Today, we move to the book of Jude. So as you're pulling it up on your phone, tablet or paperback technology. Let me give you the context. The book is written by Jude, Jesus' half brother from a different father. He, like James, came to an understanding of Jesus as the Messiah after Jesus' resurrection. The letter itself was written to many of the same churches Peter was writing to and while it starts out as a treatise to the Holy Spirit’s action it settles in as a call to arms. It is almost militant in its language against some leaders who have come into the fellowship to live for their benefit alone. So let’s give it a read.
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for[a] Jesus Christ:
2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about[b] long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord[c] at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”[d] 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.
11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”[e] 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, and forevermore! Amen.
<Bob>
Some things never change. The church even in the beginning had people entering the fold who weren’t committed to Jesus mission but their own. Jude is telling us some ideas worth standing up for. Of course, the greatest of which is the gospel.
That God, so loves you, he would break through the veil as a man, live,suffer, die and rise again so you could be in a relationship with Him directly. ALL your sins are forgiven. There is nothing else you can or need to add to this - no special words, no action and no offering.
Andrew Farley in his book, The Naked Gospel shares it perfectly:
“Just as every child knows the meaning of “all gone” at the end of a meal. God has simply and emphatically proclaiming to His children:
Your relationship to the Law of old is now all gone.
Your old self is now all gone.
Your sins are now all gone.
All obstacles preventing you from getting close to Him are now all gone.”
It's amazing how simple and straightforward the naked gospel really is. In fact, most of my exposure to the New has involved more unlearning than learning. Once we remove the clutter from our theological closet, the Gospel shines brightly again.” p.216-219
The good news is simply: His GRACE is enough to remake the past, present and future for His glory.
Now Jude’s letter is clear. There are individuals who will come acting as if they are on the same page but will begin to slowly divert you from this truth. They are likable people. Their smiles and words make you think they are your friends and you are special to them. I remember hearing once the devil and his minions never come as something ugly or perverse but as something you desire.
The bible talks of smooth talkers who tell you what you want to hear. It’s important then to be discerning. To always test and approve what people are telling you and just because the speaker has gained some notietry doesn’t mean they're sharing with you the truth. There are a lot of people using Jesus to get rich. They claim Jesus but they sell you a feel good, get rich and self help information with a caveat that says you need to give to them. They are special. Their bible is better than your bible. They know more than you. They are anointed. They will even try to justify “a new understanding” which perverts scripture is a way that redefines morality and Jesus. They are slick and cunning like a snake.
Jude proceeds to highlight three witnesses, in verse 11, Cain, Balaam and Korah, from the past to show the most typical ways we end up lost and hopeless.
The first way we end up lost and hopeless comes from story of Cain (Genesis 4:1-15), the brother of Abel who would come before God not in faith but in the power of his good works “The way of Cain” is a way of pride, a man establishing his own righteousness and rejecting God’s righteousness that only comes through the faith in Christ. Cain would develop his own city and civilization. He would have everything a man could desire. But he would die without God. “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul.” Any time I come to God on my terms, I am denying God his rightful place. God does not bow to our terms but we to His.
This came clear to me after a few years of claiming to be a Christian. I was still picking and choosing what parts of the Christianity I would adhere to. I rebelled against giving, serving and even the rituals. By my language and actions, you might have not even known I was a Christian. I had the basics but not the Spirit. Frankly, It was boring and uninspiring. I often considered just staying home.
The second way we end up lost and hopeless comes out of the story of Balaam (Numbers 22:1-25). “The way of Balaam is the merchandising of one’s gifts and ministry just for the purpose of making money. It’s using the spiritual to gain the material. False teachers are always about the money. Balaam used his prophetic knowledge to help an enemy king destroy Israel from the inside out by telling him to promote intermarriage with the non believing nations around them. It was a subtle change using the rationale of being blessing but it was in direct contradiction of what God had said.
I had a good friend who used to say, “If you're rationalizing, you’re lying and if you're lying you’re dying.” Rationalization is the devil's best tool. Let’s face it. He uses it to create doubt and then get us to do what our nature wants most - power of control. We want to be God. Have you ever justified a decision and ended up regretting it?
Rationalizing begins with one of seven phrases
Everyone’s doing it
I’ll just try it once
It’s just a little lie
No one ever needs to know
No one will really get hurt
If I don’t someone else will
I deserve it
My Balaam story happened a few years ago, I was leading an outpost for God and things were really good. I loved the people and they loved me. And then I received a call to lead an initiative for a good deal more money. I rationalized the change with number 1, 5 and 7. It had to be God. He wanted this for me. I would painfully learn the lesson. Whenever you have to justify or rationalize the way forward is not of the Lord.
The third way we end up lost and hopeless comes from the story of CORE (Korah) is found in Numbers 16. Korah and his followers resented the leadership of Moses and dared God to do anything about their rebellion. Korah knew God had chosen Moses but he rejected him and therefore rejected God himself. “The way of Korah” was deciding to lead oneself without concern for God’s directions.
A “Korah” moment happened a few years ago….I will never forget my Korah story. It happened when I moved my business into a shared warehouse. I was trying to save money and time so I decided to do an office build-out without a village permit. I can still remember the general contractor telling me we needed to get a permit and he couldn’t do the work if they required metal studs. He said he could refer me to someone else but I should expect to pay double. I told him to forget the permit and just build the place. No one ever came around. Everything was fine until the first fire inspector came. It quickly snowballed into a total loss of over 30,000 dollars. In the end, I had to rip everything out of the building and move elsewhere. I was so ashamed of myself.
Now, let’s be honest, we all fall short of the glory of God. We all are guilty of following God on our own terms, for our own gain and in our understanding. Pride, money and rebellion always lead us to a dead end. Anyone who has been an adult for any time knows the only real solution to our struggles with these and other failures is the acceptance of the gospel and a reliance on the power of Jesus and His Spirit to |shepherd us through. But what about our friends who aren’t there yet?
How do we help our family, neighbors and coworkers who are still being led astray by living the lie of the “Little engine” that could?
The answers are given in Jude 1:22-23
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh
To those who doubt, Be merciful
To those who are stuck in sin: Be Helpful
To those trying to live under their own power, Give mercy and walk with the power of God into their messes - teaching, correcting, rebuking and training them in the words and ways of the Lord. (2 Tim 3:16)
Jude is a challenge to us to never confuse the gospel with personal preferences, traditions and secondary issues. When in doubt, check it out by diving into God’s word, prayer and meditation. He doesn’t change, nor does His will for us.
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