From the Pen of Paul: Jude Exhorts Us to be Faithful (3) Jude 17-23
Note: In the articles under this heading we are examining the exhortations that Jude gave near the end of his short letter. In previous articles we have examined the first four exhortations. They are: (1) Remember the words spoken before; (2) Build yourself up on your most holy faith; (3) Pray in the Holy Spirit, and (4) Keep yourself in the love of God.
We also noted that while God provides the sphere of salvation―His love (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8)―it is also man's responsibility to “keep himself,” through faithfulness in that sphere; and a failure to do so will exclude one from the provisions of salvation. In other words, human agency is involved! God provides the power, His word; we must supply the faith (I Pet. 1:5). But lest we might think that we somehow earn our salvation due to this human agency, we need to heed carefully Jude's next exhortation.
Exhortation #5: “Look for the mercy of our Lord.” The Christian's walk, our responsibility to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14), requires that we must always be looking forward. Paul said, “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before” (Phil. 3:13). He told Titus that we are to be living “soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11-13). Peter also exhorts us to look forward, “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, as we “look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness” (II Pet. 3:12-14).
This is specially true as it pertains to eternal life and mercy. Eternal life is not something we earn; it is graciously given to us when we meet the terms by which it is given (Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:8-9). Therefore, the prayer which Paul prayed on behalf of Onesiphorus should also be our prayer for ourselves. He prayed, “The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that day” (II Tim. 1:18).
Jude's final exhortation has to do with what we can do to save others who are in danger.
Exhortation #6: “Be compassionate, with fear” (vv. 22-23). We need to show this compassion toward others first, for our own sakes; God will not show mercy when we have not shown mercy (Matt. 5:7; James 2:13). And secondly, we need to show this compassion for the sake of those who are in danger. Compassion is one of the ingredients that we need to cause us to move into action (Matt. 9:36-38). But where does fear come in? We should fear lest we be caught up in the same error of those we are trying to help (Gal. 6:1). If we have this fear, we will be motivated to persuade those who are in danger of being lost (II Cor. 5:10-11).
Note also that different people must be dealt with in different ways depending on their condition. Some may be saved by compassion, while others must be snatched hastily out of the fire. But in all situations, be careful that we do not partake of other men's sins; instead we are to “hate even the garment spotted by the flesh (sin)”
Here then are Jude's final exhortations for his readers, and us, to be faithful. Remember the warnings that the Apostles gave of the ungodly; build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in accordance with the Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, and look for the mercy of the Lord; be compassionate with fear. These exhortations might easily be called, “Jude's exhortations to faithfulness,” “ How to keep from falling,” “How to keep from being mislead by the filthy dreamers,” or “How to contend earnestly for the faith”. Can you and I not see the same need for these same exhortations today? We still face similar dangers; we still desire the same blessings that were promised to those to whom Jude wrote these words of exhortation.
May Jude's words serve as a guide for us today. Imagine the blessedness of being a part of a congregation in which every member heeds these exhortations! Imagine the blessedness of seeing everyone at Northeast receiving the mercy of the Lord on that day! Are YOU keeping YOURSELF in the love of God by keeping His commandments? (I John 2:4-5; 5:3).
—Paul Wilmoth
From the Preacher’s Viewpoint. . .
“Should Christians observe the Sabbath? I was reared to observe Sunday as the Lord’s Day.”
History shows that the observance of the first day of the week started with Jesus Christ and not with the Catholics and other denominational people.
Luke says that upon the first day of the week the disciples came together to worship (Acts 20:7). This was A.D. 60. In A.D. 96 John said he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10). In A.D. 120 Barnabas said they keep the eighth day with joyfulness. He further says that this was the day on which Jesus rose again. In A.D. 140 Justin Martyr said: “But Sunday is the day which we all hold our common assembly, because Jesus Christ, our Savior, on the same day rose from the dead.” In A.D. 180 Bardesanes said: “On one day the first of the week, we assemble ourselves together.” In A.D. 194 Clement of Alexandria, Egypt says they kept the Lord’s Day. In A.D. 200 Tertullian of Africa said, “We solemnize the day after Saturday in contradiction to those who call this day their Sabbath.” In A.D. 250 Cyprin said they observed the eighth day, the first day after the Sabbath called the Lord’s Day.
In A.D. 270 Anatolius, who lived in Asia Minor, said they regarded the Lord’s Day and celebrated on that day because it was on this day that Christ arose. In A.D. 306, Peter, a bishop in Alexandria, Egypt said they celebrated the Lord’s Day because it was on this day that Christ was resurrected. If space would permit, we could by history run the observance of the first day of the week by Christians all the way to the present time.
The Sabbath was given primarily to the Jewish nation and they were to keep it and observe it (Exod. 20:8-11). We have a bunch of Gentiles trying to practice part of the Jews’ religion in that they try to observe the Sabbath. They do not observe it as did the Jews of old, even though they say they do. I challenge them to defend their so-called observance of it. People who observe the Sabbath disobey Christ and His will and cannot please Him in so doing.
The first day of the week or Sunday is the day God has specified for Christians to observe (Acts 20:7; I Cor. 16:1-2; Rev. 1:10). The command to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy is not found in the New Testament. No apostle ever observed it. No inspired man in the New Testament ever taught it was to be observed. Christ did not teach it was to be observed by the church and Christians.
The first day of the week is the high day for Christians, and this is taught throughout the New Testament. Those who observe the Sabbath know that it will not stand in the light of the New Testament. If there is one that believes it will, then let him step forth.
—Malcolm L. Hill