Hey Jude (Part 1) Series

Postcards: Jude (Part 1)

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

02- 18-2024

Intro:

In the late 1800s, Charles Spurgeon was in the last years of his life and was concerned with how many churches were denying basic Christian doctrines.

It started in Germany with the Higher Criticism Movement and had trickled into the churches in England.

Spurgeon, the most famous preacher in the world at the time, sounded the alarm. These were not secondary issues but primary to the Gospel message.

The denial of the infallibility of Scripture.

The denial of the necessity and substitutionary nature of Christ’s atonement.

The denial of the existence and eternality of hell.

The affirmation of universalism.

He wrote and spoke out boldly against pastors preaching this heresy:

 “A new religion has been initiated, which is no more Christianity than chalk is cheese. And, this religion, being destitute of moral honesty, palms itself off as the old faith with slight improvements, and on this plea, usurps pulpits that were erected for Gospel preaching. The atonement is scouted, the inspiration of Scripture is denied, the Holy Spirit is degraded into an influence, the punishment of sin has turned into fiction, and the resurrection into a myth, and yet these enemies of our faith expect us to call them brethren and maintain a confederacy with them.”

For this stand, he was attacked by these pastors and, sadly, those within the Baptist Union, his own denomination.

He voluntarily resigned his membership in the Baptist Union but that didn’t stop them from voting to censure him. The vote was 2,000 to seven!

Spurgeon didn’t care. He saw the danger and was willing to pay the price to contend for the Gospel.

Spurgeon said at the end of his life, "I am quite willing to be eaten of dogs for the next 50 years, but the more distant future shall vindicate me.”

Almost 150 years later, the battle continues.

Several years ago, I had an interview at a very well-known Christian agency for a therapist position. The very first question they asked me was, “How would you help a fifteen-year-old girl come out as a lesbian to her mom and dad and help them celebrate her?”

I was faced with the same choice that Charles Spurgeon, and many others throughout history, have been faced with. Do I stay quiet or do I speak up for the Gospel?

Over the next few weeks, we are going to learn that Spurgeon’s boldness was a result of knowing the Word of God, particularly the little book of Jude.

Jude

This is the last “postcard” in our series. We’ve studied 2 John, 3 John, Haggai, Philemon (Pastor Jeff 2), the most neglected book in the Old Testament last week Obadiah, and, today, the most neglected book in the New Testament, Jude.

Let’s begin by establishing the song “Hey Jude” is not about this book. Paul McCartney wrote that song for Julian Lennon to comfort him when his dad left his mother for Yoko Ono.

It’s a small book with a big punch. It’s only 25 verses but it is incredibly deep and will take at least three weeks to unpack.

I remember standing in the library at seminary staring at a commentary on the book of Jude that was almost 1,000 pages long!

I heard of a pastor who took four years to preach these 25 verses!

This letter was written sometime between 70-90 AD and calls us to fight for the faith entrusted to us. It pictures the Christian life not as a playground but as a battlefield.

He writes to warn about false teachers and to urge his readers to contend for the faith.

Could you turn with me to Jude?

Prayer.

Author

“Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James…”

Jude is an abbreviated version of his real name - in Greek, Judas. In Hebrew, Judah.

It was abbreviated to distinguish him from that other Judas, Judas Iscariot.

He describes himself in two ways.

First, he is a “servant of Jesus Christ.” The word servant is actually “slave.” He is indicating that he has surrendered his own will to follow Jesus.

Second, he describes himself as a “brother of James.”

We know this is not the apostle because he had already been martyred by then.

This was James who was the leader of the early Jerusalem church and the leader of the Acts 15 council. He wrote the book of James that we have in our New Testament. He was also the half-brother of Jesus, which makes Jude a brother of Jesus as well.

Matthew tells us that Jesus had four brothers and at least two sisters:

“Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” (Matt 13:54-56, see also Mark 6:3)