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February 12 - Jude · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Thursday, it's the 12th of
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  February and I'm so glad to have your company as today we are
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  going to be cracking open a brand new book of the Bible, the
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  second last book in your Bible on your shelf or in your hot
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  little hand. That is the book of Jude.
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  And we are going to spend some time in this book finishing It's
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  oh, today. Yeah.
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  It's only 1 chapter long. It's a very short book.
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  And Jude is a book that you probably have not spent a lot of
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  time looking at. A lot of people say, you know,
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  some of these letters just obscurely hidden in the back of
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  the New Testament and you don't see them in any Bible study kind
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  of syllabus or church reading plan.
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  Aha. We have thwarted that trend,
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  haven't we friends? Here we are reading this book of
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  Jude. So who is this Jude character
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  that we're hearing from? Well, Jude, you might remember
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  Jesus brother named James, who was one of the leaders in the
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  Jerusalem church. Well, Jude is another brother of
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  Jesus. He is a little brother of James
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  and Jesus and he is one of the leaders of this community.
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  In fact, it's these siblings, these brothers of Jesus, who
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  really did for generations lead the church in Jerusalem.
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  In fact, it's one of Jude's grandsons who continues to lead
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  the church years and years later.
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  So these faithful men whose lives were turned upside down by
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  their brother spent their lives in service of him and his legacy
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  and the Kingdom that he showed them.
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  Ah, just incredible. And so this book that he's
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  writing, this letter that we're going to read today is written
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  to this group of people who are confused because Paul wrote all
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  these letters and in them he spoke about the Holy Spirit,
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  inspiring people with the knowledge of truth.
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  And so now some itinerant preachers are walking around the
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  countryside spruiking their own message that may seem a little
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  bit self centred because it is. And they're claiming this direct
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  divine inspiration due to saying if some of these Bros come and
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  start preaching to you and it doesn't sound right, that's
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  because it isn't. And encouraging people to stay
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  true to their core beliefs and not be swayed by people coming
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  along and preaching things that are not based in the truth and
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  that the Holy Spirit in fact did not reveal to them.
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  So it is a good reminder for us that when we hear people with
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  the myriad of voices that we hear today telling us things
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  that don't quite stack up with what we know to be true about
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  Jesus, that we can stay true to the faith that we know to be
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  true. So let us read this
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  encouragement today, friends, as we read together the book of
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  Jude. This letter is from Jude, a
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  slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.
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  I am writing to all who have been called by God the Father,
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  who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ.
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  May God give you more and more mercy, peace and love.
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  Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about
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  the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write
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  about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has
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  entrusted once for all time to his holy people.
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  I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way
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  into your churches, saying that God's marvellous grace allows us
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  to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people
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  was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and
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  Lord Jesus Christ. So I want to remind you, though
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  you already know these things, that Jesus first rescued the
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  nation of Israel from Egypt, but later he destroyed those who did
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  not remain faithful. And I remind you of the angels
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  who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave
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  them, but left the place where they belonged.
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  God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness,
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  waiting for the great day of judgement.
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  And don't forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbouring
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  towns, which were filled with immorality of every kind of
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  sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by
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  fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God's
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  judgement. In the same way, these people
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  who claim authority from their dreams, live immoral lives, defy
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  authority and scoff at supernatural beings.
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  But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not
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  dare accuse the devil of blasphemy but simply said the
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  Lord rebuke you. This took place when Michael was
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  arguing with the devil about Moses body.
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  But those people scoff at things they do not understand like
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  unthinking animals. They do whatever their instincts
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  tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction.
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  What sorrow awaits them, for they follow in the footsteps of
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  Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they deceive people
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  for money, and like Cora, they perish in their rebellion.
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  When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals
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  commemorating the Lord's love, they are like dangerous reefs
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  that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless
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  shepherds who care only for themselves.
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  They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any
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  rain. They are like trees in autumn
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  that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been
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  pulled up by the roots. They are like wild waves of the
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  sea, turning up the foam of their shameful deeds.
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  They are like wandering stars doomed forever to blackest
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  darkness. Enoch, who lived in the 7th
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  generation after Adam, prophesied about these people.
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  He said, listen, the Lord is coming with countless thousands
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  of His holy ones to execute judgement on the people of the
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  world. He will convict every person of
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  all the ungodly things they have done, and for all the insults
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  that ungodly sinners have spoke against Him.
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  These people are grumblers and complainers, living only to
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  satisfy their desires. They brag loudly about
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  themselves, and they flatter others to get what they want.
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  But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of
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  our Lord Jesus Christ predicted. They told you that in the last
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  times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to
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  satisfy their ungodly desires. These people are the ones who
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  are creating divisions among you.
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  They follow their natural instincts because they do not
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  have God's Spirit in them. But you, dear friends, must
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  build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of
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  the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ,
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  who will bring you eternal life. In this way you will keep
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  yourselves safe in God's love, and you must show mercy to those
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  whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them
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  from the flames of judgement. Show mercy to still others, but
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  do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their
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  lives. Now all glory to God who is able
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  to keep you from falling away, and will bring you with great
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  joy into His glorious presence without a single fault.
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  All glory to Him who alone is God our Saviour, through Jesus
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  Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power and
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  authority are His before all time and in the present and
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  beyond all time. Amen.
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  Oh Lord, thank you that your message for us is just so
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  wonderful and it doesn't need to be improved with falsehood, but
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  that you bring us this gift of forgiveness and life and light
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  and love and inclusion and transformation.
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  But that means that we can't just indulge whatever it is that
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  our desires tell us to, but that we are called to a different way
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  of being. So Lord, when people try to
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  convince us of things that we know are not of You, Lord, I
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  pray that you hold us true to Your truth.
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  Keep us in Your embrace, and help us to encourage each other
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  to spur one another on in faith in You.
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  Ah, let those be our words to each other, words of Your truth
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  and Your encouragement and Your grace.
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  And Lord, that even when we make mistakes and we mess up here,
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  you assure us that you will present us without a single
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  fault in God's glorious presence.
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  Oh, you are the best, and we love you.
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  And we pray all of this in your wonderful name, Jesus, Amen.