Week #9 Time to Contend Jude 1:17-23

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1 Week #9 Time to Contend Jude 1:17-23 I. Introduction and review A. Verse 3 of the Book of Jude admonishes us to earnestly contend for the faith B. After that Jude gives us no guidance as to how to do that, but instead, he seeks to help us to identify who these apostate teachers are and what they will be teaching C. How should we as believers, contend with these apostates, championing the truth of the Scriptures and opposing the apostate teaching Jude has described in his book up to now? D. Now in the following verses he will tell us what to do II. Our survival strategy when it comes to apostates [1:17-23] A. Do not consider what Jude has to say as merely a warning B. It also provides us with a plan of attack C. The first thing that Jude tells us to do is to develop discernment 1. That is to recognize the difference between truth and error 2. If you are going to contend earnestly for the faith, you must know what that faith is 3. The Scriptures make discernment a priority a. Prov. 2:3; 23:23; I Cor. 16:13; Phil. 1:9; Heb. 5:14; Rev. 2:2 b. II Cor. 11:1-4 c. I Thess. 5: We cannot be tolerant of error 5. Does that happen in the church today a. There are those who lack discernment b. And those that tolerate error D. There are at least six reasons why we have a lack of discernment in the church 1. We minimize the importance of doctrine in the church a. I don t particularly like teaching doctrinal studies b. I know doctrine, and so I am sure everyone else does c. Its hard to know what you don t know, or that you need to know it 2. The church has become less objective in its outlook a. At times embracing moral relativism and Scriptural subjectivity b. Instead of seeing truth in terms of black and white, it seems to be more gray to us 3. The church, in adopting its current evangelistic strategy, it has bypassed the Page 1 of 5

2 power of the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirits use of it, and gone for a more seeker (understand as sinner) friendly approach 4. Failure to properly study and interpret the Scriptures correctly and consistently 5. The general abandonment of church discipline in the evangelical church a. We don t confront sin b. And we don t confront heresy 6. A great void in spiritual maturity in the church E. Jude now provides us with some additional warnings about the nature of false teachers [1:17-19] 1. Notice first the pronoun you a. It is a pronoun of contradistinction b. That is in contrast to these men of which Jude has been consistently speaking, he now refers to his readers c. They are beloved, not here by Jude but by God 2. Jude then instructs us to listen to the teaching of the apostles a. Other apostles have warned the church about false teachers b. See Acts 20:29; I Tim. 4:1; II Tim 3:1-5; II Pet. 2:1-3 & II Jn. 1:7 3. Then Jude switches back to the apostates, but this time to the apostates in the last days or time a. Some understand the term the last times to mean the period between Christ s first and second coming b. Other understand it to mean some period shorter than that that occurs immediately before His second coming c. I am convinced that whichever meaning you elect to use it is referring to now 4. These apostates are mockers a. Is not mocking something that is done quite vociferously toward true Christians in our society b. Followers of their own ungodly lusts (1) this word refers to a lack of fear of God (2) because of their lack of fear, they feel free to do whatever their appetites dictate to them c. They cause divisions in the church (1) this word means to draw boundaries for the purpose of separating (2) they want to divide the church, separating for those who would oppose them d. They are worldly minded e. They are devoid of the Spirit (1) what spirit is Jude referring to (a) the spirit of the man that is the part of the man that gives him a God-consciousness Page 2 of 5

3 (b) or the Holy Spirit of God (2) I lean toward the spirit of God for the reason that these apostates are devoid of the Holy Spirit F. Now Jude uses the same pronoun structure to return to the true church and instruct them in what to do [1:20-23]: 1. Build yourselves up in the faith a. The word means to build upon or to build up from a certain point b. That would be to finish the structure whose foundation had already been laid c. The word translated as faith should be understood not to refer to that which is exercised by believers, but instead to speak of the Christian faith (1) What does that mean? 2. Praying in the Holy Spirit a. This is the mortar that allows one to build, referring to building upon the foundation of faith b. What does praying in the Holy Spirit really mean? c. We must come to understand that prayer is the one factor in the Christian life which activates all of the others d. The phrase in the Holy Spirit is locative of sphere e. That means that for prayer to be effective, it must be exercised in the sphere of the Holy Spirit f. In Rom. 8:26-27 we are told that: (1) the Spirit joins with us when we pray (2) He knows the mind of God and therefore can better direct us [Jn. 14:26; 15:26-27] (3) He can provide us with wisdom and knowledge from the Word [Eph. 1:15] (4) He enables us to approach the Father through the conduit of His son g. Jude is saying that the most effective prayer occurs when we are filled with the Spirit [Eph. 5:8] h. When we pray that way (1) He will lead us into the petitions we should make and (2) generate in us the faith necessary to bring our prayer into the realm of acceptable and answerable by God i. We pray by means of the Holy Spirit and in dependence on Him 3. Keeping yourselves in the love of God a. How do you do that? b. Keeping means to attend to carefully, or to guard with the idea of protecting c. We are to seek to stay within the sphere of our God s love Page 3 of 5

4 d. Or put another way stay within the circle of Christ s love for you e. If we build our faith on the foundation of salvation that our Lord has given to us f. And learn to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit g. Then you will keep themselves in a place where God can shower His love upon them h. And we will keep close to god and to His people 4. Waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ a. Waiting in other translations looking b. Waiting to give access to, to expect, to wait for c. This passage is clearly speaking of the believer looking for the return of his Lord to take him away 5. We should not pass by this passage without noticing that Jude has spoke of all three person in the Trinity in these few words, confirming both the reality of the Trinity and its individual members 6. Have mercy on the doubters a. Doubters diakri,nw diakrino {dee-ak-ree'-no} Meaning: 1) to separate, make a distinction, discriminate, to prefer 2) to learn by discrimination, to try, decide 2a) to determine, give judgment, decide a dispute 3) to withdraw from one, desert 4) to separate one's self in a hostile spirit, to oppose, strive with dispute, contend 5) to be at variance with one's self, hesitate, doubt b. Understand to mean those who hesitate or doubt c. Are these believers or unbelievers? d. They could be false teachers or their followers e. They may be believers in contrast to those referred to in verse 23 f. We must seek to encourage them in their unbelief 7. Save others a. Some may be snatched out of the fire b. Some may need to be shown mercy c. Even though we hate their sin d. And treat it as something repulsive G. What is Jude saying that we do to contend for the Faith? 1. Build ourselves up in the Faith a. Individually b. Corporately 2. Pray in the Spirit 3. Stay in the Love of our God 4. Be looking for His return 5. Have compassion on the weak 6. Evangelize the unsaved Page 4 of 5

5 III. 7. Hate sin Jude s Challenge 1. A strong defense depends on strong people 2. If the church is to stand against the heresies of the day and the false teachers who promote them, then we in the Church, must be strong 3. And those who are weak must be trained and built up a. Example of Top Gun b. Our best must help the rest Believer s Bible Class, and Douglas W. Brady Page 5 of 5