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Jude (Warning & Judgement)
God placed this sermon in my heart during our church’s annual youth program, and our pastor’s wife came up with the theme of the service. The theme of the service was “Keep Calm and Trust God.” The text that came to mind came from the book of Jude and it read’s such: "Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ" (Jude 1:1-4, KJV) I know that you are probably wondering what this particular text has to do with our theme which is to “ Keep Calm and Trust God.” At least I did. So, I pondered in my mind. God, why did you give me this text, and what does it have to do with trusting God. Then, a still voice tells me to define the word trust. So, what do I do? I pull out my iPhone, and I type the word trust into the web browser. There I found the definition of the word trust with a number of synonyms listed beneath. To trust is to have a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. Therefore, in order for us to trust God, we must have a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, and strength of God. The other words that were synonymous to the word trust were those such as: confidence, belief, faith, certainty, assurance, conviction, credence, and reliance. Furthermore, when we declare that we are going to trust God, we are declaring that there is a certainty to the strength of God. We declare that there is a certainty to the knowledge and wisdom of God. Not only that, but we declare the certainty of the sovereignty of God. For, he is the Most High God. As we think back on the text, we see that Jude is reminding the people to “contend for the faith” in the last days. The word contend means to struggle to surmount a difficulty or danger. We live in a society that is full of trouble. This is the day in which men walk after their own lust, and men make decisions without any respect for God. But we have to struggle for the faith. We have to struggle to trust God even when trouble is all around us. Sometimes it will be hard to believe that God is there, but he is there. He is always there We must dare to have faith. We must contend for the faith.
An Overview of Jude's Quality
Many times the book of Jude is overlooked, but I must note that there is a special quality to Jude. One of the reasons that this book is overlooked is because it is a small book. As you can see, the letter is only one chapter. However, it is also my belief that writing of Jude is overlooked because this particular letter contains heavy language and. I am not saying that the language is hard in that it is difficult to understand. But the language is heavy, because the language that Jude used in this letter contains judgement and exhortation. The word exhortation means to address or it is a communication emphatically urging someone. The word exhortation is synonymous with the words urging, encouragement, persuasion, pressure, warning, entreaty, call, charge, injunction, admonition, and again warning. To exhort someone means to warn them of danger.
Humanity's Rejection of Godly Wisdom
I have come to the realization that Jude is rejected because the entirety of the letter is the judgement of wickedness and wicked folks. Not only does the letter proclaim judgement on the wicked, but it also renders warning to the people of God. This scripture along with many other imprecatory scriptures are pushed to the side, because we live in a day when no one wants to offend anyone. Today, there are many men the pulpit that refuse to tell the truth regarding sin, because they are afraid the people will stop coming to church. It’s a shame. It is a shame that the men of God are altering their sermons so that they will not sound offensive or judgmental. It’s a shame that churches will fire a preacher as a result of preaching against sin. The fact is that no one wants to be told about their unrepentant sins and the punishment thereof. I am not sure about you, but I would much rather my feelings to be hurt temporarily than to die and go to hell. Jesus explained that “ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” in hell. The torment of hell will last forever. The bible says, “It is not the will of God that any man should perish, but that all should come unto repentance.” That is why letters like Jude were written so that it would urge men to repent and to live righteously. Books like Jude should inspire us to live lives that are separate and sanctified for God. God does not want you to die and go to hell. That is why he gives apostles, pastors, prophets, evangelists and teachers. It is our divine calling to preach the unadulterated word of God in season and out of season. That is the will of God. The bible also says, “God chasten those that He loves.” Preachers and teachers are ambassadors for God, and they (like God) chasten and rebuke, because they love you. They preach those hard Jude-like messages because they love us. Yet, some of us reject God’s word. We reject God’s servants, and we reject the wisdom of God. Why? The reason is that men our now walking after their own lust just as Jude described.
Calling You Out of The Fire We have to stop rejecting the wisdom of our teachers and preachers. Jude 1:20-23 says, “ But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith praying in the Holy Ghost. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making the difference: And others save with fear pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” Please hear me. Listen to the wisdom of your preachers and teachers. Children, listen to your parents. For they are simply trying to pull you out of the fire. They are trying to save you from destruction. They are God’s ambassadors that are called to call you out of the fire. When they warn you, they are calling you out of the fire.When they rebuke you, they are trying to call you out of the fire.This should never make us resent or reject them. However, resentment and rejection is often the response we give them. You show me a prophet, preacher, or teacher that has never rebuked, chastised, or warned, and I will show you a false prophet. Show me a parent that never attempts to warn their children, and I will show you a parent that does not know how to love their children. Those that sincerely look out for us should be the ones we cling to, but instead we push them away. On the other hand, we cling to the ones that we should stay away from. The bible teaches us to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Jude says, “for there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." The word lasciviousness means to be lewd and lustful. How disrespectful is it for one to turn the grace of God into lewdness and lustfulness. This scripture is explaining how filthy men and lustful men are committing sins and abominations intentionally, but they claim the grace of God. I am heavily grieved now as I see so much un-repented sin running rampant in the church. There are so many that refuse to repent to God and those that they have offended. They just continue in their wickedness as if they are untouchable. The first thing that every one says is that “ We need to show some grace.” Indeed, we should show grace, but not to the extent that we are negligent as ministers of the Gospel. We have a godly responsibility to prophecy against false prophets and wickedness just as God instructed Ezekiel. At least that is what Jude did, and that is the quality of Jude that is desperately needed in this wicked day.
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