Saturday – December 9, 2023, Kislev 26, 5784
Greetings dear saints of God, brothers and sisters in Christ and welcome back to the study of the Bible Book of Jude. Please take a moment and share all of these teachings as widely as possible by every means available to you. Thank you so much for sharing. Thanksgiving is behind us and Christmas as well as the New Year is looming just ahead. It is a good time to reflect upon 2023 and whether or not we did the will of God for our lives. Is the Kingdom of God truly first or something we get too as we can? Our assignments in the Kingdom of God are far more than our Church time and “quiet time”. These are the places of enlightenment and where the Lord steers our day, our week, our life. I am not talking about Him controlling us like puppets but sharing with us His will for today, this week, our life.
If you have been praying about year-end giving, talk to the Lord about this Ministry. Perhaps the Lord is leading you to financially partner with us, we certainly will welcome you aboard. If you are looking for great gifts for Christmas don’t forget that I have several books available on Amazon.com/books, search for Dr. David R. Wood or the title if you are familiar with these books.
Now let’s turn our attention to our primary Bible text found (you guessed it) in this wonderful Book of Jude.
Jude 1:1-4 (KJV)
1 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:
2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
As you will recall Jude lived in the same household as Jesus before He entered His earthly Ministry. Interestingly enough he does not mention that at all. I am sure we all recognize that could become or be a real point of pride. Jude is addressing this letter to a specific group of people as noted in verse one. Let’s look at this in another version of Scripture.
Jude 1:1 (NIV)
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:
You probably noticed that in the KJV, the word “called” was just sort of dangling at the end. Other translations put the “called” in what seems to be the logical place. All are called, not all respond, but then he narrows who the letter is directed to those who “are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ”. This Bible Book of Jude speaks to faith and unbelief, even the controversial topic of backsliding (going from saved to unsaved). Faith is the indispensable factor in pleasing God (Hebrews 11:6). Unbelief or disbelief is an anathema (abhorrence, abomination, loathing, curse) to God. He (God) doesn’t like it anymore when people don’t believe Him then you and I like it when people don’t believe us.
Before closing for this week, I want to spend just a little time on love found in the second verse. We have been talking about the mercy of God, the peace of God (and ours) and now we come to love. This love is agapē (Greek transliterated to English), the same love in our spirit (fruit) and the same as who God is and what God produces.
1 John 4:8 (KJV)
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
Galatians 5:22 (KJV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
The only way we can be and produce this love is by being born again which is essentially what the a portion of 1 John 4:8 is telling us.
Lord willing, I will pick up right here next week. Remember God is nothing but good, just, and cannot lie.
By: Dr. David R. Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
2 Chronicles 20:20 b (KJV)
20 … Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. (Bold added)
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (KJV)
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (Bold added)
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
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