Sermon: Life Worth Living

All right, this morning we're going to look at Jude, just verses one, uh, through two. What we're going to do is spend four weeks here in the book of Jude, uh, and then we're gonna return back to Hebrews. So we're gonna do this little book together before we go back to Hebrews together here in the full. Let's pray before we open Jude together.

Father, we do not take it for granted as we sit here and stand here this morning that we're a God who speaks, forgive us, that so often we do take it for granted, but we don't want to take it for granted this morning. Thank you that you have given us this word that it is living inactive, sharper than any two edged sword. We prayed this morning that it would be living inactive in our midst, that you would help our spirits be inclined to your spirit,

that you would help our ears to hear your voice, and you would help our hearts to be fertile ground for the implanting of your word. Speak to us, we pray in Christ's holy name. Amen. Jude, there's only one chapter in the book, Jude chapter one and verses one through two, we're looking at this morning. This is a holy iner, sufficient word of God, Jude, servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called beloved and God the Father,

and kept for Jesus Christ. May mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you. Well, the grass withers and the flower fades. The word of God is forever. Thanks be to God. Amen.

This little book is often called the Most Neglected book in the New Testament. It's short and, and frankly, it's, it's a strange book. There are some weird things in this book, uh, uh, we're going to see as we go through it together. But it's a sad reality, at least to me, that this is an often neglected book because it, it packs a powerful punch and it has a very timely word. I think for our day. If we were to take the theme of the book of Jude and say,

what is the book of Jude about? The theme is this. You are to contend for the faith, and that's a very relevant command for you. And I contend for the faith. We have too few Christians, too few churches that are contending for the faith. And so we're going to look at that together over these four weeks. It's what we need to hear, that we have a faith that's worth clinging to, that we have a faith that is worth living. And I wanna look at that,

especially this morning, a faithful life worth living. I want you to see this, this morning that we have been given a life that is worth living. And to do that though, I need to give you a little context for what is happening here, who, Judas and what he's writing, who he's writing to, and the context for the book. So a little context. First, Jude is writing what seems to be, not to one church, but to a multitude of churches,

maybe a collection of churches in a given area. And at least one church, maybe multiple churches have been disrupted by heresy coming into their midst. There are heretics that are teaching a false gospel. And so what Jude is doing is he's equipping these saints to face the challenge that has come into their midst, contend for the faith. He's telling them very relevant. So let's take a look in these two verses. What I want us to see this morning is how Jude identifies himself,

and then secondly, how he identifies the Christian. And lastly, just quickly his prayer for them. So how he identifies himself, how he identifies the Christian, and then quickly just the prayer that he prays for them. Jude first identifies himself. Notice how he does this. He does this by speaking about himself in relation to different people. He says that he is related to the Lord Jesus Christ and James, who he calls his brother Jesus Christ,

and James, who he calls his brother. Now, what you need to know is that Jude can also be translated as Judas, so Jude or Judas. So some think this was one of the 12 disciples. This was not the more infamous Judas that betrayed Juda Jesus, but this was Judas of James, uh, the less prominent of the two Judas. But Judas of James doesn't mean that Judas was the brother of James. Judas of James means that Judas was the son of James.

And here Judas says that he is the brother of James. Others point to Judas Barabis, who is en listed in Acts 15, but we don't have anything there in Acts 15 that says that, that Judas, a Barabbas was a, a brother of James or had a brother whose name was James. So who is this? Well, notice that Judas simply mentions James here as if there is no need to explain who James is, it implies that the recipients of this letter would at least be familiar with

this James. And there is a famous James in the early church in doing biblical interpretation. This is always a key When you're interpreting a passage, usually the simplest answer is the right answer, the best answer. And we know Jesus had a handful of biological brothers, and Mark six tells us that one of them had the name James, and one of them had the name of Judas or Jude. And so like most, I'm convinced that Jude here is a brother of James,

and both James and Jude are biological brothers of Jesus. Now, if that's the case, you say, well, Jason, why doesn't he mention that he's the brother of Jesus? That would seem to hold some weight. That would seem to matter. What's interesting is that James in his epistle, he doesn't do it either. And they, they both appear not to do this purposefully. They're making a point. Biological relation, doesn't matter. Jesus himself said,

my mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and they do it. John tells us in John seven that Jesus brothers didn't initially believe in him. In fact, they will ridicule him and they will mock him. Mark tells us in Mark three that they went to go seize Jesus because they believed that he was out of his mind. It's not enough to be related to Jesus biologically.

Even a brother of Jesus had to be converted matters is not D n a, but the fact that as he summarizes later, that he surrendered to Jesus as his master. And Lord, as he says in verse four,

Jesus is his master. Jesus is his Lord. And he wants you to know that first and foremost,

like James, it's most likely that Judas or Jude came to saving faith after the resurrection of Jesus, that he had an encounter with the resurrected Jesus. And from then on, he did not see himself primarily as a brother of Jesus. But as he says, he sees himself as a servant of Jesus, servant of Jesus, brother of James.

Now that sounds maybe a little bit like a setback servant of Jesus. That word servant is a word that many of you know. In the Greek, it's a word do loss, and the e s v translates it as servant. And that's fine. It's within the range of meaning for that word. In fact, the e s v goes out of its way. If you look at the beginning of your e s v Bibles, then the preface of the E S V, they will take a whole section to explain why it is that they translate,

do loss as servant in the New Testament. More often than not. And, and the reason, as you can imagine is because of our American context. But, but I think it steals away from what James is actually saying As he Extends this greeting to these Churches That much more offensive and abrasive word is more what He's Getting At. I'm a slave of Jesus Christ, a slave. I may feel like a step backwards from brother to slave. Ah, but, but,

But what Jude is pointing out is this is a happy slavery. He is one who has been bought for, he is one who has been paid for by the very blood of his master himself. And This master does him no wrong.

And so he's happy. He called a slave of Jesus Christ. He Sees his life as no longer his own. See outside of Christ. That makes no sense. And I understand that. I remember the days that I was around Christians and they would talk about how they were submitted to Christ as Lord and King. And you would hear them say things like, oh, my life is not my own. I just live for his praise and glory. And it sounds so Silly and oppressive,

But in Christ, it is incredibly refreshing. I'm not my own. I belong to another.

The World laughs at that. But Jude's not ashamed. He's not ashamed of belonging to Christ, of being under Christ's authority because there is no happier place to be. He knows that this is a life that's actually worth living.

Never, never be ashamed of belonging to Christ.

Teenagers, Young men and young women Never be ashamed of belonging to Christ.

Those of you in the workplace, I, it feels like there's a loss if you ever say that you belong to Christ, that you are Christian, a Christ one

and Wago, promotion and position and prestige. Never be ashamed of Christ.

Master seems odd. And our devotion to him seems odd. That we would sacrifice everything for him. That we would live our lives for him no matter what the world thinks of belonging to another, serving another, being defined by another, being owned by another. You and I are never be ashamed to call ourselves a Christian, one who belongs to Christ. And his

recent years, I've thought often that much of the, the Western world's issues these days and its collapse, seeming collapse. It's just a, a disregard or a desire not to be under anyone or anything.

We don't want anyone over us. This is independency and individualism. We don't want governmental authorities over us. We don't want ecclesial authorities over us. We don't want morality over us. We don't want law and order over us. We don't want parents over us.

No one's gonna be my boss. And then you have the Christians say in the midst of all this, I'm a slave of Jesus Christ. It's odd, really odd in this world.

David Brooks, who I don't always agree with, had a very helpful column in the New York Times this week. Maybe some of you read it, either. He entitled it, Hey America Grow up. And he points out that it, it used to be that people derived their self-worth from their relationship with God or from their ability to be, as he says, a winner in the marketplace. But in the 1960s and following, there was a seed change. And we began to embrace what has been labeled the therapeutic

culture so that now our self-worth now depends upon our subjective feelings. Do I like myself? Do I feel good about myself?

And this pushes as Brooks rightfully points out one, one n word to become self-absorbed and to become self-obsessed. It's not just Christians that are seeing this notice. Jude is Christ absorbed and he is Christ obsessed. And there is such rest in this. There is incredible freedom in this. He knows he has worth because Christ died for him. He knows that he has purpose in this world because he has been called to serve.

His life matters because it is not his own. It actually matters eternally. It is a very strange thing, the Christian truth. The gospel turns everything upside down. You have to lose your life to gain it.

You have to lose everything to gain everything. You have to be about another to find fulfillment yourself.

Thomas Brooks, the Puritan said this. He said, here is a wonder God is on high. And yet the higher a man lifts himself, the farther he is from God. And the lower a man humbles himself, the near he is to God,

slave of Jesus Christ.

Christian, your identity. It's not tied up with changing things of this world.

It's tied up with the eternal Christ.

You are what he has made you and you are what he has declared you to be. Being a slave of Christ is truly free. That's how he views himself. Now, Jude's going to address these Christians that they are in a mess. There are hard things in this world. He's not denying that. The Christian knows this life is filled with problems even in church, maybe especially in the church. And so Jude addresses them. He reminds them of three things that that mark you as a

Christian. Three things. You are those who are called those who are beloved by God, and those who are kept for Jesus Christ called loved, kept first Christians are those who are called. That's first. Not those who searched or found or even believed. No, you can't. You can only search. You can only be found. You can only believe at first you have been called. And so he begins with calling my sheep the Lord. Jesus said, hear my voice. I know them and they know me.

He calls by his word as it goes out. It's going out this morning. You hear his call and we respond

of, I've often said, uh, Leah, my wife over the years, uh, that, uh, I have to be the most blessed man in the history of humanity. I boggles my mind, uh, that a woman so beautiful and intelligent and godly and wise would choose me. Say, well, Jason, it's probably 'cause you sought after her. I didn't. Contrary to what she will tell you, she sought after me. Uh, everyone knows that if you ask somebody of the opposite sex to go on a walk with

you at a park that's asking them out on a date, she sought me,

boggles my mind. Maybe it boggles her mind this morning,

boggles my mind even more except God sought me.

And every Christian in this room has to say the same thing. He sought me

even before you had a thought of him. He sought you

even before you were born. He sought you,

even the sinner that you are. He sought you.

He called you to himself.

Gift

sheep. Hear my voice. Jesus said,

I grew up, uh, when kids used to play outside and uh, I can remember many a nights on Drawbridge Street and Sherwood neighborhood and night would descend and it would get dark. And I would hear in that darkness, Jason, it's time to come home.

It was Call of Love. It was a call of protection. It was a, a call of assurance.

Maybe today is a bad day. Maybe this has been a bad week. Maybe this has been a bad month. Maybe this has been a bad summer.

And so the Christian says to themselves, over and over, I've been cold. I've been cold. He called me again. Think of the context. Jude is encouraging them. He's writing to a church filled with trial. They are disrupted by heretics. They're seized by division. So he reminds them, God called you. And why were they called? Because as Jude says, they are the beloved in God, the Father. We were called and we are loved. In the Old Testament, these two things always go together.

And it's always in reference to Israel. They are the called people of God and they are the beloved of God. And now here is Jew attributing this to the church, to you and I. The church is the Israel of the New Covenant. As Israel was the church of the old covenant, you're cold and you're loved. Notice that the act of person is God. Were acted upon. Christians are the recipients beloved in God the Father. He's the actor. Now,

why did he choose to call you? Why? The same reason he chose to call, to call Israel a wonderful text. And Deuteronomy seven, where Moses is speaking on behalf of God to the people. And he will say to the nation of Israel, who say, for you are a people, holy to the Lord your God, the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasure possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. And the question becomes,

why I'm me? Why us?

And Moses simply says, because God loved you.

He loved you. You are beloved. But notice this. It's not just that we are beloved by God the Father, the preposition there is in God the Father. We receive his love, but it's even more than that. We're surrounded by his love. We're encompassed by his love. We, we dwell, we habitat, we we live in His love.

Back in the early 1990s, some of you will remember this, uh, there was a scientific, supposedly scientific, pseudo-scientific endeavor called biosphere two,

where they constructed these

biodomes on three acres of land in the Arizona desert. And these were to be self-sufficient, self propagating domes, and eight people committed to going in and living within these domes with no influence from the outside world and needing nothing from the outside world and just kind of living in these domes supposedly they were going to for the rest of their lives. And it was a colossal failure. They all left within two years.

And even in those two years, they had to be delivered all kinds of food and had to be delivered. All kinds of medicine and batteries, even just a failure. The biosphere could not sufficiently provide for them. Everywhere they walked though, they, they were in this biosphere for those two years. They take a step here, they're in the biosphere, they take a step here, they're in the biosphere. Until eventually they stepped outside the biosphere.

Our sphere is sufficient. The Christian lives in the sphere of God's love.

You can't step outside of it. And we never need more outside of it. It's fully sufficient for all that you and I need to sustain us in this world and in the world to come. Listen, you can take a step that way and you're still in his love. You can take a step this way and you're still in his love. You can take a step in parenting. You're still in his love. You can take a step from singleness to marriage, and you are still in his love.

You can take a step in grief and sorrow and disease and pain, and you're still in his love. You can't shake his love. It's an impossibility. Not even your sin can shake his love.

He'll never remove you from his love, nor remove his love from you. You dwell in it forever.

Now, it doesn't mean it's always easy.

I'll have these moments where it feels like all the world is set against us. It

feels like it'd be better just to go back to bed rather than go on with the day, even though the day hasn't even started.

But here's our hope, this, this is our encouragement. This is our peace. We are the beloved God, the Father.

And that truth, it safeguards the heart in the midst of what is a, an often frustrating and turbulent and trying world more than anything else, this safeguards the heart.

I'm beloved and God is for me in Christ.

This world cannot have me. I belong to another and dwell love as God says through Jeremiah, I have loved you with an everlasting love and purchased as Jude goes on to say, kept for Jesus Christ called loved, kept called loved, kept

notice that our entire life is surrounded by his goodness. In the past, you were called in the present, you are loved. In the future, you are kept. You're hemmed in on every side of your life by his goodness. And these three truths, they gotta keep going around in your brain. You gotta keep telling yourself this, especially discouraged Christians, weary Christians, you need to keep saying this to yourself. Depressed Christians struggling with sin. Christians, raise your hand.

Yep. Keep telling yourself these three things called I'm loved, I'm kept

called, loved, kept

called, loved, kept

what that's going through your brain all day today called loved, kept,

kept until when, till the very end.

In fact, Jude will use this word, kept just in this short little book. He will use it four times just to make it crystal clear.

There's nothing to fear ultimately or kept. He's seeking to be crystal clear to a church that is troubled.

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting with a man here in the area. I was doing business with his company. And uh, it often happens. He said, well, what do you do for a job? And I gladly and happily said, I'm a pastor. Now you get one of three, three responses when you say that. Uh, the one response is quick and energetic, and it is something like, oh, I'm a Christian too. What church do you pastor? The less enthusiastic response is usually much slower,

and it's somehow, let's change the conversation. The third response is what this man gave. And it's something a little bit in between, and it goes something along the lines of this. And this is how this man did it. He said, ah, I used to go to church. I don't go anymore. And usually when that's the comment, there's some pain there usually as it was with this man. As I began to ask him questions of him, his eyes began to fill with tears and explained

his story and said that he had been part of two different churches. And in both of those churches, the pastors that had moral failings, and then he quickly added, I'm sure you're not one of those.

He was done with church cost too much.

He doesn't know. And I don't think the Lord's done with him. I keep praying for him regularly that he's not done with church.

This church or churches that Jude is writing to or experiencing gross sin heresy division,

they're set against each other. It could easily be dismissed as not worth it. The people in it not worth it. But Jude, at the outset, has reminded them, or God keeps his people. The God who called you loves you, and the God who loves you keeps you until the end. Our God is not in the habit of leaving his work unfinished. We have that great golden chain of salvation in Romans eight, where we're told that those whom he before knew he predestined,

and those whom he predestined, he called, and those whom he called he justified, and those whom he justified, he glorified. His plan and his purpose for bringing us to Christ in the end cannot be thwarted. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. That is, they cannot. He keeps his own. We're the object of God's love. He can no more abandon us than deny who He is. We are called, we're loved, we're kept. We are His,

and he is ours forevermore that can't be undone,

which leads Jude to simply end his greeting with a hopeful prayer. He says, may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. You see, it's already theirs. They already have mercy. They already have peace. They already have love. He's just praying that it be multiplied.

Grab more of it, experience more of it. When you have Christ, you have all of his benefits. This mercy is yours. This peace is yours. This love is yours. Just have more of it.

God's mercy is theirs. This peace and theirs is love.

It be found among us. More and more. Those who are called loved and kept

was thinking As we're heading into this fall, I, I hope it's multiplied among us more and more. Do you pray that for one another? It's a good prayer that he ends with here. Pray that for our church, that we multiply in these ways, mercy and peace and love,

that we recognize together that our lives are not our own, that we are slaves of Christ, that we actually have a reason for laboring together and living this life. That there is reason to engage

so easy to get your eye off the ball as you head into the fold. A lot of good things, a lot of bad things.

This is the life worth living

one that revolves around this Christ where everything is shaped by this Christ, where you see yourself as a slave of this Christ, where you know that you've been called by this Christ, you've been loved by this Christ, and that you are kept by this Christ. That's a life worth living this fall

next year till the very end,

and we get to do it together. That's a gift. Let's pray.

Our Father, we are thankful.

You are a God who has loved us in Christ. We have no reason to boast that you are the one who calls. You're the one who provides, and you're the one who keeps us. Until that last day, oh, may we abound more and more the things which we have been called to and to live for your glory and for your praise. Christ's name, amen.