As we come to our final study in the book of Jude I look back on this great little book and see something that I hope we have all taken serious in this exposition. We must realize that not everyone that names the name of Christ is actually a Christian and not every gifted speaker that stands in the pulpit is a called teacher or preacher of the Word of God. No degree gives a person the calling that comes from God. There may be many people that have never earned a degree or even took any extra classes in theology that has been called by God. Our society has set standards on people that makes people believe that just because someone has a degree in theology or Biblical studies or has a doctorate in those things then that qualifies them to be a pastor or preacher.
That is far from the truth even though I do believe getting those degrees and doing continual education can be very useful for teaching and explaining the Bible. The time of Jude’s writing posed the same kind of problem. Many people wanted to be a teacher, the leader of a group, liked by their peers and with that many people began to falsify the Christian beliefs to bring along many that were just there for social reasons.
In this last study we will turn our attention away from speaking about false teachers and look towards ourselves. The focus of this entire letter was to write about our common salvation and to exhort the Christian to contend earnestly for the faith(Jude vs 3)
With that thought we come to the end of this letter where Jude turns that idea of exhorting into words expressing the importance of spiritually growing and helping others to do the same. So as we look at this final section we will notice those two details. Let’s look now at our first point for this study.
1.GROWING in your faith.
Look with me at Jude vs.20-21 that says But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
The point of this entire letter is not just to be harsh on false teachers or to call out false teachers. The point of this letter is for the Christian to recognize the importance of spiritual growth and maintaining our focus on glorifying God through the preaching of the true Gospel. It is highly important for us to know that false teachers will always be around to distort the true Gospel message. Sometimes it will be in very minute ways and sometimes it is very noticeable.
Here in this section Jude is bringing this letter to a close by letting his audience know that this whole letter is to guide us into spiritual growth. He called to our attention back in verse 17 that we need to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The idea is that what we know to be the true Gospel has not changed so there must not be any doubt within us concerning what we heard from the apostles and our Lord Jesus. It is with that thought that we move to this section that brings all of what Jude has spoken of to a place to help us to grow. Jude says first in Jude vs 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.
There is nothing mystical here in what Jude says. He is simply speaking of growing in the faith. This is done in many ways as we know. We can read and study the Bible, we can fellowship with others, we can hear a sermon or lecture on the Bible and Jude also says that we are to be praying in the Holy Spirit.
Now understand that some people will look at this as some type of secret prayer language that is spoken but that is not the idea at all. In fact if you try to place that here then you are eisegeting the text instead of exegeting the text. That means you are putting something into the text that is not there. There is no mention of a spiritual or heavenly language here or anywhere in the Bible. That is a manmade and demonic ideology that does not exist in the work of God.
So Jude is simply speaking of the connection that we have with God through the Holy Spirit. Paul speaks of this in a couple of places that gives to us even more clarity. Ephesians 6:18a says that we are to be praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit.
Romans 8:26-27 says And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Nothing in these passages shows us some heavenly language but only the work of the Holy Spirit as we pray to God. In times of heavy distress when we do not know what to say the Spirit utters words for us to God therefore we pray in the Spirit which helps us to grow spiritually.
Jude also says in Jude vs.21 that we need to keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
This speaks of maintaining our position. This of course is not speaking of maintaining ourselves as recipients of eternal life but rather to remain faithful. Jesus says in John 15:9-10 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
The key to staying in the place of God’s love and not His wrath is to be obedient. Now this does not mean that every time we sin God is going to strike us down or punish us but we must be living in such a way that is producing growth spiritually. If we do not then we will find ourselves under God’s wrath or discipline depending on your status as a child of His or not.
So first we must make sure we are in the place of God’s love by being obedient. As we do this we will be growing spiritually and this will help us to be able to help others to do this as well. If we are not in the right place spiritually then we will have a hard time helping others to do this as well. So it is not selfish to take care of yourself first but we must remember that it is our place to help others to grow as well. This leads us to our next point for this study.
2.GRABBING others out of danger.
Look with me at Jude vs.22-23 that says And on some, who are doubting, have mercy; 23 and for others, save, snatching them out of the fire; and on others have mercy with fear, hating even the tunic polluted by the flesh.
So not only are we to cultivate our walk as a Christian but we must be helping others in their walk as well. Jude says that we do this first on some, who are doubting, have mercy.
This may refer to those that have not fully grasped the concept of eternal life or it may refer to those that have began to follow after these false teachings. I lean on the fact that this could be those that are doubting because of their influence from these false teachers. We must be careful to not condemn or have a lack of compassion on those that are falling into false teaching or following a known false teacher. Rather Jude says that we are to have mercy on these people.
Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:7 that Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Mercy is the act of not giving to people what they deserve. This attribute is common to all believers because we know that just as we have received mercy, we should also give mercy to others. When we lack to give mercy to others then we are saying that we are capable of never offending anyone, never sinning or having any reason to need mercy. We must be quick to give to people mercy as we have received mercy from God who we have offended the greatest.
So some people will need mercy from us and others will need rescued completely from the damage done by false teachers. Jude says in Jude vs 23 and for others, save, snatching them out of the fire.
We must not just sit by watching people go down a path of destruction. We must step in by showing them the truth. Some professed Christians will not be true Christians and never find their way back into fellowship but others will come back. This will be as if we have snatched them out of the fire.
James 5:19-20 says My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
The point is that we have a place as Christians who are first growing in Christ to help others as well. Galatians 6:1 says Brothers, even if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, each of you looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.
So we must help others to get away from false teachers and that means some will need a tougher approach. Jude says that on others have mercy with fear, hating even the tunic polluted by the flesh.
Some people need to hear words of condemnation or to be approached with excommunication from the body of believers. It isn’t that we seek to condemn these people but that we are speaking against the very sin they are living in. In this case the sin is in relation to following after false teachings that corrupt the true Gospel. These teachings seem to point towards following after fleshly desires. Of course we have pointed out that this is a major attribute of these false teachers and therefore many will follow in that same pattern of living. But we are to have mercy towards them. Even if our words are harsh we must still give to these people mercy so that they too will return to God to bring Him the glory due to Him. This really leads us to look at our last point of this entire letter.
3.GLORIFY God our Savior.
Look with me at Jude vs.24-25 that says Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Jude closes this letter with a doxology that exalts God. The mention of us praying in the Holy Spirit in the last section connects us to this section as well. Here we see both God the Father and God the Son mentioned here which brings us to the place of recognizing once again the Trinity within this passage of Scripture. The Holy Spirit is who guides us to worship and to exalt the Father for what He has done through the Son who is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice within this doxology that Jude mentions the fact that this is directed towards Him who is able to keep you from stumbling.
Yes we must make choices in living in obedience but that itself is not possible unless God keeps us from stumbling. In ourselves we have nothing but sin and destruction, we are those that reject God and follow after fleshly desires but it is God that helps us to stay afloat and to stay connected to Him. This is the perseverance of the saints that we have in Christ. Paul says this in 2 Timothy 4:18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will save me unto His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
They knew that it was not anything within themselves that caused this consistent way of living but it was only by God’s power. Jude continues in this doxology by saying that God will make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.
Not only will you not stumble into false teaching but He will help you to stand firm in Him until you stand in His presence. This is a continual thought of praise for the believer because we know that what we have been promised will come to us as reality one day. All of this is directed to what Jude says in the final verse of this letter, he says in Jude vs 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
In this final verse we give glory to God for keeping us from falling into false teachings, from living in a lifestyle that is driven by our flesh or worldly desires. Jude expresses God’s salvific nature being the focus of our worship. It is His majesty, might, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Salvation belongs to the Lord because He has the power, the means, the authority. This will not end and there is no beginning to His majesty. God has, is and will fulfill His promise to us therefore we must turn from false teachings and false teachers. We must worship God for what He has done in giving to us salvation that will be our reward for eternity.
This ends this great exposition and I hope that this has opened our eyes to the reality of false teachers. We must be aware of the dangers and the subtlety of the damage that false teachings can do. We must embrace the true Gospel and worship God for the salvation that He has given to us.
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