Jude 17-25

Introduction

Recap:

Last week, Justin talked to you guys about Jude 1-16 and the warnings and judgments of false teachers

Goofy graphic

Jude gave us many warnings to protect ourselves from false teachings that may have a little bit of truth in them, but they are meant to lead God’s people astray.

Do you guys know the number 1 most important way to protect ourselves from false teachers? KNOW THE WORD OF GOD

This week, we will shift gears from looking at the false teachers to looking at what we need to be doing as a church until Christ returns

*Read and Pray*

Jude 17–25 ESV

But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. 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, 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.

Tonight I want to walk through this passage a little different with you. I want to do some expositional preaching. What does that mean? That means I want to go through this passage with you line by line to make sense of it.

I’ll let the scripture do all the talking, but I want to help us make more sense of it and get a grasp of its major themes.

Warnings of False Teachers v.17-19

(v. 17) Jude reminds the believers to remember the predictions that both Jesus and other apostles made about the coming of false teachers

In 2 Peter 2:1-3

2 Peter 2:1–3 ESV

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

Matthew 7:15–19 ESV

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

For the Christians in Jude’s day they would look back to what Christ said as well as to what the apostles (the people who walked with Jesus and knew Him) prophesied. For us nowadays, we can cling to scripture which is God-breathed and profitable for training in righteousness to know how to protect ourselves.

(v.18) But Jesus knew these wicked false teachers would come

in the text we talked about last week Jude points this fact out:

Jude 4 ESV

For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

We can have confidence in Christ knowing that these teachers don’t take the Lord by surprise. Knowing they would try to corrupt the Church, God designated or set them apart for condemnation (or judgment)

(v. 19) Jude points out in verse 19 that they are worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.

When we go through texts like this, we need to ask ourselves good questions like

What does it mean to be devoid of the Spirit?

This means that these people are not truly saved regardless of how spiritual they may seem.

They seem like they have the Holy Spirit in them because they have this outward appearance that they are spiritual but its all a front.

Do you guys ever wake up in the middle of the night just insanely thirsty so you violently grab whatever is on your nightstand and down it? Have you ever grabbed it not really paying attention to what it is and when you drank it you felt so betrayed to find that it IS NOT what you thought it was. Like you think you’re grabbing water and its just really flat, lukewarm Sprite. The kind of misleading false teachers do is even worse than that.

In reality these false teachers are worldly people who are not actually meaning to grow in faith but seek their own pleasure.

Transition: Jude shifts gears a little bit here because he then begins to encourage the believers to prepare for Jesus’ return.

Prepare for Jesus’ Return v. 20-23

(v. 20) Have you guys noticed that Jude has been calling the believers “beloved?” It’s because Jude has a great love for his fellow brothers and sisters in the faith just as we should also have a similar love towards each other.

Jude encourages his audience to build themselves up in faith and praying in the Spirit

When I read this the first time when studying for this sermon, I had to ask myself “What does this mean?”

To grow in faith and prayer is to simply draw closer to the Lord in your walk with Him. As Christians, we not only have a belief in Christ, but we also have a relationship with Him. For us to be growing in our faith is for us to:

be praying to Him, having conversation with Him (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”)

Learn God’s Word and apply it to our hearts (2 Tim. 3:16) because this is how God teaches us to walk in holiness, it’s how He talks back to us

(v. 21) Jude then tells his audience to keep themselves in the love of God as they wait for Jesus Christ’s mercy to come which leads to eternal life.

Again, what does this mean Mr. Jude?

So you guys know that when we are saved, we are forgiven of all of our sins, so that when God judges the whole world, which He is going to do someday. We don’t know when but it is coming. But we Christians know that we have nothing to fear in judgment because Jesus died on the cross for our sins and then rose from the grave three days later and then went up to sit at God’s right hand. When we stand before God and we have to take responsibility for everything we’ve said and done, Jesus will come in and say this one’s mine, Father, and we will be pardoned from our sins and will be given eternal life with Him.

Having said all of this, until that day which we should be excited for, we should be growing in our faith. We should be caring for others out of love for them, sharing the gospel like there’s no tomorrow, and living holy lives that say I live for Jesus.

If you are like myself and sometimes this idea gives you anxiety a great verse to remember is 1 John 4:17–18

1 John 4:17–18 ESV

By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

salvation in Christ gives us confidence that when we stand before God, we will be declared perfect in His eyes. Just wanted to throw this in for some of you who may struggle with this like I, myself, have.

(v. 22-23) Unfortunately though, we know there are those who are taking the gospel and corrupting it and trying to twist for their own gain, causing other Christians to stumble, so Jude tells us what we should do for those who are a part of that group of Christians who are following false gospels and false teachers. People who have become swept up into these false teachings

There are some really sneaky false teachings like, “listen to your heart” or “God will give you whatever you want”

He tells us to have mercy on those who doubt or are swept up into these false teachings

Then he says to save some by snatching them out of the fire. These are people who are not totally caught up into the teaching and can be convinced to leave it

and then to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Jude is saying here that there will be those who are so into this false teaching that they will refuse to leave it. Therefore, we need to not have anything to do with them because they will more than likely cause us to stumble.

It is dangerous to allow people into your community or be within someone else’s community who practice false doctrine

1 Corinthians 5:6 “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?”

This is an illustration Paul used for the Corinthian church to explain that like a ball of dough that is given just a little bit of leaven, the whole ball is worthless. God used this unleavened bread to show this in the OT

sock in coke Illustration

pour coke in a cup and let someone drink some of it. Take your sock off and put it in the coke and see if they want it after

likewise, we need to make sure that no false teachings can infiltrate or sneak in under our noses otherwise, it might spread.

Jude says that we shouldn’t even have anything to do with their clothing to show that we shouldn’t have anything to do with them.

Doxology (Praise) v.24-25

The last two verses of this book are referred to as a doxology or kind of like a hymn or song of praise.

Jude gives the Lord praise for His ability to keep His people through His Holy Spirit on track as they push towards eternity.

(v. 24) Something I think is really cool here is that we see that Jesus is excited to present His people before God the Father in judgment

It’s kind of like when you were younger, you would do these art projects and then show them to your parents because you were proud of what you made. That is a really dumbed down illustration of what Jesus desires to do in us and present us to the Lord but I think it captures it.

The Lord is always doing a work in us, teaching us to be holy, guiding us through conviction in our hearts. Romans 9:19-21 compares the Lord to a pot maker who forms the clay (us) to His liking and for His purposes.

Verse 24 says He will present us blameless before the Lord with great joy. That’s where we see that the Lord is excited to do this.

(v.25) Jude ends his book by declaring the Lord’s praise by declaring that all glory, majesty, dominion, and authority be given to the Lord for all time. Both now and forever.

Conclusion

I know you guys are probably still stuck on the whole sock thing, but I want to point you guys towards our take aways from tonight’s text

We need to know God’s Word in order to protect ourselves from false teachers.

We need to walk with the Lord in prayer and study of His Word and live it out.

We need to help others that might be caught up in false teachers while keeping ourselves pure.

We need to remember that Jesus is coming soon, so be ready.

If you are not ready for the Lord to return think about if you need to be saved. Have you given yourself to Jesus and placed your faith in Him?

Are you sharing the gospel and living for Him?