Before the apostle enters fully into the purpose and substance of his epistle he first identifies those to whom he is writing. These are the Lord’s elect people whom Jude characterises as sanctified, preserved, and called. Jude prays to God for the enlargement of their blessings and a deepening of their experience of grace. The apostle’s desire is that the Lord will multiply mercy, peace and love to His people. By embracing all God’s church in his salutation Jude also includes us in this prayer for grace. More than words We must never take the introductory comments of the apostles’ epistles as words spoken merely to fill space at the start of their message. These introductions and greetings are important and precious prayers which express…

The epistle of Jude is short, sweet and concentrated. There are many beautiful phrases and powerful images contained in this message delivered to the church of Jesus Christ under the apostle’s designation ‘the common salvation’. We shall dwell on some of these in the coming weeks. Jude, or Judas, was one of the Lord’s twelve disciples. He was, it seems, also called Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus. He is distinguished from Judas Iscariot who betrayed the Lord by his relationship to James, son of Alphaeus (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18, Acts 1:13). A good question The only incident recorded of this Jude in the gospels is in John 14:22 where during Christ’s address to His disciples after the last supper Jude put the question, ‘Lord, how…

‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.’ It is good for us to be brought back regularly to reflect on the majesty, glory and infinity of God. God is self-sufficient and needs nothing from us. He possesses all perfection. He is the first and last. Nothing can be added to God nor taken from Him. Conversely, everything we have has been given to us by Him out of His goodness and by His grace. These opening verses are a timely tonic against human pride. Christ’s blood is sufficient Just as we cannot add anything to God’s glory, neither can we add anything to the perfect satisfaction of Christ’s death for sin. Killing an ox or lamb is no doubt a reference to…

Once again we are in the happy position of not having to wonder who the speaker is in these opening verses. The Apostle tells us in Romans 10 that these verses speak of Christ gathering His elect people from the nations of the world. It is Christ, not Isaiah, who was found by poor Gentiles. The gospel was sent into all the world to be preached among the nations when the rebellious people, that is, the Jews, rejected Christ. God is not mocked This chapter prophesies judgment of the Jewish nation which long had despised the Lord’s overtures of divine goodness. If the Jews of Isaiah’s day should wonder why their nation is to be overthrown and carried into exile the prophet provides the answer;…

We previously noted chapter 63 ends with a request for God to look down from heaven to behold the needs of His people. Today’s chapter begins with a call to the Lord to come down from heaven in a demonstration of power to deliver the church from her oppressors. The Old Testament church knew trial and persecution, often physical and brutal. It is the earthly experience of all Christ’s church to be tried. Satan’s antagonism towards believers is not a new phenomenon. Daily deliverances The Lord has personally come down from heaven to deliver His people at the cross. He will return again from heaven to deliver the church at His second coming. However, it is perhaps best to consider Christ as coming spiritually and…

Our passage divides into three sections. The connecting thread is the Lord’s deliverance of His people from their enemies. In the first part Isaiah anticipates a day of divine vengeance and ‘the year of my redeemed’. In the second part the kindness and faithfulness of God in times past is recalled, especially the deliverance of Israel from captivity in Egypt. The final part is a prayer for help. In it, faith is expressed, sins are confessed, and an appeal is made for recovery and restoration upon covenant grounds. Isaiah quizzes Christ The prophecy is descriptive of the victories of the Lord Jesus over His enemies at the cross and the triumphs of His love and grace in redemption. It opens with a series of questions…