A Healthy Christian Series

Title: A Healthy Christian

Theme: To show that there are false teachers, but we must keep out self-healthy NJ and willing to help others.

Text: Jude 1:17 - 23

Transition:

You might say all of this one way or another is spiritually sick and theologically wrongheaded, and you would be right. So, what do you do? What is the answer? Jude would respond, “we need Godly wisdom for a healthy Christian,” and that is exactly what he gives us in vs. 17-23. His prescription for what spiritually ails us will revolve around 3 ideas: remember, remain and rescue.

I. Remember the words of our Lord. vs. 17-19

Jude 1:17 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: 18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. 19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

Jude’s letter shifts gears in v.17, signaled by the word “beloved” (v 3, 17, 20). Jude moves from the “these” of the false teachers (v.16) to the “you” of the believing community. The “you” is emphatic, and what follows is the first imperative in the letter, though 4 more will follow in rapid-fire succession.

Jude says “remember!” Remember what? Two important truths.

Beloved – remember that you are loved by God. Remember your love for God. Agape, unconditional love. We are loved by God.

1) The presence of false teachers is certain. vs. 17-18 “remember words of apostles”

By means of His apostles, our Lord (deity) Jesus (humanity) Christ (God’s Messiah, anointed one) had warned that false teachers would come. Indeed, they warned us that mockers (ESV, scoffer) would appear in the last times (eschatou).

- Jesus warns us in Matthew 7:15-23; 24:11, 14

- Paul warns us in Acts 20:29-30; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:1-9

- Peter warns us in 2 peter 2:1-3; 12-22

- John warns us in 1 John 2:18-23; 4:1-3

- and Jude warns us thru his whole letter.

Their presence is a confirmation of Scripture’s truth. We are living in the last times. As in actual times, 2000 years as is 2 days to the Lord. Also as time grows near.

Their presence is a certainty predicted by our Savior and His apostles.

2) The portrait of false teachers is clear. vs. 18-19

Jude provides a 4-fold picture of these wolves in sheep’s clothing, these diabolical masqueraders who manipulate and worm their way into our community of faith.

The portrait is not pretty.

a. They are mockers. v. 18 “scoffers” – make light of, joke and laugh at God’s ways and righteousness

Jude calls them mockers or scoffers. The NEB says they are “men who pour scorn on religion.” Peter says they scoffed at the reality of Jesus’ return (2 Pet. 3:4). Jude says they laugh at, sneer, make light of God’s holiness and moral perfection. They joke about God’s righteous character and have no reverence for His purity.

b. They are sensual. vs. 18-19 “walk according to ungodly lust”

Mocking God’s law and moral precepts, these men walk according to their own ungodly (6 times in Jude) lust. Echoing vs. 16, Jude adds that following after and being controlled by their lust, they pursue what is ungodly. They live on the earthly plane, not the heavenly.

- They are not spiritual but sensual.

- They are not spiritual but carnal.

- Lust is Lord. Selfish desire their sovereign dictator.

c. They are schismatic. v. 19 “cause divisions”

Satan loves to divide, rip and tear apart. These evil emissaries follow their master and cause divisions. Like Diotrephes in III John they promote and foster strife not unity. Lacking respect for spiritual leaders, making sport of moral conviction, lampooning theological distinctives, they can demolish in a day what took a decade to build.

Application: When you see such persons coming don’t let them in! When you see such persons within, get them out!

d. They are Spiritless. v. 19 “have no spirit” in contrast we are told to walk in the spirit

The last characteristic is the most telling and tragic. These persons are lost, unregenerate, they “do not have the Spirit” (NIV). Romans 8:9 says, “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His”. They claim Christ but do not know Him. They boast of the Spirit but their lives betray their confession. They are spiritual frauds, religious shams. As Titus 1:16 says, “they profess to know God, but they deny him by their works.”

Transition: The presence of false teachers is certain. The portrait of false teachers is clear.

Remember and never forget.

II. Keep in the Love of God. vs. 20-21

Jude 1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, Jude 1:21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life