Sermon Tone Analysis

Big Idea

Tension: How do Christians keep the faith in a day where many are under God’s judgment?

Resolution: By remembering the prophecies about the last days, by remaining in God’s love through building themselves in the faith and prayer, and by reaching out wisely to those who are perishing.

Exegetical Idea: Christians keep the faith by remembering the prophecies about the last days, by remaining in God’s love through building themselves upin faith and prayer and waiting and by reaching out wisely to those who are perishing.

Theological Idea: Christians contend for the faith by remembering God’s promises, by remaining in God’s love, and by reaching out for God’s lost children.

Homiletical Idea: We contend for the faith by remembering God’s word, remaining in God’s love, and reaching out with God’s mercy.

Introduction

Well it’s good to be back with you all today as we continue our study of Jude.

A couple of weeks ago, we started this study by talking about this call to “contend for the faith.”

And we really emphasized that we contend for the faith because it protects us from faithlessness.

And then two weeks ago, we talked about God’s judgment on unbelievers.

And we really talked about what happens to those who are faithless, to those who don’t contend for the faith.

But, while we had given a few preliminery remarks, we didn’t really go into too much detail about how we contend for the faith.

Contend for the Faith

The Faith: So you’ll remember the word “the faith” from earlier.

And we talked about how when you are reading your Bible and you see the word “faith” with an article in front of it, that is probably referring to the general body of Christian teachings, to general summaries of Christian teachings.

And we see a number of these teachings throughout the New testametn, we see one in Titus, another in 1 Timothy, another in Philippians, even, arguably, in Matthew.

So there are a lot of these summaries of Christian doctrine throughout teh Bible.

Well, in the 1st century, some of these Christians got together, and they summarized “the faith” in what we today call the “Apostle’s Creed:”

I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born from the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, descended into hell, on the third day, he rose again from the dead, ascended to heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty, thence He will come to judge the living and the dead; I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy, universal Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the flesh, and eternal life.

Amen.

Contending for it: This teaching, the teaching of the church, the “apostle’s creed,” forms the framework for Christian belief.

And so Jude told us to “contend” for it.

Now, in Greek, there is this word, ἀγονιζω which is commonly translated as “fight,” like in 2 Timothy.

And It is where we get our English word “agonize.”

WEll, the word for “contend” in vs. 3 is an intensified form of ἀγονιζω, it is kind of like a “greatly agonzie” for the faith.

ANd it is commonly used to describe the athletic world.

So to contend for the faith, is to “train ourselves” in it.

It is to work hard, and labor and sweat and toil so that we might grow in the faith.

Like a football team does 2 a days, like a wrestler cuts weight to make his weight, like a nascar driver focuses himself and prepares himself for the fight, so we are to “contend” for the faith.

Contend, work hard, labor, toil, agonize for the faith.

Now, how do we do that?

Well, there are three big ways that Jude wants us to contend for the faith, three concrete actions that we can take to contend, to fight, to agonize.

Remember God’s Word

the first one is to “remember God’s word.”

Look at what it says here in vs. 17-19

Beloved: first, notice how Jude calls his listener’s the “beloved.”

Our minds are brought back up to vs. 1, to those whoare teh “beloved in God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.”

So Jude says those people whom the Father has chosen for himself, who he has called to himself, whom he has adopted by himself.

Here’s what we need to learn from this.

God’s word is for GOd’s people.

God speaks to his beloved.

says “my sheep hear my voive, and I know them, and they follow me.”

God has a word for his people.

Remember the predictions of the aposltes of our lord jesus Christ: Jude says, hey people of God, remember that the apostle’s spoke to you.

Remmeber their words.

remember the Scriptures of the apostles.

He says, “Hey Jesus Christ has sent messengers to you,” remember God’s speakjers, his messengers.

They spoke to you.

Now, that begs the question, who are the messengers?

They are the authors of Scripture.

they told us of the last days: He says, “Look they told us in the last days there will be scoffers following their own ungoldy passions.”

And here, Jude is not quoting a Scripture, so much as he is summarizing the prophecies and sweep of history.

He is summarizing this fact.

That from the very days of Cain and Abel until his time, and even until now, there has been the people of Cain, who have scoffed at God’s ways and they have followed after their own ungodly passions.

They have been driven by their temptations, by their immorality, by their desires for evil.”

Jude says, “Hey do not be surprised that the seed of the serpent is alive and well in our world today, isn’t that what teh SCriptures have told us?

The people who cuase divisons, are worldly, without the Spirit: He says, here is how you identify the scoffers following their own passions.

They are those who cause diviosn, that is, they are those who like to go into churches and split them, who like to cause disunity, who like to say, you are on my side or you are not.

THey are “worldly.”

They are those who are only concerned with teh things of the flesh.

They are those who are driven by the pursuit of the flesh.

THey are those who do not have the spirit, who are “devoid of him.”

They have not been born anew, regenerated by teh Spirit.

They don’t follow him.

they don’t obey him.

They don’t care about him.

The problem: Some people Panic: SO here is the problem that Jude is addressing.

He is talking to Christians, who are discouraged and frustrated because people are causing trouble in the church.

They are scared because there is so much evil in the world.

They are angry because people have done and said sinful things to them.

And Jude is addressing this panic, by basically saying, “Look, what did you expect?

Don’t you remember your Bible, don’t you remember the Scriptures?

Of course there are sinful people, causing problems, but Dopn’t you know who wins in the end?

The solution: Remembering God’s Word: Here is how you keep yourself from panic at all the evil in the world: you remember God’s word.

We should hold God’s word so near and dear to our hearts, that we become shaped by it.

We should be disciplined in reading it, so that we soak it up and we begin to ooze Scripture out of us.

SO that when we see evil, when we see wickedness, we can take heart because we know who wins in the end.

So, you have heard me talk about this before.

But I am just going to say, how can you remember God’s word if you don’t read it?

So if you’re not reading God’s word currently, it’s okay.

Here’s what I’m going to recommend, just sit down for about 15 minutes every day, and just read a chapter or two from teh Bible.

Probably start with the gospel of Mark.

And mayube as you sit down, just write down 2 or 3 things every day that sitck out to you, or a couple questions that you have.

And as you do that, as you regularly spend time in God’s word, over time, it will continue to increase, and grow, and multiply so that you cannot help it.

Just like if you water a little plant over time, it will need more water, so you and I as we pour scripture into ourselves, will continue to grow in our desire and hunger for God’s word.

The result: A faith in God: What reading God’s word will do is to put a confidence in our bones.

It will help us to understand all the evil and wickedness al around us.

But it will help us to trust in God.

Just as God rescued Lot from the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, just as God rescued Israel from Egypt, just as God rescued David from teh fists of Goliath, so God will rescue us from every evil in teh end.

Remember God’s word.

Remaining in God’s Love

Secondly, we remain in God’s love.

Keep yourselves in the love of God: Look right there in vs. 21, see wehre it says “keep yourselves in teh love of God,” that is, gramatically, the center of vs. 20-21.

It is the only true imperative, and so all teh commands around it get their force from it.

So all these other words define how we keep ourselves in teh love of God.

Now here by the love of God, I believe that he means the love which comes from God.

So Jude says here, keep yourselves in the love of God, stand steadfast there, grasp the rock of ages.Plant yourself like a tree in teh sun, like plug in a socket, like a vine on a tendril, into Christ.

Put yourselve in front of the places where you will experience all of God’s love and God’s grace and God’s mercy.

Who keeps who?