If you can be a sibling of someone famous, who will it be?
And how will you live differently?
If you're a sport fan, maybe you want to be one of Williams or Watts,
or if you enjoy movie and entertainment, how about being one of the Hemsworths,
or the White Brothers of Aviation or the Kennedys in American politics.
Let's play a guessing game, okay, to see whether you can recognize those siblings of the foreign peoples.
The hints are their siblings is in entertainment industry.
They go, Kimon, very obvious.
Got resemblance, this is issues.
This is harder.
Steve might know this one.
We all know this.
The next one should be easy for all the Yanwans.
Yeah.
Very well.
Great job in working out who these people are.
But do you remember my original questions?
There are two questions.
The first is, whose sibling do you want to become?
And what about the second questions?
Wendy, can you hold back a bit on that one?
Yes.
I think the second question is comparatively a bit more important.
And I won't ask for a show of hands, but I'm confident around half of us,
so many of us will forgot that question, is how will you live differently?
Which is about what changes people will see in your life to show that you are a member of a particular family.
I'm confident, for I know that I myself often miss important parts of a conversation
because I'm very frustrated on some earlier parts or become very quick to react.
One of the writers in the New Testament, James, teach us from his book in chapter 1, verse 19 to 20,
that my dear brothers and sisters, take note of this.
Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry
because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
Learning to hold back our reaction, being quick to listen and slow to speak,
and or slow to become angry is such a lifelong lesson.
It's much easier to stay angry and demand justice, an eye for an eye.
But take note of James' warning that human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires,
which is end up causing you to become ungodly.
Ash preached last week about how the gospel,
the good news of God's action to save people through Jesus,
bring everyone into a family.
Talking about family and sibling,
we read today that James also has a brother who wrote a letter in the New Testament.
His name is Jew.
Jew, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
he wrote a letter to those who have been called,
who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ,
to encourage them to content for the faith,
deliver once and for all to the saints.
My intention today is to explore three questions from Jew's letter.
Who is Jew?
Who are the ungodly?
And how do we stay faithful to the gospel?
We know from what we have read that Jew is James' brother.
The beginning of the letter can also be translated as,
I, Judas, am a slave to Jesus Christ and brother to James,
writing to those loved by God the Father,
called and kept safe by Jesus Christ.
We can make three observations of this different translation.
Firstly, Jew and Judas are interchangeable names.
Matthew 13, verse 54 to 55 says,
So, apart from being the brother of James,
Jude or Judas is also a brother of Jesus Christ.
Chapter 3 of Mark's gospel says,
Jesus' family went to take charge of him
because they thought he has gone out of his mind
for being so busy dealing with people and even skipping meals.
But Acts 1, 14 indicates that Jesus' brother later become his follower.
And Paul, right in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 5,
implied that Jesus' brother become traveling missionary later in their life.
James and Jude's writings provide so much for us
to learn about how to live as a follower of Christ.
I urge you to set your goal this year to read their writing
and be familiar with their teaching.
The second observation is about the term a slave to Jesus Christ,
which is the first lesson we can learn from Jude.
Jude did not claim his status as a brother of Jesus Christ,
but addressed himself as a slave to Jesus Christ
because he was fully committed to glorifying Jesus.
He does not want anything to distract his audience.
Being a slave is a much stronger term than being a servant.
Jude's self-destination describes his complete devotion to Jesus.
Jude is an ordinary person who became special
through his association with Jesus.
And the association is not through being his sibling,
but through his submission to Jesus as a slave to his master.
Jude is a person who knows his standing with God.
His identity comes from his heart to serve and glorify God.
It does not come from his status
or standing among the believing community
or his position in the church.
He wants the best for his audience
because he's writing to those loved by God,
which is my third observation.
The love that Jude referred to
is a completed action
that continues in the same state.
God continues to love the people Jude is writing to
because they are called and kept safe by Jesus.
Jesus is the ultimate carekeeper
of all those who follow him.
Jesus is the only person
who ensures his followers' abundance
in mercy, peace, and love.
And Jude is very confident
that Jesus continues to keep his followers safe.
Jude loved the followers of Jesus
as much as Jesus loved them.
And in his letter,
he provides bookends of encouragement and praises
for the faithful followers.
His letter may seem heavy and sober in the middle,
but we must remember that Jude writes it
out of love and encouragement.
The faith that was once for all
and trusted to God's holy people
frames the whole body of the letter.
Jude writes to remind
and to urge his readers to remember that faith.
It was once and for all
and trusted to them who are God's holy people.
It will not change, diminish, or be taken away.
Faithful followers knew how to behave
and only needed to be reminded
of what they had already learned and demonstrated.
Nick reminded us in his preaching a couple of weeks ago
from Ephesians that Jesus' followers
are God's holy people
who have a glorious inheritance waiting for them.
There is such a true hope
and an incomparable great power
for those who believe.
Jesus' believers and followers
are special because Jesus calls and keeps us.
Jude told us that he originally intended to write
about their common salvation in Jesus Christ,
but had to change subject
to provide with tools to defend their faith.
His strong warning is necessary
because there are ungodly people among his readers.
Dear friends,
although I was very eager to write to you
about the salvation we share,
I felt compelled to write and urge you
to contend for the faith that was run for all
and trusted to God's holy people.
For certain individuals
whose condemnation was written about long ago
have secretly slipped among you.
They are ungodly people
who have preferred the grace of our God
into a license of immorality
and denied Jesus Christ our only Savior and Lord.
Jude told us that the ungodly people
are those who preferred the grace of our God
into a license of immorality
and denied Jesus Christ our only Savior and Lord.
The critical word here is only.
Jesus is our only Savior.
Ungodly people have an incorrect understanding
of what it takes to be saved
and live in a moral life,
which if followed will be detrimental.
There's nothing and no one else can save us
or keep us safe except Jesus.
False teacher create problems,
abuse the support of the Holy Ghost church,
and claim to have particular inspiration
from the Holy Spirit.
They will claim to know better
than your leaders in how to do things.
At the beginning of our summer series a few weeks ago,
Steve preached about Jonathan Edwards
and how he should be added
to the list of faithful people
mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11.
You can revisit all those sermons
by Steve, Ash, and Nick on our website
or visit our YouTube live stream.
The Bible has many positive examples
of how God encourages a follower
to stay faithful to him.
And they are also examples of those
who suffer the punishment
of their rebellion towards God.
And Jude uses many negative examples
from the Old Testament,
from verse 5 to 19.
Hebrews 11 and Jude provides
a positive and negative examples
of faithful interaction with God.
If you're not familiar with them,
you should make it your goal
to read through them
so that you will not fall
into the same punishment
as those who rebel against God.
I have compiled this leaflet
of how Jude used the Old Testament.
So take a copy as you leave
and familiarize yourself
with the negative example
so that you can take
Jude's warning to heart.
But Jude compiles a summary
that the ungodly people are
those who do not believe.
They abandoned their proper dwelling
and gave themselves up
to sexual immorality and perversion.
They polluted their bodies,
rejected authority,
and hid abuse on celestial things.
He further explained that
these people slander
whatever they do not understand.
Jude go on to say,
these people are blamishers
at your love feast,
eating with you
with their slightest crime,
and shepherds who feed only themselves.
The ungodly people
present a worrying problem
not because they actively
oppose the church.
They are a problem
because they have secretly
slipped in among the believers
and infiltrate the community.
They appear to have
your interest in their mind.
They enjoy the fellowship
and may even hold
leadership positions
shepherding others.
But all their care and concern
are themselves.
Jude described the ungodly people
as cloud without rain,
blow along by the wind,
autumn trees without fruits
and uprooted tristead.
They are wild waves of the sea
forming up their shame,
wandering stars
from whom
blackness
has been reserved forever.
They are like clouds
that overshadow others
but never bring the rain
that will nourish
and produce growth.
They like to keep you
under their control.
They are fruitless trees
and spiritually dead.
Their fires
often seem possible
but will not help you
to grow closer
to God or his people.
They do not hold back
from telling others
about their experience
or achievements.
They appear
to be committed
to God or the church.
Stars
serve a great purpose
of giving travel
a direction at night,
pointing the lost
to a safe place.
As followers of Christ,
we are to point people
to Jesus
for salvation.
But the ungodly people
are wandering stars
who lead people
away from God.
And if people rely
on their advice
or follow them,
they will not grow
in their faith
as God's intended.
So Jude continues
saying,
these people
are grumbler,
fault-finder.
They follow
their own evil desires.
They boast about
themselves
and flatter others
for their own advantage.
They grumble,
they find faults
in others,
especially those
leading them.
The ungodly people
often complain
behind their leader's back
and use flattery
to manipulate
and gain an advantage
in getting what they want.
They are scoffers
who follow
their own ungodly desires.
People will divide
the community
by following
merely human instincts
and do not have the spirit
because they care
most about
getting what they want,
even if it means
stepping on others
to get it.
They are sometimes
very subtle
but other times
apparent
in how they gain
their influence
over other believers.
We live in a society
that demands
the church
to change
with the times
to take advantage
of most modern view
of what it means
to be a Christian.
And the demands
are even coming
from within
the community
of believers
who to redefine
the basic meanings
of even being
human
in terms of
gender
and marriage.
We're in our
current day and age
where personal
and individual freedom
has been elevated
so high
as a failure of life,
where self-indulgence
and self-persevation
is of high priority
of a lot of people,
especially Yarn Edo's.
The warning of Jews
against ungodliness
is very relevant
to Jesus' followers.
So how are we
going to content
for the faith
that was once for all
and trusted
to God's holy people?
How are we going
to stay faithful
to the gospel?
Before we think
about what we need
to do,
I must reassure you
again that
God is the one
who keeps us
from stumbling.
We are loved by God
and called
and kept saved
by Jesus.
God will present
his people
to himself
as perfect reflection
of his son Jesus
to display his glory
and share his eternal joy
with his people.
But you,
dear friends,
by building yourself up
in your most holy faith
and praying
in the Holy Spirit,
keep yourself
in God's love
as you wait
for the mercy
of our Lord Jesus Christ
to bring you
to eternal life.
Jew gives us
three specific instructions
to how to stay faithful
to the gospel,
content for our faith,
fight and struggle,
exert intense effort
like an athlete
or one in warfare.
But he again
assures us
in verse 24
that God,
the glorious,
majestic,
powerful,
authoritative,
only God,
our Savior,
is at work,
who is able
to keep you
from stumbling
and to present you
before his glorious presence
with a thought
and with great joy.
God's hope
and power
are sufficient
to sustain us
in the face
of what God brings
into our life.
Even a few ungodly people
or situations,
God is the one
who will work in you
as you joy
lean to him.
Interacting
with people
who doubt
and wonder
requires deep knowledge
of our weaknesses
and failure.
It requires maturity
of faith.
That is why
Jude's first
specific instruction
is to build
ourselves up
in faith.
Romans 10, 17
says,
faith comes from
hearing the message
and the message
is heard
through the word
about Christ.
Because we are prone
to forget
what God has done
for us,
we must constantly
expose ourselves
to God's word,
which is where
faith comes from.
Regularly reading
the Bible,
hearing preached
and taught,
memorizing scriptures
and discusses
with others
are ways
we build
ourselves up
in faith.
God has given us
patterns in the scripture
as a warning.
As we see
the numerous examples
of those who
turn away from the Lord
to fold their sinful ways,
we should pray
and ask God
to show us
an area of our life
where evil desire
may lurk.
And that's the second
specific instruction.
We pray for the Holy Spirit
to work in our life.
And by building
ourselves up
this way
and praying
in the Holy Spirit,
we keep ourselves
in God's love
as we await
his mercy
on the last day.
That's the third
instruction.
The way
we can keep ourselves
in God's love,
apart from reading
the Bible
and praying,
is to be merciful
to those who doubt.
Save others
by snatching them
from the fire.
To others show mercy,
mixed with fear,
hating even the clothing
stink
by corrupt flesh.
As believers,
our hope is set
on Christ's mercy
towards us.
So we are to show mercy
to those
caught in sin
and deception
while keeping ourselves
from that sin
that has trapped them.
all of this
require
intentional effort
and active
participation
in the body
of Christ.
We are vulnerable
in mistaking
our desires
for God's will.
The false teaching
of those ungodly
people may seem
good and reasonable
at first.
And a false teacher
may appear authentic.
It ends up
pointing away
from God
and towards destruction.
To avoid
being led astray,
we must rely
on the scriptures,
on the spirit's guidance
and invite other believers
to help
hold us accountable.
We should take advantage
of these safeguards,
stay on the gospel path
and assist those
who are wavering.
A sure sign
of ungodly people
is that they like
to fight
with others,
especially their leaders.
So let me introduce you
to this book
called Fight for
Your Pastor.
A pastor
is someone
that's leading your life.
Again,
this will help you
to come back
ungodliness.
I bought this book
last year
and gave out copies
to the church.
So please
dust them
off your shelf.
We'll read them
again this year.
And if you haven't
got a copy,
we've got copies
out there
as you go out.
Please consider
also donating
to the church
as we can
make more resources
available to you.
less content
together
for the faith
that was once
and for all
and trusted to you
and me,
God's holy people.
To him
who is able
to keep you
from stumbling
and to present you
before his glorious presence
without thought
and with great joy,
to the only God
our Savior
be glory,
majesty,
power,
and authority
through Jesus Christ
our Lord
before all ages
now and forever.
Amen.