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The inspired writer Jude, brother of James and half brother to Jesus, in his short epistle, warns the church of certain people who had infiltrated their midst, who were not at all truly Christians as they should be. Here is how he characterized them in this one verse of the New King James version:
These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;
The Dead Sea, located in Jordan eastward from Israel and the West Bank. It is surrounded by mountains and has no outlet. It's main tributary is the Jordan river, plus run-off streams from the mountains. It is 8.6 times as salty as the oceans and 33.7% salinity. Animals cannot survive where they have to depend upon it for water, nor can vegetation grow in the area affected by it's waters. Often times, clouds hover over the sea but rarely rain. The average annual rainfall is under 2 inches. So these clouds are virtually without water.
But, back to the message of Jude. Jude informs the young church that these people are to be watched and, in no way, be patterned after. Even though they are pretending to bear the name Christian, they are only so in their own minds.
The book of Jude was written in approximately 65 A.D., only some 32-33 years after the Lord's church was established. The Apostle Paul had also warned the church of the apostatizing that was entering the body of Christ.
Throughout the history of the Lord's church, there have virtually always been more pseudo, or lukewarm, Christians than those devoted to following closely after Him. Remember that the entire world of humanity was destroyed for their lack of obedience to God, except for eight souls, in the universal flood as described in the book of Genesis.
And Jesus himself declared that not many would find the gate to eternity and assuredly not simply by wearing the name. He has this to say in Matthew 7:15-20 in the King James version:
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."
There are numerous other examples of condemnation to those who would use the name of Christ as their leader even when in truth, Satan leads them. And it is for these reasons that the often condemnations appear. Even today, one of the first and most frequently used accusations towards Christians is their lack of true allegiance to Christ or to God. Those who participate in evil things and would hide themselves under the guise of being a follower of Christ only bring more condemnation upon themselves.
You see, to live as a Christian, leaves the atheist and other non-Christians without a defense. One should always strive to live his life where true criticism cannot touch. A recent message on a church marquee stated " When people accuse you of evil, live your life so none will believe them". That is a pretty good admonition, but often is not enough. Christianity is not to be used as a cover to hide one, but rather to please our Heavenly Father. Peter gives a good bit of advice in his second epistle:
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (2 Peter 1:3-20 KJV)
Pay attention to the last phrase..."Ye shall never fall"! If you study the various attributes he tells the Christian to add to his life, and consider what each entails, you will see an active person, obedient to God and filled with favorable works to his fellow man, and especially those of like faith. These items will eliminate one being a "lukewarm" Christian, a "cloud without water".
Author Biography: Joel Hendon was born September 20, 1930 near Gadsden Alabama. He attended public schools in Cherokee County, Alabama and after serving a tour of duty in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, attended Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama majoring in Business Administration. He became a Christian in 1948, and although he followed secular work as a career and retired from Allied Signal Aerospace in 1997, he is an avid student of the Holy Bible and related works as well as biblical history. He has an extensive website of religious and political conservative articles and links to many other sites. http://hebronics.org/index.html
Hi Joel. Thank you for writing this article. It makes one wonder how many of us Christians are "lukewarm" to our faith and how many there are who are "cloud without water". ~Nenita~
The point Jim, is there are many who profess to be Christians but do nothing, they are as clouds without water. Christianity is more than a name. Thank you for reading and commenting
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