Jude, a Letter to the Church, Page 3

Do you write a Christmas letter?  I have one friend who always (only?) includes all of the year’s low points.  Death and illness and tragedy make for a really upbeat Christmas letter.  Another family friend used to have glowing overbearing praise for one of their children and a one-sentence update about the other child.  We have written a satirical letter, a real update, a one-sentence-per-family- member update, and just “Merry Christmas from the Vinsons.”

The big question is: What do you include in the letter?  What makes the cut?  Jude set out, eager to write about their shared salvation.  That’s a really great subject – salvation.  Salvation is a huge topic for conversation, and we could spend all day today speaking on it, but let’s look at it quickly.  In the Roman Empire, the title “Savior” was given to the Emperor.  So when you see “Savior” spoken of, it’s often in direct response to Rome, making sure everyone knows that salvation comes from God alone, and not from the government. 

When Jude talks about salvation, he uses deliverance language, which is appropriate because once God’s people were slaves in Egypt, but God delivered them out of slavery and into freedom.  This corresponds to Jesus delivering us from the bondage of sin and guilt and into the freedom that comes with following Him.

Unfortunately, things came up and Jude had to change subjects.  I’ve been there.  I’ve had to completely re-do an entire sermon series to address current events.  So it happened with Jude.  Instead of writing an eager, happy letter about salvation, he had to write “the other letter.”

He had to remind the church the nature of their struggle as a church: to urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. (Jude 3b).  This is an incredible phrase: to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

When he talks about the saints, he’s not talking about the Super Bowl champion football team and he’s not talking about some special class of miraculous people, Saints with a capital S. That’s nowhere in the Bible.  The Greek word is hagios, which means holy ones.  Who are the holy ones?  Those who God has set apart for his use.  Those who God has called according to His purpose. Meaning the Church.

The faith Jude is talking about is our relationship with God – our only hope of salvation in Jesus Christ, the hope that inspires obedience.  It’s important to note that Jesus entrusted the faith to us because that requires us to do something about it.  God chose the church to be the method of passing this faith down, and if we don’t do it, we’re failing at our duty.

Jude wrote to the church because their faith was under attack. Some of you have experienced attacks to your faith, and I want you to know that you’re not alone.  Too often the church simply doesn’t respond to attacks on faith, pretending they don’t exist.  Churches even go after the one who is being attacked, sometimes saying they just don’t have enough faith…

Attacks on faith are nothing new.  The letter to the Hebrews encourages Christians, in the face of attacks on their faith.  They were afraid of suffering, and that fear was crippling their faith, so the author encourages them to hold firmly to the faith we profess. (Hebrews 4:14b).

Indeed, James urges his readers to consider trials as joy, because testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  (James 1:3-4).  

2 Peter 1:3 tells us that Jesus’ divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Because of Jesus’ gift, Peter goes on to give us this command:  For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is going beyond just having the saving faith of a baby Christian.  Some of you are baby Christians; you’ve never added goodness to your faith.  Some stuck there – I’ll just be really nice and that’s all I need.  Add knowledge! Self-control.  Perseverance.  Godliness. Brotherly kindness.  Love.

If you follow this path, you’ll find that you will be effective and productive in your knowledge of Jesus.  It won’t be easy.  If you think that just because you’ve accepted Jesus that everything will be smooth sailing from here on out, you haven’t been reading the Bible.  Jesus Himself said “In this world you will have trouble.” (John 16:33)!  If you never have any troubles, it’s likely because Satan doesn’t consider you a threat.  If he’s not threatened by your life, by your faith, then he’s not going to be sending tests to your faith. 

But when we pass those tests, with faith growing into knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and finally into love, we will be productive and effective.  Our faith isn’t supposed to be all about us; it’s supposed to be productive and effective. Did you ever think about this?  The seminary word for what Jude is talking about is: fruitfulness.

This concept is all over the Bible.  Jesus was especially clear on this:  (Matthew 7:15-20) “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 

It couldn’t be much clearer than that.  So I ask you: what is your fruit?  To believe you can be a good Christian without fruit is heresy.  Plainly said, it’s a lie.  So I ask again: what’s your fruit?

Jude’s church was undergoing tests. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. (Jude 4)

The nature of the challenge was insidious.   They rightly observed the power of the grace of God; that it is greater than all our sin. They rightly showed that there is nothing, no matter how horrible, that will take away God’s love for us in Christ Jesus.  They also remembered that there is nothing we can do to make us more loved or more deserving of God’s love and grace.  All of this goes along with the greater biblical testimony; The Apostle Paul taught that there was no longer clean and unclean and that circumcision was no longer required to be a part of God’s inclusive Kingdom.  No longer would God’s family be based on race or ethnicity.  But the problem came because the leaders in question went beyond this; they taught that God’s grace removed every moral requirement for Christ followers.

That’s unfortunately not the truth.  Over the past several weeks, I’ve mentioned multiple times that Jesus limits his family to those who hear God’s word and put it into practice. (Luke 8:21).  

For you, as well as for Jude’s audience, this was not new news. 

Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 5-7)

Jude is clear that judgment is real.  Justice demands it. But remember that it is God who delivers justice, not us.  God’s justice is absolutely real.  And he will deal with all of us.  Some accepted God’s salvation but turned their backs on him.  This brings up an age-old question: can you lose your salvation?  Jude believes we can. He references the people of God whom God delivered (saved) from Egyptian slavery (if you read through the Bible, salvation is often presented in terms of being delivered from slavery), but they rebelled against God.  They went so far as to build a golden calf to worship.  Later, (as detailed in Numbers 16), Korah led a rebellion against Moses, which resulted in God’s judgment: the ground opened up and swallowed them, their households, and everything they owned.  So when Jude talks about the rebellion of Korah (Jude 11), he is talking about open rebellion against God.

This isn’t just open rebellion against God; it’s open rebellion against God by the people of God. And they are subject to judgment because of it.  And Jude is writing to a church influenced by those who came in saying, “Whatever you want to do is fine – you’re free to do whatever you want because of God’s grace.”  Jude is standing firmly in line with the totality of scripture when he calls them godless. 

Listen to how Jude describes them: These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.  They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

How would you like to be described like this?  Nobody wants to be known as a blemish.  Or as shepherds who feed only themselves?  This is exactly what it’s like to be one who has accepted the love of God in Jesus Christ yet hasn’t shared it.  Imagine that you’re lost out in the desert, and you come upon a tent.  You look inside, and there’s a huge feast there, and you’re starving.  But the guy in there turns you away.  This is the imagery that Jude brings.  And if you’re not actively sharing your faith, you are, in essence, turning people away from the banquet.  

I’ve heard evangelism described as one beggar showing another beggar how to find bread.  And the opposite of that – not sharing your faith – is willfully keeping bread from others.

Jude isn’t finished with his imagery; he describes clouds without rain.  I remember one hot summer, praying for rain, and then clouds blew in.  It looked like rain, but then nothing happened.  I held out my hand and nothing.  It was raining but none of it hit the ground.  Useless. Is that what you want your legacy to be?  How would that look on your gravestone?

Jude reaches into the writings they were familiar with at the time:  Enoch. Enoch wrote about judgment: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy one to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 14-15)

Did anything stick out to you as you read that passage?  Maybe a word?  The word “ungodly” was repeated four times.  He wanted to make sure that you know just how ungodly they are: some of you remember the Hebrew thought pattern: that if you repeated something, it was emphasized greatly, and three times was the ultimate… well, we hear the word ungodly here four times.  Do you think he’s trying to emphasize something?  The people who don’t look or act like God, those who don’t obey his word, those who are ungodly… they will be judged for their actions. 

Here’s something to remember: when we accept Jesus’ gift of salvation, he expects something of us. He expects us to hear God’s word and obey it.  Jesus put it this way in Matthew 7:21-23:

 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'  Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

I pray that nobody here will meet this response, but this is really serious.  Unfortunately, many people have confused church membership with salvation.  Just because you’re a member of the church doesn’t mean you’re saved.  Just because you’ve kept busy doing all kinds of churchy stuff doesn’t mean you’ve accepted Jesus.  This was one of Jude’s points when he brought up those who had been delivered from Egyptian slavery – they were part of God’s people, but they turned their backs on him and were subject to judgment.

Jude ends this section of his letter like this: These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. (Jude16)

Grumblers and faultfinders… there are some people in churches who claim these as their spiritual gifts.  “My gift isn’t to do evangelism; my gift is to moan and complain.” Grumbling and finding fault are not spiritual gifts.  In fact, when Jude talks about them, he’s pretty harsh: they don’t have the Spirit.

 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. (Jude 17-19)

So that’s the bad news; even in the church there are ungodly people who don’t have the Holy Spirit.  Jude realizes that as long as there are people and until the final judgment, they will be tearing the church down from the inside out.  But that’s not the last word on it.  He makes a command to the church:

But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

His command starts with personal instructions.  First, he tells us to build ourselves up in our most holy faith.  What kinds of things build up your faith?  Remember what God has done.  Perhaps keeping a journal will help you.  Share praise reports.  Find out what’s happening around the world, how Christ is being proclaimed and followed in China, how Muslims in closed countries are seeing visions of Jesus and coming to Him.  Continue reading the Bible and being bold enough to talk about spiritual matters. 

This flows right into Jude’s second command: to pray in the Holy Spirit.  As I collect our prayer cards, I’ve noticed something.  Almost every card is asking for prayer for physical healing.  It’s not that physical healing isn’t important, but I very rarely see cards for spiritual needs.  In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a prayer card that someone has filled out for their own spiritual need.  I know that physical needs are important – in fact, if your physical needs aren’t being met, most people won’t even tend to the spiritual whatsoever.  But for most of us, the physical needs are being met to abundance.  So what are the spiritual needs?  Pray in the Spirit, not merely in the flesh!  When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we ask “Thy will be done” – praying in the Spirit involves discerning God’s will and praying God’s will. 

Jude continues by telling us to keep in God’s love as we wait for eternal life.  Again, he’s clear that it’s only through God’s great mercy that we receive eternal life. But while we’re waiting, we are clearly told to keep ourselves in God’s love.  In Romans 8, we are reminded that: Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.  To remain in that love, we must remain in Jesus.  “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

The only way to bear fruit is to remain in Jesus, and every tree will be judged by its fruit.

With this, Jude transitions to his final commands, which are others-centered.  Indeed, Christianity is anything but an individual religion.  It’s always in community.  Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Jude commands mercy for doubters.  He commands us to go intentionally to others, recognizing that our very actions might be what leads to the salvation of others.  Do you really care that people you know (your neighbors, your friends, maybe even your family members) are going to Hell?  Do you realize that you have the keys to heaven?  That you have the Words of Life?  That you have bread to feed the spiritually starving? That you have Living Water to feed the spiritually dry? That you have God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit to give to people?

He ends with a warning – as we give of ourselves to be Jesus for others, watch yourself, that you don’t fall into sin.  Be ever vigilant for yourself. Jude is telling the church to reach out to those who have been tainted by false teaching, all the while, being careful not to be tainted with it themselves. How do we do that?  By remaining in Jesus and by praying in the Holy Spirit.

Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!  Amen.