Posted by Peter Thompson

Jude 12-25

But You Be Different

INTRODUCTION:  Jude continues to write about the false teachers that come in secretly and act like one of us.  He describes them in very specific terms here, to make clear that they are not good people who have made a mistake.  They are purposely leading people astray and they do not know God themselves.  Then to end the book, he gives instruction to the true Christian people.  Basically, he tells us to be different than they are.  These are ungodly.  You are to be godly in your life and this is how.

  1. MAKE YOURSELF MORE AND MORE USEFUL IN THE FAITH (VS. 12, 20)
  2. Here Jude says these false teachers that are pretending to be part of the church a spots on their love feast
  3. In the early church they would conduct the Lord’s supper in this way
  4. They would have an actual meal before the Lord’s supper and then take the Lord’s supper at the end
  5. They referred to the meal before the Lord’s supper as the love feast
  6. It was a time when the church people came together and ate together, much like we do fellowship now, for the purpose of knowing each other better and being together
  7. But its connection to the Lord’s supper is what Jude is talking about here.
  8. The saved, church members that were dedicated to God were supposed to take the supper-Paul even instructed the Corinthian church not to take it unworthily, so they were to confess sin and get right with God before they took it
  9. These unsaved false pretenders were taking the Lord’s supper with them and Jude called them dirty spots on an otherwise pure and holy thing
  10. He called them rain clouds without water
  11. That is good for nothing, without usefulness
  12. He said they were blown around from here to there-no commitment to God, His teachings, or His church
  13. He called them dead trees
  14. The fruit on the tree withered the first year
  15. And then it did not produce again in the subsequent years
  16. And then it was worthless, so they pulled it out by its roots
  17. He calls them raging waves
  18. Spewing up the foam of their sin
  19. Destroying everything around them
  20. He calls them wandering stars
  21. They go from place to place again, just like the clouds that are blown
  22. But they don’t shine, in fact they are destined not to shine for all eternity
  23. They are lost, they are worthless, they hurt everyone around them
  24. These guys are not accomplishing anything good
  25. But in v. 20 the real Christians are to be different than that
  26. They are to be building themselves up in their holy faith
  27. The Greek word for building up literally means to make it more able
  28. These Christians are to make their faith more able
  29. In other words their faith is to become more and more useful as time goes on
  30. This is different than the useless pretenders
  31. These Christians are to grow in their faith and become more like Christ
  32. So that they can help people
  33. So that they can share the gospel more
  34. So that they can serve God in and through His church
  35. You see, real faith is always accompanied by action
  36. You act because you believer
  37. That is why James said faith without works is dead
  38. As you grow in more and more faith
  39. Your faith will become more and more useful
  40. And that is where you should be focused
  41. On building your faith, so that you are able to do more and more for God
  42. You build your faith by trusting God in each situation and seeing Him come through
  43. As He comes through every time, you will believe in Him more and more
  44. And as you believe in Him more and more, you will be able to do more for Him
  45. Build up your faith and do more for God
  46. DESIRE WHAT GOD WANTS FOR YOUR LIFE (VS. 16A, 17-20)
  47. Jude talks about these pretenders more in v. 16
  48. At the beginning of this verse he says they are murmurers and complainers
  49. They want things their way and their way only
  50. If it is not their way, then they complain and murmur
  51. In connection to that, they are walking after their own lusts
  52. In other words the pretenders do in their life what makes them happy
  53. They try to get all the things that they want
  54. They want the pleasure of sin and so they sin
  55. They want to be seen as somebody special so they build themselves up
  56. They want money, they do what it takes to get it
  57. They follow their own desires in every part of their life
  58. We find out in v. 18 that the things they desire are ungodly things
  59. In v. 19 they are sensual-which means if it feels good they do it
  60. And that they do not follow the Holy Spirit-What they want has nothing to do with what God wants
  61. But in v. 20 we see that Christians are to be different
  62. After he says that we should making our faith more and more able
  63. He says that real Christians should be praying in the Holy Spirit
  64. We pray for the things that we desire from God
  65. Here Jude says that real Christians pray in the Holy Spirit
  66. In other words we pray the things that the Holy Spirit of God wants us to pray
  67. Our desires line up with desires of God
  68. We should pray for what God wants
  69. This is in contrast to those pretenders that want ungodly things, and go after the ungodly things that they want
  70. What about you, what things do you want in life?
  71. Your main priority in life should not be to get more things
  72. Your main priority in life should not be to feel good and have pleasure
  73. Your main priority in life should not be to please self
  74. Your priority should be to desire the same things that God desires
  75. God desires for your life to be a holy example of who God is
  76. God desires for people to be saved through Jesus Christ
  77. God desires for Jesus to receive all the glory
  78. Those things should be your priorities, those are the things that you should want, those are the things that you should pray to have
  • GUARD YOUR ACTIONS IN GOD’S LOVE (VS. 13-15, 21, 24)
  1. In v. 13 where Jude says that these people are reserved for the blackness of darkness forever, that is hell language
  2.  Jesus referred to hell in these terms many times during his ministry
  3. He talked about unbelievers being thrown into everlasting darkness where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth and the worm would not die-In other words torment forever without death
  4. If this is too abstract for the reader, Jude clarifies in v. 14 and 15 by talking about the prophesied judgment
  5. When Jesus comes again, he will judge people’s ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
  6. These pretenders are lost people-they act like lost people-they do things and say things that are opposed to God
  7. These pretenders that have snuck into the churches will be judged eternally in the lake of fire, the pit of darkness, where there is torment for all eternity when Jesus comes back to the earth
  8. But Christians are to be different
  9. In v. 21 it says keep yourselves in the love of God
  10. The word keep has the idea of guarding and watching out for yourself
  11. Guard yourself in the love of God
  12. Jesus says in John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
  13. Jesus is not talking about losing position with God, He would continue to be the son of God the Father and would continue to be loved by God the Father
  14. As He lived in that love he did all that the father wanted Him to do
  15. Christian people should live in the love of guarding the things that we do so that they line up with the commandments of God
  16. In v. 24 Jude points to Jesus as the one that can keep you faultless and present you before God
  17. If you have believed that Jesus died on the cross for you
  18. If you have made Him the Lord of your life
  19. Then He keeps you saved by His power and His sinlessness
  20. You are in the love of God, and will remain there
  21. But God does care how you live, in fact because He loved you enough to save you, you should desire to act like He wants you to act
  22. You should guard yourself
  23. Make sure that you are living according to what God wants
  24. Every day you should wake up on guard for sin
  25. You should look out for temptation and fight against it
  26. So that you strive to be holy, like God wants you to be
  27. So that you strive to do right, according to the Bible, God’s word
  28. Study it, and act like God wants you to act.
  29. HUMBLE YOURSELF IN YOUR SALVATION (VS. 16B, 21, 25)
  30. These pretenders talk with great swelling words and they hold people in admiration
  31. You see, they live in a world where everyone is striving for the admiration of others
  32. They live to lift themselves up with their great speeches
  33. They say all the right things, hoping that everyone will lift them up as something special.
  34. They are proud of who they are and what they have to say
  35. They desire to receive glory
  36. Christians should be different again in v. 21
  37. Looking for the mercy of Jesus Christ unto eternal life
  38. In other words a Christian is not going to have eternal life because of all the great things they can do
  39. It is not because you are somebody special that you are saved
  40. It is because of the mercy of Jesus Christ
  41. Mercy is about avoiding the punishment that is deserved
  42. That is how a Christian person thinks, “I am such a dirty sinner, I am nothing, I deserve hell and punishment, Jesus is all that makes me anything.”
  43. In v. 25 Jude discusses the only wise God, who is the only one that deserves dominion or control and power
  44. He deserves glory and majesty now and forever
  45. God is the one that should be lifted up in your life
  46. You should be humble in your salvation
  47. Understand the sinner that you are
  48. Understand the love of God that showed you mercy
  49. Understand that you only have the eternal life that you have because of the mercy of Jesus Christ
  50. Not because you deserve anything
  51. Not like the pretenders that want to lift themselves up but humble where you belong
  52. Giving God all the glory and power and majesty
  53. Lift Him up and put yourself in the proper place of unworthy servant who has received his mercy when you did not deserve it
  54. MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN PEOPLE’S LIVES (VS. 22-23)
  55. These pretenders are trying to get what they want
  56. They want to have control and everything that they desire
  57. They want to be lifted up and made to be something
  58. They are concerned with self and not anybody else
  59. 22-23 show the Christian in a different light
  60. We are to care about the salvation and spiritual well being of others
  61. He writes that a Christian should make a difference in the life of some with compassion and love
  62. In other words, help them and sacrifice for them so that they will listen to the good news of Jesus Christ so that they can be saved
  63. But look at this next part
  64. There are going to be some that the Christian will have to pull from the fire with fear
  65. There are some that are not going to respond to the compassion and love and Christians will have to tell them, you are a sinner and you are going to hell, repent now or you will face torment forever
  66. What kind of difference are you making in the life of people?
  67. Do you care if people know Jesus?
  68. Do you care if people are going to hell?
  69. Do you love them enough to sacrifice for them and help them?
  70. Do you love them enough to tell them about the love of Jesus?
  71. Do you love them enough to tell them the truth about hell and torment if necessary to make sure that they do not go there?
  72. That is what God wants from His people, unselfish pulling people out of the flames by any means necessary.
  73. Join the rescue team, start pulling your friends, your family, your acquaintances, everybody you come in contact with from the fire.

CONCLUSION:  Yes, there are ungodly false teachers that are going to bring ideas into Christianity that sound good but are opposed to God’s word.  You have to watch out for them, so that you are not led down a false path.  You will be successful in that if you take an active role in making yourself different.  Make yourself more and more useful in the faith.  Desire what God wants for your life.  Guard your actions because God loves you.  Keep yourself humble in your salvation.  Make a difference in the lives of the people around you by leading them to eternal life.