Sermon Brief
Date Written: June 25, 2014
Date Preached: June 25, 2014
Where Preached: OPBC (Wed - PM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: A Study on the Book of Jude
Sermon Title: An overall outlook
Sermon Text: Jude 1:1-25 [ESV]
Essence of the Text: Jude warned of false teachers and encouraged his readers to strive for holiness…
Essence of the Sermon: This passage warns us of false teachers and encourages us to strive for holiness in our walk with God…
Objective of the Sermon: False teaching is REAL, and we may not see it right away, but we must be vigilant in seeking God’s truth.
Introduction:
So what can we learn from the book of Jude? Well before we dive into the actual passage, I want us to look at the book in general so that we understand the background and the pertinant facts about this letter…
First of all the date of the letter is not known for sure, but scholars have indicated it was definitely written prior to AD70 mainly because it does not mention the destruction of Jerusalem…and surely something about that would have been mentioned… Some say between AD60-64 but we cannot know for sure.
Another aspect about this letter is the identity of the author. He identifies himself as Jude and when we look through Scripture we actually find six (6) Jude’s who ‘could’ be the author, but in reality only 2 of these ‘Judes’ truly have a claim on authorship.
FIRST, many look to Jude (or Judas) the brother of Jesus as mentioned in Matt 13:55…
NEXT there are those who believe the author is Jude the Apostle from Luke 6:16, Acts 1:13… who is also called Thaddeus in Matt 10:3.
The author never claims any direct Apostolic authority like Peter or Paul… he also indicates in v17 that the group known as the disciples or Apostles did not include Jude.
With that in mind we must believe that the author was Jude (or Judas) the half brother of Jesus as he never claimed apostolic authority… and we also see the author acknowledging his brother “James” in the 1st part of the letter. We cannot be sure why Jude did not proclaim more loudly that Jesus was his brother… but he did not use that to promote himself.
Next we can see that this letter and the 2nd letter from Peter to the church are very similar. Peter does seem to be looking forward to many false teachers coming on the scene while Jude seems to indicate that the false teachers are a thing that has happened already…
Although it appears Peter’s book came first, most theologians and scholars have Jude as the letter written first. Both letters deal with false teaching and God’s judgment.
Overall Jude is a letter dealing with false teachers and avoiding any false heresy that is being taught. He speaks of God’s judgment but he does not call on church members to confront or discipline the false teachers – he simply calls on believers to AVOID this sort of teaching.
Jude uses a poetic imagery in his writing and likes to arrange his comments into groups of three (3) like in v1 where he calls those of the church, 1)called; 2)sanctified & 3) preserved…
His main focus is to avoid heresy and to strive for holiness and purity in oru walk with Christ! Let’s tackle the verses…
v1 [read verse] Jude identifies himself and his place in the kingdom. A ‘bondservant’ or a ‘slave’ of Jesus Christ! If this sounds familiar it is exactly how Paul introduced himself in his letters to the churches.
He also identifies himself with his brother, James. The ‘James’ mentioned here is the brother of Jesus along with Jude. They are mentioned in Matt 13:55 and this James is believed to be the leader of the Jerusalem church before he is martyred
He goes onto address his audience calling them ‘those who are called’ in other words ‘set aside’ by God for His purpose. The Greek word he uses here is klay-toss which literally means a divine invitation to join with…
We have a divine invitation to be part of those who are called by God. They are 1st called by God, but then Jude says they are also sanctified by God, meaning that His love shapes us and molds our character to become more and more like Him. Another translation of this verse indicates that we are called and BELOVED by God… Finally the believers are called, beloved and also perserved in Christ!
Preserved in Christ is the solid and unshakable promise of God that when we are in His hand… NO one can take us from Him… not even our own downfall! The church is called, beloved and preserved in Christ, but then in v2 Jude says:
v2 – [read verse] Here we see Jude using his set of three for illustration of a point. He says, mercy, peace and love be multiplied to the believers within the church… the term ‘multiplied’ is the Greek term play-thune-oh which means to BE increased or multiplied by an outside force, not increasing based on what YOU can do…
v3 [read verse] this is an exortation of those in the church. Jude wants them to be encouraged for their faith… that same faith He has! He encourages them to ‘contend’ for the faith. He uses the Greek word
ep-pog-oh-needz-em-ai…which means literally to ‘contend’ or ‘struggle with’ but the focus is on moving forward. We are to contend with what comes our way through the power given us from our walk with God.
v4 [read verse] Here Jude begins to condemn the false teaching that is within the church. Here he informs his readers that these ‘certain men’ have infiltrated the Christian fellowship… they had come in ‘unnoticed’ in other words they did not show up denying Christ’s authority or God’s grace… they came in quiet and unassuming… but they were ungodly is how Jude describes them!
The heresy being taught here was taking the grace of God that forgave sin and granted a license to live however they wanted… notice how Jude put it… “they turned God’s grace into lewdness…” in other words God’s grace that forgives sin is there and we cannot ‘earn’ it, but it is there so take advantage of it and live like you want…
But they also rejected the authority of Christ… as in the authority Christ mentioned in Matt 28:18 when he told his disciples that ALL authority in heaven and earth had been given him… This was a teaching that denied the diety of Christ… to them he was merely a good teacher… and thus they denied the resurrection as well.
The apostle Paul battled this heresy as well in the churches that he had planted, so this was NOT something new… and this is still alive today! Live like you want… God will forgive you.
Did you know that there is actually a church that preaches that doctrine? The Universalist Church believes it really doesn’t matter how you live… God is going to save us all anyway because of His grace… but that is NOT what Scripture tells us and that is what Jude was battling against here in this church…
v5-7 reflect illustrations of those who have went their own way…away from God and what happened to them. I want us to notice that in continuing with his form of 3 that he uses 3 illustrations here to speak about the apostates who have turned away from God.
1) The children of Israel, saved from Egypt only to see many turn away from the God who saved them and they were ‘destroyed’ (we actually read of several occasions of those God had brought out of Egypt who turned away from God that were destroyed)
2) The angels who had abandoned their loyalty to God and had cast their lot with Satan… had been cast out of heaven and they were in chains now awaiting God’s judgment.
3) Those of Sodom and Gommorah where they gave themselves over to their baser desires and had gone after what Jude calls ‘strange’ flesh Greek = het-er-oss which is more metaphorical in nature because it represents ‘another’… in other words they had gone against the natural desires of our flesh and had chased after ‘another’ desire that was unnatural… this is homosexuality
v8-11 Jude then compares these false teachers directly to those who had become apostate before God… those whose witness was rejecting God’s grace and favor!
v8 – these false teachers: 1) Defile the flesh…no act was indecent or immoral [does this sound familiar to you today?]
2) they rejected authority…rejected those who laid out structure and God’s plan… [does THIS sound familiar?]
3) they speak evil of dignitaries… they have nothing to good to say about those who are speaking the truth, they lie and mislead and stir discontent!
v9 – now this is a verse that is very difficult to teach because there is NO reference in Scripture about this encounter between Lucifer (Satan/Devil) and Michael the ArchAngel.
Many believe it was ‘borrowed’ from the apocryphal book The Assumption of Moses … the only biblical reference to Moses’ body after death is found in Duet 34:5-6 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day.
Now while the source Jude may have used for this reference was NOT an inspired work… it does not invalidate the inspiration of Jude’s letter… Paul does likewise in Acts 17 and in Titus 1 as well… it was a matter of illustration NOT inspiration
Jude is using this illustration as a way to reveal how these false teachers were so arrogant as to question and doubt Christ’s authority or mislead others about God’s grace.
You see the name Michael means “Who is like God?” and the desire to BE God was Satan or Lucifer’s sin… that same desire was what he used in the Garden to deceive Eve and Adam in the garden.
Michael who KNEW Lucifer’s sin would not bring a charge against Satan… because this was NOT his place, instead he said, “God rebuke you!” in other words its not up to me it is God’s plan that I hold to…
Likewise these men had taken God’s plan and had perverted it to their desires and to their way of thinking. They could not accept God’s way and were so arrogant as to think they could implement their own way!
v10 – Jude accuses these false teachers of 2 things here in this verse: 1st that they try to speak with authority about things they DON’T know… things of God, spiritual matters and other things, where they speculate and make judgments based on their human nature,
But also 2nd they speak about the things that the DO know and Jude says that they corrupt themselves like brute beasts… they pervert the truth… they twist the truth to their agenda!
v11 – Jude pronounces a ‘woe’ upon these false teachers simliar to the woes that Jesus had pronounced on the Pharisees! His “woe” is presented in 3’s here:
1st he says “Woe to them!” They have gone the way of Cain… in other words… seeking to do things THEIR way but the results bring only a curse upon their soul!
2nd he says “Woe to them!” They have run greedily in the error of Balaam! Balaam was a prophet who took money to prophesy against the Prophet of God…and when he tried to go thru with his prophecy, God used a donkey to speak to him and issue judgment! Their focus is on their profit and what profits them and NOT on what God desires…
3rd Jude says “Woe to them!” They perished in the rebellion of Korah. Korah led a rebellion against Moses in the wilderness… He gathered a great deal of people against Moses and God opened up the ground and swallowed Korah and his entire family… Here Jude is admonishing these teachers that God’s judgment is swift and fierce and that it is coming!
v12-15 – we find Jude speaking of how these false teachers are now openly flaunting their teaching and disobedience. They HAD come into the fellowship as unnoticed and masked believers, but had shown themselves to NOT be believers, but mockers and scoffers of the faith.
Jude calls them ‘spots’ on their love feast… the ‘love feast’ is a reference to Communion that Jesus had ordained as a church ordinance to do in remembrace of Him. They participated in this love feast unashamedly… they were like spots on a white garment… dirt on a clean cloth… they stood out as unclean in worship… He says they feasted without fear…
This is a reference to the teaching of Paul in 1 Cor 11 when he taught that one should not partake of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner or they invite God’s judgment upon them… these false teachers not only partook of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner, they taunted God by having NO fear in doing so…
Jude stressed here that these men were empty souls and had NO value for the fellowship… he uses several descriptions to get his point across:
Clouds without water… rainclouds that don’t produce… USELESS because all they do is cast a shadow, but bring nothing that produces growth
Trees without fruit… USELESS as they only take up space and need to be uprooted because they steal nutrients away from the good trees
Raging waves of the sea… a wave brings destruction in its wake and does not offer any benefit, only fear and death
Wandering stars… have no benefit, they shoot brightly across the sky, but serve NO purpose other than a momentary flash, no value for life
v14-15 Jude speaks how Enoch prophesied about just such teachers and how God, with the saints, will judge these type of people…
v16-19 – Jude tells the church that they should ‘expect’ false teachers like this to show up because Jesus had said they would come! But Jude reminds these believers to TAKE HOLD of the words of Jesus of how they should expect the mocker… expect the unholy and the ungodly… They will come and their focus is NOT God but on their own pleasure!
v20-23 – Jude turns FROM his condemnation of the false teachers and turns his attention toward the crowd on hand… to those who believe in Christ Jesus… He tells them:
Build yourselves up… thru faith, Jude calls it a ‘most holy’ faith. A faith that reflects you have been chosen by God and set aside for HIS purpose and plan… the way to do this is to read and study God’s Word!
Pray in the Holy Spirit… Prayer is the lifeblood for all believers and praying “in the Spirit” doesn’t mean what you may think, praying in the Spirit is praying with your focus on God and His desire… not praying for God to bless your own desires!
Keep yourselves in Love… this means that love is foremost in your life, foremost in your thoughts and actions. This means that love permeates all of who you are…
Seek the mercy of God… Mercy is NOT receiving what we DO deserve. We have God’s grace which is receiving what we DO NOT deserve, but here Jude challeges the church to seek God’s mercy… We are to constantly confess our sin and commit to humility before God if we are going to serve Him like we should!
Have compassion by making the distinct decision to reach out to the lost and pull them TO Christ… Some see compassion as giving others what they want, but God sees compassion as yanking people out of a situation they cannot get out of… We are called as believers to reach INTO the lives of those around us and even at the risk of offending them or alienating ourselves to them…we are called to reach out to them in Christ! Compassion is caring about a person’s eternity…
Finally, in v24-25 Jude ends this letter with a benediction that gives God glory.
We stumble… he is able to prevent those stumbles… PRAISE HIM!
We have fault… he is able and has judged us innocent… PRAISE HIM!
We have fear… but we are able to experience Joy in Him in His presence.
We think we are important… but God is the ONE who is important, the One who is wise, the one to whom glory and wisdom exude!
Jude was focused on the spritual growth of the fellowship… he did NOT want to see them fall prey to false teaching that led to disobedience and doubt… but rather Jude wanted to see them strive and grow in the Lord, which he knew that could only happen and be attributed to the power of God alone.
In our world today, there is FALSENESS everywhere and it is only growing more and more intense… we are NOT winning the battles of this area. In fact, what we ONCE held as undeniable truth, is not questioned and seen as relative…
Today we face false teaching all around us and we must remain faithful and true to the Word of God and never stray from the Christ Centered Gospel!
Let’s pray…
