2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
Today’s passage in the little book of Jude deals with warnings and instructions that Jude passes on from God to his readers. JUDE 17-23, “But remember, my friends, what you were told in the past by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, ‘When the last days come, people will appear who will make fun of you, people who follow their own godless desires.’ These are the people who cause divisions, who are controlled by their natural desires, who do not have the Spirit. But you, my friends, keep on building yourselves up on your most sacred faith. Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and keep yourselves in the love of God, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ in His mercy to give you eternal life. Show mercy toward those who have doubts; save others by snatching them out of the fire; and to others show mercy mixed with fear but hate their very clothes, stained by their sinful lusts.”
In today’s passage, Jude turns his attention away from describing false teachers and toward the believer’s role in fending off the efforts of the apostates to lure them away from faith in Jesus Christ. They are counseled to maintain a good spiritual condition, which I would interpret to mean engage in faith-building relationships and activities. Jude makes the distinction between apostate leaders plying their evil ways and those who have been duped by them. He counsels the church to use discernment in ministering to the latter, reminding the faithful that they have been victimized by the former. The message about an increase of false prophets in the latter days has been repeated by a number of apostles, Paul, Peter, and John in particular. AC 20: 29-30, “I know that after I [Paul] leave, fierce wolves will come among you and they will not spare the flock. The time will come when some men from your own group will tell lies to lead the believers away after them.” Paul spoke about this in 1 TIM 4: 1-5 and 2 Tim 3: 1-9, which I hope you will read, too. Peter dealt with this subject in 2 PET 2: 1-22 and 2 PET 3: 1-4, which I hope you will review. John spoke about it in 1 JN 2: 18-19, “My children, the end is near! You were told that the antichrist would come; and now many enemies of Christ have already appeared, and so we know that the end is near. These people really did not belong to our fellowship, and that is why they left us; if they had belonged to our fellowship, they would have stayed with us. But they left so that it might be clear that none of them really belonged to us.” This is not a new message. Our Lord and Savior Himself spoke of it in MT 7: 15, “Be on your guard against false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves.”
In (18-19), Jude delineates three characteristics for which the faithful should be alert to in a person they need to identify as apostate. 1) They are sensual persons driven by the flesh. 2) They cause divisions in the church. 3) Since they don’t have the Spirit, they have no understanding or respect for Godly matters. When someone wears clothes designed to arouse sexual passions or their behavior does this, we should be alert. I have experienced the pain and upheaval in the life of one of my former congregations, resulting from the actions of people having what I call the disaster profile: a thirst for power, time on their hands, and lots of money. These are people who engender division in the church. In the case in my own experience, the congregation ended up splitting and in disarray. People who don’t have the Spirit adhere to the values of the world. Their attitude toward matters of obedience to God is to insult both those who obey and what God teaches them to do. They simply don’t understand the ways of God, and what they don’t understand evokes their anger.
In (20 & 21), Jude gives us four steps for maintaining an unbroken relationship with God. 1) We are to strengthen our faith by studying God’s word [Bible] and obeying God’s teachings. We are to answer the call within them to a holy lifestyle. 2) We are to have an active prayer life, one in which we listen to God and speak openly and honestly with Him. That eliminates the common human practice of reading through prayers mechanically without having our hearts engaged in the process. 3) We are to follow Christ’s commands for us to love one another. JN 13: 34-35, “And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are My disciples.” 4) You must eagerly seek the mercy of Christ-that He will soon come to gather the believers up to Him and take them home [to heaven]. That is what the word, “Marana-tha,” which means, “our Lord come!” is all about [1 COR 16: 22; REV 22: 7, 10, 12, & 20]. We are to encourage each other with the knowledge that the rapture is real and is drawing near [1 THESS 4: 16-18]. 1 JN 3: 3, “Everyone who has this hope in Christ keeps himself pure, just as Christ is pure.”
God’s policy toward apostate leaders is clarified in 2 JN 10-11. “So then, if someone comes to you who does not bring this teaching [Christ’s], do not welcome him in your homes; do not even say, ‘Peace be with you.’ For anyone who wishes him peace becomes his partner in the evil things he does.” It can’t be clearer than that. Christ told us in MT 7: 16a that “we will recognize them by what they do.” Yet, we are to show compassion for those duped by these leaders. We are charged with guiding them to the truth in JUDE 22. 2 TIM 1: 13-14, Paul’s admonition to Timothy upon turning the reins of leadership of the church to the latter are words we need to remember well today. “Hold firmly to the true words that I taught you, as the example for you to follow, an remain in the faith and love that are ours in union with Christ Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Who lives in us, guard the treasure [the Gospel] entrusted to you.”
Back in LV 13: 47-52, we are told that a leper’s clothing is considered contaminated and was to be burned. This is used as a metaphor for the stain of sexual sinning in the Scriptures. That is why the wearing of clothing that excites the sexual passions [of other than one’s spouse] is mentioned by Jude above. In JUDE 23, we are reminded basically to love the people but hate the sins they commit. We are charged with the responsibility to some to “snatch them out of the fire” and to others “show mercy mixed with fear.” While we can’t save anyone, we can set up the conditions in some cases where the Holy Spirit is freed to operate, bringing about their transformation by the renewal of their minds [RO 12: 2].
PRAYER: O Lord, the more we study the Scriptures, the clearer You make the message to us of both Your sovereignty and our responsibility to respond to it. In today’s passage, You have revealed specific attitudes and actions that we should take that will allow us to deal with the presence of false prophets in our midst. In Your infinite wisdom, You understood that there would be dissension from both within the church and from outside of it. You have charged us to love You and each other. You have commanded us to be alert, so that we will recognize a wolf in sheep’s clothing if one is with us. Out of mercy and compassion for us, You have given us the “lifelines” of Your word and prayer to help us deal with this problem and give us the discernment to know You ways in these matters. In other words, Dear Lord, You knew we would be faced with problems and loved us enough to give us powerful weapons which, when used, will insure our victory over them. When we respond following Your leadership, You bless us with protection and the warmth of Your magnificent love. For this and so much more, we humbly offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, trust, obedience, praise, honor, glory, and thanks. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will conclude our study of the little book of Jude with JUDE 24-25, a prayer of praise. After considering all the messages about how to recognize a false teacher and what we should do in response to their presence in the writings of the apostles, including Jude, it is impossible to ignore the enormous love our Abba has for us. Bask in the warmth of that and enjoy the guidance He provides as direction for our lives. Peter and I also send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn