Jude (2)
Notes
Transcript
There has been a shift in the thinking in our culture today, hasn’t there?
It was Voltaire who once said:
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
But, that’s not how people seem to think today is it?
Where once we were told that people had the right to their opinions, and that we were to “respect” them and “tolerate” them, and that it was “ok” to disagree with them…
Now, we are told that to call any ideas “False” is to “Judge” the person, and that that is wrong!
The world today seems to say: “You disagree with what I say, You have no right to judge me!”
But… What does scripture say?
3 Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.
4 I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Jude’s desire was to bring us… to bring the church… an uplifting, joy-filled message of hope in the salvation we enjoy, but… he couldn’t do that!
Why?
Because the church was in danger… Embracing lies is deadly!
3 Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.
Jude saw that they needed to defend the Faith… Because their were people among them who were spreading false teachings!
Even in his time, the acceptance of false doctrines had crept in to the Church, and people were being misled!
But, we’ve overcome that right?!
Weirsbe asks this: “How could false brethren get into true assemblies of saints?”
— The Soldier had fallen asleep.
Shinigirayi Gwete tells the story of the “Selous Scouts” during the Rhodesian bush war in what is now Mozambique…
The Selous Scouts were a specials forces unit of the Rhodesian army, who were trained to infiltrate the enemy to gather information, disrupt operations, and set traps to kill them…
They did this by dressing like them, acting like them, doing whatever it took to be accepted by them…
In 1976, infiltrated a camp of the liberation army by using trucks painted to look like theirs. The people seeing their uniforms and the trucks accepted them into their camp… It is reported that these “Selous Scouts” ate with them, drank with them, even sang their “freedom songs”… But what followed was a massacre… over a thousand people were killed at point blank range…
How did they do it?
Because the soldier — the one responsible for the safety of the camp — fell asleep… They were able to sneak in, because the people didn’t recognize their enemy.
4 I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Barclay says that they “slipped in” through…
“the Specious and seductive words of a clever [Lawyer] seeping gradually into the minds of a judge and jury…”
That they “slipped in” …
“like an outlaw slipping secretly back into the country he has been expelled from…”
Now listen to this…
Through “the slow and subtle entry of innovations into the life of the state, which in the end, undermine and breakdown the ancestral laws.”
False teachers do not mount a full on frontal assault! They are sneaky… they are conniving… some (I think) don’t even realize that they have become false teachers...
Speaking of the prophets, Peter said:
1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive opinions. They will even deny the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2 Even so, many will follow their licentious ways, and because of these teachers the way of truth will be maligned.
3 And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation, pronounced against them long ago, has not been idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
We have to be on our guard… We cannot fall asleep at the wheel!
This is why Jude said:
3 Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.
We must Contend for the Faith we have been trusted with.
Faith is the foundation of our life in Christ.
Jude tells us that Faith was entrusted to us “once for all.”
But, what is “the Faith”?
Walls and Anders say this:
“Faith refers to a body of OBJECTIVE truth, not the SUBJECTIVE experience of believing something.” — Walls and Anders
— Subjective Faith is action. It is how our life is lived out! It informs our decisions… our actions… how we treat others… etc…
— Objective Faith is a noun. It is the foundation. It is the root of Faith in Action.
This is the faith that Jude is talking about here.
It is the Faith that is true to ALL Christians, regardless of backgrounds, denomination, doctrines…
The Faith that is entrusted to us is the Gospel!
It is the truth that:
— God created and loves us
— We have all sinned and fallen short of His Glory
— He sent His son to save us
— that Jesus died on the Cross… was buried… and 3 days later, rose again… providing the sacrifice — the covering for our sin
— We are forgiven when we repent, and put our faith in Him!
That is the Gospel!
“Salvation is common to ALL who are established in the Faith.” — Wesleyan Bible Commentary
That is the faith that was given to us!
It does not matter where you go in this world… you have brothers and sisters in Christ! Anyone who receives Christ is our brother… regardless of denomination or cultural background!
This is the FAITH that we Jesus tells us to hold to…
25 only hold fast to what you have until I come.
We must consistently embrace right, biblical, beliefs and flee from anything contrary to those.
14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.
There are many people in the church today, who believe that scripture needs “updating”… that it needs to be changed in order to be “relevant” to people today…
I can think of a lot of things in my life that need to be updated....
… my wardrobe…
… my phone…
… my computer…
… the paint and furnishings in my home…
… my hairstyle…
(lol)
But scripture is not one of them!
Look at Jude 3
Jude 3 (NRSV)
3 Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
Jude says that our Faith is “once for all”, Why?
— because it is rooted in Christ!
It doesn’t need to be updated! God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow! His Word does not change!
10 Do not receive into the house or welcome anyone who comes to you and does not bring this teaching;
Even in the Apostles’ time, there were people — in the Church — who distorted the gospel for their own means.
They argued that:
“You have been saved by grace, so you are free to live as you please!”
— or —
“[that] God would overlook sin, because sin is a product of the flesh, and therefore it doesn’t effect the soul… [so all people will go to heaven]”
— or —
“God loves ALL people, therefore, a “loving” God would not send anyone to hell.”
But, we don’t hear those things today, do we?!
“We are called to LOVE… Love means not calling out sin… it’s not our place to judge… we only love.”
Let me tell you: “Cultural Christians will take great pains to show that they do not belong to that vulgar herd of ‘unenlightened’ Christians.”
But these ideas are destructive!
Look at what Jude says about these people:
4 I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
— they are ungodly
— they are condemned
— they have denied Christ!
16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
How we live matters! What we say and do matters!
When we fall prey to the mis-teachings of “false prophets”… When we begin to think like them, and attempt to “justify” our pride and lust… we fall prey to idolatry and will soon find ourselves worshipping self… not God!
That leads to destruction!
And that is what the enemy wants!
8 Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.
Let me tell you… the enemy is a coward! satan will not come at us from the front… he will not openly deny God or confront our beliefs… he always comes in from the side… sneaking in, attempting to trick us into distorting our faith....
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Look at Spurgeon’s words:
“the New Views are not the Old Truth in a better dress, but deadly errors with which we can have no fellowship.” — Spurgeon
He goes on to say:
“I cannot endure false doctrine, however neatly it may be put before me. Would you eat poisoned meat because the dish is of the choicest ware?” — Spurgeon
Some times false doctrines can appear surprisingly appealing.
Are we entertaining them? Have we allowed some of them into our thinking? Have we fallen asleep?
We need to WAKE UP!
We are called to “Contend for the Faith.”
3 Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
The Gospel was entrusted to us!
“Each individual Christian has the dual responsibility of maintaining the truth unadulterated and of carefully handing it off to others.” — Hillyer
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The work of the gospel depends on us… It depends on faithfulness to God, to the Gospel, and to each other…
We are one generation away for the Kingdom being lost… It’s up to us!
Jude cries out for us to “contend for the Faith”… that means that the Gospel has to be the most important thing to us!
It has to be so important that we will do anything to defend it!
Let me ask you: “Is the Gospel important to you?”
Then understand this: It is possible to “explicitly affirm” Christ as Lord, while “implicitly denying” Him through immoral and un-Christian-like behavior.
Do you understand what that means?!
Our Lifestyle Matters!
3 Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
Look at what Watson says about this subject:
“Contending involves building up the church in Faith...”
20 But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit;
“… and proclaiming the Faith to those who are no longer contending for it… in order to rescue them from judgment… “
22 And have mercy on some who are wavering;
23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on still others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies.
“Contending for the Faith occurs in private and public prayer, in Bible study, in Worship, and in outreach...” — Watson, New Beacon Bible Commentary
Contending for the Faith means speaking out when we see and hear errors and misuse of scripture…
But… let me tell you… We do not have to use fancy language to do it!
We do not contend in some formal… “High Language” of rituals and religion… We contend in common language of people… in the everyday lifestyle we live…
The New Test. was not written in “high language”… it was not written in the “scholarly language” of the universities… It was written in “Koine Greek” — the “Common” language of the people.
That means (now hear this) we do not have to be able to write a university textbook to contend for the Faith!
We do it through our lifestyle… through our relationships… and through our conversations…
We cannot claim to be in Christ, and live a lifestyle contrary to that claim.
We must contend for the faith, but… we must do it in love!
12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
We have been entrusted with the Gospel, Will we live according to it, and Contend for it?
We are Stewards of the Faith.
Our love for our Brothers and Sisters should compel us to contend for the Gospel’s integrity.