Sermon Tone Analysis

This morning, we get to do one of my very favorite things in the wide world; we get to turn to yet another book of the Bible and work our way through it together as a fellowship, as brothers and sisters in Christ.

In the time that I’ve been here in Rich Hill, we’ve studied the books of Matthew, Judges, Ruth, Amos, Daniel, Galatians, James, Philemon, and some of the Psalms on Sunday morning and another 10 books during Wednesday Night Bible Study.

That just leaves 47 books to go through—my hope, my prayer is that the Lord grants me enough years to preach and teach through all 66 books of the Bible at least once.

This morning, then, we get to turn to yet another book of the Bible and work through it together as a fellowship, as brothers and sisters in Christ.

This marks the 20th book of the Bible we’ve studied together (if you’ve been here on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights).

And, as always, I’m so excited to open God’s Word with you, to see what the Lord has to say to us.

>This morning, we being our study of Jude.

Jude has been called “the most neglected book in the New Testament” and I think that’s probably right.

My guess is that very few of us have heard any sermons or Bible lessons from Jude.

It’s a small, easy to pass over, chapter-less book (like Philemon, and 2nd and 3rd John and Obadiah).

What’s more, it’s a little weird.

And a good chunk of it is very difficult.

One of my very favorite preachers kind of copped-out when preaching through Jude.

He said he would preach the first few verses and the last two verses, and leave it to his congregation to work out the middle verses.

We might decide that the guy’s on to something, leaving those verses in the middle alone.

And yet, I have to believe there’s something there for us.

It’ll be worth our time, to be sure.

We will be blessed by our time in this short letter—because it’s God’s Word for us today.

Now, it would not be a waste of time to read through any book of the Bible in its entirety (I can think of very few things as beneficial as reading God’s Word).

But time would not allow reading through most books of the Bible in their entirety, in one sitting, especially in the time we have allotted on a Sunday morning.

However, Jude (like Philemon) is short enough to afford us the opportunity to do just that.

It will take less than 5 minutes to read through this short letter.

So, if you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to Jude (the second-to-last book of the Bible ).

If you are able and willing to stand for the reading of God’s Word, this will take 5 minutes at most.

The eponymous letter of Jude, beginning with verse 1:

May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of God’s Holy Word!

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The Jude who wrote Jude is actually named Ἰούδας (Judas), and this is a fairly common name.

There are (at least) 4 men named Judas in the New Testament, and many more besides.

Judas was a name closely related to one of Jacob’s sons, Judah, making it extremely popular among Jewish families of the day (Judas was, at least then, a lot better than Zebulun or Naphtali or Isaachar).

However, that rascal Judas Iscariot gave the name a bad name, a bad rap.

Post-Judas Iscariot, the name Judas became much less popular.

We’re not sure the reason why, but everyone agrees (all the Bible translators, commentators, historians, etc.) that though his name is technically and literally Judas, the man who wrote this letter is known as “Jude”.

We could spend a lot of time going through all the possible options—is it this Judas or that Judas?—or we can be content with identifying him outright.

This Jude, the author of the letter, is Jude, the half-brother of Jesus.

We read in Matthew 13 about Jesus’ earthly family members:

Well, yes, Jesus’ brothers are named James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas—very common names.

Mary and Joseph weren’t altogether creative it seems; that, or they were just going for good, strong, Biblical names.

Anyhow, what’s interesting about the letter Jude has written is that there’s no mention of his biological relationship to Jesus.

We are almost certain that the Jude who wrote this letter is Jesus’ half-brother.

There is only one Jude in the New Testament who has a brother named James, and the two references to him make it clear that the two men were, along with Joseph and Simon, the half-bothers of Jesus and sons of Mary and Joseph.

And yet, how does Jude introduce himself to his readers (v.

1): Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.

Jude makes no mention of his being related to Jesus.

Don’t you think if you were Jesus’ half-brother and you were writing a letter to the Church that you’d probably play that up a bit? “Jude, the very special and most favorite brother of Jesus.”

Not so with either James or Jude.

Both men, as they write their letters to the people of God, begin in the same way:

This is no doubt intentional.

I’m sure they were proud of their biological connection to the promised Messiah, but what was most important to them was not their familial relationship; what was most important to them was their spiritual relationship.

Jude realizes that no one—not even he, the half-brother of Jesus—is exempt from the need to be converted.

It doesn’t matter who you are or who your family is; you need a personal relationship with Jesus.

You need to surrender your life to Jesus.

Neither Jude nor James nor anyone else gets a pass when it comes to believing in and belonging to Jesus by faith.

It’s the only way to belong to the family of God—no one comes to the Father except through [Jesus].

What is most important is not belonging to Jesus’ earthly family by blood, but belonging to Jesus’ eternal family by faith in Him, on the basis of the blood He shed.

We know that Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe that He was the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior during His earthly ministry.

They didn’t believe that Jesus was who He claimed to be until after the resurrection.

But they certainly came to faith in Jesus.

Faith in Jesus marked James and Jude.

It’s what was most important in their lives.

It’s how they chose to designate themselves.

At a party or a job interview, they’d name-drop that they knew Jesus, but they didn’t mention that Jesus was their brother.

They'd say, “Hey, I’m Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ.”

This is our most important identity, our primary identity.

I’m Meghann’s husband.

I’m Mike and Jan Case’s son.

I’m the pastor of this wonderful church.

I’m the guy who bails John Hough out of jail.

All very important and significant identities, but none come even close to this:

“Hey, I’m Barrett, a servant of Jesus Christ.”

>Jude, after briefly introducing himself and magnifying the name of Jesus, turns his attention to his readers.

The group who initially received his letter is not specified.

We don’t know if it’s a particular local church, or a group of Christians in a certain area.

The assumption is that this letter was to make the rounds among those of the faith.

We know that Jude is writing to a group of Christians, by how he refers to them: to those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ...

Those who are called

How did you become a Christian?

Let me tell you how each and every person becomes a Christian: they are called.

I’m believe I’m called to full-time vocational ministry; I’ve given my life to it.

I believe I’m called (you might doubt it from week-to-week).

I believe I’m called to full-time vocational ministry.

This calling was clarified when I was in High School and more so during my first few years of college.

But I was called by God at a young age.

He drew me to Himself, pulled me from the muck and the mire and set my feet upon the Rock.

He called me into a relationship with Himself when I was 7-8 years old.

It was an irresistible, unmistakable call.

So it is with you.

If you’re a Christian, if you belong to Christ by faith, it’s because He called you.

You are one of those who have been called.

Christians are often referred to as people whom God has called.

And this is an important starting-point for understanding this letter.

Every Christian has been called by God to be a Christian.

A great truth about Israel in the Old Testament was that they, too, were called by God to be His people.

Jude here writes to Christians who stand in a line of succession which stretches back to God’s call of Abraham, through today, to a wonderful future in glory.

Christians are the called people of God, inheriting the promises God made to Israel.

Loved in God the Father

This is a foundational truth, not exactly groundbreaking.

In fact, people joke that if a question is asked in Sunday School or church, there’s a pretty good chance the answer is one of the following: Jesus, God, love, or the Bible.

If you don’t know, take a shot with one of those four answers, and you might just hit something.

Notice, that Jude is saying something more profound than that Christians are loved by God (though that is gloriously, wondrously true).

Jude says that Christians are loved in God the Father.