MINISTER, Rev. Thomas
O. Scarborough.
Jude. Verse 2.
We
are studying the book of Jude
at the moment -- and last Sunday we ended with a great, sweeping
picture of what it means to be a Christian -- at the end of verse 1.
We
said that Jude wrote this small letter even though he had not
intended
to. He intended
-- in verse 3 -- to write a letter to the Churches about the
salvation we share
-- but God instead distracted
Jude, and led him to write this gem
of a letter -- which we said has been the centrepiece in Christian
revivals
through the ages.
But
even though Jude was driven off course,
and even though this letter was not what he intended
to write -- but it was
what God
intended him to write -- we get some clues
as to what he would
have written in that other letter about salvation.
In the first three verses especially,
we have what probably is the outline
of that letter on the salvation we share.
Last
Sunday we looked at three
points
on that outline of Jude, and I’d like to just run through them
again quickly this morning. They are at the end of verse 1.
* * * * * * * * * *
Firstly,
as Christians we are a people who have been called.
We have been called by God.
And
if you call someone, you are calling them out
-- you are calling them away.
We are a people who have been called out
of the world.
Once we were in
the world -- now we have been called out
of the world -- out of the darkness -- and into the kingdom of God's
Son.
Secondly,
we read here that as Christians we are a people who are loved
by God the Father. We are loved by God.
When
we were still out there in the world -- before the Lord saved us --
we were under His condemnation
-- we were under His eternal wrath.
Now we have moved out from under His condemnation, and we have come
under His love.
And everything that happens in our lives is now a sign of His love
-- we heard that in the reading from Romans.
And
thirdly -- as Christians we are kept
by Jesus Christ. We are held
by Him, and protected by Him.
Once
we have moved from that old
life -- to this new
life -- we are not going to be lost again.
We read here that we are kept by Jesus Christ. He keeps
us there -- notice that it is not you
who keeps you there -- and He deepens
the quality of our relationship with Him as we go along.
Notice
that there is a kind of time-progression
in verse 1. In the past, we were called
-- in the present we are loved
-- into the future we will be kept.
* * * * * * * * * *
This
morning we are going to move on to verse 2
-- which is just eight words
in our pew Bible. And you will see that there are three key words
there -- mercy, peace, and love -- or maybe we should say there are
four
key words there -- because there is that word “abundance”
at the end of the verse. We’ll come to that in a moment.
Now
before we can continue, we need to consider the context
of Jude’s words. When he talks about mercy, peace, and love, what
is the context?
Is
Jude speaking about the mercy, peace, and love we should be showing
to others?
Is he
talking about the mercy, peace, and love that we have in our hearts?
Or is
he talking about the mercy, peace, and love which belong to God,
which God demonstrates
towards us? In other words, is he talking about those qualities of
God's character
that He shows towards those who are saved?
Well
the answer is that Jude is talking about God.
Everything in the context
suggests that he is talking about God,
and about salvation.
Especially
that word mercy
is something that is characteristic of God.
Peace
is also something that God
gives. And love in this case -- means the love that God
shows towards us.
I
like the way that the New King James Bible translates this verse,
because it translates it clearly, and closely to the original text.
It says: "May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to
you." That is, God
multiplies
these things towards us.
So if
you have a girlfriend or boyfriend or husband or wife, you can try
this line on them: “I don’t just love
you, honey -- I love you multiplied.”
That is what God’s
attitude is towards us.
* * * * * * * * *
Now
let’s just get a little background
on this verse 2 in Jude. It is not only Jude
who tells us these things. It is not only Jude
who writes about mercy, peace, and love. This was a theme of the
whole New Testament Church
-- and that is why we had that reading from Romans
this morning.
What did Paul say in
that passage?
Firstly,
he told us how God shows us mercy
-- in abundance.
He said: "Who will bring any charge against those whom God has
chosen?... Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus... is at the right
hand of God, and is interceding for us." That speaks about the
completeness of God's mercy
towards us.
Paul
then told us how God shows us His love
in abundance. He said: "Who shall separate us from the love
of Christ?... Not anything in all creation will be able to separate
us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." That
speaks about the completeness of God's love
towards us.
And
then Paul told us in that reading how God makes us more
than conquerors
through Him who loved us. "In all things," he said, "we
are more than conquerors." We have complete
victory,
as another Bible version says. (TEV). And when
you are more than a conqueror, then you have peace. You have an
unshakeable heart.
So
Paul was speaking about very much the same things
that Jude is speaking about in this second verse of Jude.
It's
wonderful how the Bible so perfectly agrees throughout. Paul
essentially says that God gives us mercy and love and peace in
abundance -- the same as what Jude says, only in a different order.
* * * * * * * * *
Let’s
begin
by looking at that word abundance,
in verse 2. God loves us multiplied.
His mercy
is multiplied
towards us. His peace
is multiplied
to us.
Jude
does not simply say: "Mercy, peace, and love be yours." I
think that is where most
Christians are
in their faith -- they say "mercy, peace, and love are mine",
but they forget about the rest
of this line. Until you can say the rest
of this line, you only have a very limited and restricted view of
what your faith is all about.
Jude
says: "Mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance."
And that phrase "in abundance"
makes all
the difference to this verse.
Listen
to what other Bible versions say: "May mercy and peace and love
be multiplied
to you." (NASB). "May mercy, peace, and love be yours in
full measure." (TEV). “May God give you much
mercy, peace, and love.” (Luther).
These
translations are really trying to express what cannot easily be
expressed. Once we have been saved by the blood of Jesus, we come
into a relationship with God whereby His mercy and peace and love
towards us are abundant.
God
is not like us. God is not a God of half
measures. When God
accepts us through Jesus Christ -- then He accepts us completely.
His love towards us is without measure.
It is absolutely uninhibited.
The Lord holds nothing
back.
Our
reading earlier from Romans chapter 8 said: "How will He not
also -- along with His Son -- graciously give us all
things?" If He gave us His Son -- why then should He hold
anything
back from us?
* * * * * * * * * *
Well,
some people might say, God does not
have abundant mercy and peace and love towards me
-- because
-- He has made my life hard
for me -- or He has brought judgement
upon me -- or unhappiness
into my life.
But
then you have not understood what the Bible says about God.
If
you have been saved by the blood of Jesus -- if there was a moment in
your life where you asked Him to save you from sin, and you asked Him
to become Your Lord and Master, and asked His Holy Spirit
to take over every part
of your life -- then you have been made a new creation, you have been
clothed in robes of righteousness, you have been blessed with every
spiritual blessing in Christ, you have been seated with Him in the
heavenly realms ... -- And that is only the beginning.
And
this means
that anything
that comes your way,
from the day of your conversion, is God's blessing upon
you. And even if it seems
hard -- and if it seems
dark -- that does not mean that it is anything less than an abundance
of His mercy and peace and love in your life. And so many Christians
look back
on the hardest times of their lives, and they say, “That was
God’s greatest blessing.”
Pat
and her husband -- the Pat who took our reading
this morning -- were attacked by a gunman. Pat survived
it, but her husband did not. And I wish you could hear her speak
about God’s mercy and peace and love -- in
spite
of that. Maybe someday she’ll share that story with us.
There’s
a young woman in our congregation -- Sharmaine -- who earlier this
year was sent home from Groote Schuur hospital inoperable
-- cancer
had broken through her flesh --- but a daring surgeon took flesh off
her back,
and covered up the front.
Yet she and her husband say that God’s blessings have been
wonderful
in this time.
I
hope that one thing we will understand this morning is that we don't
have a grudging
God as Christian believers -- and we don't receive partial
blessings from Him.
The
Bible makes it clear that -- as we have it here in Jude -- His mercy
and peace and love are abundant
towards us. They are without limit.
* * * * * * * * * *
Let us look more closely
at those three words in verse 2.
The
first word is "mercy".
I
think so often Christians think that God's mercy is just
enough
mercy to tolerate
me without bringing down His hand of judgement
upon me.
The
idea we so often have of God's mercy is that He is barely
merciful towards us -- or that He is just on the point of withdrawing
His mercy from us.
But
what Jude tells us is in verse 2
is that He is merciful to us in abundance
-- in full
measure.
His mercy is multiplied
towards us. He just pours out more and more
upon us.
Let’s
remember, though, that if you receive
mercy, you actually need
mercy. George Mpunga said something good about the Holy Spirit a few
Sundays ago. -- He said that the Holy Spirit it called the Helper
-- and if He is called the Helper, that means we need help.
Some
people talk about God’s overflowing
mercy
as though it is something they deserve
-- as though it is something everyone
should receive. But let’s remember that mercy is only overflowing
because we need
a mercy that is overflowing. That is one of the themes of Jude,
which we shall return
to in weeks to come.
* * * * * * * * * *
Returning
to the book of Jude verse 2 -- the second word we find here is the
word "peace".
And
once again, the peace that God
gives us is a peace in abundance.
What does this mean?
So
often people are afraid of trouble,
because they will lose their peace.
And actually, there is hardly anything worse
than losing your peace.
You
can lose your friends, and you can lose your career, and you can lose
your money, and you can lose your health -- but what does that matter
if you still have -- peace?
We
have the wonderful privilege as Christians that our God
is the source of peace. He is the source of real
peace -- because it is a peace that nothing
can destroy.
In
our reading this morning from Romans chapter 8, Paul said that we are
more
than conquerors
-- and along
with that statement, he listed
the situations in which we are
more than conquerors.
He
said that we are more than conquerors in trouble, and in hardship,
and in persecution, and in famine, and in nakedness, and in danger,
and in sword
-- that is, in war. And as we said a moment ago -- if you are more
than a conqueror, that means that you have peace.
If
God can give you peace in such
situations, isn't that a peace in abundance?
You
might not have all the peace you would like to have right now -- but
know that God is working
in you a peace in abundance -- a peace that is so abundant that it
will give you peace in every situation of life.
God's peace is a peace
that drives very deep. That is what Jude is saying to us this
morning in verse 2.
* * * * * * * * * *
And
then the third word that we find here in the book of Jude -- verse 2
-- is the word "love".
And remember that this refers to God's
love -- which is multiplied
towards us.
So
often Christians also have a limited view of God's love.
Now
let’s remember that love is something that finds expression.
Love is something that shows
itself. A love that doesn't show
itself is just not love. When the Bible says that "God so loved
the world..."
we know that He showed
His love to the world through His only begotten Son.
One dictionary says that love
means to “like or desire actively.”
Now
there are Christians who believe that God loves
them -- but they don't believe that God's shows
them that love through His deeds
-- through His actions.
Maybe they believe that God shows them His love through nature
-- maybe they believe that God has an attitude
of love towards them in His heart -- but
they don't see the active
aspect of His love.
The
Bible says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love
endures forever.
Who can proclaim the mighty acts
of the Lord?” (Psalm 106:1-2). It says: "Give thanks to the
Lord for His unfailing love -- and His wonderful deeds
for men." (Psalm 107:8).
And
God's love
towards us is abundant.
It is not only
something that we see in nature -- it is not only
something that exists in the heart
of God -- but it is a love that God expresses
towards us by His mighty power.
It is
an abundant
love.
* * * * * * * * * *
That
is the simple message of the book of Jude verse 2 this morning, and I
hope that this will be a great encouragement to us. It is an
encouragement because this is what God
says, through His Word
-- it’s not just what the minister
said, but these are some basic words that God
wants us to know -- it is what God’s Word
tells us about His mercy, peace, and love, which are multiplied
towards us as the people of God.
AMEN.
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