Be alert
Jude, 20 July 2014
21 07 14 Filed in: Sermons | Most Unread Bible Books
Big Idea: Know the Truth and He will set you free!
Overview: Jude warns believers that certain ungodly people are creeping into the church, distorting the grace of God, and denying Jesus Christ.
Introduction
Are you protected? Do you use protection? For many years we have been warned to guard against…computer viruses. They can sneak onto our computers and wreak all sorts of havoc with our valuable information—or so I’ve been told! I won’t contribute to the endless Mac versus PC debate, but I happen to know many who have had computers infected with viruses. How do they occur? It could be through software that is installed on the machine. Sometimes they are e-mail attachments that are activated when opened. It’s important to be on alert, pay attention to what you open and install on your computer, and generally a good idea to have some type of antivirus protection on your device.
Today we continue our series The Most Unread Books of The Bible, a survey of some of the least-read Bible texts according to BibleGateway.com.
We began with Jonah. Last week we looked at another prophet, Joel. Today we examine another “J”—Jude.
Jude is one of a handful of books that are comprised of a single chapter.
genre: epistle/letter
author: Jude
date: between 70 and 80 AD
to: Christians
The big idea of Jude is to be on guard against those who want to corrupt your faith and, therefore, your life. It continues to amaze me how relevant a two thousand year-old book can be in our progressive, 21st century culture.
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, (1a)
Jude is not only the brother of James, he is also the half brother of Jesus, though he does not consider himself an apostle (v. 17).
To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: (1b)
Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. (2)
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. (3-4)
Notice the intentionality behind their actions. These are not uneducated, naive people. They are on a mission. They are secretive. They are subtle. They are godless. They change God’s grace, promote immorality, and deny Christ. They are false teachers, heretics, and liars. Have you ever encountered one? They’re all around! They take the Scriptures and twist them, distort them, and rip them out of context to be manipulated for their purposes. We should not be surprised. Satan did the exact same thing to Jesus while He was fasting in the desert for forty days.
Satan quoted Scripture!
He knows the Bible better than most of us!
The messages sound so good, so positive, so affirming, so politically correct.
“God helps those who help themselves.” Where is that in the Bible?
“God made me this way.” He created you and me, but we are all broken because of sin and The Fall, desperately in need of transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit.
“God loves everyone.” Yes He does, so much so that He wants what’s best for us which is often uncomfortable at the moment for our growth and future benefit.
“God wants me happy.” He is more concerned about Your relationship with Him and others than your temporary pleasure.
“God will forgive me.” Followers of Jesus are forgiven because of what Christ did on the cross, but that does not mean there won’t be painful consequences for our rebellion against God and others.
“God wants me rich.” He does want to bless us, but it may not be the way we envision and when we envision. His greatest blessings will be eternity with Him.
“I need to do great things for God so He will love me.” You’re already loved. We love Him and obey Him as a response because He first loved us. All of the social activism in the world won’t cause Him to love You any more than He already does.
Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home — these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 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. (5-7)
Jude says they already knew this, yet he offers a reminder of the consequences of sin. Tragically, many today think of Sodom and Gomorrah as an imaginary place that never existed—or worse, a place they’d like to visit. As Jude says, it was filled with sexual immorality and perversion and there are consequences—the punishment of eternal fire. The more I listen to the messages of our culture, the more it seems like we are told to seek immediate pleasure at all times. Nobody mentions responsibility, consequences, others, or even the radical idea of waiting, saving, delaying, or sacrificing now for rewards later. We not only want instant news, coffee, downloads, and entertainment, we want instant experiences, pleasures, and our every desire on demand.
Let me offer my most offensive statement of the day:
It’s not all about you!!!
I know that’s what we’re told, 24/7/365. I know it’s the prevailing message in our culture. I know every decision we make must first go through the “what’s in it for me?” filter, but it’s a lie!
The worst is when the religion of consumerism invades our relationship with God. I will love and serve God as long as He loves and serves me. I will go to church as long as I get something out of it. I will volunteer when it’s convenient and makes me feel good about myself. I’ll gladly share my leftovers of my time, talents and treasures with God if there is any!
In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals — these are the very things that destroy them. (8-10)
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. (11)
These men 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. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. (12-13)
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. (14-16)
But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. (17-19)
So what?
But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. (20-21)
Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear — hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. (22-23)
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (24-25)
Conclusion
We are to guard our hearts against the devil’s schemes. They can be subtle. We need the full armor of God as we daily engage with the forces of God and the forces of evil whose mission is to steal, kill and destroy.
You can listen to this message and others at the Scio podcast here. You can also subscribe to our podcast here.
Overview: Jude warns believers that certain ungodly people are creeping into the church, distorting the grace of God, and denying Jesus Christ.
Introduction
Are you protected? Do you use protection? For many years we have been warned to guard against…computer viruses. They can sneak onto our computers and wreak all sorts of havoc with our valuable information—or so I’ve been told! I won’t contribute to the endless Mac versus PC debate, but I happen to know many who have had computers infected with viruses. How do they occur? It could be through software that is installed on the machine. Sometimes they are e-mail attachments that are activated when opened. It’s important to be on alert, pay attention to what you open and install on your computer, and generally a good idea to have some type of antivirus protection on your device.
Today we continue our series The Most Unread Books of The Bible, a survey of some of the least-read Bible texts according to BibleGateway.com.
We began with Jonah. Last week we looked at another prophet, Joel. Today we examine another “J”—Jude.
Jude is one of a handful of books that are comprised of a single chapter.
genre: epistle/letter
author: Jude
date: between 70 and 80 AD
to: Christians
The big idea of Jude is to be on guard against those who want to corrupt your faith and, therefore, your life. It continues to amaze me how relevant a two thousand year-old book can be in our progressive, 21st century culture.
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, (1a)
Jude is not only the brother of James, he is also the half brother of Jesus, though he does not consider himself an apostle (v. 17).
To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: (1b)
Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. (2)
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. (3-4)
Notice the intentionality behind their actions. These are not uneducated, naive people. They are on a mission. They are secretive. They are subtle. They are godless. They change God’s grace, promote immorality, and deny Christ. They are false teachers, heretics, and liars. Have you ever encountered one? They’re all around! They take the Scriptures and twist them, distort them, and rip them out of context to be manipulated for their purposes. We should not be surprised. Satan did the exact same thing to Jesus while He was fasting in the desert for forty days.
Satan quoted Scripture!
He knows the Bible better than most of us!
The messages sound so good, so positive, so affirming, so politically correct.
“God helps those who help themselves.” Where is that in the Bible?
“God made me this way.” He created you and me, but we are all broken because of sin and The Fall, desperately in need of transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit.
“God loves everyone.” Yes He does, so much so that He wants what’s best for us which is often uncomfortable at the moment for our growth and future benefit.
“God wants me happy.” He is more concerned about Your relationship with Him and others than your temporary pleasure.
“God will forgive me.” Followers of Jesus are forgiven because of what Christ did on the cross, but that does not mean there won’t be painful consequences for our rebellion against God and others.
“God wants me rich.” He does want to bless us, but it may not be the way we envision and when we envision. His greatest blessings will be eternity with Him.
“I need to do great things for God so He will love me.” You’re already loved. We love Him and obey Him as a response because He first loved us. All of the social activism in the world won’t cause Him to love You any more than He already does.
Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home — these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 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. (5-7)
Jude says they already knew this, yet he offers a reminder of the consequences of sin. Tragically, many today think of Sodom and Gomorrah as an imaginary place that never existed—or worse, a place they’d like to visit. As Jude says, it was filled with sexual immorality and perversion and there are consequences—the punishment of eternal fire. The more I listen to the messages of our culture, the more it seems like we are told to seek immediate pleasure at all times. Nobody mentions responsibility, consequences, others, or even the radical idea of waiting, saving, delaying, or sacrificing now for rewards later. We not only want instant news, coffee, downloads, and entertainment, we want instant experiences, pleasures, and our every desire on demand.
Let me offer my most offensive statement of the day:
It’s not all about you!!!
I know that’s what we’re told, 24/7/365. I know it’s the prevailing message in our culture. I know every decision we make must first go through the “what’s in it for me?” filter, but it’s a lie!
The worst is when the religion of consumerism invades our relationship with God. I will love and serve God as long as He loves and serves me. I will go to church as long as I get something out of it. I will volunteer when it’s convenient and makes me feel good about myself. I’ll gladly share my leftovers of my time, talents and treasures with God if there is any!
In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals — these are the very things that destroy them. (8-10)
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. (11)
These men 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. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. (12-13)
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. (14-16)
But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. (17-19)
So what?
But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. (20-21)
Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear — hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. (22-23)
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (24-25)
Conclusion
We are to guard our hearts against the devil’s schemes. They can be subtle. We need the full armor of God as we daily engage with the forces of God and the forces of evil whose mission is to steal, kill and destroy.
You can listen to this message and others at the Scio podcast here. You can also subscribe to our podcast here.