Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. Jude 8

These people 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. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. Jude 12 – 16

Jude’s letter discloses a very dangerous heresy that infiltrated the followers of Jesus Christ.  On the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings.  He claims that they are acting out their own dreams, not the will of the Father. Therefore, their lives reveal that they do not honor God at all.  They cater to the desires of the flesh, without regard to the law of God. They reject authority because they see themselves as the ultimate authority. They have no time for things of the Spirit.  They please themselves in the name of freedom that they embrace, not the freedom of the Spirit that is the gift of God but false liberty that they invent themselves.

Jude calls a halt to the confusion. These people 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.  They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. Shepherds who eat the food meant for the sheep.  Clouds that promise rain but have none.  When they should be producing a crop, there is none.  If you look carefully you will see that the tree has been uprooted so it is not in contact with the source of fruitfulness at all. Wild waves of the sea, stirring up dirt!  Stars that have no place but wander here and there, soon disappear into the darkness.

These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.  That sums up the insidious heresy.  At first it may look like freedom but it is a horrid bondage.  The problem is, they have no idea of the evil of their choices.  Are we not, in our generation, in the need of people like Jude to puncture our self inflated balloons?

I am not sure what this dazzling Fall wild flower is called but, beside the path, it burst into light and color in obvious delight!  If I am not mistaken it is a boneset. There were not many such on our river hike today so each was so very special.

Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

Jude 3, 4

Jude obviously wishes to write about the great salvation won by Jesus Christ, the basis of all Christian fellowship, but feels compelled to deal with a current troubling issue that he calls a “perversion” of the Good News.

I think it was something like this – religion for many meant obedience to a set of rules was the answer. Instead it was simply an unbearable burden.  For them the Good News was that Christ sets us free from the tyranny of the law, Godly law or human law.  They had lived under the restraints of law long enough.

They were attracted to Jesus who promised them freedom.  The result, of course, was for them their license for immorality.  They were free to do what they wanted to do!  That is the picture here.  Jude reminded them of this terrible error.

He goes on to point to the real problem – by their attitude and acts they denied that Jesus Christ is our only Sovereign and Lord.  Jesus Christ could never bless their self-centered attitude.  Christ did not rule their lives, they did what pleased themselves and that was it.  They interpreted freedom as license to please self.

Is this word of caution for me, for you, dear reader?  Is it not tempting to use our freedom in Christ to satisfy our own selfish desires?  May God have mercy.

Anna Ruth, bless her, walks with her rollator over three miles on the river trail above Marietta. Yesterday was one of those crystal-clear early Fall days.  We love to explore nooks and crannies of Lancaster in these refreshingly cool days.

Our goal was the white cliffs on the Susquehanna.  It is a dome of dolomite, rising almost 200 feet, abstracted from early limestone ore.  I wondered how it is after so many years that the mineral has not been completely eroded.

The golden rod was stunningly beautiful in the late afternoon sun.

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,

To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

Jude 1, 2

What is Jude’s prayer?  That those to whom he is writing, believers in the Gospel, will enjoy three blessings of God.

First, “mercy.”  All of us who know Jesus as Savior realize that we are saved because God is merciful.  We come to Him to plead mercy.  We have nothing to bring but our plea for mercy.  That never changes, no matter how long we walk in God’s salvation.  We do not earn mercy; we receive it as a precious gift.

Second, “peace.”   This, too is a precious gift of God.  He himself is our peace!  We are at peace when we know we are safe in Him.

Third, “love.”  The kind of love Jude is talking about is not ordinary human love that all cultures know.  It is the love of our Savior and Lord, not something we earn or deserve.  It is agape love that comes from Jesus Christ.

Jude is about to urge the readers to stand firm in the faith because heresy threatens. For this they will need fortitude, determination, clear minds and the rest.  But most of all they need to be clothed in God’s mercy, peace and love.  If we lose these virtues trying to defend the Gospel, we need to stop, recover our stance in the Lord Jesus and proceed from there.

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,

To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

Jude verses 1, 2

Jude is one of my favorites. He identifies himself as the brother of James, presumably Jesus’ brother.  But he does not claim any official status, just Jude!  Jude means simply “a Jew. If he was, in fact, the brother of Jesus, he does not even mention it. He has a word to share and his authority is the Lord God himself.  So he takes joy in being a servant of Christ Jesus.

Had I been Jude I think I would have appealed to my status, my position in church and family and all that.  He simply moves to the message he feels to share.

To whom is he writing?

“To those who have been called.” We would say, to those who are saved by the mercy of God and are brought into the fellowship of the Lord by grace alone.  Of course we owe a great debt of thanks to believers who have welcomed us and love us still, but all the glory goes to God, our primary initiator and caller.

To those “who are loved in God the Father.”  All of us believers are surrounded and held together and held to faith by the love of the Father. This love is stronger than all the powers of Satan.

To those who are being “kept for Jesus Christ.”  I like to think that they are being kept by Jesus as one of his dear followers. Like we all are. We are also kept for Him.  We are His.  That is the basis of everything.

From whom?  “A servant of Jesus Christ.”  Jude! I love his humility and heart-passion.  He has no reason to defend his position in the Body of believers but to simply claim the strong fact that is a servant of Jesus Christ. On reflection, is this not the ultimate calling?

The elder, to my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.  Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.  It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you.  They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God.  It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans.  We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.

I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us.  So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.  Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink.  I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.

3 John

This, the third letter attributed to the Apostle John, is short as was his second. John is encouraging a leader, Gaius who walks in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and who welcomes strangers into the fellowship of the church. John holds Gaius in high regard.  John encourages him to continue to walk in the truth, a phrase that we expect from John.  For John, the truth of the Gospel is not a secret affirmation but a life-changing way to live, to walk.  Following Christ is a walk, not just a cold doctrine.

Gaius’ open-hearted approach stands in strong contrast to that of Diotrephes whose leadership was sharp, critical and divisive, indicative of the fact that he loved to be in charge.  He disparaged John, the Apostle.  John was a tender disciplinarian, unlike this fellow who saw himself as number one.

John then lifted up the leadership style of Demetrius, who not only loved the truth but walked in it.

So the letter ends with John sharing his intention to visit the church where this was happening.  He intended to help the believers there to recognize Christ-like leadership.

I have been studying leadership in the church these many years and have seen the blessings of God flow where leaders lived the truth.  I have also seen the horrible damage done by self-seeking leaders.   Each generation must deal with this issue.  It requires discernment and determination, to encourage all leaders to tend the flock of God with great tenderness.

Leadership; in the Body of Christ is a call to risk-taking quite often, requiring us to reach across cultural barriers for the sake of Christ and the Gospel.   As a timid missionary in East Africa I found myself doing just that.  As I look back I would not trade that experience for another.  I began to understand the call to love all those who love Jesus, no matter what culture, language, color or history.  That is absolutely revolutionary.