Jude: Don’t Stumble
Introduction
From the beginning of the Bible, all throughout the Bible, and even unto today, the children of God and the children of the serpent lived in the same place. Jesus gave a parable of how the wheat and the tares grow together until the last day (Matthew 13:36-43). Jude wrote this letter to help the church know the difference.
The Text
Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Summary of Text
In verse one, we see Jude wrote this letter. He is a slave of Jesus and brother of James. That means he was a half-brother of Jesus (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3). Like the apostle James, Jude didn’t believe Jesus was the Son of God until after the resurrection. Jude makes 8 references to the Old Testament era and lists 35 traits of the rebellious under judgment.
Jude writes this letter to an unknown church urging them to keep the faith and fight rebellion. The word “contend” in verse 3 means to exert intense effort on something. Think of building a four-story high wall without power tools and construction machinery. We put this work in to protect the faith that the apostles preserved for us. Each generation of Christian is tasked with protecting the faith. The success or failure of each generation is seen with how well the wall works. If the wall is tall, high, and has guards on top of it, then the faith is safe. But if the wall has a huge hole in it with a neon sign pointing to the hole that says, “free admission here” then the faith is under attack.
The faith once and for all delivered to the saints is also repeatedly attacked each generation. Under attack from whom? Jude directs his attack on those who “crept in unnoticed” in verse 4. Some people sneak into the community of the saints and try to lead them toward sinful behavior. Jude promises judgment for these people. He encourages the church to keep the faith.
Keep Watch
Watch out for destroyers of the faith. Jude says that their condemnation was ordained long ago.
They are licentious (v. 4). They see God’s grace as an excuse for sin. The sin they want to excuse could be anything. Wrath, theft, jealousy, laziness, sexual immorality. But the way they excuse it is all the same. They redefine words (next point). In the end, they always say things like, “God is love and you’re being unloving.”
They are grumblers, liars, and flatterers (v. 16). One aspect of a destroyer is they flatter with one side of their mouth and complain with the other. They are always nice and eager to hear your complaints as well. They never direct your grumbling to the cross, instead they add fuel to the fire.
They are fruitless (vv. 12-13). They are like clouds without water and trees without fruit. They say they’re a Christian. They know the Christian lingo. But they don’t grow in the faith. They live among the church (v. 4, 12). They are like a fake tree in a forest. At first glance it looks like they belong, but after close inspection, they’re nothing like the real deal. They still surrender to the same sin week after week. And they refuse to contribute to the community of the saints.
They are under judgement (vv. 5-7, 14-15). God promises to judge these destroyers of the faith like he destroyed Egypt, fallen angels, and Sodom. We know from Romans 1, that their licentiousness is evidence that God is punishing them. And they associate with churches so that maybe some Christians will go down with them.
Keep your Distance
I know of a church where the pastor inherited what the previous pastor did for decades. One of the big issues in this community is young couples living together before they get married, then after a few kids come along, they split. Some of those couples joined the church before the new pastor joined. I know the pastor and he’s been trying to teach the church on biblical marriage, unrepentant sin, and true conversion. He’s trying to snatch people out of the fire (verse 23), but they don’t want it. They say he’s intolerant for preaching on biblical marriage and he’s unloving for preaching repentance. This church wants to give up their faith so they can gain more followers.
Jude wrote this so we could learn from the wicked’s impending judgment. He wrote to “remind” us of how God handled sin in the past and how he will handle it in the future. God is not mocked. God judged Egypt, Canaan, and Sodom. What makes us think we’re any different?
Now, there’s a bunch more I could talk about from this letter: what does the “last time” mean in verse 18? What about the whole Michael and Satan fight in verse 9? But the entire point of this letter is to prepare Christians to keep the faith at all costs. And this is a point we’ve largely neglected to the point that we’re blind to it.
Jude promises we will be kept from stumbling (v. 24). But how? We are kept from stumbling because we are living stones built on Christ the corner stone (1 Peter 2:1-8). If we stay secured on the rock, then nothing can knock us down (Matthew 7:24-27). Jesus keeps His people from stumbling. But Jesus also stumbles everyone else. The same rock that secures us trips up everyone else. The kingdom of Christ is an army advancing over the entire earth. And the march of His army, the worship of His people, shakes the earth. Christ is shaking this entire earth so that what cannot be shaken will remain (Hebrews 12:27).
Keep the Faith
We should seek and save the lost. But we also shouldn’t be desperate for the lost. Most churches operate like they are only faithful if a whole bunch of people visit. Nothing gets church people more excited than visitors. We are willing to do just about anything to get more of them. Gaining visitors is not the same thing as saving souls. The only way souls get saved is if they don’t stumble on the cornerstone but are built up on it. We should want people to be uncomfortable in church as they repent of sin. Instead, we want them to be so comfortable they never live like a Christian. The faith we keep is the faith we share. Our problem is we’ve kept a fake, comfortable, unbiblical, powerless faith and have shared it with the lost.
What Jude instructs us to do is rather keep on trusting in Christ. If we keep the faith, we have something to share with the lost. In verse 22, the mercy we share with the doubting is none other than the mercy we have in Christ. But if we forsake Jesus, we have no mercy to share. So, if you want to comfort your grieving neighbor, begin with believing that the only true comfort they need is in Christ. They don’t need your cliches, stories, or pity. They need an unshakable foundation to rest on. Keep the faith.
Conclusion
Mary has a tight grip. When she holds my finger, she grabs it as tight as she can. But despite all her effort, she cannot hold herself on to me when I pick her up. Although as my child she holds on as much as she can, my holding on to her is what takes her where she needs to go. God expects His children to hold on him in the same way. He doesn’t expect us to save ourselves. He expects us to hold on tightly to the one who holds on tighter to us.