jude, and I think probably since we’ve been in it now for several days, we need to back up and just take a brief review that will be helpful for us. Now, we have found out that Jude was the half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the flesh, but he never mentions it for several reasons. The early church, after the apostles, gave a particular prominence to the family of Jesus. And Jude certainly would not agree with that because he calls himself only a servant of Jesus Christ. And after all, we know him no longer after the flesh, but the resurrected, glorified Christ. Now, Jude picked up the pen of inspiration to write. This man, during the lifetime of our Lord, never believed in him. It was not until after his death and resurrection. So he’s now writing of the resurrected Lord, and he had to come as any other sinner to Christ for salvation. And so this man picked up the pen of inspiration to write on some theme or truth concerning our gospel, our salvation. He could have picked justification by faith. But Paul had written on that in Romans, and he could have picked the resurrection of Christ, but Paul had written on that in 1 Corinthians. Or he could have picked the doctrine of reconciliation, but Paul had written on that in 2 Corinthians. Or probably could have written on the great subject of faith, but Paul had written on that in Galatians and also Hebrews. Or he could have picked the body of Christ. The church is the body of Christ, but Paul had written on that in Ephesians. Or he could have picked the person of Christ, but Paul had written on that in Colossians. Or he could have written on our great high priest, but the writer to Hebrews had already written on that. Or he could have picked fellowship, but John was going to write on that later on. So the Spirit of God caused him to develop another subject and not develop one of the great doctrines. The Spirit of God arrested his purpose before he could even put down his subject and directed him into another channel. And the subject was the coming apostasy. And what Jude did was to hang out a red lantern on the most dangerous curve along the highway the church is traveling. And the Bible blesses coming along that same highway. And that’s the reason we’re paying attention to this red lantern that Jude has put out for us. And it describes in vivid terms, with awe-inspiring language, the frightful condition. that was coming in the future. Or this little epistle’s like a burglar alarm that apostates have broken into the church. They came in the side door. Nobody was watching that side door, so they came in. And this little epistle is like the first atom bomb that was exploded. The first one didn’t fall in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but it fell, by the way, when Jude wrote this little epistle. It’s an atom bomb, and it exploded in the early church as a warning. Now, as we’ve already indicated, what was a little cloud the size of a man’s hand is now a raging storm that’s lashing across the church, casting up foam and fury today. And we need to hang out this epistle as a storm warning, because the apostasy is here in our midst today. Now, I say this not with any great joy, are with any feeling of bitterness, but I make it as a statement of fact. All the great denominations of the past are largely gone. They have departed from the faith. probably never to return. They’ve gone into never-never land. As far as I know, there’s no record of a church or an organization or an institution having once departed from the faith ever returning. Now, I’m told there have been some individuals that have. I do not know any of them, but this is a sad thing. Actually, the Wesleyan movement that began back in England It was a come-out movement. It was begun when the church became cold and indifferent in that day, and the church of Wesley became a warm incubator to reproduce life. But I’m sorry to say that in many places it’s a deep freeze that preserves the outward form of Wesley, but does not have the warmth and the life that was there. Now, other new movements have arisen. And in the past, like great waves, they brought revival into the church. And I’m very frank to say that I do not think fundamentalism as it is today is the answer. I don’t feel that it is. I’ve recently perceived a real weakness, which I think will ultimately undermine even fundamentalism. That is simply this. It’s been exact and precise and doctrined. But it’s been devoid in many cases of ethics and morals. There are no high principles and practices. There’s been a moral breakdown outside in contemporary society. But unfortunately, it’s mirrored in our conservative churches today. I was with a group some time ago, and they used me a great deal, and they’re a fine group. But this is an illustration of what I mean. They’re insistent and even belligerent about doctrine and separation. And it was called to their attention that one in their midst was guilty of immorality. And actually, they defended him and the ethical practices of another individual in his community. They smelt to high heaven. But he’s supposed to be a fundamentalist. May I say to you, they took a ho-hum attitude. Unfortunately, today, that has hurt the cause of Christ a great deal because it’s come from the inside. Now, we’re going to see in this epistle, what can believers do in days like this? Now, it may be that there’s some that are listening in and saying, Preacher, you’re really being sensational. And aren’t you exaggerating just a little bit? I don’t think I am, friends, at all. In fact, I’m not sure but what I’m giving this in low key to you today. I’d like to pass on to you a study that was made and statements that have been made by liberal preachers that are right today in pulpits. Out of a poll of 700 preachers recently, the following results were given. 48% denied the complete inspiration of the Bible. 24% rejected the atonement. 12% rejected the resurrection of the body. And 27% did not believe that Christ will return. a certain minister in Washington, D.C. I’m not sure but what he’s still there. He says, we liberal clergymen are no longer interested in the fundamental modernist controversy. We do not believe we should even waste our time engaging in it. So far as we are concerned, it makes no difference whether Christ was born of a virgin or not. We don’t even bother to form an opinion on this subject. And then over in Arlington, Virginia, That’s across the river. There was a minister there. He says, we’ve closed our minds to such trivial consideration as the question of the resurrection of Christ. If you fundamentalists wish to believe that nonsense, we have no objection, but we have more important things to preach than the presence or absence of an empty tomb 20 centuries ago. And another minister in Washington, D.C. said flatly, in our denomination, what you call the faith of our fathers is approaching total extinction. Of course, a few of the older ministers still cling to the Bible, but among the younger men, the real leaders of our denomination today, I do not know a single one who believes in Christ or any of the things that you classify as fundamentals.” Now, my friend, have I exaggerated? Have I overstated the case of whether we’re in the apostasy or not? And whether there are certain men that have crept in, that means they’re creeps, by the way, they have crashed in the side door. We have here, and we’ve been over this, the three examples of groups that God has judged in the past for a departure from the faith. Israel would not enter into the land because of unbelief. And then the angels who kept not their first estate. God already has them bound under chains, under darkness. By the way, that throws a little different light upon hell, does it not? I have always felt that instead of hell being a lighted-up place, sort of like Broadway, the gay white way, that it was a place of total darkness. And I think that actually is truer to what the Word of God has to say. And that’s in verse 6, by the way. Then he gave Sodom and Gomorrah as examples. There was rebellion among the angels, and now Sodom and Gomorrah, they were guilty of the grossest immorality, and God judged them. Now, he speaks of these apostates that come in as dreamers. We saw that last time. Actually, they defile the flesh. They engage in base and abnormal immorality. They approve the homosexuality today. And many churches have gone on record that they do. They despise dominion. That is, they reject authority. It was tragic during all the protests, marches in this country to see men with their collars buttoned in the back leading it. I always felt that their collar buttoned in the back was a real token. They were going the wrong direction. They should have gone another direction. And then there’s a disrespect of dignities. Now, we have here an unusual statement, and it was in verse 9. And I’m just going to pass on to you now what I have in my notes, because all of you do not have these notes, and you certainly need them. And this is my note on verse 9. It says, “…this is a most remarkable verse.” Satan is a fallen creature and an avowed enemy of God. Yet Michael, when contending about the body of Moses, would not bring a sentence that would impugn the dignity of Satan. Michael even respected the position of Satan. Clement. And he was one of the early church fathers. He quotes from an apocryphal writing dealing with the funeral of Moses. And when Michael was commissioned to bury Moses, Satan opposed it on the grounds that since he was the master of the material and matter, the body belonged to him. Michael’s only answer was, the Lord, that is the Creator, rebuked thee. Satan also brought the charge of murder against Moses. Also, it’s suggested that Satan wanted to hinder the latter appearance of Moses at the Mount of Transfiguration. Now, that verse reads, and I’ll begin there today, “…yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses.” dared not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. And I think I ought to pass on to you what Dr. Weiss gives to us as his translation. And as you know, I’m quoting him many times. He has a very fine translation. Listen to this, “…yet Michiel the archangel, when disputing with the devil, arguing concerning the body of Moses, dared not bring a sentence that would impugn his dignity, but said, May the Lord rebuke you.” Now, we have here in the next verse, and all of these are remarkable verses, but these, now who are these? The certain men that crept in unawares, the apostates that have come into the church, But these speak evil of those things which they know not, but what they know naturally as brute beasts in those things they corrupt themselves. Now, I’d like as best I can to make this verse understandable to you because it’s another one of the important verses in this epistle. Now, to begin with, when he says these speak evil, the word in the Greek is blasphemy. Blasphemio. And blasphemio, our English word by transliteration, is blaspheme. They actually blaspheme. These speak evil. They blaspheme those things which they know not. but that which they know naturally. Now, there are two different words used for know, and without knowing that, by the way, it’s difficult to know exactly what Jude means here. Now, the first know is oida, and that speaks of mental comprehension and knowledge. And that’s the meaning that Vincent gives. And it refers to the whole range of invisible things. You know, knowledge is not confined to what you pour in a test tube or look at under a microscope. A great many people think that is true. But actually, the finer things of life today are things you can’t put under the microscope. You just can’t pour them in a test tube. How about a wonderful piece of music today? What happens to it when you stick it down in a test tube or look at it under the microscope? May I say that it needs to be translated into sound, and the ear needs to hear it. You can’t see it at all. It’s actually invisible. Love is invisible. You couldn’t put love under the microscope. How about faith? You can’t put it under the microscope. My friends, there are a great many things I know, and I know it without any proof of taking it to the laboratory. Now, as Spurgeon put it, no one has to tell me that honey is sweet. I know that. A lot of things that I know and you know that you can’t put under the test tube. And so that word here, they speak of that which they don’t know. And this Washington preacher, he thought he was very brilliant by saying that he no longer believed in a resurrection. May I say to you that there are a lot of things he doesn’t know, many things that he does not know. But now the next word is epistomai, and that means to understand. And Vincent says that it was originally a use of skill and handicraft and refers to palpable things, objects of sense, the circumstances of sensual enjoyment. Now, here is where you pour things in the test tube. They only know what they can handle, what they can see. That is all that these folk know. This is the word that is here. And they’re like brute beasts. in those things, because after all, a brute beast only knows about the hay or the grass or the corn or another animal that it can eat, and that is that which they know by instinct. The ducks, you know, in the wintertime when it’s fall of the year, They’re up in Canada. They’re having a nice summer up there. And all of a sudden, they take off. Somebody says, boy, are they smart. Those ducks know that before long, it’ll be winter. And that snow will be on the ground. The lake’s going to freeze over. And they take off for the south. They go all the way down into Central America and Mexico. They go down there. They’re very smart. No, they’re not. They just move just like a beast, just like a bird moves. There’s no comprehension, no understanding. And this generation that thinks it’s so smart today because it only believes what it can pour in a test tube is a poor generation. They don’t understand anything that a brute beast couldn’t understand. They have not reached the higher plane of knowledge of what Paul called epigonosco. Paul says you can know that the Bible is the Word of God. You can know that Jesus is the Savior of the world. Now these, just knowing physical things, they think they know everything that can be known. They corrupt themselves. That’s the picture of the apostate. Now he says, woe unto them. And the word here for woe is the word ui. And these that speak evil, it’s woe unto them, for they’ve gone in the way of Cain. And they ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and they perished in the gainsaying of Korah. Now, we’ve had these three before us back in 2 Peter. We’ll have them before us again in Revelation as examples. But in each case, it’s a different example. Now, we are told here, and the word woe here is ui. The word itself denotes grief or a denunciation. And here, it’s the latter. It’s a denunciation. Woe to thee! And they have gone here, we’re told, they’ve gone first in the way of Cain. And they’ve gone greedily after the heir of Balaam for reward and perished in the gainsaying of Kor. Now, the first one of Cain, he was a religious man, but a natural man. He believed in God. He believed in religion. But he did it after his own will. He rejected redemption by blood. And he will come his own way to God. That’s the picture of the apostate today. Actually, the man calls himself a liberal and a modernist. Well, my friend, this is old as the Garden of Eden. Right outside the Garden of Eden, Cain was a modernist. He was a liberal. He believed in religion and God. But may I say to you, he did it his way, not God’s way. We must leave off there, but we’ll pick right up there next time. And until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 02 :
Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, I’m Steve Schwetz. For all of us here at Through the Bible, we’re grateful for your company on the Bible Bus and your partnership in taking God’s whole word to the whole world.
SPEAKER 03 :
Jesus made it all All to Him I owe
SPEAKER 02 :
Our journey on the Bible bus today is supported by the prayers and gifts of fellow passengers as we travel through the Bible.
