Sermon Tone Analysis

Do you know who you are?

Last time we looked in an introductory way at this letter from Jude.

We came away understanding that he was writing to believers in order to warn them about false teachers who are in the church.

He gave us a better understanding of the identifying marks of the false teachers and because of the certainty of their presence his aim is that true believers will contend for the faith.

After describing these false teachers and disclosing their end he shows what contending for the faith looks like beginning in v.17 and then closes the letter with a magnificent doxology that reinforces for the true believer that Christ will in fact keep them.

We are secure in Christ.

This reminds me of the letter to the churches in Revelation, 2:2 where the church at Ephesus put those who called apostles to the test; or the church at Smyrna in v.9; Christ commends them for identifying the false teachers and dealing with them.

They were in a sense contending for the faith.

They were doing what Jude tells believers to do in our text.

So, let’s get started.

In order for us to be able to contend for the faith effectively, successfully we need to ensure that we know our identity in Christ.

Why?

Because one of the tactics of false teachers/teaching is their attempt to get you to doubt your salvation.

What they might say is that you need something more in order to have the real thing.

In other words, they will say that you have to have this or that experience if you really want to know the Lord.

Have you been slain in the spirit, spoken in tongues?

If not then you are missing out on something that you need if you want to be close to the Lord.

They add to what the Bible requires for a right relationship with the Lord.

They make you feel like you have missed it.

You might get depressed or discouraged in your faith.

That is one way they make shipwreck the faith of some who just don't get it.

But anything that adds to the gospel is a different gospel.

IN essence what they are saying is knowing Jesus by faith is not enough.

You must have these other things if you are going to go deep spiritually.

This is what denying Christ looks like.

It is what the serpent tempted Eve with.

She was missing out on truly being like God by not partaking of the fruit.

She bought into it and sinned as a result.

Now, if you are completely convinced Jesus is enough.

He is all you need for salvation and a godly life, then their teaching will not tempt you.

It is only as a person thinks Jesus is not enough that they are swayed by this false teaching.

Here is what you are contending with.

These people rely on their dreams, v.8 as their authority.

Their visions or 'new revelation' supersede the teaching of Scripture.

In that way they also deny the Lord who is the Living Word.

They will dismiss your reference to the Bible as insufficient and inferior to their revelation or experience.

But we must keep coming back to the Scripture as our authority.

Everything else is purely subjective.

What would make their experience more authoritative than mine?

So, again, this is why we must be convinced of our own identity in Christ as sufficient or we will soon be blown about by the shifting winds and waves of whatever spiritual fad is out there.

This must be what Paul was speaking of in , esp. 14 when he records that list of gifts to the church so that believers will not be caught by the false teachers and tossed about like a boat on the rough waves of the sea.

What I want you to marvel in, to think about and fill your mind with is this fantastic description of who he is writing to.

This is describing any believer that ever lived.

It is describing you if you are truly born again.

We are:

(I'm going in the order of the KJV rather than the GK as I teach her

Beloved/sanctified in God the Father

Kept - we must consider Jesus words in .

Called

It doesn’t get better than that.

You cannot get any more secure in Christ than that.

Jude is talking about the believers identity in Christ.

He is trying combat the teaching that you need some experience or some more knowledge in order to be secure in the Lord, to know that you really know Him.

notice then what Jude tells us.

A. We are beloved in God the Father.

I'm going to take the word 'beloved' for two reasons: 1.

The GNT gives this reading an 'A' rating meaning they are certain this is the correct one.

And 2. This makes the most sense in the context especially if you understand that the words 'beloved' and 'kept' are subordinate to the noun 'called'.

In short, the called are beloved and kept.

The word 'sanctified would work, but it is already embedded in the meaning of 'called.'

Remember the words “he who began a good work in you (called) will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Kept).”

So then what does Jude mean when he says 'beloved in God the Father?' Obviously it is a term of endearment.

It means to esteem or love directing the will at or in someone.

We see this most clearly in the witness from heaven regarding Jesus at His baptism, "this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."

And also at the transfiguration the voice out of the cloud said to Peter, James and John 'This is my Beloved Son, hear Him."

We also know that right after the testament at Jesus baptism He was led out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

with what did he tempt Him? His identity.

He said "If you are the Son of God, then . . .

"

It is the same here in our text with Jude.

We see the love of God for us most clearly in the cross of Jesus Christ -; .

Whenever you are doubting God's love for you then you have only to look at the cross to see the truth.

You need nothing more than the cross to convince you that God, Jesus love you.

You don't need an experience or more revelation.

If you do you show you don’t understand this.

Paul when he was arguing in his defense with the Corinthians stated that he preached the cross of Christ only.

Nothing more and nothing less.

Listen to these words from Paul, , , .

He elevates the cross as completely sufficient.

What did he say it was in v.24 "the power of God and the wisdom of God."

Now I have one more thought that comes from Paul in I can't look at this passage without being amazed at the fathomless grace of God given to us in Christ.

But this verse encapsulates it all in these vss.

3-10.

You and I are blessed, "made accepted" in KJV in the Beloved.

That is, in Christ.

You don't need anything or anyone else to obtain acceptance in God.

Noticeably, it was the pharisees who demanded more revelation, more signs.

Jesus deeds and teachings were not enough for them.

Note the similarity here.

Note also they continually appealed to their traditions for authority, and relegated the Scripture subordinate to their revelation.

These are the same things the false teachers of Jude's day as well as those of today do.

Recognize then, that if you know Christ as your savior, you are beloved of God.

In God.

Therefore, do not let anyone tell you that you need something more.

What more can there be than to be loved by God.

To say that you need more is to say God's love demonstrated in the cross of Christ is not enough.

That is calling God a liar.

That is blasphemy.

Now if the love of God is not enough, then lets take a look at the second point of identity,

Now if the love of God is not enough, then lets take a look at the second point of identity,

B. kept by or For Jesus Christ.

the word order in the Greek is "in Jesus Christ having been kept"