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. 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. Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject
authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Jude 1:3-4, 8
NKJV
If
you recall, last week the subject we discussed was being faithful to the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. I’m not sure if I have mentioned this before, but one of the
more interesting things that has happened to me quite often in the past few
years is that after I post on Sunday I find that many others have written about
the exact same subject as I have. Now as
often as this has happened, I have come to the conclusion that this is not a
coincidence but rather the working of the Holy Spirit who is communicating what
concerns Him to all who will listen. This past week, it happened again as I heard
and read of others teaching about the state of the Church, and, for lack of a
better expression, the “dumbing down” of the gospel as more and more believers
choose to compromise on the laws God has clearly laid out for us to obey.
So this week the Holy Spirit led me back to the book of Jude, and an old teaching of mine
from a few years ago. Something I have often wondered when studying scripture,
especially the New Testament, is the possibility that the closer we get to the
book of Revelation, we are getting specific advice addressed to those who live
in the time closest to the fulfillment of those prophecies. Now understand, I
fully believe that as the Bible says; all scripture is “profitable”. But I
can't help but wonder as I read the book of Jude, which we find right before
the book of Revelation, is if Jude is speaking about the time which immediately
precedes the tribulation? Are we being told something we really need to hear
and understand? Is Jude describing what life will be like immediately before
Christ returns for His church?
In
his book, Jude warns us specifically that the time will come where the greatest
danger to the church will come not from the outside, where the danger has
historically been, but rather from the inside by way of those who profess to
believe but reject the authority of scripture.
I think Jude describes them well in verse eight where his description of
them shows they have a blatant, arrogant irreverence to the Word of God. As difficult as this might seem to many of
us, you don’t need to look very far at all to see this very thing happening all
around us today.
When
my children were small, I can remember times when I especially wanted to make a
point I would say something like “you really, really, really, need to listen to
me now!” Have you ever used that type of language to get someone's attention?
This is exactly what I thought of when I first read this verse from Jude. So as
always, the first thing I did was do a word search trying to understand exactly
what point Jude was trying to make here. The words that stood out to me were
“exhort” and “earnestly contend”.
exhort:
parakaleō... to beg, entreat, beseech,
earnestly
contend: epagōnizomai...two words,
epi and agōnizomai which used together means to take a deep breath, to
endeavour with strenuous zeal, strive: to obtain something.
Now
I don't know about you, but when I had to “exhort” my children to do something,
it was because whatever I asked them to do in a normal tone of voice wasn't
getting done. So the result was resorting to other methods of persuasion in
order to convince them of the necessity of performing the task given to them.
The subject in this passage is obviously sharing the gospel message with an
unbelieving world, and apparently we are being told that first of all, Jude had
to resort to “exhorting” believers to do this. What a sad commentary of the
times when believers for whatever reason need to be “begged” to share the
gospel!
I
think most of us understand that the natural reaction of the body before
attempting to perform a strenuous task is to take a deep breath. Unfortunately
for me, as I get older I notice myself taking deep breaths before doing just
about anything! But I think you understand what Jude is trying to say here. The
time has apparently come where sharing the gospel is a difficult, strenuous
undertaking, and believers are obviously becoming hesitant to share their faith
with an unbelieving world! So a situation has appeared where Jude must resort
to begging believers to perform their responsibility to share the gospel
because it has become a difficult, if not discouraging thing to try and do.
Now
more than ever, we see the world becoming hostile towards the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Rejection, scorn, and even persecution are the orders of the day when
trying to spread the good news. Many are becoming discouraged with all that
life is throwing at us right now, and how easy it is in circumstances like
these that we tend to retreat rather than press on. Jude gives all believers
what I would call an “attitude check” in this passage. What exactly is your
mindset right now as the world approaches the return of Christ for His Church?
Are the difficulties causing you to back off, or become more aggressive? God,
through His servant Jude, gives us the direction and advice we need as
believers living in these troubled times.
I think it is no coincidence that in the book of Revelation, the church
at Laodicea is described as "lukewarm". What a perfect description of a church that
believes you can compromise on the authority of scripture.
I
believe we as a body need to look in the mirror and examine our own faith by
asking three questions based on this message from Jude. One, do I submit to the Word of God? Two, do I respect the authority of
Scripture? Three, am I humble and
teachable? Our goal is to take a deep
breath and press on with the knowledge that very, very soon we will have our
reward. The easy path when confronted by those who would challenge the
authority of God’s Word is to compromise in order to avoid conflict and escape
persecution. The hardest part of the
race comes just before the finish line.
As we approach our deliverance from this world may we “contend
earnestly” in sharing the Word of God in love with those who would challenge
the authority of His Word.
Keep
watching.
