June 1925
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
269
O ' * * O u t l in e S tud ie s m th e Book o f Jud e T. C. H orton
OUTLINE OF ENTIRE BOOK (1) The Called and Sanctified are Saluted, vs. 1, 2. (2) The Called a re Charged to Con tend fo r th e F aith , v. 3. (3) The Called are C a u t i o n e d Against th e Creeping Critics, v. 4. (4) The Certain Judgm en t of the Apostates, vS. 5-7. (5) The Corrupting Influence of th e F ilth y Dreamers, vs. 8-10. (6) The Comm itment of th e Cor ru p ters "to E te rn a l Doom, vs. 12, 13. (7) The Coming of th e Lord to Exe cute Judgm ent, vs. 14-16. (8) The Caution Against Mockers, vs. 17-19. (9) The Counsel to th e Saints to Build Up in F aith , vs. 20, 21. (10) The Classification of Those De serving Rebuke, vs. 22, 23. (11) The Comm itment of th e Saints to an All-Wise God, vs. 24, 25. Having considered last month Divi sion Six, “The Commitment of the Corrupters to E tern al Doom,” vs. 12, 13, we come now to (7) “THE COM ING OP THE LORD TO EXECUTE Having learned of the character, the source of conduct and the certain doom of the “Corrupters,” we are told of the coming of the g reat and rig h t eous Judge who will execute judgm ent upon these apostates. Apostasy must end in crushing judgm ent, as foretold by Enoch, which will be fulfilled when the Lord comes w ith “ ten thousands of his saints.” Enoch, in his day, surrounded by th e world of th e ungodly,- looked fo r w ard to being caught up to heaven, and foretold the judgm ent which was reserved for the ungodly. Today also the Lord’s people are surrounded by the ungodly and are confidently looking forward to the moment when they shall be caught up to meet th e Lord in the air, knowing th a t judgm ent must surely come upon apostate Christendom when not only “ ungodly deeds” will be punished, but also, “all th e ir hard speeches which ungodly 'sinners have spoken against H im .” Those who belittle Christ, invar iably exalt man. When they u tte r “h ard speeches” against Christ, they also speak “ g reat swelling words” of adm iration of sinful men. These are the “m urm urers, complainers, walk JUDGMENT,” vs. 14-16: “ A n d E n o c h , also,
ing afte r th e ir own lu sts,” and lu st (unholy desire) is the real secret of th eir antagonism to Christ and th eir adm iration of man.
Three things are charged against these mockers: 1. They are “S eparatists.” - Because they deny the doctrines of the church, they cause divisions and dissensions, bringing in damnable heresies (Acts 2 0 :3 0 ): “Also o f y ou r - own a f t e r t h em .” 2. They are “Sensual.” They take the liberty of converting the worship of th é church into a mere gratification of th e senses (Rom. 8 :1 3 ): “ For i f y e l iv e aft er th e fl e s h , d i e ; b u t i f ye, thro ug h the S p m o rt if y th e d e e d s of th e b o d y , li v e .” 3. They are n o t led by th e Holy Spirit, b u t by Satan (Gal. 5 :1 6 ): “ T h is I sa y th en , W alk in th e a n d y e sh a ll not ful fi ll the l u s t fl s h .” Jude is trem endously in earnest. He could see w hat false teaching would lead to, so he te ars off the mask and shows, underneath the sheep’s clothing, th e wolves. The versed which we shall consider next month (vs. 20-25) contain an exhortation to steadfastness, and a message of com fo rt and encouragement, in spite of th e dark picture which has been pre sented. (Next month, “The Counsel to the Saints to Build up in F aith ,” vs. 20, 21.) I 1ÜS3 ܧ' WINONA MAKES PREPARATION FOR ITS SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY Thé W inona Lake Biblé School of Theology is giving itself to unusual effort th is year to make th e coming session of the School in Ju ly and August the strongest and larg est of its brief bu t exceptionally successful hist ry. Organized bu t two years ago, the second season, 1924, experienced an attendance almost double th a t of th e first one, the m atriculation to ta l ing. an even 100, It is designed especially for m inis ters, and its curriculum built especi ally w ith th e m inister in view. Others, however, are adm itted to its sessions. The dates of the School th is year are Ju ly 17 to August 13 inclusive, and th e Faculty, so far as selected, will consist of: Pres. John E. Kuizenga, of W estern Theological Seminary, Holland, Mich. Pres. M. G. Kyle, of Xenia Theolog ical Seminary, Saint Louis, Mo. Prof. George L. Robinson, of Mc Cormick Theological Seminary, Chi cago, 111. Prof. Leander S. Keysër, of Hamma Divinity School, W ittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio. Pres. John M. Yander Meulen, P res byterian Theological Seminary, Louis ville, Ky. Prof. E dgar S tranahan, of Penn College, Oskaloosa, Iowa. Rev. W. E. Biederwolf, Dean of the School, may be addressed for particu lars a t W inona Lake, Indiana. s e lv e s sh th in g s, s pe a ki ng pe rverse aw ay dis ciples
Notice th a t Jude speaks of the com ing of Christ as the hope of th e believ ers bu t bringing, a t th e same time, a curse upon the ungodly. The coming “w ith his sain ts” (v. 14) involves His having already come fo r them to; take them to Himself (1 Thess. 4:13-18), but when He later comes w ith His saints, He comes w ith the distinct and definite purpose of executing judg ment upon those who, growing bolder in rebellion because of His long-suffer ing w ith them through the centuries, have “heaped up w rath against the day of w rath .” (8) THE C A U T I O N AGAINST MOCKERS, vs. 17-19. “ B u t, b el ov ed , r e m e m b e r y e the w o rd s wh ich were s po ken befo re o f th e a po s t le s o f o i i r L o r d J e su s C h r i s t : “ H o w th a t t h e y tol d yo u there s h o u ld b e m o ck ers in the l a s t tim e, wh o s h o u ld w a lk a ft e r their o w n un go dly l u st s. “ T h ese b e t h e y wh o se par at e th em s e lv e s, sensual, ha vin g not the S p i r i t. ” arise,
These apostates are “m urm urers and mockers,”— unbelieving, fau lt finding, complaining, unholy, un th ank ful, w alking afte r th e ir own lusts; deceitful, defiling, disquieting; boast ers, like the beast in Rev. 13:5:
the se ve nt h fr o m A d a m , p ro p h es ie d of th es e, say ing , B e h o l d , th e L o r d co me th w it h te n thou san ds of his sain ts , “ T o ex e c ut e ju dg me nt u p o n a ll, a n d t o con vince a l l t h a t ar e ungod ly a m o n g th em of al l their ungodly d e e d s wh ic h t h e y have ungod ly c o m m it te d , a n d o f al l the ir h a r d spee ches wh ich ungodly s in ner s have s po ke n ag a in st h im . “ The se ar e m u r m u r e r s , co m p la in er s , w a lk in g a ft e r th eir o w n l u s t s ; a n d their m o u th sp ea ke th g r e a t s w e l l i n g w o rd s , h av in g m en ’s p ers on s in a d m ir at io n becau se of advantage.”
“ A n d t h e r e ! w a s g iv e n un to h im a m o u th sp ea ki ng g r e a t t h in g s a n d bl a s ph em ie s; a n d po w er w as g iv e n u nt o h im to con tinue f o r t y a n d tw o mo n th s. ”
They are full of flatteries, pander ing to politicians (both in th e church and the w orld), forgetting th a t the “wages of sin is d eath .” When they thu s flatter men and have “ respect to persons” they deny the faith (Jam es 2 : 1 ) :
“ M y b r e th r e n , h av e not the f a it h of o u r L o r d J es us C h r i s t , the L o r d o f g lor y, v ir ith resp ect o f p ers o n s. ” Jud e's le tte r was w ritten later th an th e letters of P aul and Peter, and he thus sets his seal to the inspiration of Scripture (v. 17 ): “ Bu t, b e l o v e d , r e m e m b e r y e the w o rd s wh ich were s po ken befo re o f the a po s t l e s o f o u r L o r d J e su s C h r i s t; ho w they told y o u ,” etc. The apostles had warned them (2 Pet. 2 :1 ): “ B u t there were f a l s e pr o p h et s a ls o a m o n g the p eo p le , even a s th ere s h a ll b e f a l s e te achers am on g you, wh o p ri v il y sh a ll br in g in d a m n a b l e her es ie s, eve n denying the L o r d t h a t bou ght th e m , a n d br in g u p o n t he m se lv es s w i f t d est ru c tion .” (2 Pet. 2 :1 0 ): “ B u t ch ie fly th em that w a lk a f t e r the f l e s h , in the lu s t o f uncleanness a n d d espise go vernmen t. P re su mp tu ou s a r e they, s e lf - w il le d , th ey ar e no t afraid to speak evi l o f di g ni ti e s. ” (2 Pet. 3:3, 4 ): “ Know ing t h is fi r s t, t h a t there shall c o m e in th e l a s t d ay s, sco ifer s, w alk ing a f t e r their own l u st s, “ A n d say ing , W h er e i s the p ro m is e of h ist com in g? For sinc e the fa the rs f e l l as lee p, a ll t h in g s con tinue as t h e y were fr o m the beg inn ing o f crea tio n. ”
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