Nathan E. Lewis

Contend for the Faith
Jude 1-4
(written and preached by Nathan Lewis at Ascension PCA and Evergreen PCA in Beaverton, Oregon - audio sermons)

The Epistle of Jude is an urgent message to the church. Jude not only rallies the church to combat false teaching, but also presents merciful pastoral support of the church. As Dick Lucas writes, “The believers are to ‘contend’ for the truth, and the verb here is unusually strong. They are to ‘fight’ for the faith…. Jude, however, is no mere polemicist, spoiling for a fight, seeking any excuse for a controversy. He too has a pastor’s heart. It is wise to link verse 3 with verse 20a.” (3) calls us to contend for the faith and (20) calls us to have mercy toward restoration.
The author of the letter before us is Jude, a common name among the disciples, apostles, and the brothers of Jesus. We can find fine students of the word, like John Calvin and Thomas Manton, suggesting that the author of this epistle is the apostle, Jude. Most likely, as Richard Bauckham and Dick Lucas suggest, the author is one of the half-brothers of Jesus. Of the several men who bear the name of Judas or Jude in the Bible, the only one who has a brother by the name of James, is the half-brother of Jesus. Jude describes himself to be the brother of James, also a common name among the disciples, apostles and the family of Jesus. Jude’s brother is most likely, James the Just, the head of the Jerusalem Council, half-brother of Jesus.
Jude describes himself as a servant of Jesus Christ. If Jude is the half-brother of Jesus, why would he not cite this relationship? Dick Lucas calls it “attractive modesty” and “reverence for Jesus.” True to his style, Thomas Manton writes five pages pressing us to view ourselves first and foremost as servants of Christ. This informs us as we receive Jude’s warnings to contend for the faith and to show mercy to the doubting in the church. In offering such a balanced guarding of the peace and purity of the church we are serving Christ, not self, traditions, or culture, but Christ.
Jude addresses his letter to those who are called beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. Thus, The Epistle of Jude is one of the catholic or encyclical epistles, meaning that it was not written specifically to one church in the first century, but rather was a general letter circulated among many churches. His description of his audience aptly describes all members of the church: we are those whom God dearly loves and we are safely hidden in Christ Jesus.
Jude begins with a blessing, conferring upon the church the grace of God. Jude chooses to highlight the mercy, peace and love of God and he desires that these in great measure be given to the church. Jude understands that we need all of the mercy, peace and love we can get!
Jude tells his audience up front and most clearly the purpose of his writing. He introduces his purpose by expressing his wish to be writing for a different purpose. He would rather be writing about our common salvation. By the word “common” he does not mean vulgar or less desirable, but rather a communal or corporately held salvation. We all share in the same salvation through Jesus Christ. There are no degrees or levels of salvation, as my Great Aunt Dorothy taught, but all of us, no matter our status or progress in holiness, have been freely given the same salvation. Jude would rather write about so great a salvation, describing Christ’s work accomplished once for all and of the many benefits that flow to each and every one of us. But Jude is compelled to write toward a more pressing purpose: to appeal the church to contend for her faith.
There is a time to contend for our faith. We would rather bask in God’s love and enjoy the many benefits of our salvation. But there is a time to defend the faith. Jesus and his apostles have made it clear that the church is not to use the weapons of war but instead, we have only one sword, the very word of God. To contend for the faith means that we must take up the word of God, rightly interpret it and apply it to every area of life. We must contend against every false doctrine and practice that arises in the church. The ministers and elders of the church are charged to guard the flock.
There are those members of the church who are solely defined by their contending for the faith. They are wholly dedicated to apologetics and are rarely pleasant company. Must we continually contend for the faith? I’m afraid that the answer is “yes,” but this answer is qualified. The church must multi-task. We must be continually contending for the faith, but we must also rejoice in so great a salvation as we possess and show mercy unto restoration. We must maintain the peace and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Our worship must not be solely given to arguments for our most holy religion. Not every Bible study must be presented through the grid of heresies corrected. We must multi-task. At one and the same time, we must devote ourselves to caring for the orphan and the widow and at the same time dismantle dangerous and destructive ideas and practices. We must both encourage one another and censure the rebellious. A well-ordered church would share Jude’s sentiments: We would rather discuss the manifold blessings of our salvation, but we must also fight the good fight. We must fight against hatred and pride in each of our hearts but we must also fight the spread of heresies and illicit behavior.
At this point, many Christians must have stopped reading, closed their Bibles and launched a war against their non-Christian neighbors. In his letter, Jude does not appeal to us to dismantle the cults or to address the paganism of Portland. These might be worthy missions of the church, but Jude specifically writes appealing to us to contend for the faith within the church. The enemy is not always “out there.” Often we are the enemy! (My father is a Calvary Chapel pastor. Calvary Chapel’s founder, Chuck Smith is calling his fellow pastors to contend against Calvinism. My father called me recently to ask me to summarize the Five Points of Calvinism. In response to my plagiarizing of Thomas and Steele, he said, “I agree with all of those points.”)
John Calvin describes the enemy Jude has in mind as “an intestine evil.” Jude writes of an invasion of the church. Certain individuals have crept in unnoticed. Some present church traditions guard the gate closely, wary of anyone new, and making all members to live in constant fear of expressing any of their ideas as they grapple with God’s word. Jude is not endorsing such action leading occasionally to witch-hunts. The doors of the church stand wide open and we should make space for every voice to articulate what is being gleaned from the Holy Scriptures. (On Wednesdays I am teaching a class studying I Thessalonians, one section at 10:30 a.m. and another at 7:00 pm. As I have posted on Facebook, I am not only teaching the class but I am also learning much from its students. ) This space can only exist as the elders and ministers of the word fulfill their calling to clearly and boldly impart the whole counsel of God.
We know of congregations who think it wise to heap up a multitude of entrance qualifications to prevent anyone from joining, who would believe differently on every detail of doctrine. It is not uncommon in the American church for membership requirements to include adherence to one particular eschatological view. Many congregations insist on one particular method of education or political ideology. This is not the way to contend for the faith. We call members of the church to publicly profess faith in Christ and to vow commitment to the congregation, submitting to the elders of the church. We are a confessional church, holding to a rather lengthy Westminster Confession of Faith and companion documents to guide and to guard our doctrine. We allow ministers and members to take exception with certain points while subscribing to the system of doctrine contained. We ordain ministers and elders to follow Paul and Timothy in guarding our doctrine closely. We do not agree with the Emergent Church that “doctrine divides” and so, we must never appeal to a system of doctrine. Doctrine doesn’t divide; people divide. We are aware of the potential danger of any one, including ministers of the gospel, who use the word of God for their own benefit, spinning the doctrines of faith to mean, in some cases precisely the opposite of what is clearly their plain meaning within the context of the whole counsel of God. A person can take a fringe issue, an obscure point and exotic application and press it as if it were one of the pillar doctrines of grace.
Jude does not instruct us in this letter to adopt policies and methods that would prevent such people from joining us in the church. He simply says that they do arise within the four walls of the church and then he describes them to such a detail so that we might recognize them for who they are. At the conclusion of his brief letter, he does give to us actions to take, which are largely a call to our own perseverance in the faith, including the restoration of those who are compromised.
Let us look at his first descriptions of these infiltrators. Firstly, he writes that these people were designated long ago for this condemnation. In other words these people are not those who enter the church as genuine believers seeking the peace and purity of the church. Rather, they are people who have been working their divisive evil for a long time. Their evil behavior is pre-meditated and well honed, a personal history of destroying the church through false doctrine. Not in every case, but in many cases, such a character can be discerned early on. Secondly, these people are not of God and the tale-tell sign is their perversion of the gospel. They believe and teach others that the gospel gives us license to immorality. They reason that since the gospel is the message of God’s free grace, then we need not worry about our personal sin. As Paul wrote to the church at Rome: Should we sin that grace may abound? May it never be! These people would say, “It doesn’t matter if you sin. God doesn’t care if you sin.” The gospel is certainly the divine message that God has freed us from our sins, not only from its guilt, shame, and ultimate consequences but also from its power in controlling us unto evil. John Calvin writes: “Jude says that they abused the grace of God, so as to lead themselves and others to take an impure and profane liberty in sinning. But the grace of God has appeared for a far different purpose, even that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we may live soberly, righteously, and godly in this world.” Undoubtedly, Calvin believed he was contending for the faith as he did not stand in the way of the City Council of Geneva executing Servetus, who was clearly a destroyer of the gospel. Geneva’s problem is that it did not distinguish between the sword of the state and the sword of the church. Once again, the church has one sword, the word of God.
Along with this perversion of free grace, these people deny the authority and control of Jesus Christ in our lives and world. For them, Jesus is not “Master,” and “Lord.” These titles describe Jesus to be the blessed controller, the ruler of our lives. He does not rule in such a way that we would mock his death by continuing to sin or to scorn his resurrection by remaining in the death of rebellion. Over the years I have heard many a story of a person thrown out of the church or severely reprimanded for fringe convictions and opinions held, but few stories of people confronted in the church concerning their perversion of the gospel. To contend for the faith means the clear and regular proclamation of the gospel followed by the careful and continual application of the gospel to our lives. Once again, our elders are organized to help you apply the gospel to any part of your life you choose to share with them. In that application, we must be careful not to skew the gospel by insisting that our preferences of culture, tradition, or social prejudice be embraced. This is not contending for the faith, but contending for Self. When we operate this way, we allow the true heretics to lurk in our sanctuaries, whispering falsities about the Person of Christ and his glorious gospel. Let us take up the word of God and contend for the faith.

Relying on Their Dreams
Jude 5-11

Jude reminds us of what we already know. The Bible of 66 books is a large amount of literature to remember and our memories need to be regularly refreshed so that we behave in concert with the whole counsel of God. Jude places before us three Old Testament texts for our consideration as he instructs the church: The Exodus and Wilderness Wanderings of Israel; the fall of Lucifer and his angels; and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Firstly, Jude reminds us of that the narratives of God’s covenant with Israel include both his liberating them from Egypt and his destruction of the faithless.
Secondly, Jude reminds us that some of the angels usurped divine authority and so God is restraining them until the Final Day of Judgment when they shall receive the full punishment due their rebellion. Jude says that this delayed judgment is yet the same as the immediate judgment God unleashed upon Sodom and Gomorrah. These twin cities were among the more beautiful, opulent and civilized urban centers in the Fertile Crescent. Nevertheless, God destroyed them as punishment of their sexual immorality. Jude does not single out the homosexual behavior of these cities because Moses not does merely single out homosexuality, but instead describes not only the mob of homosexuals in Sodom but also the perversion of Lot in offering his two virgin daughters to the mob. Sexual immorality is both homosexual and heterosexual in the biblical view. Jude views both homosexual and heterosexual deviancy as unnatural desire. In saving Lot, God did not endorse his sinful behavior but chose to show him mercy for the sake of his promise to Abraham.
Having briefly reminded us of these three portions of the biblical text, Jude now writes in (8) his main sentence of the paragraph. Shocking to many of our moral grids, Jude likens false teachers who agitate the peace and purity of the church to rebellious Israelites, to usurping angels and to the Sodomites. As these have fallen under the wrath of God so shall these people who pervert the gospel to support their sensuality be condemned.
In (8) Jude describes the behavior of these agitators. Firstly, he describes their replacing divine authority with their own authority. He describes them as those relying on their dreams. Most of us have dreams of the future, hopes for a better life, aspirations for us and for our children. These are not the dreams of which Jude speaks. These enemies of the church are supplanting God’s word with their own ideas. As Thomas Manton preached:
“No man must be set up in God’s chair and their dictates followed as if they were infallible…. Observe that dreams of error dispose to practices of sin and uncleanness of body…. Errors are but a device to throw off Christ’s yoke, and to lull a conscience asleep in a course of disobedience.” These people have not only chosen to live according to their rebellious dreams, but they have attempted to sway the whole church to live according to their dreams. Homosexual and Heterosexual alike have replaced God’s word with their own dreams and then have sought to influence the church with their perverted gospel and practice.
In (8) Jude describes for us the direct connection between these rebellious dreams and illicit behavior. Richard Bauckham writes: “This is the first real hint that Jude’s opponents were guilty not simply of antinomian practice, but also of antinomian teaching, for which they claimed the authority of prophetic revelations.” (Antinomian means “against law.” The antinomian presents the gospel as a license to sin. This perversion of the gospel is usually presented as free grace but it is most certainly connected to lawless living.)
Jude lists three immoral actions of these people directly flowing from their dreams. The first is their defilement of the flesh. Thomas Manton writes: “Unlawful copulation is most defiling. It defiles that whole man but chiefly the body.” God has made us body and soul. He created us to be holy: body and soul. Christianity is not merely a set of propositions we may harbor in our minds as pure thoughts while we live impurely. What we think trickles down into how we behave. Our actions at times contradict what we believe and thus expose our failure to truly hold to the truth in our minds.
Secondly, Jude describes these people as those who reject authority. By relying on their dreams, they are intentionally suppressing the word of God. Those of us who have been taught to “Question Authority,” may do so, I suppose, through our discernment of any earthly authority. The difficulty is that God, the ultimate authority has revealed his presence, authority and control through mere human instruments and then he has placed us under the authority of mere human officers in every sphere. The difficulty is discerning whether or not a mere human being holding office is administering divine authority or human tyranny. But these people are not struggling with this cloudiness one bit. They have solved the messiness and any need for discernment by dismissing divine authority with all of its human officers and have declared their dreams to be the only authority for faith and practice.
Thirdly, Jude describes these people as those who blaspheme the glorious ones. Dick Lucas correctly sees this as a rejection of the Law of God delivered by angels. In Stephen’s sermon recorded in Acts 7, the final sentence is, “You received the Law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” Paul writes in Galatians 3:19 “Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels.” The author of Hebrews writes in (2:2) “the message declared by angels proved to be reliable.” These who rely upon their dreams consciously remove the direct line of authority not only flowing from God to us through mere human beings, but also they reject God sending his angelic messengers to deliver his authoritative word, especially the Law. And so, they blaspheme angels.
Jude supplies an illustration of proper respect for angels in (9). The archangel Michael modeled proper respect for angels even in his interaction with the devil, that notorious of all fallen angels. Michael did not combat the devil angel to angel. He did not thrust his obedience against the devil’s disobedience. Instead, he said to the devil: the Lord rebuke you. Michael appealed to divine authority. He had descended to earth to protect the body of Moses at the command of God. By divine authority Moses belongs body and soul to God and so God authoritatively sends Michael the archangel to dispute the devil, not in his own angelic authority but by virtue of divine authority. It would have been blasphemous for Michael to say to the devil: “I rebuke you. I am a good angel and your are a fallen angel and so I have more authority over this body than you do.” But this is what these dreamers have said: “We think and act according to our own authority.”
Think on Jesus Christ, who perfectly submits to the authority of his heavenly Father. This voluntary submission led him to the cross to receive the very wrath of God for our sins. At the cross Jesus did not dispute with the devil over our corpses, but amazingly became a corpse so that we might live.
In contrast, these dreamers expose themselves to be blasphemers. The irony is that these people, who usually present themselves in the church as those who are full of knowledge and experience, are as Jude says in (10) devoid of understanding. They don’t understand that to strip God of authority is to know nothing about the character and actions of God. As intriguing as animal instinct is with all of its complexities and mysteries, God has given humanity more than animal instinct. We can have hunches and gut reactions similar to animal instinct, but we can also think, reason, and discern. These people have reduced their God-given abilities to animal instinct.
Jude concludes with a few more reminders of the holy writ. He issues a warning to these opponents of the church. They have walked the way of Cain, who decided that he would be his own authority having found divine authority to be offensive to his pride. They have sought monetary gain like Balaam to curse Israel. They have perished in Korah’s rebellion. Dick Lucas sees a downward spiral in these three examples: “What started out as freethinking sin (Cain) and turned into an undermining weakness (Balaam), now becomes a full-scale revolt which ends in judgment.” Korah with his fellow levitical priests, Dathan, Abiram, and On became insolent and attempted a coup with 250 soldiers against Moses. They had a problem with authority. They accuse Moses of wielding undue authority over them. Moses called an assembly at which he announced that God would choose between the two factions. The earth opened and swallowed Korah and his cohorts.
When you reflect on such a swift and awful judgment, is your first thought, “How dare God do this?” If so, then you may have an authority problem. If your thoughts are, “O God, who has the right to punish my sin, please show mercy to me as you did to Lot and rescue me from the fire.” If you pray like this, then there is hope for you. As David wrote in Psalm 103: The Lord is slow to anger and plentiful in mercy. On the great and Final Day of Judgment, shall we rely on our dreams or throw ourselves upon the Lord Jesus, who has freed us from our dreams? Let us put our trust in the Lord, who laid down his life a ransom for many. Amen.

Hidden Reefs and Wild Waves
Jude 12-16

It is with great interest that we read this string of metaphors as we try to sharpen an image in our minds of these opponents of the church. In this brief epistle Jude has committed a good portion of it to the description of these dangerous infiltrators. His desire is that we would be able to recognize them before they harm the church. He also is seeking to prevent our hasty discipline of those who may be troublesome in the church but are certainly not these people who are enemies of God. Jude has carefully described these people as those who pervert the gospel toward license to sin, excusing their sensuality. He has also described them as those who have replaced the authoritative word of God with their own dreams. We are not to get riled up declaring anyone who disagrees with us on a point of doctrine to be an enemy of God and his church. If we dislike a fellow member of the church, we are not to get rid of him/her by false accusation, to hint that they are ones who have pre-mediated the demise of the peace and purity of the church. To his clear descriptions, Jude now adds these colorful and potent metaphors to round out the picture in our minds of these destructive people.
He describes them as hidden reefs. This metaphor supports the description in (4) of those who have crept in unnoticed. Beneath the calm, glistening surface of the ocean, sharp and stony coral reefs stand ready to shipwreck an unsuspecting pilot and his crew. We are not to think that these enemies keep a low profile. They disguise themselves with the calm waters of warm fellowship, ardent service, and regular attendance of worship. We may consider them to be model church members. But in a private conversation, they may say to one or more of us: “The 10 Commandments were for a former age. Today, we can follow our own consciences as long as we keep love in mind.” These particular enemies do not promote legalism, which perverts the gospel and thus destroys the church. Rather they promote the other extreme of antinomianism, also a perversion of the gospel and destroyer of the church. Such people exist in the church, in her membership and among her ministers. They prey on the fellowship and worship gatherings of the church. Dick Lucas observes the first century church gathered for a love feast at which a meal is shared along with the sharing of personal problems, requesting the congregation to pray. The enemy Jude has in mind is carefully listening to prayer requests to target his next victim. The word “love” in “love feasts” is “agape,” that self-sacrificial love of Christ. While the church is seeking to practice this self-sacrificial love, these hidden reefs are shepherds feeding themselves, acting to their own satisfaction.
Jude describes them as clouds, swept along by winds. This metaphor supports (8) where Jude describes them as those relying on their dreams. They have no foundation in the solid rock of God’s word. They are biblicaly, theologically and morally adrift, with no anchor of ecclesiastical accountability. These people are masters at participating in the church while alluding member to member accountability and submission to the elders.
Jude describes them as fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted. The gospel is fruitful as we welcome new converts to Christ and induct members into the church. The gospel is fruitful as we grow in righteousness liberated from our bondage to sin, released unto good works to the glory of Christ. Dick Lucas writes, “Judes is underlining the gap between promise and performance.” By writing that they are twice dead, Jude may be alluding to the “second death,” in John’s Apocalypse. In Revelation 2:2 we read, The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death. In (20:14) Then death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And in (21:8) As for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will bee in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.
When confronted by such terrible imagery, we not only soberly take note of the treachery of these enemies, but we also humbly and readily pray: “Lord of Heaven and Earth, may the death of Jesus be our only death and for his sake, who has spilled his blood for our atonement, spare us the second death.”
Jude describes these opponents of the church as waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame. Once again Jude supports what he has written in (4). These are ungodly people who pervert the gospel. They work hard to present themselves as godly but it is a cover-up. We observe them with the same interest and enamor as we would the crashing Oregon Coast in the winter. But if we gaze intently, we notice the scummy foam of winter lingering on the sand. A discerning gaze will detect their shame. Jude describes them as wandering stars for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. They appear to us as glimmering models of an informed spiritual maturity, but in the end their borrowed light will be snuffed out by the Light of the world, the Judge of the last day.
Jude then quotes from the apocryphal book, Enoch I, attributed to the prophet described by Moses in Genesis as the one who walked with God and was not because God took him. In the book, Enoch I, Jude’s quote is found with the one change: Jude writes ten thousand while the book writes ten million. Jude is clearly interested in the angels and believes that angels are of great importance to the human experience. Angels are so inseparably connected to the mission of God and so our view and treatment of them are of importance. The judgment coming upon these destroyers of the church is administered by the Lord accompanied by his angels. Jude’s quote from Enoch I also captures Jude’s attention as he is intent upon making absolutely clear the true character of these people: this brief quote includes the word “ungodly” four times!
Finally, Jude adds to his metaphors a summation of the behavior of these people. We may think that their sensuality would be readily visible, but Jude tells us to look for earlier indicators. Firstly, they are grumblers. They are unhappy in the church. They do not love the peace of the church. While we may not be enemies of the church, we can stoop to grumbling in the church and so when we discover that such behavior describes enemies of God, we are quick to rid our speech of grumbling. Our congregation over 17 years has been home to a few grumblers. I doubt that any of them are those of whom Jude warns us, but nonetheless, grumbling is never productive but only divisive. This description of the enemies of the church gives us pause to be introspective. Remember the disciples who argued amongst themselves as to who was the greatest, often grumbling and missing the purpose of Jesus’ mission. But at the Last Supper, when Jesus said, “This very night one of you will be betray me.” Then, each disciple said, “Is it I, Lord? Is it I who will betray you?” They thought first of their own failure rather than accusing others.
Secondly, they are malcontents. A malcontent is always participating but never owning. A malcontent is forever taking issue, criticizing, expressing dissatisfaction and disapproval, all in the guise of reforming the church. But a malcontent has by definition separated himself from the church. In the end and through all his misery, he is destroying the peace and purity of the church.
Thirdly, they are those who are following their own desires. Jude has already made this point clearly. Once again, all of us must be diligent to humbly serve one another and thus serve Christ in the church. The church does not merely exist to serve us. We are lovingly served in the church as we serve others. Fourthly, they are loud-mouthed boasters. These enemies will publicly speak of the good they are doing, and they often take credit for good works they have not done. They pose as promoters of the gospel and its fruits in the church, but they are spiritual thieves, proudly claiming that what they stolen is truly a work of their own hands.
Finally, they show favoritism to gain advantage. These people work the church, gaining supporters by indulging others with compliments, gifts, and the hiding of mutual sins. They will feign friendship with those they believe can be duped into thinking that they are not enemies but saviors.
How do we protect the church from such enemies? Luther said, “heresy can never be prevented by force… heresy is a spiritual matter which no iron can strike, no fire burn, no water drown.” The most effective way for us to maintain the peace and purity of the church is to apply the gospel to our individual and corporate lives. As we read Jude’s description of these destroyers of the church – grumblers, malcontents, indulgers, and boasters, we must search our hearts and check our behavior.
The gospel frees us from all of these sins, which accompany the enemies of the church. Christ died for our grumbling. In our place Jesus died upon the cross so that we might be transformed from malcontents to disciples, who humbly and fruitfully follow him. Christ’s death liberates us from self-desire unto self-sacrificing love. Our redemption silences our boasting but for our boasting in Jesus Christ, to whom all glory and honor and dominion belongs! The gospel is the message of God, who does not show favoritism but instead has sent his Son to die for our advantage. Let us rejoice in so great a salvation. Let us be wary of our own propensity to slip into destructive sin and let us keep vigilance toward the peace and purity of the church. Amen.

Remember the Predictions and Show Mercy
Jude 17-25

Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, humbly appeals (17) to apostolic authority in support of his epistle. He has issued an urgent warning to the church and he places it within the context of the apostles’ predictions: “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” Jude has thoroughly described these enemies of the church who seek to destroy its peace and purity by perverting the gospel. In (19) he supplies us with three final descriptions. These infiltrators are those who, 1) cause divisions, 2) are worldly people and 3) devoid of the Spirit. Jude thus describes their behavior, their worldview and then their spiritual condition.
As his half-brother said, “By their fruits you shall know them.” Not everyone who causes division in the church is an enemy of God devoid of his Spirit. Both Jesus and Jude supply us with a test, useful not only in spotting enemies of the church, but as a self- assessment. Any number of us has the potential of destroying the peace and purity of the church at some level and so, we who are filled with the Spirit regularly check our behavior against anything that might lead others to describe us as divisive, worldly, devoid of the Spirit.
In (20-23) Jude instructs us to behave in contrast to these enemies of the church. “But you, beloved!” We, who are loved by God ought to live in sharp contrast to these who hate God and pervert his gospel. Jude writes four commands: (21) Keep yourselves in the love of God; (22) Have mercy on those who doubt; (23) Save others; and, Show mercy.
Firstly, we are to keep ourselves in the love of God. How are we to do so? Jude supplies us with three coaching tips. The first is building yourselves up in your most holy faith. The free gift of faith God supplies us is a dynamic faith. We can grow in faith and must work at it. We must be students of the Word of God. We must not only hide God’s Word in our minds, but also we must allow it to mold our hearts and inform our speech and behavior. Our faith is not only dynamic but it is holy, that is, an expression of divine holiness. A holy faith is focused upon Christ alone. It is a faith that compels us to imitate Christ.
The second coaching tip is praying in the Holy Spirit. This is not instructing us to pray in an angelic tongue or foreign language but rather, prayers offered in accordance with the infinite will of God. As the apostle Paul has taught us in the Epistle to the Romans, 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. We pray in our common language, expressing the desires of our hearts, discerning the will of God, and the Holy Spirit utters the groanings too deep for words in his infinite communion with the Father and the Son. He does not make us to audibly grown but rather, he groans, taking upon himself our longings, emotions, thoughts, and feelings, perfectly communicating them according to the supreme will of God. Through this amazing and mysterious interchange we call prayer, God not only listens to us, but intercedes for us, conforming our prayers to his will. Jesus had this process in mind when he said to his disciples, Ask anything in my name and it will be done.
The third coaching tip toward keeping ourselves in the love of God is waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus that leads to eternal life. This tip moves us to be patient, waiting for God’s precise timing of his innumerable expressions of love toward us. We not only wait for that great and Final Day when God shall put all things right, but also, day by day, we rest in God’s providence. As William Cowper wrote: God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform/ He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm/ Deep in unfathomable minds of never failing skill/ He treasures up his bright designs and works his sovereign will./ Fresh courage take, ye saints, the clouds you so much dread/ Are big with mercy and shall break with blessings on your head/ Judge not the Lord by feeble strength but trust him for his grace/ Behind a frowning providence he hides his smiling face./ His purposes shall ripen fast, unfolding every hour/ The bud may have a bitter taste but sweet will be the flower./ Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan his works in vain/God is his own interpreter and he will make it plain. Let us keep ourselves in the love of God. This is the first command toward ridding the church of those who would pervert the gospel and divide the church.
The second command is Have mercy on those who doubt. In our trials and sufferings we often doubt God and his gospel. These enemies of the church prey on our doubts and may even shame us for harboring and expressing doubts. But those of us who love the peace and purity of the church will make space for doubts expressed, showing mercy to those who grapple with the ultimate questions of pain and suffering in this world. If God is sovereign, why does he allow human treachery? If the gospel is true, then why do I continue to sin? Why am I a victim of other people’s pride and greed? We allow our fellow sisters and brothers to say, “I don’t feel God’s love right now.” Then, we find ways to be God’s expressions of love toward them. Not all doubting is an expression of hardened unbelief. We doubt as human beings filled with fears, confusion and weakness. C.S. Lewis, for many years practiced Atheism and then he put his faith in Christ. He experienced doubting as an Atheist and as a Christian. He wrote in Mere Christianity, 

”Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the whole thing looks improbable: but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable.” As we treat each other with mercy in the midst of our doubts, we protect the church from those who would seek to discourage us and to divide us.
The third command is Save others by snatching them out of the fire. Many of us who belong to Christ play with fire. We dally with our pet sins excusing them as insignificant and we are resistant toward those who would confront us in love. But the apostle James says, If any of you turn your brother from the error of his ways he will cover a multitude of sins. If we love the peace and purity of the church, then we will not fear this resistance, but instead confront one another. Those of us who watch the TV show, The Office, have cringed at the episode in which Michael, the manager, turns an office meeting into an intervention to help Meredith the drunk. This episode and our response exposes the aversion we have to snatching a loved one from the fire. The alternative, of course, is to ignore the problems of our fellow members and watch them slip into destructive habits. This creates a community into which an enemy of the church can creep in unnoticed to divide us.
The final command is to others show mercy with fear hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Some of our problems are dangerous not only to ourselves but to those who would get involved in rescuing us. We are to fear being dragged down into the abyss of sin. But even in these dangerous cases we are to show God’s mercy. Jude writes, show mercy with fear. Be on your guard but nevertheless, show mercy. We must be careful as we show mercy. Our sins not only stain our bodies and souls but they also stain anything we touch – our garments, our relationships, our work and our environments. Sin is sticky and contagious. A doctor or a nurse must make contact with contagion but does so with care making sure that he/she does not catch the disease being treated. In the church we must also be on our guard. In some cases this means that we must arrange for others, better qualified to help, to join us. I am not qualified to tackle every problem I see. One of you might have the experience or the skills necessary and so we must join together to show mercy. Together we provide the protection we desperately need to remain pure.
Jude concludes his epistle with the greatest of all keys to the peace and purity of the Church. These words have become the best known and loved words in his entire epistle: 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…. The church must keep her focus ever upon God. He is the one who keeps us from stumbling. We stumble in failing to protect the church from its enemies and we stumble as we practice petty sins that allow enemies to creep in unnoticed. But a congregation who reveres God shall not stumble. They who wait upon the Lord…shall mount up with wings as eagles…we shall run and not be weary, we shall walk and not faint.
It is God who presents us blameless. He does so by gathering us into his glorious presence, rejoicing over us. The prophet Zephaniah wrote: The Lord your God is in our midst – The Lord of Hosts who saves. He will renew you in his love. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy!” The Son of God, Jesus Christ is that Person of the Godhead who has specially presented us blameless before his heavenly Father. Jesus is filled with joy. The joy of Christ is the peaceful and pure church. We are his pure and spotless bride. We are the recipients of his finished work. We are the reason for his death. We are those who share in his resurrection. We are those who shall rise and follow him in his ascension to heaven. This God, as Paul wrote to Titus is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God our Savior. God has saved us through Jesus Christ. Jude’s language does not assign a lesser divinity or personhood to Jesus Christ, but perfectly unites him to the divinity and work of the Father in heaven.
The church rises today to worship God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All glory, majesty, dominion and authority belong to God at all times. As the church lives in the light of divine glory, marveling at the royalty of God, we escape human destruction. As the church views the whole world to be the kingdom of God and works to serve the One to whom all dominion belongs, we dismantle the evil plots of mere men. As we submit to divine authority the church maintains its peace and purity. To God, our Savior, though Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.