Posted by Pastor Tim email me at ( - my user name - )@believersbay.com
on November 4, 2009, 12:59 pm
Clouds without Rain
By Tim Russ
(Jude 1:3-4 NIV) Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. {4} For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Jude is one of the smallest books in the bible, containing only 25 verses. Because of its diminutive size it is easy to read through it quickly and overlook things. Let’s step back a second and reread those verses listed above.
We live in a world of inclusion that absolutely wrenches itself whenever the possibility of exclusion exists. The reality, however, is that all ideologies of necessity must set limits. Those limits establish safety lines that protect the integrity of the ideology. Anything outside those safety lines must be excluded. Christianity is no different.
Jude wanted to write to his readers about the salvation of the Lord. I think we can all relate to that. The salvation message of God’s love shed abroad in the hearts of men is a lovely and wonderful message of inclusion. Yet, Jude was unable to write to them about the Love of God through salvation because their inclusion had stepped over a line and had embraced people who manipulated the truth of God’s love into a lie that allowed them to destroy the Christian message.
(Jude 1:12-13 NIV) These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm--shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted--twice dead. {13} They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
[ emphasis and coloration performed by author ]
I could write for quite some time on the list Jude gives us in verses 12 & 13 but I would like to examine two. He identifies them as clouds without rain. Anyone who has gone through a drought knows the severe disappointment of watching clouds that look like they contain rain. Those clouds offer hope of relief. They offer life to the crops needed for survival. Yet, although they are pretty and fluffy they contain nothing of value. They blow into our lives and take our hope yet they offer nothing in return.
Jude also refers to them as shepherds who feed only themselves. Everyone who has heard of Christianity has an opinion. We listen to opinions and take them in stride, filtering them through what we know to be correct. However, when a pastor or minister speaks we listen more carefully, knowing that this person has publicly declared God’s call on their life to teach us His word. Who else but a proclaimed minister could infiltrate the body of Christ so effectively that God’s Spirit had to inspire Jude to write these words?
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we live in a world that not only expects us to be inclusive of all ideologies but demands it. As Jude points out in verse three, God has entrusted the gospel to us. The message of God’s loving salvation must be protected. God’s word warns us of the enemies of the gospel and about false prophets. They do exist!
As his body and the vessels entrusted with his gospel Jude proclaims (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit ) that we MUST contend for the faith. God is capable of protecting himself. Yet, we see in scripture that it is our job to enter the public and private arenas and to vigorously protect the gospel of Christ. Make no mistake about it, when scripture says contend it means fight. Here is an excerpt from the Believers Study Bible about the word contend:
The vivid expression epagonizomai (Gk.) is translated "contend earnestly" and is related to the English word "agony." The term is associated with strife and combat of a most vigorous and determined variety. The present tense of the verb indicates that the Christian struggle is to be continuous. Jude believed that the foundational tenets of the Christian faith were under attack. Nothing but vigorous counter-contention would be sufficient.
--from my Life Notes column on Believers Bay
Sharing the Love of God with Common Sense
Believers Bay http://www.believersbay.com
Forum http://www.believersbay.com/members/home/forum/62
Responses:
