{Note: This fictional Bible Study chapter has spoilers for upcoming episodes of The Gatherers For Christ series.)

“In verses 17 through 19,” Fuller began, “believers are warned by the apostles that these apostates would come. Then, we find that in verses 20 through 25, Jude tells us what believers must do in the days of apostasy. Jude reminds believers that the apostles had warned them that these apostates would come. In other words, he’s saying this shouldn’t disturb us. The apostasy is something God has permitted, and He has permitted it for a purpose.” He turned to Barrington. “Al, you’re up. Read for us verses 17 through 19.”

Barrington read Jude 17 - 19. “‘But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how they told you that there would be mockers in the last times who would walk after their own ungodly lusts. These are they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.’”

“Jude is turning away from describing the apostates, and he says, ‘But, beloved.’ He is turning the page, and is talking to the beloved. Who are the beloved?”

“Other believers,” Erin replied.

Staci said, “Other people who are of the faith.”

“Christians,” was Shiva’s reply.

Fronk pointed at everyone. “He’s talking right to you and me, beloved!”

Fuller paused. “Well, the beloved are not those who are family to Jude. And I mean family by blood relations. Although his family would be included in this as they were also in Christ. Now the word he uses here means that they are beloved of God. These are the ones who are experiencing the love of God in their lives, and for that reason they are called beloved.”

King nodded in agreement. “Jude wants them to remember the words which were spoken before from the apostles of Jesus Christ. All the way through the Word of God, you will find that we are told to remember. In other words, we are to remember the Word of God. You and I should know the Word of God so that our memories can call it up when we need to have these great truths brought to our attention.”

“This is evidence that Jude was not the apostle by that name. He is, as we have indicated, Jude, the half brother of the Lord Jesus. In spite of his blood relationship to Jesus, he takes a very humble attitude. He will use the apostles to corroborate what he is going to say, as he has done before in this epistle. Remember that he said earlier, ‘What I am going to write to you about the apostasy is not new with me. I’m not the only one who has written on it. Others have written of it beforehand.’ And now he says here, ‘You are to remember the words that were spoken to you by the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.’ We’ll see before we finish this epistle that it’s all essential to know what the Word of God has to say.”

Lenox agreed. “Amen, brother. I don’t believe you can stand for God in this world without tripping up unless you have a knowledge of the Word of God.”

“True,” Barrington told him, “but you can know the Word in your head and not have it in your heart. As believers, we need it in our hearts as well as knowing it upstairs.”

Fronk slapped the table. “Absolutely! Some people I know have nothing but all the lights on upstairs and a lot of dust and cobwebs. Unfortunately for them, no one is ever home. You can always tell, ‘cause when you ask them a question, they say, ‘Huh?’ And they’ll even say, ‘Duh!’ And they might even say, ‘Doh!’ But never do they actually know what it is they’re talking about.”

Shiva grinned at him. “Are you talking about yourself?”

“Doh!”

“The important thing is,” Fuller replied, bringing them back to their topic, “it is important for us to know what the Word of God has to say. In verses 17 and 18 which Al read to us, Jude basically says, ‘Remember what the apostles said to you. They told you that there would come mockers in the last time and they would walk after their own ungodly lusts.’ They would follow after the desires of the apostates who are totally apart from God and from the will of God. So these mockers themselves become apostates.”

“In verse 19,” King said, “Jude defines these apostates. He has given us so many descriptions of them that there is absolutely no reason for us to miss what he is telling us at all. First of all, Jude says that the apostates cause divisions in the church. They cause division among other believers. Secondly, their lives center only around themselves and not others. They are egotistical in the way they live. They are selfish. This is the life of the un-renewed man, a man who is not born again, which Jesus Himself said that we must be in order to go to heaven.”

Staci looked at him. “I’m familiar with the phrase ‘born again,’ but is that phrase actually in the Bible?”

Lenox flipped through the pages of his Bible. “Yes, and I have it right here in John 3:3. ‘Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily I say unto thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.’” He looked at Staci. “Jesus said this to Nicodemus.”

“Jesus uses that phrase again in John 3:7,” Shiva added. “‘Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.’”

King smiled. “Even Peter says this phrase. ‘Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever. 1’”

“The natural man,” Fuller pointed out, “the sensual man, is a selfish man who lives like an animal. He wants to get all he can. He wants to eat all he can. He wants to get all the money and favor he can. He lives entirely for himself. All this has to do with a man in his natural makeup today.”

“Well, the apostates do not have the Holy Spirit of God. They are not indwelt by the Spirit of God. You will remember that when Paul got to Ephesus, this was the question he directed to those people who were passing as believers but who were not truly believers. They had heard only of the baptism of John, and Paul asked them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you first believed?’ They knew nothing about it. They had heard about the ministry of John but had not been taught about the Lord Jesus’ death and resurrection. So when Paul explained these things to them, they accepted Christ and received the Holy Spirit.”

“Where is that?” Staci asked.

“It is in Acts 19:1 - 7.”

Staci turned to it in her Bible. “Uhm…can I read this?”

Fuller nodded. “Go ahead.”

Staci read out loud Acts 19:1 - 7. “‘And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus; and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost, having believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there is any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe in Him who should come after him, that is, in Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. And there were about twelve men in all.’”

“Wasn’t there some kind of disagreement before the Rapture about speaking in tongues?” Shiva wanted to know.

Fronk let out a chuckle. “How does one speak in tongues, anyway? I speak with my tongue.”

“There were some who do not believe in speaking in tongues,” King replied, “but the Bible says it happened in the Acts. And in the Tribulation, we ourselves have seen many great things that can only be accomplished by God. Take Hon Li Yun, the young Korean whom came to be in our shelter in Maine. For a very long time, we could not understand him…nor he us. He could not speak any English. As the days progressed and more of the Bibles prophecies came to pass, a miracle happened. We began to clearly understand him as he clearly began to understand us. That language barrier was broken.”

Fuller nodded. “There’s a lot of things going on that cannot be explained away. All we know is that God can do all things. He can do easy things. He can do hard things. With God, nothing is impossible. And I think we just get stuck in our own way of thinking and have our own beliefs that we forget what God is truly able to do.”

“So many things have happened since the Rapture,” Erin replied, shaking her head in awe, “it’s still mind-boggling to me.”

“This was all predicted in the Bible,” King assured her. “Everything that has happened is in God’s complete control. He knew these days were coming. He saw them and He is still leading. He saw that California would be completely destroyed. He knew that most of New York City and Florida would find itself submerged in water because of Wormwood. He knew about the Anti-Christ’s rise to power. He knew about the False Prophet. All of these events and more God knew about. These are not surprises to Him. Nothing ever surprises our Almighty Father. Nothing.”

“Amen, brother,” Barrington said, in full agreement. “That’s good.”

“It is only the absolute truth. Now, continuing with our study, we need to understand that man has a threefold nature. In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 we read, ‘And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Man has a body, a soul, and a spirit. Is this not true?”

Staci nodded. “It is true.”

“Now if you read very carefully the account of the creation of man in the Book of Genesis, you will find that physically, man was taken from the ground. There are about fifteen elements in the dirt which are made into our bodies. When we get through with our bodies, at the time of death, we will be moving out of them, and these bodies will return back to the earth. At the resurrection of the believer, the body will be raised a spiritual body. It is sown in corruption, and it is going to be raised in incorruption. I believe those who have been raptured had already experienced this.” He paused. “What happened to this physical man that God created?”

“He was given a soul,” Lenox said.

“Yes. God breathed into man’s breathing places the breath of life, or the wind, the pneuma, the spirit. This is man’s human spirit, and it is above the psychological. It is that which looks to God, that which longs for God, and that which wants to worship. So what we have is this…Man has the body or the physical side, the soul or the psychological side, and the spirit or the pneumatic side. The psychological side is what Jude calls ‘sensual’ here in verse 19. Now what really happened at the fall of man?”

“Let me take this,” Fronk said as he took on the air of a professor addressing his students. He dramatically cleared his throat. “I’d like to think of man as a house with three floors.”

“That’s kind of…silly,” Staci told him.

He held up a hand. “Wait. Let me continue or you shall get a failing grade.”

She looked at him.

Fronk cleared his throat again. “Now then…on the first floor is the dining room and the kitchen. That is the physical. On the second floor is the library and the music room. That is the psychological. Are you people with me, or do I have to draw a picture?”

“I’m following you,” Lenox assured him.

“Go on,” Fuller encouraged.

Fronk nodded. “Good. On the top floor is a chapel, a place to worship. That is the spiritual. So on the top floor is also the Word of God, because man will not understand it without the Spirit of God leading him…right?”

King nodded. “Right.”

“The natural man would not even want it. The spiritual was on the top floor, but at the Fall, man actually died spiritually, and the house turned upside down.” He flip flopped his hands in the air. “You see, the physical side wound up on top. Man today in his natural state is primarily physical. Meat and potatoes are top priority, if you know what I‘m talking about, man. Self-preservation is the first law of life. Man is like the animal world in that he is physical, but man is also psychological. He is self-conscious. He enjoys music. He loves beauty. And he also indulges in immorality. I believe his is the area, the sensual part of man, that Jude refers to here because at the Fall, the spiritual part of man died. Man no longer had a capacity for God; in fact, he was now an enemy of God.”

“However, when you and I came to Christ and trusted Him as Savior, we were given a new nature, and that new nature can now respond to the Holy Spirit of God.”

Fronk nodded. “Yes, but we still have that old nature.”

“This is true,” Lenox said. “We’re still fleshly, and we can live in the flesh.”

Fuller paused. “Paul had a great deal to say about that in the eighth chapter of Romans. He writes in verse 5, ‘For they that are after the flesh…’ This is the natural man, the apostate. ‘…do mind the things of the flesh…’ That is all they are interested in. ‘…but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.’ These people seek to please God. Paul goes on in verse 6 to say, ‘For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.’ When you live in the lower nature - the psychological, the sensual - you are actually dead to God and have no fellowship with Him. That fellowship is broken.”

“‘If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth, 2’” Barrington quoted.

“Right.” Fuller pointed to him. “He who lives in the Spirit and attempts to please God is truly living it up. The spirit of such a man, instead of going downward and doing the things the flesh wants to do, does the things God wants him to do. Now Paul says in Romans 8:7, ‘Because the carnal mind is enmity against God…’ This is the reason Adam ran away from God. ‘…for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.’” He paused. “You cannot bring that old nature into obedience to God. You cannot reform man. No one can except Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:8–9 tells us this… ‘So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you….’ You cannot please God in the flesh. You can only please Him when you yield to Him and come to the place where He can use you.”

King looked thoughtful. “You know, this causes me to consider what happens when a man is converted. Before our conversions, you and I were dead in trespasses and sins. Now we could walk around, we were physically alive, but we were spiritually dead. When a man hears the gospel, the Spirit of God applies it to his heart, and he trusts Christ. We say that he is born again. The spiritual nature is reborn, and he now has a capacity for God. There is no power in that new nature, so the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within him. This is what Paul meant when he wrote, ‘But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you…’ In other words, the indwelling Spirit is the mark that you are a child of God. The Holy Spirit is not something that you get ten days or so after you are converted. If you don’t get Him at the moment you are converted, then you are not converted because it is the Holy Spirit who regenerates. We are ‘born of the Spirit. 3’ My brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit is there not only to help us but also to interpret to us the Word of God. And the Word of God is no longer foolishness to us, amen? Because a new world and a new life have been opened to us. And I am so grateful to be able to experience this today.”

“Whooooooooo!” Fronk shouted. “Halleluiah, brother!”

Erin jumped and then slapped him in the shoulder. “Stop doing that! You’re giving me a heart attack! Is that what you want?”

“Well, no, of course not, sister.” Fronk suddenly grinned. “Good thing for you if you do have one though, because Staci happens to be a doctor.”

Laughter spread through the group.

Fuller picked up where King had left off. “There is the struggle that goes on which Paul talks about in Galatians 5:17. ‘For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.’ I think we can all relate to this verse.”

Shiva nodded. “Oh, yeah. Definitely.”

“There are these two natures within a believer. The old nature, this lower nature, this psychological part of man, who wants to turn away from God. This spiritual part, however, now wants to turn to God. As children of God, we all know about this conflict”

“Sure.” Barrington nodded. “There are times when you want to turn away from Him, and there are times when you want to turn to Him. That’s the reason most of us are like a roller coaster in our Christian lives. We go up today, and it’s great, but then we go down tomorrow. What a trip it is…up and down! It shouldn’t be that way, but, unfortunately, most of us would have to admit that it’s true.”

King paused. “‘The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 4’” He regarded the Gatherers with him. “This is the difference between Adam Number 1 and Adam Number 2...between Adam in the Garden of Eden and the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. The Lord Jesus came to give His life that He might be a life-giving Spirit. Paul goes on to say, ‘Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 5’ This, I believe, is the big difference between Adam before his fall and the man today who is regenerated. We are today made sons of God and are given a spiritual nature with a capacity for God. Man’s highest nature at the beginning was that God breathed into his breathing places, but that was a spirit that could fall. We have a nature today that is a sinful nature, and we will have it as long as we are in this body because it actually controls this body…This is the psychological part of man. But at the moment of regeneration we were given a new nature which responds to God and cannot fall. What I would like emphasize here is that the flesh pulls man down and the Spirit pulls man up. Jude says that these apostates never get into the realm of the Spirit. They are ‘sensual.’ They never get above the psychological state. Therefore, it’s very easy to tell whether or not you are a child of God. Paul lists the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19–21, and if you are producing those in your life, you are living in the flesh.”

Lenox turned to Galatians 5:19 - 21, and read it out loud. “‘Now the works of the flesh are manifest, and they are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, quarreling, rivalry, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. About these things I tell you again, as I have also told you in times past, that those who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.’”

King nodded to him. “Thank you, my brother. Now, Paul then lists the fruit of the Spirit in verses 22–23. ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.’ If you have those things in your life, you are a child of God. But the apostate does not have these things in his life. He cannot have them because he does not have the Spirit of God.”

Fuller paused to regard the study group. “Well, I believe we have spent a little time with this because I feel it’s very important that you and I understand ourselves and why we have all the conflicts and frustrations that we as Christians have. We have two natures. The psalmist says that we are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made. 6’ Man is a very complicated creature. A man walks this earth today with a body that is taken out of the dirt, but he also has a capacity for God. A man who wants to worship and serve God can become a son of God through faith in Jesus Christ.”

“Now having described the apostasy that was coming and the apostates who would come into the church,” Fuller continued, “Jude mentions seven things which believers can do in days like these in which you and I are living. We’ll take these last verses one at a time. Staci, start us out with verse 20.”

Staci nodded and read verse 20. “‘But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost…’”

Fuller paused. “Who is he talking to?”

“He’s talking to other believers. The beloved of God.”

“He’s talking to us today. And what is he telling us to do?”

Barrington said, “He’s telling us to build up ourselves on our faith?”

Staci frowned. “But what does that mean? How can you build yourself up?”

“This just means you must study the Word of God,” King told her.

Lenox agreed. “God gave us sixty-six books. He meant that we are to study all sixty-six of them, not just John 3 or John 14 and other favorite passages. He wants us to study the whole book of the Bible, and we need to.”

Shiva smiled. “That’s what we’re doing here. We’ve started Genesis and Hebrews…And we’re actually close to finishing up our study with Jude.”

“Well, if we’re going to build up ourselves on our faith, then we must have the total Word of God. You cannot build a house without a foundation. Joseph Canaan was a carpenter, and he would tell you that himself if he hadn’t have been raptured. Jesus was a carpenter, too. He would tell us that we would need to put up some timbers that would hold the roof. We’re also going to need the roof itself on it and siding and plaster on the inside. And this is what the total Word of God will do for us. This is what we are to do in days of apostasy. Study!”

King said, “Both Peter and Paul urged believers to study the Word of God in days like these. Paul wrote, ‘Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed… 7’ Then in the next chapter Paul said that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. So the recourse that you and I have as children of God in these days is the Word of God.”

“The reason many people fall by the wayside is because the seed, which is the Word of God, fell among stones.” Fuller paused as he looked at everyone. “It didn’t get deeply rooted. Unless you study all of the Word of God, get down in the good, rich soil, you’re not going to become a sturdy, healthy plant. It won’t be long until you will be stepped on and the sun will burn you out. You’ll not be able to stand in days like these. Peter in his second epistle, writing of the apostasy, says, ‘We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 8’ You cannot just pull out one or two little verses and think you have a good knowledge of the Bible. It’s a tragedy to build a system of doctrine based on a few isolated verses drawn out of the Scriptures.” He referred to his notes. “So the very first thing we should do is study His Word. What is the second?”

“Well,” Erin began, “Jude says at the end of that verse, ‘Praying in the Holy Ghost.’”

King nodded. “The word Ghost is the Greek pneuma, more frequently translated ‘Spirit.’ Now ‘Praying in the Holy Spirit’ is an unusual phrase, occurring at only one other place in the Scriptures. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, Paul mentions putting on the whole armor of God, and each piece of armor is for defense with the exception of two items. One offensive weapon is ‘Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. 9’ The second offensive weapon was also mentioned when Paul says, ‘the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 10’ This is precisely what Jude writes. First, we are to build up ourselves on our faith. Then we need to pray in the Spirit.”

“How do we pray in the Spirit?” Staci asked.

“How about in praise and worship? Our prayer should include adoration and praise to almighty God. After all, we pray for a lot of things, but we should always be giving God thanksgiving and praise. We should worship Him when we pray. Isn’t it wrong how few things we thank God for and how little praise actually goes up to Him when we pray? Certainly we should pray and ask for things in our lives. He wants us to bring our petitions to Him. But what about praise? Adoration! Worship! Because there is no one like our God. He is our Father and he wants to laugh with us, to enjoy us as much as we enjoy Him.” He paused. “When Paul asked the Christians in Rome to pray for him, he wrote, ‘Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. 11’ The word for ‘strive’ is agonize. We are to pray like that.”

“So when we pray in the Holy Spirit,” Erin said, trying to comprehend where King was going, “we are dependent upon Him.”

King nodded. “Paul wrote in Romans 8:26, ‘Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.’ You and I actually do not know what to pray for. We are like little children.”

“That is very true,” Lenox said, glancing at Staci. “I’ve been told several times that I will never grow up.”

“But we really will never grow up,” Shiva said.

Fuller regarded him. “We’re adults here, Marc. Of course, we’ll grow up.”

“Not in God’s eyes, man. Think about it. We may grow up to be a hundred years old. Or in our case when we get into the Millennium, we’ll grow up to be a thousand years old. But even if we have lived for a million years, we’ll still never grow up. We’ll always be children to God, because, let’s face it…He is ageless. He is eternal. So how can we ever grow up? Isn’t that why He accepts us as children? Don’t you think there’s something to that?”

Fronk whistled. “Wow. I just got goosebumps on my goosebumps.”

King smiled at Shiva. “I never really thought of it like that, but, yes…Yes, we are like children in His eyes. That’s very insightful, Marc.”

“Well,” Fuller began, “as children, we need to learn to pray. No wonder the disciples, having heard the Lord Jesus pray, said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray. 12’ We need to learn to really pray in these days of apostasy. Now…what is the third thing we must do according to Jude? Erin, read verse 21 and we’ll see the answer.”

Erin nodded and read Jude 21. “‘Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.’”

“This verse gives us two more things we as believers are to do in days of apostasy. What are they?”

“We need to recognize that God loves the believer. We’ve seen that Jude addresses the believers as beloved. Right? I take this to mean that they are beloved of God.” She shook her head. “You can’t keep God from loving you, although you can put up an umbrella or a roof so that you won’t feel the warmth of God’s love. I believe Jude is saying, ‘Keep yourselves out there in the sunshine of God’s love.’ Let His love flood your heart and life.”

“Amen,” Staci agreed.

“Todd,” Barrington began, “I believe the fourth thing we must do is look for God’s mercy.”

King turned to him. “As we have seen, the mercy of God is the fact that God has a concern and care for us today. And He has an abundance. He is rich in mercy. He was so concerned about us that He extended His mercy to us and saved us by His grace. Notice that Jude says, ‘Looking for the mercy.’ The word looking is the Greek word prosdechomai, which is to expect, or wait for. The Lord Jesus wants us to live in an attitude of expectation, as the believers had an attitude of expectation for His return before the Rapture occurred. They went out in the Rapture because of His mercy, not because of who they were. If it depended upon who they were, they wouldn’t have made it.”

Fuller turned to his notes. “This study for such a small, tiny, little book is turning out to be bigger than I thought. William, if you can do this without any outburst, please read verse 21.”

“Why, coitenly!” Fronk read Jude 21. “‘And of some have compassion, making a difference.’”

“There are still a great many good, sincere people today who are in doubt. These people are asking questions and they are people who truly seek God. They ask hard questions because they want to know. And we have to be careful how we answer because if we answer without compassion, we won’t be able to make a difference in their lives. We are living in days when there is so much doubt cast upon the Word of God that those who really want to believe it have problems in doing so. We would do well in being patient with them simply because they are honest doubters. So the fifth thing we should do is show compassion. The sixth…?”

“The sixth thing is found in Jude 23,” Lenox began, “which says, ‘And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.’” He turned to look at the others. “I believe this refers to sinners who we consider to be hopeless.”

Staci looked at him. “What do you mean? We’re all hopeless until we come to Christ, aren’t we?”

Lenox nodded. “Yes, that’s true. But I’m talking about those people who are so hopeless, it seems impossible that they’ll ever be saved. We don’t know if they will ever come to Christ or not, but they are the ones who refuse to acknowledge Him or accept Him. What’s our first reaction to that?”

“Dust ourselves off and move on,” Barrington said.

“Isn’t there a verse that says to do that?” Shiva wanted to know.

“But when do we determine it’s time to do that?” Lenox asked with a shrug. “What if we decide that we’re going to stop witnessing our faith to someone who shows no desire to hear it anyway and yet God continues to give us opportunity to continue witnessing? What then? Do we stop? Listen to what Jude says! ‘…others save with fear, pulling then out of the fire.’ That’s a tremendous statement!”

King leaned forward. “In Zechariah 3:2, we read, ‘And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?’ When God intended to save Jerusalem, He said, ‘I am just taking a brand out of the fire.’ Apparently there is no one who is beyond redemption, if they want to be saved.”

“Amen, brother,” Shiva agreed.

Fuller smiled. “Okay…so what is number seven? Can anyone tell me what the last thing we should do according to Jude?”

Staci raised her hand.

“Do you have the answer?”

She shook her head. “Actually…I have a question about the verse Michael just read to us.”

“Fire away.”

“Uhm…what…what does Jude mean when he talks about hating the garment spotted by the flesh? Is that like having your garments white as snow, or something like that?”

“First of all, that’s a very good question. What do you think, David?”

King smiled. “I think we find the seventh thing we have to do according to Jude. Let me start by saying that the word flesh refers to the psychological part of man, the part of man that can go only so far. It can, for example, appreciate good music, but it cannot be acceptable to God. There have been attempts to come up with the right word for this psychological part of man. The word soul is not adequate because it doesn’t express what it should. Some call it the selfish part of man. That is not a good definition because some psychological people are very generous although they are not Christian. Others speak of it as the animal, which is even worse. Although these people generally attempt to satisfy the lower nature, animal is not the proper word. Still, others call them intellectual, which is the worst one of all. Now the fact is that the child of God should hate even the garment spotted by the flesh. God cannot use anything that the flesh produces. Everything that we do in the flesh is repulsive to God. He hates it. And we should learn to hate it, too.”

Staci nodded. “Thank you, David…I understand what you’re saying. So…basically, it is like wearing a filthy garment that becomes white with the blood of Jesus.”

He chuckled. “Yes.”

“We now come to the end of the Book of Jude,” Fuller declared. “I’ll read this. Basically, Jude comes to the end with a glorious benediction. He writes, ‘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, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.’”

“Let me give you a literal translation, if I may…” King replied, looking at Fuller.

Fuller nodded his head. “Please continue.”

King paused. “Now unto him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you before the presence of His glory blameless with great rejoicing, to the only wise God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory and majesty and authority, before all time both now and forever. Amen.”

“Amen,” everyone agreed.

“If you want to know the place that Jesus Christ should have in your life, especially in these days of apostasy, here it is in this marvelous benediction. Through Jesus Christ our Lord! He is God. And He is our Lord. He should be the Lord of our lives. Glory should be given to Him. We should glorify Him, tell how great He is, how wonderful He is, how mighty He is and mighty to save. He is majestic, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is mighty! All power is given unto Him in heaven and in earth. This universe has not slipped from under His control. All authority belongs to Him, and whether you like it or not, you are going to bow the knee to Him someday.”

1 - I Peter 1:23
2 - I John 1:6
3 - John 3:8
4 - I Corinthians 15:45
5 - I Corinthians 15:46 - 47
6 - Psalm 139:14
7 - II Timothy 2:15
8 - II Peter 1:19 - 20
9 - Ephesians 6:18
10 - Ephesians 6:17
11 - Romans 15:30
12 - Luke 11:1