my brother? Which of these messages must be ad dressed to you ? If you are not among the “ beloved” of God, may He work a miracle of grace in your heart as you read this solemn warning of impend ing judgment upon all who reject Him and His salvation. THE NEED FOR THE WARNING The occasion for the Epistle of Jude is clearly set forth in verse 4: “ For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before o f old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” In these words we see how apostates have infiltrated our once evangelical denominations. They have “ crept in,” “ gotten in unnoticed,” under a mask, under false pretense. Ungodly, lascivious, blas phemous, they have made a profession of faith in the Lord whom they deny. “Wolves in sheep’s cloth ing” they are—hypocrites. I have more respect for a man who makes no profession of faith in Christ than for the man who poses as a minister of the Gospel while he denies the very Word of God, which proclaims the Gospel he pretends to preach. The true character of apostates may be hid from men, especially the unsuspecting and the un taught in spiritual things, but no false teachers can deceive God. He has them marked out all the while; He knows who they are. Jude tells us that they are “ ordained to this condemnation,” that is, desig nated, marked out, by God who looks not upon the outward appearance, but upon the heart. Five times in this epistle these apostates are called “ ungodly” ; they refuse to be subject to God. They presume to set up their own rationalistic, human reasoning against the “Thus saith the Lord” of His eternal Word. They deny the Bible and its Christ. This has been true since the begin ning of the Christian era. When such men have .attained places of influence and prominence, invariably they have denied the inspiration and infallibility of the Holy Scriptures, the virgin birth of Christ, His eternal deity, His vicarious atone ment, His bodily resurrection, and His coming again in glory to reign over a purified earth. They turn “ the grace of God into lasciviousness,” and deny “the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Let no false teacher deceive you, my brother. The Saviour said, “ Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom o f God (John 3 :3 ). When Peter said to Him, “ Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16), He accepted this acknowledgment of His deity. To the unbeliev ing Jews He said, in substance, many times, “ If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24). Always it has been Satan’s purpose to attack the deity of Christ. The subtlety of his wiles is clearly seen when, in the guise of would- be spiritual teachers, blind leaders o f the blind, he deceives men for whom Christ died. (to be continued next month)
stantly urges us also to let the Holy Spirit make us a separate people, separate from the world which rejects Christ. Likewise, Peter, James, John, and Jude hold ever before us the picture of God’s will lor every Christian: the Spirit-filled life, “ unspot ted from the world,” “ sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use.” “ P reserved in J esus C hrist .” N o matter what the difficulties and trials, the One who saves us is the One who preserves us. This truth is very sig nificant in the light of the apostasy described in the following verses. We sometimes call it the doc trine of the eternal security of the believer, our preservation depending upon the finished work of Christ in His death and resurrection. If you ever go to England, my friend, be sure to visit the Tower of London, and see the crown jewels. They are kept in a glass case, made in the form of a bowl. Surrounding this is an iron cage. It one should break that glass, the jewels would instantly sink into a pit o f water. Standing by are the queen’s guards. The crown jewels of England are well protected and preserved! You and I, my Christian friend, are the crown jewels of the King of Kings. Of us He says: “ They shall be mine . . . in that day when I make up my jewels” (Mai. 3:17). If the British government takes such precaution to preserve her jewels, how much more does God preserve us! In a far safer place than a glass case surrounded by iron bars and soldiers—in the hand of the Lord Jesus Him- seli, we are “ preserved” for time and for eternity. “ C alled .” “ Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 16:16). These are our Saviour’s words to His own. Paul often expressed this same truth, even as he wrote in Galatians 1 :15 ,16, saying: “God . . . called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen.” “ By his grace” God called the great apostle; “by his grace” He calls you and me, unworthy sin ners, and all who respond to His call are among the “ sanctified . . . preserved'. . . called.” “B eloved ,” (Jude 3, 17, 20). God loves us. He sees us identified with His well-beloved Son. Un worthy though we are, still we are “ accepted in the beloved” (Eph. 1 :6). What a contrast is seen in the condition of the persons addressed at the beginning and at the end of this epistle—Christians—and the apostates de scribed in the intervening verses! It is the differ ence between the saved and the lost, the saint and the sinner, the godly and the ungodly. The saluta tion to believers is one of comfort and hope: “Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied” (Jude 2). The closing words of exhortation and assur ance, also addressed to Christians, are among the most beautiful to be found in all the Scriptures. Great indeed is the contrast between these opening and closing verses and the warning of judgment to come upon all apostates, as recorded in the main body of the epistle! To which class do you belong,
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