SODOM REVISITED

#746                                              SODOM REVISITED

Scripture  Jude 5-12, NIV                                                                                      Orig. 5/23/1979

                                                                                                                                 Rewr. 9/7/1988

Passage: 5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord[a] at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”[b] 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.

11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.

Purpose:  Continuing a series from Jude, here calling attention to the perversions that had disrupted the church, and its 20th century application.

Keywords:      Bible Study                 Immorality                 New Testament Characters, Jude     Grace

Timeline/Series:         Jude

Introduction

            We may not know where they lived, or, for that matter, not very much at all about their origins.  But, there are still many things by which these people are identified.

            We know that the common denominator of this struggling congregation is Christ, Himself.  We know that they have been called to participation in the family of God.  We know that they bear the signs of God’s love on their character.  And, we know that they had been assured of the “keeping” power of Christ in their lives.  Their past, present, and future is inviolate.

            We know that they share a common belief that Christ, the Son of God, is Lord.  He is Himself the sin bearer, whose death at Calvary set them free.  They, then, share a common humanity.  Without Christ, they would stand condemned.  With Him, they are the Kingdom of God on earth.

            Ah, but here’s the rub.  One cannot get into the Kingdom of God without God’s forgiving grace.  There is no such extremity preventing them from participation in the koinonia fellowship: church.

            Jude’s message to them is redemptive.  Something must be done about the interlopers who have come among them.  It is not a request for them to compensate for this disputed teaching.  It is the strong advice of a friend for them to root out an unacceptable evil.

            Remember, these men addressed so adamantly, did not perceive of themselves as enemies of the church.  They were a vanguard of free thinkers, the elite of the new age.   They thought they were setting a new tone for Christianity that would change the world forever.

I.          Jude Presents Three Exhibits that are Examples of Moral Default.  V7, “Sodom and Gomorrah . . . serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”

            Exhibit A was the Hebrew nation itself.  They magnified the enemy.  “They are stronger than we,” Numbers 13:31.  They memorialize themselves.  Past is greater than present.  They minimize God.

            Exhibit B was the example of the fallen angels.  Little was said about this.  Fundamentally, it was a denial of God’s right to sovereignty in their lives.  It was a matter of demand for self-will.  Do you really want to know what has gone wrong in government?  It has to do with special interest groups.  If they have enough money they can sway legislation/legislators.  What that money does is to too often buy Babel towers of self-interest.

            The third is seen here in the moral anarchy of Sodom and Gomorrah.  This wasn’t mentioned last week.  We call it to mind as a place of prestige and potential.  Genesis 13:10, “And Lot . . . beheld all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere . . . Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord.”  Ezekiel 16:49, “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness.”

            This third exhibit becomes an example of divine judgment.   Blessed with every conceivable opportunity, they defaulted.  Our language carries a moral perversion  called sodomy.  It is homosexuality, and “Yes! The Bible does rebuke it as a sin.”  Dutch/Reformed clergyman, living with his gay lover, adopted a son (NY). “The Bible doesn’t say much about homosexuality.”  It is said, and I have no reason to challenge it, that more is said in scripture about judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah than any other.  For believers, there is a spiritual sodomy, that is likewise a defilement of the body, and must be avoided.  I Corinthians 3:16, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”  Romans 6:16, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are whom ye obey.”

II.         Jude Then Likens these False Teachers to These Examples of Perversion.  V8, “In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority, and slander celestial beings.”

            They were using the marvelous creation of the human body to witness to lust and depravity.  God has given us our strength for good.  It is a sad debacle when one shuts out the spirit of faith.  It is defilement to profess faith but to live life out of gospel focus.

            The story is given over Michael’s dispute with Satan over Moses’ body.  Moses death recorded in Deuteronomy 34.  We can only guess [what] the origin of the story included, but known to readers.  Scholars suggest an Assumption of Moses.  Michael refused to deny on his own authority, one who been a spokesman.  “The Lord rebuke you.”  We best be very careful in divesting ourselves of the spoken word because we have some case against the speaker.

            The parallel stated is of these mockers who rail at, and ridicule things not understood.  What of those who scoff at conversion for no other reason than they have not themselves experienced?  Of one who doubts prayer simply because it is beyond his knowledge?  Those who spurn forgiveness who have never practiced repentance.

            Huxley: Eyeless in Gaza—“Men don’t tell themselves that the wrong they are doing is wrong.  Either they do it without thinking or else they invent reasons for believing . . . right.”1 

III.       Finally, Jude Reaches Back for Three Human Exposés of Such Incrimination.  V11, “. . . They have gone in the way of Cain, and gone greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in Korah’s rebellion.”

            Cain is an example of the unregenerate church member.  Note Cain’s lack of faith.  Not that his sacrifice [was] wrong.  Hebrews 11:4, “By faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.”  What we do, do we it of faith, or of some ulterior  motive.  Then heed the void of righteousness.  Righteousness does not engender faith, faith engenders righteousness.  Righteousness has to do with relationship.  Titus 3:5, “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.”  Too many people are content today to persevere in their own righteousness.  Romans 10:3, “For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”  This explains the lack of love directed, of all places, against brethren.

            Balaam adds additional grist to the mill of unbelief.  Balaam (Numbers 22:5f) as a seer was self-possessed.  His blindness to judgment is self-induced.  The donkey sensed this avenging presence.  Our world runs according to plan.  Nature co-operates completely.  Man, himself, is the nail in the wheel of progress.  True believers know that judgment comes, individually/collectively.  The rapture wasn’t at 12:05 on September 13th, but it is coming.

            Korah (Core) is found in Numbers 16.  Korah’s problem was undisciplined desire, another form of moral anarchy.  Why should we belly-up to the entertainment all-stars for their version of life?  Karl Malone—Ruston Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

***The remainder of this sermon has been lost***

1 Huxley, A. (1974). Eyeless in Gaza. Harper & Row.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3378000-eyeless-in-gaza

CLOUDS WITHOUT WATER

#746.1                                   CLOUDS WITHOUT WATER

Scripture  Jude 11-16, NIV                                                                                    Orig. 7/25/1979

                                                                                                                               Rewr. 9/20/1988

Passage: 5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord[a] at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”[b] 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.

11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.  12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.

Purpose: Continuing a series from Jude, here encouraging  my people to be  honest with themselves as to where they are in faith, and to work at a stronger commitment to Christ.

Keywords:      Bible Study     New Testament Characters, Jude     Commitment             Faith                                       Revival

Timeline/Series:         Jude

Introduction

            The last couple of Mission Allocation meetings the same concern has been voiced.  Some of our state mission work is suffering because of governmental regulation.  These churches/missions are having to spend money they do not have in providing services for the handicapped, although they do not anticipate any such participation.  The services need to be provided, even if it does work a hardship.

            By the same token, it early was noted that such service would be offered without question by commercial ventures.  As more and more states moved into the gambling business, they determined to provide such services.  New Jersey started the pattern by providing machines that were in braille for the blind, and others that were nearer the floor for those who were in wheelchairs.

            In fact, Jesus reminded us that this is the way it would be in a world where money takes precedence over everything else. 

            Luke 16:8, “. . .the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”

            But that wisdom was a worldly, secular wisdom that served only a temporal purpose.  The so-called “children of light” to whom Jude has written, are to open their eyes and their hearts, to the need to recognize what is not in their best interest, or the gospel’s, and to live accordingly.

I.          First, We Need to Consider Jude’s Three-Fold Description of the Unprincipled Church Member.  V11, “They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.”

            The first problem is that they are without faith.  Remembering who Cain was.  Hebrews 11:4 tells us that “By faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice” than he.  Two people performing the same deeds, giving the same offering, studying the same lesson, yet one is accepted, the other- - - - Whether of Cain and Abel, Of Jude’s fellowship of concern, Of any 20th Century church.

            We need to keep going back to Hebrews 11.  A later verse will also be found.  V6, “But without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to  him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”  Thank God for what the verse does not say, as much as what it says.  Not “effectively serve Him”; But “earnestly seek Him.”  Christians are not always required to do the right thing, but we are expected to have a Christ-honoring attitude.  So, remember, faith does not result from righteousness, it issues in righteousness.

            The second problem is a materialist mindset.  Any time Balaam is discussed then spiritual blindness is at the key.  An angel of death barred his way.  He could not see past his material success.  The jack-ass kept him from danger.  Jeremiah 8:7, “Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtledove and the crane, and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord.”

            Brethren, we must not ever  become dependent  upon those who are spiritually blind.  We need to resort to God’s leadership.  We need men and women who move to His beat.

            Thirdly, there was misplaced ambition.  It wasn’t just the equality issue.  How many men and women have risen above their roots, and have concluded that their achievement merits more?

II.         We Must Also Heed a Prophet’s Warning about Instability.  V12f, “These men are blemishes , . . . clouds without rain, . . . trees without fruit, . . . waves of the sea, foaming their shame; . . . stars, for whom the blackest darkness has been reserved forever.”

            They are unstable in doctrine.  Reference is to the Lord’s Supper.  Partaking of the supper without the slightest regard for its deepest meaning.  It ought to be the most regularly attended, most touched with prayer and commitment, of any gathering.  Like it because it’s brief.  Find it mindlessly boring.  See yourself in hell apart from the substitutionary work of Jesus.

            They are unstable in their direction.  Jude refers to “clouds” that offer no relief to parched earth.  We all know there are different clouds. Many are worried about changing weather conditions.  Are we moving to an era of drought?  Even so, are we living in a time when people dry up in spirit?  I heard recently that three to four million acres have burned.  The National Forest fire was said to continue to burn until snow.  What a terrible thing it would be if people were looking for hope but knew no one who could share.

            Recall the words of Amos 8:11, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”

            They are unstable in their devotion.  It is an interesting corollary of the fruitless tree.  The Bible speaks of “fruit” of repentance.  John [the Baptist] (Matthew 3:8) announced Jesus with that call to repentance,  “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.”  What is the source of true religion?  Benign religious activity.  Borrowing faith from parents.  Bootlegging on our culture.  Repentance is the only safe source of such activity. 

            Sholem Asch, in his piece called The Apostle, tells of one Simon, the preacher, preaching John’s “fruits meet for repentance.”  In the call to decision, a wealthy man brings his riches.  Simon sends him away.  A strong, poor man brings his strength.  Again Simon disallows.  A third comes bringing only his sin.  He hears Simon say, “You have given more than the others for you have given what is yours to give.”1

            But we are told also of the fruits of righteousness.  Philippians 1:11, “Filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”  We involve ourselves in many good social activities.  But the things done in the name of Jesus are the things that impact our culture.

            There is also the “fruit” of reconciliation.  John 15:16, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit.”  Jude calls this “fruitless” tree twice dead.  Bearing no fruit, it is uprooted.

            Time doesn’t permit attention to “wild waves.”  Beach litter, erosion.  Matthew 16:18, “Upon this rock I will build.”  Or, “wandering stars.”  Shooting stars may draw attention.  But they quickly pass from consideration.  The stars of worth, are the ones in their places to guide ships as the track the trackless ocean.

Conclusion

            Filed with this sermon: 

            “Reputation, it is said, is about who you are when people are watching; character is about who you are when you are alone in the room.

            “There is a similar duality in modern faith, a tension between faith externalized for public consumption and that which wrestles despair in the midnight hour.

            “Each has its place.  But only one will see you through till the morning comes.”2

*** The remainder of this sermon has been lost.***

1Asch, S.  (1943).  The Apostle. G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

2Pitts, Jr., L. (2012, February 9). Public faith versus private faith stirs debate.  The Times, p7a.  https://www.shreveporttimes.com

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/628995.The_Apostle

BEING REMINDED

#597.1                                            BEING REMINDED

Scripture  Jude 1-6, NIV                                                                                          Orig. 2/7/1973

                                                                                                                               Rewr. 8/30/1988

Passage: 1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for[a] Jesus Christ: 2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

The Sin and Doom of Ungodly People

3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about[b] long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord[c] at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.

Purpose:  Leading a study from the Book of Jude, here seeking to open the minds of the people to draw from its rich legacy in our day also.

Keywords:      Bible Study                 New Testament Characters, Jude

Timeline/Series:         Jude

Introduction

            A concluding quote last week gives us our beginning this week.  From Tomorrow is Forever1, the disfigured father urging own son to enter WWII saying, “Every man opposes the evil in his own time, or else he accepts it.”

            As Jude is calling his people to consider the evils in their midst and to oppose them, so also must we.  Evils are tributary to our own times.  Regrettably, these evils have their source in people who number themselves among the elect.  Are we to do nothing?  Or, are we to uphold our obligation to truth, regardless of opposition?

            John Quincy Adams reminds us of the price of freedom.  He said:

            Posterity—“You will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom.  I hope you will make good use of it,”

            Thomas Payne of the same era added another such word.

            “What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value.  Heaven knows how to put a price upon its goods, and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.”2

            If freedom is “so celestial an article,” truth both exceeds and succeeds its grandeur.  And if we can lose the one by our indifference, we can surely lose the OTHER by our condescension.

I.          We Were Told All We Need to Know about Author and Recipients.  V1, “Jude, the servant of Jesus . . . , and brother of James, to those . . . called, . . . loved, . . . and kept.”

            Jude, who with James were indeed brothers of Jesus.  Several verses attest.

·         I Corinthians 9:5 NIV, “Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?” 

·         Matthew 13:55,  “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?”

·         Mark 6:3, “Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

·         Galatians 1:19, “I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.”

            He is writing to people who are themselves believers.  People, therefore, who ought to be concerned about spiritual things.  People who ought to remember that they were saved from sin, and from hell.  And he reminds them of their appropriate relationship to Jesus:  Who could attest it better than a real brother?  Who could staunch our own prideful acknowledgement of who we are?  Jude, as others of these writers, speaks of himself as a slave.  How do you speak of yourself?

            We learn also a measure of the attitude of this spokesman for Jesus.  V2, “May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied unto you.”  It is a prayer for them to receive.  Mercy—he wants what is best—there is no axe to grind—only to call people to higher commitment; Peace—he knows that there can be no real peace until mercy has done its good, and they must remember that their warfare is not with each other, but with their enemy, Satan:  too much infighting, too much denominational isolation; Love—everything that  issues forth from the believing community is to be saturated in love: ministry, mechanisms of growth, administrative detail, discipline.

            Then, the real spirit of the man is given: v3, “My intention was to write you about the faith we share. Instead, I must exhort you to live your true faith.”

II.         We Must Be Reminded about What We Already Know.  V5, “I will therefore put you in remembrance.”

            They have been reminded of the danger.  It is human in scope.  Regrettably, they have found their way into the church.  Lady Macbeth coached her husband in his treachery to Duncan.  She said,  “To beguile the time, Look like the time — bear welcome in your eye, your hand, your tongue. Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under't.” (I.v.62-65)

            The problem is that the enemy has intruded.  People whose first allegiance is to other than Christ and His kingdom:  Not to destroy the church; not to prevent believers sharing with others about Jesus; not to make blatant changes that are easily recognized; but, by degree, to change the focus of attention.

            As insidious as humanism is, we are all still very, very human.  The problem today is to make our churches more people-centered and less God-centered.  If this looks bad in the local church, how about the seminary.

            The essence of the age is originality.  Yes, it is true, the forms must continue to change.  September National Geographic anniversary issue tells of the struggle with change.  But the message must not change.  We have but one.  It of our sin, and lostness.  It is of Christ’s intrusion.  It is of hope and eternal life.

            The person who speaks for the church must speak what Christ spoke.  To deny the word is blasphemy.  To live in other focus is hypocrisy.

III.       Finally, We Will Look Briefly at Examples of Such Deception.  There were people delivered from Egypt whose unbelief destroyed them.  The story is that of Israel delivered from Egypt, at the border of the promised land, but faithless to go forward after the ten spies make their report.  Forty years later people of faith and vision were led into the land.  We may teach our children all we know, see them baptized in water, but if not in the Holy Spirit is only adding fertilizer to the seedbed of apostasy. 

            He gives us the illustration of “angels” who forgot the province of authority.  The occasion is   from Genesis 6:1-4.  Angels, like people, can get out of line, and sin.  What our age hates the very most is to be accused of sinning.  Most of you were guilty of sin before you got out of your house this a.m.

            Let me give you a brief, three-part report  on what the Israelites and angels die.  First, they magnified the enemy.  Hebrews said (Numbers 13:26-14:29) “We are not able, . . . for they are stronger than we.”  How often that is our cherished line.  They memorialized themselves.  They pretended to be overwhelmed by this enemy  (grasshoppers, Numbers 13:33).  They were seeking not more of God, but more of what they were hungry for.  They minimized God.  In fact, they accused God of betrayal.  Numbers 14:3, “. . . the Lord brought  us into this land to fall by the sword.”  How many of us believe that God means us harm?  He means mercy, and peace, and love, but we must mean to be in His will for it to work.

Conclusion

            Let’s close by reviewing what Paul wrote to the Corinthians about dependence on forms of religion.  I Corinthians 7:19, “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing.  Keeping God’s commands is what counts.”

____________________________

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow_Is_Forever

2 DeMoss, N.L. (Ed.) (1986).  The Rebirth of America. Arthur DeMoss Foundation.   

INTRODUCING JUDE

#597                                            INTRODUCING JUDE

Scripture  Jude 1-25, NIV                                                                                      Orig. 1/31/1973

                                                                                                                               Rewr. 8/25/1988

Passage:           1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for[a] Jesus Christ: 2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

The Sin and Doom of Ungodly People

3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about[b] long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord[c] at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”[d] 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.

11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”[e] 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

A Call to Persevere

17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. 20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. 22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.[f]

Doxology

24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Purpose: Leading a Church Training study from the Book of Jude,  here introducing the material from the background study and opening verses.

Keywords:      Bible Study                 New Testament Characters, Jude

Timeline/Series:         Jude

Introduction

            Letters are important conveyances of communication.  All of us have received letters that had a significant impact on us, and, I suspect, that it has mostly been for good.

            We often hear of some rare performances of public sacrifice, or athletic prowess, or some other such thing gaining the attention of the President.  He writes a letter to express genuine appreciation.  The letter may be folded and carried to the person.  It may be framed and prominently placed in the home.  It certainly becomes a favored memento.

            Many of us have had occasion to write a family member, or friend, far away, some encouraging word.  It may not always be an affirming word, but it is inspired by love, and the deeper impact of personal relationship.

            The letters of the New Testament are written in a similar vein.  They, of course, are written most often to churches.  Otherwise, to leaders of churches.

            Think with me for a moment, what it must have been like to be one of the recipients of a letter like this one.  I shared with some of you last year, the special relationship I had with an old pastor*1 who was a descendant of an early Baptist preacher who worked in north Louisiana, and who was alive before John O’Quinn’s death.  It moves me still to think that I have a direct contact with one so directly connected with that early work.

            [Editor’s note:  John O'Quinn (1808-1898) pastored Big Cane Church in Louisiana and was a maternal great grandfather of Allie Keller b.1883, wife of John Fogleman* b.1877, mentor of my father, Rev. Lamar Skinner.  John O'Quinn officiated the wedding ceremony of John O. Fogleman and Allie Keller.  At Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Pollock, LA, while Dad pastored there, Bro. Fogleman hobbled forward at invitation time, saying, “Young Pastor, if there is anything left, I want to give that too.”2]

            Now, to receive a letter, whether personally, or as here, as a part of a group, from one so directly linked with Jesus, must have made these people give special pause to what was said.  Admittedly, there are those who disclaim authorship by Jude, Jesus’ brother, but the text says otherwise.

I.          First, We Must Seek to Resolve This and Other Questions.  V1, “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.”

            On what basis do we conclude authorship?  Because it is what the text says.  But some would remind us that other letters are pseudonymously written.  Falsely named writings but in this case, a man who offers nothing of himself.  Since “Jude” doesn’t claim Jesus as a brother, should we?  What we note is that he claims to be brother to “James.”  Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 acknowledge brothers James and Jude.  Galatians 1:19 identifies one “James, the brother of the Lord,” prominent in the Jerusalem church.  “James, the apostle”—the brother of John was put to death by Herod Agrippa—Acts 12:2.  Another who was “son of Alpheus.”  I Corinthians 9:5 NIV, “Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?” 

            Why would he have not claimed Jesus?  He did not claim Him in life.  How could he overstate the relationship now?  More than modesty is found as he seems to say, “call me not brother, but slave of Jesus.”

            The time of writing should offer further evidence of authorship.  Some claim that the letter was written during the second century.  A bishop in Jerusalem by that name.  The gnostic controversy peaks.  Late in the first century works better.  Time for Judas to be converted.  Time for the early church to have grown to internal problems.  Time for problems to become serious.  Early enough for Jude to still be a strong vote.  Choose any date in the seventies. 

            We can’t consign a place, but we know about his audience.  They were surely believers—“to those who have been called.”  Klētos--from kaleō--root kal, “call,” “invite,” “summon.” 

            “Sanctified” KJ—does not here appear.  But they are “beloved” agapetos of God. And, “kept”—tetērēmenois –preserved by none other than Jesus.  The believing triumvirate—called, loved, kept.  Past is prologue,  present is providential, future is furnished.

            How do we early perceive the problem?  We note that he does not attack persons.  He identifies the error.  It is human in scope:  “Certain . . . godless men.”  It is abuse of truth: “change . . . grace . . . into a license.”  It is exceedingly dangerous:   “the Lord cometh . . . to execute judgment” (Jude 14).  It is a griefsome burden:  “I was eager to write about the salvation we share.”  It is a burden they must assimilate:  “Urge you to contend for the faith.”

            Now, since the problem is Gnosticism, we must consider that.  Gnosticism—gnosis—knowledge. Peaked in 2nd century, but was a growing problem for 100 years.  It is interesting, and we must not overlook it.  He defines what he fights for more than what he fights against.  Remember the old western where the enemy leaves hat on stick and tries to circle around, and the cowboys are fighting the hat.

            Basically, Gnostics claimed superiority over others.  To them it had to do with knowledge.  Today it may be libertarianism.  Perhaps even pseudospirituality.  There were two separate modes.  Subject the body to severe discipline.  Colossians  2:21, “Touch not, taste not, handle not.”   Matter was evil, they were spiritual.  They could indulge to any [text lost].

            John, Paul, Jude confronted.  Claimed a new theology.  Claimed superior wisdom, insight.  Pretended to be pathologists who could dissect the “word.”  Jude sought to let the truth expose them, and the church take action against them.

II.         The Message to the Believer in This Age.  V3, “It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith.”

            We are so pleased with our faith in  those settled times of ease.  I Timothy 2:1f, “I exhort (same word) . . . supplications, prayers, etc., be made for all men (generic); 2, For kings; and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.”

            Jude doesn’t call his reader to faith in the good times, but in the bad.  In standing up for right.  In recognizing the evils going untouched.  To be unyielding against those  who would divide and pervert the faith.  To recognize the strong affirmations of faith: “build yourselves up”; “pray in the Holy Spirit”; “keep yourselves  in the love of God”; “be merciful to those who doubt.”

            Many of you saw a film after WWII about a disfigured WWI veteran (Tomorrow is Forever3) who encouraged his son to enter WWII.  The apex was the line:  “Every man opposes the evil in his own time, or else he accepts it.”

            Remember Hamlet’s classic line upon discovery of his father’s murder, and of the complexity of mother and uncle.  “The time is out of joint; O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right.” (I.v.189-190)

Conclusion

            Don’t go to battle with gnostics.  You may see his hat in the rocks and aim all your reserves his way. But he is to attack where we can’t guard.  Remember this:  “To him who is able to keep (us) from falling . . . to the only God our Saviour, be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”                                                               

_____________________

1 https://www.fogleman.org/

2 Email exchange between Fritha Skinner Dinwiddie and Joycalyn Ann Beard Skinner

3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow_Is_Forever

BUILDING UP YOUR FAITH

#746.2                                    BUILDING UP YOUR FAITH                                                        

Scripture  Jude 20-25, NIV                                                                                      Orig. 8/8/1979

                                                                                                                               Rewr. 9/30/1988

Passage: 20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. 22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.[a]

Doxology

24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Purpose: Completing a series from Jude, here sharing with my people the author’s positive charge to them to live their faith.

Keywords:      Book Study                 New Testament Characters, Jude     Faith               Grace

Timeline/Series:         Jude

Introduction

            Jude has spent the first three-fourths of this brief epistle admonishing his readers about what is happening in their fellowship.  There are dangers about, and they must see to them.

            The remaining few verses are to help them to call to mind, “remember” (v17), a few very important things.

            Not only are they to remember, they are to  recall that their remembrance is more than just words.  These are priorities that have come to them by way of the apostles, from Jesus, Himself.  More, they form a message from our Lord  about critical times that have come.  And how they live in those times is of extreme importance.

            Jesus reminds us that such times are on the horizon:

Matthew 24:9, “You will be hated by all nations because of me.”

John 15:18, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”

            Peter, in his second epistle, raises almost the same point.  He even mentions “recalling the words spoken . . . by the holy prophets.”  And in the 11th verse of the concluding chapter (2 Peter 3:11) he asks, “since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought [we] to be?”

            Peter and Jude both address their readers in the very same way, agapetos, “beloved.”  They all share a common heritage in Jesus, and that bond is stronger than anything else in their  lives. 

            If we are to be the “beloved” children of God, then we must deal with the things that separate us.  Social values, political issues, variances about the meaning of scripture, but especially in our day-by-day relationships.

I.          He First Establishes the Dominion of Devotion.  Jude 20f “. . . build yourselves up in your . . . faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.  Keep yourself in God’s love.”

            No doubt about it, what we do devotionally is of great consequence.  Our SBC records are replete with proof  of reaching people for Christ who are involved in Bible study.  How many encampment surveys have established God’s call to special service through Missions/Church Training, BYPU/BTU?

            There is serious need in our lives to feed ourselves with spiritual nutrition.  I went to St. Francis for Clergy Health Screening.  The nutritionist pointed out some problem areas.  If it were that easy, I have a nutritionist in my family.  But my problem is, I like hotdogs.

            Jude then instructs them with three criteria.  First, they were to build themselves up in their faith.  No doubt, a  heavy responsibility rests upon those whom God calls.  We are to be part of the cure, not part of the problem.  Ezekiel 33:5f, “If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet . . . I . . . hold the watchman.”  But they were responsible themselves.  The word is “edification.”  Acts 9:31, “churches had rest . . . and were edified.”  It is a slow, deliberate process.  I Corinthians 3:10f, “According . . . to the grace given me as a wise masterbuilder I laid the foundation.”  Ephesians 2:20, “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, . . . Christ Himself the chief cornerstone.”  And note it is “most holy faith.”  There is no other its equal.  We are wrong to placate a nothing/everything believing world.  Someone has a sermon on this, “Sentinels in the Night.”  How appropriate.  Remembering the slow, deliberate, care given to this building, we must build on the right foundation.  In New Orleans I watched as construction men added 5 floors to Ochsner Hospital while the hospital was in daily use.

            [Second,] to sustain that building process, prayer was essential.  As cement, mortar, bolts, nails, prayer is what keeps things in focus.  But it is not just any old kind of prayer, but Holy Spirit prayer.  Of the heart first, then lips.  In certification of God’s will.  It is opening our innermost being to God’s searchlight.  It is faith evidenced.  It speaks more to our yearnings than of special words.  It is prayer that doesn’t quit.  It has more to do with spiritual position than bodily posture.  Romans 8:26f “We know not what we should pray for . . . but the Spirit . . . maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

            The third of these criteria is not additional, but confirming.  “Keep yourself in God’s love.”   They are the agapetos.  They are in God’s agape.  Are we?

II.         Out of This Dominion of Devotion Grows an Extension of Evangelism.  We’ve already seen (Acts 9:31) “a church edified, is a church multiplied.”  It is not just for ourselves that we are “edified.”  It is to the end that our lives may touch other lives, creatively.  The implication cannot be overlooked that there is a link between clean lives and faithful witnesses.  It is another of the Christian graces that we are to grow in.  We gain proficiency by our practice.  We touch lives at the level of their own needs.  If you remember Psalm of Confession (Psalm 51), David builds toward what he sees as a certain responsibility.  “I will teach sinners your ways.  They will be converted.  Psalm 51:13, he calls for God to “have mercy . . . cleanse . . . purge me . . . create in me a clean heart.”

            The essential ingredient of need seems to be compassion.  “As you wait for mercy, . . . be merciful.”  KJ uses the word “compassion,” which means to “suffer with.”  Matthew 14:14, “Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed the sick.”  Romans 9:1f, “I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.  For I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren.”

            That compassion is able to recognize differences in people, and the vagaries of their needs.  I Corinthians 9:22, “To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak.”  We are to befriend.  We must  hold the line on spiritual values.  We are not to lose sight of hell as the final abode of unbelief.  The Holy Spirit must reap the harvest, but He does so from seed planted in our faithfulness.

III.       He Concludes at the Last with the Foundation of Faith.  Jude 24, “To him who is able to keep  you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” 

            Here is the climax of the message.  Someone calls it “Jude’s Doxology.”  We can lift people no higher than we sense that we have been lifted.  How strongly secure in our faith?  How apparent is our joy?

            We must not overlook the potential to “stumble.”  There  is one thing it may be, and one it may not be.  Christians do stumble in daily life and in testimony.  If we could, we would stumble in  our hold on the Christian life.

CHRIST IS OUR COVENANT

#462a                                    CHRIST IS OUR COVENANT

Scripture  Hebrews 8:1-13, NIV                                                                            Orig. 8/23/1976

Passage: 1 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.

3 Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”[a] 6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said[b]:

“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
    when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
    and with the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
    I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
    to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
    and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.
10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
    after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
    and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.
11 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
    or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
    from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness
    and will remember their sins no more.”[c]

13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

Introduction

            Anyone vitally interested in the activities of our nation today is aware of the disorders in the American society.  Of all of our present dangers, there is one totally disruptive danger that could prove to be our national undoing.  It is a threat that is so all encompassing that it could rob us of the resiliency of recovery that  has been America’s grace.

            It is not the danger of a particular man, or party, being the victor in the 1976 elections.  While unscrupulous politicians are certainly an annoyance, they are not a threat.  Our real problem is not that of continued malcontent in the Mid-East.  As long as the world stands, the threat of decimation is going to hang off the land of Armageddon,  While we have not yet caught our breath in the aftermath of troubles in the Far-East, we need not look upon China’s thread to Southeast Asia as our all-pervading problem.

            Nor are the internal things that toy with America’s heartstrings going to cause us to panic.  Immorality in America today is a cancer and it is malignant, but it is not too late for revival to offer surgical purging. The pseudo-religious perversions in the form of cults have always been present.  They probably will be a viable force until Jesus comes, “and men will know the truth.”  These activities just enjoy the public relations quotient of curiosities.

            All of these things and more are simply the things which divide us.  Our real, all-pervading danger is the division itself.  As long as we address our deepest convictions with the certitude of integrity, and allow all other persons the same prerogative, we have no reason to fear an American wasteland.

            This is to be acknowledged as true in our church life as well.  Real danger to our church unity is not in holding separate opinions, but believing that our opinions make us right, and those who agree, our friends; and those who disagree, our acknowledged enemies, who deserve our total malignment.

I.          Christ is Our Covenant of Forgiveness.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray

            in order to be forgiven.

            we must have already experienced forgivingness.

What is the worst thing that someone else has done?

            stolen some treasure

                  lied against your character

                        or perhaps told the truth

                              insulted a loved one

                                    wrongly accused you

                                          re-kindled some nearly forgotten deed             

Jesus says you have to understand forgivingness

            in order for its full power to embrace you.

It isn’t that easy to forgive—we must first be willing

            and it isn’t to be just so that we can be forgiven

            If we are ever able to make any headway at all in regard to sin, it will be only after we have seen it in the context if God’s forgiveness.  We must discover what our sin cost God personally.

II.         Christ is Our Covenant of New Life.

            The new life comes through faith in Christ.

            Baptism is merely the demonstration of that life.  Romans 6:3, “Know ye that so many of us as were baptized in Jesus Christ were baptized into His death.”

            Death to sin’s condemnation

                  Death to life’s confusion

                        Death to death’s conquest

            Baptism is used in the sense of putting something beneath the waters and leaving it there.  Romans 6:4, “Just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of God the father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  There is precluded then, a newness in the life of that one drawn from the baptismal waters.

            We live in a day when this newness is difficult to fathom when we are more comfortable with that which we understand.  Someone has suggested that the confusion of our age is seen in the family seated in [an expensive] house, looking at the Waltons on a $1,000 TV set [and] wishing for the depression.

            GNMN Romans 6:4, “For if we become one with Him in dying, we shall become one with Him in living.”

III.       Christ is Our Covenant of Assurance.

            Have you ever found yourself where you didn’t mean to be?  Soldier on a train but not THE train.  Get off elevator on a floor but not THE floor.  Dr. So and So was my salvation but not THE salvation.

            We need to work with and walk with those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Pastor speaking at State convention warming up to his subject, he overstressed the need “to all stand together and join hands” in commitment to Christ.  From different sections of the arena people began to stand to their feet.

Closing

            At one point in his life, Roger Bannister did what no other man had ever been able to do.  Following a life-style committed to the regimen of becoming a world class runner, he became the first man in history to ever run a sub-four-minute mile.

            Not long after, he shocked the sports world by announcing his retirement.  He no longer had the incentive of a goal to keep him at the rigors of training.  Many men have run faster since, in part because Roger Bannister gave them his goal to pursue.

DEFINING OUR COVENANT

#714                                      DEFINING OUR COVENANT                                                       

Scripture  Hebrews 8:1-13, NIV                                                                            Orig. 8/16/1964

                                                                                                                                 Rewr. 6/2/1978 

Passage: 1 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.

3 Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”[a] 6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said[b]:

“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
    when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
    and with the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
    I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
    to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
    and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.
10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
    after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
    and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.
11 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
    or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
    from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness
    and will remember their sins no more.”[c]

13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

Purpose:          To aid my people in coming to grips with the reason for an open and avowed response to God as Sovereign Lord of the Universe.

Keywords:      Covenant        Response        Worship         Fear                 Trust               Unbelief

Introduction

            Every person in our city who awoke from a night of slumber, awoke to the stark realization of choice.  They, in that fleeting moment, made a decision relative to worship.  Too often, even such a matter of import is made on the basis of our prejudices rather than our principles.

            To Nietzsche, the worship of God was “a slave morality.”   To Marx and Lenin, it was the “opiate of the people.”  It really doesn’t matter what men such as these thought in their prejudices.  It doesn’t matter that their decision was not indecision but wrong decision.  It does matter, however, what happens to the people of this present age.  We who are beset still, not by indecision but by wrong decision.  To decide not to decide is nonetheless a decision.

            Most of those people who made that decision relative to worship decided against it.  Do they not know that the risen Christ is the One, who, in every age has inspired the nobler actions and energies, even courage, in the lives of people such as they?

            Face it! Part of the blame must lie at the door of the church.  We leave the impression at times that we are a splinter group standing in reaction and opposition to those revolutionaries who would change the world.  Do you not remember?  Have you forgot?  It is the world, secularism, that is reactionary.  Christianity, when authentic,  is the true revolutionary.  The book of Acts calls to us, demanding our attention, and reminding us that the early church was busy, “turning the world upside down” (Acts 17:6).

            The real church has been seen, not in the regal splendor of Rome, or the orthodox complexity of Brandenburg, but rather, the real church has been seen when simple people committed themselves to a profound Christ, and were willing to pay the price of revolution.  You are one of the ones who showed up for worship.  Why have you come?  Is it as reactionary, or revolutionary?  Is it to stand apart in your own prejudices, or to stand together, with others of like faith?  To stand together means to stand for something, for what Christ wills for us.

I.          We May Define Our Covenant by Pretending to Ignore God.  Hebrews 8:2, Jesus is called “A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.”  The implication of this is that our read burden will be to escape man’s debilitating humanist values.  Illustration: We remember that part of the message of Miguel de Cervantes in “Don Quixote” was of a man whose reading encouraged him to be a pretender.  Fancying himself to be a knight, he fought with windmills pretending them to be giants.  He drove flocks of sheep askew, pretending that they were armies of foot soldiers.

            We pretend that Man’s values take precedence over God’s values.  Mark 8:17, “Why reason ye, because ye have no bread?  Perceive ye not yet, neither understand?  Have ye your heart yet hardened?  Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear  ye not? And do ye not remember?”  Beware  leaven.  We forget bread.  

            It was clear at  this point in time the values of the disciples were not those of their Lord.  But see how this clearly changes with enlightenment.  Romans 8:5, “For they that are after the flesh do mind the  things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”

            It is this disdain of God’s values that turned people to other gods.  The ever-present god of materialism.  Illustration: They heed the philosophy of the rich, young ruler.  Be as good as you can, but remember that you have a living to make.  Illustration:  They are  tempted to the arrogance  of wealth such as Ananias and Sapphira.  Earn the respect of others if you can, but remember that respect doesn’t feed empty stomachs.

            Or the orgiastic gods of sensual pleasure.  Illustration: King David’s sensual conduct would have been right at home in this contemporary age.  Anything is all right if it gives me pleasure.  Who cares if another slob dies on the field of combat.  He would die sooner or later anyway.  Finally, however, David’s sin had run the gauntlet of dissolution.  He lied, cheated, committed adultery, and killed, all the while worshipping at the altar of sensual pleasure.

            They all pretended to ignore God.  The rich young ruler acknowledged his paltry goods.  Ananias and Sapphira paid for their indiscretion with their lives.  David faced the searing denunciation of Nathan.

II.         We May Define Our Covenant by Pretending to Fear God.  Hebrews 8:5 “. . . As Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern.”

            Pretense in the fear of God is no better than pretense in ignoring God.  Illustration: In Jesus’ parable, a father gave his two sons instructions. One claimed obedience but did nothing.  The other disdained his father’s instruction, but later did as he was told.

            Let’s be sure that fear is in proper perspective.  Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty  of man.”  Jonah 1:9, “. . . I am an Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.”  Psalm 111:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

            Illustration:  Ann came home deeply burdened about child expelled less than one week before school was out.  They don’t believe the officials will do what they say they will do.  Because their parents don’t do what they say.

            Our text speaks of a Higher Relationship.  Certainly, the scripture speaks of our sin.  The eye of faith sees beyond the sin to forgiveness.  Beyond that even, to deliverance from the burden of sin.

Illustration: God’s idea of relationship is not that of groveling in the grime of sin/confession/forgiveness.  It is, then, not enough to rely on fear.   A later chapter in this Book of Hebrews will tell us of the priest who “stood daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins.”

III.       The Only Proper Basis upon which a Covenant with God Can be Defined is the Basis of Trust.  Hebrews 8:7, “. . . If the first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.” Hebrews 8:10, “This is the covenant that I will make . . . after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their minds, and write them into their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.

            Trust begins with the integrity of the subscriber.  Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man that he should lie: . . . hath he said, and he shall not do it?”   Psalm 89:1, “With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.”  Hebrews 6:17f, “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:  That by two immutable things, in the which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul.”

            Trust continues its claim through the reliability of the Testament.  The Word is from God and His is Truth.  Do we believe, however,  that the Word has been fairly and accurately communicated?  Psalm 19:7, “The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”  Proverbs 3:3, “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee:  Bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart.”  Revelation 19:9, “These are the true sayings of God.”

            Trust is limited to the volition of the heir of its promise.  The promise says, “ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

            But what are you willing for that promise to mean?

CHRIST’S HIGH PRIESTLY MINISTRY

#176                              CHRIST’S HIGH PRIESTLY MINISTRY

Scripture  Hebrews 10:21-25, NIV                                                                        Orig. 7/12/1964

                                                                                                                               Rewr. 6/16/1977

Passage: 21 And since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Purpose: To call attention to the ministry of Jesus as He labors to bring spiritual nurture into the church life.

Introduction

            There are a few Latin phrases that have weathered both the passing years, and the death of a language.  Though Latin is no longer spoken as a language of communication, and is understood by only a few scholars and intrepid students, those few phrases seem to hang on.

            The Latins said it this way, “Vox populi, vox Dei.”  The meaning is still a popular concept today.  “The voice of the people is the voice of God.”

            I occasionally will see one of those popular youth posters which declares, “If it is true, it doesn’t matter who says it!”  Then, if I remember correctly, one of the Beatles was given credit for that line.  I agree with it completely.  I would also remind you that the opposite is true.  “If it isn’t true, then, again, it makes no difference who said it!”

            While we would like to endorse the old Latin phrase, we know that our endorsement would no more make it true than the popular use it achieved in antiquity, and the zeal of many people today who try to convince themselves of its truth.

            There are many concepts adhered to by people, that just do not declare the mind of God.  We can go to the polls and declare our intent in one mighty voice, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we have comprehended and voiced the mind of God.

            We would do well to discover that in the ministry of Jesus as our High Priest, and as God’s High Priest, we have the One who does comprehend the mind of God, and is able to communicate that message to loving and responding human hearts.

I.          His Ministry of Assured Faith.  To deepen our faith: Hebrews 10:22, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, have our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”

            We are born with the primacy of the natural man.  Romans 8:7f, “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”

            Who can say when it happens, but we know that it always does.  Maybe a ten-year-old girl who has never been taught to consider spiritual values, yet she disputes the place of underling.  Perhaps an eight-year-old boy with a mother of deep religious faith, and a father interested only in making a buck, and the boy is torn between conflicting values.  Or, say an eleven-year-old, or fourteen, or twenty, whose parents are both deeply committed Christians, and they have tried to lead this child for his good; but the pressure of his peers draws him away.

            We have all been there.  Somewhere, the rose strewn path turned to rocks, and the id, ego, self, took over.

            But the great day comes when we are able to discern the primacy of God’s will over self-will.  Let’s look at this as a priestly function of Jesus.

            Jesus has the fullness of divine personality.  Hebrews 1:3, “He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature.” Hebrews 1:3, 10-12, “His place is at the right hand of God.”  Hebrews 1:2, “God has spoken by His Son.”

            He is likewise fully human.  Hebrews 2:17, “It behooved him to be like his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest.”  Hebrews 5:8, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience through the things he suffered.”

            As importance as these two facts are, they alone do not make Him High Priest.  Neither is He such because He chooses to be.  Not even the Son of God can appoint Himself to that sacred post.  The priests die, but not Jesus (Hebrews 7:23f).  Not necessary to sacrifice for His own sin (Hebrews 7:27).  The sin offering never repeated (Hebrews 7:27).  His intercessory ministry (Hebrews 7:25).

II.         His Ministry of  Directed Responsibility—Direct Fidelity.  To provoke unto love and good works. Hebrews 10:24, “Let us consider one another to provoke  unto love and good works.”  The word “provoke” comes from the Greek word from which comes the medical term “paroxysm” or “fit.”  For the Christian, to consider the needs of others is to bestir feelings of affection and good will and a desire to befriend.

            Understand the vital and necessary place of corporate worship.  Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is.”  The word from which the Hebrew concept of “synagogue” comes. Also consider Acts 20:7f, “And upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, . . . ;  and continued his speech until midnight.  And there were many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered together”  (sunegmenoi).  What is the limit of your endurance as far as your responsibility to corporate worship.  Can the mind maintain any more than what other parts of the anatomy can endure?

            Live in that frame of reference that proclaims the coming again of Jesus. Hebrews 10:25, “. . .  exhorting one another: and so much the more as you see the day approaching.”  If your present circumstance is happy, it is made more so with the awareness that God intends all eternity to be so.  If that circumstance is griefsome, it is made more bearable in the knowledge that God has taken steps to reconcile your burdens.

FOUR INDISPENSABLE THINGS

#753                                   FOUR INDISPENSABLE THINGS

Scripture  Hebrews 13:1-22, NIV                                                                          Orig. 8/26/1979

                                                                                                                               Rewr. 5/24/1989

Passage: 1Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
    never will I forsake you.”[a]

6 So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?”[b]

7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.  9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. 10 We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.  11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

17 Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.  18 Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. 19 I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.

Benediction and Final Greetings

20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

22 Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you quite briefly.

Purpose: To share with my people the call of the gospel for believers to know and live by the indispensable mandates of God’s message.

Keywords:      Blood of Christ          Christ as Saviour       Faith               Forgiveness                                                    Sin                               Works                         Revival

Timeline/Series:         None

Introduction

            It never has been easy to convince others, or ourselves, to get involved.  There are times when, after it is all over, we hear someone of lesser heart say, “Well, it is your own fault for getting involved.”  I wonder how many people have said as much about the family fishing at the D’Arbonne spillway last week (5/20).  Going to the assistance of two stranded fishermen, all three drowned.  Too many come away from such as this even more firmly resolved to mind their own business.

            When we enter the electrified air of the New Testament, however, we stumble over a totally different concept.  The chronological accounting of Jesus’ ministry began when He became “involved” at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee.  He went from there to Jerusalem for Passover.  In the temple, He found money-changers polluting not only the temple, but the spiritual tone of the people as well.  He drove these men away with a scourge.  He made enemies that day who would dog His trail until they saw Him die on a cross.

            There is no greater sign of  His involvement than that cross.  He came not only to touch the world, but to involve Himself in your life and mine.  Had He chosen not to do so, things would be considerable different for all of us today.

            Getting involved means taking a chance.  There is the possibility of being misunderstood, of getting hurt, even of losing one’s life.   We are told quite candidly “the disciple is not above his master” (Matthew 10:24).  For Jesus, involvement was costly.  What does your involvement cost you?

I.          Without the Shedding of Blood There Is No Forgiveness.  Hebrews 13:12f, “Wherefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.  Let us go forth therefore unto him . . . .”

            It was not God’s view of man that had to be changed.  He had no interest in divesting Himself of His holiness.  He had no intention of compromising His position relative to man’s sin.

            The attitude that must be changed is that of man, himself.  You see, the cross was not to the point of changing God’s mind about us.  Rather, it was to the point of changing man’s view of himself before God.  Man, with his potential to reason, would her be motivated spiritually.

            News articles told of the need of true spiritual experience:  Eddie Tuinman abandoned at rest stop on I-84 near Boise, Idaho (1989/1-11); Pennsylvania teenager who starved to death—Father had $3,700 in tithe money; Steven Stayner—stolen at seven.

            Old Testament law confirms sin’s hold on man, and the issue of blood forgiveness.  Leviticus 16:27, “And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place . . . carry forth without the camp; and . . . burn.”

            The New Testament removes bulls and goats and substitutes the blood of Jesus.  God accomplishes man’s pardoning.  The agent of pardoning is Himself man.  When such a price as this has been paid, who would dare to voice reservations?  Sanctification, then, is not an attainment, it is the state into which God calls us in grace through the blood.

            The place where Jesus suffered was outside prescribed religious ritual.  We still do not find Him by human directive.  It is the blood drawing us outside the camo drawing us to Himself alone.

II.         Without Faith it is Impossible to Please God.  Hebrews 13:15. “By him (Jesus) therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”

            It is more directly said earlier, Hebrews 11:6, “Without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he rewards those who seek him.”  “Diligently” (KJV), “earnestly” (NIV) is not found.  Verb is present participle teaching repeated action, “those who keep on seeking.”

            We are taught that there are two parts to this act of faith.  To believe that God is: childhood teaching, reading, fear/uncertainty, little more than mental combustion.  Agnostic concludes that there may be a God; atheist will sometimes doubt [his] doubt.  I can count the atheists on one hand.  To believe that He is rewarder of those who seek Him: First, He communicates His presence; He is able to bless in personal encounter.

            There is a necessary result of such faith.  Offering the sacrifice of praise.  Nothing changes disorder to order like praise.  Nothing answers enigmas like praise; see Psalm 73 for answers: V17 “Until I went into the sanctuary of God.”  Nothing adds vitality to life like praise.  Understand that such praise is not a passive thing:  Hebrews 13:15, “the  fruit of our lips giving praise”; Hebrews 1:16, “doing good for others”; Hebrews 13:22, “suffer the word of exhortation.”

III.       Without Works Faith Is Dead, (James 2:17).  Hebrews 13:20f, “. . . The God . . . that brought Jesus from the dead . . . through the blood of  the . . . covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will.”

            Faith is born in the heart of the believer at the initiation of God.  It is not accomplished apart from will.  But the initiation is God.  The mark of such faith is confirmed through one’s labors.  It attests  to sufficiency of faith; it affirms the satisfaction of faith.  Matthew 7:16, “Ye shall know them by their fruits.”  Titus 3:8, “This is a faithful saying, . . . these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God, might be careful to maintain good works.”

IV.       Without Jesus We Can Do Nothing.  Hebrews 13:20f “Now the God of peace . . . working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever.”

            I call you to the One who died outside.  Outside the camp of Israel.  Outside understood  religious systems.  Separated from human compromise.

            He is not hiding, but we are too reluctant to seek Him where He is known to be.  The Old Testament goat (scapegoat) was turned loose to be stilled by the hand of Providence.  So the God-anointed substitute in the wilderness away from Jerusalem.  Raised to life again, he transports the believer from sin-death to spirit-life.  Jesus Himself attests to this sufficiency.  John 15:5, “Without me ye can do nothing.”  If nothing significant happens without Him, every sufficient thing happens in Him.  John Newton, the great song writer (Amazing Grace, etc.) late in life memory almost gone, “Two things I remember: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Saviour.”

Conclusion

            Charles Dickens began A Tale of Two Cities1: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything behind us, we had nothing before us, we were all going straight to heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

            Dickens lived long before the oldest of us.  The time he described was long before his own time.  But how well it describes this late 20th Century.  The one way out of the inharmonious times that he described, then and now, is Jesus.

            He who calls us to Himself, calls us to commitment.  He reminds us that it is to “total” and not “token” commitment.

Dickens:          https://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Cities-Collins-Classics/dp/0007350899/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=AUTHOR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pXA57NqyaIEUJIlWWpu8sKRjP3DIdZmz442Yo7WR6PdsVce7V-K_W9N7FfF_sYqF2-HPKMKlgoA2puwWfo8G5-PpRwwUR_BewPG3EDElSVnlusR-vran9dRXTNvkkGWlsDd3mLlVbsBajyD9xd6gmxcD05y-NNVuSfb7qyGSA6PJM2QafgzWxokNUfSYLmjOAViGu4sYupJA7iDSnZsxTDDtK9-AxIi3e_iZsKgUXnc._bgOr7wKR-XtD-Sb1u3KpjN6u12K5Dnc_EO4RvBVInk&qid=&sr=

1 Dickens, C. (2013). A Tale of Two Cities. (Reprint). Collins Classics. 

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY CHURCH UNDER FIRE

#686                THE TWENTIETH CENTURY CHURCH UNDER FIRE

Scripture  Hebrews 10:25, NIV                                                                             Orig. 12/1/1977

                                                                                                                               Rewr. 1/16/1985

Passage: 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Purpose: To state the three essential criteria for the contemporary believer.

Keywords:      Believer          Evangelism                 Revival           Church                       Worship

Introduction

            One of the great art galleries in our country has a famous painting by G.F. Watts called Hope.  The painting itself may not elicit the interest that has centered around an absurd little story  about the painting.

            To describe the painting is to see a blindfolded woman seated on a sphere with her head bowed, holding a lyre.  She seems to represent human fertility in a shrinking world.  The musical instrument which she holds retains only one string.  The space around the sphere contains one star against a backdrop of blackness.  The artist wanted those who viewed his work to see it as he did.  He therefore labelled it Hope.

Watts, G.F.  Hope1

            The story is about two cleaning women who worked in the gallery.  One of the women regularly cleaned in this part of the museum, the other was on her first round.  When she came to Watt’s display she stopped dead in her tracks and looked with wonderment at the painting.  Finally, she said aloud, “Hope! Hope?  Why is it called ‘Hope’?”

            The other replied, with little wonderment, and probably some agitation, as she turned her attention to the precariously perched figure, “Why, I suppose because she hopes she won’t fall off.”

            There are people around us, some who identify themselves as Christian, who view the contemporary church scene with the same doubtful perplexity.  What does “church” mean?  Has it  become an art-form symbolizing that is no longer meaningful?  Is it only a supplier of sanctimonious symbols?

            The writer of Hebrews sees it differently.  He declares it to be what it is:  What God has made it to be.  It is people, alive in a dead world, with a sense of mission.  It is an awesome explosive power awaiting the torch of commitment.  There are 3 guidelines.

I.          They were to Attend Their Church.  “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is.” 

            Though I rule it out, I wonder if boredom was ever the cause.  Or fatigue:  I heard of one pastor who called a meeting of the board following the service.  A stranger was present.  “Sir, we were happy you came, but this meeting is just for the board.”  “I have trouble believing that these people were more bored than I!”

            We are here instructed that our first attitude about our church is faithful attentiveness.  (1)There is a triad of meaning (Romans 3): For worship and praise; for instruction from the Word; for preparation in ministry. (2)Romans 1:21 (Glorified not as God, nor were thankful.)  When these go begging, no matter what other reasons we have, we have rejected our mandate.

            Old Testament—Samuel anointed Saul (I Samuel 12), had the people assemble at Gilgal.  They sacrificed, had great joy in praise.  I Samuel 12:7, “Now, therefore, stand still, that I may reason with you before the Lord of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to you and to your fathers.”

            New Testament—Acts 11:26, when Barnabas located Paul he brought him to Antioch.  “For a whole year they assembled themselves with the church and taught many people.  They were first called Christians at Antioch.”

            This “assembly” was essential for empowering in and to service.  The young Indian brave inquired of the steps necessary to become chief. [Some text lost.]  The sacred bobcat:  You must bring down the great white buffalo with your bard hands.  You must wrestle the brown bear [to] win two of three challenges.  Then must come the trials of fire and ice.  The brave interrupted with “What ever happened to wholesome good looks and a nice personality?”

II.         They were to Defend Their Church.  “Exhorting one another.”

            This is akin to paraklētos—“comforter.”  This form is never retrospective, and always prospective.  (Parakaleo.)  It is “beseech, entreat, admonish.”  See Psalm 141:5—

"Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness;
    let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it,
    for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.”

            It guards against the infiltration of error.  II Timothy 4:2-4, “Preach the word; exhort with all  long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they will heap themselves teachers. . . .”  Notice again the charge to exhort, a call to higher living.  Notice the condemnation of “heaping”: Man in Oakdale who enlarged capacity of concrete plant without increasing foundation.

            To defend against worldliness.  II Timothy 4:10 “Demas hath forsaken . . . having loved this . . . world.”  Revelation 3:14, Laodicea—“I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing; thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”

            To defend against complacency.  Not enough just not to oppose.  One must take a vital stand.

            To defend against cliquishness.  Like at Corinth, people separate into factions: talents, worldly goods, gifts, pastors.  “Paul is my favorite.”  I Corinthians 3:11, “ For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

III.       They were to Extend Their  Church.  “And all the more as you see the day approaching.”

            Which statement he clarifies in the verses that follow.  The example of the Old Testament covenant.  Anyone rejecting Moses died by the witness of two or three.  Rejecting Jesus is rejecting His death, rejecting God’s will, and insulting the Holy Spirit (29).  It is deadly for the so-called believer and unbeliever alike.

            We are to be extensions of our church:  From active participation—worship, study, ministry awareness; we receive the enablement to be Christ’s representative in our community and beyond.

            We might say that through this means we Commend our church.  You commend it first and foremost by your support.  You commend it to the degree that you support it.  What think you of token support to: your job?  Your children’s school?  Your family?  You commend your church by supporting and praying for its leaders.  It is much easier to criticize another than to condition one’s own life to support just causes in Christ.  You commend your church by every positive referral.

Closing

            As the day approaches

***The remainder of this sermon has been lost.***

1Watts, G.F. (2020). Hope. [Oil on canvas]. Watts Gallery, Compton, Surrey, U.K. In Reitsema, E.M. Hebrews 11:1—Hope by G.F. Watts, ArtWay Visual Meditation, (16 February 2020). (Original work 1885/1886). https://artway.eu/content.php?id=2901&lang=en&action=show

Hope                https://artway.eu/content.php?id=2901&lang=en&action=show