Jude concludes his letter today by speaking of the mercy of the Lord and the mercy we should show to each other.
First he makes a few final remarks about the ungodly. "But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, 'In the last time there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.' These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit." (Jude 1:17-19) No one should be surprised that the opposition to the Lord's truth becomes more intense as time goes on. We have been warned that in the last days "perilous times will come". (2 Timothy 3:1) These perilous times are brought about by the attitudes and actions of ungodly persons who will be "lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God". (2 Timothy 3:2-4)
Because believers have been warned about ungodly persons, we are to be on the alert for them, for some have "secretly slipped in". (Jude 1:4) Such people are "sleepers", who quietly join the church and go unnoticed at first but who gradually begin to influence others by introducing false or divisive doctrine.
The church can avoid being drawn into sin and heresy by remaining grounded on the truth of God's word and by keeping in close fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. "But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life." (Jude 1:20-21) Jude counsels his readers in the same way the Lord Jesus counseled the disciples, "Watch and pray." (Matthew 26:41) While we occupy ourselves with the study of God's word, with prayer, and with building our relationship with the Lord Jesus, we are to keep in mind that the Lord could come for us at any moment. We are living in the last days, and we've been living in the last days ever since Jesus ascended to the Father. Like a bridegroom of old, Jesus has gone to prepare a dwelling place for us. Like the father of the groom, when all is exactly right with the dwelling place, God will say to Jesus, "Son, go get Your bride." Like the bride of old who doesn't know what day the bridegroom will appear to take her home for the wedding, we (the church) are to be ready to go at any moment. If we live each day knowing we could hear the voice of our Bridegroom any second, we are going to be far less likely to fall into sin.
Christ has shown mercy to us. He called us out of darkness into light. He took our doubts and turned them into faith---a faith upon which we've staked our lives and our souls. We must remember where we came from and show mercy to those who aren't yet as strong in the faith as we are. "Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear---hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." (Jude 1:22-23) We have people sitting in our churches every Sunday who are plagued with doubts. They believe and they don't believe at the same time. We have to have patience with them while we encourage them in the faith. There are people all around us who are living far from the Lord and who are wallowing in sin. We must show mercy to them too, while taking care not to be influenced by them. This is why Jude says to be merciful but to let our mercy be mixed with fear. He knows that when trying to pull a person out of the mire of sin, there is a danger of splattering some of the mud on ourselves or---worse yet---falling into the mire along with the person we are trying to rescue. The Apostle Paul gave the same warning in his letter to the Galatians, "Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you may also be tempted." (Galatians 6:1)
Jude closes his letter by giving honor and praise to the Lord. "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." (Jude 1:24-25) He says, "Thanks be to the Lord who saved us and is able to keep us saved. All the praise and glory belongs to Him, to the Savior who existed before the world began, who has redeemed us and who still is performing His redemptive work in us, and who lives forever to be our King and Lord!" When the Lord Jesus appears to the Apostle John and gives him the information that became the Book of Revelation, He will call Himself the One "who was, and is, and is to come". (Revelation 1:8) He has always existed. He exists now. He always will exist. One who holds such "glory, majesty, power and authority" can not only save us, but can also keep us saved. Jude has had to talk about some scary subjects with his readers because the devil has decided the only way to beat the church is to join it. But the Lord Jesus has already promised that the devil will never beat the church. (Matthew 16:18b) And we don't have to worry that the devil will beat us personally either, for the One who gave His life for us and who conquered the grave is able to keep us saved and to present us to Himself, as Jude says, "without fault and with great joy".
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