Sermon for HCBC (27 September 2020). To listen use the audio player below or click here. Also available on your favorite podcast app (“Hunting Creek Baptist Church”).
Introduction
I want to remind you of Jude’s point. He reminds the church that they are being kept by God, so they should contend for the faith that has come under attack through false teaching. This false teaching is a distorted form of Christianity that does not submit to the fundamentals of the faith. In this final section, Jude wants to tell us what it means to contend for the faith. I think this is a fitting message as the final one I will preach to you. Your job as a local congregation is to contend for the faith. I have six things I want to show you from the passage. So let’s take a look at the text.
What to Expect
Verse 17: “But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.” So there’s a reminder. Remember what has been said by the Apostles. Again, Scripture is our source of truth. Then v. 18: “They said to you, ‘In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.’” So this is the warning. In the last days there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions. Notice that Jude is referring to his own day when he speaks of the last days. A proper biblical understanding of the “last days” is the time since Jesus. The church has always been in the last days. This is a point so many prophecy preachers miss. So here’s the first of six things I want to say to you this morning HCBC: Do not fret the future. Plan for opposition.
Jude tells us these will be people who follow their own ungodly passions. Again, they will not be submissive or obedient to the Lord. They will do what serves them and what meets their needs. And the effect is in v. 19: “It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.” They cause divisions. Why do churches divide? Because at least one party desires to serve its own needs. Why do churches struggle? Because there are those who are only interested in serving themselves. Jude describes them as ungodly and devoid of the Spirit.
Now pay close attention to his logic. If those who cause divisions are devoid of the Spirit, then it follows that those who pursue unity are filled with the Spirit. So a mark of a believer is a desire to see the church flourish in unity and holiness even if that means setting aside your own personal agenda. Now I wonder if you can say that about your involvement at HCBC? Has the Spirit moved you away from your passions and toward promoting the building up of the church?
Staying in the Love of God
If so, then vv. 20–21 are the instructions for you. What does the church do in response to false teaching? How do we contend for the faith? Verses 20–21 tell us: “But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” Pay close attention, there is only one command in this passage. It’s in v. 21: “keep yourselves in the love of God.” That’s the central command. Everything else just explains that. “Keep yourselves in the love God.” Now this is a connection that runs throughout the book of Jude. It’s in v. 1: “to those who are called and kept for Jesus Christ.” And the same idea (though it is a different word) is in the doxology in v. 24: “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling.” So there’s something of a tension here. God is keeping you, so keep yourselves in his love. That means the keeping is less of a work that we perform and more of a dependence on what God is doing for us through Christ.
Edify Yourselves
But Jude gives us some instructions for the waiting. Three things in fact. First, he says in v. 20 “building yourselves up in your most holy faith.” Imagine building a house. You lay a sound foundation and then you continue to layer effectively so that it will be sturdy and weather well. This is the idea of the church. We are to endeavor to build a sound community of Christ followers who are rooted and grounded in the faith and maturing in their Christian practice. That’s really the mission of the church. Another helpful metaphor is a gym. The church is a place to come for spiritual fitness. Singing is like cardio. Doctrine is like lifting weights. Biblical exposition provides a well-balanced diet. These are necessities. So that’s the second thing I leave you with HCBC: Build yourselves up in you most holy faith. Dig deep in the Scriptures. Strive for sound doctrine. Ground yourself in the amazing faith that has been delivered for us. Then you will be able to contend for it. Then you will be keeping yourself in the love of God.
Pray in the Spirit
Second, he says, “Praying in the Holy Spirit.” Christian prayer is not simply talking at God. Christian prayer is empowered and enabled by the Spirit. In fact, Christian prayer is trinitarian. It is to the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit. Praying in the Spirit means more than running through the necessity of formal prayers. It means submitting ourselves to the Spirit. It means relying on the Spirit’s power in our prayers. Church historian Richard Lovelace noted our reluctance to pray. We begin and end services and committee meetings with prayer but we seldom allow prayer to guide our every decision. He writes, “Deficiency in prayer both reflects and reinforces inattention toward God.”[1] So that’s the third thing I want to say to you: Centralize the task of prayer. Let me put it another way. Pray so frequently and so reliantly that those who do not know God will be bored or stay home.
Anticipate the Future
Third, at the end of v. 23, he says, “Waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” The Christian life is one of anticipation. Theologians call this eschatological hope. We await the return of Christ. When he returns, all will be resurrected. The world will be renewed and filled with the presence of God. Jude says that part of contending for the faith, part of keeping yourself in the love God is anticipating the return of Christ. So again, we can return to this last days discussion. People like to look at world events and determine when Christ is coming back. I can tell you that Christ’s return is not based on what happens in America. But I can also tell you that the general view of Christians since the NT is that Christ could return any moment. That should be our expectation, anticipation, and hope. One of the earliest Christian prayers is “Come Lord Jesus.” It’s a prayer I would encourage you to pray. So this is the fourth thing I want to say to you HCBC: Cultivate a vision for the future reign of Christ. Hang on to that. Celebrate it. Long for it. Keep yourselves in the love God.
Show Mercy
Jude has a couple of more commands before wrapping up his letter. For all the seeming harshness in the early parts of the letter, I want you to notice his grace in vv. 22–23: “And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” Have mercy on those who doubt. I don’t really like the translation doubt since in English doubt is usually reserved for intellectual beliefs. A better word might be waver. Have mercy on those who are wavering. False teachers are deceptive. They must be dealt with swiftly and sharply. But those who come under their influence are to be handled gently and shown mercy. They are like children who have been deceived. Those are the wavering ones.
And this deception can have grave consequences. Sometimes the deception can lead them away from the gospel. So Jude says, “Save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” In other words, the church exists to encourage each other to holiness. We may think we are just to be tolerant and never speak about sin, but that’s absurd when we realize that false teaching and sin wreak havoc on the church, and they can have eternal consequences. If you knew a pit of vipers was in your yard, would you warn your neighbor when you saw her walking near it? Of course you would. Why is it that we take spiritual things less seriously? Jude’s language is sharp. We should hate even the garment stained by the flesh. That’s how serious Jude takes teaching that leads away from Christ and godliness. So here’s the fifth thing HCBC: Don’t be apathetic toward your doctrine and your practice. They are serious matters. Take care of your membership by warning them.
Doxology
This may all seem like a big task, and it is. I would say it’s far too big for us. That’s what makes Jude’s concluding doxology so beautiful. Verses 24–25: “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” Think of everything Jude has said. It’s necessary to contend for the faith because false teachers have infiltrated the church. But now he reminds us that God is faithful. He will keep you from stumbling. He will keep you from abandoning holiness. He will make you blameless. And thus, as with all of life, we owe him our praise. So this is the sixth and final thing I will say to you: Aim every single effort of your life as a church at the praise of the trinitarian God. Make no compromises. Ruthlessly press into the deliberate and unashamed worship of the living God.
[1] Dynamics of Spiritual Life, 153.