Soul Care

By Charles Crabtree

The book is a verse by verse commentary on the Book of Jude with an emphasis on deception without and within the Church of Jesus Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664213296

Charles Crabtree

Charles has pastored two leading Assembly of God churches over a period of twenty-five years, served as Assistant General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God and President of Northpoint Bible College and Seminary, Haverhill, MA. He has authored eight books concerning Bible doctrine, church leadership and his autobiography. He has been an international speaker for various denominational events.

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Soul

Care

Charles Crabtree

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Copyright © 2020 Charles Crabtree.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-1328-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1327-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1329-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020923128

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/31/2020

Unless marked otherwise, Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy

Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984,

2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked NEB are taken from the New

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Scripture quotations marked ASV are taken from the American Standard Bible.

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copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission

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the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked PHILLIPS are taken from The New Testament in

Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Administered

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Scripture quotations marked JB are taken from The Jerusalem

Bible © 1966, 1968 by Darton Longman & Todd Ltd and

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Scripture quotations marked TEV are taken from the Good News

Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright

© 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Scripture quotations marked MEV are taken from the

Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible

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CONTENTS

Introduction to Jude

Chapter 1 Greetings from the First Century

Chapter 2 A Reason for Deep Concern

Chapter 3 Unmasking Satan’s Strategy

Chapter 4 Your Faith Is Your Fate

Chapter 5 Even Angels Can Be Deceived

Chapter 6 Pick Your Spiritual Poison

Chapter 7 Soul Polluters

Chapter 8 Don’t Die Before You Live

Chapter 9 Three Unwise Guys

Chapter 10 A First Century Contemporary Preacher

Chapter 11 Allies or Enemies?

Chapter 12 A Four-Step Soul Care Program

Chapter 13 The Fine Art of Saving Others

Chapter 14 A Glorious Doxology

INTRODUCTION TO JUDE

Sometime ago, I was invited to minister at a Bible camp. I felt a strong urging to prepare a series of five messages from the book of Jude—which I did. The people who attended the camp expressed genuine appreciation for the teaching, and many testified they had been spiritually enriched for which I was grateful. I believed I would not be studying and preaching from the book of Jude for a long time; after all, it consists of only 25 verses.

Much to my surprise, I could not get away from a growing conviction that I had only scratched the surface in my teaching and was to begin writing an inspirational commentary on this remarkable epistle. The idea seemed rather impractical for many reasons, but I have learned it is useless to resist a clear directive of the Holy Spirit and much wiser to obey God rather than follow human reasoning.

At the time, I had no idea if I would finish my assignment or if I would be the only one who would ever read this commentary. None of that matters. God knows what He is doing, and He will be glorified in some way through my obedience—if for no other reason than to enrich my own spiritual life.

The central message of Jude is deception. Because of that fact, it is important to keep the definition of deception and its dangers in mind throughout the entire study of this short but powerful epistle.

As defined in the dictionary, to deceive is to mislead by a false appearance or statement. In practical terms, it means to trick, mislead, or fraud.

From almost the first day we were born, we were victims of innocent deception for the purpose of making us smile or giggle. I have delighted in watching highly educated and sophisticated parents play peek-a-boo with their babies and later make sure Santa left something for them under the tree. For the rest of our lives, we will live with and be subjected to deception. Much of it will be in fun or entertainment. I enjoy and am amazed at the skill of magicians who are called Masters of Deception. Some of our greatest delights and moments to remember will be the result of surprises and prizes made possible by family and friends using their skills at deception to pull the wool over our eyes.

It would be wonderful if harmless deception were used only to bring joy and happiness to the world; but unfortunately, we are constantly confronted by those who would seek to use deception for selfish and evil purposes. The threat of being defrauded is growing exponentially with the explosion of technology which allows every kind of person to communicate and target millions of people instantaneously. It should come as no surprise that everyone who is trying to sell us something is not always honest.

In a spiritual context, deception is used as a tool of Satan to destroy an eternal relationship with God. For the Christian believers in a world filled with satanic deception, we are not to be ignorant of Satan’s plans and deception; but at the same time, we must not let what is around us cast any doubt or rob us of the hope that is in us. Just because the world is deceived and even people in the church are succumbing to unbelief is no reason to deny or even question our faith.

It is my prayer that the study in this short but wonderful book of Jude will help Christian believers define themselves as the most privileged and blessed people who ever lived, not with a spirit of pride but with a spirit of humility and not with a spirit of fear but with victorious faith.

(All biblical references are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.)

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1

GREETINGS FROM THE

FIRST CENTURY

Before we begin the study in Jude, I wish to make a confession. I almost made the mistake of treating the greeting or salutation of Jude found in the first two verses as perfunctory and relatively unimportant. In doing so, I would have missed emphasizing one of the most glorious truths in the New Testament which is how Christians should identify themselves and pray for others.

Jude identifies himself as a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James (v.1). By this one statement, he reveals his relationship to Christ and to other believers. Why is this fact especially relevant to the American Christian? The answer is clear. Modern technology has given Satan almost instantaneous access to every believer through his spokespersons. Day after day, believers are bombarded with ungodly ideas and opinions from people they do not know. It is absolutely necessary for believers to understand who these people are in relation to God in order to protect themselves spiritually and morally.

Jude defines his relationship to Christ before anything or anyone else. By this, he signals that he is not important in himself but is honored to be recognized as a servant of Jesus. He had chosen to die to self and spend the rest of his natural life doing his part to make the kingdom of God known and build the church of Jesus Christ. It is rather ironic that those who admit they have no ability to accomplish anything lasting in this world and do not seek to make a name for themselves are given great power to do the impossible and ultimately receive eternal rewards beyond imagination.

The most important profession in the kingdom of God and the Church of Jesus Christ is servanthood. Beware of those who claim to be servants of Jesus but have a spirit of pride and demand to be served rather than serve or who seek recognition for themselves. Keep in mind that every role in the Church of Jesus Christ is fundamentally servanthood. There are different offices such as pastor, evangelist, prophet, apostle, bishop, etc.; but the title should be viewed as an assignment as a servant, not a right to lord it over others.

Paul wrote to Timothy: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task (1 Timothy 3:1). Paul is telling his son in the faith that it is admirable to have holy ambition for the purpose of being a more effective servant with greater responsibility in the will of God.

Servants of God in the body of Christ are worthy of double honor if they serve with humility. If God has ordained them to fill a vital office in His church, it is incumbent upon them not to deceive themselves and think they are more important than others because of their title. This was the charge brought against the Pharisees and Sadducees. He called them hypocrites for demanding that people follow all kinds of rules and regulations they themselves did not follow while strutting about with a spirit of pride and acting humble and spiritually superior.

Rooted in self-deception, hypocrisy is very much alive in the religious world today and can be easily detected. It is not all that difficult to discern an obvious prideful spirit. One of my favorite stories concerning false humility (undoubtedly apocryphal) tells about the visit of a cardinal to a bishop regarding an important matter facing the church. After the visit, they made their way to the cathedral where they approached the altar with great solemnity. As they came to the altar, the cardinal began a prayer of repentance with the words, O God, I am nothing; I am nothing. When the bishop heard what the cardinal prayed, he thought to himself, If the cardinal thinks he’s nothing, then who am I? and promptly said with a louder voice, I am nothing; I am nothing. Unbeknownst to them, a janitor was on his knees cleaning the floor behind the altar. Upon hearing the confessions of the cardinal and the bishop, he thought to himself, If the cardinal and bishop think they are nothing, then who in the world am I? and began to loudly confess, I am nothing; I am nothing! to which the bishop turned to the cardinal with total outrage and said, Look who thinks he’s nothing! A title does not create the value of a man; the man creates the value of the title.

After Jude identifies himself first and foremost as a servant of Jesus Christ, he then goes on to say he is the brother of James. He does this to give further proof of his reliability and reputation as a minister. Scholars are not unanimous regarding who his brother was. Most believe James was the brother of John, but he was most certainly a well-known and respected disciple of Christ. Jude felt it was important to tell people who did not know him that he was closely related to a brother in Christ who was known to be of good character in the church.

In this present period of church history, it is more than advantageous for a Christian minister of any kind to be closely aligned with people and organizations of good reputation so believers can be given the ability and opportunity to check the credentials and records of those who want to minister among them. Be wary of anyone who claims to be a servant of Jesus Christ but is not a member in good standing in a Christ-centered church or organization. Ordination by the recognition and laying on of hands by reputable church leaders was not only a divinely approved practice in the New Testament church but is also becoming increasingly important in contemporary society and religious communities. It is one of God’s divine protections for the believer’s benefit.

After Jude identifies himself as a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, he proceeds to tell believers (his audience) what he thinks of them. To put it succinctly, he esteems them highly. Why is this important? Ministers who do not view believers they minister to as God sees them will not appreciate their spiritual value but will look at them through the deceptive eyes of pride and carnality rather than humility and loving concern.

For many years I was in a position to approve or disapprove the granting of credentials (ordination) to candidates for ministry. In that process, I was a member of a committee that interviewed individuals to make certain they met our denomination’s qualifications for such an important responsibility. In looking back, I have one regret. I focused so much on the qualifications of the candidates and their reputation, experience, education, doctrine, and finances that I failed to discuss their attitude and views toward the believers they would minister to. I have learned that what people value determines the quality of care and protection they will give—be it an object, animal, or person.

Those who consider others beneath them are not fit to fill the role of any ministry. In addition, those who expect praise from the people they minister to or view others as worthy to receive their attention and care above others based on gifts and money are wolves in sheep’s clothing deceiving the flock of God. Ministers are not immune from the temptation to be people pleasers at the cost of pleasing God. Of course, it is right to give honor to whom honor is due but only in the context of pleasing God above all others.

The story is told that after the inaugural presentation of a now-famous opera, the composer stepped out from behind the curtain to the thunderous applause of the audience. His initial reaction to the crowd was most telling. At first, he just stood scanning the crowd until he saw his teacher standing and applauding. Only then did he turn to the audience to acknowledge their appreciation for his great work. To a student or servant, the smile of the master is preferable to the applause of the crowd.

We know Jude had received the approval of the Lord as His servant, but he was also very much aware of the fact that God values and loves His children. We know this because Jude gives us a wonderful description and appraisal of the believer. The devil and his agents do everything in their power to tell believers what they are not. It is vital not only to believe but also to fully understand how God views us because the only other alternative is to take the opinions of people and the accusations of the devil which leads to insecurity and fear.

It makes comparatively little difference what the world thinks of us because they have no idea who we are in Christ. It is my prayer that all believers will accept with joy God’s truth of who they are through the revelation given to Jude. He gives three reasons why Christians should be recognized and treated as spiritual VIPs.

First, Jude describes the believer as called or, in some translations, sanctified. In my thinking, it would be helpful if there were a word to encompass both with equal meaning. When we were born again, even though we looked the same and lived at the same address, physically, inwardly, and spiritually, we said yes to being separated (sanctified) from our old lives.

Believers are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). They are given an eternal reason to live in the temporal world. They are not proud of themselves and their accomplishments because of who they are in themselves but humbled that they have been given the privilege to serve the Master of heaven and