5 I
will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the
Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed
them that believed not. 6 And the angels which kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains
under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 7 Even as Sodom and
Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to
fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example,
suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 8 Likewise also these filthy
dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. 9 Yet
Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the
body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The
Lord rebuke thee. (Jude 1:5-9)
Though the Book of Jude is a very concise book, it is filled with concentrated
beauty and meaning for us. It presents warnings that are generally unheeded by
the modern church to their peril. But the beauty of it is delivered by way of
encouragement to those who do abide in the faith of Christ. Jude pulls no
punches in his admonition of the forgetful minds that once knew, and have
forgotten through disuse, the counsel of God. As we study this Book, let us
cast aside all notions of its application to just a handful of believers of the
Apostolic Age and carefully and fully apply its deep meaning to our own soul's
predicament in this modern age. Interesting to note is the fact that this
Epistle is not directed to the lost, but to those who profess, effectually or
not, faith in Christ.
5 "I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew
this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt,
afterward destroyed them that believed not." Memory is a most
critically important asset to our spiritual being. At many points in Scripture
we are counseled to "REMEMBER". God has provided Landmarks of Stone
throughout His Word to enlighten succeeding generations of His Truth and
Nature. It would be nigh impossible to full appreciate the "Lamb,
without blemish, sacrificed before the foundation of the world" if
had not known of the first Passover in Egypt!
These are landmarks of historical truth that point to the future as surely as
the magnetic compass points to NORTH. "Remove not the ancient
landmark, which thy fathers have set." (Prov 22:28) That Ancient
Landmark - the Word of God - stands sure and certain. To change a single Word
or Line of it will result in all property lines being set askew. We would no
longer be able to determine the legitimate property lines of God's Holy Word.
Our memories are fickle and selective. In the joy of our living, we often
forget from whence that joy came. So we are reminded by Solomon: "Remember
now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the
years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them."
(Eccl 12:1) When the 'shadows lengthen and the fever of life is over' on what
will you stake your soul in the long dark night of it? So Jude will put us in
remembrance of that which has been taught to us and which we have negligently
forgotten.
Our "Stones of Remembrance" are every Word that proceedeth from the
mouth of God. REMEMBER the Stoners of old set in the Flowing Waters of the
Jordan? "Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of
the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: And Joshua said unto them,
Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and
take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the
number of the tribes of the children of Israel: That this may be a sign among
you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What
mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan
were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over
Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a
memorial unto the children of Israel for ever." (Josh 4:4-7)
Rudyard Kipling reminds us, in Recessional (one of my favorite hymns), of the
importance of those stones:
God of our fathers, known of old—
Lord of our far-flung battle
line—
Beneath whose awful hand we
hold
Dominion over palm and pine—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us
yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
The tumult and the shouting dies—
The Captains and the Kings
depart—
Still stands Thine ancient
sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us
yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
Far-called our navies melt away—
On dune and headland sinks the
fire—
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us
yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
If, drunk with sight of power,
we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee
in awe—
Such boastings as the Gentiles
use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us
yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her
trust
In reeking tube and iron shard—
All valiant dust that builds on
dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to
guard.
For frantic boast and foolish
word,
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!
Amen.
We in the family of God are a nation apart from those of this world. We are
vagabonds and pilgrims in this world who seek a better city, not built with
hands, but by God. But how much emphasis we do place upon the dictates of
modern Caesar to our own peril. We have not forgotten to offer those things to
Caesar (in America, the people themselves) that are his, but we have foregone
giving unto God those things that are His. Should we not remember the whole of
God's counsel - how He blessed the Children in Egypt and brought them out with
a "strong, outstretched arm", and later destroyed the same who did
not believe? God worked miraculous wonders in Egypt, and He has done so beyond
the hard road of Dolorosa that led to Golgotha - have we forgotten the tortuous
pain and humiliation our Lord willingly underwent to purchase our redemption?
REMEMBER the first Principles and First Love of our faith, friends!
6 "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but
left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under
darkness unto the judgment of the great day." How terrifyingly
sad that angels who had known the love and fellowship of our God forsook their
privileged place in heaven and rebelled under the harsh leadership of that Old
Dragon, Satan! If angels can sink so low, having seen the face of God, how
vulnerable are those who neglect the constant study (and walking therein) of
God's Word? Those dark angels have been cast down as demons among us - minions
of their master, the Devil. He is sly and cunning. He has not the prescience of
God, but he has an eye to witness our weak moments and sinful habits with which
to entice us away from the Garden Paradise to the woeful and uncomely Tree. The
great apostasies begin in the church. Our churches today have lost their candle
sticks of persevering faith and doctrine. They have gone whoring after the
pleasures and deceitful fruits of the world.
If our Church can be compared to a ship, then we may say that the world is the
Ocean Sea. The Ship of our Church is made to navigate the waters for the
benefit of mankind. It serves its perfect purpose in plying the waters for
Christ. All is well and good so long as the ship remains in the water, but woe
unto all aboard any ship that begins to take on water (the world).Instead of
being a witness of Christ to the world by going out into it, the Church has
begun to take the WORLD into its bosom and is foundering of the rocks of deceit
and false and sterile doctrine. Have we not, as well, violated the admonition
of Isaiah in elevating wicked practices such as abortion of innocent blood and
approving observance of such abominable sins as Homosexual unions? "Woe
unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and
light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"
(Isaiah 5:20) We must, as a church in America, fall on our knees and repent as
did the people of that great and wicked city, Nineveh, lest God bring a
terrible and swift judgment against our benighted shores. It pains me to say
such things of my beloved America, but these are things that must be said. It
is a clear warning, not from my own pen, but from God! It is not the pagan that
will bring judgment of God to America, but the weak-kneed and unfaithful
churches, along with those wicked ministers who have crept in unawares, of our
land. This, God cannot abide.
7" Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in
like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange
flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
How can God articulate His warnings any more clearly, and how can a wicked and
adulterous generation abandon His Word any more completely? That same judgment
that befell Sodom (city of Sodomites) and Gomorrha in a single day will befall
(in like manner) any nation that has known and rejected
the Word of God as we are doing in America today. It is solely out of love and
conscience that I write these admonitions of the Lord. Will America relegate
her young and old to the vengeance of eternal fire? Shall we, as the Prodigal
son who found himself living among swine, come to ourselves, repent, and return
to our Father in Heaven?
8 "Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh,
despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities." When we look
out upon the ruins of America's landscape, we see men and women living in
sinful lusts of each other and of the same sex; we see our youth wandering in
aimless abandon under the influence of drugs, pornography, and promiscuity; we
see parents who abandon their own flesh and forget the obligations of godly
parenthood. We also see the churches opening their doors to the same.
Many churches have succumbed to mammon and government influence by recognizing
the abomination of homosexual unions as being on a par with the first that God
instituted eastward in the Garden at Eden. We see churches dumbing-down the
true reverence of worship to light and jazzy performances. Our youth programs
have become venue's for adventures in sex and loud music of an ungodly nature
(never believe that it is the music as well as the words that have spiritual meaning)..
Do our youth still respect the authority of the elderly? Do they disrespect
even their own parents? Do they not " despise dominion"?
Our adults as well despise dominion, but their deeds and thoughts are leading
relentlessly to a total and ungodly dominion of dictatorship and hardship.
As a concluding note, may I if our churches have not expelled, and failed to
appreciate, those ministers who, with Godly indignation, have identified our
apostasy and wickedness? Where they have preached repentance and Godly virtue,
have they not been exiled from the very church that should embrace them? No
great disgrace here, for they have done the same to our dear Lord. He tells the
Seven Churches of Revelations, "Behold,
I stand at the door (OUTSIDE THE CHURCHES), and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I
will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Rev
3:20) Friends, God will forever preserve a remnant of faith, but how much more
blessed if that remnant were expanded to include our children, our fathers and
mothers, our neighbors, and our beloved nation!
