Sermon Tone Analysis

*“Source of Contention”*

*Jude 1-4*

 

            I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but our culture strongly advocates tolerance between differing worldviews.

For many, this is not earth-shattering information.

We’ve discussed this before and many of you have seen the “Coexist” bumper sticker that depicts all “religions” dwelling together in perfect harmony.

And this suggests that all are equally valid and to say otherwise is to adopt the label of “intolerant.”

Maybe you’ve seen the movie /Kingdom of Heaven./

I don’t advocate the movie based on a few things.

Aside from the cool battle scenes with swords and axes and spears, I felt that there was an agenda behind the story.

It was a story involving the historical battle between “Christians” and Muslims.

At the end of it all, the message that I pulled from it was a “why can’t we all get along.

We’re all the same.

We’re all human beings.”

Maybe I missed the boat, but…

            The reason I introduce this issue at the outset is that I feel that we have been inundated with human sensitivities.

We cower to the fear of man and have lost the will to fight for our convictions.

I am */not/* saying that we are called to engage in a fight the way the Crusaders did.

This is one of the major failures in Christian history.

I am not even saying that we need to be rude or offensive, overbearing with our beliefs.

What I am saying is that, as Christians, we need to be willing to assess Scripture and to implement the language of “standing firm in the faith,” “fight the good fight of faith,” and “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”

We cannot cower when we know the truth, when we belong to the God of the universe, and when we are called and loved by him.

Men, you need to lead the charge in this.

In your families and in your church, you must not waver or allow your families to waver.

Have you ever wondered why it is primarily men who are attracted to the /Braveheart /and/ Gladiator /movies?

Why is it that your boys will convert any household items into weapons?

Why is it that they are consumed with adventure?

Without getting overly psychological, I believe God has hard-wired men to be courageous leaders who fight for truth and lead with conviction.

I digress in this momentarily.

But I was reminded of this as I investigated our passage for this morning.

We begin a short series in the Book of Jude.

And in the first section, verses 1-4, there is an exhortation to “contend.”

And as I looked around cross references in Paul’s writings, I began to see an abundance of “fight for the faith” language.

And the question I wanted to introduce at the outset is “have we lost all of our backbone because of the influence of our culture?”

Have we become consumed with pleasing people rather than boldly declaring Jesus as the only hope for mankind?

Have we as men been faithful to lead our families and churches to spiritual maturity?

Please turn in your Bibles to the Book of Jude.

It immediately precedes the last book of the Bible, Revelation.

Jude is but one chapter long and we will look at it in 4 weeks.

We will cover Jude 1-4 today, Lord willing.

Let’s read it in its entirety in order to gain the context for the opening four verses.

*READ.*

*            *Our first point will include the questions that we ask at the beginning of any Bible Study: *Who?

And to Whom? *As you know, in order to properly interpret Scripture, we must begin with who wrote what we are studying?

To whom?

Why? Etc.

Conveniently, these questions are answered at the outset for us.

It is always helpful when the first word indicates authorship.

Jude is identified as the writer of this letter.

This is actually a shortened form of the name “Judas.”

And if you have spent any time at all in the New Testament, you would observe that this is a rather common name for the time.

It would probably be something like a John or Michael or something like this.

In fact, two of Jesus’ disciples bear this name.

One we know as Judas Iscariot.

And so we need to do a bit more research to nail this one down.

Jude here includes a family relationship – that of a brother to James.

This James is believed to be the author of the book of James who was the leader of the New Testament church in Jerusalem.

This same James is one of Jesus’ brothers.

Technically, he would be a half-brother because, unlike Jesus, he was not conceived by the Holy Spirit.

And so, Jude would also be the brother of this James and half-brother to Jesus.

Regarding Jesus’, the people of his hometown refer to his family by questioning in Matthew 13.55, “Is not this the carpenter’s son?

Is not his mother called Mary?

And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

Interestingly, what we know of these two was that neither of them believed in Jesus as Messiah or Lord until after he was raised from the dead.

John 7:5 states that “*5* For not even his brothers believed in him.”

In the Book of Acts, after Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples had gathered to the upper room in order to select a replacement disciple for Judas Iscariot.

And Luke records in Acts 1.14, “*14* All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”

And then we witness the result of their believing in Jesus.

They were both used by God to lead his church and write letters that would exhort fellow believers.

Notice that Jude does not include what we might consider a noteworthy relationship.

He doesn’t come right out and say that he is the brother of Jesus.

Why not?

I think it was an act of humility.

That’s not where he found his identity.

More importantly, notice how he viewed his relationship to Jesus.

The ESV says, “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ.”

Other translations say “bondservant.”

The Greek word here is “doulos.”

And the more accurate translation of the word is “slave.”

The leading Greek lexicon defines a “doulos” as one who is solely committed to another.

And in our context, one is owned body and soul by God.

One of the difficulties we have with this word in contemporary times is the negative connotations that it carries with it.

In North America and abroad, we have seen wicked misuses of slavery.

But this isn’t the biblical understanding.

In fact, in the Book of Exodus, slaves would serve their masters for six years and then would have the opportunity for their freedom.

But often these slaves were so well taken care of, they would choose to stay and serve their masters forever.

Exodus 21:1–6* *“Now these are the rules that you shall set before them.

*2* When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.

*3* If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.

*4* If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone.

*5* But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ *6* then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost.

And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.”

I think that this is the Christian view of slavery to Christ.

John MacArthur adds that it “denotes being owned and rendering absolute, selfless submission to someone, in this case to Jesus as Lord.”

And this calls to mind the words of Paul to the saints in Corinth when he tells them they were bought with a price.

They belong to the King.

I thought about the way Jude identifies himself, looking for what this looks like for us.

When we are introduced to someone new, we often go through a couple of common questions.

What’s your name?

What’s the next question usually?

What do you “do?” Well, I’m a carpenter, or an accountant, small business owner… How quickly do we refer to Jesus?