Saturday – December 23, 2023, Tevet 11, 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. Can you believe it, Christmas is two days from now and the New Year is looming just beyond it. 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. At this point it is too late to get the actual book but the eBooks of course can be downloaded in just minutes.
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 we start into verse three, we start getting to the heart of what Jude wants to address to those born again everywhere. Be sure to understand that the use of the term “common salvation” is in no way intended to make it sound like other ordinary things of life. He is simply making the point that if we are born again, we all are born again alike, of the same Spirit, the same God. As a reminder, the word “exhort” means to urge, press, encourage, insist, pressure, goad, or prod. It is much more than a “yeah that would be good to do”. He wants his audience which includes you and me to understand that this is critical to success in the Kingdom of God. Yes, with contaminated “faith” you may make it to Heaven but you will be banged up something fierce.
He then strengthens his exhortation telling them and us to “earnestly contend for the faith”. I suspect you are all quite aware that in this life things quite quickly become corrupted. You can have a spotless home today, what about tomorrow if you don’t exert energy? Perhaps that new law was perfect and then the weeds came. This is corruption. One has to earnestly contend for a spotless home and a weed free yard. When Jude refers to “the faith” he is not talking about the fruit of the spirit, or being fully persuaded. One can be fully persuaded of a lie, exhibit one is Eve then Adam. Just look at the cults around the world, Islam, and other false religions. These are pretty easy for hopefully all of us to identify but what about the thousands of divisions in the “Christian faith”? Jude is talking about the body of Truth contained in Scripture (the Law and the Prophets). Which one is contending for “the faith” Jude is speaking of? Of course, many will quickly say, me, my Church! Really?
Lord willing, I will pick up right here next week. Remember, the Lord (Word of God as written) is always right, the Lord is always good, and He 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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