Jude 1-4 05/03/2026

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, and join us here today

We are a small community
Of ordinary people
Making our way
Through uncertain days

We are unable to bend the world
Or even
Anyone
To our will
Our reach isn’t great enough
Our power
well, our power is mostly illusion
And our frustration rises
Our faith wobbles
And hope begins to fade

So we turn to you now
Open
Maybe broken open,
Needing support from you
Comfort from you
And guidance
Needing guidance
on what to do
when we have no power
And wobbly faith

Show us Lord our next step
Who to love
And when
And how
Because we know that is the path
Even if everything else falls apart
This is always the path
And we are glad for this
And our place in it
Sharing your work
With your steady hand
In your loving care
Thank you
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Jude 1-4

Intro: On the days I spend with three of my grandchildren,
I sometimes say to my thirteen year old grandson,

“I’m going for a walk, do you want to go with me?”
– he has never said, “Sure, Grandpa, let’s go” – never
• and I know why – he’s convinced it won’t be fun
◦ he’d have to get unnecessary exercise, and
◦ it’d be difficult to stay on trail with eyes glued to his cell phone
• this morning I’m inviting you to take a walk with me–
◦ through the book of Jude – it’s a short walk,
◦ and much of it is unpleasant, or confusing, or dark
– what I don’t want to do is make this a Bible study
• my tendency is to be drawn to technicalities
◦ that’s a problem with this letter that was written in haste,
◦ so there are several tough technical issues – also,
• a lot of its information is crunched together in a short space,
◦ entire stories abbreviated in three or four words
◦ and there are even references to stories we’ve never seen in the Scriptures

That’s why I want this to be like taking a walk with few distractions
– if I make it a “lecture,” we won’t feel the full force of it
– and as far as Jude goes, that would miss its whole purpose
• threats that worried him have returned to haunt us today
• so, here we go: [read verses 1-2]

Jude’s first lines are familiar enough to recognize for what they are

He identifies himself to his readers, who knew him well enough
– like Paul, he knew his life was defined by service to Jesus
• that’s how these people knew him, as a slave of Jesus
◦ he did not live for himself or fame and fortune
◦ he was devoted to the spiritual care of others
• they also knew of his brother James,
◦ but for a fact, we don’t know for certain either him or his brother
◦ this letter was most likely written after the other James and Judas we meet in the New Testament had died
– next, addressing his readers, he also defines their lives
• they are “called,” which is to say they received an invitation
◦ and they responded to the invitation with an absolute YES!
◦ like the disciples, who when Jesus called, dropped everything to follow him
• to what were these believers called? To be loved — that is what defines who they are
◦ three times Jude addresses his readers directly
◦ and each time, he uses this designation, “Beloved”

Normally, I’d read these introductory words without giving them much thought
– when I receive a letter that begins, “Dear Chuck,”
• I don’t get warm feelings, thinking I am dear to the sender
◦ it’s just a standard way of beginning a letter
• if, however, it begins, “My dear friend,” and
◦ I know it’s sincere, then I pause to absorb the warmth
– to know you are truly loved by someone is a unique experience
• it’s among the most rewarding, affirming feelings possible
• perhaps we should always pause here and receive God’s love
◦ go into our “contemplative mode” of slow, deep breaths and awareness
◦ and once there, allow ourselves to be-loved

If you get around much, I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “This one’s a keeper”
– it is used by fishers who have caught a suitable fish
• someone looking for a puppy to bring home from the pet store or animal shelter
• or when your adult daughter introduces you to a really decent boyfriend
– Jude says his readers are keepers – “kept for Jesus Christ”
• this is meaningful, even though the word “for” does not appear in the Greek text
◦ so it could be they were kept “by” Jesus, or “in” Jesus
• the idea of being kept by the Lord was picked up by the poet who wrote Psalm 121
“he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper . . . .
The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forever more” (Ps. 121:3-5 and 7-8)
◦ whether kept by Jesus or for Jesus, Jude wanted them to know they were under his protection and care

The blessing at the beginning is also standard New Testament letter-writing

Paul’s usual blessing was “grace and peace” – except in 1 Timothy where he writes,
– “Grace, mercy, and peace” – Jude is the only letter writer who adds “love”
• this is consistent with him addressing them as “Beloved”
◦ and here the blessing is that these three qualities would “be multiplied”
• it is as if he cannot stress this message strongly enough

Now to the reason why he’s fired off this brief message to them
“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were destined for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ Jude 3-4

Previously, Jude had a completely different project in mind
– something more ambitious and perhaps much lengthier
• whether or not he ever got around to it, we’ll never know
◦ my guess, judging from his writing here,
◦ it would have been like a “devotional”
• that’s because Jude does not strike me as a theologian,
◦ but more like a preacher, hammering at his key points rather than working out a logical development of them
– what I imagine he had in mind was something lovely,
• informative and motivating, edifying and inspiring
• that would have been his original plan, but something happened
◦ and he changed direction half-way through his sentence

Years ago, a preacher described letters of John and Jude as postcards
– Jude, however, is not a postcard, it’s a telegram
• maybe that word doesn’t work any more
• but if you’re old enough to remember or watch old movies,
◦ telegraph was once the quickest way to send message long distance
– if your cell phone receives Wireless Emergency Alerts –
the phone vibrates and makes a terribly annoying screeching sound
• that’s what this letter is, an emergency message – a call to arms
• their Christian faith had been compromised, endangered
◦ they would have to fight for the truth to keep it alive
◦ the essence of their beliefs had been “delivered” to them
– passed down from the Hebrew Scriptures, the teaching of Jesus, and the Christian apostles

The phrase, “For certain people,” introduces the source of Jude’s concern

This marks the tension that runs through the letter
– on one side of the line there is the community of the “Beloved”
• on the other side, “Certain people”; “these people” 8 and 10; and simply “these” in verses 14, 16, and 19
• he draws a contrast between them and his readers:
◦ “But you” verse 17, and “But you, beloved” in verse 20
– the “Certain people” group did not announce their arrival
• instead, “they crept [into their spiritual community] unnoticed”
◦ at first, they looked like fellow believers
◦ they spoke with the same religious jargon
• but in reality, they were “ungodly people” – in two ways:
“pervert the grace of our God into sensuality”
“and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ”

Jude says the warning of this threat goes way back, “long ago”
– was he exaggerating the danger? blowing it out of proportion?
• he uses strong language and images
◦ as we move on, we’ll find how serious the threat was
• they presented themselves as fellow Christians,
◦ but in their belief and practice they proved to be otherwise
◦ Paul gave a similar report to Titus regarding people who weren’t the real deal
“They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works” (1:16)
– at some point, I’ll explain a little bit about Gnosticisim
• it drew a lot on the person of Jesus, but with a terrible distortion
• some people suggest that Gnostic writings were buried by the Church
◦ but that’s not true – after studying them and finding them to be fabrications,
◦ those writings were simply dismissed and excluded from the more reliable texts

Conclusion: In all my life, I’ve never seen anything like what’s happening in our country today

A warped version of Christianity has infiltrated the Evangelical sub-culture
Even big-name pastors and evangelists have embraced unbiblical teaching
(at least in part if not in whole)
We have been placed in the role of “the Beloved”
and is necessary for us today to contend for the faith – the real thing
How? First and foremost, by by living it!