EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/10/2025 8:05 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “Jude’s Exhortation”
Bible Reading & Meditation
Reference: Jude 3
Message of the
verse: “3
Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common
salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend
earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.”
As I begin this SD I want to begin it with the first
word of verse three “beloved,” and by using this term Jude is displaying his
sincere pastoral concern for those who read this letter. Now we will give some verses that can be
looked at to go along with this (Rom. 1:7; 12:19; 1 Cor. 4:14; 15:58; Eph. 5:1;
Phil. 2:12; James 1:16; 19; 2:5; 1 Peter 4:12; 1 John 2:7; 3:2, 21). That concern was not a shallow form of
sentimentalism, but a heartfelt expression of affection for the people of God
who he is writing to. It also embodied a
concern born out of a deeply held conviction for the crucial importance of God’s
truth. Now as I think about Jude
changing his mind about what he wanted to write in this letter, I feel very
certain that this was of the Lord, as the Holy Spirit had something very
important that He wanted Jude to convey to his readers, and let me just say
that what he will be writing about has been going on since the time when Satan
tempted Eve in the garden.
John MacArthur writes “Jude
initially made every effort to write regarding the common salvation he shared
with his readers. Effort (spoude) connotes hastening or speed, and
could mean Jude hurried in vain to write, or that he tried hard but could not
complete what he originally planned to say.
Whatever the case, the presence of false teaching restrained him,
impressing him with the urgent need to call the church to battle. His initial notion was to speak positively of
the shared blessings of salvation. But
that very salvation was under assault by apostates, hence his change of
subjects.” Apostates are what the
problem was then and what the problem has been throughout the entire church
history, and so this brief letter will give help to the church on how to deal
with the apostates.
MacArthur goes on to write “Like
Paul, who wrote to the Corinthians, “For necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is
me if I do not preach the gospel’ (1 Cor. 9:16 NKJV), Jude felt the necessity—a
heavy burden or mandate—to write. Agcho, the root of the noun rendered necessity,
means literally ‘compress.’ Jude
recognized that he was a watchman for the truth (cf. Ezek. 3:16-21) who could
not simply watch in silence as his readers slipped into error. His fervent passion for sound doctrine,
especially regarding the gospel, made even the thought of false reaching a
heavy burden of his heart (cf. 2 Cor. 11:28).
And he and his readers would not be able to share a common salvation if
they lost the gospel.”
I can say that the more I study, and
a part of that is listening to the sermons that John MacArthur preached on this
little book, the more I find out how important this letter is, and so I can say
with assurance that this little book will take me a fairly long time to study
and write these Spiritual Diaries on.
MacArthur said in one of his early sermons on Jude that Jude can kind of
get lost as it is the last book before the book or Revelation begins. I for one am very happy to be able to study
this great little book, and I hope that those who read these Spiritual Diaries
on Jude will learn along with me.
7/10/2025 9:07
PM
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