A Life of Assurance - Jude 1:17-25

For the past couple weeks, the text in Jude has describe in detail “certain people” who were dividing the church and deceiving believers. These people are describe by Jude as those who are ruled by their passions and not God’s word. They are rebels, who reject the authority God has put in place, putting themselves on His throne.

In verses 17-19 he says:

17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.

The final word on these “certain people” is that Jude tells the church to “remember.” The point of remembering, is that we shouldn’t be shocked or caught off guard by these kinds of “certain people” in the church. Through the apostles, Christ told us this was going to happen.

The term “last time” or “last days” is a term used throughout the NT to indicate the period that began at Pentecost and continues today.

In his sermon at Pentecost Peter said “in the last days” God would pour out His Spirit “

And Hebrews 1:2 tells us “In these last days God has spoken to us by his Son.”

And Paul writes about these same kinds of false leaders and false disciples in his letter to Timothy, saying that they roam the earth in the “last days,” and Paul says to “avoid such people” indicating that they were active amongst the church at Ephesus.

It’s important to comprehend this reality as those living in the last days. The wickedness that the Bible describes as defining this period has been repetitive in the post-resurrection history of the world. With each generation that passes, we can expect this reality to intensify, and in this way, one could argue, that each generation has an even greater burden to pass the baton faithfully, than the one before, because ultimately things will get worse, before all things are made new.

Now, sometimes there is conflict in the church simply because we’re a family, and families fight and disagree, this is part of being a family.

However, this is not what Jude is referring to in this text.

Families fight, and they repent, and they humble themselves, and continue to love and serve even when they disagree.

But Jude isn’t talking about family, he is talking about those who are of the world, that come into church, scoffing and following their own passions.

They think they are christians, but they are:

Worldly people, devoid of the Spirit

Jude 12 says they are “shepherds who feed themselves”, but the Spirit produces love and sacrifice for others.

Jude 16 describes them as grumbling and finding fault, dissatisfied with everything. But the Spirit produces Joy that surpasses individual preference.

Jude 19 tells us they are causing division in the church, but the Spirit produces peace

Jude 11 says they follow cain and rush into profit like Balaam, they are impulsive, but the Spirit produces patience.

They are boastful and arrogant, but the Spirit produces gentleness,

They indulge the flesh, but the Spirit leads one to self control

The point is that from now, until Christ returns, churches will always draw those who are intrigued by the idea of grace, but continue to live according to the world. They are not saved, and the evidence of this is that the Spirit does not dwell in them, and satan uses them to cause heartache and turmoil amongst believers.

Despite that reality, Jude turns his attention back to the church, those whose lives should contrast these “certain people” he writes:

20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,

BUT YOU, beloved

In the midst of our city, our state our country, and ultimately our world, we are called to live countercultural lives under the banner of the kingdom, and the authority of scripture. When wordly culture tries to invade the life of the church, we hold the line.

And the reason for this now, is the same as the reason then, because the world is ruled by the flesh, and we, are to be a people ruled by God, led by His Spirit.

God is the King of this world, and His kingdom is superior, but for a time, the time we live in, the world is being lured away by a counterfeit kingdom.

This is what the enemy does, he deals in counterfeits.

In the garden - God gave real knowledge, so the enemy offered counterfeit knowledge

In the wilderness - while the one true God is speaking on the mountain, the enemy is in the valley creating a counterfeit god

Counterfeit kings, counterfeit love, counterfeit shepherds, counterfeit churches, legalism as a counterfeit gospel.

He is always, creating counterfeits to the good gifts of God, and thus, it is imperative that we live in light of His good gifts as a people of truth.

In doing this, we:

build ourselves up in the most holy faith

As God’s beloved, we are dependent on Him for all spiritual growth, but here Jude reminds the church that we participate in that. He has given us a will and with that will we choose where to invest our time, talent and treasure. Do we invest in what tears us down, or in that which builds us up in Christ!

All earthly investments offer minimal returns (Alex/AMC), but, when we invest in the most holy faith, the gospel, the rewards are eternal!

As I thought about this terminology, my mind immediately went to strength training.

I love weight lifting. I always have. Now, I don’t say that in any kind of pretentious way, I love weight lifting because Eli Dixon destroyed my best 5k time last weekend. I always knew that would happen, I just thought maybe he would get out grade school first. So knowing that I can curl him allows me to keep a shred of dignity.

Seriously though, I love the process of strength training. It starts everyday with a battle against myself.

I lay on the pillow, I say a prayer, and then I begin the battle. Not one fiber of my being wants to get out of that bed for the purpose of inflicting pain on myself, my discipline is challenge write out of the gate.

Then, you go in the gym, and you begin a process of literally breaking yourself down. You do this, because you know that by this divine miracle of God’s design, that which is broken down will be restored, and will be stronger than it was before. And if you keep going, over a long period of time, you’ll reap real rewards.

This is not totally unlike sanctification.

Now, one way it is different, is that no matter how much time I invest, my desire to grow stronger will get harder, and eventually, will no longer be possible.

Even at nearly 40, I feel the difference from when I was 20, this will continue to be the case, but not so with sanctification.

When we grow in The Gospel, the process of being broken down, and restored stronger than before, continues all the way up to the moment Jesus restores completely.

Romans 1:16:

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

Romans 3:23-24:

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

Romans 6:23:

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Ephesians 2:8-9:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Colossians 1:13-14:

"He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

2 Corinthians 5:21:

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

When we invest our lives in this truth, we are able to endure all kinds of trials, and each year brings increased strength in the midst of waiting.

With that said, I want to say something this morning to our Senior Adults.

As I shared to open this sermon, there is a lot going on in this church family right now. I believe that God is building a foundation, upon which His works will impact generations to come. And in the midst of this season, I want you to know how much we need you.

In this body, their are Spiritual Bodybuilders walking amongst those who are just trying to figure out how to pickup a dumbbell.

Some of you, have been being built up in Christ, for longer than I have been alive, and we need you where it matters the most.

(Discipleship, family groups, DNA)

I believe that the next hundred years of ministry are going to be directly impacted the next decade of your investment.

And God gave me that conviction, while sitting under my favorite tree (elaborate on nature of tree, who planted?)

Pause

For those who belong to God, we are built up in the gospel, and our spiritual strength increases as we:

Pray in the Holy Spirit

Let’s consider the context of this word about prayer in verse 20. IIt says that we are to "pray in the Holy Spirit." "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God . . ."

What you can see from this immediate context is that building yourselves up on the gospel, the foundation of our faith, and praying in the Holy Spirit are the way Jude wants us to keep ourselves in the love of God. "By building yourselves up and praying, keep yourselves in the love of God."

We see this term used throughout the NT, including in:

Ephesians 6:17–18 ESV

and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Here, Jude is making a distinction between the “certain people” who likely prayed only to hear themselves talk, and christians who pray in the power of the Spirit. The distinction here is source of a prayer’s power. To pray in the Spirit, is relational, a prayer prayed in the presence of God and in need of His power.

If I could have the life of one person in scripture, like, I get to point to them and say “I want that” it would be a man named Jabez.

It’s very possible that you’ve never even heard of this man, because he is mentioned only once in scripture, but here is what those two verses say of him.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10:

"Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, 'Because I bore him in pain.' Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, 'Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!' And God granted what he asked."

Jabez was an honorable man, who lived his life in the fear of God, and when he prayed, God answered him.

When we consider this short example of a prayer that God obviously delighted in, we see a prayer of absolute dependence on God’s power and provision, a prayer dependent on the Spirit of God.

Talk about next month’s prayer time

I think it is crystal clear that God has called us to be a bold church, that is willing to take bold steps in response to His call.

To live this way, is going to require us to be a church of people who pray in the Spirit. My prayer for Rooted Church in the season ahead, is the prayer Jabez prayed:

Bless us and enlarge our border - Would the Lord bless our investment, multiply it, and use it to expand the kingdom.

that your hand might be with us - Would we not go ahead of God, but would His hand be with us, guiding us and doing the heavy lifting.

keep us from harm - The world will seek to do us harm, the enemy will try to halt God’s work, might He pave our way.

We pray, as a people dependent on God, desiring that which Jude expresses in verse 21:

21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

keep yourselves in the love of God,

This is a peculiar phrase. We know that for those who belong to God, nobody will snatch us from His hand. Salvation is secure in Christ, so what role does the christian have in “keeping yourself in the love of God?”

We find some helpful commentary on this idea in:

1 John 4:16 ESV

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

We already know that God loves these people, Jude has made that clear multiple times. But hear, the call is to “remain in that love.” In other words, remain in safety of the Father’s love that is found in His word, His Spirit and His church. The “certain people” are like the fallen angels that basked in the presence of God but left His safety to pursue their own passions.

We are to be built up, praying in the Spirit, leaning into the love of God day in and day out.

Abiding in God’s ways, not our own, because we know that He is love, and thus it’s in His love that we live:

waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ

We are a people called to wait, but we wait knowing that His kingdom is coming, and when it comes, the last enemy known as death will be placed under His feet…and what does Paul teach us of Christ’s feet:

Ephesians 1:22–23 ESV

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

The church is the body of Christ, who is the head of the church. One day, the head of the church is going to destroy death. He’s already defeated him (where is your sting) but when Christ’s kingdom is established death will be wiped off the map, and we, as His feet, will experience the glory and dominion that our Lord has chosen to share with His beloved. The access, glory, dependence, and dominion of the garden will be restored.

Jesus promises this in Revelation 3:21

Revelation 3:21 ESV

The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

So because we are conquerers through Christ, we wait faithfully as a people filled with hope in all seasons:

22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

How beautiful is this.

Recently I was pondering the concept of spiritual growth. It seems to me, that if we drink daily from Christ’s cup of grace, being strengthened by the gospel that reveals a grace we did not earn, then in the midst of trial we are strengthened.

But, the uniqueness of this strength is the posture it produces. Unlike the meathead flexing in the mirror at the gym and desiring all to see him, spiritual strength produces humility, gentleness, and mercy.

One of the reasons I wanted to speak for a moment to our senior adults this morning, is because I am increasingly convinced that genuine faith produces greater humility and increasing selflessness with each passing year, while counterfeit faith does the opposite.

Proximity to Eternity seems to reveal one’s truest affections.

Over the past several years I have had multiple opportunities to engage with struggling churches, and there are a few common things I have seen. One of them, is a real inward focus centered around “our preferences.” When I hear this, I am sympathetic and I get it, but it also seems to me that for many churches, that bend toward self began when they stopped being built up in the gospel.

Gospel Maturity produces:

People who value the good of others over their own preferences, because Jesus is enough.

People who plant seeds knowing they will never sit under the tree, because Jesus is enough.

And people who have mercy on those who doubt, because Jesus is enough.

The gospel produces mercy in a people, and when this happens the church becomes a safe haven for those who struggle and doubt.

Things are going to change this year, even this summer. Some wall colors are gonna look different, sanctuary is going to change, the pews are likely going to go away to allow us to use this space for a greater variety of ministry…and these are the kinds of things that trip churches up when we lose sight of our call.

Our call, is to point people to Jesus, investing in and showing mercy to those who doubt. Older disciples loving and investing in younger disciples, cheering them on as the baton is passed for the next generation.

The call of the mature believer, is to be a “fire snatcher.” In other words, we call, and even drag, one another back to the love of God, back into His presence when they stray.

For some, we do this with absolute mercy and patience - Most people just need Gospel, Safety and Time.

For others, we show mercy with fear, doubt is different than rebellion, and when rebellion is the posture, we take a strong stand and admonish in the Lord.

If you love Jesus, and are growing in the gospel, and you feel like “I don’t know my role in this church” allow me to tell you, I need you to be a “fire snatcher.”

I don’t need someone else picking paint colors, or sitting on a committee to decide whether to get a new insurance quote or not, I need our most mature people to be the most committed to being “fire snatchers.”

Share the hope you have in Christ with those who are not as mature as you. If we are going to continue to grow and do so in a healthy way, we have to have people invested in discipling those who come, and that can’t all be programmed. Enter into the places where you can invest in others, sharing with them the source of your strength.

Closing Prayer - Prayer of Doxology

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Discuss this song of prayer, and the ways it reminds us of the gospel

Close by praying through this Doxology

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