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Tag: Genesis

  • Supernatural Before Adam – Because the days are evil – 2

    Supernatural Before Adam – Because the days are evil – 2

    Demons, evils spirits and of course Satan are all part of the unseen supernatural. They oppose the Lord and deceive many, but Jesus knew them all and exercised power over their evil.

    We introduced this series, Because the Days are Evil, with a quote from a letter written to the first century church at Ephesus. Now we’ll take a brief look at the relationship between Jesus and the spirit world and the seen and unseen we question in this day.

    The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”

    And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

    Luke 10:17-18 ESV

    Before Adam

    Genesis answers some of our questions about the supernatural and creation of the physical universe, yet seems to lack an explanation of the origin of spirits, angels, Satan and the supernatural.

    Consider an explanation of creation from Genesis 1 and Adam, Eve, original sin and the serpent all come to mind. But follow this timeline from Genesis and you may wonder about the creation of the serpent in the garden.

    Moses relates God’s covenant with the forefathers of the Hebrews and includes some explanation of the beginnings of things. We clearly see supernatural occurrences orchestrated by the Lord.

    In the garden, a perfect setting God created for man, we observe supernatural events and a supernatural explanation of the influence of evil by Satan, a talking serpent, a snake with poisonous words against God tempting man (adam) to death.

    Jesus claims the supernatural more than once, offering insight into the eternal not understood in the chronology of mankind. He says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”

    Have you ever wondered where that fit into the timeline of creation?

    Natural vs Supernatural time

    How do the created measure time of the Creator?

    The supernatural is sometimes observable, but not naturally measurable.

    Science provides reliable natural explanations of the observable, but fails in unproven theories of the supernatural. We just don’t get it – we want to understand everything as if we are above a creation not of our making.

    We want to be gods of the unseen and the immeasurable. Yet we cannot be and should not try to be God!

    Therefore a human measure of the infinite with billions and billions of stars and trillions and trillions of atoms in this visible place is just as unfathomable as time and its supernatural beginning.

    A world introduced to the risen Christ Jesus once measured time in terms of the Son of Man, King above all kings who proved, “I and the Father are One.”

    This year is A.D. 2019, that is, anno Domini (from the Julian calendar) or ‘in the year of our Lord‘ twenty-nineteen.

    Theories of time immemorial and explanations of the unobservable supernatural have come and gone. Even faithful men of God and followers of Christ have come up short in our proofs of the unprovable.

    Yet by faith all men must start with faith that One exists in the unseen realm of the supernatural who was and is and will always be – One who reigns over a vast and glorious creation.

    The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky displays what his hands have made.

    man is like a breath - quote from Ps 144 and photo of sun and blue sky breaking through the clu=ouds

    One day tells a story to the next.
    One night shares knowledge with the next
    without talking,
    without words,
    without their voices being heard.
    Yet, their sound has gone out into the entire world,
    their message to the ends of the earth.

    Psalm 19: 1-4 GW

    Christ, Lord over the supernatural

    Luke 10: excerpt

    After this, the Lord appointed 70 other disciples to go ahead of him to every city and place that he intended to go. They were to travel in pairs.

    He told them, “The harvest is large, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord who gives this harvest to send workers to harvest his crops. Go! I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves…

    Jesus, Son of Man, sends followers to proclaim the Gospel to an unbelieving world.

    “But whenever you go into a city and people don’t welcome you, leave… If the miracles worked in your cities had been worked in Tyre and Sidon, they would have changed the way they thought and acted… Judgment day will be better for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to heaven? No, you will go to hell!

    So Jesus warns of hell and speaks of judgment day. Many refuse to believe it because they can’t quantify it.

    Woe to those deceived by the great deceiver Satan, the serpent of sin who enters the natural creation with slithering supernatural power over those who turn against God!

    Do you believe only your eyes?

    Jesus continues instruction to faithful followers:

    16 “The person who hears you hears me, and the person who rejects you rejects me. The person who rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

    He had commissioned the eleven Disciples again after after He rose from the grave:

    “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

    Mark 16L15b

    Some men and women will not believe you, He previously had told seventy-two disciples. Yet, ‘Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves, Jesus had commissioned them. [Luke 10:3]

    17 The 70 disciples came back very happy. They said, “Lord, even demons obey us when we use the power and authority of your name!”

    Jesus has power over demons you also do not believe exist — if you are deceived.

    18 Jesus said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

    Jesus told an unbelieving religious establishment, “Before Abraham was, I am!” Here the Lord witnesses to disciples, “I watched Satan fall from heaven…” Yet unless some see Satan or demons or unseen supernatural powers they will dismiss all as myth.

    Seventy men came back to Jesus, the Gospel records, and witnessed:

    “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.” [KJV]

    Yet many do not believe because they cannot see these supernatural beings of spirit.

    a Supernatural Serpent

    Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, —

    Genesis 3:1a KJV

    STOP! Two things here in Moses’ narrative of creation.

    1. A serpent (who we later learn is Satan) is talking. Not only is that crafty, but seems to an unbelieving world an impossibility.
    2. The supernatural serpent asks an evil question of the woman, “Did God actually say … (you know the questions object about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). Satan is asking Eve to question the word of God!

    Then the serpent tells the woman a lie.

    3:4 וַיֹּאמֶר הַנָּחָשׁ אֶל־הָֽאִשָּׁה לֹֽא־מֹות תְּמֻתֽוּן׃

    The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!

    Genesis 3:4 Hebrew & NASB

    Go ask her then, “Eve, do you believe the evil one who told you, ‘You will not die?”

    Of course not even followers of Moses could do that, because Moses also records that both Adam and Eve died. After their original sin of disobeying the Lord God, their flesh and bones returned to the dust.

    Therefore, consider the supernatural influence of spirits, demons, fallen angels, men possessed by evil and especially Satan could have on your life and death, your merciless judgment or eternal life by grace.

    Jesus IS the Lord, One with God the Father of all creation and the Holy Spirit. God loves you and asks for your eternal love of good.

    Yet Satan would sway the uncertain toward the gravity of Hell and battle of evil against good.

    Choose this day who you will follow. Christ Jesus our loving Savior? Or Satan the angel of darkness asking you to prove, “Did God really say…?”

    To be continued...

  • The End of the Living – a letter from Peter – 7

    The End of the Living – a letter from Peter – 7

    Living toward the End

    Peter challenges persecuted believers to Suffer for Good and trust God to punish those who do evil. He then proceeds to warn of the judgement and the end of those living souls as well as for those who are dead.

    Just as the end of all life will come, so must the end of your suffering. The Lord will judge your living soul accordingly after the time of all expires.

    Who shall give account?

    5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

    1 Peter 4:5 KJV

    The King James Version translates the Greek of Peter’s letter into words somewhat quait to our 21st century hearing. “The quick and the dead,” refers to the condition of all being judged after our death. Yet don’t miss the encouragement here in Peter’s contrast between believers and disobedient sinners, those who both infiltrate the church and persecute believers.

    the living

    Most versions of the Bible translate ‘quick,’ ζάω [zaō] as “the living.” From this we hear expressions like, “as I live and breathe” or, “[be] among the living.”

    Consider our more familiar references to ‘quick’ as the pace of something, even our quickly passing life. We tend to rush through our living of life more so than persecuted believers of the first century church. Yet we would do well in our quickness of life to consider its brevity.

    to give an account

    Perhaps in our money-driven daily lives of this 21st century we quickly think of accounting as it relates to buying and selling. This approach to Peter’s meaning is not entirely wrong, but you cannot buy your own soul.

    No good you accomplish in your quick days of living this life can outweigh the many sins of your living flesh.

    3:19 בְּזֵעַת אַפֶּיךָ תֹּאכַל לֶחֶם עַד שֽׁוּבְךָ אֶל־הָאֲדָמָה כִּי מִמֶּנָּה לֻקָּחְתָּ כִּֽי־עָפָר אַתָּה וְאֶל־עָפָר תָּשֽׁוּב׃

    Genesis 3:19 
    By the sweat of your face
     You will eat bread,
     Till you return to the ground,
     Because from it you were taken;
     For you are dust,
     And to dust you shall return.”
    - Genesis 3:19 NASB

    So how does God balance the good of your quickly dying flesh with the evil of our living soul?

    The writer of Hebrews cautions those who turn against the Lord, providing an accounting of the judgment of souls.

    And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

    Hebrews 9:27-28 KJV

    Peter assures us that whether we suffer for good, experience persecution for Christ or conversely if our daily living displeases God, know that all will give an account. Even the dead will give an account for actions against God during their lifetime.

    You must give an account even for inattentiveness to your living soul, for all will will give an account before the Lord.

    Your life will pass quickly, then you will die and be called to God’s Throne of Judgment of your eternal living soul.

    to him that is ready to judge

    1 Peter 4:

    Who will judge?

    To whom will your departed soul be required to give an account of your living soul?

    Peter’s encouragement to persecuted believers goes back to the reason for and objects of their persecution.

    Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same understanding…

    3 For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the Gentiles choose to do…

    … and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

    They will give an account refers to the gentiles who remain sinful. The Lord will judge every soul of those who decay in the flesh, yet some living in sin may be saved by your preaching of the Gospel.

    Just as Christ preached to those in the grave, so also will your redeemed life doing good preach the Gospel to those who remain sinners. Perhaps the Spirit will use you to bring some back to life.

    6 For this reason the gospel was also preached to those who are now dead, so that, although they might be judged in the flesh according to human standards, they might live in the spirit according to God’s standards.

    Who will judge our living souls?

    A Hebrew understanding of living relates more to the soul than to our flesh.

    Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

    So also it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

    Genesis 2:7; 1 Corinthians 15:45 NASB

    When will it all end?

    Certainly the end appeared to be at hand as the Roman Empire fell into further decline during the first century A.D. Peter writes to those living as Christians persecuted for their faith in Jesus. He too would suffer further and then be crucified in Rome.

    The church to whom Peter wrote suffered in their home towns in Asia minor (modern Turkey) as if the end of their lives could be at any time. The church in Jerusalem suffered greatly and Jerusalem itself would fall into ashes and dust at the hands of its Roman oppressors.

    Perhaps the end of all things is near. [1 Peter 4:7]

    Even in recent centuries some have thought judgement near.

    In October of the year of our Lord 1962, some will recall that the world stood at the brink of destruction by nuclear missiles from Russia and the U.S.

    In September of the year of our Lord 2001, some believed that an attack of followers of the false prophet would lead us into the last days. Perhaps it has. The Lord knows.

    But in any case, our end will come to the measured days of our mortal life. All will end, and then the judgement. God only knows when.

    And like the followers of Jesus to whom Peter wrote, we also know:

    We will die in the flesh and then be judged. AND our soul is saved from our sin by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ! Thanks be to God!

    Who shall give an account?

    Everyone – the living and the dead – will give an account for their living actions during the brief years of our flesh.

    οἳ ἀποδώσουσιν λόγον τῷ ἑτοίμως ἔχοντι κρῖναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκρούς

    1 Peter 4:5 Morphological Greek New Testament

    So since all souls must give an account, let’s look deeper into Peter’s text of his first letter to the church (whose believers understand Greek).

    but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

    1 Peter 4:5 NASB

    λόγος

    Trench’s Synonyms: lxxvi. λαλέω, λέγω (λαλιά, λόγος).
    lxxxix. φωνή, λόγος.
    xc. λόγος, μῦθος.

    Do you see it – the account you must give?

    It’s Greek root is from a verb legō, meaning to say, speak or affirm. It is the same word Jesus uses when He says,

    “But I say G3004 to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court;
    and whoever says G3004 to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court;
    and whoever says, G3004 ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
    – Matthew 5:22 – Strong’s G3004 – BlueLetterBible.org

    From ‘legos,’ the root of the word Peter and Jesus use, we see that all will give an account for what we say, in addition to what we do. Yet returning to Peter’s use of account, look closer. Do you see the noun Peter uses?

    λόγος

    Logos – 

    The KJV translates Strong's G3056 in the following manner: 
    word (218x), saying (50x), account (8x), speech (8x), Word (Christ) (7x), thing (5x), not translated (2x), miscellaneous (32x).

    You will give an account [logos]. That is, of speech they will give an account for slander and words of hatred. They will give an account for false teaching which goes against the precepts of God.

    We all know that keeping score means to give an account at the end of the game. This is no game, but a brief life for which we will give account to Almighty God.

    Jesus often used this word with the same meaning as Peter uses here to encourage persecuted believers.

    “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts G3056 with his slaves.

    Matthew 18:23 NASB

    Greek-speaking Romans and Jews of the first century also referred to a word spoken from the Prophets in this way. Many of the Jews believed John the Baptist to be a Prophet with such power of the word of God spoken directly to man through him.

    Logos – Accounting in Peter’s words

    Peter has already encouraged readers of his letter with this same (logos) accounting:

    1Pe 1:23
    for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word G3056 of God.

    1Pe 2:8b
    for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, G3056 and to this doom they were also appointed.

    1Pe 3:1
    In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, G3056 they may be won without a word G3056 by the behavior of their wives,

    1Pe 3:15
    but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account G3056 for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

    Therefore, Peter will continue by urging us how to speak and act, now that we are in Christ. (I will continue Peter’s first letter to the church from his advise continuing in 1 Peter 4:7, God-willing.)

    Christ – the living logos

    No men understood better the accounting and true word of God than Jesus’ inner circle of Apostles. In addition to Peter, these included James and John.

    Consider the accounting of the living and the dead to be made before Almighty God from the words of the Apostle John, only surviving one of the Twelve who was not martyred for Christ Jesus. You may read of it in his letters, Gospel, or in The Revelation of Jesus Christ to the church:

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,
    who testified to the word G3056 of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
    Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words G3056 of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.

    John, like those to whom Peter wrote, suffered for Christ. And as a living soul for Jesus writes to seven of the same churches in Asia with exhortation as to how we much live as Christ.

    John’s Gospel to the church best solidifies the identity of God and Christ. In fact, John includes this same word as Peter has just used in his letter.

    In the beginning was the Word, G3056 and the Word G3056 was with God, and the Word G3056 was God.

    And the Word G3056 became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

    John 1:1,8 NASB Strong’s G3056 – λόγος
    logos
    To be continued...
  • Jude -3- Apostates

    Jude -3- Apostates

    Why did Jude write to the churches about apostasy? What is apostasy and how do we recognize apostates?

    As we learned previously in the study of Jude’s reason for exhortation, certain intruders have joined the churches to which he writes. Jude describes them as ungodly people who pervert God’s grace. He accuses these apostates of denying our Master and Lord Jesus Christ.

    Jude

    5 [NASB] 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.

    Why a reminder from the Old Testament?

    The approach of the church is different in Christ than that of the Jewish culture from which they have been redeemed by the Lord.

    A first century view of the church

    Donald Guthrie in The New Testament Approach to Social Responsibility writes:

    The New Testament assumes the validity of the Old Testament view that man was made in the image of God.1 The whole conception of sin requires that there must have been a state from which man has deviated.

    Guthrie continues with reminders of the social nature of the church of the first century to which Jude writes:

    The New Testament doctrines of redemption and reconciliation are central to the whole Christian message and involve a disarming of man’s natural enmity against God and of his self-centredness.7 …

    The consequence of this is that redeemed man finds himself with an entirely new set of values and yet remaining in his former alien environment. A tension must at once develop between his former way of looking at social responsibility and his new principles in Christ.

    The New Testament concentrates on the privileges and responsibilities of the Christian life, because this was the aspect which was new. The Christian faith demands new attitudes and actions which are of prior importance for those who have just turned away from a pagan background. This will explain the relative paucity of specific exhortations towards social responsibility.

    Examples from the Old Testament

    Jesus, nevertheless, teaches the validity of the Old Testament from where Jude takes examples of exhortations as contemporary reminders for our faith.

    “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

    Matthew 5:18 KJV – the words of Jesus about the Old Testament

    Jesus told numerous stories from the Old Testament as well. For an excellent of His view of Scripture you can read this article by Don Stewart.

    Apostasy

    Before we continue with the examples of Hebrew history, let’s define what Jude does not specifically name. (You already know the challenges of Hebrew, Greek and Latin translations into today’s English.)

    Apostasy – definition

    from the OXFORD dictionary

    The abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief or principle.

    ‘the execution of their leader for apostasy brought widespread criticism’

    Origin

    Middle English from ecclesiastical Latin apostasia, from a late Greek alteration of Greek apostasis ‘defection’.

    ἀποστασία – apostasia

    Definition from the Greek: defection from truth (properly, the state) (“apostasy”):—falling away, forsake.

    מְשׁוּבָה

    Definition from the Hebrew mĕshuwbah : turning away, turning back, apostasy, backsliding

    The Bible warns of the apostasy of the Lord’s chosen people more times than the New Testament church specifically warns believers against it.

    “Your own wickedness will correct you,
    And your apostasies will reprove you;
    Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter
    For you to forsake the LORD your God,
    And the dread of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

    Jeremiah 2:19 NASB

    Jude’s Old Testament Exhortations

    Various Biblical headings for the verses to follow from Jude’s letter read:

    • Apostates: Past and Present -CSB
    • False Teachers – NTE
    • Old and New Apostates & Apostates Depraved and Doomed – KJV
    • Judgment on False Teachers – NSRV
    • Past history warns us that the unfaithful have mingled with the faithful & Be on your guard against these wicked men – PHILLIPS

    So as not to extend exposition of this twenty-five verse letter into another post, I will link the important cross-references for these Old Testament verses for your further study. I suspect the the first century readers of Jude’s exhortations warning against apostasy knew these examples much better than I can remember.

    1. Jude 1:5 – Egypt
    2. v. 6 – Angels – a multitude of examples throughout both Testaments
    3. vs. 7-8 – Sodom and Gomorrah
    4. v. 9 – Michael the Archangel, concerning Moses
    5. v. 11 – Cain, Balaam & Korah
    6. vs. 14-15 Enoch

    Egypt

    For I should like to remind you, my brothers, that our ancestors all had the experience of being guided by the cloud in the desert and of crossing the sea dry-shod. … many of them failed to please God, and left their bones in the desert. Now in these events our ancestors stand as examples to us, warning us not to crave after evil things as they did.

    1 Corinthians 10 excerpt – J.B. PHILLIPS

    Angels and Archangels

    For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

    Ephesians 6:12 NASB

    Michael, from the vision of Daniel 10 [audio]

    Sodom and Gomorrah

    “I destroyed some of your cities,
    as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
    Those of you who survived
    were like charred sticks pulled from a fire.
    But still you would not return to me,”
    says the LORD.

    Amos 4:11 NLT

    Cain, Balaam & Korah

    All apostates! And for the most part we know their sins. Yet do we recall their warnings from the Lord?

    The Lord warns Cain

    Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? 7 If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

    Genesis 4:6-7 CSB

    The Lord & an Angel warn Balaam

    And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”

    And the Angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me.

    Numbers 22:12,32 NKJV

    Moses warns Korah & The Lord warns Moses & Aaron

    Moses also told Korah, “Now listen, Levites! Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the Israelite community to bring you near to himself, to perform the work at the Lord’s tabernacle, and to stand before the community to minister to them?

    The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Separate yourselves from this community so I may consume them instantly.”

    Numbers 16:8-9, 20-21

    Have we recognized the apostates opposed to the Lord and separated them from His church?

    The Lord requires both our faith and our loyalty. He cautions us concerning those who would turn against the faithful, loyal congregation of believers.

    Jude warns:

    These people are dangerous. They share communion of Christ with you, but only care about themselves. These men (and presumably women) are a menace to good fellowship. They are shepherds (pastors and priests) who care not for their sheep. These opinionated apostates are clouds without water, trees without fruit, twice-dead, and uprooted. Do not listen to them.

    Jude makes other comparisons of these apostates to raging waves splashing up their own shame and wandering stars ‘for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved forever,’ a clear reference to the eternal punishment of Satan’s apostate angels.

    Enoch Predicted an Apostasy of Israel

    The study of Jude’s source material [linked above] is complex. See Jude 1:14. Yet to simplify the apostasy of Israel which the Lord spoke to Moses at the time of his death, here is an excerpt from its scriptural background.

    Deuteronomy 31 & Intro from the Song of Moses

    The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them…

    “They have acted corruptly toward Him,
    They are not His children, because of their defect;
    But are a perverse and crooked generation.
    “Do you thus repay the Lord,
    O foolish and unwise people?

    Deuteronomy 31:16-17a,32:5:6a NASB

    A Reminder of Scoffers

    Jude reminds the church that the Apostles also warn of those who deny the power and judgment of Almighty God and turn from the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    “In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts.” It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions.

    Jude 1:18b-19 NRSV

    But you, beloved…

    Jude addresses the church agapētos, beloved ones, just as James in his letter had cautioned: “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.”

    Jude and also James knew the familial love of Jesus. Both letter writers love those saints of the church faithful to Christ, their brother, the risen Lord.

    But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life.

    Jude 1:21-22 CSB

    How shall we view the apostate?

    Have mercy on some who are doubting.

    Is this unexpected as our attitude toward some who temporarily turn against Christ?

    Jude shares the same teaching as Christ.

    “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

    The words of Christ, Matthew 5:7

    By our mercy and Christ’s grace some may be built up in the true faith.

    Save others

    ‘Snatching them out of the fire,’ Jude pleads, a clear reference to saving their souls from hell.

    σῴζω – sōzō – Save – to rescue from danger or destruction

    It is the same Greek word for save familiar to all from John 3:16. Jude urges the church to save those of the world who come to us.

    Have mercy with fear

    “And on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh,” Jude cautions.

    But what fear?

    φόβος – Most know the word phobos and its meaning: dread or that which strikes terror.

    What strikes terror in your heart?

    Your own death?

    Judgement? Eternal damnation?

    Or do you fear for the souls of others more than you fear them? For these are loved ones, friends and those who you know as a part of the church. Some apostate ‘christians’ have turned against the Lord Jesus Christ!

    Do you fear man or the Lord God?

    Luke tells us in the Acts of the Apostles,

    So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

    Acts 9:31 NASB

    Jude’s reference to ‘hating even the garment polluted by the flesh’ clearly calls the church to hating the sin, yet not the sinner. Let us clearly identify the spotted speech of apostates among us, urging those with such worldly coverings to purify their sins in the blood of Christ.

    And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.

    James 3:6 NASB

    Let us watch that we condemn the sins of the apostates among us, while not judging their souls which the Lord may choose to snatch from the fire.

    Benediction

    Jude wants to encourage the church, giving those saints faithful to the Lord praise. Yet he has chosen to exhort the church against apostates, warn us against the sins which defile us and turn our witness against Christ.

    He briefly makes his strong warning and now closes with praise to the Lord. You may have heard such comforting benedictions from a pastor of your own church congregation.

    Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.

    Jude 1:24-25 CSB Benediction

    Christ Jesus can keep you from stumbling so that you may stand in His holy presence. You will know His glory, because of His mercy and grace of covering our sins by His shed blood.

    God IS our Savior, through the sacrificial love of Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Anyone who does not believe in the only One who can save us is an apostate, turned against the Lord our God!

    To Him be all glory, majesty, power and authority. As it was in the beginning, it will be now and forever. AMEN.