Jude The God Who Keeps
Postcards from God
As I did sermon planning for this fall, I found myself with a two week gap: we just finished our series on Titus, and on November 30 we start Advent and preparing for Christmas. So I had a two week gap, and decided maybe we could fill it with one of the short books at the end of the New Testament. Philemon, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude. 4 books of the Bible that don’t even have chapter divisions. I call them “Postcards from God.”
I picked Jude.
Jude is the last book before Revelation, the second to last book in the New Testament. It’s not a book that we usually spend a lot of time in. One scholar I listened to called Jude “perhaps the most neglected book in the New Testament.” (C.J. Mahaney, Called, http://www.covlife.org/resources/3573594-Called, this sermon owes a lot to C.J.’s message).
There are several reasons Jude is a neglected book. For one thing, it is quite short. Just 25 verses. For another thing, we’re not even sure who it was written to. It addresses a particular controversy within the church, but we don’t have much information on that controversy beyond what the book itself provides. Moreover, it’s kind of a dark book. The majority of the book pronounces judgment on the “godless men” who are creating controversy within the church and the images are rather strong. References to the plagues of Egypt and Sodom and Gomorrah. At first glance, this book doesn’t leave you with a lot of warm-fuzzy feelings.
And yet, for all that, this book has some of the most beautiful statements about God’s sustaining grace in all of the Bible. Martin Luther once said: “The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me." And as I’ve studied the book of Jude, I’ve found that to be true. The Bible has grabbed hold of me. The book of Jude has been chasing after me. I hope that the same will be true of you after our two weeks in this little book.
Let’s read the book of Jude. I’m going to read it in its entirety (how often do we get to read an entire book of the Bible in a worship service?) We’ll be putting the words up on the screen, but let me also encourage you to take a Bible and open up to Jude. It’s easy to find, just go to the back of your Bible and then find the beginning of Revelation. Jude is right there. I’ll urge you to keep your Bibles open as we go through this message:
1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: 2Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
3Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 4For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
5Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
8In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. 9But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" 10Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals--these are the very things that destroy them.
11Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.
12These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm--shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted--twice dead. 13They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
14Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." 16These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
17But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." 19These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22Be merciful to those who doubt; 23snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
24To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-- 25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
A Humble Man
Let me give you an overview of this short letter. Let’s start with who the letter is from. Verse 1:
1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James
The author of this book is a man named Jude. Jude is the English version of the Greek name Judas, which in turn is the translation of the Hebrew name Judah. There are 8 people in the New Testament with this name, the most notable of which is probably Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed our Lord. Obviously, this is not that Judas. And it is probably because of the infamy attached to the name Judas that most English versions go with Jude.
Jude identifies himself as the brother of James. In all likelihood, this James is the author of the book by the same name, the leader of the church in Jerusalem. James was well known throughout early Christendom. He was also the younger half-brother of Jesus.
That means, of course, Jude was also a half-brother to Jesus.
So, one of the first things we learn about Jude is that he was a humble man. Think about that. He shares DNA with the Word of God made flesh. He used to sit across the breakfast table from the Lion of the tribe of Judah. His dad used to threaten to “pull this donkey over” if he and the Light of the World didn’t “quiet down back there.” If ever there was an opportunity to name drop, to say, “you ought best listen to what I have to say, because Jesus is my big brother,” this was it. But Jude doesn’t do that. Instead, he describes himself as a “servant of Jesus”. Instead of saying: “I’m his brother” he says “I’m his slave.”
Verse 3 explains why he is writing this letter:
3Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
Jude wanted to write about the salvation in which we share. He wanted to write a letter celebrating the gospel. He wanted to revel with his friends—and us—in the grace of God in our lives.
But he found it necessary to write them and urge them to contend for the faith. The faith is at risk, and so Jude wants to urge them to fight for it. Verse 4 gives us a little picture of what is going on:
4For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Apparently, the church has been infiltrated with false teachers who are teaching a false gospel. They are using the grace of God as a license for immorality. They deny Jesus Christ as the rightful ruler in their lives.
Jude has a big problem with this. The next 16 verses or so are dedicated to explaining what should happen to such men. It’s not pretty. Jude compares them to Sodom and Gomorrah and Cain and Balaam. He says that they are “clouds without rain” and “autumn trees, without fruit.” (12)
The Flight Attendant’s Speech
So, the main idea of the letter is that we must defend the faith against error. Stand firm on the truth of Jesus Christ. Fight to remain in Christ’s love. It’s a call to action. And next week, we’re going to dig into what this looks like.
But before calling us to contend, Jude calls us to contemplate. Jude begins his call to action with reflections on the God who gives us faith. Before we fight for the faith, we must remember the foundations on which that faith is built. This week then, I want us to focus in on just the first verse of Jude. Jude 1, the second half:
To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:
This is the “dear brothers and sisters” part of the letter. Nearly every letter in the New Testament has a beginning similar to this. It’s easy to overlook this part of the letter.
In a way, it reminds me of the speech the flight attendant makes before the plane takes off. You know that speech? The flight attendant explains what to do in the case of an emergency, points out that the emergency exits are located here, and here and here. Shows how to put on the oxygen masks, and tells you to make sure to secure your own mask before assisting others. Tells you that in case of a water landing, your seat can be used as a flotation device.
I don’t fly all that often, but that speech seems real familiar to me. So I don’t pay much attention to it. And my experience is that very few of the other passengers pay attention. It’s just background noise. A part of the routine of flying. You would think, considering it’s information about life or death, that we’d be a little bit more interested. But we’re not.
Sometimes, we can treat the beginning of the New Testament letters like the speech by the flight attendant. But not today. Today I want us to consider this opening line from Jude. Because it is profound. Here, Jude gives us a description of who we are as Christians. If we are going to stand firm for the faith, then we need to understand what God does for us. Jude reminds us of the gospel before he calls us to contend for the gospel.
There are three things about the people addressed by this letter. They are: “those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.” Called, loved, and kept. That’s what I want you to remember today.
Called
We’ll start with called.
Sinclair Ferguson says that this word, called, is the single most used one-word description of a Christian in the Bible. If you are a Christian, this is the theological explanation for it. You were called.
Biblically or theologically speaking, you are not a Christian because you asked Jesus into your heart. You are not a Christian because you believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You are not a Christian because you repented of your sins.
At least, not first and foremost.
It is Biblically and theologically more correct to say that you were able to do all those things because God first called you. It is only because of God’s call on your life that you were willing to ask Jesus into your heart, it is only because of His call that you were able to believe in his death and resurrection, it is only because of His call that you repented of your sin.
The emphasis, the accent, is on the divine initiative. Before we came to God, He came to us. His call precedes our belief. And it has to be that way. Because apart from His awakening call in our lives we are unable to believe. Consider this familiar passage from Ephesians 2:
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
This is a description of your life prior to Jesus. What were you? You were dead. How does a dead person call on God? Dead people can’t call for help. Dead people can’t cry out. They’re dead!
But Ephesians 2:4 tells us what happened:
4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions
Even though we were dead. Even though we could not call out for help. God came and called us. It was His divine call that put the spark of life back in us.
So, now, think about where you would be without this call in your life… Think about what your life would be like if God in His mercy had not called you…
Charles Haddon Spurgeon was London’s great preacher in the 19th century. Speaking on this passage he said:
“Let me refresh your memories with your calling. Was there not a day, the mementoes of which you fondly cherish, when you were called from death unto life? Fly back now to the day and hour if you can, and, if not, light upon the season thereabouts, when the great transaction took place, in which you were made Christʼs forever, by the voluntary surrender of yourself to him. In looking back, does it not strike you that your calling must have been of divine origin? The text says, ʻGod called youʼ—does not your experience prove the same? How gracious that calling must have been since it came to you from God; came to you irresistibly, and came to you with such personal demonstration! What grace was here! What was there in you to suggest a motive why God should call you? Oh, beloved, we can hardly ask you that question without the tear rising in our own eye. Should not this calling of ours evoke our most intense gratitude, our most earnest love? (We’ll put this last part on the screen:) Oh, if he had not called thee, where hadst thou been tonight? Who am I—what should I have been if the Lord, in mercy, had not stopped me in my mad career! This was a kind and gracious call, when we consider what we might have been. (quoted by C.J. Mahaney, ibid)
Where would you be if God had not called? Some of you have stories, you know where your “mad career” was taking you when God broke in and called. Some of you can tell tales of the dark places you were rescued from by the savior.
And some of us, who’ve been in the church longer, who have more staid stories, still it isn’t too hard to imagine where we could be if Jesus hadn’t intervened. As somebody who has known Jesus pretty much all my life, sometimes I wish I had a more interesting story; but that’s a foolish wish. Why would I want more sin in my life?
A few weeks ago I told a story about an older gentleman who gave a testimony in his church: “The Lord saved me from a life of drugs, crime and adultery at the age of 6.” Isn’t that what we want for our kids? Isn’t that our prayer when we have a baptism? That God would call them and save them before they walk into all that darkness?
This is the first thing Jude wants us to contemplate and relish: We have been called.
Loved
Second, we are loved. If you are a Christian, then you are loved by God.
This is so significant, and so important. I know that we’ve all heard John 3:16 and we know that “God so loved the world.” We know the song, “Jesus loves me, this I know.” We can tell people that God loves them
And yet, as much as we can know all this, it is sometimes hard to feel like God really loves me. It’s hard to rest secure in that love. Many of us think hard thoughts about God the Father: He is tolerating me, He is frustrated with me, He is eager to catch me doing something wrong so He can punish me. We talk about a God of love, but our picture is of an angry, wrathful, distant God.
Well, if that’s the way you feel about God, if that’s the picture you have: then the Father would like to have a word with you. 1 John 4:10 puts it like this:
10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
If you are struggling to accept God’s love—if you are having a hard time believing that God’s love for you is specific and personal--don’t look inside yourself, don’t look at your heart, don’t look at your circumstances: look at the cross. And look behind the cross to the Father who initiated it all. God loved us with such an intense and personal love that He poured out the wrath and justice that we deserved on His son so He could redeem and reconcile us to Himself and adopt us as His sons and daughters.
You are loved.
We must replace those wrong thoughts with thoughts that the Father is gracious and good. At all times, He has our best interest at heart. All the days of our lives, He rejoices over us to do us good. In all things, He loves us with a personal and particular affection.
John Own, a puritan preacher and writer from the 17th Century wrote:
The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to him is not to believe that he loves you.
Every Christian can, must and should say: “I am loved by God the Father.” If you don’t say that, you grieve the heart of God. God loves you. God loves you. He really does love you.
Kept
Contemplate these great truths. Reflect on them and rejoice in them. We are called. We are loved.
And, third, Jude wants us to know that we are kept. The reminder of God’s call brings us back to when He first brought us to Himself. The reminder of God’s love assures us of His present and ongoing care for us. And now the reminder of God’s keeping of us gives us confidence in His future provision.
Here’s where the context of the rest of the letter helps give this word—kept--depth and meaning.
What’s this letter about? Contending for the faith in the midst of controversy and error. These people are seeing friends fall away from the faith. They’re seeing false teachers tempting them with a cheap gospel. Look at some of the examples Jude uses in the middle of the letter. He talks about Sodom and Gomoorrah, the ultimate example of godlessness. He talks about Cain, who murdered his brother Abel. He talks about Balaam, who was paid to curse God’s people. He talks about Korah, who rebelled against Moses.
There are potholes and landmines to faith all over the place.
And the question is: how are they going to keep the faith? How are they going to avoid making shipwreck of their faith like these others?
In verse 20, Jude challenges his readers to be different:
20But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
The thrust of those verses—the main clause—is the beginning of verse 21. “Keep yourselves in God’s love.” Keep. Hang in there! Contend for the faith by keeping your relationship with God. Don’t make shipwreck of your faith like those others.
But how do we do that? If these others have stumbled, who is to say that we won’t stumble also. What if our grip on God loosens?
Skip down a few more verses. Verse 24, perhaps the most beautiful doxology in scripture:
24To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—
There’s that word, “keep”, again. God will keep us from falling. Our God keeps us close to Him. Do you see what’s happening? Jude’s main point in this letter is to encourage us to contend for the faith. He wants us to fight to keep ourselves in God’s love. But at the same time, He wants us to know that it is God who is keeping us.
This is the intersection of God’s initiative and human responsibility. If you were to ask Jude: “Which is it? Are we supposed to keep ourselves in God’s love? Or is it God who is keeping us in his love?” Jude’s answer would be: “Yes!” It’s both. Because I am kept, I can keep. Because God preserves, I can persevere.
I’ve been quoting some great old, dead guys. Let me quote one more, Richard Sibbes, who wrote a book called The Bruised Reed:
As we say of the mother and the child, both hold, but the safety of the child is that the mother holds him.
Think of a toddler, held by his mother. His little fists are bunched around her blouse. His tiny arms are clinging to her with all his strength. He doesn’t want to fall. He keeps himself up.
But is he in any danger? Is there any possibility that he will fall? Of course not. And it has little to do with how tight he grips. It is because his mother has hold of him. And her strength is more than enough.
There are things we can do to contend for the faith and keep our hearts right with God. But before there is human responsibility there is divine initiative. Like a baby on its mother’s shoulder, we can cling; but our safety lies in the one who is bigger and stronger. The one who called us and loves us will also keep and preserve us.
This is the God who keeps. This is the God who has a hold on us. It is a dangerous journey. We are at risk of falling. There are people who have fallen away, Israelites who have stumbled in the desert. And you wonder: will I make it?
And the answer is yes. And it is due to Him, who is able to keep us from falling. His love and my love are different. His love is fixed, He has set His love upon me. My love fluctuates. Because of sin, my love waxes and wanes. I wish it weren’t so, but it is. But when my love fluctuates I must never assume that His love fluctuates as well. Because it isn’t so. His love is not like my love. His love is fixed. He has fixed His love upon me. When my grip is lessened, His remains strong, and never relaxes. So that I can sing to this day and till the end:
Through many dangers toils and snares, I have already come
Twas grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
But we’re still not done. Look again at verse 24. Not only can He keep us from falling, but He will also present us before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy.
Now, think about that. God’s presence. Adam fled from the presence of God. Moses had to hide his face in the presence of God. Isaiah, upon finding Himself in the presence of God said “Woe is me!” Job said: “I repent in dust and ashes.” John, in Revelation, upon encountering the presence of God, fell down in a dead faint.
So, help me out here, how is He going to present me, without fault, in His glorious presence? What we have in view here is the final judgment day, where we all stand in front of the throne of heaven.
How can a sinner like me, with countless sins, stand blameless before the presence of His glory?
There’s only one way. It’s only through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It’s only through the perfect life and the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus taking my place and giving me His righteousness in exchange for my sin. That’s the only way. Isn’t grace amazing?!
And we’re still not done yet! “With great joy!” Well, I guess. When Jesus keeps us and preserves us and by His grace brings us home there will be great joy. You and I will have great joy. The angels will experience great joy. And most of all, God the Father will have great joy and satisfaction in bringing home those He has called and loved and kept.
No Better News
So listen, this is great news. There is no better news. No news you receive this week will be better news than this. You are called by God. Loved by God. And kept by God. Better news than this does not exist.
And this is the news that will prepare you and sustain you for the worst news you will hear this week. This is the good news that we need to contemplate and savor and build our lives upon.
And so, finally, appropriately, Jude transitions to worship, because there is only one proper response to these stunning realities. Verse 25:
25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
God does all the calling, all the loving, all the keeping: He deserves all the glory. God has acted to rescue us from a judgment we so richly deserved. He called us. He loves us. He will present us faultless before His presence. To Him be the glory, now and forever. Amen.
