Lesson 1
Message to the Church
Jude
May 25, 2015
Instead of beginning with a short introduction like I normally do I am just going to share some things about the book of Jude. This book was another one of those that had trouble finding its way into the canon. One of the main objections was his reference to books not included in what we consider part of the inspired word of God. They are called the Apocrypha. The two instances used by Jude came from the book of Enoch and The Assumption of Moses. Today we see this as not a valid reason to exclude the book. Jude was using information that would have been familiar to the Jews to whom he was writing.
The book itself tells us a little about Jude that has been accepted in the greater church world. He described himself as a servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James. This tells us that he was part of the early church having, like his brother, accepted Jesus right after the resurrection. Secondly, he told his readers that he spoke with authority as the brother of James and therefore the half-brother of Jesus.
Finally, He had seen much that had taken place in the history of the early church. At the time of writing, probably in the late 70’s or early 80’s, all of the apostles except John were dead and Jerusalem had been destroyed. The church had been dispersed so Jude probably was writing a circular letter to be read at a number of churches. It showed a church in trouble and set out to deal with those issues.
Jude 1a
Jude introduced himself as a doulus . The meaning of the word is bondservant. A bondservant was one who claimed to have no rights for himself. He would was totally to Jesus Christ. The second description is also interesting. His credibility came from his relationship with James the half brother of Jesus and the leading elder in the church at Jerusalem.
- What does it say about Jude that he called himself a doulos of Jesus Christ? (His life had meaning because of his service to Christ and not in himself.
- Who was the James to whom he referred?
- When did Jude come to Christ?
- What was his attitude before the decision?
Jude 1b-2
The followers of Christ of Jude’s day were
- God had reached out to people wanting them to be part of His family. It also says that man can do nothing without be called by God.
- God loved those who had responded to His call.
- Kept for Jesus Christ. Eternal security belonged to those who were believers.
Jude’s desire that all who were followers of Jesus that they receive mercy, peace and love increase in their lives.
- What does it mean to be called by God?
- What has it meant in your own life?
- How do you know that God loves you?
- What does it mean to receive mercy, peace and love from God?
- What is the one thing that is guaranteed for those who answer the call?
Jude 3-4
News had come to Jude that changed the direction of his letter. Instead of writing about salvation he felt it necessary, in light of the infiltration of ungodly men into the church. He wanted them to understand what genuine faith looked like that had been handed down by the early church leaders.
The men who had become part of the church had perverted the truth and began to teach the false ideas that were later called Gnosticism. As was seen in the letters of John the false teachers taught that all matter was evil and that only the spirit mattered. This, therefore, would allow Christians to live in any manner they desired.
- Why did Jude change the subject of his letter?
- What was the false teaching of those who had infiltrated the church?
- What did Jude see as the future of those men?
- How can we fight against the false teachings that are taking place in the world today?
- What is the danger in following false teaching?
Jude 5-7
The writer gave the recipients of his letter a history lesson. He spoke of:
- The Exodus of the Israelites and how God dealt with those who were disobedient.
- The angels who deserted heaven and produced children with mortal women. God has bound them until the final judgment because of their actions. (Gen. 6)
- Sodom and Gomorrah which were judged and destroyed because of the perverse sexual immorality that occurred there. Lot was rescued from the situation.
- Why did Jude use these three examples from the Old Testament when talking about the behavior of men and God’s judgment? (Examples of different kinds of sinfulness.
- What occurred after each of these examples? (death, bondage and destruction)
- What is the message to us today? (God will not tolerate unrepentant sin.)
Jude 8
The false teachers of Jude’s day were of the same nature as those he had just written about. There were three attributes that put them in the same position as the examples above. They
- They were immoral in their lifestyle
- Rejected God’s authority in their lives.
- Rejected the reality of angels. (The Sadducees did not believe in angels.)
- How did they lead immoral lives? (Since all matter was evil they could do anything they pleased with their bodies because they believed actions did not affect the spiritual part of life.)
- How did they reject God’s authority?
- In what way is the rejection of angels a sign of ungodliness? (The Bible speaks of angels throughout its pages.)
- How do we keep from rejecting God?
Jude 9
Once again Jude turned to a situation concerning Moses to make his point how far the men had drifted away from God’s teachings. After Moses died the devil tried to claim his body because he had been a murderer. Even at that time, unlike the ungodly men of Jude’s day, Michael, the archangel, who had been given the responsibility to bury Moses, did not speak out against the devil but let God handle the condemnation of the devil. If that was true for Michael what right did the ungodly men have to speak out against angels?
- What was the point that Jude was trying to make? (If an archangel did not speak against an evil angel, like the devil, surely mere man has no right to say things against any angel.)
- What warning is this event for us?
- Who is to handle the devil?
- How do you feel about angels and their purpose?
Jude 10
As far as the ungodly men were concerned there was nothing good in the world. They were ruled by instincts and not truth. That allowed them to act any way they pleased.
- Who may be an example of one who never sees good in anything?
- How does a person like that live?
- How do they treat others?
- How can they turn a life like that around?
Jude 11
Men who lived by instincts and not by true knowledge were represented by three men in the Old Testament. They were
- He who murdered his brother was a cynical materialistic man who did not believe in God or the moral order to be found in the world.
- There are two things known about him. He was first of all a covetous, materialist man. Those attributes led him to teach Balak the way to destroy Israel was by getting them to practice idolatry and sexual immorality. He lost his life because of his advice.
- A Levite who was jealous of the position Moses held within the community and tried to usurp that position by causing an uprising among the people. God judged he and his cohorts in crime by fire and an earthquake.
- What evil destructive attributes do you see in these three men?
- What activities today are like the ones they committed back in history?
- How do you keep from being swept away in those sins?
- How change can come about that will save those kinds of individuals?
Jude 12-13
The Love Feast was one of the earliest examples of fellowship in the church. It was to be a time when men and women were to come together to share a common meal and praise God. Those who had greater goods were to bring enough that those who were poorer could all participate equally. Sadly, the haves soon separated themselves from the others and formed cliques ignoring the needs of the less fortunate. Paul dealt with the situation in 1 Corinthians 11:17-22. Jude described those heartless men as:
- Clouds that are blown away before they could provide beneficial rain.
- Fruit trees that produce no fruit at the time of harvest.
- Waves that wash nothing but useless trash on shore.
- Wandering stars or angels that are being kept for the time of judgment.
- How can men like this do their work in a church? (By appearing to be what they are not. Hypocritical.)
- What is the fellowship time supposed to be like in a church?
- What was Paul condemning in 1 Cor. 11:17-22)
- What can the attitudes expressed in the description of such men do to a church?
Jude 14-16
Jude once again turns to the apocryphal book Enoch to describe the judgment to come on such men. God will one day come with the thousands of His holy ones to deal with the godless disobedient men once and for all times. His last description of them in this section shows them as:
- Grumblers
- Fault Finders
- Followers of their own lusts
- Those who speak arrogantly
- Flatters of others to get what they want.
- What is going to be the final result of the actions of those men?
- Who is God going to bring with Him when He comes to judge sinners? (The very angels that those men reviled.)
- Which of the attributes mentioned in this passage do you see occurring today?
- How are we to guard against such individuals?
- How can Christ reach them?
Jude 17-19
Having dealt with the present situation Jude gave the people a warning that they had heard from the days of the apostles of Jesus. There was going to come a time when there would be those who would mock the church so they could follow after their own desires. He describe such men as those who:
- Brought division into the church from inside the body.
- Were worldly-minded
- Devoid of the Holy Spirit
- Who has provided us with the warnings of those from within the church who cause trouble? (The writers of the New Testament.)
- How can we identify them?
- What is the danger of letting those people remain part of the congregation?
- How do you make sure that you are not one of them? (Our lives are to be lived out according to the teachings of the Holy Spirit who gives us direction.)
Jude 20-23
Jude provided a clear picture of the activities in which the beloved of God are to be involved. He expected them to be:
- Building themselves up in the most holy faith
- Praying in the Holy Spirit
- Keeping themselves in the love of God
- Waiting for the mercy of God to be realized into eternal life
Besides looking out for one’s own spiritual well being the beloved of God would also be looking beyond himself by:
- Having mercy of those who may be having some doubts.
- Saving others
- Snatching them from the eternal fire to which they are heading
- Having mercy with fear and trepidation that the one who seeks to rescue a person may fall victim of be polluted by the sin of the lost. The old saying is true here. “Man must love the sinner but hate the sin.”
- What does it mean to be beloved by God?
- What are the strategies a believer must follow to be a position to help others?
- What is a believer to do for his neighbor who does not believe?
- What is the danger for the follower of Christ as he reaches out into the world?
- How can we do that without being affected by those who live in sin?
Jude 24
Jude ends with a doxology that still holds true down to the present day. It had two parts to it. The first showed the work of God the Father. It is in Him that man is kept from stumbling in this world. He is also the one that makes it possible for a man to stand before Him blameless and with great joy.
God is then referred to as man’s Savior who had accomplished that salvation through Jesus Christ the Lord. In the only true God Jude recognized His glory, majesty, dominion and authority. He is the eternal God. Amen.
- What is a doxology? (It is a way of tying everything that has been said and giving God all of the glory for the work He has done in the hearts of men.)
- How did Jude describe God?
- How is man able to stand before God blameless and with great joy?
- What is the dual work of the Father and the Son?
- What did Jude tell us we can know about God? (He is glorious, majestic, and has all dominion and authority over man and the universe.)
- What great assurance are we given in Jude’s doxology? (We serve a loving and eternal God.)
- It is imperative that Christians know thoroughly and understand the guidebook for life that God has given them.
- This is necessary because there many false teachers are in the church of today who are bringing about division in doctrine.
- Jude provides a picture of what you are to do with your life. See Jude 20-23
- Look at the doxology shared by Jude in verse 24.
- Remember discipleship is a lifelong process.
The church has already enter a time when it is critical that there must be strong Bible believing Christians in order to continue to spread the good news. Society, and especially the government, is doing every thing to undermine the work that has been going on for two thousand years. Sadly, the church is being compromised by leaders who are bringing the teaching of the world into its midst. We must not let the world gobble up God’s body. It is not going to be easy but it can be done if we will get serious about staying true to the teaching found in God’s word.