Sermon for HCBC (13 September 2020). To listen use the audio player below or click here. Also available on your favorite podcast app (“Hunting Creek Baptist Church”).
The pressure is growing. The world feels so uncertain. Life is absolutely unpredictable. And I know a question on many of your minds is what is the future of HCBC. I have three sermons left, and I was led to the book of Jude. Jude writes to a church facing pressure. False teachers are calling them to compromise. The risk is that they will fall away, that they will abandon the gospel. But Jude’s message is simple: God is able to keep you, so struggle for the faith.
In these first eight verses, Jude says to us, “Hold the Line.” The earth may feel like it’s shifting from underneath our feet. The mountains may be quaking. The world may look bleak. The cultural pressures may be building against the church. Hold the line because God will keep those who are his through all eternity. Stay steadfast because eternity is at stake.
Let’s begin in v. 1: “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.” This opening is not unusual. Lots of NT writers identify as servants of Jesus Christ. But notice he also identifies himself as the brother of James. The James he is referring to must be the brother of Jesus. That means this Jude is also the brother of Jesus. Isn’t that remarkable? The brother of Jesus first and foremost identifies himself as a servant of Christ. He does not use his status to throw his weight around. He is a servant. Of course, this also says something about who Jesus is. Jesus isn’t just a good man or a great teacher. He must be more than that. His own brother calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ. Nobody would say that unless Jesus is worth worshiping and that’s his point.
Let’s look at who he writes to at the end of v. 1: “To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.” There’s three things Jude says about believers. (1) They are called. (2) They are beloved. And (3) they are kept. To be called means God’s intention was to call them to himself. He called them and he made them righteous. They are beloved by the Father. He has set his affection on them. He takes pleasure in them. And they are kept for or by Christ. That means they will be established. They will overcome. They will not fall away if they remain in Christ.
Now this opening is really important because it’s Jude’s way of setting up what is going to follow. It’s as if he saying, “Look I’ve got something serious to talk to you about, but first, you have to know who you are.” You have to know that God set his affection on you and by his own good pleasure called you to himself and he is keeping you in Christ. Don’t forget who you are. HCBC, I say that to you. Don’t forget who you are in Christ.
Because God is keeping you, mercy, peace, and love are yours. Look at v. 2: “May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.” This is what God has done. He has called you. He has loved you. He is keeping you through Christ. He has shown you mercy. Your sins are forgiven. You are not guilty. He has given you peace. You are at peace with the living God. You are loved. Now you must hold the line.
Look at v. 3. “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” Jude wanted to write to celebrate, but instead it is necessary to write so that they would contend. He says it is necessary to do so. Necessary means it’s urgent. It can’t be swept under the rug. I really want you to grasp his urgency here. It’s easy for us in the modern church to act as though urgency is for the extreme types. But urgency is what Scripture calls us to.
He appeals to them to contend. He’s begging them to struggle. This word contend means to struggle for, wrestle with. It’s like going to the gym and sweating. Jude is saying, “It’s time to fight.” “It’s time to get to work.” “It’s time to sweat.” “You can’t be passive or indifferent.” “For the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” That is, the faith that the apostles taught, that has been passed down to us. It is the faith catalogued in the NT. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1). “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom 5:6). Don’t lose sight of it. Hold the line.
The phrase “hold the line” is a military metaphor. It is necessary for armies to stand their ground, to not give ground, to not fall back when the enemy surges. Or, you might think of a boxer, who stands toe to toe, blocking, weaving, and countering. Jude says, “Don’t retreat.” “Don’t ignore it.” “Don’t wait for it to go away.” Now is the time to fight. Why?
Verse 4: “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Why is it necessary to contend? Because people have infiltrated the church. These are not genuine believers. They are those perverting the grace of God into sensuality and denying our Jesus Christ. What does he mean that they pervert the grace of God into sensuality? They are acting like God’s grace is a license for sin. It’s like the people in our very own area who say, “Well I said a prayer, so it doesn’t matter what I do.” It’s like the man who said to me once, “I got my salvation, so I don’t need church.” Such thinking is a distortion of the gospel. Yes, salvation is entirely free and it is not earned through our own efforts. But God’s grace produces new lives. Listen to Paul in Rom 2:4: “Do you presume on the riches of God’s kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” God’s grace isn’t a license to live godless lives. It’s an invitation to repent and walk by the Spirit—to live a life honoring and worshiping the Lord. When God’s grace is distorted into a license to live godlessly, it is an effective denial of Jesus Christ. We don’t have to vocally deny Christ. We can do that with our lives.
This is so important for the church in America. We have this superstitious version of cheap grace that says, “Well, you said a prayer and you joined a church, so you’re OK.” Jude would tell us we are lying to people and we are not contending for the faith. We may think we are being loving, but we are not. Notice also that this is why church membership should be taken seriously—which has been an unfortunate oversight by Baptist churches including HCBC. Jude says, “Certain people have crept in unnoticed.” Membership needs a screen on the front door. And it also needs a back door when the faith is not practiced.
This may all seem harsh, but I remind you once more of the urgency. I know we fear topics like church discipline. We think, “Who are we to pronounce judgment?” And you’re right, we don’t have that right in ourselves, but God authorizes his church for that task. And we might think that we could never confront someone. We could never remove a church member for failing to attend for months at a time. But Jude says to us, “Quit kidding yourselves. You aren’t doing any favors for these people.” Look what he says next.
Verse 5: “Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.” Now first it is fascinating that Jude says that Jesus accomplished the exodus. Do you remember the rebellion in the wilderness? They turned to idols. They wanted to go back to Egypt. Judgment fell on them for their unbelief. In the same way, church membership protects no one from judgment. If they live lives that reveal unbelief, which means open and unrepentant sin and rebellion against the Lord, then judgment is coming.
Jude gives two more examples to illustrate. Verse 6: “And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.” This is probably a reference to Gen 6, which illustrates the depth of the rebellion against God. Then there’s v. 7: “Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”
These three examples serve to illustrate the urgency of the problem. When the church is infiltrated by denials of the gospel, people can be led astray and the consequences are severe. It is necessary for the church to hold the line by being faithful to the gospel. Compromising clear biblical instruction is foolish when the warnings are set before us. A church that is committed to biblical instruction, that practices meaningful membership and strives for purity, is a church that will serve you well because it is pointing you to the hope we have in Christ. A compromising church that is soft on God’s truth and indifferent to holiness leads people astray. It fails to point them to Christ. It creates and perpetuates unbelief and rebellion. So Jude’s charge is to each member here at HCBC: contend for the faith. If it happened in the NT, we should expect it today.
If you knew a thief was going to break into your home tonight, what would you do? Would you go about your day like normal and sleep in your bed like normal? No, you would prepare. You would ensure that the thief couldn’t get in, and if he did, you would be ready. Church, don’t go to sleep. The stakes are too high. Hold the line. Be faithful. God will enable you to stand. But struggle for the faith delivered to us.