Jude pt 4 - The Last Word

For the last few weeks, we have been going through the book of Jude, a small book at the end of the New Testament. We have been talking a lot about false teachers. Today, we are going to discuss how we should respond as we see these things in the church.

Good morning! Your eyes are not playing tricks on you; it's okay, don't be scared. I did not lose a bet, but we will be in the book of Jude in just a moment. I thought it was important this morning, as we prepare to get into the Scriptures, to address what is on many people's minds in our nation this week. This is not just a national issue; it is being talked about in other places around the world. The things that are going on here are distressing and heavy.

In discussing these matters, there are two things I do not want to do. I do not want to minimize the realities of what is happening in our nation. There are real issues and real problems that we, as a people, face. At the same time, I do not want to sensationalize the events occurring in our country. It is important for us to acknowledge and recognize that there are people who benefit from division in our nation. Because they benefit from that division, there is a sense in which they want to promote it at every opportunity.

That said, we cannot ignore that, like any nation, we have problems that are not easily addressed. Research this year has shown that our nation may be more divided today than at any other time since the Civil War. It is hard to imagine, but that is what the research seems to indicate. Even though we are called the United States of America, there are times when we do not show much unity as a people. More than 60 million children, during the school year, will place their hand on their chest and say those words: that we are one nation under God, indivisible. Yet, there are times when we look at the state of our nation and think it just doesn't seem to be that way.

The events that happened this week in Louisiana, Minnesota, and especially in Dallas, are definitely distressing. It is also distressing to see so many people, as I have seen in the news and read in various articles, excoriating the president for not bringing better unity and resolution to these issues.

Unity, listen and understand: the president can't make unity happen. If you think that a better person in the White House is going to bring unity, you are seriously mistaken. It is not going to fix the things that we have in our nation.

When these things happen—not just what we've seen in the news this week, but what we see every single day, every single week, in places all around the world—when we see these terrible things happen, I think it's really important for us, especially those who believe in the Scriptures and the Bible, to acknowledge at least five things.

The first thing we need to acknowledge is that we live in a broken world. This world is terribly broken. You do not have to look very far to see the brokenness of the world. We have seen it in the news, and we are constantly bombarded by it. Whether it's things that are happening in the Middle East, or something that happens in Belgium, or something that happens in Paris, or in Florida, or what happened in Dallas, wherever you look, we are constantly reminded that we live in a broken world.

Secondly, we need to understand that the brokenness of this world is the result of sin. All brokenness is the result of sin. We, as those who believe in the Bible, understand where that brokenness comes from: it is the result of sin.

Thirdly, sin results in death. When you see death, when you see destruction, it is from sin. This brings us to the fourth and important truth: only in Jesus Christ is life and peace. We need to hold strong to that truth—that only in Christ Jesus is life and peace.

This leads us to the fifth and final point: if you're a Christian today, you have the message of peace. You have the gospel of Jesus Christ, the very thing that has brought you into a relationship with God and the very thing that ultimately makes division reversible.

You see, here at Cross Connection, our vision and mission is life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus. That is the only way that we can find what so many people are looking for and what so many people are calling for. You hear pundits constantly talking about reconciliation, but that is only found in Jesus Christ. It only comes from the gospel; it will not come through new political leaders or legislation. It only comes through Jesus.

Christ, if you're a Christian today, you need to hold on to that, and you need to be one who shares that with other people. That's where we find reconciliation; that's where we find ourselves in peace. That's where enmity is dealt with.

One of my favorite passages of Scripture on this is found in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 14 through 19. There, the Apostle writes, "For He, Jesus, Himself is our peace, who has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace. And that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God."

There is only peace; there is only reconciliation through the cross of Christ. He is the one who deals with sin, which is the result of the fall. He alone addresses the brokenness that is the result of sin and the death that follows.

So, if you're a believer in God today, if you're a Christian, you and I have what is called the ministry of reconciliation. Another passage of Scripture written by the Apostle Paul is found in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. It says in verse 17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. All the old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: be reconciled to God. If you're a follower of Jesus today, that means you're a representative of the peace of God. You're a representative of the reconciliation of God. When there are people in our nation calling for reconciliation, we within the church, as Christians, need to make sure that we point them to the only place where that can be found.

I don't want to get into all the specifics and all the...

Issues that are on either side of this whole divisive debate in our nation are important to recognize. Behind the headlines, there are many facts that are not being spoken about. The headlines often promote division because there are people who benefit from that division. Politicians benefit from that division, and legislators benefit from that division. We need to understand that there is much more to it than just what is under the headline.

Ultimately, we need to recognize that we live in a broken world. The world is broken because of sin; sin brought death, but Jesus brings life and peace. If you are a Christian, you have that message of life and peace, and that is what we need to be championing. That is what we need to be speaking about, as it is the only thing that will ultimately bring transformation to people groups and nations. That is what is needed. Amen.

I hope that we can be those who really focus on these things when difficult situations come against us as a people. There will be more challenges ahead. Understand that with the way media operates today, we are bombarded with information. There was a time when you wouldn't hear about devastating events for several days because news traveled through newspapers or was only seen during the evening news. Now, information is instantaneous. It is not just journalists; every single person with a cell phone and an HD video camera can livestream what is happening in the moment. Many of you probably saw livestreams of what was happening in Dallas this past week.

As time goes on, we will continue to be inundated with this information. However, it reveals to us the need for the gospel. This world needs Christ, and if you are a Christian, you have what this world needs: the love, grace, and compassion of Jesus.

Along those lines, would you open your Bibles to Jude? We will talk a little bit about that same sort of thing as we go through this passage. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. Please stand with me as we read the passage we will be considering today. Right near the end of your Bible, just before the last book, is a very small book called Jude. We will pick it up in verse 16 today. Jude 1:16 speaks about wolves in sheep's clothing and false teachers within the church. Jude says of them, "These are grumblers, complainers."

Walking according to their own lusts, they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons who cause divisions, not having 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, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion, making distinction, but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.

Father, we need Your wisdom as we read here. You alone are wise, and You inspired James to write that if anyone lacks wisdom, let him come to You, Father, and ask, and that You would pour out liberally and abundantly what we need. Lord, we need wisdom as we consider this passage of Scripture. We pray that You would continue, I pray that You continue to transform us by the renewing of our minds and help us to be able to comprehend what is the width and length and depth and height of Your love.

That we would be able to comprehend the awesomeness of Your grace and Your mercy, and the peace that we have from You because of forgiveness. Transform us by the renewing of our minds, I ask in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." You may be seated.

You've heard them hundreds of times, if not thousands of times. You and I are bombarded by them every single day—bombarded by them on commercials, on TV, on the radio, in advertising, on websites, and in podcasts, magazines, and newspapers.

If those are even around so much anymore, some of you throughout your day and week are the person who is offering this very thing to clients and customers, whether over the phone or in person. It's what marketers refer to as a call to action. Every marketing spot comes to a point where there is a call to action, which is what Jude, as he closes his small letter, is now doing.

Jude, being a good evangelist and preacher, began his letter with a preface to this call to action. It's found in Jude 1:3, where he said, "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." That ultimately is Jude's pitch: I am calling you to contend earnestly for the faith, to defend the faith. He was writing to Christians 2,000 years ago, but the words are applicable to us in the 21st century.

Jude, of course, had no idea that there would be people 2,000 years later reading his letter. God, in His foreknowledge, knew as He inspired Jude to write these things, but Jude had no idea. He was writing to Christians in his day, saying, "You need to contend earnestly for the faith." That's my call to action; that's my pitch to you: defend the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

As I've said a number of times while going through this short letter, when we hear those words "contend earnestly" or "defend the faith," the picture that often comes to mind is us on the rampart, that area on a city wall in ancient times, standing against someone besieging the city, trying to defend what's inside from that which is outside. There is truth that there is an enemy of the church, and he does seek to strategically come against our faith and against the church.

However, we know prophetically from Jesus that the enemy will never succeed in his ambush against the church or in besieging the walls of the church. In Matthew 16, when Jesus spoke about the church that He would build, He said, "I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it." So we know for certain, prophetically, that the church will stand firm.

The church will not be destroyed by the outsider that comes against it—the enemy, our adversary, the devil. When you look at your chest, what you find is that just about every time the enemy comes with great force against the church, the church is strengthened and grows stronger.

But what is it that ultimately destroys and kills churches? It's not the enemy from outside; it's that which comes from inside. As Jude says, it comes in unnoticed, in the form of wolves in sheep's clothing, false teachers, and false prophets. He spoke about the very thing that we need to defend against or contend with in verses 4 through 15. He said that these are those who come in unnoticed. He speaks about the danger of false teachers; they are wolves in sheep's clothing. They come in and distort the grace of God, reject the rule of God, and deny the lordship of Jesus.

In those verses, Jude repeatedly describes what these false teachers are like. They often look like Christians and speak like believers, yet their lives do not align with their words. They can lead people away from a strong faith in Christ. Therefore, Jude says we need to contend diligently and earnestly for the faith.

Now he comes to the final words of exhortation, presenting his call to action in this passage. Before we delve into our response as we go through this text, Jude continues speaking about these wolves. In verse 16, he describes them as grumblers and complainers, walking according to their own lusts. They mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

Previously, back in verse 12, he said these are spots in your love feasts. While they feast with you without fear, they serve only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds, late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots, raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame, wandering stars for whom is reserved blackness and darkness forever.

In verse 12, he describes what these false teachers, these wolves, are like. Now, as he comes into verse 16, he reiterates that these wolves are grumblers and complainers, walking after their own lusts. He provides us with a constant barrage of descriptions about what they are like, emphasizing that they may creep in unnoticed.

You can identify false prophets, as Jesus would say in the Sermon on the Mount. There will be false prophets that come into the church, but you will know them by their fruit. They may profess one thing, but after a while, under close examination of their lives, you will see that they do not live up to the profession of faith that they seem to give.

Jude says they are grumblers. These false teachers, these wolves in sheep's clothing, can be identified by their grumbling. Another word for grumbling is murmuring. What is murmuring? What are murmurs? Previously in this passage, Jude referred to some ancient murmurs found back in the book of Exodus. He reminds us of them in Jude 1:5.

Look at verse 5: "But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those that did not believe." Jude is referring back to the Old Testament, back to the story of Moses, back to the book of Exodus, where God spoke to Moses to go down to Egypt and say to Pharaoh, "Let my people go." Ultimately, Pharaoh was not willing to acquiesce to Moses's request. However, through a series of circumstances that God brought upon the land of Egypt, he decided to relent and let the people of Israel go.

They crossed over the Red Sea on dry ground, as the story is told for us in Exodus chapter 14. Then they came into the wilderness, and for the next 40 years, they wandered in the wilderness. We see the true nature of these people come out in the form of their murmuring. It says here that they were destroyed because of their unbelief, their lack of trust and faith in God. Much of that was manifested or revealed by their constant murmuring and grumbling—murmuring against God, murmuring against Moses, and constantly grumbling about the things that they did not have or the things that they did not like.

Jude says not only are they grumblers, but they are complainers. These wolves in sheep's clothing are within the church and can be destructive to your faith and to my faith. We saw in verse 12 that there are spots in your love feast, but a better translation of that would be that they are like rocks under the surface of the water, like reefs upon which your faith can be shipwrecked. How can they be identified? Well, they grumble.

They complain. Now, it would seem like grumblers and complainers are just kind of a parallelism; they're the same thing. Is there any difference between a grumbler and a complainer? It might be a very slight difference, but what is a complainer in contrast to a grumbler?

A complainer is an irritable, testy, cantankerous, grumpy person who is always looking for something to complain about. When they find it, they not only find something, but then they complain to other people. A complainer is someone who always wants to tell others just how bad it is. They will look for something to complain about. Let me tell you, if you spend enough time—if you spend a week here at Cross Connection—you'll find something to complain about. I guarantee it. The pastor wore sandals on Sunday morning; there you go, you got something to complain about. If you spend just a brief amount of time here, I guarantee you will find something to complain about.

Listen, Jude says that these people who are destructive to the faith are murmurers and complainers. If you find that you are a person who, by your very nature, is constantly looking for something to complain about, you will find it. If you find that you are complaining all the time and grumbling about things, stop it. Repent.

If you are constantly on the receiving end of someone always coming to you and complaining and grumbling about things, tell that person to stop it and repent. Such behavior is dangerous to our faith. It is destructive; it can lead into gossip, bitterness, anger, and all kinds of things that are of the flesh and not of God.

Jude says that these wolves, these ones that can be so destructive to our faith, are grumblers and complainers. He says that they walk according to their lusts, the lusts of their fallen nature. Another way of saying it is that they walk after the flesh and not after the Spirit, a contrast that the Apostle Paul gave in the book of Galatians. If you have your Bibles, you're in Jude; turn to the left. You'll pass James, Hebrews, Thessalonians, Timothy, and Colossians, ultimately getting to the small book of Galatians, chapter 5. There, in Galatians chapter 5, Paul...

In Galatians 5:16, Paul writes, "I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." These are the very same words that Jude uses in verses 16 and 17, where he describes people who walk according to the lusts of their flesh. Paul emphasizes that we should walk in the Spirit and not after the desires of our flesh.

This brings us to an interesting concept about the makeup of humanity. God created humanity in His image. While He created all other things as well, He uniquely made us in His image. God is presented in the Bible as a Trinity—a triune being consisting of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He created us to be multifaceted as well. Each of us is made up of a body, a soul, and a spirit. The body is that which interacts with the things of this world, often referred to as the flesh in Scripture. The spirit is that which your soul, your true self, interacts with in the spiritual realm.

In Galatians chapter five, Paul instructs us to walk according to the Spirit and not according to the desires of the flesh. Every human being, when we are born, is led by our flesh. The appetites of our human bodies guide our souls wherever they want to go. However, when you become a follower of Jesus, He calls you to be led by the Spirit rather than the flesh. This leads to a death that takes place within you. If you are a Christian today, you have experienced that death.

Paul explains that "the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these two are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish." If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you have likely experienced this struggle. It manifests in the way Paul describes in Romans chapter 7, where he says, "The good things I want to do, I don't do, and the bad things I don't want to do, that I practice." If you have ever found yourself in a place of frustration, saying, "I can't seem to do the things I want to do, walking in the Spirit because of my flesh," you may resonate with his cry, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"

Experienced this struggle, he goes on to verse 18 of Galatians chapter five: "But if you are led by the Spirit, then you are not under the law."

Now, the works of the flesh are evidently clear. They are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. The list could go on and on; we could make a list a hundred pages long of the works of the flesh. They are very clear. He says, "Of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in times past, that those who practice these things will not inherit the kingdom of God."

Those who perpetually walk in the lusts of the flesh, the desires of the flesh, will not inherit the kingdom of God, which is a spiritual kingdom, because of worldliness. If they perpetually practice these things, they will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But verse 22 states, "The fruit of the Spirit," the evidence that God's Spirit has revived your spirit, "is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." Against such, there is no law.

Now, those who are most destructive to the faith, most destructive to the church, are not those from outside seeking to destroy the faith, but those who come from the inside, living after the lusts of the flesh, constantly complaining and murmuring about the things of God or the way things are. My encouragement to you would be to not spend too much time with people whose lives are characterized by the lusts of the flesh within the church.

If I said to spend no time with people whose lives are characterized by the lusts of the flesh, then you'd never go out into the world. But that's not what God calls us to. In fact, in First Corinthians, Paul explicitly states that he is not telling us to get out of the world because we are to be in the world, sharing the gospel of grace with people who are lost and in need of the gospel.

However, within the church, if there are people who profess to be followers of God yet their lives are characterized by the works of the flesh, which are evident, many times in the Scriptures it says, "From such people turn away." Rather, spend time with those whose lives are manifesting love, joy, peace, and kindness.

Gentleness and self-control are essential virtues. As Solomon said in the Old Testament, "Bad company corrupts good morals." This principle holds true; bad company can defile and destroy the church and your faith. These influences can be like rocks underneath the surface of the water that will shipwreck your faith.

Jude describes these individuals as complainers and grumblers who walk according to their fallen nature, driven by the lusts of their flesh. He also notes that they are big-talking flatterers who use their flattery to gain an advantage. They may talk a good talk and sound knowledgeable about many things, but I cannot tell you how many times I have had conversations with people who want to debate me about the finer points of theology, such as the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. Meanwhile, that very individual may be living a life of adultery or be completely absorbed in pornography. There seems to be a massive disconnect here. They know all the right things to say and speak great swelling words of flattery, yet their lives do not align with their words.

We need to understand and recognize, point number one on your outline, that false teachers have a false spirituality. Paul the Apostle, in his second letter to Timothy, stated in chapter 3, verse 5, that they have a form of godliness but deny its power. He instructs us to turn away from such people. Some may argue that this approach does not seem very loving or gracious, and understandably so. However, it is important to recognize that these are the types of individuals who cause the shipwreck of many people's faith because they speak a deceptive message.

Good game! They talk about things that sound like Scripture, or maybe even quote Scripture. They may know things that sound very theological, right? Yet, their lives are out of order. Their lives are not directed by the Spirit of God but by the flesh. Bad company will corrupt good morals, and so Paul says, "From such people turn away."

That's how false teachers are. In verse 16, we see how we ought to respond. Look at verse 17: "But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts."

Point number two on your outline: Don't be shocked by wolves in the church. The enemy is always seeking a way to worm his way into the church. We should not be startled or shocked when we find that there are people in the church who talk like Christians but live like heathens. It happens. They may have the outer cloak of Christianity that looks really nice, and they seem to have it all going on. Yet, upon closer examination of their lives, you realize that this person does not walk in line with the Scriptures.

As they are not walking in line with the Scriptures, as we've previously examined in Jude, they will say, "Oh, it's okay that I live like this because God is gracious." No, no, no! Understand that God's grace, which leads to salvation, teaches us to deny ungodliness. That's what Paul said in Titus chapter 2. The grace of God teaches us to live righteously, not to make excuses for our unrighteous flesh.

So, don't be shocked by wolves in the church; they are there. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7, verse 15, "Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves." They will be in the church. They were in the church thousands of years ago, and they will be in the church until the day that Jesus comes and harvests the wheat of the church, separating it from the tares within the church that are unfruitful.

Jude continues talking about them in verse 19. These are the same ones he spoke about in verse 12.

He spoke about, in verse 16, these are sensual persons who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. They are unspiritual. The reason they walk according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit is that they do not have the Spirit of God. They have no true saving faith and have not been transformed by the grace of God, though they have the outward look of Christianity.

He says they are unspiritual; they are sensual persons. That word "sensual" literally means to be governed by earthly appetites and not by the Spirit. They are directed by the urges of their flesh, and as a result, they can be very divisive. They can cause division within the church. When you come in contact with a person who is always causing division by their words or actions, this is a person who is not exhibiting the nature of Christ. Such people need to be dealt with.

How should they be responded to? Well, look at verse 20. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

We know how false teachers are. We know that their lives do not measure up to their speech. They can talk a good game, using great swelling words that make them sound as if they are true believers and followers of Jesus. Yet their walk after the lust of the flesh betrays their speech. We know how they are, but how are we to be?

He says first we need to build up our faith. Secondly, we need to pray in the Spirit. Third, we need to abide in God's love. Fourth, we need to be merciful.

Point number three on your outline: we must be grounded in faith, fervent in spirit, steadfast in love, and abundant in mercy. How do I, how do you, how do we contend earnestly for the faith? We don't beat people up with the Bible, although that might sound like it could be fun. How do we do this? Well, we've got to...

To be grounded in the faith and to grow up in our faith, we need to be fervent in the Spirit of God, seeking to walk after the Spirit and not fulfilling the lustful desires of the flesh. We need to be steadfast in love, abiding in the love of God, and we need to be abundant in our mercy toward other people.

Jude continues in verse 22, stating, "And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh." If you're a Christian today, you are a follower of Jesus, saved by grace through faith. You are called upon by God, through Jude, to contend earnestly for the faith and to defend the faith. How do we do this? By growing in your faith, being fervent in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, abiding in the love of God, and being abundant in mercy toward other people. Be one who contends for the faith.

As you gather together as the people of God in the Church of God, remember that this is not a private country club; it is an open place where people can come. When people come, some of them are not believers, and many of them hopefully are not believers. Their lives may not look particularly righteous. When those people come into the church—and hopefully they will—understand that there is a distinction that needs to be made.

Some of them need compassion, some need mercy, and some need grace, because the kindness of God leads to repentance. However, there is also a distinction that needs to be made because some of those who come into the church need to experience fear. I find it interesting that Jude says, "But on others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire." What is he talking about? Some people need that compassionate, tender grace and mercy calling them to repentance and forgiveness, while others need to be held over the hot fires of judgment to bring about a reverence and awareness of their situation.

Fear can lead to salvation. Some fear, and some are saved by fear.

Listen, point number four: it takes a lot of fire to turn a wolf into a sheep. It's possible that some of you here today have experienced an awesome transformation in your life. However, when you came to the church, you did not come here seeking salvation from God; you came here seeking what you might be able to get from other people. Some people enter the church with unrighteous intentions and motives, and thankfully, God saves people like that. I know some of you and your stories, and you were quite certainly wolves when you came here. Yet, the potential for future judgment that God will bring upon ungodliness caused in you a righteous fear.

Let me tell you, fear is sometimes a good motivator unto repentance. I am currently reading through the book of Joshua in my morning devotions, and I just went through the passage of Scripture about a group of people called the Gibeonites. They were selected by God for judgment because of their wickedness. Out of fear, they came to Joshua seeking to make peace. They did so by masquerading as people from a faraway country. They wore old, torn clothes and broken shoes, and they brought moldy bread. They carried their wine in wineskins that were falling apart and said, "Listen, we've been on a long journey, and we're from far away. Make peace with us."

What Joshua didn't realize was that they were from the village right on the other side of the hill. Why did they do this? Out of fear. The amazing thing about that story is that God allowed them to be saved, and He ultimately employed them in the work and service of His kingdom. However, the first motive for coming to Christ, for coming to Joshua in that passage, was fear of judgment. Some people need to understand the fear of coming judgment to bring them into salvation.

There is a time and a place for holding someone over the fire. Why? Because we hate the garments stained by the flesh. Those things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

God, now at this point, as we go through a letter like this that is challenging and filled with exhortation, there may be some of you sitting here right now wondering, "What if I'm a wolf?" Well, I'm so thankful for the final words of Jude. This final benediction, one of my favorite benedictions, in fact, is something I close a lot of services and teachings with.

Jude 1:24-25 offers such an encouraging word. The fact is, every single one of us, when we look into the perfect law of liberty, when we look into the mirror that is God's Word, it reveals and exposes the areas of our lives that are out of order. Every single one of us is under construction, in process by the Spirit of grace. When we see ourselves in the light of who God is, we realize how far we are from righteousness. When we hear the idea of ungodliness being judged and feel fearful of that coming judgment, we ask, "Lord, am I right with You?"

Here, Jude says, "Now to Him, God, who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen." What a good word of encouragement! God is the Savior; He’s my Savior, and I hope He’s your Savior.

Though I am completely fallen, inconstant, and in desperate need of His grace and forgiveness, He is able to keep me from stumbling and to present me blameless, faultless, and holy before His righteous presence. Let me tell you, when I stand before His righteous presence one day, there will not be one little bit in me that says, "That's right, I should be here." Instead, I will stand before Him with exceeding joy. Why? Because I know that in me, nothing good dwells. I shouldn't be here; it's all of His grace.

Listen, for you today as well, it's all of grace whereby we are saved, not of works of righteousness that we have done, because we have done nothing. All of our righteousness, as Isaiah 64:6 says, is as filthy rags before Him. But He is gracious, and He alone is majestic.

Powerful, wise Savior, and both wolves and sheep need His salvation. Amen. Would you stand with me as we close in prayer?

Father God, I thank You for Your Word. It is challenging, and when we come to a text like this, we should rightly be challenged. God, I pray that You would help us to be those who have not only experienced Your grace but also those who extend it to others. Lord, help us to be conduits of Your forgiving grace, carrying it to a world that is in desperate need.

I pray for each of us that we would grow in the grace and knowledge of You, our great God and Savior. I also pray for this church that You would guard us. Help us to be as wise as serpents but as harmless and gentle as doves in dealing with people who sometimes we might feel are not where they should be in their walk with You.

Help us to be able to discern and make a distinction between those who still need compassion and grace and those who might need a rebuke and a firm challenge. Lord, help us by Your Spirit to be discerning and wise in these matters.

Lord, would You please pour out Your Spirit upon this church so that we would shine brightly, carrying Your good news to a world in desperate need? We ask this in Jesus' name. All those who agreed said, "Amen."