the book of Jude, the second to the last book in the New Testament. passage that we have looked at in the past, and one that I thought would go well with last Sunday night's message in terms of the ministry of the word. Tonight, we'll consider the defense of the faith from Jude 3, but I do want to read the book, beginning in verse 1. Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day. As Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Likewise also, these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, the Lord rebuke you. But these speak evil of whatever they do not know, and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They're clouds without water, carried about by the winds, late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots, raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame, wandering stars, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men, also saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts, and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.
But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time, who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons who cause divisions, not having the spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion, making a distinction, but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. Well, let us pray.
Our Father, thank you for the written word of the living and true God. Thank you for this brief epistle of Jude, but the great content that it has for us in the church today. Will you provide for us the Holy Spirit now? Would you guide us as we consider this text?
And may you encourage and strengthen each of our hearts and cause us to contend earnestly for this faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints. And we ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Introduction
Well, there was a theologian in the early part of the 20th century. His name was John Gresham Machet, and he made this observation concerning the church. He said, in the first place, a true Christian church now, as always, will be radically doctrinal. It will never say that doctrine is the expression of experience.
It will never confuse the useful with the true, but will place truth at the basis of all its striving and all its life. Into the welter, and that simply means confusion or turmoil, into the welter of changing human opinion, into the modern despair with regard to any knowledge of the meaning of life, it will come with a clear and imperious message. that message it will find in the Bible, which it will hold to contain, not a record of man's religious experience, but a record of a revelation from God. And he was, in fact, an earnest contender for the faith, and he did great service to the church of the living God. Well, as we look at verse three, I wanna consider not just verse three, but several verses here in the book of Jude.
We'll notice in the first place, the exhortation to contend for the faith in verse three. Secondly, the reason given to contend for the faith in verse four. And then finally, the preparedness of those who contend for the faith in verses 17, 20, 21, and then 24 and 25. I'll review that as we move through the exposition.
Exhortation to Contend for the Faith
But notice in the first place the exhortation to contend for the faith in verse 3.
The Addressees: All Believers
Notice the adgressees. Verse 1, Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ. How do we typically describe or define, or how do we typically understand people that are described as called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ? We call them Christians.
We call them believers. we might also call them saints, not in the Roman Catholic sense, but in the biblical sense. A saint is a sanctified one set apart by God for holy purpose and holy use. In other words, Jude is addressing the people of God. He is not simply addressing pastors.
He is not simply addressing seminary professors. He's not simply addressing the men in the church who like to read theology. When he says in verse three, beloved, He means every single Christian. He means every single one baptized, every single one that owns Christ as Lord and Savior.
Turn back for just a moment to 1 Peter 3. You see a similar emphasis in Peter's first epistle. The same thing is true in this passage. It has to do with a defense of the faith.
As well, it's addressed not to just the professors, not to just the pastors, but to every Christian. If you notice in 1 Peter 3.15, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. He's not now saying, I don't want the rest of the church to listen. Now I'm just going to speak to the bishops.
I'm just going to address the pastors. I'm just going to address the elders. No, he's still addressing those he identifies in 1 Peter 1 at verse 1. to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in sanctification of the spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." So back to 315, he says, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.
So going back to Jude, we see a similar emphasis. This isn't just the task of gospel ministry. This is the task of everybody who is in the church of Christ. Now, certainly in terms of God's provision of gift, of grace and those sorts of things, there will be others perhaps that are a bit more equipped to do this.
But the idea being is that every believer must at all times be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within him. And in the language of Jude, we are to be able to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. So the addressees concern all of us, not just the ministry. And then notice the exhortation proper.
The Exhortation Proper
Jude sets off to write them a letter concerning their common salvation. He says that in verse three at the very beginning, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation. I wanted to write concerning God. I wanted to write concerning the depravity of man.
I wanted to write concerning the doctrine of justification by faith alone. I wanted to deal and traffic in those things most surely believed among us. I wanted to celebrate redemptive grace and all of its facets in the lives of God's people. He wanted to do that, but necessity drove him in a different direction.
And we see that emphasis there in verse 3. While I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary. In other words, there is a threat looming on the horizon. It's an imminent threat, as we'll learn later in verse 4.
Because of the threat that exists, I'm not going to wax eloquent on the doctrine of salvation in general. Rather, I'm going to give you this specific exhortation. I found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Now, in terms of the responsibility of the believer, in the first place, he must contend earnestly.
And I've said it applies to all. So it's not just he, but he there is inclusive, ladies. It is a he and a she. So the believer must contend earnestly.
One common dictionary defines it this way. to exert intense effort on behalf of something, to contend. It's a good English translation. John Gill says it denotes a conflict, a combat, or a fighting for it, a striving even to an agony. Turn back to 1 Timothy 1.
You see a similar emphasis from Paul there to Timothy in verse 18. He says, this charge I command to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare. So it's not simply an exchange of ideas. It's not simply a dialogue.
It's not simply a fireside chat, but rather you're to contend earnestly. But then notice what Jude goes on to say.
The Objective Faith Defined
The believer must not only contend earnestly, but he must contend earnestly for the faith. Now, in this context, for the faith doesn't mean the believer's subjective hold on Christ. It doesn't mean my belief that Jesus is, in fact, the Lord and Savior. So I'm going to contend earnestly for that.
No, in this context, especially since the article is there, it indicates that it's the objective faith. In other words, it is the content of Christian revelation. It is the 31,000-plus propositions that we find in the Old and New Testament that the believer must contend earnestly for. Faith is taken for sound doctrine, Thomas Manton writes, such as is necessary to be owned and believed unto salvation, which he presseth them to contend for, that they might preserve it safe and sound to future ages.
So when you ponder Manton's quote, and when you contemplate the context, and when you see what Jude is emphasizing, along with 1 Peter 3, and along with the Apostle Paul, and along with the rest of the apostles, and along with the Lord Jesus himself, you see that there is an inherent necessity on the part of the people of God to preserve what they have so they can multiply it and pass it down to a future generation. And Gordon Clark makes the observation that Christianity is not a romantic religion where feeling and emotion suffice, nor is it an aesthetic religion where faith and sermons are unnecessary. Christianity is a definite faith. It includes the doctrines of the atonement and the resurrection, and it requires a knowledge of these doctrines and intellectual assent to them, a faith that can and must be preached.
So Jude wants his hearers, he wants his readers, he wants his addressees, and by extension, he wants each and every one of us to contend earnestly for the faith. Again, not my hold on Jesus, but rather what the Bible says concerning the system of truth that we call Christianity. Notice as well, the believer must contend earnestly for the faith, he goes on to say,
A Deposit to Guard and Pass On
which was once for all delivered to the saints. It was once for all delivered to the saints. Another argument here for what is called cessationism. We don't look for new revelation.
Now that the canon of scripture is closed, we don't need private revelations. We don't need tongue speakers in the church. We don't need prophets in the understanding that they are receiving a direct word from the Lord. No, this faith was delivered once for all to the saints.
And when the language or what the language suggests is that it's a rich deposit given to the people of God and it demands our guarding of it. Go back to 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy 2, a similar emphasis there by Paul to his protege. 2 Timothy 2, specifically at verse 13. I'm sorry, 2 Timothy 1, verse 13. Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. You see the emphasis. by the apostle, I have passed this on to you, not so you can squander it, not so you can abuse it, not so you can change it, not so you can be innovative, but rather so that you can hold fast, rather so that you can guard it, rather so that you can keep the deposit that has been entrusted to you. Drop down to chapter 2 at verse 1. You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. The idea ought to be very clear. The idea ought to be very evident. The church was not to cease in the first century.
The church was to continue on throughout the centuries until Christ returns again in glory. So Jude says, contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Again, listen to Thomas Minton. He says, it is given to be kept.
It is not a thing invented, but given, not found out by us, but delivered by God himself, and delivered to our custody that we may keep it for posterity." In other words, we want our children and our children's children, and our children's children's children, and you get the idea, going down the generational path to have this faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. It is a resource, a treasure, a great gift given by God to the church. And it is our responsibility, not only to own it, not only to rejoice in it, not only to benefit from it, but to guard and to retain and to pass on in all of its beauty. John Gill says, by them, the apostles, it was delivered to the church, both by word and writing.
And this delivery of it supposes that it is not an invention of men. that it is of God and a gift of His and given in trust in order to be kept, held forth, and held fast. There is no alteration to be made in it or addition to it. No new revelations are to be expected. That is accurate.
That is faithful exposition. That is faithful guarding of the truth and contending earnestly for it. It's a rich resource given by God to the church that we're not to waste. And with reference to this, very practically, the believer must know the faith in order to be able to condemn earnestly for it.
In other words, laziness in the Christian church is not an option. This idea, well, the pastor and the guys who like to read theology and those other people that are really spiritual, they'll go ahead and they'll contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. Remember Jude's addressees. Beloved, those who are saved, those who have been blessed, those who have been called out of darkness into marvelous light, to proclaim His excellencies and to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
You must know that faith in order to contend for it. Go back again to 2 Peter, chapter 3 this time. 2 Peter chapter 3. Verse 17, you therefore beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever, amen.
Grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. One of the imperatives relative to the first and foremost command is to love God with the mind. How do we love God with our mind? It's by taking the mind and bringing it to the scripture and getting instruction.
It is by knowing the truths of Christianity. It is by identifying properly good exegesis, good hermeneutics, applying that to scripture, and uncovering the meaning of the text that the Holy Spirit put in there, such that we not only benefit from it salvifically, but we also contend earnestly for it as those who have been blessed by God and put into a position of great joy, And it is our great joy to be able to contend earnestly for that faith. And then one final observation concerning the believer's responsibility. The believer must, and this is a quote from Manton, own the profession of the truth, whatever it costs them.
The believer must own the profession of the truth, whatever it costs them. In other words, this is so valuable. It is so excellent. It is so wonderful.
We're not to renege on it. We're not to be willing to give it up. We're not to be willing to say, well, it's not that big of a deal. if we don't have an accurate doctrine of God. It's not that big of a deal if we add a few works to the scheme of justification.
It's not that big of a... No, it's always a big deal. Samuel Miller, an 1800s Presbyterian, made this observation, the church has to fight for every inch of ground. That's true, isn't it?
The church has to fight for every inch of ground. Why is that? Why is it the case that the church has to fight for every inch of ground? Why don't the Elks Club?
Why don't the Lions Club? Why don't other social institutions have to fight for every inch of ground? Because they don't have enemies like we do. We have a devil who roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
We have a devil who's the father of lies and deception. The truth of God just drives him mad. We've got our own remaining corruption. We've got a world that we live in.
Of course, if the church is going to maintain doctrinal fidelity, she's going to have to do it through fighting. And not physical fighting. I'm not advocating guns and knives and flak jackets and helmets and all that sort of thing. Spiritual warfare, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, Paul says in Corinthians, but they're mighty for the pulling down of strongholds and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
Back to Miller. The church has to fight for every inch of ground. And whenever she ceases to contend for the truth, she ceases to advance. She may contend with an improper spirit.
If she does this, it is her mistake and her sin. But to contend no more is to disregard the command of her master in heaven and betray his cause to the enemy. Now, that's pretty strong language, but when you ponder the implication of passages like these, it is consistent language. It is not given, the ball hasn't been given to us to fumble and to lose.
The ball hasn't been given to us to throw interceptions. The ball has been given to us to advance down the field, to put it in the end zone. We have been entrusted by God with this sacred deposit of divine truth, and Jude comes along to tell us, as the beloved of Jesus, to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
Reason to Contend: Internal Apostasy
Now notice, secondly, the reason given to contend for the faith. We see that in verse 4. The problem is from within. Now, in the Bible, you'll see that the people of God are oftentimes confronted by enemies from without.
Israel had their Philistines. Israel had their Hittites. Israel had their Hittites. But there's also problems from within.
Israel had her Ahabs. Israel had her Manassas. Israel had her Achans. Israel had her threat from within.
So as Jude writes, he tells the people of God to contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints, not because the beastly civil government has encroached upon you and is trying to take it away. Revelation 13 essentially says that, but here in Jude, the specific instance of threat are apostates. It is persons within the professing church that have wreaked havoc upon her. Notice, he describes these apostates.
In the first place, he says they are sneaky.
Apostates: Sneaky and Ungodly
He says in verse four, for certain men have crept in unnoticed. They don't come to the door of the church and say, guess what? I'm a heretic. I want to bring everybody up into the fellowship hall and I want to propagate error.
I want to deny the deity of Jesus. I want to deny the doctrine of justification by faith. I want to deny the triunity of God. I want to lead you astray and take you down to hell.
That's not typically their way. If the devil is the father of lies and works through deception, those physical representatives of him on earth are going to work by deception also. So they are sneaky, for certain men have crept in unnoticed. Turn back to Matthew 7.
Jesus highlights the same sort of situation. Matthew chapter 7 at verse 15. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing. They don't dress up like wolves.
They don't bear their fangs. They don't look like those mangy beasts that are destined to tear you apart. He says, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. How are we supposed to spot them, Jesus?
Verse 16, you will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. As well, turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 11.
To underscore that these men, they creep in unnoticed. They are sneaky men. And because they are sneaky men, you need to understand the truth and you need to contend earnestly for it. Such that if these sneaky men breach the gates and end up in your midst, you're going to be able to refute them and you're able to contradict them.
Notice in 2 Corinthians 11, verses 13 to 15, or verse 12, but what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves in the ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works." Boy, I wish there was a way we could actually know whether they're true or not.
There is. It's called the Bible. It's called understanding the Christian faith. It's called understanding the truth of doctrine.
It's called being able to recognize when a wolf stands in a pulpit and preaches justification by faith plus words. You have a written guide to be able to expose those men and to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. You see it in 2 Timothy 3. We looked at that passage several weeks ago.
And then Titus chapter 1 as well. So back to Jude 4, certain men have crept in unnoticed. They are sneaky. Secondly, he says they are ungodly.
They are ungodly men is what Jude tells us concerning these persons. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 6 at verse 13 that the truth accords to godliness. So, ergo, we have an ungodly man. What does that usually tell us about his doctrine?
Now, certainly there are inconsistencies. Certainly the best of men are men at best. Certainly those who have by grace received the truth have remaining corruption. They still have a susceptibility to proneness to wander and proneness to leave the God they love.
We don't call them ungodly men. We don't call people that are struggling with their sin ungodly men. But when we have ungodly men, we can typically trace it back to the fount of ungodly doctrine. And when we have that, we are able to see that we're dealing with an apostate.
Apostates: Perverters of Grace
Notice thirdly, they are perverters of the grace of God. Verse four, certain men have crept in unnoticed, they're sneaky, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, there's the ungodliness, who turn the grace of God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Go back to Romans chapter three for just a moment. Romans chapter three.
At verse seven, for if the truth of God has increased through my life to his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, let us do evil that good may come, as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just. Most likely, this was an argument against Paul's doctrine of justification by faith alone.
You see more of that in chapter six at verse one. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not.
How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? So going back to Jude 4, this idea of turning the grace of God into lewdness, probably means something that the apostle is countering that had been leveled against him. This idea that grace may abound or that we continue in sin that grace may abound. There were probably persons that actually thought that way.
They thought this is a wonderful arrangement. this gospel of Jesus Christ. God loves to forgive sin, and I love to sin. This is a wonderful thing. So I'm just gonna go out and sin and trust in the mercy of God.
That is turning the grace of God into lewdness. It is to distort it, it is to twist it. The gospel never frees men up to sin, but the gospel always restrains men from sin. Why?
Because those justified freely by grace are sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit. So they are perverters of the grace of God. And then finally in Jude 4,
Apostates: Deniers of Christ
they deny the Lord Jesus Christ. They deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Turn over to 2 John. 2 John, specifically at verse 7. For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh.
This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves that we do not lose those things we work for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.
John deals with a denial of Jesus. He does so here, and he does so as well in 1 John. Let me give you a hint. I think that's what antichrist has to do with.
It was a Christological heresy that called into question the Bible's teaching concerning specifically the hypostatic union of our Lord Jesus Christ. John Calvin made the observation, Christ is denied whenever those things which peculiarly belong to him are taken away from him. That is a very simple and a very excellent description. What does it mean to deny Christ?
Whenever those things which peculiarly belong to Him are taken away from Him, His humanity, His divinity, His atoning work, all those things that are unique to the Son of God who came down for us men and for our salvation. So it shouldn't surprise us that these sneaky ungodly perverters of the grace of God are those who deny the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Now, before we leave this particular head, notice the assurance that Jude gives. See,
Assurance: Christ Secures the Victory
Jude doesn't write, contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints, because everything is miserable, because everything is horrible, because the church is going to lose. I think at times the church functions or operates under the mindset that we're gonna lose. One dispensationalist famously said, why polish the brass on a sinking ship? Well, if that's your mindset, brethren, then go sit on the top of Mount Shaman and just wait for Jesus to return.
Jude is not writing in a pessimistic spirit. Jude is not saying, oh, these apostates, they're gonna overtake the church. Oh, these apostates are gonna destroy the church. They could never do so.
Christ has promised to build his church and the gates of Hades itself shall not prevail against it. So what Jude does in the next section is assure us, the beloved, who are called to contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints, that the church is gonna win. In other words, we're on the winning team. We're gonna get the ball to the end zone.
We're gonna make it, by God's grace, for God's glory. As far as those pesky apostates are concerned, God's gonna deal with them the way that he dealt with unbelieving Israel. After he brings them out of Egypt, he has to destroy a great multitude of them in the wilderness because of their unbelief. God is going to deal with these apostates that way, according to verse 5.
As well, God's going to deal with these apostates the way that God dealt with the fallen angels. The fallen angels didn't ruin creation. The fallen angels didn't win. The fallen angels aren't victorious.
Notice what he says concerning the fallen angels in verse 6. See, there's not only a command given to contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints, but it's surrounded by encouragement that God will not let you fail. He's not going to let you go out and fight for his truth and let you fail miserably. As far as the apostates are concerned, God's got them.
So it's like Israel in their unbelief whom he destroys, verse 5. It's like the fallen angels, verse 6, who he has reserved for judgment unto that day. But as well, it's like Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain and the overthrow that they knew, verse 7. as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." So brethren, buck up, be encouraged, understand Christ is at the right hand of the Father. You're not going to fail.
You may fail miserably from time to time in terms of your faithful witness. You may get caught up at times by someone who perhaps knows a bit more than you. That happens. That's the way it goes.
That's the ebb and flow in terms of the battlefield. But with reference to the war, Christ has secured the victory, and we ought not to forget that. But as well, the apostates themselves. Notice in verse four.
For certain men have crept in unnoticed. Now notice that next clause. Who long ago were marked out for this condemnation. They're not operating untethered.
They're not renegades or mavericks. They're not sort of a glitch in the system. God's sovereign brethren, remember that? He knows the end from the beginning.
He has decreed whatsoever comes to pass for his own glory. At times, these apostates creep into the church for good purpose, for good reason. 1 Corinthians 11, Paul highlights heresy in the church as having a remedial effect, having remedial benefit, so that those who are approved among you may be evident. So even in this, God's got it. So with reference to these apostates and the threat that they pose, they may affect a church or some churches at the local church level, but they'll never dethrone Christ and they'll never stop the onward march of Christ's church, because He will build it and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Preparedness of Contenders for the Faith
And then finally, notice the preparedness of those who contend for the faith. In other words, Jude is giving us an altogether sufficient manual in terms of contending for the faith. Here's what you're supposed to do. Here's why you're supposed to do it.
And here's how you're supposed to do it. He doesn't leave you uneducated. He doesn't leave you to your own resources. He doesn't leave you to try and figure out, well, how do I contend for the faith?
He gives us two bits of exhortation.
Duty to Remember Apostolic Warning
In the first place, he says we have a duty to remember. Look at verse 17. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They didn't leave you without warning.
They didn't leave you without instruction. Jude is taking his place right alongside of them. They are telling us what we must be aware of in terms of the threat to the church of Jesus Christ. Remember the word spoken by the apostles of our Lord Jesus.
It should put you on guard. Again, not a hyper suspicious attitude. where some brother or a sister makes an unguarded statement, and your eyebrow goes up, and your heresy detector goes off, and you start to pray, God, grant them repentance and bring them to faith. No, brethren, we're not supposed to be hyper suspicious, but man, when the heretics walk into the church and assume positions of responsibility behind pulpits, I'd like to think our heresy detectors would have gone off a long time ago. So notice, he tells us we're to remember.
And it's not just the apostles of our Lord Jesus, but it's Jesus himself. Matthew 7, we just looked at. Matthew 16, he cautions his disciples against the 11 of Sadducees. Revelation 2 and 3.
Christ, by the Spirit, writing to the pastors of the churches, telling them to be on the lookout for these heretics, for these people that will creep in unnoticed, ungodly men who are deniers of Christ and those who pervert the gospel of our Lord Jesus. but you see it in Paul. We see it in the book of Acts. We see it in the pastoral epistles. We see it in Peter, 1 Peter 3, we've looked at. 2 Peter 2, verses 1 to 3.
And then the apostle John emphasizes this in 1 John 4, 1 to 6, and then that bit in 2 John 6 to 11. So Jude tells us to remember. to be on your guard, to be on the lookout, to realize that as good as Christian fellowship is, as wonderful a privilege as corporate worship is, we still need to maintain vigilance in terms of who comes in among us to make sure that we don't sacrifice or we don't capitulate with reference to the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. So we are to remember, but then
Keep Yourselves in the Love of God
notice secondly, the command to keep ourselves in the love of God. Verses 20 to 21. Now, I want to explain a bit of grammar because I think it helps us to understand verses 20 and 21. There is one command, and that command comes at the beginning of verse 21.
It says, keep yourselves in the love of God. More on that in just a moment, but here's the grammar. So you've got a command or an imperative. Keep yourselves in the love of God.
But surrounding that command is what's called participles. Kids, you can explain that to your parents when you get home tonight. So participles are used by Jude to flesh out the manner by which we comply with the command. You see a similar convention in Ephesians 5.
You can turn there. It's good for us to understand what these authors are doing. They're not only giving us commands, but they're telling us how to fulfill the command. Ephesians 5 at verse 18.
Do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation, here comes the command, but be filled with the Spirit. Well, how do we be filled with the Spirit? Or what does it look like when we're filled with the Spirit? Well, here come the participles.
Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God. Notice, be filled with the Spirit by speaking in tongues? No. By prophesying?
No. By healing people? No. It is very regular.
It is very ordinary. It is very normal how the Spirit works in His people in the New Covenant Church. So back to Jude 20 and 21. So keep yourselves in the love of God.
That is the command. And notice that he tells us as contenders for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints, that before we actually guard the fence, we need to guard our own hearts. We need to make sure everything is right and tight inwardly. Keep yourselves in the love of God.
We'll see how he calls us to comply with that. in just a moment, but keep yourselves in the love of God." Manton says, we are born Pelagians, Libertines, and Papists, waning to watch our own heart. Now, when we look at that command, keep yourselves in the love of God, the idea that I, Jim, you, whoever, keep yourselves in God's love is not what the text is saying. Our confession rightly reflecting upon that statement that God is without passions describes God as most loving. God is most loving to his people.
That means he doesn't increase, he doesn't diminish. God is love and that love showered upon his people remains the same. So the idea with Jude is not keep yourselves in the love of God, keep doing those things that makes him love you. No, the idea is that the believer continually recognizes God's love for him.
Keep yourselves in that disposition and mindset wherein you ponder the great love that God has for you. When all is said and done, not just relative to contending for the faith, but with reference to a comfortable and happy Christian life, doesn't a lot depend upon this? to reflect upon the reality that God loves me, that Jesus loved me and gave himself for me? Isn't that the impetus on certain days to get you out of bed? Isn't that the impetus at certain times to keep you persevering?
Not some thought that I've got to earn God's love, but the reality and the conviction that God does love me. God loves me so much that he gave his only begotten son. Christ has secured redemptive benefit for me. He has blessed me with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
He has dumped this on me. He has begraced me. Isn't that the position of comfort and stability that every believer needs? that every believer should have, again, not just when it comes to contending for the faith, but for persevering in the Christian life, for conducting ourselves one to another. So the believer continually recognizes God's love for him.
He does this by reading his Bible. He does this by praying. And this, incidentally, is what Jude says in terms of the manner of compliance. So keep yourselves, verse 21, in the love of God.
Let's look at the manner of compliance in verse 20. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith. How do we keep ourselves in the love of God? How do we keep ourselves conscious of God's love for us?
It is by building ourselves up in our most holy faith. That's Jude's way of saying, read your Bible. That's Jude's way of saying, get your face in the book. That's Jude's way of saying, contemplate the great love wherewith he loved you.
You're going to learn it from the book of God. Notice, secondly, a means of compliance on keeping ourselves in the love of God. The end of verse 20, praying in the Holy Spirit. See, this isn't rocket science, brethren.
You say, well, how can I contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints? Understand the faith. Remember, there's going to be threat to it. And keep yourselves in the love of God.
Do that by building yourself up on your most holy faith. Read scripture. praying in the Holy Spirit, be persons of prayer, be people at the throne of grace. This is the best preparedness for those who would enter into the battle to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. And then notice hope concerning the mercy of Christ.
The end of verse 21, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ onto eternal life. Gil makes this observation. He says it refers to the future, and I think he's right. And there is the future mercy of Christ, which will be shown at death, in the grave, and at the resurrection, at the day of judgment, and in the merciful sentence he will pronounce on his people.
And this seems to be designed here. So the idea is, is that we have this future orientation. We live in light of eternal blessing. We live in light of heaven to come.
That's how we keep ourselves in the love of God, by building ourselves up in the most holy faith, reading the Bible, by praying in the Holy Spirit, praying, by having that hope that is focused upon the reality of a second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein he will judge the living and the dead. Titus 2.13 points in this direction, as Paul there says, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. But then the final emphasis, it's not ultimately on us, contend earnestly, do so by remembering, do so by keeping yourself in the love of God. but the ultimate foundation for our assurance, the ultimate foundation for our comfort, the ultimate foundation for our stability is found in the doxology in verses 24 and 25. Notice, now to him, who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.
So certainly, were to use the means, were to engage the enemy, were to understand the apostates creeping in in a sneaky way, were to engage in remembrance of what our blessed brothers in the faith have taught us and told us concerning these encroaching threats, We're to do so by keeping ourselves in the love of God, through building ourselves up in our most holy faith, praying in the Spirit, looking for that mercy of Christ. But understand, ultimately, the one who keeps you is not you. The one who keeps you is not you. The one who keeps you is God.
And I think this is a wonderful bookend to the introduction, or rather the greetings, in the Epistle. Look back at Jude 1. To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ. He ends with that preservation in Jesus Christ.
Verse 24, now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To God, our savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. Well,
Application
just in a couple of quick thoughts in terms of some application, I hope the sermon as a whole was applicatory, but there are recurring attacks on the Christian faith. I don't think that's a tough proposition to argue for. I think you see it out there, I think you see it when it happens, and we need to be mindful of that. But we always need to make a distinction, brethren, between that which is damnable heresy and that which is perhaps an intramural debate.
I've said it before, you can be an amillennialist, a postmillennialist, or a premillennialist and end up in heaven. You cannot be a denier of the Trinity. You cannot be a denier of the hypostatic union of Christ. You cannot be a denier of justification by faith alone and end up well.
There is a hierarchy in terms of doctrine, and those things most surely believed among us. Manton says, there are fundamentals and essentials in religion which challenge the choicest of our care and zeal, that they may be kept entire and without violation. The ignorance of them is damnable and the denial heretical. And then Turretin says, so some articles of faith are primary and immediate.
And listen to what he says in terms of illustration. As the articles concerning the Trinity, Christ the mediator, justification. In other words, contending earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints doesn't mean that every single day on Facebook you are arguing vehemently for post-millennialism. I mean, you may want to do that, you're not going to have many friends after that, but the idea isn't that that is an article upon which the church stands or falls.
Justification is. Christ the mediator is. The Trinity is. Those are the doctrines that we must have in view in terms of contending earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
Now I think churches are best served when they agree upon a lot of doctrines. Our confession of faith deals with 32 heads, 32 chapters, 32 particular topics. That is good, but notice there's not 62, there's not 102. There are things that Christians can disagree upon and still maintain comradery, still maintain brotherhood, still maintain unity, and still march to Zion in blessed harmony.
But when it comes to a threat to who God is, to who the mediator is, or to what justification is, those are the times when the church needs to get serious about contending earnestly. Secondly, the encouragement of Jude's letter. He builds on Jesus' statement in Matthew 16. He doesn't write in a vacuum.
He doesn't write as if Jesus never declared that he would build his church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. So he understands consciously that Jesus is in this to win it. Secondly, he furnishes examples of the destruction of his enemies. We may not see it now, we may not see it in our lifetime, but we will see all of the enemies of Christ ultimately excluded from the New Jerusalem.
That much we can rest in. Third, the Lord provides earnest contenders to fight against His enemies. It is, again, For every Christian, all of the beloved are to contend earnestly for the faith, but praise God that in the history of the church, he gave us a matron. Praise God that in the history of the church, he gave us an Athanasius.
Praise God that in the history of the church, he gave us a Cyril of Alexandria. Praise God that he gave us the Nicene Creed. Praise God that he gave us those who contended earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints. Manton says, every age that hath yielded the poison has also yielded the antidote, that the world might not be without a witness.
If there has been an Arius, there has been an Athanasius. If a Pelagius, there is also an Augustine. And then finally, the Lord preserves his people, and the Lord ultimately keeps us from stumbling. And in that, we join with Jude in singing and praising God with that doxology.
To God, our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank you for warning us. Thank you for instructing us and informing us in terms of what the threats are facing the church of the Lord Jesus. And we know that as Jesus advances the church by His truth, that one of the greatest threats is an attack upon or assault upon that truth. And Lord God, I pray that we would understand the Christian faith, that we would understand what Scripture says concerning you, concerning the mediation of Christ, concerning the doctrine of justification, those things necessary for life and salvation.
And God help us in our spheres to contend earnestly for it, to fight the good fight, to wage the good warfare, to do so in dependence upon the Holy Spirit. And give us all grace to keep ourselves in the love of God, building ourselves up on our most holy faith, praying, in the spirit, looking forward to that coming mercy of our Lord Jesus at his second coming. I ask now that you would go with each one of us, cause your face to shine upon us. May we know your nearness as our good.
And we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation.