The Letter of Jude: Jude 1:5-7

Jude 1:5-7

Title: Corruption of Apostates.  

Analysis:

                The true people of God and the truth of the Word of God has been under siege from the beginning of time. Pride was the sin that felled the first evil doer and cast Satan from the highest heaven (Is. 14:12) to crawl on his belly on the earth (Gen. 3:14). From that place he corrupted mankind with his lies, and the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16) destroyed the human race and tainted it with sin. From that point on the world became corrupted day by day and when only four people lived on earth there was the first murder. After generations of sin, hate, and rebellion against God the Lord looked down from heaven on earth and saw that, “…the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Thus apostasy reigned supreme for man had exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creation rather than the Creator. One could, if they so wished, trace apostasy from the beginning of time until the 21st century noting how all throughout the age’s men have rebelled against God. Jude, the author of our letter, was a man who had the keen discernment to notice this apostasy. Apostasy is a dangerous thing but those who are most dangerous to the church are those who dwell inside it. These men are the spiritual terrorists who corrupt the saints by twisting truth and making it error. These men look like the real thing and some even have aspects of truth about them and teach truthful things but there is always error mixed into their teaching as well. Jude is writing no more than 35-40 years since the church was formed and he has recognized that apostates have already infiltrated it. This small but poignant letter to the saints exposes apostates for who they really are showing how they are rebels against holy God. In our last section we saw how these men infiltrate the church in a subtle way mixing truth with error and deceive the people of God. Jude pleaded with his readers to contend against these men as in battle for the faith. The faith is what is under attack and it will be destroyed if it is not defended by faithful men. Jude marked out these men by three distinct characteristics; they are ungodly, they turn God grace into license for sin, and they deny the master and Lord Jesus Christ. Because of their deceptions and that fact that they are spiritual terrorists Jude says that they were long beforehand marked out for condemnation. These men will be condemned and this reminder is a warning by Jude to those who read the letter that those who try to pervert the scriptures will face a just judgment of the Lord. They will not be able to escape God’s wrath. As Hebrews 10:26-27 says, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.” The judgment of God is a reality and whether you choose to believe in it or not, it is coming. There is ample warning in the scriptures to turn from your sin, to forsake your ways, and to live for God, but when one continues in sin after he has a knowledge of the truth there will be no hope of escape. Such men who do this are apostates, those who corrupt the church, who destroy families, and who love sin. In our passage today Jude will give three Old Testament examples of apostates and shows that although they may have thought they could escape the judgment of God, they were utterly destroyed by His just and righteous wrath. Let us therefore heed the warning of Hebrews 10:31, that reminds us that, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” The three verses that we shall study today can be divided into three sections, “Apostate Israel” (5), “Apostate Angels” (6), and “Apostate Cities” (7). Each one of these examples will show how mankind turned away from their previous loyalty to show that they were never truly the Lord’s in the first place. Those who choose to utterly reject God and sin in such blatant and immoral ways can only expect God’s supreme and damning judgment.

                Jude writes in verse 5, “Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.” Jude begins his description of apostates by looking into the past and seeing how these men have been displayed throughout history. He wants to provide further insight into these deceivers and their methods showing that at heart, they are rebels against Holy God, His Word, and His ways. Jude’s readers apparently know all too well of what he is referring to as he says, ‘though you know all things once for all’. These messages of apostasy were not unfamiliar, they were common, and they were well understood by his readers. Jude wants his readers to understand that these defectors always meet the same fate, which is the judgment of God. The first of these examples is not only familiar to his predominantly Jewish audience but also very familiar to us Gentiles as well. His topic of choice is the salvation of Israel from the land of Egypt. This account is recorded in the Old Testament book of Exodus that describes God’s salvation of Israel and His subsequent leading of them throughout the wilderness. Duet. 4:34 gives a brief description of this by saying, “Or has a God tried to take for Himself a nation from within another nation by trials by sign and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?” God, by an amazing supernatural display of His glory, majesty and dominion showed mercy and grace to Israel saving them from the land of Egypt. They were His chosen people (Gen. 12:2) who He had promised to make great and to magnify His name through them on the earth. But His name was not going to be magnified through their sins. Jude makes reference that God, ‘subsequently destroyed those who did not believe’ and this is a stinging reminder to his readers. Israel had been saved by God through His many miracles but when Moses went to go up on the mountain to speak to God for 40 days and 40 nights the people became restless. They murmured against God and lost hope in Moses and in no time they had erected for themselves an idol and bowed down to it saying, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” Israel rebelled and worshipped this golden calf all the while committing sins of gross immorality and reveling in their orgies. They had apostatized from the Lord and proven that they were never His to begin with. At this moment Moses and the sons of Levi were used by God in divine judgment to strike down those who would not turn from their idolatry and immorality. But this is only a small picture of Israel’s rebellion against God. Throughout their wilderness wandering the entire congregation that God has saved grumbled and complained and rebelled against His holy name. God’s ultimate judgment upon them is summed up in Numbers 14:26-38, “The Lord spoke… “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation grumbling against Me?” ‘As I live,’ says the Lord…so surely I will do to you; your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men…twenty years old and upward. Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you…your children…I will bring them in…” and thus the Lord continues to outline the supreme rebellion of Israel. They claimed to have a love for Yahweh but by their deeds they denied Him. They lived in the lusts of impurity and worshipped false gods. In short, they apostatized and become pagan. Israel is a vivid reminder to Jude’s readers of what happens to those who (whether or not they are teachers) hear what God commands them to do and do not obey. The Lord will condemn all such men!

                Not only is Israel a reminder of past apostasy but Jude also brings to the remembrance angels who rebelled against God and fled from heaven to commit heinous acts of immorality amongst the people of the world. This example is perhaps a little less familiar to us but is still a vital example to us to not become proud but to watch ourselves lest we fall. “And angles who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,” Apparently, to Jude’s readers this example of Apostate angels was familiar to them and with a careful study of the Old Testament one would not take long to stumble into the text that Jude is referring to. The text Jude speaks of Genesis 6:1-7. This passage speaks of an unimaginable and supernatural occurrence that happened in the days of Noah. Jude is not referring to Satan, and he is obviously not referring to something we or his readers knew nothing about. This in fact is a heinous event that was so severe that God placed these wicked demons under bonds until they were to be judged.

                In the days of Noah men were multiplying rapidly on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them. When these angels in heaven saw that daughters of men they rebelled in heaven breaking their natural order and left the realm that God had put them in. They had abandoned their proper abode which was the spiritual world and became influencers in the natural. The point remains, that they rebelled against God and were defectors to His law. These perverse angels came to earth and possessed the bodies of men controlling them with a demon influence. By doing this they were able to fulfil their sexual passions and immorality by cohabiting with women and breeding a race of human hybrids. Jude compares them to those in Sodom and Gomorrah who committed gross immorality. No wonder the thoughts of man were, ‘only evil continually’ because of the powerful and perverse influence of these demon possessed men who tore the world apart. God even said that He was sorry that He made man upon the earth. And because God is just, their judgment was not idle. God destroyed the entire human race, save Noah and his family, by the sending of the global, worldwide flood that consumed and drowned all life. Only that which was on the ark was spared from the complete judgment. And not only was all life killed, but these angles specifically were cast into pits of darkness reserved for them by God. Because they broke the natural law God would never allow this to happen again. These angels are kept in eternal bonds and one day they will be judged, thrown into the lake of fire and be tormented for all eternity.

                The third and final example that Jude gives his readers is that of “Apostate Cities” and by this he covers all his bases, Jews, angles, and Gentiles. This third and final example may be the most familiar to us of the three as Jude briefly explains how Sodom and Gomorrah were in complete and utter rebellion towards God. “Just as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.” This final indictment that Jude refers to is the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah as outlined in Genesis 18-19. God saw that the sins that were committed in these cities was exceedingly wicked and evil in His eyes. Their sin of choice was homosexuality or, historically known as sodomy. Just as the angels did, the men of Sodom and Gomorrah indulged in gross, disgusting, and debauched sexual sin. The Lord himself sent two angels to Sodom to warn Lot of the coming judgment of God and the men of Sodom wanted to take them and have relations with them. Their minds were twisted and perverted in the vilest way and they burned for homosexual passion. When Lot, his wife and two daughter fled the city Genesis 19:24, “Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities and all in the valley, and all the inhabitants of those cities, and what grew on the ground. But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” Total, complete, utter devastation from the hand of sovereign God.

                And thus Jude gives us three examples of those who rebelled against God. This is a sobering reminder to his readers and to us of the ultimate fate that awaits those who defect from faith in the Lord. Because of this we are then forced passionately into our defense of the truth for men today are no different than these Old Testament examples and they will come to the same end for their wicked deeds that they purport within the church. These men do not realize that the severest and worst eternal suffering in hell is reserved for them because they knew the truth, they knew the gospel of Christ and yet they trampled underfoot His blood. And worse than the fate of those who practice unbelief are those who teach others that their damming heresies are true. Corrupt Apostates will be damned by God and cursed forever.

Response:

                The message of Jude cannot be but a sobering message, but oh what an accurate one! I am humbled by the Lord that he has chosen me to be a defender of his truth and I pray with all my heart that He would expose in me any form of falsehood or any lie that would be of cause to twist and pervert His gospel. I shudder to think of the consequences that men will face for leading thousands away from the gospel of Christ and for twisting the Scriptures to their own fancy. I shudder to think of the responsibility that the ministry carries and the burden it is to handle the Word of God rightly. I pray that the Lord would make me heed the warning given and that I would be a man who can discern truth from error so that I would, by some humble way, be a means of blessing to the people of God. For those who know the truth and yet reject it and purport their damming lies, may they be accursed (Gal. 1:9) and may they be called to a saving knowledge of God before it is too late. If they do not, they can be sure to face the judgment that these three apostate groups faced, that of eternal torment in the fiery hell.   

The Letter of Jude: Jude 1:3-4

Jude 1:3-4

Title: Contend Against Apostates.

Analysis:

                As we continue the study of the book of Jude we are thrown immediately into the heart of the letter and we see the main point that he is trying to convey: Apostates are in the Church. As we studied last time we saw that Jesus, Paul, Peter, and John all warned that apostasy was coming. They described the false teachers as ‘savage wolves’ who ‘would not spare the flock’. These men are haters of God, insolent and proud and they seek only for their own gain twisting perverting the scripture to their own advantage. Perhaps the most surprising thing we learnt about these men is that they are inside the church. John Macarthur described them in the best way that I can think of; they are, “Spiritual Terrorists” and they will do anything, even blow and destroy their own lives for the sake of destroying others along with themselves. They are like their father the devil who constantly roams about seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). While these men were warned of by Jesus and other writers of scripture, Jude gives us the sober message that they are already here. Not only that, but it did not take long for these men to come and they have infiltrated the church even to the point of destroying some (Rev. 2-3). Without a doubt their false teaching has been the greatest threat to the church from the first century all the way until now. These false teachers are a subtle and deceptive poison that slowly permeate the church and then they raise their beastly head to bring it crashing down. While threats from the outside are repelled by the church, it is easy to spot those who openly reject the truth by denying the gospel. The real threat is from within, those who claim to teach the gospel, those who have a gospel message that looks good. These men are spiritual predators and they are either leaders in the church or they attach themselves to leaders in the church for the sake of destroying the flock. As a result many undiscerning saints are dragged away by their smooth and flattering speech and the result is devastating. Jesus himself warned against these men in Matthew 7:15-20 commanding the saints to examine them by their fruit. The way you spot a spiritual terrorist is to watch them closely and examine to see if they practice what they claim to teach and love. It will not be long before they are made evident by their heresies and it will be shown that they do not love God but rather love to pilfer the saints and destroy the church. Jude therefore serves us and theses false teachers a twofold warning; for us we are to declare war on apostates and for the apostates they are to be warned of their eternal judgment. It is not by accident that Jude comes right before the book of Revelation. In this revelation that follows Jude we see the eternal consequences for those who will not repent: “And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever.” (Rev. 20:9-10) “…they were judged everyone according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Rev. 20:13-15). One day those who choose to reject the faith will be judged and devoured by the wrath of God. This day is inescapable and those who dare to attack and attempt to destroy the church of the Lord will face this punishment forever. Jude will now give us his reason for writing and then introduce us to these men. In verse 3, “Reason for Writing” and in verse 4, “The Apostates Revealed”.

                Jude, after making his introductory remarks to the saints beings by saying, “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you content earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” As we read this verse it seems as though Jude had different plans when he took pen in hand to write this letter. Jude says that he was making, ‘every effort’ to write them about their common salvation. This effort implies earnestness and haste, he was giving diligence, and striving to write this letter to them. Jude desired that they would be encouraged and he thought that the best way to encourage them would be by writing them about ‘our common salvation’. Salvation, is the greatest commonality that saints have for one is only a saints if they are saved. Salvation is the present benefit of all Christians and we are saved from the power of sin and death (1 Cor. 15). Jude had originally intended to write them about the wondrous truth of salvation, such that would bring them great joy and remind them of the love that the Lord had showed to them. Instead, by the working of the Holy Spirit Jude’s mind was changed. How his mind was changed or why he changed topic of choice we do not know. Perhaps Jude has received word that this so precious salvation was under attack by apostates and therefore he writes to contend against such men. Jude says he felt ‘the necessity’ to write that they contend for the faith. The word necessity conveys a burden, it is a necessity imposed upon him by the current situation, or just the fact that it was his duty. In light of the fact that there are apostates teachers Jude’s desires changed into a need and that need was to expose the false teachers for who they really were. They way an apostate is exposed is by those who love the truth to ‘contend earnestly for the faith’. Contend is a serious word meaning that they were to struggle, and fight against theses false teachers. The Greek word is epagonizomai in which we can see the word agony. This contending was in earnest, it was to be a battle a fight. Saints are to declare war on those who dare try to twist and pervert the truth. We are to put on the full armor of God and to fight the good fight. This battle is a never ending battle that has continued from Jude’s day until now. What then are we to contend for? “The faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.” This faith is not a set of truths, it is not blind faith. Rather this is the faith of Christianity, the truths of the gospel message, God’s objective truth, and the very words of God. This is the same faith that Paul urged Timothy to keep in 2 Timothy 1:13, “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love of which are in Christ Jesus.” This faith is pure and true and to twist such a message as these apostate teachers were doing is to invite the curse of God (Gal. 1:9). The fact that this faith is handed down means that in part it is defendant on the preacher to communicate it accurately, boldly and with much passion and conviction. It is once for all handed down, meaning that no one is to add to it or take away from it, it is a complete faith. This faith as we know is the canon of scripture. And God as he has promised will never allow his word to fail but even to this day, some 2,000 years later that faith has been handed down to us.

                Now that we have established what it is we are fighting for, Jude will make known to us who it is we are fighting against. These apostates will be revealed in their true colors and their deeds will be exposed, showing that they are haters of God and distorters of the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. The message that Jude brings is not one of hope. It is a description of the enemy and their evil deeds, it defines who they are and what they intend to do to the truth. Jude want the saints to know that sound doctrine is under siege and that it always will be. In each generation there must be men of faith who will rise up to defend this doctrine and to call out the spiritual apostates. There is no place for heresy in the church, this is a war for the souls of men. As Jude begins he says, “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only master and Lord Jesus Christ.” Jude’s warning, as we have compared it with others, is real. There are no more games being played no more predictions about false teachers, no more statements that they will come for they are here! Jude calls them certain persons. He need not name them, we know who they are. We do not need to outline their false teaching or explain why they deny certain parts of the scriptures, Jude can see them for who they really are. He says that these certain persons have, ‘crept in unnoticed’. This original Greek word has the connotation of slipping in secretly with evil intentions. These men creep in, they slip past the security, they look like the real deal, they say all the right things, or so it seems. In fact they are corrupt and evil, they use their twisting of scripture oh so subtlety so as to look like the real deal. They get the praise of men but never will they receive praise from God. As we know there are many false teachers outside the church, but those men are easy to spot. They deny the resurrection, that Jesus is God, the virgin birth, and other things that we so foolishly call the ‘major doctrines of the faith’. But spiritual terrorists also twist and pervert scripture in other areas. They allow women in leadership, they want to infant baptize, they distort the end times and eschatology, and they put little emphasis on holiness or sanctification. These men want you to live your best life now, they want you to always look at the cross but never look at the path of sanctification, they want to be relevant with the culture and contextualize the scriptures. These men dam people’s souls when they twist the truths of the gospel as they place the responsibility for men to choose God and not God to choose them, they make light of sin and judgement and emphasis that ‘Love wins’. They declare to have the gifts of healing, miracles, even claim to be perfect yet they pilfer men for the sake of sordid gain. They take Christ, self-sacrifice, and biblical love away from marriage claiming you need to find your spouses ‘Love Language’. They spread the heresy that man is not totally depraved and that we need more self-esteem. They deny truth and spread psychological lies among the saints damming people in their sins and saying that they can never change. These men are the instruments of Satan and they are Spiritual terrorists. They are in the church and they go unnoticed. And just as the terrorist does, they blow up their lives and no-doubt kill others as well. These men look so good but they are so wrong and therefore Jude exposes their deeds and damns their behavior!

                These men were, ‘long beforehand marked out for this condemnation’. God has not forgotten about these men and although they may think that they will escape with no punishment they are dead wrong. These men are those who the Lord spoke of that caused His little ones to stumble (Matt. 18:6) and it would be better for them to have a millstone hung around their necks and that they would be drown in the depths of the sea. What an indictment that should cause us to tremble in fear before the judgment of God. God has not forgotten His children and those who infiltrate the church and seek their harm will be damned. Better to have never been born into this world that to suffer the wrath of God for being apostate and for destroying His children. Their judgment is marked out and they will be judged by God. For men like these there is little hope and the fury of a fire and a terrifying expectation of wrath.

                Jude then tells us the character of these men and it can be summed up in a word: ungodly. These men are ungodly, against God, and God haters. They do not worship God nor give thanks to Him but in futility there mind has been darkened (Rom. 2). The greatest way that they showed a lack of love for God was that it was the church of God they infiltrated and attacked. They are devoid of worship to God and rather they worship themselves and get people to do the same. The main way that they do this is by, ‘turning God’s grace into licentiousness’. This is perhaps one of the most common but also most damnable tactics of these false teachers. They turn God’s grace into unrestrained vice, sin and all sorts of perversion. Literally ‘gross immorality’ describing the immoral lifestyle of the man who flaunts his sin without shame before men and God by indulging in it unchecked and unchanged by God’s commands. Paul condemned this heretical teaching in Romans 6:1-2, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” The thought of using God’s grace as an excuse for sin is unthinkable and bizarre, and yet this is one of the main teachings that an apostate will try to infiltrate into the church. By the time of A.D. 95 and following there were already sects and groups of men who taught this called the Nicolaitans (Rev. 2:6; 14-15). They had infiltrated at least one of the churches in Revelation and were no doubt imposing their falsehood to the others as well. About these men the Lord Jesus said that He hated their deeds. The end result then of the teaching of these men is that, ‘they deny our only master and Lord Jesus Christ’. If there are men who need to be spotted, silenced, and sentenced to be excommunicated from the church it is these men. They end result of their teaching is that they deny the master and Lord, the one who is our Saviour the one who is the Son of God. Ultimately their teaching is blasphemy and they refuse to submit to Christ’s sovereign Lordship nor will they give Him the due honour that He deserves. By this and through their deeds they are easily spotted and shown to be counterfeit. As Titus 1:16 says, “They profess to know God but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.” These apostates have been exposed for who they truly are and there is no room to allow for men like this to infiltrate the church. Those who deny Christ and His gospel and who teach a message that distorts God in any way shape or form is to be “Anathema!”      

Response:

                Jude deals so very seriously with this issue of apostasy in the church. No doubt he has seen those in the church who have tried to destroy it and no doubt he often heard the reports of false teaching that had arisen in the church. The key to stifling these false teachers is to identify them early, before they get a foothold and being to stir up a rebellion amongst the people. I know from personal experience how these apostates work and I have seen them destroy people’s lives by their craftiness and deceitful scheming. Their work is deadly, devastating, and most of all saddening beyond measure. I have seen lives utterly destroyed by them and the teaching these men spread was exactly what Jude said they would. They turned God’s grace into licentiousness and in effect they denied the Master and Lord Jesus Christ. It is hard not to become embittered against these men, but we are not to curse them. God alone has judgement reserved for them and He will make sure that those who destroy the church will not escape His wrath. Those of us who love the truth are to hold onto the message of Christ that was given to the church of Sardis in Revelation 3:4-5, “But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”

Blessings,
           Lucas C.

The Letter of Jude: Jude 1:1-2

Jude 1:1-2

Title: Called, Beloved, Kept.

Analysis:

                Two verses that have stood out to me in my recent study of the Word of God are Psalm 119:140, which says, “Your Word is very pure, therefore your servant loves it.” And Psalm 119:160, “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous ordinances is everlasting.” These two verses have establish two essential truths in my mind: 1) God’s word is pure 2) God’s Word is completely true. Upon these two statements of fact one can know that the Bible alone is sufficient and relevant for all time and all of life. Something that should not be a surprise to us then is the fact that God’s word is constantly under attack. Throughout the history of the world men have tried to destroy and snuff out the word of God. Satan has never forgotten that God’s Word is completely true and he has no greater desire than to destroy it. From the beginning Satan opened his mouth for the first time and called into question God’s words (Gen 3:1) the second time he spoke he called God a flat out liar (Gen. 3:4)! In no time the Word of God was maligned and questioned as being true and from that point on the human race has been corrupted. For us who are saints, it is easy to spot and see those who hate the truth and seek to destroy it. Evolution is an obvious attack, so is any false religion such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and others. These are picked out by our ‘biblical eyes’ and proven to be false. For this reason Satan has used a more subtle tactic than showing up in his red suit and pitchfork. Instead he, “…disguises himself as an angel of light.” (2 Cor. 11:14). The deadliest and most volatile way that Satan destroys the truth is not coming from those who openly reject and oppose it; Rather Satan’s most effective agents, his greatest spiritual terrorists are those who secretly infiltrate the church, passing off as genuine shepherds and leaders. These men are, in reality, wolves in sheep’s clothing, genuine apostates, deceptive defectors, men who “…profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.” (Tit. 1:16). They affirm with their lips that they are the Lord’s but by their actions they indicate that they are enemies of the truth. Such men as these are Demas (2 Tim. 4:10), Nadab and Abihu (Lev.10:1-2), Judas (Matt. 26:14-16), Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Tim. 1:20), Simon (Acts 8:9-24) and men who, “…cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you have learned…for such men are slaves, not of our Lord Jesus Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.” (Rom. 16:17-18). These men although seeming to be true were false and they became enemies of the cross of Christ (Phil. 3:18).

                These men (and this should be no surprise to us) were in the church. Jesus warned about them in Matt. 7:15 calling them ‘ravenous wolves’, Paul warned about them in Acts 20:29 also calling them, ‘savage wolves’, these men were of a depraved mind and many would arise and mislead many (Matt. 24:11). As the years passed Paul cautioned Timothy about these men saying that they would, ‘fall away from the faith paying attention to…doctrines of demons.’ Peter warned of these apostates in 2 Peter 3:3-6 calling them ‘mockers will come with their mocking following after their own lusts’ and John also called them out in 1 John 4:1-3 saying that these men are ‘false prophets’. Jude, the second last book in the Bible, gives us the message that was predicted: ‘These apostates aren’t coming, they are here!’

                Jude is a book that is left in the shadows of the New Testament so to speak. It is after John’s three epistles that communicate much rich theological truth about the word, the Lord, and love for the saints and it comes just before The Revelation of Jesus Christ one of the most widely questioned and misunderstood books in the entire Bible. Moreover, the topic of choice for Jude is not one that is likely to be preached in churches today. In an age where post-modernism and relevancy reigns supreme, Jude’s message that there are false teachers, apostates, and spiritual terrorists in the church is not one that is to be widely accepted. Jude is condemnatory against these men for he realizes the danger they pose to completely and utterly destroying the church. Because of this message men are not likely to preach from a book that would condemn and judge their own behavior! On the other hand, the message of Jude, to those who are truly saved, is extremely relevant in this culture. Jude’s message reminds us that error, even a little error will pervert, corrupt, and ultimately destroy the church. There is no place for false teaching and no place for compromise. To fail to heed Jude’s message will spell spiritual disaster and will compromise the faith which has been handed down to us throughout the generations.

                Jude, as the title of this book conveys, is the author of this 25 versed letter and it is believed that he wrote it somewhere from 68-70 A.D. This Jude was not the apostle Jude (or ‘Judas’) rather he is one of the four half-brothers of the Lord Jesus (Mark 6:3). This epistle is the fourth shortest in the New Testament and the last of the general epistles before John’s great Revelation. Jude is concise and to the point in his teaching and although he does not quote the Old Testament directly he does allude to it. Perhaps even more interestingly is the fact that he quotes two secular works of his time, 1 Enoch and The Assumption of Moses. The fact that he quotes these works does not mean that they were Biblical or expected to be in the canon, he merely cited them for way of illustrating his point not unlike many preachers do today.

                The church or people that this letter was intended to go to is not specified and in a sense the content of the letter is then magnified. Perhaps it was written for one church perhaps for many, nevertheless the message of apostasy that Jude conveys is extremely important for the church today and therefore I have chose to study it. As we will now delve into the text we will look specifically at only the first two verses today. These verses will be titled, “Called, Beloved, Kept”. Jude seeks to establish confidence in his readers before he rattles off on the dangers that face them every day.

                “Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:” The first verse in this letter of Jude to his fellow believers establishes a firm foundation that they can rest on as he gives them essential truths that will help them fight against apostates in the church. Before we dive into studying these three essential truths it would be wise to note several things about the opening line of the letter. As with letters at the time Jude begins by introducing himself as the author not waiting till the end as we do. He then goes to describe himself in a fascinating way. Jude calls Himself a bond-servant of Christ Jesus. The word ‘bond-servant’ literally means ‘slave’ and this statement would put Christ above Him as his master. The fascinating part is that Jude was a brother (albeit half-brother) of the Lord Jesus. Nevertheless, he would not call himself the brother of the Lord but rather the humble slave. Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension had obviously transformed his life and put him in the place of utmost humility. Jude implies that he is one who is absolutely helpless and submissive to none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Although in this position he was grateful, for who are we to be saved by such a High King as He?

As noted in contrast to being the slave of Christ Jude tells his audience that he is the brother of James. Unlike James he was not an apostle, but nevertheless he would have had a position of some prominence for he was the half-brother of Jesus. Ironically, Jude writes a letter condemning apostasy while bearing the same name of Judas Iscariot the greatest apostate to have ever lived.

                The audience of Jude is near to his heart and even more so near to the heart of the Lord. As he continues, Jude gives a threefold description of those who are saints in the Lord. “To those who are called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:” This description is best explained when broken down, one title at a time and so we will do that here:

1) Called: Who is Jude specifically referring to in this passage? The Called. But who are these called. Well it can be generally understood that those who are the called are Christians or saints of the Lord and this is true. The word called is an adjective and therefore connotes action. To be called specifically meant to be called by God through the proclamation of the gospel and to obtain eternal salvation in Christ. Another way to say it is, ‘divinely selected or appointed’. The emphasis of the call is upon God, He is the one who calls, we respond. This call is the special call that invokes a response from our hearts. It is not just a general call for men to be saved but a specific call in which He awakens our hearts from sin and death and calls us into the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col. 1:13). This call rests solely on His shoulders and it is His work alone (John 6:44). This call is the call that made us chosen in His before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4) to be a people that are holy and blameless in His sight. What an amazing mercy we have received from our heavenly Father!

2) Beloved in God the Father: The second word that Jude uses to describe the Christians is beloved. This phrase is one that immediately evokes tenderness and love within our hearts for our great God. It was the love of God that was poured out on us through Christ Jesus our Lord that saved us (Titus 3:6). And the love that God grants to His children is everlasting and permanent; no one can snatch them from His hand. This simple fact of this statement is that God chose to save believers because He loved them! What a love that God has bestowed upon us! What a love! That we should be called the children of God is unfathomable to me. That he would snatch me from the pits of hell and take me on wings of grace, what love the Father has shown to me so I might one day see His face.

3) Kept for Jesus Christ: Perhaps this truth is one of the most beloved of the saints. We are not only called and beloved by God, we are also kept for Christ Jesus. This much loved doctrine is that of eternal security. As children of God we are completely, totally, and eternally secure in the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 6:37 the Lord Jesus says, “All that that the Father gives to me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out.” Once you are saved you are always saved, God will not abandon you, the Holy Spirit will not leave you, and Jesus Christ will not reject you (Rom. 8). We are sure of this because Jesus has died upon the cross for our sins and He has not only died He rose from the dead to life again and He now sits at the right hand of the majesty on high having conquered death and sin and He is coming back again to take us to be with Him! There is no doubt that God has kept you in Him for He is God and nothing will cause you to fall away from His salvation and no one or nothing is strong enough to rip away His almighty grip on you.

                What then is the result of these three amazing truths that are experienced by the believer? Well verse 2 says, “May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.” Because these three truths are real; because we are called, beloved, and kept, we are able to experience the greatest and most immeasurable peace, mercy and love. Through our salvation we have been shown the mercy of God by His sovereign election of us. Through our salvation we have ultimate peace with God, our sins have been washed away, and He remembers them no more. And Through our salvation we have the love of God given to us. This love is unending, it is undying, it is eternal and it will never pass away. It is the strongest love, it is an acting love. This love is not a feeling, God does not feel to love you one day and then not feel like it the next. God’s love is all-powerful and it can never be taken away for it is the love of the supreme and absolute sovereign of the entire universe. What Love the father has bestowed upon us and what grace that we should be called children of God, and such we are!  

Response:

                Jude is a book that I have long since desired to study and now I finally have the great opportunity to do so. As I have introduced the book I understand the reason that Jude has begun with such an introduction. He was writing to the saints, those who were saved in the church of God and he needed to establish them with a solid foundation in the Lord. As we saw in the introduction, this book is going to be dealing with apostasy in the church and this issue is so needed to be made known today. Apostasy is such a common theme in the church because of the weakness of the gospel and the unwillingness to confront sin in other believer’s lives. But even where the gospel is boldly preached, religious man will try to latch himself onto the church. Look at the religious leaders in Jesus day. These men looked like the most spiritual but in reality they were not even saved. They were defectors and as we will see with the true apostate they were in it for the money and personal gain. I pray that we would be warned against such men as these and take heed to test those in the church and especially test our own hearts. It is oh so easy to become familiar with the gospel of God but may it never be this way with us! May I be bold to face the challenges of our day head on a Jude did and to call sin: sin, apostasy: apostasy, and to strip away all false teaching so that all that is left is the Word of God. God’s Word alone is sufficient for the church and no man or his teaching should be allowed to overcome it. As we read in Psalm 119; God’s word is truth, and it is very pure, therefore may I, as a servant of God love it.      

Blessings,
          Lucas C.

Crucifixion and Resurrection.

Crucifixion And Resurrection

O Lord,

 

I marvel that thou shoudst become incarnate,

be crucified, dead, and buried.

The sepulcher calls forth my adoring wonder,

for it is empty and thou art risen;

the four-fold gospel attests it,

the living witnesses prove it,

my heart's experience knows it.

Give me to die with thee that I may rise to new life,

for I wish to be as dead and buried

to sin, to selfishness, to the world;

that I might not hear the voice of the charmer,

and might be delivered from his lusts.

O Lord, there is much ill about me - crucify it,

much flesh within me - mortify it.

Purge me from selfishness,

the fear of man, the love of approbation,

the shame of being thought old-fashioned,

the desire to be cultivated or modern.

Let me reckon my old life dead

because of crucifixion,

and never feed it as a living thing.

grant me to stand with my dying Saviour,

to be content to be rejected,

to be willing to take up unpopular truths,

and to hold fast despised teachings until death.

Help me to be resolute and Christ-contained.

Never let me wander from the path of obedience to thy will.

Strengthen me for the battle ahead.

Give me courage for all the trials,

and grace for all the joys.

Help me to be a holy, happy person,

free from every wrong desire,

from everything contrary to thy mind.

Grant me more and more of the resurrection life:

may it rule me,

may I walk in its power,

and be strengthened through its influence.

 

 - The Valley of Vision

Contemplate the Cross!

Dear Reader, On this Weekend in which we remember the Death, Burial and Resurrection of the Lord, may we contemplate the cross! Here is a small summary from the verses in John that speak of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Today is good Friday and this is what we remember:

Jesus was to be crucified. The Romans took Him, as He bore His own cross to the place called the skull, which is Golgotha, in Hebrew. There, they crucified Him. John spends little time on this. He does not go into detail concerning how He was crucified, or the reality of the pain and agony. He does not dwell on the suffering he went through in our place! The very word crucifixion entails the horror of the deed.

Pilate, had an inscription written that said, “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews.” and nailed to the cross above the head of Jesus.  Even though it was Pilate’s intention to mock the Jews one last time, the words he chose to write were indeed true. As commentator Bruce says, “The crucified one is the true king, the kingliest of all; because it is He who is stretched on the cross, he turns an obscene instrument of torture into a throne of glory and ‘reigns from the tree.’”

Oh, what mercy, Oh what grace, Oh what love the Father has shown to us in the giving of his Son! May we weep with tears of Joy for our precious Saviour who died on the cross for us. 

 

 

 Were you there?

 

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Oh, Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble!

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

 

Were you there when they nailed Him to the Tree?

Were you there when they nailed Him to the Tree?

Oh, Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble!

Were you there when they nailed Him to the Tree?

 

Were you there when they laid Him in the Tomb?

Were you there when they laid Him in the Tomb?

Oh, Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble!

Were you there when they laid Him in the Tomb?

 

Were you there when He rose up from the Dead? 

Were you there when He rose up from the Dead? 

Oh, Sometimes I feel like shouting Glory, Glory, Glory!

 

 

What a Saviour, What a King!

                                            Lucas C.

 

 

  

What do you Worship?

As I have been studying Biblical Counselling in my school I have been impacted by a few things. 

One challenge that my teacher presented to us was this: What is it that I worship? We are all worshipers, whether it is money, sports, possessions, or just ourselves, we all worship something. How do you know what you worship? Think about this: What do you talk about most? Whatever you talk about most is what you worship. As Christians the Lord has commanded us to worship Him alone, above all other gods! (Deut. 6:13; Matt. 4:10)

Another way we express our worship is looking at what we 'sing our praises' about. What is the song of our hearts? Do we sing about the majesty of God, or the grace He has given to us? Or are we constantly 'singing' about the latest news, what happened to your sports team, or how we can have fun over the weekend? These things in and of themselves are not bad, but compared to our Love for Christ, everything else is to seem as hate! (Luke 14:26-27). Christ wants us to be wholly committed to Him alone! There can be no place for other idols in our heart that demand attention. If you have struggled with serving anything but God, and have struggle with worshipping the things of the world rather than God alone you must repent. I pray that God would create in us clean and pure hearts and that He along would be our song from Age to Age:

 

 

- Age to Age by Sovereign Grace Music

 

 

Have a blessed Week!

                             Lucas C.

   

Sunday Psalm

 

Psalm 119:1-8

 

How blessed are those who way is

blameless,

Who walk in the law of the LORD.

How blessed are those who observe

His testimonies,

Who seek Him with all their heart.

They also do no unrighteousness;

They walk in His ways.

You have ordained Your precepts,

That we should keep them diligently.

Oh that my ways may be

established

To keep your statutes!

Then I shall not be ashamed

When I look upon all Your

commandments.

I shall give thanks to You with

uprightness of heart,

When I learn Your righteous

judgments.

I shall keep your statutes;

Do not forsake me utterly!

 

 



 

Blessings,

          Lucas C.