Contend for the Faith Jude

Mission Moment: Pastor Raju

Intro:

Who is this Jude?

He is more than just the named used in a famous Beatles song

Since the author of this epistle was the brother of James, this would make him the half brother of our Lord Jesus Christ (see Mark 6:3).

Our Lord’s brothers in the flesh did not believe in Him while He was ministering (John 7:5).

But after the Resurrection, James was converted (see 1 Cor. 15:7), and we have every reason to believe that Jude was also saved at that time.

Why did Jude write this letter?

To warn his readers that the apostates were already on the scene! Peter had prophesied that they would come, and his prophecy had been fulfilled

This letter is to challenge the church to contend for the faith

How do we do that?

You have to know the enemy and build your faith

Engage in the Battle vs. 1-4

To contend for the faith you have to engage in the battle

The word contend in vs. 3 means engage and be assertive

We need to Exert Some Effort into our faith

If we put little effort into our faith we will get run over by the world

Paul said this to the Philippians

Philippians 1:27 ESV

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,

Our manner of life needs to be worthy of the Gospel

That means we stand firm in the Faith striving with one another for the sake of the Gospel

In the 3rd installment of the Hobbit the king of the Hobbits has holed himself in the castle with all of the gold

Battles are raging outside the castle and people are begging him to engage because he and his men are the best warriors

He has to break the trance of all the gold to engage

It’s not until his men almost commit mutiny that he snaps out of it

They were built for battle and they wanted to engage

They finally blows the horns and the doors open and they come rushing out

The church has too many capable Christians not engaging because they are bound by money or other things

Ungodly Men Have Crept In

Know Your Enemy vs. 5-19

To contend for your faith you need to know your enemy

Jude points out three enemies who may go unnoticed

Before he gets to those unnoticed enemies he reminds us of three sets of people that God dealt with

First were the Jews who came out of Egypt but refused to believe

Second are the angels who intermarried with humans

Third were the people from Sodom and Gomorrah who gave themselves over to sexual immorality

God judged all three

Now there are three groups that are causing havoc in the church

vs. 8-11 Dreamers who Reject Authority

Dreamers is an interesting word

It refers to those who work in the prophetic

They were coming into the church and telling the people their dreams taking them as prophecy

When the leaders called them on their prophecies that didn’t come true they rejected their correction and authority

What’s worse is that they were guilty of sexual sin and didn’t accept correction

2 Peter 2:10 ESV

and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones,

This is rampant in the charismatic church today

Mike winger has spent the last several years calling out the coverup culture in the movement

He started with Benny Hinn, but has taken on Bill Johnson from Bethel and others for propping up prophets who were sexual deviants

vs. 12-15 Clouds without Water

The second group are what Jude calls Clouds without water

I think this is one of the best names in the Bible

Clouds serve all kinds of purposes but their main purpose is to bring rain

Clouds without water are people who come with great promise and don’t deliver anything

They talk a big game but have nothing

They serve only themselves

Philippians 3:18–19 ESV

For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

Beware of people who give of appearances of being powerful Christians but it is always about them

They are there for their own profit

vs. 16-19 Mockers who cause Division

2 Peter 3:3 ESV

knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.

Build Your Faith vs. 20-25

The final way we contend for the faith is to build our faith

I’m playing a game on my phone right now that I can’t even tell you the name of

It has something to do with killing zombies, which ironically doesn’t happen much

It’s really a game where you build your fortress strong enough so that when other fortresses who can’t find enough zombies start to attack you

If you are weaker than them they will defeat you

I will probably delete it soon out of boredom or I can’t grow without spending money

The joy I get out of the game is building my fortress

I literally rank last in my alliance in the number of kills

If Christians spent more time building their faith than attacking other people we would be impossible to defeat

Paul tells us that growth needs to go both up and down

Colossians 2:7 ESV

rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Jude offers some steps to take

vs. 20 Pray in the Spirit

Romans 8:26 ESV

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

vs. 21 Keep Yourself in the Love

vs. 22-23 Show Mercy

When you show love and mercy to people is prevents you from a waterless cloud