Jude verses 12-13
Have you noticed our culture is more about appearances, than
about character and integrity? You only
have to be a causal observer to see the empty and meaningless lives of many who
gain the public notice of the masses; a Notre Dame football player who had a
make-believe girl friend that died of cancer, so that he could win a Heisman
Trophy. Look at the many empty-suits in
the media who have no regard for truth, and politicians also fit into the mix,
and why, because they want power and the acclaim of someone. But it does not stop there, it is seen in the
CEO who lies to his shareholders, the business man who is one person at the
office and totally different in his home and neighborhood, the salesman who
ignores his family, because it is easier to stay on a trip than be a dad or a
husband. And let me also include the
wife that is more interested in looking good to her friends and has maxed out
every credit card she can get. And what
about the priest and preacher who have bought into a social gospel, without any
power to change a life, but believe falsely that it is what the people in his
parish or church want.
Have you ever wondered what God thinks about you, or how you
are seen by the angels of heaven who are watching your every move to see what
you do with this free-will they lost at the rebellion in heaven? In 1 Peter 1:12, we are told that angels long
to look into the gospel of salvation, not for themselves, but because it is the
heart of God and so it has become also their heart. The angels in heaven have no need of
salvation or mercy, for they have not sinned, but they do marvel at the depths
of what God has done to redeem mankind.
We should never forget this small group of Jewish people who
were chosen by God to be His people, and many did not look to Him or listen to
those He sent. God is referring to false
teachers, but it seems all who disregard the gospel could fall into this
judgment. This is how God saw them: “These are hidden
reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds
feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in
late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam
of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has
been reserved forever.” (Jude 1:12-13 ESV) Note from page 2192 in the HCSB: (“Love feasts
were fellowship meals in which the Lord’s Supper was observed. These heretics were shepherds who fed only
themselves without any concern for others.
They were useless and full of empty promises like waterless clouds
carried along by the winds.”)
You and I must never forget, we also were chosen by God,
this is what the apostle Peter spoke as he was being moved by the Holy Spirit; “But you are a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own
possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are
God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
(1 Peter 2:9-10 ESV) We who by
grace through the faith God has given us have accepted the gift of Salvation;
we are the ones the angels look at with amazement.
It should be clear, no one has ever are will ever con God, God
does not look at the external but at the heart, so rain on the culture, unless
you choose to be waterless clouds, swept along by the winds!
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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