{"id":23855,"date":"2024-12-30T22:55:21","date_gmt":"2024-12-30T22:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/?p=23855"},"modified":"2024-12-30T22:55:21","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T22:55:21","slug":"of-some-have-compassion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/2024\/12\/of-some-have-compassion\/","title":{"rendered":"Of Some Have Compassion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The remainder of the apostle\u2019s letter is positive and encouraging. It is full of help and comfort for the Lord\u2019s people. Jude offers spiritual direction for our wellbeing. Previously, in verse 17, Jude used the title \u2018beloved\u2019 to register God\u2019s loving commitment to His church and here, again, he employs it as a reminder of God\u2019s continuing love and faithfulness. Perhaps, the love of the Lord Jesus Christ is foremost in Jude\u2019s mind as he goes on to speak specifically of Christ\u2019s mercy. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Build and keep<\/b><\/p>\n

Jude\u2019s admonition to build ourselves up in the faith and keep ourselves in God\u2019s love does not imply creature ability in spiritual matters. Every good and perfect gift is from above and consequently there is no spiritual growth or development except what Christ bestows by grace and mercy. It is Christ who keeps His church and Christ who builds up His church with all spiritual blessings through the Holy Ghost.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Proof of life<\/b><\/p>\n

The spiritually alive \u2013 as distinct from the sensual who are dead in sin \u2013 are blessed with new spiritual appetites, we hunger and thirst after righteousness. Jude\u2019s direction to keep ourselves and build ourselves means always being ready and expectant for new blessings from God. This we do by making proper use of the means of grace granted to the church, such as hearing the word preached, praying, reading scripture and gathering for fellowship.<\/p>\n

Our holy faith<\/b><\/p>\n

Our faith is holy, \u2018most holy\u2019, says Jude, because it comes from the holy Lord God, speaks of holy truths, infuses holy principles, tends to holy living and aspires to eternal holiness with Christ in glory. The sensual preacher drives his hearers back to the law for self-satisfying holiness while spiritual men and women embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel first reveals, then bestows, true holiness by declaring righteousness as God\u2019s free gift and giving faith to believe it.<\/p>\n

The prayer of faith<\/b><\/p>\n

Praying in the Holy Ghost is not charismatic babbling but the prayer of faith. It is the prayer of every true child of God to a loving Father, be it audible or inaudible, bold or hesitant. Those who are without the Spirit cannot make this prayer. Those who have the Spirit enjoy open access to God. In coming to prayer we should remember always that God is listening and hears His people. He delights to give good gifts by the Spirit through whom we pray.<\/p>\n

The mercy of Christ<\/b><\/p>\n

Christ\u2019s mercy is an immense topic in itself. It encompasses His eternal purpose in the covenant of grace and peace. It involves His betrothing us to Himself, His coming into the world to bear our sins and reconcile us to God, His daily providential care, His intercession for us in heaven and His promise of glory to come. In all this, Christ\u2019s love and mercy for His Bride emphasises particular grace and distinguishes the church from the ungodly men of whom Jude has previously been speaking.<\/p>\n

Engaging with the world<\/b><\/p>\n

Jude\u2019s pastoral heart is again on show as he excites the church to care for those in need. Once again we can but admire how the apostle distinguishes between those who are to be contended against, on account of their false doctrine, and those who are to be contended for due to their pitiful state. The church in this world cannot tell definitively who are God\u2019s elect and our approach to those who as yet have no faith or profession is to be suitably measured.<\/p>\n

Be tenderhearted<\/b><\/p>\n

Jude speaks of compassion, fear and hatred: compassion for the eternal souls of men and women; fear, on their behalf, of judgment to come; hatred of the sin that outside of Christ will earn condemnation and bring destruction. Christian evangelism and Christian activism is tenderhearted. A renewed soul seeks opportunity to express to others the love and mercy it has experienced from Jesus Christ.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Seeking Christ\u2019s sheep<\/b><\/p>\n

Jude\u2019s wise counsel removes any suggestion that believers are reclusive hermits with a holier-than-thou attitude. Christ\u2019s sheep will be found scattered throughout society and the church\u2019s message of grace and forgiveness with God is fit and suitable for the chiefest of sinners. Nevertheless, care should be exercised not to condone or excuse sinful behaviour nor to underestimate the subtle power of temptation.<\/p>\n

Amen<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The remainder of the apostle\u2019s letter is positive and encouraging. It is full of help and comfort for the Lord\u2019s people. Jude offers spiritual direction for our wellbeing. Previously, in verse 17, Jude used the title \u2018beloved\u2019 to register God\u2019s loving commitment to His church and here, again, he employs it as a reminder of God\u2019s continuing love and faithfulness. Perhaps, the love of the Lord Jesus Christ is foremost in Jude\u2019s mind as he goes on to speak specifically of Christ\u2019s mercy. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Build and keep<\/p>\n

Jude\u2019s admonition to build ourselves up in the faith and keep ourselves in God\u2019s love does not imply creature ability in spiritual matters. Every good and perfect gift is from above and consequently there is no spiritual growth or development except what Christ bestows by grace and mercy. It is Christ who keeps His church and Christ who builds up His church with all spiritual blessings through the Holy Ghost.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Proof of life<\/p>\n

The spiritually alive \u2013 as distinct from the sensual who are dead in sin \u2013 are blessed with new spiritual appetites, we hunger and thirst after righteousness. Jude\u2019s direction to keep ourselves and build ourselves means always being ready and expectant for new blessings from God. This we do by making proper use of the means of grace granted to the church, such as hearing the word preached, praying, reading scripture and gathering for fellowship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":12757,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1042],"tags":[1239],"class_list":["post-23855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-peter-meneys-scripture-meditations","tag-sovereign-grace"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23855"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23856,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23855\/revisions\/23856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baptists.net\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}