He cannot be your vision unless He be Lord of your heart. Is He Lord of your heart this day? And yet it is possible, in fact, probable, that there are times where even if the Lord is the Lord of your heart, that He's not your vision. Whether it be personally, because we are walking in sin and not according to the Spirit, seeking to please the flesh, and sometimes because of the strikes and the struggles of turmoil that we face in the world where God has placed us. The Apostle Jude has written concerning these things in the church as we continue to work our way through his words in this little letter. looking at verses 17-23 this morning, and this call to press on, persevere, stand firm in the faith. Not so much against the wickedness and the evil of the world that is against us, but these men who had crept in unawares. And Jude, to this point in this letter, had stressed and focused on the evil and the wickedness of these false teachers who called themselves apostles, determined themselves apostles, not God, taught what they considered to be truth, not God's truth. And it had begun to affect this early church shortly after the time of our Lord's death. Here, just like Peter did in 2 Peter, who also dedicated two entire chapters to the false teachers, the apostles. There's a change in tone. The pastor comes out. The concern that Jew and Peter both had for the people in the church. He calls them beloved. Beloved. Beloved of God. Beloved by God. Lovers of God. wonderful, pastoral, gracious concern that they be in the love of God together. Let us begin in verse 17. But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, in the last time there will be scoffers. following their own ungodly passions. It is these who cause divisions. Worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved..." There it is again, twice. "...but you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith. Pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt. Save others by snatching them out of the fire. To others, show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh." Here again, we see a stark contrast between the Beloved, twice, and these false apostles, these wicked evil, despicable, spotted, stained, corrupted men who had taken up, in some places, positions of influence in the Church of Christ. And hence we have the warning. The warning began by pointing out the characteristics and the marks and the ways and the methods of the false teachers. What they sought to accomplish. You see, their goal was to destroy, not the church, but the church as it existed. They wanted a church based upon their truth, their beliefs, their understanding. So these weren't men who occasionally fell into sin, whose doctrine occasionally went the wrong path. who occasionally might seek to influence others in doctrines that were not as important as the gospel. Men throughout the ages have fallen into sin in that way. But it's a much different thing when a person is in sin and is seeking to manipulate and cavort against and to bring all of these people onto their side. They have a purpose. And that is to take down the leadership of the church and become the leadership of the church. They do it knowingly. It is their purpose in life. And so both Peter and Jude in these letters, 2 Peter and Jude, point these men out and their goal and their purpose. But now, different from them, in stark contrast to them. We read these beautiful words from Jude. And there's two particular exhortations that he gives us, or gives the Beloved, both to who he's writing to in the letter and to those of us that are part of the Beloved today. The first is to remember. Remember. Now, of course, we know that we've been exhorted in other places in God's Word and encouraged to remember all of God's truth, all of God's teaching, all that God has accomplished through men throughout the history of the Scriptures, throughout the history of the world. And in particular, we've been reminded to remember apostolic truth, all that the apostles taught, given to us so that we may live lives worthy of the name of Christian. It is upon That foundation, we're told, the teaching of the apostles, not apart from Christ, but what Christ had instilled in them, that the church is being built up. Christ Himself being the cornerstone. But here in particular, there was a teaching addressed that was false concerning the return of the Lord. And both Peter and Jude dealt with it. The thought was like this. Jesus is not really coming again. It's been 90 years now. Well, in the case of Jude, 65 plus years perhaps. And Jesus hadn't come yet. And so Peter reminds us, they begin to ask the questions, where is He? You keep saying He's coming. These scoffers are questioning to the point where it affected their sanctification. To the point where they said, look, He's not coming again. You've misinterpreted everything that these men have taught. Christ died and set us free. So we can live however we want to live because He lived the law and fulfilled the law for us. And if He's not coming again, if there is no judgment, which these men were teaching, then why bother with obedience? You see the danger that these men were bringing? And so Jude reminds them to remember, he says, the predictions of the apostles. We might look at that word prediction and think, well, you know, a prediction is something that might or might not happen. Almost like a flip of the coin, I predict it may rain today. Well, I may have more certainty on some days that it may rain than others, especially in Alabama and Birmingham in the past few days. But we're not weathermen and the apostles were not predicting in that way. No, you could write in there literally the word prophesy. And they prophesied it because Christ Himself had given it to them. And here again, just like with the apostle Peter, we see this remembering that there will first be scoffers. They're coming. There's a certainty they will come, just as there's a certainty that Christ will come. That's the prediction. And they told you before it happened that they were going to come. Again, Christ had given them these words in Matthew 24. As He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately saying, Tell us when will these things be? What will be the sign of Your coming at the end of the age? And Jesus answered them, See that no one leads you astray. There's an implication here. That the moment that Christ left the earth, in between His ascension and His second coming, there is going to be people that would come trying to lead them astray. And Jesus says how they'll work. Many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ. And they will lead many astray. This isn't something that might happen. Jesus says, this is certainly going to take place. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. So when Jude writes these words to remember the predictions of the apostles, their predictions were not something that might happen, but they were things that would certainly come to pass and were in fact taking place In that very day. Else Jude would not have felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to write these words. He also says when they will come. In the last time. Peter used the phrase in the last days. Both are a reference to the time, again, of the church. We are living in that time. The time between the death there and resurrection and ascension of our Lord. all that was associated with His first coming and His second coming. During that entire time, scoffers will come. They will be part of those last days. John in 1 John 2.18 said, Children, it is the last hour. Again, using a different phrase concerning that time. And as you have heard, the Antichrist is coming. So now many antichrists have come. So in between the time of Jesus giving the words in Matthew 24, that many would come saying they were the Christ, and many false prophets would come, both leading people astray, by the time of John writing the first epistle of John, that was already happening. Whatever your eschatological belief is concerning the antichrist, you cannot read these words without Seeing John saying, many have already come, saying they're Christ. Many have come already. Therefore, we know it's the last hour. Again, John's not saying it's going to happen tomorrow. He's saying we're living in that time called the last days or the last time that both Jesus and the apostles predicted, prophesied. Jude, like Peter, also says how they will come in verses 19 and 20. Remember when we were looking at 2 Peter, I said we should remember that scoffers come scoffing. It's what they do. It's really all that they know to do. To mock and belittle and to scoff and to tear down and to bring division and turmoil and strife to the body of Christ. They can do nothing else. Their joy is found in misery. The misery of the church. They come scoffing. But here, Jude uses a little bit different phrase than Peter used. Following their own ungodly passions. Peter said simple desires. It's really the same idea. Make no mistake about it. These men come and creep in unawares, but they come very, very passionately. They are following the desires of their heart. When you're passionate about something, you want other people to have that same passion. You want them to have that same experience. You want them to be where you are in your belief at that moment in time. And sometimes our passions are right. But we have to remember The patience of the Lord. We can't expect, even in our passion for Christ, for everyone that we come around to be where we are in our walk with the Lord. We should be passionate for Christ, and we should have a passion in Christ. And we should long that our family members and our friends and our co-workers and those that we go to school with are where we are when we get excited about Christ. Remember what it took to get you there. Chances are it didn't happen overnight. And God has to bring people along day by day. Well, if that's true with the good intentions of a right place passion, It's the same truth with these ungodly, despicable, false teachers who are living according to their own ungodly passions. They want you to experience what they're experiencing. They don't realize it, but they're miserable. And misery loves what? Company. It's the work of their father, the devil. From the very beginning, Satan, once he was tossed out, once he was put out of heaven, once a place was prepared for him called hell, he wanted to bring as many people with him as he could. So what did he do? He started in the garden. And all of those whose father is the devil have the same approach today. Jude defines a little more clearly it is to live according, or the result of living according to these ungodly passions is. He says in verse 16, they cause divisions. Now we might read this as what they teach, their doctrine, brings division in the church. And that's true. They teach false doctrine. It's going to divide those who have the true doctrine. Right? But it's more than that here. It's not just their teaching that causes division. But the literal word in the Greek means that they separate themselves. That's what it means. They separate themselves. In other words, in causing division, we need to understand that Jude's intent here and the Greek's intent is they don't want to be a part of the church the way that it exists according to the Scriptures. They separate themselves. They want to bring people out with them. They want to bring as many people as they can. Now, you may ask, well, how in the world do people like that creep in on a workers? Well, sometimes it starts with they're no longer teachable. They've got a spirit that is against anything that the leadership of the church seeks to teach according to the truth of God. Not just against one person's teaching. Again, you may agree to disagree on certain things that I say concerning secondary issues and tertiary issues. That's not what we're talking about. What we're talking about is men who are digging in their heels against the plurality of the leadership of the church. And when the plurality even comes to them and says, stop, they don't stop. They continue to teach and to manipulate. and to try to bring people with them. They cease to be teachable. Well, why is that? Well, Jude says because they're worldly people who are devoid of the Spirit. Worldly people devoid of the Spirit. Again, worldly people is an unfortunate translation because the Greek word really means alive in the flesh. or physically alive. So you can interpret this, they separate themselves. There's division, but they do it willingly. They're the ones that are separating themselves. They understand that. And they're physically alive, but spiritually dead. Devoid of the Spirit. That worldly people was defined back in verse 16. They're grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires, loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. Again, just because they're spiritually dead, devoid of the Spirit, have no ability, because they don't have the Spirit, to interpret the truth rightly, that doesn't mean they're inactive physically. You've heard the same thing in Ephesians 2.1, where it says, you were dead in your trespasses and sins. That doesn't mean you were inactive. You were physically alive, participating in the desires and the passions of your flesh, chasing after your Father, who was the devil, until God, if you're in Christ, doesn't work. Same thing here. Worldly people, physically alive, spiritually dead, devoid of the Spirit. That's what it is for them to follow their own ungodly passions. And they seek to gain as many followers as they can. Again, Jude probably wrote this letter sometime around A.D. 60, 61, 62, maybe even up to 65. Before A.D. 70. when the great tribulation and the destruction of the temple took place. Some 30 years later, the revelation that's given to the Apostle John, in chapters 2 and 3, we read of the seven churches of Asia. Five of those churches, it's not a very pretty picture. In any way, shape, fashion, or form. The only reason I bring that up is it's easy to fall into the devil's trap. that I hear everything that you're saying, Pastor Todd. I hear everything that Jude was saying to his people, but not our church. Imagine being that first church. Three thousand people were saved when Peter preached that first sermon after Pentecost. They didn't have a building big enough to worship together. So all these house churches began to spring up. And we read later that many were being added to the church every single day. Oh, that we would have times like that again. And you may sit this morning thinking that will never happen again. Devil's trap. Don't ever say it can't happen. Imagine being a part of that early church and it's exploding. throughout all of Asia. It's going out into the Gentile world now. And now many, many thousands and thousands of people are coming to faith in Christ. And yet, early in the church, Peter writes a letter. Early in the church, Jude writes a letter. Not only can this happen in your church, it was already happening. And so may we heed these words from Jude today. We may think, not at Grace Covenant Baptist, beware of those who are not walking in the Spirit of Christ. We may think that a body of like-minded believers, this could never happen. Jesus said it would, and it has. So may we heed these words of warning from Jude as well. As part of the beloved, part of the beloved, may we remember the predictions of the apostles. That in the last times, scoffers will, have, and are here. We must remember. So how should the believer respond with this truth? They're coming. They're here. Jesus promised it. The apostles promised it. Do we just go home, lock our doors and crawl in the closet? Well, no, that's not what we do. How should the believer respond? And that's the second part of the text. Response. Remember and response. And Jude addresses us both personally, the individual believer, as well as corporately. But corporately, not in the sense of the entirety of the church, but how individual believers within the church should act towards one another. Now, I'll help clarify what that means. The first response we should have is this personal aspect in verses 20 and 21. Beloved, build yourselves up in the most holy faith. He begins with build yourselves up. That's a personal challenge. That's a personal exhortation to build yourselves up in the most holy faith. What does that mean? Well, in Colossians, Paul wrote these words. He wrote these words in the midst of the idea or the understanding that there would be men like this who would try to take your minds captive by their own philosophies. What he called empty deceit. And in Colossians 2.4, Paul said, I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. Paul's addressing the same type of issue. These had already entered into the church at Colossae. And there were men who were trying to delude believers with arguments that sounded great. Man, this is new stuff. We've never heard this before. He must be right. Plausible arguments. Paul says, whoa. Hold on a minute. I write these things in order that no one may delude you of plausible arguments. For though I am absent in the body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and firmness of your faith in Christ." There it is. Jude exhorts them, first and foremost, to respond to these wicked and evil imposters, to first build themselves up in the most holy faith. Paul writes it this way. firmness of your faith in Christ. Therefore, he says in Colossians 2.6, as you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. Rooted and built up in Him. And established in the faith. In other words, if you truly come to faith in Christ, there's roots that are put down. And those roots continue to go deeper And then as the roots go deeper, the tree comes up and the fruit is born. That's the picture of a person that's truly in Christ. And he says in Colossians 2.8, see to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition. You see, that's the only way these men can work. Human tradition, worldly desires, physical. according to the elemental spirits of the world, but not according to Christ. These men are ruthless. And Jude's exhortation, build yourselves up in the most holy faith, is simply an exhortation to keep looking to Christ. Keep remembering truth. Keep letting Him be your vision. Walk in Him. The author of Hebrews put it this way in Hebrews 10.35, Do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you've done the will of God, you may receive what is promised. For yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay. But my righteous one shall live by faith. How shall the righteous live? By the holy faith. Those words were originally written in the Old Testament. Paul quotes them on a few occasions. Here the author of Hebrews again. One of the most famous passages in Scriptures. The just shall live by faith. What is the context in the Old Testament when Habakkuk penned those words? In the midst of persecution. The people of God had been taken into captivity at the hands of the Babylonians. And God reminds Habakkuk. This is happening on my time schedule and according to my purpose. And even through the midst of all of that, in the midst of the captivity, in the midst of the wicked getting richer, the just will press on. They'll continue on. They'll live by faith. They'll persevere no matter how bad it gets. So personally, we're to build ourselves up in the most holy faith. Walk in faith. Christ is our vision. Secondly, he says, pray in the Holy Spirit. Now, Jude doesn't define what that means. But I think the idea here is the idea that we find in 1 John 5.14, where the Apostle John said, this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. To pray in the Spirit is not to just pray for anything that you want. Anything that you desire. The fast prophets could do that. They could pray for God to fulfill the evil passions of their own heart. That's not the point. To pray in the Spirit means to pray in accordance with the will of the Lord. To pray in accordance to the truth. To pray in accordance to the faith. And a man who asks by faith, Ask believing that God will accomplish it. To pray in the Holy Spirit means to pray for the will of God to be done in your life. So Jude says the first part of this response is to build yourself up in the most holy faith. Continue to walk in strength and courage and power and then pray. Pray in the Holy Spirit. Third, keep yourselves in the love of God, verse 21. What does it mean to keep yourselves in the love of God? Well, more often than not, when we see that phrase, love of God, it is always associated with obedience. Pray for the will of God, do the will of God. Obedience. Jesus said in John 14, I know you love me if you keep my commandments. That's a test of obedience. It's a test of love. I know you love me. You will keep my commandments. But the context in John 14 is this. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do. Jude says, build yourselves up in the most holy faith. Do the works of the Lord. Jesus says, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do. And greater works than these He will do, because I am going to the Father. Then in verse 13 of John 14, whatever you ask in My name, how are we to pray? In the Spirit. Jesus words it this way, whatever you ask in My name, this will I do, but that the Father may be glorified and the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. Then He says in verse 15, If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. Keep yourselves in the love of God. Keep yourselves in the love of God. It can't go by unnoticed here that Jesus Himself was talking about obeying the law and the need for the Spirit to obey that law. Jesus didn't come up with that. That was the Godhead's idea. In fact, it's the very heart of the New Covenant. God gave a covenant to an Old Testament people who He led out of the nation of Egypt. And that Old Covenant, there was a stipulation attached. If you obey, I will bless you. If you disobey, I will curse you. And what did the people of God say? We'll obey. We know from the rest of Scripture, not only did they not obey, But they didn't obey on the first day. And we know from the rest of Scripture that the old covenant had a fault. The fault was not God. Where did the fault lie? With them. With man. Who quickly said, we will obey, and didn't really think through this disobedience and curse part. God says, I will make a new Covenant. Twice. In Jeremiah 31, and then in Ezekiel 36. He says, I'll make a new covenant with them, not like the covenant I made with their fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. Not like that one. Why not like that one? Because there is that bilateral stipulation, if you obey. No, this will be totally different on some levels. He says, I'll give them a new covenant. And here's the content of that new covenant in both Jeremiah 31 and in Ezekiel 36. Jeremiah 31-33 said, I will put my law within them. I asked our kids in Sunday school this morning, prior to the new covenant, how had God given the law to the people? It was external, on tablets of stone. That was part of the old covenant. It had thought. God says, I will Write my law on their hearts. And then the covenant promise. I will be their God and they will be my people. That's why the writing of the law on the heart is essential. Because it immediately precedes the covenantal promise. That God would always be their God and they would always be His people. And how is that going to be established according to the new covenant? Obedience to the law. But that wasn't enough. He could have written the law in the heart of any man, and they still not obey. Because their hearts were hard. They had a heart of stone. He could have chiseled it in their heart, just like He chiseled it on that stone on the outside. So He gives another promise in the reiteration of the New Covenant in Ezekiel 36. He says in 36.27, I will put My Spirit within you. What did He say in Jeremiah 31? I will put My law within them. In Ezekiel 36, He'll put His Spirit within him. And cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to obey My rules. And you shall dwell in the land that I gave your fathers and you shall be My people and I will be your God. I didn't quote Ezekiel 36. I will take their heart of stone and give them heart of flesh, and put My Spirit within them." You cannot, dear friends, establish yourselves in the most holy faith. You cannot pray in the Holy Spirit unless this work of the New Covenant in Ezekiel, the work of regeneration, has been done in your own heart, and if that has been done in your own heart, He has placed His Spirit within you. He has placed His law within you. And He will make you obey His commandments. That's the promise associated with the New Covenant. Keep yourselves in the love of God. You can obey because He's given you everything you need to obey. He's given you both the law to obey and the Spirit to obey. And that's a work of grace. That's a work of grace. And then he closes this section of the personal aspect. Wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. In the context of them saying there is no second coming. There is no judgment for sin. He says wait. Wait. Long for the day of the Lord's return. Patiently wait that day of judgment. And while you wait, wait in the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. So he's come to full gamut. There is the promise of the Lord's return. There are those who are teaching it's not going to happen. You stand firm. It could happen before they died. It didn't. They were to stand firm. It could happen before we die. We don't know. Wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that waiting is an exhortation to wait in Christ. then the corporate aspect very quickly. In verses 22 and 23, he gives three different groups of people in the church that had been affected by these false prophets. He says in verse 22, have mercy on those who doubt. The first group of people, which again would be in the church and which we as individuals in the church are exhorted to have mercy towards and corporately as well, is toward those who are confused. They're not certain anymore. I mean, there's a time on day one when they bowed to need of Christ and they were certain of this, this, this, this and this. But now these new teachings have come along and these men who say they're apostles, so they must be right because They're teaching what they say is truth, and they're confused. Doubt sets in. That's the first group of people. It's kind of the best situation that exists outside of those who aren't walking with the Lord, with these apostles who had crept in, false apostles that had crept in unawares. He said, have mercy on them. Again, there's a pastoral side of this. Be patient. Speak the truth in love. You bring them back to Christ. They're teachable. You sit down with them and you open the Word of God. And if they really are of Christ, then the Spirit that also exists and resides in them, He'll bring them back. They'll know the truth. They'll realize at some point that what these men are teaching are going to send them to hell and they're going to go that route. So you're patient. Speaking truth? Yes. Slapping them on the head? Yes. But letting them know, you're in a dangerous place. You don't need to be confused. Here's what God says, you see. The second group of people are found in verse 23. These are more convinced. Not just confused, but they've been convinced by these men. And even there He says, save others by snatching them out of the fire. Some read this to say, helping them escape the flames of hell. There's certainly that part of it, but it's more of the idea that if you see a house burning down and you know somebody's inside, and you just stand at the curb and you make a few observations, well, the house is on fire. And there's somebody inside. If they don't come out, they're probably going to get burnt. They might even die. And they just walk away. No, what are you going to do? You're going to send a warning. You're going to yell, get out. You're going to call 911. You're going to do whatever you can so that person realizes they're in great danger. They may be asleep downstairs and smoke's filling the house and they don't realize upstairs is burning the house down. You're not just going to stand by oddly and hope they get out on their own. There's danger here. These people are not just confused. They've become convinced of what these people are teaching. And the church has to stand firm and say, you are on the road to hell. If you keep holding on to these things, these men are going to drag you all the way with them. Sound the warning. The house is on fire. Repent. And then the third group. are already corrupted. It's hard to know exactly what Jude means by these garments that have been stained by the flesh. Some would say that he's describing something that you can't say in the pulpit. That's how awful this is. And there's certainly that truth. Now, what even that means There's disagreement. I could give you what the thoughts are outside of it, but it's things that we would never think about coming into contact with. Never think about clothing ourselves with. Wrapping ourselves in. Here the idea is these who have already been corrupted. And yet even with them, Jude says have mercy. With fear. Here the idea is, yes, we are still to be light and salt. We are still to show mercy. We are still to be somehow in relation with these people. But understand this. These people are so corrupt that they stand much more a chance of influencing you than you do of influencing them. They have much more of a chance of corrupting you than you do of snatching them out of the fire. So this relationship's on a much different level than it would be with those who are confused and convinced. It's what our men talked about last Tuesday in our eclectic group. That we're not to be unequally yoked together with anything or anyone who are spiritually opposed to Christ. That doesn't mean we have absolutely nothing to do with them. What it does mean is we need to enter cautiously, fearfully, understanding that these are opposites. And we've got to understand that, yes, while we still are to pray for and have mercy upon a false apostle, even, who's seeking to destroy the church of Christ, we are still to carry the Gospel. We are still to try to influence with fear, trembling, understanding their wickedness in that regard. I close with the way that the Apostle Paul closed his letter to the Romans. I think it encapsulates this whole idea of the letter of Jude. In Romans 16-17, Paul wrote, I appeal to you, and again a pastoral term, brothers. I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught. Avoid them. Now again, Paul is not saying have nothing to do with them, but there may come a point where you've just got to step away. I'm not doing my soul any good. I'm not doing him any good. I've spoken the truth. He has heard it. And walk away. Don't let them influence you. And there is a time to wash your hands, dust off your heels, and walk away. Remember Jesus and the rich young ruler? Jesus let him go. There is that point. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, Paul says, but their own appetites. There it is. Their own ungodly passions. Their own worldly desires. And by smooth talk, and flattery. My challenge to you as a flock is don't think more highly of yourselves than you ought. Flattery means just what it means. If you play with fire long enough, it's going to sound good and feel good. Paul says, beware. They deceive the hearts of the naive. Friends, may we never be naive. to the evil, wicked intents of ungodly men. And may we always seek to be firm in the faith of Christ. Let's pray.