Jude

In normal laws of life, we find everything has a start and finish; action and consequences, good or bad result. That is why we have a hard time understanding that God is eternal and that He existed before the beginning. It drives philosophy scholars nuts. Their human intellect could not comprehend this "Before the beginning." That is when faith in God comes out better than any human intelligence.

Once I used to have many questions about God’s way. Why doesn’t God show people what hell is to the those who are going to end up there? Because they didn’t receive Jesus as their own personal Savior and the Lord? If He showed the true picture of hell and what kind of things they are going to go through in hell, there wouldn’t be anyone in their right mind would choose hell over heaven. Even the most wicked man wouldn’t choose hell. But the problem with this idea is that God is using His raw power to push human race to choose heaven over hell. God does not want anyone to be forced to accept Jesus as their personal Savior. God lays out all the options for man to choose from. Instead of hell and damnation, He gives us His love. Instead of brute raw power, He gives us mercy. Instead of forcing us to choose Him, He gives us the freedom of choice between heaven and hell. Our God is loving and gentle, full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and abounding in love.

Jude 12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;

If you put a portion of mud into clean water, the clean water becomes muddy rather than the mud becomes clean water. These false teachers are the mud and are the blemishes in the midst of the body of Christ.

The Greek word for ‘spots’ may also be translated "hidden reefs." It serves as a strong warning to be on guard against deceivers.

They are blemishes in the love feasts - at the Agape Feast, everybody brought what they could - some a little, some a lot. But they all shared it. For some of the slaves who were Christians, and there were a lot of them, it might have been the only decent meal they ever ate.

If we come to church with only the thought, "what am I going to get from it," then we differ from these men only in degree, not in kind. I know that it sounds harsh, but it is the truth. Jesus told us that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Clouds without water, carried by the winds. These clouds are useless. They bring no life-giving rain, they only block the sun. They just float on the breeze from one fad to another. The folk song that says, "The answers, my friend, are blowing in the wind" is wrong. Deception is blowing in the wind; answers and truth are found in God’s Word!

Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

The Word of God says that we should not judge anyone’s faith. But we can judge someone’s spiritual fruits, because the spiritual fruits are out there to be seen. We receive our spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit. But for the spiritual fruits, we must bear them as our own fruits. We cannot measure any one’s spiritual maturity by the individual’s spiritual gifts. Each spiritual gift is different from one to another. But the fruit of the spirit is same and in the same category. Anyone, who has the spiritual fruit of love, would love others no matter what kind of situation they are in. Anyone with the spiritual fruit of peace can go through any situations and maintain his and her peace in their hearts, because they understood that the true peace comes from God, not them.

Ignore anyone who boasts about their spiritual gifts and then demand attention to themselves instead of God. The Holy Spirit would give the gifts to whomever He chooses according to 1 Cor 12 & 14.

Jude 13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

For modern men, the sea is often a thing of beauty, but to ancient man, less able to cope with the sea’s fury, it was a terror.

Busyness is no mark of correctness. The product of these men is like the foam or scum at the seashore. Jude has in mind the ugly shoreline after a storm has washed up all sorts of driftwood, seaweed and debris.

Wandering stars- like comets, they astonish the world for a time, then they vanish into darkness. An unpredictable star would provide no guidance for navigation. So as these deceivers are useless and untrustworthy for anything good.

Their destiny: blackness and darkness forever. Hell is real, although folks would rather believe in heaven and think hell is a fairy-tale. This is what satan wants people to think.

Jude 14-16 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

Here Jude quotes from Enoch, who is described in Genesis 5, and mentioned in Hebrews 11.

Jude here is quoting the book of Enoch - another apocryphal book that was not received as scripture, but highly respected among both Jews and early Christians.

Did you notice that there are two words of emphasis: "ALL" and "ungodly" - God is coming to judge all of the ungodly.

We see there are two things that God is going to judge and convict ungodly sinners of: all ungodly acts and all harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.
1) All the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way:

Rev. 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

The third commandment of the Ten Commandments

There is an interesting side note regarding Enoch. He was the tenth generation from Adam, who was the first man.
1. Adam - Man
2. Seth - Appointed
3. Enosh - Subjected to death
4. Kenan - Sorrowful
5. Mahalalel - From the presence of God
6. Jared - One comes down
7. Enoch - Dedicated
8. Methuselah - When he dies, it will take a place
9. Lamech - To the poor and needy
10. Noah - Bringing rest
If we link all the meanings of the names, "Man appointed, subjected to death, sorrowful. From the presence of God, one comes down, dedicated. When he dies, it will take place with the poor and needy and bringing rest."

The names of the ten generations give us a rather important message of Jesus Christ.

Many people take the judgment of God lightly. But the most important question in the world for any person is "Will God judge me? Am I accountable to Him?" If he or she is, then that person is a fool if he or she does not prepare to face that judgment.

If you have never done so, acknowledge your sinfulness and accept Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for you (Acts 16:31; Rom. 3:23). If you have strayed from the Lord, confess to Him your wrongdoing and receive His forgiveness (1 John. 1:9). Don’t be fooled into thinking you are getting away with sin. Playing with sin is toying with judgment.

If you want to contact the webservant of Calvary Chapel of Sahuarita, please send an e-mail.



	Jude - Contending for the Faith
	Whatever We Sow, that We Shall Reap
	In normal laws of life, we find everything has a start and finish; action and consequences, good or bad result. That is why we have a hard time understanding that God is eternal and that He existed before the beginning. It drives philosophy scholars nuts. Their human intellect could not comprehend this "Before the beginning." That is when faith in God comes out better than any human intelligence. Once I used to have many questions about God’s way. Why doesn’t God show people what hell is to the those who are going to end up there? Because they didn’t receive Jesus as their own personal Savior and the Lord? If He showed the true picture of hell and what kind of things they are going to go through in hell, there wouldn’t be anyone in their right mind would choose hell over heaven. Even the most wicked man wouldn’t choose hell. But the problem with this idea is that God is using His raw power to push human race to choose heaven over hell. God does not want anyone to be forced to accept Jesus as their personal Savior. God lays out all the options for man to choose from. Instead of hell and damnation, He gives us His love. Instead of brute raw power, He gives us mercy. Instead of forcing us to choose Him, He gives us the freedom of choice between heaven and hell. Our God is loving and gentle, full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and abounding in love. A. AN EMPTY LOT AFTER A FANCY CIRCUS Jude 12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; If you put a portion of mud into clean water, the clean water becomes muddy rather than the mud becomes clean water. These false teachers are the mud and are the blemishes in the midst of the body of Christ. The Greek word for ‘spots’ may also be translated "hidden reefs." It serves as a strong warning to be on guard against deceivers. They are blemishes in the love feasts - at the Agape Feast, everybody brought what they could - some a little, some a lot. But they all shared it. For some of the slaves who were Christians, and there were a lot of them, it might have been the only decent meal they ever ate. If we come to church with only the thought, "what am I going to get from it," then we differ from these men only in degree, not in kind. I know that it sounds harsh, but it is the truth. Jesus told us that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Clouds without water, carried by the winds. These clouds are useless. They bring no life-giving rain, they only block the sun. They just float on the breeze from one fad to another. The folk song that says, "The answers, my friend, are blowing in the wind" is wrong. Deception is blowing in the wind; answers and truth are found in God’s Word! Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. The Word of God says that we should not judge anyone’s faith. But we can judge someone’s spiritual fruits, because the spiritual fruits are out there to be seen. We receive our spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit. But for the spiritual fruits, we must bear them as our own fruits. We cannot measure any one’s spiritual maturity by the individual’s spiritual gifts. Each spiritual gift is different from one to another. But the fruit of the spirit is same and in the same category. Anyone, who has the spiritual fruit of love, would love others no matter what kind of situation they are in. Anyone with the spiritual fruit of peace can go through any situations and maintain his and her peace in their hearts, because they understood that the true peace comes from God, not them. Ignore anyone who boasts about their spiritual gifts and then demand attention to themselves instead of God. The Holy Spirit would give the gifts to whomever He chooses according to 1 Cor 12 & 14. These false teachers are not the kind of people with spiritual fruits. Jude 13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. For modern men, the sea is often a thing of beauty, but to ancient man, less able to cope with the sea’s fury, it was a terror. Isaiah 57:20 is relevant here. Isa. 57:20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest, Whose waters cast up mire and dirt. Busyness is no mark of correctness. The product of these men is like the foam or scum at the seashore. Jude has in mind the ugly shoreline after a storm has washed up all sorts of driftwood, seaweed and debris. Wandering stars- like comets, they astonish the world for a time, then they vanish into darkness. An unpredictable star would provide no guidance for navigation. So as these deceivers are useless and untrustworthy for anything good. Their destiny: blackness and darkness forever. Hell is real, although folks would rather believe in heaven and think hell is a fairy-tale. This is what satan wants people to think. B. ENOCH’S STORY Jude 14-16 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. Here Jude quotes from Enoch, who is described in Genesis 5, and mentioned in Hebrews 11. Gen. 5:24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. Jude here is quoting the book of Enoch - another apocryphal book that was not received as scripture, but highly respected among both Jews and early Christians. Did you notice that there are two words of emphasis: "ALL" and "ungodly" - God is coming to judge all of the ungodly. We see there are two things that God is going to judge and convict ungodly sinners of: all ungodly acts and all harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. 1) All the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way: Rev. 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. 2) All the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him: The third commandment of the Ten Commandments Deut. 5:11 "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. There is an interesting side note regarding Enoch. He was the tenth generation from Adam, who was the first man. 1. Adam - Man 2. Seth - Appointed 3. Enosh - Subjected to death 4. Kenan - Sorrowful 5. Mahalalel - From the presence of God 6. Jared - One comes down 7. Enoch - Dedicated 8. Methuselah - When he dies, it will take a place 9. Lamech - To the poor and needy 10. Noah - Bringing rest If we link all the meanings of the names, "Man appointed, subjected to death, sorrowful. From the presence of God, one comes down, dedicated. When he dies, it will take place with the poor and needy and bringing rest." The names of the ten generations give us a rather important message of Jesus Christ. C. APPLICATIONS Many people take the judgment of God lightly. But the most important question in the world for any person is "Will God judge me? Am I accountable to Him?" If he or she is, then that person is a fool if he or she does not prepare to face that judgment. If you have never done so, acknowledge your sinfulness and accept Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for you (Acts 16:31; Rom. 3:23). If you have strayed from the Lord, confess to Him your wrongdoing and receive His forgiveness (1 John. 1:9). Don’t be fooled into thinking you are getting away with sin. Playing with sin is toying with judgment. If you want to contact the webservant of Calvary Chapel of Sahuarita, please send an e-mail.