Intro:
1. In the U.S. alone, a total of over 5 billion greeting cards are produced. Over $150 million are spent on postage to mail them.
The smallest greeting card ever sent was to the Prince of Wales written on a grain of rice!
2. We continue with Judes Descriptive Greeting, last week we looked at the Author, the one giving the greeting, now...
3. The Audience in which the greeting is for.
Trans: Jude 1:1b-2
I. FIRST THE Greeting speaks of the Privileges of the believer.
A. We are Called by the Spirit.
...To those who are the called - κλη-τός klētos adj "Called out, invited, chosen, appointed. Verb form ka-le-o
One of the names for the Holy Spirit is Para-clete. It comes from two Greek words. One is para, and the other is k-le-tes taken from the verb ka-le-o. The Paraclete is "one who is called alongside."
The church is ec-cles-si-a, lit. "the called-out ones." The church is called out of the world, unto fellowship with the Lord.
The kaleo can be used for the calling of one’s name.
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21 (NASB)
Can be used as a descriptive title:
Speaking of believers John writes, "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him." 1 John 3:1 (NASB)
It can be used in the sense of an invitation:
"16 But He said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; 17 and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ’Come; for everything is ready now.’ 18 "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ’I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’ 19 "Another one said, ’I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ 20 "Another one said, ’I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’ 21 "And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ’Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 "And the slave said, ’Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 "And the master said to the slave, ’Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 ~’For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’" Luke 14:16-24 (NASB)
It can be used in legal proceedings:
"And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus." Acts 4:18 (NASB)
Believers are called to special service:
"Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God," Romans 1:1 (NASB)
"When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them." Acts 16:10 (NASB)
Believers are called to live holy and peaceful lives:
"13 And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. 15 Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace." 1 Corinthians 7:13-15 (NASB)
In our passage it is related to the call to salvation:
"28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified." Romans 8:28-30 (NASB)
NOTE: THE CHART...
"23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. 25 As He says also in Hosea, "I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ’MY PEOPLE,’ AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ’BELOVED.’" 26 "AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ’YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,’ THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD." Romans 9:23-26 (NASB)
As Philips noted, "God’s call is for everyone; it is (1) universal. Paul told the men of Athens that God "now commandeth all men everywhere" to repent (Acts 17:30). That beloved gospel text John 3:16, "the metropolis of gospel truth," indeed, tells us that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
The call becomes (2) individual when it is brought to us. It becomes (3) personal when we accept it.
(1) Jude here is not speaking about God’s Universal invitation to sinners:
"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:22 (NASB)
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 (NASB)
""For many are called, but few are chosen." Matthew 22:14 (NASB)
"The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost." Revelation 22:17 (NASB)
Fanny Crosby wrote,
"Jesus is tenderly calling thee home
Calling today, Calling today;
Why from the sunshine of love wilt thou roam
Farther and farther away?"
This universal call often is rejected:
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Matthew 23:37 (NASB)
James Kennedy, "The Bible speaks of both a calling which is effectual, and a calling which is not. If anyone should respond to that calling, they would receive eternal life because God will refuse no one...But there is a problem. Man in his fallen condition is so bound by sin and blinded by his iniquity that he desires to have nothing to do with the holy God because his heart is at emnity with God...Man is always free to do what he wants to do, that’s why he is responsible for everything he does. But, he doesn’t have the power or the desire to do what he ought to do."
No one among fallen humanity initiates seeking after God:
"9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10 as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;" Romans 3:9-11 (NASB)
"I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew,
He moved my soul to seek Him, seeking me;
It was not I that found, O Savior true,
No I was found of Thee."
CBL, "It is always God who issues the call, the term election is never used of man choosing God, but of God choosing man. The Bible teaches that none choose God because fallen man is spiritually dead."
"12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12-13 (NASB)
"You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you." John 15:16
Jude is talking about God personal, internal, irresistible call [Acts 9]. Whereby God’s Spirit awakens the human will and imparts spiritual life—enabling once-dead sinners to embrace the gospel by faith:
"20 "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. 21 "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes." John 5:20-21
"A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul." Acts 16:14 (NASB)
"even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), Ephesians 2:5 (NASB)
It is what Christ referred to when He said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44; cf. v. 65).
Paul also referred to the effectual call of believers when he wrote Timothy, "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. (2 Tim. 1:8-9)
"and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. Romans 8:30 (NASB)
MacArthur, "In His sovereign wisdom, God chose believers based solely on His gracious purpose in Christ from before time began. His call was not rooted in anything He saw in them—not even their foreseen faith.
Rather, His call was motivated by His own glory and good pleasure, that His mercy might be eternally put on display (Rom. 9:23-24). Believers, then, are those who are divinely elected to salvation. They did not earn God’s choice; nor can they lose it or have it taken away (cf. John 6:37-40; 10:27- 30; Rom. 8:28-30, 38-39). Thus, they can rest in the security of God’s gracious call, even in the most dangerous conflict with false teaching."
God always initiates the call to salvation...
"klētos is an adjective derived from the verb kaleō (see above), found eleven times with the meaning "called." The state of being "called" by God, implying sovereign divine election in the context of salvation, is indicated in Matt. 20:16; 22:14; Rom. 1:6 ff.; 8:28; Jude 1; Rev. 17:14.
[Expository Dictionary of Bible Words]
Spurgeon, "If anyone should ask me what I mean by a Calvinist, I shold reply, He is one who says Salvation is of the Lord. I cannot find in Scripture any other doctrine than this.
It is the essence of the Bible. Tell me anything contrary to this truth, and it will be a heresy; tell me a heresy and I shall find its essence here, that it has departed form this great, this fundamental, this rock-truth - God is my Rock and my Salvation.
What is the heresy of Rome, but the addition of something to the perfect merits of Jesus Christ - the bringing in of the works of the flesh, to assist in our justification? And what is the heresy or Arminiamism, but the addition of something to the work of the Redeemer? Every heresy, if brought to the touch stone, will discover itself here."
This work is that of the Holy Spirit, the Westminster Confession:
"Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our mind in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, He does persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the Gospel."
We could speak of:
* Called with a Heavenly calling (Heb.3:1)
*Called for His purpose (Romans 8:28).
*Called to Have fellowship with Christ (1 Corinthians 1:9).
*Called to Harmony. (1 Corinthians 7:15).
*Called to Have freedom. (Galatians 5:13).
*Called to a Hope. (Ephesians 4:4).
*Called to a High calling (Philippians 3:14).
*Called to Holiness. (2 Tim.1:9/1 Peter 1:15).
*Called to InHerit a blessing (1 Peter 3:9).
*Called to eternal Honor. (1 Peter 5:10).
Now that God has called us, it is our responsibility to walk worthy of that calling. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. (Ephesians 4:1)
Believers are called:
1. "Children" for kinship—1 John 3:1, 2, R.V.
2. "Saints" for holiness—1 Cor. 1:2.
3. "Christians" for identification—Acts 11:26.
4. "Brethren" for fellowship—Heb. 2:11.
5. "Sheep" for character—John 10:3.
6. "Servants" for employment—Matt. xxv 14
7. "Friends" for companionship—John 15:15.
Con:
1. A member of a small church was asked to introduce the speaker at a Methodist evening church affair in Martinsville, Virginia. Because of bad weather the audience consisted of only a handful of people, but the man was equal to the occasion.
"I have been asked to introduce our speaker to you this evening, This I am very glad to do. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Mr. John Brown. Mr. Brown, meet Mr. and Mrs. Rucker, Mr. and Mrs. Witten, Mr. Stowall, Miss Stowall...."
2. Judes greeting is not to a mega-church, a large audience of people but to every individual Christian.
3. If you are a believer you have been called by God’s Spirit to Salvation.
That was the greatest and most irresistible invitation we have or ever will receive.
Emily Post was born Emily Price in Baltimore, Maryland in 1873. She was the only daughter of famous architect Bruce Price and his wife Josephine Lee Price.
She was educated at home and attended Miss Graham’s finishing school in New York, where her family had moved. She married society banker Edwin Main Post in 1892 and had two sons.
At the turn of the century, financial circumstances compelled her to begin writing to earn money, and she produced newspaper articles on architecture and interior design as well as stories and serials for such magazines as Harper’s.
She wrote on different topics, but her 1922 book "Etiquette" became a best seller and she soon her articles on etiquette appeared in more than 200 newspapers.
Someone once asked Emily: "What is the correct procedure when one is invited to the White House and has a previous engagement?"
She answered, "An invitation to lunch or dine at the White House is a command, and automatically cancels any other engagement."
The same can be said when called by God, that it cancels out any other engagement, and becomes the irresistible focus of our life.
www.StrugglingThruScriptures.ning.com
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