On Wednesday, November 9th, 2022, at around 2pm I picked up this leather string from the floor of the Church. We had just finished the funeral service for Eleanor Slater and the last person had left. (If you never knew Eleanor Slater, our mother in the faith here, you will just have to live with that deficit for the rest of your life). When I saw it on the floor I recognized it right away because had been in Eleanor’s bible. But from that moment it has not left my bible. It is a page marker, and something that reminds me of a very special woman of God.
Reminders are part of life, aren’t they? I’m not talking about sticky notes reminding us to pay a bill. You know what I’m talking about – rituals or tokens or days that are special because they connect us with something someone important to us. Next Sunday is Easter, which is a day that reminds us of Christ’s resurrection. Christmas reminds us of Christ’s birth. We take Communion every month – which is a reminder of Christ’s death on the cross. Many of you may have a necklace on with a bible verse, or a cross. Is that not a constant reminder of your faith? What did Deuteronomy 6:8 say about God’s word? “Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” How many of you have Scripture on your walls at home? I know people and churches who before laying flooring down wrote Scripture all over their floors.
Our sermon title today is “Reminders” and it comes from verse 5, where he says, “I want to remind you…” In verse 3 he urged them, in verse 4 he warned them, now in verse 5 he reminds them. He urged them to fight for the faith, he warned them of the enemies of the faith they needed to fight against, and now he’s going to remind them of some historical characters.
REMINDERS (5a)
Reminders. Look at how verse 5 begins, “Though you already know all this, I want to remind you…” The NASB says it, “Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all…” And the NET says, “Now I desire to remind you (even though you have been fully informed of these facts once for all)” The word “remind” means just that – to remind, to call to mind again, to think about something again. Jude is saying, “I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. You guys have heard this before and you know it very well. But I’m going to go over it again anyway because I want you to keep thinking about these things….” Before going into what exactly Jude wanted to remind them of let me make two points on this matter:
First, we need reminders. Jude says, “I want to remind you” and he wants to because he knows the importance of believers needing to be reminded. Turn to 2 Peter 1:12-15 with me and follow along…. [READ]
It was very important to Peter (and to his readers!) that they remember the truths they already have and know. But why? Why was it so important? He explains in the previous verses, follow as I read versace 5-11. Peter wanted them to remember the things they were firmly grounded in. The reason was so that they would be effective and productive with what they know (8), and so that they would receive a rich welcome into the kingdom (11).
Peter also explains again in chapter 3 verses 1 and 2 why reminders were so important, “….” He wants to stimulate wholesome thinking. Remembering is important for spiritual growth, wholesome thinking, and a rich welcome into the kingdom of God. And that point ought to be familiar to us as we study Jude. Jude, following Peter’s lead, wanted to warn and remind his readers as well. We’ll get into it in the coming sermons but Jude clearly was strongly influenced by the Apostle Peter. Jude is almost word for word what Peter says in 2 Peter 2.
APPLICATION: Surround yourself with reminders. Whether necklaces, bracelets, wall decorations, holidays or special days, surround yourself with reminders of your faith. Let me urge you to put greater value on some biblical reminders such as communion, attending church, bible studies, prayer group, and even being discipled. When you take that bread and cup and we talk about what they memorialize is your heart not drawn up to Christ for what He did for you? When you come to church are you not encouraged in your faith being amongst your fellow believers who like you want to live for Christ? Is not the preaching of the Word, bible studies and discipleships, and prayer meeting just immersing you in God’s word so that it saturates your heart and has you thinking about God and His Word? Surround yourselves with reminders.
Second, we ought to know biblical truths. Jude says, “Though you already know all this…” Peter says, “even though you know these things and are firmly established in the truth you now have.” Could it be said of you, “I know you already know all this, and I know you are firmly established in the truth you now have?” How established are we? How grounded in biblical knowledge are we? How knowledgeable are we of “the faith” that has been “once for all entrusted” to us?
Now in one sense it means all the truths of our faith. Peter said in 2 Peter 3:2, “I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.”
This is what the Hebrews author was frustrated about regarding his readers: they needed to be taught all over again things they should’ve known. The Hebrews author wasn’t “reminding” them of things they already knew, he had to go back and reteach it all over again. It wasn’t sticking. A lot of time and effort had been wasted because they didn’t care enough to keep the knowledge they had been given.
APPLICATION: Don’t despise what you do know. Over the years I’ve heard some people who’ve “been around church” say things like that, “Oh, I’ve heard all this before.” That’s not what Jude or Peter mean when they say “though you already know all this.” What they mean by “knowing all this,” is that you know it and it is important to you. The truths you “know” are the truths you LIVE BY, and you won’t depart from them because they are such a part of who you are.
APPLICATION: Grow in what you know. Let me urge on you to follow a progression in your growing. First, make a commitment to attend church. You can’t get a better group of believers than what we have here. And we preach the word. You are going to learn the Bible from the sermons. But take it further and come to 10am bible study on Sundays. But then take it further and join the men’s discipleship group that Pastor Ray leads. Or the women’s bible study that Kathleen leads. And if you are on fire that much and want more then seek one on one discipleship, which in my opinion is the secret to the secret of the Christian faith. If you do even just a couple of these things your knowledge of God’s Word is going to grow.
There is another more immediate sense to what Jude was saying though when he said they already know all these things. He wasn’t speaking of their mastery of Christian doctrine. He was speaking of their familiarity with the 3 examples he was about to give. He was saying, “Look, the 3 examples I’m about to give you already know very well. You’ve heard it a million times. You could tell these 3 stories as well as I can. But I’m going to remind you of them again. I’m going to make you think about them right now.” So the three examples he wants to mention are: the unbelievers in the Exodus, the angels who abandoned their positions, and the immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Now whenever you study the Bible you want to understand the flow of the text. What came before and what comes after? What did Jude just mention and why would he then immediately bring up these three examples of the Exodus, the angels, and Sodom?
The answer is in verse 4 Jude warned of false teachers who had infiltrated the churches he was writing to, and that they needed to contend with those false teachers. Then in the very next verses Jude gives these 3 examples that he says they all would’ve been familiar with (“though you already know all these things”), and Jude wants his readers to associate those false teachers in their midst with those three sinful examples he was mentioning. In other words: those false teachers were sinful just like those 3 examples and they were condemned just like those three examples. Which is why in verse 8 Jude says, “In the very same way…” Jude is helping his readers to see that the false teachers that have secretly slipped in among them are in the same category as these three examples – they belong to those three examples and with those three examples. Their end is the same as those three examples.
UNBELIEVERS in the EXODUS (5)
First, Jude reminds his readers of the unbelievers in the Exodus. Read verse 5, “….” When God miraculously delivered the nation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt he led them through the wilderness and up to the Promised Land. But when they got to the border they became afraid and refused to go into the land. Jude tells us they were unbelievers. And that’s what God says too. Turn with me to Numbers 14:1-35.
“Banded together against me.” (35) “Treat me with contempt” (11, 23). “Wicked community” (35) “Rebel against the LORD.” (v9) “Grumbled.” (26). Why did they act that way? God says in verse 11, “How long will they refuse to believe in me?” They did not believe in the LORD God.
Understand these were not people who were walking by faith and had a moment where they stumbled. They never walked by faith. Did you hear God in verse 22? “They disobeyed me and tested me ten times.” What is He talking about? He’s talking about when they screamed in fear and maligned God when they saw Pharaoh barrelling down on them, or when they grumbled against Moses for not having bread, and then another time when they needed water, and another time when they wanted meat. Or how they longed nostalgically for Egypt and thought how good they had it there compared to being out in the desert with God. *If you’d rather be in Egypt without God, than in the desert with God, then you don’t deserve God.* He’s talking about those and other instances that added up to the ten times they put their unbelief on display.
APPLICATION: Faith is seen in obedience. Their unbelief led to their disobedience. If they believed God they would have obeyed God and gone into the Promised Land. Faith proves itself in obedience. This is what the book of James was getting at. Turn with me to James 2:14-26. Let us prove our faith by our action, by our obedience, by our faithfulness to God.
APPLICATION: Rule your fear, don’t be ruled by it. The Israelites were ruled by their fear because they didn’t have faith. When they were afraid, because they did not have faith, they followed their fear. Anyone ruled by fear is going to disobey God. Only faith can rule fear.
APPLICATION to the APPLICATION: What tests has God brought in your life? What are you going through or facing? What situation are you in? What fear are you up against where its hard to follow God, or obey Him, or stay true to Him? Is fear ruling your actions? Or is faith? Recenter Christ in your life, Christian! Recenter your faith on Christ.
Lets make this come full circle. We’re in Jude. Jude reminds his readers of these unbelieving Israelites. He says they were destroyed by God for their unbelief. Why is that important? Because Jude is saying that the false teachers that were in their midst were unbelievers – like those ancient Israelites. Those men in their midst were ungodly unbelievers who pervert God’s grace and lead people away from faith, away from trusting God’s commands, and into immorality. Not one thing they do is done by faith in God. And anyone who becomes influenced by them, or follows them, will not walk by faith, and certainly will not be a believer in God.
DON’T BUY SALT. One time a man walked into a small general store and was looking for a bottle of mustard. He saw all the shelves loaded with salt – bags and bags of salt. The owner of the store said he had some mustard but had to go in the back to get it. The guy followed him and was surprised to see more bags of salt stacked up. He said to the owner, “Wow you must sell a lot of salt in this store.” The owner said, “Are you kidding me? I can’t sell no salt! But you want to know who can sell salt? The guy who sells me salt – that guy can sell salt!”
Christians – don’t buy salt. You gotta know when you shouldn’t be buying what someone’s selling. Jude wanted his readers to know who these characters were that were trying to sell them on all kinds of false teachings.
In two weeks we’ll get into verses 6 and 7. But lets pause a moment and have some silent reflection on what God may have for you to take away today:
- Surround yourself with reminders
- Grow in what you know
- Be more aware of false teachers
- Prove your faith by your obedience
- Make your faith rule your fear.