BBD 03.22.07 Rescuing Whales
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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03.22.07
Rescuing Whales
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in
the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy
of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion,
making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the
fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. - Jude 1:20-23.
Many of you watched as I did when three Japanese fishermen attempted to
rescue a 30-foot long whale that had been trapped in a bay near the island
of Shikoku southwest of Tokyo. The whale turned on them hitting their boat.
As a result, a fifty-eight year old man drowned. Two of the fishermen were
saved.
What a frightening experience it must have been! The fishermen were trying
to do the right thing and save a creature's life but instead one man lost
his life. The fishermen must have known how dangerous something like that
could become but they tried to save the whale anyway.
Attempting to rescue someone spiritually can be difficult and even
dangerous. Jude gives us this indication that some are easy to reach "on
some have compassion making a distinction." Many that I have led to the Lord
have been exactly like that. They were ready to know the Lord; they were
just waiting for someone to tell them the Good News of Jesus Christ. What
joy to lead someone like that to the Lord! However, Jude indicates that
there is another type of lost person who will not be so easy to lead to the
Lord.
Jude speaks of the difficulty and the danger in attempting to reach some
lost people. Jude writes, ".but others save with fear, pulling them out of
the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh." This sounds like it
might be as hard as rescuing a stranded whale that does not want to be
rescued. ".save with fear." What is there to fear of a lost person? Jude's
little letter was written primarily to warn of deceivers, false teachers who
were trying to lead believers away from the true Christ. At the beginning of
his letter Jude warns in verse 4, "For certain men have crept in unnoticed,
who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn
the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord
Jesus Christ." The danger in trying to lead these deceivers, false teachers
to the truth was that you might yourself become deceived by them. So, a
rescue of these people had to be done with caution and even "fear".
In addition, to the dangers that Jude speaks of directly there are other
dangers in attempting to lead some to the Lord. Trying to reach someone
involved in sexual sins could result in your becoming bogged down in those
sins as well. Trying to reach someone involved in substance abuse could
result in your becoming addicted too. Trying to reach someone involved in
financial illegalities might tempt you to try it yourself.
The Bible does give us some direction about how to proceed in dealing with
these situations. In Galatians 6:1 the apostle Paul writes, "Brethren, if a
man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one
in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted."
Although Paul is focusing on believers who have turned away his advice is
also good for reaching out to those who have never believed. You must
consider "yourself lest you also be tempted."
Does this mean that we should not try to reach some people because it is too
dangerous? It means that we should take precautions. It means that like the
Japanese fisherman we should not try to rescue a whale by ourselves. We
should include other believers in our plan of rescue and seek their advice
and wisdom. Jude just prior to speaking of rescuing some with fear gives
perhaps the most important advice which is to keep yourself very close to
the Lord as he says, "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most
holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God,
looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."
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