Remember The Israelites…

Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. (Jude 5)

The miraculous story of the Hebrew Exodus from the Land of Egypt…few incidents in scripture are more memorable than this historical event. Let us recall this story, in which the merciful God revealed to His people Israel that He would quickly bring judgment upon the Egyptians by passing through their land and slaughtering the firstborn of every household, while at the same time providing a way of escape for His people. You remember how He told the Hebrews to spread the blood of a slaughtered lamb over the doorposts of their dwellings, and promised that He would pass over every house upon which the blood of the lamb was found. This command, by faith, the Israelites observed, and the Lord remained true to His promise.

God, having promised to deliver the Jews by the hand of Moses (His anointed servant) from their Egyptian slavery, led them out of the land of Pharoah to the edge of the Red Sea. By faith, they followed Moses through the Sea (God having parted the waters so that they might walk through on dry land), and, after passing through securely by the grace of God, they watched as the walls of water collapsed in judgment upon the Egyptian army. God had yet again proven Himself to be faithful to those that trust Him and obey His commandments. Now, having been redeemed out of Egypt by the hand of the Lord, the people of God anxiously approached the land which He had in former times promised to their fathers; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The very same Lord who had delivered the children of Israel out of their Egyptian bondage had also promised to present them with a glorious homeland which flowed with milk and honey! What an amazingly gracious God!

At this point, the only act that was required of the Jewish people was to believe that the all powerful God who delivered them out of the land of Egypt could also deliver the promised land of their fathers into their hands, and then, having believed, to enter in and possess it…all but 2 (Joshua and Caleb) trusted that the Lord was able. The rest of the Israelites began to paint the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as weak and unloving, and thus became unwilling to obey His commandments, feeling that their own autonomous reasoning was superior to the revelation of God through Moses. So what happened to the unbelieving children of Israel who refused to submit to the Lord’s command? God destroyed them all in the wilderness. They did not believe God, so in response, He promised that they would never enter into the land, and He, once again, was faithful to keep His promise to them. The very people whom God had redeemed out of Egypt were consequently placed under His condemnation as a direct result of their unbelief, and now, the judgment of the Lord which befell the Egyptians was destined to fall upon them as well.

Jude desired that His readers would remember this story. The satanic intruders who had infiltrated their fellowship desired to lead them away from the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. Their interpretation of the Christian life was antithetical to that which has been presented by the apostles and prophets (Christ’s anointed servants). If any in the church were to follow the teachings of these ungodly men, it would be tantamount to an all-out rejection of the gospel of the kingdom, for Jude sees the denunciation of the lordship of Christ by these men as a form of unbelief which is in every way equivalent to the unbelief of Israel as they prepared to enter into the promised land. Jude sought to communicate to his hearers that it was absolutely imperative that they earnestly contend for the faith by rejecting the lies that these men were dispersing, for if they failed to take heed to the word of the Lord, they too would be destroyed with them…in an identical manner to that of the Israelites. I will close with this exhortation from the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews:

“Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.” (Hebrews 3:12)

 

Merely Human Rules

 

Jesus accuses them {religious and moral traditionalists} of raising human rules to the status of God’s law.  Jesus tells them (and us) that leaders will make this mistake whenever they require of people what God has not commanded.  This is true even if leaders’ intentions are zealous, protective, and apparently spiritual.  Think of all the laws that exist among believers today regarding music, movies, books, clothing, devotions, church membership requirements, tithing, drinking, smoking, and so on.  These teachings “are but rules taught by men” (Mark 7:7, NIV; see also ESV, “the commandments of men”), and therefore, Jesus says, they must not be made binding on the conscience of God’s people.  The apostle Paul teaches in his letter to the Colossians that, despite their appearance of wisdom, such rules for Christian living have no value in restraining the indulgence of the sinful nature (Col. 2:23)

The most important point, though, in Jesus’ criticism here, is that God has given us no authority to increase what He, the Lord, has demanded of His people.  He is their Creator; we are not.  He is their Lawgiver and Judge; we are not.  They are His sheep and not ours.  He purchased them for Himself–and we did not.  He knows them as we do not…..We do not have the right to make new laws binding on the conscience of other believers, no matter how good we believe our intentions to be.

Pg. 167, Learning Evangelism from Jesus by Jerram Barrs

 

Do Not Forget…Or Else!

Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all… (Jude 5)

Do we realize that at any time, Jesus Christ, the holy God and just judge of all of the earth, might return, swinging the full force of His omnipotent wrath upon this ungodly world? Even if He chooses to tarry for centuries more, it is inevitable that every single person on this earth will die in the not so distant future, and immediately enter into the presence of God to face His judgment. In fact…we have no way of knowing whether or not this might be the very night in which God will require our souls of us! Does this truth have any lasting impact upon our lives from day to day, hour to hour, moment to moment? Sadly, even amongst professing Christians, it is far to often that our pride puffs us up, and we forget that our life is like a vapor, which is there for a moment, and gone in a breath. “Lord forgive me, I am guilty!”

To the shame of Christ’s church, this brand of forgetfulness has been present since the very beginning, and I’m not merely speaking of the inception of the New Testament church, but even since the fall of Adam and Eve, this has been the case, and, having been given a glimpse into the church to which Jude penned this letter, we notice that they too needed a reminder about the coming judgment of God, and this for 2 reasons, as I see it. First, because deceitful men, hellbound themselves, had secretly made their way into their fellowship, and were seeking to lead people astray. Jude wants to remind the church of exactly what will happen to these liars, but also of what awaits those who follow after their demonic doctrines. If any in the church were to foolishly lay down their arms (in other words, persist in their slothfulness, neglecting their duty to earnestly contend for the faith) the Lord of Hosts would crush them with an identical condemnation.

Secondly, Jude’s reminder serves the fellowship as a means of grace from God, which will preserve those who wholeheartedly take heed to its warnings. To clarify this point, I want  to call our attention to the phrase “once for all” in verse 5. We have already seen this phrase in verse 3, where Jude was referring to the revelation of God, upon which I commented that “ it is fairly accurate and very safe to say that ‘the faith’ which he refers to is that which is contained in the Old and New Testaments”. The “once for all” here, I believe, refers to the same faith, which was “once for all” handed down to the saints. Jude desires to point them to the scriptures, and being that after the composition of Jude’s letter it became a part of the New Testament canon (and therefore, recognized to be the very Word of God, as it truly is) it serves as a tool of the Holy Spirit to preserve and protect God’s elect people.

I think it is also important to take note of the fact that since Jude desired to “remind” them, it is implied that they already “know all things once for all”. This doesn’t mean that they had a comprehensive understanding of everything in the scriptures, but more accurately that this church had access to (at least having had a fairly strong acquaintance with) all that God had revealed through the apostles and prophets, and, more specifically, had without a doubt heard the stories of which Jude was about to bring to their remembrance. This church was not ignorant of the bible’s teachings, but most likely they had just grown lazy, they had forgotten that the judgment of God is imminent, and, as a result, were failing in their duty to earnestly contend for the faith, which opened the door wide for the devil and his deceptions. It is dangerous to forget that the Lord is returning to destroy this fallen world, for when we refuse to walk in the light of this truth, we will surely stumble into a pit of darkness from which there will be no escape. Our only hope is to submit to God’s protection by taking heed to His word.

 

The Trellis and the Vine

The authors of The Trellis and the Vine, Colin Marshall and Tony Payne, contend that “All Christian churches, fellowships or ministries have some kind of trellis that gives shape and support to the work” (pg. 8). If the trellis (to use the analogy) is the structure of the church or ministry (management, finances, organization, etc.) then the vine is the work of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, and seeing people converted, changed and growing to maturity in that gospel (Ibid.)

The danger in Christian ministry is that many times trellis work can supplant vine work. Committees, programs, activities, all have their place and importance, but we can easily slip into the busy-ness of the work and forget the purpose of it. If the vine is not nurtured, healthy, and growing, then focusing all our efforts on the trellis is futile in the long run. In fact, if a church is flourishing–much like the vine that is growing so well you cannot see the trellis underneath–the underlying superstructure that directs its’ growth will hardly be noticed.

What’s the state of the trellis and the vine at your church?

Jesus commissions His disciples to make disciples of all nations. Going, baptizing and teaching are the three subordinate participles to the main verb, make disciples. The authors rightly note that “the commission is not fundamentally about mission out there somewhere else in another country. It’s a commission that makes disciple-making the normal agenda and priority of every church and every Christian disciple” (pg. 13).

Our goal is to grow the vine, not the trellis. Keeping the focus there will point our labors in the right direction. May the Lord grow His vine and bless the work of His ministers AND His people in the church!

 

Christless Christianity

Ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 4)

In the conclusion of verse 4, Jude begins to unmask these imposters who have stealthily made their way into this local church. This portion of the verse basically summarizes all of the characteristics of these men which he will later expound upon in the rest of this letter. A major emphasis in the first half of this verse was that at first, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible to recognize these people. This is an important insight. Often, these men do not make their beliefs and practices known right from the jump. This could be for a number of reasons, but whether it be that they were keeping their true beliefs a secret, or if their beliefs evolved over time, eventually they will be made manifest in both their teaching and their practice. Once they are made known, it will make it easier us to discern who these men are.

In this passage, Jude reveals to us their deceptive techniques. To the undiscerning eye, it is extremely subtle. But first, it is important for us to examine what Jude says about their spiritual condition. He tells us 2 things: first, that they are ungodly, and second, they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. These men are utterly destitute of reverential awe towards God, and in fact, they actually condemn Him! Jude also says they deny that Jesus Christ is Lord! At first glance, some might say that this doesn’t sound as subtle as I am trying to make it out to be…but truly it is. You see, it is not as if these people were vocalizing these beliefs to the members of the congregation quite so bluntly. This is the true condition of their hearts, but how it is expressed in their lives is a separate matter altogether.

Jude states that they turn the grace of God into licentiousness, and as I see it, this statement reveals to us their subtle method of deception. Basically, they would utilize Christian language, but change the definition of terms. This way they would be able to appear as if they were Christians, when truly they were not. To the true Christian (because of what we have learned in the bible) the concept of God’s grace includes a complete transformation of the mind, will, and emotions, where God makes a person willing and able to obey His commandments, to one extent or another. In fact, a major portion of God’s ultimate purpose for His people is to make them like Christ, by grace, so that they have no desire to, as well as never again commit, sin.

These men, on the other hand, have redefined the biblical terminology of “God’s grace” to mean that since Jesus Christ has paid the penalty on the cross for sinners, and freely grants the forgiveness of sin, we can live however we want, even if the lifestyle we choose includes a total disregard for God’s commandments. This definition of grace turns the biblical definition on its head! In fact, it is precisely because of this twisting of the bible’s language that Jude refers to them as ungodly people, and as those who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. One cannot simultaneously despise the law of God and reject the Lordship of Christ and still be considered a Christian…it is an impossibility. To put it another way, to abhor the law of God is equivalent to a condemnation of Him as evil, and to a rejection of Jesus Christ as both Lord and Savior… no matter what is claimed to the contrary.

 

Destined For Destruction

For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation. (Jude 4)

When we left off last time, Jude’s readers had just been made aware of the fact that there were people in their midst, posing as their brethren, who in actuality had deceitfully slipped into the fellowship with evil intentions. Though this likely sparked terror in the hearts of the members of the congregation, I believe the next statement that Jude makes increased their fear exponentially. He characterizes them as men who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation. What condemnation is this? Without getting into all of the details (seeing that Jude will develop this concept as we continue) he is speaking of the lake which burns forever with fire and brimstone, otherwise known as hell.

So why would I say that this would terrify Jude’s audience to an ever greater extent? Because with this statement comes the realization that the reason why these men have infiltrated the church is that they are intending to spread demonic doctrine! They are on a mission to deceive, to lead people astray, and in the end, should the brethren fall prey to their hellish trickery, this could lead to their own condemnation as well! I imagine that this statement had the congregation shaking in their sandles! After all, if they had been unable to recognize which of their professing brothers were secretly wolves in sheep’s closing thus far, how on earth would they be able to make proper distinctions in the future?

Surely, this revelation must have crushed the fellowship into utter despair. Anxiety and fear were likely running rampant as they contemplated the possibility that they might soon be seduced into the very pit of hell! But was it too late for this congregation? Was destruction inevitable? By the grace of God, the answer to these questions is no. In God’s providence, with perfect timing, the Holy Spirit placed an urgent message upon the heart of our author Jude…”exhort the church to earnestly contend for the faith, and instruct them in the ways in which they are to do so.”

We are all prone to allow men with demonic doctrines to seep into the church, for none of us are omniscient, we are all enslaved to sin’s corruption, and in and of ourselves we lack the discernment necessary to distinguish between the truth and the lie. God was gracious to this church (as He has also been to us) to warn them of the dangers which await those who are undiscerning, but do not presume that God will be gracious to those who ignore His warnings, for He will not! God equips us with the weapons necessary for the war which is being waged, but it is our duty to take advantage of, and to utilize these unconquerable armaments in order that we might attain to the victory which God provides. The responsibility of this church, as well as our own responsibility, has now been elevated, for God is making clear to us in this letter the only way of escape…to ignore it is to seal your fate!

 

Through Gates of Splendor

Ever heard Jim Elliot, the famous missionary and martyr preach?  Me neither, until today.  Give this a listen.

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=6170716536

 

Undercover Brothers

For certain persons have crept in unnoticed (Jude 4)

So why is it that Jude was so greatly concerned to exhort his readers to contend earnestly for the faith? It was because certain persons had crept in unnoticed! Well…who were they? Jude is very vague in the way in which he begins to introduce these individuals, and I believe that this is to emphasize the fact that finding them is, at least at first, an extremely difficult, if not impossible task. He basically says that they are just “some guys”, and quite possibly this is because Jude himself does not know exactly who they are.

He states next that they have crept in, that is, they have entered in secretly, slipped in stealthily. This they have also done without being noticed…as was their intention. They have purposely sought to gain an entrance with deceptive motives and tactics, and they have succeeded in their attempt! Now, just where is it that they had so deceptively “crept in” to? The terrifying answer is…that they were now in and amongst the local church fellowship to which Jude was at this very time writing!

I imagine this was quite a shock, and dreadfully frightening to the recipients of this epistle. Having been assuming that they were in the company of like-minded brothers and sisters in the Lord, men and women who love them ever so  dearly, they come to find out, having heard this verse read aloud, that there are, at this specific moment, in their midst, certain individuals who have deceptively slipped into their fellowship with evil intentions! To make it worse, the saints had absolutely no clue as to which of those who were amongst them were secretly against them!

Have you seen this common sort of murder mystery movie, where a group of individuals end up snowbound in some creepy mansion, only to find out that one of them is a murderer, and desirous to kill everyone in attendance? Can that sort of imagery, along with the horror which must be experienced by those who fear that they might be the next victim of this twisted psychopath’s rage, be transferred to our situation here, to which Jude has focused his interest? The church to which Jude writes is in a devastating situation. A situation in which, if understood correctly, should have sparked terror in their hearts as they sat listening…sqirming in their seats!

And one more thing…we should not feel safe either…FOR THEY ARE IN OUR MIDST AS WELL!!!!!!

 

John Frame: God And Perspectivalism

God knows absolutely everything, because he planned everything, made everything, and determines what happens in the world he made. So we describe him as omniscient. One interesting implication of God’s omniscience is that he not only knows all the facts about himself and the world; he also knows how everything appears from every possible perspective. If there were a fly on my office wall, my typing would look very different to him from the way it looks to me. But God knows, not only everything about my typing, but also how that typing appears to the fly on the wall. Indeed, because God knows hypothetical situations as well as actualities, God knows exhaustively what a fly in that position would experience—if such a fly were present—even if it is not. God’s knowledge, then, is not only omniscient, but omniperspectival. He knows from his own infinite perspective; but that infinite perspective includes a knowledge of all created perspectives, possible and actual.

 

A War Over Hearts And Minds

Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. (Jude 3)

What exactly does it mean to earnestly contend for the faith? The first thing it means is that we are never to allow ourselves to be seduced by any worldview or philosophy that is unbiblical. We must have our minds saturated with scriptural truth so that our whole way of thinking is transformed by God’s word. When we are presented with other views about God, Jesus Christ, salvation, or life in general, these views should be immediately dismissed from our brains. If we are to be earnest as we contend for the faith, we must be unwavering, refusing to be swayed by any and every wind of doctrine that blows by us.

Secondly, we must live our lives in accordance with the scriptures. Not only should our minds and thoughts be transformed by the word of God, but our hearts and emotions as well, which, when combined all together, will lead to transformed actions. We are to cheerfully and willingly submit to the commands of God, doing all that we do for His glory. The lives that we live testify that the word of God is true, and also that we truly believe what He has revealed to us. So, if we desire to contend earnestly, we must, in the power of the Holy Spirit, strive with all that is in us to live lives that bear witness to the truth of what we have believed.

All of our speech and conduct should be motivated by a love for God and others with an overarching desire to make Him known in this fallen world. It is imperative that our motivation is right, and that we understand the doctrines which the bible teaches so that we can communicate them both verbally and practically as we live out the teachings in our lives. These 3 things (motive, knowledge, and practice) must all be present if we are to accurately represent God, and conveniently for us, are also the only means by which we will attain the victory which has already been provided for us by Jesus Christ.

In light of all of this, we should never compromise or contradict the bible in whatever we think, feel, say, or do, for to do so would be to lay down the only weaponry which God has provided us with to win the war that we are engaged in. Jude understood this, which is why he pleads with his readers to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. It is only in the bible that we find the tools necessary to conquer our enemies. Therefore, it is our duty to protect the purity of the scripture. We must be accurate in our dealing with the text (in preservation, translation, and interpretation), and also accurate in our application of it (in practice).

In closing, the best protection for ”the faith” (objective) is faith (subjective)! Trusting that knowing, as well as cheerfully and willingly obeying, the scriptures, is the means by which God will give us the strength and power to emerge victorious in the battle we fight, is the most potent, and in fact the only way to contend for the faith once for all handed down to the saints. We must truly BELIEVE and wholeheartedly TRUST in the word of God, passionately contending with the entirety of our lives in order that we might see God’s kingdom and rule spread throughout each individual heart and mind of the children of men, and over the entire face of the earth.