Coming to the end of our journey through Jude…
Jude 19 “These be
they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.”
“These”
(still in context regarding those “certain men,” the false teachers in verse 4)
are the men who will divide the body of believers and cause splits in
churches. They do not have the indwelling
Holy Spirit (the believer’s compass, counselor and companion). These
mockers will base their choices and beliefs on things that are sensual—according to their physical
senses and desires rather than according to spiritual sense and desire as led
by the Holy Spirit. I can’t help but
make a connection with the growing emphasis in the professing church today on
personal experience over the word of God, e.g., prayer mantras, walking mazes, holy
laughter, barking like dogs, being slain in the spirit, etc.
Jude 1:20-21 “But ye, beloved,
building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep
yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
unto eternal life.”
After the long, detailed words of warning, Jude closes
with words of advice and encouragement. “Build up yourselves on your most holy
faith.” For our faith to grow and be
strong, we must nurture it with the Word of God and fellowship with the
Lord. Part of our fellowship should
include “praying in the Spirit.” This refers
to prayers that are centered in God’s will concerning God’s choices in our life
and that include praise and worship for the Father and the Son. Our prayers should also include repentance for
the areas in which we fail and recognize as sin before God.
Jude also encourages the believers to “keep themselves in
the love of God,” to be as Christ-like as possible in their responses and
actions toward others. The only standard
acceptable for defining these responses and actions is God’s word.
We are to live in hope, confidently looking for the mercy
of the Savior as we look forward to eternity in His presence. I can see this with two areas of emphasis:
1) The fact that He provided the way of salvation is mercy
in itself; it allows the believer to escape the punishment deserved by his
sin.
2) Being taken into eternity out of the struggle with the
sin nature and the war with spiritual forces of evil here on this earth will be
a mercy in itself! To experience the
blessedness of an eternity with Christ—certainly not what we deserve!
Jude 1:22-23 “And of some have
compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the
garment spotted by the flesh.”
As God shows us mercy, we are to show mercy to others. There will be those who doubt, and we are to
show them love and understanding as Jesus did Thomas (John 20). We are to lead as many to the truth as
possible which will “pull them out of the fire” of hell. Others are so deep in sin that even though
you want to be merciful, you need to be careful not to let them bring you down
to their level.
This is a call for the Christian to exercise
discernment.
Matthew 7:15–20
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly
they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather
grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth
good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot
bring forth evil fruit, neither can
a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good
fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall
know them.”
The last part of verse 23 caught my attention. Scripture tells us that we are to avoid even
the appearance of evil.
1Thessalonians 5:22
Abstain from all appearance of evil.
Matthew Henry states it this way, “Avoid all that leads to
sin or that looks like sin.” The
reference to a spot in the garment brings to mind the thought of leprosy, and
there was an interesting quote in Easton’s Dictionary that I think is
appropriate to ponder here.
“Leprosy was ‘the outward and
visible sign of the innermost spiritual corruption; a meet emblem in its small
beginnings, its gradual spread, its internal disfigurement, its dissolution
little by little of the whole body, of that which corrupts, degrades, and
defiles man’s inner nature, and renders him unmeet to enter the presence of a
pure and holy God’ (Maclear’s Handbook O.T).”
Jude seems to
be saying that some people need to hear fire and brimstone preaching that will
scare them into accepting God’s gift of salvation. The Joel Osteen’s of today seem to have no
understanding of this truth.
Jude 1:24-25 “Now unto him that is
able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
To the only wise God our Saviour, be
glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”
As Jude
closes, he uses words of wonderful truth and encouragement. He gives praise to the One who is “able to
keep you from falling.” We are secure in
our position in the Savior. He will
present us to the Father “faultless.” This truth reminds me of a beautiful promise
in Philippians.
Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that
He which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ….”
When we are
seen through the cover of the shed blood of Jesus, we are perfect.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin;
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Romans 3:24–26 “Being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in
his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just,
and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
I need to remind
myself of that more often. It’s easy to
get bogged down in our shortcomings when the need is to stay focused on not
quitting, to keep on trying. It’s a
wonderful incentive to know we are being seen through the blood of Jesus.
Because of
that, He will present us with great joy—His sacrifice was not in vain. Though rejected by many—that sacrifice will
provide eternal life and fellowship for so many of His special creation.
There is only
one true God. Though man may try to
equate others to Him, they will never measure up. He is our Savior—the one who
provided a way for us to escape the hell we deserve. He is deserving of all glory (perfection in
His nature and holiness), majesty (His position of kingship), power (His
absolute control of the laws and created things/beings of the universe) and
dominion/authority (the position of righteous judge). We have this all represented through the Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
This same
Jesus was before all, is now and will be evermore. This is too much for us to really
comprehend. We may understand the words,
but can we really fathom the full truth of which they speak.
Amen. (It’s true; I
believe it.)
