Persevere

Please turn to Jude. Jude 17-23

Today’s passage is practical and sobering.

a few years ago one of my favorite Christian leaders, thinkers, speakers, known worldwide for defending and articulating the Christian faith died. His name was Ravi Zacharias. I loved his books, podcasts, message.

but after his death, accusations came out against him of sexual abuse to several women, He used his fame, money, and power to cover it up, even spiritually manipulating these women as part of the physical abuse. What caused Ravi to live this double life? at one point he started in the Christian life well, but didn’t finish well; in fact, this had been going on for quite some time.

and it’s not just famous people we hear about like Ravi, but people we know. A former pastor I sat under his teaching is no longer as far as I can tell following Jesus, and yet during this person’s ministry, I admired them, learned from them.

There’s a lot at stake in this message.

Jude says in verse this in the context he is writing the church to:

Jude 4 NIV

4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

and because of that many of them, who may have started well are not finishing well in their life with Jesus.

Persevering with Jesus matters because our eternal lives are at stake!

all of us, if we are honest, face this pressure to give in. to backslide.

or to give up—theologians use the word apostasize..to fall away from Jesus.

and there’s different or root causes...of apostasy—

culture pressures us

suffering comes in—we lose loved ones or get a diagnosis that rocks us. life is just hard.

in Jude, false teachers come in.

how do we persevere with Jesus—how do we like Jude says vs. 3 contend for the faith!

please stand as I read verse 17 - 23.

let’s jump to verse 17.

Jude 17–23 NIV

17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. 20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. 22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

this idea of persevering or enduring with Jesus matters. before I explain how to persevere...let me place this idea of persevering with Jesus theologically..

Here are some key doctrinal statements about our faith with Jesus Christ:

We are saved from sin to God by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

this is amazing! We don’t earn it, or work for it; we can’t! only Jesus accomplished our right standing with God so we can be with God and enjoy Him forever. and we all said — “amen.” this is amazing grace! we celebrate every day and every week we gather for church. this can be salve for a weary soul.

however, (though we are saved by faith/grace/Christ alone...it is not a faith that remains alone. saving faith does not remain alone. Saving faith leads to good works that honor Jesus. faith leads to fruit.

so to summarize we are not saved BY good works but FOR good works. It’s amazing the difference a preposition can make. good works are not the basis or ground for our right stand with God. but the result. and if someone claims to be saved, yet their life hasn’t changed in any way for Jesus, we question if they really are saved (we don’t demand perfection)

and this leads to my final statement—True Christians will persevere to the end with Jesus (their death or He comes back). In other words, if you don’t persevere in your faith or walk with Jesus to the end, if you fall away...your eternity is at stake.

Hebrews 3:14 NIV

14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

Colossians 1:22–23 NIV

22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

so there’s a lot at stake...in fact vs. 23 Jude says snatch them from the fire—that’s an image that those who fall away are destined for eternity away from Jesus.

How to Persevere with Jesus

Remember Jesus’ words - (vs 17-19)

Jude 17–19 NIV

17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. (these are the special, appointed, delegates of Jesus) 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” btw—whenever the NT uses that language of last times or end times all the time in the later books. saying we are NOW in the last time. WHY? because acc. to God’s timetable—Jesus’ coming, death, resurrection, ascension, Holy Spirit coming—have happened. that started the last days, so the next big thing to happen is the return of Jesus. we have been in these last days for almost 2,000 years) 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

so Jude says—don’t be surprised if it’s hard to endure with Jesus b/c there are so many false teachers, scoffers who mock God, who mock your faith with Jesus, who mock Jesus. they will arise.

this has been going on for 2,000 years.

Jesus warned us. in fact, it reminds us that God is in control. He is not sweating this or bothered by it. Every time we are tempted by false teaching—to not follow Jesus—we should remember— “Oh yes—Jesus and his apostles warned us this would happen.” I shouldn’t be surprised. God is still in control.”

and the challenge is we face even more scoffers today—b/c of all our access to online information.

last week’s sermon on how we actually got the Bible, the biblical canon, the 66 books—I got more comments on that sermon than any I have ever received. many said, “I was just thinking about this,” Or I saw a 30 second internet reel that attacked and destroyed the credibility of the Bible.

false teaching is everywhere constantly influencing us—so we have to be on our guard.

I mentioned Ravi Zacharias before. several of the women he abused said that Ravi would justify his behavior with them b/c he claimed he was under a lot of stress and that doing this abuse was his reward from God.

Do you hear what Ravi is saying there? the false teaching he let in wasn’t necessarily intellectual—he was a brilliant man.

but heart wise. it’s the idea that “I deserve this… whatever this is....even if it is sin. God owes me. I have served so long, sacrificed so long for God, this marriage, family, job, God owes me.” can you relate?

these false messages creep in...they sneak in.

another message that creeps in—is that life should always be easy if I am following Jesus. God should always bless me—often defined materially. while it’s true that if we do have material blessings, they ultimately come from God, that’s not the pattern of Scripture. Even Jesus, faithful to the end, endured the worst death possible.

another common message that sneaks in—especially as you get older, maybe more jaded and cynical with life, people, and ministry, is just the temptation to take your foot of the gas; coast with life; coast with leadership; coast with ministry “I have put in my time....just cruising until retirement.” coasting in the Christian life is dangerous

another one—verse 19 mentions they follow mere natural instincts—and so culture tells us — follow what’s in here—listen to it, go after it. that’s so seducing isn’t it—-? be true to yourself....and it can feels so good to be true to ourselves. the problem is our hearts—ourselves are wicked and deceitful. we are so broken and sinful we desire the wrong things that don’t honor the Lord.

so remember—don’t be surprised if enduring is hard.

and be on your guard against all the obvious and subtle ways we let false teaching creep in.

that’s helps us persevere with Jesus by having a good defense. but we need a good offense. vs. 20-21 is offense

Keep yourselves in God’s love. (vs. 20-21)

Jude 20–21 NIV

20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

if you look closely at the grammar here—anybody ever have to diagram sentences—some of us are twitching thinking about that. some of us love grammar and how it all fits together. bless you.

the main verse in these 2 verses is in verse 21—keep yourselves in God’s love.

which is shocking—because it implies that we can take ourselves out of it. I don’t think God takes his love from us—but we can take ourselves out of it.

and then it is qualified by 3 ways—how do we keep ourselves in God’s love.

—building yourselves up in your most holy faith

—praying in the Holy Spirit

—waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life

try not to overthink these...

but building yourselves up in your most holy faith…

If you look at verse 3—we know what Jude is talking about:

Jude 3 NIV

3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.

so these are the core doctrines of Jesus and Christianity—the Gospel—the good news of Jesus Christ that we learned from the earliest time we are saved. The Gospel means good news that a holy God would rescue us from our sin and hell to Himself through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and is one day going to renew all of creation.

we go back to this again and again.

Building ourselves up reminds us that we have to go back to the Gospel again and again and again. It’s this idea that I try to say that not only do non-believers need the Gospel but you and I as Christians do.

so we build ourselves up in the Gospel—we spend regular times daily in the Word of God—which the Gospel is the center of it. we come back to the cross again and again.

helpful resource - on screen - Milton Vincent (on screen)

This sounds so basic and so simple and yet is so hard.

b/c....I think we crave new—keeping our foundation and the basics before us—is hard. this is why we can go down rabbit holes, conspiracy theories online, “deeper stuff.” when Jude says don’t forget the core, the basics, the simplicity of the cross. b/c if they remember it, they won’t take God’s grace for granted. God loved us so much He was glad to die for us and He had to die for us b/c that’s how serious sin is—so why would I take it for granted.

build yourselvesss up....

this is also communal—you don’t do this alone. be a part of a Sunday morning group/Sunday School class. be a part of a small group or Wednesday night ripple. get together with a buddy or 2 to read the Bible to spur each on. How are you building?

so keep yourselves in God’s love by rehearsing the Gospel, being in the Word, being in community in the Word...

vs. 20 praying in the Spirit....this is not extra special or extra spiritual prayer that only certain people can do.

Ephesians 6:18 NIV

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

we pray in the Spirit—when we have a regular rhythm of prayer—when we depend on God in prayer, when Jesus gets the glory. when we put on the armor of God piece by piece—which is the context of Ephesians 6:18. interestingly—if you look at Ephesians 6—the armor of God—the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, helmet of salvation, feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace—many commentators have noticed these are synonyms for the Gospel of Jesus Christ—that we have to put on—and I think we put them on through the Word and prayer. for example, “Father, help me to remember my righteousness is not my works but yours. help me to remember your Word is truth—not this world. help me to remember where my salvation comes—you, and propel me outward with the Gospel.

so build yourselves up...

praying...do you have a rhythm of prayer...

vs. 21—wait...wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring us to eternal life.

this means we are expectantly waiting for Jesus to return. this means our hope is not in this world, or building our own kingdom or wealth—but looking to Jesus.

I think we wait—not passively....

but expectantly.

it reminds us that this life will not be perfect until Jesus returns so don’t put our hope in it.

it reminds us that even though we work for good for Jesus—it will never be enough.

I am reminded frequently as a pastor—I remember meeting with a mentor of mine once and he said, “what’s wrong.” and I said, “I just want to pastor a church with no problems.” and he said - only in heaven or Jesus returns.

it was helpful b/c I was putting my hope to much in this earth, even in ministry...

so do we long for heaven? do we long for Jesus to return or are we caught up in this life?

so build yourselves up together...the Word

pray in the Spirit - prayer

looking forward—waiting for Jesus...

this all helps us persevere

I was thinking none of these should be surprising...but just think how difficult these are to do some of the basics.

this is true in our physical health—we know that we should eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, lose some weight—we know the basics of it? it’s not complicated?

great athletes have to constantly go back to the fundamentals of their game—in basketball—practicing your ball handling, shooting, passing, defense.

same is true spiritually—the daily habits of being in the Word of God and the Gospel in community, of praying, of looking forward to Jesus returning.

I suspect that in Ravi Zacharias’ life, if we could have had a window into his personal life—was he the kind of person that regularly was just in the Word of God and in prayer—abiding—just to grow with God—not for fame or ministry but God?

one of the reasons we fall is we stop reading our Bibles, praying, meeting together with other believers....they are not complicated...but if we neglect them, it’s much harder to endure with Jesus. and when you stop pursuing Jesus—it’s easy to start compromising with the world...often slowly...but surely.

would you take a moment and just think—how am I doing at these—am I pursuing the love of God in the Word, the Gospel, in prayer, in community—don’t overthink it? if not, what can I start?

if so, how can I continue?

I love how Hebrews 12:1-2

Hebrews 12:1–2 NIV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

maybe you need to read the book of Hebrews...which is all about this...

pause and pray...

Help doubters (vs. 22-23)

btw—did you notice Jude focuses on building ourselves up before helping others?

as we grow—we can help others...

and look at the 3 different types of groups

Jude 22 NIV

22 Be merciful to those who doubt;

that’s the first group...

this group from what we can tell was just beginning to be influenced by the false teachers. They hadn’t wandered all the way, but were starting to doubt their faith.

and Jude says show mercy.

Do you know anyone doubting their faith today? it’s tempting to dismiss, to judge, and think “I can’t believe you are doubting...” but Jude challenges us to be gentle, bring them along...just as you would.

the next group

Jude 23 NIV

23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

save others by snatching them from the fire....

then there is a 2nd group.

this group wasn’t just doubting their Christian faith—they were full blown on the path to walking away from Jesus—maybe they weren’t quite there yet—but close.

Jude says snatch them from the fire.

save them from hell. This is much stronger language—implying confront, urge, exhort, do whatever you can to bring help rescue them so they can repent. get involved. don’t be passive.

sometimes we justify ourselves not getting involved “who am I to judge or get involved.” “it’s messy.” “or I will have the pastor do it.” but if you notice this, and you especially have relational influence in their life, Jude would say get involved.

and the 3rd group...

“to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”

most likely another group even more heavily influenced by false teachers

still show mercy—-but have a healthy fear—first of God.

knowing that sin has defiled these people in big way

that image of hating the clothing stained by corrupted flesh—this image is to shock us in how polluting and defiling sin is.

it’s to warn us as we get close—be careful that we don’t fall into temptation and sin as we help them.

i think it’s getting at that often quoted to love the sinner but hate the sin. which is a delicate balance—as we help we show mercy, but we dare not get caught up in the sin. we also have to challenge.

as I reflecting on these 3 groups of doubters that we help...it’s remarkable nuanced. not every doubter needs the same prescription.

some simply need mercy, care, gentleness

some need someone to come along and shake up their football facemask—and say “what are you doing!” come on—follow Jesus with me!”

some need a combination of both...

and yet we have to watch ourselves as we help them, too.

and each doubter may have different reasons why they doubt—here in Jude—it’s false teachers.

One of my mentors in the faith—DA Carson says he asks doubters 3 questions:

what’s your reading been like?

in other words, if you saw an internet reel for 30 seconds that destroyed your faith, you only have a 30 second faith. you need to read and research tough questions.

another one he asks—if about their behavior—who have you been sleeping with or what have you been looking at online other than your spouse? this is getting at that sin can destroy faith and caused us to doubt.

and then he asks—when is the last time you have read your Bible and prayed?

so is there someone in your life who has backslidden...drifted..or full blown walked away? how might God be calling you to help them (yes you—not me) you! You can by the Spirit help.

I want to call the worship team forward.

I want to end by giving a preview for next week—that deals with a tension.

but I think we need this help.

if you only have this sermon today—you would think it all relies on us. and yes “we are called to take action.”

vs. 3 says contend for the faith - that’s intense effort.

so we are intentional to grow...

but it’s not all on us—as if it all depends on us.

we can do this b/c of verse 24-25

Jude 24–25 NIV

24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

you see I think this motivates us—as we keeps ourselves in God’s love—He keeps us, too. He will see us all the way to the end.

When to contend:

all the time...but as a church...

but when major doctrine is at stake in our lives (vs. 3-4)

major division (vs. 19)

sin is spreading and permeating through the whole community (1 Cor. 5)