Defending the Faith (Jude 1:1-11)
Notes
Transcript
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
Passage Reading
Passage Reading
Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,
To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:
Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
Introduction
Introduction
Today we will have a look at the last book of the “General Letters” of the New Testament. But before we look at the specific details of the letter, we need to gain an overview of the epistle, understanding both its background and the major themes addressed. Exploring the book in context will allow us to understand the author's intention in writing the letter and rightly divide the word of truth as 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us. God speaks to us in His Word, and the goal of our study today is the both hear what God has to say and to apply it to our lives. With this in mind let's get a bit of background:
Did you know that the Bible tells us in Isaiah 7:14 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” Immanuel means “God with Us”. This prophecy was fulfilled 700 years later when Mary gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem. However, after the birth of Jesus, Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3, tells us that Mary and Joseph had other sons and daughters. Among them are both Jude and James. So the author of this letter, Jude, was both the brother of James (who wrote the book of James in the New Testament) and the half-brother of Jesus Christ himself. This also shows us that the Roman Catholic teacher that Mary remained
a virgin for the rest of her life is blatantly false. But more on this later.
The dating of this is uncertain, however because there are some significant similarities between Jude and 2 Peter, we can safely assume that this letter was written in mid-60 A.D.
In verse three of this letter, we see Jude introduce the purpose of the letter. Jude understood the threat of false teachers in the church, and because of this, he called upon believers to contend for the faith. Jude understood that these false teachers were doing the work of the devil by spreading false doctrine in the church and by doing so leading Christians astray. Jesus expects us to worship Him in Spirit and truth and because Jude loved these believers, he had to warn the believers of the danger in their midst.
With this in mind, let's get into the text:
Read:
Read:
Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,
To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:
Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
In verse 1, we see Jude introduce himself as the brother of James. James was the half-brother of Jesus, and he was also well-known as a leader in the church of Jerusalem - he played a significant role throughout the New Testament. Its important to note here as well, that although Jude was the half-brother of Jesus that is not how he introduced himself. Rather, Jude humbly introduces himself as a servant of Jesus. This is interesting because prior to Jesus resurrection from the dead, neither James or Jude believed that Jesus was the Son of God. In fact, in Mark 3:21 tells us that Jesus’ family called him “out of His mind” - implying that he was crazy. However, here we see Jude calling himself the bondservant of Jesus Christ, and in verse five refering to Jesus as God. This is incredible, because of afterJesus’ resurrection from the dead Jesus’ own family accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and as God in the flesh. His very own family worshipped Him as God. Quick question: Would you call your brother and sister crazy if they claimed to be God? I definitely would. But what if He predicetd his own death on the cross, fulfilled 191 prophecies foretold thousand of years in advance, performed miracles, healed the sick, drived out demons, raised Himself from the dead, appearing alive to over more than 500 people alive at once, and then you saw Him ascend into Heaven to be seated at the right God the Father. In light of the evidence, I’d also re-examine my view of Jesus.
In the second part of verse 1, Jude makes mention of three words: called, sancitified and preserved. The Bible tells us in John 3:16 that God so loved the world, that Jesus gave His own life on the cross that you and I might be saved and spend eternity with Him. Its an invititation that He extends to the whole world, however Romans 8:28-30 also tells us that God ultimately knows who will respond to that decision. He calls people to Himself, however few people respond to that call. God is a gentleman, and He will never force himself on anyone. Its up to us to make the choice to follow Him, just like Jude did. The word “sanctified” in verse 1 implies that those that God calls, God also sets apart for a special use. And lastly, the verse tells us that those who are called, and sanctified, God will also preserve until the day of Jesus Christ. Jude understands that God will not only complete the work of salvation that He has started in the believers of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:6), but that God himself will to keep them and protect them from apostasy and the influence of false teaching. Lets quickly read Jude 24 “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,”
Moving on.
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Jude 3 (NKJV)
Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
Here we see the key verse in the Book of Jude, that will unlock our understanding of the remainder of the letter. Mark it in your Bibles for next week’s study. Before Jude wrote this letter, He was initially planning to write on things related to common salvation - something that the believers in this church share with Jude. However, when he learned about the false teachers infiltrating the church he was compelled to address the issue. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and out of a place of deep concern for the church, Jude firmly exhorted (another word for excourage) the believers to defend the Christian faith and the doctrine that was entrusted to them by the apostles. And just as Jude was compelled by the Holy Spirit to address this issue, we as Christians have a Biblical command to do the same. Lets read:
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
The Bible tells us that we are to both contend for the faith in Jude 3, and in 1 Peter 3:15. This means we are commanded by God to defend the truth of the Bible no matter the cost, especially in the world we live in today. And just like Paul defended the gospel in Acts 17 and Phil 1:7, we too are called in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”.
Now lets look at the second part of the verse 3,
By saying Jude 3 “ I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” What was Jude implying when he said, that the faith was delivered to the saints once and for all? By saying this Jude was implying that by the time of him writing this letter, the canon of the New Testament was closed - which included His letter. This ulitmately meant that no one could add to the doctrine or scripture which had already approved by the apostles and that had been circulating in the early church. This was a very important statement. Why? Because as we will see later, that these false teachers referred to in this letter were extra biblical sources of revelation. In other words, they thought that their extra biblical sources of revelation carried the same authority of the Bible - which was blatantly false. Obvious examples of these would be false religions like Islam or cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, and Mormons. However, other false teachers are far more subtle.
In verse 8, we will see Jude calling these false teachers “dreamers” - they believed that the dreams they had were revelations from God, however, their revelations or dreams “rejected authority” (meaning that they went against what God had already clearly revealed to us in the Bible). These false teachers also “speak evil of dignitaries” - meaning that they always spoke badly of the leaders of the church. They silently come into the body of Christ, as we will see in verse 4, and they slowly but surely begin to manipulate and lure the believers into following them rather than their leaders. They put themselves on a pedestal, and speak badly of others. The Bible tells us in Acts 20:30 “Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.” Be careful of these people, especially if you are a young Christian who does not know the Bible well. Jesus himself describes these people types of people in Matthew 7:15, initially, they come to you in sheep’s clothing and they look innocent and harmless - but inwardly they are ravenous wolves that feast on the weak and naive.
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For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
The NIV reads this verse as follows:
Jude 4 (NIV)
For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Here, we see Jude mentioning two extremely important warnings.
The first warning:
The first being that these false teachers are teaching a message of Hyper Grace, meaning that they are using the grace of God as an excuse to sin. They themselves are not only living in excessive sin but they are teaching others to do the same. Jude described this as “perverting the grace of our God”, that is some very strong language. Lets look at what Jesus and Peter said about what will happen to these false teachers:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Here Jesus makes it clear. You could have been used by God to prophecy in his name, perform miracles and even drive out demons. The Bible has examples of every one of these types of people. In the Book of Numbers, there was a false prophet Balaam we spoke for God on a spesific occasion while trying to curse Israel, however was he saved and did he obey God? No. In the Book of Exodus, we read about the Magicians who did supernatural works by the power of Satan. Were they saved, and did they obey God? No. In Acts 19:11-16 we read of Jewish exorcists who used the name of Jesus to try and drive out demons. Were they saved? And did they obey Jesus? No? Jesus makes it abundantly clear - if you do not obey Him and practise lawlesness, you will hear these words on judgement day “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practise lawlessness.”
Although we are not saved by our works, but by grace through faith as Ephesians 2:8-9 makes very clear. The Bible condemns the abuse of God’s grace. We are to do exactly what James 1:22 tells us, and that is to “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves.”
The second warning:
Look with me again at verse 4. Jude issues a second warning. These false teachers “deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.” So what does this mean? This means that these false teachers denied that Jesus was God. Lets see both the Bible and Jesus himself had to say about this. Can someone please read the following verses for me:
Titus 2:13 “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”
Does the Bible call Jesus our“great God and Savior”? Yes.
2 Peter 1:1 “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:”
Did Peter call Jesus our God and Savior? Yes.
Listen to how Isaiah described Jesus as the coming Messiah:
Isaiah 9:6–7 “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Did Isaiah predict that the Messiah to be born would be Mighty God? Yes.
Now lets read what Jesus had to say about Himself:
Revelation 1:8 ““I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.””
What did Jesus the describe himself as? God.
And best for last, listen to what Jesus calls Himself - confirming that He was infact the God of the Old Testament. We will see that Jude himself affirms this in verse 5. Some please read what the God of the Old Testament called himself in Exodus 3:13–14 “Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ””
Now I would like to ask someone to read John 8:58“Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Who is Jesus claiming to be? The God of the Old Testament Himself.
If you believe this, turn from your sin today to Jesus and put your trust in Him: The Bible tells us in Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
So based of these verses are these false teachers lying? Yes they are. Because the Bible and Jesus himself clearly claimed to be God.
Lets quickly have a look at verses 5-11.
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Jude 5–7 (NKJV)
But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Here Jude clearly states that he wants to remind the saints of God’s judgement in history of the Bible. He provides three examples of God’s judgement of the past. By doing so He is aiming at warning the believers and also affirming the certian judgement that awaits these false teachers. Lets look again at verse 5. The ESV Bible translates this verse as follows:
Jude 5 (ESV)
Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
Here again, we see that Jude clearly states that Jesus is the God who saved the people of Israel from the slavery they expierenced in Egypt. Not only did Jesus save them, but Jesus also judged the people of Israel because of their unbelief. They did not believe that God was able to conquer and defeat the pagan nations that inhabited (or lived in) the promised land. You can read more about this account in Numbers 14:27-34.
In verse 6, we see Jude’s second example - the rebellious angels. These angels rebelled against God’s authority and as a result they were judged and bound in everlasting chains awaiting judgement. The angels being discussed here are either the angels who rebelled against God and sought equality with him, which God then cast out of Heaven. Or it can refer to the angels described in Genesis 6:1-4 who had sex with women. Either or, the principle remains the same - rebellion against God authority, leads to the judgement of God. Which is exactly what awaited these false teachers.
In verse 7, we see Jude’s third example - the sinful men of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Genesis 19, we read about the judgement these two cities received for their sexual immorality. The men of Sodom and Gomorrah went after “strange flesh” - in other words, they practised homosexuality. And God judged them for it. God refers to homosexuality in Leviticus 18:22 “An abomination.” The Bible condemns homosexuality in Romans 1:26-27, and in 1 Corinthians 6:9–10 it says“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” And finally in 1 Timothy 1:8-10, Paul explicity tells us that any teacher that teachers a doctrine that endorses homosexuality is not from God.
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Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.
Here Jude gives us a quick summary of everything what these false teachers have been doing wrong.
They appeal to sources of revelation outside of the Bible, spesifically in the area of their dreams. God does speak to us in dreams but these dreams will never contradict that which the Bible. Listen to this:
“If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Point number 2: They reject the authority of the Bible and its doctrine.
Point number 3: The rebel, and speak badly of the leaders of the church - with the intention of leading people astray after themselves.
In verse 9 and 10, we read about arch angel Michael and how he dealt with Satan. And it sets an example for us in how to overcome the devil and his demons. Michael did not start fighting Satan or start rebuking Satan in his own power or might - rather he said, “The LORD rebuke you”. He understood that only God himself had to power to defeat Satan, and that we are to rely on Him in spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” Believers are to be humble, and praying to God the Father that though the power of Jesus they overcome the devil. You always want to keep the Lord between you and Satan. Jude is here busy contrasting the arrogant attitude of these false teachers with the humility of Michael in engaging in spiritual warfare. We as believers today have to be very aware of this, because in the Christian world today there has been an explosion of so-called “deliverance ministries” that teach false doctrines and embrace teachings about the supernatural realm that fall completely outside of what the Bible teaches. Be aware of this, and don’t be fooled by it. Spiritual warfare is very real, but these false teachers not only abuse it but fake most of it for the camera to gain a large following. People are naturally curious and are drawn to the supernatural. They know this and exploit it, and like Jude makes it clear in verse 10 - these false teachers have no idea what they are talking about. STICK TO WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES BECAUSE WE KNOW WE CAN TRUST IT.
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Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
Lastly, we again see Jude making use of three examples: Cain, Balaam and Korah. Just like Cain these false teachers devise their own way of worshipping God, like Balaam they pretend to be serving God but they lead others into sin while looking to gain money from their teachings, and like Korah that rebelled against the authority of God and by rebelling against God’s appointed leaders, Moses and Aaron - these false teachers will be utterly destroyed when God judges them.
We will continue next week.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,