Through the Bible Day by Day Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: “CONTEND EARNESTLY FOR THE FAITH” Jud_1:1-11 Kept is the keynote of this Epistle. It occurs in Jud_1:1; Jud_1:6; Jud_1:21, and in another form in Jud_1:24. Many evil doctrines and practices were intruding into the Church. Certain persons had crept in, who quoted the mercy of God as an excuse for immorality and practically disowned the teachings of the Lord Jesus. In contrast with these were the disciples whom Jude addresses and who owned the Lord Jesus as their beloved “Despot,” (the Greek for Master, Jud_1:4, r.v.) They were kept for him, as the others were kept in chains. Let us also keep ourselves in the love of God, Jud_1:21. It is much easier to live consistently in hours of storm than in hours of ease. Let us be warned against drifting back from our first faith. Let us take heed from the fate of fallen angels, of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Cain and Balaam, of Korah and others. Let us watch and pray and earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints, Jud_1:3, bearing it through the world as the pilgrim host bore the sacred vessels in the days of Ezra. See Ezr_8:28. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; BEWARE OF THE TOUCH OF THE UNGODLY Jud_1:12-25 What traps and pitfalls beset us! How many have fallen who had as good or a better chance than we! The angels kept not their first estate; Adam, though created in innocency, fell; Cain was rejected; Balaam, who saw with open eyes, was slain; Korah, who had carried a censer filled with holy fire, was hurled into the abyss! How can we expect to stand! Be of good cheer! He is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless, Jud_1:24. In the succession of terrible metaphors in Jud_1:12-13, notice that in each case there is promise without fulfillment and appearance without reality. Such is much of the Christian profession of the present day. And from time to time, as Enoch foretold, the day of the Lord comes, with its retribution for all such. The four exquisite admonitions of Jud_1:20-21 are worth pondering. Keep yourselves in the main current of God’s love. Build your character after the likeness of Christ. Pray in the Holy Spirit; keep at the oriel window of hope. Christ is able to keep, and when at last we are presented by Him to the Father, we shall realize how much we owe Him. Through the Bible Day by Day by F.B. Meyer Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission. Bible Hub |
    |