Jude 17-25

¹⁷ But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; ¹⁸ How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. ¹⁹ These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. ²⁰ But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, ²¹ Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. ²² And of some have compassion, making a difference: ²³ And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. ²⁴ 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, ²⁵ To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

In verses 4-16 of his letter, Jude provided extensive warnings about a certain group of people that exist in every church of every age. His letter describes those “certain men” that have “crept in unawares.” This group, that we have identified with the term “apostates,” are those who join up with the church but have never truly been born again. In time, their fruit subtly works its way out into the congregation of a church. Churches divide, the sheep are wounded, and the mission of God that He calls the church to is hindered.  Jude warns us about them by giving us the fruit they produce and describing who they really are underneath their appealing outward appearances. He reminded us in verses 14-16 that Christ will return and remove the tares from among the wheat. The question then inevitably arises for us: “What do we do in the meantime?” With all of this knowledge, “Where do we go from here?” In the closing nine verses of the letter, Jude provides a series of instructions about what those who can truly call themselves the people of God are called to do. There are essentially five things we must do in the face of apostasy. We will learn three this week and examine the other two next week.

The first call that Jude places upon true believers in the face of apostasy is to know God’s Word. This may seem cliché or overly simple, but it is often the reason the problem of apostasy exists in the first place. Ignorance of God’s Word, or a superficial understanding of it, are recipes for disaster in the life of a church or individual Christian. Afterall, “the sword of the Spirit” is “the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). Jude calls on the recipients of his letter to “remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles.” Those words are the words we have recorded in our New Testaments. It was upon the foundation of the teaching of the apostles that the church was established and grew (Ephesians 2:20; Acts 2:42). Here, he points out a specific warning that the apostles have to the church, that of “mockers” that would come “in the last time.” While Peter identifies these “mockers” (he uses the term “scoffers” in 2 Peter 3:1-4) as those who mock the Second Coming of Christ, both Jude and Peter address the same people as those who “walk after their own ungodly lusts.” We have discussed at great length how apostates are those who are driven and guided by the selfish desires. They may do things that appear “godly” or “loving” but underneath it all is a motivation for self-advancement. They are called “mockers,” not because they verbally deny or make fun of the faith, but because while professing the faith outwardly, they walk contrary to it in their hearts. They claim to know Christ who calls us to be “born again,” (John 3:3, 7) but have never submitted to Christ to be “born again” themselves. “Mockers” describes those who know the truth and may even preach the truth, but who do not submit to the truth or live the truth. In verse 19, he defines their nature as “sensual, having not the Spirit.” They have an outward “form of godliness” without “the power thereof” (2 Timothy 3:5). They do not have the Holy Spirit in them. Jude’s call here is to “remember” that the apostles have already told the church that such people exist. His call is also that the church would be “building up yourselves on your most holy faith.” The “faith” that he called the church to “earnestly contend” for back in verse 3, he now says that we must be built up by. Ephesians 4:11-16 tells us that God has put within the church those who are gifted to preach and teach His Word so that the church might be built up. It is through the Word of God that we “grow” (1 Peter 2:2). He tells us to grow in our faith so that we won’t be led astray, so that we will be able to recognize sin for what it is, and so that we will be able to help others avoid being led astray.

The second call that Jude gives to us is to pursue godliness. We don’t just learn God’s Word to know facts about it. We learn God’s Word to be “conformed to the image His Son” (Romans 8:29). We should desire God’s Word because we want to know Christ, and in knowing Christ, be made like Him (2 Corinthians 3:18). There are two short commands in verses 20-21 that lead us to do that. First, is the command to be “praying in the Holy Ghost.” This does not refer to some next-level spiritual experience. It is a synonymous statement with that of praying in Jesus’s name. It means to pray in accordance with the Spirit’s will. The Spirit’s will is given in Scripture. Therefore, it means that when we study and understand God’s Word we should pray to God in light of the truth of His Word to help us to obey His Word, trusting that by surrendering and submitting ourselves to it that God will supply all that we need to live in obedience to it. The second command is to “keep yourselves in the love of God.” This command moves from dependent prayer to loving obedience. It is given here because knowledge of God’s Word must be lived out through the Spirit’s power and genuine love for God in our hearts. Our motivation must be love for Christ, not self-advancement. The apostates that Jude wrote about were often outwardly obedient to Christian truth, but they did not do what they did from love for God in the heart. Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15) and that statement stresses that the way we show our love for Him is by striving to obey Him as our Lord. This idea of keeping ourselves in God’s love can be confusing, but it does not mean that we maintain God’s love for us by being obedient, nor do we keep ourselves saved through our obedience. Rather, we prove the relationship that we have entered into with God through loving obedience from the heart (John 15:9-10). 1 John 5:3 says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” The difference between an apostate and true believer may not ever be outward. It is often inward. The first desires to be obedient to be presented as righteous. The second desires to be obedient because they have come to love Christ. A person can outwardly conform their life to just about every command. They can witness, preach, teach, serve, etc. (Matthew 7:21-23), but all the while be in rebellion toward God in their heart. Christian obedience is truly desiring to live the way God wants us to live.

The third call that Jude gives to us is to live in hope. Jude points to the future hope of all believers which is the return of Christ where He will call us home to be with Him. Paul calls it “that blessed hope” (Titus 2:13) and “the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) and speaks of one aspect of that hope as being “the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23-25) where we are raised up free from all sin (1 John 3:2-3). Every believer longs for the return of Christ because we live in a fallen world and the longer we battle with sin, the flesh, and the world, the more we long to be set free from it all. In light of the hope that we have, we endure all of the trials and difficulties of this life as believers, understanding that God has a good purpose for it all.  Knowing that Christ is coming, we are reminded that believers will give an account of our faithfulness to Him (1 Corinthians 3:10-15; 4:1-5). We also have the hope that, at His coming, Christ will reveal the secrets of people’s hearts (Romans 2:16), delivering those who truly belong to Him, and judging those that reject Him. As believers face apostasy, we must have our eyes fixed on the hope before us at Christ’s coming.

Where do we go from here? As we “earnestly contend for the faith” against those that Jude warns us about within the church, we are called to know God’s Word, pursue godliness, and live in hope. Armed with the truth, righteous living by the power of the Spirit, and knowing where we are going, we must stand. We sing the hymn, “Stand up, Stand Up for Jesus.” Let’s take our stand for the true faith because of His love for us and our love for Him.