T
Beloved,
when I gave all diligence to
write
unto you of the common salvation,
it
was needful for me to write unto you,
and
exhort you that ye should earnestly
contend
for the faith which was once
delivered
unto the saints.
Jude
3
I
can recall when a young girl in our Baptist Church, sometimes singing
“Give Me that Old Time Religion.” We would sing the verses
“It was good for our mothers....It was good for our fathers...it
was good for our grandmas”...and I guess you get the picture. I
never even questioned what the old time religion was. It wasn't a
“was” but then was “is.” There weren't any theological
charlitains around then that I remember trying to tear up the things
of Scripture. The most I ever heard discussed was the method of
baptism that differed in some churches and why the Catholic church
members couldn't eat meat on Friday.
Obedience
to the Scriptures was something else. There were the same
expectations of obeying the Word of God whether you heard it from the
pulpit or in youth group that met Sunday evening prior to the church
service.
Playing
with God's Word as we are seeing it today for instance is cause for
concern. Folks at the very risk of God's judgment have off and on
through centuries revised, translated and changed Scripture to their
own liking. Jude spoke in centuries past of such problems and it's
just as real in our day as well.
Jude,
Jesus' half brother, who wrote the 65th book of the Bible,
wrote completely from concern and urgency. He had heard of what was
going on in a specific place learning of false teachers who were
creeping into their fellowship. He said in verse 4:
For
there are certain men crept in
unawares,
who were before of old
ordained
to this condemnation,
ungodly
men, turning the grace of
God
into lasciviousness, and
denying
the only Lord God, and
our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice,
these false teachers, ordained men who had now gone rogue regarding
the Scriptures were now sneaking into fellowships to teach their
twisted philosophies of the Word. Jude in the introductory verse
encouraged the people to fight for the faith.
One
of the problems for us when we come across false teaching is that we
may often not recognize what is perverted. The problem for the
average Christian is that he or she may not know enough about the
Scripture to know what is true and what is false. It is our
responsibility to know the Scripture, not just from a pulpit or Bible
study group. The Holy Spirit is more than anxious to interpret His
Word to our hearts. He is the author of this wonderful Book and Who
better to explain it to us than the author.
The
Holy Spirit has a way of giving us “red flags” when it comes to
the perversion of Scripture and we need to become very alert when
such flags present themselves. We live in a world of untruth. The
weather is about all we can trust on TV news anymore and we already
know it can't always be accurate. Even in that, it wouldn't appear
anyone is being dishonest with us. The media just throws mud against
walls hope it will stick with all of the false information that is
aired for us to believe. So it seems we are running low on truth in
today's world. According to Jude, even spiritual untruth can creep
into our churches so we must stay on the alert.
At
my age, I can't help but do some looking back. I miss the
simplicity, but accuracy of preachers who weren't necessarily
educated to the gills. The music was simple and special music was
with the heart even though the voice may not have been up to par.
Bibles in the services were all the same translation so everyone was
in the same place for the preaching.
The
old days are gone and won't return. Our responsibility for now is to
be in the Word, even singing to ourselves the familiar songs that
bless us, making prayer a way of life with the comforting thought
that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Thank
You Father for being a never-changing God. Thank You for the
consistency you teach us. Give a wisdom we need in today's world to
navigate through all the newness and even uncomfortable areas of
today's world. Keep us faithful to You and Your Word. In Jesus
Precious Name....Amen
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