Series Title: Book of Jude (http://www.springvalleybiblechurch.org/pages/Jude.htm)
Series Sequence Number: 3
Lesson Title: Just trust Him during this battle of wisdom (http://www.springvalleybiblechurch.org/Audio/Jude/m3u/20030819Jude3.m3u)
Speaker:Herman Mattox
Date: 2003-08-19
Fellowship:
Larry Wise and Briane had their baby, Ryan Wise, last night: 20in, 7lbs. Mom and Dad and the baby are doing well. Congratulations to the family for this wonderful event.
Trust in the power of the Spirit for guidance in our study. We have been studying Revelation, but this side study regarding false teachers is very important because it addresses specific and vital information regarding your moment to moment relationship with God and the Satanic attack that relationship is constantly under.
Prayer for Tish and Leslie as they travel.
Opening Prayer:
Father, we didn't know much about Jude till we came to this one brief epistle. In this one chapter you have given to this man the embodiment of the greatest battle of history. He doesn't tell us how to be filled with the Spirit or how to be saved eternally, as he originally intended, but he gives us a sober warning regarding false teachers. He takes it all the way back to Cain, Balaam, and Korah. We pray that we can see what is going on as it relates to our study regarding the church at Pergamum and as it relates to our lives.
Introduction:
Jude 1-7 (NASB95)
1 Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:
2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.
3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.
4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5 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.
6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,
7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. [1]
Lesson Notes:
Jude wanted to discuss salvation I and/or II but was motivated by the Spirit to write of other issues.
Certain, specific persons have secretly come into the church. These came in without notice and are NOT easily recognized because they look like light, sound like light, but are in truth darkness. They are deceivers, not obvious. If you pointed them out to other believers, you had better expect an argument from most people because the scriptures here tell us they are in the church and have deceived the church
What is an "ungodly" person?
Many think those who are living without the Law, the drunkard, the sinner, are the ungodly persons, but living in terms of performance, and Satan's lie, and what other's think, makes an ungodly person
In context, an ungodly person is one who looks and sounds like light but is in truth darkness.
Godless does not mean sinful... it means without the power of God.
Compare this with Jude 19, "devoid of the Spirit". This has got to be thought about in context; it isn't the people in sin who are OBVIOUS to all who look, but those who have and continue to deceived the church: preachers, deacons, elders, moralists.
Anyone who attempts to live any part of the spiritual life without God are ungodly: repentance, confession, sorrow, what you do, what you say, what you feel; rather than trusting in the Spirit.
The flesh cannot be godly, and only God can cause us to be Godly. It is that simple. Some of the most Godly looking people are actually ungodly.
To understand this passage you need a clear understanding of what is ungodly: presenting something of your own flesh to God is ungodly.
Ungodly can pertain to believer or unbeliever.
The false teachers look good, sound good, and pure. Yet they are turning the Grace of God into licentiousness. The Law makes you licentious by pointing out that your are licentious, and condemns and kills.
Jude seems to be talking about unbelievers active in the church in our context because he speaks of Balaam, Cain, and Korah. Yet the principal of application is directed to believers as he speaks of "our only Master..." versus "their..."
How do they deny Jesus Christ?
John 13:20-21 (NASB95)
20 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me."[1]
Any who receive the Spirit, receives Christ
Any who received Christ, receives the Father
We receive Christ by faith.
We receive the Holy Spirit by faith
Therefore anyone who denies the Holy Spirit also denies Christ
Therefore anyone who denies Christ also deny the Father
Therefore anyone who denies the Father has also denied the son.
Performance Systems
Moral Righteousness: LAW
Knowledge: Knowing Doctrine
Charismatics: Emotional Experience
Service: Serving of God
Each of these systems look good in their own right. Each of them may contain parts of the true spiritual experience, but they are false because they each try to introduce human elements to spirituality.
Jude says in verse 5 that we "know all things once for all". We each know there is much we can learn, so Jude is letting us know that no matter how much doctrine, or morality, or service, or emotion we may have, or NOT have, that at the point of Faith we have enough information, once and for all, to spot the false teachers, and live the true spiritual life. That doesn't mean we can't be taught, but we have it if we will walk and watch.
In this seemingly insignificant, on chapter book, Jude goes straight at the heart of the battle of all history.
In the pre-historic battle God proved himself more powerful. Now they are engaged in a battle of wisdom; a battle of words like a court room.
Jeremiah 10:12 (NASB95)
12 It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom; And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens. [1]
Jeremiah 51:15 (NASB95)
15 It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom, And by His understanding He stretched out the heavens. [1]
Wisdom and power are important to Satan, but also to Man. It was the lust for this wisdom that got to Eve. Satan does not want the Love of God He hates it, He can't understand it, he can't duplicate it.
Jeremiah 8:9 (NASB95)
9 "The wise men [Satan] are put to shame, They are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord, And what kind of wisdom do they have? [1]
How is it that the Law makes you immoral. It would seemingly guide you and make you pure, moral, and righteous; but it does the opposite. How can you become immoral from learning the Law? Job kept the law, and he became dismayed and caught. Satan's wisdom, the wisdom of the flesh, the genius of the flesh is inadequate and rejects the "Word of the Lord", the truth of the gospel: "trust me".
Proverbs 9:10 (NASB95)
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. [1]
"fear" here is a synonym of faith: "awe".
Psalm 111:10 (NASB95)
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.[1]
How does your preacher / teacher see the commandments? Is it performance? The Law? Doing... What are the commandments of God? Faith, and the Love that comes from it.
1 John 3:22-23 (NASB95)
22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. [1]
The great battle is one of wisdom. False teachers have been on the scene teaching another wisdom.
How is it you "know all things once for all"?
How you were saved, the truth of the Gospel: simple faith in Christ. Galatians (?) says you have a ruler, a guage for knowing all things. You know the simplicity of truth: just "trust him"
1 John 2:20, 27 (NASB95)
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know [know all].
27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. [1]
Closing prayer:
Father,
Jude warns us, beckons us to stand firm in the battle of faith. Paul teaches us the same thing. They teach we can just "trust you". Our flesh nature needs to "figure it all out", to perform, but by faith we have the new man and can just trust you. Therein lies our confidence, our joy, our stability, our contentment. We praise You Father in Your Son's prescious name, Amen.
References:
[1] New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.