Building up with Mercy
Notes
Transcript
Over the last three weeks we have been looking at the warnings Jude gives us against the danger of false teachers, drifting from the faith, and apostasy.
As Jude concludes his intense letter, He doesn’t want to leave his audience in a state of alarm. Instead it is his desire to leave them with hope. So today we are going to look at the last few verses of this book and we will be asking the question where is the hope?
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.”
These people create divisions and are worldly, not having the Spirit.
But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life.
Have mercy on those who waver;
save others by snatching them from the fire; have mercy on others but with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy,
to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.
Understand the times in which we live.
Understand the times in which we live.
In other words, don’t be taken surprise by any of these things. recognize them for what they really are...the enemy attempting to distort the truth of God. But here is how you can remain in the truth by building yourselves up.
Now notice with me three really important words in verse 20.
Build, yourselves, holy
. these three words are going to define how we do the rest of this passage.
Build - means to build upon a foundation.
Yourselves - has the idea of together.
Holy - means separate.
So Jude is telling us
“Together build each other up the foundation of Christ by keeping separate your faith from all other teachings of men”
It is important that you see this. That...
The faith that we have been given is a faith that is exercised in the community of Christ. Not alone, but together.
The faith that we have been given is a faith that is exercised in the community of Christ. Not alone, but together.
According to pew research those who attend church weekly are far less likely to become religiously unaffiliated later in life.
In other words, your church participation is a fairly reliable predictor of your hearts posture toward faith in the future.
Your journey in Christ was not meant to be done solo.
If you attempt to do it this way, you have a much higher likelihood of abandoning your faith later in life.
Parents there is also a direct correlation between your church attendance and your children's attitude toward faith later on.
Maybe your in a situation where you realize that you made this mistake and your kids are now grown. It’s still not to late to correct it. Your adult kids are watching your example even now. Make your faith a priority now and you will be surprised how powerful that can still be in the life of your adult kid and/or grandkids.
but lets be honest, church attendance alone doesn’t necessarily mean that we are building each other up in the way that scripture describes.
In fact, if you are more of an attendee than a active contributor chances are you are not fully living out this command.
Attendee Vs. Contributor
Attendee comes but doesn’t engage with others.
Attendee may only see church as a means to encourage themselves instead of a way to minister and encourage others.
Contributor understands they are a vital part of the work God is doing
Contributor will engage in areas of service even if there is no direct benefit to themselves.
So Jude gives us a blue print for doing this very thing, for building each other up in the the faith by keeping ourselves in the love of God.
Keep yourself in the Love of God.
Keep yourself in the Love of God.
Here is one of those tension points in scripture. We know that we are kept by the grace of God for salvation, yet we commanded to keep ourselves in the love of God.
If we think of God’s love like a river we are to stay in its main flow. We are not to get pulled aside by every tributary of life. Yet even though we often go off course and end up out of the main flow we are still connected to the source of his love. But we are not fully living in the fullness of his perfect love.
If we think of God’s love like a river we are to stay in its main flow. We are not to get pulled aside by every tributary of life. Yet even though we often go off course and end up out of the main flow we are still connected to the source of his love. But we are not fully living in the fullness of his perfect love.
Look at this photo. Notice with me that often times sitting in the tributaries seems more peaceful and calm.
Living in the fullness of his love moves with purpose and destination while every tributary lacks movement and eventually dead ends.
I would say more often than not we sit in these shallow tributaries, we know intellectually that God loves us but we often barely sense its flow and movement in our lives.
I would say more often than not we sit in these shallow tributaries, we know intellectually that God loves us but we often barely sense its flow and movement in our lives.
So Jude tells us that there is this tension between God’s promises and mans responsibility to stay on the right course. We are to live in the spiritual disciplines that scripture commands. We are not saved, loved or kept by our works yet God seems to use both his grace and the efforts of man together to effect his eternal purposes.
It is God’s love that keep us, yet we have the responsibility to stay the course and live according to his love. It is this living in Gods love that defeats the power of false teachers and sin.
Listen to what Spurgeon said about this very thing.
When we do
Nothing can master a strong temper, a forceful will, an obstinate disposition, or a wayward heart, like the love of God. Even God’s law is but frail reed compared with God’s love, which is the rod of omnipotence. If the love of God be shed abroad in the heart the idols will soon depart, and the love of sin will take its flight, and the wickedness which you and I could not conquer without it will be driven out with this two-edged sword of the power of the love of God manifested in the soul.
C. H. Spurgeon, “God’s Prison, Warder, and Prisoner,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 59 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1913), 520.
So then how do we keep ourselves in the love of God so that we both experience His fullness and build each other up? Jude gives us four interconnected practices. Meaning we are not look at these as steps but rather
I. Praying in the Holy Spirit
I. Praying in the Holy Spirit
But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
“Praying in the Spirit means conducting prayer under the complete direction, motivation, and power of the Holy Spirit”
“Praying in the Spirit means conducting prayer under the complete direction, motivation, and power of the Holy Spirit”
You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
So in other words, praying in the Holy Spirit is aligning our desires with his will. In doing so our prayers will be directed by God’s word and his will.
2. Look expectantly toward Jesus return(mercy).
2. Look expectantly toward Jesus return(mercy).
I think sometimes when we read verses about the return of Christ and how we should eagerly await this day we attribute this to no more than a mental awareness that one day in the future that he is returning.
However, that is not the scriptural image given. To wait expectantly for Christ’s return means that we are preparing the way by our actions words and deeds. we are ordering our lives around the truth that he is returning.
We are to live each day like Jesus is coming back tomorrow.
If you believed Jesus was coming back tomorrow how would it change your today?
you wouldn’t worry about tomorrow.
You’d turn from your sin.
you wouldn’t have any fear about the future.
You’d boldly stand up against evil.
you would quickly forgive all those that had wronged you and seek to be forgiven of those you had wronged.
you’d be lasered focused on the mission with urgency
You’d stop waiting for the perfect time to have those difficult conversations with loved ones.
8. you’d have a real sense that your time is short and that every hour matters.
This is how we as believers are to live our everyday in eager expectation that Jesus is returning.
3. Give the mercy that we have been given.
3. Give the mercy that we have been given.
Have mercy on those who waver;
save others by snatching them from the fire; have mercy on others but with fear, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
Notice with me how the mercy that we have been given through the gospel parallels the mercy that we are to give others.
“have mercy on those who waiver” - God had mercy on us who had gone astray.
“have mercy on those who waiver” - God had mercy on us who had gone astray.
“Save others by snatching them from the fire” -God confronted us about the error of our way through the law, prophets and the gospel saving those who would believe.
“Save others by snatching them from the fire” -God confronted us about the error of our way through the law, prophets and the gospel saving those who would believe.
“Hating even the garments defiled by the flesh” - Jesus remained perfectly sinless .
“Hating even the garments defiled by the flesh” - Jesus remained perfectly sinless .
We who are in Christ we must strive for righteousness.
When is the last time you have truly been bothered by your sin?
Has the reality of the Gospel created in you a hatred for sin?
Does the reality of the gospel create in you a compassion(mercy) for those that are either living outside of the truth they know or they are truly outside of Christ?
Does the reality of the Gospel move you to action against sin and toward others that are in need of hearing the truth?
So we see that the mercy that Jude is referring to...
is not simply looking the other way or ignoring peoples sin but rather it is confronting each other in the same way Jesus confronts us and then encouraging each other with the reality of the gospels purpose.
But for those times for which you find that you are struggling with the weight and burden of sin in this world.
IV. Trust in the power of Jesus Christ
IV. Trust in the power of Jesus Christ
Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy,
to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.
It is these four interconnected disciplines that will keep us living in the main flow of God’s love. Remove even just one of them and we will end up in one tributary or another not estranged from His love but not experiencing its full movement. Not living in its full purpose, existing but not moving in the purposeful direction that he has called us into.
Not fully contending for the the faith once delivered.
