Short and Sweet Jude

Prayer: Pray that mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to them just like Jude prayed to the people he wrote this letter too. That they would be filled to capacity and their cup would be overflowing with these attributes.

Developmental Question:

Question for you. I am going to end this sermon with this question but I want to ask it to start. Have you ever been tripped-up by someone spiritually? Maybe they said something or did something that was not right to you and it affected your faith. Maybe the lead you astray by telling you something about God that was untrue. maybe they were very convincing.

Intro: When I was a youth pastor I leaned very quickly that teenagers want to know about the book of Revelation. I discovered only a few years latter that this is also true about adults. I actually think that a sermon series on the book of Revelation would grow a church because there is so much interest in the topic. How does this relate to Jude? Well Rev is the last book in the Bible but Jude is the second to last book of the Bible. They compliment each other well.

Revelation tells us what will happen in the end times. Jude tells us what to do in the end times. (verses 17-23)

see verse Jude 17-18

Jude 17–18 CSB

But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They told you, “In the end time there will be scoffers living according to their own ungodly desires.”

People always want to know what will happen but they rarely ask what we should do. Jude tells us what to do! and he tells us this because he does not what us to get tripped-up.

Who wrote it?

Jude was the Lord’s brother but he called himself a servant. (v 1)

Just like his brother Jesus did. Matthew 20:28

Matthew 20:28 CSB

just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Who did he write to?

Jude wrote to us!

Look at who Jude addresses it to. Not to Rome or Galatian, or Corinth, or some individual like Timothy but to those who are called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ. By the way this book is written to us!

I don’t know about you but that sounds like me! I am the 3 things.

the 1st reflects our past. the 2nd our present. And the 3rd is a statement about what Jesus will do for us moving on into the future.

kept means watched over or protected for Jesus Christ. Isnt that a picture of what God does for us. Btw what is the church…the bride…God is going to protect His Son’s bride. This is good stuff you are called, loved, and kept. Does that not encourage you as a child of God?!

Why did Jude write this letter?

There was the letter Jude wanted to write and the letter that Jude actually wrote. We don’t have the one that Jude wanted to write.

Jude 3 CSB

Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all.

Jude wrote to tell us to contend for the faith!

Jude wanted to talk about the same thing that pastor’s wish they could preach on every week. Our common salvation!

There is no better message than that. No better sound than the sound of the gospel. (Bill Mother’s grave side story of the pastor who preached the gospel.) Jesus Christ died for sinner. Jesus did not just take our sin but also gave us His righteousness. He has conquered sin, death, Satan, and Hell. Man I could preach that all day and Jude could have wrote about that all day. But, there was a problem…He needed to talk to them about something else become the situation had become so dire that it was now in Jude’s own words “necessary”

Btw the fact that Jude is now asking us to contend for the faith is remarkable considering that he did not believe in Jesus during Jesus’ earthly ministry. It was only after the resurrection that something dramatically changed in his life.

John 7:5 CSB

(For not even his brothers believed in him.)

There are 2 parts to the instructions on contending for the faith in this letter. The why and the how.

1. Why are we to contend for the faith? (verses 3-16)

1. Because of the character and nature of false teachers (verse 4; 8-13).

they sneak in or used stealth, one commentator said that they wormed their way in. It could be translated that they slipped in secretly.

They are creepers. They crept in.

false teachers are alway subversive.

This is why it is a good practice to have a 6 month policy for people to attend before they work in the nursery or with kids.

I have seen churches who put people on the Elder board in under a year. Did not work out as well as they would have liked but it could have been a lot worse.

They deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus the Messiah. focus on these words. Jesus is the only way, the Messiah, and God.

We should not be surprised by these false teachers. People are always surprised when someone comes up with a false teaching. People act like they thought false teachers were extinct by now.

(v.4 long ago were designated) God was not surprised by them and neither should we be surprised that their will be false teachers. Because God has a plan to judge them. He is in control.

2. Because false teachers will be judged. (verse 5-7; 14-16)

Jude uses 3 O.T. examples of how false teachers are judged. They were judged for their sexual immorality and idolatry. Idolatry and Sexual immorality are the marks of a false teacher.

Verse 4 tells us that they will be sensual.

false teachers are going to be judged so why would we want to be judged with them?

3. More on there character and nature of false teachers (verse 8) They rely on dreams and not on God’s word.

their dreams and not God’s dreams.

I do believe that God speaks to us in dreams. Acts 2:17

Acts 2:17 CSB

And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all people; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.

I had lots of dreams about my uncle Rob when he passed away. Rosanna has told us about her dreams but we have to be careful because if a dream does not line up with God’s Word than it is false.

Mohammad relied on dreams. I guess that Joseph Smith who founded Mormonism did too.

They need to be God’s dreams and not our dreams they need to point us to the authority of Jesus.

4. They also reject authority.

Ravi had his own ministry and it was not tied to a church.

Transition: Why are we to contend? Because of Creepers. The question that Jude wants to answer for us is “how we are to content”

How we are to contend for the faith in these last days. (verses 17-23)

“But you, dear friends” or “beloved” verse 17 contrasts how the believe in the last days is to behave different than the false teacher behaves.

Dear friend used here in 17 and 20 at the end of the book is also used in verse 3 taking us back to the beginning and showing us that this letter was for given to protect us friends (Maybe this is why J.V. McGee would always say friends while he preached) and explain to us that this is how we are to live in the last days!

We need to remember the Apostle teaching. The Apostles through the inspiration of the H.S. wrote the N.T. for us. and the bible gives us clear prophecy on the future.

to encourage faith in people! optimism and not pessimism …Believing that God is not done yet. I meet christian all the time who are just coasting. Quote “No one pays you to be negative.”

Prayer! Prayer empowered by the Holy Spirit. Invite the Holy Spirit into your prayer life. Acts 2:42

Acts 2:42 CSB

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.

4. Keep ourselves in the Love of God.

5. Expecting Jesus’ return.

In the Greek the idea here is a chain of building, praying, keeping, and expecting

6. Have mercy on those who doubt. (verse 23) One of the best ways to help people in their faith is to show them mercy. In verse 20 Jude talked about building faith. Showing mercy to people builds faith.

7. Save people. This world is going to burn and why are we not much more urgent in trying to save people from the fire? Everyone in the world and everything and evil system that is in place here since the fall of man seems like it is all designed to trip people up. People always tell me that in this mean old world Satan seem to be working overtime. People have been so tripped-up in the past by some terrible thing someone did to them and it has turned them off to Christianity.

Which brings us to the main point that Jude whats us to realize about contending for the faith. No matter how many false teachers arise, no matter how many scoffers there are in the last days. No matter how ungodly the world gets. Jesus is going to keep His own people. Jude starts and ends his little letter with this truth. look at verse 1 and compare it to verse 24!

No matter who tries to trip you up in your faith Jesus can keep you from stumbling.

Don’t let evil people trip you up, let Jesus keep your from stumbling.

Don’t let evil people trip you up let Jesus hold you up.

This is what contending for the faith in the last days looks like.