MEN ALIVE: Jim Cunningham & Paul Estabrooks' Podcast
Programs to help men become transformed to the image (character) of Jesus Christ.
MEN ALIVE: Jim Cunningham & Paul Estabrooks' Podcast
MEN ALIVE 209 - Warnings From Jude: Deceit in the Early Church and Today
In our modern-day churches, four challenges are subtly making their way in - Deceivers, Dreamers, Discouragers, and Dividers. We'll draw on biblical wisdom to tackle these challenges and keep on the right path. The transformational power of conforming to the image of Jesus Christ awaits you in this riveting discussion. Listen in, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.
Welcome to Men Alive, a biblical journey to help us conform to the image of Jesus Christ. I'm your host, paul Estrux, our teacher. As my longtime friend, dr Jim Cunningham, consultant in adult education, director of Go Teach Global and author of the book Men Alive.
Speaker 2:Before I speak, let's pray. Heavenly Father, you are our sovereign God, the great I am, the maker of heaven and earth. You made every person sitting listening to this program Guide my words. I pray to speak your truth in love, with grace In Jesus' name, amen. For this broadcast I would like to bring you four warnings from Jude, the half-brother of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:First, a little background. Jude likely lived with Jesus in Nazareth during what we call the silent years, between the time his older brother had his entry test into manhood at the temple in Jerusalem at the age of twelve until Jesus began his earthly ministry at the age of thirty. Imagine having Jesus as your older brother. According to Matthew, jesus had four brothers and at least two sisters, and Mark 6.3 says Is not this the carpenter? The son of Mary and the brother of James? And Joseph and Judas called Jude and Simon. Curiously, it appears that none of the brothers believed Jesus was the Messiah until after he rose from the dead. The early church was just beginning. Jude's brother James became the author of the Epistle of James and later the head of the Council of Followers of Jesus in Jerusalem. For now we are going to look at Jude's writings to warn the groups of four worms infiltrating the church. Ready, I'm going to ask Pablo to read the scriptures from the New Living Translation, with references to other versions as we go.
Speaker 1:This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.
Speaker 2:Whoa. Sorry to stop you so soon, Pablo, but notice, Jude now calls himself a slave of Jesus Christ. His brother.
Speaker 1:The word translated slave in English is Monservant, meaning one who is at the disposal of Jesus Christ for service in his cause.
Speaker 2:Men, the reality is Christ has risen and everything Jude witnessed about his brother has sealed the deal. Jesus was and is the Messiah, no doubt about it. He's alive and now he says I, jude, am his slave. So Jude, in essence, is saying listen to me and what I'm writing, it's all true.
Speaker 1:I am writing to all who have been called by God, the Father, who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:Jude may be reflecting on the character qualities he saw and experienced from his older brother. Jude would have witnessed Jesus' love, his protection and his care.
Speaker 1:Then he adds May God give you more and more mercy, peace and love.
Speaker 2:Jude is appealing to all followers of Christ that we may receive three character qualities that he witnessed in his brother Jesus mercy, peace and love. The four primary character qualities directly mentioned in the Bible about Jesus are he was filled with grace and truth, and he said of himself learn from me, for I am gentle and humble. So what do we need as we get older? Grace, truth, gentleness, humility, to which Jude adds May God give us, you and me, more and more mercy, peace and love. Jude now identifies four kinds of false teachers and deceivers attacking this new Christian group, the followers of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share, but now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God's marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives.
Speaker 2:Here we see worm number one, deceivers. Verse four they have wormed their way into your churches saying that God's marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. Dietrich Bonhoeffer called it cheap grace, because we are saved by grace. Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, these deceivers teach that God's grace allows them to continue living immoral lives and they reverse scriptural principles.
Speaker 1:The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, jesus Christ. So I want to remind you though you already know these things, that Jesus rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later he destroyed those who did not remain faithful. And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them, but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment. And don't forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God's judgment.
Speaker 2:The Bible is clear. We must obey the Bible Whatever the cost. Our culture is changing, but the Bible remains absolute truth. Jude now identifies worm number two dreamers, people who claim authority from their dreams.
Speaker 1:In the same way, these people who claim authority from their dreams live immoral lives, defy authority and scoff at supernatural beings.
Speaker 2:They follow subjective experiences that they claim are from God, but that lead them to disobey God's written word and end up following ungodly passions.
Speaker 1:Let me worm into this interesting discussion and remind you that you are listening to Men Alive, with Dr Jim Cunningham from the ministry Go Teach Global. I'll share at the end of the program how you can make contact. Now back to worm number two, dreamers. I'm reading from Jude, starting at verse nine but even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said the Lord rebuke you. This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses' body. But these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction. What sorrow awaits them? For? They follow in the footsteps of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they deceive people for money and, like Korah, they perished in the rebellion.
Speaker 2:Scripture does not specifically say Cain and Balaam and Korah had a dream, but they made decisions and followed actions based on their own self-centered authority. Churches are inundated with pastors and elders teaching their own views rather than proclaiming the authority of the Bible. All 66 books, nothing is unhitched. It's one book. Brother Andrew from Open Doors used to say millions of people do not have a Bible. If you have a Bible and cannot or will not read it from Genesis to Revelation within one year, then you are lazy. Mark 13, 22, 23 says For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. So be on your guard. I have told you ahead of time. Worm number 3, another D, discouragers. It begins in verse 12 and is identified in verse 16. These people are grumblers and complainers. Pablo's going to read the next portion.
Speaker 1:When these people eat with you in their fellowship meals commemorating the Lord's love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots. They are like wild waves of the sea churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness. Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said listen, the Lord is coming with countless thousands of His holy ones to execute judgment on the people of the world. He will convict every person of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.
Speaker 2:Jude had access to either hearing this quote or reading it in order to reference it in his letter. These people are grumblers and complainers living only to satisfy their desires. They brag loudly about themselves and they flatter others to get what they want. Now we come to Worm number four dividers. These people are the ones who create divisions.
Speaker 1:But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ predicted. They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God's spirit in them. But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourself safe in God's love, and you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.
Speaker 2:I recall being in Ottawa back in 2001 listening to nine Supreme Court of Canada judges hear the case between Trinity Western University and the BC College of Teachers Without prejudice. It was one of the most interesting days of my career. I listened to lawyers speak for and against their concerns that Trinity Western University teachers trained in a Christian university, a university that believes the Bible's strict views, would somehow teach gay children in the public schools and be prejudiced. The eventual decision was eight judges supporting Trinity's right to train teachers, with one judge writing a dissenting position. I can still recall the dissenting judge's rather startle question to Trinity's lawyer Help me understand.
Speaker 2:How is it possible for you, as a Christian, to hate the sin but love the sinner? This sounds like the challenge Jude gave his readers Hate the sin, love the sinner. Knowledge requires conviction and action. In Acts 2, peter preached and the people heard with their ears, the head. The disciples preached in the fourteen languages spoken that day and it says the listeners were struck in their heart and asked what shall we do? Peter told them what to do with their hands to show their conviction, repent and be baptized, and three thousand were saved. That day.
Speaker 1:This is Jude's challenge. Folks, build each other up in your most holy faith. You have heard this information with your head. Hopefully, you have been convicted by the word of God in your heart. Now we go and serve with our hands until we see Jesus face to face.
Speaker 2:Listen to Jude's benediction, keeping in mind, as we speak, who wrote these words? The half brother of our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ, who is now a full blood brother with Jesus in heaven.
Speaker 1:Now. All glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into His glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to Him who alone is God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. All glory, majesty, power and authority are His, before all time and in the present and beyond all time. Amen.
Speaker 2:And amen to God be the glory.
Speaker 1:There you have it, men, god's word. The Bible tells us how to deal with four worms creeping into the church today Deceivers, dreamers, discouragers and dividers. This is why we're here as believers, to live as light in the darkness, not part of the darkness. For questions or program ideas you'd like to hear, contact Dr Jim at menaliveintogodatgmailcom and visit his website, goteachglobalcom. Until next time, let's keep being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.
