Intro:
1. Paul wrote to Timothy, "Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance," 2 Timothy 3:10 (NASB)
2. "In the Greek text, the definite article precedes each of the descriptive nouns in verses 10 and 11, grammatically connecting each to the possessive pronoun my and thereby giving it repeated emphasis. The idea is, But you followed my teaching, [my] conduct, [my] purpose, and so on.
Every church, Christian college, Bible school, seminary, and other Christian organization should be led by and, in turn, reproduce leaders who not only are orthodox in doctrine and moral in lifestyle but also are courageous and committed defenders of the faith.
They should be willing to follow the Lord and lead His church in dangerous times and circumstances and at any cost steadfastly hold up the banner of God's divine revelation in Scripture."
[MacArthur New Testament Commentary]
3. The Defense of the Word of God.
Trans:We have looked at the Descriptive Greeting, now we come to the Defense of the Word of God. Jude 3-4
I. FIRST, A DESCRIPTIVE GREETING. 1-2
II. NEXT, A DEFENSE OF GOD'S WORD. 3-4
A. For starters, this was not his Desired Intention.
Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation - Jude wanted to write to them about salvation.
1. They were Divinely loved. "Divinely loved ones..." [Wuest]
Jude sees how important it is for us to realized we are loved - vv.1,2,3,12,17,20,21
ἀγαπητός agapētos ag-ap-ay-tos - "agapētos is an adjectival form occurring around 60 times with the meaning "(dearly) beloved," "well-loved."
God designates Christ as "my beloved Son" (cf. Matt. 3:17; 12:18; 17:5; Mark 1:11; 9:7; Luke 3:22; 9:35; 2 Pet. 1:17).
In 1 Cor. 4:17, Paul refers to Timothy as his "beloved son" since he was converted under the apostle's ministry.
In Luke 20:13, agapētos refers to a person in the parable, though in reality it is applied to Christ as the Son of God.
People are deemed "highly esteemed" or "beloved" in general contexts in Acts 15:25; Rom. 16:5 ff.; Eph. 5:1; 6:21; 1 Tim. 6:2. Rom. 1:7; 11:28 designates people as "beloved of God."
The term "beloved" is also a form of address or greeting in Rom. 12:19; 1 Cor. 10:14; 2 Cor. 7:1; Phil. 2:12; Phlm. 2; Heb. 6:9; 1 Pet. 2:11; 2 Pet. 3:14 ff.; 1 John 4:1 ff.; Jude 3, 17, 20." [Expository Dictionary of Bible Words]
The fact that God has left us His love letter, the Bible, giving us a special message from Him everyday, is in itself a great act of His love for us.
A few years ago, the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, MO made public 1,300 recently discovered letters that the late President wrote to his wife, Bess, over the course of a half-century. Mr. Truman had a lifelong rule of writing to his wife every day they were apart. He followed this rule whenever he was away on official business or whenever Bess left Washington to visit her beloved Independence. Scholars are examining the letters for any new light they may throw on political and diplomatic history. For our part, we were most impressed by the simple fact that every day he was away, the President of the United States took time out from his dealing with the world's most powerful leaders to sit down and write a letter to his wife.
2. The Desired intention.
I was making every effort - the authors of the Bible did not just sit down and decide what to write! 2 Tim. 3:16
σπουδή spoudē [spoo-day] noun It means, "Haste, speed, zeal, effort, earnestness, diligence." Probably the best word would be eager, Jude was eager to write to them about their common salvation.
"Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share..." Jude 1:3 (NIV)
Like Jude we do well to follow God's leading, just because we desire to say or do something does not mean it is what we should say or do.
While what we write is not under divine inspiration, we do have access to God's will and desires.
"12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." Philippians 2:12-13 (NASB)
"[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight." Philippians 2:13 (AMP)
Do we follow God's desires - even when they are not ours? We must keep in mind that God know what is best and we don't.
Earl Weaver, former manager of the Baltimore Orioles had a rule that no one could steal a base unless given the steal sign. This upset Reggie Jackson because he felt he knew the pitchers and catchers well enough to judge who he could and could not steal off of.
So one game he decided to steal without a sign. He got a good jump off the pitcher and easily beat the throw to second base. As he shook the dirt off his uniform, Jackson smiled with delight, feeling he had vindicated his judgment to his manager.
Later Earl took Jackson aside and explained why he hadn't given the steal sign. "First, the next batter was Lee May, his best power hitter other than Jackson. When Jackson stole second, first base was left open, so the other team walked May intentionally, taking the bat out of his hands.
Second, the following batter hadn't been strong against that pitcher, so Earl felt he had to send up a pinch hitter to try to drive in the men on base. That left Earl without bench strength later in the game when he needed it."
The problem was, Jackson saw only his relationship to the pitcher and catcher. Weaver was watching the whole game.
We, too, see only so far, but God sees the bigger picture. When he sends us a signal, it's wise to obey, no matter what we may think we know.
3. Their common Deliverance.
common salvation - σωτηρία sōtēria [so-tay-ree-ah] noun it means,
Salvation, deliverance, preservation. The noun sōtēria is used 45 times. The noun sōtēria has a wide range of meanings in the New Testament. In our context it has the meaning “personal salvation”—that is, the deliverance of the individual from bondage to sin.
"Not common as being of little importance, but common in the sense that it was for all—Jew and Gentile—for all people. Salvation is a deliverance from evil. In this instance it relates to a deliverance from the state of guilt and dominion of wrong-doing in this life, and includes the eternal deliverance in the world to come. All this is included in the gospel plan of salvation, and is offered to every son and daughter of the human race."
[A Commentary and an Exposition of the Epistles of James, Peter, John and Jude]
"Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:" 2 Peter 1:1 (NASB)
McGee, "Common salvation." Let's understand that the word common is the English translation of the Greek word koines. The New Testament was not written in classical Greek but in koine Greek or common Greek, meaning that it was understood by everyone, educated and uneducated, all over the Roman Empire in the days of the apostles.
When Jude said that he had intended to write of the "common salvation," he must have been referring to something that people throughout the Roman Empire would understand.
Now Jude says here that he was planning on writing on some facet of our salvation. It could have been on redemption, on the person of Christ, on sanctification, or any number of themes, but he didn't write on any of those themes because "it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." The thought here is that the Holy Spirit detoured Jude from writing on some theme of the faith in order that he might sound a warning concerning the impending apostasy." [J. Vernon McGee's Thru the Bible]
What the church needed most was not letter on salvation, as important as that is, but a letter on contending for the faith.
B. Secondly, he yielded to Divine Intervention.
...I felt the necessity to write to you - "The presence of false teaching restrained him, impressing him with the urgent need to call the church to battle. His initial notion was to speak positively of the shared blessings of salvation. But that very salvation was under assault by apostates, hence his change of subjects.
Like Paul, who wrote to the Corinthians, “For necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16, nkjv), Jude felt the necessity—a heavy burden or mandate—to write. Agchō, the root of the noun rendered necessity, means literally “compress.” Jude recognized that he was a watchman for the truth (cf. Ezek. 3:16-21) who could not simply watch in silence as his readers slipped into error." [MacArthur]
C. Thirdly, there is Described clear Instruction.
1. The need to Contend.
that you contend earnestly - This word means "to fight" or "to struggle" intensely. We get our word agonize from it.
"I fully intended, dear friends, to write to you about our common salvation, but I feel compelled to make my letter to you an earnest appeal to put up a real fight for the faith..." Jude 1:3 Phillips
"Dear friends, I've dropped everything to write you about this life of salvation that we have in common. I have to write insisting—begging!—that you fight with everything you have in you for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish." Jude 1:3 (MSG)
"The simple verb was used of athletes contending in the athletic contests. The word speaks of a vigorous, intense, determined struggle to defeat the opposition. Our word "agony" is the English spelling of the noun form of this word. The Greek athletes exerted themselves to the point of agony in an effort to win the contest. With such intense effort does Jude say that saints should defend the doctrines of Christianity." [Wuest's Word Studies - Wuest's Word Studies]
We must Battle for the Bible!
"Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." 1 Timothy 6:12 (NASB)
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;" 2 Timothy 4:7 (NASB)
Criswell, "A strong doctrinal preacher will build a strong church. A weak doctrinal preacher will build a weak church. It is the truth of doctrine that forms the backbone, the spine, the skeleton of the congregation. Without it the church is spineless, soft, flabby, formless, amorphous, without marching, converting, driving power. I would suppose that the one dominant characteristic that makes a jellyfish a jellyfish is that it has no spine, no backbone, no bone structure. Too many preachers and too many churches are like that.
A woman came up to me recently and exclaimed: "Oh, we have formed the most wonderful church. It is perfect. It is delightful. My husband and I have just joined it and we are so happy in it. You do not have to believe anything to belong to our church. Anybody can join it." But I thought in my heart, What a conglomerate of nothing!
True doctrine is the truth of God. The truth of God is found fully and marvelously revealed on the pages of the Holy Scriptures. Preach it! Do so fearlessly, courageously, powerfully, zealously, with deep conviction." Criswell's Guidebook for Pastors.
2. The Content of what we are defending.
for the faith - is the body of truths taught by the apostles.
"They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Acts 2:42 (NASB)
"But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ," Jude 1:17 (NASB)
Morris, "The faith, is not in reference to the simple trust which we place in Christ in salvation, but to the entire body of Christian truth as revealed in the Holy Scriptures."
3. The Conclusion of that content.
which was once for all handed down to the saints - that means there is a body of truth that is full and final!
McShane, "It would appear that by the time this epistle was written the apostolic doctrine had been fully established. The words "once for all" make this clear."
"Aren't you struck by that little phrase "once for all"? London's Rev. Dick Lucas, a faithful contender for the gospel, put the stunning reality behind these words this way: "[I]n Jude, the Christian faith is already in existence as a settled and final body of saving truths." Imagine! We are not free to change it, as if the faith were somehow still evolving and making its way in the world. According to Jude, "the faith" is not only full, but it already exists in final form. It is not subject to change!" [Preaching the Word - Preaching the Word – 1 & 2 Peter and Jude: Sharing Christ's Sufferings]
"Believers must fight with all their strength to preserve "the faith" which has been handed down to them. Hapax means "once for all," because the message of Christianity was given to the Church at the beginning; it had not come in installments. The content of the apostolic gospel is fixed, not to be revised for each new era." [Complete Biblical Library]
"They were to contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. (Jude 1:3) The faith spoken of here is not the personal faith by which one is saved. Rather, it is the entire revelation from God; the whole body of truth as contained in His Word.
Men and women down through the ages have attempted to add to and take away from the body of doctrine. This accounts for the great number of denominations and cults that are present today. This is why we stand so strongly on the Word of God as it was given to us. The Bible is our sole authority in all matters of faith and practice.
The Bible contains the mind of God, the condition of man, and the clear, simple plan of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Wonderful and glorious theme of the Bible. His salvation shines forth from its pages as a guiding light to he who desires to be saved. It is the source of truth and doctrine.
Also, notice how the Holy Spirit led Jude to point out that this body of doctrine known as the faith was once delivered unto the saints. Not twice delivered. Not thrice delivered. It is not progressively being delivered. But it was once delivered! Those who claim that they are receiving revelations today are sadly mistaken.
The Bible tells us that the revelation of God is complete and that no new revelation is being added. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. (1 Corinthians 13:10)
The body of truth, the faith as the Bible calls it, was finalized at a point of time in history. It was once delivered. God's word is both full and final."
[Expository Pulpit Series]
"The faith" was the body of truth given once for all. In the Book of Acts it is called the apostles' doctrine: "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42). Notice that the apostles' doctrine is the first thing mentioned. Since that is number one on God's church parade, our church is not a church unless it is doing just that." [J. Vernon McGee's Thru the Bible]
John Philips, "The faith that has been "once delivered" does not refer to a creed or a formula of articles of belief. It refers instead to the substance of the complete New Testament teachings concerning the gospel and the church. That faith has been "delivered once for all," as the Revised Version puts it. It is the sum of the things that we must believe. It is something with which we must not tamper.
We can reject categorically attempts to add to that "once for all" body of belief, as, for instance, the heretical Book of Mormon. The Mormons try to present that book as "another testament of Jesus Christ." It is nothing of the kind. It is part fiction, part forgery, and total delusion.
"The faith... once delivered unto the saints" was neither defective nor deficient. It did not need the gradual addition over the centuries of Roman Catholic dogmas. Rome's dogmas and the doctrines of the New Testament are poles apart...
The liberals, on the other hand, go to the opposite extreme. They do not want to add; they want to subtract. They see the chief doctrines of Christianity as repulsive and absurd and want to discard them in favor of humanism, psychology, and a blend of religious philosophies.
So, before he deals with apostasy, Jude anchors the "beloved" to "the faith which was once delivered unto the saints..." [John Phillips Commentary Series, The - The John Phillips Commentary Series – Exploring the Epistle of Jude: An Expository Commentary]
Vincent, "Once (ἅπαξ) Not formerly, but once for all. So Rev., "No other faith will be given," says Bengel." [Word Studies in the New Testament]
Swindoll, "The faith" Jude admonishes us to contend for is the body of truth contained in the Scriptures...It was faith that was delivered "once for all."
MacDonald, "Notice that! Not "once upon a time" but once for all." The body of doctrine is complete. The canon is finished. Nothing more can be added. "If it's new it's not true, and if it's true it's not new."
When some teacher claims to have a revelation which is above and beyond what is found in the Bible, we reject it out of hand. The faith has been delivered and we neither need nor heed anything else. This is our answer to the leaders of false cults with their books that claim equal authority with the Scriptures."
The last thing Paul wrote was 2 Timothy:
"16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NKJV)
The last book in our Bible makes it clear:
"18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book." Revelation 22:18-19 (NASB)
Bottom line we are called upon to contend for, what we refer to today as the Bible, the written Word of God! We are not called to study other cultic books, we do not have to try and figure out whether some teachers so-called revelation is from God - WE ARE CALLED UPON TO DEFEND GODS WRITTEN WORD!
Such a defense is both needed and expected!
"But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons," 1 Timothy 4:1 (NASB)
People who create computer viruses disguest me!
I got this off the internet, "Computer viruses are programs written by "mean" people. These virus programs are placed into a commonly used program so that program will run the attached virus program as it boots, therefore, it is said that the virus "infects" the executable file or program...
Some viruses are programmed specifically to damage the data on your computer by corrupting programs, deleting files, or even erasing your entire hard drive. Many viruses do nothing more than display a message or make sounds / verbal comments at a certain time or a programming event after replicating themselves to be picked up by other users one way or another. Other viruses make your computer's system behave erratically or crash frequently..."
There are a variety of viruses:
# OPRAH WINFREY VIRUS: Your 200MB hard drive suddenly shrinks to 80MB, and then slowly expands back to 200MB.
# AT&T VIRUS: Every three minutes it tells you what great service you are getting.
# ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER VIRUS: It keeps saying, "It'll be back."
# GOVERNMENT ECONOMIST VIRUS: Nothing works, but all your diagnostic software says everything is fine.
# GALLUP VIRUS: Sixty percent of the PCs infected will lose 38 percent of their data 14 percent of the time (plus or minus a 3.5 percent margin of error).
# ADAM AND EVE VIRUS: Takes a couple of bytes out of your Apple.
# MICHAEL JACKSON VIRUS: Hard to identify because it is constantly altering its appearance. This virus won't harm your PC, but it will trash your car.
# PBS VIRUS: Your PC stops every few minutes to ask for money.
# ELVIS VIRUS: Your computer gets fat, slow, and lazy and then self destructs, only to resurface at shopping malls and service stations across rural America.
# OLLIE NORTH VIRUS: Turns your printer into a document shredder.
# JIMMY HOFFA VIRUS: Nobody can find it.
# KEVORKIAN VIRUS: Helps your computer shut down whenever it wants to.
# STAR TREK VIRUS: Invades your system in places where no virus has gone before.
# HEALTH CARE VIRUS: Test your system for a day, finds nothing wrong, and sends you a bill for $4,500.
# OBAMA VIRUS: Your computer refuses to listen to you, it becomes bigger and bigger until it just takes over your computer.
False teachers are disgusting viruses that would like to ruin any and every church! Think of your computer as the Bible - viruses seek to distort or destroy it.
But there is anti-virus programs - thanks to Bill I have Norton Internet Security. It is constantly stopping virus from tearing up my computer. The Christ is to be like that - a Bible Security system! We are too know the Word of God, share it, and firmly and aggressively stand against those who would either add or take away from!
