犹⼤书
We’re in this series called “Little Big Shots,” that’s exploring five of the shortest books in the Bible. And as Malia and Bella told us, today we’re in the NT book of Jude. Jude doesn’t get a lot of airtime generally. It often just gets ignored. In fact, Jude has been called, “The most neglected book in the New Testament.”
我们在这个名为“小篇幅大人物”的系列中，探索了圣经中最短的五本书。小篇幅，大人物系列之——犹大书。正如Malia和Bella告诉我们的，今天我们走进新约的犹大书。犹大书并没有多少篇幅。它经常被忽视。事实上，犹大书被称为，"新约中最被忽视的一本书"
Why is that? Well, there are a few reasons: 1. It’s repetitive – sounds a lot like 2 Peter; in fact, they’re so similar that there’s a big debate over which author borrowed from other (for the record, I think 2 Peter came first, and Jude is adapting Peter’s letter). 2. It’s negative – as going to see, it’s full of warnings about God’s judgment; pretty dark.3. It’s weird – full of obscure OT stories that many people don’t know well; and worse, it quotes from two disputed Jewish texts – 1 Enoch and Testament of Moses. Neither is in our Bibles! But that’s okay – I think Jude was simply quoting some well-known books that his audience knew, just as today I might quote C S Lewis or NY pastor Tim Keller.
这是为什么呢?嗯，有几个原因:1。它是重复的，听起来很像《彼得后书》;事实上，它们是如此相似，以至于有一个很大的争论，那就是哪个作者借用了其他作者的东西(为了记录，我认为《彼得后书》是先出现的，而《犹大书》改编了彼得的信)。2. 它是消极的，我们可以看到，它充满了对上帝审判的警告;非常黑暗.3。它很奇怪——充满了许多人不熟悉的晦涩的旧约故事;更糟的是，它引用了两个有争议的犹太文本——以诺书和摩西遗训。这两本圣经里都没有!但这没关系——我认为犹大书只是引用了一些他的读者知道的著名书籍，就像今天我可能会引用C S刘易斯或纽约牧师蒂姆·凯勒的话一样。
But for all that, Jude is part of our Bible for very good reason - it packs a punch because contains a very important lesson for God’s people today. After his opening greetings, Jude begins this way: “Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.” (Jude 3)
Jude says he’d been planning to write an encouraging letter to his readers about our salvation. But then something changed, forcing him to write a different letter entirely, based on the writing and teachings of his friend Peter. What happened? Well look at verse 4: “For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a licence for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” (Jude 4)
但尽管如此，《犹大书》成为我们圣经的一部分是有充分理由的——它很有力，因为它包含了对今天的神的子民非常重要的一课。开场问候之后，犹大书是这样开始的。”亲爱的弟兄姊妹，我一直迫切地想写信跟你们谈谈我们所共享的救恩，但现在我觉得有必要写信劝勉你们竭力护卫一次就完整地交给圣徒的真道。” (犹大书1:3)
犹大说他一直计划写一封鼓励信给他的读者关于我们的救恩。但后来事情发生了变化，迫使他根据朋友彼得的书写和教导，写了一封完全不同的信。发生了什么事?我们来看第4节: “因为有些不敬虔的人偷偷地混进你们中间，以上帝的恩典作借口，放纵情欲，否认独一的主宰——我们的主耶稣基督。圣经上早已记载，这样的人必受到审判。” (犹大书1:4)
There are people – whom Jude calls “certain individuals” and “ungodly people” – who have come into the churches that Jude was writing to. Jude says they had “secretly slipped in.” And the problem was that they were doing two significant things wrong (blackboard):1. They were “perverting the grace of God into a licence for immorality.” In other words, their behaviour was wrong – they were abusing grace. 2. They were “denying Jesus Christ, our only Sovereign and Lord.” So their beliefs, their doctrine, was also wrong – they were denying grace.
Now over in 2 Peter, Peter deals primarily with the problem of wrong beliefs – he condemns esp. false teachers who are rejecting the gospel that the apostles have taught. In Jude, though, Jude is more concerned with the problem of behaviour. Deeply concerned about people who are not Christians but have become part of local churches, living lives that pervert grace and actually bring disgrace on the name of Jesus because of their sinful lifestyles.
有些人，被犹大称为“某些人”和“不敬虔的人”，加入了犹大写信给他们的教会。犹大书说他们是“偷偷混进来的”。问题是他们做错了两件事:1。他们是“以上帝的恩典作借口，放纵情欲”换句话说，他们的行为是错误的——他们在滥用恩典。2. 他们“否认独一的主宰——我们的主耶稣基督。”所以他们的信仰，他们的教义，也是错误的——他们否认恩典。
在彼得后书中，彼得主要讨论了错误信仰的问题，他谴责那些拒绝使徒所教导的福音的假教师。而在《犹大书》中，犹大书更关心行为问题。深切关注那些不是基督徒却成为当地教会一份子的人，他们的生活扭曲恩典，实际上因为他们罪恶的生活方式而给耶稣的名带来耻辱。
See that through the letter – immorality (4); unbelief (5); sexual immorality and perversion (7); polluting bodies, rejecting authority (8); slander (9,10); defiant words (15). There’s a strong emphasis on sexual sin, words, and unbelief. And it culminates in v.16: “These people are grumblers and fault-finders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.” (Jude 16)
So what Jude does in most of his short letter, is he explains where that kind of lifestyle leads. And where it leads is God’s judgment at the end of time. And this is why many consider this book to be negative. Because in a way it is. It’s an incredibly sad reminder about the judgment of God on people who reject Jesus and live for themselves. In vv.5-16, about two-thirds of the book, Jude talks about the destiny of people who reject God and follow their own sinful desires. And he builds it around two sets of examples – both sets are triplets, which Jude seemed to like. So in vv.5-7, he talks about three examples of groups of people whom God judged – the people of Israel who were part of the Exodus in the OT but rebelled against God and refused to believe him; fallen angels who also rebelled against God; and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in the book of Genesis, who were also judged for their rebellion and sin. And then at the end of v.7, Jude writes: “They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.” (Jude 7)
Then in v.11 he cites another triplet – three more examples of individuals who rebelled against God – Cain, who murdered his brother Abel in Gen 4; Balaam, a false prophet who led Israel into sexual sin during the wilderness years n the book of Numbers; and Korah, who led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron, also in the book of Numbers. And then again, Jude writes in vv.14-15: See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jude 14-15)
我们可以从信中看到——放纵情欲(4);不信(5);荒淫无度，沉溺于变态的情欲(7);玷污自己的身体，不服权柄(8);毁谤(9、10)；反叛蔑视的话(15)。书中强调了性的罪恶，言语和不信。在第16节达到高潮。这些人满腹牢骚，怨天尤人，放纵自己的邪情私欲。他们口出狂言，为了谋利而阿谀奉承他人。(犹大书1:16 )
所以犹大在他简短的信中做多的是解释了这种生活方式会导致什么。它导致的是上帝在世界末日的审判。这就是为什么很多人认为这本书是负面的。因为在某种程度上确实如此。这是一个令人难以置信的令人悲哀的提醒，上帝对那些拒绝耶稣而为自己而活的人的审判。在第5-16节，约犹大书的三分之二，犹大讲的是那些拒绝上帝，追随自己罪恶欲望的人的命运。他以两组例子为基础——两组都是三连篇，这似乎是犹大喜欢的方式。所以在5-7节，他讲了三个被神审判的人的例子-以色列人，他们是旧约中出埃及记的一部分，但背叛了神，拒绝相信他;堕落的天使也背叛了上帝;并《创世纪》上所记的所多玛城、蛾摩拉城，这两个城也因他们的过犯和罪恶受审判。在第7节的结尾，犹大写道：他们遭到永火的刑罚，成为我们的警戒。(犹大书1:7 )
然后在第11节，他引用了另一个三连篇——另外三个反叛上帝的例子——该隐，在创世纪第4章中谋杀了他的兄弟亚伯;在民数记上，在旷野的日子，假先知巴兰，使以色列人陷在淫罪里。民数记上也记着可拉背叛摩西，亚伦。犹大在14-15节写道 “看啊！主率领祂千万的圣者一同降临， 要审判所有的人，按不虔不敬的罪人所行的恶事和他们亵渎上帝的话定他们的罪。” (犹大书1:14-15 )
Now, before we go on, we just want to acknowledge that for us, reading this ancient letter 2000 years later, these words are hard to read. Reading about sin and immorality, and God’s judgment and punishment – can actually sound incredibly negative or even offensive to people today. But the truth is, we need a God who judges sin. We don’t want to serve a God who just winks at wrongdoing, or pretends that sin and rebellion and evil are no big deal. We don’t want a God who doesn’t care that the holocaust happened, or doesn’t give a rip about rape or murder or wrongdoing. When we’ve been wronged, we want to know that someday some will put that right.
And that’s what the Bible promises. The problem is that for most people, we want God to judge the evil out there; the evil done by other people, but we don’t want God to judge us. We want justice when we’ve been hurt, but when don’t want justice when we’re the person who has sinned. And the Bible consistently teaches that there is judgment coming for all sin. Even Jesus said that. In one of the best-known sections of the Bible, Jesus said: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
But then in the very next verses, Jesus said: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:17-18)
现在，在我们继续之前，我们要承认，对我们来说，两千年后阅读这封古老的信，这些文字很难读懂。读到罪和放纵情欲，上帝的审判和惩罚——这听起来非常消极，甚至对今天的人来说是一种冒犯。但事实是，我们需要一个审判罪的神。我们不想事奉一个对错误视而不见的神，或者假装罪、叛逆和邪恶没什么大不了的神。我们不想要一个对大屠杀漠不关心的上帝，或者对强奸、谋杀或不法行为漠不关心的上帝。当我们被冤枉的时候，我们希望有一天有人能纠正。
这就是圣经所应许的。问题是，对大多数人来说，我们希望上帝审判外面的邪恶;别人做的坏事;但我们不想让上帝来审判我们。当我们受到伤害时，我们想要正义，但当我们是那个犯罪的人时我们不想要正义。圣经不断教导我们，所有的罪都要受到审判。甚至耶稣也这么说。在《圣经》最著名的章节之一中，耶稣说: 神爱世人，甚至将他的独生子赐给他们，叫一切信他的，不至灭亡，反得永生。(约翰福音3:16)
但是在接下来的经节耶稣说：”上帝差祂的儿子到世上来，不是要定世人的罪，而是要借着祂的儿子拯救世人。 信祂的人不会被定罪，不信的人已经被定罪，因为他们不信上帝独一的儿子。“ (约翰福音3:17-18)
So Jude is singing off exactly the same song sheet as Jesus. Those who refuse to believe; those who deny Jesus and continue in their rebellion, will be judged. And the reason that Jude is writing about all this, is he doesn’t want the Christians he’s writing to, to be taken by the faulty and deadly reasoning of these ungodly people. Look again at v4: “They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a licence for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” (Jude 4)
See, what these people were doing was using grace as an excuse to sin and do whatever they wanted. They were taking the beautiful biblical, idea of grace – that God loves and forgives undeserving sinners who simply put their faith in Jesus – and misusing it as an excuse to sin. “Oh well, God’s gracious. He will forgive me anyway!”
And Jude wants to keep his readers from following that faulty line of reasoning. See, Grace is never a licence to sin; it’s an invitation to live a life that honours God.
所以犹大唱的是和耶稣一样的歌。那些拒绝相信耶稣的人;那些不认耶稣，继续叛逆的人，将会受到审判。犹大写这些的原因是，他不想让他写信给予的基督徒，被这些不敬虔的人错误和致命的推理所迷惑。再看看第4节：有些不敬虔的人以上帝的恩典作借口，放纵情欲，否认独一的主宰——我们的主耶稣基督。(犹大书1:4 )
看，这些人所做的就是用恩典作为犯罪的借口，为所欲为。他们将圣经中美好的恩典概念——上帝爱并赦免那些仅仅相信耶稣的罪人——滥用它作为犯罪的借口。“哦，好吧，上帝是有恩典的。不管怎样，他都会赦免我的!”
犹大不想让他的读者遵循错误的推理思路。你们看，恩典永远不是犯罪的借口;它是一份活出荣耀上帝的生命的邀请。
And that’s why Jude wrote what he did in v.3 – have a look at it again: … I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. (Jude 3)
Notice those two keywords in verse 3. First, there’s the word “faith.” Normally that word is used in the Bible to describe our act of believing or trusting in Jesus. That’s how it’s normally used. Here, though, there is a “the” in front of it … “contend for the faith.” Jude’s not talking about the act of believing – he’s talking in his letter about the content of what we believe. He is talking about the truth of the gospel, and the teachings of Jesus, and the reflection and teaching of the apostles that was now beginning to be handed down from one generation to the next. So NT scholar Doug Moo says, “There is a set of beliefs, based on the teaching and work of Christ, developed and passed on by the apostles, that is non-negotiable. To be Christian is to agree with these beliefs; to reject them is to cease to be Christian.” (Douglas Moo)
这就是为什么犹大写了他在第三节所做的，再看一遍: “但现在我觉得有必要写信劝勉你们竭力护卫一次就完整地交给圣徒的真道。” (犹大书1:3)
注意第3节中的两个关键词。首先是“信仰”这个词。通常，这个词在圣经中用来描述我们相信或信仰耶稣的行为。这是它通常的用法。但在这里，前面有个" the "， " contend for the faith. "犹大说的不是信仰的行为，他在信中说的是我们信仰的内容。他讲的是福音的真理，耶稣的教导，以及使徒们的想法和教训，这些都开始一代一代传下去。新约学者Doug Moo说，”有一套教义，以基督的教导和工作为基础，由使徒们发展和传承，这是不容置疑的。成为基督徒就是认同这些教义;拒绝他们就不再是基督徒。” (Douglas Moo)
Jude then is talking about “the faith” – the core beliefs that we believe when we put our faith in Jesus. These are the beliefs that were crystalised in the centuries after Jude wrote as the creeds of the church – the Nicene Creed, the Apostles Creed, and so on. These were statements that early generations of Christians agreed that summarised the core theology of all true churches and all true believers. So the Apostle’s Creed says things like, “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried… He rose again from the dead…I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.”
This is what Jude is talking about when he writes about “the faith that was once for entrusted...” … I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. (Jude 3)
犹大接着谈到了“信仰”——当我们相信耶稣时所信仰的核心信仰。这些是在犹大所说教会信经——尼西亚信经、使徒信经等等之后的几个世纪里结晶出来的信条。这些是早期的基督徒一致同意的陈述，总结了所有真正的教会和信徒的核心神学。所以使徒信经是这样说的:“我相信上帝，全能的圣父，天地的创造者。我相信耶稣基督，他的独生子，我们的主，由圣灵所怀，由童女马利亚所生。在本丢彼拉多手下受难，被钉在十字架上，受死，埋葬，他从死里复活……我相信圣灵，我信圣而公之教会；我信圣徒相通，我信罪得赦免， 我信身体复活，我信永生。”
这就是犹大所说的，当他写到“一次就完整地交给圣徒的真道……” 但现在我觉得有必要写信劝勉你们竭力护卫一次就完整地交给圣徒的真道。(犹大书1:3 )
And Jude’s urgent call is that we are to contend for the faith. That word “contend” is translated elsewhere in NT as “strive, defend, fight.” Paul will tell his young staff member Timothy to “guard the deposit of truth.” We are to protect this core of truth. We are to guard the gospel, the message of Jesus.
But let’s come back to Jude’s emphasis. Remember, he highlights two problems with the ungodly unbelievers that are pretending to be followers of Jesus – their beliefs and their behaviour. And we might expect that when Jude says “contend for the faith” he’s meaning primarily to defend our beliefs, defend the good doctrine. That’s certainly what 2 Peter is going after, and many of Paul’s letters. But remember, Jude is particularly emphasising the behaviours of these people. He’s particularly concerned that God’s people don’t follow the sin and immorality of the ungodly or the world around them. So when Jude calls us to contend for the faith, I think he means to both defend the beliefs, the doctrine of the faith, but also defend the right behaviour. in other words, it’s not only important that we believe the truth; we also have to live out the truth in our ordinary, everyday lives.
犹大的当务之急是我们要为信仰而奋斗。“contend” 这个词在其他地方的翻译是“奋斗，保卫，战斗”。保罗要告诉年轻的执事提摩太，要“守住真理的根基”。我们要保护这个真理的核心。我们要保守福音，耶稣的信息。
让我们回到犹大的重点。记住，他强调了那些不敬虔的不信者假装是耶稣的追随者的两个问题——他们的信仰和他们的行为。我们可能会认为，当犹大书说“为信仰而奋斗”时，他主要是指捍卫我们的信仰，捍卫好的教义。这就是《彼得后书》所追求的，还有保罗的许多书信中提到的。但要记住，犹大特别强调的是这些人的行为。他特别关注上帝的子民不会追随不敬虔的人或他们周围的世界的罪恶和放纵。所以当犹大呼吁我们为信仰而奋斗时，我认为他的意思是，既要捍卫信仰，信仰的教义，也要捍卫正确的行为。换句话说，不仅我们相信真理很重要;我们也必须在日常生活中活出真理。
See it doesn’t help to say “I believe in God the Father” if I’m an abusive or unkind father to my kids. It doesn’t help to say, “I believe in the virgin birth” if we’re just as sexually immoral as the society around us. It doesn’t help to take about the death and resurrection of Jesus or the Holy Spirit if we live as though those beliefs don’t make any difference in our everyday lives.
So how do we contend for the faith, especially in terms of our behaviour and lifestyle? Well, that’s what Jude talks about in the 2nd half of his letter, in vv.17-23. The key command of this 2nd part is v.21.
你们看，如果我是一个虐待孩子的父亲，我说“我信仰上帝”是没有用的。如果我们和周围的社会一样犯淫乱，那么说“我相信童贞女生子”是没有帮助的。如果我们生活得好像这些信仰对我们的日常生活没有任何影响的话，那么谈论耶稣的死亡和复活或是圣灵是没有帮助的。
那么，我们如何为信仰而奋斗，尤其是在行为和生活方式方面?这就是犹大书信的后半部分，17-23节所说的。第二部分的关键命令是第21节。
Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. (Jude 21) That’s the main command – “keep yourselves in God’s love.” And I think Jude here is echoing Jesus words from John 15: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. (John 15:9-10)
How do we keep ourselves in God’s love? How do we remain in his love? Jesus said – keep my commands. Obey my words. Do what I’ve said. Make disciples, and teach them to obey everything that I’ve commanded. That’s how we keep ourselves in God’s love. I think this is a call to holy living. And to help us, Jude scatters a whole bunch of further instructions in vv.17-23 around the key command of “keeping ourselves in God’s love.” There are four “-ing” words.
保守自己常在神的爱中，仰望我们主耶稣基督的怜悯，直到永生。 (犹大书1:21) 这是主要的命令——“保守自己在神的爱中。我认为犹大在这里是在重复约翰福音15章中耶稣的话: “父怎样爱我，我也怎样爱你们。你们要常在我的爱中。 你们若遵守我的命令，就必常在我的爱中，正如我遵守了父的命令，常在父的爱中一样。(约翰福音15:9-10)
我们如何保守自己在神的爱中?我们如何保持在他的爱中?耶稣说，你们要遵守我的命令，遵行我的道。照我说的做。你要使人做我的门徒，并教导他们遵守我吩咐你们的一切。这就是我们如何保守自己在神的爱。我想这是对圣洁生活的召唤。为了帮助我们，犹大在17-23节中围绕着“保守自己在神的爱中”这一关键命令散布了一大段进一步的说明。有四个" -ing "的词。
Watching / Building / Praying / Helping
观察 / 造就 / 祷告 / 帮助
1. Keep yourselves in God’s love by watching. Vv.17-19 talks about being on guard, and keeping a watch for people who may say they follow Jesus for a little while, but whose lives don’t’ measure up.
1. 要靠常常观察保守自己在神的爱里。17节-19节说到要警醒，留心那些说他们跟随耶稣一段时间了，但他们的生活并不相符的人。
2. Keep yourselves in God’s love by building. V.20 says, “building yourselves up in the faith,” and don’t think it’s just each of us by ourselves. This command to encourage each other, to help each other grow to maturity as we struggle with sin in our lives.
2. 要靠着造就自己保守自己在神的爱里。20节说:“在真道上造就自己”，不要以为这是对我们每个各人所说。这命令是要我们在生活中与罪作斗争时，彼此鼓励，互相帮助彼此成长至成熟。
3. Keep yourselves in God’s love by praying. V.20 also talks about “praying in the Spirit,” which echoes Pauls words in Eph 6 to pray in the Spirit in this battle we’re in.
3.要靠着祷告保守自己在神的爱里。第20节也谈到“在圣灵的引导下祷告”，这是在以弗所书第6章中与保罗的话相呼应的，就是在我们所处的这场战斗中，要在圣灵的引导下祷告。
4. Keep yourselves in God’s love by helping. Vv.23-24 talks about helping those who doubt, those who are caught in sin, those who struggle. This is a call to share this faith, this message of grace with those outside the church who are under judgment, and also help the struggling and weak inside the church.
4. 要靠着帮助别人保守自己在神的爱里。23-24节谈到帮助那些心存疑虑的人，那些被罪所困的人，那些挣扎的人。这是一个呼召，要将这信仰，这恩典的信息，分享给教会外受审判的人，也要帮助教会内那些挣扎软弱的人。
This is contending for the faith – striving to live a life that glorifies Jesus in the power of the Spirit, and in response to his amazing grace, as we encourage each other and spur each other on for the finish line. But that’s not the end of the letter. Jude finishes his short epistle with two final verses in vv.24-25, a doxology or statement of worship that climatically concludes everyone he has said. And the irony is that in this letter that is hardly ever read in our Bibles, these words are often well-known: “To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and for evermore! Amen. (Jude 24-25)
If you’ve been around churches in your life, you may well have heard these words before. They’re often used to close a church service, a final blessing or statement of worship about this amazing God of grace that we serve – the One who holds all glory and majesty, all power and authority.
这就是为信仰而奋斗——努力过一种用圣灵的力量荣耀耶稣的生活，并回应他奇异的恩典，因为我们互相鼓励，互相鞭策，奔向终点。但这不是信的结尾。犹大以最后两节结束了他的短信，24-25节，用一首赞美诗或者说敬拜声明总结他说过的每一个人。讽刺的是，在这封我们很少在圣经中读到的信中，这些话却是众所周知的: “愿荣耀，威严，能力，权柄，借着我们的主耶稣基督都归给他，从万世以前直到现今，一直到永永远远。阿们。(犹大书1: 24 - 25)
如果你在生活中经常去教堂，你可能听过这些话。这句话经常被用来结束教会的仪式，是对我们所事奉的奇妙的充满恩典的神的最后祝福或敬拜的声明——他拥有所有的荣耀和威严，所有的能力和权柄。
These are amazingly beautiful words.
这些都是非常美丽的词语。
When you understand them in the context of this letter from Jude, they become even more amazing. See, Jude has just called us to “contend for the faith,” to defend and fight for this gospel of grace, both in our beliefs but also in our behaviour. He’s called us to live holy lives that display and highlight God’s grace. And as part of that, he’s called us to keep ourselves in God’s love by obeying his commands, as we watch and wait and build and pray and help each other.
But all of that sounds like hard work, doesn’t it? You have to keep yourself in God’s love – that could be misunderstood that it’s all on us, that’s all about the hard work we do. And it sounds like if we stuff it up, we could lose God’s love and this relationship we have.
So notice again the opening line of this doxology: “To him who is able to keep you from stumbling … (Jude 24) See this is the beauty of grace. We’re called to keep ourselves in God’s love. We’re called to work hard to live holy lives. We’re called to contend for the faith that was once and for all time delivered to the saints.
当你在犹大的这封信的语境中理解它们时，它们会变得更加神奇。看，犹大刚刚呼吁我们“为信仰而奋斗”，捍卫并为这充满恩典的福音而战，在我们的信仰和行为上都是如此。他呼召我们过圣洁的生活，彰显神的恩典。作为其中一部分，他呼召我们靠着观察和等待、造就、祷告和互相帮助来遵守他的命令进而保守我们在神的爱里。
但这听起来很辛苦，不是吗?你必须保守自己在神的爱中——这可能会被误解，这都是我们的责任，这都是我们所做的努力。听起来，如果我们搞砸了，我们可能会失去上帝的爱和我们与神之间的关系。
再看一遍赞美诗的开头: “祂能保守你们不失足犯罪… (犹大书1:24) 看，这就是恩典之美。我们被呼召保守在神的爱中。我们被呼召努力过圣洁的生活。我们被呼召为从前一次和所有时候交付给圣徒的真道竭力奋斗。
But here’s the other side of the coin. Yes, we’re called to keep ourselves in his love as much as we’re able. But He is the One who is able. He is the One who keeps us. He is the One who stops us from stumbling and brings us home. See, that’s grace! Last week, as Jonathan opened up this series in the book of Philemon, he talked about the idea that grace is like a welcome mat. God’s put out the welcome mat to us when we never deserved it, and so now, as recipients of grace, we put out the welcome mat to others.
Today as we finish, let me suggest another metaphor for grace. I think this is the key idea of Jude: “Grace is like a travelator – as we walk faithfully together it is grace that carries us to the finish line”
但这是硬币的另一面。是的，我们被呼召尽我们所能保守自己在他的爱中。惟有他有能力。他是保守我们的主。他是保守我们不失足犯罪，带我们回家的那一位。看,那是恩典! 上周, Jonathan 以腓利门书开始了这个系列,他谈到了恩典就像是欢迎垫。当我们不配得时候上帝铺上欢迎垫欢迎我们,现在,作为恩典的接受者,我们也铺上欢迎垫欢迎别人。
今天结束的时候，让我用另一个比喻来形容恩典。我想这就是犹大书的核心思想: 恩典就像一个自动人行道——当我们忠实地与他一起行走时，是恩典带我们到达终点。
Travelators are like escalators, but they just go flat across the ground. I think I first came across them in airports in the US and love the idea. As you face these long walks from one gate to the next or one terminal to the next, they just speed up the process of getting there. And you don’t even have to walk – you can just get on at one end and it carries you to the other end of the passageway. Or as you walk, it carries you further and faster to the destination.
I think that’s what grace is like. We’re called to walk faithfully and honourably through this life – as best we can, in response to his grace, trying to reflect his holiness and character in the way we live. And what we find is that as we walk with him – or sometimes even stand still and don’t do much for a season – grace carries us forward. Grace is like a travelator, and no matter how well we’re walking, it carries us.
自动人行道就像自动扶梯，但它们只是平直地穿过地面。我想我第一次遇到它们是在美国的机场，我很喜欢这个主意。当你面对从一个登机口到另一个登机口，或从一个航站楼到另一个航站楼的漫长旅程时，它们只是加快了到达那里的过程。你甚至不需要走路——你可以从通道的一端上车，它会把你带到通道的另一端。或者当你走路时，它会带你走得更远更快地到达目的地。
我觉得恩典就是这样的。我们被呼召在今生忠实而荣耀地行走——尽我们所能，回应他的恩典，努力在我们的生活方式中反映他的圣洁和品格。我们发现，当我们与他同行时——有时甚至是站着不动，在一段时间不做什么——恩典也带着我们前进。恩典就像一个自动人行道，不管我们走得多好，它都带着我们前进。
We’re called to keep ourselves in his love, but at the same time, we’re assured that He is able to keep us. And notice to what end – To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy (Jude 24)
I love that image – that one day we will be presented to the Father “without fault” – completely sinless, fully holy – “and with great joy.” Jesus will one day welcome you home and present you faultless to the Father, with profound joy and pride in you. That is grace!! It’s as though we’re on this travelator, and at the end of it when it finishes, is this great welcome home party. And there’s a banner with your name on it. And there’s cake and balloons and celebration and music, and the welcome of Jesus.
Why? Because you’re amazing? Because you fully obeyed everything? No. Because he is able to keep us. That is grace.
Grace is like a travelator – as we walk faithfully together it is grace that carries us to the finish line.
我们被呼召保守自己在他的爱中，但同时我们也确信他能保守我们。注意信的结尾—愿荣耀归给我们的救主——独一的上帝！祂能保守你们不失足犯罪，使你们无瑕无疵、欢欢喜喜地站在祂的荣耀面前。 (犹大书1:24)
我爱这样的画面——有一天我们将“没有过错”——完全无罪，完全圣洁——“带着极大的喜乐”地来到天父面前。有一天，耶稣会欢迎你回家，带着深深的喜乐和骄傲，把你完美无瑕地献给天父。这是恩典!! 就好像我们在自动人行道上，当它结束的时候，会有一个很棒的欢迎回家的派对。还有一面写着你名字的横幅。有蛋糕、气球、庆祝、音乐，还有对耶稣的欢迎。
为什么?因为你很棒?因为你顺从吗?不。因为他有能力保守我们。这是恩典。
恩典就像一个自动人行道——当我们忠实地与它同行时，恩典就带着我们到达终点。
For Jude, it was all about “the faith” – the truth of the gospel, the core of what we believe about Jesus. And this is the truth, as I said earlier that was encapsulated in the Creeds of the earliest Christians. A number of years ago, an Anglican scholar and theologian John Dickson put out a provocative challenge in a tweet. It was addressed to the team at Hillsong church in Sydney, where Dickson also lived. He tweeted, “Hey Hillsong, how about putting the words of the Apostles Creed to music?”
And of course, Hillsong took up the challenge, and with John Dickson’s help, in 2014 they released “This I Believe (The Creed).” The Gracecity worship team has worked hard to put this song into a video for me, and we’re going to sing it now as an act of worship. But also a reminder of this faith that Jude tells us has been handed down and entrusted to us.
But it’s not only a song to sing. These are not only truths to be believed. This is a faith that is to be lived in holiness and dependence and grace – until the one who is able brings us home.
对犹大来说，这一切都是关于“信仰”——福音的真理，我们对耶稣的信仰的核心。这是真理，正如我之前说过的，它被浓缩在早期基督徒的信条中。几年前，英国国教学者和神学家约翰·迪克森(John Dickson)在一条推特上发出了一个挑衅性的挑战。这封信是写给悉尼希尔松教的团队的，迪克森也住在那里。他在推特上写道，“嘿，希尔松，把使徒信经的歌词配上音乐怎么样?”
当然，希尔松接受了挑战，在约翰·迪克森的帮助下，他们在2014年发行了《我相信(信条)》。恩典之城教会敬拜团队努力为我制作了这首歌的视频，我们现在要演唱这首歌来敬拜神。同时这首歌也提醒我们，犹大告诉我们的信仰是传下来的，是托付给我们的。
但这不仅仅是一首歌曲。这些不仅是值得相信的真理。这是一种在圣洁、倚靠和恩典中生活的信仰——直到满有能力那一位带我们回家。
