Scripture
For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were married out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ! Jude 1:4
Observation
Lewdness or Lordship. It’s one or the other. The Greek word for lewdness (also used in 1 Peter 4:3) is “total debauchery, unashamed indecency, unbridled lust, unrestrained depravity.” They are sinning in broad daylight and revel in all who are watching as they do it. Sound familiar? This is a pretty accurate description of the lifestyle being pushed on every platform during the month of June. Here’s the interesting thing though. Jude isn’t talking about those who don’t know the Lord, for that kind of behavior would be expected. No, he is talking about these leaders who knew the Lord, are in the church supposedly representing the Lord, and yet have left the Lordship of Christ behind a long time ago. They abuse the grace of God as license to “reject authority (vs. 8)” and they gain popularity through their dreams and visions. The urgency in Jude’s voice is clear. He references everything from the sexual perversion of Sodom and Gomorrah, the apocryphal accounts of the Book of Enoch, to the spiritual perversion of Balaam that led toe the rebellion of Korah (vs. 11). “These are sensual person, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.” (Vs. 19). Again, please remember, this is happening through leadership IN The Church! What’s our solution? How do we continue “building ourselves up in our most holy faith? (Vs. 20)” Lordship determines leadership in our lives. The Greek word is “despotes” which signifies “owner, master, one who has absolute domino, supreme authority, and unlimited power arising from ownership.” We will either submit to the lordship of our flesh or the Lordship of Jesus. It’s complete submission in every area of our lives. Total submission not because we have to out of slavery or fear but because we are no longer slaves to fear and know that the most freeing place to be is under the Lordship of the King of Kings!
Application
Today, July 2, 2022, is the official half way point of the year. It’s the point where, if we will submit, our Coach, Our Lord, calls us off the field and into the locker room to remind us of why we are on that field in the first place. He’s calling a holy huddle. He doesn’t berate us with red-faced, high-volume, rhetoric for missing that play in the last quarter. No, He speaks to us through His Word (vs. 3) and through His Spirit (vs. 20) and gives us a heart of compassion (vs. 22) for those who don’t know Him and need someone “pulling home our the fire” (vs. 23). I’ll be the first to admit I have been overwhelmed with the perverted agenda being shoved down our throats in June, but as I stop and sit at the feet of my coach He is reminding the real danger comes from within. What Jude is describing in the church of his day is exactly what we are seeing in the church of this day, Bill Hybels, Perry Noble, James McDonald, Darrin Patrick, Carl Lentz, Ravi Zacharias, Jerry Falwell Jr., Brian Houston, just to name a few big names. How have we let this happen? Though it is really is to look at them, my Coach is asking me to look within. What are the areas in my life, no matter how small, where through what I’m watching, listening to, thinking about I’m denying the Lordship of Christ for the lordship of cravings? The Book of Jude makes it clear that if we give the enemy a closet he will take the castle, if we give him an inch he will take a mile. Therefore, we must consecrate ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in every area of our lives. No compartmentalizing. No segmenting. Jesus gets everything.
Prayer
I’m praying today that the second half of 2022 will be even better than the first half. I’m praying over myself and The Church what Jude prayed in complete surrender to Your Lordship:
“24Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. 25All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.”
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