Jude 17-23 06/07/2026

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
Help us see ourselves as you see us
Yes flawed
Of course,
And finite, limited
And fragile,
which is often
more difficult to admit

But also to acknowledge
We are
Each
Beautiful in your eyes
Wanted
Loved
Worth the time
Worth the energy

That you see us today
Just now
Just as we are
And at the same time
see us
All tidied up
Put back together
Healed
Whole

And you know us
from now to then
The in between time
The ugly stage
Or more likely
The ugly stages
The days of growing
Improving
And the days of set backs
and falling apart
And You hold us close
then as well

Help us to let go
of our old stories
Or the stories
others have given us
Giving up our defenses
Our shaming
Our lashing out
Our giving up
Putting aside
these hindrances
And recognize
your love
Affection
Hope
Your patience
Gentleness
And kindness
In our everyday moments
And see ourselves
For what we are
Beloved.
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

“But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” Jude 17-18

Intro: My friend, Clint Freeman, sent me an article this week

It has to do with Artificial Intelligence and I added it to my “weird news” file
Darin White, “Four in ten Gen-Z and millennial adults say spiritual advice from AI is just as trustworthy as advice from a pastor. One-third of teenagers have talked to an AI companion rather than a human being about serious, personal issues. Thirty-nine percent of Gen Z would skip or delay a doctor’s visit if AI told them their symptoms were low risk . . . . And 26 percent of Gen Z adults have engaged in some form of romantic or companion relationship with an AI chat bot.”
– this is either scary or silly, but there is another development that is more serious for us
White, “[In] April, a tech company . . . launched an AI-generated avatar of Jesus that people can talk to, pray with, and seek spiritual counsel from for $1.99 per minute. The avatar was trained on the King James Bible . . . .”
– one of the concerns I have about this, is AI is not bullet-proof
• I’ve been reading Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations
◦ in chapter 5, he quotes an author without naming him, but claims he was,
Adam Smith, “by far the most illustrious philosopher and historian of the present age”
◦ I assumed he was referring to David Hume, because he was a friend that Smith admired
• when I looked it up, an AI engine immediately popped up and curtly (I felt) reported,
“no philosopher is quoted in book 5 of The Wealth of Nations
◦ dissatisfied, I searched for the actual quote, and that was in Hume’s writings
◦ feeling vindicated, I corrected the snobbish AI bot

The volume of misinformation being spread today is insane
– what is more insane, is how people swallow it without question
• for instance, forty-four seconds of a video taken during January 6 insurrection was spread across more than 1,000 posts on Facebook and Instagram
• the video claimed to show Capitol police allowing access into the nation’s capital
◦ taking into account that rioters had already trampled over metal barriers and the fact that the video shows people who are already inside the Capitol, more extensive video coverage disproves the claim that Capitol Police invited them inside. Furthermore, there were not police (plural) in the video, but one only one uniformed officer. Other video records him saying things like, “Okay, okay, take your photos and then leave,” and you cannot cross this line,” and “this space is sacred, you are not allowed here.” Yet the crowd that kept growing ignored in and shoved their way through.
◦ but many people who have not bothered to do their own research and do not want to be corrected, still make the claim that the rioters are innocent of trespassing, when clearly they were not
– Jude’s letter is a tiny warning against on the onslaught of deceit to which Christians were subjected
• some years after Jude was written, a Church father and theologian, Irenaeus, wrote a large volume exposing deceptions of Gnosticism, entitled, Against Heresies
◦ in it, he explained the heretical teachers’ misuse of scripture to support their warped doctrines
Irenaeus, Mixing their views with claims they make about “the parables of the Lord, the sayings of the prophets, and the words of the apostles, they dismember and destroy the truth. By transferring passages, and dressing them up anew, and making one thing out of another, they succeed in deluding many through their wicked art in adapting the oracles of the Lord to their opinions.” . . . .
“In like manner do these persons patch together old wives’ fables, and then endeavor, by violently drawing away from their proper connection, words, expressions, and parables whenever found, to adapt the oracles of God to their baseless fictions.”
◦ the scale of scripture warping that goes on today must set a record

Now, we could have covered Jude’s entire letter in one talk
– but I’ve dragged it out so that we take the threat seriously
• people I know and love have been misled;
◦ they’re up in arms about the wrong things, while neglecting the most important things

All the way through, Jude has identified two camps

The people to whom he is writing are: “Beloved”
The people about whom he is warning them are: “Certain people” “these people” or simply “these“
– both groups are represented here in this final section of his exhortations
• I want to go off-road for a moment to make a “preacher point”
◦ it’s a typical trait of lovers to use endearing nicknames
◦ the Song of Songs has a short list, but overwhelmingly (especially in the woman’s references to her lover) we find “my Beloved”
• it is a nickname, but I want you to think of it also as a state of being
◦ separate beloved into to words and let yourself be loved
◦ how do you feel when you’re told by someone that you are loved?
– allow yourself a space of quiet mindfulness to allow yourself to be-loved by Jesus,
• to receive love through the Spirit in the present moment

Jude is giving his readers specific instructions for their situation
– the instructions come in two parts, and both begin with words, “But you”
• he wants to be clear regarding the contrast between themselves and “these” others
◦ what if his readers are outnumbered?
◦ could the other crowd being larger mean they’re right?
• the true prophets of God were often one against a nation
◦ what emerges in the prophets–especially Isaiah–is the revelation of a “remnant”
◦ a remnant is what is left over when majority is removed
– our confidence comes from staying close to Jesus, not in our numbers
• we must be in daily contact with him, but we also must be following his teaching
• in John chapter 6, when Jesus’ teaching became hard for the crowds to understand or accept,
“many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God”
◦ we stay with him, because he alone has the truth — is the truth!

Jude’s readers had been forewarned

The Lord’s apostles had seen this coming
– when Paul was departing from Ephesus after his final visit, he told the elders there,
“I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” (Acts 20:29-30)
• Jude’s entire letter has set out criteria to recognize these people
• here he adds two more, they are:
◦ “scoffers” – this fits today almost too well; many social media posts are more ridicule than rational
◦ “following their own ungodly passions” – it’s godless passion, not godly inspiration that drives them

Jude has three more things to add regarding “these” others
“It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit” Jude 19

They “cause divisions”
– there are two types of people in the world:
• those who see two types of people in the world
• and those who don’t see two types of people in the world
People cause divisions when:
– they treat non-essential issues as essential (and insist that other people must agree with them)
• to my mind, the most beautiful approach to settling division is found in Romans 14-15:7
“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.” (Ro. 14:1-2)
◦ this wasn’t about healthy diets
◦ it had to do with perceptions
– and when they require everyone to believe exactly as they believe
• there are lots of different opinions on the “end times”
◦ and lots of different opinions on more technical theological issues as well
◦ perhaps as a general practice, we need what we find in common with other believers
• otherwise, let’s stick to Paul’s admonition:
“I appeal to you . . . to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the [teaching] that you have been taught; avoid them” (Ro. 16:17)
They are “worldly people”
– I think the translation “worldly” is a mistake that misses the point
• in 1 Corinthians chapters 2-3 Paul profiles three different types of people:
◦ a natural person – psuxikos, a living being, driven by soulish desires
◦ a spiritual person – pneumatikos, inhabited by the Spirit of God and led by the Spirit (Ro. 8:9. 14-16)
◦ a fleshly person – sarkikois, (the KJV translates this a carnal)
a hybrid, one foot in world and the other in the Lord
They are “devoid of the Spirit”
– their lives are influenced by the spirit of the world
• they have no life in God’s Spirit
• they may not even retain their own human spirit

Jude’s final and most critical instructions: “But you, Beloved”
(some of the Greek at this point is a tangle for translators)

Jude recommends three spiritual disciplines
First, “building yourselves up in your most holy faith”
• Airline attendants tell parents, “Put your own mask on first”
◦ we need to work at building ourselves up in the faith
• “holy” has to do with what belongs to God – made sacred
• faith goes beyond believing – it is trusting God
◦ there’s no way to live at peace in God without trust
Second, “praying in the Holy Spirit”
• in my experience, this has to do with present moment awareness
◦ praying with a present moment awareness of the Spirit’s presence
◦ allowing the Spirit to pray within us (Ro. 8:26-27)
Third, “keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life”
• the “love of God” includes love of neighbor, of the stranger, and even our enemy
• this does not refer to how we feel toward people who may have wrong us, but how we treat them

Three expressions of mercy
• for those who waver – those who are unsteady in their walk with the Lord, we assist
• snatching out of the fire – maybe “fiery trials” and hardships,
or perhaps those who have falling into false teaching
• the for those whose situation may be contagious
◦ we are more susceptible to some sins than to others
◦ we need to be aware if trying to help someone recover from sin we could endanger ourselves
• some sins must be treated as an infectious disease

Conclusion: I am concerned for you

That you don’t find your Christian life impossibly difficult
But that when life is difficult, you know how to put your trust in the Lord,
to cast all you cares upon him,
and you are carried along by God’s grace
My heart’s desire is that you discover in every day, the joy of the Lord
After all, this is what he wants for you