Staying in love with Jesus
Jude
Introduction-
Would you would turn to the book of Jude. It is the book before Revelation. It is a one chapter book of the Bible packed with Christian principals.
It begins with an invocation (Call to order) “To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.
Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.” He is speaking and writing to believers!
The chapter ends with benediction- (Ending)“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy- to the only God our savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
If we would grasp the anointed message in the invocation and the doxology it would be enough! But between the beginning and the end- he puts a series of sermons to all those that call themselves Christians and followers of Jesus.
He paints a picture to believers of the sin in the world, what the ungodly people will be facing in the time ahead.
Jude 3-16 Read from Bible
Prayer-
Father, we come this morning in the name of Jesus Christ. We see Jude’s heart in his letter that the perversion of this world is not a license for the immorality of God’s people. The perversion of his grace will one day come to a close and we as a sinful people will stand before a holy God.
May we be in a right relationship with you and allow you to be seen in each of our lives as we live out these last days.
Amen. Jesus. Amen. So be it Lord!
He paints doom for the unbelievers in the beginning but also paints a beautiful picture of a call to persevere (Read in a minute) in the lives of His people and the eternal blessings that are ahead for those that call upon and live their lives for Jesus.
To those of us who are not where we need to be, He gives a warning.
To believers, the greatest glory we can attain is to be of use to Jesus Christ. (Amen)
Illustration-
Must Go Faster” that is what Dr. Ian Malcolm, says in the iconic scene from the 1993 movie Jurassic Park as he and two other characters flee in a jeep from a rampaging tyrannosaurus. When the driver looks in the rearview mirror, he sees the raging reptiles jaw- right above the words “OBJECTS IN MIRROR MAY BE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR” he says “Must go faster”
If we are not careful, the monsters of life are right on our tail- it is why God’s Word gives us so many warnings that apart from Him (Jesus) we are in deep trouble.
Jude says-
“I felt compelled to write and urge you to “contend for the faith”- There are those that have slipped into your life and have caused you to secretly slip from where you need to be.
(5) “Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.”
(11) “Woe to them- “They have taken the way of Cain.”
Stern words to contend for the faith-
Warnings to remind you that God has always done what He said he would- brought his people out of Egypt, but expected them to follow Him, when they did not, he brought them under judgment.
They have taken the way of Cain
What is the way of Cain?
The way of Cain is evil, it is not good.
Cain killed his brother Abel
He is the first child of the fall of man-
Cain is an open and defiant sinner against God
The way of Cain is
The way of unbelief
The way of Apostasy
The way of worldliness
The way of Hatred
The way of God-defiance
It marked his doom and despair-
He was banished from God.
Jude tells us that they do not have to go by way of Cain- on this side of the cross we can go by way of Christ! Amen.
“To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ- Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.”
Remember the words from last week of Paul being told by the Lord “My grace is sufficient” –
God’s sufficient is more than enough.
His words here of God’s mercy, peace, in abundance-
Can you imagine what His abundance is?
His Mercy, His peace, His abundance-
When all the resources of heaven are opened up to those that have made Christ Lord of their lives
Somebody should be getting excited!
Jude, the brother of James, the servant of Jesus Christ… That is humbling, Jude is the brother of James, James is the brother of Jesus, so Jude is the brother of Jesus. But he is humbled to say a servant of Jesus.
They have the same mother but not the same Father biologically.
Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit into Mary
James, Jude, same mother but conceived by Joseph, the earthly Father.
He says there are three words that describe us as believers. (1) Called by God (2) Beloved In God (3) Kept in Jesus Christ
Called by God- summoned by God to a task, a duty, and a responsibility.
Beloved in God- Each man or women is called to be loved by God and to love others as God would love them.
Kept by Christ- Christians are never alone. Christ is our savior that watches over our lives.
He warns us that the day of His judgment is coming.
He calls believers to persevere and make a difference-
Jude:17-25 Read from Bible
He warns the godless people about their lives and then Calls God’s people about their lives to persevere-
Did you know that God does not call His people to a mediocre life?
He does not call His people to do what He Himself won’t give you the strength to do
I believe He also gave showed them ways to fall in love with Jesus- to stay in love with Jesus. That is where we will spend a minute this morning.
To fall in love with Jesus is to be in a right relationship that draws you closer to Him everyday.
Men you can be macho and still be in love with Jesus! You still can do manly things and still love the Lord!
That your day does not start without Him. Spending time with Him.
To those that are married- if you went days without talking to your spouse, it would not be long before there would be tension and a disconnect.
If you made decisions without making sure they were talked about, there would be problems in the relationship. The same is true with our relationship with the Lord.
Society as a whole is in a disconnect with God- the fast past life we live has created a fast food mentality. I will take a portion of this God and a portion of that and hold the surrender and put the daily on the side.
To contend for the faith is to battle everyday to make sure nothing is between you and your Lord.
Here are some ways-
Building ourselves up in holy faith (Things of God are precious and valuable to you )
We need that time alone with God/ where we can get honest/ where we can express our heartfelt needs.
We need to be reading His Word and allowing it to touch our lives everyday.
We need fellowship with like-minded believers to come along side of us and help us.
We need each other and we need the Lord to stay in the right relationship or it begins to slip away.
Remember what the apostles told you- there would be scoffers/ distractor of your faith.
Don’t you let them mock your God and take you where you do not want to do-
Don’t you let them distract you from what God is doing-
Don’t let them drain your faith-take you off track
Distraction is anything that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else
How many would say (don’t raise your hand) that your relationship with the Lord has suffered because we are too busy?
Too caught up in our situations and not our relationship?
I have had people tell me they are too busy to pray-you are never too busy to pray- if you are – you are too busy.
Contending for your faith and building yourself up in holy faith is making sure nothing gets between you and the Lord.
Building ourselves up in holy faith
Allow the power of God to be working in our life
(19) “These are the men who divide, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, build yourselves up. In your most holy faith and pray in the holy Spirit”
Life-changing-
The indwelling of His Spirit in a believer comes to a dead soul and brings life! (Titus 3:5)
The Holy Spirit confirms to a believer that He/ She belongs to the Lord and that they are heirs of Christ (Romans 8:15)
The Holy Spirit gives us natural talents, but also empowers us with supernatural fruit of the Spirit. (1Cor 2:12)
The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to read and understand God’s Word because He is the truth and reveals truth.
Our prayer life becomes stronger because the Holy Spirit intercedes even when we do not know what we should be praying. (Romans 8:16-27)
The surrendered life of a believer desires to do the work of the Lord in the power of the Lord.
The believer who is All in to the things of God is convicted of sin and quickly desires to please God more than they desire to please themselves.
The Holy Spirit seals the believer to the day of redemption, and we do not have to fear the day of judgment! Amen!
When we accept Christ as Lord, the Holy Spirit takes up residency in our heart and in our lives.
It is evident in our lives to those we come in contact with.
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Building ourselves up in the love of God is holiness at it best!
Keeping ourselves in the love of God and being in love with God- Two separate things… both needed.
Building ourselves up in faith
Allowing God’s power to work in our lives
And the last thing this morning…Being a servant.
These are the things that keep you in a right relationship with the Lord
Saving others from the fire (Servant)
“Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”
God calls each of us as believers to address others who doubt- who need persuasion in their questions of faith- That is why we are called to know what we believe and give an answer for what we believe.
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. (Rom 1:16)
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. (Rom 8:27)
“And we know that in all things God works for the good, of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (8:28)
Paul’s heart’s desire and prayer was to see people rescued and saved.
“That if they would confess with their mouth and believe in their heart, that Jesus Christ is Lord… they would be saved.”
Lord, that we could snatch them from the fire! We have a duty to be a servant of Christ and be sensitive to those we are around.
When the power of reclaiming the lost goes out of the church, the church stops being the church
There are those that have gone the wrong way- to stay in love with Jesus is to be a servant and have the heart of God for those that are on their way of perishing!
To save them from themselves .
Closing,
We say we love Jesus, but we have to be careful that we do not let people slip away without going after them in Christ
We must fight to keep our relationship with him fresh and new and daily draw close to him
When we are in that kind of relationship with the Lord, we will be sensitive to those around us.
Illustration-
Perhaps you have seen the flyer that says, so far today God, I’ve done alright. I have not gossiped, I haven’t lost my temper, I haven’t been grumpy or nasty or selfish. I‘m really glad of that. But in a few minutes God, I’m going to get out of bed, and from then on, I’m going to need your help.” Let that sink in a minute!
Illustration-
A city was having trouble with their bus system, buses were driving right past passengers at the bus stop, it caused quite a stir in the newspaper. The transit authorities decided to answer the problem in a press release and they said ”It is impossible for us to maintain our schedules if we are always having to stop and pick passengers up.”
That what’s happening! Don’t you lose your relationship and don’t lose your responsibility as a believer to those you come in contact with-
Seems funny… this week true story- I put the flag up on the mailbox at church because I had letters that needed to go out- the flag is still up, the letters still in the box and the mail thrown right on top. In a hurry to get done, we sometimes miss what we were intended to do so we can go faster-
In a hurry and miss what matters! What we were intended to do.
Prayer-
Father, help us to value our relationship with you- do not let anything get between us. Help us everyday to be sensitive to those that we come in contact with and allow us to be a witness in life and by investing in their lives. Someone invested in us. Help us to invest in someone. To make a difference and stay in love with you by our actions and by strengthening our relationship with you.
Amen.
