Jude VI

MINISTER, Rev. Thomas O. Scarborough.

Jude. Verses 17-19.

We have reached an interesting section of the book of Jude this morning -- over the last few weeks we have been doing a series on the book of Jude in the New Testament. This is a powerful little book that was written by the brother of Jesus Christ -- he calls himself the servant of Jesus Christ in this book -- in verse 1.

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I’m going to cover a vast amount of things this morning -- so let us plunge straight into the text -- and we shall begin by reading verse 17.

Verse 17 says: "But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold."

Now we notice a number of things in this verse.

Let us notice, firstly, that Jude calls on the Church to remember. "Remember what the apostles said." And this means that most of the apostles are by now history. They are dead and gone.

Most of the apostles, in fact, were martyred for their faith -- and that includes Andrew, Bartholomew, James, Peter, Philip, Thaddaeus, Thomas, and Simon -- two-thirds of the apostles that we know of.

So when people say that the New Testament is just a fable -- it’s very difficult to explain away the fact that most of the disciples of Jesus laid down their lives in the years that followed. They laid down their lives claiming that Jesus was the Son of God and the Saviour of the world.

Let us notice, next, that what we have here in verse 17, the same verse -- is something that the apostles foretold. It was a kind of prophecy that the apostles of Jesus Christ made.

And if they foretold it, that means it was a situation that did not exist at the time that they foretold it. But they foretold that in the days to come -- in the last times, which is the times we are living in now -- certain things would come to pass.

And the apostles were basically saying: "Be ready for these things, because this is going to happen. Don't be surprised when it comes to

pass"

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Let us read what it is that the apostles foretold.

In verse 18, Jude says: "They -- the apostles -- said to you, 'In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.'"

In fact the apostle Peter says something very similar in one of his letters -- he says: "You must understand that in the last days, scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own desires." (2 Peter 3:3).

And once again -- as we saw last time -- what Jude is talking about here is not people outside the Church -- he is talking about a situation that will come to pass inside the Church. He is talking about people who will be in the Church of Christ -- scoffers who follow their own ungodly desires.

Now a scoffer is someone who has no respect for things that deserve to be respected, and loved -- who scoffs at faith -- who scoffs at Biblical values -- who scoffs at Church leaders -- and in verse 18 we see that these people will also live ungodly lives -- they will follow their ungodly desires -- or their natural instincts, as verse 19 says.

If they feel like this -- they’ll do this. If they feel like that, they’ll do that. But a Biblical, disciplined life, which is the fruit of the Spirit, is different.

This is very similar to what we saw from the start of the book of Jude. Jude began by describing godlessness on the one hand, and immorality on the other. Here it is scoffing on the one hand, natural instincts on the other.

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In the earliest days of the Church, after Pentecost -- when the Church was filled with love and the power of the Holy Spirit, the Christian believers might never have expected that scoffers and ungodly people could ever find their way into the Church.

But the apostles said: "It will happen. This is all a part of God’s plan."

Why is this part of the plan?

Well that has been the source of much debate in the Church, but it is said that, basically, this keeps the Church on its toes. It keeps its message clear, and it keeps its fellowship holy. When scoffers come, or lawless people, then you need to sort out what the Church is really all about.

And I can speak from my own experience that these things in the Church sanctify the Church -- they build spiritual character as very few other things do. They bring about a renewed Church.

Let’s also think in more general terms for a moment. There are so many people who say today that if the Church is full of so many frauds -- Church leaders who pile up wealth for themselves, or follow an immoral lifestyle, or reveal a hopeless lack of faith -- then the Church itself must be a fraud.

Well not so, said the apostles all those years before it even came to pass. They said: "These things are to expected. It is a part of God's plan." The apostle Paul said there would be people who "have a form of godliness, but deny its power". (2 Timothy 3:5).

At the end of the day, what matters is that God’s Word is the truth -- what matters is what God is doing in His Church all over the world -- those things never change, and those things cannot be touched by what humans do.

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Let’s move on to verse 19. Here we read: "These are men who divide you." And once again this is the scoffers, who follow their own desires.

And if you look across all the Churches today -- this is absolutely true.

What is it that divides Churches across the world today -- whether we are talking about individual congregations, or whole denominations?

It is always two things -- and it is just as Jude says. Either division comes as the result of people scoffing -- scoffing at faith -- scoffing at Biblical values -- scoffing at Church leaders -- or division comes from people who cause moral dilemmas -- you just need to open the newspaper to read about that.

So division is attached to scoffing -- and it is attached to people following their natural desires -- doing as they please -- rather than walking by the Spirit.

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Now the next few verses in Jude -- from verse 20 -- are a continuation of what we have just looked at.

In fact the central purpose of the next few verses -- verses 20 and 21 -- is to show us how to respond to those people who scoff -- those people who live without restraint -- those people who divide -- in the Church.

Let us notice how verse 19 ended: "These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts, and do not have the Spirit."

And then notice how verse 20 begins -- "But you, dear friends..."

So let us notice that verse 20 is a response to the verses that went before. It shows us how we ought to respond to the things that have just been mentioned.

And the first thing Jude says is basically, “Build yourselves up.” Make that your priority. There is a great temptation to get absorbed in mischief when it happens. But Jude says, you haven't got time for that. He says, there are far more important things for you, as a Christian believers, to get on with.

He begins verse 20: “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith.” Keep doing the things you’re supposed to do. Stay faithful in fellowship, and in Bible study, and in prayer, and in charity -- and don’t get knocked off that track.

The same applies if you have troubles at work, or troubles in your home -- don’t just invest all your thoughts and all your time in the trouble, but your first line of action should be to strengthen your faith -- as well as the faith of others. “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith.”

And let’s see how that verse goes on -- pray in the Holy Spirit -- keep yourselves in the love of God -- and wait for the mercy of Jesus Christ, to bring you to eternal life.

In fact as we look back in the New Testament, we find that the Lord Jesus Christ typified what this verse says. We know that he had endless troubles with the Pharisees -- and He could have spent His entire life just trying to answer the Pharisees, and expose them.

But what do we see in the Bible? He put all His energies into teaching, and praying, and proclaiming the kingdom of God.

We find very much the same with the apostle Paul. The apostle Paul was continually hounded by wicked people -- but never did he dwell on them. He simply got on with proclaiming the gospel and strengthening the Churches.

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So in verses 20 and 21, Jude tells us to do four things specifically.

First of all, in verse 20 -- the first thing we should do is to build each other up.

Let us first notice the word "yourselves" in verse 20 -- build yourselves up -- this is a plural word in the Greek -- so it does not mean build yourself up -- you individually -- but it means build yourselves up -- you the Church -- the family of God. Encourage one another, and enrich one another in your faith.

If scoffers or lawless people rise up -- build yourselves up. Just keep on focussing on the Lord, and keep on strengthening each other in your relationship with the Lord.

Then, notice that we are told in verse 20 to build ourselves up in our most holy faith.

Now what the original word "holy" really means -- is not only "perfect" -- we so often understand holiness as the opposite of sin -- but it has another meaning in the Bible, especially here. "Holy" means "separate".

So our Christian faith is separate. Even our modern dictionary says that "holy" means to be "set apart".

Our Christian faith, therefore, is not just the same as any other teaching, or the same as any other religious writing -- which some people might have been saying even in the time of Jude. But our faith is very special. It is most special -- most holy.

It is a "most holy" faith. It is separate from the rest, because this is a faith, in fact, which is given by God. It is different from other faiths, and from worldly philosophies, because it is not man-made - it is God-given. It is God's plan of salvation for the world.

And again, even if Christians are not holy -- which happens often enough -- that does not mean that our faith is not holy. You might be disappointed by Christians, but you won’t be disappointed by the holy faith.

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Let us move on in verse 20, and notice a second thing that we ought to do to build ourselves up. We should pray in the Holy Spirit.

Notice that this verse does not simply tell us to pray. It says we should pray in the Holy Spirit. In fact there are three passages in the New Testament which speak of prayer in the Spirit or with the Spirit -- and this is one of them.

Another place where we read of prayer in the Spirit is where Paul tells us to put on the full armour of God. One of the pieces of that armour is prayer in the Spirit. Not just prayer.

A lot of people just pray.

And incidentally, prayer in the Spirit is something uniquely Christian. Anybody can pray -- but only the Christian can pray in the Spirit -- because only the born again Christian has received the Spirit.

What does it mean to pray in the Spirit?

What it means is to be guided by the Spirit -- to be guided by the power of the Spirit as you pray. Often Christians try to make their own prayers, instead of letting the Spirit make their prayers.

One of the more common complaints of Christians is that their prayer life seems barren. But very often they are trying to make the "right" kind of prayers, or do it in the "right" kind of way, without asking the Spirit to lead their heart, and lead their thoughts, and to fill them with the prayers they need to have.

Paul said (Romans 8:26): "We do not know what we ought to pray for." Rather, we need the Spirit to lead our prayers.

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Thirdly, moving on to verse 21 -- we should keep ourselves in God's love.

Someone translated this as "Keep yourselves in the consciousness of God's love." Usually this verse is seen to refer to God’s love for us -- rather than our love for God.

"Keep yourselves in the consciousness of God's love." We know as Christians of course that we cannot ever move away from God's love -- or out of God’s love -- so that over here we are in His love, but if we wander over there we are out of His love. His love us always over us.

The New Testament tells us: "Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:39).

So what this verse 21 likely means is: "Keep yourselves in the awareness of God's love." Keep yourselves in such a relationship with Him that you will know that you are in His love. Keep yourselves in such a relationship with Him that you can see His hand of love in everything that comes to pass -- that You can see Him every step of the way.

God always loves us once we have surrendered our lives to Him -- but we begin to lose the sense of God's love when we stray from Him. God doesn't stop loving us, but we stop experiencing God's love.

So Jude says here: "Keep yourselves in God's love."

When people around you -- to use the words of Jude -- froth like the waves of the sea, and are blown around by the wind -- keep yourself in God's love. Stay in that place where you know His love surrounding you at all times. Stay in the peace and the strength of knowing God's love over you.

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Then fourthly -- also in verse 21 -- Jude says that you and I should wait for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ to bring us to eternal life.

What does it mean to wait for His mercy?

On the one hand, we already have His mercy through Jesus Christ -- but what this refers to is the fullness of His mercy which we shall only receive when we enter into His everlasting Kingdom one day.

And let us notice that word "wait". We are a people who wait.

Most people in this world are waiting for nothing -- the only life they have is the life they are involved in right now. And I believe it makes a very big difference if you have understood that this life is a waiting -- a waiting for the mercy of Jesus Christ to bring us to eternal life. It makes everything else seem far less important -- and it puts everything in its proper perspective.

So while people around you get so absorbed in the things of this life, as though they were everything -- and while they get tossed this way and that, and sucked into this and sucked into that -- you have something that keeps you sailing through it all to a greater destination.

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Now although Jude says -- just keep doing what you should be doing -- keep on building yourselves up -- he once again returns briefly to the troublemakers in verses 22 and 23. And I’ll just sum this up -- very briefly. I’m not going to go into this in detail.

Let’s look at the end of these verses first.

The end of verse 23 is talking about plague. Hate the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. This refers to clothing that has become infected by plague. If there is plague, says Jude -- don’t even touch it. Don’t have anything at all to do with the sins of scoffing or lawlessness in the Church. That is the one big thing Jude is saying here.

But then, going back to the start of this section -- verse 23 -- snatch people from the fire. The goal is -- if possible -- not to send people to the fire -- but to snatch them from the fire. In the world, you so often hear people say, “You can go to ... dor-dot-dot-dot ...” In the Church, there’s the very opposite thinking.

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Well that seems a pretty dismal place to end -- but you’ll see there are better things in store next week. And we have covered a whole lot of things this morning that should be an encouragement to our faith. Especially, we are commanded to build one another up -- build up your brother or sister -- we are commanded to pray, in the Holy Spirit -- and we are commanded to stay in a place where we know that God’s love is over us.

AMEN.