Our Shared Salvation
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning Church! Would you turn with me to Jude? Jude comes just before Revelation. It is 1 chapter long. Jude is a short epistle but is packed full of important and valuable lessons and applications!
Update on how eldership is going- meeting this week- please be in prayer as we seek to lead this well.
INTRO: My background with Jude- always thought it was weird- it quotes from the book of Enoch and a place called THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES
I thought it was all apocalyptic because it was kind of confusing
And I thought it was only addressing false teachers.
In seminary though I was asked to help lead a community group going through Jude- much to my horror because I thought it was WAY OVER MY HEAD, and it made me really study the book.
What I found was that it wasn’t weird, it wasn’t apocalyptic and that it NEVER ACTUALLY SAYS THE WORD FALSE TEACHERS IN THE BOOK!
It talks about false teaching and the end result of it, but it does not talk address FALSE TEACHERS as much as it addresses ALL WHO LEAD PEOPLE ASTRAY OR CAUSE TROUBLE!
We will at times refer to these people as false teachers, but another, maybe more accurate name for it would be “troublemakers.”
I love what Andreas Kostenberger says about this. He says, “In an age when Christian faith and moral integrity are in short supply, Jude’s message is particularly appropriate. All too commonly local churches fail to confront false teachings or are unwilling to challenge compromises in the way people live.”
As we seek to study Jude, I see 5 sections in the short epistle.
§ Greeting
§ Warning against troublemakers
§ Coming punishment
§ Encouragement to believers
§ Benediction
3 major themes that we will see throughout this book are:
Be on Guard against falsehood
Understand TRUTH
There is JOY and HOPE even in times of complete chaos because of GOD!
Today our main point is:
Main Point: We are to live lives MARKED by MERCY, PEACE, and LOVE while rejecting FALSE-TEACHING and all who lead believers astray.
Today we’ll see a call of how we are to live- the TRUTH OF HOW WE SHOULD LIVE and then we are also told to BE ON GUARD!
Body
Body
As we dive into Jude, we start off reading Jude 1
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James:
To those who are the called, loved by God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.
Let’s take a few minutes to unpack this introduction.
Jude writes this letter. Now, from his greeting, we should have two questions in our minds- who is Jude and WHAT is Jude!
Jude introduces himself as a doulos or a servant/slave of JESUS CHRIST!
His life in other words is built fully off of Jesus Christ! Jude does not claim to control his own life but rather he submits his life to Jesus!
Jesus directs Jude. This is something that we will see a lot of today!
Part of why I love Jude is the humility of Jude! Jude doesn’t put himself on a pedestal. He doesn’t pretend to be more than someone else. We can and should relate to Jude in some ways!
We can be and we SHOULD be SERVANTS OF JESUS CHRIST!
In Miracle- a Disney movie telling the story of the 1980 Miracle on ice, there is a scene where the team ties a game against Norway.
Their coach makes them stay on the ice skating wind sprints. As they do this he asks them, “WHO ARE YOU AND WHO DO YOU PLAY FOR!”
What he’s trying to build is a TEAM, not just a collection of individuals! As the players answer, they always answer with their name and the name of their college team!
Finally, the captain, Mike Eruzione yells out, “MIKE ERUZIONE, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!”
His identity is no longer as a star college hockey player, his identity is as a part of something greater.
What Jude is doing here is similar!
His identity is JUDE- A SERVANT OF JESUS CHRIST!
He isn’t JUDE- THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND!
He’s Jude the servant of Jesus!
In the same way friends, let me ask, can we identify as “Daniel- servant of Jesus Christ?” Can we insert our name into that statement?
So Jude IS a servant of Jesus. But WHO else is Jude?
Jude is a brother of James.
Now, Jude does not give us further identification of what James that is, but Church History tells us that this is James the half-brother of Jesus!
So Jude who we are identifying as the Jude mentioned in Mark 6:3 as a BROTHER of Jesus, is a half-brother of Jesus! Yet, how does he introduce himself?
It isn’t as “Jude, brother of Jesus who used to hang out with Jesus on Tuesday afternoon’s,” he introduces himself as, “JUDE A SERVANT OF JESUS CHIRST AND A BROTHER OF JAMES!”
That is humility!
Jude is full of humility. His life reflects his faith and where his focus is.
Jude continues on after saying who HE IS by addressing his readers.
His epistle is “To those who are the called, loved by God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.”
Jude addresses his letter to people marked by these three things-
They are THE called, they are loved by God and they are kept for Jesus.
In other words, Jude addresses his letter to CHRISTIANS!
Jude uses lists throughout his short epistle. These characteristic lists will help us understand his message because he lists characteristics of the people that he is talking about.
Throughout the book of Jude keep your eyes open for his lists of 3 and 4 items.
Each writer had their own style as they wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Jude’s style hinged on lists.
So when he starts listing characteristics, or warnings, or examples, pay attention! His lists are designed to make us think deeper!
In fact, we will see roughly 14 different lists, depending on how you count them, in Jude! Jude is only 25 verses long, but Jude puts these lists THROUGHOUT! That’s his style!
Jude’s lists are typically made up of 3 or 4 items. So here, we see that Christians are THE CALLED, are loved by God the Father and are kept for Jesus Christ.
Those are 3 characteristics of Christians!
We are THE CALLED, WE ARE LOVED BY GOD THE FATHER AND WE ARE KEPT FOR JESUS CHRIST!
The word “called” here is always only used in the NT to refer to believers. Jude is making his audience clear- his audience is those who know Jesus!
Every letter is sent with an intended destination. Jude’s letter doesn’t have a specific audience listed.
Some of the earliest references to Jude came in the writings of the church in Alexandria, so it’s believed that they received the letter early on, but Jude never says that himself.
In fact, commentators agree that his original audience is the MOST BROAD of all the NT epistles!
May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Jude then gives a blessing to his readers. He gives another list.
This three part blessing that he gives is for Mercy, Peace and Love to be multiplied!
Mercy
Peace
Love
There’s a reason for each of these three things. Not only are mercy, peace and love great things to bless someone with, they are also all parts of the gospel!
Mercy of course is part of the gospel because we all need GOD’S MERCY!
Peace is part of the gospel because we can ONLY experience TRUE PEACE through GOD!
And love- here it is agape love, or total love, can only come from God!
Even in his greeting in this short letter, Jude is packing lots of important information about our faith in!
Jude transitions from his greeting to the purpose of his letter in verse 3. Verse 3 in some ways is like a THESIS statement.
This is WHY HE IS WRITING and it is WHAT HE WANTS US TO HEAR!
Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all.
In one of the most fascinating examples of how the Holy Spirit inspired these writers, Jude wants to write about salvation but does not!
Jude wants to write about the salvation that we share! He wants to talk about HOW WE ARE SAVED!
THE HOLY SPIRIT though directs him to write on something else. Jude is directed to write a letter confronting falsehood and division within the church.
Now, this is an important point to make. Jude does address false teachers. BUT, Jude never calls them “false teachers.”
So, his focus is LARGER than just false teachers. His focus is EVERYONE WHO SPREADS DIVISION!
ANYONE WHO TEACHES OR PASSES ON FALSEHOOD is being addressed by Jude.
It’s like a square and a rectangle. A square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square!
We could say it like this- All false teachers are addressed in Jude, but Jude does not ONLY address false teachers!
Anyone who is spreading division, falsehood or even is causing extra anxiety and worry within the church is being addressed here!
Don’t miss this- the entire message of Jude is really an example of obedience to God!
Jude puts what HE wanted to write on hold and instead writes what GOD tells him to.
Jude is walking in clear obedience to God!
Last week when we looked at Galatians 3:23-29 we talked about what it looks like to PUT ON CHRIST!
Here’s a good example! Jude does what GOD tells him to do! He puts on Christ!
Jude says that he has changed his letter because he finds it necessary to write, “appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all.”
Jude writes to confront these divisive and misled believers!
His purpose in the letter? It is to CONTEND or FIGHT for the true gospel!
Jude then says that our faith has been delivered to us.
Here Jude uses a passive participle. I don’t want to get caught up in grammar ever, but it really matters here!
By using a passive participle, Jude shows that WE ARE RECIPIENTS!
Jude is reminding his readers that WE DID NOT EARN SALVATION!
We aren’t saved because of our own righteousness! We are saved because of GOD’S MERCY!
AND REMEMBER- what did Jude start with? “May mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you.”
So as Jude talks about our FAITH being delivered to us, he reminds his readers of the fact that it is ALL BECAUSE OF GOD’S MERCY!
That’s why we are saved! GOD’S MERCY that we see through JESUS’S SACRIFICE!
OUR FAITH WAS DELIVERED TO US! IT WAS DELIVERED ON THE CROSS!
So if our faith was delivered then why must Jude write to us to contend for our faith?
BECAUSE OF VERSE 4!
For some people, who were designated for this judgment long ago, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.
In verse 4 we hit the crux of Jude’s greeting in many ways.
Some people have entered into the church BY STEALTH! These people enter into the church with false motives. To use a turn of phrase- they come in the side door! They sneak around the church, looking for prey.
The summer after my Freshman year of college I participated in a discipleship program run by the Navigators. During the day I worked as a day camp counselor.
When I first arrived though the camp wasn’t running yet because local schools were still in session.
So instead I was asked to help teach Outdoor Education.
Well, one day I was sitting in the office and I got a call from another OED instructor. He informed me that he had found Mountain Lion tracks. My boss must have overheard because all of a sudden I saw a hand reach out from her office and she immediately grabbed the radio and was telling him what to do to keep those kids safe!
For the rest of the summer we had to tell people that there may be a Mountain Lion in the area. Mountain Lions can have a range of close to 200 Square miles so we never were too sure of where he was.
But the way that Mountain Lions hunt is terrifying and fascinating. See, a Mountain Lion stalks its prey. It walks along the tops of cliffs, or even at times through some branches.
And when it decides its time to attack it JUMPS onto the person.
When a Mountain Lion attacks, it always goes for the neck!
Why? Because if it can attack the preys neck then it will quickly succeed in killing its prey.
Honestly, false teachers hunt like Mountain Lions!
They sneak around with stealth until they see the opportunity! Then, when the opportunity arises, they ATTACK!
And what do they attack? JUDE MAKES THAT CLEAR IN VERSE 4!
For some people, who were designated for this judgment long ago, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.
These troublemakers are UNGODLY, ATTACK THE GRACE OF GOD USING IT AS AN EXCUSE FOR SINFULNESS AND THEY DENY JESUS!
That sounds like the neck of a Christian!
They attack everything that matters!
Please hear me on this dear church- as Christians we are fighting a war! WE MUST REMEMBER THIS AND WE MUST BE ON-GUARD!
Now notice, Jude has given us another list.
Here he lists out what the troublemakers are like.
He gives us three characteristics. They are:
Ungodly
They turn the Grace of God into sensuality
They deny Jesus.
These are big issues and they are clear statements!
These people do not follow God!
That’s a big issue! They have snuck into the church and they claim to know God but they don’t!
STEER CLEAR!
These people try to take advantage of THE GRACE OF GOD!
But it isn’t just that. They use the grace of God to EXCUSE their own SINFULNESS!
Think about that!
They try to take advantage of the grace of God to give themselves short term pleasure.
THIS IS EVIL!
Then these troublemakers go one step further. They DENY JESUS!
As if everything else wasn’t enough, they DENY JESUS!
They look at the gift of salvation and laugh at it!
They don’t take it seriously!
What a travesty!
But hear me, this hasn’t gone away! We still need to be on guard today!
Our culture- and sadly I don’t just mean secular culture- rejects God and what God calls us to do.
We have replaced the TRUTH OF GOD and what it means to FOLLOW GOD with what is convenient and COMFORTABLE!
Instead of SHAPING OUR LIVES AROUND GOD, our culture- and once again, unfortunately some who claim to be believers- tell us to SHAPE GOD AROUND US!
Let me be honest. If someone claims to be saved but they fall into either of the first two sinful categories that Jude lists here, I’d really DOUBT their salvation and if they deny Jesus (category 3) then I’ll be up-front- THEY ARE NOT SAVED!.
So hear me, we cannot shape our view of God around what WE WANT! It must be the other way around!
That is an issue that Jude is addressing! Jude is addressing ANY action that is UNGODLY! Jude is calling out those who do not seek out sanctification, or their CONTINUED GROWING RIGHTEOUSNESS!
That’s not all. Our culture and here I am specifically referring to some who claim to be believers- so often turns grace into an excuse for sexual immorality.
They will say, “But there’s grace, so it doesn’t matter.”
Hear me! It very much matters! Do not take advantage of what Jesus did on the cross!
Jesus did not pay that price so that we can live in sin!
Jesus died so that we can be SAVED, not so that we can go around FLAUNTING OUR SIN!
But that still is not all! These troublemakers then DENY JESUS!
They take advantage of “the grace of God” and then they DENY JESUS!
THEY DENY THE VERY WAY TO BE SAVED!
So, these troublemakers try to distort what people see as Righteousness, they try to distort what HOLY LIVING is and then they DISTORT AND DENY OUR SAVIOR!
By the time that you change all of this, you no longer even have the same gospel that we find in scripture!
It’s a totally different thing!
For us we must be on guard to make sure that we FOLLOW THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL rather than what just sounds temporarily appealing!
These troublemakers were misled and I have no doubt that some of their vulnerability came from them chasing after something that SOUNDED more enjoyable in the short term! Really though, they swapped their long term salvation for short term enjoyment.
APPLICATION:
APPLICATION:
Like we always do, I want to take a minute to talk about some practical takeaways from our passage today.
Today, we have 2.
Mercy, Peace and Love
Be On Guard
Mercy, Peace and Love
I know that may not sound like the most standard application. But I don’t see a way to talk about Jude without including a list inside of our applications- after all, he writes with SO MANY lists!
The most prominent lists that Jude gives today are in vs. 2 and vs. 4.
Focusing on the vs. 2 list, Jude says- Jude 2
May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
So let’s talk about Mercy, Peace and Love.
These three are great things, but they are more than that. These are REAL, MEANINGFUL things! MERCY IS REAL, PEACE IS REAL and LOVE IS REAL! These three things should help shape our lives!
But what is MERCY really and how does it impact our lives?
Let’s start with what Mercy is. Mercy is God’s totally undeserved gift of forgiveness and kindness!
God’s mercy is something that we could never deserve. It isn’t like one day we EARN God’s mercy!
By definition, mercy is given to us and is NOT earned!
God’s mercy is such a deep blessing.
God’s mercy is made the most clear through Jesus coming to earth.
For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
(Gospel Highlighting Mercy and how we DON’T DESERVE IT!)
So we are saved by God’s mercy. MAY GOD’S MERCY MULTIPLY!
Peace is the next thing that Jude lists. Peace is something that our world longs for.
Peace comes from God! That’s why Peace is a Fruit of the Spirit!
We experience TRUE PEACE when we trust God and we give our anxieties and our concerns to God!
I love what Paul says about Peace in Philippians 4:6-7.
Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Peace is linked with prayer and with talking to God. Why? Because Peace comes only from God!
Peace, real peace cannot come from anything else. It can only come from God!
So let me encourage you today- just as we MUST PLACE OUR FAITH IN GOD TO EXPERIENCE TRUE MERCY, WE MUST PLACE OUR FAITH IN GOD TO EXPERIENCE TRUE PEACE!
Regardless of the chaos of the world there is hope for peace! But that peace can only come from God!
God’s peace isn’t just a temporary emotion, God’s peace is so much more!
God’s peace is deep and brings life!
Let me encourage you, cast your anxieties, your concerns and your fears on God! LEAN INTO GOD AND MAY PEACE BE MULTIPLIED TO YOU!
The third thing that Jude addresses is LOVE. We all love love. Who doesn’t want to be loved?
Jude uses a specific word for love. Jude uses the word AGAPE. Now, honestly, I think that sometimes pastors spend too much time differentiating the greek words for love and we miss the point, but the basic summary is that agape love was a TOTAL UNDESERVED LOVE!
Mercy, Peace and LOVE are all mentioned by Jude and guess what- NONE OF THESE COME FROM US!
All of these come from God! Hear me, this should be a relief for us!
We do not receive Mercy, Peace and Love because of our righteousness, but rather because of WHO OUR GOD IS!
So let me encourage us, IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY, PLACE YOUR FAITH IN JESUS!
AND IF YOU HAVE, LET ME ENCOURAGE YOU- IN THE MIDST OF GOOD TIMES AND HARD TIMES, CLING TO GOD!
CLING CLOSELY TO GOD AND WALK WITH GOD, experiencing God’s Mercy, God’s Peace and God’s total and absolute love!
Our second application today is BE ON GUARD.
Jude writes his letter as a warning. He writes this letter with a purpose.
His purpose is to WARN BELIEVERS TO BE ON GUARD against troublemakers and those who seek to separate us from God!
Likewise, this is a simple challenge for us. How will we know falsehood unless we know truth?
So my challenge for us today is simple. BE ON GUARD AND KNOW GOD!
KNOW THE WORD OF GOD! KNOW WHAT GOD HAS SAID, KNOW WHO JESUS IS! But here me, don’t just know it in your brain (point to brain), know it in your heart (point to heart).
Head knowledge is great, but really, what matters is that you KNOW GOD personally, not that you know ABOUT GOD!
So this week, let me challenge you- be in God’s word, be in prayer and seek to KNOW GOD, not just to know ABOUT GOD!
Don’t make scripture reading and prayer just another requirement, instead, let me encourage you to SEEK TO TRULY KNOW GOD THROUGH IT!
This is about our relationship with the God of the universe!
So be on guard and do that by KNOWING GOD!
Let’s pray.
(Pray for God’s MERCY, PEACE, LOVE AND PROTECTION)