Jude 1:17-21

Jude 1:17-21

The reality is that the last days are here, beginning on Pentecost with the establishment of the church. The church age is “the last days,” the time of the last desperate expression of the enemy's rebellion. Into the fray the enemy sends his ministers. These ministers are marked by three characteristics. They are mockers; they teach with flippancy the holy things of God and the church. This flows out of and feeds their second characteristic: they follow their own lust. While sexual appetite is a big part of their evil, lust is more than just sex; it is the desire to fulfill their appetites, their inordinate desire for money, pleasure, or praise, for example. Any place where we are broken and messed up, if we don’t repent, is an opportunity for lust. Third, they are in fact devoid of the Spirit. Having set off on a journey to satisfy themselves, they have left the Spirit. One characteristic is they form a group or a following around themselves, resulting in divisions in the church.

What are we to do in the face of these misguided, indeed evil, people? Jude gives us a three-part effective strategy for our own spiritual life in these last days. In verse 20 he says, “Build yourself up…”; we are to take personal responsibility for our spiritual diet and growth. He also calls us to ‘prayer’. Praying is the hardest discipline in the Christian life. We act as if we can go from novice to ‘faith hero prayer warrior’ by just being here. Learning to pray is a process. We earn by doing. Like a child learning to walk, it will take practice. We will learn to understand and perceive the Spirit’s promptings and will grow in our ability to pray with intensity by praying intensely. Third, we are to anticipate the mercy of the Lord that will take us to eternal life. There needs to be in our lives a daily awareness of our ultimate rescue at the Lord’s return. This daily remembrance will help us to be ready by knowing we will give an account of each day, indeed each moment, to the one whom God has appointed as our Judge. That is a terrifying thought if we live for our own flesh. It will be a thrilling thought if we are living fully for Him. 

Whenever the church has found itself in a pathetic state, you can be assured that it has slipped away from personal and individual responsibility for spiritual growth, faithfulness in real prayer, and hopeful anticipation of the coming Lord. Into such a church the divisive evil people have come in and wrecked the church both individually, congregationally, and generally.

“Lord, let me live in the hope of the judgment of Jesus for my life and actions. AMEN”