Bible Discussion Replies PAGE 135

Hey there, Brother Spencer,

I'm glad that you enjoyed the study in Jude. Revelation is a bit longer, so I'll try not to get too long winded. There are some great things we can get out of this final book of prophecy. It is the only book in the bible that promises a blessing to those who read it, so I think it is one that should be read over and over again.

I noticed that you have an interest in Chapters 1-3, so I hope to cover those chapter well. If there is something in particular you would like me to go over, please let me know.

The things you mentioned seem to happen a lot. Oftentimes, it gets shrugged off because pastors don't want to offend anyone because they might leave, and some in the ministry don't want to lose church members because they base their success on numbers. To them, the more people you have in attendance, it shows how successful you are as a church.

I tend to see it differently, where the more people you have, the greater the chances are of having problems. I'm not sure why this young pastor you mentioned didn't seem too concerned about the conflicting teachings going on in his church. When you have that many Sunday school teachers with different beliefs, someone's going to be receiving some false teaching.

Blessings!

Hello all Pentecost happy friends. In any case, I hope that most of you know the meaning of Pentecost. The word I got today thought and shared now. It is about something completely different. God's Word Heb 4:12-14

That's probably what happened to me then in the nine years I read a verse every day. He knows what I put into it at that time. I wanted to understand, but then I understood nothing. So all of you who pray, long and find comfort in the Lord. In His time He gives everything you long for in your heart. And then it comes so that it overflows before you. But never give up, it's the glue. He must have the right contact according to His will.

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and is a judge of the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we must give an account. Directly translated as it says in my Kj Bible from 2004. They are strong words. So every man must take this to heart, and try and read them as it says. That is how strong is, the Word of God. It is wisdom and truth, it is justice and love. We find everything and much much more in the Word of God.

Hope you are all well during the great "holy-day". If not, we know that we must pray to Him who has all power in Heaven and on earth. Mat 28:18 God bless you and at the same time we lift each other up to God in prayer in Jesus Christ's Holy Name. Amen. Rom 8:22-30 Jesus loves u and i in Christ.

The core value of nations in the Bible

We are considering the life of Abraham from the manner the Spirit of God has set out the will of God."And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."( Gen.1.2) Referring to the Covenant we have God referring to it, "And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;" (9.9) He is referring to the generations after generations after Noah, his seed which by faith. So the Spirit of God moves upon the generations where faith connects Abraham of his seed. Ishmael also is the seed of Abraham and God blesses him also. What of Reuben, the eldest son of Jacob, "Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch." The generation after Noah hit a bad patch as we have dark ages in the history of man. The golden age of Arabs began by default since their prophet instituted Islam as the third way. He had seen the Jews and Christian monks in their most licentious practices to want a different approach to their Maker. "And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is./Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation."(Gen.21.17-18) God can yet work and make them His people and reject the perfidious nation of Israel.

We shall study the nations from the Bible as a narrative to indicate the iniquity of Amoritites shall only go from bad to worse. So judgment of the cities mentioned in Rev.11.8 beginning with Sodom,Egypt Jerusalem and finally Babylon is the thread holding them. In other words the blessing enshrined in the Covenant gives us a parallel account where New Jerusalem and Zion is the city that God has promised, and none other.

In Oct, 2023 before the Hamas hostage-taking was this new. Five ultra-orthodox Jeswe were filmed spitting at Christian pilgrims at Old Quarter of Jerusalem. The same old spirit of Belial who jeered at Elisha as he was going to Bethel. The world has forgotten these endemic insults hurled at pilgrims as a matter of course. Shall not God step in under such poltroonery of Jews, Canaanites, all at their own brethren? 'They hated me without cause' as Jesus cited the word of God .Evangelics behave as proverbial ostrich. Their godliness also has the hallmark of who their father is.

Gen.12.6-20 "Canaanites"

"And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land./ And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him."

God's promise to Abraham was established. According to the Covenant Abraham understood what he meant. He may pass through the lands now held by the Canaanites whose iniquity was still growing but not yet ripe for complete annihilation as He shall begin with Sodom by and by. Meanwhile Abraham makes a complet circle returning to where he began and he makes a detour to the South. The Land of Egypt reveals another aspect of the descendants of Ham. Whosoever, an alien come into his kinddom he had to have the woman if she were fair to look upon. "when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair./The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house."(vv.14-15) In the old world destroyed by flood it was the sons of God who, " That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose."(6.2). Where did the seed of Ham learn it? Satan had planted such spirit of free enterprise in the sons of Noah and God made it a point in the Decalogue. "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife." (Exod.20.17)

God tells Jeremiah of what worth was the Law of Moses to them. "How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife." Israel was Canaanite at heart. "Unto thy seed will I give this land." Thus seed of Abraham refers to something else

John 14:6

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

Blessings

Gen.12.3-4 "Nations/families"

"And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."

In the fellowship of God with Man what is the role of Abraham? He is the father of Isaac, the heir of promise. In the way Abraham would not spare his only 'begotten' Son as God did not spare his Son sets him in the world of the Spirit after our image, to whom Lazarus in the Parable would look up as a double for God. Jesus spoke of the bosom of God as we speak of Abraham's blessings as a synonym for heaven. In terms of his faith he represents an entire generation as David represents, in the manner he is set as double for Son as a man after my own heart. It is thus the gospel of St Matthew begins. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ.

Those who do the will of God are the brethren of Jesus Christ." For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."(Mt.12.50) This family is blessed in the everlasting Covenant so he who has the Son has the Father as well. Who denies him and make his Atonement as limited has the devil for his sire.

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee:"

When God called Abraham out of the descendants of Noah, who peopled the earth from one end to another belonged to imposter churches that we find today. Doctrines from God and Jesus showed they were doable, but do the churches practise them?

Either or. "And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."(Gen.1.4)

God separated light from darkness leading to the Covenant. His will has never changed. There is only nation and it is called holy nation.

History of nations has never been created by flesh and blood. Consider pagan nations none which can do without attributing their origin to supernatural world of gods. The story of the founders of Rome suckled by she-wolf is a legend. Athens cannot do without it and neither can Akkadians who attribute a mother goddess that created the earth and heavens. They are listed in the table of nations in Ch.10 but nevertheless they had to have their myth, so they have sky god as well. The Spirit of God sets God as the maker, and possessor of heaven and the earth This explains the sin of intermingling sons of God with daughters of men in 6.1-2. It was Satan's way of muddying the make up of heirs of righteousness

Satan sins from the beginning and heresies in the church did not come on its own accord. Neither did gods from Olympus descend in the hearts of the descendants of Javan. Our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with spiritual wickedness in high places. How can the bride of Christ negotiate the ungodly without her eyes of faith open and totally focussed on Christ, the captain of our salvation?

In this context the blasphemy of attributing the curse on Canaan on the basis of his colour was the worst of misinterpreting the scripture wilfully. In what way Simon Legree has civilised Africa, judging from Sudan it looks like another lie.

Gen.12.1-4 "Overview"

Before God would make Abraham the Father of many nations he had to have the same quality of a parent, which is set after the likeness of God the 'possesser of heaven and the earth.""And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God./And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:" (Gen.14,18-19)

Let us consider the Word, God called Abraham out of his comfort zone because the eternal Word presided over man and blessed himin his Son. "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you./And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." (2 Cor.18-19)This was established in the everlasting Covenant so all the heavenly blessings are promised by the Covenant. Abram would not take even a shoe latchet from Sodom.Sodom is what the cursed of God shall take, he is a Canaanite and it what the Spirit warns here,"And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah." We shall come to Gerar as well so the Spirit is giving us a capsule shot at history from the life of Abraham how he dealt with kings of Sodom and Gerar,(20.1). Noah cursed Canaan not because of Ham but for what he stood for in the world of the Spirit. "And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." Meaning he was a son of perdition, servant to several corrosive appetites like covetousness.lust of the flesh etc.,The chapters 10-11 we may consider similar to the middle Ages in our own church history where the Apostolic church gave rise to heresies all enlarged upon by the spiritual sons of Shem Ham and Japheth.

God blessed Abraham in his Son and without holding on to it, and without eye of faith, clear, how shall the world of Spirit mean to a believer?

Gen.12.1 Overview on Ch.12. 1-4

" Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee."

We shall examine the life of Abraham from the less traveled path where the Spirit shall be our guide. What is so remarkable if God showed Canaan to which his father intended to visit anyway? If the barren womb of Sarai could conceive that would be more wortheir reason for the Spirit to record it. He was to leave his kindred and his father's house, would require truly a far more prize than a prosaic end of reaching his destination to which so many were gravitating. God tells, "But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." (Gen.15.16)The land was the heavenly city and Abraham was to keep in focus, and in the eye of faith nothing else should detract him from its immeasurable weight ."By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went./By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:/For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." (Heb.11.8-10) This shall explain Abraham's words to the king of Sodom. "And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,/ That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:"(14.22-23) His faith was same as that of Moses, "Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward./ By faith he forsook Egypt."(Heb.11.26-27)

Amen Brother Free, The grace of God and the peace which passeth all our understanding is our testimony. The Same God and how we receive Christ and experience His presence is different. It is what John's gospel tell us, "and we know that his testimony is true./And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen."(Jn.21.24-25)

We are all His epistles written not with ink but with how bears fruits for the glory of his Father who first trusted in us and set apart even before we were born! Think of it, truly Amazing, is it not!

there was a man who was selling car parts

a person came to him n said,sure would like to have this part but dont have the money,would you please give it to me..

another person came n asked for the same part.. said

sure could use this part,but cant afford it,I will work.mow,sweep whatever,labor in exchange for the part

of the 2 is more deserving of the part

Thank you Brother Jesse.

Jude was a treasure!

Can't wait for Revelation, particularly chapters 1-3.

I was thinking about what you said, "If you have 200 churches in town, you have 200 versions of the truth! Nobody can agree. What is the truth?

I've been to a church where they had about 15 Sunday School classes and you can visit those classes and you'll find out that the teachers have different beliefs.

I remember we got a new young enthusiastic pastor.

The Pastor before him was told to step down for supposedly some wrong doing.

This young enthusiastic Pastor first sermon was in the book of Jude emphasizing verse 4. "For there are certain men crept in unawares"

I was one of the leaders in the Church and

I told him he might want to check out some of his Sunday School classes.

It didn't seem to be a big concern of his.

Thank you Brother for all that you are doing.

God bless.

(Jude Part 6b):

Jude 1:25 Continued

Wouldn't it be great if all the leaders would get together and share the word together just to make sure they're all on the same page? It says that in the last days, there will be division, not unity. There will be apostasy, people who would depart from the faith. We see that more and more in our day.

This is all I have to share from Jude. And not to make these one-chapter books seem less important, but much of what 1st, 2nd, 3rd John, and Jude was teaching about and warning about, we face today. Especially since the body of Christ holds open public church, people come and go. You think they're Christians, but you find out later that they're not.

Next, I will begin with the book of Revelation, Lord willing. It will prove to be a fascinating book to study. I'll mention up front just in case anyone gets all excited to get started, it has nothing to do with space aliens or flying saucers. I'm sure you already know this but there are some who come away with some pretty strange ideas from reading this book. Perhaps you may have heard a few good ones yourselves!

Blessings to you all in Christ Jesus!

(Jude Part 6a):

Jude 1:25 - To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

To the only wise God our Savior. What a phrase! Our Savior is God, and God is our Savior, the deity of Christ! Notice in our English bible that the word "be" is in italics, which means it's not in the original text. It's not be glory. It is a statement of fact. To the only wise God our savior, is glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.

We understand the terms glory and majesty. But dominion means grip. It means the Lord is controlling everything. He controls. And the word power is the word authority. And he's ascribing everything to God that is of Christ, and to Christ everything that is of God, because He is the only wise God our Savior.

Other people are just planted. They are false prophets. They are false teachers. And we must be careful in the body of Christ. The gospel message is being watered down and changed more in our generation than any other time in history. If you have 200 churches in town, you have 200 versions of the truth! Nobody can agree. What is the truth?

(Jude Part 5):

Jude 1:24 - Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

This benediction says, now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling. The Lord keeps His people. He keeps us from falling from our position of grace, and from our relationship with Christ. Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling, and who is able to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.

One day I'm going to stand before God. And I will be presented by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But He's going to present me as faultless because He died for my sins. He paid the penalty for my sins. He is the one who keeps me. He is the one who's going to present me as faultless before His glory.

(Jude Part 4):

Jude 1:19 - These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

These be they who separate themselves. That's very interesting. False teachers will separate themselves. They'll be in fellowship groups, they'll be rejected, and eventually they will go off on their own and give themselves a name.

False prophets will do that. They will separate themselves. They are sensual. The Greek word is PSUCHIKOS. They go by the natural functions of man, and there's nothing spiritual about them at all. In fact, the next phrase says having not the Spirit. They're not saved. They don't have the Spirit of God.

Jude 1:20 - But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

But you, beloved, while building up yourselves on your most holy faith, and the word holy (HAGIOS) is the word sanctified. And while praying in the Holy Ghost. I like that phrase. This is something I may have mentioned before. We saw it in James Chapter 5 where it talks about the prayer of a righteous man avails much.

But in that verse in James Chapter 5, it shows that the person's prayer is not their own, but that it has come from God. God energized them to pray. Here, it says praying in the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit isn't producing the prayer, it is not a spiritual prayer.

But he says while you're building up yourselves on your most holy faith, and while you're praying in the Holy Spirit. And then we see the command in Verse 21.

Jude 1:21 - Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Keep yourselves in the love of God, and again, keep (TEREO) is the word for guard that I shared earlier. Guard, be sensitive to the things coming into your life that are challenging you to leave the Lord, or to leave His love. Stay in His love. Continue to be developed and grow stronger. And continue to pray, while looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Hello Joleenu,

I thought of you yesterday and prayed for you. Not having heard from you for a while I was wondering how you are doing. I am so glad you posted today. I will continue to pray for you. Isn't it good that God is caring for you in bringing you to my mind before you even posted? Praise the Lord, for He is good.

Gen.11.10-32 "Length of life"

Beginning with Shem we have life span of the families from names pre-eminent in their own generation: Arphaxad, Salah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug Nahor and Terah, the father of Abraham, Arphaxad lived for sih undred years while Nahor, "And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran."(v.32)

God set life of man on the basis of 120 years. It spelled man's ascent from dust to glory. Noah's life was a glorious example of God working with him so he walked with God while in his vile body. Because of the fall of man what God had warned about 'dust to dust," now alarmingly becomes a stark reality.God warned Adam,"for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Gen.3.19). From descendants of Ham, the cities proliferated around the rivers access of which in their control elevated them to world dominion. Wealth and glory of man, for example that of the King of Babylon was eating into the soul of man. King Nebuchadnezzar being struck down for his impiety did not improve. Sodom, Egypt would follow the same path of glory. King Solomon similarly sow seed of destruction into the monarchial nation of Israel. "He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he nlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again." ( Job 12.23) This has continued even to this day. " and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts."(Zec.14.21) Here we have New Jerusalem.

The nations overspreading the earth have their noses buried in the ground so mania over mining rights in our times is nothing new. Isaiah said,"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged." (Isa.51.1) How does one live healthy when he has polluted his environment. Abraham's parent was not migrating because of wanderlust. There was a great mass migration towards Canaan because of famine and other disasters.

Gen.11.3-4 "Profit margins"

And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter./And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."

Firstly the nations are moving farther,'as they journeyed from the east' it is in the same route Adam took expelled from the garden. The Spirit is telling God in his mercy set the new earth purged of the abominations of the old but they were moving away just the same from the Man who is after our image, and also from purpose. Earlier the daughters of men willingly gave themselves over to sons of God and the idea producing a superior race did not begin with Hitler but in the old world. Is traces we find in our present day celebrity culture. The devil sins from the beginning and so it shall be we have a mingled people in the outer darkness where people shall be Jews and the Gentiles cast out from the light of the Lamb. The Spirit tells that God apart His sanctified ones on the mount Sion and these have also a movement but they follow where the Lamb goes, "These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first-

The people werefruits unto God and to the Lamb."(Rev.14.4)

"and they left off to build the city" The people dropped the project over the profit margins. The brickmaker's guild wanted their profits which would go against the profit from the clay-pit owners and it was a monopoly. The overseer of the chattel serving as the labour had his own demands. Thus at every level the cut-throat business of building industry became too real.The people were as one but when it came to the money making business is business became the mantra. In the 80s we heard Greed is Good' and nations which place lives of citizens least where wealth is concerned, are really run by Satan.

Correction:

Second para as corrected: "How does a con artist work? Bait and switch is one system. He promises 'double your money'. The words mean precisely what 'they' mean but who says them? My ears heard it right and he flashes also wads of money and my eyes swiftly note $1000, denomination, and he awaits my answer. Thousand dollar bill, and I can't believe my luck. My faith in his promise on the evidence of it cannot go wrong. Besides it is a public place, safe as a day. But when I count my win in my own house I find stage money from fiirst to last.? My faith was on appearances so I ended with worthless paper. Is crypto currency is any better? It is even sold from the highest places through touts in pin-striped suits. Satan has found his roost in the midst of faithless generation, it is thus God washed his hands off the generations of the sons of Noah. Babel is a monument, As Jeremiah would say, "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."

John 13:34

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."

Blessings

Gen.11.7 "Money Speaks"

"Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."

Faith of may believers are almost in death throes.They have lost their first love. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." We have had conmen in the garbs of evangelists touting money between Sunday service, for some help in some obscure part of the world and later found as phony as the smooth talk of the itinerant evangelist!

How does a con artist work? Bait and switch is one system. He promises 'double your money'. The words mean precisely what he says and my ears heard it right and he flashes also wads of money and my swiftly eyes note $1000, denomination and he awaits my answer. Thousand dollar bill, and I can't believe my luck. My faith in his promise on the evidence of it cannot go wrong. Besides it is a public place, safe as a day. But when I count my win in my own house I find stage moneyfrom fiirst to last.? My faith was on appearances so I ended with worthless paper. Is crypto currency is any better? It is even sold from the highest places through touts in pin-striped suits. Satan has found his roost in the midst of faithless generation, it is thus God washed over the generations of the sons of Noah. Babel is a monument, As Jeremiah would say, "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."

What is the new fad? Crypto unlike fiat currency is entirely de-centralized and operates peer-to-peer without any intermediary. Some cryptocurrencies operate on private ledger systems that are controlled by a single entity. This entity is mostly ends up as no better than the banker I mentioned at the beginning from the kerbside. Faith is the one language between the worlds framed by the word of God. In any other you are sure to be as the designated' fall-guy'.

Gen.11.1-9 "Babel"

And theLordsaid, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language."

In the previous chapter the Spirit sets this formula three times in order to throw light on this passage. " By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations" The sons of Noah spread far and wide, and the land which God claims, 'The land is mine' has now a counter claim. Everyone after his tongue, after their families give rise to nationalism. This idea we have in 10.5, 20 and in v.31. The Command number Three explains primarily that they were claiming against the Son. God anointed him and said, "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee./Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession". They were truly heathen in the sense they defied God and against Christ.

Their speech betrays their intention, " And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."(v.4) They would stymy God in case He would flush them out from their lands with another flood. Here we see their disbelief. God had given his word "And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth./And God said, This is the token of the covenant... , for perpetual generations:"(9.11-13)

What are the words of God?

"The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times."(Ps.12.6)

The generation of Noah became corrupt and the 'evil report' of Ham was merely a symptom that faith, the one language was absent; The 'one speech' carried faith with works. Whereas the tower of Babel was monument to their lack of trust.

(Jude Part 3):

Jude 1:7 - 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.

Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities around them in like manner, giving themselves over to sexual immorality, and going after strange flesh. Interesting! Going after strange flesh is a Hebrew term for homosexuality. It's going after different flesh than what God intended it for. They are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. So, he presents three instances from the Old Testament of God's judgment that came.

Jude 1:8 - Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Likewise also these filthy dreamers, they defile the flesh, they despise dominion, that is, they reject authority, and they speak evil, or blaspheme dignities, or glories. It's from a Hebrew term denoting angels. They blaspheme angels.

Jude 1:13 - Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

They are raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; they are wandering stars, which is a Hebraism for false prophets. They are wanderers. They have no stability.

(Jude Part 2):

Jude 1:2 - Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.

He says mercy to you, and in the Greek text, this is in the Optative Mood, which means this is a wish. The last phrase "be multiplied" is literally, may it be multiplied. He's asking for a wish. May mercy be unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied, or increased. And that is Jude's desire for them, especially after he ministers to them about the problems in the church.

Jude 1:3 - Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

It was needful for me, literally, a necessity was placed upon me to write unto you, and to encourage you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. We're talking about the faith that was once and for all given to the saints, nothing new. But he says that you should earnestly contend for the faith.

Earnestly contend is one word. It's a compound word in the Greek text. And it is the word over, and the word AGONIDZO, where we get our word agonize from. It's from the coliseum games, the training of the athletes. They went through agony.

He's calling upon all believers, the faith that was founded through Jesus Christ and established for us by the apostles and prophets that Christ chose to represent Him after He left, that's the same faith that we have today. It's not new.

But to earnestly contend for the faith means you have to take a stand, and you have to go through the agony of the suffering for it, just like an athlete going through the pains for the athletic contest. So, to earnestly contend, it means to stick up for the truth, and whatever you have to go through to do that, he's encouraging us to do that.

(Jude Part 1c):

Jude 1:1 continued

Here it says that Christ is keeping us. And it is a Perfect Tense. It is a permanent condition that He is keeping us. We see in John Chapter 17, which is a great chapter. This is the Lord's Prayer to the Father before He is crucified. And the prayer gives us so much more information about His ministry to us.

But He says "Father, I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom you gave me, that they may be one, as we are. In the verse prior to this, Jesus talked about how He kept them while He was with them in the world. And now he is going to be crucified. He's going to die, be buried, and rise from the dead.

And now He's asking the Holy Father to keep through your own name those whom you have given to me. So, we are kept by Christ. We are kept by the heavenly Father. There's another text in 1 Peter Chapter 1 where he says we are those who are being kept by the power of God until our salvation is realized when He comes for us.

We saw in 1 John Chapter 5 that God keeps His own people, and that the evil one cannot touch them, literally cannot grasp (HAPTO) them. So, it's all through the scriptures that God is keeping and guarding us for Himself. And that's what Jude brings out here, to those who have been sanctified by God the Father, and who have been preserved in Jesus Christ.

And the third thing he says, and who are called. All genuine believers are those who have responded to the call. You can study John Chapter 10 for the call if you'd like. Jesus said His sheep hear His voice and they follow after Him. All of His sheep respond to the voice of Christ.

(Jude Part 1b):

Jude 1:1 continued

Then who he's writing to, and this is interesting. He says to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and the called ones.

Three things:

First, they're sanctified. That is in the Perfect Tense in the Greek text, which means they stand in a permanent condition of being set apart. That's what sanctified means, set apart by God the Father. Of course, you probably already know that a believer is sanctified. It can be found many times throughout the NT. Sanctified is the verb form of the word for saint, HAGIOS, the set apart one.

HAGIOS is also the word for holy. So, when the Holy Spirit comes into a believer's life, they are set apart by God. And by His Spirit coming in, they experience sanctification. So, to those who have been sanctified by God the Father, and then another Perfect Tense, and who have been preserved in Jesus Christ.

It's a fascinating statement that many people don't even know is in the bible as we debate and share with one another about our permanent condition and if we can lose our salvation? A believer has been preserved, kept by, and in Jesus Christ. The word preserved is the word TEREO. There are actually two words that have to do with guarding someone.

TEREO is the word used for a guard who would be in charge for making sure people from the outside would not come in to get the prisoner. There's another word, PHULASSO, which means you would be the guard that would guard the prisoner to make sure he doesn't get out.

So, you're guarding in two different directions for two different things. The one that's used for the believer, as it is used here, is the word TEREO, which means that I am on guard. For me to keep the commandments of God, it means that I am to keep on guard for things coming in and interrupting my obedience to Christ. It doesn't mean I keep it perfectly. It means I'm on guard against the things that are interfering with the commandments of Christ.

Biblical Greek Perspectives:

(Jude Part 1a):

The author of this letter is Judas, the brother of James, and half-brother to the Lord Jesus. In Greek, the name is literally "Judas." He wrote the book of Jude. Judas is mentioned 44 times in the New Testament, representing the name of a person, as well as the name of the territory of Judah in Israel. Both are the same words. There are eight people named Judas in the New Testament.

Jude's letter is specifically written to believing Jews as it refers to the Old Testament scriptures and the Jewish historical books. Jude was written around 70 A.D. from Jerusalem. Jude wrote his letter in the Present Tense indicating that the false teachers that Peter warned about were now present in the Church which seemed to be the purpose of his letter.

The theme of Jude's letter can be found in Verse 3, where Jude calls on believers to contend for the faith which was once delivered to the Saints. Jude's letter contains many allusions and illustrations from the Old Testament, indicating that his primary audience was the believing Jews.

Jude 1:1 - 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:

There is a whole lot packed into this one verse, so please bear with me as I try and keep this as short as I can. He starts out by saying Jude, which in Greek is IOUDAS, Judas, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James. It's interesting that both Judas and James did not push their position as being the Lord's half-brothers to fit into some kind of a privileged position.

They both presented themselves as slaves of Jesus Christ. They are servants, literally slaves (DULOS) of Jesus Christ. And Jude includes that he is a brother of James. And everybody knows who James is. He's the head of the church of Jerusalem.

James 4:1

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

The internal war taking place inside of each believer sometimes spills out of us into external war between believers.