Meadowbrooke Church

Walking with the One who Keeps, Secures, and Sustains

Who are you Christian? With a specific appeal to Christians threatened by the danger of an enemy who sought to use people in their lives to introduce what the Bible calls: doctrines of demons, intended to move those in the Church off course from the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (v. 3). The devil and his demons are not threatened by those who claim to be Christian with their lips but deny Jesus as Master and Lord with their lives; the devil and his demons are threatened by those who are so convinced of who Jesus is that they can live no other way but to follow Him. Jude is not the only place where we are warned of the dangers that threaten the Christian:
Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12)
You therefore, beloved take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. (2 Peter 3:17)
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons (1 Timothy 4:1)
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (1 John 2:19)
In his parable of the four different ways people respond to the word of God as it relates to Jesus, only one type of person truly receives Jesus as Savior and Lord. Some will hear about Jesus, but the devil, comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved (Luke 8:12). Others hear about Jesus, but the cares and riches and pleasures of life choke out any faith they had in Jesus (Luke 8:14). The third group Jesus described in his parable is what I believe motivated Jude to write his epistle; these people hear the truth about Jesus and receive it with joy, but because the roots of their faith do not go deep enough, they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away (Luke 8:13).
According to Jude, those who have crept into the Church unnoticed are false Christians who say they know Jesus but deny Him as Master and Lord. Jude describes these people as ungodly people who have the appearance of religion but are rotten to the core. They walk the way of Cain, abandon themselves for the sake of gain, and stand condemned before God. On the outside, false teachers seem harmless, but under the surface they are deadly. They present themselves as spiritual guides, but they are guided by their own greed. They present themselves as alive in Jesus, but they are twice dead. They posture themselves as holy, but they are stained by their own shame. They say they know where they are going, but their moral and spiritual compass is broken. Jude describes these people as grumblers, malcontents, loud-mouthed boasters who follow their own desires (v. 16).
To add to this, the Church is surrounded by a culture that is anti-Christian because it is anti-Christ. Judes epistle is filled with examples of how the culture of a fallen world is antagonistic towards God and His people. To walk in such a world can be scary and intimidating, and we see this in the example Jude uses of the Hebrew people who were so intimidated by those who lived in the land God promised them, that they refused believe God and enter into the land because they bought into the lie that the threats that lived in Canaan were greater than the faithfulness of the God who promised that land to them.
Leading up to the flood, Jude reminds us of the decline of human civilization into moral bankruptcy and unhinged violence from Cains murder of Abel to Lamechs polygamy and disregard of the sanctity of life, to the harems of powerful men and their link to demonic possession and sexual deviancy. Sometime before Noah and the catastrophic flood, we learn that Enoch walked with God. Sometime after Enoch, Noah was born and grew up in a world and culture described in Genesis 6 as follows: The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Yet we are told that Noah was a, a herald of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:5).
Gods people have been surrounded by cultures characterized by gross sexual immorality, violence, idolatry in the worst forms that often-involved child sacrifice, and the ridicule and mocking of anyone who stood apart from such evil since the days of Noah. Today, the world we find ourselves in is not all that dissimilar; the only difference is the dress being unique to the day, but underneath is the same evil.
Today, in America, the Church finds Herself surrounded by a culture where is the primary god. According to the website SexualDiversity.org, there are now 107 gender identities as of 2023. In our world an estimated 27.6 million people are trafficked worldwide and the United States of America ranks the worst, with over half of the criminal trafficking cases in our country involving children, of whom many are sold as -slaves. One of the main aggravators for child trafficking is the 97 billion-dollar industry. It is estimated that over 300,000 of Americas young population is considered at risk for sexual exploitation.[1]On top of the exploitation of Americas children is Planned Parenthoods 2-billion-dollar abortion industry, whose main mission serves the termination of unborn babies in the United States alone. People may not be placing their children in the red-hot arms of Molech over a fire to be sacrificed, but they are doing it in other ways!
As we have been warned by Jude, the evils of the world have a way of creeping into the community of Gods people. Although statistically there is a difference between those who claim to be Christian and those who do not, more Christians divorce today than ever before, more approve of abortion, and more make life choices based on sexual preference then the prescription assigned by God Himself. The dangers that faced the church in Judes day are the same dangers we face today, just under a different dress. The message of Jude to the Christian is that although the dangers are real and great, the God who is greater: called us, loves us, keeps us, and protects us. God loves us because He is our Father, God keeps us because Jesus is our Redeemer, and God protects us because the Holy Spirit seals and secures us.
God is Keeping You
God is keeping you from something in your life, and that something is from stumbling after the false teachers. According to the first verse in this amazing epistle, we are both beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. There are many dangers around us, but God is infinitely bigger than those dangers. However, if you are honest with yourself, Judes warning to the Christians for whom his letter is addressed is frightening. I can still see the faces of those who have been a part of my life who have fallen from the faith because they have bought into the lies of the enemy. To think that you are immune is to demonstrate an ignorance of the examples provided to us in scripture, a foolishness that is blind to the reality of your own life.
I read a story this week about the circus acrobat, Philippe Petit, who believed himself to be immune to failure and renowned for his walk on a tight rope between the two Word Trade Towers on August 7, 1974. Five months later, while rehearsing for his act in St. Petersburg, Florida, he fell about thirty feet. One witness who saw Petit fall, said that he rolled onto his stomach and began to bound the floor with his fists as he cried, I cant believe it! I cant believe it! I dont ever fall.[2] Petit suffered multiple broken bones and internal injuries that day. Petits story reminds me of the hymn, Come Thou Fount, penned by Robert Robinson:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;Prone to leave the God I love:Take my heart, oh, take and seal itWith Thy Spirit from above.Rescued thus from sin and danger,Purchased by the Saviors blood,May I walk on earth a stranger,As a son and heir of God.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all prone to fall, but there is one who will not allow us to fall to the point we are destroyed indefinitely. This is what Jesus prayed for:
And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. (John 17:1115, ESV)
God Will Finish His Work in You
God is doing something in you Christian. He intends to present you blameless on that Day when you stand before Him. Think about the significance of what Jude is saying here! Job heard the voice of the Lord in response to all that he suffered, not understanding why he suffered so, we learn of his response in the final chapter of his story: I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:2-3, 5-6). In response to the holiness of God, Habakkuk wrote: I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. (Hab. 3:16). On the day of judgement, we are given just a glimpse of the One who sits upon the throne recorded for us by the apostle John: Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them (Rev. 20:11).
According to Jude, there will be one type of creature besides the heavenly hosts that will not need to recoil at His presence, and that creature will be men, women, and children redeemed by the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God. Not only will we stand before the Holy One as blameless, but we will be presented before the One of whom the angels cry: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory (Isa. 6:3)! Timothy Keller said, God invites us to come as we are, not to stay as we are. On that day we will stand before Him fully aware that it was not by any power of our own that resulted in our presentation as blameless, but of One outside of ourselves who kept us for and by Jesus.
God is Delighting in You
Christian, as you stand before the One before whom all of heaven and earth flee, not only will you stand before Him blameless, but you will do so knowing that He delights in you! The word that Jude chose to use to describe the joy that will be celebrated by the Almighty over every Christian literally means gladness, great joy, and exultation. Quite literally, what Jude is saying that we will experience on that great Day that will be terrible for many, but not for us, is that God will exult over the redeemed!
The kind of rejoicing we will experience from Yahweh is what is described by the prophet Zephaniah: The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing (Zephaniah 3:17). Christian, when you stand before God, he will not look upon you with disgust or disappointment! He will look upon you as a Father and will exult over you with loud singing!
Do not miss the irony in these verses in light of all that we have learned from Jude so far! What is it that God will keep us from? He will keep the true Christian from stumbling and falling in the manner that the false Christian and false teachers have fallen. You will not fall because for you, Jesus is Master and Lord (v. 4). You are kept, and the evidence that you are kept by God is because you are standing and building your life upon the Word of God, you are dependent upon the Holy Spirit, and you are eagerly waiting, for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life (v. 21). However, the one who rejects Jesus as Master and Lord, they have stumbled, and their fall has resulted in a condemnation that the prophet Daniel describes will stand before God on the day of judgment in, shame and everlasting contempt (Dan. 12:2). The true Christian will not only stand before God blameless, but God, will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
God is Doing All Things Through Jesus
So, as an appropriate bookend to Judes epistle, he closes with verse 25. Notice how he does this in light of the first two verses of his epistle. Let me show what he does in these verses by contrasting Jude 2 with verse 24 and Jude 1 with verses 25:
Jude 2
May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Jude 24
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy
Here is what we glean from Jude 2 and 25: God is keeping you because of His mercy. God will present you blameless because you have been reconciled to Him and now have His shalom (peace). God exults over because he loves you. Now notice what he does in verse 1 and 25,
Jude 1
To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ
Jude 25
to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
God called you, and because He called you, you are beloved in God the Father, and you are kept for and by Jesus Christ. God has saved you through Jesus Christ our Lord, and what that means is simply this:
God is keeping you through Jesus, and for Jesus, and by Jesus Christ.
God will finish His work in you through Jesus, for Jesus, and by Jesus Christ.
God delights in you through Jesus, for Jesus, and by Jesus Christ
This final verse is the equivalent to Jude performing a mic drop. He then closes with virtues that can only be true of Yahweh and applies them also to the Son: glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. The apostle John does the same thing in Revelation 5. If you ever question what it means to be beloved in God the Father you need not look any further than Revelation 5:9-13,
And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! (Revelation 5:913)
Jude ends with the only word that feels and seems appropriate to conclude his glorious doxology and sunning epistle with, and that word is simply: Amen.
[1] Andrew Keiper, Perry Chiaramonte; Human trafficking in America among worst in world. The Shelter for Abused Women Children.
[2] Helm, D. R. (2008). 1 2 Peter and Jude: sharing christs sufferings (p. 355). Crossway Books.

Walking in Light of Your Calling

There is a museum by the Dachau Concentration Camp that serves to remind its visitors of the horrors suffered under Hitler and the party. There is a sign posted for all visitors to see as they leave with a quote by Winston Churchill that reads: Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat its mistakes.[1] Judes little epistle serves to remind us of a history, that if ignored, we too might be doomed to repeat.
The people Jude warns us of remind me of the morning my brother and I were late to the bus stop for school, I believe we missed the bus that day. On our way to the bus stop, a nice stranger invited us to get into the car so that he could take us to wherever we needed to go. My brother was tempted, and I was afraid to get into the car, so when it became apparent that we would not get into the car, the stranger drove off. False teachers are like the nice stranger who offers a child candy to get that child to get into the car, to take that child to a place that will forever impact that childs future. The candy often comes in the form of something that sounds good, such as the offer to gain a better understanding of the Bible, to grow closer to the true God through some hidden secret knowledge, or the offer of some key to unlocking the secrets of the Bible and reality.
Permit me to push the stranger illustration a bit further. The reason my brother and I were able to sense danger when we were offered a ride from the person in the car was because our parents warned us of such people and informed us of a history involving such people, and the best way to resist them. The reason Jude saturated his little letter with examples from Israels past is because there is nothing new under the sun; the only thing that has changed is the dress. Since the birth of the Church, many have snuck into churches to introduce false doctrines that are labeled in the Bible as, doctrines of demons. Listen to the warning the apostle Paul gave to a young pastor named Timothy: Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons (1 Tim. 4:12).
The reason Jude emphasizes the need to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (v. 3), and that the Christians everywhere must build on the, most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life (v. 21) is because the Devil is really good at using the ignorance of Gods people to harm them. John Wycliff said it best when he wrote the following warning: To be ignorant of the Scripture is the same thing as to be ignorant of Christ.[2] Listen, if you are ignorant of the Great Shepherd, you will be gullible enough to buy into the lies of a stranger who seeks your harm and not your good. These are the people we are warned about in Jude: In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions (v. 18). Daniel Akin wrote concerning false teachers: Disciples of Jesus must never let their spiritual guard down. They must be spiritually discerning, testing every teaching by the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Word of God. Eloquent speech is not the issue. Faithfulness to the Bible is.[3]
The Scoffers
When will the scoffers come? Jude says, In the last time. What is the last time? It is the time between Jesus ascension into heaven and his return to earth; the last time is the time we find ourselves in today and it is the time Christians have found themselves in since the birth of the Church that we read about in the book of Acts during the first century. The scoffers are the same people who have crept into the church, but not only those who snuck in. To scoff is to mock, but it can also include an attitude that is dismissive due to a self-assured arrogance[4] that following their, own ungodly passions is the best way to walk. In fact, it is their arrogance and ungodly passions that serve as their moral and theological compass. In 2 Peter 3:4, these scoffers question the legitimacy of Jesus promised return to judge the living and the dead. In Jude, these scoffers do not revere or respect the holiness of God.
In the wake of their walking these scoffers are divisive, worldly, and devoid of the Spirit (v. 19). Jude informs us that the reason these people teach the things that they teach and live the way that they live is because they are, devoid of the Spirit. What this means is that these scoffers are spiritually lost even though they say that they know Jesus, they really do not know Him. Paul wrote in Romans 8:9, Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. In Titus 1:16, we are told that such people, profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. Jesus said of such people: every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits (Matt. 7:1520).
One of the many false teachings the Church encountered in the past confronted head on during the Protestant Reformation is what is known as Antinomianism. Antinomianism, which still exists today under a different dress, teaches that Christians are freed from all obligation to obey Gods Moral Law. There are dozens of examples from the Bible that such teaching does not represent the teachings of the Bible; what Jesus said in Matthew 7 and what Jude wrote in verse 19 is proof enough that true genuine faith in the resurrected Jesus as Master and Lord over your life does not give you a license to sin, but instead will affect you in such a way that you will want to live a life that falls in line with Gods Moral Law. The lifestyle of the false teachers, according to Jude, is proof enough that although they say that they belong to Jesus, they really do not and are in fact, devoid of the Spirit.
What is possible to notice in these verses, is the way Jude contrasts the scoffers with the beloved.
The Beloved
So, who is the beloved? You remember from the very first verse in Jude that the beloved is the person who has been called by God, unconditionally loved by the Father, and kept for and by Jesus. According to the second verse in Jude, the one who is kept for Jesus because he is loved by the Father, will only know the mercy, peace, and love of the One who called him.
Yet, in the first two verses, Jude gives us the reason why we must avoid the false teachers who deny Jesus as Master and Lord (v. 4), Jude offers us a strategy to not only avoid the trap of the scoffers, but a formula that will only deepen our relationship with the God who saved us. There is an imperative (command) that Jude anchors three participles to. The imperative is the word, keep. The three participles are found in verses 20-21 (the participles are italicized):
Building yourselves in your most holy faith
Praying in the Holy Spirit
Waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus
The way the NIV translates the Greek I believe is helpful in seeing how these three participles are connected to the word, kept: But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in Gods love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life (Jude 2021). How does one remain in Gods love? You do so by building your life upon His word, praying in the Holy Spirit, and waiting for Jesus Christ.
Build yourselves upon the Word of God
Another way you can say this is, Grow in your understanding and knowledge of the Scriptures. What he means by this is what he already admonished his readers to do in verse 3, contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. The apostle Paul said the same thing in Ephesians 2:20, So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone (Eph. 2:1920).
The Cornerstone of our faith is Jesus and the gospel, as it is fleshed out from Genesis through Revelation, is our foundation. Our understanding of Jesus, as our Cornerstone, will shape our understanding of who God is. If we get Jesus wrong, we will get God wrong; if we get Jesus right, we will get God right. This is why Jesus said to anyone who would follow Him:
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. (Matt. 7:2427)
In their commentary on Jude, Jim Shaddix and D.L. Akin observe: As we learn the Bible and understand its truth, we are strengthened, we grow, we mature, we are built up. Without the Scriptures there is no growth. Without the Word there is no maturity. Without the gospel nothing of eternal good will last. Like the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat, it is vital that we daily ingest and digest Gods Word and its truth.[5]
Pray in the Holy Spirit
Praying in the Holy Spirit is the second participle anchored to the word kept. What Jude means here is not that we pray in some angelic or heavenly language, but that we depend upon the Holy Spirit. What kind of praying does Jude have in mind? It is the kind of praying described in Ephesians 6:18, where we are, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. It is the kind of praying that seeks Gods will for our lives above our own desires and dreams for life.
The Holy Spirit is not some force or a type of impersonal power, the Holy Spirit is a He, and that He is a Person, and that Person is the Helper and Counselor promised to the Christian (see John 16:4-15), and the Helper is God the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who seals and secures all who belong to God: In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory (Eph. 1:1314). It is the Holy Spirit that the false teachers are devoid of, and it is what sets the true Christian apart from those who do not have eternal life, so we depend upon Him in knowing and that helps us in our weakness: Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (Rom. 8:26).
Wait for the Savior
As we build our lives in obedience upon the Word of God with Jesus as our Cornerstone, while we depend upon Gods Holy Spirit to help, lead, and direct we wait and long for our Redeemer: God the Son. Waiting is another way of saying, watching. Why are we waiting and watching for Jesus? Because we know that because the tomb is empty, his promise to return is imminently sure!
It is Jesus who the Psalmist promised in Psalm 24:7-8, Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle (Psalm 24:78)! The mercy Jude says the true Christian is watching is the, blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13) that every Christian anticipates. Or as Jim Shaddix so eloquently describes:
The Christians heart and eyes are fixed heavenward, looking for a rider on a white horse whose name is Faithful and True, whose eyes are like a fiery flame, and on his head are many crowns. We are looking for one whose robe is dipped in blood, and on his thigh he has a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords (cf. Rev 19:1116). Until then we will grow in his Word, pray by his Spirit, and watch for his coming.[6]
Oh, dont you see what Jude is doing in these verses? He is showing us that the key to keeping in the Love of God is found in a relationship with a God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! We are to set our eyes heavenward on the God who called us. We are to watch for Jesus out of a longing for our Groom as His Bride. We are to desperately depend upon the Holy Spirit who has sealed us for the Day of our redemption and powerfully Helps us to persevere until the end. This is what the false teachers want to deconstruct and pervert, but it is the key to remaining in the love of God that is foreign to anyone who has not been called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ (v. 3).
Conclusion (vv. 22-23)
As men and women with our eyes set on God, our hearts fixed on Jesus, and our dependance resting in the Holy Spirit, how are we to respond to the those who have crept in? What is our posture to be towards those who deny Jesus as Master and Lord with their words and with their lives? Well, in verse 22, we are introduced to next the imperative, and that is: have mercy. We are to exercise the same mercy we have received in three different ways:
We are to have mercy on those who doubt.
We are to show mercy by seeking to rescue those caught up into false teaching from .
We are to exercise mercy with the utmost caution and fear.
We are to have mercy on those who doubt.
The Christian is a conduit of Gods mercy and grace. We must have mercy on those caught up in false teaching and responsible for the false teaching because the God who called the Christian is merciful (Psalm 116:5). There is no sin so great that Gods mercy and His grace cannot overcome; we Christians ought to be very aware of this because we have experienced it ourselves.
We are to seek to rescue those caught up in false teaching from .
God uses those He has redeemed through the blood of His Son to tell unredeemed sinners where to find redemption. As one commentator wrote: Too much is at stake for believers not to take decisive action to rescue others from the destruction awaiting the false teachers.[7] One of my favorite quotes is from a missionary by the name of C.T. Studd who said, Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop, within a yard of .
We are to exercise mercy with the utmost caution and fear.
We are to show the scoffers who deny Jesus as Master and Lord mercy, but a mercy laced with a fear of being drawn into the same kind of sinful deception. What is true of the one who has been called, beloved, and kept by God is a hatred of sin. This does not mean that we are free from sinning, but it does mean that our affections have changed and continue to change where we long more and more to please the One who rescued us from . We are a walking example of the kind of change God can bring upon a person; what is true of the Christian is offered even to the false teacher: Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool (Isaiah 1:18).
[1] Helm, D. R. (2008). 1 2 Peter and Jude: sharing christs sufferings (p. 323). Crossway Books.
[2] John Wycliffe (Source unknown)
[3] Akin, Daniel L. (2019). Christ-Centered Exposition: The Sermon on the Mount (pp. 141-42). Holman Reference.
[4] Matthew S. Harmon, ESV Expository Commentary: Jude (Wheaton, IL: Crossway; 2018); p. 519.
[5] Shaddix, J., Akin, D. L. (2018). Exalting jesus in 2 peter, jude (Jud 20). Holman Reference.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Matthew S. Harmon. ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway; 2018), P. 520

Living in Light of What is to Come

There is a habit that now has a name. This habit I have known about, but the name I just learned. You can now find the name on Dictionary.com. I will share with you the definition of the word, then reveal the name given to it: The practice of obsessively checking online news for updates, especially on social media feeds, with the expectation that the news will be bad, such that the feeling of dread from this negative expectation fuels a compulsion to continue looking for updates in a self-perpetuating cycle.
The name given for this habit is Doomscrolling, and it is a word that was created because of the Coronavirus pandemic, and according to the etymology of the word, The act of doomscrolling, then, is to roll toward annihilation. Taken biblically, it has a Revelation tone. Simultaneously, each person watches the demise of so much, while also slowly destroying themselves.[1]
The reason for doomscrolling has more to do with the fact that messages like the one from The Lion King do not sit well, even after our best efforts to prove otherwise. What do I mean? Well, the big message and song to match it, is that death is natural, it is a part of life, it is part of the cycle of life. According to Mufasa, When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so, we are all connected in the great Circle of Life So, in the end, your body returns to the earth, and that is it kind of like a long peaceful sleep with the possibility of a blissful afterlife. I have heard people say that death is natural and that it is just a part of life. I recently listened to a sermon by Timothy Keller where he commented on the idea that death is natural, here is what he said:
When you say, Oh, death is just natural, you are actually killing a part of your heart, something quintessentially human, because you know deep in your heart that youre not like a tree. Youre not like grass. You want to last. The deepest desires of your heart are for love that lasts. You dont want to be ephemeral. You dont want to be inconsequential. You dont want to just be a wave upon the sand. To say that you are means youre demoting the human race and youre killing hope. Youre killing something within you![2]
Death is not natural, because it is not the way things are supposed to be. Death is part of a curse we all find ourselves under. One of the gifts COVID gave us is the reminder that life is fragile; because we all want to last, doomscrolling has become a legitimate problem and for some, even an addiction because nobody wants to die.
The reality is that death comes for us all. Few are prepared for it, most do all they can to delay it, and many live as though there is no judgment that will follow it.
The false teachers who have crept into the church, whom Jude describes as ungodly people who pervert the grace of God and deny Jesus as Master and Lord, live in a dream world as though they will not have to account for their teaching and behavior before the One they so terribly misrepresent. That seems to be the way of things does it not? People live their entire lives with little thought that the decisions and actions of their lives will have consequence after death.
Throughout Judes epistle, he warns that these false teachers are destined for condemnation (v. 4), will one day perish (v. 11), and that there is a gloom reserved for such people that will last forever (v. 13). In verses 14-16, Jude again warns that the judgment that is coming is imminent.
A Word about the Book of Enoch
There are multiple books that are attributed as having been written by the Enoch of Genesis 5, but the oldest one that was discovered with the Dead Sea Scrolls is known as 1 Enoch. This is the book Jude may have quoted from and is an ancient book that some really believe should be in our Bibles. The problem with 1 Enoch, and the reason why it was never included in the category of holy and inspired Scripture as are the 66 books that make up the Bible, is because a large part of the book was written in 300-200 BC and the parables that make up the last part of the book were written sometime in 100 BC.
The Old Testament was accepted as scripture by the time Jesus was born and the New Testament was canonized by the fourth century, even though the New Testament in our Bible was largely accepted by the second century. The criteria that each book had to fit to be included in the canon of Scripture was the following:
1. Were their divine qualities consistent with other accepted sacred scripture?
2. Was it true and authoritative teaching?
3. Was it consistently accepted as scripture by Jews and Christians?
4. Did the early Church consistently accept it as scripture?
5. Regarding the books written before his birth, was there any indication that Jesus accepted it as Scripture?
6. Regarding the New Testament, was it composed by an apostle or someone who had close links to the original apostles?
The book of Enoch did not meet any of the above criteria even though there have been, and continue to be, some fringe groups that regard it as scripture. Here are some of the reasons why the book of Enoch is pseudepigraphal:
1. It is ascribed to the Enoch of Genesis 5:18 falsely as it was written in parts and not fully composed until sometime between 300-200 BC.
2. It was never accepted into Jewish canon.
3. The book(s) of Enoch contradict both the Old and New Testaments (there are many examples of this that have been documented, but for an example see Enoch 10:15 where it is promised that the flood will restore righteousness forevermore and 2 Timothy 3:1-9 or 2 Peter 3:1-13).
There are three categories of writings that you should be aware of: 1) Holy Scripture, 2) the apocrypha (non-canonical books), and 3) pseudepigrapha (which means false books). The apocrypha have been considered valuable, but not scripture (this is why you can buy Bibles that include the apocrypha). The Pseudepigrapha comes from the Greek word pseudo meaning false, and epigraphein, meaning to inscribe or write falsely; literally the word pseudepigrapha means false inscriptions. The book of Enoch has been classified for centuries as pseudepigrapha.
One more point I would like to make concerning the book of Enoch: just because a piece of literature is quoted by a biblical author does not mean that everything else included in that work is, or should be considered, scripture. For example, in Titus 1:12, the apostle Paul quoted a pagan Greek poet by the name of Epimenides, but just because he quoted him, does not mean that the poem itself is also scripture. In Acts 17:28, Paul is cited as doing the same not just from Epimenides, but also from another Greek poet by the name of Aratus.
The fact that Jude quoted Enoch and that Jude is recognized as Scripture means that Jude 14-16 is Holy Scripture.
God Receives Those Who Walk with Him (v. 14)
So, who was Enoch? I believe this is the reason why Jude mentions him. All that we know about Enoch is found in six short verses in Genesis. Permit me to share those scripture verses with you:
Genesis 5:1819. When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. 19Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters.
Genesis 5:2124. When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. 22Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. 24Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
The two facts we know about Enoch is that he, walked with God and God took him. Now, think about all that Jude has mentioned so far in his little letter. For starters, we were reminded that Cain was a violent and immoral man who did not walk by faith (v. 11a). Secondly, Jude points out that the generations that followed Cain, grew increasingly violent, introduced polygamy and gross sexual immorality, and were evil to the core (v. 6). Now, there are many other illustrations from the Old Testament Jude uses in his epistle, but do not miss the significance of where the story of Enoch is placed. Between the story of Cain in Genesis 4 and the story of the wickedness in Genesis 6 (where angels committed sexual immorality with humans), is Genesis 5, where we are introduced for the first time to Enoch, who walked with God in the midst of an increasingly wicked world.
In the midst of an increasingly wicked and evil culture, Enoch walked with God. Remember that walking in the Bible is a metaphor for the way a person lives his/her life. What does it look like to walk with God? It looks like Psalm 1:1-2, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. It looks like what the apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:1-3, I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Walking with God looks like Hebrews 12:1-2,
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:12)
Jude uses Enoch as an example to remind his readers that the way you avoid the trap of the false teachers is the same way you resist sin and the devil: keep your eyes on Jesus who is keeping and guarding you by following him as Master and Lord over your life. The treasure in Enochs life was not power, fame, or what others thought about him, his treasure was the God of Adam, Eve, Abel, and Seth.
You see, the reason Jude quotes Enoch is because here was a man who walked with God. For Jude, Jesus is Master and Lord, and it is through Him that we are called, and by Him that we are beloved in God the Father, and for Him that we are kept. For the Christian, the Judgment for our sin fell upon the Father so that our sins against our Holy Creator would be pardoned and because of that, even the worst of death is but a sting.
God Condemns Those Who Follow After Their Sinful Desires (vv. 15-16)
Apart from Jesus, death is much more than a stingdeath is an executioner. I have not thought of death in that way until I listened to a sermon by Timothy Keller titled, Death and the Christian Hope. Think about it though the Bible teaches that physical death is only a gateway to something greater. For the Christian, death is only a sting, but for the person who knows not Christ, then death is an executioner who delivers us to God as judge instead of Him as a Father.
For the Christian, we have confidence that we are beloved in God the Father and are kept for Jesus. This is the way Jude begins his epistle and assures us at the conclusion of his epistle that the Christian stands blameless before the presence of God not because of religious activity, but solely because of what Jesus has done and is doing. However, there is a judgment coming. In the days of Enoch, there was a looming judgment that would destroy the earth with water. Jesus spoke of that day and the day Jude refers to; listen to the words of our Savior:
But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matthew 24:36-39, 44)
What is amazing about verses 14-16 is that the prophesy was passed down from generation to generation, from before the days of Noah concerning what would come of all false teachers: Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of his holy ones (v. 14). In other words, the coming of the Lord to judge is certain and settled, and the One who will come is Yahweh. Just as Jude attributed the liberation of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt in verse 5, he attributes the coming of Yahweh with Jesus in verses 14-16. What Enoch prophesied was not something new, but something repeated both in the Old Testament and New Testament. In Zechariah 14:3-5, we are told the same thing we read in Jude:
Then the Lord [Yahweh] will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord [Yahweh] my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. (Zechariah 14:35)
The judgment that Enoch and Zechariah prophesied about is the one Jesus as Master and Lord will execute, for of that day Jesus said: When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:3132). This is why after Caiaphas the high priest asked Jesus, I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God? and heard the answer Jesus gave, which was: You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven. - Jesus answer was all that Caiaphas needed to condemn him of blasphemy (see Matt. 26:57-68). It was not because Jesus claimed to be the Messiah (there were others before Jesus who did the same), but because he claimed to be the same Lord that Enoch, Zachariah, and Daniel spoke of (see Daniel 7:9-14).
What kind of judgment will Jesus bring? A judgment that will lead to another death much greater than a physical death, for it will be a judgment based on both things done and things said, for we are told that it is Jesus who will execute, judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him (v. 15; see also Rev. 20:11-15). Who are those who have spoken against him? The false teachers who deny Jesus with their deeds and their words that He is Master and Lord (v. 4). It is these people, Jude calls out as, grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage (v. 16).
Conclusion
There is a coming day, when the Day we are warned of throughout the Bible will become a reality. For many, that Day will result in another kind of death that will never come to an end:
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyones name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:1115)
According to Jesus (and Isaiah), the second death will have no end: For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh (Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:48).
For all those who will face judgment only to experience the lake of fire, the death we all must face on this side of eternity is an executioner. But consider what it is that the Christian has because of Jesus. If you are a Christianthat is that you have placed your faith and trust in Him as your Savior, Master, and Lordyou are called by God, beloved by God the Father, and kept for Jesus (v. 1). If you are a Christian, then it is Jesus who brought you out of your Egypt (v. 5). If you are a Christian, Jesus sought you as His people (vv. 20-21). If you are a Christian, Jesus has saved you from your sin (vv. 2, 24). If you are a Christian, you were once a slave to sin, but Jesus has made you free (v. 25)! If you are a Christian, Jesus is coming to make your redemption complete (vv. 24-25).
If you are a Christian, you are called, beloved, and kept so that instead of a second death mercy, peace, and love will never crest or abate, but will for all eternity be a never-ending climax of Gods mercy, peace, and love where you will never know him as Judge, but only as Father!
If you are a Christian, death has been defeated! If you are a Christian, instead of death being your executioner, the Lamb of God, who is Master and Lord, has made death a gardener![3]
Amen!
[1] Doomscrolling Is Slowly Eroding Your Mental Health (Preachingtoday.com).[2] Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. Redeemer Presbyterian Church.[3] Keller, T. J. (2013). The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive. Redeemer Presbyterian Church.