And as we start, let me ask a couple of questions…questions about sleeping? Who in here feels like you need more sleep? Who has ever fallen asleep while trying to watch a movie? or watching a football game? Who in here has ever fallen asleep in church?...(no hands, I really don’t want to know!) remember that I can see you from up here…
Now a more serious question: Who has ever fallen asleep at the wheel? Seriously, have you ever fallen asleep while driving? I have been close…it scared me silly. No one got hurt but it put the fear of God in me and I didn’t have any trouble staying awake the rest of the trip…fear proved to be a pretty good motivator. Have you ever driven to work and not remembered the drive? You weren’t physically asleep but you were completely checked out mentally. You got in the car and started driving and the next memory was walking across the parking lot at work…you honestly have no appreciable memory of the trip because you weren’t alert, you were on autopilot and slept your way to work.
Falling asleep while watching TV or at church…probably won’t get anyone killed. Falling asleep behind the wheel of a car can have DISASTROUS consequences. There are certain times when being asleep, being complacent, being unprepared can make a lot more mess than we can clean up…that’s why, from time to time we need to get a BIG LOUD WAKE UP CALL!!!! And that’s exactly what Jude does in his letter to the church. It’s a call to wake up because, as the church has been complacent, those who would distort and twist the faith have slipped into the church and the risk of shipwrecking the faith of many while destroying the church is a very real possibility! (1)
And I think that this is exceptionally relevant for us today. I believe that, for far too long, the church in America has been asleep at the wheel…driving with our eyes closed…and we have begun to see and feel the impact of that carelessness… So let’s look at how JUDE dealt with the issue at hand and how we can follow his example in CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH. He calls the church to get UP AND AT ‘EM in a effort to defend the faith. And I want to add that, The best way to defend the faith, is to know what you believe and to live like you believe it! That’s the ONE THING I want you to walk out of here with today…that THE POINT. the best way to defend the faith, is to know what you believe and to live like you believe it! Starting in the first verse, Jude set the tone:
Jude 1–2 (NKJV) Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
This Jude, who is the half-brother of Jesus, doesn’t identify himself as being related to Jesus (a name dropper), but not just as servant, more so as a slave of Jesus. Jude identifies himself with James, also the half-brother of Jesus and leader of the church in Jerusalem and writer of the book that bears his name.
"Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you" Jude sends greeting to those in the church, not just anyone in the church, but those who are saved: "To those who are called"
This letter was clearly written to those in the church, to Christians, to those who were truly saved. The single word “called” is extremely important.
The word does not mean someone who was invited to Jesus, but like a summon to appear before a King, an official request where refusal is not an option. This word is used on 11 times in the NT. This important because we need to see that our salvation begins in the very will of God, not in the heart of man. We cannot even approach Jesus, unless God calls us.
John 6:44 (NKJV) No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Herein lies the problem:
Matthew 22:14 (NKJV) “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Not many answer the call. Many are along for the ride, but never answer the call. (Hang on, more on this later). We do not come to Jesus because we choose to.
"sanctified by God the Father" Most other translations have loved, or beloved, by the Father. To be loved by God makes us holy, set aside for the purposes of God.
"preserved in Jesus Christ" We are being kept in and for Jesus. We, who called and beloved and sanctified by God, are secure in His hands and no one, even ourselves, can remove us from Him:
John 10:28–29 (NKJV) And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
It is clear, Jude is writing to the saved in the church. Notice how I said the saved in the church because the point that will be made is that not everyone in the church is saved. The fact that you have been dunked in the baptismal pool and your name on the membership rolls, does not guarantee salvation. Paul tells us to examine ourselves to see if we are really in the faith. Now for the purpose of this letter so carefully written to the saved one, the true saints in the church:
Jude 3 (NKJV) Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
Jude had desired to write a devotional about the sweeter side of salvation. We all love that. "When we all get to heaven, What a day of rejoicing that will be!" I love a nice “feel good” sermon about that. But like Jude, we need to sound the warning. Heresy is creeping into the church. False beliefs abound, and many are being shipwrecked in their faiths and the church being systematically destroyed. We must be on our guard.
"exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith" We must contend for the faith. That little word contend: The Greek word translated “contend,” when verbalized, sounds like our word agonizing. It possesses the idea of athletes who, in an effort to win, find themselves intensely struggling, competing, even fighting with all their might. Interestingly, the word also seems to attach itself to things that are intrinsically worthy of our full-attention and all-engaging effort. Or, as one Greek-English Lexicon puts it, “effort expended … in a noble cause.” (2)
A goodly portion of the NT is warning against false teachers. Jude is sounding the warning to a church that has fallen asleep at the wheel.
Jude 4a (NKJV) For certain men have crept in unnoticed,
There are those who will corrupt the Word of God. It is being done right under our noses. They has crept in un-noticed. Why, because Christians are asleep at the wheel. We’re asleep on guard duty and we allow the enemy to slip in unopposed. How is that? Because we Christians do not know the Word of God. The church is heading for a crashed of epic proportions. The word tells us clearly about this coming catastrophe:
1 Timothy 4:1 (NKJV) Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
Many so-called Christians are being converted to Mormonism, Jehovah witnesses and even Islam, why? Because they are being duped because they do not know what they believe.
How does a federal Treasury agent learn to spot a counterfeit dollar? They never study the counterfeit. They know the real thing forwards and backwards, inside and out. They know the real thing so well that when a counterfeit shows up, they will spot it instantly because it differs from the real thing.
Do we as Christians really know the real thing? This is how Jim Jones duped so many back in the 70’s.
Jude 4 (NKJV) For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
The word lewdness in the Greek, indicated extreme immorality. Lewdness means blatant immorality. The problem today is that there is so much blatant immorality all around that we are no longer shocked by it. Look around, listen to what the world says. It is ok to have sex outside of marriage, God gave me these cravings so it is ok. God gave us all the plants of the field for us to consume Marijuana is one such plant. God is love and since it is about love, and if two people really love each other who are you to tell me same sex marriage is wrong?
Whole denominations are being destroyed by these godless men. Also, there were those who say (and secretly we say it to ourselves) God will forgive me, His grace will cover me.
I will sin and God will forgive, that is how its works.
Romans 6:1–2 (NKJV) What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
Can you see the progression; can you see how it creeps in? Little by little we are pulled away. Like the frog in the pot of hot water.
But in the end, how can you tell these men? Often you have to look closely and ask pointed questions.
"and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ." In the world today, there are those in our culture that no longer hide their atheistic beliefs. They come out right and say they are offended when they hear the word God or anything that relates to the Holy. Many times you can mention the word “God” without much adverse reaction. But just mention the name of Jesus in public and look at who will reacts negatively. That fact is, many are offended by the name of Jesus. Others deny Jesus not by their words so much as by their actions:
Titus 1:16 (NKJV) They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.
Look around, many will spout out “Jesus” but the very actions deny Him. These men who have creep into the church are ungodly men. Another word for them are apostates. Those who have come in and tasted the goodness of God then fall for something else. They teach heresies. I come to this pulpit with fear and in trepidations. I work hard and study because when i say, "Thus saith the Lord" I want to be sure the Lord thus said it.
Galatians 1:8 (NKJV) But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
You see, it is not what I think or how I feel about it that matters. What does God’s word have to say? What does the scripture clearly teach and reveal with no man-made spin or silver tongue explaination? For these ungodly men, "who long ago were marked out for this condemnation" These are strong words. These who teach heresy and attempt to drag many astray, leading to condemnation with them. The judgment of the ungodly is certain because that is the way God has always worked in history as the examples in vv. 5–7 and v. 11 show. (3) I pray I’m not describing anyone here today.
None of this catches the Lord by surprise. This is the why of the warning:
Proverbs 16:4 (NKJV) The LORD has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.
Back to verse 3.
Jude 3 (NKJV) Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
Contend earnestly for the faith, for the truth about Jesus, about the truth of the Word of God. And what is that? the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
The word “faith” here does not mean a trust in God, though that is part of it. It is a used as a noun, the doctrine or set of teaching in which we believe. It is the Gospel, Faith here means the Truth. And the Truth has a name: His name is Jesus. Jesus is under attack in this world. And this truth that was handed down, once for all, There is no new truth. The Bible is complete and closed. Nothing to be added, nothing to be taken away. All the truth has been given/delivered/entrusted to the Saints.
If there is something new, it is not truth. If it is truth, then it is not new. It is complete, and we are holding it in our hands. And it was delivered, or entrusted to the Saints. And who are the Saints? Those that are called; loved and sanctified by God and preserved in Jesus. That be us. The faith, the Truth, is in our hands and we are to contend earnestly for it.
The church is always one generation short of extinction. If our generation fails to guard the truth and entrust it to our children, then that will be the end! When you think of the saints and martyrs who suffered and died so that we might have God’s truth, it makes you want to take your place in God’s army and be faithful unto death. (4)
We never fight the Lord’s battle from the rocking chair or the Lazy Boy. No one said this is an easy fight. The thing Jude is telling us is that battle is no fought from the bench; you have to get into the game. Where are you in the game? Or are we asleep at the wheel?
(1) https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/up-and-at-em-stephen-colaw-sermon-on-apologetics-general-128365?ref=SermonSerps
(2) David R. Helm, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude: Sharing Christ’s Sufferings, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008), 295.
(3) Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, vol. 37, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003), 438.
(4) Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 550.
