vv. 20-21. Personal holiness enjoined.

Yes, Church, there is evil in the world, and even right there in your congregation! You can’t ignore it, you must deal with it, but first, take care of your own spiritual walk. Don’t be distracted. And you will need to be in the love and power of God to do what needs to be done. Pray in the Holy Spirit seems to be the means of building ones’ self in the faith, per verse 20.

Paul prayed with the spirit and with the understanding. There is praying from a list, and praying from the depth of your soul with “groanings which cannot be uttered.” There is natural prayer and there is supernatural prayer. Some things you know about, some things, you have no clue. Clueless praying, yielding all to the Holy Spirit to pray through you, is what Jude is after here. This is no light matter that he is uncovering. God’s prayer people – and that is supposed to be all of us – must take it seriously. Ordinary intercession just will not do. Get in touch with God Who lives in you, find out what He is thinking, and pray accordingly.

But that’s not the end of the remedy for false teachers. Be sure that your own life measures up to the high standard that Jude produces in these few verses of his letter. Be sure you are not given to your self, that you are not a fleshly person, that you are bringing forth the fruit of the Spirit, specifically here the love of God. Be sure you are not a mocker in your heart of hearts, that you truly believe the basics of the faith, in particular the mercy God has shown and will show to the repentant.

Arm yourself with these attitudes before you approach a false prophet. Your anger and meanness will produce nothing. Flesh will not be able to combat flesh. Are you ready to show mercy, should one of these men repent? Or will you be content to score a verbal victory over them, and garner praises for yourself as some great “defender of the faith”? Will you fall into the trap of the church of Ephesus that was sound in doctrine but had left its love base? His last instructions, following, demand this sort of preparation.

vv. 22-23. Dealing with the ungodly in the church.

We’re confronted with a question when we consider these two verses. Has Jude changed the subject? He was talking all this time about evil men in the church, men whose destiny is certain, and not very positive.

Suddenly he is talking about compassion, and saving some. While we want to be open to the possibility that even the worst of false men may repent, to me it seems more likely that he is talking about the would-be followers of these men. And there are two categories in his mind.

Some are to be treated gently, carefully, even with pity. These are well-meaning folk, people who truly want to serve God with all their heart. They listen carefully to see if there is something more that God has for them. Unfortunately their ears are not trained to hear subtleties in teaching. Soul and spirit are joined still in their thinking. What seems spiritual to them is carnal to the trained believer, but they have not grown to the point where they can see this. The teachers are clever, and forceful, and make their followers feel they must certainly advance with them so as not to be left behind with the lukewarm. Sad, sad. Make a distinction with these. They are not in the same category as the ones that follow.

The others may have to be forcefully “pulled out” of their stupidity. They’ve stayed with the enemy teachers for so long that it looks like they are going to leave the church and cause others to do the same. They are being fed promises of power and glory in the church. They are being told that God has been waiting for them to take a stand, and that when they do, people will rally around them. Maybe even financial promises are being made. Save them! With fear, some translations add. Fear for their soul. Fear for your own if you are not obediently helping them. Godly fear must motivate you to do something quick. They are flirting with the fires of hell! Pull them out! Using that same picture image of a fire, he suggests that we despise hell’s flames so much that we do not want any of our people even having a smell of smoke on their clothing. Drag them away from the fire! They don’t know what they are doing. The smoke has gotten in their eyes. They are about to be deceived. Do something!

vv. 24-25. An ending praise.

Jude’s ending is magnificent. Yes, we must be negative now and then, but let us return to the main theme: God, the only wise God, Who is our Savior.

Notice he mentions a God Who is able to keep us from stumbling, that is falling into the trap being set by the false teachers of the letter. Not only will we not fall, we will continue on and be made perfect! Note also the joy ascribed to Jesus, the One Who is doing all of this leading. He will one day present us to the Father with a huge smile on His Blessed Face, and usher us into Eternal bliss.

Forgotten are the clouds without water, the blackness of darkness. Evil is here swallowed up in the joy of knowing and loving Jesus, and the love He has for us.

It seems that the Spirit takes over the letter with a double portion as Jude rises to the ecstasy of praise in the last verse. No comment is needed. Let us join him: