In this compelling episode of ‘Through the Bible,’ Dr. J. Vernon McGee guides us through the profound teachings of Jude, focusing on how believers can navigate through times of apostasy. As we explore Jude’s final verses, we gain insights into building ourselves up in the faith, the power of praying in the Holy Spirit, and the profound role of mercy in our salvation. These teachings are more relevant than ever in understanding who and what to trust in a world filled with conflicting doctrines.
How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word.
SPEAKER 03 :
How do you know who to trust? As we mentioned earlier in the study, it’s a great question in a day when so-called Bible teachers are all over the map in their instructions. It’s also the premise of this study in Jude. Welcome to Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Knowing who and what to trust was the same problem that people of the first century experienced with the conflicting doctrines of their day. Jude wrote his letter to help the young church know whom to believe. We’re in our last study in this very practical series in the book of Jude. And as always, if you want to listen to these messages again, they’re available anytime in our app or at ttb.org. Now, in just a few minutes, we’ll travel through Jude verses 20 to 25, which tell us what we need to do if we want to stand for God in difficult days. But before we dive into God’s word, let’s listen to another of Dr. McGee’s introductions explaining the judgments in the Bible.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, I’ve been prefacing our studies here in Jude with some teaching on certain great subjects that we attempt to bring together all the scripture on certain subjects to understand exactly what God is doing. and understand his program. And we’ve been talking about the judgments of God. We didn’t get very far in the judgments. We saw, first of all, divine judgment through the cross. And that is one that is past. Then there are two that are for the present hour, and one is, of course, the self-judgment of a believer. God permits us to deal with the sin in our own life. If we confess it, if we make things right, we depart from it, and God does not attempt to judge us at all. We’re judging ourselves then. And then there is the chastening judgments of God, and that is upon the Christian for the development of Christian character, and there are other reasons that we are chastened of the Lord. We’ve seen that back in Hebrews and the 12th chapter, and I’m not turning to that. I have a little book on that subject, Why God’s Children Suffer, and I list seven different reasons in the little book. Now we come today to the judgment of believers’ works. Now, we mentioned last time that this is actually a very important judgment, and it is to be distinguished actually from all others. The thing that is being judged here is not salvation at all. You see, Christ has borne the sins, and we are told, Paul said in Romans, The eighth chapter, there is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. There’s no condemnation. That is, that the sin question is settled. And today, either your sins are on you and they will be judged in the future, or your sins are in the past that Christ bore them on the cross. and you’ll not be brought up if your sins are upon Christ, who is your sin bearer, and you have been forgiven. You’re a child of God. Never will that come up again. but you are going to be judged for your works and we’re told for instance in john 3 18 he that believeth on him that is the lord jesus is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of god in other words The one sin that there is no remedy for is the sin of refusing to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. There’s no remedy for that because that is the remedy.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now let’s pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for the clarity that your word provides us. Would you give us your wisdom and knowledge that allow us to stand in dark days through the power of your spirit? And Lord, we surrender ourselves to you and the truth of your word. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Now here’s Dr. J. Verner McGee with our final study in Jude on Through the Bible.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, friends, we are seeing here what believers must do or can do in days of apostasy if they are to stand. We mentioned that from verse 20 to 23, we have seven different things that they are urged to do. In fact, they must do them if they are to stand. Now, last time in verse 20 we saw the first one, building up yourselves on your most holy faith. It’s the faith. It’s not your own personal faith, but it is the faith, the body of truth that has been given to us in the Word of God. It was called there in the first of Acts, When the first church came into existence, they continued in the apostles’ doctrine. That’s the faith, that body of truth that has come down to us in the Word of God. Now, we must build ourselves up in that if we’re to stand. And the second thing that he mentions here is praying in the Holy Spirit. praying in the Holy Spirit. And you will note also that this is an unusual phrase. Actually, it occurs only one other time in the Scripture, and that is over in the epistle to the Ephesians. And you’ll recall there that when he mentions putting on the armor of God, everything is for defense of with the exception of two items. And one of the offensive weapons is, he says in verse 18, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. And the first one that we were to do was to take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And you can see that follows a long year. First, we’re to build ourselves up in the faith. And I think that we need a little sword drill, you know. The Word of God is the sword. You’ve got to have training. I recall that back in Texas many years ago at Dallas, a very fine man there by the name of Mr. Will Hawkins. He had the radio revival. And I do not know of any program during the Depression and afterward that ever influenced people more in that area than that program did. I’m told that one of those very wealthy Texas oil men worth many millions, that’s the first thing he did every morning was to get up and have a cup of coffee and listen to this man’s program. I don’t know that he ever did anything for it that amounted to anything. I really don’t think he did. But he listened to the program as it went out. Now, one of the things he did on his program was have what he called a sower drill. And that was a test of the knowledge of the Word of God. And I thought it was about the best way that it could be used. Now, the first thing is to have sower drill, to listen to God first. before he has to listen to us because we can say a lot of foolish things. So, first of all, we are to take the sword of the Spirit, but we need to build ourselves up in the faith. We should learn to use that sword. And then, the second thing is praying in the Holy Spirit. And Paul says that in Ephesians here. It’s part of the offensive equipment that we have in the Christian life to overcome. Now, praying in the Holy Spirit I think is a little different than handing in a grocery list to God about what we want. A great many things that we talk about, we want, we want, the gimme, gimme, gimme is the way our prayers go. And don’t misunderstand, petition, as it’s called in theology, is part of prayer. But how about praying? about worship. Our prayers should be an adoration and praise to Almighty God. I think probably I ought to tell what the president of the Western Baptist Seminary, Dr. Rodmacher, told me one time. He was given a prayer meeting in one of the churches there, And it would have been pretty dead. It was like most prayer meetings in most churches. That’s the deadest part of the service, of course, is the prayer meeting. And it ought not to be. It ought to be a real powerhouse. But unfortunately, it’s not. So he announced the first night. He says, now tonight, we’re not going to have any prayer requests. We’re just going to spend the time in prayer praising God for what he’s done for us and thank him for what he’s done for us. And he said, you know, we had the briefest prayer meeting that night you could imagine. It’s amazing how many things we can ask God for. It’s amazing how few things we can thank him for and how little of praise goes up to him. Have you thanked him for this day? Well, it’s a glorious day in California. And I thank Him for it. I hope you are having a glorious day. Oh, just have a good day and thank Him for it. That is the thing that we need to do today. And prayer has in it just more than excitement and exultation. I think prayer is a real ministry and also a ministry that is not easy. Paul said to the Romans, you remember, he asked them that they Pray for him that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. And that’s Romans 15, 30. And in that passage, the word strive is agonize. At least we get our word agonize from that. We’re to pray like that. And then Paul again says in Romans 8, verse 26, Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. So that you and I today do not actually know what to pray for. We’re like a little child. My grandson can ask for more things that he shouldn’t have than any little fellow I’ve ever met. I take him with me to the store sometimes, and he wants everything that he shouldn’t have. And I think sometimes, well, my, that’s the way I pray. Just like a little child, I say, Lord, give me this. I want that. Give me that. And he doesn’t do it. Why? Because I’m not praying in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes intercession for us. Now, we need to learn to do that. A missionary in Venezuela sent me many years ago a little card on which it gave a definition of prayer. It says, prayer is the Holy Spirit speaking in the believer through Christ to the Father. And friends, that’s a very good definition of prayer. By the way, we need today to learn to pray. No wonder the disciples, having heard the Lord Jesus pray and their little paltry prayers, they came to him and said, Lord, teach us to pray. Many of us need that. But there’s very little instruction today about learning how to pray. But that’s what we should do in days like this. Now, he goes on here and he says in verse 21, keep yourselves in the love of God. Now, we need to recognize that God loves the believer. All the way through this little epistle, we’ve had the word beloved. He calls the believers beloved. That doesn’t mean that he loves them or they love him. It simply means they’re beloved of God. I close many times with the word beloved. And I don’t mean I love you because I don’t know a lot of you. I know a great many of you, and I can truly say I love you in the Lord. But very frankly, I say it because you’re beloved because God loves you. You see, you can’t keep God from loving you. You can get out of that love. And my illustration, and I’ll use it again, is the example of the sun shining. Now, here today, it’s shining outside. And you can’t keep it from shining. I can’t stop it. But I’m not in the sunshine. You see, I’m inside right now. Now, you can put a roof over you of sin. And you can put a roof over you of stepping out of the will of God. You can put a roof over you of indifference. And you will not feel the warmth of the love of God in your life. But you can’t keep him from loving you. So what he says here, keep yourselves out there in the sunshine of his love. Let his love flood your heart and flood your life. And that’s needed in days of apostasy and in these days. Now he says here the fourth thing, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. That was a… Man here in Southern California was a professor in a seminary, and there was some question about whether he really believed in the rapture of the church and whether all the church would be raptured. So I had lunch with him. I was going to ask him and had asked him to preach for me. Somebody raised the problem, and I had lunch with him, and I asked him the specific question, do you believe in the imminent coming of Christ? And he said, I do. I said, on what basis do you believe that he’ll take the church out? That is, on what grounds? do you and I expect to be taken out at the rapture? And he said, very definitely. He says, I expect to be saved because God extended mercy to me. And when he takes me out of the world at the time of the rapture, it’ll still be by the mercy of God. Now, friends, as we have seen, the mercy of God, it’s the fact that God today has a concern and care for you. And he has an abundance. He’s rich in mercy. So that he was able to save you because he was concerned about you. Saved you by grace. And he extended his mercy to you. Now his mercy goes with us. We need showers of blessings and showers of mercy too. Mercy drops around us are falling. And we need all we can get today because it’s by mercy that God would even put up with us. And then the next is… that he’ll be with us at the time of death. Someone asked Dwight L. Moody if he had mercy and grace enough to die. And he said, no, I don’t. But when the time comes, he’ll give it to me. Day by day, he supplies his mercy and his grace to us. Now, at the rapture, I’m going out. I’m going out at the rapture because of his mercy, not because of who I am, because if it depended on that, I wouldn’t make it. I remember when I first went to Nashville, Tennessee, there was a very fine Bible class there, but a certain teacher had come in there and had taught the partial rapture of the church. Only the super-duper saints were going out. And that group there had taken up that, and it had led to a pride. There’s no question about that. And they were wonderful people. They supported me in my Bible conference ministry there when I brought in speakers. They always gave wonderful support. And I even had the privilege of teaching their class several times. But I always had the feeling, talking with some of them, especially the leaders, that they were going out at the rapture. There was no question about them because they were the super-duper ones. But I got the feeling that they weren’t sure about me. But I want them to know and anybody else to know, when the Lord takes the church out, I’m going with you, friends. Whether you like it or not, I’m going with you. And I’m going because looking for that mercy. And I’m looking for the mercy. And now will you notice he moves on down here in verse 22, and he says, and have some have compassion making a difference. And what it should be is instead of making a difference, it’s rather this, who are in doubt. Now, there are a great many good, sincere people today that are in doubt. They do have their doubts. And we need to be patient with it. And I find it difficult having the minister being patient with some people. I remember in our Thursday night Bible study many years ago, a woman came down every Thursday night, I suppose, for six weeks with some question. I had a feeling she’s trying to trap me or trick me. I got that impression. And I got, frankly, a little impatient with her. And always there was a lady with her, one of our members. So one night I answered her rather sharply and she turned and walked out. And this other lady had been standing, she came up to me, says, Dr. McGee, be patient with her. Says, that is a very brilliant woman. Says, she’s in Who’s Who. And she’s been in practically every cult here in Southern California. And she’s really mixed up. Now, she’s trying to make her way out. And now, will you be patient with her? And I said, well, I didn’t know that. And I will. And so after that, I really would answer her questions the best I could. And you know, I suppose it was three months after that that she accepted Christ as her Savior. I had a very wonderful letter from her when she was back in Ohio many years ago of how the Lord was leading her. Now, we’re living in days when there’s so much doubt cast upon the Word of God. And a great many people want to believe, but they’re having their problems, and we do well to be patient with them. They’re honest doubters. Now, in verse 23, “…and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire.” Now, these are folk that we would say they are hopeless sinners, that nobody can save them. And I’ve been amazed Some of the people that have come to the Lord by radio, people that I have known, and I, frankly, would have given them up. But they get converted. And that is the thing that we need to recognize. Others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire. What a tremendous statement. Now, over in Zechariah 3, 2, we have this. The Lord said unto Satan… The Lord rebuked thee, O Satan. Even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuked thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Matter of fact, God said, I intend to save Jerusalem. I’m just taking a brand out of the fire. And there’s apparently no one that’s past redemption, certainly if they want to be saved. And then we have here the seventh and the last one, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now here we are back again with that word flesh that we dealt with yesterday. This is the psychical part of man, the psychological part of man. This is the part that can go just so far. He can appreciate good music. And actually, they’ve tried to come up with a word for this psychological part of man. Soul, I don’t think, is adequate today. It doesn’t quite express what it should. And there are those that call it the selfish part of man. Well, that’s not a good word because some very generous people have been psychical people. They are not Christians, actually. And then there are those that like to speak of them as animal. Well, that I think is even worse. They generally attempt to satisfy the lower nature, but animal is not quite it. And there are others that want intellectual. Well, believe me, that’s the worst one of all, because that does not adequately describe these folk at all. And the child of God should hate even the garment. In other words, anything that the flesh produces, that this old nature produces, God can’t use it. Anything that Vernon McGee does in the flesh, God doesn’t want it. He hates it. And we should learn to hate it today. Now, we have this glorious benediction that closes this little book. And I trust this little book has been a blessing to you. And I’d like to read it in a literal translation. And if you have your Bible, follow along. Now unto him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you, that is to make you stand 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 might and authority before all time, both now and forever. Amen. And this is a marvelous benediction. And if you want to know the place that Jesus Christ should have in your life, especially in these days of apostasy, here it is. Through Jesus Christ, our Savior, the only God, He is God. And He’s our Lord, should be the Lord of our lives. And glory should be given to Him. We should glorify Him. Tell how great he is, how wonderful he is, how mighty he is, and how mighty he is to save, and the majesty of him. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and might all powers given unto him. This universe, It’s not slipping out from under his control, and all authority belongs to him. And whether you like it or not, you are going to bow the knee to him someday. All authority belongs to him. And in these days of apostasy, God’s children need to bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ and to try to hold him up before a gainsaying world. we leave this marvelous little book. And next time we go back to the Old Testament to the little prophecy of Haggai. Until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 03 :
Can you tell Dr. McGee loved this little book of Jude? It’s easy to see why. Jude’s message is practical, it’s powerful, and especially relevant for the times that we live. Take a few moments today or maybe sometime this weekend to read verses 20 through 23 again. Let’s not just be hearers of the Word, but doers also. Build yourselves up in the faith, spending time in God’s Word, connecting with a Bible-teaching church, and continuing your journey with us on Through the Bible as we travel through the whole Word of God from Genesis to Revelation in five years. And speaking of that journey, we’re nearing the end. After Jude, we’ll study the final Old Testament books of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, followed by the book of Revelation in the New Testament. And then next spring, we’re going to return to the very beginning in the book of Genesis. As we close our time in Jude, don’t miss Dr. McGee’s powerful sermon from Jude titled, What Can Believers Do in Days of Apostasy? It’s available as a free digital download as always in our app or at ttb.org. And if you’re looking to deepen your walk with the Lord, another helpful resource is Dr. McGee’s booklet, Living the Christian Life God’s Way. It’s based on Romans 8. Dr. McGee shows us how to turn our lives over to the Spirit of God and yield to Him and let Him do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. If you want to learn about these and other Bible study tools, many of which are free, or to share how God is using this program in your life, call us at 1-800-65-BIBLE. That’s 1-800-652-4253. Or write to us at Box 7100. Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325. London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. Or email us at biblebus at ttb.org. And when you get in touch, let us know how you listen. Tell us about your favorite Christian radio station. Or if you hop aboard the Bible Bus through our app online or on YouTube, we’d love to know that too. As we’ve said before, this little bit of feedback really helps us make important ministry decisions. So thank you for doing it. When we return, the Bible bus heads to the Old Testament and the book of Haggai. I’m Steve Schwetz, and I’ll be here saving you a seat. Through the Bible exists to take God’s whole word to the whole world. And we invite you to stand with us with your faithful prayer and financial support. Where will God’s word go today?
