Sermon #6 Jude Sermons
Title: Mercy, Peace and Love
Text: Jude
2
Date: Tuesday Evening — November 9, 2004
Tape # Jude
#6
Readings: David
Burge and Bobbie Estes
Introduction:
(Jude
1:1-2) “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.”
Jude wrote his epistle in
very difficult times. Certain men had crept into the church of Christ unawares,
spreading grievous errors that led many to deny the faith, making shipwreck of
their souls. Many antichrists had already appeared, and Jude was concerned for
the welfare of God’s saints, the truth of the gospel, and the glory of God. His
epistle is so applicable in every way to our day that, if we did not know
better, we might well think it was written to us and posted yesterday and
arrived with this morning’s mail. How many there are within the walls of Zion
today who “deny the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ,” “filthy
dreamers, defiling the flesh, despising dominion, and speaking evil of
dignities,” “speaking evil of things they know not…corrupting
themselves,” who have “gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after
the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.”
(Jude
1:12-13) “These are spots in your feasts
of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they
are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth,
without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; (13) Raging waves of
the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the
blackness of darkness for ever.”
(Jude
1:16) “These are murmurers, complainers,
walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words,
having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.”
(Jude
1:19) “These be they who separate
themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.”
A
Special Man
Here is a special man. — “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.” It seems to me that Jude intended (the Holy Spirit intended) every word in the title he was inspired of God to use describing himself to tell us that he was a man altogether different from those false teachers, those messengers of Satan, who had crept into the church. It appears that Jude, in the very opening word of his epistle wished to distinguish himself from them.
His name, “Jude” is short for “Judas.” But
this Judas was not the son of perdition. He was (and is) a true son of God,
true believer, not an apostate like Iscariot and his companions. Yet, when he
wrote his own name down, Judas, which we pronounce short as “Jude,” the tears
must have come to his eyes as he remembered that other Judas, knowing that he
was just like him by birth and nature. If left to himself, he too would have
proved a traitor to his Master and an apostate, like the other Judas. But grace
had made him to differ from the man who betrayed his Lord.
I have known others with my name over the years, but none (to my
knowledge) who knew my God and his grace. The only difference between them and
me is the difference grace has made (1 Cor. 4:7). Let
us ever adore and magnify the grace of our God that has distinguished us (and
constantly distinguishes us) from others of Adam’s depraved race. — “By the
grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor. 15:10). If I had written this epistle,
I am sure that as I wrote my name, Jude,” I do not think I could not have
written it without remembering my utter indebtedness to God’s free and
sovereign grace in Christ, which makes me to differ from the son of perdition
who bore the same name. I would have thought, like John Bradford, “There, but
for the grace of God go I.” We ought not even think of our names without
adoring the God of all grace and the name of his darling Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, that name which is above every name, by whose hand our names have been
written in the book of life. It is he and he alone who makes us his servants
and keeps us serving him. There was something-special even about the name of
Jude.
A Special Office
Jude was a special man with a very special office. — “The servant of Jesus Christ.” He was “the
bondservant of Jesus Christ.” He was a man who belonged to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He was completely Christ’s property.
Servants do not could come and go at their own pleasure.
They are not free men, but bondmen. Though Christ’s servants are the freest of
men, the only truly free people on the earth, they are his bondservants. We delight
to wear the chains of his love. They are softer than silk, but stronger than
steel. Our ears are bored to the doorposts of his house forever.
By Purchase
You will remember that in the Old Testament a man might
become another man’s bondservant by purchase. Anyone who bought a slave took
legal possession of him as his bondservant. So it is with us. Christ bought us
with his precious blood, and we are his blood-bought servants. — “Ye are not
your own. For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body,
and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). We are constrained
by redeeming love to live as Christ’s bondservants. The Lord Jesus Christ died
for us “that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but
unto him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:14-15).
Hear me, you who are redeemed of the Lord. We do not belong
to ourselves. We have no ownership rights over ourselves. Yet we rejoice that
we have that which is indescribably more valuable, for we can each one say,
with Thomas, “My Lord and my God.” Henceforth we have no claim over
ourselves, but give ourselves over to him who has bought us with his blood. We
are his bondservants by purchase. As Hosea bought Gomer for an homer of barley
and an half-homer of barley, so the Lord Jesus bought us with the silver of his
sweat and the gold of his blood, and we shall not be for another.
By Birth
A person could also become a bondservant by birth. Under
the law, the man born in the priest’s house, whether a natural child or the
child of a servant in the priest’s house, was allowed to eat of the holy
things. In Psalm 116 David said, “O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy
servant, and the son of thine handmaid.” He reckoned himself born into the
service of God.
So it is with you and I who are born of God. We have been
born into the household of God, and our regeneration binds us to the service of
him whom we call Master and Lord henceforth and forever. Let those who love
self and seek to please self, do what they will, we who are the Lord’s servants
by purchase and by birth, the bondservant of Jesus Christ, will live to love
him and please him.
Voluntary Servants
In the Old Testament times people bondservants by purchase
and by birth. But there was a third way a person could become a bondservant. We
this in the law of the bondservant in Exodus 21:1-6. A man could become a
bondservant by voluntary indenture. He could enter into bonds of servitude for
life because he loved his master.
You and I who believe on the Son of God have freely
surrendered ourselves to him as voluntary bond-slaves. We have declared
ourselves his forever, irrevocably and eternally his.
· By Purchase
· By Birth
· By Voluntary Indenture
Brother of James
Then Jude added these words, showing that he was blessed of
God with a special brother. — “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of
James.” Jude considered himself a very special man, special to God,
because he had for his brother that famous servant of our Lord Jesus Christ,
James the Less, known among the Jews of old as James the Just. I have no idea
how James was used of God to influence his bother Jude, but his influence must
have been great, and Jude counted it his high honor and great blessing to be
the “brother of James.”
I know many who today know God because their brother or sister, introduced them to the Savior. What a special brother he is, what a special sister she is, who has been blessed of God as an instrument of good to your soul!
Illustration: Milton Howard and David Pledger
Bobbie Estes and Betty Burge
A Special
People
There was something special even about Jude’s name, his office,
and even his brother. He was a man specially loved, chosen, preserved and
called in Christ. And he wrote this epistle to a special people. — “To them that are sanctified
by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.” He wrote his epistle “To them that
are beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ, being called.” Yes,
you who are called are a special people to God. — “For thou art an holy
people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special
people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the
earth” (Duet. 7:6). You are the apple of his eye, his treasure, his
peculiar people, the very jewels of his crown! By these three things you are
distinguished as God’s special people.
· You have been
sanctified are beloved by God the Father.
· You are
preserved in and kept for the Lord Jesus Christ.
· You have been
called by God the Holy Spirit.
A Special Blessing
Now,
look at verse 2. Here Jude invokes a very special blessing upon you who are
God’s special people. — “Mercy unto you, and peace and love, be
multiplied.” This is Jude’s prayer for God’s saints. And this is my prayer
for you. But this is much more than a prayer. This is the word which God the
Holy Spirit inspired Jude to write to us. It is a matter of absolute assurance.
— “Mercy unto you, and peace and love, be multiplied.”
Proposition: Mercy, peace and love shall be multiplied “to them that are
sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.”
It is, dear friends, my special desire and prayer to God
for all who are separated unto him, that mercy, and peace, and love, may be
multiplied unto them.
Mercy Multiplied
This is my prayer, my heart’s desire to God for you. — “Mercy
unto you be multiplied.” Oh, may you have mercy! As long as we live in this
world we need mercy. Mercy is grace for misery, grace for the miserable. Mercy
kindness, compassion and good will towards the miserable and the afflicted,
joined with a desire to help them.
The Lord God calls for us to come boldly to the throne of
grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb.
4:16).
I have heard many say, “Grace is God giving us
what we don’t deserve. Mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve. Grace is
salvation. Mercy is anything short of hell. Grace is for the elect. Mercy
extends to all.” But that is wrong. Mercy is God’s grace in Christ for and to
miserable sinners by which he delivers us from our misery.
Mercy “is the outward manifestation of pity. It assumes need on the part of him that receives it and resources adequate to meet the need on the part of him who shows it.”
W. E. Vine
The angels that were kept from falling in Satan’s
revolt were kept by grace. But those angels who never sinned can never know
anything about the mercy of God that is constantly multiplied to chosen sinners
in Christ.
Oh, how we need mercy! Though sanctified, preserved and called,
we are sinners still, sinners in constant need of mercy. May you have the mercy
that will continue to forgive your sin, the mercy that will continue to wash
your feet from the defilement of the way! May you have the mercies of
providence that will supply your need, the mercies that will sustain you under
trial, the mercies that will lead you on from strength to strength!
May you have
much mercy, multiplied mercy all the days of your life. You will need it. And
blessed be his name, our God who is rich in mercy is “He that
delighteth in mercy!” Let me briefly show you something about God’s great
mercy to us miserable sinners in Christ. Mercy is God’s readiness to relieve the
miserable and to pardon the guilty.
1. It is essential to his
nature.
His name is “Merciful” (Ex. 34:6-7). Mercy
with God is not an emotion, a passion, or even a reaction, as it is with us.
Rather, it the result of his sovereign will and guided by his infinite wisdom.
2. God’s mercy is free.
Nothing out of himself can be the cause of anything
essential to God’s character. Our misery is not the cause of his mercy. His
mercy anticipated our misery and was bestowed upon us in Christ in anticipation
of our misery. His mercy is altogether free (Ex. 33:19; Rom. 9:11-18).
(Exodus
33:19) “And he said, I will make all my
goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before
thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on
whom I will show mercy.”
(Romans
9:11-18) “(For the children being
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God
according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
(12) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. (13) As
it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. (14) What
shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
(15) For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. (16) So then it
is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. (17) For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this
same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and
that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. (18) Therefore
hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he
hardeneth.”
3. His mercy is infinite. — It pardons offences
committed against his infinitely holy Being, and bestows infinite good on all
who believe, even Jesus Christ (Luke 1:78)
4. It is immutable. — Nothing can
change it. It is invariably the same. (Mal. 3:6). — “His mercy is on them
that fear him from generation to generation” (Luke 1:50).
5. His mercy shall be forever
celebrated in heaven (Ps. 89:2; 103:17).
(Psalms
89:2) “For I have said, Mercy shall be
built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.”
(Psalms
103:17) “But the mercy of the LORD is
from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his
righteousness unto children’s children.”
6. The mercy of God is found
only in Christ, flows to sinners in and through Christ and is revealed and
known only in Christ (Eph. 2:4-9).
(Ephesians
2:4-9) “But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, (5) Even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (6) And
hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus: (7) That in the ages to come he might show the
exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ
Jesus. (8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man
should boast.”
In fact, properly speaking, “Mercy” is one of our Savior’s names, as the Lord showed Moses in Exodus 34, when he showed him his glory. When David spoke of God’s grace, he pleaded this argument, “There is mercy with thee” (Ps. 130:4). That is to say, “Christ is with thee.” When Zacharias prophesied of Christ’s coming, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, he said that it was the performance of God’s promised mercy (Luke 1:67-79).
Multiplied
Mercies
And in Christ God’s mercy is multiplied to us in the provision of Christ as a Savior, in the mission upon which he came into the world (Matt. 1:21), in the redemption of our souls by his blood, in the forgiveness of sin, in regeneration, and in our whole salvation. It is multiplied to us when we are given enlarged views and fresh applications of it in time of need.
· When we are tempted, tried, and afflicted.
· When we fall.
· When we hurt.
· When we sense our utter helplessness in any circumstance or situation.
(Psalms
57:10) “For thy mercy is great
unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.”
(Psalms
108:4) “For thy mercy is great
above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.”
a.
God’s
mercy is prevenient mercy
(Ps. 59:10).
(Psalms
59:10) “The God of my mercy shall
prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.”
b.
His
mercy is forbearing mercy
(Rom. 2:4).
c.
God’s
mercy is comforting mercy
(2 Cor. 1:4).
d.
His
mercy is relieving mercy
(Ps. 94:17-19).
(Psalms
94:17-19) “Unless the LORD had been my
help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence. (18) When I said, My foot
slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up. (19) In the multitude of
my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.”
Truly, God’s mercy to us in Christ is multiplied mercy. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed (Lam. 3:21-26).
(Lamentations
3:21-26) “This I recall to my mind,
therefore have I hope. (22) It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not
consumed, because his compassions fail not. (23) They are new every
morning: great is thy faithfulness. (24) The LORD is my
portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. (25) The LORD is
good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
(26) It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the
salvation of the LORD.”
(Jude
1:21) “Keep yourselves in the love of
God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
(Hebrews
4:16) “Let us therefore come boldly unto
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time
of need.”
Peace Multiplied
Wherever mercy is multiplied peace is in the train, and
peace is multiplied. This is God’s promise; and this is my prayer. — “Peace
unto you be multiplied.”
“The
man who is at perfect peace with God, who is at perfect peace with his own
conscience, who is at peace with all his fellow-men, who especially cultivates peace
by behaving himself aright in the household of God, this is the man who is
strong in the midst of unrest and turmoil. This is the man who will stand firm
when others flinch; for he can say, ‘My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is
fixed: I will sing and give praise.’”
C. H. Spurgeon
O Lord God, “Do as thou hast said!” Multiply peace
to your people for Christ’s sake! Give us fresh and enlarged views of peace
made for us by his blood. Increase in our hearts a conscious awareness of
peace. Give us your peace to guard our hearts. And ever give us peace amongst
ourselves in this world. Teach us to walk in peace and to walk together in
peace, promoting peace in your kingdom.
We were once without God, without promise, without hope,
and without Christ, sworn enemies to God, full of wrath and enmity against him,
having no peace. But, Christ came and made peace for us by the sacrifice of
himself, reconciling us to God by the blood of his cross, and now, we have
received peace in him. Indeed, he is our Peace (Rom. 4:25-5:11; Eph. 2:11-19;
Phil. 4:4-7).
(Romans
4:25) “Who was delivered for our
offences, and was raised again for our justification.”
(Romans
5:1-11) “Therefore being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (2) By whom
also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in
hope of the glory of God. (3) And not only so, but we glory in
tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; (4) And
patience, experience; and experience, hope: (5) And hope maketh not
ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which is given unto us. (6) For when we were yet without strength, in
due time Christ died for the ungodly. (7) For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
(8) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, being now justified by
his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (10) For if, when
we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (11) And not only so,
but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now
received the atonement.”
(Ephesians
2:11-19) “Wherefore remember, that ye being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that
which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; (12) That
at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of
Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and
without God in the world: (13) But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. (14) For he is our peace,
who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between
us; (15) Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of
commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain
one new man, so making peace; (16) And that he might reconcile
both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
(17) And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them
that were nigh. (18) For through him we both have access by one Spirit
unto the Father. (19) Now therefore ye are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;”
(Philippians
4:4-7) “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and
again I say, Rejoice. (5) Let your moderation be known unto all men.
The Lord is at hand. (6) Be careful for nothing; but in every
thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made
known unto God. (7) And the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Love Multiplied
(Jude
1:1-2) “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.”
This is my prayer for you, my brothers and sisters in
Christ. But more importantly by infinite measure this is God’s promise to you.
“Love unto you be multiplied!”
Oh, may the love of God shed abroad in your hearts by the
Holy Spirit be multiplied. I pray that it will be multiplied in your hearts,
that you may know it and be constantly overawed by it. I want us to be ravished
with the realization that God loves us with that everlasting love which knows
no measure, nor change, nor end. I want our hearts to dance at the very thought
of the infinite love of God bestowed upon us in Christ (Eph. 3:14-19).
·
Eternal Love!
·
Immutable Love!
·
Infinite Love!
·
Free Love!
·
Unconditional Love!
·
Indestructible Love!
·
Immeasurable Love!
(Ephesians
3:14-19) “For this cause I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, (15) Of whom the whole family
in heaven and earth is named, (16) That he would grant you, according to
the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
inner man; (17) That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye,
being rooted and grounded in love, (18) May be able to comprehend with
all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
(19) And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might
be filled with all the fulness of God.”
May the Lord our God be pleased to multiply his love in us,
causing us to walk in love as his dear children. May he give us grace to love
one another, to live in ever-increasing commitment to one another, devoted to
one another. In this day when the love of many waxes cold (Matt. 24:12), may
God give us grace to have love for Christ and for one another multiplied.
Deeper, deeper, in the love
of Jesus,
Daily let me go.
Higher, higher, in the
school of wisdom,
More of grace to know.
Deeper, higher, every day
in Jesus,
Till all conflict past,
Finds me conqueror, and in
His own image,
Perfected at last.
Application:
Here is the inspired blessing conveyed to us by God’s
servant, Jude. — “Mercy unto you, and peace and love, be multiplied.” What a
blessed, sweet word that is — “multiplied,” not merely increased, but “multiplied.”
You know what it is to increase; you add one to two, that is three; but when
you multiply, you say, “Three times three, that is nine.” Multiplying is a
quick way of growing. Oh, that we might have all these blessings multiplied,
that we who have had mercy might have ten times as much mercy, — that we who
have had peace might have a deeper, fuller, richer, more abiding peace,
multiplied peace, peace upon peace, “the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding,” — and that we who have had love might be multiplied,
squared, cubed with love! May the Lord make us to grow in grace, to be filled
with grace, to have these three graces multiplied unto us! — “Mercy unto you, and peace
and love, be multiplied.”
It will be your mercy and mine, if we could daily experience these
three great tokens of grace, living daily in the enjoyment of the mercy, peace,
and love of the triune God. As we enjoy these gifts of grace and relish them,
let us infinitely more love, and value, and relish the Giver.
Now, one final word to you who know nothing yet of this mercy, peace,
and love, to you who are yet without Christ. Have you, as you have been
listening to me talk about these things that are utterly foreign to your soul’s
experience, been thinking, “Oh, how I wish I could know that mercy, that peace,
that love!” It is all in Christ. Come to Christ, the Giver, and the gift is
yours. Believe on the Son of God and go home with this benediction of grace
ringing in your heart. — “Mercy unto you,
and peace and love, be multiplied.”
Amen.