Contend Against Destroyers • Jude
1:01:40 Teaching begins
Notes
There are several ways to destroy the church.
One is to attack openly, force them to conform with society, and kill believers. That’s happening in parts of the world today.
Another way to destroy the church is from the inside, with men and women who seem nice teaching things that aren’t biblical. That only works when believers don’t know false teaching when they hear it. “It sounds okay, I trust the guy teaching, so it must be true.”
Destroyers in the church can’t even get started when you know the truth and you live out the truth.
I’m reading in Jude (vv. 1-2).
1. Author, recipients, date, blessing.
A. The author is Jude, the brother of James.
1. James is so well known in the church that he only needs one name: the half-brother of Jesus. Jude is also the half-brother of Jesus, and his name is found in Mark 6:3.
2. This author embodies his message. He doesn’t make his appeal on the basis of who he is but on the basis of the truth, and who Jesus is.
B. Recipients are the called, beloved of God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ.
1. Paul wrote in Romans 8:29-30 that believers are foreknown by God, predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, called, justified, and glorified. So Jude is writing to those who are being saved by God, awaiting the end of salvation, which is receiving the glory of God.
2. Believers are loved by God and kept for Jesus. It could also be translated kept by Christ, and it is really the same thing. He keeps us for Himself, in order to finish the work He started of saving us.
3. If you have heard God calling you to Jesus and you responded, this is for you.
C. Date that it was written is probably after 2 Peter.
1. People have noticed a similarity between Jude and 2 Peter 2 and suggest that one copied from the other. But there are many differences, and one of them is in 2 Peter 2:1, where Peter says false teachers will come and secretly introduce destructive heresies. Jude 4 says this has happened, that those false teacher have crept in unnoticed.
2. Another important point is that Jude directly quotes 2 Peter 3:3 in verse 18, and attributes it to “the apostles”.
3. So the date could be somewhere A.D. 66-80.
D. The blessing in verse 2 shows that our salvation is dynamic, not static.
1. We are intended to grow in the Lord, and especially grow in receiving mercy, peace, and love from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. The alternative is to regress, lose ground, lose our grip on what we have received, go back to a worse state than we are now.
3. This letter is part of what God does so that we continue growing and not go back to what we were before Jesus saved us.
2. Jude wrote to remind us to contend for the faith, v. 3.
A. He was going to write an exposition of what we believe. He wanted to help people grasp and understand Jesus, because in Him the fulness of God dwells in bodily form.
B. But he found there was a greater necessity—you guys need to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
1. By “faith” Jude means the facts of our salvation, what we believe and hold to be true. As Luke writes Luke 1:1-4 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught. This is what actually happened. It is the exact truth. If the gospel isn’t true, then it isn’t good news. It’s a fairy tale. We must hold to the truth.
2. Along with the facts, Jude means the teaching of the apostles, which is the interpretation of those facts and how they apply to us. Since Jesus is the Messiah prophesied in Scripture, crucified for our sins and raised the third day, this is how you should live. Our lives testify that Jesus dwells in us because we love one another and we are zealous to engage in good works to all men.
3. So we are to contend earnestly for the facts and the interpretation of those facts. We are to know the truth and live out the truth.
C. We must contend for the truth because there are men in the church who are out to make the church its exact opposite. They live self-indulgent, sinful lives, deny the Lord Jesus, and teach others to do so. They live absolutely contrary to the faith delivered once for all to the saints. They crept in secretly, they don’t wear horns and carry a pitchfork. God knows all about them. And we need to recognise these men and women in the church who destroy the church.
3. Jude reminds us that God has judged, and therefore will judge, all sinners, vv. 5-7
A. God set free an entire nation from slavery, and yet those people did not enter His rest because they didn’t believe that God was good. He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. They did not believe, therefore they did not obey with their lives.
B. Angels did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper abode. This alludes to Genesis 6, where the sons of God, angels, marry human women and have children with them. They were created to be in the presence of God and see His face, yet they turned their back on Him and instead valued sex with human women as better living. They lived far below what God created them for, and so God judged them by chaining them in darkness. They wait even now for the great day of judgment, where they will be cast into the lake of fire that burns forever.
C. Jude uses the example of Sodom and Gomorrah to say these men did just like the angels. They didn’t stay within the boundaries of God but corrupted and degraded their lives.
D. God demonstrates that He will punish all sin and rebellion with eternal fire. Therefore we need to fear God greatly, not be complacent, and take seriously His warnings.
4. These men are ungodly. They do not fear God. They think and act like those sinners opposed to God, vv. 8-16.
A. Just like men and angels whom God has already judged, they reject authority, defile the flesh, and revile angelic authorities. Even Michael the archangel did not revile the devil. He merely said, “The Lord rebuke you.”
1. This is not a reference from the Bible. Some think it comes from an extrabiblical source called the Assumption of Moses.
2. However, a similar situation appears in Zechariah 3:1-2 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Here the Lord could be abrasive or rude to the devil but He is not.
3. The point is that these ungodly men are not like God, they are like unreasoning animals. They don’t understand the ways of God in purity and holiness, and what they do understand they abuse to their destruction.
B. Jude compares them to Cain, Balaam, and Korah.
1. They are in the way of Cain. After he killed Abel, Cain lived in the land of Nod, which means wandering. That means to go without a fixed purpose, just wherever. Cain built a city, named it after his son, had a family, had relationships and business. What purpose is it to have a good life here when you lose it all at death? The way of Cain seems to point to having a good life now and not expecting or looking to the future when Jesus brings the kingdom of God to the earth and judges the nations. It’s ironic that Joel Osteen called his bestselling book, “Your Best Life Now.”
2. The error of Balaam is to think you can go your own way and God’s way at the same time. He tried to make money and serve God. Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and mammon, money.” He spoke for God blessing when his employer wanted him to curse Israel. He couldn’t do both and his employer was furious with him. You try to go two opposing ways, you get nowhere.
3. Korah set himself up as a leader against Moses. Paul said savage wolves will come in and try to draw men after themselves. If you aren’t called by God you’re already opposing God. Moses didn’t fight for his place. He said God would choose who would serve Him. The earth opened up and swallowed Korah. These men and women will also be rejected by God.
C. Jude gives five metaphors for these ungodly men and women.
1. Spots or hidden reefs in your love feasts. A spot is something soiled or contaminated. A reef is a coral formation that can sink a boat.
2. Clouds without water. They look like they give rain but they don’t give.
3. Uprooted trees. Dead, don’t bear fruit. Trees are supposed to give.
4. Raging waves. They kick up dirt on the shore and they’re never clean.
5. Wandering stars. You can’t navigate by these because you’ll get lost.
D. Jude quotes from Enoch, and his point is these men and women are ungodly. No fear of God, no reverence or thought of what might please God.
E. The last series of ungodly actions is grumbling, finding fault, following after their own lusts. Grumbling denies that God is in control and that He is good. This is why Israel did not enter the Promised Land. If you complain you are saying that God is not good, He doesn’t know what’s best for you, that you know better than God. Lust means you go after what you want, you are not interested in what God wants.
F. What interests me is I can see myself in these ungodly things. You can see yourself, too. We already have ungodly tendencies in us. This is so we can watch out when we are acting in an ungodly way, and not believing God or trusting Him, that He knows best.
5. Jude reminds that the apostles said these men would come, vv. 17-19.
A. The apostle Paul said to the Ephesian elders: Acts 20:28-31 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.
B. The apostle John said: 1 John 4:1-3 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
C. 2 Peter 3:3-4 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” That sentence is quoted here in verse 18.
6. So then Jude shows how to contend earnestly for the faith: embody the message with your whole life, vv. 20-23
A. You think, “Me? I have to contend with destroyers?”No. Strengthen your part of the church: you.
B. The first command is “keep yourself in the love of God.” Keep your environment the sphere of God’s love. You do that by practising three things.
1. You keep building up yourself in your most holy faith. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. You want to keep growing in your knowledge of the facts about Jesus in the Old and New Testaments, and the apostolic interpretation of those facts. You cannot overemphasise Jesus. Learning Jesus will keep you loving Jesus. The more you know Him the more you love Him. When someone comes teaching another gospel you’ll know it because the emphasis is not on Jesus. It might be on some aspect of Jesus, but not Jesus in the fullness of the Old and New Testaments.
2. You keep praying in the Holy Spirit. Continual giving of thanks for all things keep you from grumbling. You seek God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. That’s better than complaining. Communing with Jesus will keep you loving Jesus.
3. You keep waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus to eternal life. The future is not just glorification, or immortality, or our salvation being completed, it’s so shall we ever be with the Lord! We are waiting for the One we love, and we love His appearing and His kingdom. That will keep you in the love of God.
C. The second and third commands have to do with loving others.
1. Have mercy on those who are doubting. Pray for them, love them, be patient and longsuffering with them. Lead them to Jesus. Let your forbearance be made known to all men. Do we argue and fight for the faith? The seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Make videos in peace. Teach the truth in peace. 2 Timothy 2:24-26 The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
2. Save others, snatching them out of the fire. Don’t be pulled in with them, pull them out. You bring them to Jesus who can pull them out.
D. There is no other solution, so we contend earnestly for this fact and truth.
1. If you are told in church your solution is possible, you can do this, you must do this and then you will be okay. You will solve all your problems by changing your gender. Or politics, just vote a better party in and everything will be okay. Or just make a better investment.
2. Whatever solutions men propose are hopelessly inadequate; they only make your problems worse. If any human solution could change the human condition, then Jesus died for nothing.
3. They miss the main problem, that man has sinned against God, is alienated from God, and is under His condemnation. Jesus said, “Father, if there is any other way, let this cup pass from me.” The Father said, “No.” There is no other way to be saved from your sins than the death and resurrection of Jesus. Only Jesus makes you right with God. Only Jesus gives you eternal life.
4. We contend for this by knowing and living out the truth.
5. What happens when a church stops focusing on Jesus’ death and resurrection? When they say it’s okay to have sexual sin protected by the church? When they promote political ideas as the solution? That organisation stops being a church. When Jesus isn’t free to do what He wants in a church, He leaves. A group without Jesus isn’t the church. I don’t think you need to support a place that Jesus doesn’t support. Find a place where Jesus is and be a part of that. If you need help, talk to me afterwards.
7. Jude gives glory to God who will save us to the uttermost, vv. 24-25.
A. God the Father is able to keep you from stumbling. He is able to make you stand in His presence blameless with great joy. He will save you to the uttermost with all glory, all majesty, all dominion, all authority. Ask Him to save you.
B. So we contend for the faith by knowing, worshipping, and glorying in our God who is good, before all time, now, and forever.
Let’s pray.