Jude's Urgent Assignment - 1

Today we begin the study of a little epistle with a big punch, often overlooked by students of the Bible, primarily, I think, because of its brevity. It is only one chapter of 25 verses, but also, no doubt, because of its unsettling nature to many who are a bit squeamish about themes such as judgment and sin.

And all of these things are dealt with in this little epistle, exposing the sin that is within churches, even today, and promising the judgment of God upon all hypocrites who do not truly bow the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ. I preached through this epistle of Jude at Beacon in 1981. I actually had forgotten that, and I'd started studying it, thinking that it was one of the few, very few, books of the New Testament that I had not preached through in my years of pulpit ministry here. After I had spent several hours in preparing to preach it, I thought I ought to check my records, and lo and behold, my records were better than my memory, and I did indeed preach it in 1981. But I doubt that many of you are here, and I am confident that those of you who were have probably pretty much forgotten what I said.

And I know I have. I even forgot that I preached it, so I presume that you probably don't remember too many details as well. But be that as it may, whether this is new to you or whether it is a review after 40-some years, it is very, very relevant to the day in which we live, and it very much needs to be examined once again. And so today we're going to approach it in the following way. Number one, a brief overview of the epistle. Second, some information about the author. Third, some information about the recipients. And then fourth, a greeting, which is found in verses two and following as we examine finally the benediction at the last portion of the book in verses 24 and 25.

So first of all, an overview. And we could break the book down into the following areas, a salutation, an introduction, a study of the body of the epistle, and finally the benediction. The salutation follows the usual format that you find in most salutations in New Testament epistles, identifying first the author and then the recipients, and finally a greeting to the recipients. The introduction given to us in verses three and four also lays out Jude's purpose for writing this book. And it is clear that in a sense we could say this is the second epistle of Jude. The first one didn't get written, but the second one did, because Jude tells us that he originally wanted to write a letter about salvation, about the glories of salvation, the various aspects of salvation, an encouraging epistle to the people of God in order to help them understand better the salvation which they have received by the grace of God and to revel in that privilege.

But as he took up his pen to write this book about salvation, he was directed instead, we could even say compelled instead by the Spirit of God, to write an epistle primarily of warning. And so we have reference to the epistle that Jude wanted to write, Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, verse three, we have instead the epistle that God directed Jude to write, when he says, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints. And so what Jude wanted to write, he did not write, maybe later he would. We don't have one.

We don't have another one. But what Jude had not intended to write, he did write. That's another reminder of the inspiration of Scripture. This book, which is written by man, nevertheless, is very much directed, super intended, guarded and guided by the Holy Spirit of God. And so we have at the same time a human book, but even more importantly, we have a divine book.

It's unlike any other book in all the world. But Jude not only tells us of this change in his intentions, but also the reason why. In verse four, for certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

The reason why Jude was redirected to write an epistle of warning was because already at this early stage, and scholars date the writing of Jude somewhere between A.D. 60 and A.D. 80, and already in this early age, there were serious infiltrations among the people of God. There were serious incursions into the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ, infiltrators, people who came into the church but didn't belong to the church, people who identified as Christians but did not belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. We could call them heretics, for they taught error. We could call them apostates because, though claiming to believe the Christian faith, they actually had departed from it and were going a different direction.

We could call them ungodly Christians, Christians in name but not in reality, Christians in profession but not in possession of a new heart and of the indwelling Holy Spirit. These are dangerous enemies to the people of God, and they infiltrate the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they persuade people to follow after them, and this is a great danger to Christians. And Jude said, I am compelled to write to you a warning about these people, which are already scattered throughout the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ in the first century. Do you think that that danger has disappeared, that it no longer exists today? Or do you think that, if anything, this danger is probably greater today than it was in the days of Jude?

I think the second statement is actually the true one. These are dangerous enemies. And so we have a salutation of verses 1 and 2, an introduction in verses 3 and 4, the body of the epistle in verses 5 through 23 that could be divided basically into two parts. The first part is a detailed description of the apostates, and that runs from verse 5 through verse 19.

And we'll get into that in detail in due time, but let me just give you a quick rundown of what Jude tells us about these people. He tells us, first of all, and reiterates several times, that these people will be destroyed by God. He starts there.

He starts with destruction. He starts with judgment. He starts with a promise that these people are very much under the scrutiny of God. God knows who they are. God knows what they are doing, and God is going to judge them severely.

That should encourage the people of God as we consider the solemnity of this reality. But then he goes on to describe these people as immoral, exceedingly immoral, rebellious, disrespectful of authority and rejecting authority, covetous, barren, that is unfruitful as far as anything of spiritual value is concerned, complainers, constantly griping and criticizing and complaining and divisive. If you'll think about it, and I'll go through the list again, immoral, rebellious, covetous, unfruitful, complainers, divisive. If you'll think about it, all of those things to some extent or another characterize all of the members of Adam's fallen race. In other words, we can see elements of our own life, at least in the past, in this description, hopefully not in the present, and yet because we are not fully sanctified, some of these elements still remain in the lives of the redeemed people of God, and pointing them out in greater magnitude in these heretics will also be a reminder for us to root these out of our lives, to make sure that we don't have any lingering remnants of these characteristics operating within us. But nevertheless, these are the characteristics of those who are unredeemed, unregenerate, unchanged, unsanctified, unaware even of the greatness of their sin and unconcerned about it even if they are aware of it. And yet they often disguise their sinfulness by their religiosity, by their church relationship, by their religious activity, by their presence among the people of God, and that makes them a great danger. Now the second part of the body of the epistle is an exhortation to the faithful. First of all, a description of the apostates, and then secondly, an exhortation to the faithful.

And there's a little overlapping here. That exhortation actually begins in verse 17 and continues through verse 23. But you can see that, for example, twice where Jude appeals to God's people in these words. Verse 17, but you, beloved, but you, beloved, and here's some things for you. And again in verse 20, but you, beloved, and again some things for the people of God.

And so the body of the epistle is primarily an exposure of the apostates, but it is also instructions for the true people of God in how we are to conduct our lives in light of the danger which has been here described. And then finally, all of this is concluded with a benediction, as nearly all the epistles are. And this benediction turns out to be the most beloved, the most familiar, the most utilized benediction of all those in the Bible. Now to Him who was able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever.

Amen. What a mighty benediction. What an encouraging benediction to conclude such a sober and somber epistle.

That's an overview. Now we start at the beginning with the author. The first verse says Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. Jude is the name of the one who writes this epistle. The English term for him is Jude, but that's actually a shortened form of the Greek word which is eudas, literally Judas. I don't know how it got to Jude from Judas because Jude is not what the Greek says, but maybe English-speaking people just have a propensity to shorten names.

It's not William, it's Bill and so forth and so on. It's not Judas, it's Jude. But at any rate, this is Judas, which is in itself the Greek form of the Old Testament Hebrew name Judah.

You can see the similarity there. And Judah, of course, was one of the twelve sons of Jacob and became the father of one of the twelve tribes of Israel, indeed the tribe from which our Lord Jesus Christ came. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah. And Judas is the name that comes into New Testament language from that Old Testament Hebrew name. The name Judas is found 43 times in the New Testament applied to six different men with the name of Judas.

And so the question therefore is, which one is this? Of the six Judases, which Judas is this? And you can go through all the 43 and look at them and try to figure that out for yourself, but I can tell you that those who have done this very, very carefully have almost unanimously come to the conclusion that this is the Judas who is the half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When you really look at all of the evidence, I don't think you can come to any other conclusion. Jude, or Judas, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. Now, he identifies himself as a bondservant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.

Jude, the bondservant, doulos, slave of Jesus Christ. He is not an apostle of Christ. That's clear number one because he isn't named among the apostles. This is not Judas Iscariot, or Judas number two, or maybe number one, however you're counting, however you're listing. This is not the other Judas who was an apostle. There were actually two who were apostles by the name of Judas. But this is the Judas who is the brother of James. He's not an apostle, and if we had any question about that from the other evidence of the New Testament, this epistle itself makes that clear when it says in verse 17, But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember the words which were spoken by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jude doesn't put himself in that category. He doesn't say like Paul often does in his salutations, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ and a bondservant of Christ and so forth. But he makes no claim to being an apostle.

In fact, he makes it clear that he does not fit into that category. This is not an apostle of Christ. This is not either one of the two Judases among the twelve.

Of course, Judas Iscariot would not even come under consideration. But he is simply Judas, a bondservant, a servant, a slave of Jesus Christ, a term which is used by a number of the other writers of epistles such as Paul and Peter. Slaves of Christ, a common designation. And that designation indicates a lot of different things.

It certainly indicates commitment, dedication. I consider myself, said Jude, to be a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my work. That's my duty. That's my joy.

That's my privilege. It speaks of humility. He doesn't try to find terms that will honor him or exalt him, but he very humbly calls himself just a slave, just a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. But even though it is a term of humility, it also has to be recognized in some measure as a term of honor because of who he's a servant of. To be a servant of Jacob, unknown person, wouldn't be a big deal, would it? Certainly not in most of our estimation unless we lived in a community that recognized Jacob as a high personage. But if it's not a high personage, to be the slave of an unknown person makes you even less esteemed in the estimation of society than that unnamed person that you're the slave of.

That really puts you at the bottom of the totem pole. But if you are a slave, say a servant, of, say, Caesar Augustus, now that makes things a bit different, doesn't it? I'm not Caesar Augustus, but I serve Caesar Augustus.

That's a whole lot higher than serving Jacob nobody. And if you are a servant of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, if you're a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, even though in your humility you have named yourself in the lowest position, you cannot help but be given some measure of honor and satisfaction because of the one that you serve. And by the way, that applies to all of us as well. We may be nobodies. We are nobodies. We need to think of ourselves as nobodies. And yet if we are servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, He has made us somebodies.

He takes nobodies and makes them somebodies. The modern gospel has it exactly backwards. It somehow twists the message of the gospel to make people think that God saved you because He saw such great potential in you. He thought you were so great, so wonderful that He decided to save you because He saw all those wonderful characteristics in you.

I hope you've got it backwards. Salvation is by grace. Grace is totally unmerited.

It is without any consideration of goodness or merit or achievement or value or worth. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. But in redeeming us, He made us servants of the Most High God. That's honor.

And, though not mentioned here, even one step or maybe several steps higher, children of the Most High God. Amazing. Amazing.

Amazing. So Jude self-identifies himself first as a servant of Christ and then secondly as the brother of James. Now James is another brother of Jesus. Jesus had four brothers, technically half-brothers, but He had four brothers upon earth. We read in Matthew 13.55, Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Joseph or Joseph, Simon and Judas?

Now if they were ranked in birth order, that makes James the oldest. That makes Judas the youngest of the four brothers. But there were four brothers of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In other words, four natural born sons of Mary and of Joseph. His brothers, however, throughout Christ's lifetime were unbelievers. John 7.5, For even his brothers did not believe in him. There were a lot of other people who didn't believe in him, but most astounding of all, even his own brothers didn't believe in him. His brothers who knew him better than most people did, his brothers who had grown up with him, his brothers who had never seen any sin in his life, had never heard any lie or deception or crude language come from his lips.

His brothers who had never seen anything that was mean or unseemly come out of his life, nevertheless failed to recognize who he was and did not believe in him. It takes the work of the Holy Spirit to enlighten people's eyes, to understand what's all around them. Oh, if we could just do some miracles, that would persuade people. Oh, if we could just raise some people from the dead, that would persuade people. Yeah. Oh, if you could just drop people into the family of Jesus Christ with Mary and Joseph and Jesus, that would make them believers, right?

Wrong. Salvation is by the work of the Holy Spirit, isn't it? Otherwise, men are blind. They're dead. They are incapable of believing, and that's the way Jesus' brothers were. They were unbelievers, but at some point, they became believers. We read in Acts 1.14, with 120 gathered in the upper room waiting for what we know as the day of Pentecost, we read, these all continued in one accord in prayer and supplication.

All of these are praying with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. They were saved. How? By the work of the Holy Spirit.

When? Evidently, after the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. They became believers, and they are now with the 120 in the upper room. And what did they do with their lives after that?

Well, they served the Lord as his servants. At least two of them we would take as itinerant evangelists. 1 Corinthians 9.5, the Apostle Paul says, do we, himself and the other members of his missionary team, do we have no right to take along a believing wife on our journeys? Don't we have as much right to take a wife with us at the expense of the churches?

Don't we have as much right to do that as the other apostles and the brothers of our Lord? And Cephas, Peter. Peter had a wife, and he took her on his missionary journeys. Other apostles had wives, and they took them on their missionary journeys. Brothers of Jesus had wives, and evidently, clearly, they took them on their missionary journeys. They are itinerant evangelists in the work of the Lord. We're trying to identify more exactly, piece by piece, who this Jude is who wrote this epistle that we are now studying. And so they labored as itinerant evangelists, but of the brothers of Christ, we know two of them are serving as ministers of the gospel and maybe the other two as well, but of the brothers of Christ, only one rose to great prominence, and that is James, who is first recognized in a prominent position in Acts chapter 12 when Peter was released from prison and he went to the home of the mother of John Mark and he talked to the disciples that were gathered there to pray.

And then he said, in effect, I need to slip out of town. I've got to get out of Dodge for a while, but you go and report my release to James, to James and the others. James had already risen to, evidently, the preeminent place of leadership in the great church of Jerusalem by that early time in Acts chapter 12. And, of course, you see more evidence of that in Acts chapter 15. We call that the great council at Jerusalem when they gathered together to sort out this business about what exactly is the gospel and what is required of Christians and his circumcision and mosaic dietary laws required, as some were teaching, and all of that was dealt with, debated, and decided, decisively decided in Acts chapter 15. But the one who is the leader in all of this discussion representing the leaders of the church of Jerusalem is James, the brother of Christ, the brother of Jude.

And he's referred to again in Acts chapter 21 when Paul comes in off his final missionary journey and it says we went in to meet with James and the other elders. James was the leading elder. Sometimes people get into a bit of a debate about in the area of elders, which clearly in the Bible are normally plural in number in each church, the plurality of elders, but does plurality of elders imply or indicate parity of elders?

Those are two different issues and a lot of people have confused those two. Parity would mean that all of them have exactly the same authority and recognition and the evidence of scripture is no. In Bible days there was recognized among the elders someone who was the leader among the elders, James and the other elders, James presiding over the council at Jerusalem. Go tell James that I've been released from prison and the others and James, the point is James had a position of great prominence in a church that included thousands of members and many elders and James had risen to the place of leadership in all of that. James, not the apostle James who was beheaded in Acts chapter 12, but James the brother of Christ.

Jude never rose to that level of prominence. You don't read anything like that about Jude, but Jude identifies himself as a brother of James. Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. But as we're talking about his self-identification, we have to point out what isn't there and that is no mention of his physical relationship to Christ.

He's obviously a blood-bought child of Christ. He is obviously a fervent, committed servant of Christ, but he doesn't say, Judas, brother of James, brother of the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't mention that at all, nor does James in his epistle. James omits saying that as well, even though he too was a physical brother of the Lord Jesus Christ. James says greeting to the 12 tribes, James a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad. Almost the same language as Jude, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad. The only thing that James doesn't say is brother of Jude.

That would mean a whole lot because Jude didn't have any particular prominence. He only knew who he was, but Jude says servant of Christ and brother of James. You know him, don't you? Well, I'm his younger brother. I'm his unknown brother. I'm his insignificant brother. I'm the little brother of James. That's who I am writing this epistle.

Now, recipients very quickly. This epistle is not written to any one particular church. It's obviously written to believers, but it is written to all believers wherever they may be and therefore is categorized among the general epistles. We have epistles that are written to churches, to the church which is at Rome, to the church which is at Corinth, to the church which is at Philippi, and so forth.

These are particular epistles. They are written to particular congregations but included in the New Testament to be given to all of us for our edification. But then there are general epistles that are written to believers but in no particular location or congregation, and this is one of those. Just to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ. Jude has a threefold description of the believers that he's writing to. First of all, he says they are those who are called.

Don't gloss too quickly over that designation. You'll find that several times in the New Testament as a title for believers, those who are called, the called ones. That great text in Romans 8-28 that all of us have quoted and no doubt clung to and shared with others. Don't misuse it because it doesn't apply to unbelievers. Sometimes it's given out indiscriminately as if this is saying that all things are going to work for good for everybody. No, no, no. Read the text.

All things work together for good too. And there are two things that are said about those that this promise applies to. Number one, those who are the called.

There the definite article is used. Those who are the called and those who love God and are the called according to his purpose. They are one and the same. Everyone who fits into the category of those who are the called are also those who love God because of the work of the Holy Spirit in their heart. So what this is telling us is this cannot be talking about the general call. There is a general call where the gospel goes out indiscriminately and it's just a proclaiming of the gospel and whosoever will may come.

That is a truth. That is a, if I can say it this way, that is a secondary truth to the one that is emphasized far more, namely the effectual call, the call that always accomplishes its purpose. It has, it is directed to particular people and it always brings them into a saving relationship with Christ. It is an effectual call. It goes out to those that God sends it to particularly and it changes their hearts and brings them into a right relationship with God. They are the called.

There are a lot of ways I could prove what I just said to you and I don't want to go into it because it would take too much time, but just think about it. If this were talking about the general call that goes out to all people indiscriminately, then how does it serve to identify the believers that Jude is writing to? It wouldn't and it couldn't because that would apply to unbelievers as well as believers, wouldn't it? That would apply, to put it another way, to the non-elect as well as to the elect. But those who are called effectually are the elect.

They're the chosen of God and God in His time, in His perfect time according to His eternal purpose, He sends His Holy Spirit to them and regenerates them and then they hear the call that goes out to everybody, but people have to have ears to hear it. It's one thing for it to go out, but if it goes out to deaf ears, that doesn't bring a response. If it goes out to dead souls, that doesn't bring a response.

But if it goes out to those whom the Holy Spirit has given life to, then that always brings a response. And so the called are the ones who respond to the call. But Jude doesn't say here, I'm writing to those who responded to the general call. He says, I'm writing to those who are called. Everyone who is called is a child of God and I'm writing to those, those who are called.

How else does He identify them? Well, the second phrase is sanctified by God the Father. And there's a textual variant here, which I won't take time with, but some texts say loved or beloved by God the Father. If the correct reading is sanctified, then it means set apart by God the Father and carries the idea of election. If the correct reading is beloved, then it still has a similar idea, because if He's writing this to those who are loved by God the Father, but He's writing to believers, not to everybody, then obviously there is a special love for the called that doesn't apply to those who don't fit into the category of the called. Not that there's no level of love at all for them, but it's not the same level.

It's a different love. And so if the correct reading is loved by God the Father, then we are encouraged to think in terms of loved with everlasting love, taught by grace, that love to know. Spirit, something from above thou has taught me, it is so. And so those who are called, those who are either set apart or eternally loved by God the Father, and number three, those who are preserved or kept, and now the preposition becomes a bit fluid.

It's one of those little prepositions that's rather flexible. And so it could be translated kept in Jesus Christ, which indeed is true. It could read kept by Jesus Christ, which is not beyond possibility. Jesus spoke in those terms in his high priestly prayer in John 17. When praying to the Father, he said, while I was with them in the world, I kept them. Jesus Christ does keep his own. I kept them in your name. Those whom you gave me, I have kept, and none of them is lost. However, that follows the statement where Jesus basically says, I'm done with my responsibility to keep them, and now I give that responsibility back to you, Heavenly Father. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to you, Holy Father. You keep through your name those whom you have given to me. So with that in mind, we realize that Christ's keeping activity is not beyond the realm of possibility, but it seems more likely that this is saying kept for Jesus Christ.

The idea is preserved securely until presented to Christ. Here are your people. Here are the ones chosen by God to give to the Son as a reward. Here are the members of your bride. Nobody's missing. They're all here.

Everyone kept. And you see, since the second and the third one refer to different members of the Trinity, to those who are called, nobody mentioned there, no person mentioned there, sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ, two members of the Trinity. The implication is that the first one is probably carried out by the Holy Spirit. Those who are called by the Spirit, sanctified or beloved, eternally loved by the Father, and preserved for Jesus Christ. And there you have all three members of the Trinity involved in the eternal work of salvation.

But we have to move on and we'll never get done. This is a lot in this salutation, isn't there? This is a rich salutation. Let's look quickly at the greeting in verse 2.

Mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you. What can we say about this greeting? Well, we notice that it is similar to other greetings that we find at the beginning of most epistles in the New Testament. It is a greeting with a spiritual purpose. Secular letters of that day follow the same format and there would be a greeting, but there wouldn't be any greeting that attaches words like mercy, peace and love to it.

It would just be something like greetings to you. But it has a spiritual purpose like other epistles in the New Testament. It's similar in format to other epistles in the New Testament. In fact, there's three spiritual qualities which are enumerated and we find three in many of the other greetings. But, and there's one other similarity, the word peace is included in most of the greetings in the New Testament. All 13 of Paul's, both of Peter's, of his two epistles, and two of John's three epistles in the greeting include the word peace. So that's what's similar.

But now what's different? Well, this particular greeting has mercy, peace and love. Mercy, though found in others, is not a common term.

It's only used four times. You'll find it in 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, 2 John and Jude, and not in any of the other epistles. And love is found only here. None of Paul's 13 epistles, none of Peter's two epistles, none of 3 John's epistles, none of the others mention love. So this is a very interesting greeting.

It has strong similarities to others, but it has some rather striking differences to others. Mercy, peace and love. But what does this greeting communicate? Well, it communicates, first of all, our dependence upon God, because this is a prayer. This is a prayer for God to do this. Mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you.

It's a crying out to God to do this. This is not saying, drum up more mercy within yourself. Drum up more peace within yourself.

Drum up more love within yourself. No, this is a prayer that God will do this, that He will multiply mercy and peace and love to you. We're dependent upon God to make this happen. It is a blessing.

It's not only a dependence, but it is a blessing. Mercy, peace and love is a blessing. Mercy is that quality that withholds what is due. Mercy is similar to grace. That's why, though Jude doesn't include grace, and all the other greetings do, every one of the others. Did I mention that? All the others have grace. This is the only one to admit it. But mercy and grace are closely tied together.

They're not identical, but they're closely tied together. And mercy is that quality by which God recognizes that this individual deserves judgment, but He holds back. He withdraws the judgment, sometimes temporarily and sometimes permanently, depending on who we're dealing with and what the situation is. But God is very merciful in not bestowing the judgment that is due. If God bestowed the judgment that is due to all sinners, the population would be pretty small tomorrow. We wouldn't have to worry about overpopulation in this world if God just dispensed justice now and gave everyone the judgment which they deserve. But in mercy, God withholds it. That's mercy, withholding what is due. And for the Christian, mercy is needed at the beginning and the end and all throughout our Christian life. Mercy, to withhold the consequences of our own sinfulness, which brings greater and greater hardness and spiritual blindness, and to withhold those consequences and instead give us understanding and enlightenment and life and all of the blessings that bring us alive in Christ Jesus. What a mercy that we needed at the beginning of our Christian life where we never would have been saved. What about the end, when we stand before God someday in judgment, as all of us will, saved and lost? When we stand before God someday in judgment, we're going to need mercy.

We're going to be thankful that God extends mercy to those who are believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we will not get the judgment that is due us in that day. But Jude is telling us we need mercy every day of our lives. That's why we pray every day. I pray either these words or this thought, forgive us our trespasses. And God has promised to do that if we acknowledge our sin and seek forgiveness in Christ Jesus. But it's a mercy of God to do that.

But what a mercy that God bestows mercy upon us every day. And so mercy, peace. Peace refers to restored relationships.

It has both an objective and subjective element. Our broken relationship with God, when it's restored, we have peace with God. Our broken relationship with our mate or with others around us, when that broken relationship is restored, then we have peace with others. And in the Bible understanding of the word peace, there's not only the restored relationship, but the good things that flow from that, the benefits that flow from that restored relationship.

And there are objective and subjective elements. Peace is, first of all, objective. We can have peace with God through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, but not having come to a full apprehension of it and assurance of it, we may not subjectively feel that peace like we should.

We may not have the assurance we ought to have. But we still have the peace objectively, whether we have the assurance of it or not. But it's a wonderful blessing when we have peace both objectively and subjectively, when we feel the peace flooding our soul. It is well with my soul. It is well. It is well with my soul. What a blessing, what peace floods my soul, when peace like a river attendeth our way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, I am taught to say it is well. It is well with my soul. I know it is because objectively God has forgiven my sins. I have come to believe it and to experience it subjectively. I have peace in my heart.

What a blessing. And then love. Love follows peace. And the emphasis here, I think, would be more upon love to others, our love to others. We who have received such great mercy, shall we withhold mercy from those around us? We who have experienced such great peace, will we fail to let the love of God flow through us to others and so forth? And as I glance at the clock, I see my time is up and I will stop. Shall we pray? Father, thank you for your word so rich, so encouraging, so instructing. May we receive it with childlike faith as we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.