JUDE: FIGHTING TRUTH DECAY #2

 JUDE THE AUTHOR

I want to begin by saying a few words about Jude himself.  Thomas Hardy, the Victorian novelist wrote a depressing book called “Jude the Obscure”.  It’s an epithet that could be applied to this Jude too.  We know hardly anything about him.  The name Jude is in fact a short version of Judas, and there are half a dozen Judas’ in the New Testament, including two disciples. 

The only clue as to the identity of our Jude is that he calls himself a brother of James. In Mt.13:55/Mk.6:3 we read about Jesus in his home town of Nazareth.  The people he grew up with are amazed at his wisdom and miraculous powers and they say:

Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?  Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?

This is the only occasion where brothers called James and Judas are linked.  This James is the James who became prominent in the early church, chairing the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15).  It seems that this is the James Jude is referring to.  And if that is the case, it means that Jude was a brother (a half-brother) of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

It’s interesting to compare how Jude begins his letter with how James begins his:

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ

Peter and Paul refer to themselves as apostles; John (2^nd & 3^rd John) as “the elder”; James and Jude as servants.  The inference is that this is how they liked to refer to themselves: not as Christ’s brothers, but as his servants. 

There’s great encouragement for us here.  The Gospels tell us that during our Lord’s ministry his brothers didn’t believe in him.  In John 7 we read of them egging him on to make a public exhibition of himself with his miracles.  They wanted him to exploit his abilities to make a name for himself.  Then they could bask in his fame.

John comments: For even his own brothers did not believe in him.  (Jn.7:5)

They didn’t believe that he was the Messiah; they didn’t believe that he was their Saviour.  He was just their big brother, and what an embarrassment he was too.

All that changed with the resurrection.  Paul tells us in 1Cor.15 that the risen Lord specifically appeared to James.  In Acts 1:14 we read that along with the apostles and other disciples who met in the upper room for prayer were Mary the Lord’s mother, and his brothers.  They were there on the Day of Pentecost when God poured out his Holy Spirit into the church, giving them power from on high. 

Do you have brothers and sisters who are unbelievers?  So did the Lord Jesus.  He can sympathise with how you feel.  He knows how hurtful it is, how distressing it can be, when you think of how they turn their back on the Lord you love.  He was on the receiving end of it himself.

Never give up praying for your brothers, your sisters, your children, you husband, your wife; maybe even your mother or father.  By God’s grace they may yet join you in the place of prayer.  They may yet be filled with God’s Holy Spirit.  Just like our Lord’s own brothers. 

 INTRODUCTION

Now, I was saying last week that although I don’t base my sermons on stories from the news, I do often find illustrations from current events.  Well, it seems to me that the outbreak of swine flu provides with an excellent illustration of the problem Jude was trying to address. 

 

Our bodies are constantly under assault from viruses and bacteria.  Sometimes it’s just a nuisance, nothing that a day in bed and a few cups of Lemsip won’t cure.  Others, however, are far more serious.  And initially it can be hard to tell the difference.  It might be heart-burn, it might be a heart-attack.  It might be a mouth ulcer; it might be cancer.  It’s so important to diagnose the problem correctly so that the correct treatment can be administered. 

It’s the same within the church.  The church is made up of people, imperfect people.  The Lord Jesus himself said that it’s not the healthy who require a doctor, but the sick.  Christians are people who recognize that spiritually speaking we are unwell, and that we need a doctor for our souls.  Anyone who thinks they have acquired spiritual perfection is just kidding themselves. 

They would no longer be able to call themselves Christians for they would have departed from the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 

Jude, however, is not one of those critics who can uncover all the faults but never comes up with a solution.  Jude knows exactly what medicine the church needs. 

BRIDGE

Friends, today the Church of Scotland faces a crisis.  The Church hasn’t merely caught a cold.  It is infected with a deadly virus.  I’m not talking about inappropriate or unbiblical sexual activity.  That’s a symptom of the illness.  That’s just the sore throat and the aching bones. 

The problem is that we have been infected by a view of God that is man-centred.  It’s an attitude towards religion, towards faith, towards the Bible that starts with “me” and what I think, and I feel. 

How does this approach work?  It starts by saying: this is how I feel, these are things I like, these are the things I want to do, this is how I want to life my life.  Then it reasons: I am a child of God, God made me with these feelings and desires.  Therefore, God must approve of me, he must approve of how I live my life.

We see this in action when people say they feel they can be a Christian without being part of the Church.  They don’t see the need for organised religion; they prefer to worship God their way.

Or when people say that they are doing their best to live a good life, and surely that must good enough for God without the need to repent of their sin.  Indeed, what is sin anyway? 

Or when they say that what’s really important in a relationship is that the couple love each other; what difference does a marriage certificate make; it’s only a piece of paper. 

Do you see what they are doing?  They are starting with themselves and deducing that if this is how they see things, God must see things their way too.  It’s a “bottom up” approach. 

Thus, the argument that people who are attracted to others of the same gender are not sinning when they engage in same-sex activity because that’s how God made them. 

The other approach, the approach Evangelicals like myself take, could be called the “top down” approach.  We start with God, and with his revelation of himself in Christ, as witnessed to us in the Bible.  The first question we ask is, What does the Bible say?  Because we believe the Bible is God’s word to the human race. 

If my feelings, my desires run counter to the teaching of Scripture—and let’s be honest, they usually do—I do not set aside Scripture as irrelevant or anachronistic.  I seek to reform my feelings, to amend my desires, to conform my behaviour to the standard set by the Bible.  And I do so, not begrudgingly, but recognizing that this is the will of my Creator who is also my most loving Heavenly Father. 

Do you see the difference? 

My argument is that the “bottom up” approach, which you might call the Liberal or the Progressive approach, is not Christianity.  It’s a philosophy which its adherents are free to practice if they wish: just don’t call it Christianity. 

If I can change my metaphor from medical to sporting: it’s as if we’ve been playing football, and suddenly someone picks up the ball and starts running with it.  The game has changed.  We’re now playing rugby and if that’s what you want to play, fine.  Just don’t call it football. 

I want to emphasise that homosexuality is not the core issue.  It’s only a symptom.  I emphasise this because the great danger for us is that we start pointing the finger at others.  We need to hold a mirror up to ourselves first. 

Could it be that you have been practicing a “bottom up” approach to the faith?  Could it be that the God you worship is made in your own image?  Do you ever find yourself arguing with your conscience?  You are behaving in a certain way; you are taking a certain course of action and your conscience blows the whistle and pulls out the red card.  And you argue. 

You argue that you are following your heart; that there is no harm in what you are doing; that no one will get hurt; that you’ve prayed about it and feel it’s the right thing to do; you’re sure that God will understand.  Perhaps you’ve even reasoned that what you’re doing isn’t bad enough for God to mind.  There are plenty people worse than you.  And at the end of the day, you can always say sorry.  God will always forgive. 

That’s the “bottom up” approach.  And it’s not Christianity.  It’s not the Christian faith, the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.  I don’t want anyone at the door saying to me, “Ah, you told them.”  I’m speaking to you who are here today first and foremost.  And by the way, you know who the first person to hear this sermon was?  Me. 

TEXT

Let’s look carefully at what Jude has to say about this. I’m only going to ask one question: Where?  Where is the problem?  Where is the trouble?  The answer is, the problem is in the church.  v.4:

For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. 

Jude is not writing to the world at large.  The Bible has a lot to say to the world.  As Ps.24 says, The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.  Every single human being owns allegiance to their Creator God.  However, the human race is in rebellion against its true king. 

The Apostle Paul spells this out very clearly in Rom.1.  That chapter is like a large canvass on which he paints the grotesque consequences of humanity’s rejection of God (v.25):

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator

He says, because of this we are riddled with the dry rot of gossip and deceit and slander and arrogance.  Our blood-stream is polluted with ruthlessness, heartlessness, envy, murder and pride.  And our sexual desires have been corrupted.

He’s not pointing at anyone in particular; he is speaking about humanity in general.  This is what we have become because (v.18) we suppress the truth which we know deep down in our hearts, the truth that we are accountable to our Maker.  That’s the world. 

Christians, however, are called to be different.  There is supposed to be a marked distinction between the Church and the world.  The Apostle Peter reminds us that:

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you might declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  (1Pet.2:9)

Darkness is what Paul is describing in Rom.1.  He says in Eph.4:17:

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.  They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 

The unbelieving world is enshrouded in spiritual darkness.  Christians have been called out of the darkness into God’s wonderful light.  We are now, to use Peter’s phrase, aliens and strangers in the world. 

The problem Jude was addressing was of professing Christians living unchristian lives.  And it wasn’t just sexual immorality (v.16):

These men are grumblers and fault-finders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. 

The “bottom up” approach to faith blurs the distinctions.  It goes with the flow of the culture of the day and dresses up society’s values in Christian clothes.  Like the false prophets in Jeremiah’s day they cry Peace, peace, when there is no peace.  (Jer.8:11)

One of the accusations levelled against Evangelicals is that we have no right to tell people how to live.  People are free to make whatever choices they wish.  Of course that is true.  It’s interesting to note the approach the apostles took when they first started preaching the gospel to Gentiles, to the non-Jews.  They didn’t call fire and brimstone down upon these godless pagans and curse them for their immorality. 

Instead, they spoke reasonably to them about creation, and what creation tells us about God; how it cannot be that the true God would live in temples built by human hands; and how idolatry was illogical.  They didn’t bring a gospel of condemnation.  They brought a gospel of grace and freedom. 

When we speak to the world, we don’t stand in judgement, we don’t condemn.  We expect the world to be the world.  Our aim is to lead men and women out of the world. 

It’s completely different when we’re dealing with Christians, with those within the church.  To become a Christian is to repent of your sin; it’s to accept Jesus Christ is our only Sovereign and Lord.  As the song says,

I have decided to follow Jesus…The cross before me, the world behind me, no turning back. 

We’ve left the world behind.  We don’t bring the world with us into Christ’s kingdom.  And therefore, when the apostles detected worldly behaviour in the church the kid gloves came off.  They had no scruples about telling Christians how to live. 

The apostles passed this authority onto their successors, the elders who lead the churches.  In Gal.6:1 the Apostle Paul writes:

Brothers, if anyone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.  But watch yourselves or you also may be tempted.

Catching someone in sin implies that that you have confronted them with their behaviour, and named it as sin.  Restoring gently implies calling on them to repent of their sin, and bringing them back to a way of living that is worthy of the name Christian. 

Here in Kirkmuirhill Church, whenever someone joins us, I read a statement detailing what church membership means.  It includes:

• allying ourselves with the doctrines and morals of Christians
• allowing ourselves to be cared for by the church, which includes being disciplined when required for our own spiritual good.

I don’t have my fingers crossed behind my back when I read that out. 

Primarily, it’s a pastoral responsibility, for the church leadership.  But on a personal level, we ought to be able to rebuke one another if we discern unchristian attitudes and behaviour (Luke 17:3).  Just remember, however, that if you do that, it can’t be a hit and run rebuke.  Love demands that you help the brother or sister overcome their sin.

How does all this apply to the specific issue of homosexuality within the church?  Turn to 1Cor.6:9,10:

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 

Well, that’s that then.  It’s a clear as day.  No one who is an adulterer, no one who is a homosexual, no one who is thief, no one who is drunk will inherit the kingdom of God. 

But hold on.  Let’s read on (v.11): And that is what some of you were.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 

Hallelujah!  There were idolaters and adulterers, thieves and swindlers in the Corinthian church.  Converted idolaters, converted adulterers, repentant thieves, repentant swindlers. 

And homosexual people too.  People who used to be homosexuals.  That is what some of you were.  But they too had been washed, spiritually cleansed, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his blood shed on Calvary’s hill.  They had left the world behind. 

It’s the same for all of us.  Jesus takes us as we are; but he doesn’t leave us that way. 

CONCLUSION

The government says that it is better prepared for this flu epidemic than ever before.  They have stock piles of anti-viral drugs and it seems that those suffering from the flu are responding well to treatment. 

Let me finish by quoting Mark Patterson, who is a minister in the PC (USA) our sister denomination in the US.  It won’t surprise you to learn that they too are fighting the same battles. 

He says:

The church is dying of tolerance.  The politically correct but ultimately vapid act of accepting any belief and any practice has led to an anaemic church that has lost sight of what it believes.  In attempting to stand for everything we have become a church that stands for nothing…It is time that we adopt, formally or informally, a zero tolerance policy toward that which distorts the truth of God, the message of the Gospel, and the life of the church.  [from an article in Theology Matters Vol.13 No.2 Mar/April 2007]

I think I can hear Jude giving that a hearty “Amen”.